Long-term operation of autonomous robots creates new challenges to the Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). Varying conditions of the vehicle’s surroundings, such as appearance variations (lighting, daytime, weather, or seasonal) or reconfigurations of the environment, are a challenge for SLAM algorithms to adapt to new changes while preserving old states. When also operating for long periods and trajectory lengths, the map should readjust to environment changes but not grow indefinitely, where the map size should be dependent only on the explored environment area. Long-term SLAM intends to overcome the challenges associated with lifelong autonomy and improve the robustness of autonomous systems. Although several studies review SLAM algorithms, none of them focus on lifelong autonomy. Thus, this paper presents a systematic literature review on long-term localization and mapping following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. The review analyzes 142 works covering appearance invariance, modeling the environment dynamics, map size management, multi-session, and computational issues including parallel computing and timming efficiency. The analysis also focus on the experimental data and evaluation metrics commonly used to assess long-term autonomy. Moreover, an overview over the bibliographic data of the 142 records provides analysis in terms of keywords and authorship co-occurrence to identify the terms more used in long-term SLAM and research networks between authors, respectively. Future studies can update this paper thanks to the systematic methodology presented in the review and the public GitHub repository with all the documentation and scripts used during the review process.

Conservative flowering behaviors, such as flowering during long days in summer or late flowering at a high leaf number, are often proposed to protect against variable winter and spring temperatures which lead to frost damage if premature flowering occurs. Yet, due the many factors in natural environments relative to the number of individuals compared, assessing which climate characteristics drive these flowering traits has been difficult. We applied a multidisciplinary approach to ten winter-annual Arabidopsis thaliana populations originating along a wide climactic gradient in Norway. We used a variable reduction strategy to assess which of 100 climate descriptors from their home sites correlated most to their behaviors when grown in common garden and assessed sequence variation of 19 known environmental-response flowering genes. Photoperiod sensitivity inversely correlated with interannual variation in timing of growing season onset (start of favorable spring temperatures). Time to flowering appeared driven by growing season length, curtailed by cold fall temperatures. The distribution of FLM, TFL2, and HOS1 haplotypes, genes involved in ambient temperature response, correlated with growing-season climate. We show that long-day sensitivity and late flowering may be driven not by risk of spring frosts, but by growing season temperature and length perhaps to opportunistically maximize growth.

Background Persons experiencing homelessness face increased risk of influenza as overcrowding in congregate shelters can facilitate influenza virus spread. Data regarding on-site influenza testing and antiviral treatment within homeless shelters remains limited. Methods We conducted a cluster-randomized stepped-wedge trial of point-of-care molecular influenza testing coupled with antiviral treatment with baloxavir or oseltamivir in residents of 14 homeless shelters in Seattle, WA, USA. Residents ≥3 months with cough or ≥2 acute respiratory illness (ARI) symptoms and onset <7 days were eligible. In control periods, mid-nasal swabs were tested for influenza by RT-PCR. The intervention period included on-site rapid molecular influenza testing and antiviral treatment for influenza-positives if symptom onset was <48 hours. The primary endpoint was monthly influenza virus infections in the control versus intervention period. Influenza whole genome sequencing was performed to assess transmission and antiviral resistance. Results During 11/15/2019–4/30/2020, and 11/2/2020–4/30/2021, 1,283 ARI encounters from 668 participants were observed. Influenza virus was detected in 51 (4%) specimens using RT-PCR, (A=14; B=37); 21 influenza virus infections were detected from 269 (8%) of intervention-eligible encounters by rapid molecular testing and received antiviral treatment. 37% of ARI-participant encounters reported symptom onset <48 hours. The intervention had no effect on influenza virus transmission (adjusted relative risk 1.73, 95% CI 0.50–6.00). Of 23 influenza genomes, 86% of A(H1N1)pdm09 and 81% of B/Victoria sequences were closely related. Conclusion Our findings suggest feasibility of influenza test-and-treat strategies in shelters. Additional studies would help discern an intervention effect during periods of increased influenza activity

The freshwater sleeper, Sineleotris saccharae, endemic to southeastern of China belongs to the family of Odontobutiae. The composition of the Odontobutidae is controversial due to the lack of molecular data. Information about genetic characteristics of S. saccharae was still not reported. In the present study, we determined the complete mitochondrial genome of S. saccharae for the first time and analyzed its evolutionary relationship. The complete mitochondrial genome of S. saccharae was 16,487 bp in length, and consisted of 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNAs) and a control region (CR). The gene arrangement and orientation of S. saccharae mitogenome was identical to those of other teleosts. Phylogenetic analysis by Maximum likelihood (ML) methods strongly supported the monophyly of Odontobutidae containing two clades. The genus Odontobutis was sister to the clade consisting of Perccottus and Neodontobutis. Meanwhile, Microdous, Sineleotris and Micropercops formed another clade. These data will be helpful for understanding the genetic information of S. saccharae and systematics of the odontobutids.

