Japanese Man Builds Pilot-Controlled Robot

Unlocking Word Meanings 
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. state-of-the-art (adj.) [steyt-of-thee-art]– making use of the latest or most advanced technology or techniques

Example: The communication company introduced its new state-of-the-art smartphone. 

2. bring to life (idiom) [bring too lahyf]– to make something real

Example: The actors bring to life the characters in movies. 

3. pilot (v.) [pahy-luht]–to act as a pilot or controller of a vehicle

Example: He must pilot the plane with few mistakes to pass the flight test.

4. schematic (n.) [skee-mat-ik, ski-]– a diagram or detailed illustration showing how to build an object

Example: The carpenters studied the house’s schematics closely.

5. made-to-order (adj.) [meyd-too-awr-der, -tuh-]– made for individual customers according to their specific needs or wants

Example:  She asked the dressmaker to put ribbons on the made-to-order dress.

Article 
Read the text below.

Kogoro Kurata, a 39-year-old Japanese artist, has built a massive robot called the “Kuratas,” which weighs 4 tons and stands at 13 feet (4 meters) high. In addition, the robot is equipped with a pilot seat so that an operator can control it from the inside. Kurata said it had been his dream to create and to ride robots ever since he was a child. When he was younger, he would watch state-of-the-art robots in films and animation. Many of the robots were big and piloted by people. Kurata added that robots are a part of Japanese culture, and he felt a robot of this type is something that Japanese should bring to life. Aside from being controlled from the inside, the robot’s arm movement and operating system can be controlled using an iPhone. The Kuratas can be armed with guns that shoot plastic bottles or pellets. It can also move at a maximum speed of 10kph. It took a team of engineers two years to build the Kuratas robot from the schematics. At present, the same kind of robot can be made-to-order, although a basic model can cost up to 110 million yen ($1.3 million). Customers can choose additional features for their robot such as cup holders and different paint colors. The creator said he has received thousands of inquiries from interested buyers, but he did not say how many have bought a robot. Kurata hopes his act of building a robot would encourage others to create even better robots in the future. He is especially interested in how future society could use robots.

Viewpoint Discussion 
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A 

         What was your dream or goal when you were younger? Why was that your dream?

         Have you fulfilled this dream or have you decided to do something else?

Discussion B

         How do you think robots will be used in the future?

         If you could build your own robot, what features would it have and what would it do? Please explain your answer.

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Indian Textbook Says Eating Meat Leads to Bad Behavior

Unlocking Word Meanings 
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. maintain (v.)  [meyn-teyn] – to say that some kind of information or idea is true

Example: The government maintains that the city’s tap water is safe to drink.

2. morality (n.) [muh-ral-i-tee, maw-] – a person’s set of values based on the accepted beliefs of a society

Example: People say the person who did the terrible crime had no morality.

3. anomaly (n.) [uh-nom-uh-lee] – something unusual or unexpected that does not follow standards

Example: The machine automatically checks for anomalies in the products.

4. impressionable (adj.) [im-presh-uh-nuh-buh l, -presh-nuh-] – easily affected or influenced by something

Example: Impressionable children should be guided by their parents and teachers.

5. distort (v.) [dih-stawrt] – to cause an unnatural change to the form or condition of something

Example: Stress can distort people’s thinking pattern and can change their behavior.

Article 
Read the text below.

