ARNT2 controls prefrontal somatostatin interneurons mediating affective empathy.

Empathy, crucial for social interaction, is impaired across various neuropsychiatric conditions. However, the genetic and neural underpinnings of empathy variability remain elusive. By combining forward genetic mapping with transcriptome analysis, we discover that aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator 2 (ARNT2) is a key driver modulating observational fear, a basic form of affective empathy.

Quality-diversity based semi-autonomous teleoperation using reinforcement learning.

Recent successes in robot learning have significantly enhanced autonomous systems across a wide range of tasks. However, they are prone to generate similar or the same solutions, limiting the controllability of the robot to behave according to user intentions. These limited robot behaviors may lead to collisions and potential harm to humans.

Structured Kernel Subspace Learning for Autonomous Robot Navigation.

This paper considers two important problems for autonomous robot navigation in a dynamic environment, where the goal is to predict pedestrian motion and control a robot with the prediction for safe navigation. While there are several methods for predicting the motion of a pedestrian and controlling a robot to avoid incoming pedestrians, it is still difficult to safely navigate in a dynamic environment due to challenges, such as the varying quality and complexity of training data with unwanted noises. This paper addresses these challenges simultaneously by proposing a robust kernel subspace learning algorithm based on the recent advances in nuclear-norm and l 1 -norm minimization.

A micro-machined piezoelectric flexural-mode hydrophone with air backing: benefit of air backing for enhancing sensitivity.

A micro-machined underwater acoustic receiver that utilizes the flexural vibration mode of a silicon thin plate and piezoelectric transduction material was investigated. In particular, air was used as the backing material for the hydrophone in order to improve sensitivity in the audible frequency range. To evaluate the effects of air backing on receiving sensitivity, a transduction model incorporating mechanical/electrical/acoustical design parameters was used in designing a piezoelectric micro-machined hydrophone.

A micro-machined piezoelectric flexural-mode hydrophone with air backing: a hydrostatic pressure-balancing mechanism for integrity preservation.

Although an air-backed thin plate is an effective sound receiver structure, it is easily damaged via pressure unbalance caused by external hydrostatic pressure. To overcome this difficulty, a simple pressure-balancing module is proposed. Despite its small size and relative simplicity, with proper design and operation, micro-channel structure provides a solution to the pressure-balancing problem.

A new microphone system for near whispering.

A new microphone system was developed to monitor the human voice near the microphone in a noisy environment. The system is equipped with two special functions in addition to the usual microphone functions: reduction of air-blow effects by the mouth and focused reception to a sound source. A wind filter was developed to reduce the air-blow effects from the mouth during speaking.