Intention Understanding in Human-Robot Interaction Based on Visual-NLP Semantics

With the rapid development of robotic and AI technology in recent years, human-robot interaction has made great advancement, making practical social impact. Verbal commands are one of the most direct and frequently used means for human-robot interaction. Currently, such technology can enable robots to execute pre-defined tasks based on simple and direct and explicit language instructions, e.g., certain keywords must be used and detected. However, that is not the natural way for human to communicate. In this paper, we propose a novel task-based framework to enable the robot to comprehend human intentions using visual semantics information, such that the robot is able to satisfy human intentions based on natural language instructions (total three types, namely clear, vague, and feeling, are defined and tested). The proposed framework includes a language semantics module to extract the keywords despite the explicitly of the command instruction, a visual object recognition module to identify the objects in front of the robot, and a similarity computation algorithm to infer the intention based on the given task. The task is then translated into the commands for the robot accordingly. Experiments are performed and validated on a humanoid robot with a defined task: to pick the desired item out of multiple objects on the table, and hand over to one desired user out of multiple human participants. The results show that our algorithm can interact with different types of instructions, even with unseen sentence structures

Dynamic identification method for rockburst hazard areas based on multivariate geophysical indicators and its application

It is of great significance to accurately identify the rockburst hazard areas and give the hazard level and its evolution law for rockburst prevention and control. In this study, the method combining deformation localization with multivariate geophysical indicators spatial scanning is used to explore the precursor characteristics of microseismic in the area of high-energy microseismic events and track the dynamic evolution process of rockburst hazard areas. Based on the principle of deformation localization, the gradient significance indicator is used to identify the deformation localization areas and delineate the hazard area. The sliding window scanning method is used to study the spatial distribution characteristics of physical indicators such as b value, A(b) value and S value in the deformation localization areas. The b value, A(b) value, S value, ∆F and A(t) value corresponding to the high-energy microseismic events identified by the gradient significance index during excavation are used as the threshold values for classifying the rockbrust hazard level during the mining operation. The Bayesian network method is used to analyze the effectiveness of each physical indicator in predicting the hazard areas, and a comprehensive predicting hazard areas model is constructed to calculate the weight of physical indicators and obtain the comprehensive predicting indicators. The 513 working face is analyzed as an example. The results show that the geophysical indicators can identify the microseismic gathering signal and assess the hazard areas. Three microseismic events gathering areas are determined according to the measured data of 513 working face. The spatial scanning results of physical indicators and the gathering areas of microseismic data have the synchronization characteristics. When some high-energy microseismic events occur, the physical indicator value of the area is higher than the rockburst hazard threshold, and the hazard areas identified by the physical indicator spatial scanning is basically consistent with the gathering areas of microseismic data. The integrated prediction model is used to predict the hazard area during the mining period of the working face. The results show that the rockburst hazard events mostly occur in the strong high hazard areas predicted by the integrated prediction indicator. With the superposition of microseismic data during the mining period, the high rockburst hazard areas is further concentrated, and the overlap degree with the high hazard event location is higher. The prediction efficiency of the integrated prediction indicator is generally higher than that of single physical indicator, which significantly enhances the ability to accurately predict the rockburst hazard areas

Approaching Disorder-Tolerant Semiconducting Polymers

Doping has been widely used to control the charge carrier concentration in organic semiconductors. However, in conjugated polymers, n-doping is often limited by the tradeoff between doping efficiency and charge carrier mobilities, since dopants often randomly distribute within polymers, leading to significant structural and energetic disorder. Here, we screen a large number of polymer building block combinations and explore the possibility of designing n-type conjugated polymers with good tolerance to dopant-induced disorder. We show that a carefully designed conjugated polymer with a single dominant planar backbone conformation, high torsional barrier at each dihedral angle, and zigzag backbone curvature is highly dopable and can tolerate dopant-induced disorder. With these features, the designed diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP)-based polymer can be efficiently n-doped and exhibit high n-type electrical conductivities over 120 S cm−1, much higher than the reference polymers with similar chemical structures. This work provides a polymer design concept for highly dopable and highly conductive polymeric semiconductors

