text:
17, Magha
Krishna Paksha, Dwitiya
1941 Vikari, Shaka Samvat
Bhadra, Aadal Yoga, Vidaal Yoga
Dwitiya upto 07:47 PM
Purva Phalguni upto 03:53 AM, Feb 11
Atiganda upto 09:00 PM
Taitila upto 09:31 AM
Garaja upto 07:47 PM
Somawara
Vanija upto 06:04 AM, Feb 11
Krishna Paksha
1941 Vikari
Phalguna - Purnimanta
Magha - Amanta
Purva Phalguni upto 11:55 AM
Purva Phalguni upto 05:14 PM
11:40 PM to 12:34 AM, Feb 11
06:55 AM to 03:53 AM, Feb 11
03:53 AM, Feb 11 to 06:53 AM, Feb 11
Mrityu from 05:20 AM, Feb 11 to Full Night
Ketu upto 03:53 AM, Feb 11
Siddha upto 03:53 AM, Feb 11
Nakshatra Shool
North from 03:53 AM, Feb 11 to Full Night
Mrityu (Earth) from 06:04 AM, Feb 11 to Full Night
North-West
in Sabha upto 07:47 PM
in Krida
January 28, 2020 CE
Magha 21, 1941 Shaka
Mithuna Simha Tula Vrishchika Kumbha Meena
*Ashtama Chandra for Makara Rashi borns
*Ashtama Chandra for Uttara Ashadha last 3 Pada, Shravana and first 2 Pada of Dhanishtha borns
Good Tarabalam till 03:53 AM, Feb 11 for
Bharani Rohini Mrigashirsha Punarvasu Ashlesha Purva Phalguni Hasta Chitra Vishakha Jyeshtha Purva Ashadha Shravana Dhanishtha Purva Bhadrapada Revati
Agni Panchaka - 10:34 PM to 01:07 AM, Feb 11
Good Muhurta - 01:07 AM, Feb 11 to 03:33 AM, Feb 11
Raja Panchaka - 03:33 AM, Feb 11 to 03:53 AM, Feb 11
Chora Panchaka - 05:34 AM, Feb 11 to 06:53 AM, Feb 11
Mesha - 09:30 AM to 10:51 AM
Vrishabha - 10:51 AM to 12:39 PM
Kanya - 08:02 PM to 10:34 PM
Tula - 10:34 PM to 01:07 AM, Feb 11
Vrishchika - 01:07 AM, Feb 11 to 03:33 AM, Feb 11
Dhanu - 03:33 AM, Feb 11 to 05:34 AM, Feb 11
Dosha Timeline for Feb 10, 2020, Mon
Feb 10, 2020, Mon


text:
Q: How to pass jQuery variable using Ajax get request? I have a values generated by a jQuery slider. I need to pass its variable to a url in the form http://domain.com/index.php?rich=3&sweet=6. I need to use Ajax's get request to send the javascript variables (rich and sweet)  to the url.
I have the following javascript in my index.php file (the variables are assigned values set by the select/slider HTML code), selectToUISlider() couples the slider to a pulldown menu:
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function () {

$('#rich').selectToUISlider({
labels:7, sliderOptions: {
stop: function(e,ui) {
  var richValue = $('#rich').val();
  }}}).next();

$('#sweet').selectToUISlider({
labels:7, sliderOptions: {
stop: function(e,ui) {
  var sweetValue = $('#sweet').val();
  }}}).next();

}
</script>
........

The HTML code below (I omitted the 'sweet' select code)
    <form action="index.php" name="form1" method="GET">
<!-- demo 1 -->
<fieldset>

        <select name="rich" id="rich" onchange="this.form.submit()">
        <optgroup label="Not too Rich">
        <?php $rich1 .= '<option'.(isset($_GET['rich']) && $_GET['rich']=='1' ? ' selected ' : ' ').'value="1">'.'Not too Rich'.'</option>'."\n"; ?>
        <?php echo $rich1 ?>

          .........................

        <?php $rich7 .= '<option'.(isset($_GET['rich']) && $_GET['rich']=='7' ? ' selected ' : ' ').'value="7">'.'Super Rich'.'</option>'."\n"; ?>
        <?php echo $rich7 ?>

        </optgroup>
        </select>
    </fieldset>

My understanding is that I have to work this:
$.get('index.php?rich='+ $('#rich').val() , function(data) {
                            $('#rich').html(data);
                        });

into the code somehow but I don't know how.

A: Yeah but more suitable way is:
$.get('index.php', {rich : $('#rich :selected').val()}, function(data) {
    //so something with data
});

A: Denis Ermolin is right, but why "GET" request? Your will have problems in IE whith cashing - IE love to cahe urls sometimes. Use "POST" - IE will not cash it.
$.post('index.php', {rich : $('#rich :selected').val()}, function(data) {
    //so something with data
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Life After Birth
About Our Mission Who We Are Westport Retreat Center
Westport Retreat Center
Sign-Up/
Return to Yourself
Cynthia Overgard is the founder of Life After Birth in Westport CT. Cynthia has authored numerous articles in award-winning international publications and has served more than 1,500 women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum since 2007. She is trained in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders and Components of Care through Postpartum Support International, the global authority on postpartum anxiety and depression, but her greatest awareness and education has resulted from her years of supporting women individually and collectively through Life After Birth.
With two children of her own, Cynthia has been there herself, as a woman whose life changed dramatically after having a baby. She learned that it was possible to adore her baby while also experiencing the isolation and anxiety that comes with motherhood. She left a fulfilling corporate career and a professorship in finance in order to "stay at home", and understands the anguish women face related to career and identity. She is positive and passionate about Life After Birth, and serves as its lead program director and group moderator.
Trisha Ludwig is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant with a Master's degree from Yale School of Nursing. After practicing as a homebirth midwife she started a holistic gynecology and women's health practice, which she ran for 10 years. She is passionate about supporting and optimizing women's transitions through the major shifts such as pregnancy, postpartum, peri-menopause, and menopause. She believes in treating health issues on the physical, emotional, and spiritual level.
She is a mother of three children, all of whom were born at home. It is her knowledge as a midwife and women's health practitioner, but most importantly as a mother herself, which gives her first-hand insight into the complex emotional shifts of the postpartum transition. As a woman who is equally passionate about her work as she is about mothering, she understands the process of "becoming mom."
Trisha is passionate about supporting women through the Life After Birth program in Westport, and recognizes the critical need of women supporting other women through the postpartum period.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Around noon that day, a Bibb County sheriff's deputy came to the Shurling Drive store where Jeanie Hudson was assistant manager. She had been called in early because someone shot out the front window the night before.
She was already on edge, because her husband hadn't shown up for work at 10 a.m. when he was supposed to be stocking shelves before the Christmas rush at a nearby Family Dollar that's closer to Millerfield Road.
Hudson overheard the deputy's cell phone conversation about an Xterra, but he wouldn't tell her why he was asking about the vehicle.
After a visit from Coroner Leon Jones, she realized the deputy was trying to identify the man in a Family Dollar shirt who was found dead behind the wheel of the SUV in a desolate stretch of Lakeshore Drive, off Recreation Road in east Bibb County.
Someone had tried to set the car on fire, but the rag sticking out of the gas tank had burned out.
A dozen weeks later, she knows little more than she did then, except that her husband's killer is still on the loose.
"To everybody else he may be old news, but not to me," said Hudson, who has since lost her job.
Last week, investigators shared with her surveillance video clips from cameras near the murder scene.
The Bibb County Sheriff's Office denied The Telegraph's request for a copy of the footage, citing the ongoing investigation.
Hudson is frustrated that no one has come forward with any information that could lead to the arrest of the gunman, even with up to a $10,000 reward offered by the Georgia Arson Hotline.
She's seen the footage of a figure in a dark hoodie, dark pants and white gym shoes walking toward the spot where Hudson had parked, likely to pass the hour by playing video games on his phone.
There wasn't enough time to go back home to south Macon, and he was hooked on a new game, "Injustice: Gods Among Us."
She suspects that sheriff's investigators have even more detailed video clips that they have been keeping from her.
Investigators told her the gunman, who looked to be in his late teens or early 20s, tapped the driver's side window with the gun barrel.
About the same time, a tree fell nearby.
If the gunman was startled and fired the fatal shot accidentally, she could forgive him, but how could someone try to burn up his body, she asked.
Cameras also recorded a car driving toward the murder scene and later driving away, she said, but the sheriff's office declined The Telegraph's request to interview an investigator about the case.
"My baby's been dead three months and I've been going through hell," Hudson said.
If the case was one of robbery, the gunman didn't get anything, she said.
There was still $4 in Hudson's wallet, along with credit cards, and he had three rings on his fingers that had been busily working the game on his "Obama phone," as she called it.
The man who loved dressing up at the sci-fi and fantasy convention Dragon Con found that secluded spot in his days as a contractor for Cox Communications, his wife said.
Although a sign warns of video surveillance to combat illegal dumping, the circular road was blocked recently by a couch and other debris on the backside of Lakeview Apartments.
Nearly five years before Hudson's death, he had photographed a coyote in the same spot, an eerie coincidence for a man who didn't fear death and associated himself with the "Wile E. Coyote" of Roadrunner fame.
The artistic loner, who enjoyed making butterflies for his wife and sculpting figures from animal bones, had a premonition that he would not live to see old age.
"He always said he wouldn't live past 36," said Jeanie Hudson, who buried him at age 43.
Investigators recovered a methamphetamine pipe in the car, which shocked his mother-in-law, Raycille Jacks.
Jeanie Hudson said she scoured their financial records and found no evidence that he had a drug problem that might siphon off their limited funds.
"He had no business doing that," Hudson said. "I still don't feel like he could just get thrown to the curb."
They are both frustrated that the sheriff's office has not released information that might lead to an arrest.
"The detectives have been too damn secretive, if you ask me," said Jacks, who also fears for her family's safety. "This fool could know where we live and come by in a drive-by."
When a server at Ole Country Buffet was shot in a robbery off Gray Highway five days after her son-in-law's death, Jacks thought the crimes could be related.
In a review of that restaurant video, which the sheriff's office released to the media about three weeks after the shooting, they noticed one of the two suspects looked just like the man in the Lakeshore video, believed to be the gunman who killed Hudson.
"When they do catch this person, I just feel bad for what his parents will go through because somebody does love him," Jacks said.
She wonders why the sheriff's office won't release images of her car, either, the Xterra that has been described as a cross between maroon and brownish copper.
"Somebody might have seen it," she said.
As Jeanie Hudson struggles to get on with her life, she appeals to the killer.
"I just need to know why," she said. "You just don't know what you took."


text:
Q: Limits of irrational rotations of the circle. We consider the unit circle, and identify it with $X=\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$.
Let $\alpha$ be irrational, and consider the $\mathbb{Z}$-action on the space $X$ given by $T(x)=x+\alpha \mod 1$ (respectively, $T^n(x)=x+n\alpha\mod 1$ for $n\in\mathbb{Z}$).
I want to show that there is no sequence $m_i$ of integers, such that $T^{m_i}$ converges (to some $T^k$, for example).  By convergence of functions, we mean pointwise convergence - that for all $x\in X$, $\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}T^{m_i}(x)=T^k(x)$.
Firstly, I am not sure if this is true or not (to begin with).
Secondly, I have no idea how to prove that there is no such sequence. We do have that the orbit of each point $x\in X$ is dense under irrational rotations, but I want to show that this does not happen in a `nice way', so that even if there is some $x_0\in X$ such that $\lim_{i\rightarrow\infty}T^{m_i}(x_0)=T^k(x_0)$, this will not hold for all $x\in X$. One idea was to consider what happens if I apply $T^l$ to both sides of the equality in some way, and reach a contradiction, but I don't think I can do that...

