Underwater Coatings for Contamination Control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Julia L. Tripp; Kip Archibald; Ann-Marie Phillips; Joseph Campbell

2004-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is deactivating several fuel storage basins. Airborne contamination is a concern when the sides of the basins are exposed and allowed to dry during water removal. One way of controlling this airborne contamination is to fix the contamination in place while the pool walls are still submerged. There are many underwater coatings available on the market that are used in marine, naval and other applications. A series of tests were run to determine whether the candidate underwater fixatives are easily applied and adhere well to the substrates (pool wall materials) found in INEEL fuel pools. The four pools considered included (1) Test Area North (TAN-607) with epoxy painted concrete walls; (2) Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) (CPP-603) with bare concrete walls; (3) Materials Test Reactor (MTR) Canal with stainless steel lined concrete walls; and (4) Power Burst Facility (PBF-620) with stainless steel lined concrete walls on the bottom and epoxy painted carbon steel lined walls on the upper portions. Therefore, the four materials chosen for testing included bare concrete, epoxy painted concrete, epoxy painted carbon steel, and stainless steel. The typical water temperature of the pools varies from 55 F to 80 F dependent on the pool and the season. These tests were done at room temperature. The following criteria were used during this evaluation. The underwater coating must: (1) Be easy to apply; (2) Adhere well to the four surfaces of interest; (3) Not change or have a negative impact on water chemistry or clarity; (4) Not be hazardous in final applied form; and (5) Be proven in other underwater applications. In addition, it is desirable for the coating to have a high pigment or high cross-link density to prevent radiation from penetrating. This paper will detail the testing completed and the test results. A proprietary two-part, underwater epoxy owned by S. G. Pinney and Associates

The development of controller and navigation algorithm for underwater wall crawler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Hyung Suck; Kim, Kyung Hoon; Kim, Min Young [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon (Korea)

1999-01-01

In this project, the control system of a underwater robotic vehicle(URV) for underwater wall inspection in the nuclear reactor pool or the related facilities has been developed. The following 4-sub projects have been studied for this project: (1) Development of the controller and motor driver for the URV (2) Development of the control algorithm for the tracking control of the URV (3) Development of the localization system (4) Underwater experiments of the developed system. First, the dynamic characteristic of thruster with the DC servo-motor was analyzed experimentally. Second the controller board using the INTEL 80C196 was designed and constructed, and the software for the communication and motor control is developed. Third the PWM motor-driver was developed. Fourth the localization system using the laser scanner and inclinometer was developed and tested in the pool. Fifth the dynamics of the URV was studied and the proper control algorithms for the URV was proposed. Lastly the validation of the integrated system was experimentally performed. (author). 27 refs., 51 figs., 8 tabs.

Effects of the partially movable control fin with end plate of underwater vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chul-Min Jung

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater torpedo has control fin with very low aspect ratio due to launching from limited size of cylindrical torpedo tube. If the aspect ratio of control fin of underwater vehicle is very low three-dimensional flow around control fin largely reduces control forces. In this study, the end plate was applied to reduce the three-dimensional flow effects of partially movable control fin of underwater vehicle. Through numerical simulations the flow field around control fin was examined with and without end plate for different flap angles. The pressure, vorticity, lift and torque on the control fin were analyzed and compared to experiments. The comparison have shown a reasonable agreement between numerical and experimental results and the effect of end plate on a low aspect ratio control fin. When the end plate was attached to the movable control fin, the lift increased and the actuator shaft torque did not significantly change. As this means less consumption of the actuator shaft torque compared to the control fin that has the same control force, the inner actuator capacity can be reduced and energy consumption can be saved. Considering this, it is expected to be effectively applied to the control fin design of underwater vehicles such as torpedoes.

A Probabilistic and Highly Efficient Topology Control Algorithm for Underwater Cooperating AUV Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ning; Cürüklü, Baran; Bastos, Joaquim; Sucasas, Victor; Fernandez, Jose Antonio Sanchez; Rodriguez, Jonathan

2017-05-04

The aim of the Smart and Networking Underwater Robots in Cooperation Meshes (SWARMs) project is to make autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), remote operated vehicles (ROVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) more accessible and useful. To achieve cooperation and communication between different AUVs, these must be able to exchange messages, so an efficient and reliable communication network is necessary for SWARMs. In order to provide an efficient and reliable communication network for mission execution, one of the important and necessary issues is the topology control of the network of AUVs that are cooperating underwater. However, due to the specific properties of an underwater AUV cooperation network, such as the high mobility of AUVs, large transmission delays, low bandwidth, etc., the traditional topology control algorithms primarily designed for terrestrial wireless sensor networks cannot be used directly in the underwater environment. Moreover, these algorithms, in which the nodes adjust their transmission power once the current transmission power does not equal an optimal one, are costly in an underwater cooperating AUV network. Considering these facts, in this paper, we propose a Probabilistic Topology Control (PTC) algorithm for an underwater cooperating AUV network. In PTC, when the transmission power of an AUV is not equal to the optimal transmission power, then whether the transmission power needs to be adjusted or not will be determined based on the AUV's parameters. Each AUV determines their own transmission power adjustment probability based on the parameter deviations. The larger the deviation, the higher the transmission power adjustment probability is, and vice versa. For evaluating the performance of PTC, we combine the PTC algorithm with the Fuzzy logic Topology Control (FTC) algorithm and compare the performance of these two algorithms. The simulation results have demonstrated that the PTC is efficient at reducing the transmission power

A Probabilistic and Highly Efficient Topology Control Algorithm for Underwater Cooperating AUV Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ning Li

2017-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of the Smart and Networking Underwater Robots in Cooperation Meshes (SWARMs project is to make autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs, remote operated vehicles (ROVs and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs more accessible and useful. To achieve cooperation and communication between different AUVs, these must be able to exchange messages, so an efficient and reliable communication network is necessary for SWARMs. In order to provide an efficient and reliable communication network for mission execution, one of the important and necessary issues is the topology control of the network of AUVs that are cooperating underwater. However, due to the specific properties of an underwater AUV cooperation network, such as the high mobility of AUVs, large transmission delays, low bandwidth, etc., the traditional topology control algorithms primarily designed for terrestrial wireless sensor networks cannot be used directly in the underwater environment. Moreover, these algorithms, in which the nodes adjust their transmission power once the current transmission power does not equal an optimal one, are costly in an underwater cooperating AUV network. Considering these facts, in this paper, we propose a Probabilistic Topology Control (PTC algorithm for an underwater cooperating AUV network. In PTC, when the transmission power of an AUV is not equal to the optimal transmission power, then whether the transmission power needs to be adjusted or not will be determined based on the AUV’s parameters. Each AUV determines their own transmission power adjustment probability based on the parameter deviations. The larger the deviation, the higher the transmission power adjustment probability is, and vice versa. For evaluating the performance of PTC, we combine the PTC algorithm with the Fuzzy logic Topology Control (FTC algorithm and compare the performance of these two algorithms. The simulation results have demonstrated that the PTC is efficient at reducing the

Fault-Tolerant Region-Based Control of an Underwater Vehicle with Kinematically Redundant Thrusters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zool H. Ismail

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new control approach for an underwater vehicle with a kinematically redundant thruster system. This control scheme is derived based on a fault-tolerant decomposition for thruster force allocation and a region control scheme for the tracking objective. Given a redundant thruster system, that is, six or more pairs of thrusters are used, the proposed redundancy resolution and region control scheme determine the number of thruster faults, as well as providing the reference thruster forces in order to keep the underwater vehicle within the desired region. The stability of the presented control law is proven in the sense of a Lyapunov function. Numerical simulations are performed with an omnidirectional underwater vehicle and the results of the proposed scheme illustrate the effectiveness in terms of optimizing the thruster forces.

Contour Tracking Control for the REMUS Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Van Reet, Alan R

2005-01-01

In the interest of enhancing the capabilities of autonomous underwater vehicles used in US Naval Operations, controlling vehicle position to follow depth contours presents exciting potential for navigation...

Flexibility in the patterning and control of axial locomotor networks in lamprey.

Science.gov (United States)

Buchanan, James T

2011-12-01

In lower vertebrates, locomotor burst generators for axial muscles generally produce unitary bursts that alternate between the two sides of the body. In lamprey, a lower vertebrate, locomotor activity in the axial ventral roots of the isolated spinal cord can exhibit flexibility in the timings of bursts to dorsally-located myotomal muscle fibers versus ventrally-located myotomal muscle fibers. These episodes of decreased synchrony can occur spontaneously, especially in the rostral spinal cord where the propagating body waves of swimming originate. Application of serotonin, an endogenous spinal neurotransmitter known to presynaptically inhibit excitatory synapses in lamprey, can promote decreased synchrony of dorsal-ventral bursting. These observations suggest the possible existence of dorsal and ventral locomotor networks with modifiable coupling strength between them. Intracellular recordings of motoneurons during locomotor activity provide some support for this model. Pairs of motoneurons innervating myotomal muscle fibers of similar ipsilateral dorsoventral location tend to have higher correlations of fast synaptic activity during fictive locomotion than do pairs of motoneurons innervating myotomes of different ipsilateral dorsoventral locations, suggesting their control by different populations of premotor interneurons. Further, these different motoneuron pools receive different patterns of excitatory and inhibitory inputs from individual reticulospinal neurons, conveyed in part by different sets of premotor interneurons. Perhaps, then, the locomotor network of the lamprey is not simply a unitary burst generator on each side of the spinal cord that activates all ipsilateral body muscles simultaneously. Instead, the burst generator on each side may comprise at least two coupled burst generators, one controlling motoneurons innervating dorsal body muscles and one controlling motoneurons innervating ventral body muscles. The coupling strength between these two

Acoustic and Vibration Control for an Underwater Structure under Mechanical Excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shi-Jian Zhu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Acoustic and vibration control for an underwater structure under mechanical excitation has been investigated by using negative feedback control algorithm. The underwater structure is modeled with cylindrical shells, conical shells, and circular bulkheads, of which the motion equations are built with the variational approach, respectively. Acoustic property is analyzed by the Helmholtz integration formulation with boundary element method. Based on negative feedback control algorithm, a control loop with a coupling use of piezoelectric sensor and actuator is built, and accordingly some numerical examples are carried out on active control of structural vibration and acoustic response. Effects of geometrical and material parameters on acoustic and vibration properties are investigated and discussed.

Autonomous docking control of visual-servo type underwater vehicle system aiming at underwater automatic charging

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yanou, Akira; Ohnishi, Shota; Ishiyama, Shintaro; Minami, Mamoru

2015-01-01

A visual-servo type remotely operated vehicle (ROV) system with binocular wide-angle lens was developed to survey submarine resources, decontaminate radiation from mud in dam lake and so on. This paper explores the experiments on regulator performance and underwater docking of the robot system utilizing Genetic Algorithm (GA) for real-time recognition of the robot's relative position and posture through 3D marker. The visual servoing performances have been verified as follows; (1) The stability performances of the proposed regulator system have been evaluated by exerting abrupt distrubane force while the ROV is controlled by visual servoing. (2) The proposed system can track time-variant desired target position in x-axis (front-back direction of the robot). (3) The underwater docking can be completed by switching visual servoing and docking modes based on the error threshold, and by giving time-varying desired target position and orientation to the controller as a desired pose. (author)

A Game-theoretical Approach for Distributed Cooperative Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

KAUST Repository

Lu, Yimeng

2018-05-01

This thesis explores a game-theoretical approach for underwater environmental monitoring applications. We first apply game-theoretical algorithm to multi-agent resource coverage problem in drifting environments. Furthermore, existing utility design and learning process of the algorithm are modified to fit specific constraints of underwater exploration/monitoring tasks. The revised approach can take the real scenario of underwater monitoring applications such as the effect of sea current, previous knowledge of the resource and occasional communications between agents into account, and adapt to them to reach better performance. As the motivation of this thesis is from real applications, in this work we emphasize highly on implementation phase. A ROS-Gazebo simulation environment was created for preparation of actual tests. The algorithms are implemented in simulating both the dynamics of vehicles and the environment. After that, a multi-agent underwater autonomous robotic system was developed for hardware test in real settings with local controllers to make their own decisions. These systems are used for testing above mentioned algorithms and future development of other underwater projects. After that, other works related to robotics during this thesis will be briefly mentioned, including contributions in MBZIRC robotics competition and distributed control of UAVs in an adversarial environment.

Dynamics and Control of Underwater Gliders I: Steady Motions

OpenAIRE

Mahmoudian, N.; Geisbert, J.; Woolsey, C.

2007-01-01

This paper describes analysis of steady motions for underwater gliders, a type of highly efficient underwater vehicle which uses gravity for propulsion. Underwater gliders are winged underwater vehicles which locomote by modulating their buoyancy and their attitude. Several such vehicles have been developed and have proven their worth as efficient long-distance, long-duration ocean sampling platforms. To date, the primary emphasis in underwater glider development has been on locomotive effici...

Localization of an Underwater Control Network Based on Quasi-Stable Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xinhua; Zhang, Hongmei; Feng, Jie

2018-01-01

There exists a common problem in the localization of underwater control networks that the precision of the absolute coordinates of known points obtained by marine absolute measurement is poor, and it seriously affects the precision of the whole network in traditional constraint adjustment. Therefore, considering that the precision of underwater baselines is good, we use it to carry out quasi-stable adjustment to amend known points before constraint adjustment so that the points fit the network shape better. In addition, we add unconstrained adjustment for quality control of underwater baselines, the observations of quasi-stable adjustment and constrained adjustment, to eliminate the unqualified baselines and improve the results’ accuracy of the two adjustments. Finally, the modified method is applied to a practical LBL (Long Baseline) experiment and obtains a mean point location precision of 0.08 m, which improves by 38% compared with the traditional method. PMID:29570627

The Control Packet Collision Avoidance Algorithm for the Underwater Multichannel MAC Protocols via Time-Frequency Masking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Yu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Establishing high-speed and reliable underwater acoustic networks among multiunmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs is basic to realize cooperative and intelligent control among different UUVs. Nevertheless, different from terrestrial network, the propagation speed of the underwater acoustic network is 1500 m/s, which makes the design of the underwater acoustic network MAC protocols a big challenge. In accordance with multichannel MAC protocols, data packets and control packets are transferred through different channels, which lowers the adverse effect of acoustic network and gradually becomes the popular issues of underwater acoustic networks MAC protocol research. In this paper, we proposed a control packet collision avoidance algorithm utilizing time-frequency masking to deal with the control packets collision in the control channel. This algorithm is based on the scarcity of the noncoherent underwater acoustic communication signals, which regards collision avoiding as separation of the mixtures of communication signals from different nodes. We first measure the W-Disjoint Orthogonality of the MFSK signals and the simulation result demonstrates that there exists time-frequency mask which can separate the source signals from the mixture of the communication signals. Then we present a pairwise hydrophones separation system based on deep networks and the location information of the nodes. Consequently, the time-frequency mask can be estimated.

Synthesis of a Controller for Swarming Robots Performing Underwater Mine Countermeasures

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Tan, Yong

2004-01-01

This Trident Scholar project involved the synthesis of a swarm controller that is suitable for controlling movements of a group of autonomous robots performing underwater mine countermeasures (UMCM...

Development of measuring and control systems for underwater cutting of radioactive components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drews, P.; Fuchs, K.

1990-01-01

The underwater dismantling of nuclear power plants has to be remotely controlled with simultaneous optical control by underwater cameras. It is this optical control in particular that leads to problems as, for example, abrasive wheel cutting is subjected to a wide range of interferences so that a minimum of contrast and blurred contours of camera images must be accounted for. This paper describes a new image processing system that has been developed in addition to the use of a modified underwater TV camera for optical cutting process control (plasma and abrasive wheel cutting). Workpiece recognition is performed through the comparison of actually measured objects with pre-trained reference patterns allowing the determination of object location and orientation, the data of which are then supplied to the handling controller. A completely satisfactory prototype system has been built, which is capable of performing image analysis (workpiece recognition, workpiece position, etc.) as well as the control of a handling system with an inductive sensor (distance detection, edge recognition and distance control). With an additional camera the operator has the means of visual process observation. The overall functioning of the system has been tested and demonstrated with a four-axes handling system. (author)

A new electronic control system for unmanned underwater vehicles

OpenAIRE

Molina Molina, J.C.; Guerrero González, A.; Gilabert, J.

2015-01-01

In this paper a new electronic control system for unmanned underwater vehicles is presented. This control system is characterized by a distribution in control over two network of type CANBus and Ethernet. This new electronic control system integrates functionalities of AUVs, as the automatic execution of preprogrammed trajectories. The control system also integrates an acoustic positioning system based on USBL. The information of relative positioning is sent through specific...

A trajectory tracking controller for an underwater hexapod vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Plamondon, N; Nahon, M

2009-09-01

This paper describes work done in the modeling and control of a low speed underwater vehicle that uses paddles instead of thrusters to move in the water. A review of previously modeled vehicles and of controller designs for underwater applications is presented. Then, a method to accurately predict the thrust produced by an oscillating flexible paddle is developed and validated. This is followed by the development of a method to determine the ideal paddle motion to produce a desired thrust. Several controllers are then developed and tested using a numerical simulation of the vehicle. We found that some model-based controllers could improve the performance of the system while others showed no benefit. Finally, we report results from experimental trials performed in an open water environment comparing the performance of the controllers. The experimental results showed that all the model-based controllers outperform the simple proportional-derivative controller. The controller giving the best performance was the model-based nonlinear controller. We also found that the vehicle was able to follow a change of a roll angle of 90 degrees in 0.7 s and to precisely follow a sinusoidal trajectory with a period of 6.28 s and an amplitude of 5 degrees.

A trajectory tracking controller for an underwater hexapod vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Plamondon, N; Nahon, M

2009-01-01

This paper describes work done in the modeling and control of a low speed underwater vehicle that uses paddles instead of thrusters to move in the water. A review of previously modeled vehicles and of controller designs for underwater applications is presented. Then, a method to accurately predict the thrust produced by an oscillating flexible paddle is developed and validated. This is followed by the development of a method to determine the ideal paddle motion to produce a desired thrust. Several controllers are then developed and tested using a numerical simulation of the vehicle. We found that some model-based controllers could improve the performance of the system while others showed no benefit. Finally, we report results from experimental trials performed in an open water environment comparing the performance of the controllers. The experimental results showed that all the model-based controllers outperform the simple proportional-derivative controller. The controller giving the best performance was the model-based nonlinear controller. We also found that the vehicle was able to follow a change of a roll angle of 90 deg. in 0.7 s and to precisely follow a sinusoidal trajectory with a period of 6.28 s and an amplitude of 5 deg.

Underwater hydraulic shock shovel control system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, He-Ping; Luo, A.-Ni; Xiao, Hai-Yan

2008-06-01

The control system determines the effectiveness of an underwater hydraulic shock shovel. This paper begins by analyzing the working principles of these shovels and explains the importance of their control systems. A new type of control system’s mathematical model was built and analyzed according to those principles. Since the initial control system’s response time could not fulfill the design requirements, a PID controller was added to the control system. System response time was still slower than required, so a neural network was added to nonlinearly regulate the proportional element, integral element and derivative element coefficients of the PID controller. After these improvements to the control system, system parameters fulfilled the design requirements. The working performance of electrically-controlled parts such as the rapidly moving high speed switch valve is largely determined by the control system. Normal control methods generally can’t satisfy a shovel’s requirements, so advanced and normal control methods were combined to improve the control system, bringing good results.

Locomotor adaptation to a soleus EMG-controlled antagonistic exoskeleton.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Keith E; Kinnaird, Catherine R; Ferris, Daniel P

2013-04-01

Locomotor adaptation in humans is not well understood. To provide insight into the neural reorganization that occurs following a significant disruption to one's learned neuromuscular map relating a given motor command to its resulting muscular action, we tied the mechanical action of a robotic exoskeleton to the electromyography (EMG) profile of the soleus muscle during walking. The powered exoskeleton produced an ankle dorsiflexion torque proportional to soleus muscle recruitment thus limiting the soleus' plantar flexion torque capability. We hypothesized that neurologically intact subjects would alter muscle activation patterns in response to the antagonistic exoskeleton by decreasing soleus recruitment. Subjects practiced walking with the exoskeleton for two 30-min sessions. The initial response to the perturbation was to "fight" the resistive exoskeleton by increasing soleus activation. By the end of training, subjects had significantly reduced soleus recruitment resulting in a gait pattern with almost no ankle push-off. In addition, there was a trend for subjects to reduce gastrocnemius recruitment in proportion to the soleus even though only the soleus EMG was used to control the exoskeleton. The results from this study demonstrate the ability of the nervous system to recalibrate locomotor output in response to substantial changes in the mechanical output of the soleus muscle and associated sensory feedback. This study provides further evidence that the human locomotor system of intact individuals is highly flexible and able to adapt to achieve effective locomotion in response to a broad range of neuromuscular perturbations.

Locomotor adaptation to a soleus EMG-controlled antagonistic exoskeleton

Science.gov (United States)

Kinnaird, Catherine R.; Ferris, Daniel P.

2013-01-01

Locomotor adaptation in humans is not well understood. To provide insight into the neural reorganization that occurs following a significant disruption to one's learned neuromuscular map relating a given motor command to its resulting muscular action, we tied the mechanical action of a robotic exoskeleton to the electromyography (EMG) profile of the soleus muscle during walking. The powered exoskeleton produced an ankle dorsiflexion torque proportional to soleus muscle recruitment thus limiting the soleus' plantar flexion torque capability. We hypothesized that neurologically intact subjects would alter muscle activation patterns in response to the antagonistic exoskeleton by decreasing soleus recruitment. Subjects practiced walking with the exoskeleton for two 30-min sessions. The initial response to the perturbation was to “fight” the resistive exoskeleton by increasing soleus activation. By the end of training, subjects had significantly reduced soleus recruitment resulting in a gait pattern with almost no ankle push-off. In addition, there was a trend for subjects to reduce gastrocnemius recruitment in proportion to the soleus even though only the soleus EMG was used to control the exoskeleton. The results from this study demonstrate the ability of the nervous system to recalibrate locomotor output in response to substantial changes in the mechanical output of the soleus muscle and associated sensory feedback. This study provides further evidence that the human locomotor system of intact individuals is highly flexible and able to adapt to achieve effective locomotion in response to a broad range of neuromuscular perturbations. PMID:23307949

Locomotor Sub-functions for Control of Assistive Wearable Robots

OpenAIRE

Sharbafi, Maziar A.; Seyfarth, Andre; Zhao, Guoping

2017-01-01

A primary goal of comparative biomechanics is to understand the fundamental physics of locomotion within an evolutionary context. Such an understanding of legged locomotion results in a transition from copying nature to borrowing strategies for interacting with the physical world regarding design and control of bio-inspired legged robots or robotic assistive devices. Inspired from nature, legged locomotion can be composed of three locomotor sub-functions, which are intrinsically interrelated:...

Muscle Spindles and Locomotor Control-An Unrecognized Falls Determinant?

OpenAIRE

Marks Ray

2015-01-01

BACKGROUND: Historically, evidence muscle spindles might be involved in locomotion was provided by their presence in tetrapod antigravity muscles associated with posture and locomotion. Later, Brodal (1962) noted muscle spindles in all muscles of locomotion. To unravel the complexity of the muscle spindle and its role in human locomotor control many investigators have since conducted lesion and/or anaesthesia studies in subhuman species and human contexts. QUESTIONS: How ...

Remote-Controlled Inspection Robot for Nuclear Facilities in Underwater Environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yasuhiro Miwa; Syuichi Satoh; Naoya Hirose

2002-01-01

A remote-controlled inspection robot for nuclear facilities was developed. This is a underwater robot technology combined with inspection and flaw removal technologies. This report will describe the structure and performance of this robot. The inspection robot consists of two parts. The one is driving equipment, and the other is inspection and grinding units. It can swim in the tank, move around the tank wall, and stay on the inspection area. After that it starts inspection and flaw removal with a special grinding wheel. This technology had been developed to inspect some Radioactive Waste (RW) tanks in operating nuclear power plants. There are many RW tanks in these plants, which human workers can be hard to access because of a high level dose. This technology is too useful for inspection works of human-inaccessible areas. And also, in conventional inspection process, some worker go into the tank and set up scaffolding after full drainage and decontamination. It spends too much time for these preparations. If tank inspection and flaw removal can be performed in underwater, the outage period will be reduced. Remote-controlled process can be performed in underwater. This is the great advantage for plant owners. Since 1999 we have been applying this inspection robot to operating nuclear 11 facilities in Japan. (authors)

Underwater welding using remote controlled robots. Development of remote underwater welding technology with a high power YAG laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miwa, Yasuhiro; Sato, Syuuichi; Kojima, Toshio; Owaki, Katsura; Hirose, Naoya

2002-01-01

As components in nuclear power plant have been periodically carried out their inspection and repair to keep their integrity, on radioactive liquid wastes storage facility, because of difficulty on their inspection by human beings, some are remained without inspection, and even when capable of inspection, conversion from human works to remote operations is desired from a viewpoint of their operation efficiency upgrading. For response to these needs, some developments on a technology capable of carrying out inspection of their inside at underwater environment and repairing welding with YAG laser by means of remote operation, have been performed. Remote underwater inspection and repair technology is a combination technology of already applied underwater mobile technique (underwater inspection robot) with underwater YAG laser welding technique which is recently at actual using level. Therefore, this technology is composed of an inspection robot and a repair welding robot. And, testing results using the underwater inspection robot and welding test results using the underwater repair welding robot, were enough preferable to obtain forecasting applicable to actual apparatuses. This technology is especially effective for inspection and repair of inside of nuclear fuel cycle apparatuses and relatively high dose apparatuses, and can be thought to be applicable also to large capacity tanks, tanks dealing with harmful matters, underwater structures, and so on, in general industries. (G.K.)

Centralised versus Decentralised Control Reconfiguration for Collaborating Underwater Robots

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Furno, Lidia; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Blanke, Mogens

2015-01-01

The present paper introduces an approach to fault-tolerant reconfiguration for collaborating underwater robots. Fault-tolerant reconfiguration is obtained using the virtual actuator approach, Steen (2005). The paper investigates properties of a centralised versus a decentralised implementation an...... an underwater drill needs to be transported and positioned by three collaborating robots as part of an underwater autonomous operation....

Development of measuring and control systems for underwater cutting of radioactive components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drews, P.; Fuchs, K.

1990-01-01

Shutdown and dismantling of nuclear power plants requires special techniques to decommission the radioactive components involved. For reasons of safety, decommissioning of components under water can be advantageous because of the radioactive shielding effect of water. In this project, research activities and developmental works focused on the realization of different sensor systems and their adaptation to cutting tasks. A new image-processing system has been developed in addition to the use of a modified underwater TV camera for optical cutting process control (plasma and abrasive wheel cutting). For control of process parameters, different inductive, ultrasonic and optical sensors have been modified and tested. The investigations performed are aimed at assuring high-quality underwater cutting with the help of sensor systems specially adapted to cutting tasks, with special signal procession and evaluation through microcomputer control. It is important that special attention be paid to the reduction of interferences in image pick-up and procession. The measuring system has been designed and realized according to the consideration of the demands for underwater cutting processes. The reliability of the system was tested in conjunction with a four-axes handling system

Distinct sets of locomotor modules control the speed and modes of human locomotion

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoyama, Hikaru; Ogawa, Tetsuya; Kawashima, Noritaka; Shinya, Masahiro; Nakazawa, Kimitaka

2016-01-01

Although recent vertebrate studies have revealed that different spinal networks are recruited in locomotor mode- and speed-dependent manners, it is unknown whether humans share similar neural mechanisms. Here, we tested whether speed- and mode-dependence in the recruitment of human locomotor networks exists or not by statistically extracting locomotor networks. From electromyographic activity during walking and running over a wide speed range, locomotor modules generating basic patterns of muscle activities were extracted using non-negative matrix factorization. The results showed that the number of modules changed depending on the modes and speeds. Different combinations of modules were extracted during walking and running, and at different speeds even during the same locomotor mode. These results strongly suggest that, in humans, different spinal locomotor networks are recruited while walking and running, and even in the same locomotor mode different networks are probably recruited at different speeds. PMID:27805015

Human spinal locomotor control is based on flexibly organized burst generators.

Science.gov (United States)

Danner, Simon M; Hofstoetter, Ursula S; Freundl, Brigitta; Binder, Heinrich; Mayr, Winfried; Rattay, Frank; Minassian, Karen

2015-03-01

Constant drive provided to the human lumbar spinal cord by epidural electrical stimulation can cause local neural circuits to generate rhythmic motor outputs to lower limb muscles in people paralysed by spinal cord injury. Epidural spinal cord stimulation thus allows the study of spinal rhythm and pattern generating circuits without their configuration by volitional motor tasks or task-specific peripheral feedback. To reveal spinal locomotor control principles, we studied the repertoire of rhythmic patterns that can be generated by the functionally isolated human lumbar spinal cord, detected as electromyographic activity from the legs, and investigated basic temporal components shared across these patterns. Ten subjects with chronic, motor-complete spinal cord injury were studied. Surface electromyographic responses to lumbar spinal cord stimulation were collected from quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis anterior, and triceps surae in the supine position. From these data, 10-s segments of rhythmic activity present in the four muscle groups of one limb were extracted. Such samples were found in seven subjects. Physiologically adequate cycle durations and relative extension- and flexion-phase durations similar to those needed for locomotion were generated. The multi-muscle activation patterns exhibited a variety of coactivation, mixed-synergy and locomotor-like configurations. Statistical decomposition of the electromyographic data across subjects, muscles and samples of rhythmic patterns identified three common temporal components, i.e. basic or shared activation patterns. Two of these basic patterns controlled muscles to contract either synchronously or alternatingly during extension- and flexion-like phases. The third basic pattern contributed to the observed muscle activities independently from these extensor- and flexor-related basic patterns. Each bifunctional muscle group was able to express both extensor- and flexor-patterns, with variable ratios across the

Monitoring Coral Growth - the Dichotomy Between Underwater Photogrammetry and Geodetic Control Network

Science.gov (United States)

Neyer, F.; Nocerino, E.; Gruen, A.

2018-05-01

Creating 3-dimensional (3D) models of underwater scenes has become a common approach for monitoring coral reef changes and its structural complexity. Also in underwater archeology, 3D models are often created using underwater optical imagery. In this paper, we focus on the aspect of detecting small changes in the coral reef using a multi-temporal photogrammetric modelling approach, which requires a high quality control network. We show that the quality of a good geodetic network limits the direct change detection, i.e., without any further registration process. As the photogrammetric accuracy is expected to exceed the geodetic network accuracy by at least one order of magnitude, we suggest to do a fine registration based on a number of signalized points. This work is part of the Moorea Island Digital Ecosystem Avatar (IDEA) project that has been initiated in 2013 by a group of international researchers (https://mooreaidea.ethz.ch/).

Control of locomotor stability in stabilizing and destabilizing environments.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Mengnan/Mary; Brown, Geoffrey; Gordon, Keith E

2017-06-01

To develop effective interventions targeting locomotor stability, it is crucial to understand how people control and modify gait in response to changes in stabilization requirements. Our purpose was to examine how individuals with and without incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) control lateral stability in haptic walking environments that increase or decrease stabilization demands. We hypothesized that people would adapt to walking in a predictable, stabilizing viscous force field and unpredictable destabilizing force field by increasing and decreasing feedforward control of lateral stability, respectively. Adaptations in feedforward control were measured using after-effects when fields were removed. Both groups significantly (pfeedforward adaptions to increase control of lateral stability. In contrast, in the destabilizing field, non-impaired subjects increased movement variability (p0.05). When the destabilizing field was removed, increases in movement variability persisted (pfeedforward decreases in resistance to perturbations. Published by Elsevier B.V.

A Multiposture Locomotor Training Device with Force-Field Control

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jianfeng Sui

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a multiposture locomotor training device (MPLTD with a closed-loop control scheme based on joint angle feedback, which is able to overcome various difficulties resulting from mechanical vibration and the weight of trainer to achieve higher accuracy trajectory. By introducing the force-field control scheme used in the closed-loop control, the device can obtain the active-constrained mode including the passive one. The MPLTD is mainly composed of three systems: posture adjusting and weight support system, lower limb exoskeleton system, and control system, of which the lower limb exoskeleton system mainly includes the indifferent equilibrium mechanism with two degrees of freedom (DOF and the driving torque is calculated by the Lagrangian function. In addition, a series of experiments, the weight support and the trajectory accuracy experiment, demonstrate a good performance of mechanical structure and the closed-loop control.

Modelling, Design and Robust Control of a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luis Govinda García-Valdovinos

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs play an important role in a number of shallow and deep-water missions for marine science, oil and gas extraction, exploration and salvage. In these applications, the motions of the ROV are guided either by a human pilot on a surface support vessel through an umbilical cord providing power and telemetry, or by an automatic pilot. In the case of automatic control, ROV state feedback is provided by acoustic and inertial sensors and this state information, along with a controller strategy, is used to perform several tasks such as station-keeping and auto-immersion/heading, among others. In this paper, the modelling, design and control of the Kaxan ROV is presented: i The complete six degrees of freedom, non linear hydrodynamic model with its parameters, ii the Kaxan hardware/software architecture, iii numerical simulations in Matlab/Simulink platform of a model-free second order sliding mode control along with ocean currents as disturbances and thruster dynamics, iv a virtual environment to visualize the motion of the Kaxan ROV and v experimental results of a one degree of freedom underwater system.

Underwater Acoustic Tracer System

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-13

for controlling and utilizing supercavitating projectile dynamics to produce a distinctive radiated noise signal. (2) Description of the Prior Art...metallic objects which travel relatively closely to a magnetic pickup. For larger, high speed, underwater projectiles, supercavitating underwater vehicles...have been proposed for use. The conditions for supercavitation are known in the art. Supercavitation allows for higher speeds to be sustainable

Control of Oscillating Foil for Propulsion of Biorobotic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. N. Singh

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The paper treats the question of control of a laterally and rotationally oscillating hydrofoil for the propulsion of biologically inspired robotic (biorobotic autonomous underwater vehicles (BAUVs. Sinusoidal oscillations of foils produce maneuvering and propulsive forces. The design is based on the internal model principle. Two springs are used to transmit forces from the actuators to the foil. Oscillating fins produce periodic forces, which can be used for fish-like propulsion and control of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs. The equations of motion of the foil include hydrodynamic lift and moment based on linear, unsteady, aerodynamic theory. A control law is derived for the lateral and rotational sinusoidal oscillation of the foil. In the closed-loop system, the lateral displacement and the rotational angle of the foil asymptotically follow sinusoidal trajectories of distinct frequencies and amplitudes independently. Simulation results are presented to show the trajectory tracking performance of the foil for different freestream velocities and sinusoidal command trajectories.

Power Control Optimization of an Underwater Piezoelectric Energy Harvester

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iñigo Aramendia

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Over the past few years, it has been established that vibration energy harvesters with intentionally designed components can be used for frequency bandwidth enhancement under excitation for sufficiently high vibration amplitudes. Pipelines are often necessary means of transporting important resources such as water, gas, and oil. A self-powered wireless sensor network could be a sustainable alternative for in-pipe monitoring applications. A new control algorithm has been developed and implemented into an underwater energy harvester. Firstly, a computational study of a piezoelectric energy harvester for underwater applications has been studied for using the kinetic energy of water flow at four different Reynolds numbers Re = 3000, 6000, 9000, and 12,000. The device consists of a piezoelectric beam assembled to an oscillating cylinder inside the water of pipes from 2 to 5 inches in diameter. Therefore, unsteady simulations have been performed to study the dynamic forces under different water speeds. Secondly, a new control law strategy based on the computational results has been developed to extract as much energy as possible from the energy harvester. The results show that the harvester can efficiently extract the power from the kinetic energy of the fluid. The maximum power output is 996.25 µW and corresponds to the case with Re = 12,000.

Robust automatic control system of vessel descent-rise device for plant with distributed parameters “cable – towed underwater vehicle”

Science.gov (United States)

Chupina, K. V.; Kataev, E. V.; Khannanov, A. M.; Korshunov, V. N.; Sennikov, I. A.

2018-05-01

The paper is devoted to a problem of synthesis of the robust control system for a distributed parameters plant. The vessel descent-rise device has a heave compensation function for stabilization of the towed underwater vehicle on a set depth. A sea state code, parameters of the underwater vehicle and cable vary during underwater operations, the vessel heave is a stochastic process. It means that the plant and external disturbances have uncertainty. That is why it is necessary to use the robust theory for synthesis of an automatic control system, but without use of traditional methods of optimization, because this cable has distributed parameters. The offered technique has allowed one to design an effective control system for stabilization of immersion depth of the towed underwater vehicle for various degrees of sea roughness and to provide its robustness to deviations of parameters of the vehicle and cable’s length.

Efficient Multivariable Generalized Predictive Control for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle in Vertical Plane

OpenAIRE

Yao, Xuliang; Yang, Guangyi

2016-01-01

This paper presents the design and simulation validation of a multivariable GPC (generalized predictive control) for AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) in vertical plane. This control approach has been designed in the case of AUV navigating with low speed near water surface, in order to restrain wave disturbance effectively and improve pitch and heave motion stability. The proposed controller guarantees compliance with rudder manipulation, AUV output constraints, and driving energy consumpti...

Virtual reality simulation of fuzzy-logic control during underwater dynamic positioning

Science.gov (United States)

Thekkedan, Midhin Das; Chin, Cheng Siong; Woo, Wai Lok

2015-03-01

In this paper, graphical-user-interface (GUI) software for simulation and fuzzy-logic control of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) using MATLAB™ GUI Designing Environment is proposed. The proposed ROV's GUI platform allows the controller such as fuzzy-logic control systems design to be compared with other controllers such as proportional-integral-derivative (PID) and sliding-mode controller (SMC) systematically and interactively. External disturbance such as sea current can be added to improve the modelling in actual underwater environment. The simulated results showed the position responses of the fuzzy-logic control exhibit reasonable performance under the sea current disturbance.

[Morphologic-functional study of the locomotor system of penguins as a general model of movement in under-water flight. I].

Science.gov (United States)

Bannasch, R

1986-01-01

Regarding several theories of the evolution of the Sphenisciformes the specific morpho-physiological alterations for the changeover from aerial to underwater life are discussed. The peculiarities in the Penguin's "construction" become comprehensible as strong adjustments to the subaquatic locomotion. Surely they took their origin from the equipment of flying birds. The present data of the kinematics of the underwater locomotion show, that propulsion is produced in the same principal way by the flapping wings as in aerial flight. Therefore the short term "underwater flight" for the Penguin's style of locomotion is justified. Known data of swimming performance suggest that its essential adaptation is not that to top achievements but more to an economical use of energy budget. The favourable hydrodynamic characteristics of the Penguin body may be well interpreted from this point of view. The peculiarity of underwater flight is the absence of the necessity to produce a weight-compensating force. In order to create thrust forces in an appropriate magnitude during up- and downstroke of the beating cycle the upstroke must be powered. The anatomical architecture and the mode of operation of the parts of the muscle system must be adjusted to this demand. Based on these statements, the anatomy of active and passive apparatus of movement was studied by dissection of 26 individuals of Pygoscelis papua, P. antarctica, P. adeliae, Eudyptes chrysolophus, and Aptenodytes forsteri. Besides the functional explanation of the Articulatio sternocoracoidea (diverging considerably from the usual type in birds), a new interpretation is given for the structures of the Articulatio humeri. In this context, the role of the Ligamentum acrocoracohumerale as an important element for coordination of the motion processes in the shoulder joint is elucidated. The essential curvature of the Caput humeri is found to be satisfactorily approximated by a logarithmic spiral. The understanding of the

Stability analysis of hybrid-driven underwater glider

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Wen-dong; Wang, Shu-xin; Wang, Yan-hui; Song, Yang; Zhu, Ya-qiang

2017-10-01

Hybrid-driven underwater glider is a new type of unmanned underwater vehicle, which combines the advantages of autonomous underwater vehicles and traditional underwater gliders. The autonomous underwater vehicles have good maneuverability and can travel with a high speed, while the traditional underwater gliders are highlighted by low power consumption, long voyage, long endurance and good stealth characteristics. The hybrid-driven underwater gliders can realize variable motion profiles by their own buoyancy-driven and propeller propulsion systems. Stability of the mechanical system determines the performance of the system. In this paper, the Petrel-II hybrid-driven underwater glider developed by Tianjin University is selected as the research object and the stability of hybrid-driven underwater glider unitedly controlled by buoyancy and propeller has been targeted and evidenced. The dimensionless equations of the hybrid-driven underwater glider are obtained when the propeller is working. Then, the steady speed and steady glide path angle under steady-state motion have also been achieved. The steady-state operating conditions can be calculated when the hybrid-driven underwater glider reaches the desired steady-state motion. And the steadystate operating conditions are relatively conservative at the lower bound of the velocity range compared with the range of the velocity derived from the method of the composite Lyapunov function. By calculating the hydrodynamic coefficients of the Petrel-II hybrid-driven underwater glider, the simulation analysis has been conducted. In addition, the results of the field trials conducted in the South China Sea and the Danjiangkou Reservoir of China have been presented to illustrate the validity of the analysis and simulation, and to show the feasibility of the method of the composite Lyapunov function which verifies the stability of the Petrel-II hybrid-driven underwater glider.

Underwater television camera for monitoring inner side of pressure vessel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takayama, Kazuhiko.

1997-01-01

An underwater television support device equipped with a rotatable and vertically movable underwater television camera and an underwater television camera controlling device for monitoring images of the inside of the reactor core photographed by the underwater television camera to control the position of the underwater television camera and the underwater light are disposed on an upper lattice plate of a reactor pressure vessel. Both of them are electrically connected with each other by way of a cable to rapidly observe the inside of the reactor core by the underwater television camera. The reproducibility is extremely satisfactory by efficiently concentrating the position of the camera and image information upon inspection and observation. As a result, the steps for periodical inspection can be reduced to shorten the days for the periodical inspection. Since there is no requirement to withdraw fuel assemblies over a wide reactor core region, and the device can be used with the fuel assemblies being left as they are in the reactor, it is suitable for inspection of detectors for nuclear instrumentation. (N.H.)

Hydrodynamic Coefficients Identification and Experimental Investigation for an Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaorong XIE

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Hydrodynamic coefficients are the foundation of unmanned underwater vehicles modeling and controller design. In order to reduce identification complexity and acquire necessary hydrodynamic coefficients for controllers design, the motion of the unmanned underwater vehicle was separated into vertical motion and horizontal motion models. Hydrodynamic coefficients were regarded as mapping parameters from input forces and moments to output velocities and acceleration of the unmanned underwater vehicle. The motion models of the unmanned underwater vehicle were nonlinear and Genetic Algorithm was adopted to identify those hydrodynamic coefficients. To verify the identification quality, velocities and acceleration of the unmanned underwater vehicle was measured using inertial sensor under the same conditions as Genetic Algorithm identification. Curves similarity between measured velocities and acceleration and those identified by Genetic Algorithm were used as optimizing standard. It is found that the curves similarity were high and identified hydrodynamic coefficients of the unmanned underwater vehicle satisfied the measured motion states well.

Intelligent Navigation for a Solar Powered Unmanned Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francisco García-Córdova

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an intelligent navigation system for an unmanned underwater vehicle powered by renewable energy and designed for shadow water inspection in missions of a long duration is proposed. The system is composed of an underwater vehicle, which tows a surface vehicle. The surface vehicle is a small boat with photovoltaic panels, a methanol fuel cell and communication equipment, which provides energy and communication to the underwater vehicle. The underwater vehicle has sensors to monitor the underwater environment such as sidescan sonar and a video camera in a flexible configuration and sensors to measure the physical and chemical parameters of water quality on predefined paths for long distances. The underwater vehicle implements a biologically inspired neural architecture for autonomous intelligent navigation. Navigation is carried out by integrating a kinematic adaptive neuro-controller for trajectory tracking and an obstacle avoidance adaptive neuro- controller. The autonomous underwater vehicle is capable of operating during long periods of observation and monitoring. This autonomous vehicle is a good tool for observing large areas of sea, since it operates for long periods of time due to the contribution of renewable energy. It correlates all sensor data for time and geodetic position. This vehicle has been used for monitoring the Mar Menor lagoon.

Neural Network-Based Self-Tuning PID Control for Underwater Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rodrigo Hernández-Alvarado

2016-09-01

Full Text Available For decades, PID (Proportional + Integral + Derivative-like controllers have been successfully used in academia and industry for many kinds of plants. This is thanks to its simplicity and suitable performance in linear or linearized plants, and under certain conditions, in nonlinear ones. A number of PID controller gains tuning approaches have been proposed in the literature in the last decades; most of them off-line techniques. However, in those cases wherein plants are subject to continuous parametric changes or external disturbances, online gains tuning is a desirable choice. This is the case of modular underwater ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles where parameters (weight, buoyancy, added mass, among others change according to the tool it is fitted with. In practice, some amount of time is dedicated to tune the PID gains of a ROV. Once the best set of gains has been achieved the ROV is ready to work. However, when the vehicle changes its tool or it is subject to ocean currents, its performance deteriorates since the fixed set of gains is no longer valid for the new conditions. Thus, an online PID gains tuning algorithm should be implemented to overcome this problem. In this paper, an auto-tune PID-like controller based on Neural Networks (NN is proposed. The NN plays the role of automatically estimating the suitable set of PID gains that achieves stability of the system. The NN adjusts online the controller gains that attain the smaller position tracking error. Simulation results are given considering an underactuated 6 DOF (degrees of freedom underwater ROV. Real time experiments on an underactuated mini ROV are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Neural Network-Based Self-Tuning PID Control for Underwater Vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Alvarado, Rodrigo; García-Valdovinos, Luis Govinda; Salgado-Jiménez, Tomás; Gómez-Espinosa, Alfonso; Fonseca-Navarro, Fernando

2016-09-05

For decades, PID (Proportional + Integral + Derivative)-like controllers have been successfully used in academia and industry for many kinds of plants. This is thanks to its simplicity and suitable performance in linear or linearized plants, and under certain conditions, in nonlinear ones. A number of PID controller gains tuning approaches have been proposed in the literature in the last decades; most of them off-line techniques. However, in those cases wherein plants are subject to continuous parametric changes or external disturbances, online gains tuning is a desirable choice. This is the case of modular underwater ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) where parameters (weight, buoyancy, added mass, among others) change according to the tool it is fitted with. In practice, some amount of time is dedicated to tune the PID gains of a ROV. Once the best set of gains has been achieved the ROV is ready to work. However, when the vehicle changes its tool or it is subject to ocean currents, its performance deteriorates since the fixed set of gains is no longer valid for the new conditions. Thus, an online PID gains tuning algorithm should be implemented to overcome this problem. In this paper, an auto-tune PID-like controller based on Neural Networks (NN) is proposed. The NN plays the role of automatically estimating the suitable set of PID gains that achieves stability of the system. The NN adjusts online the controller gains that attain the smaller position tracking error. Simulation results are given considering an underactuated 6 DOF (degrees of freedom) underwater ROV. Real time experiments on an underactuated mini ROV are conducted to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Reliability review of the remote tool delivery system locomotor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chesser, J.B.

1999-04-01

The locomotor being built by RedZone Robotics is designed to serve as a remote tool delivery (RID) system for waste retrieval, tank cleaning, viewing, and inspection inside the high-level waste tanks 8D-1 and 8D-2 at West Valley Nuclear Services (WVNS). The RTD systm is to be deployed through a tank riser. The locomotor portion of the RTD system is designed to be inserted into the tank and is to be capable of moving around the tank by supporting itself and moving on the tank internal structural columns. The locomotor will serve as a mounting platform for a dexterous manipulator arm. The complete RTD system consists of the locomotor, dexterous manipulator arm, cameras, lights, cables, hoses, cable/hose management system, power supply, and operator control station.

Remote Underwater Characterization System - Innovative Technology Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, Walter David

1999-01-01

Characterization and inspection of water-cooled and moderated nuclear reactors and fuel storage pools requires equipment capable of operating underwater. Similarly, the deactivation and decommissioning of older nuclear facilities often requires the facility owner to accurately characterize underwater structures and equipment which may have been sitting idle for years. The underwater characterization equipment is often required to operate at depths exceeding 20 ft (6.1 m) and in relatively confined or congested spaces. The typical baseline approach has been the use of radiation detectors and underwater cameras mounted on long poles, or stationary cameras with pan and tilt features mounted on the sides of the underwater facility. There is a perceived need for an inexpensive, more mobile method of performing close-up inspection and radiation measurements in confined spaces underwater. The Remote Underwater Characterization System (RUCS) is a small, remotely operated submersible vehicle intended to serve multiple purposes in underwater nuclear operations. It is based on the commercially-available ''Scallop'' vehicle, but has been modified by Department of Energy's Robotics Technology Development Program to add auto-depth control, and vehicle orientation and depth monitoring at the operator control panel. The RUCS is designed to provide visual and gamma radiation characterization, even in confined or limited access areas. It was demonstrated in August 1998 at Idaho National Engineering and environmental Laboratory (INEEL) as part of the INEEL Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Project. During the demonstration it was compared in a ''head-to-head'' fashion with the baseline characterization technology. This paper summarizes the results of the demonstration and lessons learned; comparing and contrasting both technologies in the areas of cost, visual characterization, radiological characterization, and overall operations

Wireless Underwater Monitoring Systems Based on Energy Harvestings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sea-Hee HWANGBO

2013-01-01

Full Text Available One of the important research fields for aquatic exploitation and conservation is underwater wireless sensor network. Since limited energy source for underwater nodes and devices is a main open problem, in this paper, we propose wireless underwater monitoring systems powered by energy harvester which resolves the energy constraint. The target system generates renewable energy from energy harvester and shares the energy with underwater sensor nodes. For the realization of the system, key components to be investigated are discriminated as follows: acoustic modem, actuator, smart battery charge controller, energy harvester and wireless power transfer module. By developing acoustic modem, actuator and smart battery charge controller and utilizing off-the-shelf energy harvester and wireless power transfer module, we design and implement a prototype of the system. Also, we verify the feasibility of concept of target system by conducting indoor and outdoor experiments.

High–Level Control System for Biomimetic Autonomous Under-water Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Praczyk Tomasz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Usually, a rough software architecture designed for a robot can be can be shortly presented in the form of layers. The lowest layer is responsible for direct control of the hardware, i.e. engines, energy system, sensors, navigation devices, etc. A next layer is a low–level control which knows how to use the hardware in order to achieve a desired state of the robot, e.g. to stay on a desired course. And the last layer, the layer which is the nearest to the human–operator, is a high–level control which decides how to use the low–level control and sometimes also individual pieces of the hardware to achieve predefined objectives. The paper describes architecture, tasks and operation of the high–level control system (HLCS designed for Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (BAUV.