The hydraulic vulnerability segmentation hypothesis proposes that plant branches are more resistant to cavitation than roots, namely, the difference in vulnerability to cavitation between branches and roots is positive ( P 50 root - branch > 0). However, it is not clear how this phenomenon can vary along environmental aridity gradients. We compiled the above hypothesis with 105 woody species from four biomes with increasing aridity, by compiling functional traits related to hydraulic properties and anatomical structures of branches and roots. We investigated the relationships between P 50 root - branch and several environmental factors that are associated with aridity. We found a positive P 50 root - branch across species, which supported the hydraulic vulnerability segmentation hypothesis, and P 50 root - branch increased significantly with environmental aridity. Branch xylem hydraulic conductivity changed from “more efficient” (e.g., wider conduit, higher hydraulic conductivity) to “safer” (e.g., narrower conduit, more negative P 50) in response to increased aridity, while root xylem hydraulic conductivity remained unchanged across aridity gradients. Our results demonstrated that hydraulic vulnerability segmentation is more pronounced for species from arid regions. Changes in branch traits may be responsible for hydraulic vulnerability segmentation between branches and roots.

In order to improve the prediction accuracy and computational efficiency of the hydrological model and to solve the problem of difficulty in extracting multi-source hydrological features by traditional methods, a monthly runoff prediction model based on temporal convolutional network (TCN) and long and short term memory (LSTM) with bimodal decomposition is proposed. The complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) generates high-frequency eigenmode functions (IMFs), which have an impact on the prediction results. To reduce this effect, a variable mode decomposition (VMD) is performed on the high-frequency IMF components after the primary mode decomposition. A CEEMDAN-VMD-TCN-LSTM prediction model was established, and the monthly runoff prediction was completed with an LSTM network after extracting features from the decomposed runoff series by TCN. The stability and accuracy of the model were verified by taking the monthly runoff from 1957-2021 at Wulong Station in the Wujiang River basin as an example. It was found that the coupled CEEMDAN-VMD-TCN-LSTM model outperformed other comparative models in terms of computational efficiency, accuracy and network structure, with a prediction accuracy of 95%. The effectiveness of the model in hydrological prediction in the Wujiang River basin is verified.

Experimental tests and molecular dynamics simulations were applied to investigate the mechanism of Ni concentration on the toughness and hydrogen embrittlement resistance of X80 steel. The tensile toughness, impact toughness, and hydrogen embrittlement resistance of X80 steel increase when Ni < 1%, followed by decreases when Ni > 1%. Especially, when the Ni concentration exceeds 3%, the hydrogen embrittlement resistance of the X80 steel is lower than that of the Ni-free specimen. The relationships between free surface energy, stacking fault energy, and unilateral passivation crack growth with Ni concentration were investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. The results prove that the increase of Ni concentration can simultaneously reduce the free surface energy and stacking fault energy of Fe-Ni alloys. And Ni atoms have a more significant effect on the reduction of stacking fault energy, so that the system releases energy through plastic deformation and inhibits the generation of cracks. However, as the Ni concentration exceeds 1%, martensite and carbides begin to form on the grain boundaries. The toughness and hydrogen embrittlement resistance of X80 steel decrease with the Ni concentration.

This article deals with the basicity properties of the eigenfunctions system of a second-order discontinuous differential operator containing spectral parameters at boundary conditions in Banach function spaces. Investigations are divided into two groups depending on being a rearrangement-invariant space. By imposing some conditions on the Boyd indices of rearrangement-invariant Banach function spaces, we prove some important properties of the basicity of the eigenfunctions system of the spectral problem in suitable separable subspaces of these spaces. These properties are valid in Lebesgue, grand-Lebesgue, Orlics, and Marcinkiewicz. Also, results regarding the basicity of the system of eigenfunctions in non-rearrangement invariant spaces that are a direct sum of rearrangement-invariant spaces with different finite Boyd indices have been obtained. The discontinuity of the differential operator makes it possible to examine the basicity properties of the system of eigenfunctions in the direct sum space of spaces with finite Boyd indices.