A: Actually, exactly the opposite happens: for any $\beta$ there exists a sequence $m_i$ such that $$\lim_{i\to\infty}T^{m_i}(x)=x+\beta\bmod1,$$
for all $x$.
This follows from that fact that $T^m(x)=x+m\alpha\bmod1$ and so what you are asking is whether there exists a sequence such that
$$\lim_{i\to\infty}(m_i\alpha-\beta)\bmod1=0,$$
which is an immediate consequence of $\alpha$ being irrational (and is independent of $x$).
Actually, it happens in the best possible way: the sequence $m\alpha$ is uniformly distributed on the interval.


A Quilting Sheep: I made a dress!!
And to tell the truth, I am quite pleased with myself. The dress is for Brooklyn, who is turning 4 very soon! Her mom knows I was trying to make it so I am not ruining a surprise. Besides, there are other surprises to go along with the dress.
The pattern is called Kyla by Frog Legs and Ponytails.
It actually wasn't too hard. I had to re and re-read the instructions several times, but only because this type of sewing is new to me. Now that I have made it once, making another wouldn't take very long at all.
You did a very goog job!
WOW.....what a beautiful dress! I love that it's reversible.
Such a woman of many talents!
I love the dress! I used to make all my "special" dresses when I was growing up. Now I stick to PJ pants and nightgowns, but I'm sure I'll be making little girl dresses soon.I enjoy sewing clothes.
Just precious! And ... I am in love with that new header of yours!
Sweet! You did it beautifully, and reversible is awesome!
That dress is simply adorable. It looks great and I'm sure the little girl it's intended for will love it.
I miss having little ones to sew for!
I'm with you - I need a little girl or two to make dresses and other cutesy things for - volunteers, anyone?
Very cute! I love the fabric! Well done.
yay I love the dress!!!


Reference Entry. Subjects: Chemistry. 49 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Physics. 49 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Physics. 47 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Engineering and Technology. 26 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Chemistry. 86 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Physics. 89 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Business Finance. 53 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Physics. 40 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Chemistry. 90 words.
Reference Entry. Subjects: Physics. 90 words.
A. D. Maynard and A. T. Zimmer.
October 1996; p ublished online October 2011 .
Chapter. Subjects: Modern History (1700 to 1945). 12882 words.


My name is Christine, and I am a Los Angeles based Japanese/Czech model with a passion for figure art and form.
It is my belief that the human body serves as a powerful tool for self-expression. I model now to refine that voice and to meet and collaborate with fellow artists to learn what drives their craft.
Ultimately, I wish to share in the human experience and create something that resonates in someone's heart. If I am lucky, maybe I will be successful in that.
Beautiful portfolio, and of course, my portfolio contains one of you! By the way, how was your New York trip last week? I did two very nice shoots there.
So much fun watching you pose for my camera...you are awesome and I am so impressed with your website !!
I think its safe to say, you are every photographers dream. As an artist, I can only wish for the opportunity to create with you one day.
Stunning... What a captivating muse!
Very nice work. Truly an artist.
Fabulous versatility and beauty, stunning portfolio.
You are beautiful and versatile!
Wow... loving the new images!
I can never get enough of your passion for what you do in front of the camera, you are amazing! One day, one day, I hope the paths cross!
Beautiful body of work. You seem boldly expressed.


PONCHATOULA---Tangipahoa Parish School Superintendent Melissa Stilley said Friday that the investigation into an incident at Ponchatoula Jr. High that gained nationwide attention via social media has concluded, and district officials are now entering into the due process portion of the process.
Stilley said Friday that the district has collected facts and information regarding the March 28 incident, and the individuals involved have been notified that disciplinary action will be taken in this matter.
During the due process period, the individuals involved have an opportunity to provide additional information to the Superintendent. The due process period lasts seven days after the individuals have been formally notified.
Stilley offered thanks to the public for their support and patience through this review.
"It has been a very difficult time for everyone involved, and our district and particularly the core values we are striving to instill as part of our DNA have been tested through this incident," Stilley said.
Stilley said the district began this school year identifying three core values that they wanted to instill in the culture of Tangipahoa Parish. In July, her team started by introducing the idea of the 3Bs (Be Respectful, Be Compassionate, Be Great) to the district's nearly 20,000 students, but she says that the shift cannot be complete without the adults modeling the same behavior that is expected of our students.
Stilley said her goal is to see the 3Bs become part of the culture of the entire parish, not just at school.
"When our core values become the DNA of our students, it will have a positive impact on our families and on communities across this great parish. Students will go home and exhibit these values. Families will change. Communities will change. What a tremendous impact we can have on our quality of life here in Tangipahoa Parish!" Stilley said.
In the same vein, Stilley said the Tangipahoa Parish School Board's Policy Committee on Wednesday approved new language in the district's employee code of conduct that requires TPSS workers to adhere to the 3Bs in all aspects of their job. The committee has forwarded that language on to the full board for adoption at their April 16 meeting in Amite.


text:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/TheLibrariansS1E01AndTheCrownOfKingArthur
Recap / The Librarians S1 E01 "and the Crown of King Arthur"
Col. Eve Baird, working with a counter-terrorism task force, runs into a strange man while tracking down terrorists. He helps her disarm a nuclear bomb (while disarming a... thing). A few days later she gets a letter in the mail from The Library. She has been recruited as the Guardian to the Librarian.
Then it turns out that a mysterious group is tracking down and murdering former candidates to the Librarianship. The Guardian and the Librarian track down the remaining candidates and learn that the mysterious group are seeking a magical artifact, for nefarious ends.
This episode, along with the next, forms a two-part duo.
Tropes:
Bomb Disposal: Eve has to disarm a nuclear bomb at the beginning of the episode. Flynn tells her there's a blue wire... which she should not touch.
Booby Trap: In Flynn's introductory scene, he sets off an ancient booby trap protecting the artifact he's going for, and then has three minutes to disarm it before it sets off a Zombie Apocalypse.
Circle of Standing Stones: The Librarians recover Arthur's crown from a henge in the middle of the Black Forest.
Counting Bullets: In the opening scene, Flynn manages to keep track of the fact that the bad guy's AK-47 has fired 31 times, allowing Eve to have an It Works Better with Bullets moment.
Gratuitous Latin: The Latin text in Lamia's tattoo is a line from the "The Second Coming," which was written in English. Jacob helpfully translates it back to English, but there's no reason for it to be in Latin to begin with except to make it sound more portentous (or pretentious).
Literal Metaphor: Judson died five years ago, but he's still with them in spirit. Meaning, his actual spirit is haunting a mirror in the Library.
MacGyvering: Flynn makes a blowtorch out of an oxygen tank and some prosciutto.
Running Gag: Ninjas? In Oklahoma? Don't be ridiculous.
Shout-Out: Flynn says that Librarians save the world... a lot.
When the Planets Align: Subverted. The henge is designed to reveal the location of the crown only on a specific date, when the sun shines in just the right place. They get there on the wrong date, but Cassandra can do the math to figure out where the sun would be shining, so it's okay.
Recap/The Librarians (2014)
The Librarians S1 E02 "and the Sword in the Stone"


Home Entertainment Voicemail Demands Respect for Dancers!
Voicemail Demands Respect for Dancers!
With the recent release of their 'I Wanna Dance' video directed by Di Rawtid Yute (D.R.Y) and produced by Mark Hize, dancehall duo Voicemail has been keen on showing respect to all dancers. The duo also shows gratitude to other entertainers who have shown respect to dancers but still believe that dancers are often times underestimated in Jamaica. Qraig said "There are so many dancers who are touring all over the world and are treated with the utmost respect abroad because of dances created here in the streets of Kingston, but in Jamaica they are not highlighted enough. I believe it is time for everyone to embrace the Jamaican dance culture and stop highlighting the negative elements in dancehall".
Kevyn V shared "This movement is growing and we believe as entertainers it's our job to package dancehall music with the dances that compliment it and make it what it is. Often times people are more concerned with what they feel is wrong with dancehall as oppose to encouraging the dancehall dance culture and turning it into possible revenue streams". While being vocal on the topic, the video for 'I Wanna Dance' has become a viral sensation.
With dancers from all over the world creating their renditions of the video, Voicemail says that they are very pleased with the feedback. The group has been going through a transitional period as they have both launched their individual careers while at the same time maintaining that "Voicemail' is here to stay". Qraig added that the group has had to address several rumors in the past about a feud but reminds us that Voicemail is a brotherhood; "We will have our independent careers but when we get together it is always magical".
The duo is presently promoting the 'I Wanna Dance' video and is keen on reminding fans that they are 'Game Changers' in dancehall. Kevyn V said "It's really about bringing back the fun factor in dancehall and reminding fans that dancehall is really not about negativity or negative energy".
Voicemail is set to begin their promotional trail in August with several campaigns lined up with newly signed PR Company, Taylor Made Events and PR Management.