A Game-theoretical Approach for Distributed Cooperative Control of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

KAUST Repository

Lu, Yimeng

2018-01-01

design and learning process of the algorithm are modified to fit specific constraints of underwater exploration/monitoring tasks. The revised approach can take the real scenario of underwater monitoring applications such as the effect of sea current

Survivability design for a hybrid underwater vehicle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Biao; Wu, Chao; Li, Xiang; Zhao, Qingkai; Ge, Tong [State Key Lab of Ocean Engineering, School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240 (China)

2015-03-10

A novel hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) capable of working to the full ocean depth has been developed. The battery powered vehicle operates in two modes: operate as an untethered autonomous vehicle in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mode and operate under remote control connected to the surface vessel by a lightweight, fiber optic tether in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mode. Considering the hazardous underwater environment at the limiting depth and the hybrid operating modes, survivability has been placed on an equal level with the other design attributes of the HROV since the beginning of the project. This paper reports the survivability design elements for the HROV including basic vehicle design of integrated navigation and integrated communication, emergency recovery strategy, distributed architecture, redundant bus, dual battery package, emergency jettison system and self-repairing control system.

Survivability design for a hybrid underwater vehicle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Biao; Wu, Chao; Li, Xiang; Zhao, Qingkai; Ge, Tong

2015-01-01

A novel hybrid underwater robotic vehicle (HROV) capable of working to the full ocean depth has been developed. The battery powered vehicle operates in two modes: operate as an untethered autonomous vehicle in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) mode and operate under remote control connected to the surface vessel by a lightweight, fiber optic tether in remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mode. Considering the hazardous underwater environment at the limiting depth and the hybrid operating modes, survivability has been placed on an equal level with the other design attributes of the HROV since the beginning of the project. This paper reports the survivability design elements for the HROV including basic vehicle design of integrated navigation and integrated communication, emergency recovery strategy, distributed architecture, redundant bus, dual battery package, emergency jettison system and self-repairing control system

Woodlouse locomotor behavior in the assessment of clean and contaminated field sites

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bayley, M.; Baatrup, E. [Aarhus Univ. (Denmark). Inst. of Biological Sciences; Bjerregaard, P. [Odense Univ. (Denmark). Inst. of Biology

1997-11-01

Specimens of the woodlouse Oniscus asellus were collected at four clean field sites and from a recently closed iron foundry heavily contaminated with zinc, lead, chromium, and nickel. Each of the 30 woodlice per group was housed individually and acclimatized to laboratory conditions for 2 d on a humid plaster of paris substrate. Thereafter, the locomotor behavior of each animal was measured for 4 h employing automated computer-aided video tracking. Linear discriminant analysis of five locomotor parameters revealed average velocity and path length as the principle components separating the polluted site and control animals. Post hoc analysis of the discriminant variable for animals from all five sites showed that the animals from the polluted site where significantly hyperactive when compared to all controls. Further, control animals collected from sites separated by several hundred kilometers were remarkably similar in their locomotor behavior. This preliminary study highlights the potential utility of quantitative analysis of animal locomotor behavior in environmental monitoring.

Self-generation of controller of an underwater robot with neural network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suto, T.; Ura, T.

1994-01-01

A self-organizing controller system is constructed based on artificial neural networks and applied to constant altitude swimming of the autonomous underwater robot PTEROA 150. The system consists of a controller and a forward model which calculates the values for evaluation as a result of control. Some methods are introduced for quick and appropriate adjustment of the controller network. Modification of the controller network is executed based on error-back-propagation method utilizing the forward model network. The forward model is divided into three sub-networks which represent dynamics of the vehicle, estimation of relative position to the seabed and calculation of the altitude. The proposed adaptive system is demonstrated in computer simulations where objective of a vehicle is keeping a constant altitude from seabed which is constituted of triangular ridges

Investigation of the Propagation Characteristics of Underwater Shock Waves in Underwater Drilling Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Liu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available During the first-stage project of the main channel of Ningbo-Zhoushan Port’s Shipu Harbor, underwater shock waves were monitored. By analyzing a typical measured pressure time history curve, the characteristics of underwater shock waves in an engineering context were obtained. We obtained a traditional exponential attenuation formula for underwater shock waves based on the measured data, simplified the model of underwater drilling blasting based on engineering practice, deduced a revised formula for underwater shock wave peak overpressure on the basis of dimensional analysis, established a linear fitting model, and obtained the undetermined coefficients of the revised formula using a linear regression analysis. In addition, the accuracies of the two formulas used to predict underwater shock wave peak overpressure and the significance order of influence and influence mechanism of factors included in the revised formula on the underwater shock wave peak overpressure were discussed.

Reconstruction Accuracy Assessment of Surface and Underwater 3D Motion Analysis: A New Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly de Jesus

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study assessed accuracy of surface and underwater 3D reconstruction of a calibration volume with and without homography. A calibration volume (6000 × 2000 × 2500 mm with 236 markers (64 above and 88 underwater control points—with 8 common points at water surface—and 92 validation points was positioned on a 25 m swimming pool and recorded with two surface and four underwater cameras. Planar homography estimation for each calibration plane was computed to perform image rectification. Direct linear transformation algorithm for 3D reconstruction was applied, using 1600000 different combinations of 32 and 44 points out of the 64 and 88 control points for surface and underwater markers (resp.. Root Mean Square (RMS error with homography of control and validations points was lower than without it for surface and underwater cameras (P≤0.03. With homography, RMS errors of control and validation points were similar between surface and underwater cameras (P≥0.47. Without homography, RMS error of control points was greater for underwater than surface cameras (P≤0.04 and the opposite was observed for validation points (P≤0.04. It is recommended that future studies using 3D reconstruction should include homography to improve swimming movement analysis accuracy.

Automatic stabilization of underwater robots in the time manipulation operations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filaretov, V.F.; Koval, E.V.

1994-01-01

When carrying out underwater technical works by means of an underwater vehicles having a manipulator it is desirable to perform manipulation operations in the regime of the underwater vehicle hovering above the object without durable and complicated operations up its rigid fixation. Underwater vehicle stabilization is achieved by compensation all the effects on the vehicle caused by the operating manipulator in water medium. This automatic stabilization is formed due to input of the required control signals into corresponding vehicle propellers proportional to calculated components of the generalized forces and moments. The propellers should form stops reacting against effects

Nonlinear Output Feedback Control of Underwater Vehicle Propellers using Advance Speed Feedback

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fossen, T.I.; Blanke, M.

1999-01-01

More accurate propeller shaft speed controllers can be designed by using nonlinear control theory. In this paper, an output feedback controller reconstructing the advance speed (speed of water going into the propeller) from vehicle speed measurements is derived. For this purpose a three-state model...... minimizes thruster losses due to variations in propeller axial inlet flow which is a major problem when applying conventional vehicle-propeller control systems. The proposed controller is simulated for an underwater vehicle equipped with a single propeller. From the simulations it can be concluded...... of propeller shaft speed, forward (surge) speed of the vehicle and axial inlet flow of the propeller is applied. A nonlinear observer in combination with an output feedback integral controller are derived by applying Lyapunov stability theory and exponential stability is proven. The output feedback controller...

Controlling Underwater Robots with Electronic Nervous Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Ayers

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We are developing robot controllers based on biomimetic design principles. The goal is to realise the adaptive capabilities of the animal models in natural environments. We report feasibility studies of a hybrid architecture that instantiates a command and coordinating level with computed discrete-time map-based (DTM neuronal networks and the central pattern generators with analogue VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration electronic neuron (aVLSI networks. DTM networks are realised using neurons based on a 1-D or 2-D Map with two additional parameters that define silent, spiking and bursting regimes. Electronic neurons (ENs based on Hindmarsh–Rose (HR dynamics can be instantiated in analogue VLSI and exhibit similar behaviour to those based on discrete components. We have constructed locomotor central pattern generators (CPGs with aVLSI networks that can be modulated to select different behaviours on the basis of selective command input. The two technologies can be fused by interfacing the signals from the DTM circuits directly to the aVLSI CPGs. Using DTMs, we have been able to simulate complex sensory fusion for rheotaxic behaviour based on both hydrodynamic and optical flow senses. We will illustrate aspects of controllers for ambulatory biomimetic robots. These studies indicate that it is feasible to fabricate an electronic nervous system controller integrating both aVLSI CPGs and layered DTM exteroceptive reflexes.

Cooperative Rendezvous and Docking for Underwater Robots Using Model Predictive Control and Dual Decomposition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Johansen, Tor Arne; Blanke, Mogens

2018-01-01

This paper considers the problem of rendezvous and docking with visual constraints in the context of underwater robots with camera-based navigation. The objective is the convergence of the vehicles to a common point while maintaining visual contact. The proposed solution includes the design of a ...... of a distributed model predictive controller based on dual decomposition, which allows for optimization in a decentralized fashion. The proposed distributed controller enables rendezvous and docking between vehicles while maintaining visual contact....

Remote Underwater Characterization System - Innovative Technology Summary Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Willis, W.D.

1999-01-01

Characterization and inspection of water-cooled and moderated nuclear reactors and fuel storage pools requires equipment capable of operating underwater. Similarly, the deactivation and decommissioning of older nuclear facilities often requires the facility owner to accurately characterize underwater structures and equipment which may have been sitting idle for years. The Remote Underwater Characterization System (RUCS) is a small, remotely operated submersible vehicle intended to serve multiple purposes in underwater nuclear operations. It is based on the commercially-available Scallop vehicle 1 , but has been modified by the Department of Energys Robotics Technology Development Program to add auto-depth control, and vehicle orientation and depth monitoring at the operator control panel. The RUCS is designed to provide visual and gamma radiation characterization, even in confined or limited access areas. It was demonstrated in August 1998 at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) as part of the INEEL Large Scale Demonstration and Deployment Project. During the demonstration it was compared in a ''head-to-head fashion with the baseline characterization technology. This paper summarizes the results of the demonstration and lessons learned; comparing and contrasting both technologies in the areas of cost, visual characterization, radiological characterization, and overall operations

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition and altered locomotor behavior in the carabid beetle pterostichus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Charlotte S.; Krause-Jensen, Lone; Baatrup, Erik

1997-01-01

-aided video tracking, whereupon the whole body AChE activity was measured in the individual beetle. AChE inhibition was strongly correlated with dimethoate dose in both sexes. Alterations in the locomotor behavior were directly correlated with AChE inhibition in male beetles, which responded by reducing...... to locomotor behavior, representing a general effect biomarker at the organismal level. Both sexes of the carabid beetle Pterostichus cupreus were intoxicated with three doses of the organophosphorous insecticide dimethoate. Five elements of their locomotor behavior were measured for 4 h employing computer...... the time in locomotion, average velocity, and path length and by increasing the turning rate and frequency of stops. Females responded similarly at the two highest doses, whereas their locomotor behavior was not significantly different from the control group at the lowest dimethoate dose, suggesting a sex...

Effects of caffeine on locomotor activity in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Bădescu, S V; Tătaru, C P; Kobylinska, L; Georgescu, E L; Zahiu, D M; Zăgrean, A M; Zăgrean, L

2016-01-01

Diabetes mellitus modifies the expression of adenosine receptors in the brain. Caffeine acts as an antagonist of A1 and A2A adenosine receptors and was shown to have a dose-dependent biphasic effect on locomotion in mice. The present study investigated the link between diabetes and locomotor activity in an animal model of streptozotocin-induced diabetes, and the effects of a low-medium dose of caffeine in this relation. The locomotor activity was investigated by using Open Field Test at 6 weeks after diabetes induction and after 2 more weeks of chronic caffeine administration. Diabetes decreased locomotor activity (total distance moved and mobility time). Chronic caffeine exposure impaired the locomotor activity in control rats, but not in diabetic rats. Our data suggested that the medium doses of caffeine might block the A2A receptors, shown to have an increased density in the brain of diabetic rats, and improve or at least maintain the locomotor activity, offering a neuroprotective support in diabetic rats. Abbreviations : STZ = streptozotocin, OFT = Open Field Test.

Dynamics of the congestion control model in underwater wireless sensor networks with time delay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Tao; Hu, Wenjie; Liao, Xiaofeng

2016-01-01

In this paper, a congestion control model in underwater wireless sensor network with time delay is considered. First, the boundedness of the positive equilibrium, where the samples density is positive for each node and the different event flows coexist, is investigated, which implies that the samples density of sensor node cannot exceed the Environmental carrying capacity. Then, by considering the time delay can be regarded as a bifurcating parameter, the dynamical behaviors, which include local stability and Hopf bifurcation, are investigated. It is found that when the communication time delay passes a critical value, the system loses its stability and a Hopf bifurcation occurs, which means the underwater wireless sensor network will be congested, even collapsed. Furthermore, the direction and stability of the bifurcating periodic solutions are derived by applying the normal form theory and the center manifold theorem. Finally, some numerical examples are finally performed to verify the theoretical results.

Admixture enhanced controlled low-strength material for direct underwater injection with minimal cross-contamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hepworth, H.K.; Davidson, J.S.; Hooyman, J.L.

1997-01-01

Commercially available admixtures have been developed for placing traditional concrete products under water. This paper evaluates adapting anti-washout admixture (AWA) and high range water reducing admixture (HRWRA) products to enhance controlled low-strength materials (CLSMs) for underwater placement. A simple experimental scale model (based on dynamic and geometric similitude) of typical grout pump emplacement equipment has been developed to determine the percentage of cementing material washed out. The objective of this study was to identify proportions of admixtures and underwater CLSM emplacement procedures which would minimize the cross-contamination of the displaced water while maintaining the advantages of CLSM. Since the displaced water from radioactively contaminated systems must be subsequently treated prior to release to the environment, the amount of cross-contamination is important for cases in which cementing material could form hard sludges in a water treatment facility and contaminate the in-place CLSM stabilization medium

Nonlinear H∞ Optimal Control Scheme for an Underwater Vehicle with Regional Function Formulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zool H. Ismail

2013-01-01

Full Text Available A conventional region control technique cannot meet the demands for an accurate tracking performance in view of its inability to accommodate highly nonlinear system dynamics, imprecise hydrodynamic coefficients, and external disturbances. In this paper, a robust technique is presented for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV with region tracking function. Within this control scheme, nonlinear H∞ and region based control schemes are used. A Lyapunov-like function is presented for stability analysis of the proposed control law. Numerical simulations are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed tracking control of the AUV. It is shown that the proposed control law is robust against parameter uncertainties, external disturbances, and nonlinearities and it leads to uniform ultimate boundedness of the region tracking error.

Design of underwater work systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lovelace, R.B.

1980-01-01

In the near future, underwater vehicles will replace divers as the principal means for inspection and maintenance work. These vehicles will provide a maneuverable work platform for an underwater viewing system and manipulator/tool package. Some of the problems faced by the underwater designer, and some areas to consider in the design of an integrated underwater work system, are considered

Slow Versus Fast Robot-Assisted Locomotor Training After Severe Stroke: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, Thais Amanda; Goroso, Daniel Gustavo; Westgate, Philip M; Carrico, Cheryl; Batistella, Linamara R; Sawaki, Lumy

2017-10-01

Robot-assisted locomotor training on a bodyweight-supported treadmill is a rehabilitation intervention that compels repetitive practice of gait movements. Standard treadmill speed may elicit rhythmic movements generated primarily by spinal circuits. Slower-than-standard treadmill speed may elicit discrete movements, which are more complex than rhythmic movements and involve cortical areas. Compare effects of fast (i.e., rhythmic) versus slow (i.e., discrete) robot-assisted locomotor training on a bodyweight-supported treadmill in subjects with chronic, severe gait deficit after stroke. Subjects (N = 18) were randomized to receive 30 sessions (5 d/wk) of either fast or slow robot-assisted locomotor training on a bodyweight-supported treadmill in an inpatient setting. Functional ambulation category, time up and go, 6-min walk test, 10-m walk test, Berg Balance Scale, and Fugl-Meyer Assessment were administered at baseline and postintervention. The slow group had statistically significant improvement on functional ambulation category (first quartile-third quartile, P = 0.004), 6-min walk test (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8 to 49.0, P = 0.040), Berg Balance Scale (95% CI = 7.4 to 14.8, P locomotor training on a bodyweight-supported treadmill after severe stroke, slow training targeting discrete movement may yield greater benefit than fast training.

Neuromodulation of the lumbar spinal locomotor circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

AuYong, Nicholas; Lu, Daniel C

2014-01-01

The lumbar spinal cord contains the necessary circuitry to independently drive locomotor behaviors. This function is retained following spinal cord injury (SCI) and is amenable to rehabilitation. Although the effectiveness of task-specific training and pharmacologic modulation has been repeatedly demonstrated in animal studies, results from human studies are less striking. Recently, lumbar epidural stimulation (EDS) along with locomotor training was shown to restore weight-bearing function and lower-extremity voluntary control in a chronic, motor-complete human SCI subject. Related animal studies incorporating EDS as part of the therapeutic regiment are also encouraging. EDS is emerging as a promising neuromodulatory tool for SCI. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Glutamatergic mechanisms for speed control and network operation in the rodent locomotor CPG

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Talpalar, Adolfo E.; Kiehn, Ole

2010-01-01

in mammals have produced conflicting results regarding the necessity and role of the different ionotropic glutamate receptors (GluRs) in the CPG function. Here, we use electrophysiological and pharmacological techniques in the in vitro neonatal mouse lumbar spinal cord to investigate the role of a broad...... mechanisms acting at various network levels. AMPA and kainate receptors are necessary for generating the highest locomotor frequencies. For coordination, NMDARs are more important than non-NMDARs for conveying the rhythmic signal from the network to the motor neurons during long-lasting and steady locomotor...

OPTICAL correlation identification technology applied in underwater laser imaging target identification

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, Guang-tao; Zhang, Xiao-hui; Ge, Wei-long

2012-01-01

The underwater laser imaging detection is an effective method of detecting short distance target underwater as an important complement of sonar detection. With the development of underwater laser imaging technology and underwater vehicle technology, the underwater automatic target identification has gotten more and more attention, and is a research difficulty in the area of underwater optical imaging information processing. Today, underwater automatic target identification based on optical imaging is usually realized with the method of digital circuit software programming. The algorithm realization and control of this method is very flexible. However, the optical imaging information is 2D image even 3D image, the amount of imaging processing information is abundant, so the electronic hardware with pure digital algorithm will need long identification time and is hard to meet the demands of real-time identification. If adopt computer parallel processing, the identification speed can be improved, but it will increase complexity, size and power consumption. This paper attempts to apply optical correlation identification technology to realize underwater automatic target identification. The optics correlation identification technology utilizes the Fourier transform characteristic of Fourier lens which can accomplish Fourier transform of image information in the level of nanosecond, and optical space interconnection calculation has the features of parallel, high speed, large capacity and high resolution, combines the flexibility of calculation and control of digital circuit method to realize optoelectronic hybrid identification mode. We reduce theoretical formulation of correlation identification and analyze the principle of optical correlation identification, and write MATLAB simulation program. We adopt single frame image obtained in underwater range gating laser imaging to identify, and through identifying and locating the different positions of target, we can improve

Locomotor Muscle Fatigue Does Not Alter Oxygen Uptake Kinetics during High-Intensity Exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Hopker, James G; Caporaso, Giuseppe; Azzalin, Andrea; Carpenter, Roger; Marcora, Samuele M

2016-01-01

The [Formula: see text] slow component ([Formula: see text]) that develops during high-intensity aerobic exercise is thought to be strongly associated with locomotor muscle fatigue. We sought to experimentally test this hypothesis by pre-fatiguing the locomotor muscles used during subsequent high-intensity cycling exercise. Over two separate visits, eight healthy male participants were asked to either perform a non-metabolically stressful 100 intermittent drop-jumps protocol (pre-fatigue condition) or rest for 33 min (control condition) according to a random and counterbalanced order. Locomotor muscle fatigue was quantified with 6-s maximal sprints at a fixed pedaling cadence of 90 rev·min -1 . Oxygen kinetics and other responses (heart rate, capillary blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion, RPE) were measured during two subsequent bouts of 6 min cycling exercise at 50% of the delta between the lactate threshold and [Formula: see text] determined during a preliminary incremental exercise test. All tests were performed on the same cycle ergometer. Despite significant locomotor muscle fatigue ( P = 0.03), the [Formula: see text] was not significantly different between the pre-fatigue (464 ± 301 mL·min -1 ) and the control (556 ± 223 mL·min -1 ) condition ( P = 0.50). Blood lactate response was not significantly different between conditions ( P = 0.48) but RPE was significantly higher following the pre-fatiguing exercise protocol compared with the control condition ( P locomotor muscle fatigue does not significantly alter the [Formula: see text] kinetic response to high intensity aerobic exercise, and challenge the hypothesis that the [Formula: see text] is strongly associated with locomotor muscle fatigue.

Locomotor muscle fatigue does not alter oxygen uptake kinetics during high-intensity exercise

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Hopker

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The slow component (VO2sc that develops during high-intensity aerobic exercise is thought to be strongly associated with locomotor muscle fatigue. We sought to experimentally test this hypothesis by pre-fatiguing the locomotor muscles used during subsequent high-intensity cycling exercise. Over two separate visits, eight healthy male participants were asked to either perform a non-metabolically stressful 100 intermittent drop-jumps protocol (pre fatigue condition or rest for 33 minutes (control condition according to a random and counterbalanced order. Locomotor muscle fatigue was quantified with 6-second maximal sprints at a fixed pedaling cadence of 90 rev·min-1. Oxygen kinetics and other responses (heart rate, capillary blood lactate concentration and rating of perceived exertion, RPE were measured during two subsequent bouts of 6 min cycling exercise at 50% of the delta between the lactate threshold and VO2max determined during a preliminary incremental exercise test. All tests were performed on the same cycle ergometer. Despite significant locomotor muscle fatigue (P = 0.03, the VO2sc was not significantly different between the pre fatigue (464 ± 301 mL·min-1 and the control (556 ± 223 mL·min-1 condition (P = 0.50. Blood lactate response was not significantly different between conditions (P = 0.48 but RPE was significantly higher following the pre-fatiguing exercise protocol compared with the control condition (P < 0.01 suggesting higher muscle recruitment. These results demonstrate experimentally that locomotor muscle fatigue does not significantly alter the VO2 kinetic response to high intensity aerobic exercise, and challenge the hypothesis that the VO2sc is strongly associated with locomotor muscle fatigue.

Taiwan's underwater cultural heritage documentation management

Science.gov (United States)

Tung, Y.-Y.

2015-09-01

Taiwan is an important trading and maritime channels for many countries since ancient time. Numerous relics lie underwater due to weather, wars, and other factors. In the year of 2006, Bureau of Cultural Heritage (BOCH) entrusted the Underwater Archaeological Team of Academia Sinica to execute the underwater archaeological investigation projects. Currently, we verified 78 underwater targets, with 78 site of those had been recognized as shipwrecks sites. Up to date, there is a collection of 638 underwater objects from different underwater archaeological sites. Those artefacts are distributed to different institutions and museums. As very diverse management methods/systems are applied for every individual institution, underwater cultural heritage data such as survey, excavation report, research, etc. are poorly organized and disseminated for use. For better communication regarding to Taiwan's underwater cultural heritage in every level, a universal format of documentation should be established. By comparing the existing checklist used in Taiwan with guidelines that are followed in other countries, a more intact and appropriate underwater cultural heritage condition documentation system can be established and adapted in Taiwan.

Development of underwater laser cutting technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Seiichi; Inaba, Takanori; Inose, Koutarou; Matsumoto, Naoyuki; Sakakibara, Yuji

2015-01-01

In is desirable to use remote underwater device for the decommissioning work of highly radioactive components such as the nuclear internals from a view point of reducing the ranitidine exposure to the worker. Underwater laser cutting technology has advantages. First advantage in underwater laser cutting technology is that low reaction force during cutting, namely, remote operability is superior. Second point is that underwater laser cutting generates a little amount of secondary waste, because cutting kerf size is very small. Third point is that underwater laser cutting has low risk of the process delay, because device trouble is hard to happen. While underwater laser cutting has many advantages, the careful consideration in the safe treatment of the offgas which underwater laser cutting generates is necessary. This paper describes outline of underwater laser cutting technology developed by IHI Corporation (IHI) and that this technology is effective in various dismantling works in water. (author)

Blind equalization for underwater communications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Blom, K.C.H.

2014-01-01

Underwater wireless (sensor) networks would vastly improve man's ability to explore and exploit remote aquatic environments. Despite underwater sensor and vehicle technology being relatively mature, underwater communications is still a major challenge. The most challenging characteristics of the

The evolution of locomotor rhythmicity in tetrapods.

Science.gov (United States)

Ross, Callum F; Blob, Richard W; Carrier, David R; Daley, Monica A; Deban, Stephen M; Demes, Brigitte; Gripper, Janaya L; Iriarte-Diaz, Jose; Kilbourne, Brandon M; Landberg, Tobias; Polk, John D; Schilling, Nadja; Vanhooydonck, Bieke

2013-04-01

Differences in rhythmicity (relative variance in cycle period) among mammal, fish, and lizard feeding systems have been hypothesized to be associated with differences in their sensorimotor control systems. We tested this hypothesis by examining whether the locomotion of tachymetabolic tetrapods (birds and mammals) is more rhythmic than that of bradymetabolic tetrapods (lizards, alligators, turtles, salamanders). Species averages of intraindividual coefficients of variation in cycle period were compared while controlling for gait and substrate. Variance in locomotor cycle periods is significantly lower in tachymetabolic than in bradymetabolic animals for datasets that include treadmill locomotion, non-treadmill locomotion, or both. When phylogenetic relationships are taken into account the pooled analyses remain significant, whereas the non-treadmill and the treadmill analyses become nonsignificant. The co-occurrence of relatively high rhythmicity in both feeding and locomotor systems of tachymetabolic tetrapods suggests that the anatomical substrate of rhythmicity is in the motor control system, not in the musculoskeletal components. © 2012 The Author(s). Evolution© 2012 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

State-of-the-Art System Solutions for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. E. Yilmaz

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs have gained popularity for the last decades, especially for the purpose of not risking human life in dangerous operations. On the other hand, underwater environment introduces numerous challenges in navigation, control and communication of such vehicles. Certainly, this fact makes the development of these vehicles more interesting and engineering-wise more attractive. In this paper, we first revisit the existing technology and methodology for the solution of aforementioned problems, then we try to come up with a system solution of a generic unmanned underwater vehicles.

Locomotor Adaptation Improves Balance Control, Multitasking Ability and Reduces the Metabolic Cost of Postural Instability

Science.gov (United States)

Bloomberg, J. J.; Peters, B. T.; Mulavara, A. P.; Brady, R. A.; Batson, C. D.; Miller, C. A.; Ploutz-Snyder, R. J.; Guined, J. R.; Buxton, R. E.; Cohen, H. S.

2011-01-01

During exploration-class missions, sensorimotor disturbances may lead to disruption in the ability to ambulate and perform functional tasks during the initial introduction to a novel gravitational environment following a landing on a planetary surface. The overall goal of our current project is to develop a sensorimotor adaptability training program to facilitate rapid adaptation to these environments. We have developed a unique training system comprised of a treadmill placed on a motion-base facing a virtual visual scene. It provides an unstable walking surface combined with incongruent visual flow designed to enhance sensorimotor adaptability. Greater metabolic cost incurred during balance instability means more physical work is required during adaptation to new environments possibly affecting crewmembers? ability to perform mission critical tasks during early surface operations on planetary expeditions. The goal of this study was to characterize adaptation to a discordant sensory challenge across a number of performance modalities including locomotor stability, multi-tasking ability and metabolic cost. METHODS: Subjects (n=15) walked (4.0 km/h) on a treadmill for an 8 -minute baseline walking period followed by 20-minutes of walking (4.0 km/h) with support surface motion (0.3 Hz, sinusoidal lateral motion, peak amplitude 25.4 cm) provided by the treadmill/motion-base system. Stride frequency and auditory reaction time were collected as measures of locomotor stability and multi-tasking ability, respectively. Metabolic data (VO2) were collected via a portable metabolic gas analysis system. RESULTS: At the onset of lateral support surface motion, subj ects walking on our treadmill showed an increase in stride frequency and auditory reaction time indicating initial balance and multi-tasking disturbances. During the 20-minute adaptation period, balance control and multi-tasking performance improved. Similarly, throughout the 20-minute adaptation period, VO2 gradually

Engagement of the Rat Hindlimb Motor Cortex across Natural Locomotor Behaviors

OpenAIRE

DiGiovanna, J.; Dominici, N.; Friedli, L.; Rigosa, J.; Duis, S.; Kreider, J.; Beauparlant, J.; van den Brand, R.; Schieppati, M.; Micera, S.; Courtine, G.

2016-01-01

Contrary to cats and primates, cortical contribution to hindlimb locomotor movements is not critical in rats. However, the importance of the motor cortex to regain locomotion after neurological disorders in rats suggests that cortical engagement in hindlimb motor control may depend on the behavioral context. To investigate this possibility, we recorded whole-body kinematics, muscle synergies, and hindlimb motor cortex modulation in freely moving rats performing a range of natural locomotor pr...

Fractional-Order Information in the Visual Control of Lateral Locomotor Interception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bootsma, Reinoud J.; Ledouit, Simon; Casanova, Remy; Zaal, Frank T. J. M.

Previous work on locomotor interception of a target moving in the transverse plane has suggested that interception is achieved by maintaining the target's bearing angle (often inadvertently confused and/or confounded with the target heading angle) at a constant value. However, dynamics-based model

An Active Fault-Tolerant Control Method Ofunmanned Underwater Vehicles with Continuous and Uncertain Faults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daqi Zhu

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper introduces a novel thruster fault diagnosis and accommodation system for open-frame underwater vehicles with abrupt faults. The proposed system consists of two subsystems: a fault diagnosis subsystem and a fault accommodation sub-system. In the fault diagnosis subsystem a ICMAC(Improved Credit Assignment Cerebellar Model Articulation Controllers neural network is used to realize the on-line fault identification and the weighting matrix computation. The fault accommodation subsystem uses a control algorithm based on weighted pseudo-inverse to find the solution of the control allocation problem. To illustrate the proposed method effective, simulation example, under multi-uncertain abrupt faults, is given in the paper.

Underwater wireless communication system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goh, J H; Shaw, A; Al-Shamma'a, A I

2009-01-01

Underwater communication has a range of applications including remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) communication and docking in the offshore industry. Current underwater transmission techniques is primarily utilise sound waves for large distance at lower frequencies and the velocity of sound in water is approximately 1500m/s the resultant communications have problems with multi-path propagation and low bandwidth problems. The use of electromagnetic (EM) techniques underwater has largely been overlooked because of the attenuation due to the conductivity of seawater. However, for short range applications, the higher frequencies and much higher velocity can prove advantageous. This paper will outline a project which will utilise recent investigations that demonstrate EM wave propagation up to the MHz frequency range is possible in seawater.

Underwater Scene Composition

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Nanyoung

2009-01-01

In this article, the author describes an underwater scene composition for elementary-education majors. This project deals with watercolor with crayon or oil-pastel resist (medium); the beauty of nature represented by fish in the underwater scene (theme); texture and pattern (design elements); drawing simple forms (drawing skill); and composition…

Delineating the Diversity of Spinal Interneurons in Locomotor Circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosgnach, Simon; Bikoff, Jay B; Dougherty, Kimberly J; El Manira, Abdeljabbar; Lanuza, Guillermo M; Zhang, Ying

2017-11-08

Locomotion is common to all animals and is essential for survival. Neural circuits located in the spinal cord have been shown to be necessary and sufficient for the generation and control of the basic locomotor rhythm by activating muscles on either side of the body in a specific sequence. Activity in these neural circuits determines the speed, gait pattern, and direction of movement, so the specific locomotor pattern generated relies on the diversity of the neurons within spinal locomotor circuits. Here, we review findings demonstrating that developmental genetics can be used to identify populations of neurons that comprise these circuits and focus on recent work indicating that many of these populations can be further subdivided into distinct subtypes, with each likely to play complementary functions during locomotion. Finally, we discuss data describing the manner in which these populations interact with each other to produce efficient, task-dependent locomotion. Copyright © 2017 the authors 0270-6474/17/3710835-07$15.00/0.

Resources for Underwater Robotics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Michael L.; Freitas, William M.

2016-01-01

4-H clubs can build and program underwater robots from raw materials. An annotated resource list for engaging youth in building underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) is provided. This article is a companion piece to the Research in Brief article "Building Teen Futures with Underwater Robotics" in this issue of the "Journal of…

V1 spinal neurons regulate the speed of vertebrate locomotor outputs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gosgnach, Simon; Lanuza, Guillermo M.; Butt, Simon J B

2006-01-01

The neuronal networks that generate vertebrate movements such as walking and swimming are embedded in the spinal cord1-3. These networks, which are referred to as central pattern generators (CPGs), are ideal systems for determining how ensembles of neurons generate simple behavioural outputs...... for inhibition in regulating the frequency of the locomotor CPG rhythm, and also suggest that V1 neurons may have an evolutionarily conserved role in controlling the speed of vertebrate locomotor movements....

Underwater Shock Wave Research Applied to Therapeutic Device Developments

Science.gov (United States)

Takayama, K.; Yamamoto, H.; Shimokawa, H.

2013-07-01

The chronological development of underwater shock wave research performed at the Shock Wave Research Center of the Institute of Fluid Science at the Tohoku University is presented. Firstly, the generation of planar underwater shock waves in shock tubes and their visualization by using the conventional shadowgraph and schlieren methods are described. Secondly, the generation of spherical underwater shock waves by exploding lead azide pellets weighing from several tens of micrograms to 100 mg, that were ignited by irradiating with a Q-switched laser beam, and their visualization by using double exposure holographic interferometry are presented. The initiation, propagation, reflection, focusing of underwater shock waves, and their interaction with various interfaces, in particular, with air bubbles, are visualized quantitatively. Based on such a fundamental underwater shock wave research, collaboration with the School of Medicine at the Tohoku University was started for developing a shock wave assisted therapeutic device, which was named an extracorporeal shock wave lithotripter (ESWL). Miniature shock waves created by irradiation with Q-switched HO:YAG laser beams are studied, as applied to damaged dysfunctional nerve cells in the myocardium in a precisely controlled manner, and are effectively used to design a catheter for treating arrhythmia.

Robust controller with adaptation within the boundary layer: application to nuclear underwater inspection robot

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Gee Yong; Yoon, Ji Sup; Hong, Dong Hee; Jeong, Jae Hoo

2002-01-01

In this paper, the robust control scheme with the improved control performance within the boundary layer is proposed. In the control scheme, the robust controller based on the traditional variable structure control method is modified to have the adaptation within the boundary layer. From this controller, the width of the boundary layer where the robust control input is smoothened out can be given by an appropriate value. But the improve control performance within the boundary layer can be achieved without the so-called control chattering because the role of adaptive control is to compensate for the uncovered portions of the robust control occurred from the continuous approximation within the boundary layer. Simulation tests for circular navigation of an underwater wall-ranging robot developed for inspection of wall surfaces in the research reactor, TRIGA MARK III, confirm the performance improvement

Improved gait after repetitive locomotor training in children with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Smania, Nicola; Bonetti, Paola; Gandolfi, Marialuisa; Cosentino, Alessandro; Waldner, Andreas; Hesse, Stefan; Werner, Cordula; Bisoffi, Giulia; Geroin, Christian; Munari, Daniele

2011-02-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer in children with cerebral palsy. In this randomized controlled trial, 18 ambulatory children with diplegic or tetraplegic cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received 30 mins of repetitive locomotor training with an applied technology (Gait Trainer GT I) plus 10 mins of passive joint mobilization and stretching exercises. The control group received 40 mins of conventional physiotherapy. Each subject underwent a total of 10 treatment sessions over a 2-wk period. Performance on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, WeeFIM scale, and gait analysis was evaluated by a blinded rater before and after treatment and at 1-mo follow-up. The experimental group showed significant posttreatment improvement on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, hip kinematics, gait speed, and step length, all of which were maintained at the 1-mo follow-up assessment. No significant changes in performance parameters were observed in the control group. Repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer may improve gait velocity, endurance, spatiotemporal, and kinematic gait parameters in patients with cerebral palsy.

A new technique for robot vision in autonomous underwater vehicles using the color shift in underwater imaging

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

FOR ROBOT VISION IN AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES USING THE COLOR SHIFT IN UNDERWATER IMAGING by Jake A. Jones June 2017 Thesis Advisor...techniques to determine the distances from each pixel to the camera. 14. SUBJECT TERMS unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs), autonomous ... AUTONOMOUS UNDERWATER VEHICLES USING THE COLOR SHIFT IN UNDERWATER IMAGING Jake A. Jones Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy B.S

Human spinal locomotor control is based on flexibly organized burst generators

OpenAIRE

Danner, Simon M.; Hofstoetter, Ursula S.; Freundl, Brigitta; Binder, Heinrich; Mayr, Winfried; Rattay, Frank; Minassian, Karen

2015-01-01

Understanding the organisation of human spinal locomotor circuitry after severe CNS damage is essential for improving neurorehabilitation strategies. Danner et al. present evidence of flexibly organised burst-generating elements within the functionally isolated human lumbosacral spinal cord that generate rhythmic patterns in response to constant, repetitive epidural stimulation.

Formation Learning Control of Multiple Autonomous Underwater Vehicles With Heterogeneous Nonlinear Uncertain Dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Chengzhi; Licht, Stephen; He, Haibo

2017-09-26

In this paper, a new concept of formation learning control is introduced to the field of formation control of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which specifies a joint objective of distributed formation tracking control and learning/identification of nonlinear uncertain AUV dynamics. A novel two-layer distributed formation learning control scheme is proposed, which consists of an upper-layer distributed adaptive observer and a lower-layer decentralized deterministic learning controller. This new formation learning control scheme advances existing techniques in three important ways: 1) the multi-AUV system under consideration has heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics; 2) the formation learning control protocol can be designed and implemented by each local AUV agent in a fully distributed fashion without using any global information; and 3) in addition to the formation control performance, the distributed control protocol is also capable of accurately identifying the AUVs' heterogeneous nonlinear uncertain dynamics and utilizing experiences to improve formation control performance. Extensive simulations have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed results.

Glucosamine-containing supplement improves locomotor functions in subjects with knee pain: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanzaki, Noriyuki; Ono, Yoshiko; Shibata, Hiroshi; Moritani, Toshio

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of a glucosamine-containing supplement to improve locomotor functions in subjects with knee pain. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group comparative study was conducted for 16 weeks in 100 Japanese subjects (age, 51.8±0.8 years) with knee pain. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of the two supplements containing 1) 1,200 mg of glucosamine hydrochloride, 60 mg of chondroitin sulfate, 45 mg of type II collagen peptides, 90 mg of quercetin glycosides, 10 mg of imidazole peptides, and 5 μg of vitamin D per day (GCQID group, n=50) or 2) a placebo (placebo group, n=50). Japanese Knee Osteoarthritis Measure, visual analog scale score, normal walking speed, and knee-extensor strength were measured to evaluate the effects of the supplement on knee-joint functions and locomotor functions. In subjects eligible for efficacy assessment, there was no significant group × time interaction, and there were improvements in knee-joint functions and locomotor functions in both groups, but there was no significant difference between the groups. In subjects with mild-to-severe knee pain at baseline, knee-extensor strength at week 8 (104.6±5.0% body weight vs 92.3±5.5% body weight, P=0.030) and the change in normal walking speed at week 16 (0.11±0.03 m/s vs 0.05±0.02 m/s, P=0.038) were significantly greater in the GCQID group than in the placebo group. Further subgroup analysis based on Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grade showed that normal walking speed at week 16 (1.36±0.05 m/s vs 1.21±0.02 m/s, Pknee pain, GCQID supplementation was effective for relieving knee pain and improving locomotor functions.

Effect of thermal acclimation on locomotor energetics and locomotor performance in a lungless salamander, Desmognathus ochrophaeus.

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Feder, M E

1986-03-01

To determine the effects of thermal acclimation upon locomotor performance and the rate of oxygen consumption (MO2) during activity, small (less than 3 g), lungless salamanders, Desmognathus ochrophaeus Cope, were acclimated to three temperatures (5, 13 and 21 degrees C) and exercised at various controlled speeds within an exercise wheel while their MO2 was measured. MO2 increased with speed at low speeds (less than 14 cm min-1). Although animals could sustain greater speeds, MO2 did not increase further. These small, exclusively skin-breathing salamanders could increase their MO2 9-11 times during exercise and could sustain nearly half of the oxygen flux expected across a similar surface area of the mammalian lung. However, their maximum aerobic speed was remarkably slow (14 cm min-1) and their net cost of transport remarkably large (15-17 ml O2 g-1 km-1). Thermal acclimation affected MO2 during activity, the maximum sustainable speed and locomotor stamina in different ways. During exercise at 13 degrees C, cold-acclimated animals had a significantly greater MO2 than warm-acclimated animals, but did not differ in stamina or the maximum sustainable speed. During exercise at 21 degrees C, cold acclimation did not affect the MO2 significantly, but it decreased the stamina and increased the rate of lactate accumulation. Thus, these results suggest that thermal acclimation of the MO2 is not tightly coupled to thermal acclimation of locomotor performance in salamanders.

Locomotor skills and balance strategies in adolescents idiopathic scoliosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Mallau, Sophie; Bollini, Gérard; Jouve, Jean-Luc; Assaiante, Christine

2007-01-01

Locomotor balance control assessment was performed to study the effect of idiopathic scoliosis on head-trunk coordination in 17 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) and 16 control subjects. The aim of this study was to explore the functional effects of structural spinal deformations like idiopathic scoliosis on the balance strategies used during locomotion. Up to now, the repercussion of the idiopathic scoliosis on head-trunk coordination and balance strategies during locomotion is relatively unknown. Seventeen patients with AIS (mean age 14 years 3 months, 10 degrees 30 degrees) and 16 control subjects (mean age 14 years 1 month) were tested during various locomotor tasks: walking on the ground, walking on a line, and walking on a beam. Balance control was examined in terms of rotation about the vertical axis (yaw) and on a frontal plane (roll). Kinematics of foot, pelvis, trunk, shoulder, and head rotations were measured with an automatic optical TV image processor in order to calculate angular dispersions and segmental stabilizations. Decreasing the walking speed is the main adaptive strategy used in response to balance problems in control subjects as well as patients with AIS. However, patients with AIS performed walking tasks more slowly than normal subjects (around 15%). Moreover, the pelvic stabilization is preserved, despite the structural changes affecting the spine. Lastly, the biomechanical defect resulting from idiopathic scoliosis mainly affects the yaw head stabilization during locomotion. Patients with AIS show substantial similarities with control subjects in adaptive strategies relative to locomotor velocity as well as balance control based on segmental stabilization. In contrast, the loss of the yaw head stabilization strategies, mainly based on the use of vestibular information, probably reflects the presence of vestibular deficits in the patients with AIS.

Modifications of Control Loop to Improve the Depth Response of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

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Sheng-Ping Hsu

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During a constant depth maneuver of an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV, its pitch attitude and stern plane deflections create forces and moments to achieve equilibrium in the vertical plane. If an AUV has a proportional controller only in its depth control loop, then different weights or centers of gravity will cause different steady-state depth errors at trimmed conditions. In general, a steady-state depth error can be eliminated by adding an integral controller in the depth control loop. However, an improper integrator may lead to a bad transient response, even though the steady-state depth error can finally be eliminated. To remove the steady-state depth error, this study proposes methods that adjust the depth command and add a switching integral controller in the depth control loop. Simulation results demonstrate that the steady-state depth error can be eliminated and the transient response can be improved.

A Fault-tolerable Control Scheme for an Open-frame Underwater Vehicle

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Huang Hai

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Open-frame is one of the major types of structures of Remote Operated Vehicles (ROV because it is easy to place sensors and operations equipment onboard. Firstly, this paper designed a petri-based recurrent neural network (PRFNN to improve the robustness with response to nonlinear characteristics and strong disturbance of an open-frame underwater vehicle. A threshold has been set in the third layer to reduce the amount of calculations and regulate the training process. The whole network convergence is guaranteed with the selection of learning rate parameters. Secondly, a fault tolerance control (FTC scheme is established with the optimal allocation of thrust. Infinity-norm optimization has been combined with 2-norm optimization to construct a bi-criteria primal-dual neural network FTC scheme. In the experiments and simulation, PRFNN outperformed fuzzy neural networks in motion control, while bi-criteria optimization outperformed 2-norm optimization in FTC, which demonstrates that the FTC controller can improve computational efficiency, reduce control errors, and implement fault tolerable thrust allocation.

Development of a highly maneuverable unmanned underwater vehicle on the basis of quad-copter dynamics

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Amin, Osman Md; Karim, Md. Arshadul; Saad, Abdullah His

2017-12-01

At present, research on unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) has become a significant & familiar topic for researchers from various engineering fields. UUV is of mainly two types - AUV (Autonomous Underwater vehicle) & ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle). There exist a significant number of published research papers on UUV, where very few researchers emphasize on the ease of maneuvering and control of UUV. Maneuvering is important for underwater vehicle in avoiding obstacles, installing underwater piping system, searching undersea resources, underwater mine disposal operations, oceanographic surveys etc. A team from Dept. of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering of MIST has taken a project to design a highly maneuverable unmanned underwater vehicle on the basis of quad-copter dynamics. The main objective of the research is to develop a control system for UUV which would be able to maneuver the vehicle in six DOF (Degrees of Freedom) with great ease. For this purpose we are not only focusing on controllability but also designing an efficient hull with minimal drag force & optimized propeller using CFD technique. Motors were selected on the basis of the simulated thrust generated by propellers in ANSYS Fluent software module. Settings for control parameters to carry out different types of maneuvering such as hovering, spiral, one point rotation about its centroid, gliding, rolling, drifting and zigzag motions were explained in short at the end.

Sleep pattern and locomotor activity are impaired by doxorubicin in non-tumor-bearing rats.

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Lira, Fabio Santos; Esteves, Andrea Maculano; Pimentel, Gustavo Duarte; Rosa, José Cesar; Frank, Miriam Kannebley; Mariano, Melise Oliveira; Budni, Josiane; Quevedo, João; Santos, Ronaldo Vagner Dos; de Mello, Marco Túlio

2016-01-01

We sought explore the effects of doxorubicin on sleep patterns and locomotor activity. To investigate these effects, two groups were formed: a control group and a Doxorubicin (DOXO) group. Sixteen rats were randomly assigned to either the control or DOXO groups. The sleep patterns were examined by polysomnographic recording and locomotor activity was evaluated in an open-field test. In the light period, the total sleep time and slow wave sleep were decreased, while the wake after sleep onset and arousal were increased in the DOXO group compared with the control group (plocomotor activity.

High Throughput Measurement of Locomotor Sensitization to Volatilized Cocaine in Drosophila melanogaster.

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Filošević, Ana; Al-Samarai, Sabina; Andretić Waldowski, Rozi

2018-01-01

Drosophila melanogaster can be used to identify genes with novel functional roles in neuronal plasticity induced by repeated consumption of addictive drugs. Behavioral sensitization is a relatively simple behavioral output of plastic changes that occur in the brain after repeated exposures to drugs of abuse. The development of screening procedures for genes that control behavioral sensitization has stalled due to a lack of high-throughput behavioral tests that can be used in genetically tractable organism, such as Drosophila . We have developed a new behavioral test, FlyBong, which combines delivery of volatilized cocaine (vCOC) to individually housed flies with objective quantification of their locomotor activity. There are two main advantages of FlyBong: it is high-throughput and it allows for comparisons of locomotor activity of individual flies before and after single or multiple exposures. At the population level, exposure to vCOC leads to transient and concentration-dependent increase in locomotor activity, representing sensitivity to an acute dose. A second exposure leads to further increase in locomotion, representing locomotor sensitization. We validate FlyBong by showing that locomotor sensitization at either the population or individual level is absent in the mutants for circadian genes period (per) , Clock (Clk) , and cycle (cyc) . The locomotor sensitization that is present in timeless (tim) and pigment dispersing factor (pdf) mutant flies is in large part not cocaine specific, but derived from increased sensitivity to warm air. Circadian genes are not only integral part of the neural mechanism that is required for development of locomotor sensitization, but in addition, they modulate the intensity of locomotor sensitization as a function of the time of day. Motor-activating effects of cocaine are sexually dimorphic and require a functional dopaminergic transporter. FlyBong is a new and improved method for inducing and measuring locomotor sensitization

High Throughput Measurement of Locomotor Sensitization to Volatilized Cocaine in Drosophila melanogaster

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Ana Filošević

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Drosophila melanogaster can be used to identify genes with novel functional roles in neuronal plasticity induced by repeated consumption of addictive drugs. Behavioral sensitization is a relatively simple behavioral output of plastic changes that occur in the brain after repeated exposures to drugs of abuse. The development of screening procedures for genes that control behavioral sensitization has stalled due to a lack of high-throughput behavioral tests that can be used in genetically tractable organism, such as Drosophila. We have developed a new behavioral test, FlyBong, which combines delivery of volatilized cocaine (vCOC to individually housed flies with objective quantification of their locomotor activity. There are two main advantages of FlyBong: it is high-throughput and it allows for comparisons of locomotor activity of individual flies before and after single or multiple exposures. At the population level, exposure to vCOC leads to transient and concentration-dependent increase in locomotor activity, representing sensitivity to an acute dose. A second exposure leads to further increase in locomotion, representing locomotor sensitization. We validate FlyBong by showing that locomotor sensitization at either the population or individual level is absent in the mutants for circadian genes period (per, Clock (Clk, and cycle (cyc. The locomotor sensitization that is present in timeless (tim and pigment dispersing factor (pdf mutant flies is in large part not cocaine specific, but derived from increased sensitivity to warm air. Circadian genes are not only integral part of the neural mechanism that is required for development of locomotor sensitization, but in addition, they modulate the intensity of locomotor sensitization as a function of the time of day. Motor-activating effects of cocaine are sexually dimorphic and require a functional dopaminergic transporter. FlyBong is a new and improved method for inducing and measuring locomotor

Cognitive Performance and Locomotor Adaptation in Persons With Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

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Stone, Amanda E; Roper, Jaimie A; Herman, Daniel C; Hass, Chris J

2018-05-01

Persons with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) show deficits in gait and neuromuscular control following rehabilitation. This altered behavior extends to locomotor adaptation and learning, however the contributing factors to this observed behavior have yet to be investigated. The purpose of this study was to assess differences in locomotor adaptation and learning between ACLR and controls, and identify underlying contributors to motor adaptation in these individuals. Twenty ACLR individuals and 20 healthy controls (CON) agreed to participate in this study. Participants performed four cognitive and dexterity tasks (local version of Trail Making Test, reaction time test, electronic pursuit rotor test, and the Purdue pegboard). Three-dimensional kinematics were also collected while participants walked on a split-belt treadmill. ACLR individuals completed the local versions of Trails A and Trails B significantly faster than CON. During split-belt walking, ACLR individuals demonstrated smaller step length asymmetry during EARLY and LATE adaptation, smaller double support asymmetry during MID adaptation, and larger stance time asymmetry during DE-ADAPT compared with CON. ACLR individuals performed better during tasks that required visual attention and task switching and were less perturbed during split-belt walking compared to controls. Persons with ACLR may use different strategies than controls, cognitive or otherwise, to adapt locomotor patterns.

