Scan matching by cross-correlation and differential evolution

Scan matching is an important task, solved in the context of many high-level problems including pose estimation, indoor localization, simultaneous localization and mapping and others. Methods that are accurate and adaptive and at the same time computationally efficient are required to enable location-based services in autonomous mobile devices. Such devices usually have a wide range of high-resolution sensors but only a limited processing power and constrained energy supply. This work introduces a novel high-level scan matching strategy that uses a combination of two advanced algorithms recently used in this field: cross-correlation and differential evolution. The cross-correlation between two laser range scans is used as an efficient measure of scan alignment and the differential evolution algorithm is used to search for the parameters of a transformation that aligns the scans. The proposed method was experimentally validated and showed good ability to match laser range scans taken shortly after each other and an excellent ability to match laser range scans taken with longer time intervals between them.Web of Science88art. no. 85

Novel point-to-point scan matching algorithm based on cross-correlation

The localization of mobile robots in outdoor and indoor environments is a complex issue. Many sophisticated approaches, based on various types of sensory inputs and different computational concepts, are used to accomplish this task. However, many of the most efficient methods for mobile robot localization suffer from high computational costs and/or the need for high resolution sensory inputs. Scan cross-correlation is a traditional approach that can be, in special cases, used to match temporally aligned scans of robot environment. This work proposes a set of novel modifications to the cross-correlation method that extend its capability beyond these special cases to general scan matching and mitigate its computational costs so that it is usable in practical settings. The properties and validity of the proposed approach are in this study illustrated on a number of computational experiments.Web of Scienceart. ID 646394

Local dependency in networks

Many real world data and processes have a network structure and can usefully be represented as graphs. Network analysis focuses on the relations among the nodes exploring the properties of each network. We introduce a method for measuring the strength of the relationship between two nodes of a network and for their ranking. This method is applicable to all kinds of networks, including directed and weighted networks. The approach extracts dependency relations among the network's nodes from the structure in local surroundings of individual nodes. For the tasks we deal with in this article, the key technical parameter is locality. Since only the surroundings of the examined nodes are used in computations, there is no need to analyze the entire network. This allows the application of our approach in the area of large-scale networks. We present several experiments using small networks as well as large-scale artificial and real world networks. The results of the experiments show high effectiveness due to the locality of our approach and also high quality node ranking comparable to PageRank.Web of Science25229328

Serum protein fingerprinting by PEA immunoassay coupled with a pattern-recognition algorithms distinguishes MGUS and multiple myeloma

Serum protein fingerprints associated with MGUS and MM and their changes in MM after autologous stem cell transplantation (MM-ASCT, day 100) remain unexplored. Using highly-sensitive Proximity Extension ImmunoAssay on 92 cancer biomarkers (Proseek Multiplex, Olink), enhanced serum levels of Adrenomedullin (ADM, P-corr=.0004), Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15, P-corr=.003), and soluble Major histocompatibility complex class I-related chain A (sMICA, P-corr=.023), all prosurvival and chemoprotective factors for myeloma cells, were detected in MM comparing to MGUS. Comparison of MGUS and healthy subjects revealed elevation of angiogenic and antia-poptotic midkine (P-corr=.0007) and downregulation of Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFB1, P-corr=.005) in MGUS. Importantly, altered serum pattern was associated with MM-ASCT compared to paired MM at the diagnosis as well as to healthy controls, namely by upregulated B-Cell Activating Factor (sBAFF) (P-corr<.006) and sustained elevation of other pro-tumorigenic factors. In conclusion, the serum fingerprints of MM and MM-ASCT were characteristic by elevated levels of prosurvival and chemoprotective factors for myeloma cells.Web of Science841694216940

Behaviour associated with the presence of a school sports ground: Visual information for policy makers

The planning and development of sports infrastructure is a complex process that has a broad and long-term impact on health and well-being in communities. It involves many different stake- holders and usually requires significant public or private investments. Its framework is outlined by policies that define the general social goals of such development. To ensure the maximum alignment between the goals and the development activities, it is important to support the policy making process by high-quality information based on real-world data and presented in a clear and focused way. This work introduces a new pipeline of methods for processing and interpretation of data on physical activity and lifestyle in adolescents. The data is extracted from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study and analyzed by modern machine learning methods. We identify behavioural patterns associated with the presence and absence of a school sports ground in different sex and age groups of adolescent in the Czech Republic. The patterns are presented by concise graphical models that ease their use by stake- holders without expert knowledge in sociology, statistics, mathematical modelling, etc. They enable intuitive visual assessment of situation in different regions and highlight the specific similarities and differences among them. Together, the proposed methods contribute towards objective evidence-based policy making in sports management and development.Web of Science128art. no. 10615

Neural PCA and Maximum Likelihood Hebbian Learning on the GPU

This study introduces a novel fine-grained parallel implementation of a neural principal component analysis (neural PCA) variant and the maximum Likelihood Hebbian Learning (MLHL) network designed for modern many-core graphics processing units (GPUs). The parallel implementation as well as the computational experiments conducted in order to evaluate the speedup achieved by the GPU are presented and discussed. The evaluation was done on a well-known artificial data set, the 2D bars data set

Evaluation of Novel Soft Computing Methods for the Prediction of the Dental Milling Time-Error Parameter

This multidisciplinary study presents the application of two well known soft computing methods – flexible neural trees, and evolutionary fuzzy rules – for the prediction of the error parameter between real dental milling time and forecast given by the dental milling machine. In this study a real data set obtained by a dynamic machining center with five axes simultaneously is analyzed to empirically test the novel system in order to optimize the time error

Prediction of Dental Milling Time-Error by Flexible Neural Trees and Fuzzy Rules

This multidisciplinary study presents the application of two soft computing methods utilizing the artificial evolution of symbolic structures – evolutionary fuzzy rules and flexible neural trees – for the prediction of dental milling time-error, i.e. the error between real dental milling time and forecast given by the dental milling machine. In this study a real data set obtained by a dynamic machining center with five axes simultaneously is analyzed to empirically test the novel system in order to optimize the time error

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO