State Generation Method for Humanoid Motion Planning Based on Genetic Algorithm

A new approach to generate the original motion data for humanoid motion planning is presented in this paper. And a state generator is developed based on the genetic algorithm, which enables users to generate various motion states without using any reference motion data. By specifying various types of constraints such as configuration constraints and contact constraints, the state generator can generate stable states that satisfy the constraint conditions for humanoid robots. To deal with the multiple constraints and inverse kinematics, the state generation is finally simplified as a problem of optimizing and searching. In our method, we introduce a convenient mathematic representation for the constraints involved in the state generator, and solve the optimization problem with the genetic algorithm to acquire a desired state. To demonstrate the effectiveness and advantage of the method, a number of motion states are generated according to the requirements of the motion

Trajectory planning of jumping over an obstacle for one-legged jumping robot

For one-legged passive jumping robot, a trajectory planning strategy is developed to jump over an obstacle integrating three various dynamics among jumping process. Manipulability ellipsoids are effective tools to perform task space analysis and motion optimization of redundant manipulators. Jumping robot can be considered as a redundant manipulator with a load held at the end-effector. The concept of inertia matching ellipsoid and directional manipulability is extended to optimize the take-off posture of jumping robot, and the optimized results have been used to plan jumping trajectory. Aimed at the sensitivity of a trajectory to constraint conditions on point-to-point motion planning, the 6th order polynomial function is proposed to plan jumping motion having a better robustness to the parameters change of constraint conditions than traditional 5th order polynomial function. In order to lift the foot over the obstacle, correction functions are constructed under unchanged boundary constraint conditions. Furthermore, the body posture is controlled based on internal motion dynamics and steady-state consecutive jumping motion principle. A prototype model is designed, and the effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed via simulations performed on parameters of designed prototype

SGLT2 inhibitor plus DPP‐4 inhibitor as combination therapy for type 2 diabetes: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

To assess the efficacy and safety of sodium‐glucose co‐transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors plus a dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 (DPP‐4) inhibitor in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), we performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 4828 patients. Compared with a DPP‐4 inhibitor, SGLT2 inhibitor/DPP‐4 inhibitor combination therapy was significantly associated with a decrease in glycaemic control (HbA1c, −0.71%; fasting plasma glucose [FPG], −25.62 mg/dL; postprandial plasma glucose, −44.00 mg/dL), body weight (−2.05 kg) and systolic blood pressure (−5.90 mm Hg), but an increase in total cholesterol (TC) of 3.24%, high‐density lipoprotein of 6.15% and low‐density lipoprotein of 2.55%. Adding a DPP‐4 inhibitor to an SGLT2 inhibitor could reduce HbA1c by −0.31%, FPG by −8.94 mg/dL, TC by −1.48% and triglycerides by −3.25%. Interestingly, low doses of an SGLT2 inhibitor in the combination has similar or even better efficacy in some aspects than high doses. Similar adverse events were observed for the combination therapy, with the exception of genital infection vs DPP‐4 inhibitor (risk ratio [RR], 5.31) and consistent genital infection vs an SGLT2 inhibitor (RR, 0.61). Further studies are warranted to confirm these results

Effect of Sodium–Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors on Diabetic Ketoacidosis Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

SCI(E)[email protected]

G-VAE: A Continuously Variable Rate Deep Image Compression Framework

Rate adaption of deep image compression in a single model will become one of the decisive factors competing with the classical image compression codecs. However, until now, there is no perfect solution that neither increases the computation nor affects the compression performance. In this paper, we propose a novel image compression framework G-VAE (Gained Variational Autoencoder), which could achieve continuously variable rate in a single model. Unlike the previous solutions that encode progressively or change the internal unit of the network, G-VAE only adds a pair of gain units at the output of encoder and the input of decoder. It is so concise that G-VAE could be applied to almost all the image compression methods and achieve continuously variable rate with negligible additional parameters and computation. We also propose a new deep image compression framework, which outperforms all the published results on Kodak datasets in PSNR and MS-SSIM metrics. Experimental results show that adding a pair of gain units will not affect the performance of the basic models while endowing them with continuously variable rate

Meta-Analysis of Effects of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors on Cardiovascular Outcomes and All-Cause Mortality Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