Conflicts at work are usually seen as obstacles to organizational performance. thus, in their seminal work on the theory of organizations. March define conflict as a blockage of the normal mechanisms of decision making. at the same time, according to a study of the cabinet opp, carried out in 2008 with 5000 European and American employees, 85% of French employees say they are regularly confronted with a conflict at work. the scale and consequences of conflicts should therefore lead organizations to be equipped to process them. however, according to this same study, 73% of employees have never received training and 45% expect their manager to intervention. conflict management is therefore a real challenge. Introduction:

Multiorgan-penetrating injuries to the head and neck are relatively uncommon, with many complications and high mortality, and the management of such injuries is often complex and nonstandardized. Here, we report our experience of treating such injuries. We retrospectively analyzed multiorgan-penetrating injuries to the head and neck in patients who were admitted to and managed in our department. We evaluated first-aid measures, imaging examination findings, operation method, and prognoses. A total of 5 patients were identified. The patients were successfully treated; two of these patients with wooden foreign bodies underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) of the common carotid artery. To sum up, we conclude that individualized multidisciplinary treatment according to the affected organs and manner of impalement can greatly reduce intraoperative and postoperative complications. In endoscopy-assisted removal with irregular wooden foreign bodies, we advocate intraoperative DSA of common carotid arteries as a routine procedure.

EPI-X4 is a natural peptide antagonist of CXCR4, an established drug target in inflammatory diseases and cancer. Advanced derivatives of EPI-X4, such as EPI-X4 JM#21, have shown promising therapeutic effects in animal models of CXCR4-associated diseases but suffer from poor stability in blood. We here aimed to design and characterize EPI-X4 analogs that effectively antagonize CXCR4 while remaining stable in human plasma. We found that EPI-X4 analogs are stable against degradation by endopeptidases. However derivatives are are prone to degradation by exopeptidases which target the peptides’ N- but not the C-terminus. Modifications of the peptide N-terminus by introducing D-amino acids or acetyl residues resulted in EPI-X4 derivatives with greatly enhanced plasma stability. The identified lead candidates EPI-X4 JM#29, JM#173, and JM#174, which contain D-amino acids L or I at position 1, were as active in binding and antagonizing CXCR4 as EPI-X4 JM#21, and remained active even after 8 hours of incubation in plasma. Molecular dynamics simulations showed that the binding mode of these stabilized EPI-X4 derivatives to CXCR4 is similar to the binding of JM#21. The peptides establish conserved interactions with acidic residues in the minor subpocket and the extracellular loops 1 and 2 of the receptor. None of the novel EPI-X4 leads showed any signs of toxicity in zebrafish embryos, paving the way for further evaluation of the pharmacokinetic and therapeutic properties of this new generation of EPI-X4 analogs in rodent models.

Introduction Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Non-pharmacological and pharmacological therapies are employed in the management of OH. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to provide an up-to-date review of the efficacy parameters of pharmacological therapies. Methods Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Scopus were searched (inception-July 2021), and published articles with randomized control trials, meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria were quality assessed (Risk of Bias 2 tool). Assessment for trends in patient-related outcome measures and postural blood pressure improvement was undertaken. Studies reporting postural systolic blood pressure (SBP) before and after intervention in comparison to placebo were included in a meta-analysis using inverse -variance in a random-effects model. Results 19 articles were included in the systematic review. The orthostatic symptoms questionnaire (OHQ) was the most common patient-related outcome measure utilized in trials. Six studies included in the meta-analysis demonstrated that pharmacological therapies (pyridostigmine, midodrine, atomoxetine, yohimbine) improved postural SBP compared to placebo, with a mean rise of 12.50 mmHg [95% CI: 6.01, 18.98; p value<0.001, I2 =97%]. Midodrine showed the highest impact on SBP, with a mean SBP of 16.11 mmHg [95% CI: 5.59, 26.63; p=0.003, I2 =99%]. Conclusions Pharmacological treatment can significantly increase postural SBP, however with significant heterogeneity related to trial designs. Further efforts to homogenize outcome measures, incorporating symptom improvement and reduction in the postural drop and testing for a prolonged duration of therapy would strengthen the evidence, and improve the translatability of findings in clinical settings.

