Real-time 3-D Mapping with Estimating Acoustic Materials

This paper proposes a real-time system integrating an acoustic material estimation from visual appearance and an on-the-fly mapping in the 3-dimension. The proposed method estimates the acoustic materials of surroundings in indoor scenes and incorporates them to a 3-D occupancy map, as a robot moves around the environment. To estimate the acoustic material from the visual cue, we apply the state-of-the-art semantic segmentation CNN network based on the assumption that the visual appearance and the acoustic materials have a strong association. Furthermore, we introduce an update policy to handle the material estimations during the online mapping process. As a result, our environment map with acoustic material can be used for sound-related robotics applications, such as sound source localization taking into account various acoustic propagation (e.g., reflection)

Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance: An Empirical Study of Software Firms in West Africa

This study investigates factors instrumental to the success of software industries of the 3I Nations (India, Ireland and Israel), examines the relationship between its elements, and studies the performance of software firms in West Africa. The study draws on concepts from multiple theoretical perspectives to develop a model for assessing the relationship between intellectual capital of software firms and their performance. The developed model was experimentally validated through a field survey of 83 software companies in West Africa using the Partial Least Square method. The survey results show significant relationship between the elements of intellectual capital and competitive capabilities of firms and between competitive capabilities and firm performance. Mixed results were found on the moderating effects of management commitment and transformational leadership. The findings provide important implications to researchers, policy makers, software developers and other market players while contributing to knowledge on strategic management and the strategic importance of intellectual capital

Harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to increase wellbeing for all: The case for a new technology diplomacy

The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is experiencing a period of intense progress due to the consolidation of several key technological enablers. AI is already deployed widely and has a high impact on work and daily life activities. The continuation of this process will likely contribute to deep economic and social changes. To realise the tremendous benefits of AI while mitigating undesirable effects will require enlightened responses by many stakeholders. Varying national institutional, economic, political, and cultural conditions will influence how AI will affect convenience, efficiency, personalisation, privacy protection, and surveillance of citizens. Many expect that the winners of the AI development race will dominate the coming decades economically and geopolitically, potentially exacerbating tensions between countries. Moreover, nations are under pressure to protect their citizens and their interests—and even their own political stability—in the face of possible malicious or biased uses of AI. On the one hand, these different stressors and emphases in AI development and deployment among nations risk a fragmentation between world regions that threatens technology evolution and collaboration. On the other hand, some level of differentiation will likely enrich the global AI ecosystem in ways that stimulate innovation and introduce competitive checks and balances through the decentralisation of AI development. International cooperation, typically orchestrated by intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, private sector initiatives, and by academic researchers, has improved common welfare and avoided undesirable outcomes in other technology areas. Because AI will most likely have more fundamental effects on our lives than other recent technologies, stronger forms of cooperation that address broader policy and governance challenges in addition to regulatory and technological issues may be needed. At a time of great challenges among nations, international policy coordination remains a necessary instrument to tackle the ethical, cultural, economic, and political repercussions of AI. We propose to advance the emerging concept of technology diplomacy to facilitate the global alignment of AI policy and governance and create a vibrant AI innovation system. We argue that the prevention of malicious uses of AI and the enhancement of human welfare create strong common interests across jurisdictions that require sustained efforts to develop better, mutually beneficial approaches. We hope that new technology diplomacy will facilitate the dialogues necessary to help all interested parties develop a shared understanding and coordinate efforts to utilise AI for the benefit of humanity, a task whose difficulty should not be underestimated

Hippocampal glucose uptake as a surrogate of metabolic change of microglia in Alzheimers disease

