Collision-Free Path and Motion Planning for Anthropometric Figures

This paper describes a collision free path planning and animation system for anthropometric figures. It can also take into consideration the strength limit of human figures and plan the motion accordingly. The algorithm breaks down the degrees of freedom of the figure into Cspace groups and computes the free motion for each of these groups in a sequential fashion. It traverses the tree in a depth first order to compute the motion for all the branches. A special playback routine is then used to traverse the tree in a reverse order to playback the final motion. Strength value measures are incorporated directly into the searching function so that path computed will obey strength availability criteria. The planner runs in linear time with respect to the total number of Cspace groups. The planner can interface with other simulation techniques to simulate complex human motions. We believe that the planner would find a path in most cases and is fast enough for practical use in a wide range of computer graphics applications

Motion Planning for Redundant Branching Articulated Figures with Many Degrees of Freedom

A fast algorithm is presented that can handle the motion planning problem for articulated figures with branches and many degrees of freedom. The algorithm breaks down the degrees of freedom of the figure into Cspace groups and compute the free motion for each of these groups in a sequential fashion. It traverses the tree in a depth first order to compute the motion for all the branches. A special playback routine is then used to traverse the tree again in a reverse order to playback the final motion. The planner runs in linear time with respect to the total number of Cspace groups without backtracking. We believe that the planner would find a path in most cases and is fast enough for practical use in a wide range of applications

Fast Motion Planning for Anthropometric Figures with Many Degrees of Freedom

Human-like robots are useful in many areas such as deep sea mining and space applications. An efficient motion planning algorithm for these type of robots will be helpful in achieving task level programming. In this paper we present a new efficient algorithm that has successfully computer collision free motions for anthropometric figures with many degrees of freedom within a clustered environment

Stirring Unmagnetized Plasma

A new concept for spinning unmagnetized plasma is demonstrated experimentally. Plasma is confined by an axisymmetric multi-cusp magnetic field and biased cathodes are used to drive currents and impart a torque in the magnetized edge. Measurements show that flow viscously couples momentum from the magnetized edge (where the plasma viscosity is small) into the unmagnetized core (where the viscosity is large) and that the core rotates as a solid body. To be effective, collisional viscosity must overcome the ion-neutral drag due to charge exchange collisions

Group-theoretical construction of extended baryon operators

The design and implementation of large sets of spatially extended baryon operators for use in lattice simulations are described. The operators are constructed to maximize overlaps with the low-lying states of interest, while minimizing the number of sources needed in computing the required quark propagators.Comment: 3 pages, 3 tables, talk presented at Lattice2004(spectrum), Fermilab, June 21-26, 200

Conserved currents of massless fields of spin s>0

A complete and explicit classification of all locally constructed conserved currents and underlying conserved tensors is obtained for massless linear symmetric spinor fields of any spin s>0 in four dimensional flat spacetime. These results generalize the recent classification in the spin s=1 case of all conserved currents locally constructed from the electromagnetic spinor field. The present classification yields spin s>0 analogs of the well-known electromagnetic stress-energy tensor and Lipkin's zilch tensor, as well as a spin s>0 analog of a novel chiral tensor found in the spin s=1 case. The chiral tensor possesses odd parity under a duality symmetry (i.e., a phase rotation) on the spin s field, in contrast to the even parity of the stress-energy and zilch tensors. As a main result, it is shown that every locally constructed conserved current for each s>0 is equivalent to a sum of elementary linear conserved currents, quadratic conserved currents associated to the stress-energy, zilch, and chiral tensors, and higher derivative extensions of these currents in which the spin s field is replaced by its repeated conformally-weighted Lie derivatives with respect to conformal Killing vectors of flat spacetime. Moreover, all of the currents have a direct, unified characterization in terms of Killing spinors. The cases s=2, s=1/2 and s=3/2 provide a complete set of conserved quantities for propagation of gravitons (i.e., linearized gravity waves), neutrinos and gravitinos, respectively, on flat spacetime. The physical meaning of the zilch and chiral quantities is discussed.Comment: 26 pages; final version with minor changes, accepted in Proc. Roy. Soc. A (London

The impact of Clinical Nurse Specialists on the decision making process in cancer multidisciplinary team meetings: A qualitative study

PURPOSE: There are well-documented barriers to nurse participation in cancer multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings. This paper aims to identify the approaches used by Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs) in this setting to contribute during discussion, and to consider the impact of these approaches on the decision making process. In doing so it aims to highlight ways that CNSs can increase their influence, and enhance multidisciplinary engagement. METHODS: This study is based on analysis of observation data from 122 MDT meetings in gynaecology, haematology and skin cancer MDTs. Field notes were reviewed, identifying 58 cases where CNSs contributed to MDT discussion. Audio recordings of the relevant sections were then transcribed and analysed thematically. RESULTS: Five approaches were used by CNSs to contribute in MDT meetings: sharing information, asking questions, providing practical suggestions, framing and using humour. These approaches influenced three key intermediary processes identified during the analysis ('successful contributions'): prompting discussion, influencing a treatment plan and facilitating teamwork. CNSs contributed successfully in cases where medical factors (such as relapsed disease or complex comorbidities) or non-medical factors (such as strong patient preference), had the potential to impact on the ability of teams to deliver treatment. CONCLUSIONS: CNSs have an important role in cancer MDT meetings. By focusing on a subset of cases where CNSs contributed during MDT discussion, this study has provided an insight into approaches that can be adopted by CNSs to increase their influence on the decision making process, enabling teams to capitalise on their knowledge and expertise in MDT meetings

Baryonic Operators for Lattice Simulations

The construction of baryonic operators for determining the N* excitation spectrum is discussed. The operators are designed with one eye towards maximizing overlaps with the low-lying states of interest, and the other eye towards minimizing the number of sources needed in computing the required quark propagators. Issues related to spin identification are outlined. Although we focus on tri-quark baryon operators, the construction method is applicable to both mesons and penta-quark operators.Comment: 3 pages, poster presented at Lattice2003(spectrum), Tsukuba, Japan, July 15-19, 200