Integrated Locomotor Function Tests for Countermeasure Evaluation

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Bloomberg, J. J.; Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Cohen, H. S.; Landsness, E. C.; Black, F. O.

2005-01-01

Following spaceflight crewmembers experience locomotor dysfunction due to inflight adaptive alterations in sensorimotor function. Countermeasures designed to mitigate these postflight gait alterations need to be assessed with a new generation of tests that evaluate the interaction of various sensorimotor sub-systems central to locomotor control. The goal of the present study was to develop new functional tests of locomotor control that could be used to test the efficacy of countermeasures. These tests were designed to simultaneously examine the function of multiple sensorimotor systems underlying the control of locomotion and be operationally relevant to the astronaut population. Traditionally, gaze stabilization has been studied almost exclusively in seated subjects performing target acquisition tasks requiring only the involvement of coordinated eye-head movements. However, activities like walking involve full-body movement and require coordination between lower limbs and the eye-head-trunk complex to achieve stabilized gaze during locomotion. Therefore the first goal of this study was to determine how the multiple, interdependent, full-body sensorimotor gaze stabilization subsystems are functionally coordinated during locomotion. In an earlier study we investigated how alteration in gaze tasking changes full-body locomotor control strategies. Subjects walked on a treadmill and either focused on a central point target or read numeral characters. We measured: temporal parameters of gait, full body sagittal plane segmental kinematics of the head, trunk, thigh, shank and foot, accelerations along the vertical axis at the head and the shank, and the vertical forces acting on the support surface. In comparison to the point target fixation condition, the results of the number reading task showed that compensatory head pitch movements increased, peak head acceleration was reduced and knee flexion at heel-strike was increased. In a more recent study we investigated the

Application of YAG laser processing in underwater welding and cutting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ohwaki, Katsura; Morita, Ichiro; Kojima, Toshio; Sato, Shuichi [Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

2002-09-01

The high-power YAG laser is a new fabrication tool. The laser torch is easy to combine with complex with complex mechanics because of beam delivery through optical fiber. A direct underwater laser welding technology has been developed and applied to the preservation, maintenance and removal of nuclear power plants. For subdividing or removing operations for retirement of plants, the laser cutting properties were confirmed to allow a maximum cutting thickness of 80 mm. For repairing inner surface of stainless steel tanks, an underwater laser welding system using a remote-controlled robot was developed and the high quality of underwater laser welding was confirmed. (author)

Feedback and feedforward locomotor adaptations to ankle-foot load in people with incomplete spinal cord injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Keith E; Wu, Ming; Kahn, Jennifer H; Schmit, Brian D

2010-09-01

Humans with spinal cord injury (SCI) modulate locomotor output in response to limb load. Understanding the neural control mechanisms responsible for locomotor adaptation could provide a framework for selecting effective interventions. We quantified feedback and feedforward locomotor adaptations to limb load modulations in people with incomplete SCI. While subjects airstepped (stepping performed with kinematic assistance and 100% bodyweight support), a powered-orthosis created a dorisflexor torque during the "stance phase" of select steps producing highly controlled ankle-load perturbations. When given repetitive, stance phase ankle-load, the increase in hip extension work, 0.27 J/kg above baseline (no ankle-load airstepping), was greater than the response to ankle-load applied during a single step, 0.14 J/kg (P = 0.029). This finding suggests that, at the hip, subjects produced both feedforward and feedback locomotor modulations. We estimate that, at the hip, the locomotor response to repetitive ankle-load was modulated almost equally by ongoing feedback and feedforward adaptations. The majority of subjects also showed after-effects in hip kinetic patterns that lasted 3 min in response to repetitive loading, providing additional evidence of feedforward locomotor adaptations. The magnitude of the after-effect was proportional to the response to repetitive ankle-foot load (R(2) = 0.92). In contrast, increases in soleus EMG amplitude were not different during repetitive and single-step ankle-load exposure, suggesting that ankle locomotor modulations were predominately feedback-based. Although subjects made both feedback and feedforward locomotor adaptations to changes in ankle-load, between-subject variations suggest that walking function may be related to the ability to make feedforward adaptations.

Cognitive Routing in Software-Defined Underwater Acoustic Networks

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Huma Ghafoor

2017-12-01

Full Text Available There are two different types of primary users (natural acoustic and artificial acoustic, and there is a long propagation delay for acoustic links in underwater cognitive acoustic networks (UCANs. Thus, the selection of a stable route is one of the key design factors for improving overall network stability, thereby reducing end-to-end delay. Software-defined networking (SDN is a novel approach that improves network intelligence. To this end, we propose a novel SDN-based routing protocol for UCANs in order to find a stable route between source and destination. A main controller is placed in a surface buoy that is responsible for the global view of the network, whereas local controllers are placed in different autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs that are responsible for a localized view of the network. The AUVs have fixed trajectories, and sensor nodes within transmission range of the AUVs serve as gateways to relay the gathered information to the controllers. This is an SDN-based underwater communications scheme whereby two nodes can only communicate when they have a consensus about a common idle channel. To evaluate our proposed scheme, we perform extensive simulations and improve network performance in terms of end-to-end delay, delivery ratio, and overhead.

Cascading Multi-Hop Reservation and Transmission in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

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Jae-Won Lee

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The long propagation delay in an underwater acoustic channel makes designing an underwater media access control (MAC protocol more challenging. In particular, handshaking-based MAC protocols widely used in terrestrial radio channels have been known to be inappropriate in underwater acoustic channels, because of the inordinately large latency involved in exchanging control packets. Furthermore, in the case of multi-hop relaying in a hop-by-hop handshaking manner, the end-to-end delay significantly increases. In this paper, we propose a new MAC protocol named cascading multi-hop reservation and transmission (CMRT. In CMRT, intermediate nodes between a source and a destination may start handshaking in advance for the next-hop relaying before handshaking for the previous node is completed. By this concurrent relaying, control packet exchange and data delivery cascade down to the destination. In addition, to improve channel utilization, CMRT adopts a packet-train method where multiple data packets are sent together by handshaking once. Thus, CMRT reduces the time taken for control packet exchange and accordingly increases the throughput. The performance of CMRT is evaluated and compared with that of two conventional MAC protocols (multiple-access collision avoidance for underwater (MACA-U and MACA-U with packet trains (MACA-UPT. The results show that CMRT outperforms other MAC protocols in terms of both throughput and end-to-end delay.

Classification of rhythmic locomotor patterns in electromyographic signals using fuzzy sets

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Thrasher Timothy A

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Locomotor control is accomplished by a complex integration of neural mechanisms including a central pattern generator, spinal reflexes and supraspinal control centres. Patterns of muscle activation during walking exhibit an underlying structure in which groups of muscles seem to activate in united bursts. Presented here is a statistical approach for analyzing Surface Electromyography (SEMG data with the goal of classifying rhythmic "burst" patterns that are consistent with a central pattern generator model of locomotor control. Methods A fuzzy model of rhythmic locomotor patterns was optimized and evaluated using SEMG data from a convenience sample of four able-bodied individuals. As well, two subjects with pathological gait participated: one with Parkinson's Disease, and one with incomplete spinal cord injury. Subjects walked overground and on a treadmill while SEMG was recorded from major muscles of the lower extremities. The model was fit to half of the recorded data using non-linear optimization and validated against the other half of the data. The coefficient of determination, R2, was used to interpret the model's goodness of fit. Results Using four fuzzy burst patterns, the model was able to explain approximately 70-83% of the variance in muscle activation during treadmill gait and 74% during overground gait. When five burst functions were used, one function was found to be redundant. The model explained 81-83% of the variance in the Parkinsonian gait, and only 46-59% of the variance in spinal cord injured gait. Conclusions The analytical approach proposed in this article is a novel way to interpret multichannel SEMG signals by reducing the data into basic rhythmic patterns. This can help us better understand the role of rhythmic patterns in locomotor control.

Functional reorganization of the locomotor network in Parkinson patients with freezing of gait.

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Brett W Fling

Full Text Available Freezing of gait (FoG is a transient inability to initiate or maintain stepping that often accompanies advanced Parkinson's disease (PD and significantly impairs mobility. The current study uses a multimodal neuroimaging approach to assess differences in the functional and structural locomotor neural network in PD patients with and without FoG and relates these findings to measures of FoG severity. Twenty-six PD patients and fifteen age-matched controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging along with self-reported and clinical assessments of FoG. After stringent movement correction, fifteen PD patients and fourteen control participants were available for analysis. We assessed functional connectivity strength between the supplementary motor area (SMA and the following locomotor hubs: 1 subthalamic nucleus (STN, 2 mesencephalic and 3 cerebellar locomotor region (MLR and CLR, respectively within each hemisphere. Additionally, we quantified structural connectivity strength between locomotor hubs and assessed relationships with metrics of FoG. FoG+ patients showed greater functional connectivity between the SMA and bilateral MLR and between the SMA and left CLR compared to both FoG- and controls. Importantly, greater functional connectivity between the SMA and MLR was positively correlated with i clinical, ii self-reported and iii objective ratings of freezing severity in FoG+, potentially reflecting a maladaptive neural compensation. The current findings demonstrate a re-organization of functional communication within the locomotor network in FoG+ patients whereby the higher-order motor cortex (SMA responsible for gait initiation communicates with the MLR and CLR to a greater extent than in FoG- patients and controls. The observed pattern of altered connectivity in FoG+ may indicate a failed attempt by the CNS to compensate for the loss of connectivity between the STN and SMA and may reflect a

Locomotor adaptation to a powered ankle-foot orthosis depends on control method

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Gordon Keith E

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background We studied human locomotor adaptation to powered ankle-foot orthoses with the intent of identifying differences between two different orthosis control methods. The first orthosis control method used a footswitch to provide bang-bang control (a kinematic control and the second orthosis control method used a proportional myoelectric signal from the soleus (a physiological control. Both controllers activated an artificial pneumatic muscle providing plantar flexion torque. Methods Subjects walked on a treadmill for two thirty-minute sessions spaced three days apart under either footswitch control (n = 6 or myoelectric control (n = 6. We recorded lower limb electromyography (EMG, joint kinematics, and orthosis kinetics. We compared stance phase EMG amplitudes, correlation of joint angle patterns, and mechanical work performed by the powered orthosis between the two controllers over time. Results During steady state at the end of the second session, subjects using proportional myoelectric control had much lower soleus and gastrocnemius activation than the subjects using footswitch control. The substantial decrease in triceps surae recruitment allowed the proportional myoelectric control subjects to walk with ankle kinematics close to normal and reduce negative work performed by the orthosis. The footswitch control subjects walked with substantially perturbed ankle kinematics and performed more negative work with the orthosis. Conclusion These results provide evidence that the choice of orthosis control method can greatly alter how humans adapt to powered orthosis assistance during walking. Specifically, proportional myoelectric control results in larger reductions in muscle activation and gait kinematics more similar to normal compared to footswitch control.

Oxidized trilinoleate and tridocosahexaenoate induce pica behavior and change locomotor activity.

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Kitamura, Fuki; Watanabe, Hiroyuki; Umeno, Aya; Yoshida, Yasukazu; Kurata, Kenji; Gotoh, Naohiro

2013-01-01

Pica behavior, a behavior that is characterized by eating a nonfood material such as kaolin and relates to the degree of discomfort in animals, and the variations of locomotor activity of rats after eating deteriorated fat and oil extracted from instant noodles were examined in our previous study. The result shows that oxidized fat and oil with at least 100 meq/kg in peroxide value (PV) increase pica behavior and decrease locomotor activity. In the present study, the same two behaviors were measured using autoxidized trilinoleate (tri-LA) and tridocosahexaenoate (tri-DHA) as a model of vegetable and fish oil, respectively, to compare fatty acid differences against the induction of two behaviors. The oxidized levels of tri-LA and tri-DHA were analyzed with PV and p-anisidine value (AnV), the method to analyze secondary oxidized products. The oxidation levels of respective triacylglycerol (TAG) samples were carefully adjusted to make them having almost the same PV and AnV. As the results, 600 or more meq/kg in PV of both TAGs significantly increased the consumption of kaolin pellets compared to the control group. Furthermore, 300 or more meq/kg in PV of tri-LA and 200 or more meq/kg in PV of tri-DHA demonstrated significant decrease in locomotor activity compared to control group. These results would indicate that the oxidized TAG having the same PV and/or AnV would induce the same type of pica behavior and locomotor activity. Furthermore, that the structure of oxidized products might not be important and the amount of hydroperoxide group and/or aldehyde group in deteriorated fats and oils might affect the pica behavior and locomotor activity were thought.

QFD-based conceptual design of an autonomous underwater robot

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Thip Pasawang

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Autonomous underwater robots in the past few years have been designed according to the individual concepts and experiences of the researchers. To design a robot, which meets all the requirements of potential users, is an advanced work. Hence, a systematic design method that could include users’ preferences and requirements is needed. This paper presents the quality function deployment (QFD technique to design an autonomous underwater robot focusing on the Thai Navy military mission. Important user requirements extracted from the QFD method are the ability to record videos, operating at depth up to 10 meters, the ability to operate remotely with cable and safety concerns related to water leakages. Less important user requirements include beauty, using renewable energy, operating remotely with radio and ability to work during night time. The important design parameters derived from the user requirements are a low cost-controller, an autonomous control algorithm, a compass sensor and vertical gyroscope, and a depth sensor. Of low-importance ranked design parameters include the module design, use clean energy, a low noise electric motor, remote surveillance design, a pressure hull, and a beautiful hull form design. The study results show the feasibility of using QFD techniques to systematically design the autonomous underwater robot to meet user requirements. Mapping between the design and expected parameters and a conceptual drafting design of an autonomous underwater robot are also presented.

ROV Based Underwater Blurred Image Restoration

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LIU Zhishen; DING Tianfu; WANG Gang

2003-01-01

In this paper, we present a method of ROV based image processing to restore underwater blurry images from the theory of light and image transmission in the sea. Computer is used to simulate the maximum detection range of the ROV under different water body conditions. The receiving irradiance of the video camera at different detection ranges is also calculated. The ROV's detection performance under different water body conditions is given by simulation. We restore the underwater blurry images using the Wiener filter based on the simulation. The Wiener filter is shown to be a simple useful method for underwater image restoration in the ROV underwater experiments. We also present examples of restored images of an underwater standard target taken by the video camera in these experiments.

Underwater 3D filming

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Roberto Rinaldi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space (“Gravity” and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. “Filming in space” was possible in “Gravity” using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

Nonlinear output feedback control of underwater vehicle propellers using feedback form estimated axial flow velocity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fossen, T. I.; Blanke, Mogens

2000-01-01

Accurate propeller shaft speed controllers can be designed by using nonlinear control theory and feedback from the axial water velocity in the propeller disc. In this paper, an output feedback controller is derived, reconstructing the axial flow velocity from vehicle speed measurements, using...... a three-state model of propeller shaft speed, forward (surge) speed of the vehicle, and the axial flow velocity. Lyapunov stability theory is used to prove that a nonlinear observer combined with an output feedback integral controller provide exponential stability. The output feedback controller...... compensates for variations in thrust due to time variations in advance speed. This is a major problem when applying conventional vehicle-propeller control systems, The proposed controller is simulated for an underwater vehicle equipped with a single propeller. The simulations demonstrate that the axial water...

Interpreting locomotor biomechanics from the morphology of human footprints.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatala, Kevin G; Wunderlich, Roshna E; Dingwall, Heather L; Richmond, Brian G

2016-01-01

Fossil hominin footprints offer unique direct windows to the locomotor behaviors of our ancestors. These data could allow a clearer understanding of the evolution of human locomotion by circumventing issues associated with indirect interpretations of habitual locomotor patterns from fossil skeletal material. However, before we can use fossil hominin footprints to understand better the evolution of human locomotion, we must first develop an understanding of how locomotor biomechanics are preserved in, and can be inferred from, footprint morphologies. In this experimental study, 41 habitually barefoot modern humans created footprints under controlled conditions in which variables related to locomotor biomechanics could be quantified. Measurements of regional topography (depth) were taken from 3D models of those footprints, and principal components analysis was used to identify orthogonal axes that described the largest proportions of topographic variance within the human experimental sample. Linear mixed effects models were used to quantify the influences of biomechanical variables on the first five principal axes of footprint topographic variation, thus providing new information on the biomechanical variables most evidently expressed in the morphology of human footprints. The footprint's overall depth was considered as a confounding variable, since biomechanics may be linked to the extent to which a substrate deforms. Three of five axes showed statistically significant relationships with variables related to both locomotor biomechanics and substrate displacement; one axis was influenced only by biomechanics and another only by the overall depth of the footprint. Principal axes of footprint morphological variation were significantly related to gait type (walking or running), kinematics of the hip and ankle joints and the distribution of pressure beneath the foot. These results provide the first quantitative framework for developing hypotheses regarding the

Underwater welding of steel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ibarra, S.; Olson, D.L.

1992-01-01

A fundamental basis to understand the behavior of wet underwater welding of steel is introduced. Both the pyrometallurgical and physical metallurgy concepts are discussed. Modifications of welding consumables and practice are suggested. This chapter promotes further contributions of meatllurgical research to improve and promote wet underwater welding. (orig.)

Fault-tolerant Control of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles with Continuous Faults: Simulations and Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Liu

2010-02-01

Full Text Available A novel thruster fault diagnosis and accommodation method for open-frame underwater vehicles is presented in the paper. The proposed system consists of two units: a fault diagnosis unit and a fault accommodation unit. In the fault diagnosis unit an ICMAC (Improved Credit Assignment Cerebellar Model Articulation Controllers neural network information fusion model is used to realize the fault identification of the thruster. The fault accommodation unit is based on direct calculations of moment and the result of fault identification is used to find the solution of the control allocation problem. The approach resolves the continuous faulty identification of the UV. Results from the experiment are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed method in uncertain continuous faulty situation.

Fault-tolerant Control of Unmanned Underwater Vehicles with Continuous Faults: Simulations and Experiments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qian Liu

2009-12-01

Full Text Available A novel thruster fault diagnosis and accommodation method for open-frame underwater vehicles is presented in the paper. The proposed system consists of two units: a fault diagnosis unit and a fault accommodation unit. In the fault diagnosis unit an ICMAC (Improved Credit Assignment Cerebellar Model Articulation Controllers neural network information fusion model is used to realize the fault identification of the thruster. The fault accommodation unit is based on direct calculations of moment and the result of fault identification is used to find the solution of the control allocation problem. The approach resolves the continuous faulty identification of the UV. Results from the experiment are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed method in uncertain continuous faulty situation.

Statistical Analysis of Zebrafish Locomotor Response.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yiwen; Carmer, Robert; Zhang, Gaonan; Venkatraman, Prahatha; Brown, Skye Ashton; Pang, Chi-Pui; Zhang, Mingzhi; Ma, Ping; Leung, Yuk Fai

2015-01-01

Zebrafish larvae display rich locomotor behaviour upon external stimulation. The movement can be simultaneously tracked from many larvae arranged in multi-well plates. The resulting time-series locomotor data have been used to reveal new insights into neurobiology and pharmacology. However, the data are of large scale, and the corresponding locomotor behavior is affected by multiple factors. These issues pose a statistical challenge for comparing larval activities. To address this gap, this study has analyzed a visually-driven locomotor behaviour named the visual motor response (VMR) by the Hotelling's T-squared test. This test is congruent with comparing locomotor profiles from a time period. Different wild-type (WT) strains were compared using the test, which shows that they responded differently to light change at different developmental stages. The performance of this test was evaluated by a power analysis, which shows that the test was sensitive for detecting differences between experimental groups with sample numbers that were commonly used in various studies. In addition, this study investigated the effects of various factors that might affect the VMR by multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). The results indicate that the larval activity was generally affected by stage, light stimulus, their interaction, and location in the plate. Nonetheless, different factors affected larval activity differently over time, as indicated by a dynamical analysis of the activity at each second. Intriguingly, this analysis also shows that biological and technical repeats had negligible effect on larval activity. This finding is consistent with that from the Hotelling's T-squared test, and suggests that experimental repeats can be combined to enhance statistical power. Together, these investigations have established a statistical framework for analyzing VMR data, a framework that should be generally applicable to other locomotor data with similar structure.

Colour reconstruction of underwater images

OpenAIRE

Hoth, Julian; Kowalczyk, Wojciech

2017-01-01

Objects look very different in the underwater environment compared to their appearance in sunlight. Images with correct colouring simplify the detection of underwater objects and may allow the use of visual SLAM algorithms developed for land-based robots underwater. Hence, image processing is required. Current algorithms focus on the colour reconstruction of scenery at diving depth where different colours can still be distinguished. At greater depth this is not the case. In this study it is i...

Quantum imaging for underwater arctic navigation

Science.gov (United States)

Lanzagorta, Marco

2017-05-01

The precise navigation of underwater vehicles is a difficult task due to the challenges imposed by the variable oceanic environment. It is particularly difficult if the underwater vehicle is trying to navigate under the Arctic ice shelf. Indeed, in this scenario traditional navigation devices such as GPS, compasses and gyrocompasses are unavailable or unreliable. In addition, the shape and thickness of the ice shelf is variable throughout the year. Current Arctic underwater navigation systems include sonar arrays to detect the proximity to the ice. However, these systems are undesirable in a wartime environment, as the sound gives away the position of the underwater vehicle. In this paper we briefly describe the theoretical design of a quantum imaging system that could allow the safe and stealthy navigation of underwater Arctic vehicles.

DUMAND-II (Deep Underwater Muon and Neutrino Detector) PROGRESS Report

OpenAIRE

Young, Kenneth K.

1994-01-01

The DUMAND-II detector will search for astronomical sources of high energy neutrinos. Successful deployment of the basic infrastructure, including the shore cable, the underwater junction box, and an environmental module was accomplished in December, 1993. One optical module string was also deployed and operated, logging data for about 10 hours. The underwater cable was connected to the shore station where we were able to successfully exercise system controls and log further environmental dat...

Autonomous Underwater Gliders

OpenAIRE

Wood,; Stephen,

2009-01-01

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles are only now being marketed as robust commercial vehicles for many industries, and of these vehicles underwater gliders are becoming the new tool for oceanographers. Satellites have provided scientists and marine specialists with measurements of the sea surface such as temperature since the late 1970s, and data via subsurface oceanographic moorings since the 1950's. As stated by David Smeed of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, England, that "gliders...

Study on underwater plasma arc cutting technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yada, Toshio; Nakamura, Uhachiro; Tomidokoro, Sakae; Fukuzawa, Mitsuo

1980-01-01

The zirconium alloy tube of the impile creep test facility had been subjected to inner pressure in the Japan Material Testing Reactor (JMTR) environment. In the near future, it will be necessary to dismantle the facility and to take out the tube for such examinations as irradiation effects on material properties. In order to establish the dismantling technology for the radioactive facility, a study on underwater plasma arc cutting has been carried out since 1977. Primarily, optimum underwater cutting sequence and conditions were studied in details for developing the remote control handling and the cutting system. Further, the amounts of particles suspended in water as well as those contained in bubbled gas were quantitatively analyzed for developing a safe removal system for contaminants which were produced by cutting the radioactive material. As a result of this study, it has been concluded that the underwater plasma arc cutting method is generally suitable and effective for dismantling such radioactive material as the impile creep test facility of the JMTR. (author)

An acoustically controlled tetherless underwater vehicle for installation and maintenance of neutrino detectors in the deep ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballou, Philip J.

1997-01-01

The task of installing and servicing high energy neutrino detectors in the deep ocean from a surface support vessel is problematic using conventional tethered systems. An array of multiple detector strings rising 500 m from the ocean floor, and forming a grid with 50 m spacing between the strings, presents a substantial entanglement hazard for equipment cables deployed from the surface. Such tasks may be accomplished with fewer risks using a tetherless underwater remotely operated vehicle that has a local acoustic telemetry link to send control commands and sensor data between the vehicle and a stationary hydrophone suspended above or just outside the perimeter of the work site. The Phase I effort involves the development of an underwater acoustic telemetry link for vehicle control and sensor feedback, the evaluation of video compression methods for real-time acoustic transmission of video through the water, and the defining of local control routines on board the vehicle to allow it to perform certain basic maneuvering tasks autonomously, or to initiate a self-rescue if the acoustic control link should be lost. In Phase II, a prototype tetherless vehicle system will be designed and constructed to demonstrate the ability to install cable interconnections within a detector array at 4 km depth. The same control technology could be used with a larger more powerful vehicle to maneuver the detector strings into desired positions as they are being lowered to the ocean floor

International Conference on Underwater Environment

CERN Document Server

Jaulin, Luc; Creuze, Vincent; Debese, Nathalie; Quidu, Isabelle; Clement, Benoît; Billon-Coat, Annick

2016-01-01

This volume constitutes the results of the International Conference on Underwater Environment, MOQESM’14, held at “Le Quartz” Conference Center in Brest, France, on October 14-15, 2014, within the framework of the 9th Sea Tech Week, International Marine Science and Technology Event. The objective of MOQESM'14 was to bring together researchers from both academia and industry, interested in marine robotics and hydrography with application to the coastal environment mapping and underwater infrastructures surveys. The common thread of the conference is the combination of technical control, perception, and localization, typically used in robotics, with the methods of mapping and bathymetry. The papers presented in this book focus on two main topics. Firstly, coastal and infrastructure mapping is addressed, focusing not only on hydrographic systems, but also on positioning systems, bathymetry, and remote sensing. The proposed methods rely on acoustic sensors such as side scan sonars, multibeam echo sounders, ...

Dopamine and the Brainstem Locomotor Networks: From Lamprey to Human

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dimitri Ryczko

2017-05-01

Full Text Available In vertebrates, dopamine neurons are classically known to modulate locomotion via their ascending projections to the basal ganglia that project to brainstem locomotor networks. An increased dopaminergic tone is associated with increase in locomotor activity. In pathological conditions where dopamine cells are lost, such as in Parkinson's disease, locomotor deficits are traditionally associated with the reduced ascending dopaminergic input to the basal ganglia. However, a descending dopaminergic pathway originating from the substantia nigra pars compacta was recently discovered. It innervates the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR from basal vertebrates to mammals. This pathway was shown to increase locomotor output in lampreys, and could very well play an important role in mammals. Here, we provide a detailed account on the newly found dopaminergic pathway in lamprey, salamander, rat, monkey, and human. In lampreys and salamanders, dopamine release in the MLR is associated with the activation of reticulospinal neurons that carry the locomotor command to the spinal cord. Dopamine release in the MLR potentiates locomotor movements through a D1-receptor mechanism in lampreys. In rats, stimulation of the substantia nigra pars compacta elicited dopamine release in the pedunculopontine nucleus, a known part of the MLR. In a monkey model of Parkinson's disease, a reduced dopaminergic innervation of the brainstem locomotor networks was reported. Dopaminergic fibers are also present in human pedunculopontine nucleus. We discuss the conserved locomotor role of this pathway from lamprey to mammals, and the hypothesis that this pathway could play a role in the locomotor deficits reported in Parkinson's disease.

Containment control of networked autonomous underwater vehicles: A predictor-based neural DSC design.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Zhouhua; Wang, Dan; Wang, Wei; Liu, Lu

2015-11-01

This paper investigates the containment control problem of networked autonomous underwater vehicles in the presence of model uncertainty and unknown ocean disturbances. A predictor-based neural dynamic surface control design method is presented to develop the distributed adaptive containment controllers, under which the trajectories of follower vehicles nearly converge to the dynamic convex hull spanned by multiple reference trajectories over a directed network. Prediction errors, rather than tracking errors, are used to update the neural adaptation laws, which are independent of the tracking error dynamics, resulting in two time-scales to govern the entire system. The stability property of the closed-loop network is established via Lyapunov analysis, and transient property is quantified in terms of L2 norms of the derivatives of neural weights, which are shown to be smaller than the classical neural dynamic surface control approach. Comparative studies are given to show the substantial improvements of the proposed new method. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Underwater Acoustic Networking Techniques

CERN Document Server

Otnes, Roald; Casari, Paolo; Goetz, Michael; Husøy, Thor; Nissen, Ivor; Rimstad, Knut; van Walree, Paul; Zorzi, Michele

2012-01-01

This literature study presents an overview of underwater acoustic networking. It provides a background and describes the state of the art of all networking facets that are relevant for underwater applications. This report serves both as an introduction to the subject and as a summary of existing protocols, providing support and inspiration for the development of network architectures.

Hybrid Underwater Vehicle: ARV Design and Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhigang DENG

2014-02-01

Full Text Available The development of SMU-I, a new autonomous & remotely-operated vehicle (ARV is described. Since it has both the characteristics of autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV and remote operated underwater vehicle (ROV, it is able to achieve precision fix station operation and manual timely intervention. In the paper the initial design of basic components, such as vehicle, propulsion, batteries etc. and the control design of motion are introduced and analyzed. ROV’s conventional cable is replaced by a fiber optic cable, which makes it available for high-bandwidth real-time video, data telemetry and high-quality teleoperation. Furthermore, with the aid of the manual real-time remote operation and ranging sonar, it also resolves the AUV’s conflicting issue, which can absolutely adapt the actual complex sea environment and satisfy the unknown mission need. The whole battery system is designed as two-battery banks, whose voltages and temperatures are monitored through CAN (controller area network bus to avoid battery fire and explosion. A fuzzy-PID controller is designed for its motion control, including depth control and direction control. The controller synthesizes the advantage of fuzzy control and PID control, utilizes the fuzzy rules to on-line tune the parameters of PID controller, and achieves a better control effect. Experiment results demonstrate to show the effectiveness of the test-bed.

Underwater Optical Wireless Communications, Networking, and Localization: A Survey

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2018-01-01

Underwater wireless communications can be carried out through acoustic, radio frequency (RF), and optical waves. Compared to its bandwidth limited acoustic and RF counterparts, underwater optical wireless communications (UOWCs) can support higher data rates at low latency levels. However, severe aquatic channel conditions (e.g., absorption, scattering, turbulence, etc.) pose great challenges for UOWCs and significantly reduce the attainable communication ranges, which necessitates efficient networking and localization solutions. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive survey on the challenges, advances, and prospects of underwater optical wireless networks (UOWNs) from a layer by layer perspective which includes: 1) Potential network architectures; 2) Physical layer issues including propagation characteristics, channel modeling, and modulation techniques 3) Data link layer problems covering link configurations, link budgets, performance metrics, and multiple access schemes; 4) Network layer topics containing relaying techniques and potential routing algorithms; 5) Transport layer subjects such as connectivity, reliability, flow and congestion control; 6) Application layer goals and state-of-the-art UOWN applications, and 7) Localization and its impacts on UOWN layers. Finally, we outline the open research challenges and point out the future directions for underwater optical wireless communications, networking, and localization research.

Underwater Optical Wireless Communications, Networking, and Localization: A Survey

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir

2018-02-28

Underwater wireless communications can be carried out through acoustic, radio frequency (RF), and optical waves. Compared to its bandwidth limited acoustic and RF counterparts, underwater optical wireless communications (UOWCs) can support higher data rates at low latency levels. However, severe aquatic channel conditions (e.g., absorption, scattering, turbulence, etc.) pose great challenges for UOWCs and significantly reduce the attainable communication ranges, which necessitates efficient networking and localization solutions. Therefore, we provide a comprehensive survey on the challenges, advances, and prospects of underwater optical wireless networks (UOWNs) from a layer by layer perspective which includes: 1) Potential network architectures; 2) Physical layer issues including propagation characteristics, channel modeling, and modulation techniques 3) Data link layer problems covering link configurations, link budgets, performance metrics, and multiple access schemes; 4) Network layer topics containing relaying techniques and potential routing algorithms; 5) Transport layer subjects such as connectivity, reliability, flow and congestion control; 6) Application layer goals and state-of-the-art UOWN applications, and 7) Localization and its impacts on UOWN layers. Finally, we outline the open research challenges and point out the future directions for underwater optical wireless communications, networking, and localization research.

OFDM for underwater acoustic communications

CERN Document Server

Zhou, Shengli

2014-01-01

A blend of introductory material and advanced signal processing and communication techniques, of critical importance to underwater system and network development This book, which is the first to describe the processing techniques central to underwater OFDM, is arranged into four distinct sections: First, it describes the characteristics of underwater acoustic channels, and stresses the difference from wireless radio channels. Then it goes over the basics of OFDM and channel coding. The second part starts with an overview of the OFDM receiver, and develops various modules for the receiver des

Human Factors Issues When Operating Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles and Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-01

etiquette (Parasuraman & Miller, 2004). Through natural and intuitive communication, Johnson et al., (2007) hope that this interface will instill greater...and etiquette in high criticality automated systems. Communications of the ACM, 47(4), 51-55. Parasuraman, R., & Riley, V. (1997). Humans and... protocols for underwater wireless communications. IEEE Communications Magazine, pp. 97-102. Quazi, A. H., & Konrad, W. L. (1982, March 1982). Underwater

PROBLEMAS LOCOMOTORES EM FRANGOS DE CORTE - REVISÃO. / LOCOMOTOR PROBLEMS IN BROILER CHICKENS - A REVIEW.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

IBIARA CORREIA DE LIMA ALMEIDA PAZ

2008-12-01

Full Text Available O bem estar animal é, sem dúvida, um dos pontos em que os produtores de aves devem se atentar para conseguir melhor rentabilidade e colocação no mercado externo. No entanto, é necessário ter uma ampla idéia de que alguns pontos impostos por mercados importadores, muitas vezes não tem fundamento científico e tratam-se mais de barreiras não tarifárias que de problemas de produção propriamente ditos. Dentre os vários fatores que afetam o bem estar animal pode-se destacar a incidência de problemas locomotores, principalmente em animais confinados. Estes distúrbios podem acarretar em perdas de até 6% em lotes comercias de frangos de corte, além de outras perdas não mensuráveis em linhas de abate, por fraturas e hematomas. Existem diversas metodologias para diagnosticar problemas locomotores, entretanto, a mais difundida na indústria avícola é o Gait Score, por sua facilidade de aplicação e por englobar os diferentes tipos de problemas locomotores. Sabe-se, contudo que esta metodologia é bastante subjetiva e pode inferir  em  diferentes  níveis  de  avaliação  dependendo  do método  utilizado. Os  problemas locomotores devem ser prevenidos já que depois de estabelecidos as perdas são inevitáveis.

An underwater robot controls water tanks in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lardiere, C.

2015-01-01

The enterprises Newton Research Labs and IHI Southwest Technologies have developed a robot equipped with sensors to inspect the inside walls (partially) and bottom of water tanks without being obliged to empty them. The robot called 'Inspector' is made up of 4 main components: a chassis with 4 independent steering wheels, a camera video system able to provide a 360 degree view, various non-destructive testing devices such as underwater laser scanners, automated ultra-sound or Foucault current probes and an operation system for both driving the robot and controlling the testing. The Inspector robot has been used to inspect the inside bottom of an operating condensate tank at the Palo Verde nuclear station. The robot was able to check all the welds joining the bottom plates and the welds between the walls and the bottom. The robot is also able to come back to the exact place where a defect was detected during a previous inspection. (A.C.)

Determining spherical lens correction for astronaut training underwater.

Science.gov (United States)

Porter, Jason; Gibson, C Robert; Strauss, Samuel

2011-09-01

To develop a model that will accurately predict the distance spherical lens correction needed to be worn by National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts while training underwater. The replica space suit's helmet contains curved visors that induce refractive power when submersed in water. Anterior surface powers and thicknesses were measured for the helmet's protective and inside visors. The impact of each visor on the helmet's refractive power in water was analyzed using thick lens calculations and Zemax optical design software. Using geometrical optics approximations, a model was developed to determine the optimal distance spherical power needed to be worn underwater based on the helmet's total induced spherical power underwater and the astronaut's manifest spectacle plane correction in air. The validity of the model was tested using data from both eyes of 10 astronauts who trained underwater. The helmet's visors induced a total power of -2.737 D when placed underwater. The required underwater spherical correction (FW) was linearly related to the spectacle plane spherical correction in air (FAir): FW = FAir + 2.356 D. The mean magnitude of the difference between the actual correction worn underwater and the calculated underwater correction was 0.20 ± 0.11 D. The actual and calculated values were highly correlated (r = 0.971) with 70% of eyes having a difference in magnitude of astronauts. The model accurately predicts the actual values worn underwater and can be applied (more generally) to determine a suitable spectacle lens correction to be worn behind other types of masks when submerged underwater.

Determinants of locomotor disability in people aged 55 years and over: The Rotterdam study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Odding, Else; Valkenburg, Hans A.; Stam, Hendrik J.; Hofman, Albert

2001-01-01

Locomotor disability, as defined by difficulties in activities of daily living related to lower limb function, can be the consequence of diseases and impairments of the cardiovascular, pulmonary, nervous, sensory and musculoskeletal system. We estimated the associations between specific diseases and impairments and locomotor disability, and the proportion of disability attributable to each condition, controlling for age and comorbidity. The Rotterdam Study is a prospective follow-up study among people aged 55 years and over in the general population. Locomotor disability in 1219 men and 1856 women was assessed with the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire. Diseases and impairments were radiological osteoarthritis, pain of the hips and knees, morning stiffness, fractures, hypertension, vascular disease, ischemic heart disease, stroke, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, Parkinson's disease, osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus, overweight, and low vision. Adjusted odds ratios, etiologic and attributable fractions were calculated for locomotor disability. The occurrence of locomotor disability can partly be ascribed to joint pain, COPD, morning stiffness, diabetes and heart failure in both men and women. In addition in women osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, low vision, fractures, stroke and Parkinson's disease are significant etiologic fractions. In men with morning stiffness, joint pain, heart failure, diabetes mellitus, and COPD a significant proportion of their disability is attributable to this impairment. In women this was the case for Parkinson's disease, morning stiffness, low vision, heart failure, joint pain, diabetes, radiological osteoarthritis, stroke, COPD, osteoporosis, and fractures of the lower limbs, in that order. We conclude that locomotor complaints, heart failure, COPD and diabetes mellitus contribute considerably to locomotor disability in non-institutionalized elderly people

Oscillatory Adaptive Yaw-Plane Control of Biorobotic Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Using Pectoral-Like Fins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mugdha S. Naik

2007-01-01

Full Text Available This article considers the control of a biorobotic autonomous underwater vehicle (BAUV in the yaw plane using biologically inspired oscillatory pectoral-like fins of marine animals. The fins are assumed to be oscillating harmonically with a combined linear (sway and angular (yaw motion producing unsteady forces, which are used for fish-like control of BAUVs. Manoeuvring of the BAUV in the yaw plane is accomplished by altering the bias (mean angle of the angular motion of the fin. For the derivation of the adaptive control system, it is assumed that the physical parameters, the hydrodynamic coefficients, and the fin force and moment are not known. A direct adaptive sampled-data control system for the trajectory control of the yaw-angle using only yaw-angle measurement is derived. The parameter adaptation law is based on the normalised gradient scheme. Simulation results for the set point control, sinusoidal trajectory tracking and turning manoeuvres are presented, which show that the control system accomplishes precise trajectory control in spite of the parameter uncertainties.

Underwater welding and repair technologies applied in PWR environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scandella, Fabrice; Carpreau, Jean-Michel

2012-01-01

The authors describe several welding processes and technologies which have been used for underwater applications and which can be applied when repairing components of a PWR type reactor. They address, describe and discuss wet arc welding processes, the peculiarities of underwater welding, and the use of various processes such as 111, 114 and 135 processes, underwater welding with the hybrid plasma MIG-MAG process, underwater welding with the laser wire process, underwater welding with the FSW, FSP or UWFSW processes, underwater welding with variants of the friction welding process (friction surfacing, taper stitch welding, hydro-pillar processing

Locomotor activity: A distinctive index in morphine self-administration in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jian-Jun; Kong, Qingyao

2017-01-01

Self-administration of addictive drugs is a widely used tool for studying behavioral, neurobiological, and genetic factors in addiction. However, how locomotor activity is affected during self-administration of addictive drugs has not been extensively studied. In our present study, we tested the locomotor activity levels during acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of morphine self-administration in rats. We found that compared with saline self-administration (SA), rats that trained with morphine SA had higher locomotor activity. Rats that successfully acquired SA also showed higher locomotor activity than rats that failed in acquiring SA. Moreover, locomotor activity was correlated with the number of drug infusions but not with the number of inactive pokes. We also tested the locomotor activity in the extinction and the morphine-primed reinstatement session. Interestingly, we found that in the first extinction session, although the number of active pokes did not change, the locomotor activity was significantly lower than in the last acquisition session, and this decrease can be maintained for at least six days. Finally, morphine priming enhanced the locomotor activity during the reinstatement test, regardless of if the active pokes were significantly increased or not. Our results clearly suggest that locomotor activity, which may reflect the pharmacological effects of morphine, is different from drug seeking behavior and is a distinctive index in drug self-administration.

Locomotor activity: A distinctive index in morphine self-administration in rats

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Qingyao

2017-01-01

Self-administration of addictive drugs is a widely used tool for studying behavioral, neurobiological, and genetic factors in addiction. However, how locomotor activity is affected during self-administration of addictive drugs has not been extensively studied. In our present study, we tested the locomotor activity levels during acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of morphine self-administration in rats. We found that compared with saline self-administration (SA), rats that trained with morphine SA had higher locomotor activity. Rats that successfully acquired SA also showed higher locomotor activity than rats that failed in acquiring SA. Moreover, locomotor activity was correlated with the number of drug infusions but not with the number of inactive pokes. We also tested the locomotor activity in the extinction and the morphine-primed reinstatement session. Interestingly, we found that in the first extinction session, although the number of active pokes did not change, the locomotor activity was significantly lower than in the last acquisition session, and this decrease can be maintained for at least six days. Finally, morphine priming enhanced the locomotor activity during the reinstatement test, regardless of if the active pokes were significantly increased or not. Our results clearly suggest that locomotor activity, which may reflect the pharmacological effects of morphine, is different from drug seeking behavior and is a distinctive index in drug self-administration. PMID:28380023

Visuo-locomotor control in persons with spinal cord injury in a manual or power wheelchair for direction change and obstacle circumvention.

Science.gov (United States)

Charette, Caroline; Routhier, François; McFadyen, Bradford J

2017-09-01

Many individuals, such as persons with spinal cord injury (SCI), rely on wheeled locomotion involving manual (MWC) or power (PWC) wheelchairs to navigate their environments. Yet, visuo-locomotor control underlying WC navigation in experienced users is not well understood. The objective of this study was to compare the visuo-locomotor control between MWC and PWC in individuals with SCI while changing direction and circumventing an obstacle. Participants with SCI using a MWC (n = 12, 38.5 ± 10.7 years) or a PWC (n = 10, 47.8 ± 8.6 years) were asked to maneuver their chair straight ahead, while changing direction 45° to the right, and while circumventing an obstacle to the right, all at self-selected speeds. Speed, minimal clearance, point of deviation, temporal body and WC coordination, relative timing of segment rotations and visual behavior were analyzed. There was no main effect of group for speed, clearance and point of deviation. During direction change, the head always led body and wheelchair reorientation while an "en bloc" strategy was used for circumventing obstacle for both groups. In straight-ahead locomotion, participants predominantly fixed their gaze on the end target. During direction change and obstacle circumvention, participants fixated more on the future path and the obstacle for both WC modes. Overall, specific gaze behavior depended on environmental demands. While MWC and PWC users adopt similar navigational strategies and visuo-locomotor coordination while changing direction and circumventing obstacle, there were some differences in the amount of head rotation that could be related to a counter-movement used more by PWC users.

Differential housing and novelty response: Protection and risk from locomotor sensitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia, Erik J; Haddon, Tara N; Saucier, Donald A; Cain, Mary E

2017-03-01

High novelty seeking increases the risk for drug experimentation and locomotor sensitization. Locomotor sensitization to psychostimulants is thought to reflect neurological adaptations that promote the transition to compulsive drug taking. Rats reared in enrichment (EC) show less locomotor sensitization when compared to rats reared in isolation (IC) or standard conditions (SC). The current research study was designed to test if novelty response contributed locomotor sensitization and more importantly, if the different housing environments could change the novelty response to protect against the development of locomotor sensitization in both adolescence and adulthood. Experiment 1: rats were tested for their response to novelty using the inescapable novelty test (IEN) and pseudorandomly assigned to enriched (EC), isolated (IC), or standard (SC) housing conditions for 30days. After housing, they were tested with IEN. Rats were then administered amphetamine (0.5mg/kg) or saline and locomotor activity was measured followed by a sensitization test 14days later. Experiment 2: rats were tested in the IEN test early adulthood and given five administrations of amphetamine (0.3mg/kg) or saline and then either stayed in or switched housing environments for 30days. Rats were then re-tested in the IEN test in late adulthood and administered five more injections of their respective treatments and tested for locomotor sensitization. Results indicate that IC and SC increased the response to novelty. EC housing decreased locomotor response to amphetamine and saline, and SC housing increased the locomotor response to amphetamine. Mediation results indicated that the late adult novelty response fully mediates the locomotor response to amphetamine and saline, while the early adulthood novelty response did not. Differential housing changes novelty and amphetamine locomotor response. Novelty response is altered into adulthood and provides evidence that enrichment can be used to reduce

Effects of respiratory muscle work on respiratory and locomotor blood flow during exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Dominelli, Paolo B; Archiza, Bruno; Ramsook, Andrew H; Mitchell, Reid A; Peters, Carli M; Molgat-Seon, Yannick; Henderson, William R; Koehle, Michael S; Boushel, Robert; Sheel, A William

2017-11-01

What is the central question of this study? Does manipulation of the work of breathing during high-intensity exercise alter respiratory and locomotor muscle blood flow? What is the main finding and its importance? We found that when the work of breathing was reduced during exercise, respiratory muscle blood flow decreased, while locomotor muscle blood flow increased. Conversely, when the work of breathing was increased, respiratory muscle blood flow increased, while locomotor muscle blood flow decreased. Our findings support the theory of a competitive relationship between locomotor and respiratory muscles during intense exercise. Manipulation of the work of breathing (WOB) during near-maximal exercise influences leg blood flow, but the effects on respiratory muscle blood flow are equivocal. We sought to assess leg and respiratory muscle blood flow simultaneously during intense exercise while manipulating WOB. Our hypotheses were as follows: (i) increasing the WOB would increase respiratory muscle blood flow and decrease leg blood flow; and (ii) decreasing the WOB would decrease respiratory muscle blood flow and increase leg blood flow. Eight healthy subjects (n = 5 men, n = 3 women) performed a maximal cycle test (day 1) and a series of constant-load exercise trials at 90% of peak work rate (day 2). On day 2, WOB was assessed with oesophageal balloon catheters and was increased (via resistors), decreased (via proportional assist ventilation) or unchanged (control) during the trials. Blood flow was assessed using near-infrared spectroscopy optodes placed over quadriceps and the sternocleidomastoid muscles, coupled with a venous Indocyanine Green dye injection. Changes in WOB were significantly and positively related to changes in respiratory muscle blood flow (r = 0.73), whereby increasing the WOB increased blood flow. Conversely, changes in WOB were significantly and inversely related to changes in locomotor blood flow (r = 0.57), whereby decreasing the

Human Injury Criteria for Underwater Blasts.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel M Lance

Full Text Available Underwater blasts propagate further and injure more readily than equivalent air blasts. Development of effective personal protection and countermeasures, however, requires knowledge of the currently unknown human tolerance to underwater blast. Current guidelines for prevention of underwater blast injury are not based on any organized injury risk assessment, human data or experimental data. The goal of this study was to derive injury risk assessments for underwater blast using well-characterized human underwater blast exposures in the open literature. The human injury dataset was compiled using 34 case reports on underwater blast exposure to 475 personnel, dating as early as 1916. Using severity ratings, computational reconstructions of the blasts, and survival information from a final set of 262 human exposures, injury risk models were developed for both injury severity and risk of fatality as functions of blast impulse and blast peak overpressure. Based on these human data, we found that the 50% risk of fatality from underwater blast occurred at 302±16 kPa-ms impulse. Conservatively, there is a 20% risk of pulmonary injury at a kilometer from a 20 kg charge. From a clinical point of view, this new injury risk model emphasizes the large distances possible for potential pulmonary and gut injuries in water compared with air. This risk value is the first impulse-based fatality risk calculated from human data. The large-scale inconsistency between the blast exposures in the case reports and the guidelines available in the literature prior to this study further underscored the need for this new guideline derived from the unique dataset of actual injuries in this study.

Organization of left-right coordination in the mammalian locomotor network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butt, S. J B; Lebret, James M.; Kiehn, Ole

2002-01-01

in the spinal cords of a number of aquatic vertebrates including the Xenopus tadpole and the lamprey. However, their function in left-right coordination of limb movements in mammals is poorly understood. In this review we describe the present understanding of commissural pathways in the functioning of spinal......Neuronal circuits involved in left-right coordination are a fundamental feature of rhythmic locomotor movements. These circuits necessarily include commissural interneurons (CINs) that have axons crossing the midline of the spinal cord. The properties of CINs have been described in some detail....... Spinal CINs play an important role in the generation of locomotor output. Increased knowledge as to their function in producing locomotion is likely to provide valuable insights into the spinal networks required for postural control and walking....

Underwater Gliders by Dr. Kevin Smith [video

OpenAIRE

Naval Postgraduate School Physics

2015-01-01

NPS Physics NPS Physics Research Projects Underwater glider research is currently underway in the physics department at the naval postgraduate in Monterey Ca. Dr. Kevin Smith is a specialist in underwater acoustics and sonar systems. He and his team are currently focused on autonomous underwater gliders and developing systems capable of detecting parameters in the ocean and listening for various sources of sound.

Natural and bio-inspired underwater adhesives: Current progress and new perspectives

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Mengkui; Ren, Susu; Wei, Shicao; Sun, Chengjun; Zhong, Chao

2017-11-01

Many marine organisms harness diverse protein molecules as underwater adhesives to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Natural underwater adhesion phenomena thus provide inspiration for engineering adhesive materials that can perform in water or high-moisture settings for biomedical and industrial applications. Here we review examples of biological adhesives to show the molecular features of natural adhesives and discuss how such knowledge serves as a heuristic guideline for the rational design of biologically inspired underwater adhesives. In view of future bio-inspired research, we propose several potential opportunities, either in improving upon current L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-based and coacervates-enabled adhesives with new features or engineering conceptually new types of adhesives that recapitulate important characteristics of biological adhesives. We underline the importance of viewing natural adhesives as dynamic materials, which owe their outstanding performance to the cellular coordination of protein expression, delivery, deposition, assembly, and curing of corresponding components with spatiotemporal control. We envision that the emerging synthetic biology techniques will provide great opportunities for advancing both fundamental and application aspects of underwater adhesives.

