Continuum robots can enter narrow spaces and are useful for search and rescue missions in disaster sites. The exploration efficiency at disaster sites improves if the robots can simultaneously acquire several pieces of information. However, a continuum robot that can simultaneously acquire information to such an extent has not yet been designed. This is because attaching multiple sensors to the robot without compromising its body flexibility is challenging. In this study, we installed multiple small sensors in a distributed manner to develop a continuum-robot system with multiple information-gathering functions. In addition, a field experiment with the robot demonstrated that the gathered multiple information has a potential to improve the searching efficiency. Concretely, we developed an active scope camera with sensory functions, which was equipped with a total of 80 distributed sensors, such as inertial measurement units, microphones, speakers, and vibration sensors. Herein, we consider space-saving, noise reduction, and the ease of maintenance for designing the robot. The developed robot can communicate with all the attached sensors even if it is bent with a minimum bending radius of 250 mm. We also developed an operation interface that integrates search-support technologies using the information gathered via sensors. We demonstrated the survivor search procedure in a simulated rubble environment of the Fukushima Robot Test Field. We confirmed that the information provided through the operation interface is useful for searching and finding survivors. The limitations of the designed system are also discussed. The development of such a continuum robot system, with a great potential for several applications, extends the application of continuum robots to disaster management and will benefit the community at large.

•Effect of dipole directions on SAM properties.•Molecular-scale STM features of fluorinated aromatic thiol SAMs.•Work function change of SAM-modified Au substrates through modification of structural order of SAMs.•Effect of the degree of structural order of SAMs on the depolarization effect.

To shed light on the effects of NH4OH deprotection reagent on the formation of self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) from alkanethioacetates on Au(111), we examined the surface structure and adsorption conditions of SAMs on Au(111) prepared in a 1 mM octanethioacetate (C8SAc) methanol solution and in a 1 mM methanol solution formed after in situ deprotection of C8SAc by NH4OH. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) imaging revealed that direct adsorption of C8SAc on Au(111) created only disordered SAMs regardless of the polarity of solvent (methanol, DMF, and hexane). In contrast, highly ordered SAMs with a well‐ordered c(4 × 2) phase were formed via in situ deprotection of C8SAc by NH4OH (deprotection condition: 30.7 mM NH4OH, 323 K, and 3 h). X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements also showed that the SAMs formed via in situ deprotection show uniform adsorption, whereas those prepared by direct adsorption show very complicated adsorption, which agrees well with STM results.

The surface and interface structures, thermal desorption behaviors, and electronic properties of pentafluorobenzenethiol (PFBT) and tetrafluorobenzenethiol (TFBT) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) formed at different vapor deposition temperatures (298, 323, and 348 K) were examined to understand the effect of dipole directions in fluorinated aromatic thiol SAMs using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS), and Kelvin probe (KP) measurements. Molecular-scale STM observations revealed that PFBT SAMs on Au(111) had a well-ordered phase with a c(2 x root 3) structure at 348 K, whereas TFBT SAMs showed a well-ordered phase with a (2 root 3 x 8 root 2)R30 degrees structure at 323 K. TDS and XPS measurements also demonstrated that PFBT and TFBT SAMs showed significantly different thermal desorption behaviors and interface structures due to opposite directions of molecular dipole moments. The KP measurements showed that the extent of the work function change of SAM-modified Au substrates was lowest in most highly-ordered PFBT and TFBT SAMs formed at 348 K and 323 K, respectively, regardless of chemisorbed surface coverage. These findings revealed that the degree of structural order of SAMs is a more significant factor in causing the depolarization effect rather than chemisorbed surface coverage.

The Active Scope Camera has self-propelled mobility with a ciliary vibration drive mechanism for inspection tasks in narrow spaces but still lacks necessary mobility and sensing capabilities for search and rescue activities. The ImPACT-TRC program aims to improve the mobility of ASC drastically by applying a new air-jet actuation system to float ASC in the air and integrate multiple sensing systems, such as vision, auditory and tactile sensing functions, to enhance the searching ability. This paper reports an overview of the air-floating-type Active Scope Camera integrated with multiple sensory functions as a thin serpentine robot platform.

