This chapter is organized according to a number of broad classes of problem where modular robotic systems can prove beneficial. For each such problem, the benefits of modularity are described, along with the ways that particular systems or proposed systems have explored those benefits. In particular, we discuss locomotion in Sect. 39.1, manipulation in Sect. 39.2, modular robot geometry in Sect...

First evidence of ηb was given in 2001 by ALEPH [1]. The search for ηb is done in the decay channel into two photons. One candidate event is found in the six–charged particle final state and none in the four–charged particle final state, giving the upper limits: Γ(ηb → γγ) × BR(ηb → 4 charged particles) < 48 eV , Γ(ηb → γγ) × BR(ηb → 6 charged particles) < 132 eV . This observation was the main...

Prunus subg. Prunus sect. Prunocerasus (Rosaceae) is a North American taxon with 17 commonly recognized taxa. To test the hypothesis of monophyly for the section we sequenced the trnG and rpL16 introns and the trnH-psbA and trnS-trnG intergenic spacers for at least two representatives of each of the five subgenera in Prunus. Additionally we sampled heavily among Prunus subg. Prunus sections Pru...

Several Central American species of Piper sect. Macrostachys have obligate associations with ants, in which the ant partner derives food and shelter from modified plant structures and, in turn, protects the plant against fungal infection and herbivory. In addition to these obligate ant-plants (i.e. myrmecophytes), several other species in Piper have resident ants only sometimes (facultative), a...

This paper presents an approach to multi-object image segmentation based on object motion using Markov Random Fields. To support the information gained from motion and to achieve robustness, several additional visual cues extracted from the image data are integrated. Depth information gained from stereo disparity is included to maintain segmentation in case an segmented object stops moving. Mot...

Polystichum has often been treated as a sub-cosmopolitan genus of 180-230 species (i.e., Polystichum s.l.), but several segregate genera, such as Cyrtogonellum, Cyrtomidictyum, Cyrtomium, Phanerophlebia, and Sorolepidium, have been recognized in various treatments. Together, these genera constitute the polystichoid ferns. We used a data set of 47 species of the polystichoid ferns and three outg...

Architecture Description Languages (ADL) are a major research theme in the software architecture community. Although many interesting proposals have been made, they don’t seem to influence the daily industrial practice. In this paper, we report on an attempt to define an ADL that fits the needs of a specific company: Dassault Systèmes. This company maintains and develops a large body of softwar...

Linaria Mill. (Plantaginaceae) with about 160 spp. is the largest genus of the tribe Antirrhineae. We conducted phylogenetic analyses of nuclear ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) and chloroplast DNA (rpl32-trnL) sequence data to test the monophyly of currently recognized sections in Linaria. For this purpose 86 species representing seven sections of Linaria and one species ...

Segmentation is one of the key tools in medical image analysis. The objective of segmentation is to provide reliable, fast, and effective organ delineation. While traditionally, particularly in computer vision, segmentation is seen as an early vision tool used for subsequent recognition, in medical imaging the opposite is often true. Recognition can be performed interactively by clinicians or a...