Learning Social Navigation from Demonstrations with Conditional Neural Processes

Sociability is essential for modern robots to increase their acceptability in human environments. Traditional techniques use manually engineered utility functions inspired by observing pedestrian behaviors to achieve social navigation. However, social aspects of navigation are diverse, changing across different types of environments, societies, and population densities, making it unrealistic to use hand-crafted techniques in each domain. This paper presents a data-driven navigation architecture that uses state-of-the-art neural architectures, namely Conditional Neural Processes, to learn global and local controllers of the mobile robot from observations. Additionally, we leverage a state-of-the-art, deep prediction mechanism to detect situations not similar to the trained ones, where reactive controllers step in to ensure safe navigation. Our results demonstrate that the proposed framework can successfully carry out navigation tasks regarding social norms in the data. Further, we showed that our system produces fewer personal-zone violations, causing less discomfort

Geojournalism: An Emerging Discipline and its Application at University of The Bahamas

Geojournalism is a growing field within environmental journalism at the intersection of both eco- and data-journalism. It is a new way to combine maps and data with traditional reporting in online platforms to provide scientific evidence for stories and narrative context for data. However, given its novelty, there appears to be little formal recognition of geojournalism in educational and academic contexts. In this paper, we review tools, techniques, and platforms that can be applied by educators and learners to investigate and report on geographic and environmental issues. We also describe examples of geojournalism (blog, radio show, infographic, photostory, and virtual field trip) resulting from collaboration between Geography and Journalism faculty and students at University of The Bahamas. We propose that geojournalism include geography researchers, educators, students, and citizen scientists sharing their knowledge and data with journalists and as well as being trained in journalism themselves. This study furthers the recognition and formalization of geojournalism in environmental communication and higher education

An Investigation on the Additional Cost of Green Products: The Willingness to Pay of University Students

Nowadays, it is inevitable for companies to be human oriented as well as being customer oriented. Because one of the factors that provide long-term profitability is to be socially responsible. Companies perform this with the help of green marketing applications. The aim of this study is to determine the willingness to pay of university students for the additional cost of green product, and reveal consequences for companies in terms of price adjustments. In this study used convenience sampling, 10 different durable and non-durable products have been determined. Different price levels selected in order to expose price sensitivity. While determining the price categories increases in the cost of 5 % have been taken into consideration. The survey implemented to 481 participants at Sakarya University. It's concluded that consumers are willing to pay an additional price for green products. Price sensitivity is found to be relative. Product itself is also found important as well as price. Consequently for a better environment companies keep prices at acceptable levels and consumers purchase more green products

Evaluating Value-at-Risk in BIST Using Copula Approach

Modelling dependence structure between variables is commonly investigated in literature. A large variety of methods have been improved in recent times. One of the methods is the copula which models accurately dependency regardless of marginal distributions. In this paper Value-at-Risk (VaR) is computed using the copulas. It is assumed that the dependency does not vary through time since small time interval is used. The study composes of two steps. In the first step the best fitted copula is determined by ML (Maximum likelihood). In the second step equal-weighted portfolio analysis is performed by joint distribution function obtained from the copula and maximum possible losses of the portfolio are evaluated. The main challenge in portfolio analysis is that joint distribution function for stocks cannot be correctly constructed by considering dependence structure among them. We obtain joint distribution function for stocks using the copula approach that has been commonly used in recent times. After the best fitted copula is determined using the criterions such as AIC (Akaike information criterion) and SBC (Schwar

Royal Jelly Modulates Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in Liver and Kidneys of Rats Treated with Cisplatin

Cisplatin (CDDP) is one of the most active cytotoxic agents in the treatment of cancer and has adverse side effects such as nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity. The present study was designed to determine the effects of royal jelly (RJ) against oxidative stress caused by CDDP injury of the kidneys and liver, by measuring tissue biochemical and antioxidant parameters and investigating apoptosis immunohistochemically. Twenty-four Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups, group C: control group received 0.9% saline; group CDDP: injected i.p. with cisplatin (CDDP, 7 mg kg−1 body weight i.p., single dose); group RJ: treated for 15 consecutive days by gavage with RJ (300 mg/kg/day); group RJ + CDDP: treated by gavage with RJ 15 days following a single injection of CDDP. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels, glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities were determined in liver and kidney homogenates, and the liver and kidney were also histologically examined. RJ elicited a significant protective effect towards liver and kidney by decreasing the level of lipid peroxidation (MDA), elevating the level of GSH, and increasing the activities of GST, GSH-Px, and SOD. In the immunohistochemical examinations were observed significantly enhanced apoptotic cell numbers and degenerative changes by cisplatin, but these histological changes were lower in the liver and kidney tissues of RJ + CDDP group. Besides, treatment with RJ lead to an increase in antiapoptotic activity hepatocytes and tubular epithelium. In conclusion, RJ may be used in combination with cisplatin in chemotherapy to improve cisplatin-induced oxidative stress parameters and apoptotic activity