Ahead of its release in February, The Fan Carpet are delighted to bring you the new Poster, Trailer and Selection of Photos for the hilarious comedy "Father Figures", courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment!
Sher directed from a screenplay by Justin Malen ("Office Christmas Party"). The film was produced by Academy Award nominee Ivan Reitman ("Up in the Air"), Ali Bell ("Draft Day"), and Academy Award nominees Broderick Johnson and Andrew A. Kosove ("The Blindside"). Serving as executive producers are Tom Pollock, Scott Parish, Chris Cowles, Chris Fenton, and Timothy M. Bourne.


text:
Wireless Acoustic-Surface Actuators for Miniaturized Endoscopes
Qiu, T., Adams, F., Palagi, S., Melde, K., Mark, A. G., Wetterauer, U., Miernik, A., Fischer, P.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9(49):42536 - 42543, November 2017 (article)
Endoscopy enables minimally invasive procedures in many medical fields, such as urology. However, current endoscopes are normally cable-driven, which limits their dexterity and makes them hard to miniaturize. Indeed current urological endoscopes have an outer diameter of about 3 mm and still only possess one bending degree of freedom. In this paper, we report a novel wireless actuation mechanism that increases the dexterity and that permits the miniaturization of a urological endoscope. The novel actuator consists of thin active surfaces that can be readily attached to any device and are wirelessly powered by ultrasound. The surfaces consist of two-dimensional arrays of micro-bubbles, which oscillate under ultrasound excitation and thereby generate an acoustic streaming force. Bubbles of different sizes are addressed by their unique resonance frequency, thus multiple degrees of freedom can readily be incorporated. Two active miniaturized devices (with a side length of around 1 mm) are demonstrated: a miniaturized mechanical arm that realizes two degrees of freedom, and a flexible endoscope prototype equipped with a camera at the tip. With the flexible endoscope, an active endoscopic examination is successfully performed in a rabbit bladder. This results show the potential medical applicability of surface actuators wirelessly powered by ultrasound penetrating through biological tissues.
pf Qiu, T., Adams, F., Palagi, S., Melde, K., Mark, A. G., Wetterauer, U., Miernik, A., Fischer, P. Wireless Acoustic-Surface Actuators for Miniaturized Endoscopes ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 9(49):42536 - 42543, November 2017 (article)
Investigating Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia Nervosa Using Novel Biometric Figure Rating Scales: A Pilot Study
Mölbert, S. C., Thaler, A., Streuber, S., Black, M. J., Karnath, H., Zipfel, S., Mohler, B., Giel, K. E.
European Eating Disorders Review, 25(6):607-612, November 2017 (article)
This study uses novel biometric figure rating scales (FRS) spanning body mass index (BMI) 13.8 to 32.2 kg/m2 and BMI 18 to 42 kg/m2. The aims of the study were (i) to compare FRS body weight dissatisfaction and perceptual distortion of women with anorexia nervosa (AN) to a community sample; (ii) how FRS parameters are associated with questionnaire body dissatisfaction, eating disorder symptoms and appearance comparison habits; and (iii) whether the weight spectrum of the FRS matters. Women with AN (n = 24) and a community sample of women (n = 104) selected their current and ideal body on the FRS and completed additional questionnaires. Women with AN accurately picked the body that aligned best with their actual weight in both FRS. Controls underestimated their BMI in the FRS 14–32 and were accurate in the FRS 18–42. In both FRS, women with AN desired a body close to their actual BMI and controls desired a thinner body. Our observations suggest that body image disturbance in AN is unlikely to be characterized by a visual perceptual disturbance, but rather by an idealization of underweight in conjunction with high body dissatisfaction. The weight spectrum of FRS can influence the accuracy of BMI estimation.
publisher DOI Project Page [BibTex]
ps Mölbert, S. C., Thaler, A., Streuber, S., Black, M. J., Karnath, H., Zipfel, S., Mohler, B., Giel, K. E. Investigating Body Image Disturbance in Anorexia Nervosa Using Novel Biometric Figure Rating Scales: A Pilot Study European Eating Disorders Review, 25(6):607-612, November 2017 (article)
Learning a model of facial shape and expression from 4D scans
Li, T., Bolkart, T., Black, M. J., Li, H., Romero, J.
ACM Transactions on Graphics, 36(6):194:1-194:17, November 2017, Two first authors contributed equally (article)
The field of 3D face modeling has a large gap between high-end and low-end methods. At the high end, the best facial animation is indistinguishable from real humans, but this comes at the cost of extensive manual labor. At the low end, face capture from consumer depth sensors relies on 3D face models that are not expressive enough to capture the variability in natural facial shape and expression. We seek a middle ground by learning a facial model from thousands of accurately aligned 3D scans. Our FLAME model (Faces Learned with an Articulated Model and Expressions) is designed to work with existing graphics software and be easy to fit to data. FLAME uses a linear shape space trained from 3800 scans of human heads. FLAME combines this linear shape space with an articulated jaw, neck, and eyeballs, pose-dependent corrective blendshapes, and additional global expression from 4D face sequences in the D3DFACS dataset along with additional 4D sequences.We accurately register a template mesh to the scan sequences and make the D3DFACS registrations available for research purposes. In total the model is trained from over 33, 000 scans. FLAME is low-dimensional but more expressive than the FaceWarehouse model and the Basel Face Model. We compare FLAME to these models by fitting them to static 3D scans and 4D sequences using the same optimization method. FLAME is significantly more accurate and is available for research purposes (http://flame.is.tue.mpg.de).
data/model video code chumpy code tensorflow paper supplemental Project Page [BibTex]
ps Li, T., Bolkart, T., Black, M. J., Li, H., Romero, J. Learning a model of facial shape and expression from 4D scans ACM Transactions on Graphics, 36(6):194:1-194:17, November 2017, Two first authors contributed equally (article)
Acquiring Target Stacking Skills by Goal-Parameterized Deep Reinforcement Learning
Li, W., Bohg, J., Fritz, M.
arXiv, November 2017 (article) Submitted
Understanding physical phenomena is a key component of human intelligence and enables physical interaction with previously unseen environments. In this paper, we study how an artificial agent can autonomously acquire this intuition through interaction with the environment. We created a synthetic block stacking environment with physics simulation in which the agent can learn a policy end-to-end through trial and error. Thereby, we bypass to explicitly model physical knowledge within the policy. We are specifically interested in tasks that require the agent to reach a given goal state that may be different for every new trial. To this end, we propose a deep reinforcement learning framework that learns policies which are parametrized by a goal. We validated the model on a toy example navigating in a grid world with different target positions and in a block stacking task with different target structures of the final tower. In contrast to prior work, our policies show better generalization across different goals.
am Li, W., Bohg, J., Fritz, M. Acquiring Target Stacking Skills by Goal-Parameterized Deep Reinforcement Learning arXiv, November 2017 (article) Submitted
Embodied Hands: Modeling and Capturing Hands and Bodies Together
Romero, J., Tzionas, D., Black, M. J.
ACM Transactions on Graphics, (Proc. SIGGRAPH Asia), 36(6):245:1-245:17, 245:1–245:17, ACM, November 2017 (article)
Humans move their hands and bodies together to communicate and solve tasks. Capturing and replicating such coordinated activity is critical for virtual characters that behave realistically. Surprisingly, most methods treat the 3D modeling and tracking of bodies and hands separately. Here we formulate a model of hands and bodies interacting together and fit it to full-body 4D sequences. When scanning or capturing the full body in 3D, hands are small and often partially occluded, making their shape and pose hard to recover. To cope with low-resolution, occlusion, and noise, we develop a new model called MANO (hand Model with Articulated and Non-rigid defOrmations). MANO is learned from around 1000 high-resolution 3D scans of hands of 31 subjects in a wide variety of hand poses. The model is realistic, low-dimensional, captures non-rigid shape changes with pose, is compatible with standard graphics packages, and can fit any human hand. MANO provides a compact mapping from hand poses to pose blend shape corrections and a linear manifold of pose synergies. We attach MANO to a standard parameterized 3D body shape model (SMPL), resulting in a fully articulated body and hand model (SMPL+H). We illustrate SMPL+H by fitting complex, natural, activities of subjects captured with a 4D scanner. The fitting is fully automatic and results in full body models that move naturally with detailed hand motions and a realism not seen before in full body performance capture. The models and data are freely available for research purposes at http://mano.is.tue.mpg.de.
website youtube paper suppl video link (url) DOI Project Page [BibTex]
ps Romero, J., Tzionas, D., Black, M. J. Embodied Hands: Modeling and Capturing Hands and Bodies Together ACM Transactions on Graphics, (Proc. SIGGRAPH Asia), 36(6):245:1-245:17, 245:1–245:17, ACM, November 2017 (article)
Generalized exploration in policy search
van Hoof, H., Tanneberg, D., Peters, J.
Machine Learning, 106(9-10):1705-1724 , (Editors: Kurt Driessens, Dragi Kocev, Marko Robnik‐Sikonja, and Myra Spiliopoulou), October 2017, Special Issue of the ECML PKDD 2017 Journal Track (article)
ei van Hoof, H., Tanneberg, D., Peters, J. Generalized exploration in policy search Machine Learning, 106(9-10):1705-1724 , (Editors: Kurt Driessens, Dragi Kocev, Marko Robnik‐Sikonja, and Myra Spiliopoulou), October 2017, Special Issue of the ECML PKDD 2017 Journal Track (article)
An Online Scalable Approach to Unified Multirobot Cooperative Localization and Object Tracking
Ahmad, A., Lawless, G., Lima, P.
IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 33, pages: 1184 - 1199, October 2017 (article)
In this article we present a unified approach for multi-robot cooperative simultaneous localization and object tracking based on particle filters. Our approach is scalable with respect to the number of robots in the team. We introduce a method that reduces, from an exponential to a linear growth, the space and computation time requirements with respect to the number of robots in order to maintain a given level of accuracy in the full state estimation. Our method requires no increase in the number of particles with respect to the number of robots. However, in our method each particle represents a full state hypothesis, leading to the linear dependency on the number of robots of both space and time complexity. The derivation of the algorithm implementing our approach from a standard particle filter algorithm and its complexity analysis are presented. Through an extensive set of simulation experiments on a large number of randomized datasets, we demonstrate the correctness and efficacy of our approach. Through real robot experiments on a standardized open dataset of a team of four soccer playing robots tracking a ball, we evaluate our method's estimation accuracy with respect to the ground truth values. Through comparisons with other methods based on i) nonlinear least squares minimization and ii) joint extended Kalman filter, we further highlight our method's advantages. Finally, we also present a robustness test for our approach by evaluating it under scenarios of communication and vision failure in teammate robots.
Published Version link (url) DOI [BibTex]
ps Ahmad, A., Lawless, G., Lima, P. An Online Scalable Approach to Unified Multirobot Cooperative Localization and Object Tracking IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 33, pages: 1184 - 1199, October 2017 (article)
Probabilistic Prioritization of Movement Primitives
Paraschos, A., Lioutikov, R., Peters, J., Neumann, G.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robot Systems, and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2(4):2294-2301, October 2017 (article)
ei Paraschos, A., Lioutikov, R., Peters, J., Neumann, G. Probabilistic Prioritization of Movement Primitives Proceedings of the International Conference on Intelligent Robot Systems, and IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2(4):2294-2301, October 2017 (article)
Multifunctional Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers for Targeted Active Drug Delivery
Park, B., Zhuang, J., Yasa, O., Sitti, M.
ACS Nano, 11(9):8910-8923, September 2017, PMID: 28873304 (article)
High-performance, multifunctional bacteria-driven microswimmers are introduced using an optimized design and fabrication method for targeted drug delivery applications. These microswimmers are made of mostly single Escherichia coli bacterium attached to the surface of drug-loaded polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) microparticles with embedded magnetic nanoparticles. The PEM drug carriers are 1 μm in diameter and are intentionally fabricated with a more viscoelastic material than the particles previously studied in the literature. The resulting stochastic microswimmers are able to swim at mean speeds of up to 22.5 μm/s. They can be guided and targeted to specific cells, because they exhibit biased and directional motion under a chemoattractant gradient and a magnetic field, respectively. Moreover, we demonstrate the microswimmers delivering doxorubicin anticancer drug molecules, encapsulated in the polyelectrolyte multilayers, to 4T1 breast cancer cells under magnetic guidance in vitro. The results reveal the feasibility of using these active multifunctional bacteria-driven microswimmers to perform targeted drug delivery with significantly enhanced drug transfer, when compared with the passive PEM microparticles.
pi Park, B., Zhuang, J., Yasa, O., Sitti, M. Multifunctional Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers for Targeted Active Drug Delivery ACS Nano, 11(9):8910-8923, September 2017, PMID: 28873304 (article)
Active Acoustic Surfaces Enable the Propulsion of a Wireless Robot
Advanced Materials Interfaces, 4(21):1700933, September 2017 (article)
A major challenge that prevents the miniaturization of mechanically actuated systems is the lack of suitable methods that permit the efficient transfer of power to small scales. Acoustic energy holds great potential, as it is wireless, penetrates deep into biological tissues, and the mechanical vibrations can be directly converted into directional forces. Recently, active acoustic surfaces are developed that consist of 2D arrays of microcavities holding microbubbles that can be excited with an external acoustic field. At resonance, the surfaces give rise to acoustic streaming and thus provide a highly directional propulsive force. Here, this study advances these wireless surface actuators by studying their force output as the size of the bubble-array is increased. In particular, a general method is reported to dramatically improve the propulsive force, demonstrating that the surface actuators are actually able to propel centimeter-scale devices. To prove the flexibility of the functional surfaces as wireless ready-to-attach actuator, a mobile mini-robot capable of propulsion in water along multiple directions is presented. This work paves the way toward effectively exploiting acoustic surfaces as a novel wireless actuation scheme at small scales.