The surface structure, binding condition, and reductive desorption behavior of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of dodecyl thiocyanate (DDTC, C12-SCN) on Au(111) formed via solution and ambient-pressure vapor depositions at 50 degrees C for 24 h were examined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). STM imaging clearly revealed that adsorption of DDTC molecules on Au(111) in a 1 mM ethanol solution led to the formation of short-range-ordered dodecanethiolate (C12S) SAMs with a domain size ranging from several nanometers to 20 nm, whereas the SAMs formed via vapor deposition had long-range-ordered C12S SAMs of size exceeding 60 nm, which were characterized as having a (4 x V3)rect packing structure. XPS measurements showed that the DDTC SAMs formed via vapor deposition on Au (111) contained approximately one-fourth the amount of unbound sulfurs and CN species compared to solution-deposited SAMs. CV measurements also showed that vapor-deposited SAMs had a sharp reductive desorption peak at - 1.028V, whereas solution-deposited SAMs had two broad desorption peaks at - 0.671 and - 0.946 V, implying that vapor-deposited SAMs are more uniform and electrochemically stable. The present results clearly demonstrate that DDTC SAMs on Au(111) with a high degree of structural order, homogeneous interface, and high electrochemical stability can be prepared by ambient-pressure vapor deposition.

The surface structure and binding conditions of self assembled monolayers (SAMs) on Au(111) derived from 1-acetylthio-4-[(phenyl)ethynyl]benzene (OPE2-SAc) without and with tetrabutylammonium cyanide (TBACN) as a deprotection reagent were examined using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). STM observation revealed that OPE2-S SAMs on Au(111) formed from direct adsorption of OPE2-SAc in 1 mM methanol solution at room temperature (RT) for 24 h were composed of short-range, ordered phase separated by a disordered phase. In contrast, adsorption of OPE2-SAc SAMs on Au(111) at a higher solution temperature of 50 degrees C for 24 h led to formation of a fully ordered phase with slightly increased domain size. The structural quality of OPE2-S SAMs on Au(111) was remarkably enhanced when TBACN was used. OPE2-S SAMs at RT had a well-ordered (root 3 X root 7)R30 degrees structure with a domain size larger than 80 nm. The SAMs deposited at 50 degrees C contained very uniform and highly ordered domains with a size exceeding 100 nm, which can be assigned to a (2 X 3 root 3)rect structure. XPS measurements showed that OPE2-S SAMs were mainly formed via chemical interactions between sulfur and the Au(111) surface regardless of the use of a TBACN deprotection reagent. In this study, we reported the first molecular-scale features of OPE2-S SAMs on Au(111) with highly ordered domains derived from OPE2-SAc and clearly demonstrated that TBACN can be used as an effective deprotection reagent for formation of uniform and well-ordered OPE2-S SAMs with long-range domains derived from thioacetyl-protected OPE2-S molecules on Au(111).

The IRT (item response theory) is a theory for scoring of tests, and it is used for some test systems such as TOEFL. Classical test scoring is the total of raw scores for each items (questions). On the other hand, IRT can make fine performance finer than the raw score method. IRT is based on the relationship between individual test takers' performances on a test item (question), and the test takers' levels of performance. Even with the same number of correct answers, the IRT score may be different depending on the degree of difficulty of item (question). Computational complexity of parameter estimation of IRT is one of important issue. To solve this issue, we propose a parameter estimation method of IRT using the Holonomic approach. Generate differential equations which solve the likelihood function of IRT. By solving this differential equation, it is able to estimate the ability parameter.

A new computational method for the detection of virus particles in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images is presented. Our approach is to use a convolutional neural network that transforms a TEM image to a probabilistic map that indicates where virus particles exist in the image. Our proposed approach automatically and simultaneously learns both discriminative features and classifier for virus particle detection by machine learning, in contrast to existing methods that are based on handcrafted features that yield many false positives and require several postprocessing steps. The detection performance of the proposed method was assessed against a dataset of TEM images containing feline calicivirus particles and compared with several existing detection methods, and the state-of-the-art performance of the developed method for detecting virus was demonstrated. Since our method is based on supervised learning that requires both the input images and their corresponding annotations, it is basically used for detection of already-known viruses. However, the method is highly flexible, and the convolutional networks can adapt themselves to any virus particles by learning automatically from an annotated dataset.