A controversial new textbook for schools in India claims that eating meat makes people lie, cheat, steal and commit other crimes. The book, titled “New Healthway: Health, Hygiene, Physiology, Safety, Sex Education, Games and Exercises,” maintains that eating meat causes people to do actions against morality. Vineet Joshi, chief of the Central Board of Secondary Education, says the book was not approved by the Board. According to Joshi, schools are given freedom to choose their own textbooks based on standards set by the Indian government. M.M. Pallam Raju, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, asserts that the book is an undesirable anomaly. He believes the government needs to better check the content of textbooks, which are read by young and impressionable students. In the country, several groups promote the non-physical effects of vegetarianism. At the Tihar jail, for example, prisoners are given vegetarian food because of the belief that meat distorts a person’s way of thinking while vegetables produce positive changes in the mind. B.K. Sushant of the Brahma Kumaris educational institution agrees that meat is not good for people. He said poisonous chemicals are released when animals are killed, and these harmful chemicals, when eaten, affect a person negatively. However, Professor Tanvir Aeijab from Ramjas College does not believe food impacts people’s morality. Aeijab explained that the kind of food people eat depends on their culture and origin. He said that at their school, they have not seen any difference between students who are vegetarian and non-vegetarian.

Viewpoint Discussion 
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A 

         Do you agree that what you eat influences your personality or your actions? Why or why not?

         Why do you think some people prefer to have a vegetarian diet?

Discussion B

         What is your opinion on the quality of students’ textbooks in your country?

         How would you describe a good learning or study material?

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More Women Workers May Save Japan’s Economy

Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. salvage (v.) [sal-vij] – to rescue or to save something from loss or damage

Example: They tried to salvage the documents destroyed by the flood.

2. gender gap (n.) [jen-der gap] – a situation wherein males and females are not given fair treatment or the same opportunities

Example:  The company avoids a gender gap by giving equal salaries to male and female employees of the same job position.

3. diversity (n.) [dih-vur-si-tee, dahy-] – the state of having many different kinds or types of something (such as ideas)

Example: We heard a diversity of opinions from speakers at the forum.

4. compulsory (adj.) [kuh m-puhl-suh-ree] – required

Example: The employees must attend the compulsory event set by the management.

5. leave (n.) [leev] – a period of time when someone can  be absent from work or duty

Example: He asked his employer for a one-week leave to take care of a sick family member.

Article
Read the text below.

Japan is currently facing an economic problem: there are not enough people in its workforce to pay welfare costs and needed taxes. However, experts believe women may salvage the economy if women are given more jobs. According to a Goldman Sachs report in 2010, Japan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could rise by about 15% if more women would join the workforce. Data from the government reveals that Japanese women currently earn only 60% of what men earn because most women are part-time workers. In addition, only 65% of women with college-level education have jobs, while 70% of women leave their jobs after giving birth to their first child. The low number of working women is partly because of gender gap issues in Japan. Kaori Sasaki, president and CEO of consulting company Ewoman, explains that high company positions have long been held by men who think similarly. For Japan to have economic growth, she says, management and executives need people—both women and men—who think differently and can provide a diversity of ideas to solve problems. Masahiro Yamada, professor of family sociology at Tokyo’s Chuo University says women also need to work and have income so they can think of starting families. A population increase would mean more workers to support the economy. But being a working mom can be a challenge in the country because of long work hours and after-work socializing that almost seems compulsory. Few companies allow parental leave longer than 18 months. Sasaki says that although some working women believe they are now given more opportunities, the gender gap remains a problem ignored by the country.

Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A

         In your opinion, are women in your country given enough work opportunities? Why or why not?

         Do you believe women can really help boost a country’s economy if they can work more? Why or why not?

Discussion B

         Why do you think gender gap still exists in different parts of the world?

         What can people do to reduce gender gaps?

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New Gadget Helps Dog Owners Check their Pets’ Health

Unlocking Word Meanings
Read the following words/expressions found in today’s article.

1. pendant (n.) [pen-duh nt] – a small object hanging from a chain or cord

Example: The queen wore a diamond pendant with a gold necklace around her neck.

2. shiver (v.) [shiv-er] – to shake very lightly because of cold, fear or sickness

Example: The cold wind blew and the poor child shivered in his thin clothes. 

3. manually (adv.) [man-yoo-uh lee] – done by oneself, using physical human effort

Example Even with computers, workers still need to manually check the quality of each product. 