pf Qiu, T., Palagi, S., Mark, A. G., Melde, K., Adams, F., Fischer, P. Active Acoustic Surfaces Enable the Propulsion of a Wireless Robot Advanced Materials Interfaces, 4(21):1700933, September 2017 (article)
EndoSensorFusion: Particle Filtering-Based Multi-sensory Data Fusion with Switching State-Space Model for Endoscopic Capsule Robots
Turan, M., Almalioglu, Y., Gilbert, H., Araujo, H., Cemgil, T., Sitti, M.
ArXiv e-prints, September 2017 (article)
A reliable, real time multi-sensor fusion functionality is crucial for localization of actively controlled capsule endoscopy robots, which are an emerging, minimally invasive diagnostic and therapeutic technology for the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. In this study, we propose a novel multi-sensor fusion approach based on a particle filter that incorporates an online estimation of sensor reliability and a non-linear kinematic model learned by a recurrent neural network. Our method sequentially estimates the true robot pose from noisy pose observations delivered by multiple sensors. We experimentally test the method using 5 degree-of-freedom (5-DoF) absolute pose measurement by a magnetic localization system and a 6-DoF relative pose measurement by visual odometry. In addition, the proposed method is capable of detecting and handling sensor failures by ignoring corrupted data, providing the robustness expected of a medical device. Detailed analyses and evaluations are presented using ex-vivo experiments on a porcine stomach model prove that our system achieves high translational and rotational accuracies for different types of endoscopic capsule robot trajectories.
pi Turan, M., Almalioglu, Y., Gilbert, H., Araujo, H., Cemgil, T., Sitti, M. EndoSensorFusion: Particle Filtering-Based Multi-sensory Data Fusion with Switching State-Space Model for Endoscopic Capsule Robots ArXiv e-prints, September 2017 (article)
Endo-VMFuseNet: Deep Visual-Magnetic Sensor Fusion Approach for Uncalibrated, Unsynchronized and Asymmetric Endoscopic Capsule Robot Localization Data
Turan, M., Almalioglu, Y., Gilbert, H., Eren Sari, A., Soylu, U., Sitti, M.
In the last decade, researchers and medical device companies have made major advances towards transforming passive capsule endoscopes into active medical robots. One of the major challenges is to endow capsule robots with accurate perception of the environment inside the human body, which will provide necessary information and enable improved medical procedures. We extend the success of deep learning approaches from various research fields to the problem of uncalibrated, asynchronous, and asymmetric sensor fusion for endoscopic capsule robots. The results performed on real pig stomach datasets show that our method achieves sub-millimeter precision for both translational and rotational movements and contains various advantages over traditional sensor fusion techniques.
pi Turan, M., Almalioglu, Y., Gilbert, H., Eren Sari, A., Soylu, U., Sitti, M. Endo-VMFuseNet: Deep Visual-Magnetic Sensor Fusion Approach for Uncalibrated, Unsynchronized and Asymmetric Endoscopic Capsule Robot Localization Data ArXiv e-prints, September 2017 (article)
Magnetotactic Bacteria Powered Biohybrids Target E. coli Biofilms
Stanton, M. M., Park, B., Vilela, D., Bente, K., Faivre, D., Sitti, M., Sánchez, S.
ACS Nano, 0(0):null, September 2017, PMID: 28933815 (article)
Biofilm colonies are typically resistant to general antibiotic treatment and require targeted methods for their removal. One of these methods includes the use of nanoparticles as carriers for antibiotic delivery, where they randomly circulate in fluid until they make contact with the infected areas. However, the required proximity of the particles to the biofilm results in only moderate efficacy. We demonstrate here that the nonpathogenic magnetotactic bacteria Magnetosopirrillum gryphiswalense (MSR-1) can be integrated with drug-loaded mesoporous silica microtubes to build controllable microswimmers (biohybrids) capable of antibiotic delivery to target an infectious biofilm. Applying external magnetic guidance capability and swimming power of the MSR-1 cells, the biohybrids are directed to and forcefully pushed into matured Escherichia coli (E. coli) biofilms. Release of the antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, is triggered by the acidic microenvironment of the biofilm, ensuring an efficient drug delivery system. The results reveal the capabilities of a nonpathogenic bacteria species to target and dismantle harmful biofilms, indicating biohybrid systems have great potential for antibiofilm applications.
pi Stanton, M. M., Park, B., Vilela, D., Bente, K., Faivre, D., Sitti, M., Sánchez, S. Magnetotactic Bacteria Powered Biohybrids Target E. coli Biofilms ACS Nano, 0(0):null, September 2017, PMID: 28933815 (article)
Corrosion-Protected Hybrid Nanoparticles
Jeong, H. H., Alarcon-Correa, M., Mark, A. G., Son, K., Lee, T., Fischer, P.
Advanced Science, 4(12):1700234, September 2017 (article)
Nanoparticles composed of functional materials hold great promise for applications due to their unique electronic, optical, magnetic, and catalytic properties. However, a number of functional materials are not only difficult to fabricate at the nanoscale, but are also chemically unstable in solution. Hence, protecting nanoparticles from corrosion is a major challenge for those applications that require stability in aqueous solutions and biological fluids. Here, this study presents a generic scheme to grow hybrid 3D nanoparticles that are completely encapsulated by a nm thick protective shell. The method consists of vacuum-based growth and protection, and combines oblique physical vapor deposition with atomic layer deposition. It provides wide flexibility in the shape and composition of the nanoparticles, and the environments against which particles are protected. The work demonstrates the approach with multifunctional nanoparticles possessing ferromagnetic, plasmonic, and chiral properties. The present scheme allows nanocolloids, which immediately corrode without protection, to remain functional, at least for a week, in acidic solutions.
pf Jeong, H. H., Alarcon-Correa, M., Mark, A. G., Son, K., Lee, T., Fischer, P. Corrosion-Protected Hybrid Nanoparticles Advanced Science, 4(12):1700234, September 2017 (article)
Undulatory Swimming Performance and Body Stiffness Modulation in a Soft Robotic Fish-Inspired Physical Model
Ardian Jusufi, D. M. V. R. J. W. G. V. L.
Soft Robotics, September 2017 (article)
Undulatory motion of the body is the dominant mode of locomotion in fishes, and numerous studies of body kinematics and muscle activity patterns have provided insights into the mechanics of swimming. However, it has not been possible to investigate how key parameters such as the extent of bilateral muscle activation affect propulsive performance due to the inability to manipulate muscle activation in live, freely swimming fishes. In this article we extend previous work on passive flexible mechanical models of undulatory propulsion by using actively controlled pneumatic actuators attached to a flexible foil to gain insight into undulatory locomotion and mechanisms for body stiffness control. Two soft actuators were attached on each side of a flexible panel with stiffness comparable to that of a fish body. To study how bilateral contraction can be used to modify axial body stiffness during swimming, we ran a parameter sweep of actuator contraction phasing and frequency. Thrust production by the soft pneumatic actuators was tested at cyclic undulation frequencies ranging from 0.3 to 1.2 Hz in a recirculating flow tank at flow speeds up to 28 cm/s. Overall, this system generated more thrust at higher tail beat frequencies, with a plateau in thrust above 0.8 Hz. Self-propelled speed was found to be 0.8 foil lengths per second or ∼13 cm/s when actuated at 0.55 Hz. This active pneumatic model is capable of producing substantial trailing edge amplitudes with a maximum excursion equivalent to 1.4 foil lengths, and of generating considerable thrust. Altering the extent of bilateral co-contraction in a range from −22% to 17% of the cycle period showed that thrust was maximized with some amount of simultaneous left-right actuation of ∼3% to 6% of the cycle period. When the system is exposed to water flow, thrust was substantially reduced for conditions of greatest antagonistic overlap in left-right actuation, and also for the largest latencies introduced. This experimental platform provides a soft robotic testbed for studying aquatic propulsion with active control of undulatory kinematics.
Ardian Jusufi, D. M. V. R. J. W. G. V. L. Undulatory Swimming Performance and Body Stiffness Modulation in a Soft Robotic Fish-Inspired Physical Model Soft Robotics, September 2017 (article)
Using Contact Forces and Robot Arm Accelerations to Automatically Rate Surgeon Skill at Peg Transfer
Brown, J. D., O'Brien, C. E., Leung, S. C., Dumon, K. R., Lee, D. I., Kuchenbecker, K. J.
IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 64(9):2263-2275, September 2017 (article)
hi Brown, J. D., O'Brien, C. E., Leung, S. C., Dumon, K. R., Lee, D. I., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Using Contact Forces and Robot Arm Accelerations to Automatically Rate Surgeon Skill at Peg Transfer IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, 64(9):2263-2275, September 2017 (article)
Sparse-then-Dense Alignment based 3D Map Reconstruction Method for Endoscopic Capsule Robots
Turan, M., Yigit Pilavci, Y., Ganiyusufoglu, I., Araujo, H., Konukoglu, E., Sitti, M.
ArXiv e-prints, August 2017 (article)
Since the development of capsule endoscopcy technology, substantial progress were made in converting passive capsule endoscopes to robotic active capsule endoscopes which can be controlled by the doctor. However, robotic capsule endoscopy still has some challenges. In particular, the use of such devices to generate a precise and globally consistent three-dimensional (3D) map of the entire inner organ remains an unsolved problem. Such global 3D maps of inner organs would help doctors to detect the location and size of diseased areas more accurately, precisely, and intuitively, thus permitting more accurate and intuitive diagnoses. The proposed 3D reconstruction system is built in a modular fashion including preprocessing, frame stitching, and shading-based 3D reconstruction modules. We propose an efficient scheme to automatically select the key frames out of the huge quantity of raw endoscopic images. Together with a bundle fusion approach that aligns all the selected key frames jointly in a globally consistent way, a significant improvement of the mosaic and 3D map accuracy was reached. To the best of our knowledge, this framework is the first complete pipeline for an endoscopic capsule robot based 3D map reconstruction containing all of the necessary steps for a reliable and accurate endoscopic 3D map. For the qualitative evaluations, a real pig stomach is employed. Moreover, for the first time in literature, a detailed and comprehensive quantitative analysis of each proposed pipeline modules is performed using a non-rigid esophagus gastro duodenoscopy simulator, four different endoscopic cameras, a magnetically activated soft capsule robot (MASCE), a sub-millimeter precise optical motion tracker and a fine-scale 3D optical scanner.
pi Turan, M., Yigit Pilavci, Y., Ganiyusufoglu, I., Araujo, H., Konukoglu, E., Sitti, M. Sparse-then-Dense Alignment based 3D Map Reconstruction Method for Endoscopic Capsule Robots ArXiv e-prints, August 2017 (article)
Dipole codes attractively encode glue functions
Ipparthi, D., Mastrangeli, M., Winslow, A.
Theoretical Computer Science, 671, pages: 19 - 25, August 2017, Computational Self-Assembly (article)
Dipole words are sequences of magnetic dipoles, in which alike elements repel and opposite elements attract. Magnetic dipoles contrast with more general sets of bonding types, called glues, in which pairwise bonding strength is specified by a glue function. We prove that every glue function g has a set of dipole words, called a dipole code, that attractively encodes g: the pairwise attractions (positive or non-positive bond strength) between the words are identical to those of g. Moreover, we give such word sets of asymptotically optimal length. Similar results are obtained for a commonly used subclass of glue functions.
pi Ipparthi, D., Mastrangeli, M., Winslow, A. Dipole codes attractively encode glue functions Theoretical Computer Science, 671, pages: 19 - 25, August 2017, Computational Self-Assembly (article)
Ungrounded Haptic Augmented Reality System for Displaying Texture and Friction
Culbertson, H., Kuchenbecker, K. J.
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(4):1839-1849, August 2017 (article)
hi Culbertson, H., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Ungrounded Haptic Augmented Reality System for Displaying Texture and Friction IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(4):1839-1849, August 2017 (article)
Hypoxia‐enhanced adhesion of red blood cells in microscale flow
Kim, M., Alapan, Y., Adhikari, A., Little, J. A., Gurkan, U. A.
Microcirculation, 24(5):e12374, July 2017 (article)
Abstract Objectives The advancement of microfluidic technology has facilitated the simulation of physiological conditions of the microcirculation, such as oxygen tension, fluid flow, and shear stress in these devices. Here, we present a micro‐gas exchanger integrated with microfluidics to study RBC adhesion under hypoxic flow conditions mimicking postcapillary venules. Methods We simulated a range of physiological conditions and explored RBC adhesion to endothelial or subendothelial components (FN or LN). Blood samples were injected into microchannels at normoxic or hypoxic physiological flow conditions. Quantitative evaluation of RBC adhesion was performed on 35 subjects with homozygous SCD. Results Significant heterogeneity in RBC adherence response to hypoxia was seen among SCD patients. RBCs from a HEA population showed a significantly greater increase in adhesion compared to RBCs from a HNA population, for both FN and LN. Conclusions The approach presented here enabled the control of oxygen tension in blood during microscale flow and the quantification of RBC adhesion in a cost‐efficient and patient‐specific manner. We identified a unique patient population in which RBCs showed enhanced adhesion in hypoxia in vitro. Clinical correlates suggest a more severe clinical phenotype in this subgroup.
pi Kim, M., Alapan, Y., Adhikari, A., Little, J. A., Gurkan, U. A. Hypoxia‐enhanced adhesion of red blood cells in microscale flow Microcirculation, 24(5):e12374, July 2017 (article)
Learning Movement Primitive Libraries through Probabilistic Segmentation
Lioutikov, R., Neumann, G., Maeda, G., Peters, J.
International Journal of Robotics Research, 36(8):879-894, July 2017 (article)