Natural and bio-inspired underwater adhesives: Current progress and new perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mengkui Cui

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Many marine organisms harness diverse protein molecules as underwater adhesives to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Natural underwater adhesion phenomena thus provide inspiration for engineering adhesive materials that can perform in water or high-moisture settings for biomedical and industrial applications. Here we review examples of biological adhesives to show the molecular features of natural adhesives and discuss how such knowledge serves as a heuristic guideline for the rational design of biologically inspired underwater adhesives. In view of future bio-inspired research, we propose several potential opportunities, either in improving upon current L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine-based and coacervates-enabled adhesives with new features or engineering conceptually new types of adhesives that recapitulate important characteristics of biological adhesives. We underline the importance of viewing natural adhesives as dynamic materials, which owe their outstanding performance to the cellular coordination of protein expression, delivery, deposition, assembly, and curing of corresponding components with spatiotemporal control. We envision that the emerging synthetic biology techniques will provide great opportunities for advancing both fundamental and application aspects of underwater adhesives.

The effects of long-term dopaminergic treatment on locomotor behavior in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira de Almeida, Welinton Alessandro; Maculano Esteves, Andrea; Leite de Almeida-Júnior, Canuto; Lee, Kil Sun; Kannebley Frank, Miriam; Oliveira Mariano, Melise; Frussa-Filho, Roberto; Tufik, Sergio; Tulio de Mello, Marco

2014-12-01

Long-term treatments with dopaminergic agents are associated with adverse effects, including augmentation. Augmentation consists of an exacerbation of restless legs syndrome (a sleep-related movement disorder) symptoms during treatment compared to those experienced during the period before therapy was initiated. The objective of this study was to examine locomotor activity in rats after long-term dopaminergic treatment and its relationship with expression of the D2 receptor, in addition to demonstrating possible evidence of augmentation. The rats were divided into control (CTRL) and drug (Pramipexole-PPX) groups that received daily saline vehicle and PPX treatments, respectively, for 71 days. The locomotor behavior of the animals was evaluated weekly in the Open Field test for 71 days. The expression of the dopamine D2 receptor was evaluated by Western Blot analysis. The animals that received the PPX demonstrated a significant reduction in locomotor activity from day 1 to day 57 and a significant increase in immobility time from day 1 to day 64 relative to baseline values, but these values had returned to baseline levels at 71 days. No changes in the expression of the D2 receptor were demonstrated after treatment with a dopaminergic agonist. This study suggests changes in locomotor activity in rats after long-term PPX treatment that include an immediate reduction of locomotion and an increase in immobilization, and after 64 days, these values returned to baseline levels without evidence of augmentation. In addition, it was not possible to demonstrate a relationship between locomotor activity and the expression of D2 receptors under these conditions.

The effects of long-term dopaminergic treatment on locomotor behavior in rats

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira de Almeida, Welinton Alessandro; Maculano Esteves, Andrea; Leite de Almeida-Júnior, Canuto; Lee, Kil Sun; Kannebley Frank, Miriam; Oliveira Mariano, Melise; Frussa-Filho, Roberto; Tufik, Sergio; Tulio de Mello, Marco

2014-01-01

Long-term treatments with dopaminergic agents are associated with adverse effects, including augmentation. Augmentation consists of an exacerbation of restless legs syndrome (a sleep-related movement disorder) symptoms during treatment compared to those experienced during the period before therapy was initiated. The objective of this study was to examine locomotor activity in rats after long-term dopaminergic treatment and its relationship with expression of the D2 receptor, in addition to demonstrating possible evidence of augmentation. The rats were divided into control (CTRL) and drug (Pramipexole—PPX) groups that received daily saline vehicle and PPX treatments, respectively, for 71 days. The locomotor behavior of the animals was evaluated weekly in the Open Field test for 71 days. The expression of the dopamine D2 receptor was evaluated by Western Blot analysis. The animals that received the PPX demonstrated a significant reduction in locomotor activity from day 1 to day 57 and a significant increase in immobility time from day 1 to day 64 relative to baseline values, but these values had returned to baseline levels at 71 days. No changes in the expression of the D2 receptor were demonstrated after treatment with a dopaminergic agonist. This study suggests changes in locomotor activity in rats after long-term PPX treatment that include an immediate reduction of locomotion and an increase in immobilization, and after 64 days, these values returned to baseline levels without evidence of augmentation. In addition, it was not possible to demonstrate a relationship between locomotor activity and the expression of D2 receptors under these conditions. PMID:26483930

The effects of long-term dopaminergic treatment on locomotor behavior in rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Welinton Alessandro Oliveira de Almeida

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Long-term treatments with dopaminergic agents are associated with adverse effects, including augmentation. Augmentation consists of an exacerbation of restless legs syndrome (a sleep-related movement disorder symptoms during treatment compared to those experienced during the period before therapy was initiated. The objective of this study was to examine locomotor activity in rats after long-term dopaminergic treatment and its relationship with expression of the D2 receptor, in addition to demonstrating possible evidence of augmentation. The rats were divided into control (CTRL and drug (Pramipexole—PPX groups that received daily saline vehicle and PPX treatments, respectively, for 71 days. The locomotor behavior of the animals was evaluated weekly in the Open Field test for 71 days. The expression of the dopamine D2 receptor was evaluated by Western Blot analysis. The animals that received the PPX demonstrated a significant reduction in locomotor activity from day 1 to day 57 and a significant increase in immobility time from day 1 to day 64 relative to baseline values, but these values had returned to baseline levels at 71 days. No changes in the expression of the D2 receptor were demonstrated after treatment with a dopaminergic agonist. This study suggests changes in locomotor activity in rats after long-term PPX treatment that include an immediate reduction of locomotion and an increase in immobilization, and after 64 days, these values returned to baseline levels without evidence of augmentation. In addition, it was not possible to demonstrate a relationship between locomotor activity and the expression of D2 receptors under these conditions.

Underwater Ranging

OpenAIRE

S. P. Gaba

1984-01-01

The paper deals with underwater laser ranging system, its principle of operation and maximum depth capability. The sources of external noise and methods to improve signal-to-noise ratio are also discussed.

Optimal BRUVs (baited remote underwater video system) survey ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Marine protected areas (MPAs) play an important role in coastal conservation, but there is presently no uniformly applied methodology for monitoring the efficacy of coastal fish protection. Whereas underwater visual census and controlled angling surveys have been used, their skilled-labour requirements and environmental ...

Early-life risperidone enhances locomotor responses to amphetamine during adulthood.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee Stubbeman, Bobbie; Brown, Clifford J; Yates, Justin R; Bardgett, Mark E

2017-10-05

Antipsychotic drug prescriptions for pediatric populations have increased over the past 20 years, particularly the use of atypical antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone. Most antipsychotic drugs target forebrain dopamine systems, and early-life antipsychotic drug exposure could conceivably reset forebrain neurotransmitter function in a permanent manner that persists into adulthood. This study determined whether chronic risperidone administration during development modified locomotor responses to the dopamine/norepinephrine agonist, D-amphetamine, in adult rats. Thirty-five male Long-Evans rats received an injection of one of four doses of risperidone (vehicle, .3, 1.0, 3.0mg/kg) each day from postnatal day 14 through 42. Locomotor activity was measured for 1h on postnatal days 46 and 47, and then for 24h once a week over the next two weeks. Beginning on postnatal day 75, rats received one of four doses of amphetamine (saline, .3, 1.0, 3.0mg/kg) once a week for four weeks. Locomotor activity was measured for 27h after amphetamine injection. Rats administered risperidone early in life demonstrated increased activity during the 1 and 24h test sessions conducted prior to postnatal day 75. Taking into account baseline group differences, these same rats exhibited significantly more locomotor activity in response to the moderate dose of amphetamine relative to controls. These results suggest that early-life treatment with atypical antipsychotic drugs, like risperidone, permanently alters forebrain catecholamine function and increases sensitivity to drugs that target such function. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Modular diversification of the locomotor system in damselfishes (Pomacentridae).

Science.gov (United States)

Aguilar-Medrano, Rosalía; Frédérich, Bruno; Barber, Paul H

2016-05-01

As fish move and interact with their aquatic environment by swimming, small morphological variations of the locomotor system can have profound implications on fitness. Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) have inhabited coral reef ecosystems for more than 50 million years. As such, habitat preferences and behavior could significantly constrain the morphology and evolvability of the locomotor system. To test this hypothesis, we used phylogenetic comparative methods on morphometric, ecological and behavioral data. While body elongation represented the primary source of variation in the locomotor system of damselfishes, results also showed a diverse suite of morphological combinations between extreme morphologies. Results show clear associations between behavior, habitat preferences, and morphology, suggesting ecological constraints on shape diversification of the locomotor system. In addition, results indicate that the three modules of the locomotor system are weakly correlated, resulting in versatile and independent characters. These results suggest that Pomacentridae is shape may result from the interaction between (1) integrated parts of morphological variation that maintain overall swimming ability and (2) relatively independent parts of the morphology that facilitate adaptation and diversification. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Effects of nutmeg consumption on the open field locomotor activities ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... was a steady significant difference (p < 0.05) in the behaviours of line crossing and walling. There was no much significant changes (P<0.05) in the behaviours of hinding, grooming and defeacation between the Treatments and Control groups of animals. Keywords: Nutmeg, Wistar rats, Open field, Locomotor activities ...

Locomotor sensitization to ethanol: Contribution of b-Endorphin

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephani eDempsey

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Alcohol use disorders, like all drug addictions, involve a constellation of adaptive changes throughout the brain. Neural activity underlying changes in the rewarding properties of alcohol reflect changes in dopamine transmission in mesolimbic and nigrostriatal pathways and these effects are modulated by endogenous opioids such as b-Endorphin. In order to study the role of b-Endorphin in the development of locomotor sensitization to repeated EtOH exposure, we tested transgenic mice that vary in their capacity to synthesize this peptide as a result of constitutive modification of the Pomc gene. Our results indicate that mice deficient in b-Endorphin show attenuated locomotor activation following an acute injection of EtOH (2 g/kg and, in contrast to wildtype mice, fail to demonstrate locomotor sensitization after 12 days of repeated EtOH injections. These data support the idea that b-Endorphin modulates the locomotor effects of EtOH and contributes to the neuroadaptive changes associated with chronic use.

Pressure vessel made by free forming using underwater explosion

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H Iyama

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Explosive forming is one particular forming technique, in which, mostcommonly, water is used as the pressure transmission medium. In recentyears, we have done the development of the method which obtains anecessary form of the metal by the control of underwater shock wave actson the metal plate, without a metal die. On the other hand, the pressurevessel is required in various fields, but we think that the free forming usingthe underwater shock wave is advantageous in the production of pressurevessel of a simple spherical, ellipse, parabola shape. In this paper, we willintroduce an experiment and several numerical simulations that we carriedout for this technical development.

Underwater Gliders: A Review

OpenAIRE

Javaid Muhammad Yasar; Ovinis Mark; Nagarajan T; Hashim Fakhruldin B M

2014-01-01

Underwater gliders are a type of underwater vehicle that transverse the oceans by shifting its buoyancy, during which its wings develop a component of the downward motion in the horizontal plane, thus producing a forward force. They are primarily used in oceanography sensing and data collection and play an important role in ocean research and development. Although there have been considerable developments in these gliders since the development of the first glider concept in 1989, to date, no ...

Objective and quantitative equilibriometric evaluation of individual locomotor behaviour in schizophrenia: Translational and clinical implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Haralanov, Svetlozar; Haralanova, Evelina; Milushev, Emil; Shkodrova, Diana; Claussen, Claus-Frenz

2018-04-17

Psychiatry is the only medical specialty that lacks clinically applicable biomarkers for objective evaluation of the existing pathology at a single-patient level. On the basis of an original translational equilibriometric method for evaluation of movement patterns, we have introduced in the everyday clinical practice of psychiatry an easy-to-perform computerized objective quantification of the individual locomotor behaviour during execution of the Unterberger stepping test. For the last 20 years, we have gradually collected a large database of more than 1000 schizophrenic patients, their relatives, and matched psychiatric, neurological, and healthy controls via cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations. Comparative analyses revealed transdiagnostic locomotor similarities among schizophrenic patients, high-risk schizotaxic individuals, and neurological patients with multiple sclerosis and cerebellar ataxia, thus suggesting common underlying brain mechanisms. In parallel, intradiagnostic dissimilarities were revealed, which allow to separate out subclinical locomotor subgroups within the diagnostic categories. Prototypical qualitative (dysmetric and ataxic) locomotor abnormalities in schizophrenic patients were differentiated from 2 atypical quantitative ones, manifested as either hypolocomotion or hyperlocomotion. Theoretical analyses suggested that these 3 subtypes of locomotor abnormalities could be conceived as objectively measurable biomarkers of 3 schizophrenic subgroups with dissimilar brain mechanisms, which require different treatment strategies. Analogies with the prominent role of locomotor measures in some well-known animal models of mental disorders advocate for a promising objective translational research in the so far over-subjective field of psychiatry. Distinctions among prototypical, atypical, and diagnostic biomarkers, as well as between neuromotor and psychomotor locomotor abnormalities, are discussed. Conclusions are drawn about the

Altered Patterns of Reflex Excitability, Balance, and Locomotion Following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI and Locomotor Training.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prodip K Bose

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Spasticity is an important problem that complicates daily living in many individuals with SCI. While previous studies in human and animals revealed significant improvements in locomotor ability with treadmill locomotor training, it is not known to what extent locomotor training influences spasticity. In addition, it would be of considerable practical interest to know how the more ergonomically feasible cycle training compares with treadmill training as therapy to manage SCI-induced spasticity and to improve locomotor function. Our present studies were initiated to evaluate the influence of different types of locomotor training on measures of limb spasticity, gait, and reflex components that contribute to locomotion. For these studies, thirty animals received midthoracic SCI using the standard MASCIS protocol (10 g 2.5 cm weight drop. They were divided randomly into three equal groups: control (contused untrained, contused treadmill trained, and contused cycle trained. Velocity-dependent ankle torque was tested across a wide range of velocities (612 – 49 deg/sec to permit quantitation of tonic (low velocity and dynamic (high velocity contributions to lower limb spasticity. Treadmill and cycle training were started on post-injury day 8. By post-injury weeks 4 and 6, the untrained group revealed significant velocity-dependent ankle extensor spasticity, compared to pre-surgical control values. At these post-injury time points, spasticity was not observed in either of the two training groups. Instead, a significantly milder form of velocity dependent spasticity was detected at postcontusion week 8 through 12 in both treadmill and bicycle training groups at the four fastest ankle rotation velocities (350 - 612 deg/sec. Locomotor training using treadmill or bicycle also produced significant increase in the rate of recovery of limb placement measures (limb axis, base of support, and BBB and reflex rate depression, a quantitative assessment of

Underwater Calibration of Dome Port Pressure Housings

Science.gov (United States)

Nocerino, E.; Menna, F.; Fassi, F.; Remondino, F.

2016-03-01

Underwater photogrammetry using consumer grade photographic equipment can be feasible for different applications, e.g. archaeology, biology, industrial inspections, etc. The use of a camera underwater can be very different from its terrestrial use due to the optical phenomena involved. The presence of the water and camera pressure housing in front of the camera act as additional optical elements. Spherical dome ports are difficult to manufacture and consequently expensive but at the same time they are the most useful for underwater photogrammetry as they keep the main geometric characteristics of the lens unchanged. Nevertheless, the manufacturing and alignment of dome port pressure housing components can be the source of unexpected changes of radial and decentring distortion, source of systematic errors that can influence the final 3D measurements. The paper provides a brief introduction of underwater optical phenomena involved in underwater photography, then presents the main differences between flat and dome ports to finally discuss the effect of manufacturing on 3D measurements in two case studies.

Development of Testing Methodologies to Evaluate Postflight Locomotor Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Mulavara, A. P.; Peters, B. T.; Cohen, H. S.; Richards, J. T.; Miller, C. A.; Brady, R.; Warren, L. E.; Bloomberg, J. J.

2006-01-01

Crewmembers experience locomotor and postural instabilities during ambulation on Earth following their return from space flight. Gait training programs designed to facilitate recovery of locomotor function following a transition to a gravitational environment need to be accompanied by relevant assessment methodologies to evaluate their efficacy. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the operational validity of two tests of locomotor function that were used to evaluate performance after long duration space flight missions on the International Space Station (ISS).

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2005-09-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chua Kia

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system for the analysis of the terrain. The vision system developed is capable of interpreting underwater scene by extracting subjective uncertainties of the object of interest. Subjective uncertainties are further processed as multiple inputs of a fuzzy inference system that is capable of making crisp decisions concerning where to navigate. The important part of the image analysis is morphological filtering. The applications focus on binary images with the extension of gray-level concepts. An open-loop fuzzy control system is developed for classifying the traverse of terrain. The great achievement is the system's capability to recognize and perform target tracking of the object of interest (pipeline in perspective view based on perceived condition. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated by computer and prototype simulations. This work is originated from the desire to develop robotics vision system with the ability to mimic the human expert's judgement and reasoning when maneuvering ROV in the traverse of the underwater terrain.

Locomotor adaptability in persons with unilateral transtibial amputation.

Science.gov (United States)

Darter, Benjamin J; Bastian, Amy J; Wolf, Erik J; Husson, Elizabeth M; Labrecque, Bethany A; Hendershot, Brad D

2017-01-01

Locomotor adaptation enables walkers to modify strategies when faced with challenging walking conditions. While a variety of neurological injuries can impair locomotor adaptability, the effect of a lower extremity amputation on adaptability is poorly understood. Determine if locomotor adaptability is impaired in persons with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA). The locomotor adaptability of 10 persons with a TTA and 8 persons without an amputation was tested while walking on a split-belt treadmill with the parallel belts running at the same (tied) or different (split) speeds. In the split condition, participants walked for 15 minutes with the respective belts moving at 0.5 m/s and 1.5 m/s. Temporal spatial symmetry measures were used to evaluate reactive accommodations to the perturbation, and the adaptive/de-adaptive response. Persons with TTA and the reference group of persons without amputation both demonstrated highly symmetric walking at baseline. During the split adaptation and tied post-adaptation walking both groups responded with the expected reactive accommodations. Likewise, adaptive and de-adaptive responses were observed. The magnitude and rate of change in the adaptive and de-adaptive responses were similar for persons with TTA and those without an amputation. Furthermore, adaptability was no different based on belt assignment for the prosthetic limb during split adaptation walking. Reactive changes and locomotor adaptation in response to a challenging and novel walking condition were similar in persons with TTA to those without an amputation. Results suggest persons with TTA have the capacity to modify locomotor strategies to meet the demands of most walking conditions despite challenges imposed by an amputation and use of a prosthetic limb.

Plateau properties in mammalian spinal interneurons during transmitter-induced locomotor activity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiehn, O.; Johnson, B. R.; Raastad, M.

1996-01-01

We examined the organization of spinal networks controlling locomotion in the isolated spinal cord of the neonatal rat, and in this study we provide the first demonstration of plateau and bursting mechanisms in mammalian interneurons that show locomotor-related activity. Using tight-seal whole...

Engagement of the Rat Hindlimb Motor Cortex across Natural Locomotor Behaviors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DiGiovanna, J.; Dominici, N.; Friedli, L.; Rigosa, J.; Duis, S.; Kreider, J.; Beauparlant, J.; van den Brand, R.; Schieppati, M.; Micera, S.; Courtine, G.

2016-01-01

Contrary to cats and primates, cortical contribution to hindlimb locomotor movements is not critical in rats. However, the importance of the motor cortex to regain locomotion after neurological disorders in rats suggests that cortical engagement in hindlimb motor control may depend on the behavioral

Measurement and Analysis of the Diffusible Hydrogen in Underwater Wet Welding Joint

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kong Xiangfeng

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The diffusible hydrogen in steel weldments is one of the main reasons that led to hydrogen assisted cracking. In this paper, the results of literatures survey and preliminary tests of the diffusible hydrogen in underwater wet welding joint were presented. A fluid-discharge method of for measuring the diffusible hydrogen in weldment was introduced in detail. Two kinds of underwater welding electrode diffusible hydrogen are 26.5 mL/100g and 35.5 mL/100g by fluid-discharge method, which are high levels. The diffusible hydrogen of underwater welding is higher than atmospheric welding, and the result is closely related to welding material. The best way to control the diffusible hydrogen is adjusting welding material and improving fluidity of slag.

Efficacy of Static Magnetic Field for Locomotor Activity of Experimental Osteopenia

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Norimasa Taniguchi

2007-01-01

Full Text Available In order to examine the effectiveness of applying a static magnetic field (SMF for increasing bone mineral density (BMD, we assessed the degree of osteopenia by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA, the metabolism measuring system, and histological examination of bone tissue in an ovariectomized (OVX rat model. Thirty-six female Wistar rats (8 weeks old, 160–180 g were divided into three groups. The rats in the OVX-M group were exposed to SMF for 12 weeks after ovariectomy. The ovariectomized rats in the OVX-D group were not exposed to SMF as a control. The rats in the normal group received neither ovariectomy nor exposure to SMF. Twelve-week exposure to SMF in the OVX-M group inhibited the reduction in BMD that was observed in the OVX-D group. Moreover, in the OVX rats, before exposure to SMF, there was no clear difference in the level of locomotor activity between the active and resting phases, and the pattern of locomotor activity was irregular. After exposure of OVX rats to SMF, the pattern of locomotor activity became diphasic with clear active and resting phases, as was observed in the normal group. In the OVX-M group, the continuity of the trabecular bone was maintained more favorably and bone mass was higher than the respective parameters in the OVX-D group. These results demonstrate that exposure to SMF increased the level of locomotor activity in OVX rats, thereby increasing BMD.

Drosophila Clock Is Required in Brain Pacemaker Neurons to Prevent Premature Locomotor Aging Independently of Its Circadian Function.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Vaccaro

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Circadian clocks control many self-sustained rhythms in physiology and behavior with approximately 24-hour periodicity. In many organisms, oxidative stress and aging negatively impact the circadian system and sleep. Conversely, loss of the clock decreases resistance to oxidative stress, and may reduce lifespan and speed up brain aging and neurodegeneration. Here we examined the effects of clock disruptions on locomotor aging and longevity in Drosophila. We found that lifespan was similarly reduced in three arrhythmic mutants (ClkAR, cyc0 and tim0 and in wild-type flies under constant light, which stops the clock. In contrast, ClkAR mutants showed significantly faster age-related locomotor deficits (as monitored by startle-induced climbing than cyc0 and tim0, or than control flies under constant light. Reactive oxygen species accumulated more with age in ClkAR mutant brains, but this did not appear to contribute to the accelerated locomotor decline of the mutant. Clk, but not Cyc, inactivation by RNA interference in the pigment-dispersing factor (PDF-expressing central pacemaker neurons led to similar loss of climbing performance as ClkAR. Conversely, restoring Clk function in these cells was sufficient to rescue the ClkAR locomotor phenotype, independently of behavioral rhythmicity. Accelerated locomotor decline of the ClkAR mutant required expression of the PDF receptor and correlated to an apparent loss of dopaminergic neurons in the posterior protocerebral lateral 1 (PPL1 clusters. This neuronal loss was rescued when the ClkAR mutation was placed in an apoptosis-deficient background. Impairing dopamine synthesis in a single pair of PPL1 neurons that innervate the mushroom bodies accelerated locomotor decline in otherwise wild-type flies. Our results therefore reveal a novel circadian-independent requirement for Clk in brain circadian neurons to maintain a subset of dopaminergic cells and avoid premature locomotor aging in Drosophila.

Results of clinical and radiologic mass-screening tests of the locomotor system of miners in Hungary

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bene, E.; Temesvary, P.; Szilagyi, M.; Pera, F.

Clinical and radiological screening tests on the locomotor system of 250 workers being active in mines were accomplished by the authors. The test results of 125 miners working underground were compared with those of a control group consisting of equally 125 workers of the same age category, but engaged in open mining. As a result of the investigation it could be stated that miners working in underground mines were affected by diseases of the organs of motion at a very early stage, and in a greater proportion. The most serious deformations were observed with development irregularities and development variations. The development of degenerative locomotor diseases is promoted in Hungary by the working conditions prevailing underground. The completion of the examination procedure of fitness for work by clinical and radiological examinations of the locomotor system is important and highly recommended. The investigation carried out by the authors may serve as a model for the screening tests to be made on the locomotor system of industrial workers.

Effect of physical exercise prelabyrinthectomy on locomotor balance compensation in the squirrel monkey

Science.gov (United States)

Igarashi, M.; Ohashi, K.; Yoshihara, T.; MacDonald, S.

1989-01-01

This study examines the effectiveness of physical exercise, during a prepathology state, on locomotor balance compensation after subsequent unilateral labyrinthectomy in squirrel monkeys. An experimental group underwent 3 hr. of daily running exercise on a treadmill for 3 mo. prior to the surgery, whereas a control group was not exercised. Postoperatively, the locomotor balance function of both groups was tested for 3 mo. There was no significant difference in gait deviation counts in the acute phase of compensation. However, in the chronic compensation maintenance phase, the number of gait deviation counts was fewer in the exercise group, which showed significantly better performance stability.

Research on the underwater target imaging based on the streak tube laser lidar

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Zihao; Tian, Zhaoshuo; Zhang, Yanchao; Bi, Zongjie; Yang, Gang; Gu, Erdan

2018-03-01

A high frame rate streak tube imaging lidar (STIL) for real-time 3D imaging of underwater targets is presented in this paper. The system uses 532nm pulse laser as the light source, the maximum repetition rate is 120Hz, and the pulse width is 8ns. LabVIEW platform is used in the system, the system control, synchronous image acquisition, 3D data processing and display are realized through PC. 3D imaging experiment of underwater target is carried out in a flume with attenuation coefficient of 0.2, and the images of different depth and different material targets are obtained, the imaging frame rate is 100Hz, and the maximum detection depth is 31m. For an underwater target with a distance of 22m, the high resolution 3D image real-time acquisition is realized with range resolution of 1cm and space resolution of 0.3cm, the spatial relationship of the targets can be clearly identified by the image. The experimental results show that STIL has a good application prospect in underwater terrain detection, underwater search and rescue, and other fields.

Underwater 3D filming

OpenAIRE

Rinaldi, Roberto

2014-01-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space (“Gravity” ) and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. “Filming in space” was possible in “Gravity” using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Unde...

IVO develops a new repair technique for underwater sites. Viscous doughlike substance underwater cracks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klingstedt, G.; Leisio, C. [ed.

1998-07-01

A viscous sealant is revolutionizing repair of the stone and concrete masonry of underwater dams, bridges and canals. There is now no need for expensive and time-consuming cofferdams, since a diver can extrude quick-setting mortar into underwater structures needing repair. This technique has worked well in recent years in various parts of Finland even in strongly flowing water. IVO experts are now starting to look more beyond the borders of Finland

Development of underwater robot for taking off marine life

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hirai, Harumi; Wakamatsu, Kazuhiko; Ueda, Ryohei; Edahiro, Kyosuke; Hayashi, Shunichi.

1983-01-01

Fouling by marine life growths in the cooling water system at seaside power generating stations is a major problem in the maintenance of a safe and efficient operation. Ingress of released growths into the condensers and coolers often jeopardizes their tube life and performance by clogging and/or tube corrosion. Many stations are obliged to remove periodically the growths manually after drying-out the system or by divers at considerable expenditure in time and money. A new remote-controlled underwater robot is developed for brushing marine life off cooling water intake channels of thermal and nuclear power generation plants. This robot consists of an underwater working unit, a power supply system, hydraulic hose take-up unit and controlling equipment. The full hydraulically powered robot, which can be used for both open and closed conduits, permits cleaning under water intake servicing condition. It drastically reduces both time and cost. (author)

A man-made object detection for underwater TV

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Binbin; Wang, Wenwu; Chen, Yao

2018-03-01

It is a great challenging task to complete an automatic search of objects underwater. Usually the forward looking sonar is used to find the target, and then the initial identification of the target is completed by the side-scan sonar, and finally the confirmation of the target is accomplished by underwater TV. This paper presents an efficient method for automatic extraction of man-made sensitive targets in underwater TV. Firstly, the image of underwater TV is simplified with taking full advantage of the prior knowledge of the target and the background; then template matching technology is used for target detection; finally the target is confirmed by extracting parallel lines on the target contour. The algorithm is formulated for real-time execution on limited-memory commercial-of-the-shelf platforms and is capable of detection objects in underwater TV.

Design of Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tadahiro Hyakudome

2011-03-01

Full Text Available There are concerns about the impact that global warming will have on our environment, and which will inevitably result in expanding deserts and rising water levels. While a lot of underwater vehicles are utilized, AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle were considered and chosen, as the most suitable tool for conduction survey concerning these global environmental problems. AUVs can comprehensive survey because the vehicle does not have to be connected to the support vessel by tether cable. When such underwater vehicles are made, it is necessary to consider about the following things. 1 Seawater and Water Pressure Environment, 2 Sink, 3 There are no Gas or Battery Charge Stations, 4 Global Positioning System cannot use, 5 Radio waves cannot use. In the paper, outline of above and how deal about it are explained.

Distributed flow estimation and closed-loop control of an underwater vehicle with a multi-modal artificial lateral line.

Science.gov (United States)

DeVries, Levi; Lagor, Francis D; Lei, Hong; Tan, Xiaobo; Paley, Derek A

2015-03-25

Bio-inspired sensing modalities enhance the ability of autonomous vehicles to characterize and respond to their environment. This paper concerns the lateral line of cartilaginous and bony fish, which is sensitive to fluid motion and allows fish to sense oncoming flow and the presence of walls or obstacles. The lateral line consists of two types of sensing modalities: canal neuromasts measure approximate pressure gradients, whereas superficial neuromasts measure local flow velocities. By employing an artificial lateral line, the performance of underwater sensing and navigation strategies is improved in dark, cluttered, or murky environments where traditional sensing modalities may be hindered. This paper presents estimation and control strategies enabling an airfoil-shaped unmanned underwater vehicle to assimilate measurements from a bio-inspired, multi-modal artificial lateral line and estimate flow properties for feedback control. We utilize potential flow theory to model the fluid flow past a foil in a uniform flow and in the presence of an upstream obstacle. We derive theoretically justified nonlinear estimation strategies to estimate the free stream flowspeed, angle of attack, and the relative position of an upstream obstacle. The feedback control strategy uses the estimated flow properties to execute bio-inspired behaviors including rheotaxis (the tendency of fish to orient upstream) and station-holding (the tendency of fish to position behind an upstream obstacle). A robotic prototype outfitted with a multi-modal artificial lateral line composed of ionic polymer metal composite and embedded pressure sensors experimentally demonstrates the distributed flow sensing and closed-loop control strategies.

Mechanisms of Left-Right Coordination in Mammalian Locomotor Pattern Generation Circuits: A Mathematical Modeling View

Science.gov (United States)

Talpalar, Adolfo E.; Rybak, Ilya A.

2015-01-01

The locomotor gait in limbed animals is defined by the left-right leg coordination and locomotor speed. Coordination between left and right neural activities in the spinal cord controlling left and right legs is provided by commissural interneurons (CINs). Several CIN types have been genetically identified, including the excitatory V3 and excitatory and inhibitory V0 types. Recent studies demonstrated that genetic elimination of all V0 CINs caused switching from a normal left-right alternating activity to a left-right synchronized “hopping” pattern. Furthermore, ablation of only the inhibitory V0 CINs (V0D subtype) resulted in a lack of left-right alternation at low locomotor frequencies and retaining this alternation at high frequencies, whereas selective ablation of the excitatory V0 neurons (V0V subtype) maintained the left–right alternation at low frequencies and switched to a hopping pattern at high frequencies. To analyze these findings, we developed a simplified mathematical model of neural circuits consisting of four pacemaker neurons representing left and right, flexor and extensor rhythm-generating centers interacting via commissural pathways representing V3, V0D, and V0V CINs. The locomotor frequency was controlled by a parameter defining the excitation of neurons and commissural pathways mimicking the effects of N-methyl-D-aspartate on locomotor frequency in isolated rodent spinal cord preparations. The model demonstrated a typical left-right alternating pattern under control conditions, switching to a hopping activity at any frequency after removing both V0 connections, a synchronized pattern at low frequencies with alternation at high frequencies after removing only V0D connections, and an alternating pattern at low frequencies with hopping at high frequencies after removing only V0V connections. We used bifurcation theory and fast-slow decomposition methods to analyze network behavior in the above regimes and transitions between them. The model

Tracking the position of the underwater robot for nuclear reactor inspection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeo, J. W.; Kim, C. H.; Seo, Y. C.; Choi, Y. S.; Kim, S. H.

2003-01-01

The tracking procedure of the underwater mobile robot moving and submerging ahead to nuclear reactor vessel for visual inspection, which is required to find the foreign objects such as loose parts, is described. The yellowish underwater robot body tends to present a big contrast to boron solute cold water of nuclear reactor vessel, tinged with indigo by the Cerenkov effect. In this paper, we have found and tracked the positions of underwater mobile robot using the two color information, yellow and indigo. From the horizontal and vertical profiles analysis of the color image, the blue, green, and the gray component have the inferior signal-to-noise characteristics compared to the red component. The center coordinates extraction procedures areas follows. The first step is to segment the underwater robot body to cold water with indigo background. From the RGB color components of the entire monitoring image taken with the color CCD camera, we have selected the red color component. In the selected red image, we extracted the positions of the underwater mobile robot using the following process sequences; binarization, labelling, and centroid extraction techniques. In the experiment carried out at the Youngkwang unit 5 nuclear reactor vessel, we have tracked the center positions of the underwater robot submerged near the cold leg and the hot leg way, which is fathomed to 10m deep in depth. When the position of the robot vehicle fluctuates between the previous and the current image frame due to the flickering noise and light source, installed temporally in the bottom of the reactor vessel, we adaptively adjusted the ROI window. Adding the ROI windows of the previous frame to the current frame, and then setting up the ROI window of the next image frame, we can robustly track the positions of the underwater robot and control the target position's divergence. From these facts, we can conclude that using the red component from color camera is more efficient tracking method

A highly versatile autonomous underwater vehicle with biomechanical propulsion

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Simons, D.G.; Bergers, M.M.C.; Henrion, S.; Hulzenga, J.I.J.; Jutte, R.W.; Pas, W.M.G.; Van Schravendijk, M.; Vercruyssen, T.G.A.; Wilken, A.P.

2009-01-01

An autonomous underwater vehicle with a biomechanical propulsion system is a possible answer to the demand for small, silent sensor platforms in many fields. The design of Galatea, a bio-mimetic AUV, involves four aspects: hydrodynamic shape, the propulsion, the motion control systems and payload.

Fish and chips: implementation of a neural network model into computer chips to maximize swimming efficiency in autonomous underwater vehicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Blake, R W; Ng, H; Chan, K H S; Li, J

2008-09-01

Recent developments in the design and propulsion of biomimetic autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) have focused on boxfish as models (e.g. Deng and Avadhanula 2005 Biomimetic micro underwater vehicle with oscillating fin propulsion: system design and force measurement Proc. 2005 IEEE Int. Conf. Robot. Auto. (Barcelona, Spain) pp 3312-7). Whilst such vehicles have many potential advantages in operating in complex environments (e.g. high manoeuvrability and stability), limited battery life and payload capacity are likely functional disadvantages. Boxfish employ undulatory median and paired fins during routine swimming which are characterized by high hydromechanical Froude efficiencies (approximately 0.9) at low forward speeds. Current boxfish-inspired vehicles are propelled by a low aspect ratio, 'plate-like' caudal fin (ostraciiform tail) which can be shown to operate at a relatively low maximum Froude efficiency (approximately 0.5) and is mainly employed as a rudder for steering and in rapid swimming bouts (e.g. escape responses). Given this and the fact that bioinspired engineering designs are not obligated to wholly duplicate a biological model, computer chips were developed using a multilayer perception neural network model of undulatory fin propulsion in the knifefish Xenomystus nigri that would potentially allow an AUV to achieve high optimum values of propulsive efficiency at any given forward velocity, giving a minimum energy drain on the battery. We envisage that externally monitored information on flow velocity (sensory system) would be conveyed to the chips residing in the vehicle's control unit, which in turn would signal the locomotor unit to adopt kinematics (e.g. fin frequency, amplitude) associated with optimal propulsion efficiency. Power savings could protract vehicle operational life and/or provide more power to other functions (e.g. communications).

An Underwater Image Enhancement Algorithm for Environment Recognition and Robot Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kun Xie

2018-03-01

Full Text Available There are many tasks that require clear and easily recognizable images in the field of underwater robotics and marine science, such as underwater target detection and identification of robot navigation and obstacle avoidance. However, water turbidity makes the underwater image quality too low to recognize. This paper proposes the use of the dark channel prior model for underwater environment recognition, in which underwater reflection models are used to obtain enhanced images. The proposed approach achieves very good performance and multi-scene robustness by combining the dark channel prior model with the underwater diffuse model. The experimental results are given to show the effectiveness of the dark channel prior model in underwater scenarios.

Underwater fiber-wireless communication with a passive front end

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Jing; Sun, Bin; Lyu, Weichao; Kong, Meiwei; Sarwar, Rohail; Han, Jun; Zhang, Wei; Deng, Ning

2017-11-01

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel concept on underwater fiber-wireless (Fi-Wi) communication system with a fully passive wireless front end. A low-cost step-index (SI) plastic optical fiber (POF) together with a passive collimating lens at the front end composes the underwater Fi-Wi architecture. We have achieved a 1.71-Gb/s transmission at a mean BER of 4.97 × 10-3 (1.30 × 10-3 when using power loading) over a 50-m SI-POF and 2-m underwater wireless channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). Although the wireless part is very short, it actually plays a crucial role in practical underwater implementation, especially in deep sea. Compared with the wired solution (e.g. using a 52-m POF cable without the UWOC part), the proposed underwater Fi-Wi scheme can save optical wet-mate connectors that are sophisticated, very expensive and difficult to install in deep ocean. By combining high-capacity robust POF with the mobility and ubiquity of underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC), the proposed underwater Fi-Wi technology will find wide application in ocean exploration.

CFD Based Added Mass Prediction in Cruise Condition of Underwater Vehicle Dynamic

Science.gov (United States)

Agoes Moelyadi, Mochammad; Bambang Riswandi, Bagus

2018-04-01

One of the unsteady flow behavior on the hydrodynamic characteristics of underwater vehicle is the presence of added mass. In cruising conditions, the underwater vehicle may require the addition of speed or experience the disturbance in the form of unsteady flow so that cause the hydrodynamic interaction between the surface of the vehicle with the surrounding fluid. This leads to the rise of local velocity of flow and the great changes of hydrodynamic forces which are very influential on the stability of the underwater vehicle. One of the result is an additional force called added mass. It is very useful parameter to control underwater vehicle dynamic.This paper reports the research on the added mass coefficient of underwater vehicles obtained through the Computational Fluid Dynmaic (CFD) simulation method using CFX software. Added mass coefficient is calculated by performing an unsteady simulation or known as transient simulation. Computational simulations are based on the Reynold Average Navier- Stokes (RANS) equation solution. The simulated vehicle moves forward and backward according to the sinus function, with a frequency of 0.25 Hz, a 2 m amplitude, a cruising depth of 10 m below sea level, and Vcruise 1.54 m / s (Re = 9.000.000). Simulation result data includes velocity contour, variation of force and acceleration to frequency, and added mass coefficient.

Delay Tolerance in Underwater Wireless Communications: A Routing Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Safdar Hussain Bouk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Similar to terrestrial networks, underwater wireless networks (UWNs also aid several critical tasks including coastal surveillance, underwater pollution detection, and other maritime applications. Currently, once underwater sensor nodes are deployed at different levels of the sea, it is nearly impossible or very expensive to reconfigure the hardware, for example, battery. Taking this issue into account, considerable amount of research has been carried out to ensure minimum energy costs and reliable communication between underwater nodes and base stations. As a result, several different network protocols were proposed for UWN, including MAC, PHY, transport, and routing. Recently, a new paradigm was introduced claiming that the intermittent nature of acoustic channel and signal resulted in designing delay tolerant routing schemes for the UWN, known as an underwater delay tolerant network. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of underwater routing protocols with emphasis on the limitations, challenges, and future open issues in the context of delay tolerant network routing.

Rapid recovery and altered neurochemical dependence of locomotor central pattern generation following lumbar neonatal spinal cord injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Züchner, Mark; Kondratskaya, Elena; Sylte, Camilla B; Glover, Joel C; Boulland, Jean-Luc

2018-01-15

Spinal compression injury targeted to the neonatal upper lumbar spinal cord, the region of highest hindlimb locomotor rhythmogenicity, leads to an initial paralysis of the hindlimbs. Behavioural recovery is evident within a few days and approaches normal function within about 3 weeks. Fictive locomotion in the isolated injured spinal cord cannot be elicited by a neurochemical cocktail containing NMDA, dopamine and serotonin 1 day post-injury, but can 3 days post-injury as readily as in the uninjured spinal cord. Low frequency coordinated rhythmic activity can be elicited in the isolated uninjured spinal cord by NMDA + dopamine (without serotonin), but not in the isolated injured spinal cord. In both the injured and uninjured spinal cord, eliciting bona fide fictive locomotion requires the additional presence of serotonin. Following incomplete compression injury in the thoracic spinal cord of neonatal mice 1 day after birth (P1), we previously reported that virtually normal hindlimb locomotor function is recovered within about 3 weeks despite substantial permanent thoracic tissue loss. Here, we asked whether similar recovery occurs following lumbar injury that impacts more directly on the locomotor central pattern generator (CPG). As in thoracic injuries, lumbar injuries caused about 90% neuronal loss at the injury site and increased serotonergic innervation below the injury. Motor recovery was slower after lumbar than thoracic injury, but virtually normal function was attained by P25 in both cases. Locomotor CPG status was tested by eliciting fictive locomotion in isolated spinal cords using a widely used neurochemical cocktail (NMDA, dopamine, serotonin). No fictive locomotion could be elicited 1 day post-injury, but could within 3 days post-injury as readily as in age-matched uninjured control spinal cords. Burst patterning and coordination were largely similar in injured and control spinal cords but there were differences. Notably, in both groups there

A disparity between locomotor economy and territory-holding ability in male house mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Jeremy S; Ruff, James S; Potts, Wayne K; Carrier, David R

2017-07-15

Both economical locomotion and physical fighting are important performance traits to many species because of their direct influence on components of Darwinian fitness. Locomotion represents a substantial portion of the total daily energy budget of many animals. Fighting performance often determines individual reproductive fitness through the means of resource control, social dominance and access to mates. However, phenotypic traits that improve either locomotor economy or fighting ability may diminish performance in the other. Here, we tested for a predicted disparity between locomotor economy and competitive ability in wild-derived house mice ( Mus musculus ). We used 8 week social competition trials in semi-natural enclosures to directly measure male competitive ability through territorial control and female occupancy within territories. We also measured oxygen consumption during locomotion for each mouse using running trials in an enclosed treadmill and open-flow respirometry. Our results show that territory-holding males have higher absolute and mass-specific oxygen consumption when running (i.e. reduced locomotor economy) compared with males that do not control territories. This relationship was present both before and after 8 week competition trials in semi-natural enclosures. This disparity between physical competitive ability and economical locomotion may impose viability costs on males in species for which competition over mates is common and may constrain the evolution of behavioral and phenotypic diversity, particularly in natural settings with environmental and resource variability. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Second Order Sliding Mode Control Scheme for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle with Dynamic Region Concept

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zool H. Ismail

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The main goal in developing closed loop control system for an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV is to make a robust vehicle from natural and exogenous perturbations such as wind, wave, and ocean currents. However a well-known robust control, for instance, Sliding Mode Controller (SMC, gives a chattering effect and it influences the stability of an AUV. Furthermore, some researchers combined other controls to get better result but it tends to present long computational time and causes large energy consumption. Thus, this paper proposed a Super Twisting Sliding Mode Controller (STSMC with dynamic region concept for an AUV. STSMC or a second order SMC is adopted as a robust controller which is free from chattering effect. Meanwhile, the implementation of dynamic region is useful to reduce the energy usage. As a result, the proposed controller obtains global asymptotic stability which is validated by using Lyapunov-like function. Moreover, some simulations present the efficiency of proposed controller. In conclusion, STSMC with region based control is effective to be applied for the robust tracking of an AUV. It contributes to give a fast response when handling the perturbations, short computational time, and low energy demand.

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Palomer, Albert; Ridao, Pere; Youakim, Dina; Ribas, David; Forest, Josep; Petillot, Yvan

2018-04-04

Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF) fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS) is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Effects of sex pheromones and sexual maturation on locomotor activity in female sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)

Science.gov (United States)

Walaszczyk, Erin J.; Johnson, Nicholas S.; Steibel, Juan Pedro; Li, Weiming

2013-01-01

Synchronization of male and female locomotor rhythmicity can play a vital role in ensuring reproductive success. Several physiological and environmental factors alter these locomotor rhythms. As sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, progress through their life cycle, their locomotor activity rhythm changes multiple times. The goal of this study was to elucidate the activity patterns of adult female sea lamprey during the sexual maturation process and discern the interactions of these patterns with exposure to male pheromones. During these stages, preovulated and ovulated adult females are exposed to sex pheromone compounds, which are released by spermiated males and attract ovulated females to the nest for spawning. The locomotor behavior of adult females was monitored in a natural stream with a passive integrated tag responder system as they matured, and they were exposed to a sex pheromone treatment (spermiated male washings) or a control (prespermiated male washings). Results showed that, dependent on the hour of day, male sex pheromone compounds reduce total activity (p reproductive synchrony of mature adults, thus increasing reproductive success in this species.

20-meter underwater wireless optical communication link with 15 Gbps data rate

KAUST Repository

Shen, Chao

2016-10-24

The video streaming, data transmission, and remote control in underwater call for high speed (Gbps) communication link with a long channel length (∼10 meters). We present a compact and low power consumption underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system utilizing a 450-nm laser diode (LD) and a Si avalanche photodetector. With the LD operating at a driving current of 80 mA with an optical power of 51.3 mW, we demonstrated a high-speed UWOC link offering a data rate up to 2 Gbps over a 12-meter-long, and 1.5 Gbps over a record 20-meter-long underwater channel. The measured bit-error rate (BER) are 2.8 × 10-5, and 3.0 × 10-3, respectively, which pass well the forward error correction (FEC) criterion. © 2016 Optical Society of America.

20-meter underwater wireless optical communication link with 15 Gbps data rate

KAUST Repository

Shen, Chao; Guo, Yong; Oubei, Hassan M.; Ng, Tien Khee; Liu, Guangyu; Park, Kihong; Ho, Kang-Ting; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ooi, Boon S.

2016-01-01

The video streaming, data transmission, and remote control in underwater call for high speed (Gbps) communication link with a long channel length (∼10 meters). We present a compact and low power consumption underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system utilizing a 450-nm laser diode (LD) and a Si avalanche photodetector. With the LD operating at a driving current of 80 mA with an optical power of 51.3 mW, we demonstrated a high-speed UWOC link offering a data rate up to 2 Gbps over a 12-meter-long, and 1.5 Gbps over a record 20-meter-long underwater channel. The measured bit-error rate (BER) are 2.8 × 10-5, and 3.0 × 10-3, respectively, which pass well the forward error correction (FEC) criterion. © 2016 Optical Society of America.

A neurorobotic platform for locomotor prosthetic development in rats and mice

Science.gov (United States)

von Zitzewitz, Joachim; Asboth, Leonie; Fumeaux, Nicolas; Hasse, Alexander; Baud, Laetitia; Vallery, Heike; Courtine, Grégoire

2016-04-01

Objectives. We aimed to develop a robotic interface capable of providing finely-tuned, multidirectional trunk assistance adjusted in real-time during unconstrained locomotion in rats and mice. Approach. We interfaced a large-scale robotic structure actuated in four degrees of freedom to exchangeable attachment modules exhibiting selective compliance along distinct directions. This combination allowed high-precision force and torque control in multiple directions over a large workspace. We next designed a neurorobotic platform wherein real-time kinematics and physiological signals directly adjust robotic actuation and prosthetic actions. We tested the performance of this platform in both rats and mice with spinal cord injury. Main Results. Kinematic analyses showed that the robotic interface did not impede locomotor movements of lightweight mice that walked freely along paths with changing directions and height profiles. Personalized trunk assistance instantly enabled coordinated locomotion in mice and rats with severe hindlimb motor deficits. Closed-loop control of robotic actuation based on ongoing movement features enabled real-time control of electromyographic activity in anti-gravity muscles during locomotion. Significance. This neurorobotic platform will support the study of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of locomotor prosthetics and rehabilitation using high-resolution genetic tools in rodent models.

Underwater hearing in the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Kirstin Anderson; Larsen, Ole Næsbye; Wahlberg, Magnus

2016-01-01

The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016). Prelim......The underwater hearing threshold of a great cormorant (Phalacrocroax carbo sinensis) was measured at 2 kHz using psychophysical methods. Previous in-air and underwater testing suggests that cormorants have rather poor in-air hearing compared to other birds of similar size (Johansen, 2016...

A New Resource Allocation Protocol for the Backhaul of Underwater Cellular Wireless Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Changho Yun

2018-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an underwater base station initiating (UBSI resource allocation is proposed for underwater cellular wireless networks (UCWNs, which is a new approach to determine the backhaul capacity of underwater base stations (UBSs. This backhaul is a communication link from a UBS to a UBS controller (UBSC. Contrary to conventional resource allocation protocols, a UBS initiates to re-determine its backhaul capacity for itself according to its queue status; it releases a portion of its backhaul capacity in the case of experiencing resource under-utilization, and also requests additional backhaul capacity to the UBSC if packet drops are caused due to queue-overflow. This protocol can be appropriate and efficient to the underwater backhaul link where the transmission rate is quite low and the latency is unneglectable. In order to investigate the applicability of the UBSI resource allocation protocol to the UCWN, its performance is extensively analyzed via system level simulations. In our analysis, considered performance measures include average packet drop rate, average resource utilization, average message overhead, and the reserved capacity of the UBSC. In particular, the simulation results show that our proposed protocol not only utilizes most of the given backhaul capacity (more than 90 percent of resource utilization on the average, but also reduces controlling message overheads induced by resource allocation (less than 2 controlling messages on the average. It is expected that the simulation results and analysis in this paper can be used as operating guidelines to apply our new resource allocation protocol for the UCWN.