4. veterinarian (n.) [vet-er-uh-nair-ee-uh n, ve-truh-] – a doctor of animals; someone who cares for the health of animals

Example: The zoo veterinarian gave medicine to the sick lion.

5. assessment (n.) [uh-ses-muh nt] – the act of making a judgment or evaluation based on information about something or someone

Example: After all the tests were done, the patient waited for the doctor’s assessment.

Article
Read the text below.

Fujitsu recently released a new pet management service and device called Wandant, which lets pet owners learn detailed information about how their pet dogs are feeling.  “Wandant” is a combination of two words. “Wan” is from “wan wan,” which is used in Japan to refer to the sound dogs make while “dant” is taken from the English word “pendant,” which refers to the device worn by the pet dog around its neck. The Wandant looks like a business card attached to a pet collar. It measures 4.6 cm by 2.84cm by 1.25cm and weighs around 16 grams. Inside the device, Fujitsu has placed technology similar to its award-winning K supercomputer. The pendant can record the dog’s temperature, the amount of shivering experienced by the dog (its “buru-buru” score), and the dog’s number of steps. The data are automatically uploaded to the Internet where the dog’s owner can check them. The data appear as graphs on the pet’s personal profile page, showing the dog’s overall condition. Pet owners can also manually input other kinds of information into their dog’s account. An owner trying to manage a dog’s weight, for example, can record how much food the dog ate. Other activities, such as going for a walk or going to the veterinarian, can be recorded in a dog’s Wandant daily diary. Veterinarians can even use the data on a dog’s profile page in their assessment of a dog’s health. Pet owners can purchase the Wandant for 9,800 yen and a monthly fee of 420 yen after the first year.

Viewpoint Discussion
Enjoy a discussion with your tutor.

Discussion A 

         Do you think gadgets like the Wandant pendant are good purchases for pet owners? Why or why not?

         Can people still take good care of animals even without devices like Wandant? What makes you say so?

Discussion B

         Should people have a limit on how much time and money they spend on their pets? Why or why not?

         Name something expensive that you bought for your pet or for yourself. What made you decide to finally buy it?

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New cure for cancer obesity

Antibodies Act As Immunogens:-

Antibody

•Antigenic Determinants on Abs Fall in 3 Categories:-

             •Isotypic:-

–Constant Region Of Ab.

–If you inject Ab in a different species Anti-Isotype is generated.

•Allotype:-

Obese

–If injected with such Ab you generate anti-allotype Ab

•Ex. During pregnancy

•Blood transfusion

•Idiotype:-

Unique VH AND VL binds antigen but can also 

behave as antigenic determinant.

•If you inject a monoclonal antibody into a genetically identical recipient then anti-idiotypic antibodies are generated.

Innovations in medicine:-

Capillary growth

Immuno proteasome

• Technique for constructing amino acid sequences, then linking them together to form a synthetic antibody, or synbody, that can bind with one or more protein molecules contained in the vast repository of human proteins—the proteome.
•  “Traditional antibodies are made by taking the protein you want to bind,”.These antibodies, or the cells that produce them, are then extracted.
• Rather than beginning with a protein in order to produce an antibody, the new technique involves building an antibody first.
• To accomplish this, a 20-unit random sequence of amino acids are joined together like beads on a necklace to form a peptide. By uniting two of these peptide chains, linked together by means of a chemical scaffold, a binding molecule or ligand is created, which can attach to a specific protein with high affinity. 
• The resulting synbody may then be screened against a multitude of human proteins, to find its mate.The strategy relies on the fact that the binding affinity of two such amino acid sequences is the product of their combined affinity, allowing two peptides with weak attraction to a given protein to be joined to produce a synbody with strong binding properties.
• Remarkably, the assemblage of both the individual peptides and the synbody are carried out randomly.The raw material for the synbody comes from a library of 10,000 peptides, with each amino acid sequence randomly composed.
•  Each resulting linear peptide chain is able to find 2 or 3 points of contact with virtually any protein.
•  When two such peptides are combined to form a synbody, a high-affinity ligand is produced, displaying specificity for a given protein.  
• To create a synbody to a particular disease protein on the other hand, the protein is exposed to multiple peptides. Once two are identified that link to the protein, they may be combined into a disease-specific synbody—an effective, though much slower process.