ei Lioutikov, R., Neumann, G., Maeda, G., Peters, J. Learning Movement Primitive Libraries through Probabilistic Segmentation International Journal of Robotics Research, 36(8):879-894, July 2017 (article)
Event-based State Estimation: An Emulation-based Approach
IET Control Theory & Applications, 11(11):1684-1693, July 2017 (article)
An event-based state estimation approach for reducing communication in a networked control system is proposed. Multiple distributed sensor agents observe a dynamic process and sporadically transmit their measurements to estimator agents over a shared bus network. Local event-triggering protocols ensure that data is transmitted only when necessary to meet a desired estimation accuracy. The event-based design is shown to emulate the performance of a centralised state observer design up to guaranteed bounds, but with reduced communication. The stability results for state estimation are extended to the distributed control system that results when the local estimates are used for feedback control. Results from numerical simulations and hardware experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in reducing network communication.
arXiv Supplementary material PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]
am ics Trimpe, S. Event-based State Estimation: An Emulation-based Approach IET Control Theory & Applications, 11(11):1684-1693, July 2017 (article)
Soiled adhesive pads shear clean by slipping: a robust self-cleaning mechanism in climbing beetles
Amador, G., Endlein, T., Sitti, M.
Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 14(131):20170134, The Royal Society, June 2017 (article)
Animals using adhesive pads to climb smooth surfaces face the problem of keeping their pads clean and functional. Here, a self-cleaning mechanism is proposed whereby soiled feet would slip on the surface due to a lack of adhesion but shed particles in return. Our study offers an in situ quantification of self-cleaning performance in fibrillar adhesives, using the dock beetle as a model organism. After beetles soiled their pads by stepping into patches of spherical beads, we found that their gait was significantly affected. Specifically, soiled pads slipped 10 times further than clean pads, with more particles deposited for longer slips. Like previous studies, we found that particle size affected cleaning performance. Large (45 μm) beads were removed most effectively, followed by medium (10 μm) and small (1 μm). Consistent with our results from climbing beetles, force measurements on freshly severed legs revealed larger detachment forces of medium particles from adhesive pads compared to a flat surface, possibly due to interlocking between fibres. By contrast, dock leaves showed an overall larger affinity to the beads and thus reduced the need for cleaning. Self-cleaning through slippage provides a mechanism robust to particle size and may inspire solutions for artificial adhesives.
pi Amador, G., Endlein, T., Sitti, M. Soiled adhesive pads shear clean by slipping: a robust self-cleaning mechanism in climbing beetles Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 14(131):20170134, The Royal Society, June 2017 (article)
Non-Equilibrium Assembly of Light-Activated Colloidal Mixtures
Singh, D. P., Choudhury, U., Fischer, P., Mark, A. G.
Advanced Materials, 29, pages: 1701328, June 2017, 32 (article)
The collective phenomena exhibited by artificial active matter systems present novel routes to fabricating out-of-equilibrium microscale assemblies. Here, the crystallization of passive silica colloids into well-controlled 2D assemblies is shown, which is directed by a small number of self-propelled active colloids. The active colloids are titania–silica Janus particles that are propelled when illuminated by UV light. The strength of the attractive interaction and thus the extent of the assembled clusters can be regulated by the light intensity. A remarkably small number of the active colloids is sufficient to induce the assembly of the dynamic crystals. The approach produces rationally designed colloidal clusters and crystals with controllable sizes, shapes, and symmetries. This multicomponent active matter system offers the possibility of obtaining structures and assemblies that cannot be found in equilibrium systems.
pf Singh, D. P., Choudhury, U., Fischer, P., Mark, A. G. Non-Equilibrium Assembly of Light-Activated Colloidal Mixtures Advanced Materials, 29, pages: 1701328, June 2017, 32 (article)
Yield prediction in parallel homogeneous assembly
Ipparthi, D., Winslow, A., Sitti, M., Dorigo, M., Mastrangeli, M.
Soft Matter, 13, pages: 7595-7608, The Royal Society of Chemistry, June 2017 (article)
We investigate the parallel assembly of two-dimensional{,} geometrically-closed modular target structures out of homogeneous sets of macroscopic components of varying anisotropy. The yield predicted by a chemical reaction network (CRN)-based model is quantitatively shown to reproduce experimental results over a large set of conditions. Scaling laws for parallel assembling systems are then derived from the model. By extending the validity of the CRN-based modelling{,} this work prompts analysis and solutions to the incompatible substructure problem.
pi Ipparthi, D., Winslow, A., Sitti, M., Dorigo, M., Mastrangeli, M. Yield prediction in parallel homogeneous assembly Soft Matter, 13, pages: 7595-7608, The Royal Society of Chemistry, June 2017 (article)
Nanodiamonds That Swim
Kim, J. T., Choudhury, U., Hyeon-Ho, J., Fischer, P.
Advanced Materials, 29(30):1701024, June 2017, Back Cover (article)
Nanodiamonds are emerging as nanoscale quantum probes for bio-sensing and imaging. This necessitates the development of new methods to accurately manipulate their position and orientation in aqueous solutions. The realization of an "active" nanodiamond (ND) swimmer in fluids, composed of a ND crystal containing nitrogen vacancy centers and a light-driven self-thermophoretic micromotor, is reported. The swimmer is propelled by a local temperature gradient created by laser illumination on its metal-coated side. Its locomotion—from translational to rotational motion—is successfully controlled by shape-dependent hydrodynamic interactions. The precise engineering of the swimmer's geometry is achieved by self-assembly combined with physical vapor shadow growth. The optical addressability of the suspended ND swimmers is demonstrated by observing the electron spin resonance in the presence of magnetic fields. Active motion at the nanoscale enables new sensing capabilities combined with active transport including, potentially, in living organisms.
pf Kim, J. T., Choudhury, U., Hyeon-Ho, J., Fischer, P. Nanodiamonds That Swim Advanced Materials, 29(30):1701024, June 2017, Back Cover (article)
Three‐dimensional patterning in biomedicine: Importance and applications in neuropharmacology
Ajay, V. S., Tanmay, G., Madu, B., Byung‐Wook, P., Thomas, E., Metin, S.
Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 106(3):1369-1382, June 2017 (article)
Abstract Nature manufactures biological systems in three dimensions with precisely controlled spatiotemporal profiles on hierarchical length and time scales. In this article, we review 3D patterning of biological systems on synthetic platforms for neuropharmacological applications. We briefly describe 3D versus 2D chemical and topographical patterning methods and their limitations. Subsequently, an overview of introducing a third dimension in neuropharmacological research with delineation of chemical and topographical roles is presented. Finally, toward the end of this article, an explanation of how 3D patterning has played a pivotal role in relevant fields of neuropharmacology to understand neurophysiology during development, normal health, and disease conditions is described. The future prospects of organs‐on‐a‐‐like devices to mimic patterned blood–brain barrier in the context of neurotherapeutic discovery and development for the prioritization of lead candidates, membrane potential, and toxicity testing are also described. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1369–1382, 2018.
pi Ajay, V. S., Tanmay, G., Madu, B., Byung‐Wook, P., Thomas, E., Metin, S. Three‐dimensional patterning in biomedicine: Importance and applications in neuropharmacology Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 106(3):1369-1382, June 2017 (article)
Perception of Force and Stiffness in the Presence of Low-Frequency Haptic Noise
Gurari, N., Okamura, A. M., Kuchenbecker, K. J.
PLoS ONE, 12(6):e0178605, June 2017 (article)
hi Gurari, N., Okamura, A. M., Kuchenbecker, K. J. Perception of Force and Stiffness in the Presence of Low-Frequency Haptic Noise PLoS ONE, 12(6):e0178605, June 2017 (article)
Tail-Assisted Mobility and Stability Enhancement in Yaw/Pitch Motions of a Water-Running Robot
Kim, H., Sitti, M., Seo, T.
IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(3):1207–1217, IEEE, June 2017 (article)
Water-running robots have been developed inspired by a basilisk lizard, which demonstrates highly agile, stable, and energy-efficient locomotion on water surfaces. Current water-running robots are not as stable and agile as their biological counterparts. This study shows how the stability of a water-running robot in the pitch direction can be improved by using an active tail to enable increased propulsion. The mobility of the robot is also increased. To generate force in the pitch and yaw directions, a two-degrees-of-freedom tail is implemented with two circular plates to provide drag. We developed two types of dynamic models for pitch and yaw behavior, and the results are recursively calculated by considering the correlation between the models. The relationship between pitch motion and propulsion was analyzed by simulations. The steering behavior of the robot is also validated while considering the pitch behavior. Experiments were conducted to verify the simulation results.
pi Kim, H., Sitti, M., Seo, T. Tail-Assisted Mobility and Stability Enhancement in Yaw/Pitch Motions of a Water-Running Robot IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, 22(3):1207–1217, IEEE, June 2017 (article)
Evaluation of a Vibrotactile Simulator for Dental Caries Detection
Kuchenbecker, K. J., Parajon, R., Maggio, M. P.
Simulation in Healthcare, 12(3):148-156, June 2017 (article)
hi Kuchenbecker, K. J., Parajon, R., Maggio, M. P. Evaluation of a Vibrotactile Simulator for Dental Caries Detection Simulation in Healthcare, 12(3):148-156, June 2017 (article)
Propulsion and Chemotaxis in Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers
Zhuang, J., Park, B., Sitti, M.
Advanced Science, 4(9):1700109, May 2017 (article)
Despite the large body of experimental work recently on biohybrid microsystems, few studies have focused on theoretical modeling of such systems, which is essential to understand their underlying functioning mechanisms and hence design them optimally for a given application task. Therefore, this study focuses on developing a mathematical model to describe the 3D motion and chemotaxis of a type of widely studied biohybrid microswimmer, where spherical microbeads are driven by multiple attached bacteria. The model is developed based on the biophysical observations of the experimental system and is validated by comparing the model simulation with experimental 3D swimming trajectories and other motility characteristics, including mean squared displacement, speed, diffusivity, and turn angle. The chemotaxis modeling results of the microswimmers also agree well with the experiments, where a collective chemotactic behavior among multiple bacteria is observed. The simulation result implies that such collective chemotaxis behavior is due to a synchronized signaling pathway across the bacteria attached to the same microswimmer. Furthermore, the dependencies of the motility and chemotaxis of the microswimmers on certain system parameters, such as the chemoattractant concentration gradient, swimmer body size, and number of attached bacteria, toward an optimized design of such biohybrid system are studied. The optimized microswimmers would be used in targeted cargo, e.g., drug, imaging agent, gene, and RNA, transport and delivery inside the stagnant or low-velocity fluids of the human body as one of their potential biomedical applications.
pi Zhuang, J., Park, B., Sitti, M. Propulsion and Chemotaxis in Bacteria-Driven Microswimmers Advanced Science, 4(9):1700109, May 2017 (article)
Dynamic and programmable self-assembly of micro-rafts at the air-water interface
Wang, W., Giltinan, J., Zakharchenko, S., Sitti, M.
Science Advances, 3(5):e1602522, American Association for the Advancement of Science, May 2017 (article)
Dynamic self-assembled material systems constantly consume energy to maintain their spatiotemporal structures and functions. Programmable self-assembly translates information from individual parts to the collective whole. Combining dynamic and programmable self-assembly in a single platform opens up the possibilities to investigate both types of self-assembly simultaneously and to explore their synergy. This task is challenging because of the difficulty in finding suitable interactions that are both dissipative and programmable. We present a dynamic and programmable self-assembling material system consisting of spinning at the air-water interface circular magnetic micro-rafts of radius 50 μm and with cosinusoidal edge-height profiles. The cosinusoidal edge-height profiles not only create a net dissipative capillary repulsion that is sustained by continuous torque input but also enable directional assembly of micro-rafts. We uncover the layered arrangement of micro-rafts in the patterns formed by dynamic self-assembly and offer mechanistic insights through a physical model and geometric analysis. Furthermore, we demonstrate programmable self-assembly and show that a 4-fold rotational symmetry encoded in individual micro-rafts translates into 90° bending angles and square-based tiling in the assembled structures of micro-rafts. We anticipate that our dynamic and programmable material system will serve as a model system for studying nonequilibrium dynamics and statistical mechanics in the future
pi Wang, W., Giltinan, J., Zakharchenko, S., Sitti, M. Dynamic and programmable self-assembly of micro-rafts at the air-water interface Science Advances, 3(5):e1602522, American Association for the Advancement of Science, May 2017 (article)
Presentation of functional groups on self-assembled supramolecular peptide nanofibers mimicking glycosaminoglycans for directed mesenchymal stem cell differentiation
Yasa, O., Uysal, O., Ekiz, M. S., Guler, M. O., Tekinay, A. B.
J. Mater. Chem. B, 5, pages: 4890-4900, The Royal Society of Chemistry, May 2017 (article)