Abstract Background Dynamically altered microglia play an important role in the progression of Alzheimers disease (AD). Here, we found a close association of the metabolic reconfiguration of microglia with increased hippocampal glucose uptake on [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET. Methods We used an AD animal model, 5xFAD, to analyze hippocampal glucose metabolism using both animal FDG PET and ex vivo FDG uptake test. Cells of the hippocampus were isolated to perform single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq). The molecular features of cells associated with glucose metabolism were analyzed at a single-cell level. In order to apply our findings to human brain imaging study, brain FDG PET data obtained from the Alzheimers Disease Neuroimaging Initiative were analyzed. FDG uptake in the hippocampus was compared according to the diagnosis, AD, mild cognitive impairment, and controls. The correlation analysis between hippocampal FDG uptake and soluble TREM2 in cerebrospinal fluid was performed. Results In the animal study, 8- and 12-month-old 5xFAD mice showed higher FDG uptake in the hippocampus than wild-type mice. Cellular FDG uptake tests showed that FDG activity in hippocampal microglia was increased in the AD model, while FDG activity in non-microglial cells of the hippocampus was not different between the AD model and wild-type. scRNA-seq data showed that changes in glucose metabolism signatures including glucose transporters, glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation, mainly occurred in microglia. A subset of microglia with higher glucose transporters with defective glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation was increased according to disease progression. In the human imaging study, we found a positive association between soluble TREM2 and hippocampal FDG uptake. FDG uptake in the hippocampus at the baseline scan predicted mild cognitive impairment conversion to AD. Conclusions We identified the reconfiguration of microglial glucose metabolism in the hippocampus of AD, which could be evaluated by FDG PET as a feasible surrogate imaging biomarker for microglia-mediated inflammation

Income, spatial competition and welfare

This dissertation is comprised of four essays. Chapter II develops a new way to present standard urban models and a new rent function called the rent-commuting cost function. The rent-commuting cost function represents the relationship between rent and total commuting cost, and is advantageous because it is independent of the functional form of the commuting cost function and its gradient falls as household income rises. However, the gradient of the rent-distance function may not fall as income grows if: (1) the income elasticity of marginal commuting cost is greater than the income elasticity of land demand; (2) congestion is considered; and (3) commuting cost is a function of income and distance. Therefore, the gradient of the rent-commuting cost function is an appropriate measure of suburbanization, and the gradient of the rent-distance function is not. Chapter III examines comparative statics and derives the effects of income on urban characteristics using a closed model. The commuting cost is assumed to be a function of income and distance. As income grows household utility increases but less than it would in the standard model where the commuting cost is solely a function of distance. Also, the length of the border of the city becomes elongates as income grows. In contrast to the Alonso-Wheaton model, land rent at the central business district (CBD) rises as income grows if the time cost of commuting is greater than the operating cost. If an increase in income causes total commuting cost to increase significantly, households\u27 willingness to bid more for land closer to the CBD will be strengthened since they can save more money by doing so. As income grows land demand rises and population density falls at the CBD. Chapter IV also uses comparative statics to derive the effects of a median preserving increase in wage inequality on the welfare of households. It uses the same model as in Chapter III but with two income classes. An increase in income of the wealthy living in the suburban area can either hurt or improve the welfare of the poor depending on the relative magnitudes of operating cost and time cost. In contrast, an increase in the income of the poor living in the central area of the city always hurts the rich. Generally, if an increase in income of one class intensifies competition for land at the boundary of two classes, it hurts the other. Alternatively, if competition for land at the boundary is reduced, the welfare of the other class is enhanced. Chapter V assumes a commuting network made up of dense circular streets and finite radial roads. Based on the assumed commuting network, the market and optimal commuting cost functions are derived. Using the Alonso-Wheaton model equipped with new commuting cost functions, the optimal and equilibrium allocations of land between residential and public uses are derived. If households are freely mobile and a city is small, a local government can attain the optimal allocation of land by maximizing population. The optimal allocation of land for roads is the same as the equilibrium allocation

Rent-Commuting Cost Function Versus Rent-Distance Function

This paper develops a new way to present standard urban models graphically and a new rent function called the rent-commuting cost function. The rent-commuting cost function represents the relationship between rent and total commuting cost. At least theoretically, it is superior to the traditional rent-distance function in depicting and measuring stylized facts of the city because its gradient is independent of the functional form of the commuting cost function and falls as household income rises. Copyright 2002 Blackwell Publishers