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network

KAUST Repository

Felemban, Muhamad

2011-10-01

Almost 70% of planet Earth is covered by water. A large percentage of underwater environment is unexplored. In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the interest of exploring and monitoring underwater life among scientists and in industry. Underwater operations are extremely difficult due to the lack of cheap and efficient means. Recently, Wireless Sensor Networks have been introduced in underwater environment applications. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance limitations, which makes the relevant research issues very different from those on land. In this thesis, we investigate node placement for building an initial Underwater Wireless Sensor Network infrastructure. Firstly, we formulated the problem into a nonlinear mathematic program with objectives of minimizing the total transmission loss under a given number of sensor nodes and targeted volume. We conducted experiments to verify the proposed formulation, which is solved using Matlab optimization tool. We represented each node with a truncated octahedron to fill out the 3D space. The truncated octahedrons are tiled in the 3D space with each node in the center where locations of the nodes are given using 3D coordinates. Results are supported using ns-3 simulator. Results from simulation are consistent with the obtained results from mathematical model with less than 10% error.

Footwear and locomotor skill performance in preschoolers.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Leah E; Rudisill, Mary E; Weimar, Wendi H; Breslin, Casey M; Shroyer, Justin F; Morera, Maria

2011-10-01

The effect of footwear on locomotor skill performance was examined. 12 children (4 boys, 8 girls; M age = 56.3 mo., SD = 3.3) served as participants. Participants were randomly assigned to perform the locomotor subscale of Ulrich's Test of Gross Motor Development in two shoe conditions (Condition 1: Stride Rite athletic shoes, and Condition 2: flip flop sandals). Children scored significantly higher when wearing athletic shoes than flip-flop sandals. This finding is relevant for motor performance and safety in physical education and movement programs.

Effect of Environmental Conditions and Toxic Compounds on the Locomotor Activity of Pediculus humanus capitis (Phthiraptera: Pediculidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Ortega-Insaurralde, I; Toloza, A C; Gonzalez-Audino, P; Mougabure-Cueto, G A; Alvarez-Costa, A; Roca-Acevedo, G; Picollo, M I

2015-09-01

In this work, we evaluated the effect of environmental variables such as temperature, humidity, and light on the locomotor activity of Pediculus humanus capitis. In addition, we used selected conditions of temperature, humidity, and light to study the effects of cypermethrin and N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) on the locomotor activity of head lice. Head lice increased their locomotor activity in an arena at 30°C compared with activity at 20°C. When we tested the influence of the humidity level, the locomotor activity of head lice showed no significant differences related to humidity level, both at 30°C and 20°C. Concerning light influence, we observed that the higher the intensity of light, the slower the movement of head lice. We also demonstrated that sublethal doses of toxics may alter locomotor activity in adults of head lice. Sublethal doses of cypermethrin induced hyperactivated responses in adult head lice. Sublethal doses of DEET evocated hypoactivated responses in head lice. The observation of stereotyped behavior in head lice elicited by toxic compounds proved that measuring locomotor activity in an experimental set-up where environmental conditions are controlled would be appropriate to evaluate compounds of biological importance, such as molecules involved in the host-parasite interaction and intraspecific relationships. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

SOUNET: Self-Organized Underwater Wireless Sensor Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hee-won Kim

2017-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we propose an underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN named SOUNET where sensor nodes form and maintain a tree-topological network for data gathering in a self-organized manner. After network topology discovery via packet flooding, the sensor nodes consistently update their parent node to ensure the best connectivity by referring to the timevarying neighbor tables. Such a persistent and self-adaptive method leads to high network connectivity without any centralized control, even when sensor nodes are added or unexpectedly lost. Furthermore, malfunctions that frequently happen in self-organized networks such as node isolation and closed loop are resolved in a simple way. Simulation results show that SOUNET outperforms other conventional schemes in terms of network connectivity, packet delivery ratio (PDR, and energy consumption throughout the network. In addition, we performed an experiment at the Gyeongcheon Lake in Korea using commercial underwater modems to verify that SOUNET works well in a real environment.

SOUNET: Self-Organized Underwater Wireless Sensor Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Hee-Won; Cho, Ho-Shin

2017-02-02

In this paper, we propose an underwater wireless sensor network (UWSN) named SOUNET where sensor nodes form and maintain a tree-topological network for data gathering in a self-organized manner. After network topology discovery via packet flooding, the sensor nodes consistently update their parent node to ensure the best connectivity by referring to the timevarying neighbor tables. Such a persistent and self-adaptive method leads to high network connectivity without any centralized control, even when sensor nodes are added or unexpectedly lost. Furthermore, malfunctions that frequently happen in self-organized networks such as node isolation and closed loop are resolved in a simple way. Simulation results show that SOUNET outperforms other conventional schemes in terms of network connectivity, packet delivery ratio (PDR), and energy consumption throughout the network. In addition, we performed an experiment at the Gyeongcheon Lake in Korea using commercial underwater modems to verify that SOUNET works well in a real environment.

20-meter underwater wireless optical communication link with 1.5 Gbps data rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Chao; Guo, Yujian; Oubei, Hassan M; Ng, Tien Khee; Liu, Guangyu; Park, Ki-Hong; Ho, Kang-Ting; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ooi, Boon S

2016-10-31

The video streaming, data transmission, and remote control in underwater call for high speed (Gbps) communication link with a long channel length (~10 meters). We present a compact and low power consumption underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) system utilizing a 450-nm laser diode (LD) and a Si avalanche photodetector. With the LD operating at a driving current of 80 mA with an optical power of 51.3 mW, we demonstrated a high-speed UWOC link offering a data rate up to 2 Gbps over a 12-meter-long, and 1.5 Gbps over a record 20-meter-long underwater channel. The measured bit-error rate (BER) are 2.8 × 10-5, and 3.0 × 10-3, respectively, which pass well the forward error correction (FEC) criterion.

Output Feedback Fractional-Order Nonsingular Terminal Sliding Mode Control of Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yaoyao Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available For the 4-DOF (degrees of freedom trajectory tracking control problem of underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs in the presence of model uncertainties and external disturbances, a novel output feedback fractional-order nonsingular terminal sliding mode control (FO-NTSMC technique is introduced in light of the equivalent output injection sliding mode observer (SMO and TSMC principle and fractional calculus technology. The equivalent output injection SMO is applied to reconstruct the full states in finite time. Meanwhile, the FO-NTSMC algorithm, based on a new proposed fractional-order switching manifold, is designed to stabilize the tracking error to equilibrium points in finite time. The corresponding stability analysis of the closed-loop system is presented using the fractional-order version of the Lyapunov stability theory. Comparative numerical simulation results are presented and analyzed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Finally, it is noteworthy that the proposed output feedback FO-NTSMC technique can be used to control a broad range of nonlinear second-order dynamical systems in finite time.

3D Laser Scanner for Underwater Manipulation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Albert Palomer

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, research in autonomous underwater manipulation has demonstrated simple applications like picking an object from the sea floor, turning a valve or plugging and unplugging a connector. These are fairly simple tasks compared with those already demonstrated by the mobile robotics community, which include, among others, safe arm motion within areas populated with a priori unknown obstacles or the recognition and location of objects based on their 3D model to grasp them. Kinect-like 3D sensors have contributed significantly to the advance of mobile manipulation providing 3D sensing capabilities in real-time at low cost. Unfortunately, the underwater robotics community is lacking a 3D sensor with similar capabilities to provide rich 3D information of the work space. In this paper, we present a new underwater 3D laser scanner and demonstrate its capabilities for underwater manipulation. In order to use this sensor in conjunction with manipulators, a calibration method to find the relative position between the manipulator and the 3D laser scanner is presented. Then, two different advanced underwater manipulation tasks beyond the state of the art are demonstrated using two different manipulation systems. First, an eight Degrees of Freedom (DoF fixed-base manipulator system is used to demonstrate arm motion within a work space populated with a priori unknown fixed obstacles. Next, an eight DoF free floating Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System (UVMS is used to autonomously grasp an object from the bottom of a water tank.

Equipment and appliances for underwater operations. Pt. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krueger, P.

1976-01-01

The 6/75 edition of 'mt' reported on the 'ARGE underwater appliances' and the study on 'design development of appliances and equipment for underwater use' in a brief summary. One of these designs, the 'unmanned DSWS underwater appliance' was described in detail. The present article describes three further design developments mentioned in the above study and which are based on unmanned appliances connected to the mother-ship. These designs were developed by Preussag-Meerestechnik. (orig.) [de

Underwater cladding with laser beam and plasma arc welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, R.A.; Fusaro, R.; Jones, M.G.; Solomon, H.D.; Milian-Rodriguez, R.R.

1997-01-01

Two welding processes, plasma arc (transferred arc) (PTA) and laser beam, were investigated to apply cladding to austenitic stainless steels and Inconel 600. These processes have long been used to apply cladding layers , but the novel feature being reported here is that these cladding layers were applied underwater, with a water pressure equivalent to 24 m (80 ft). Being able to apply the cladding underwater is very important for many applications, including the construction of off-shore oil platforms and the repair of nuclear reactors. In the latter case, being able to weld underwater eliminates the need for draining the reactor and removing the fuel. Welding underwater in reactors presents numerous challenges, but the ability to weld without having to drain the reactor and remove the fuel provides a huge cost savings. Welding underwater in reactors must be done remotely, but because of the radioactive corrosion products and neutron activation of the steels, remote welding would also be required even if the reactor is drained and the fuel removed. In fact, without the shielding of the water, the remote welding required if the reactor is drained might be even more difficult than that required with underwater welds. Furthermore, as shall be shown, the underwater welds that the authors have made were of high quality and exhibit compressive rather than tensile residual stresses

Underwater image mosaicking and visual odometry

Science.gov (United States)

Sadjadi, Firooz; Tangirala, Sekhar; Sorber, Scott

2017-05-01

This paper summarizes the results of studies in underwater odometery using a video camera for estimating the velocity of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). Underwater vehicles are usually equipped with sonar and Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) - an integrated sensor package that combines multiple accelerometers and gyros to produce a three dimensional measurement of both specific force and angular rate with respect to an inertial reference frame for navigation. In this study, we investigate the use of odometry information obtainable from a video camera mounted on a UUV to extract vehicle velocity relative to the ocean floor. A key challenge with this process is the seemingly bland (i.e. featureless) nature of video data obtained underwater which could make conventional approaches to image-based motion estimation difficult. To address this problem, we perform image enhancement, followed by frame to frame image transformation, registration and mosaicking/stitching. With this approach the velocity components associated with the moving sensor (vehicle) are readily obtained from (i) the components of the transform matrix at each frame; (ii) information about the height of the vehicle above the seabed; and (iii) the sensor resolution. Preliminary results are presented.

Underwater Gliders: A Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javaid Muhammad Yasar

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Underwater gliders are a type of underwater vehicle that transverse the oceans by shifting its buoyancy, during which its wings develop a component of the downward motion in the horizontal plane, thus producing a forward force. They are primarily used in oceanography sensing and data collection and play an important role in ocean research and development. Although there have been considerable developments in these gliders since the development of the first glider concept in 1989, to date, no review of these gliders have been done. This paper reviews existing underwater gliders, with emphasis on their respective working principles, range and payload capacity. All information on gliders available in the public domain or published in literature from the year 2000-2013 was reviewed. The majority of these gliders have an operational depth of 1000 m and a payload of less than 25 kg. The exception is a blend-body shape glider, which has a payload of approximately 800 kg and an operational depth around about 300 m. However, the commercialization of these gliders has been limited with only three know examples that have been successfully commercialized.

Underwater Object Segmentation Based on Optical Features

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhe Chen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater optical environments are seriously affected by various optical inputs, such as artificial light, sky light, and ambient scattered light. The latter two can block underwater object segmentation tasks, since they inhibit the emergence of objects of interest and distort image information, while artificial light can contribute to segmentation. Artificial light often focuses on the object of interest, and, therefore, we can initially identify the region of target objects if the collimation of artificial light is recognized. Based on this concept, we propose an optical feature extraction, calculation, and decision method to identify the collimated region of artificial light as a candidate object region. Then, the second phase employs a level set method to segment the objects of interest within the candidate region. This two-phase structure largely removes background noise and highlights the outline of underwater objects. We test the performance of the method with diverse underwater datasets, demonstrating that it outperforms previous methods.

The anatomy and physiology of the locomotor system.

Science.gov (United States)

Farley, Alistair; McLafferty, Ella; Hendry, Charles

Mobilisation is one of the activities of living. The term locomotor system refers to those body tissues and organs responsible for movement. Nurses and healthcare workers should be familiar with the body structures that enable mobilisation to assist those in their care with this activity. This article outlines the structure and function of the locomotor system, including the skeleton, joints, muscles and muscle attachments. Two common bone disorders, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, are also considered.

Modelling of the underwater disposal of uranium mine tailings in Elliot Lake

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Halbert, B.E.; Scharer, J.M.; Chakravatti, J.L.; Barnes, E.

1982-01-01

Underwater disposal of uranium mine tailings from the Elliot Lake area operations offers potential advantages in controlling radon gas release, emission of airborne particulate matter, and acid production from pyrites in the tailings. In addition, the proximity of the three active properties, one owned by Denison Mines Limited and two by Rio Algom Limited, to a large deep lake has spurred interest in the concept. It has been estimated that the placement of approximately 150 million tonnes of tailings from future planned production would occupy less than 20% of the lake volume. To assess the applicability of the underwater tailings disposal concept, a multi-stage study was developed in conjunction with the regulatory agencies. The most important facet identified for investigation during the first-stage investigations was an assessment of the effects of underwater disposal on water quality in the Serpent River Basin watershed. To simulate the effects of underwater disposal, a computer simulation routine was developed and integrated with a water quality model previously developed for the Basin which predicts levels of total dissolved solids, ammonia, dissolved radium-226 and pH. The underwater disposal model component reflects the effects of direct input of tailings into the hypolimnion, the chemical/biological transformation of dissolved constituents in the water column, the reactions of pyritic tailings deposited on the bottom, and the flux of dissolved constituents from the tailings into the water column. To establish site-specific values for the underwater disposal model, field and laboratory experiments were utilized to evaluate rates of pyrite and ammonia oxidation, and pH-alkalinity relationships. The results of these studies and their use in the water quality model are discussed. In addition, the results of two model run simulations are presented. (author)

4th Pacific Rim Underwater Acoustics Conference

CERN Document Server

Xu, Wen; Cheng, Qianliu; Zhao, Hangfang

2016-01-01

These proceedings are a collection of 16 selected scientific papers and reviews by distinguished international experts that were presented at the 4th Pacific Rim Underwater Acoustics Conference (PRUAC), held in Hangzhou, China in October 2013. The topics discussed at the conference include internal wave observation and prediction; environmental uncertainty and coupling to sound propagation; environmental noise and ocean dynamics; dynamic modeling in acoustic fields; acoustic tomography and ocean parameter estimation; time reversal and matched field processing; underwater acoustic localization and communication as well as measurement instrumentations and platforms. These proceedings provide insights into the latest developments in underwater acoustics, promoting the exchange of ideas for the benefit of future research.

Sex differences in the acute locomotor response to methamphetamine in BALB/c mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohia-Nwoko, Odochi; Haile, Colin N; Kosten, Therese A

2017-06-01

Women use methamphetamine more frequently than men and are more vulnerable to its negative psychological effects. Rodent models have been an essential tool for evaluating the sex-dependent effects of psychostimulants; however, evidence of sex differences in the behavioral responses to methamphetamine in mice is lacking. In the present study, we investigated acute methamphetamine-induced (1mg/kg and 4mg/kg) locomotor activation in female and male BALB/c mice. We also evaluated whether basal locomotor activity was associated with the methamphetamine-induced locomotor response. The results indicated that female BALB/c mice displayed enhanced methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity compared to males, while basal locomotor activity was positively correlated with methamphetamine-induced activity in males, but not females. This study is the first to show sex-dependent locomotor effects of methamphetamine in BALB/c mice. Our observations emphasize the importance of considering sex when assessing behavioral responses to methamphetamine. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dismantling of JPDR reactor internals by underwater plasma arc cutting technique using robotic manipulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokota, M.

1988-01-01

The actual dismantling of JPDR started on December 4, 1986. As of now, equipment that surrounds the reactor has mostly been removed to provide working space in reactor containment prior to the dismantling of reactor internals. Some reactor internals have been successfully dismantled using the underwater arc cutting system with a robotic manipulator during the period of January to March 1988. The cutting system is composed of an underwater plasma arc cutting device and a robotic manipulator. The cut off reactor internals were core spray block, feedwater sparger and stabilizers for fuel upper grid tube. The plasma arc cutting device was developed to dismantle the reactor internals underwater. It mainly consists of a plasma torch, power and gas supply systems for the torch, and by-product treatment systems. It has the cutting ability of 130 mm thickness stainless steel underwater. The robotic manipulator has seven degrees of freedom of movement, enabling it to move in almost the same way as the arm of a human being. The arm of the robot is mounted on a supporting device which is suspended by three chains from the support structure set on a service floor. A plasma torch is griped by the robotic hand; its position to the structure to be cut is controlled from a remote control room, about 100 meters outside the reactor containment

Limitations to the Generality of Cocaine Locomotor Sensitization

OpenAIRE

Marusich, Julie A.; Branch, Marc N.; Dallery, Jesse

2008-01-01

Repeated exposure to cocaine often leads to tolerance to effects on operant behavior, whereas sensitization often develops to effects on locomotor activity. The purpose of the present set of experiments was to examine if locomotor sensitization to cocaine would develop in the presence or absence of an operant contingency in rats. In Experiment 1, rats lever pressed on an FR schedule of reinforcement, and were administered chronic cocaine. Tolerance to effects of cocaine on lever pressing deve...

The influence of underwater turbulence on optical phase measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Redding, Brandon; Davis, Allen; Kirkendall, Clay; Dandridge, Anthony

2016-05-01

Emerging underwater optical imaging and sensing applications rely on phase-sensitive detection to provide added functionality and improved sensitivity. However, underwater turbulence introduces spatio-temporal variations in the refractive index of water which can degrade the performance of these systems. Although the influence of turbulence on traditional, non-interferometric imaging has been investigated, its influence on the optical phase remains poorly understood. Nonetheless, a thorough understanding of the spatio-temporal dynamics of the optical phase of light passing through underwater turbulence are crucial to the design of phase-sensitive imaging and sensing systems. To address this concern, we combined underwater imaging with high speed holography to provide a calibrated characterization of the effects of turbulence on the optical phase. By measuring the modulation transfer function of an underwater imaging system, we were able to calibrate varying levels of optical turbulence intensity using the Simple Underwater Imaging Model (SUIM). We then used high speed holography to measure the temporal dynamics of the optical phase of light passing through varying levels of turbulence. Using this method, we measured the variance in the amplitude and phase of the beam, the temporal correlation of the optical phase, and recorded the turbulence induced phase noise as a function of frequency. By bench marking the effects of varying levels of turbulence on the optical phase, this work provides a basis to evaluate the real-world potential of emerging underwater interferometric sensing modalities.

Methodical aspects of radionuclide study of locomotor system in patients with systemic diseases of connective tissue with single photon emission computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Potsibyina, V.V.; Oderyij, Je.A.

1998-01-01

The original technique was used to examine 427 patients aged 18-64 with systemic diseases of locomotor system connective tissue and 65 controls. In addition to clinical studies, radionuclide signs of locomotor system lesions was investigated with NUCLETRON APEX SP-6 CT unit using labeled with Tc-99m and osteotropic radiopharmaceuticals

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

KAUST Repository

Felamban, M.; Shihada, Basem; Jamshaid, K.

2013-01-01

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are expected to play a vital role in the exploration and monitoring of underwater areas which are not easily reachable by humans. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance

Operational experience in underwater photogrammetry

Science.gov (United States)

Leatherdale, John D.; John Turner, D.

Underwater photogrammetry has become established as a cost-effective technique for inspection and maintenance of platforms and pipelines for the offshore oil industry. A commercial service based in Scotland operates in the North Sea, USA, Brazil, West Africa and Australia. 70 mm cameras and flash units are built for the purpose and analytical plotters and computer graphics systems are used for photogrammetric measurement and analysis of damage, corrosion, weld failures and redesign of underwater structures. Users are seeking simple, low-cost systems for photogrammetric analysis which their engineers can use themselves.

Evaluating the SCC resistance of underwater welds in sodium tetrathionate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, R.A.; Angeliu, T.M.

1997-01-01

The susceptibility of welds to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is enhanced by the surface residual tensile stresses generated by the typical welding process. However, underwater plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding has been shown to produce compressive surface residual stresses, an encouraging result if repairs of cracked boiling water reactor (BWR) components are to be made without further endangering them to SCC. This program was designed to verify that underwater PTA welds are resistant to SCC and to determine if underwater PTA welding could mitigate SCC in potentially susceptible welds. This was achieved by exposing various welds on solution annealed (SA) and SA + thermally sensitized 304 stainless steel at 25 C in a solution of 1.5 gm/liter of sodium sulfide added to 0.05M sodium tetrathionate, titrated to a pH of 1.25 with H 2 SO 4 . The autogeneous welds were produced using gas tungsten arc (GTA) and plasma transferred arc (PTA) welding under atmospheric conditions, and PTA welding underwater. After 1 hour of sodium tetrathionate exposure, GTA and air PTA welds exhibited SCC while the underwater PTA weld heat affected zones were more resistant. Underwater PTA welds bisecting a GTA weld eliminated the cracking in the GTA weld heat affected zone under certain conditions. The lack of IG cracking in the region influenced by the underwater PTA weld is consistent with the measurement of compressive surface residual stresses inherent to the underwater welding process

Locomotor problems among rural elderly population in a District of Aligarh, North India.

Science.gov (United States)

Maroof, Mohd; Ahmad, Anees; Khalique, Najam; Ansari, M Athar

2017-01-01

Locomotor functions decline with the age along with other physiological changes. This results in deterioration of the quality of life with decreased social and economic role in the society, as well as increased dependency, for the health care and other basic services. The demographic transition resulting in increased proportion of elderly may pose a burden to the health system. To find the prevalence of locomotor problems among the elderly population, and related sociodemographic factors. The study was a community-based cross-sectional study done at field practice area of Rural Health Training Centre, JN Medical College, AMU, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. A sample of 225 was drawn from 1018 elderly population aged 60 years and above using systematic random sampling with probability proportionate to size. Sociodemographic characteristics were obtained using pretested and predesigned questionnaire. Locomotor problems were assessed using the criteria used by National Sample Survey Organization. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Chi-square test was used to test relationship of locomotor problems with sociodemographic factors. P locomotor problems among the elderly population was 25.8%. Locomotor problems were significantly associated with age, gender, and working status whereas no significant association with literacy status and marital status was observed. The study concluded that approximately one-fourth of the elderly population suffered from locomotor problems. The sociodemographic factors related to locomotor problems needs to be addressed properly to help them lead an independent and economically productive life.

Dual spinal lesion paradigm in the cat: evolution of the kinematic locomotor pattern.

Science.gov (United States)

Barrière, Grégory; Frigon, Alain; Leblond, Hugues; Provencher, Janyne; Rossignol, Serge

2010-08-01

The recovery of voluntary quadrupedal locomotion after an incomplete spinal cord injury can involve different levels of the CNS, including the spinal locomotor circuitry. The latter conclusion was reached using a dual spinal lesion paradigm in which a low thoracic partial spinal lesion is followed, several weeks later, by a complete spinal transection (i.e., spinalization). In this dual spinal lesion paradigm, cats can express hindlimb walking 1 day after spinalization, a process that normally takes several weeks, suggesting that the locomotor circuitry within the lumbosacral spinal cord had been modified after the partial lesion. Here we detail the evolution of the kinematic locomotor pattern throughout the dual spinal lesion paradigm in five cats to gain further insight into putative neurophysiological mechanisms involved in locomotor recovery after a partial spinal lesion. All cats recovered voluntary quadrupedal locomotion with treadmill training (3-5 days/wk) over several weeks. After the partial lesion, the locomotor pattern was characterized by several left/right asymmetries in various kinematic parameters, such as homolateral and homologous interlimb coupling, cycle duration, and swing/stance durations. When no further locomotor improvement was observed, cats were spinalized. After spinalization, the hindlimb locomotor pattern rapidly reappeared, but left/right asymmetries in swing/stance durations observed after the partial lesion could disappear or reverse. It is concluded that, after a partial spinal lesion, the hindlimb locomotor pattern was actively maintained by new dynamic interactions between spinal and supraspinal levels but also by intrinsic changes within the spinal cord.

Potential role of resurfacing Subtropical Underwater in ENSO evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, T.; Chi, J.

2017-12-01

Results from a model of the Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) have shown that the resurfacing of high salinity Subtropical Underwater contributes to the sea surface salinity variability in the equatorial Pacific. On interannual time scale, this contribution can account for as much as 25% of the surface freshwater flux anomalies and is believed to play a role in ENSO evolution. Having these results in mind, this study investigates the surface salinity budget and its primary controls in the equatorial Pacific using ECCO output for the period 1993-2016. Particular attention is paid to 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. Preliminary analyses of the model results suggest that enhanced subsurface processes and in particular enhanced entrainment of Subtropical Underwater are primarily responsible for the positive sea surface salinity anomalies in the central equatorial Pacific during 2014/2015, which represents an opposite phase of El Niño. These subsurface processes weakened during 2015/2016, diretly contributing to the development of the 2015/2016 El Niño. The mechanisms controlling these subsurface processes are discussed.

Trade-off Analysis of Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Tuna, G.; Das, R.

2017-09-01

In the last couple of decades, Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks (UASNs) were started to be used for various commercial and non-commercial purposes. However, in underwater environments, there are some specific inherent constraints, such as high bit error rate, variable and large propagation delay, limited bandwidth capacity, and short-range communications, which severely degrade the performance of UASNs and limit the lifetime of underwater sensor nodes as well. Therefore, proving reliability of UASN applications poses a challenge. In this study, we try to balance energy consumption of underwater acoustic sensor networks and minimize end-to-end delay using an efficient node placement strategy. Our simulation results reveal that if the number of hops is reduced, energy consumption can be reduced. However, this increases end-to-end delay. Hence, application-specific requirements must be taken into consideration when determining a strategy for node deployment.

Development of underwater YAG laser repair welding robots for tanks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miwa, Yasuhiro; Satoh, Syuichi; Ito, Kosuke; Kochi, Tsutomu; Kojima, Toshio; Ohwaki, Katsura; Morita, Ichiro

1999-01-01

A remote-controlled repair welding robot which uses YAG laser welding technology in underwater environment was developed. This is an underwater robot technology combined with a laser welding technology. This report will describe the structure and performance of this robot, and the welding test results. The repair welding robot consists of two parts. The one is driving equipment, and the other is welding unit. It can swim in the tank, move around the tank wall, and stay on the welding area. After that it starts YAG laser repair welding. The target of this technology is inner surface repair of some tanks made of austenitic stainless steel, for example RW (Radioactive Waste) tanks. A degradation by General Corrosion and so on might be occurred at inner surface of these tanks in BWR type nuclear power plants. If the damaged area is wide, repair welding works are done. Some workers go into the tank and set up scaffolding after full drainage. In many cases it spends too much time for draining water and repair welding preparation. If the repair welding works can be done in underwater environment, the outage period will be reduced. This is a great advantage. (author)

Anatomía del Aparato Locomotor, 2010-11

OpenAIRE

Juanes Méndez, Juan Antonio

2010-01-01

I. Materiales de clase: 1.Sistema Oseo. Las Articulaciones: definición, clasificaciones; 2.Esqueleto Axial; 3.Esqueleto Apendicular; 4. Organización del sistema nervioso periférico. Inervación del Aparato Locomotor; 5. Sistema muscular. II. Bibliografía y atlas Establecer la correlación morfofuncional del aparato locomotor necesaria para la deducción deficitaria derivada de las alteraciones de la dinámica osteoarticular. Esta asignatura se imparte en el primer curso del Grado en Terapia Oc...

On the Impacts and Benefits of Implementing Full-Duplex Communications Links in an Underwater Acoustic Network

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Gibson, J; Larraza, A; Rice, J; Smith, K; Xie, G

2002-01-01

.... These networks may provide command and control for autonomous underwater vehicles, forward reporting by arrays of sensor grids, ad hoc communications links to covert forces, or positive control...

Acquisition and tracking for underwater optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Andrew J.; Laycock, Leslie L.; Griffith, Michael S.; McCarthy, Andrew G.; Rowe, Duncan P.

2017-10-01

There is a growing requirement to transfer large volumes of data between underwater platforms. As seawater is transmissive in the visible band, underwater optical communications is an active area of interest since it offers the potential for power efficient, covert and high bandwidth datalinks at short to medium ranges. Short range systems have been successfully demonstrated using sources with low directionality. To realise higher data rates and/or longer ranges, the use of more efficient directional beams is required; by necessity, these must be sufficiently aligned to achieve the required link margin. For mobile platforms, the acquisition and tracking of each node is therefore critical in order to establish and maintain an optical datalink. This paper describes work undertaken to demonstrate acquisition and tracking in a 3D underwater environment. A range of optical sources, beam steering technologies, and tracking sensors have been assessed for suitability. A novel scanning strategy exploiting variable beam divergence was developed to provide robust acquisition whilst minimising acquisition time. A prototype system was assembled and demonstrated in a large water tank. This utilised custom quadrant detectors based on Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) arrays for fine tracking, and a Wide Field of View (WFoV) sCMOS camera for link acquisition. Fluidic lenses provided dynamic control of beam divergence, and AC modulation/filtering enabled background rejection. The system successfully demonstrated robust optical acquisition and tracking between two nodes with only nanowatt received optical powers. The acquisition time was shown to be dependent on the initial conditions and the transmitted optical power.

Oxytocin decreases cocaine taking, cocaine seeking, and locomotor activity in female rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Kah-Chung; Zhou, Luyi; Ghee, Shannon M; See, Ronald E; Reichel, Carmela M

2016-02-01

Oxytocin has been shown to decrease cocaine taking and seeking in male rats, suggesting potential treatment efficacy for drug addiction. In the present study, we extended these findings to the assessment of cocaine seeking and taking in female rats. Further, we made direct comparisons of oxytocin's impact on cocaine induced locomotor activity in both males and females. In females, systemic oxytocin (0.3, 1.0, 3.0 mg/kg) attenuated lever pressing for cocaine during self-administration and oxytocin (1.0 mg/kg) attenuated cue-induced cocaine seeking following extinction. Cocaine increased baseline locomotor activity to a greater degree in females relative to males. Oxytocin (0.1, 0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 mg/kg) reduced cocaine-induced locomotor activity in females, but not significantly in males. These data illustrate sex similarities in oxytocin's attenuation of cocaine seeking, but sex differences in cocaine-induced locomotor effects. While reductions in cocaine seeking cannot be attributed to a reduction in locomotor activity in males, attenuation of locomotor function cannot be entirely ruled out as an explanation for a decrease in cocaine seeking in females suggesting that oxytocin's effect on cocaine seeking may be mediated by different mechanisms in male and females. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Evidence for a role of orexin/hypocretin system in vestibular lesion-induced locomotor abnormalities in rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leilei Pan

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Vestibular damage can induce locomotor abnormalities in both animals and humans. Rodents with bilateral vestibular loss showed vestibular deficits syndrome such as circling, opisthotonus as well as locomotor and exploratory hyperactivity. Previous studies have investigated the changes in the dopamine system after vestibular loss, but the results are inconsistent and inconclusive. Numerous evidences indicate that the orexin system is implicated in central motor control. We hypothesized that orexin may be potentially involved in vestibular loss-induced motor disorders. In this study, we examined the effects of arsanilate- or 3, 3′-iminodipropionitrile (IDPN-induced vestibular lesion (AVL or IVL on the orexin-A (OXA labeling in rat hypothalamus using immunohistochemistry. The vestibular lesion-induced locomotor abnormalities were recorded and verified using a histamine H4 receptor antagonist JNJ7777120 (20 mg/kg, i.p.. The effects of the orexin receptor type 1 antagonist SB334867 (16 μg, i.c.v. on these behavior responses were also investigated. At 72 h post-AVL and IVL, animals exhibited vestibular deficit syndrome and locomotor hyperactivity in the home cages. These responses were significantly alleviated by JNJ7777120 which also eliminated AVL-induced increases in exploratory behavior in an open field. The numbers of OXA-labeled neurons in the hypothalamus were significantly increased in the AVL animals at 72 h post-AVL and in the IVL animals at 24, 48 and 72 h post-IVL. SB334867 significantly attenuated the vestibular deficit syndrome and locomotor hyperactivity at 72 h post-AVL and IVL. It also decreased exploratory behavior in the AVL animals. These results suggested that the alteration of OXA expression might contribute to locomotor abnormalities after acute vestibular lesion. The orexin receptors might be the potential therapeutic targets for vestibular disorders.

Underwater image quality enhancement of sea cucumbers based on improved histogram equalization and wavelet transform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xi Qiao

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Sea cucumbers usually live in an environment where lighting and visibility are generally not controllable, which cause the underwater image of sea cucumbers to be distorted, blurred, and severely attenuated. Therefore, the valuable information from such an image cannot be fully extracted for further processing. To solve the problems mentioned above and improve the quality of the underwater images of sea cucumbers, pre-processing of a sea cucumber image is attracting increasing interest. This paper presents a new method based on contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization and wavelet transform (CLAHE-WT to enhance the sea cucumber image quality. CLAHE was used to process the underwater image for increasing contrast based on the Rayleigh distribution, and WT was used for de-noising based on a soft threshold. Qualitative analysis indicated that the proposed method exhibited better performance in enhancing the quality and retaining the image details. For quantitative analysis, the test with 120 underwater images showed that for the proposed method, the mean square error (MSE, peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR, and entropy were 49.2098, 13.3909, and 6.6815, respectively. The proposed method outperformed three established methods in enhancing the visual quality of sea cucumber underwater gray image.

Filming Underwater in 3d Respecting Stereographic Rules

Science.gov (United States)

Rinaldi, R.; Hordosch, H.

2015-04-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie's box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity") and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

FILMING UNDERWATER IN 3D RESPECTING STEREOGRAPHIC RULES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Rinaldi

2015-04-01

Full Text Available After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity" and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Underwater filming in 3D was not that easy and effective as filming in 2D, since not long ago. After almost 3 years of research, a French, Austrian and Italian team realized a perfect tool to film underwater, in 3D, without any constrains. This allows filmmakers to bring the audience deep inside an environment where they most probably will never have the chance to be.

Low-contrast underwater living fish recognition using PCANet

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xin; Yang, Jianping; Wang, Changgang; Dong, Junyu; Wang, Xinhua

2018-04-01

Quantitative and statistical analysis of ocean creatures is critical to ecological and environmental studies. And living fish recognition is one of the most essential requirements for fishery industry. However, light attenuation and scattering phenomenon are present in the underwater environment, which makes underwater images low-contrast and blurry. This paper tries to design a robust framework for accurate fish recognition. The framework introduces a two stage PCA Network to extract abstract features from fish images. On a real-world fish recognition dataset, we use a linear SVM classifier and set penalty coefficients to conquer data unbalanced issue. Feature visualization results show that our method can avoid the feature distortion in boundary regions of underwater image. Experiments results show that the PCA Network can extract discriminate features and achieve promising recognition accuracy. The framework improves the recognition accuracy of underwater living fishes and can be easily applied to marine fishery industry.

Predictive and Reactive Locomotor Adaptability in Healthy Elderly: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Bohm, Sebastian; Mademli, Lida; Mersmann, Falk; Arampatzis, Adamantios

2015-12-01

Locomotor adaptability is based on the implementation of error-feedback information from previous perturbations to predictively adapt to expected perturbations (feedforward) and to facilitate reactive responses in recurring unexpected perturbations ('savings'). The effect of aging on predictive and reactive adaptability is yet unclear. However, such understanding is fundamental for the design and application of effective interventions targeting fall prevention. We systematically searched the Web of Science, MEDLINE, Embase and Science Direct databases as well as the reference lists of the eligible articles. A study was included if it addressed an investigation of the locomotor adaptability in response to repeated mechanical movement perturbations of healthy older adults (≥60 years). The weighted average effect size (WAES) of the general adaptability (adaptive motor responses to repeated perturbations) as well as predictive (after-effects) and reactive adaptation (feedback responses to a recurring unexpected perturbation) was calculated and tested for an overall effect. A subgroup analysis was performed regarding the factor age group [i.e., young (≤35 years) vs. older adults]. Furthermore, the methodological study quality was assessed. The review process yielded 18 studies [1009 participants, 613 older adults (70 ± 4 years)], which used various kinds of locomotor tasks and perturbations. The WAES for the general locomotor adaptability was 1.21 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68-1.74, n = 11] for the older and 1.39 (95% CI 0.90-1.89, n = 10) for the young adults with a significant (p locomotor adaptability in general and predictive and reactive adaptation in particular remain highly effective in the elderly, showing only minor, not statistically significant age-related deficits. Consequently, interventions which use adaptation and learning paradigms including the application of the mechanisms responsible for an effective predictive and reactive dynamic stability

A single exercise bout and locomotor learning after stroke: physiological, behavioural, and computational outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Charalambous, Charalambos C; Alcantara, Carolina C; French, Margaret A; Li, Xin; Matt, Kathleen S; Kim, Hyosub E; Morton, Susanne M; Reisman, Darcy S

2018-05-15

Previous work demonstrated an effect of a single high-intensity exercise bout coupled with motor practice on the retention of a newly acquired skilled arm movement, in both neurologically intact and impaired adults. In the present study, using behavioural and computational analyses we demonstrated that a single exercise bout, regardless of its intensity and timing, did not increase the retention of a novel locomotor task after stroke. Considering both present and previous work, we postulate that the benefits of exercise effect may depend on the type of motor learning (e.g. skill learning, sensorimotor adaptation) and/or task (e.g. arm accuracy-tracking task, walking). Acute high-intensity exercise coupled with motor practice improves the retention of motor learning in neurologically intact adults. However, whether exercise could improve the retention of locomotor learning after stroke is still unknown. Here, we investigated the effect of exercise intensity and timing on the retention of a novel locomotor learning task (i.e. split-belt treadmill walking) after stroke. Thirty-seven people post stroke participated in two sessions, 24 h apart, and were allocated to active control (CON), treadmill walking (TMW), or total body exercise on a cycle ergometer (TBE). In session 1, all groups exercised for a short bout (∼5 min) at low (CON) or high (TMW and TBE) intensity and before (CON and TMW) or after (TBE) the locomotor learning task. In both sessions, the locomotor learning task was to walk on a split-belt treadmill in a 2:1 speed ratio (100% and 50% fast-comfortable walking speed) for 15 min. To test the effect of exercise on 24 h retention, we applied behavioural and computational analyses. Behavioural data showed that neither high-intensity group showed greater 24 h retention compared to CON, and computational data showed that 24 h retention was attributable to a slow learning process for sensorimotor adaptation. Our findings demonstrated that acute exercise

Effect of temporal organization of the visuo-locomotor coupling on the predictive steering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yves Philippe Rybarczyk

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Studies on the direction of a driver’s gaze while taking a bend show that the individual looks towards the tangent-point of the inside curve. Mathematically, the direction of this point in relation to the car enables the driver to predict the curvature of the road. In the same way, when a person walking in the street makes a turn at the corner, his/her gaze anticipates the rotation of the body. A current explanation for the visuo-motor anticipation over the locomotion would be that the brain, involved in a steering behaviour, executes an internal model of the trajectory that anticipates the path completion, and not the contrary. This paper proposes to test this hypothesis by studying the effect of an artificial manipulation of the visuo-locomotor coupling on the trajectory prediction. In this experiment, subjects remotely control a mobile robot with a pan-tilt camera. This experimental paradigm is chosen to easily and precisely manipulate the temporal organization of the visuo-locomotor coupling. Results show that only the visuo-locomotor coupling organized from the visual sensor to the locomotor organs enables i a significant smoothness of the trajectory and ii a velocity-curvature relationship that follows the 2/3 Power Law. These findings are consistent with the theory of an anticipatory construction of an internal model of the trajectory. This mental representation used by the brain as a forward prediction of the path formation seems conditioned by the motor program. The overall results are discussed in terms of the sensorimotor scheme bases of the predictive coding.

Modular Diversification of the Locomotor System in Damselfishes (Pomacentridae)

OpenAIRE

Aguilar-Medrano, Rosalia; Frederich, Bruno; Barber, Paul H.

2016-01-01

As fish move and interact with their aquatic environment by swimming, small morphological variations of the locomotor system can have profound implications on fitness. Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) have inhabited coral reef ecosystems for more than 50 million years. As such, habitat preferences and behavior could significantly constrain the morphology and evolvability of the locomotor system. To test this hypothesis, we used phylogenetic comparative methods on morphometric, ecological and beha...

WODA technical guidance on underwater sound from dredging

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomsen, F.; Borsani, F.; Clarke, D.; Jong, C. de; Wit, P. de; Goethals, F.; Holtkamp, M.; Martin, E.S.; Spadaro, P.; Raalte, G. van; Victor, G.Y.V.; Jensen, A.

2016-01-01

The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic

Underwater laser imaging system (UWLIS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

DeLong, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1994-11-15

Practical limitations with underwater imaging systems area reached when the noise in the back scattered radiation generated in the water between the imaging system and the target obscures the spatial contrast and resolution necessary for target discovery and identification. The advent of high power lasers operating in the blue-green portion of the visible spectrum (oceanic transmission window) has led to improved experimental illumination systems for underwater imaging. Range-gated and synchronously scanned devices take advantage of the unique temporal and spatial coherence properties of laser radiation, respectively, to overcome the deleterious effects of common volume back scatter.

Construction Method of the Topographical Features Model for Underwater Terrain Navigation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Lihui

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Terrain database is the reference basic for autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV to implement underwater terrain navigation (UTN functions, and is the important part of building topographical features model for UTN. To investigate the feasibility and correlation of a variety of terrain parameters as terrain navigation information metrics, this paper described and analyzed the underwater terrain features and topography parameters calculation method. Proposing a comprehensive evaluation method for terrain navigation information, and constructing an underwater navigation information analysis model, which is associated with topographic features. Simulation results show that the underwater terrain features, are associated with UTN information directly or indirectly, also affect the terrain matching capture probability and the positioning accuracy directly.

Engagement of the Rat Hindlimb Motor Cortex across Natural Locomotor Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

DiGiovanna, Jack; Dominici, Nadia; Friedli, Lucia; Rigosa, Jacopo; Duis, Simone; Kreider, Julie; Beauparlant, Janine; van den Brand, Rubia; Schieppati, Marco; Micera, Silvestro; Courtine, Grégoire

2016-10-05

Contrary to cats and primates, cortical contribution to hindlimb locomotor movements is not critical in rats. However, the importance of the motor cortex to regain locomotion after neurological disorders in rats suggests that cortical engagement in hindlimb motor control may depend on the behavioral context. To investigate this possibility, we recorded whole-body kinematics, muscle synergies, and hindlimb motor cortex modulation in freely moving rats performing a range of natural locomotor procedures. We found that the activation of hindlimb motor cortex preceded gait initiation. During overground locomotion, the motor cortex exhibited consistent neuronal population responses that were synchronized with the spatiotemporal activation of hindlimb motoneurons. Behaviors requiring enhanced muscle activity or skilled paw placement correlated with substantial adjustment in neuronal population responses. In contrast, all rats exhibited a reduction of cortical activity during more automated behavior, such as stepping on a treadmill. Despite the facultative role of the motor cortex in the production of locomotion in rats, these results show that the encoding of hindlimb features in motor cortex dynamics is comparable in rats and cats. However, the extent of motor cortex modulations appears linked to the degree of volitional engagement and complexity of the task, reemphasizing the importance of goal-directed behaviors for motor control studies, rehabilitation, and neuroprosthetics. We mapped the neuronal population responses in the hindlimb motor cortex to hindlimb kinematics and hindlimb muscle synergies across a spectrum of natural locomotion behaviors. Robust task-specific neuronal population responses revealed that the rat motor cortex displays similar modulation as other mammals during locomotion. However, the reduced motor cortex activity during more automated behaviors suggests a relationship between the degree of engagement and task complexity. This relationship

A PROPOSAL FOR A SUSTAINABLE MODEL BASED UPON UNDERWATER TOURISM RESEARCH IN AYVALIK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. GÖKDENİZ

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Underwater sports are the activities being done with the aims of witnessing the beauties, hunting, taking photos, the ecology and the archaeology of underwater analysing or finding out the human being’s boundaries by improving the physical and psychological skills of men. The initial aim of this project is to increase the underwater flora and the fauna heritage of Ayvalık and to bring them in tourism. Ayvalık is on the west coast of Turkey. It is getting more and more famous with its underwater richness. Also, to form a new underwater sports centre in order to contribute to the improvement of the region. By providing visual attractiveness, the tourists related to underwater sports will pay attention to Ayvalık and underwater tourism will contribute much to the economy of the region. The aim of this project is to improve the underwater sports which is now a hobby than a sport. In Ayvalık Underwater World study, we dealt with 247 divers and 4 underwater sports club. In this study, we analysed the expectation, satisfaction, demographic and economic level of 247 divers about the services in the region. Interview technique has been used in the study on the 4 underwater sports clubs which are hosting divers. As a conclusion, a report has been prepared in which detailed information and proposals are presented by developing a sustainable marketing model concerned with the underwater sports for those who want to possess information, shareholders of the sector and make analyse about tourism.

Accuracy Assessment of Underwater Photogrammetric Three Dimensional Modelling for Coral Reefs

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, T.; Capra, A.; Troyer, M.; Gruen, A.; Brooks, A. J.; Hench, J. L.; Schmitt, R. J.; Holbrook, S. J.; Dubbini, M.

2016-06-01

Recent advances in automation of photogrammetric 3D modelling software packages have stimulated interest in reconstructing highly accurate 3D object geometry in unconventional environments such as underwater utilizing simple and low-cost camera systems. The accuracy of underwater 3D modelling is affected by more parameters than in single media cases. This study is part of a larger project on 3D measurements of temporal change of coral cover in tropical waters. It compares the accuracies of 3D point clouds generated by using images acquired from a system camera mounted in an underwater housing and the popular GoPro cameras respectively. A precisely measured calibration frame was placed in the target scene in order to provide accurate control information and also quantify the errors of the modelling procedure. In addition, several objects (cinder blocks) with various shapes were arranged in the air and underwater and 3D point clouds were generated by automated image matching. These were further used to examine the relative accuracy of the point cloud generation by comparing the point clouds of the individual objects with the objects measured by the system camera in air (the best possible values). Given a working distance of about 1.5 m, the GoPro camera can achieve a relative accuracy of 1.3 mm in air and 2.0 mm in water. The system camera achieved an accuracy of 1.8 mm in water, which meets our requirements for coral measurement in this system.

Blue-light digital communication in underwater environments utilizing orbital angular momentum

Science.gov (United States)

Baghdady, Joshua; Miller, Keith; Osler, Sean; Morgan, Kaitlyn; Li, Wenzhe; Johnson, Eric; Cochenour, Brandon

2016-05-01

Underwater optical communication has recently become the topic of much investigation as the demands for underwater data transmission have rapidly grown in recent years. The need for reliable, high-speed, secure underwater communication has turned increasingly to blue-light optical solutions. The blue-green visible wavelength window provides an attractive solution to the problem of underwater data transmission thanks to its low attenuation, where traditional RF solutions used in free-space communications collapse. Beginning with GaN laser diodes as the optical source, this work explores the encoding and transmission of digital data across underwater environments of varying turbidities. Given the challenges present in an underwater environment, such as the mechanical and optical turbulences that make proper alignment difficult to maintain, it is desirable to achieve extremely high data rates in order to allow the time window of alignment between the transmitter and receiver to be as small as possible. In this paper, work is done to increase underwater data rates through the use of orbital angular momentum. Results are shown for a range of data rates across a variety of channel types ranging in turbidity from that of a clear ocean to a dirty harbor.

Underwater 3D Surface Measurement Using Fringe Projection Based Scanning Devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Bräuer-Burchardt, Christian; Heinze, Matthias; Schmidt, Ingo; Kühmstedt, Peter; Notni, Gunther

2015-12-23

In this work we show the principle of optical 3D surface measurements based on the fringe projection technique for underwater applications. The challenges of underwater use of this technique are shown and discussed in comparison with the classical application. We describe an extended camera model which takes refraction effects into account as well as a proposal of an effective, low-effort calibration procedure for underwater optical stereo scanners. This calibration technique combines a classical air calibration based on the pinhole model with ray-based modeling and requires only a few underwater recordings of an object of known length and a planar surface. We demonstrate a new underwater 3D scanning device based on the fringe projection technique. It has a weight of about 10 kg and the maximal water depth for application of the scanner is 40 m. It covers an underwater measurement volume of 250 mm × 200 mm × 120 mm. The surface of the measurement objects is captured with a lateral resolution of 150 μm in a third of a second. Calibration evaluation results are presented and examples of first underwater measurements are given.

Single underwater image enhancement based on color cast removal and visibility restoration

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chongyi; Guo, Jichang; Wang, Bo; Cong, Runmin; Zhang, Yan; Wang, Jian

2016-05-01

Images taken under underwater condition usually have color cast and serious loss of contrast and visibility. Degraded underwater images are inconvenient for observation and analysis. In order to address these problems, an underwater image-enhancement method is proposed. A simple yet effective underwater image color cast removal algorithm is first presented based on the optimization theory. Then, based on the minimum information loss principle and inherent relationship of medium transmission maps of three color channels in an underwater image, an effective visibility restoration algorithm is proposed to recover visibility, contrast, and natural appearance of degraded underwater images. To evaluate the performance of the proposed method, qualitative comparison, quantitative comparison, and color accuracy test are conducted. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively remove color cast, improve contrast and visibility, and recover natural appearance of degraded underwater images. Additionally, the proposed method is comparable to and even better than several state-of-the-art methods.

Study of archaeological underwater finds: deterioration and conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Crisci, G. M.; La Russa, M. F.; Macchione, M.; Malagodi, M.; Palermo, A. M.; Ruffolo, S. A.

2010-09-01

This study is aimed at an assessment of the methodologies, instruments and new applications for underwater archaeology. Research focused on study of the various kinds of degradation affecting underwater finds and stone materials aged in underwater environment, efficiency evaluation of various surface cleaning methods and study and mixing of protective products with consolidating resins and antimicrobial biocides to be applied to restored underwater finds. Transmitted light optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to study surface biofilms and the interactions with samples of different stone materials such as brick, marble and granite immersed in the submarine archaeological area of Crotone (South of Italy). Surface cleaning tests were performed with application of ion exchange resins, EDTA, hydrogen peroxide and ultrasound techniques. Capillary water absorption, simulated solar ageing and colourimetric measurements were carried out to evaluate hydrophobic and consolidant properties; to assess biocidal efficacy, heterotrophic micro-organisms ( Aspergillus niger) were inoculated on agar plates and growth inhibition was measured.