Organizational complexity and functional diversity of the extracellular matrix regulate cellular behaviors. The extracellular matrix is composed of various proteins in the form of proteoglycans{,} glycoproteins{,} and nanofibers whose types and combinations change depending on the tissue type. Proteoglycans{,} which are proteins that are covalently attached to glycosaminoglycans{,} contribute to the complexity of the microenvironment of the cells. The sulfation degree of the glycosaminoglycans is an important and distinct feature at specific developmental stages and tissue types. Peptide amphiphile nanofibers can mimic natural glycosaminoglycans and/or proteoglycans{,} and they form a synthetic nanofibrous microenvironment where cells can proliferate and differentiate towards different lineages. In this study{,} peptide nanofibers were used to provide varying degrees of sulfonation mimicking the natural glycosaminoglycans by forming a microenvironment for the survival and differentiation of stem cells. The effects of glucose{,} carboxylate{,} and sulfonate groups on the peptide nanofibers were investigated by considering the changes in the differentiation profiles of rat mesenchymal stem cells in the absence of any specific differentiation inducers in the culture medium. The results showed that a higher sulfonate-to-glucose ratio is associated with adipogenic differentiation and a higher carboxylate-to-glucose ratio is associated with osteochondrogenic differentiation of the rat mesenchymal stem cells. Overall{,} these results demonstrate that supramolecular peptide nanosystems can be used to understand the fine-tunings of the extracellular matrix such as sulfation profile on specific cell types.
pi Yasa, O., Uysal, O., Ekiz, M. S., Guler, M. O., Tekinay, A. B. Presentation of functional groups on self-assembled supramolecular peptide nanofibers mimicking glycosaminoglycans for directed mesenchymal stem cell differentiation J. Mater. Chem. B, 5, pages: 4890-4900, The Royal Society of Chemistry, May 2017 (article)
Bioinspired Composite Microfibers for Skin Adhesion and Signal Amplification of Wearable Sensors
Drotlef, D., Amjadi, M., Yunusa, M., Sitti, M.
Advanced Materials, 29(28):1701353, May 2017, Back Cover (article)
A facile approach is proposed for superior conformation and adhesion of wearable sensors to dry and wet skin. Bioinspired skin-adhesive films are composed of elastomeric microfibers decorated with conformal and mushroom-shaped vinylsiloxane tips. Strong skin adhesion is achieved by crosslinking the viscous vinylsiloxane tips directly on the skin surface. Furthermore, composite microfibrillar adhesive films possess a high adhesion strength of 18 kPa due to the excellent shape adaptation of the vinylsiloxane tips to the multiscale roughness of the skin. As a utility of the skin-adhesive films in wearable-device applications, they are integrated with wearable strain sensors for respiratory and heart-rate monitoring. The signal-to-noise ratio of the strain sensor is significantly improved to 59.7 because of the considerable signal amplification of microfibrillar skin-adhesive films.
pi Drotlef, D., Amjadi, M., Yunusa, M., Sitti, M. Bioinspired Composite Microfibers for Skin Adhesion and Signal Amplification of Wearable Sensors Advanced Materials, 29(28):1701353, May 2017, Back Cover (article)
Bioadhesive Bacterial Microswimmers for Targeted Drug Delivery in the Urinary and Gastrointestinal Tracts
Mostaghaci, B., Yasa, O., Zhuang, J., Sitti, M.
Bacteria-driven biohybrid microswimmers (bacteriabots), which integrate motile bacterial cells and functional synthetic cargo parts (e.g., microparticles encapsulating drug), are recently studied for targeted drug delivery. However, adhesion of such bacteriabots to the tissues on the site of a disease (which can increase the drug delivery efficiency) is not studied yet. Here, this paper proposes an approach to attach bacteriabots to certain types of epithelial cells (expressing mannose on the membrane), based on the affinity between lectin molecules on the tip of bacterial type I pili and mannose molecules on the epithelial cells. It is shown that the bacteria can anchor their cargo particles to mannose-functionalized surfaces and mannose-expressing cells (ATCC HTB-9) using the lectin–mannose bond. The attachment mechanism is confirmed by comparing the adhesion of bacteriabots fabricated from bacterial strains with or without type I pili to mannose-covered surfaces and cells. The proposed bioadhesive motile system can be further improved by expressing more specific adhesion moieties on the membrane of the bacteria.
pi Mostaghaci, B., Yasa, O., Zhuang, J., Sitti, M. Bioadhesive Bacterial Microswimmers for Targeted Drug Delivery in the Urinary and Gastrointestinal Tracts Advanced Science, 4(6):1700058, May 2017 (article)
Six Degree-of-Freedom Localization of Endoscopic Capsule Robots using Recurrent Neural Networks embedded into a Convolutional Neural Network
Turan, M., Abdullah, A., Jamiruddin, R., Araujo, H., Konukoglu, E., Sitti, M.
arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.06196, May 2017 (article)
Since its development, ingestible wireless endoscopy is considered to be a painless diagnostic method to detect a number of diseases inside GI tract. Medical related engineering companies have made significant improvements in this technology in last decade; however, some major limitations still residue. Localization of the next generation steerable endoscopic capsule robot in six degreeof-freedom (DoF) and active motion control are some of these limitations. The significance of localization capability concerns with the doctors correct diagnosis of the disease area. This paper presents a very robust 6-DoF localization method based on supervised training of an architecture consisting of recurrent networks (RNN) embedded into a convolutional neural network (CNN) to make use of both just-in-moment information obtained by CNN and correlative information across frames obtained by RNN. To our knowledge, our idea of embedding RNNs into a CNN architecture is for the first time proposed in literature. The experimental results show that the proposed RNN-in-CNN architecture performs very well for endoscopic capsule robot localization in cases vignetting, reflection distortions, noise, sudden camera movements and lack of distinguishable features.
pi Turan, M., Abdullah, A., Jamiruddin, R., Araujo, H., Konukoglu, E., Sitti, M. Six Degree-of-Freedom Localization of Endoscopic Capsule Robots using Recurrent Neural Networks embedded into a Convolutional Neural Network arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.06196, May 2017 (article)
Controllable load sharing for soft adhesive interfaces on three-dimensional surfaces
Song, S., Drotlef, D., Majidi, C., Sitti, M.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(22):E4344–E4353, National Acad Sciences, May 2017 (article)
For adhering to three-dimensional (3D) surfaces or objects, current adhesion systems are limited by a fundamental trade-off between 3D surface conformability and high adhesion strength. This limitation arises from the need for a soft, mechanically compliant interface, which enables conformability to nonflat and irregularly shaped surfaces but significantly reduces the interfacial fracture strength. In this work, we overcome this trade-off with an adhesion-based soft-gripping system that exhibits enhanced fracture strength without sacrificing conformability to nonplanar 3D surfaces. Composed of a gecko-inspired elastomeric microfibrillar adhesive membrane supported by a pressure-controlled deformable gripper body, the proposed soft-gripping system controls the bonding strength by changing its internal pressure and exploiting the mechanics of interfacial equal load sharing. The soft adhesion system can use up to ∼26% of the maximum adhesion of the fibrillar membrane, which is 14× higher than the adhering membrane without load sharing. Our proposed load-sharing method suggests a paradigm for soft adhesion-based gripping and transfer-printing systems that achieves area scaling similar to that of a natural gecko footpad.
pi Song, S., Drotlef, D., Majidi, C., Sitti, M. Controllable load sharing for soft adhesive interfaces on three-dimensional surfaces Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(22):E4344–E4353, National Acad Sciences, May 2017 (article)
A Non-Rigid Map Fusion-Based RGB-Depth SLAM Method for Endoscopic Capsule Robots
In the gastrointestinal (GI) tract endoscopy field, ingestible wireless capsule endoscopy is considered as a minimally invasive novel diagnostic technology to inspect the entire GI tract and to diagnose various diseases and pathologies. Since the development of this technology, medical device companies and many groups have made significant progress to turn such passive capsule endoscopes into robotic active capsule endoscopes to achieve almost all functions of current active flexible endoscopes. However, the use of robotic capsule endoscopy still has some challenges. One such challenge is the precise localization of such active devices in 3D world, which is essential for a precise three-dimensional (3D) mapping of the inner organ. A reliable 3D map of the explored inner organ could assist the doctors to make more intuitive and correct diagnosis. In this paper, we propose to our knowledge for the first time in literature a visual simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) method specifically developed for endoscopic capsule robots. The proposed RGB-Depth SLAM method is capable of capturing comprehensive dense globally consistent surfel-based maps of the inner organs explored by an endoscopic capsule robot in real time. This is achieved by using dense frame-to-model camera tracking and windowed surfelbased fusion coupled with frequent model refinement through non-rigid surface deformations.
pi Turan, M., Almalioglu, Y., Araujo, H., Konukoglu, E., Sitti, M. A Non-Rigid Map Fusion-Based RGB-Depth SLAM Method for Endoscopic Capsule Robots arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.05444, May 2017 (article)
Hydrophobic pinning with copper nanowhiskers leads to bactericidal properties
Singh, A. V., Baylan, S., Park, B., Richter, G., Sitti, M.
PloS One, 12(4):e0175428, Public Library of Science, April 2017 (article)
The considerable morbidity associated with hospitalized patients and clinics in developed countries due to biofilm formation on biomedical implants and surgical instruments is a heavy economic burden. An alternative to chemically treated surfaces for bactericidal activity started emerging from micro/nanoscale topographical cues in the last decade. Here, we demonstrate a putative antibacterial surface using copper nanowhiskers deposited by molecular beam epitaxy. Furthermore, the control of biological response is based on hydrophobic pinning of water droplets in the Wenzel regime, causing mechanical injury and cell death. Scanning electron microscopy images revealed the details of the surface morphology and non-contact mode laser scanning of the surface revealed the microtopography-associated quantitative parameters. Introducing the bacterial culture over nanowhiskers produces mechanical injury to cells, leading to a reduction in cell density over time due to local pinning of culture medium to whisker surfaces. Extended culture to 72 hours to observe biofilm formation revealed biofilm inhibition with scattered microcolonies and significantly reduced biovolume on nanowhiskers. Therefore, surfaces patterned with copper nanowhiskers can serve as potential antibiofilm surfaces. The topography-based antibacterial surfaces introduce a novel prospect in developing mechanoresponsive nanobiomaterials to reduce the risk of medical device biofilm-associated infections, contrary to chemical leaching of copper as a traditional bactericidal agent.
pi Singh, A. V., Baylan, S., Park, B., Richter, G., Sitti, M. Hydrophobic pinning with copper nanowhiskers leads to bactericidal properties PloS One, 12(4):e0175428, Public Library of Science, April 2017 (article)
Guiding Trajectory Optimization by Demonstrated Distributions
Osa, T., Ghalamzan E., A. M., Stolkin, R., Lioutikov, R., Peters, J., Neumann, G.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(2):819-826, April 2017 (article)
ei Osa, T., Ghalamzan E., A. M., Stolkin, R., Lioutikov, R., Peters, J., Neumann, G. Guiding Trajectory Optimization by Demonstrated Distributions IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 2(2):819-826, April 2017 (article)
Soft 3D-Printed Phantom of the Human Kidney with Collecting System
Adams, F., Qiu, T., Mark, A., Fritz, B., Kramer, L., Schlager, D., Wetterauer, U., Miernik, A., Fischer, P.
Ann. of Biomed. Eng., 45(4):963-972, April 2017 (article)
Organ models are used for planning and simulation of operations, developing new surgical instruments, and training purposes. There is a substantial demand for in vitro organ phantoms, especially in urological surgery. Animal models and existing simulator systems poorly mimic the detailed morphology and the physical properties of human organs. In this paper, we report a novel fabrication process to make a human kidney phantom with realistic anatomical structures and physical properties. The detailed anatomical structure was directly acquired from high resolution CT data sets of human cadaveric kidneys. The soft phantoms were constructed using a novel technique that combines 3D wax printing and polymer molding. Anatomical details and material properties of the phantoms were validated in detail by CT scan, ultrasound, and endoscopy. CT reconstruction, ultrasound examination, and endoscopy showed that the designed phantom mimics a real kidney's detailed anatomy and correctly corresponds to the targeted human cadaver's upper urinary tract. Soft materials with a tensile modulus of 0.8-1.5 MPa as well as biocompatible hydrogels were used to mimic human kidney tissues. We developed a method of constructing 3D organ models from medical imaging data using a 3D wax printing and molding process. This method is cost-effective means for obtaining a reproducible and robust model suitable for surgical simulation and training purposes.
pf Adams, F., Qiu, T., Mark, A., Fritz, B., Kramer, L., Schlager, D., Wetterauer, U., Miernik, A., Fischer, P. Soft 3D-Printed Phantom of the Human Kidney with Collecting System Ann. of Biomed. Eng., 45(4):963-972, April 2017 (article)
Probabilistic Articulated Real-Time Tracking for Robot Manipulation
(Best Paper of RA-L 2017, Finalist of Best Robotic Vision Paper Award of ICRA 2017)
Garcia Cifuentes, C., Issac, J., Wüthrich, M., Schaal, S., Bohg, J.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2(2):577-584, April 2017 (article)
We propose a probabilistic filtering method which fuses joint measurements with depth images to yield a precise, real-time estimate of the end-effector pose in the camera frame. This avoids the need for frame transformations when using it in combination with visual object tracking methods. Precision is achieved by modeling and correcting biases in the joint measurements as well as inaccuracies in the robot model, such as poor extrinsic camera calibration. We make our method computationally efficient through a principled combination of Kalman filtering of the joint measurements and asynchronous depth-image updates based on the Coordinate Particle Filter. We quantitatively evaluate our approach on a dataset recorded from a real robotic platform, annotated with ground truth from a motion capture system. We show that our approach is robust and accurate even under challenging conditions such as fast motion, significant and long-term occlusions, and time-varying biases. We release the dataset along with open-source code of our approach to allow for quantitative comparison with alternative approaches.
arXiv video code and dataset video PDF DOI Project Page [BibTex]
am Garcia Cifuentes, C., Issac, J., Wüthrich, M., Schaal, S., Bohg, J. Probabilistic Articulated Real-Time Tracking for Robot Manipulation IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters (RA-L), 2(2):577-584, April 2017 (article)