In Kyushu University, Information Infrastructure Initiative provides email service for students and staff members. Email services for students and staff members were started separately. For students, an email service was started as Unix accounts of "Computer System for Education'' in 1995. On the other hand, an email service for staff members was started in 2009, and eventually the two mail services were merged into the current "Kyushu University Primary Mail Service'' in 2014. The designs of these mail systems were affected by various operational issues and political decisions at their times. We think that running an in-house mail system is becoming less feasible due to the initial/operational cost, security issues, and our dwindling budget. For the current system, the planned 5-year lifetime ends in this fiscal year. Therefore, we are forced to migrate to a cloud-based mail service. In this presentation, we want to share our past experiences and future plans about our university email services.

IRT (Item Response Theory) is a theory for scoring of tests, and it used for some test systems such as TOEFL. IRT's estimation is item parameter for each question, and examinee's ability parameter. We propose a new method to estimate parameter of IRT using the Holonomic Gradient Method. When we use Holonomic Gradient Method, we check target function is Holonomic Function. Our target function is 2 Parameter Logistic Model IRT's Likelihood Function. In this paper, we show target IRT's Likelihood Function is Holonomic Function.

In recent years, covariance descriptors have received considerable attention as a strong representation of a set of points. In this research, we propose a new metric learning algorithm for covariance descriptors based on the Dykstra algorithm, in which the current solution is projected onto a half-space at each iteration, and which runs in O(n(3)) time. We empirically demonstrate that randomizing the order of half-spaces in the proposed Dykstra-based algorithm significantly accelerates convergence to the optimal solution. Furthermore, we show that the proposed approach yields promising experimental results for pattern recognition tasks.

To understand the effect of the ethylene glycol (EG) substituent of alkanethiols on domain formation, surface structure, and adsorption condition of self-assembled mono layers (SAMs) on Au(111), we examined SAMs formed by 1-ethanethiol with met,hoxy-terminated mono(ethylene glycol) (EG(1)-OMe SAMs) by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and compared the results to those of heptanethiolate-SAMs with a: normal alkyl chain of similar molecular length. STM imaging clearly revealed that the surface features of EG(1)-OMe SAMs. on Au(111) were noticeably different than those of heptanethiolate SAMs. The adsorption of, EG1-OMe molecules on Au(111) in a 1 mM ethanol solution at RT for 1 min led to the formation of SAMs containing,mixed phases: a paired-row ordered phase and poorly ordered phase containing molecular spots-with an apparent bright contrast. The paired-row ordered domain of EG(1)-OMe SAMs on Au(111) was assigned to the (2 root 5 X 5)R11 degrees, packing structure, which is comparable to a closely packed c(4 X 2) structure for heptanethiolate SAMs. After a longer immersion of 24 h, similar surface features were also observed with a different (root 3 X 7) packing structure. The formation of these unique domains for EG1-OMe SAMs on Au(111) was caused by a conformational change of the EG1-OMe backbone due to the electrostatic repulsions of oxygen-atoms-between the EG, substituents in the SAMs. We report the first STM results of EG1-OMe SAMs on Au(111) showing very unique, surface, features that have not been observed in other SAM systems derived from alkanethiols or aromatic thiols. X-ray photoelectron, spectroscopy (XPS) measurements also showed that EG1-OMe SAMs on Au(111) were formed by chemical reactions between the thiol group and Au(111) surface. The results obtained from a molecular-scale view point will provide new insight into. the effect of EG1-OMe substituent attached to ethanethiol on the formation and structure Of EG(1)-OMe SAMs on Au(111).

In consumer generated media (CGM) site, such as YouTube and nicovideo, only few contents are viewed very much, but most contents are only viewed few times. Our research target CGM sites are nicovideo.jp and syosetu.com. Nicovideo.jp is a popular movie CGM site in Japan and syosetu.com is the largest novel CGM site in Japan. We already found that pageview distribution of contents in both CGM sites follow a lognormal distribution. In this paper, we consider user's content selection model which will lead lognormal distribution. We apply Geometric Brownian Motion model into SIR model. SIR model is used for simulation of population transition process or epidemic process of infection disease. In this paper, we report the results of some simulation.