Advantage:-

•  The use of synbodies is that they remain stable over time, unlike their biological counterparts, making them far more suitable for diagnostic assays.
• Exposing random synbodies to multiple proteins helps build a library of effective ligands over time.

3-D face recognition

2D face recognition:-

Traditional 2D face recognition systems are based on standard photo or video pictures  these are not ground-based measurements and are highly sensitive to changes in ambient lighting or view angle. In addition, they are sensitive to changes in scale, facial accessories (make-up, glasses, beards) and aging of the user.

Facial model for both 2D & 3D

3D face recognition:-

Facial detection

• 3D face recognition is based on anthropometric data – precise measurements of cranial structure and rigid tissues. 
• The 3D recognition  template  is extracted from extremely precise geometric data (sub-millimeter ) about the cranial curvature is those areas where rigid tissues are most visible (i.e eye sockets,chin zone, the bridge of a nose). These areas are the most unique and are unchanging over time, and therefore robust to aging or weight changing in the subject.
• The semantic analysis of the face permits the use of “smart” algorithms for facial camouflage.
• The algorithms recognize that the user has grown a beard, and automatically shifts the emphasis of recognition (matching) to the alternate reliable areas of the face.
•  The same system is used for eye glasses/spectacles, where the algorithms register a non-concave area around the eyes.

Structured light approach to 3D:-

Different features for each face.

• The structured light approach to 3D face recognition, eliminates concerns about poor lighting conditions, structured light 3D technology uses its own light source.
•  Structured light 3D face-readers shine an invisible near infrared pattern of a grid on a user’s face and then maps the geographic pattern of the face based on the distortions it causes in the grid pattern. 

  Procedure:-

  Image acquisition->Pre-processing->Feature Extraction->Classification

  

  Image acquisition:-

  Capture face images & generate 3D models.

  Pre-Processing:

  Normalize images into the same position.
  

  Feature Extraction:-

  Extract the features from normalized face images.
  

  Classification:-

  Design a classifier, train it with dataset, and test its validity.
  
  

  Types of 3D Data:-

  •  Point‐Cloud Representation
  • Range Image
  •  Surface‐normal based
  • Curvature‐Based Representation & 3‐D Voxel Representation

  Sensors:-

  – Passive stereo
  • two cameras with a known geometric relationship are used
  – Pure structured light
  • uses a camera and a light projector with a known geometric relationship.
  A light pattern is projected into the scene, detected in an image acquired
  by the camera
  – hybrid of passive stereo and structured lighting
  • a pattern is projected onto the scene and then imaged by a stereo
  camera rig
  • Even under ideal illumination, it is common for artifacts to occur in
  face regions such as oily regions that appear specular, the eyes, and
  regions of facial hair such as eyebrows, mustache, or beard.
  • Depth of field for sensing (.3m for stereo , 1m for structured)
  • Image acquisition time
  • A 3D shape is illumination invariant
  • Making the 3D image from 2D sensors is not
   
  

  Advantages of 3D face recognition:- 

  • Robustness
  • High accuracy
  • Thoroughness
  • Anti-spoofing
  • Interpolation can be solved 

    Disadvantages of 3d  face recognition:-

  • oily parts of the face with high reflectance may introduce artifacts under certain lighting on the surface.
  • 3D capturing technology requires cooperation from a subject.
   
