21,394 research outputs found
A beta salp swarm algorithm meta-heuristic for inverse kinematics and optimization
This paper first reviews heuristic-based and bio-inspired contributions in inverse kinematics. A new inverse kinematics solver is then proposed based on beta distributed Salp Swarm Algorithm called β-SSA. The proposed algorithm is an alternative of the SSA algorithm where leading salps are distributed based on the beta function, enabling a better control of their repartition on the search space. The β-SSA inverse kinematics solver is named IK-β-SSA and can be considered as a generic framework. It uses a generic formulation of a forward kinematic model of a robotic system to retrieve its inverse solution. Inverse solution consists in obtaining a possible and feasible joint motions allow the robotic system to achieve a specific position while satisfying intrinsic constraints such as joints positions/ velocities limitations or path limitations. The β-SSA algorithm is first tested on a set of test functions and compared to nominal SSA prior to be applied to solve the inverse kinematics problem of the industrial robotic arm, Kuka Kr05-arc. The proposed method shows very competitive results when compared to classical SSA, QPSO, Bi-PSO, K-ABC and FA. The experimental results based on simulations and a Wilcoxon non-parametric statistical tests evidently show that the IK- β-SSA performs better than classical SSA, QPSO, Bi-PSO, K-ABC and FA for a single point inverse kinematics solution using a generic 8 Dof arm and the Kr05 industrial robot. For the path planning, a circular path tracking was investigated using the Kr05 robot and confirmed also that the β-SSA performs better than classical SSA, QPSO, Bi-PSO, K-ABC and FA.No Full Tex
Protecting Animals 36: Author Witi Ihimaera
In this very special episode of Knowing Animals I am joined by beloved New Zealand author Witi Ihimaera. Witi has written many books featuring nonhuman animals. He offers us a non-colonial lens through which to think about the human/nonhuman relationship
Text segmentation with topic modeling and entity coherence
This paper describes a system which uses entity and topic coherence
for improved Text Segmentation (TS) accuracy. First, the Linear Dirichlet Allocation
(LDA) algorithm was used to obtain topics for sentences in the document. We
then performed entity mapping across a window in order to discover the transition
of entities within sentences. We used the information obtained to support our
LDA-based boundary detection for proper boundary adjustment. We report the
significance of the entity coherence approach as well as the superiority of our
algorithm over existing work
I Think I Am Philip K. Dick
For years, noted writer Laurence A. Rickels often found himself compared to novelist Philip K. Dickthough in fact Rickels had never read any of the science fiction writers work. When he finally read his first Philip K. Dick novel, while researching for his recent book The Devil Notebooks , it prompted a prolonged immersion in Dicks writing as well as a recognition of Rickelss own long-documented intellectual pursuits. The result of this engagement is I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick , a profound thought experiment that charts the wide relevance of the pulp sci-fi author and paranoid visionary. I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick explores the science fiction authors meditations on psychic reality and psychosis, Christian mysticism, Eastern religion, and modern spiritualism. Covering all of Dicks science fiction, Rickels corrects the lack of scholarly interest in the legendary Californian author and, ultimately, makes a compelling case for the philosophical and psychoanalytic significance of Philip K. Dicks popular and influential science fiction.Intro -- Contents -- Introjection -- Part I -- Endopsychic Allegories -- Schreber Guardian -- Belief System Surveillance -- Part II -- Deeper Problems -- Veil of Tears -- Go West -- Dick Manfred -- Timing -- Glimmung -- Part III -- Spiritualism Analogy -- Imitating the Dead -- Indexical Layer -- Ilse -- Hammers and Things -- Crucifictions -- Over There -- Martyrology -- Can't Live, Can't Live -- Lola -- Umwelt, Mitwelt, and Eigenwelt -- Outer Race -- The German Introject -- Part IV -- Materialism, Idealism, and Cybernetics -- Startling Stories -- A Couple of Years -- Android Empathy -- Homunculus and Robot -- ALL OF YOU ARE DEAD. I AM ALIVE. -- Go with the Flow -- Part V -- Room for Thought -- Caduceus -- Jump -- Still -- A Wake -- Spätwerk -- Let the Dead Be -- Play Bally -- Das Hund -- Notes -- BibliographyFor years, noted writer Laurence A. Rickels often