In this paper we consider critical motion sequences (CMSs) of rolling-shutter (RS) SfM. Employing an RS camera model with linearized pure rotation, we show that the RS distortion can be approximately expressed by two internal parameters of an "imaginary" camera plus one-parameter nonlinear transformation similar to lens distortion. We then reformulate the problem as self-calibration of the imaginary camera, in which its skew and aspect ratio are unknown and varying in the image sequence. In the formulation, we derive a general representation of CMSs. We also show that our method can explain the CMS that was recently reported in the literature, and then present a new remedy to deal with the degeneracy. Our theoretical results agree well with experimental results; it explains degeneracies observed when we employ naive bundle adjustment, and how they are resolved by our method.

To prevent resource (especially storage) shortage, information systems such as storage services and email services usually impose an upper bound of resource consumption (quota) per user. In a conservative way, an administrator tends to set a quota value such as the storage capacity divided by the expected maximum number of users for safety and fairness, but it tends to leave large unused storage space, because the users' storage usage pattern shows a long-tailed distribution. In this paper, we analyzed storage usage distribution of some email services to approximate the distribution using a power-law distribution, and proposed a method to calculate an optimal quota value from a target size of storage consumption to increase storage utilization. We applied an optimal quota value we calculated to a real email service and analyzed the effect of quota change. Then, we analyzed actual distributions further to find a better model to approximate the distribution, and found that a log-normal distribution explained the distribution better than power-law. We also analyzed two other universities' email service to find similar distribution in these systems.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) were formed by the spontaneous adsorption of 4-fluorobenzenethiol (4-FBT) on Au(111) using both solution and ambient-pressure vapor deposition methods at room temperature. The surface structure and thermal desorption properties of 4-FBT SAMs were examined by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). STM imaging showed that 4-FBT SAMs formed in solution at room temperature mainly contained disordered phase with gold adatom islands, while those formed by ambient-pressure vapor deposition had well-ordered phase, which can be described as a (2 x 2√13)R45 degrees structure. In addition, thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) measurements showed that strong desorption peak for parent mass fragment (m/z = 128, FC6H5SH+) for 4-FBT SAMs on Au(111) was observed at 460 K, as a result of hydrogen abstract reaction of chemisorbed thiolates during desorption.

The surface structures of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) formed by the adsorption of pentachlorobenzenethiol (PCBT) molecules on Au(111) as a function of solution concentration were examined by means of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to understand the effect of concentration on the formation of ordered domains. STM imaging revealed that PCBT SAMs formed in a 0.01 or 1 mM ethanol solution at room temperature for 20 min contained small ordered domains in the range of several to 20 nm2 and disordered phases, while PCBT SAMs formed in a 0.1 mM ethanol solution were composed of long-range ordered domains in the range of 20 to 50 nm2, which can be assigned as a (4 x √3)R45 degrees packing structure. Interestingly, the bright aggregated domains stacked by π-π interactions between PCBT rings were usually observed around boundary regions of ordered domains. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements revealed that ordered PCBT SAMs on Au(111) were formed via the chemical interactions between the sulfur atom of PCBT and gold surface. Our results obtained here will be very useful in understanding the formation and structure of PCBT SAMs on gold surfaces.

Automatic detection of immunoreactive areas in fluorescence microscopic images is becoming a key technique in the field of biology including neuroscience, although it is still challenging because of several reasons such as low signal-to-noise ratio and contrast variation within an image. In this study, we developed a new algorithm that exhaustively detects co-localized areas in multi-channel fluorescence images, where shapes of target objects may differ among channels. Different adaptive binarization thresholds for different local regions in different channels are introduced and the condition of each segment is assessed to recognize the target objects. The proposed method was applied to detect immunoreactive spots that labeled membrane receptors on dendritic spines of mouse cerebellar Purkinje cells. Our method achieved the best detection performance over five pre-existing methods.

To prevent shortage of storage space in a service system, an administrator usually set per-user quota as an upper limit of usable space for each user. To avoid service failure caused by resource exhaustion, the administrator tends to set a conservative quota value such as the storage capacity divided by the expected maximum number of users. In this research, we analyzed long-term storage usage history of our email system and file sharing system in Kyushu University. Mostly through the analyzed period, the usage pattern showed a long-tailed distribution similar to log-normal distribution. Also the overall storage consumption slowly increased during the analyzed period. Based on these analysis, we defined "storage utilization ratio" to evaluate how the storage was effectively used. By approximating a storage utilization pattern as a power-law distribution, we proposed a method to calculate the optimal quota value to maximize the utilization ratio.