Cooperative Pursuit with Multi-Pursuer and One Faster Free-moving Evader

This paper addresses a multi-pursuer single-evader pursuit-evasion game where the free-moving evader moves faster than the pursuers. Most of the existing works impose constraints on the faster evader such as limited moving area and moving direction. When the faster evader is allowed to move freely without any constraint, the main issues are how to form an encirclement to trap the evader into the capture domain, how to balance between forming an encirclement and approaching the faster evader, and what conditions make the capture possible. In this paper, a distributed pursuit algorithm is proposed to enable pursuers to form an encirclement and approach the faster evader. An algorithm that balances between forming an encirclement and approaching the faster evader is proposed. Moreover, sufficient capture conditions are derived based on the initial spatial distribution and the speed ratios of the pursuers and the evader. Simulation and experimental results on ground robots validate the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed method

Tsg-6 : an inducible mediator of paracrine anti-inflammatory and myeloprotective effects of adipose stem cells

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).Tumor necrosis factor-induced protein 6 (TSG-6) has been shown to mitigate inflammation. Its presence in the secretome of adipose stem / stromal cells (ASC) and its role in activities of ASC have been overlooked. This thesis described for the first time the release of TSG-6 from ASC, and its modulation by endothelial cells. It also revealed that protection of endothelial barrier function was a novel mechanism underlying the anti-inflammatory activity of both ASC and TSG-6. Moreover, TSG-6 was found to inhibit mitogen-activated lymphocyte proliferation, extending the understanding of its pleiotropic effects on major cell populations involved in inflammation. Next, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were established to quantify secretion of TSG-6 from human and murine ASC. To study the importance of TSG-6 to specific activities of ASC, TSG-6 was knocked down in human ASC by siRNA. Murine ASC from TSG-6-/- mice were isolated and the down-regulation of TSG-6 was verified by ELISA. The subsequent attempt to determine the efficacy of ASC in ameliorating ischemic limb necrosis and the role of TSG-6, however, was hampered by the highly variable ischemic tissue necrosis in the BALB/c mouse strain. Afterwards in a mouse model of cigarette smoking (CS), in which inflammation also plays an important role, it was observed, for the first time, that 3-day CS exposure caused an acute functional exhaustion and cell cycle arrest of hematopoietic progenitor cells; and that 7-week CS exposure led to marked depletion of phenotypic bone marrow stem and progenitor cells (HSPC). Moreover, a dynamic crosstalk between human ASC and murine host inflammatory signals was described, and specifically TSG-6 was identified as a necessary and sufficient mediator accounting for the activity of the ASC secretome to ameliorate CS-induced myelotoxicity. These results implicate TSG-6 as a key mediator for activities of ASC in mitigation of inflammation and protection of HSPC from the myelotoxicity of cigarette smoke. They also prompt the notion that ASC and TSG-6 might potentially play therapeutic roles in other scenarios involving myelotoxicity

Self-presentation and gender of chinese overseas students on social media : a case study of Sina Weibo

Chinese micro-blogging sites have been developing dramatically in the past 5 years. Therefore, China is an interesting context in which to study Chinese young adults’ self-presentation and gender identity on the most popular social media, Sina Weibo. This is a master thesis about self-presentation and gender on Sina Weibo. Six Chinese overseas students and their Weibo accounts were under investigation in this research and four participants were also interviewed. Three of the participants are female users and the rest are male users, including two homosexual participants. The data was collected in November-December 2013 which consists of 6 Weibo accounts and 4 interviews. Content analysis was applied as the main methods in this research. An affordance perspective of social media was utilized as theoretical framework and three affordances were focused on in particular: visibility, interactivity and individuality. The results from the analysis of three affordances of Weibo reveal that Sina Weibo serves as an open and dynamic platform for Chinese youngsters by encouraging social connection and enabling them to multimedia self-expression. However, social connection on Weibo was found not tight between participants and their audiences. The gender differences in use patterns and preferences were also found on Weibo. However, there is a big gap of social media skill among users, only quite a few users can drive this vehicle well and become opinion leaders. Additionally, Weibo serves as an open virtual community for non-heterosexual group, but it cannot replace the reality from where non-heterosexual group still suffer