found himself compared to novelist Philip K. Dickthough in fact Rickels had never read any of the science fiction writers work. When he finally read his first Philip K. Dick novel, while researching for his recent book The Devil Notebooks , it prompted a prolonged immersion in Dicks writing as well as a recognition of Rickelss own long-documented intellectual pursuits. The result of this engagement is I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick , a profound thought experiment that charts the wide relevance of the pulp sci-fi author and paranoid visionary. I Think I Am: Philip K. Dick explores the science fiction authors meditations on psychic reality and psychosis, Christian mysticism, Eastern religion, and modern spiritualism. Covering all of Dicks science fiction, Rickels corrects the lack of scholarly interest in the legendary Californian author and, ultimately, makes a compelling case for the philosophical and psychoanalytic significance of Philip K. Dicks popular and influential science fiction.Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries
Liftings for noncomplete probability spaces
The current state of knowledge concerning liftings for noncomplete probability spaces is discussed. This is a somewhat expanded version of the author's talk given at the 1991 Summer Conference on General Topology and Applications in Honor of Mary Ellen Rudin and Her Work.PT: S; CR: BURKE MR, IN PRESS P AM MATH S BURKE MR, 1991, ISRAEL J MATH, V73, P33 BURKE MR, 1992, ISRAEL J MATH, V79, P289 CARLSON T, THEOREM LIFTING CHRISTENSEN JPR, 1974, TOPOLOGY BOREL STRUC FREMLIN DH, 1989, HDB BOOLEAN ALGEBRAS, P877 INOESCUTULCEA A, 1966, 5TH P BERK S MATH ST, V2 IONESCUTULCEA A, 1967, CONTRIBUTIONS PROB 1, P63 IONESCUTULCEA A, 1969, TOPICS THEORY LIFTIN JECH TJ, 1978, SET THEORY JOHNSON RA, 1980, P AM MATH SOC, V80, P234 JUST W, IN PRESS T AM MATH S KUPKA J, 1983, INDIANA U MATH J, V32, P717 LOSERT V, 1983, LNM, V1080, P95 MAHARAM D, 1958, P AM MATH SOC, V9, P987 SHELAH S, 1983, ISRAEL J MATH, V45, P90 TALAGRAND M, 1982, P AM MATH SOC, V84, P379 VONNEUMANN J, 1931, CRELLES J MATH, V165, P109; NR: 18; TC: 0; J9: ANN N Y ACAD SCI; PG: 4; GA: BZ86BSource type: Electronic(1
When ears drive hands: the influence of contact sound on reaching to grasp
<b>Background</b>
Most research on the roles of auditory information and its interaction with vision has focused on perceptual performance. Little is known on the effects of sound cues on visually-guided hand movements.<p></p>
<b>Methodology/Principal Findings</b>
We recorded the sound produced by the fingers upon contact as participants grasped stimulus objects which were covered with different materials. Then, in a further session the pre-recorded contact sounds were delivered to participants via headphones before or following the initiation of reach-to-grasp movements towards the stimulus objects. Reach-to-grasp movement kinematics were measured under the following conditions: (i) congruent, in which the presented contact sound and the contact sound elicited by the to-be-grasped stimulus corresponded; (ii) incongruent, in which the presented contact sound was different to that generated by the stimulus upon contact; (iii) control, in which a synthetic sound, not associated with a real event, was presented. Facilitation effects were found for congruent trials; interference effects were found for incongruent trials. In a second experiment, the upper and the lower parts of the stimulus were covered with different materials. The presented sound was always congruent with the material covering either the upper or the lower half of the stimulus. Participants consistently placed their fingers on the half of the stimulus that corresponded to the presented contact sound.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions/Significance</b>
Altogether these findings offer a substantial contribution to the current debate about the type of object representations elicited by auditory stimuli and on the multisensory nature of the sensorimotor transformations underlying action
The AM Canum Venaticorum binary SDSS J173047.59+554518.5
The AM Canum Venaticorum (AM CVn) binaries are a rare group of hydrogen-deficient, ultrashort period, mass-transferring white dwarf binaries and are possible progenitors of Type Ia supernovae. We present time-resolved spectroscopy of the recently discovered AM CVn binary SDSS J173047.59+554518.5. The average spectrum shows strong double-peaked helium emission lines, as well as a variety of metal lines, including neon; this is the second detection of neon in an AM CVn binary, after the much brighter system GP Com. We detect no calcium in the accretion disc, a puzzling feature that has been noted in many of the longer period AM CVn binaries. We measure an orbital period, from the radial velocities of the emission lines, of 35.2 ± 0.2 min, confirming the ultracompact binary nature of the system. The emission lines seen in SDSS J1730 are very narrow, although double-peaked, implying a low-inclination, face-on accretion disc; using the measured velocities of the line peaks, we estimate i ≤ 11°. This low inclination makes SDSS J1730 an excellent system for the identification of emission lines