The benefit or risk of sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors on cardiovascular (CV) outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus has not been established. We aimed to assess the comparative CV safety and mortality risk associated with the use of SGLT2 inhibitors. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), and ClinicalTrials.gov were systematically searched up to January 27, 2016, to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with the use of SGLT2 inhibitors of at least 24 weeks of duration. The primary outcomes included all-cause mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events. A random-effects network meta-analysis was performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) with 95% CI. We identified 37 eligible trials involving 29,859 patients that compared 3 SGLT2 inhibitors (canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin) to placebo and other active antidiabetic treatments. Of all direct and indirect comparisons, only empagliflozin compared with placebo was significantly associated with lower risk of all-cause mortality (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.56 to 0.81) and major adverse cardiovascular events (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.70 to 0.93). However, the significant effect of empagliflozin was largely driven by one large randomized trial (EMPA-REG OUTCOME trial). Neither dapagliflozin nor canagliflozin was significantly associated with any harm. In conclusion, current RCT evidence suggests that 3 common SGLT2 inhibitors are not associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality and CV outcomes when used to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Although empagliflozin may have a protective effect, further confirmative data from rigorous RCTs are needed

Comparisons of diabetic retinopathy events associated with glucose‐lowering drugs in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: A network meta‐analysis

Aim To assess the comparative effects of glucose‐lowering drugs (GLDs) on the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods We systematically searched Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PUBMED and EMBASE from inception to January 17, 2017 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that reported DR events among T2DM patients receiving any GLD. Random‐effects pairwise and network meta‐analyses were performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results A total of 37 independent RCTs with 1806 DR events among 100 928 patients with T2DM were included. The mean duration of diabetes was 8.7 years and mean baseline HbA1c was 8.2% (SD, 0.5%). Our network meta‐analysis found that DPP‐4i (OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.87‐1.65), GLP‐1RA (OR, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.94‐1.52) and SGLT2 inhibitors (OR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.49‐1.28) were not associated with a higher risk of DR than placebo; however, a significantly increased risk of DR was associated with DPP‐4i in the pairwise meta‐analysis (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05‐1.53). Sulfonylureas, on the other hand, were associated with a significantly increased risk of DR compared to placebo (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.01‐2.76). Conclusions Current evidence indicates that the association between DPP‐4i, GLP‐1RA or SGLT2 inhibitors and risk of DR remains uncertain in patients with T2DM. Some evidence suggests that sulfonylureas may be associated with increased risk of DR. However, given that DR events were not systematically assessed, these effects should be explored further in large‐scale, well‐designed studies

Pioglitazone and bladder cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Current evidence about the association between pioglitazone and bladder cancer risk remains conflict. We aimed to assess the risk of bladder cancer associated with the use of pioglitazone and identify modifiers that affect the results. We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from inception to 25 August 2016 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that evaluated the association between pioglitazone and bladder cancer risk. Conventional and cumulative meta-analyses were used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). A restricted spline regression analysis was used to examine the dose-response relationship with a generalized least-squares trend test. We included two RCTs involving 9114 patients and 20 observational studies (n = 4,846,088 individuals). An increased risk of bladder cancer in patients treated with pioglitazone versus placebo was noted from RCTs (OR, 1.84; 95%CI, 0.99 to 3.42). In observational studies, the increased risk of bladder cancer was slight but significant among ever-users of pioglitazone versus never-users (OR, 1.13; 95%CI, 1.03 to 1.25), which appeared to be both time- (P = 0.003) and dose-dependent (P = 0.05). In addition, we observed the association differed by region of studies (Europe, United States, or Asia) or source of funding (sponsored by industry or not). Current evidence suggests that pioglitazone may increase the risk of bladder cancer, possibly in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Patients with long-term and high-dose exposure to pioglitazone should be monitored regularly for signs of bladder cancer

COMPUTER SIMULATION OF THE PESTICIDE DEPOSITION DISTRIBUTION IN HORIZONTAL DIRECTION SPRAY

Abstract: The objective of this study is taken to realize pesticide precision spray of fruit trees and the other crops and reduce the deposition losses outside the canopy when the real time sensing technology was used in the pesticide target spray. In this paper the Pesticide solution deposition distribution experiments were conducted with two different volume median diameter (VMD) hollow cone nozzles fixed in horizontal direction, to investigate the influence of spray pressure and spray ground speed on the spray deposition region. The probability distribution model of the pesticide deposition was constructed based on the experiments, and the pesticide spray distribution range was simulated by using Matlab statistic toolbox. The simulation result showed that the spray pressure and the ground speed had the great influence on the maximum spray distance. With the increase of the spray speed, the spray deposition distribution range decreases gradually, when the nozzle 200 is under the speed above 1.20km/h and nozzle 300 is under the speed above 2.22km/h, the deposition range was reduced greatly. So the computer simulations make a reference for the choice of the spray control parameters