At present, research on the refrigerant ratio optimization based on the dynamic boil-off gas (BOG) is limited. Therefore, a new method of dynamic optimization for C3MR liquefaction is presented. Firstly, the simulation program is established based on the steady state model for main liquefaction equipment. Besides, the rules of energy consumption under the range of BOG generation for propane compressor and mixed refrigerant compressor is obtained, and a multi-objective optimization model, which has minimum energy consumption and high heat efficiency, is constructed. Afterwards, the genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are designed to determine the optimal results. Finally, the energy efficiency of dynamic BOG is obviously higher than that of steady condition. And compared with the initial simulation process, the maximum energy saving is 50.60%. This study would provide a theoretical basis for the dynamic liquefaction process control and dynamic liquefaction system optimization.

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is the meta-material to passively reflect electromagnetic wave and provide programmable and well-defined wireless environment. In RIS-aided transmission systems, accurate channel estimation is indispensable to realize performance gains. We propose an attention-guided denoising deep residual network (ADNet) to learn residual noise from least square estimation samples. The deep convolutional neural network (CNN) consists of a sparse block, a feature enhancement block, an attention block and a reconstruction block. The attention mechanism is exploited to strengthen the extraction of specific noise features. Simulation results show that the ADNet can achieve accuracy comparable to the ideal linear minimum mean square error estimation. It also obtains higher accuracy than the general CNN-based deep residual network and spatial-frequency CNN.

A 20-year-old Warmblood broodmare was presented to the primary veterinarian for bilateral nasal discharge, which had been treated with sulfamethoxazole without complete resolution. The mare was referred to Cornell’s Equine Hospital after she began dropping feed without losing weight. Oral exam, radiography, computed tomography (CT) of the head, and upper airway endoscopy were performed, revealing a left sided nasal abscess filled with feed material due to an associated oronasal fistula between the left maxillary premolars (207 and 209) with reactive bone extending past 210. The abscess was debrided, and drainage was established via a transnasal standing approach under endoscopic guidance, with conservative management of the affected teeth. Repeated follow-up evaluations included upper respiratory endoscopic and oral endoscopic exams to monitor abscess resolution and to evaluate the compromised periodontal attachment of the affected teeth. This case highlights 1) the importance of advanced imaging in cases of equine nasal and sinus disease and 2) the success of conservative dental management when faced with a case of severe periodontitis with subsequent oronasal fistulation.

In this paper we study a nonlocal boundary value problem for Gellerstedt equation with singular coefficient in an unbounded domain. With the help of the method of integral equations and the principle of extremum we prove the unique solvability of the considered problem.

Presently, the IEEE 754 Float is the most commonly used standard to represent floating point values, which is capable of representing fairly extensive range of numbers. Recently, a new number format has been coined among the research community, termed Unum. The Unum format is in the evolutionary phase and is being standardized for efficient and accurate representations keeping the number of required bits quite limited at the same time. Many researchers consider the Posits feature of Unum as a viable alternate to the IEEE Floats as it provides number representations in a broader range and higher accuracy as compared to IEEE Floats for a given number of bits. This paper presents R-SoftPosit, an R-based software implementation of Posits to facilitate comparison between Posits and Floats. The article describes the steps followed for the development of the package, lists of classes and functions created, concerning documentation, and reproducible examples. This R-based package aims to provide a convenient tool to explore and test various features of Posits.

One of the deadliest days for tornadoes in Colorado history came at a very unusual time of year: November. On the 100th anniversary of this event, we briefly explore its meteorology, impacts, and how it stands alone in the climatological record in Colorado.

A document by Christian Hagendorf. Click on the document to view its contents.

Introduction Palpitations occurring in specific body positions are often reported by patients, but the effect of body position on arrhythmia has received little research attention. We hypothesize that resting body position can exert pro-arrhythmogenic effects in various ways. For example, lateral body position is known to increase change atrial and pulmonary vein dimensions. Methods This observational study capitalizes on overnight polysomnography (PSG) recordings from a tertiary sleep clinic. PSGs were retrieved based on any mention of cardiac arrhythmia in the clinical report, irrespective of primary sleep diagnosis and (cardiac) comorbidities. Every instance of atrial ectopy was annotated and subgroups with a homogenous rate of atrial ectopy were created based on the Dunn index. A generalized linear mixed-effects model using age, sex, gender, sleep stage and body position was used to analyse the total amount of atrial ectopy in each combination of sleep stage and body position. Backward elimination was then performed to select the best subset of variables for the model. Results PSGs of 22 patients (14% female, mean age 61y) were clustered and analysed. Body position, sleep stage, age or sex did not have a significant effect on atrial ectopy in the subgroup with a low rate of atrial ectopy (N=18). However, body position did significantly affect the rate of atrial ectopy in the subgroup with a high rate of atrial ectopy (N=4; 18%). Discussion In each individual with a high rate of atrial ectopy, the rate of atrial ectopy was significantly higher in either left or right decubital or supine position. Increase in atrial wall stretch in lateral decubital position and obstructive respiratory events in positional sleep apnea are two possible pathophysiological mechanisms, while avoidance of a body position due to symptomatic atrial ectopy in that position is an important limitation. Conclusion In a selected cohort of patients with a high rate of atrial ectopy during overnight polysomnography, the occurrence of atrial ectopy is related to resting body position.