Freedom of choice or force of circumstance? : Eastern European sex-workers in the Republic of Cyprus ; paper for the conference 'Alltag der Globalisierung. Perspektiven einer transnationalen Anthropologie', January 16-18, 2003, Institute of Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main
This paper focuses on Eastern European migrants who, since the beginning of the 1990s, are entering the Republic Cyprus as “artistes”. This is a visa permit status as well as an euphemism for short-term work permits in the local sex industry. In addition to exploring the migrational experiences of these women and their living and working conditions in the Republic of Cyprus, the paper reconstructs, empirically and analyt ically, the connection between immigration and the local sex industry. Here, several categories of social actors and institutions in Cyprus are actively involved. The rhetoric of government representatives, entrepreneurs and clients in the sex business on the one hand is contrasted with the discourse of local NGO representatives concerned with immigrants’ rights on the other hand. The paper comes to the conclusion that all of these discursive positions ultimately do not do justice to the complex process of decisionmaking that women undergo who migrate into the sex industry. Either, freedom of choice is emphasized – such as by entrepreneurs and the government – or the domination of women – as in the public statements of the NGO. In order to analyze the ambivalent tension between freedom of choice and submission to force by which the women’s decision is characterized, the author employs Michel Foucault’s concept of governmentality, which describes forms of political regulation that use the individual’s freedom of action as an instrument to exercise power
Anleitung Zu der Frantzösischen Sprach/ Begreiffend was anfänglich/ diese Sprach zuerlernen/ am allernöhtigsten sey: Der Jugend Teutscher Nation: zu besten verfertiget
ANLEITUNG ZU DER FRANTZÖSISCHEN SPRACH/ BEGREIFFEND WAS ANFÄNGLICH/ DIESE SPRACH ZUERLERNEN/ AM ALLERNÖHTIGSTEN SEY: DER JUGEND TEUTSCHER NATION: ZU BESTEN VERFERTIGET
Anleitung Zu der Frantzösischen Sprach/ Begreiffend was anfänglich/ diese Sprach zuerlernen/ am allernöhtigsten sey: Der Jugend Teutscher Nation: zu besten verfertiget
Anleitung Zu der Frantzösischen Sprach/ Begreiffend was anfänglich/ diese Sprach zuerlernen/ am allernöhtigsten sey: Der Jugend Teutscher Nation: zu besten verfertiget (Theil 2) ([1]r)
Anleitung Zu der Frantzösischen Sprach/ Begreiffend was anfänglich/ diese Sprach zuerlernen/ am allernöhtigsten sey: Der Jugend Teutscher Nation: zu besten verfertiget (Forts.) ([1]r
An examination of author characteristics in national and regional criminology and criminal justice journals, 2008-2010: Are female scholars changing the nature of publishing in criminology and criminal justice?
Criminology and criminal justice (CCJ) as an academic discipline has experienced an increase in the focus on various aspects of academic productivity in recent years. Much of the extant literature examining journal article authorship has focused on various measures of the publication productivity of specific authors but not on the characteristics of the authors themselves. The current study expands upon previous work by examining several author characteristics across different journal types and research methodologies, with a particular focus on how gender relates to these issues. The findings reveal several interesting differences with regard to gender, academic rank, and university affiliation. Among these findings is evidence that although males are more likely to author CCJ articles regardless of journal type, females are more likely to be lead authors in regional journal articles and more likely to publish with other female authors. Regional journals are also the publication outlet of choice for students and assistant professors in the beginning of their careers. The findings also provide evidence of important differences in author rank, academic affiliation, methodology, and publication outlet for articles authored by females.Journal ArticlePublishe
- …