THE EFFECT OF SOME ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON MILK COMPOSITION OF ANATOLIAN BUFFALOES

WOS: 000413672900011The aim of this study was to determine the composition of raw milk from Anatolian water buffaloes raised under different village conditions in the Tokat province of Northern Turkey. The study materials included 600 milk samples from 120 water buffaloes raised at different farms in 12 separate villages of the Erbaa, Turhal, and Pazar counties in the Tokat Province. The dry matter, nonfat dry matter (or solid non fat), fat, protein, lactose, and casein content of the milk samples were determined. The study results demonstrated that the mean dry matter, nonfat dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, and casein content of the raw milk samples were 16.99 +/- 0.108%, 10.88 +/- 0.036%, 5.98 +/- 0.107%, 4.85 +/- 0.043%, 5.17 +/- 0,021%, and 3.61 +/- 0.036%, respectively. The study data were evaluated according to the water buffaloes' lactation stage, parity, and season by using the SPSS statistical program. It was concluded that the sampling time, parity, village conditions, stage of lactation and calving age had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the dry matter, nonfat dry matter, fat, protein, lactose, and casein content of raw milk from the Anatolian water buffalo.Ahi Evran University Scientific Research Projects Coordination UnitAhi Evran University [ZRT.E2.16.008]; General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies in Tokat provinceThis work was supported by the Ahi Evran University Scientific Research Projects Coordination Unit. Project Number: ZRT.E2.16.008. This study's data were obtained from the scope of the project of improvement of Anatolian buffalo in public hand supported by General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies in Tokat province. We would like to thank Tokat Water Buffalo Breeders' Association for valuable technical assistance

Real-world efficacy and safety of Ledipasvir + Sofosbuvir and Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir ± Dasabuvir combination therapies for chronic hepatitis C: A Turkish experience

Background/Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the real-life efficacy and tolerability of direct-acting antiviral treatments for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) with/without cirrhosis in the Turkish population. Material and Methods: A total of 4,352 patients with CHC from 36 different institutions in Turkey were enrolled. They received ledipasvir (LDV) and sofosbuvir (SOF)+/- ribavirin (RBV) ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir +/- dasabuvir (PrOD)+/- RBV for 12 or 24 weeks. Sustained virologic response (SVR) rates, factors affecting SVR, safety profile, and hepatocellular cancer (HCC) occurrence were analyzed. Results: SVR12 was achieved in 92.8% of the patients (4,040/4,352) according to intention-to-treat and in 98.3% of the patients (4,040/4,108) according to per-protocol analysis. The SVR12 rates were similar between the treatment regimens (97.2%-100%) and genotypes (95.6%-100%). Patients achieving SVR showed a significant decrease in the mean serum alanine transaminase (ALT) levels (50.90 +/- 54.60 U/L to 17.00 +/- 14.50 U/L) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores (7.51 +/- 4.54 to 7.32 +/- 3.40) (p<0.05). Of the patients, 2 were diagnosed with HCC during the treatment and 14 were diagnosed with HCC 37.0 +/- 16.0 weeks post-treatment. Higher initial MELD score (odds ratio [OR]: 1.92, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.22-2.38; p=0.023]), higher hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA levels (OR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.31-2.28; p=0.038), and higher serum ALT levels (OR: 1.38, 95% CI: 1.21-1.83; p=0.042) were associated with poor SVR12. The most common adverse events were fatigue (12.6%), pruritis (7.3%), increased serum ALT (4.7%) and bilirubin (3.8%) levels, and anemia (3.1%). Conclusion: LDV/SOF or PrOD +/- RBV were effective and tolerable treatments for patients with CHC and with or without advanced liver disease before and after liver transplantation. Although HCV eradication improves the liver function, there is a risk of developing HCC.Turkish Association for the Study of The Liver (TASL)The present study was supported by The Turkish Association for the Study of The Liver (TASL)

The relationship between isokinetic knee flexion and extension muscle strength, jump performance, dynamic balance and injury risk in female volleyball players

The relationship between balance, knee muscle strength, jump height and risk of injury has not been clearly stated in female volleyball athletes. The study was to determine whether a correlation exists between knee joint isokinetic muscle strength, risk of injury, balance and jump height in female volleyball athletes. Twenty-two female volleyball athletes were involved into the study. Knee muscle strength were evaluated with the Biodex 3® isokinetic dynamometer. Jump performances were evaluated with the countermovement (CMJ) jump test using the Vert Jump® Motion Sensitive Sensor. The injury risk for all players were evaluated by the Functional Movement Screen (FMS®). Balance measurements were performed with a dynamometer Biodex Systems 3® device. There was a significant relationship between CMJ height, knee flexion and extension peak torque and H:Q ratio values at two angular velocities, dynamic balance and total FMS® scores (p.05). We suggest that all clinicians and coaches involved in the protective and preventive rehabilitation phase evaluate these parameters and plan their training programs in line with the results obtained in increasing both individual and team performance of athletes