A major insurance broker with branches in Gloucestershire has announced plans to axe 900 jobs by the end of the year.
Swinton, which operates on Cheltenham's Bath Road, Gloucester's Westgate Street and London Road in Stroud, is putting 84 of its 194 branches under review.
The firm employs around 3,000 people in the UK, meaning roughly a third of its workforce will go.
It is not yet clear what this means for those working at branches in the county.
The significant cuts follow Swinton's decision to close 130 branches by the middle of this year, bringing its total number of offices down from 325.
Despite being one of the UK's largest high street brokers, their branches are facing a decline in customers as users turn to online options when organising their insurance.
Ninety per cent of its customers now purchase policies online or over the phone, Insurance Age reported.
Swinton chief executive Gilles Normand said: "We are reshaping our distribution model to ensure that we continue to meet the changing needs of our customers in an effective and efficient way.
"This change is difficult for all colleagues, especially those who are directly impacted by the proposals, but is vital if we are to remain competitive in a challenging insurance market.
"While branches continue to be an important part of our multi-channel business model, we need to ensure that we can interact with customers whenever, and however, they choose."
The firm will now begin a formal consultation with all affected employees and, where possible, will redeploy staff to other areas of the business.
It also intends to investing £45m in enhanced IT and digital technology at its head office and contact centre in Manchester to improve its online service.