Efficient Weibull channel model for salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical communications

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.; Zedini, Emna; Elafandy, Rami T.; Kammoun, Abla; Ng, Tien Khee; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim; Ooi, Boon S.

2017-01-01

Recent advances in underwater wireless optical communications necessitate a better understanding of the underwater channel. We propose the Weibull model to characterize the fading of salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical channels

The ventromedial hypothalamus oxytocin induces locomotor behavior regulated by estrogen.

Science.gov (United States)

Narita, Kazumi; Murata, Takuya; Matsuoka, Satoshi

2016-10-01

Our previous studies demonstrated that excitation of neurons in the rat ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) induced locomotor activity. An oxytocin receptor (Oxtr) exists in the VMH and plays a role in regulating sexual behavior. However, the role of Oxtr in the VMH in locomotor activity is not clear. In this study we examined the roles of oxytocin in the VMH in running behavior, and also investigated the involvement of estrogen in this behavioral change. Microinjection of oxytocin into the VMH induced a dose-dependent increase in the running behavior in male rats. The oxytocin-induced running activity was inhibited by simultaneous injection of Oxtr-antagonist, (d(CH2)5(1), Try(Me)(2), Orn(8))-oxytocin. Oxytocin injection also induced running behavior in ovariectomized (OVX) female rats. Pretreatment of the OVX rats with estrogen augmented the oxytocin-induced running activity twofold, and increased the Oxtr mRNA in the VMH threefold. During the estrus cycle locomotor activity spontaneously increased in the dark period of proestrus. The Oxtr mRNA was up-regulated in the proestrus afternoon. Blockade of oxytocin neurotransmission by its antagonist before the onset of the dark period of proestrus decreased the following nocturnal locomotor activity. These findings demonstrate that Oxtr in the VMH is involved in the induction of running behavior and that estrogen facilitates this effect by means of Oxtr up-regulation, suggesting the involvement of oxytocin in the locomotor activity of proestrus female rats. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Underwater laser cutting of metallic structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alfille, J.P.; Schildknecht, J.; Ramaswami, V.S.

1993-01-01

In the frame of an european contract, the feasibility of the underwater cutting with a CO 2 laser power is studied. The aim of this work is the dismantling metallic structures of reactors pools. The paper analyzes the general concept of the experimental device, the underwater cutting head, the experimenting vessel, examples of cuttings in dismantling situation with a 500 W CO 2 laser, and examples of cuttings with a 5 kW CO 2 laser. (author). 2 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

Digital sonar design in underwater acoustics principles and applications

CERN Document Server

Li, Qihu

2012-01-01

"Digital Sonar Design in Underwater Acoustics Principles and Applications" provides comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of research on sonar design, including the basic theory and techniques of digital signal processing, basic concept of information theory, ocean acoustics, underwater acoustic signal propagation theory, and underwater signal processing theory. This book discusses the general design procedure and approaches to implementation, the design method, system simulation theory and techniques, sonar tests in the laboratory, lake and sea, and practical validation criteria and methods for digital sonar design. It is intended for researchers in the fields of underwater signal processing and sonar design, and also for navy officers and ocean explorers. Qihu Li is a professor at the Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Underwater wireless optical communications: From system-level demonstrations to channel modelling

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.

2018-01-09

In this paper, we discuss about recent experimental advances in underwater wireless optical communications (UWOC) over various underwater channel water types using different modulation schemes as well as modelling and describing the statistical properties of turbulence-induced fading in underwater wireless optical channels using laser beam intensity fluctuations measurements.

WODA Technical Guidance on Underwater Sound from Dredging.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomsen, Frank; Borsani, Fabrizio; Clarke, Douglas; de Jong, Christ; de Wit, Pim; Goethals, Fredrik; Holtkamp, Martine; Martin, Elena San; Spadaro, Philip; van Raalte, Gerard; Victor, George Yesu Vedha; Jensen, Anders

2016-01-01

The World Organization of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) prepared a guidance paper in 2013 on dredging sound, including a summary of potential impacts on aquatic biota and advice on underwater sound monitoring procedures. The paper follows a risk-based approach and provides guidance for standardization of acoustic terminology and methods for data collection and analysis. Furthermore, the literature on dredging-related sounds and the effects of dredging sounds on marine life is surveyed and guidance on the management of dredging-related sound risks is provided.

Comparative limb proportions reveal differential locomotor morphofunctions of alligatoroids and crocodyloids

Science.gov (United States)

Iijima, Masaya; Kubo, Tai; Kobayashi, Yoshitsugu

2018-03-01

Although two major clades of crocodylians (Alligatoroidea and Crocodyloidea) were split during the Cretaceous period, relatively few morphological and functional differences between them have been known. In addition, interaction of multiple morphofunctional systems that differentiated their ecology has barely been assessed. In this study, we examined the limb proportions of crocodylians to infer the differences of locomotor functions between alligatoroids and crocodyloids, and tested the correlation of locomotor and feeding morphofunctions. Our analyses revealed crocodyloids including Gavialis have longer stylopodia (humerus and femur) than alligatoroids, indicating that two groups may differ in locomotor functions. Fossil evidence suggested that alligatoroids have retained short stylopodia since the early stage of their evolution. Furthermore, rostral shape, an indicator of trophic function, is correlated with limb proportions, where slender-snouted piscivorous taxa have relatively long stylopodia and short overall limbs. In combination, trophic and locomotor functions might differently delimit the ecological opportunity of alligatoroids and crocodyloids in the evolution of crocodylians.

Communication and cooperation in underwater acoustic networks

Science.gov (United States)

Yerramalli, Srinivas

In this thesis, we present a study of several problems related to underwater point to point communications and network formation. We explore techniques to improve the achievable data rate on a point to point link using better physical layer techniques and then study sensor cooperation which improves the throughput and reliability in an underwater network. Robust point-to-point communications in underwater networks has become increasingly critical in several military and civilian applications related to underwater communications. We present several physical layer signaling and detection techniques tailored to the underwater channel model to improve the reliability of data detection. First, a simplified underwater channel model in which the time scale distortion on each path is assumed to be the same (single scale channel model in contrast to a more general multi scale model). A novel technique, which exploits the nature of OFDM signaling and the time scale distortion, called Partial FFT Demodulation is derived. It is observed that this new technique has some unique interference suppression properties and performs better than traditional equalizers in several scenarios of interest. Next, we consider the multi scale model for the underwater channel and assume that single scale processing is performed at the receiver. We then derive optimized front end pre-processing techniques to reduce the interference caused during single scale processing of signals transmitted on a multi-scale channel. We then propose an improvised channel estimation technique using dictionary optimization methods for compressive sensing and show that significant performance gains can be obtained using this technique. In the next part of this thesis, we consider the problem of sensor node cooperation among rational nodes whose objective is to improve their individual data rates. We first consider the problem of transmitter cooperation in a multiple access channel and investigate the stability of

Hepatic mTORC1 controls locomotor activity, body temperature, and lipid metabolism through FGF21

Science.gov (United States)

Cornu, Marion; Oppliger, Wolfgang; Albert, Verena; Robitaille, Aaron M.; Trapani, Francesca; Quagliata, Luca; Fuhrer, Tobias; Sauer, Uwe; Terracciano, Luigi; Hall, Michael N.

2014-01-01

The liver is a key metabolic organ that controls whole-body physiology in response to nutrient availability. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a nutrient-activated kinase and central controller of growth and metabolism that is negatively regulated by the tumor suppressor tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (TSC1). To investigate the role of hepatic mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) in whole-body physiology, we generated liver-specific Tsc1 (L-Tsc1 KO) knockout mice. L-Tsc1 KO mice displayed reduced locomotor activity, body temperature, and hepatic triglyceride content in a rapamycin-sensitive manner. Ectopic activation of mTORC1 also caused depletion of hepatic and plasma glutamine, leading to peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α)–dependent fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) expression in the liver. Injection of glutamine or knockdown of PGC-1α or FGF21 in the liver suppressed the behavioral and metabolic defects due to mTORC1 activation. Thus, mTORC1 in the liver controls whole-body physiology through PGC-1α and FGF21. Finally, mTORC1 signaling correlated with FGF21 expression in human liver tumors, suggesting that treatment of glutamine-addicted cancers with mTOR inhibitors might have beneficial effects at both the tumor and whole-body level. PMID:25082895

Photoactivatable Mussel-Based Underwater Adhesive Proteins by an Expanded Genetic Code.

Science.gov (United States)

Hauf, Matthias; Richter, Florian; Schneider, Tobias; Faidt, Thomas; Martins, Berta M; Baumann, Tobias; Durkin, Patrick; Dobbek, Holger; Jacobs, Karin; Möglich, Andreas; Budisa, Nediljko

2017-09-19

Marine mussels exhibit potent underwater adhesion abilities under hostile conditions by employing 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA)-rich mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs). However, their recombinant production is a major biotechnological challenge. Herein, a novel strategy based on genetic code expansion has been developed by engineering efficient aminoacyl-transfer RNA synthetases (aaRSs) for the photocaged noncanonical amino acid ortho-nitrobenzyl DOPA (ONB-DOPA). The engineered ONB-DOPARS enables in vivo production of MAP type 5 site-specifically equipped with multiple instances of ONB-DOPA to yield photocaged, spatiotemporally controlled underwater adhesives. Upon exposure to UV light, these proteins feature elevated wet adhesion properties. This concept offers new perspectives for the production of recombinant bioadhesives. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Effect of injection of antisense oligodeoxynucleotides of GAD isozymes into rat ventromedial hypothalamus on food intake and locomotor activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Bannai, M; Ichikawa, M; Nishihara, M; Takahashi, M

1998-02-16

In the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) plays a role in regulating feeding and running behaviors. The GABA synthetic enzyme, glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), consists of two isozymes, GAD65 and GAD67. In the present study, the phosphorothioated antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) of each GAD isozyme were injected bilaterally into the VMH of male rats, and food intake, body weight and locomotor activity were monitored. ODNs were incorporated in the water-absorbent polymer (WAP, 0.2 nmol/microliter) so that ODNs were retained at the injection site. Each antisense ODN of GAD65 or GAD67 tended to reduce food intake on day 1 (day of injection=day 0) though not significantly. An injection combining both antisense ODNs significantly decreased food intake only on day 1, but body weight remained significantly lower than the control for 5 days. This suppression of body weight gain could be attributed to a significant increase in locomotor activity between days 3 and 5. Individual treatment with either ODNs did not change locomotor activity. The increase in daily locomotor activity in the group receiving the combined antisense ODNs occurred mainly during the light phase. Neither vehicle (WAP) nor control ODN affected food intake, body weight and locomotor activity. Histological studies indicated that antisense ODN distributed within 800 micron from the edge of the area where WAP was located 24 h after the injection gradually disappeared within days, but still remained within 300 micron m distance even 7 days after the injection. Antisense ODN was effectively incorporated by all the cell types examined, i.e., neurons, astrocytes and microglias. Further, HPLC analysis revealed that antisense ODNs of GAD isozymes, either alone or combined, decreased the content of GABA by 50% in VMH 24 h after the injection. These results indicate that suppression of GABA synthesis by either of the GAD isozymes is synergistically involved in suppressing food

Feasibility of in situ beta ray measurements in underwater environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Min; Park, Ki Hyun; Kang, Sung Won; Joo, Koan Sik

2017-09-01

We describe an attempt at the development of an in situ detector for beta ray measurements in underwater environment. The prototype of the in situ detector is based on a CaF2: Eu scintillator using crystal light guide and Si photomultiplier. Tests were conducted using various reference sources for evaluating the linearity and stability of the detector in underwater environment. The system is simple and stable for long-term monitoring, and consumes low power. We show here an effective detection distance of 7 mm and a 2.273 MeV end-point energy spectrum of 90 Sr/ 90 Y when using the system underwater. The results demonstrate the feasibility of in situ beta ray measurements in underwater environment and can be applied for designing an in situ detector for radioactivity measurement in underwater environment. The in situ detector can also have other applications such as installation on the marine monitoring platform and quantitative analysis of radionuclides. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

V3 spinal neurons establish a robust and balanced locomotor rhythm during walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Ying; Narayan, Sujatha; Geiman, Eric; Lanuza, Guillermo M; Velasquez, Tomoko; Shanks, Bayle; Akay, Turgay; Dyck, Jason; Pearson, Keir; Gosgnach, Simon; Fan, Chen-Ming; Goulding, Martyn

2008-10-09

A robust and well-organized rhythm is a key feature of many neuronal networks, including those that regulate essential behaviors such as circadian rhythmogenesis, breathing, and locomotion. Here we show that excitatory V3-derived neurons are necessary for a robust and organized locomotor rhythm during walking. When V3-mediated neurotransmission is selectively blocked by the expression of the tetanus toxin light chain subunit (TeNT), the regularity and robustness of the locomotor rhythm is severely perturbed. A similar degeneration in the locomotor rhythm occurs when the excitability of V3-derived neurons is reduced acutely by ligand-induced activation of the allatostatin receptor. The V3-derived neurons additionally function to balance the locomotor output between both halves of the spinal cord, thereby ensuring a symmetrical pattern of locomotor activity during walking. We propose that the V3 neurons establish a regular and balanced motor rhythm by distributing excitatory drive between both halves of the spinal cord.

Hydraulic lifter for an underwater drilling rig

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Garan' ko, Yu L

1981-01-15

A hydraulic lifter is suggested for an underwater drilling rig. It includes a base, hydraulic cylinders for lifting the drilling pipes connected to the clamp holder and hydraulic distributor. In order to simplify the design of the device, the base is made with a hollow chamber connected to the rod cavities and through the hydraulic distributor to the cavities of the hydraulic cylinders for lifting the drilling pipes. The hydraulic distributor is connected to the hydrosphere through the supply valve with control in time or by remote control. The base is equipped with reverse valves whose outlets are on the support surface of the base.

A bio-inspired electrocommunication system for small underwater robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Liu, Jindong; Xie, Guangming; Wen, Li; Zhang, Jianwei

2017-03-29

Weakly electric fishes (Gymnotid and Mormyrid) use an electric field to communicate efficiently (termed electrocommunication) in the turbid waters of confined spaces where other communication modalities fail. Inspired by this biological phenomenon, we design an artificial electrocommunication system for small underwater robots and explore the capabilities of such an underwater robotic communication system. An analytical model for electrocommunication is derived to predict the effect of the key parameters such as electrode distance and emitter current of the system on the communication performance. According to this model, a low-dissipation, and small-sized electrocommunication system is proposed and integrated into a small robotic fish. We characterize the communication performance of the robot in still water, flowing water, water with obstacles and natural water conditions. The results show that underwater robots are able to communicate electrically at a speed of around 1 k baud within about 3 m with a low power consumption (less than 1 W). In addition, we demonstrate that two leader-follower robots successfully achieve motion synchronization through electrocommunication in the three-dimensional underwater space, indicating that this bio-inspired electrocommunication system is a promising setup for the interaction of small underwater robots.

UTOFIA: an underwater time-of-flight image acquisition system

Science.gov (United States)

Driewer, Adrian; Abrosimov, Igor; Alexander, Jonathan; Benger, Marc; O'Farrell, Marion; Haugholt, Karl Henrik; Softley, Chris; Thielemann, Jens T.; Thorstensen, Jostein; Yates, Chris

2017-10-01

In this article the development of a newly designed Time-of-Flight (ToF) image sensor for underwater applications is described. The sensor is developed as part of the project UTOFIA (underwater time-of-flight image acquisition) funded by the EU within the Horizon 2020 framework. This project aims to develop a camera based on range gating that extends the visible range compared to conventional cameras by a factor of 2 to 3 and delivers real-time range information by means of a 3D video stream. The principle of underwater range gating as well as the concept of the image sensor are presented. Based on measurements on a test image sensor a pixel structure that suits best to the requirements has been selected. Within an extensive characterization underwater the capability of distance measurements in turbid environments is demonstrated.

Underwater sediment-contact radiation survey method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, D.R.; St. Aubin, M.; Welch, S.J.

1991-01-01

The authors are striving to produce a practical system for mapping lateral distributions in gamma activity on submerged sediments. This is in response to the need for quality control and interpretation of data obtainable by sediment sampling and analyses near nuclear utilities. A prototype gamma probe has been constructed and tested. The prototype is essentially a background survey meter packaged in a 53-cm-long x 5.4-cm-diam waterproof vehicle. This usage-shaped vehicle is connected to a cable for towing in contact with bottom sediments of lakes, rivers, and coastal waters. This vehicle, or sediment probe as it is called, was initially developed for measuring sediment electrical conductances, a parameter that can be used to locate underwater areas of groundwater and contaminant upwelling. During towing, the probe does not roll or twist around its longitudinal axis by more than 10 deg, so that sensors, which have been fixed within the vehicle, can be oriented to look up, down, or sideways. In over 450 lin-km of underwater survey, only a single sediment probe has been irretrievably snagged on sunken rocks or other debris. Work in the Ottawa River near the Chalk River Laboratories has shown good agreement among point measurements of river sediment with continuous measurements using the moving probe

Early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation-induced walking training promotes locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, S-X; Huang, F; Gates, M; Shen, X; Holmberg, E G

2016-11-01

This is a randomized controlled prospective trial with two parallel groups. The objective of this study was to determine whether early application of tail nerve electrical stimulation (TANES)-induced walking training can improve the locomotor function. This study was conducted in SCS Research Center in Colorado, USA. A contusion injury to spinal cord T10 was produced using the New York University impactor device with a 25 -mm height setting in female, adult Long-Evans rats. Injured rats were randomly divided into two groups (n=12 per group). One group was subjected to TANES-induced walking training 2 weeks post injury, and the other group, as control, received no TANES-induced walking training. Restorations of behavior and conduction were assessed using the Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan open-field rating scale, horizontal ladder rung walking test and electrophysiological test (Hoffmann reflex). Early application of TANES-induced walking training significantly improved the recovery of locomotor function and benefited the restoration of Hoffmann reflex. TANES-induced walking training is a useful method to promote locomotor recovery in rats with spinal cord injury.

Underwater photogrammetry successful in Spain and France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1988-01-01

Underwater photogrammetry has been used to measure distortions in fuel assembly alignment pins in the upper internals of the Almarez and Dampierre PWRs. Photogrammetry is a three-dimensional precision measurement method using photographic techniques for the on-site measurement phase. On the strength of the operations at the two PWRs, underwater photogrammetry is now considered as a practical and effective technique for dimensional inspection at nuclear plants. (U.K.)

Deep Learning Methods for Underwater Target Feature Extraction and Recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gang Hu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The classification and recognition technology of underwater acoustic signal were always an important research content in the field of underwater acoustic signal processing. Currently, wavelet transform, Hilbert-Huang transform, and Mel frequency cepstral coefficients are used as a method of underwater acoustic signal feature extraction. In this paper, a method for feature extraction and identification of underwater noise data based on CNN and ELM is proposed. An automatic feature extraction method of underwater acoustic signals is proposed using depth convolution network. An underwater target recognition classifier is based on extreme learning machine. Although convolution neural networks can execute both feature extraction and classification, their function mainly relies on a full connection layer, which is trained by gradient descent-based; the generalization ability is limited and suboptimal, so an extreme learning machine (ELM was used in classification stage. Firstly, CNN learns deep and robust features, followed by the removing of the fully connected layers. Then ELM fed with the CNN features is used as the classifier to conduct an excellent classification. Experiments on the actual data set of civil ships obtained 93.04% recognition rate; compared to the traditional Mel frequency cepstral coefficients and Hilbert-Huang feature, recognition rate greatly improved.

Cocaine locomotor activation, sensitization and place preference in six inbred strains of mice

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background The expanding set of genomics tools available for inbred mouse strains has renewed interest in phenotyping larger sets of strains. The present study aims to explore phenotypic variability among six commonly-used inbred mouse strains to both the rewarding and locomotor stimulating effects of cocaine in a place conditioning task, including several strains or substrains that have not yet been characterized for some or all of these behaviors. Methods C57BL/6J (B6), BALB/cJ (BALB), C3H/HeJ (C3H), DBA/2J (D2), FVB/NJ (FVB) and 129S1/SvImJ (129) mice were tested for conditioned place preference to 20 mg/kg cocaine. Results Place preference was observed in most strains with the exception of D2 and 129. All strains showed a marked increase in locomotor activity in response to cocaine. In BALB mice, however, locomotor activation was context-dependent. Locomotor sensitization to repeated exposure to cocaine was most significant in 129 and D2 mice but was absent in FVB mice. Conclusions Genetic correlations suggest that no significant correlation between conditioned place preference, acute locomotor activation, and locomotor sensitization exists among these strains indicating that separate mechanisms underlie the psychomotor and rewarding effects of cocaine. PMID:21806802

Distributed plasticity of locomotor pattern generators in spinal cord injured patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Grasso, Renato; Ivanenko, Yuri P; Zago, Myrka; Molinari, Marco; Scivoletto, Giorgio; Castellano, Vincenzo; Macellari, Velio; Lacquaniti, Francesco

2004-05-01

Recent progress with spinal cord injured (SCI) patients indicates that with training they can recover some locomotor ability. Here we addressed the question of whether locomotor responses developed with training depend on re-activation of the normal motor patterns or whether they depend on learning new motor patterns. To this end we recorded detailed kinematic and EMG data in SCI patients trained to step on a treadmill with body-weight support (BWST), and in healthy subjects. We found that all patients could be trained to step with BWST in the laboratory conditions, but they used new coordinative strategies. Patients with more severe lesions used their arms and body to assist the leg movements via the biomechanical coupling of limb and body segments. In all patients, the phase-relationship of the angular motion of the different lower limb segments was very different from the control, as was the pattern of activity of most recorded muscles. Surprisingly, however, the new motor strategies were quite effective in generating foot motion that closely matched the normal in the laboratory conditions. With training, foot motion recovered the shape, the step-by-step reproducibility, and the two-thirds power relationship between curvature and velocity that characterize normal gait. We mapped the recorded patterns of muscle activity onto the approximate rostrocaudal location of motor neuron pools in the human spinal cord. The reconstructed spatiotemporal maps of motor neuron activity in SCI patients were quite different from those of healthy subjects. At the end of training, the locomotor network reorganized at both supralesional and sublesional levels, from the cervical to the sacral cord segments. We conclude that locomotor responses in SCI patients may not be subserved by changes localized to limited regions of the spinal cord, but may depend on a plastic redistribution of activity across most of the rostrocaudal extent of the spinal cord. Distributed plasticity underlies

The effect of explosive percentage on underwater explosion energy release of hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane and octogen based aluminized explosives

OpenAIRE

Qingjie Jiao; Qiushi Wang; Jianxin Nie; Xueyong Guo; Wei Zhang; Wenqi Fan

2018-01-01

To control the explosion energy output by optimizing explosive components is a key requirement in a number of different application areas. The effect of different Al/O Ratio on underwater explosion of aluminized explosives has been studied detailedly. However, the effect of explosive percentage in the same Al/O Ratio is rarely researched, especially for Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) based aluminized explosives. In this study, we performed the underwater explosion experiments with 1.2-...

Impact of MAC Delay on AUV Localization: Underwater Localization Based on Hyperbolic Frequency Modulation Signal.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sungryul; Yoo, Younghwan

2018-01-26

Medium Access Control (MAC) delay which occurs between the anchor node's transmissions is one of the error sources in underwater localization. In particular, in AUV localization, the MAC delay significantly degrades the ranging accuracy. The Cramer-Rao Low Bound (CRLB) definition theoretically proves that the MAC delay significantly degrades the localization performance. This paper proposes underwater localization combined with multiple access technology to decouple the localization performance from the MAC delay. Towards this goal, we adopt hyperbolic frequency modulation (HFM) signal that provides multiplexing based on its good property, high-temporal correlation. Owing to the multiplexing ability of the HFM signal, the anchor nodes can transmit packets without MAC delay, i.e., simultaneous transmission is possible. In addition, the simulation results show that the simultaneous transmission is not an optional communication scheme, but essential for the localization of mobile object in underwater.

ACCURACY ASSESSMENT OF UNDERWATER PHOTOGRAMMETRIC THREE DIMENSIONAL MODELLING FOR CORAL REEFS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Guo

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Recent advances in automation of photogrammetric 3D modelling software packages have stimulated interest in reconstructing highly accurate 3D object geometry in unconventional environments such as underwater utilizing simple and low-cost camera systems. The accuracy of underwater 3D modelling is affected by more parameters than in single media cases. This study is part of a larger project on 3D measurements of temporal change of coral cover in tropical waters. It compares the accuracies of 3D point clouds generated by using images acquired from a system camera mounted in an underwater housing and the popular GoPro cameras respectively. A precisely measured calibration frame was placed in the target scene in order to provide accurate control information and also quantify the errors of the modelling procedure. In addition, several objects (cinder blocks with various shapes were arranged in the air and underwater and 3D point clouds were generated by automated image matching. These were further used to examine the relative accuracy of the point cloud generation by comparing the point clouds of the individual objects with the objects measured by the system camera in air (the best possible values. Given a working distance of about 1.5 m, the GoPro camera can achieve a relative accuracy of 1.3 mm in air and 2.0 mm in water. The system camera achieved an accuracy of 1.8 mm in water, which meets our requirements for coral measurement in this system.

Underwater video enhancement using multi-camera super-resolution

Science.gov (United States)

Quevedo, E.; Delory, E.; Callicó, G. M.; Tobajas, F.; Sarmiento, R.

2017-12-01

Image spatial resolution is critical in several fields such as medicine, communications or satellite, and underwater applications. While a large variety of techniques for image restoration and enhancement has been proposed in the literature, this paper focuses on a novel Super-Resolution fusion algorithm based on a Multi-Camera environment that permits to enhance the quality of underwater video sequences without significantly increasing computation. In order to compare the quality enhancement, two objective quality metrics have been used: PSNR (Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and the SSIM (Structural SIMilarity) index. Results have shown that the proposed method enhances the objective quality of several underwater sequences, avoiding the appearance of undesirable artifacts, with respect to basic fusion Super-Resolution algorithms.

Restoration and Enhancement of Underwater Images Based on Bright Channel Prior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yakun Gao

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper proposed a new method of underwater images restoration and enhancement which was inspired by the dark channel prior in image dehazing field. Firstly, we proposed the bright channel prior of underwater environment. By estimating and rectifying the bright channel image, estimating the atmospheric light, and estimating and refining the transmittance image, eventually underwater images were restored. Secondly, in order to rectify the color distortion, the restoration images were equalized by using the deduced histogram equalization. The experiment results showed that the proposed method could enhance the quality of underwater images effectively.

Underwater inverse LIBS (iLIBS) for marine archaeology

Science.gov (United States)

Asmus, J.; Magde, M.; Elford, J.; Magde, D.; Parfenov, V.

2013-05-01

In recent years there have been enormous advances in nautical archaeology through developments in SONAR technologies as well as in manned and robotic submersible vehicles. The number of sunken vessel discoveries has escalated in many of the seas of the world in response to the widespread application of these and other new tools. Customarily, surviving artifacts within the debris field of a wreck are collected and then moved to laboratories, centers, or institutions for analyses and possible conservation. Frequently, the conservation phase involves chemical treatments to stabilize an artefact to standard temperature, pressure, and humidity instead of an undersea environment. Many of the artefacts encountered at an underwater site are now characterized and restored in-situ in accordance with modern trends in art conservation. Two examples of this trend are exemplified by the resting place of the wreck of the Titanic in the Atlantic and the Cancun Underwater Park in the Caribbean Sea. These two debris fields have been turned into museums for diving visitors. Several research groups have investigated the possibility of adapting the well-established analytical tool Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) to in-situ elemental analyses of underwater cultural, historic, and archaeological artefacts where discovered, rather than as a phase of a salvage operation. As the underwater laser ablation associated with LIBS generates a "snowplough" shockwave within the aqueous matrix, the atomic emission spectrum is usually severely attenuated in escaping from the target. Consequently, probative experiments to date generally invoke a submerged air chamber or air jet to isolate water from the interaction zone as well as employ more complex double-pulse lasers. These measures impose severe logistical constraints on the examination of widely dispersed underwater artefacts. In order to overcome this constraint we report on water-immersion LIBS experiments performed with oblique

SBMAC: Smart Blocking MAC Mechanism for Variable UW-ASN (Underwater Acoustic Sensor Network Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Soo-Hyun Park

2010-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, several MAC scheduling methods applicable to an underwater environment are proposed. Besides, a new marine communication system model was proposed to improve the reliability of the proposed SBMAC method. The scheme minimizes transmission of control frames except for data transmission and various transmission methods and ACK methods can be used together. Simulation models are set indices and analysis of the underwater environment is established to conduct reliable simulations. Consequently, the performance improvement of the proposed method is verified with respect to delay time, data transmission rate, memory utilization, energy efficiency, etc.

Quaternary naltrexone reverses radiogenic and morphine-induced locomotor hyperactivity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mickley, G.A.; Stevens, K.E.; Galbraith, J.A.; White, G.A.; Gibbs, G.L.

1984-04-01

The present study attempted to determine the relative role of the peripheral and central nervous system in the production of morphine-induced or radiation-induced locomotor hyperactivity of the mouse. Toward this end, we used a quaternary derivative of an opiate antagonist (naltrexone methobromide), which presumably does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Quaternary naltrexone was used to challenge the stereotypic locomotor response observed in these mice after either an i.p. injection of morphine or exposure to 1500 rads /sup 60/Co. The quaternary derivative of naltrexone reversed the locomotor hyperactivity normally observed in the C57BL/6J mouse after an injection of morphine. It also significantly attenuated radiation-induced locomotion. The data reported here support the hypothesis of endorphin involvement in radiation-induced and radiogenic behaviors. However, these conclusions are contingent upon further research which more fully evaluates naltrexone methobromide's capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier.

Visual and kinesthetic locomotor imagery training integrated with auditory step rhythm for walking performance of patients with chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jin-Seop; Oh, Duck-Won; Kim, Suhn-Yeop; Choi, Jong-Duk

2011-02-01

To compare the effect of visual and kinesthetic locomotor imagery training on walking performance and to determine the clinical feasibility of incorporating auditory step rhythm into the training. Randomized crossover trial. Laboratory of a Department of Physical Therapy. Fifteen subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis. Four locomotor imagery trainings on walking performance: visual locomotor imagery training, kinesthetic locomotor imagery training, visual locomotor imagery training with auditory step rhythm and kinesthetic locomotor imagery training with auditory step rhythm. The timed up-and-go test and electromyographic and kinematic analyses of the affected lower limb during one gait cycle. After the interventions, significant differences were found in the timed up-and-go test results between the visual locomotor imagery training (25.69 ± 16.16 to 23.97 ± 14.30) and the kinesthetic locomotor imagery training with auditory step rhythm (22.68 ± 12.35 to 15.77 ± 8.58) (P kinesthetic locomotor imagery training exhibited significantly increased activation in a greater number of muscles and increased angular displacement of the knee and ankle joints compared with the visual locomotor imagery training, and these effects were more prominent when auditory step rhythm was integrated into each form of locomotor imagery training. The activation of the hamstring during the swing phase and the gastrocnemius during the stance phase, as well as kinematic data of the knee joint, were significantly different for posttest values between the visual locomotor imagery training and the kinesthetic locomotor imagery training with auditory step rhythm (P kinesthetic locomotor imagery training than in the visual locomotor imagery training. The auditory step rhythm together with the locomotor imagery training produces a greater positive effect in improving the walking performance of patients with post-stroke hemiparesis.

Developing the content of a locomotor disability scale for adults in Bangladesh: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mahmud, Ilias; Clarke, Lynda; Ploubidis, George B

2017-01-01

Bangladesh has an estimated 17 million adults with disabilities. A significant proportion of them are believed to have locomotor disabilities. There are over 300 non-governmental organizations providing different types of rehabilitation services to them. However, there is no locally developed and validated locomotor disability measurement scale in Bangladesh. The purpose of this study was to develop a locomotor disability scale with disability indicators suitable for adults in Bangladesh. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 purposively selected adults with locomotor disabilities to generate scale items. At the second stage, cognitive interviews were conducted with 12 purposively selected adults with locomotor disabilities in order to refine the measurement questions and response categories. Data were analysed using the framework technique- identifying, abstracting, charting and matching themes across the interviews. For a locomotor disability scale, 70 activities (disability indicators) were identified: 37 mobility activities, 9 activities of daily living, 17 work/productivity activities and 7 leisure activities. Cognitive interviews revealed that when asking the respondents to rate their difficulty in performing the activities, instead of just mentioning the activity name, such as taking a bath or shower, a detailed description of the activity and response options were necessary to ensure consistent interpretation of the disability indicators and response options across all respondents. Identifying suitable disability indicators was the first step in developing a locomotor disability scale for adults in Bangladesh. Interviewing adults with locomotor disabilities in Bangladesh ensured that the locomotor disability scale is of relevance to them and consequently it has excellent content validity. Further research is needed to evaluate the psychometric properties of this scale.

Remarks on the observability of single beacon underwater navigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jouffroy, Jerome; Ross, Andrew

This paper contributes a simple and intuitive result in the analysis of underwater navigation using a single ranging beacon. This analysis should help with the design of small and lightweight underwater vehicles by reducing the amount of instrumentation required for accurate navigation. The concept...

Efficient Weibull channel model for salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical communications

KAUST Repository

Oubei, Hassan M.

2017-12-13

Recent advances in underwater wireless optical communications necessitate a better understanding of the underwater channel. We propose the Weibull model to characterize the fading of salinity induced turbulent underwater wireless optical channels. The model shows an excellent agreement with the measured data under all channel conditions.

A Secure Communication Suite for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angelica Lo Duca

2012-11-01

Full Text Available In this paper we describe a security suite for Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks comprising both fixed and mobile nodes. The security suite is composed of a secure routing protocol and a set of cryptographic primitives aimed at protecting the confidentiality and the integrity of underwater communication while taking into account the unique characteristics and constraints of the acoustic channel. By means of experiments and simulations based on real data, we show that the suite is suitable for an underwater networking environment as it introduces limited, and sometimes negligible, communication and power consumption overhead.

Underwater Acoustic Target Tracking: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Ying; Fan, Liying

2018-01-01

Advances in acoustic technology and instrumentation now make it possible to explore marine resources. As a significant component of ocean exploration, underwater acoustic target tracking has aroused wide attention both in military and civil fields. Due to the complexity of the marine environment, numerous techniques have been proposed to obtain better tracking performance. In this paper, we survey over 100 papers ranging from innovative papers to the state-of-the-art in this field to present underwater tracking technologies. Not only the related knowledge of acoustic tracking instrument and tracking progress is clarified in detail, but also a novel taxonomy method is proposed. In this paper, algorithms for underwater acoustic target tracking are classified based on the methods used as: (1) instrument-assisted methods; (2) mode-based methods; (3) tracking optimization methods. These algorithms are compared and analyzed in the aspect of dimensions, numbers, and maneuvering of the tracking target, which is different from other survey papers. Meanwhile, challenges, countermeasures, and lessons learned are illustrated in this paper. PMID:29301318

Afocal viewport optics for underwater imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, Dan

2014-09-01

A conventional camera can be adapted for underwater use by enclosing it in a sealed waterproof pressure housing with a viewport. The viewport, as an optical interface between water and air needs to consider both the camera and water optical characteristics while also providing a high pressure water seal. Limited hydrospace visibility drives a need for wide angle viewports. Practical optical interfaces between seawater and air vary from simple flat plate windows to complex water contact lenses. This paper first provides a brief overview of the physical and optical properties of the ocean environment along with suitable optical materials. This is followed by a discussion of the characteristics of various afocal underwater viewport types including flat windows, domes and the Ivanoff corrector lens, a derivative of a Galilean wide angle camera adapter. Several new and interesting optical designs derived from the Ivanoff corrector lens are presented including a pair of very compact afocal viewport lenses that are compatible with both in water and in air environments and an afocal underwater hyper-hemispherical fisheye lens.

Underwater running device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kogure, Sumio; Matsuo, Takashiro; Yoshida, Yoji

1996-01-01

An underwater running device for an underwater inspection device for detecting inner surfaces of a reactor or a water vessel has an outer frame and an inner frame, and both of them are connected slidably by an air cylinder and connected rotatably by a shaft. The outer frame has four outer frame legs, and each of the outer frame legs is equipped with a sucker at the top end. The inner frame has four inner frame legs each equipped with a sucker at the top end. The outer frame legs and the inner frame legs are each connected with the outer frame and the inner frame by the air cylinder. The outer and the inner frame legs can be elevated or lowered (or extended or contracted) by the air cylinder. The sucker is connected with a jet pump-type negative pressure generator. The device can run and move by repeating attraction and releasing of the outer frame legs and the inner frame legs alternately while maintaining the posture of the inspection device stably. (I.N.)

Smelling and Tasting Underwater.

Science.gov (United States)

Atema, Jelle

1980-01-01

Discusses differences between smell and taste, comparing these senses in organisms in aquatic and terrestrial environments. Describes the chemical environment underwater and in air, differences in chemoreceptors to receive stimuli, and the organs, brain, and behavior involved in chemoreception. (CS)

Polarization Calculation and Underwater Target Detection Inspired by Biological Visual Imaging

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Shen

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In challenging underwater environments, the polarization parameter maps calculated by the Stokes model are characterized by the high noise and error, harassing the underwater target detection tasks. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel bionic polarization calculation and underwater target detection method by modeling the visual system of mantis shrimps. This system includes many operators including a polarization-opposition calculation, a factor optimization and a visual neural network model. A calibration learning method is proposed to search the optimal value of the factors in the linear subtraction model. Finally, a six-channel visual neural network model is proposed to detect the underwater targets. Experimental results proved that the maps produced by the polarization-opposition parameter is more accurate and have lower noise than that produced by the Stokes parameter, achieving better performance in underwater target detection tasks.

Effects of Robot-assisted Gait Training Combined with Functional Electrical Stimulation on Recovery of Locomotor Mobility in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Young-Hyeon; Ko, Young Jun; Chang, Won Hyuk; Lee, Ju Hyeok; Lee, Kyeong Bong; Park, Yoo Jung; Ha, Hyun Geun; Kim, Yun-Hee

2014-12-01

[Purpose] The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of robot-assisted gait training combined with functional electrical stimulation on locomotor recovery in patients with chronic stroke. [Subjects] The 20 subjects were randomly assigned into either an experimental group (n = 10) that received a combination of robot-assisted gait training and functional electrical stimulation on the ankle dorsiflexor of the affected side or a control group (n = 10) that received robot-assisted gait training only. [Methods] Both groups received the respective therapies for 30 min/day, 3 days/week for 5 weeks. The outcome was measured using the Modified Motor Assessment Scale (MMAS), Timed Up-and-Go Test (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and gait parameters through gait analysis (Vicon 370 motion analysis system, Oxford Metrics Ltd., Oxford, UK). All the variables were measured before and after training. [Results] Step length and maximal knee extension were significantly greater than those before training in the experimental group only. Maximal Knee flexion showed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. The MMAS, BBS, and TUG scores improved significantly after training compared with before training in both groups. [Conclusion] We suggest that the combination of robot-assisted gait training and functional electrical stimulation encourages patients to actively participate in training because it facilitates locomotor recovery without the risk of adverse effects.

Application of underwater radon measurements in geology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varhegyi, A.; Baranyi, I.; Gerzson, I. (Mecsek Ore Mining Enterprise, Pecs (Hungary)); Somogyi, G.; Hakl, J.; Hunyadi, I. (Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia, Debrecen (Hungary). Atommag Kutato Intezete)

1988-01-01

Based on the observed phenomenon of geogas migration in microbubble form from deeper regions, the authors have developed a new model for the vertical transport of radon released from deeper sources. The physical properties of the rock relating to the upflow of microbubbles below the groundwater level are considered and the radon transport parameter of rocks is introduced. The vertical distribution of radon concentration in the case of a multi-layered geological model is given and the penetration depth of underwater radon measurements is examined. Aspects of underwater radon detection by the nuclear track detector technique are analyzed. The radon transport model gives a new theoretical basis for several applications of radon measurements in geology. The advantages of underwater radon detection have already been proved in uranium exploration. Further geological applications are proposed in earthquake prediction, in volcanology, in the survey of active faults and thermal waters. (author).

Object detection from images obtained through underwater turbulence medium

Science.gov (United States)

Furhad, Md. Hasan; Tahtali, Murat; Lambert, Andrew

2017-09-01

Imaging through underwater experiences severe distortions due to random fluctuations of temperature and salinity in water, which produces underwater turbulence through diffraction limited blur. Lights reflecting from objects perturb and attenuate contrast, making the recognition of objects of interest difficult. Thus, the information available for detecting underwater objects of interest becomes a challenging task as they have inherent confusion among the background, foreground and other image properties. In this paper, a saliency-based approach is proposed to detect the objects acquired through an underwater turbulent medium. This approach has drawn attention among a wide range of computer vision applications, such as image retrieval, artificial intelligence, neuro-imaging and object detection. The image is first processed through a deblurring filter. Next, a saliency technique is used on the image for object detection. In this step, a saliency map that highlights the target regions is generated and then a graph-based model is proposed to extract these target regions for object detection.

Effects of cholestasis on learning and locomotor activity in bile duct ligated rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosseini, Nasrin; Alaei, Hojjatallah; Nasehi, Mohammad; Radahmadi, Maryam; Mohammad Reza, Zarrindast

2014-01-01

Cognitive functions are impaired in patients with liver disease. Bile duct ligation causes cholestasis that impairs liver function. This study investigated the impact of cholestasis progression on the acquisition and retention times in the passive avoidance test and on the locomotor activity of rats. Cholestasis was induced in male Wistar rats by ligating the main bile duct. Locomotor activity, learning and memory were assessed by the passive avoidance learning test at day 7, day 14, and day 21 post-bile duct ligation. The serum levels of bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, and alkaline phosphatase were measured. The results showed that acquisition time and locomotor activity were not affected at day 7 and day 14, but they were significantly (P locomotor activity were impaired at 21 days after bile duct ligation following the progression of cholestasis.

DE-Sync: A Doppler-Enhanced Time Synchronization for Mobile Underwater Sensor Networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Feng; Wang, Qi; Nie, DongHu; Qiao, Gang

2018-05-25

Time synchronization is the foundation of cooperative work among nodes of underwater sensor networks; it takes a critical role in the research and application of underwater sensor networks. Although numerous time synchronization protocols have been proposed for terrestrial wireless sensor networks, they cannot be directly applied to underwater sensor networks. This is because most of them typically assume that the propagation delay among sensor nodes is negligible, which is not the case in underwater sensor networks. Time synchronization is mainly affected by a long propagation delay among sensor nodes due to the low propagation speed of acoustic signals. Furthermore, sensor nodes in underwater tend to experience some degree of mobility due to wind or ocean current, or some other nodes are on self-propelled vehicles, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, we propose a Doppler-enhanced time synchronization scheme for mobile underwater sensor networks, called DE-Sync. Our new scheme considers the effect of the clock skew during the process of estimating the Doppler scale factor and directly substitutes the Doppler scale factor into linear regression to achieve the estimation of the clock skew and offset. Simulation results show that DE-Sync outperforms existing time synchronization protocols in both accuracy and energy efficiency.

Robotics Vision-based Heuristic Reasoning for Underwater Target Tracking and Navigation

OpenAIRE

Kia, Chua; Arshad, Mohd Rizal

2006-01-01

This paper presents a robotics vision-based heuristic reasoning system for underwater target tracking and navigation. This system is introduced to improve the level of automation of underwater Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) operations. A prototype which combines computer vision with an underwater robotics system is successfully designed and developed to perform target tracking and intelligent navigation. This study focuses on developing image processing algorithms and fuzzy inference system ...

A review of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion: cruise and fast-start

Science.gov (United States)

Chao, Li-Ming; Cao, Yong-Hui; Pan, Guang

2017-08-01

This paper reviews recent developments in the understanding of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. Two impressive models of underwater propulsion are considered: cruise and fast-start. First, we introduce the progression of bio-mimetic propulsion, especially underwater propulsion, where some primary conceptions are touched upon. Second, the understanding of flapping foils, considered as one of the most efficient cruise styles of aquatic animals, is introduced, where the effect of kinematics and the shape and flexibility of foils on generating thrust are elucidated respectively. Fast-start propulsion is always exhibited when predator behaviour occurs, and we provide an explicit introduction of corresponding zoological experiments and numerical simulations. We also provide some predictions about underwater bio-mimetic propulsion.

A review of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion: cruise and fast-start

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chao, Li-Ming; Cao, Yong-Hui; Pan, Guang, E-mail: PanGuang_010@163.com [School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xian 710072 (China)

2017-08-15

This paper reviews recent developments in the understanding of underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. Two impressive models of underwater propulsion are considered: cruise and fast-start. First, we introduce the progression of bio-mimetic propulsion, especially underwater propulsion, where some primary conceptions are touched upon. Second, the understanding of flapping foils, considered as one of the most efficient cruise styles of aquatic animals, is introduced, where the effect of kinematics and the shape and flexibility of foils on generating thrust are elucidated respectively. Fast-start propulsion is always exhibited when predator behaviour occurs, and we provide an explicit introduction of corresponding zoological experiments and numerical simulations. We also provide some predictions about underwater bio-mimetic propulsion. (review)

DUMAND-II (deep underwater muon and neutrino detector) progress report

Science.gov (United States)

Young, Kenneth K.

1995-07-01

The DUMAND II detector will search for astronomical sources of high energy neutrinos. Successful deployment of the basic infrastructure, including the shore cable, the underwater junction box, and an environmental module was accomplished in December, 1993. One optical module string was also deployed and operated, logging data for about 10 hours. The underwater cable was connected to the shore station where we were able to successfully exercise system controls and log further environmental data. After this time, water leaking into the electronics control module for the deployed string disabled the string electrical system. The acquired data are consistent with the expected rate of downgoing muons, and our ability to reconstruct muons was demonstrated. The measured acoustical backgrounds are consistent with expectation, which should allow acoustical detection of nearby PeV particle cascades. The disabled string has been recovered and is undergoing repairs ashore. We have identified the source of the water leak and implemented additional testing and QC procedures to ensure no repetition in our next deployment. We will be ready to deploy three strings and begin continuous data taking in late 1994 or early 1995.

Cardiovascular response during submaximal underwater treadmill exercise in stroke patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Jeehyun; Lim, Kil-Byung; Lee, Hong-Jae; Kwon, Yong-Geol

2014-10-01

To evaluate the cardiovascular response during head-out water immersion, underwater treadmill gait, and land treadmill gait in stroke patients. Ten stroke patients were recruited for underwater and land treadmill gait sessions. Each session was 40 minutes long; 5 minutes for standing rest on land, 5 minutes for standing rest in water or on treadmill, 20 minutes for treadmill walking in water or on land, 5 minutes for standing rest in water or on treadmill, and 5 minutes for standing rest on land. Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) were measured during each session. In order to estimate the cardiovascular workload and myocardial oxygen demand, the rate pressure product (RPP) value was calculated by multiplying systolic BP (SBP) by HR. SBP, DBP, mean BP (mBP), and RPP decreased significantly after water immersion, but HR was unchanged. During underwater and land treadmill gait, SBP, mBP, DBP, RPP, and HR increased. However, the mean maximum increases in BP, HR and RPP of underwater treadmill walking were significantly lower than that of land treadmill walking. Stroke patients showed different cardiovascular responses during water immersion and underwater gait as opposed to standing and treadmill-walking on land. Water immersion and aquatic treadmill gait may reduce the workload of the cardiovascular system. This study suggested that underwater treadmill may be a safe and useful option for cardiovascular fitness and early ambulation in stroke rehabilitation.

Investigation on dissimilar underwater friction stir lap welding of 6061-T6 aluminum alloy to pure copper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jingqing; Shen, Yifu; Yao, Xin; Xu, Haisheng; Li, Bo

2014-01-01

Highlights: • 6061-T6 Al and pure Cu were successfully underwater friction stir lap welded. • The underwater weld was analyzed via comparing with the classical weld. • The oxidation of Cu was prevented via the external water. • The amount of Al–Cu intermetallic was decreased by the external water. • The thickness of Al–Cu diffusion interlayer was decreased by the external water. - Abstract: Friction stir welding (classical FSW) is considered to offer advantages over the traditional fusion welding techniques in terms of dissimilar welding. However, some challenges still exist in the dissimilar friction stir lap welding of the aluminum/copper (Al/Cu) metallic couple, among which the formation of the Al–Cu intermetallic compounds is the major problem. In the present research, due to the fact that the formation and growth of the intermetallic are significantly controlled by the thermal history, the underwater friction stir welding (underwater FSW) was employed for fabricating the weld, and the weld obtained by underwater FSW (underwater weld) was analyzed via comparing with the weld obtained under same parameters by classical FSW (classical weld). In order to investigate the effect of the external water on the thermal history, the K-type thermocouple was utilized to measure the weld temperature, and it is found that the water could decrease the peak temperature and shorten the thermal cycle time. The XRD results illustrate that the interface of the welds mainly consist of the Al–Cu intermetallic compounds such as CuAl 2 and Cu 9 Al 4 together with some amounts of Al and Cu, and it is also found that the amount of the intermetallic in the underwater weld is obvious less than in the classical weld. The SEM images and the EDS line scan results also illustrate that the Al–Cu diffusion interlayer at the Al–Cu interface of the underwater weld was obviously thinner than that of the classical weld

Channel coding for underwater acoustic single-carrier CDMA communication system

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lanjun; Zhang, Yonglei; Zhang, Pengcheng; Zhou, Lin; Niu, Jiong

2017-01-01

CDMA is an effective multiple access protocol for underwater acoustic networks, and channel coding can effectively reduce the bit error rate (BER) of the underwater acoustic communication system. For the requirements of underwater acoustic mobile networks based on CDMA, an underwater acoustic single-carrier CDMA communication system (UWA/SCCDMA) based on the direct-sequence spread spectrum is proposed, and its channel coding scheme is studied based on convolution, RA, Turbo and LDPC coding respectively. The implementation steps of the Viterbi algorithm of convolutional coding, BP and minimum sum algorithms of RA coding, Log-MAP and SOVA algorithms of Turbo coding, and sum-product algorithm of LDPC coding are given. An UWA/SCCDMA simulation system based on Matlab is designed. Simulation results show that the UWA/SCCDMA based on RA, Turbo and LDPC coding have good performance such that the communication BER is all less than 10-6 in the underwater acoustic channel with low signal to noise ratio (SNR) from -12 dB to -10dB, which is about 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of the convolutional coding. The system based on Turbo coding with Log-MAP algorithm has the best performance.