Background We explored whether hospital-based surveillance is useful in detecting severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) clusters and how often these events result in outbreak investigation and community mitigation. Methods During May 2009– December 2020, physicians at 14 sentinel hospitals prospectively identified SARI clusters (i.e., ≥2 SARI cases who developed symptoms ≤10 days of each other and lived <30 minute walk or <3 km from each other). Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs were tested for influenza and other respiratory viruses by rRT-PCR. We describe the demographic of persons within clusters, laboratory results, and outbreak investigations. Results Physicians identified 464 clusters comprising 1,427 SARI cases (range 0–13 clusters per month). Sixty percent of clusters had three, 23% had 2, and 17% had ≥4 cases. Their median age was 2 years (interquartile [IQR] 0.4–25) and 63% were male. Laboratory results were available for the 464 clusters a median 9 days (IQR = 6–13 days) after cluster identification. Less than one in five clusters had cases that tested positive for the same virus: RSV in 58 (13%), influenza viruses in 24 (5%), HMPV in 5 (1%), HPIV in 3 (0.6%), adenovirus in 2 (0.4%). While 102/464 (22%) had poultry exposure, none tested positive for influenza A(H5N1) or A(H7N9). None of the 464 clusters led to field deployments for outbreak response. Conclusions For 11 years, none of the hundreds of identified clusters led to emergency response. The value of this event-based surveillance might be improved by seeking larger clusters, with stronger epidemiologic ties or decedents.

This article proposes an algorithm for autonomous navigation of mobile robots that merges Reinforcement Learning with Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) as a localization technique, namely, EKF-DQN, aiming to accelerate learning and improve the reward values obtained in the process of apprenticeship. More specifically, Deep Neural Networks (DQN - Deep-Q-Networks) are used to control the trajectory of an autonomous vehicle in an indoor environment. Due to the ability of EKF to predict states, this algorithm is proposed to be used as a learning accelerator of the DQN network, predicting states ahead and inserting this information in the memory replay. Aiming at the safety of the navigation process, it is also proposed a visual safety system that avoids collisions of the mobile vehicle with people moving in the environment. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is verified through computer simulations using the CoppeliaSIM simulator with code insertion in Python. The simulation results show that the EKF-DQN algorithm accelerates the maximization of rewards obtained and provides a higher success rate in fulfilling the proposed mobile robot mission compared to the DQN and Q-Learning algorithms.

A document by Claudia Lage. Click on the document to view its contents.

To meet the increased bandwidth demand from remote locations, new satellites are being launched to allow networks to operate at higher frequencies (i.e., Ka-band – 27.0GHz - 40.0 GHz and V-band 40.0GHz – 75GHz). At these frequencies high availability is challenged by rain attenuation. Consequently, satellite network operators are offering hybrid solutions where, during a rain outage, traffic is moved to a lower frequency secondary heterogeneous satellite network not affected by rain.   This paper evaluates a mobile and network centric handover and admission strategy using a bespoke simulation model of a rain affected star topology hybrid satellite network with primary network operating on Ka band and secondary satellite network operating at a lower frequency.    Results show that a network centric prioritised queue-based admission strategy provides a reduction in handover failure probability of about 5% without extra capacity being made available for the handover of traffic to the secondary network. When queue-based admission is used in combination with adding extra capacity in the secondary satellite network a reduction in handover failure probability of nearly 30% was achieved.   However, when more capacity is made available in the secondary network, the advantages of the network centric queue-based admission strategy slowly disappear with added capacity. This means that operators have a clear choice based on whether they believe that their secondary network has sufficient spare capacity, or whether in fact this is unlikely and therefore the extra cost of a queue-based admission strategies should be weighed against loss of revenue due to lost connections.