Real-world Effectiveness and Tolerability of Interferon-free Direct-acting Antiviral for 15,849 Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: A Multinational Cohort Study

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: As practice patterns and hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes (GT) vary geographically, a global real-world study from both East and West covering all GTs can help inform practice policy toward the 2030 HCV elimination goal. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and tolerability of DAA treatment in routine clinical practice in a multinational cohort for patients infected with all HCV GTs, focusing on GT3 and GT6. METHODS: We analyzed the sustained virological response (SVR12) of 15,849 chronic hepatitis C patients from 39 Real-World Evidence from the Asia Liver Consortium for HCV clinical sites in Asia Pacific, North America, and Europe between 07/01/2014-07/01/2021. RESULTS: The mean age was 62±13 years, with 49.6% male. The demographic breakdown was 91.1% Asian (52.9% Japanese, 25.7% Chinese/Taiwanese, 5.4% Korean, 3.3% Malaysian, and 2.9% Vietnamese), 6.4% White, 1.3% Hispanic/Latino, and 1% Black/African-American. Additionally, 34.8% had cirrhosis, 8.6% had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and 24.9% were treatment-experienced (20.7% with interferon, 4.3% with direct-acting antivirals). The largest group was GT1 (10,246 [64.6%]), followed by GT2 (3,686 [23.2%]), GT3 (1,151 [7.2%]), GT6 (457 [2.8%]), GT4 (47 [0.3%]), GT5 (1 [0.006%]), and untyped GTs (261 [1.6%]). The overall SVR12 was 96.9%, with rates over 95% for GT1/2/3/6 but 91.5% for GT4. SVR12 for GT3 was 95.1% overall, 98.2% for GT3a, and 94.0% for GT3b. SVR12 was 98.3% overall for GT6, lower for patients with cirrhosis and treatment-experienced (TE) (93.8%) but ≥97.5% for treatment-naive patients regardless of cirrhosis status. On multivariable analysis, advanced age, prior treatment failure, cirrhosis, active HCC, and GT3/4 were independent predictors of lower SVR12, while being Asian was a significant predictor of achieving SVR12. CONCLUSIONS: In this diverse multinational real-world cohort of patients with various GTs, the overall cure rate was 96.9%, despite large numbers of patients with cirrhosis, HCC, TE, and GT3/6. SVR12 for GT3/6 with cirrhosis and TE was lower but still excellent (\u3e91%)

Exploring the Characteristics and Drivers of Expansion in the Shandong Peninsula Urban Agglomeration Based on Nighttime Light Data

This study takes 16 cities in the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration as the research object. Based on the nighttime lighting data from 2000 to 2020, the enhanced vegetation-adjusted nighttime light index is constructed on a five-year time scale using the statistical data comparison method to extract the urban built-up area boundaries, built-up area expansion index, and spatial form characteristics. The following findings have been drawn: First, the urban expansion rate, intensity, and compactness of the cities in the study area are characterized by a year-on-year decline. Jinan and Qingdao show a double-core pattern of urban expansion. In the first stage, the intensity of built-up area expansion is the strongest, and the compactness also shows a decreasing annually trend from the southwest to the northeast. Second, the highest percentage of sprawl is edge expansion with the main urban areas of cities dominated by edge expansion, while counties have a high percentage of outlying. Third, the northern coastal areas of the city's center of gravity and the cities of southern Lunan show varying degrees of divergent trends. The center of gravity of the cities around Jinan is characterized by local concentration, and the mutual attraction of the cities of Weifang and Qingdao is increasing. Fourth, based on the analysis of the center of gravity-GTWR, the main drivers of speed expansion are fiscal and economic, population education, transportation, and urban facilities construction. The compactness expansion drivers are financial, medical, population, transportation, education, and urban construction. The drivers are characterized by a more pronounced spatiotemporal heterogeneity