A Review of the Emerging Field of Underwater Mass Spectrometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Chua

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Mass spectrometers are versatile sensor systems, owing to their high sensitivity and ability to simultaneously measure multiple chemical species. Over the last two decades, traditional laboratory-based membrane inlet mass spectrometers have been adapted for underwater use. Underwater mass spectrometry has drastically improved our capability to monitor a broad suite of gaseous compounds (e.g., dissolved atmospheric gases, light hydrocarbons, and volatile organic compounds in the aquatic environment. Here we provide an overview of the progress made in the field of underwater mass spectrometry since its inception in the 1990s to the present. In particular, we discuss the approaches undertaken by various research groups in developing in situ mass spectrometers. We also provide examples to illustrate how underwater mass spectrometers have been used in the field. Finally, we present future trends in the field of in situ mass spectrometry. Most of these efforts are aimed at improving the quality and spatial and temporal scales of chemical measurements in the ocean. By providing up-to-date information on underwater mass spectrometry, this review offers guidance for researchers interested in adapting this technology as well as goals for future progress in the field.

Euclidean reconstruction of natural underwater scenes using optic imagery sequence

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Han

The development of maritime applications require monitoring, studying and preserving of detailed and close observation on the underwater seafloor and objects. Stereo vision offers advanced technologies to build 3D models from 2D still overlapping optic images in a relatively inexpensive way. However, while image stereo matching is a necessary step in 3D reconstruction procedure, even the most robust dense matching techniques are not guaranteed to work for underwater images due to the challenging aquatic environment. In this thesis, in addition to a detailed introduction and research on the key components of building 3D models from optic images, a robust modified quasi-dense matching algorithm based on correspondence propagation and adaptive least square matching for underwater images is proposed and applied to some typical underwater image datasets. The experiments demonstrate the robustness and good performance of the proposed matching approach.

Micromachined fiber optic Fabry-Perot underwater acoustic probe

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Fuyin; Shao, Zhengzheng; Hu, Zhengliang; Luo, Hong; Xie, Jiehui; Hu, Yongming

2014-08-01

One of the most important branches in the development trend of the traditional fiber optic physical sensor is the miniaturization of sensor structure. Miniature fiber optic sensor can realize point measurement, and then to develop sensor networks to achieve quasi-distributed or distributed sensing as well as line measurement to area monitoring, which will greatly extend the application area of fiber optic sensors. The development of MEMS technology brings a light path to address the problems brought by the procedure of sensor miniaturization. Sensors manufactured by MEMS technology possess the advantages of small volume, light weight, easy fabricated and low cost. In this paper, a fiber optic extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric underwater acoustic probe utilizing micromachined diaphragm collaborated with fiber optic technology and MEMS technology has been designed and implemented to actualize underwater acoustic sensing. Diaphragm with central embossment, where the embossment is used to anti-hydrostatic pressure which would largely deflect the diaphragm that induce interferometric fringe fading, has been made by double-sided etching of silicon on insulator. By bonding the acoustic-sensitive diaphragm as well as a cleaved fiber end in ferrule with an outer sleeve, an extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer has been constructed. The sensor has been interrogated by quadrature-point control method and tested in field-stable acoustic standing wave tube. Results have been shown that the recovered signal detected by the sensor coincided well with the corresponding transmitted signal and the sensitivity response was flat in frequency range from 10 Hz to 2kHz with the value about -154.6 dB re. 1/μPa. It has been manifest that the designed sensor could be used as an underwater acoustic probe.

The aquatic tympanic ear: convergent adaptations for underwater hearing in three tetrapods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Wahlberg, Magnus; Larsen, Ole Næsbye

pressure, low particle motion medium, and the consequence is that an efficient underwater ear is sensitive to sound pressure. It is often stated that underwater hearing can work efficiently without a middle ear apparatus by bone conduction, since sound is transmitted from water to inner ear tissue...... is modified (cartilaginous or partly cartilaginous). In all three species, the lowest threshold to underwater sound is at this peak frequency and is around 80 dB re 1 µPa. The sensitivity to sound pressure is slightly lower in water than in air, making underwater hearing much more efficient in terms of sound...

Underwater characterization of control rods for waste disposal using SMOPY

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gallozzi-Ulmann, A.; Couturier, P.; Amgarou, K.; Rothan, D.; Menaa, N. [CANBERRA France,1 rue des Herons, 78182 ST Quentin Yvelines Cedex (France); Chard, P. [CANBERRA UK, Lower Dunbeath House, Forss Business Park, Thurso, Caithness KW14 7UZ (United Kingdom)

2015-07-01

Storage of spent fuel assemblies in cooling ponds requires careful control of the geometry and proximity of adjacent assemblies. Measurement of the fuel burnup makes it possible to optimise the storage arrangement of assemblies taking into account the effect of the burnup on the criticality safety margins ('burnup credit'). Canberra has developed a measurement system for underwater measurement of spent fuel assemblies. This system, known as 'SMOPY', performs burnup measurements based on gamma spectroscopy (collimated CZT detector) and neutron counting (fission chamber). The SMOPY system offers a robust and waterproof detection system as well as the needed capability of performing radiometric measurements in the harsh high dose - rate environments of the cooling ponds. The gamma spectroscopy functionality allows powerful characterization measurements to be performed, in addition to burnup measurement. Canberra has recently performed waste characterisation measurements at a Nuclear Power Plant. Waste activity assessment is important to control costs and risks of shipment and storage, to ensure that the activity level remains in the range allowed by the facility, and to declare activity data to authorities. This paper describes the methodology used for the SMOPY measurements and some preliminary results of a radiological characterisation of AIC control rods. After describing the features and normal operation of the SMOPY system, we describe the approach used for establishing an optimum control rod geometric scanning approach (optimum count time and speed) and the method of the gamma spectrometry measurements as well as neutron check measurements used to verify the absence of neutron sources in the waste. We discuss the results obtained including {sup 60}Co, {sup 110m}Ag and {sup 108m}Ag activity profiles (along the length of the control rods) and neutron results including Total Measurement Uncertainty evaluations. Full self-consistency checks were

Collective Modular Underwater Robotic System for Long-Term Autonomous Operation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, David Johan; Andersen, Jens Christian; Blanke, Mogens

This paper provides a brief overview of an underwater robotic system for autonomous inspection in confined offshore underwater structures. The system, which is currently in development, consist of heterogeneous modular robots able to physically dock and communicate with other robots, transport...

Underwater Sensor Networks: A New Energy Efficient and Robust Architecture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Climent, Salvador; Capella, Juan Vincente; Meratnia, Nirvana; Serrano, Juan José

2012-01-01

The specific characteristics of underwater environments introduce new challenges for networking protocols. In this paper, a specialized architecture for underwater sensor networks (UWSNs) is proposed and evaluated. Experiments are conducted in order to analyze the suitability of this protocol for

Underwater methods for study of salmonids in the Intermountain West

Science.gov (United States)

Russell F. Thurow

1994-01-01

This guide describes underwater methods using snorkeling gear to study fish populations in flowing waters of the Intermountain West. It outlines procedures for estimating salmonid abundance and habitat use and provides criteria for identifying and estimating the size of fish underwater.

Using a Split-belt Treadmill to Evaluate Generalization of Human Locomotor Adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasudevan, Erin V L; Hamzey, Rami J; Kirk, Eileen M

2017-08-23

Understanding the mechanisms underlying locomotor learning helps researchers and clinicians optimize gait retraining as part of motor rehabilitation. However, studying human locomotor learning can be challenging. During infancy and childhood, the neuromuscular system is quite immature, and it is unlikely that locomotor learning during early stages of development is governed by the same mechanisms as in adulthood. By the time humans reach maturity, they are so proficient at walking that it is difficult to come up with a sufficiently novel task to study de novo locomotor learning. The split-belt treadmill, which has two belts that can drive each leg at a different speed, enables the study of both short- (i.e., immediate) and long-term (i.e., over minutes-days; a form of motor learning) gait modifications in response to a novel change in the walking environment. Individuals can easily be screened for previous exposure to the split-belt treadmill, thus ensuring that all experimental participants have no (or equivalent) prior experience. This paper describes a typical split-belt treadmill adaptation protocol that incorporates testing methods to quantify locomotor learning and generalization of this learning to other walking contexts. A discussion of important considerations for designing split-belt treadmill experiments follows, including factors like treadmill belt speeds, rest breaks, and distractors. Additionally, potential but understudied confounding variables (e.g., arm movements, prior experience) are considered in the discussion.

Development of a handling technology for underwater inspection and dismantling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rose, N.

1994-01-01

For the purpose of underwater inspection and dismantling of nuclear facilities, a prototype of a freely submersible, remote-controlled handling system was developed and tested under laboratory conditions. Particular interest was taken in the specific boundary conditions of the area of application and the methodological concept. The system was developed in three phases; in each phase, a prototype was constructed and tested. (orig.) [de

Underwater detection by using ultrasonic sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Bakar, S. A. A.; Ong, N. R.; Aziz, M. H. A.; Alcain, J. B.; Haimi, W. M. W. N.; Sauli, Z.

2017-09-01

This paper described the low cost implementation of hardware and software in developing the system of ultrasonic which can visualize the feedback of sound in the form of measured distance through mobile phone and monitoring the frequency of detection by using real time graph of Java application. A single waterproof transducer of JSN-SR04T had been used to determine the distance of an object based on operation of the classic pulse echo detection method underwater. In this experiment, the system was tested by placing the housing which consisted of Arduino UNO, Bluetooth module of HC-06, ultrasonic sensor and LEDs at the top of the box and the transducer was immersed in the water. The system which had been tested for detection in vertical form was found to be capable of reporting through the use of colored LEDs as indicator to the relative proximity of object distance underwater form the sensor. As a conclusion, the system can detect the presence of an object underwater within the range of ultrasonic sensor and display the measured distance onto the mobile phone and the real time graph had been successfully generated.

Possible roles of remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV and robotics in mariculture of the future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jens G. Balchen

1991-10-01

Full Text Available The paper surveys some possible future trends in mariculture technology emphasizing new principles for controlling animal motion. Against this background possible applications of remotely operated underwater vehicles and robotics are reviewed.

Development of maintenance technology with underwater TIG welding for spent fuel storage pool

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obana, Takeshi; Hamada, Yasumitsu; Ooeda, Kaoru; Katou, Masahide; Ootsuka, Toshihiro; Toyoda, Seiichi; Hosogane, Atsushi

2007-01-01

The core technology of underwater TIG welding process has been developed and welding equipment system has been manufactured, for application to the maintenance of the spent fuel storage pool of Rokkasho reprocessing plant. Basic experiments for understanding the conditions of dry area and the range of welding conditions was performed, and mock examination for simulation of real environment by using the developed welding equipment was also carried out to judge the applicability of the system. For the purpose that can be selected water removing method for different spatial conditions of the parts to be maintained in underwater, two kinds of welding equipment systems of Chamber type and Partition type were developed and manufactured. On the basis of fundamental experiments, the conditions of dry area formation and welding parameters range for high-reliability weld were discussed. Thus the proper condition in this process was able to be established. With the welding equipment systems of the Chamber type and Partition type, the practical use examination of underwater TIG welding process was executed by mock examination for simulating the real environment. As a result, it was confirmed that the underwater TIG welding could obtain the same reliability as a usual in-air TIG welding, and the operation and the control at remote distance were also possible. And the reliability of the patch-plate fillet weld could be evaluated by remote inspection with the expansion visual test. (author)

Computing energy-optimal trajectories for an autonomous underwater vehicle using direct shooting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Inge Spangelo

1992-07-01

Full Text Available Energy-optimal trajectories for an autonomous underwater vehicle can be computed using a numerical solution of the optimal control problem. The vehicle is modeled with the six dimensional nonlinear and coupled equations of motion, controlled with DC-motors in all degrees of freedom. The actuators are modeled and controlled with velocity loops. The dissipated energy is expressed in terms of the control variables as a nonquadratic function. Direct shooting methods, including control vector parameterization (CVP arc used in this study. Numerical calculations are performed and good results are achieved.

Task Allocation and Path Planning for Collaborative Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Operating through an Underwater Acoustic Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yueyue Deng

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Dynamic and unstructured multiple cooperative autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV missions are highly complex operations, and task allocation and path planning are made significantly more challenging under realistic underwater acoustic communication constraints. This paper presents a solution for the task allocation and path planning for multiple AUVs under marginal acoustic communication conditions: a location-aided task allocation framework (LAAF algorithm for multitarget task assignment and the grid-based multiobjective optimal programming (GMOOP mathematical model for finding an optimal vehicle command decision given a set of objectives and constraints. Both the LAAF and GMOOP algorithms are well suited in poor acoustic network condition and dynamic environment. Our research is based on an existing mobile ad hoc network underwater acoustic simulator and blind flooding routing protocol. Simulation results demonstrate that the location-aided auction strategy performs significantly better than the well-accepted auction algorithm developed by Bertsekas in terms of task-allocation time and network bandwidth consumption. We also demonstrate that the GMOOP path-planning technique provides an efficient method for executing multiobjective tasks by cooperative agents with limited communication capabilities. This is in contrast to existing multiobjective action selection methods that are limited to networks where constant, reliable communication is assumed to be available.

Cooperative OFDM underwater acoustic communications

CERN Document Server

Cheng, Xilin; Cheng, Xiang

2016-01-01

Following underwater acoustic channel modeling, this book investigates the relationship between coherence time and transmission distances. It considers the power allocation issues of two typical transmission scenarios, namely short-range transmission and medium-long range transmission. For the former scenario, an adaptive system is developed based on instantaneous channel state information. The primary focus is on cooperative dual-hop orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). This book includes the decomposed fountain codes designed to enable reliable communications with higher energy efficiency. It covers the Doppler Effect, which improves packet transmission reliability for effective low-complexity mirror-mapping-based intercarrier interference cancellation schemes capable of suppressing the intercarrier interference power level. Designed for professionals and researchers in the field of underwater acoustic communications, this book is also suitable for advanced-level students in electrical enginee...

ULTRA: Underwater Localization for Transit and Reconnaissance Autonomy

Science.gov (United States)

Huntsberger, Terrance L.

2013-01-01

This software addresses the issue of underwater localization of unmanned vehicles and the inherent drift in their onboard sensors. The software gives a 2 to 3 factor of improvement over the state-of-the-art underwater localization algorithms. The software determines the localization (position, heading) of an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle) in environments where there is no GPS signal. It accomplishes this using only the commanded position, onboard gyros/accelerometers, and the bathymetry of the bottom provided by an onboard sonar system. The software does not rely on an onboard bathymetry dataset, but instead incrementally determines the position of the AUV while mapping the bottom. In order to enable long-distance underwater navigation by AUVs, a localization method called ULTRA uses registration of the bathymetry data products produced by the onboard forward-looking sonar system for hazard avoidance during a transit to derive the motion and pose of the AUV in order to correct the DR (dead reckoning) estimates. The registration algorithm uses iterative point matching (IPM) combined with surface interpolation of the Iterative Closest Point (ICP) algorithm. This method was used previously at JPL for onboard unmanned ground vehicle localization, and has been optimized for efficient computational and memory use.

Underwater laser cladding and seal welding for INCONEL 52

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tamura, Masataka; Kouno, Wataru; Makino, Yoshinobu; Kawano, Shohei; Yoda, Masaki

2007-01-01

Recently, stress corrosion cracking (SCC) has been observed at aged components of nuclear power plants under water environment and high exposure of radiation. Toshiba has been developing both an underwater laser welding directly onto surface of the aged components as maintenance and repair techniques. This paper reports underwater laser cladding and seal welding for INCONEL 52. (author)

The Effects of Sex-Ratio and Density on Locomotor Activity in the House Fly, Musca domestica

Science.gov (United States)

Bahrndorff, Simon; Kjærsgaard, Anders; Pertoldi, Cino; Loeschcke, Volker; Schou, Toke M.; Skovgård, Henrik; Hald, Birthe

2012-01-01

Although locomotor activity is involved in almost all behavioral traits, there is a lack of knowledge on what factors affect it. This study examined the effects of sex—ratio and density on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity of adult Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) using an infra—red light system. Sex—ratio significantly affected locomotor activity, increasing with the percentage of males in the vials. In accordance with other studies, males were more active than females, but the circadian rhythm of the two sexes was not constant over time and changed during the light period. There was also an effect of density on locomotor activity, where males at intermediate densities showed higher activity. Further, the predictability of the locomotor activity, estimated as the degree of autocorrelation of the activity data, increased with the number of males present in the vials both with and without the presence of females. Overall, this study demonstrates that locomotor activity in M. domestica is affected by sex—ratio and density. Furthermore, the predictability of locomotor activity is affected by both sex—ratio, density, and circadian rhythm. These results add to our understanding of the behavioral interactions between houseflies and highlight the importance of these factors when designing behavioral experiments using M. domestica.

Trajectory-Based Visual Localization in Underwater Surveying Missions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antoni Burguera

2015-01-01

Full Text Available We present a new vision-based localization system applied to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV with limited sensing and computation capabilities. The traditional EKF-SLAM approaches are usually expensive in terms of execution time; the approach presented in this paper strengthens this method by adopting a trajectory-based schema that reduces the computational requirements. The pose of the vehicle is estimated using an extended Kalman filter (EKF, which predicts the vehicle motion by means of a visual odometer and corrects these predictions using the data associations (loop closures between the current frame and the previous ones. One of the most important steps in this procedure is the image registration method, as it reinforces the data association and, thus, makes it possible to close loops reliably. Since the use of standard EKFs entail linearization errors that can distort the vehicle pose estimations, the approach has also been tested using an iterated Kalman filter (IEKF. Experiments have been conducted using a real underwater vehicle in controlled scenarios and in shallow sea waters, showing an excellent performance with very small errors, both in the vehicle pose and in the overall trajectory estimates.

Trajectory-Based Visual Localization in Underwater Surveying Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Burguera, Antoni; Bonin-Font, Francisco; Oliver, Gabriel

2015-01-01

We present a new vision-based localization system applied to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with limited sensing and computation capabilities. The traditional EKF-SLAM approaches are usually expensive in terms of execution time; the approach presented in this paper strengthens this method by adopting a trajectory-based schema that reduces the computational requirements. The pose of the vehicle is estimated using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), which predicts the vehicle motion by means of a visual odometer and corrects these predictions using the data associations (loop closures) between the current frame and the previous ones. One of the most important steps in this procedure is the image registration method, as it reinforces the data association and, thus, makes it possible to close loops reliably. Since the use of standard EKFs entail linearization errors that can distort the vehicle pose estimations, the approach has also been tested using an iterated Kalman filter (IEKF). Experiments have been conducted using a real underwater vehicle in controlled scenarios and in shallow sea waters, showing an excellent performance with very small errors, both in the vehicle pose and in the overall trajectory estimates. PMID:25594602

Safety aspects for underwater vehicles

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Madhan, R.; Navelkar, G.S.; Desa, E.S.; Afzulpurkar, S.; Prabhudesai, S.P.; Dabholkar, N.; Mascarenhas, A.A.M.Q.; Maurya, P.

instrumentation is intelligent small Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV’s), autonomous profilers, gliders [1], etc. The ultimate aim in all autonomous platforms research and development is to reach the stage of unescorted missions with minimum failures...

The WODA guidance paper on underwater sound from dredging (abstract)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomsen, F.; Borsani, F.; Clarke, D.; Jong, C.A.F. de; Witt, P. de; Holtkamp, M.; Goethals, F.; San Martin, E.; Spadaro, P.; Raalte, G. van; Jensen, A.

2013-01-01

The World Organisation of Dredging Associations (WODA) has identified underwater sound as an environmental issue that needs further consideration. A WODA Expert Group on Underwater Sound (WEGUS) was established to provide a guidance paper on dredging sound, impact on aquatic biota and advice on

Defect detectability of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ueno, Souichi; Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Ochiai, Makoto; Kasuya, Takashi; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro

2011-01-01

We clarified defect detectability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works of dissimilar metal welding (DMW) of reactor vessel nozzle. The underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in the grooves and welded surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and welded surface inspections are required in the underwater condition. The ECT is a major candidate as this inspection technique because a penetrant testing is difficult to perform in the underwater condition. Several kinds of experiments were curried out using a cross coil an ECT probe and ECT data acquisition system in order to demonstrate the ECT defect detectability. We used specimens, simulating groove and DMW materials at an RV nozzle, with electro-discharge machining (EDM) slits over it. Additionally, we performed a detection test for artificial stress corrosion cracking (SCC) defects. From these experimental results, we confirmed that an ECT was possible to detect EDM slits 0.3 mm or more in depth and artificial SCC defects 0.02 mm to 0.48 mm in depth on machined surface. Furthermore, the underwater ECT defect detectability is equivalent to that in air. We clarified an ECT is sufficiently usable as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding works. (author)

Experimental Study on the Measurement of Water Bottom Vibration Induced by Underwater Drilling Blasting

OpenAIRE

Wenbin, Gu; Jianghai, Chen; Zhenxiong, Wang; Zhihua, Wang; Jianqing, Liu; Ming, Lu

2015-01-01

Due to the lack of proper instrumentations and the difficulties in underwater measurements, the studies about water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting are seldom reported. In order to investigate the propagation and attenuation laws of blasting induced water bottom vibration, a water bottom vibration monitor was developed with consideration of the difficulties in underwater measurements. By means of this equipment, the actual water bottom vibration induced by underwater ...

Locomotor activity: A distinctive index in morphine self-administration in rats

OpenAIRE

Zhang, Jian-Jun; Kong, Qingyao

2017-01-01

Self-administration of addictive drugs is a widely used tool for studying behavioral, neurobiological, and genetic factors in addiction. However, how locomotor activity is affected during self-administration of addictive drugs has not been extensively studied. In our present study, we tested the locomotor activity levels during acquisition, extinction and reinstatement of morphine self-administration in rats. We found that compared with saline self-administration (SA), rats that trained with ...

Effect of thiamethoxam on cockroach locomotor activity is associated with its metabolite clothianidin.

Science.gov (United States)

Benzidane, Yassine; Touinsi, Sarra; Motte, Emilie; Jadas-Hécart, Alain; Communal, Pierre-Yves; Leduc, Lionel; Thany, Steeve H

2010-12-01

In the present study, the effect of thiamethoxam and clothianidin on the locomotor activity of American cockroach, Periplaneta americana (L.), was evaluated. Because it has been proposed that thiamethoxam is metabolised to clothianidin, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was used to evaluate the amount of clothianidin on thiamethoxam-treated cockroaches. One hour after neonicotinoid treatment, the time spent in the open-field-like apparatus significantly increased, suggesting a decrease in locomotor activity. The percentage of cockroaches displaying locomotor activity was significantly reduced 1 h after haemolymph application of 1 nmol g(-1) neonicotinoid, while no significant effect was found after topical and oral administration. However, at 24 and 48 h, all neonicotinoids were able to reduce locomotor activity, depending on their concentrations and the way they were applied. Interestingly, it was found that thiamethoxam was converted to clothianidin 1 h after application, but the amount of clothianidin did not rise proportionately to thiamethoxam, especially after oral administration. The data suggest that the effect of thiamethoxam on cockroach locomotor activity is due in part to clothianidin action because (1) thiamethoxam levels remained persistent 48 h after application and (2) the amount of clothianidin in cockroach tissues was consistent with the toxicity of thiamethoxam. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry.

Locomotor Tests Predict Community Mobility in Children and Youth with Cerebral Palsy

Science.gov (United States)

Ferland, Chantale; Moffet, Helene; Maltais, Desiree

2012-01-01

Ambulatory children and youth with cerebral palsy have limitations in locomotor capacities and in community mobility. The ability of three locomotor tests to predict community mobility in this population (N = 49, 27 boys, 6-16 years old) was examined. The tests were a level ground walking test, the 6-min-Walk-Test (6MWT), and two tests of advanced…

Motor hypertonia and lack of locomotor coordination in mutant mice lacking DSCAM.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Maxime; Laflamme, Olivier D; Thiry, Louise; Boulanger-Piette, Antoine; Frenette, Jérôme; Bretzner, Frédéric

2016-03-01

Down syndrome cell adherence molecule (DSCAM) contributes to the normal establishment and maintenance of neural circuits. Whereas there is abundant literature regarding the role of DSCAM in the neural patterning of the mammalian retina, less is known about motor circuits. Recently, DSCAM mutation has been shown to impair bilateral motor coordination during respiration, thus causing death at birth. DSCAM mutants that survive through adulthood display a lack of locomotor endurance and coordination in the rotarod test, thus suggesting that the DSCAM mutation impairs motor control. We investigated the motor and locomotor functions of DSCAM(2J) mutant mice through a combination of anatomical, kinematic, force, and electromyographic recordings. With respect to wild-type mice, DSCAM(2J) mice displayed a longer swing phase with a limb hyperflexion at the expense of a shorter stance phase during locomotion. Furthermore, electromyographic activity in the flexor and extensor muscles was increased and coactivated over 20% of the step cycle over a wide range of walking speeds. In contrast to wild-type mice, which used lateral walk and trot at walking speed, DSCAM(2J) mice used preferentially less coordinated gaits, such as out-of-phase walk and pace. The neuromuscular junction and the contractile properties of muscles, as well as their muscle spindles, were normal, and no signs of motor rigidity or spasticity were observed during passive limb movements. Our study demonstrates that the DSCAM mutation induces dystonic hypertonia and a disruption of locomotor gaits. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

Applicability evaluation of eddy current testing for underwater laser beam welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kobayashi, Noriyasu; Kasuya, Takashi; Ueno, Souichi; Ochiai, Makoto; Yuguchi, Yasuhiro

2010-01-01

We clarified a defect detecting capability of eddy current testing (ECT) as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. An underwater laser beam welding procedure includes groove caving as a preparation, laser beam welding in groove and welding surface grinding as a post treatment. Therefore groove and grinded welding surface inspections are required underwater. We curried out defect detection tests using three kinds of specimens simulated a groove, reactor vessel nozzle dissimilar metal welding materials and a laser beam welding material with a cross coil ECT probe. From experimental results, we confirmed that it is possible to detect 0.3 mm or more depth electro-discharge machining slits on machining surfaces in all specimens and an ECT has possibility as a surface inspection technique for underwater laser beam welding. (author)

A Survey of Routing Issues and Associated Protocols in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Muhammad Khalid

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater wireless sensor networks are a newly emerging wireless technology in which small size sensors with limited energy and limited memory and bandwidth are deployed in deep sea water and various monitoring operations like tactical surveillance, environmental monitoring, and data collection are performed through these tiny sensors. Underwater wireless sensor networks are used for the exploration of underwater resources, oceanographic data collection, flood or disaster prevention, tactical surveillance systems, and unmanned underwater vehicles. Sensor nodes consist of a small memory, a central processing unit, and an antenna. Underwater networks are much different from terrestrial sensor networks as radio waves cannot be used in underwater wireless sensor networks. Acoustic channels are used for communication in deep sea water. Acoustic signals have many limitations, such as limited bandwidth, higher end-to-end delay, network path loss, higher propagation delay, and dynamic topology. Usually, these limitations result in higher energy consumption with a smaller number of packets delivered. The main aim nowadays is to operate sensor nodes having a smaller battery for a longer time in the network. This survey has discussed the state-of-the-art localization based and localization-free routing protocols. Routing associated issues in the area of underwater wireless sensor networks have also been discussed.

Evaluation of Underwater Image Enhancement Algorithms under Different Environmental Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marino Mangeruga

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Underwater images usually suffer from poor visibility, lack of contrast and colour casting, mainly due to light absorption and scattering. In literature, there are many algorithms aimed to enhance the quality of underwater images through different approaches. Our purpose was to identify an algorithm that performs well in different environmental conditions. We have selected some algorithms from the state of the art and we have employed them to enhance a dataset of images produced in various underwater sites, representing different environmental and illumination conditions. These enhanced images have been evaluated through some quantitative metrics. By analysing the results of these metrics, we tried to understand which of the selected algorithms performed better than the others. Another purpose of our research was to establish if a quantitative metric was enough to judge the behaviour of an underwater image enhancement algorithm. We aim to demonstrate that, even if the metrics can provide an indicative estimation of image quality, they could lead to inconsistent or erroneous evaluations.

Low doses of ivermectin cause sensory and locomotor disorders in dung beetles

Science.gov (United States)

Verdú, José R.; Cortez, Vieyle; Ortiz, Antonio J.; González-Rodríguez, Estela; Martinez-Pinna, Juan; Lumaret, Jean-Pierre; Lobo, Jorge M.; Numa, Catherine; Sánchez-Piñero, Francisco

2015-09-01

Ivermectin is a veterinary pharmaceutical generally used to control the ecto- and endoparasites of livestock, but its use has resulted in adverse effects on coprophilous insects, causing population decline and biodiversity loss. There is currently no information regarding the direct effects of ivermectin on dung beetle physiology and behaviour. Here, based on electroantennography and spontaneous muscle force tests, we show sub-lethal disorders caused by ivermectin in sensory and locomotor systems of Scarabaeus cicatricosus, a key dung beetle species in Mediterranean ecosystems. Our findings show that ivermectin decreases the olfactory and locomotor capacity of dung beetles, preventing them from performing basic biological activities. These effects are observed at concentrations lower than those usually measured in the dung of treated livestock. Taking into account that ivermectin acts on both glutamate-gated and GABA-gated chloride ion channels of nerve and muscle cells, we predict that ivermectin’s effects at the physiological level could influence many members of the dung pat community. The results indicate that the decline of dung beetle populations could be related to the harmful effects of chemical contamination in the dung.

Syngeneic B16F10 Melanoma Causes Cachexia and Impaired Skeletal Muscle Strength and Locomotor Activity in Mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabrício A. Voltarelli

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Muscle wasting has been emerging as one of the principal components of cancer cachexia, leading to progressive impairment of work capacity. Despite early stages melanomas rarely promotes weight loss, the appearance of metastatic and/or solid tumor melanoma can leads to cachexia development. Here, we investigated the B16F10 tumor-induced cachexia and its contribution to muscle strength and locomotor-like activity impairment. C57BL/6 mice were subcutaneously injected with 5 × 104 B16F10 melanoma cells or PBS as a Sham negative control. Tumor growth was monitored during a period of 28 days. Compared to Sham mice, tumor group depicts a loss of skeletal muscle, as well as significantly reduced muscle grip strength and epididymal fat mass. This data are in agreement with mild to severe catabolic host response promoted by elevated serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, interleukin-6 (IL-6 and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH activity. Tumor implantation has also compromised general locomotor activity and decreased exploratory behavior. Likewise, muscle loss, and elevated inflammatory interleukin were associated to muscle strength loss and locomotor activity impairment. In conclusion, our data demonstrated that subcutaneous B16F10 melanoma tumor-driven catabolic state in response to a pro-inflammatory environment that is associated with impaired skeletal muscle strength and decreased locomotor activity in tumor-bearing mice.

Neuropharmacology of light-induced locomotor activation.

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Davide; Pum, Martin E; Groos, Dominik; Lauber, Andrea C; Huston, Joseph P; Carey, Robert J; de Souza Silva, Maria A; Müller, Christian P

2015-08-01

Presentation of non-aversive light stimuli for several seconds was found to reliably induce locomotor activation and exploratory-like activity. Light-induced locomotor activity (LIA) can be considered a convenient simple model to study sensory-motor activation. LIA was previously shown to coincide with serotonergic and dopaminergic activation in specific cortical areas in freely moving and anesthetized animals. In the present study we explore the neuropharmacology of LIA using a receptor antagonist/agonist approach in rats. The non-selective 5-HT2-receptor antagonist ritanserin (1.5-6 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently reduced LIA. Selective antagonism of either the 5-HT2A-receptor by MDL 11,939 (0.1-0.4 mg/kg, i.p.), or the 5-HT2C-receptor by SDZ SER 082 (0.125-0.5 mg/kg, i.p.), alone or in combination, had no significant influence on LIA. Also the selective 5-HT1A-receptor antagonist, WAY 100635 (0.4 mg/kg, i.p.) did not affect LIA. Neither did the preferential dopamine D2-receptor antagonist, haloperidol (0.025-0.1 mg/kg, i.p.) nor the D2/D3-receptor agonist, quinpirole (0.025-0.5 mg/kg, i.p.) affect the expression of LIA. However, blocking the glutamatergic NMDA-receptor with phencyclidine (PCP, 1.5-6 mg/kg, i.p.) dose-dependently reduced LIA. This effect was also observed with ketamine (10 mg/kg, i.p.). These findings suggest that serotonin and dopamine receptors abundantly expressed in the cortex do not mediate light-stimulus triggered locomotor activity. PCP and ketamine effects, however, suggest an important role of NMDA receptors in LIA. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Speed-Dependent Modulation of the Locomotor Behavior in Adult Mice Reveals Attractor and Transitional Gaits.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemieux, Maxime; Josset, Nicolas; Roussel, Marie; Couraud, Sébastien; Bretzner, Frédéric

2016-01-01

Locomotion results from an interplay between biomechanical constraints of the muscles attached to the skeleton and the neuronal circuits controlling and coordinating muscle activities. Quadrupeds exhibit a wide range of locomotor gaits. Given our advances in the genetic identification of spinal and supraspinal circuits important to locomotion in the mouse, it is now important to get a better understanding of the full repertoire of gaits in the freely walking mouse. To assess this range, young adult C57BL/6J mice were trained to walk and run on a treadmill at different locomotor speeds. Instead of using the classical paradigm defining gaits according to their footfall pattern, we combined the inter-limb coupling and the duty cycle of the stance phase, thus identifying several types of gaits: lateral walk, trot, out-of-phase walk, rotary gallop, transverse gallop, hop, half-bound, and full-bound. Out-of-phase walk, trot, and full-bound were robust and appeared to function as attractor gaits (i.e., a state to which the network flows and stabilizes) at low, intermediate, and high speeds respectively. In contrast, lateral walk, hop, transverse gallop, rotary gallop, and half-bound were more transient and therefore considered transitional gaits (i.e., a labile state of the network from which it flows to the attractor state). Surprisingly, lateral walk was less frequently observed. Using graph analysis, we demonstrated that transitions between gaits were predictable, not random. In summary, the wild-type mouse exhibits a wider repertoire of locomotor gaits than expected. Future locomotor studies should benefit from this paradigm in assessing transgenic mice or wild-type mice with neurotraumatic injury or neurodegenerative disease affecting gait.

Consensus of multiple autonomous underwater vehicles with double independent Markovian switching topologies and timevarying delays

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yan Zhe-Ping; Liu Yi-Bo; Zhou Jia-Jia; Zhang Wei; Wang Lu

2017-01-01

A new method in which the consensus algorithm is used to solve the coordinate control problems of leaderless multiple autonomous underwater vehicles (multi-AUVs) with double independent Markovian switching communication topologies and time-varying delays among the underwater sensors is investigated. This is accomplished by first dividing the communication topology into two different switching parts, i.e., velocity and position, to reduce the data capacity per data package sent between the multi-AUVs in the ocean. Then, the state feedback linearization is used to simplify and rewrite the complex nonlinear and coupled mathematical model of the AUVs into a double-integrator dynamic model. Consequently, coordinate control of the multi-AUVs is regarded as an approximating consensus problem with various time-varying delays and velocity and position topologies. Considering these factors, sufficient conditions of consensus control are proposed and analyzed and the stability of the multi-AUVs is proven by Lyapunov–Krasovskii theorem. Finally, simulation results that validate the theoretical results are presented. (paper)

Hydrodynamic design of an underwater hull cleaning robot and its evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Man Hyung Lee

2012-12-01

Full Text Available An underwater hull cleaning robot can be a desirable choice for the cleaning of large ships. It can make the cleaning process safe and economical. This paper presents a hydrodynamic design of an underwater cleaning robot and its evaluation for an underwater ship hull cleaning robot. The hydrodynamic design process of the robot body is described in detail. Optimal body design process with compromises among conflicting design requirements is given. Experimental results on the hydrodynamic performance of the robot are given.

Monterey Bay ambient noise profiles using underwater gliders

OpenAIRE

Chandrayadula, Tarun K.; Miller, Chris W.; Joseph, John

2013-01-01

The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4799131 In 2012, during two separate week-long deployments, underwater gliders outfitted with external hydrophones profiled the upper 100-200 m of the Monterey Bay. The environment contained various noises made by marine mammals, ships, winds, and earthquakes. Unlike hydrophone receivers moored to a fixed location, moving gliders measure noise variability across a wide terrain. However, underwater mobile s...

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nasir Saeed

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-12-26

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir; Celik, Abdulkadir; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.; Alouini, Mohamed-Slim

2017-01-01

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Energy Harvesting Hybrid Acoustic-Optical Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks Localization

KAUST Repository

Saeed, Nasir

2017-12-26

Underwater wireless technologies demand to transmit at higher data rate for ocean exploration. Currently, large coverage is achieved by acoustic sensor networks with low data rate, high cost, high latency, high power consumption, and negative impact on marine mammals. Meanwhile, optical communication for underwater networks has the advantage of the higher data rate albeit for limited communication distances. Moreover, energy consumption is another major problem for underwater sensor networks, due to limited battery power and difficulty in replacing or recharging the battery of a sensor node. The ultimate solution to this problem is to add energy harvesting capability to the acoustic-optical sensor nodes. Localization of underwater sensor networks is of utmost importance because the data collected from underwater sensor nodes is useful only if the location of the nodes is known. Therefore, a novel localization technique for energy harvesting hybrid acoustic-optical underwater wireless sensor networks (AO-UWSNs) is proposed. AO-UWSN employs optical communication for higher data rate at a short transmission distance and employs acoustic communication for low data rate and long transmission distance. A hybrid received signal strength (RSS) based localization technique is proposed to localize the nodes in AO-UWSNs. The proposed technique combines the noisy RSS based measurements from acoustic communication and optical communication and estimates the final locations of acoustic-optical sensor nodes. A weighted multiple observations paradigm is proposed for hybrid estimated distances to suppress the noisy observations and give more importance to the accurate observations. Furthermore, the closed form solution for Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) is derived for localization accuracy of the proposed technique.

Cutting method and device underwater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takano, Genta; Kamei, Hiromasa; Beppu, Seiji

1998-01-01

A place of material to be cut is surrounded by an openable/closable box. The material to be cut is cut underwater, and materials generated in this case are removed from the cut portion by a pressurized water jet. The removed materials are sucked and recovered together with water in the box. Among the materials caused by the cutting underwater, solid materials not floating on water are caused to stay in the midway of a sucking and recovering channel. A large sucking force might be required for the entire region of the sucking and recovering channel when sucking and recovering large sized solid materials not floating on water, but even large sized materials can be recovered easily according to the present invention since they are recovered after being sucked and stayed in the midway of the sucking and recovering channel. (N.H.)

Virus-mediated shRNA knockdown of prodynorphin in the rat nucleus accumbens attenuates depression-like behavior and cocaine locomotor sensitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, Ami; Whitfield, Timothy W; Kreifeldt, Max; Koebel, Pascale; Kieffer, Brigitte L; Contet, Candice; George, Olivier; Koob, George F

2014-01-01

Dynorphins, endogenous opioid peptides that arise from the precursor protein prodynorphin (Pdyn), are hypothesized to be involved in the regulation of mood states and the neuroplasticity associated with addiction. The current study tested the hypothesis that dynorphin in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) mediates such effects. More specifically, we examined whether knockdown of Pdyn within the NAcc in rats would alter the expression of depressive-like and anxiety-like behavior, as well as cocaine locomotor sensitization. Wistar rats were injected with adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors encoding either a Pdyn-specific short hairpin RNA (AAV-shPdyn) or a scrambled shRNA (AAV-shScr) as control. Four weeks later, rats were tested for anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze test and depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test (FST). Finally, rats received one daily injection of saline or cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p.), followed by assessment of locomotion for 4 consecutive days. Following 3 days of abstinence, the rats completed 2 additional daily cocaine/saline locomotor trials. Pdyn knockdown in the NAcc led to a significant reduction in depressive-like behavior in the FST, but had no effect on anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze. Pdyn knockdown did not alter baseline locomotor behavior, the locomotor response to acute cocaine, or the initial sensitization of the locomotor response to cocaine over the first 4 cocaine treatment days. However, following 3 days abstinence the locomotor response to the cocaine challenge returned to their original levels in the AAV-shPdyn rats while remaining heightened in the AAV-shScr rats. These results suggest that dynorphin in a very specific area of the nucleus accumbens contributes to depressive-like states and may be involved in neuroadaptations in the NAcc that contribute to the development of cocaine addiction as a persistent and lasting condition.

Virus-mediated shRNA knockdown of prodynorphin in the rat nucleus accumbens attenuates depression-like behavior and cocaine locomotor sensitization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ami Cohen

Full Text Available Dynorphins, endogenous opioid peptides that arise from the precursor protein prodynorphin (Pdyn, are hypothesized to be involved in the regulation of mood states and the neuroplasticity associated with addiction. The current study tested the hypothesis that dynorphin in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc mediates such effects. More specifically, we examined whether knockdown of Pdyn within the NAcc in rats would alter the expression of depressive-like and anxiety-like behavior, as well as cocaine locomotor sensitization. Wistar rats were injected with adeno-associated viral (AAV vectors encoding either a Pdyn-specific short hairpin RNA (AAV-shPdyn or a scrambled shRNA (AAV-shScr as control. Four weeks later, rats were tested for anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze test and depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test (FST. Finally, rats received one daily injection of saline or cocaine (20 mg/kg, i.p., followed by assessment of locomotion for 4 consecutive days. Following 3 days of abstinence, the rats completed 2 additional daily cocaine/saline locomotor trials. Pdyn knockdown in the NAcc led to a significant reduction in depressive-like behavior in the FST, but had no effect on anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze. Pdyn knockdown did not alter baseline locomotor behavior, the locomotor response to acute cocaine, or the initial sensitization of the locomotor response to cocaine over the first 4 cocaine treatment days. However, following 3 days abstinence the locomotor response to the cocaine challenge returned to their original levels in the AAV-shPdyn rats while remaining heightened in the AAV-shScr rats. These results suggest that dynorphin in a very specific area of the nucleus accumbens contributes to depressive-like states and may be involved in neuroadaptations in the NAcc that contribute to the development of cocaine addiction as a persistent and lasting condition.

Potential contributions of training intensity on locomotor performance in individuals with chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Holleran, Carey L; Rodriguez, Kelly S; Echauz, Anthony; Leech, Kristan A; Hornby, T George

2015-04-01

Many interventions can improve walking ability of individuals with stroke, although the training parameters that maximize recovery are not clear. For example, the contribution of training intensity has not been well established and may contribute to the efficacy of many locomotor interventions. The purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the effects of locomotor training intensity on walking outcomes in individuals with gait deficits poststroke. Using a randomized cross-over design, 12 participants with chronic stroke (>6-month duration) performed either high-intensity (70%-80% of heart rate reserve; n = 6) or low-intensity (30%-40% heart rate reserve; n = 6) locomotor training for 12 or fewer sessions over 4 to 5 weeks. Four weeks following completion, the alternate training intervention was performed. Training intensity was manipulated by adding loads or applying resistance during walking, with similar speeds, durations, and amount of stepping practice between conditions. Greater increases in 6-Minute Walk Test performance were observed following high-intensity training compared with low-intensity training. A significant interaction of intensity and order was also observed for 6-Minute Walk Test and peak treadmill speed, with the largest changes in those who performed high-intensity training first. Moderate correlations were observed between locomotor outcomes and measures of training intensity. This study provides the first evidence that the intensity of locomotor practice may be an important independent determinant of walking outcomes poststroke. In the clinical setting, the intensity of locomotor training can be manipulated in many ways, although this represents only 1 parameter to consider.Video Abstract available for more insights from the authors (see Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A90).

A thermal engine for underwater glider driven by ocean thermal energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Yanan; Wang, Yanhui; Ma, Zhesong; Wang, Shuxin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Thermal engine with a double-tube structure is developed for underwater glider. • Isostatic pressing technology is effective to increase volumetric change rate. • Actual volumetric change rate reaches 89.2% of the theoretical value. • Long term sailing of 677 km and 27 days is achieved by thermal underwater glider. - Graphical Abstract: - Abstract: Underwater glider is one of the most popular platforms for long term ocean observation. Underwater glider driven by ocean thermal energy extends the duration and range of underwater glider powered by battery. Thermal engine is the core device of underwater glider to harvest ocean thermal energy. In this paper, (1) model of thermal engine was raised by thermodynamics method and the performance of thermal engine was investigated, (2) thermal engine with a double-tube structure was developed and isostatic pressing technology was applied to improve the performance for buoyancy driven, referencing powder pressing theory, (3) wall thickness of thermal engine was optimized to reduce the overall weight of thermal engine, (4) material selection and dimension determination were discussed for a faster heat transfer design, by thermal resistance analysis, (5) laboratory test and long term sea trail were carried out to test the performance of thermal engine. The study shows that volumetric change rate is the most important indicator to evaluating buoyancy-driven performance of a thermal engine, isostatic pressing technology is effective to improve volumetric change rate, actual volumetric change rate can reach 89.2% of the theoretical value and the average power is about 124 W in a typical diving profile. Thermal engine developed by Tianjin University is a superior thermal energy conversion device for underwater glider. Additionally, application of thermal engine provides a new solution for miniaturization of ocean thermal energy conversion.

Summary of the guideline on underwater laser beam repair welding

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Hiroya; Yoda, Masaki; Motora, Yuichi

2013-01-01

It is known that stress corrosion cracking (SCC) might occur at the weld of a reactor pressure vessel or core internals. Underwater laser beam clad welding for mitigation of SCC has been already established and the guideline 'Underwater laser beam clad welding' was published. Moreover, the guideline 'Seal welding' was also published as a repair method for SCC. In addition to these guidelines, the guideline 'Underwater laser beam repair welding' was newly published in November, 2012 for the repair welding after completely removing a SCC crack occurred in weld or base metal. This paper introduces the summary of this guideline. (author)

ROV-based Underwater Vision System for Intelligent Fish Ethology Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rui Nian

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Fish ethology is a prospective discipline for ocean surveys. In this paper, one ROV-based system is established to perform underwater visual tasks with customized optical sensors installed. One image quality enhancement method is first presented in the context of creating underwater imaging models combined with homomorphic filtering and wavelet decomposition. The underwater vision system can further detect and track swimming fish from the resulting images with the strategies developed using curve evolution and particular filtering, in order to obtain a deeper understanding of fish behaviours. The simulation results have shown the excellent performance of the developed scheme, in regard to both robustness and effectiveness.

Optimum LED wavelength for underwater optical wireless communication at turbid water

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenkrantz, Etai; Arnon, Shlomi

2014-10-01

Underwater optical wireless communication is an emerging technology, which can provide high data rate. High data rate communication is required for applications such as underwater imaging, networks of sensors and swarms of underwater vehicles. These applications pursue an affordable light source, which can be obtained by light emitting diodes (LED). LEDs offer solutions characterized by low cost, high efficiency, reliability and compactness based on off-the-shelf components such as blue and green light emitting diodes. In this paper we present our recent theoretical and experimental results in this field.

Underwater videography and photography in Gulf of Kachchh. Sponsored by Gujarat Ecological Society, Vadodara, Gujarat

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Marine Archaeology Centre (MAC) has been carrying out underwater explorations and excavations of ancient ports and sunken shipwrecks to preserve underwater cultural heritage. MAC has the infrastructure facility to carry out underwater investigations...

Underwater nuclear power plant structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Severs, S.; Toll, H.V.

1982-01-01

A structure for an underwater nuclear power generating plant comprising a triangular platform formed of tubular leg and truss members upon which are attached one or more large spherical pressure vessels and one or more small cylindrical auxiliary pressure vessels. (author)

Analysing deterioration of marble stones exposed to underwater conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Cámara, Beatriz; Álvarez de Buergo, Mónica; Bethencourt, Manuel; Freire-Lista, David; Fort, Rafael

2016-04-01

The peculiar conditions of the marine environment make the conservation of underwater archaeological sites an extremely complex procedure. This is due to the fact that the prevailing conditions in this environment promote the development of deterioration phenomena in submerged artefacts through the synergistic action of physical, chemical and biological factors. The objective of the present investigation was to determine how petrophysical properties of cultural heritage materials can be affected by being exposed to the specific underwater conditions of the sea bottom, and so, to evaluate how this can affect, in a long term, in their durability and evolution when they part of an archaeological site. For this purpose, two types of marble (the Italian Carrara and the Spanish Macael) were subjected to an experiment consisting of exposing stone materials for one and a half year to underwater conditions. The experimental test was located in an archaeological site in the Bay of Cadiz (southern Spain), Bajo del Chapitel (recognized as Cultural Interest), which includes remains of shipwrecks from different periods. In this site, samples were submerged to 12 m depth and placed in the sea bottom simulating the different positions in which underwater archaeological objects can be found (fully exposed, half buried and covered). Petrophysical characterisation involved determination of the apparent and bulk densities, water saturation (maximum water content a material may contain), open porosity (porosity accessible to water), chromatic parameters and ultrasonic velocity. Before measuring, samples were subjected to mechanical cleaning (in those samples with biological colonization) and to removal of salt deposits. Results showed significant differences in these petrophysical properties after underwater submersion, which were directly related to the type of underwater exposure condition. Comparative analysis of petrophysical properties, like the one conducted in this study

FILMING UNDERWATER IN 3D RESPECTING STEREOGRAPHIC RULES

OpenAIRE

R. Rinaldi; H. Hordosch

2015-01-01

After an experimental phase of many years, 3D filming is now effective and successful. Improvements are still possible, but the film industry achieved memorable success on 3D movie’s box offices due to the overall quality of its products. Special environments such as space ("Gravity") and the underwater realm look perfect to be reproduced in 3D. "Filming in space" was possible in "Gravity" using special effects and computer graphic. The underwater realm is still difficult to be handled. Under...

Development of underwater and hyperbaric medicine in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Rozali, A; Rampal, K G; Zin, B Mohd; Sherina, M S; Khairuddin, H; Abd Halim, M; Sulaiman, A

2006-12-01

Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine is a treatment modality gaining recognition in Malaysia. It uses the hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) approach where patients are placed in recompression chambers and subjected to oxygen therapy under pressure. In Malaysia it was introduced as early as the 1960's by the Royal Malaysian Navy to treat their divers for decompression illness (DCI), arterial gas embolism (AGE) and barotraumas. Other sectors in the armed forces, universities and private health centres began developing this approach too in the late 1990's, for similar purposes. In 1996, Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine began gaining its popularity when the Institute of Underwater and Hyperbaric Medicine at the Armed Forces Hospital in Lumut started treating specific clinical diseases such as diabetic foot ulcers, osteomyelitis, and carbon monoxide poisoning and other diseases using HBOT. This paper discusses the development of this interesting treatment modality, giving a brief historical overview to its current development, as well as provides some thought for its future development in Malaysia.

Optimal Node Placement in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

KAUST Repository

Felamban, M.