text:
Q: Custom Font in iPad Doesnt work In my Application i am using Custom font. i copied my font.ttf file in my project directory and i used following code to set custom font to a label.
[input setFont:[UIFont fontWithName: @"My Font" size: input.font.pointSize]]

The problem is it works perfect in iPhone 4.2 simulator but it in iPad 4.2 simulator it just Displays Default Font. How to resolve this?

A: Following code is use for the custom font.
UILabel *label1 = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 30, 240, 40)];
[label1 setFont: [UIFont fontWithName: @"Grinched" size:24]];
[label1 setText:@"Grinched Font"];
[[self view] addSubview:label1];

UILabel *label2 = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 80, 240, 40)];
[label2 setFont: [UIFont fontWithName: @"Energon" size:18]];
[label2 setText:@"Energon Font"];
[[self view] addSubview:label2];

If you want shows the tutorial for that you visits the refrence link here
May this code help for development.
Happy codeing
Thanks and Regards
@samuel

A: If You Want To Use Custom-Font..Folow This Steps...

*

*Add the font files to your resource files

*Edit your Info.plist: Add a new entry with the key Fonts provided by application.

*For each of your files, add the file name to this array

On the example below, I've added the font "DejaVu Sans Mono":

In your application you can the use
    UILabel *label1 = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 20, 240, 50)];

    [label1 setFont: [UIFont fontWithName: @"DejaVuSansMono-Bold" size:14.f]];

Or if you want to use it in html/css, just use font-family:DejaVu Sans Mono;
Note: this is available in iOS 3.2 and later.


text:
package com.healthcit.cacure.model;

import javax.persistence.Column;
import javax.persistence.Entity;
import javax.persistence.GeneratedValue;
import javax.persistence.GenerationType;
import javax.persistence.Id;
import javax.persistence.SequenceGenerator;
import javax.persistence.Table;
import javax.persistence.Transient;

@Entity
@Table(name="category")
public class Category implements StateTracker {

	@Id
	@SequenceGenerator(name="genericSequence", sequenceName="\"GENERIC_ID_SEQ\"", allocationSize=2)
	@GeneratedValue(strategy=GenerationType.SEQUENCE, generator="genericSequence")
	private Long id;

	@Column(name="name", nullable=false)
	private String name;

	@Column(name="description")
	private String description;

	@Transient
	private boolean valid;

	public Long getId() {
		return id;
	}

	public void setId(Long id) {
		this.id = id;
	}

	public String getName() {
		return name;
	}

	public void setName(String name) {
		this.name = name;
	}

	public String getDescription() {
		return description;
	}

	public void setDescription(String description) {
		this.description = description;
	}

	public boolean isValid() {
		return valid;
	}

	public void setValid(boolean valid) {
		this.valid = valid;
	}

	@Override
	@Transient
	public boolean isNew() {
		return (id == null);
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The modular EnviGuard system will be made up of three different sensor modules (microalgae / pathogens, i.e. viruses & bacteria / toxins & chemicals), that are connected to the common interface 'EnviGuard Port' which collects and sends the information to a server. The data will be accessible through a website in real-time. The modularity of the system enables an individual setup for each purpose thus offering a tailor-made solution for each future client.
a modular system (of up to three sensors) integrated in a single, portable, durable device EnviGuard will allow an easier, faster and cheaper way to measure harmful substances in-situ. Thus, it will provide a unique, competitive advantage and leadership to the European aquaculture industry.
In order to achieve EnviGuard's goals, the latest findings of nanotechnologies, genomics, molecular science, bio-receptors as well as material science and information technology are combined in the three biosensor modules and a common interface. For that reason it is necessary to have access to international expertise as there are no actors dealing with all these fields in one single country. Molecular probes, aptamers and antibodies are being used to detect the desired targets. The signaling works electrochemically and through optical label-free responses based on changes in reflectivity of nanostructured surfaces.
The biosensors to be developed in the project go far beyond the current state-of-the art in terms of accuracy, reliability and simplicity in operation by combining innovations in nanotechnology and molecular science leading to the development of cutting-edge sensor technology putting European research and highly innovative SMEs at the forefront of quickly developing markets. It will be more cost-efficient than current monitoring devices leading to a clear marketing advantage for the European analytical and research equipment industry. The objectives of the project are in accordance with current European policies like the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Directive 2010/75/EU regarding the Prevention and Control of Industrial Emissions and the Water Framework Directive whose environmental objectives must be met by 2015. In addition, arrays of biosensors could become critical to understand and predict the propagation of pathogens, which could bring valuable information for aquaculture planning, site selection and biosecurity control.


Ever wonder why fishermen, chefs and shuckers get together in the fall to prepare mouth-watering dishes for us all? Because it's fun! Hard work, lot's of prep, yes: but the result is a walloping two-day festival, all over our historic waterfront wharf.
New this year is a scavenger hunt: organized by the RI Oyster Trail. Join the RIOT and enjoy RI oysters year round, all over the Ocean State. Participation is free, and it will help guide you through various exhibitors while you gain awareness of aquaculture, The Nature Conservancy's shell recycling program, oyster artists, perfect wine pairings and more.
Through hard work (read: wine tastings) we learned that fresh, local seafood pairs well with Santa Margherita white wines. Also, many of you have been loving the Bully Boy Blood Mary's, and then the cool, classic glass of Stella as friendly accompaniments for a lobster roll, or chowder. Be sure to enjoy the last of a fave summer mudslide and meet the Coole Swan girls who rep their fantastic Irish liqueur at the waterfront bar. Also at Bowen's Wharf Marina will be SSV Oliver Hazard Perry. Visit this 200-foot tall ship before she heads north.
Gluten-free options will be in the VW van from Lola's Blue Farm; cider and specialty donuts at SweetB's Donuts; Smoked Brisket (yup, non-seafood) from Binge BBQ; Face-painting…we could go on. Just come!
Join us – rain or shine – 11-6 on Saturday, and 11-5 on Sunday. Free admission. Bring the fam, or just yourself. Let's make the most of this glorious fall weather and be mindful of our oceanfront: composting stations are all over the wharf, so help us keep the site and the waterfront free of waste. See you this weekend!


Uganda has emerged as one of the world's cheapest places to travel in 2019. Therefore, if you want to save money in 2019 and still travel the world, you're in luck. Every year, Forbes taps into experts and influencers to find out their picks for cheap travel in the upcoming year.