Coalbursts in China: Theory, practice and management

Coalburst is one of the most serious disasters that threaten the safe production of coal mines, and this disaster is particularly serious in China. This paper presents an overview of coalbursts in China since 1980s. From the ''stress and energy'' and ''regional and local'' perspectives, the achievements in the theory, practice and management of coalbursts in China are systematically summarized. A theoretical system of coalbursts has been formed to reveal the deformational behavior of coalbursts and explain the mechanism of coalbursts. The occurrence conditions of coalbursts are put forward and the critical stress is obtained. The stress index method for risk evaluation of coalbursts before mining is proposed, and the deformation localization prediction method of coalbursts is put forward. The relationship between energy release and absorption in the process of coalbursts is found, and the prevention and control methods of coalbursts, including the regional method, the local method and support, are presented. The safety evaluation index of coalburst prevention and control is put forward. The integrated prevention and control method for coal and gas outbursts is proposed. The prevention and control technology and equipment of coalbursts have also been developed. Amongst them, the distribution law of the critical stress in China coalburst mines is discovered. The technology and equipment for monitoring, prevention and control of coalbursts, as well as for integrated prevention and control of combined coalbursts and other disasters, have been developed. The energy-absorbing and coalburst-preventing support technology for roadways is invented, and key engineering parameters of coalburst prevention and control are pointed out. In China, coalburst prevention and control laws and standards have been developed. Technical standards for coalbursts are formulated, statute and regulations for coal mines are established, and regulatory documents are promoted

Zein-Functionalized MCM-41 Silica Nanoparticles with Enzyme-Responsive for Controlled Release in Antibacterial Activity

This research provided a novel enzyme-responsive antimicrobial carrier aiming at overcoming the volatile loss of active antibacterial components, by employing mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MCM-41) as the matrix of encapsulation and Zein as the molecular gate. Since Zein could be consumed by bacteria, Zein-functionalized MCM-41 acted as an enzyme-responsive gate and improved the controlled-release capacity. The results showed that the amount of capsaicin released from Zein-functionalized MCM-41 without bacteria was quite low compared with the essential oils liberated with bacteria. This validated that the delivery of capsaicin was hampered by Zein and the existence of Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) promoted the release of encapsulated cargo. The release rate of capsaicin in Zein-functionalized MCM-41 climbed with the growth velocity of bacteria. These functions were realized in the form of controlled diffusion of essential oils encapsulated in MCM-41 by electrostatic interaction, and Zein was performed by both covalent bonding interaction and electrostatic interaction. Zein-functionalized MCM-41 was 2.4 times more effective in killing E. coli and 1.2 times more effective in inhibiting S. aureus than an equal amount of free capsaicin, and possessed a long-lasting antibacterial activity. The responsive antimicrobial material might be used as a promising preservative in the food industry for antimicrobial activity enhancement

Extraction of Urban Built-Up Areas Using Nighttime Light (NTL) and Multi-Source Data: A Case Study in Dalian City, China

The rapid urban development associated with China’s reform and opening up has been the source of many urban problems. To understand these issues, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the distribution of urban spatial structure. Taking the six districts of Dalian as an example, in this study, we integrated the enhanced vegetation index, points of interest, and surface temperature data into night light data. Furthermore, herein, we analyze the kernel density of the points of interest and construct three indices using image geometric mean: a human settlement index (HSI), a HSI-POI (HP) index, and a HSI-POI-LST (HPL) index. Using a support vector machine to identify the land type in Dalian’s built-up area, 1000 sampling points were created for verification. Then, the threshold boundary corresponding to the highest overall accuracy of each index and kappa coefficient was selected. The relevant conclusions are as follows: As compared with the other three types of data, the HPL index constructed in this study exhibited natural and social attributes, and the built-up area extracted using this method had the highest accuracy, a high image spatial resolution, and was able to overcome the omission issues observed when using one or two data sources. In addition, this method produces richer spatial details of the actual built-up area and provides more choices for assessing small-scale urban built-up areas in future research