This paper introduces DART, a general framework for tracking articulated objects composed of rigid bodies connected through a kinematic tree. DART covers a broad set of objects encountered in indoor environments, including furniture and tools, and human and robot bodies, hands and manipulators. To achieve efficient and robust tracking, DART extends the signed distance function representation to...

Previous evidence suggests that augmented sensorimotor rhythm (SMR) activity is related to the superior regulation of processing cognitive-motor information in motor performance. However, no published studies have examined the relationship between SMR and performance in precision sports; thus, this study examined the relationship between SMR activity and the level of skilled performance in task...

Many of the seemingly bizarre animal behaviours can be understood only by acknowledging the power of sex to shape evolution. A case in point is the so-called love-dart that some terrestrial molluscs shoot at their prospective sexual partners. Given that the likelihood of copulation is not different after solid hits than after complete misses, why do these suitors act so violently towards their ...

Many species of pulmonate land snails are equipped with one or more so-called “love darts”. Even though the number and shape of these calcareous darts vary considerably between species, dart use has only been investigated in very few species. Here, we redescribe the mating behaviour of Polymita muscarum because previous reports did not include the use of the dart apparatus. Mating in this herma...

Tasers are battery powered electrical devices used by law enforcement personnel to temporarily incapacitate a suspect. This study is a portion of a larger study to determine the probability of a Taser (X26 and M26) causing ventricular fibrillation (VF) in humans. We determined the distance between a Taser dart and the ventricle (dart-to-heart distance) necessary to trigger VF in an in-vivo porc...

Triggered-lightning properties, including dart-leader charge density, return-stroke propagation speed, dart-leader electric potential, dart-leader propagation speed, and dart-leader current, inferred from return-stroke current and very close electric field measurements, are presented. Although most of the estimates are based on relatively crude models, they are all generally in good agreement w...

The dart apparatus, used during courtship in some groups of hermaphroditic land snails, has long been assumed to have a “stimulatory” effect on the mating partner, though how stimulation occurs and exactly what function it serves has never been determined. In this study, extracts of the mucous glands of the dart apparatus of the land snail Helix aspersa were injected into conspecifics and into ...

Genetic diversity is the raw material available to plant breeders. By productively recombining genetic diversity, plant breeders have been successfully producing, year after year, improved cultivars of the major domesticated species used in the world’s diverse agricultural systems. Molecular genetic markers offer a powerful tool to accelerate and refine this process. Existing genetic marker (ge...

We describe our experience with blowgun dart aspiration via an illustrative case series and review the resources available to teach children how to construct these objects. A 15-year-old boy presented with cough, wheeze, and eventually admitted to aspiration of a homemade blowgun dart. This instance heightened the awareness of our experience with blowgun dart aspiration as 3 cases presented wit...

Accurate and efficient simulation of remote sensing images is increasingly needed in order to better exploit observations design missions. DART (Discrete Anisotropic Radiative Transfer), developed since 1992 based on the discrete ordinates method (i.e., standard mode DART-FT), one most accurate comprehensive 3D radiative transfer models simulate budget urban natural landscapes. Recently, a new ...