  

Respirocytes

 Problems we are facing today:-

Today’s world is suffering an extreme shortage of donor blood, even with Red Cross receiving 36,000 units a day this doesn’t satisfy the 80,000 that are needed. People that have anemia also run into a blood problem when they’re hemoglobin concentration in the red blood cells fall below normal, which can case severe tissue damage. The root of the problem lies in hemoglobin because it delivers oxygen from the lungs to the body tissue. A possible future solution to this
problem has been purposed by Scientists at the Institute for Molecular
Manufacturing with their mechanical artificial red cell called a “Respirocyte”.

red blood cells

Advanced respirocyte could detect when the oxygen levels reached too low, and only then would it released oxygen as a means of reserve for emergency situatsituations. 

• Respirocytes are hypothetical, artificial red blood cells that can supplement or replace the function of much of the human body's normal respiratory system.
• There are two lines of research connected to the production of respirocytes: purely biomechanical and nanobots with bioengineered parts.

  How respirocytes works:-

• The respirocyte is a nanomedical spherical device made up of a flawless diamond or sapphire shell. This sphere is 100 nanometers in diameter, and due to its size is constructed atom by atom. The sphere will be contained with a high pressure level of oxygen, as well as a mechanical engine, sorting rotors, and other sub-systems.
•  The respirocyte carries gas molecules out of pressurized micro-vessels, to do this micro-rotors are exposed to the interior (the chambers) and exterior (blood plasma) areas of the respirocyte, and through molecular binding the gas is brought into the chamber. The gas is released from the tanks by forcible ejecting the gas by rods. 
• Advanced respirocyte could detect when the oxygen levels reached too low, and only then would it released oxygen as a means of reserve for emergency situatsituations.
• By driving the rotor a particular speed the rotor could release the oxygen at the desired rate. This rotor is powered by combining glucose with oxygen to generate the amount of mechanical energy needed. Perhaps one of the most important factors with the respirocyte is the amount of compressed oxygen it can hold, as well as how long it will last. 
• A liter of blood normally contains around.2 liters of oxygen, the respirocyte contains 530 liters. Using Van de Walls equation it has been calculated, that a mol of oxygen at 1000 atmospheres,occupies .048 liters, and at 1 atmosphere occupies around 25.4 liters. 



carbon carbon bonds

• Theoretically if the resiprocyte could also simultaneously absorb carbon dioxide when it was present in high concentrations in the tissue, and release at low levels it could remove a major product of metabolic activity, and there wouldn’t even be a need for red blood cells in the body.
•  This type of respirocyte would also be around 1000 times more efficient then normal red blood cells.  

  Problems with respirocytes:-

  
  
  

   

• The issue of problems that could occur with a  respirocyte is, respirocyte is a nanometers in size it would produce an oxygen bubble nanometers in size, therefore if a complication did occur the result wouldn’t be so sever. 
• Another problem discussed is placing the respirocytes in the body and how they will be accepted. The surface could have a variety of "camouflage" molecules covalently bound to its surface thereforeinteracting more friendly with the body.
• Respirocytes mimic the action of the natural hemoglobin filled red blood cells. The design of the spherical nanorobot is made up of 18 billion atoms arranged as a tiny pressure tank. The tank can be filled up with oxygen and carbon dioxide, making one complete transfer point at the lungs, and the reverse transfer at the body's tissues.

Respirocytes qualify as molecular nanotechnology a field of technology still in the very earliest, purely theoretical phases of development. Current technology could not build a respirocyte due to considerations of power, immune reaction or computation,toxic. 

Muscle fatigue:-

Muscle fatigue results from inadequate supply of oxygen to the muscles during intense exercise, leading to inefficient anaerobic respiration (absence of oxygen). If respirocytes could increase the supply of oxygen despite exercise, it should be possible to reduce muscle fatigue, increasing a person's endurance. Because respirocytes and related technologies would, if successful, improve the user's abilities beyond normal human limits, their design is associated with the transhumanism movement which concerns itself with such advances.

Each respirocyte could store and transport 236 times more oxygen than a natural red blood cell, and could release it in a more controlled manner. If an adult human's red blood cells were entirely replaced with these devices, that person could hold his/her breath underwater for hours, or sprint at top speed for at least 15 minutes without taking a breath.