2013-03-25

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are expected to play a vital role in the exploration and monitoring of underwater areas which are not easily reachable by humans. However, underwater communication via acoustic waves is subject to several performance limitations that are very different from those used for terresstrial networks. In this paper, we investigate node placement for building an initial underwater WSN infrastructure. We formulate this problem as a nonlinear mathematical program with the objective of minimizing the total transmission loss under a given number of sensor nodes and targeted coverage volume. The obtained solution is the location of each node represented via a truncated octahedron to fill out the 3D space. Experiments are conducted to verify the proposed formulation, which is solved using Matlab optimization tool. Simulation is also conducted using an ns-3 simulator, and the simulation results are consistent with the obtained results from mathematical model with less than 10% error.

Impairment of the organization of locomotor and exploratory behaviors in bile duct-ligated rats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Leke, Renata; de Oliveira, Diogo L; Mussulini, Ben Hur M.

2012-01-01

Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) arises from acute or chronic liver diseases and leads to several problems, including motor impairment. Animal models of chronic liver disease have extensively investigated the mechanisms of this disease. Impairment of locomotor activity has been described in different...... female Wistar rats underwent common bile duct ligation (BDL rats) or the manipulation of common bile duct without ligation (control rats). Six weeks after surgery, control and BDL rats underwent open-field, plus-maze and foot-fault behavioral tasks. The BDL rats developed chronic liver failure...

A swarm of autonomous miniature underwater robot drifters for exploring submesoscale ocean dynamics.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaffe, Jules S; Franks, Peter J S; Roberts, Paul L D; Mirza, Diba; Schurgers, Curt; Kastner, Ryan; Boch, Adrien

2017-01-24

Measuring the ever-changing 3-dimensional (3D) motions of the ocean requires simultaneous sampling at multiple locations. In particular, sampling the complex, nonlinear dynamics associated with submesoscales (swarm of 16 independent vehicles whose 3D trajectories are measured near-continuously, underwater. As the vehicles drift with the ambient flow or execute preprogrammed vertical behaviours, the simultaneous measurements at multiple, known locations resolve the details of the flow within the swarm. We describe the design, construction, control and underwater navigation of the M-AUE. A field programme in the coastal ocean using a swarm of these robots programmed with a depth-holding behaviour provides a unique test of a physical-biological interaction leading to plankton patch formation in internal waves. The performance of the M-AUE vehicles illustrates their novel capability for measuring submesoscale dynamics.

Actuated Recoil Absorbing Mounting System for use with an Underwater Gun

Science.gov (United States)

1998-03-31

fire supercavitating bullets, requires that 20 the new projectile launchers be tested. The firing of projectile 21 launchers involving a high...of projectile launcher 12 includes an underwater gun 15 that fires supercavitating bullets underwater and has a high 16 discharge energy. However

Strong underwater adhesives made by self-assembling multi-protein nanofibres.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Chao; Gurry, Thomas; Cheng, Allen A; Downey, Jordan; Deng, Zhengtao; Stultz, Collin M; Lu, Timothy K

2014-10-01

Many natural underwater adhesives harness hierarchically assembled amyloid nanostructures to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Despite recent advances, our understanding of the molecular design, self-assembly and structure-function relationships of these natural amyloid fibres remains limited. Thus, designing biomimetic amyloid-based adhesives remains challenging. Here, we report strong and multi-functional underwater adhesives obtained from fusing mussel foot proteins (Mfps) of Mytilus galloprovincialis with CsgA proteins, the major subunit of Escherichia coli amyloid curli fibres. These hybrid molecular materials hierarchically self-assemble into higher-order structures, in which, according to molecular dynamics simulations, disordered adhesive Mfp domains are exposed on the exterior of amyloid cores formed by CsgA. Our fibres have an underwater adhesion energy approaching 20.9 mJ m(-2), which is 1.5 times greater than the maximum of bio-inspired and bio-derived protein-based underwater adhesives reported thus far. Moreover, they outperform Mfps or curli fibres taken on their own and exhibit better tolerance to auto-oxidation than Mfps at pH ≥ 7.0.

On the Performance of the Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2015-05-01

performance of UWSN. 5.1 Hardware and Software Details 5.1.1 Equipment Our experimental model consisted of an indoor swimming pool , two pairs...UWSN has many constraints mainly due to limited capacity, propagation loss, as well as power limitation since in underwater environment solar energy ...since in underwater environment solar energy cannot be used to recharge batteries. In our approach, we estimate the number of operating receivers

A novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar images.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Pengfei; Fan, Xinnan; Ni, Jianjun; Khan, Zubair; Li, Min

2017-01-01

Underwater dam crack detection and classification based on sonar images is a challenging task because underwater environments are complex and because cracks are quite random and diverse in nature. Furthermore, obtainable sonar images are of low resolution. To address these problems, a novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar imagery is proposed. First, the sonar images are divided into image blocks. Second, a clustering analysis of a 3-D feature space is used to obtain the crack fragments. Third, the crack fragments are connected using an improved tensor voting method. Fourth, a minimum spanning tree is used to obtain the crack curve. Finally, an improved evidence theory combined with fuzzy rule reasoning is proposed to classify the cracks. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect underwater dam cracks and classify them accurately and effectively under complex underwater environments.

A novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar images.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pengfei Shi

Full Text Available Underwater dam crack detection and classification based on sonar images is a challenging task because underwater environments are complex and because cracks are quite random and diverse in nature. Furthermore, obtainable sonar images are of low resolution. To address these problems, a novel underwater dam crack detection and classification approach based on sonar imagery is proposed. First, the sonar images are divided into image blocks. Second, a clustering analysis of a 3-D feature space is used to obtain the crack fragments. Third, the crack fragments are connected using an improved tensor voting method. Fourth, a minimum spanning tree is used to obtain the crack curve. Finally, an improved evidence theory combined with fuzzy rule reasoning is proposed to classify the cracks. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is able to detect underwater dam cracks and classify them accurately and effectively under complex underwater environments.

Circadian Clock Protein Content and Daily Rhythm of Locomotor Activity Are Altered after Chronic Exposure to Lead in Rat

Science.gov (United States)

Sabbar, Mariam; Dkhissi-Benyahya, Ouria; Benazzouz, Abdelhamid; Lakhdar-Ghazal, Nouria

2017-01-01

Lead exposure has been reported to produce many clinical features, including parkinsonism. However, its consequences on the circadian rhythms are still unknown. Here we aimed to examine the circadian rhythms of locomotor activity following lead intoxication and investigate the mechanisms by which lead may induce alterations of circadian rhythms in rats. Male Wistar rats were injected with lead or sodium acetate (10 mg/kg/day, i.p.) during 4 weeks. Both groups were tested in the “open field” to quantify the exploratory activity and in the rotarod to evaluate motor coordination. Then, animals were submitted to continuous 24 h recordings of locomotor activity under 14/10 Light/dark (14/10 LD) cycle and in complete darkness (DD). At the end of experiments, the clock proteins BMAL1, PER1-2, and CRY1-2 were assayed in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) using immunohistochemistry. We showed that lead significantly reduced the number of crossing in the open field, impaired motor coordination and altered the daily locomotor activity rhythm. When the LD cycle was advanced by 6 h, both groups adjusted their daily locomotor activity to the new LD cycle with high onset variability in lead-intoxicated rats compared to controls. Lead also led to a decrease in the number of immunoreactive cells (ir-) of BMAL1, PER1, and PER2 without affecting the number of ir-CRY1 and ir-CRY2 cells in the SCN. Our data provide strong evidence that lead intoxication disturbs the rhythm of locomotor activity and alters clock proteins expression in the SCN. They contribute to the understanding of the mechanism by which lead induce circadian rhythms disturbances. PMID:28970786

Underwater electric field detection system based on weakly electric fish

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Wei; Wang, Tianyu; Wang, Qi

2018-04-01

Weakly electric fish sense their surroundings in complete darkness by their active electric field detection system. However, due to the insufficient detection capacity of the electric field, the detection distance is not enough, and the detection accuracy is not high. In this paper, a method of underwater detection based on rotating current field theory is proposed to improve the performance of underwater electric field detection system. First of all, we built underwater detection system based on the theory of the spin current field mathematical model with the help of the results of previous researchers. Then we completed the principle prototype and finished the metal objects in the water environment detection experiments, laid the foundation for the further experiments.

Poststroke Hemiparesis Impairs the Rate but not Magnitude of Adaptation of Spatial and Temporal Locomotor Features

Science.gov (United States)

Savin, Douglas N.; Tseng, Shih-Chiao; Whitall, Jill; Morton, Susanne M.

2015-01-01

Background Persons with stroke and hemiparesis walk with a characteristic pattern of spatial and temporal asymmetry that is resistant to most traditional interventions. It was recently shown in nondisabled persons that the degree of walking symmetry can be readily altered via locomotor adaptation. However, it is unclear whether stroke-related brain damage affects the ability to adapt spatial or temporal gait symmetry. Objective Determine whether locomotor adaptation to a novel swing phase perturbation is impaired in persons with chronic stroke and hemiparesis. Methods Participants with ischemic stroke (14) and nondisabled controls (12) walked on a treadmill before, during, and after adaptation to a unilateral perturbing weight that resisted forward leg movement. Leg kinematics were measured bilaterally, including step length and single-limb support (SLS) time symmetry, limb angle center of oscillation, and interlimb phasing, and magnitude of “initial” and “late” locomotor adaptation rates were determined. Results All participants had similar magnitudes of adaptation and similar initial adaptation rates both spatially and temporally. All 14 participants with stroke and baseline asymmetry temporarily walked with improved SLS time symmetry after adaptation. However, late adaptation rates poststroke were decreased (took more strides to achieve adaptation) compared with controls. Conclusions Mild to moderate hemiparesis does not interfere with the initial acquisition of novel symmetrical gait patterns in both the spatial and temporal domains, though it does disrupt the rate at which “late” adaptive changes are produced. Impairment of the late, slow phase of learning may be an important rehabilitation consideration in this patient population. PMID:22367915

Airborne lidar detection of an underwater thermal vent

Science.gov (United States)

Roddewig, Michael R.; Churnside, James H.; Shaw, Joseph A.

2017-07-01

We report the lidar detection of an underwater feature that appears to be a thermal vent in Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, USA, with the Montana State University Fish Lidar. The location of the detected vent was 30 m from the closest vent identified in a United States Geological Survey of Yellowstone Lake in 2008. A second possible vent is also presented, and the appearance of both vents in the lidar data is compared to descriptions of underwater thermal vents in Yellowstone Lake from the geological literature.

Underwater Shock Response Analysis of a Floating Vessel

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.E. van Aanhold

1998-01-01

Full Text Available The response of a surface vessel to underwater shock has been calculated using an explicit finite element analysis. The analysis model is two-dimensional and contains the floating steel structure, a large surrounding water volume and the free surface. The underwater shock is applied in the form of a plane shock wave and cavitation is considered in the analysis. Advanced computer graphics, in particular video animations, provide a powerful and indispensable means for the presentation and evaluation of the analysis results.

Locomotor recovery after spinal cord contusion injury in rats is improved by spontaneous exercise

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gispen, W.H.; Meeteren, N.L. van; Eggers, L.; Lankhorst, A.J.; Hamers, F.P.

2003-01-01

We have recently shown that enriched environment (EE) housing significantly enhances locomotor recovery following spinal cord contusion injury (SCI) in rats. As the type and intensity of locomotor training with EE housing are rather poorly characterized, we decided to compare the effectiveness of EE

Effects of Innovative WALKBOT Robotic-Assisted Locomotor Training on Balance and Gait Recovery in Hemiparetic Stroke: A Prospective, Randomized, Experimenter Blinded Case Control Study With a Four-Week Follow-Up.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soo-Yeon; Yang, Li; Park, In Jae; Kim, Eun Joo; JoshuaPark, Min Su; You, Sung Hyun; Kim, Yun-Hee; Ko, Hyun-Yoon; Shin, Yong-Il

2015-07-01

The present clinical investigation was to ascertain whether the effects of WALKBOT-assisted locomotor training (WLT) on balance, gait, and motor recovery were superior or similar to the conventional locomotor training (CLT) in patients with hemiparetic stroke. Thirty individuals with hemiparetic stroke were randomly assigned to either WLT or CLT. WLT emphasized on a progressive, conventional locomotor retraining practice (40 min) combined with the WALKBOT-assisted, haptic guidance and random variable locomotor training (40 min) whereas CLT involved conventional physical therapy alone (80 min). Both intervention dosages were standardized and provided for 80 min, five days/week for four weeks. Clinical outcomes included function ambulation category (FAC), Berg balance scale (BBS), Korean modified Barthel index (K-MBI), modified Ashworth scale (MAS), and EuroQol-5 dimension (EQ-5D) before and after the four-week program as well as at follow-up four weeks after the intervention. Two-way repeated measure ANOVA showed significant interaction effect (time × group) for FAC (p=0.02), BBS (p=0.03) , and K-MBI (p=0.00) across the pre-training, post-training, and follow-up tests, indicating that WLT was more beneficial for balance, gait and daily activity function than CLT alone. However, no significant difference in other variables was observed. This is the first clinical trial that highlights the superior, augmented effects of the WALKBOT-assisted locomotor training on balance, gait and motor recovery when compared to the conventional locomotor training alone in patients with hemiparetic stroke.

Underwater Communications for Video Surveillance Systems at 2.4 GHz

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Sendra

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Video surveillance is needed to control many activities performed in underwater environments. The use of wired media can be a problem since the material specially designed for underwater environments is very expensive. In order to transmit the images and videos wirelessly under water, three main technologies can be used: acoustic waves, which do not provide high bandwidth, optical signals, although the effect of light dispersion in water severely penalizes the transmitted signals and therefore, despite offering high transfer rates, the maximum distance is very small, and electromagnetic (EM waves, which can provide enough bandwidth for video delivery. In the cases where the distance between transmitter and receiver is short, the use of EM waves would be an interesting option since they provide high enough data transfer rates to transmit videos with high resolution. This paper presents a practical study of the behavior of EM waves at 2.4 GHz in freshwater underwater environments. First, we discuss the minimum requirements of a network to allow video delivery. From these results, we measure the maximum distance between nodes and the round trip time (RTT value depending on several parameters such as data transfer rate, signal modulations, working frequency, and water temperature. The results are statistically analyzed to determine their relation. Finally, the EM waves’ behavior is modeled by a set of equations. The results show that there are some combinations of working frequency, modulation, transfer rate and temperature that offer better results than others. Our work shows that short communication distances with high data transfer rates is feasible.

Effects of insemination and blood-feeding on locomotor activity of Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) females under laboratory conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Lima-Camara, Tamara Nunes; Lima, José Bento Pereira; Bruno, Rafaela Vieira; Peixoto, Alexandre Afranio

2014-07-02

Dengue is an arbovirus disease transmitted by two Aedes mosquitoes: Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus. Virgin females of these two species generally show a bimodal and diurnal pattern of activity, with early morning and late afternoon peaks. Although some studies on the flight activity of virgin, inseminated and blood-fed Ae. aegypti females have been carried out under laboratory conditions, little is known about the effects of such physiological states on the locomotor activity of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females. The aim of this study was to analyze, under laboratory conditions, the effects of insemination and blood-feeding on the locomotor activity of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females under LD 12:12, at 25°C. Both Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females were obtained from established laboratory colonies. Control groups were represented by virgin/unfed Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females. Experiments were conducted under laboratory conditions, using an activity monitor that registers individual activity every thirty minutes. Virgin/unfed Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females showed a diurnal and bimodal pattern of locomotor activity, with peaks at early morning and late afternoon. Insemination and blood-feeding significantly decreased the locomotor activity of Ae. aegypti females, but inseminated/blood-fed Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus females showed a similar significant decrease on the locomotor activity compared to virgin/unfed females. This study is the first demonstration of the effects of insemination and blood-feeding on the locomotor activity of Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females under artificial conditions. Data suggest that Ae. albopictus and Ae. aegypti females respond in different ways to physiological status changes and such divergence between these two dengue vectors, associated with several ecological differences, could be related to the greater dengue vectorial capacity of Ae. aegypti in Americas in comparison to Ae. albopictus.

An energy-harvesting power supply for underwater bridge scour monitoring sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuli; Li, Yingjie; He, Longzhuang; Shamsi, Pourya; Zheng, Yahong R.

2018-03-01

The natural force of scouring has become one of the most critical risk endangering the endurance of bridges, thus leading to the necessity of deploying underwater monitoring sensors to actively detect potential scour holes under bridges. Due to the difficulty in re-charging batteries for underwater sensors, super capacitors with energy harvesting (EH) means are exploited to prolong the sustainability of underwater sensors. In this paper, an energy harvesting power supply based on a helical turbine is proposed to power underwater monitoring sensors. A small helical turbine is designed to convert water flow energy to electrical energy with favorable environmental robustness. A 3-inch diameter, 2.5-inch length and 3-bladed helical turbine was designed with two types of waterproof coupling with the sensor housing. Both designs were prototyped and tested under different flow conditions and we get valid voltage around 0.91 V which is enough to power monitoring sensor. The alternating current (AC) electrical energy generated by the helical turbine is then rectified and boosted to drive a DC charger for efficiently charging one super capacitor. The charging circuit was designed, prototyped and tested thoroughly with the helical turbine harvester. The results were promising, that the overall power supply can power an underwater sensor node with wireless transceivers for long-term operations

The Basic Research for Pulverization of Rice Using Underwater Shock Wave by Electric Discharge

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Ide

2016-09-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the food self-support rate of Japan is 40%, and this value is the lowest level in major developed countries. This reason includes decreasing of diverting rice consumption in Japan and increasing abandonment of cultivation. Therefore, these problems are solved by using rice powder instead of expensive flour, and we manage to increase the food selfsupport rate. Previously, the rice powder is manufactured by two methods. One is dry type, and the other is wet type. The former is the method getting rice powder by running dried rice to rotating metal, and has a problem which that starch is damaged by heat when processing was performed. The latter is performed same method against wet rice, and has a problem which a large quantity of water is used. As a method to solve these problems, an underwater shock wave is used. Shock wave is the pressure wave which is over speed of sound by discharging high energy in short time. Propagating shock wave in water is underwater shock wave. The characters of underwater shock wave are long duration of shock wave because water density is uniform, water is low price and easy to get and not heat processing. Thinking of industrialization, the electric discharge is used as the generating source of underwater shock wave in the experiment. As the results, the efficiency of obtaining enough grain size, 100ìm, of rice powder was too bad only using the simple processing using underwater shock wave. Therefore, in Okinawa National College of Technology collaborating with us, obtaining rice powder with higher efficiency by using converged underwater shock wave is the goal of this research. In this research, the underwater shock wave with equal energy of the experimental device of underwater shock wave is measured by the optical observation. In addition, the appearance converging underwater shock wave is simulated by numerical analysis, and the pressure appreciation rate between the first wave and converged

EphA4 defines a class of excitatory locomotor-related interneurons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Butt, S. J B; Lundfald, Line; Kiehn, Ole

2005-01-01

of these interneurons provide direct excitation to ipsilateral motor neurons as determined by spike-triggered averaging of the local ventral root DC trace. Our findings substantiate the role of EphA4-positive interneurons as significant components of the ipsilateral locomotor network and describe a group of putative...... of the role of these cells in the network. One such marker is the EphA4 axon guidance receptor. EphA4-null mice display an abnormal rabbit-like hopping gait that is thought to be the result of synchronization of the normally alternating, bilateral locomotor network via aberrant crossed connections....... In this study, we have performed whole-cell patch clamp on EphA4-positive interneurons in the flexor region (L2) of the locomotor network. We provide evidence that although EphA4 positive interneurons are not entirely a homogeneous population, most of them fire in a rhythmic manner. Moreover, a subset...

Effects of edaravone on muscle atrophy and locomotor function in patients with ischemic stroke: a randomized controlled pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Naritomi, Hiroaki; Moriwaki, Hiroshi; Metoki, Norifumi; Nishimura, Hiroyuki; Higashi, Yasuto; Yamamoto, Yasumasa; Yuasa, Hiroyuki; Oe, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Kortaro; Saito, Kozue; Terayama, Yasuo; Oda, Tadafumi; Tanahashi, Norio; Kondo, Hisao

2010-01-01

Stroke patients with severe leg paralysis are often bedridden in the acute and subacute phase, which increases the risk of disuse muscle atrophy in the chronic phase. The evidence to date indicates that oxidative stress plays an important role in the mechanism of disuse muscle atrophy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if long-term radical scavenger treatment with edaravone following an acute stroke prevents the progression of disuse muscle atrophy and improves leg locomotor function in the chronic phase. This randomized controlled pilot study was conducted at 19 acute stroke and rehabilitation centers across Japan. Forty-seven ischemic stroke patients with at least leg motor weakness admitted within 24 hours of onset were randomly assigned to receive continuous intravenous infusions of edaravone 30 mg twice daily for 3 days (short-term group) or 10-14 days (long-term group). The primary endpoints of the study included the degree of leg disuse muscle atrophy, as measured by the percentage change from baseline in femoral muscle circumference 15 cm above the knee, and the improvement in leg locomotor function, as assessed by the maximum walking speed over 10 m, 3 months after the onset of stroke. Three-month follow-up was completed by a total of 41 patients (21 in the short-term group and 20 in the long-term group). On admission, there was no significant difference in the severity of stroke or the grade of leg paresis between the two treatment groups. The grade of disuse muscle atrophy and incidence of gait impairment 3 weeks after stroke onset were also similar between the short- and long-term groups. However, disuse muscle atrophy of the paretic and non-paretic legs was significantly less severe in the long-term versus the short-term treatment group (3.6 ± 5.9% and 1.5 ± 6.0% vs 8.3 ± 5.2% and 5.7 ± 6.4%; p < 0.01 and p < 0.05) 3 months after stroke onset. Additionally, the maximum walking speed over a distance of 10 m

Fluctuation-Driven Neural Dynamics Reproduce Drosophila Locomotor Patterns.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Maesani

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The neural mechanisms determining the timing of even simple actions, such as when to walk or rest, are largely mysterious. One intriguing, but untested, hypothesis posits a role for ongoing activity fluctuations in neurons of central action selection circuits that drive animal behavior from moment to moment. To examine how fluctuating activity can contribute to action timing, we paired high-resolution measurements of freely walking Drosophila melanogaster with data-driven neural network modeling and dynamical systems analysis. We generated fluctuation-driven network models whose outputs-locomotor bouts-matched those measured from sensory-deprived Drosophila. From these models, we identified those that could also reproduce a second, unrelated dataset: the complex time-course of odor-evoked walking for genetically diverse Drosophila strains. Dynamical models that best reproduced both Drosophila basal and odor-evoked locomotor patterns exhibited specific characteristics. First, ongoing fluctuations were required. In a stochastic resonance-like manner, these fluctuations allowed neural activity to escape stable equilibria and to exceed a threshold for locomotion. Second, odor-induced shifts of equilibria in these models caused a depression in locomotor frequency following olfactory stimulation. Our models predict that activity fluctuations in action selection circuits cause behavioral output to more closely match sensory drive and may therefore enhance navigation in complex sensory environments. Together these data reveal how simple neural dynamics, when coupled with activity fluctuations, can give rise to complex patterns of animal behavior.

The Theseus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle: A Canadian Success Story

Science.gov (United States)

1997-04-01

P502414.PDF [Page: 1 of 9] P502414.PDF [Page: 2 of 9] P502414.PDF [Page: 3 of 9] The Theseus Autonomous Underwater Vehicle A Canadian Success Story...autonomous underwater vehicle, named Theseus , for laying optical fiber cables in ice- covered waters. In trials and missions conducted in 1996, this...stations. An acoustic telemetry system enables communication with Theseus from surface stations, and an optical telemetry system is used for system

Underwater Welding Techniques

OpenAIRE

Esam F. Alajmi; Ahmad A. Alqenaei

2017-01-01

Welding demand in offshore and marine applications is increased with the increasing in oil and gas activities as well as increasing in the marine transportation and industrial applications. Applications of underwater welding well be increased in Kuwait in the coming years due to the strategic directive of the country toward starting the offshore oil and gas exploration and production, and the increase in marine transportation projects. Therefore, there is a need to understand the concept of u...

Plasticity of locomotor sensorimotor interactions after peripheral and/or spinal lesions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rossignol, Serge; Barrière, Grégory; Frigon, Alain

2008-01-01

The present paper reviews aspects of locomotor sensorimotor interactions by focussing on work performed in spinal cats. We provide a brief overview of spinal locomotion and describe the effects of various types of sensory deprivations (e.g. rhizotomies, and lesions of muscle and cutaneous nerves......) to highlight the spinal neuroplasticity necessary for adapting to sensory loss. Recent work on plastic interactions between reflex pathways that could be responsible for such plasticity, in particular changes in proprioceptive and cutaneous pathways that occur during locomotor training of spinal cats...

Enkephalin and dynorphin neuropeptides are differently correlated with locomotor hypersensitivity and levodopa-induced dyskinesia in parkinsonian rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Sgroi, Stefania; Capper-Loup, Christine; Paganetti, Paolo; Kaelin-Lang, Alain

2016-06-01

The opioidergic neuropeptides dynorphin (DYN) and enkephalin (ENK) and the D1 and D2 dopaminergic receptors (D1R, D2R) are involved in the striatal control of motor and behavioral function. In Parkinson's disease, motor disturbances such as "on-off" motor fluctuations and involuntary movements (dyskinesia) are severe complications that often arise after chronic l-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA) treatment. Changes in the striatal expression of preproENK (PPENK), proDYN (PDYN), D1R, and D2R mRNA have been observed in parkinsonian animals treated with l-DOPA. Enhanced opioidergic transmission has been found in association with l-DOPA-induced dyskinesia, but the connection of PPENK, PDYN, D1R, and D2R mRNA expression with locomotor activity remains unclear. In this study, we measured PPENK, PDYN, D1R and D2R mRNA levels by in situ hybridization in the striatum of 6-OHDA hemi-parkinsonian rats treated with l-DOPA (PD+l-DOPA group), along with two control groups (PD+saline and naive+l-DOPA). We found different levels of expression of PPENK, PDYN, D1R and D2R mRNA across the experimental groups and correlated the changes in mRNA expression with dyskinesia and locomotor variables assessed by open field test during several phases of l-DOPA treatment. Both PDYN and PPENK mRNA levels were correlated with the severity of dyskinesia, while PPENK mRNA levels were also correlated with the frequency of contralateral rotational movements and with locomotor variables. Moreover, a strong correlation was found between D1R mRNA expression and D2R mRNA expression in the PD+l-DOPA group. These findings suggest that, in parkinsonian animals treated with l-DOPA, high levels of PPENK are a prerequisite for a locomotor sensitization to l-DOPA treatment, while PDYN overexpression is responsible only for the development of dyskinesia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Microstructural characterizations and mechanical properties in underwater friction stir welding of aluminum and magnesium dissimilar alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao, Yong; Lu, Zhengping; Yan, Keng; Huang, Linzhao

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Aluminum and magnesium alloys were joined by underwater friction stir welding. • Underwater FSW was conducted to improve properties of joint with lower heat input. • Microstructures and mechanical properties of dissimilar joint were investigated. • Intermetallic compounds developed in the fracture interface were analyzed. • Fracture features of the tensile samples were analyzed. - Abstract: Formation of intermetallic compounds in the stir zone of dissimilar welds affects the mechanical properties of the joints significantly. In order to reduce heat input and control the amount and morphological characteristics of brittle intermetallic compounds underwater friction stir welding of 6013 Al alloy and AZ31 Mg alloy was carried out. Microstructures, mechanical properties, elements distribution, and the fracture surface of the joints were analyzed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, etc. The result shows that sound dissimilar joint with good mechanical properties can be obtained by underwater friction stir welding. Al and Mg alloys were stirred together and undergone the process of recrystallization, forming complex intercalated flow patterns in the stir zone. Tensile strength of the dissimilar joint was up to 152.3 MPa. Maximum hardness (142HV) appeared in the middle of the centerline of the specimen. Intermetallic compounds layer consisting of Al 3 Mg 2 and Mg 17 Al 12 formed in the Al/Mg interface and resulted in the fracture of the joint

Dissociation of corticotropin-releasing factor receptor subtype involvement in sensitivity to locomotor effects of methamphetamine and cocaine.

Science.gov (United States)

Giardino, William J; Mark, Gregory P; Stenzel-Poore, Mary P; Ryabinin, Andrey E

2012-02-01

Enhanced sensitivity to the euphoric and locomotor-activating effects of psychostimulants may influence an individual's predisposition to drug abuse and addiction. While drug-induced behaviors are mediated by the actions of several neurotransmitter systems, past research revealed that the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) system is important in driving the acute locomotor response to psychostimulants. We previously reported that genetic deletion of the CRF type-2 receptor (CRF-R2), but not the CRF type-1 receptor (CRF-R1) dampened the acute locomotor stimulant response to methamphetamine (1 mg/kg). These results contrasted with previous studies implicating CRF-R1 in the locomotor effects of psychostimulants. Since the majority of previous studies focused on cocaine, rather than methamphetamine, we set out to test the hypothesis that these drugs differentially engage CRF-R1 and CRF-R2. We expanded our earlier findings by first replicating our previous experiments at a higher dose of methamphetamine (2 mg/kg), and by assessing the effects of the CRF-R1-selective antagonist CP-376,395 (10 mg/kg) on methamphetamine-induced locomotor activity. Next, we used both genetic and pharmacological tools to examine the specific components of the CRF system underlying the acute locomotor response to cocaine (5-10 mg/kg). While genetic deletion of CRF-R2 dampened the locomotor response to methamphetamine (but not cocaine), genetic deletion and pharmacological blockade of CRF-R1 dampened the locomotor response to cocaine (but not methamphetamine). These findings highlight the differential involvement of CRF receptors in acute sensitivity to two different stimulant drugs of abuse, providing an intriguing basis for the development of more targeted therapeutics for psychostimulant addiction.

O efeito da prematuridade em habilidades locomotoras e de controle de objetos de crianças de primeira infância The effect of prematurity on locomotors and object control skills of toddlers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Maria Coelho Campos

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Prematuridade é um fator de risco biológico para o desenvolvimento motor infantil, mas não tem sido investigada a interação deste risco com o sexo e a especificidade da tarefa. Objetivou-se verificar o efeito da prematuridade no desempenho locomotor e de controle de objetos em crianças de primeira infância. Vinte meninos e quarenta meninas pré-escolares com idade média de 4,5 anos (DP=0,7 formaram os grupos: Prematuro (n = 30; média da idade gestacional = 31,7 semanas, DP = 2,8 e Controle (n = 30; idade gestacional > 37 semanas; as habilidades motoras foram avaliadas pelo TGMD-2. De maneira geral, as crianças prematuras foram capazes de atingir o mesmo nível de desempenho motor grosso quando comparadas com aquelas nascidas a termo. Quando as análises levaram em consideração sexo e especificidade da tarefa, os achados sugeriram que ser uma menina prematura afeta negativamente o desenvolvimento em habilidades motoras de controle de objetos.Prematurity is a biological risk factor for infant motor development and the interaction among this risk with sex and task specificity hasn't been investigated yet. The aim was to verify the effect of prematurity in gross motor performance of children in locomotors and object control skills. Twenty boys and forty girls from preschools, with mean age of 4.5 years (SD = 0.7, were separated into premature group (n = 30, mean gestational age = 31.7 weeks SD = 2.8 and control group (n = 30, gestational age> 37 weeks and their gross motor development was assessed by TGMD-2. In general, premature children were able to achieve the same level of gross motor performance when compared with children born at term. When the analysis took into account sex and task specificity, the findings suggested that being a girl can to affect the early development of the object control motor skills.

The key kinematic determinants of undulatory underwater swimming at maximal velocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Connaboy, Chris; Naemi, Roozbeh; Brown, Susan; Psycharakis, Stelios; McCabe, Carla; Coleman, Simon; Sanders, Ross

2016-01-01

The optimisation of undulatory underwater swimming is highly important in competitive swimming performance. Nineteen kinematic variables were identified from previous research undertaken to assess undulatory underwater swimming performance. The purpose of the present study was to determine which kinematic variables were key to the production of maximal undulatory underwater swimming velocity. Kinematic data at maximal undulatory underwater swimming velocity were collected from 17 skilled swimmers. A series of separate backward-elimination analysis of covariance models was produced with cycle frequency and cycle length as dependent variables (DVs) and participant as a fixed factor, as including cycle frequency and cycle length would explain 100% of the maximal swimming velocity variance. The covariates identified in the cycle-frequency and cycle-length models were used to form the saturated model for maximal swimming velocity. The final parsimonious model identified three covariates (maximal knee joint angular velocity, maximal ankle angular velocity and knee range of movement) as determinants of the variance in maximal swimming velocity (adjusted-r2 = 0.929). However, when participant was removed as a fixed factor there was a large reduction in explained variance (adjusted r2 = 0.397) and only maximal knee joint angular velocity continued to contribute significantly, highlighting its importance to the production of maximal swimming velocity. The reduction in explained variance suggests an emphasis on inter-individual differences in undulatory underwater swimming technique and/or anthropometry. Future research should examine the efficacy of other anthropometric, kinematic and coordination variables to better understand the production of maximal swimming velocity and consider the importance of individual undulatory underwater swimming techniques when interpreting the data.

From land to water: bringing dielectric elastomer sensing to the underwater realm

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Christopher; Anderson, Iain

2016-04-01

Since the late 1990's dielectric elastomers (DEs) have been investigated for their use as sensors. To date, there have been some impressive developments: finger displacement controls for video games and integration with medical rehabilitation devices to aid patient recovery. It is clear DE sensing is well established for dry applications, the next frontier, however, is to adapt this technology for the other 71% of the Earth's surface. With proven and perhaps improved water resistance, many new applications could be developed in areas such as diver communication and control of underwater robotics; even wearable devices on land must withstand sweat, washing, and the rain. This study investigated the influence of fresh and salt water on DE sensing. In particular, sensors have been manufactured with waterproof connections and submersed in fresh and salt water baths. Temperature and resting capacitance were recorded. Issues with the basic DE sensor have been identified and compensated for with modifications to the sensor. The electrostatic field, prior and post modification, has been modeled with ANSYS Maxwell. The aim of this investigation was to identify issues, perform modifications and propose a new sensor design suited to wet and underwater applications.

Initial locomotor sensitivity to cocaine varies widely among inbred mouse strains.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiltshire, T; Ervin, R B; Duan, H; Bogue, M A; Zamboni, W C; Cook, S; Chung, W; Zou, F; Tarantino, L M

2015-03-01

Initial sensitivity to psychostimulants can predict subsequent use and abuse in humans. Acute locomotor activation in response to psychostimulants is commonly used as an animal model of initial drug sensitivity and has been shown to have a substantial genetic component. Identifying the specific genetic differences that lead to phenotypic differences in initial drug sensitivity can advance our understanding of the processes that lead to addiction. Phenotyping inbred mouse strain panels are frequently used as a first step for studying the genetic architecture of complex traits. We assessed locomotor activation following a single, acute 20 mg/kg dose of cocaine (COC) in males from 45 inbred mouse strains and observed significant phenotypic variation across strains indicating a substantial genetic component. We also measured levels of COC, the active metabolite, norcocaine and the major inactive metabolite, benzoylecgonine, in plasma and brain in the same set of inbred strains. Pharmacokinetic (PK) and behavioral data were significantly correlated, but at a level that indicates that PK alone does not account for the behavioral differences observed across strains. Phenotypic data from this reference population of inbred strains can be utilized in studies aimed at examining the role of psychostimulant-induced locomotor activation on drug reward and reinforcement and to test theories about addiction processes. Moreover, these data serve as a starting point for identifying genes that alter sensitivity to the locomotor stimulatory effects of COC. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Experimental Measurements of Temporal Dispersion for Underwater Laser Communications and Imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Cochenour, Brandon Michael

The challenge in implementing optical sensors underwater lies in the high variability of the ocean environment where propagation of light in the ocean is complicated by absorption and scattering. Most underwater optical sensors operate in the blue/green portion of the electromagnetic spectrum where seawater exhibits an absorption minimum. Mitigating scattering however is a greater challenge. In particular, scattering causes both spatial distortion (beam spreading) and temporal dispersion (pulse spreading or distortion). Each of type of dispersion decreases sensor performance (operating range, image resolution, data bandwidth, etc.). While spatial dispersion has received a great deal of attention in previous decades, technological limitations of sensor hardware have made experimental measurements of temporal dispersion underwater difficult until now. The main contribution of this thesis are experimental measurements of temporal dispersion of optical beams in turbid water, made with a high sensitivity/high dynamic range experimental technique. Measurements are performed as a function of water clarity (0-20 attenuation lengths), transmitter/receiver alignment (0-30 degrees, half angle), receiver field of view (1-7 degrees, full angle), and transmitter beam divergence (collimated and diffuse). Special attention is paid to the interdependency between spatial and temporal dispersion. This work provides severable notable contributions: 1. While experimental characterization of spatial dispersion has received significant attention underwater, there has been a lack of measurements characterizing temporal dispersion underwater. This work provides the most comprehensive set of experimental measurements to date regarding the temporal dispersion of optical beams underwater. 2. An experimental analysis of the influence of scattering phase function on temporal dispersion. Coarse estimates of the scattering phase function are used to determine the ranges (or attenuation lengths

Typical Underwater Tunnels in the Mainland of China and Related Tunneling Technologies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kairong Hong

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In the past decades, many underwater tunnels have been constructed in the mainland of China, and great progress has been made in related tunneling technologies. This paper presents the history and state of the art of underwater tunnels in the mainland of China in terms of shield-bored tunnels, drill-and-blast tunnels, and immersed tunnels. Typical underwater tunnels of these types in the mainland of China are described, along with innovative technologies regarding comprehensive geological prediction, grouting-based consolidation, the design and construction of large cross-sectional tunnels with shallow cover in weak strata, cutting tool replacement under limited drainage and reduced pressure conditions, the detection and treatment of boulders, the construction of underwater tunnels in areas with high seismic intensity, and the treatment of serious sedimentation in a foundation channel of immersed tunnels. Some suggestions are made regarding the three potential great strait-crossing tunnels—the Qiongzhou Strait-Crossing Tunnel, Bohai Strait-Crossing Tunnel, and Taiwan Strait-Crossing Tunnel—and issues related to these great strait-crossing tunnels that need further study are proposed. Keywords: Underwater tunnel, Strait-crossing tunnel, Shield-bored tunnel, Immersed tunnel, Drill and blast

Emerging from Water: Underwater Image Color Correction Based on Weakly Supervised Color Transfer

OpenAIRE

Li, Chongyi; Guo, Jichang; Guo, Chunle

2017-01-01

Underwater vision suffers from severe effects due to selective attenuation and scattering when light propagates through water. Such degradation not only affects the quality of underwater images but limits the ability of vision tasks. Different from existing methods which either ignore the wavelength dependency of the attenuation or assume a specific spectral profile, we tackle color distortion problem of underwater image from a new view. In this letter, we propose a weakly supervised color tr...

The Effects of Sex-Ratio and Density on Locomotor Activity in the House Fly, Musca domestica

OpenAIRE

Bahrndorff, Simon; Kjærsgaard, Anders; Pertoldi, Cino; Loeschcke, Volker; Schou, Toke M.; Skovgård, Henrik; Hald, Birthe

2012-01-01

Although locomotor activity is involved in almost all behavioral traits, there is a lack of knowledge on what factors affect it. This study examined the effects of sex-ratio and density on the circadian rhythm of locomotor activity of adult Musca domestica L. (Diptera: Muscidae) using an infra-red light system. Sex-ratio significantly affected locomotor activity, increasing with the percentage of males in the vials. In accordance with other studies, males were more active than females, but th...

Geometric and Optic Characterization of a Hemispherical Dome Port for Underwater Photogrammetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fabio Menna

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The popularity of automatic photogrammetric techniques has promoted many experiments in underwater scenarios leading to quite impressive visual results, even by non-experts. Despite these achievements, a deep understanding of camera and lens behaviors as well as optical phenomena involved in underwater operations is fundamental to better plan field campaigns and anticipate the achievable results. The paper presents a geometric investigation of a consumer grade underwater camera housing, manufactured by NiMAR and equipped with a 7′′ dome port. After a review of flat and dome ports, the work analyzes, using simulations and real experiments, the main optical phenomena involved when operating a camera underwater. Specific aspects which deal with photogrammetric acquisitions are considered with some tests in laboratory and in a swimming pool. Results and considerations are shown and commented.

A flexible liquid crystal polymer MEMS pressure sensor array for fish-like underwater sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kottapalli, A G P; Asadnia, M; Miao, J M; Barbastathis, G; Triantafyllou, M S

2012-01-01

In order to perform underwater surveillance, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) require flexible, light-weight, reliable and robust sensing systems that are capable of flow sensing and detecting underwater objects. Underwater animals like fish perform a similar task using an efficient and ubiquitous sensory system called a lateral-line constituting of an array of pressure-gradient sensors. We demonstrate here the development of arrays of polymer microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) pressure sensors which are flexible and can be readily mounted on curved surfaces of AUV bodies. An array of ten sensors with a footprint of 60 (L) mm × 25 (W) mm × 0.4 (H) mm is fabricated using liquid crystal polymer (LCP) as the sensing membrane material. The flow sensing and object detection capabilities of the array are illustrated with proof-of-concept experiments conducted in a water tunnel. The sensors demonstrate a pressure sensitivity of 14.3 μV Pa −1 . A high resolution of 25 mm s −1 is achieved in water flow sensing. The sensors can passively sense underwater objects by transducing the pressure variations generated underwater by the movement of objects. The experimental results demonstrate the array’s ability to detect the velocity of underwater objects towed past by with high accuracy, and an average error of only 2.5%. (paper)

Multi-layer protective armour for underwater shock wave mitigation

OpenAIRE

Ahmed Hawass; Hosam Mostafa; Ahmed Elbeih

2015-01-01

The effect of underwater shock wave on different target plates has been studied. An underwater shock wave generator (shock tube) was used to study the interactions between water and different constructed targets which act as shock wave mitigation. Target plates, composed of sandwich of two aluminum sheets with rubber and foam in between, were prepared and studied. For comparison, the target plates composed of triple aluminum sheets were tested. The study includes the testing of the selected p...

Photogrammetry in maritime and underwater archaeology: two marble wrecks from Sicily

Science.gov (United States)

Balletti, C.; Beltrame, C.; Costa, E.; Guerra, F.; Vernier, P.

2015-06-01

Underwater survey, compared to land archaeology, needs some specific techniques, because the application of some active 3D sensor, such as laser scanner, is obviously impossible. The necessity to produce three-dimensional survey, offering the same accuracy of classical terrestrial laserscanning or photogrammetric methods, combined with the request of low costs and rapid solutions, led the researchers to test and apply oftentimes image-based techniques. In the last two years the Ca' Foscari University and University IUAV of Venice are conducting a research on the application of integrated techniques to support underwater metric documentation, comparing them to the manual traditional one. The gained experience (and confirmed by other recently published papers) shows that the actual multiimage digital photogrammetry is a good solution for the underwater archaeology. This approach is useful both from a metric and from a recording point of view, because it achieves high quality results, such as accurate 3D models or 2D representations, offering a complete documentation of underwater sites. But photogrammetry has to be supported by a topographical survey (to acquire ground control points - GCP) to georeference all the finds in the same reference system. This paper presents the integrated survey of two roman shipwrecks, approaching differently in the GCP's acquisition just for the different morphological characteristic of the sites. The wrecks' cargos are huge marble blocks, presenting differences in quantities, layout and depths. Those characteristics determine the choice of the topographic survey. The results of the survey are two 3D polygonal textured models of the sites, which can be easily used for different analyses and reconstructive hypothesis, opening new possibilities of documentation with both specialists and the wider public. Furthermore, 3D models are the geometric base for 2D orthophoto and cross section extraction. The paper will illustrate all the phases

Osteological postcranial traits in hylid anurans indicate a morphological continuum between swimming and jumping locomotor modes.

Science.gov (United States)

Soliz, Mónica; Tulli, Maria J; Abdala, Virginia

2017-03-01

Anurans exhibit a particularly wide range of locomotor modes that result in wide variations in their skeletal structure. This article investigates the possible correlation between morphological aspects of the hylid postcranial skeleton and their different locomotor modes and habitat use. To do so, we analyzed 18 morphometric postcranial variables in 19 different anuran species representative of a variety of locomotor modes (jumper, hopper, walker, and swimmer) and habitat uses (arboreal, bush, terrestrial, and aquatic). Our results show that the evolution of the postcranial hylid skeleton cannot be explained by one single model, as for example, the girdles suggest modular evolution while the vertebral column suggests other evolutionary modules. In conjunction with data from several other studies, we were able to show a relationship between hylid morphology and habitat use; offering further evidence that the jumper/swimmer and walker/hopper locomotor modes exhibit quite similar morphological architecture. This allowed us to infer that new locomotor modalities are, in fact, generated along a morphological continuum. J. Morphol. 278:403-417, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Underwater noise due to precipitation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Crum, Lawrence A.; Pumphrey, Hugh C.; Prosperetti, Andrea

1989-01-01

In 1959, G. Franz published a thorough investigation of the underwater sound produced by liquid drop impacts [G. Franz, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 31, 1080 (1959)]. He discovered that, under certain conditions, a gas bubble was entrained by the impacting droplet, and the subsequent oscillation of this b...

A Survey on Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Progresses, Applications, and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Premalatha J.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The endangered underwater species always drew the attention of the scientific society since their disappearance would cause irreplaceable loss. Asia is home to some of the most diverse habitats in the earth, but it is estimated that more than one in four species are endangered. In Underwater, a lot of factors are putting marine life under immense pressure. Extreme population pressure is leading to pollution, over-fishing and the devastation of crucial habitats. Consequently, the numbers of almost all fish are declining and many are already endangered. To help these species to survive, their habitat should be strictly protected. This can be achieved by strictly monitoring them. During this course, several parameters, constraints about the species and its environments are focused. Now, advances in sensor technology facilitate the monitoring of species and their habitat with less expenditure. Indeed, the increasing sophistication of underwater wireless sensors offers chances that enable new challenges in a lot of areas, like surveillance one. This paper endorses the use of sensors for monitoring underwater species endangered in their habitat. This paper further examines the key approaches and challenges in the design and implementation of underwater wireless sensor networks. We summarize major applications and the main phenomena related to acoustic propagation, and discuss how they affect the design and operation of communication systems and networking protocols at various layers.

Underwater Acoustic Wireless Sensor Networks: Advances and Future Trends in Physical, MAC and Routing Layers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Climent, S.; Sanchez, A.; Capella, J.V.; Meratnia, Nirvana; Serrano, J.J.

2014-01-01

This survey aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current research on underwater wireless sensor networks, focusing on the lower layers of the communication stack, and envisions future trends and challenges. It analyzes the current state-of-the-art on the physical, medium access control

Strong tracking adaptive Kalman filters for underwater vehicle dead reckoning

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

XIAO Kun; FANG Shao-ji; PANG Yong-jie

2007-01-01

To improve underwater vehicle dead reckoning, a developed strong tracking adaptive kalman filter is proposed. The filter is improved with an additional adaptive factor and an estimator of measurement noise covariance. Since the magnitude of fading factor is changed adaptively, the tracking ability of the filter is still enhanced in low velocity condition of underwater vehicles. The results of simulation tests prove the presented filter effective.

Microcontroller-based underwater acoustic ECG telemetry system.

Science.gov (United States)

Istepanian, R S; Woodward, B

1997-06-01

This paper presents a microcontroller-based underwater acoustic telemetry system for digital transmission of the electrocardiogram (ECG). The system is designed for the real time, through-water transmission of data representing any parameter, and it was used initially for transmitting in multiplexed format the heart rate, breathing rate and depth of a diver using self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA). Here, it is used to monitor cardiovascular reflexes during diving and swimming. The programmable capability of the system provides an effective solution to the problem of transmitting data in the presence of multipath interference. An important feature of the paper is a comparative performance analysis of two encoding methods, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) and Pulse Position Modulation (PPM).

CRFR1 in the ventromedial caudate putamen modulates acute stress-enhanced expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shuli; Wang, Zhiyan; Li, Yijing; Sun, Xiaowei; Ge, Feifei; Yang, Mingda; Wang, Xinjuan; Wang, Na; Wang, Junkai; Cui, Cailian

2017-07-15

Repeated exposure to psychostimulants induces a long-lasting enhancement of locomotor activity called behavioral sensitization, which is often reinforced by stress after drug withdrawal. The mechanisms underlying these phenomena remain elusive. Here we explored the effects of acute stress 3 or 14 days after the cessation of chronic cocaine treatment on the expression of locomotor sensitization induced by a cocaine challenge in rats and the key brain region and molecular mechanism underlying the phenomenon. A single session of forced swimming, as an acute stress (administered 2 days after the cessation of cocaine), significantly enhanced the expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization 14 days after the final cocaine injection (challenge at 12 days after acute stress) but not 3 days after the cessation of cocaine (challenge at 1 day after acute stress). The result indicated that acute stress enhanced the expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization after incubation for 12 days rather than 1 day after the last cocaine injection. Moreover, the enhancement in locomotor sensitization was paralleled by a selective increase in the number of the c-Fos + cells, the level of CRFR1 mRNA in the ventromedial caudate putamen (vmCPu). Furthermore, the enhancement was significantly attenuated by CRFR1 antagonist NBI-27914 into the vmCPu, implying that the up-regulation of CRFR1 in the vmCPu seems to be critical in the acute stress-enhanced expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization. The findings demonstrate that the long-term effect of acute stress on the expression of cocaine locomotor sensitization is partially mediated by CRFR1 in the vmCPu. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Development and functional organization of spinal locomotor circuits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kiehn, Ole

2011-01-01

The coordination and timing of muscle activities during rhythmic movements, like walking and swimming, are generated by intrinsic spinal motor circuits. Such locomotor networks are operational early in development and are found in all vertebrates. This review outlines and compares recent advances...

Motor unit recruitment patterns 1: responses to changes in locomotor velocity and incline.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodson-Tole, Emma F; Wakeling, James M

2008-06-01

Mammalian skeletal muscles are composed of a mixture of motor unit types, which contribute a range of mechanical and physiological properties to the muscle. For a muscle to effectively contribute to smooth, co-ordinated movement it must activate an appropriate number and combination of motor units to generate the required force over a suitable time period. Much evidence exists indicating that motor units are activated in an orderly fashion, from the slowest through to the fastest. A growing body of evidence, however, indicates that such a recruitment strategy does not always hold true. Here we investigate how motor unit recruitment patterns were influenced by changes in locomotor velocity and incline. Kinematics data and myoelectric signals were collected from three rat ankle extensor muscles during running on a treadmill at nine velocity and incline combinations. Wavelet and principal component analysis were used to simultaneously decompose the signals into time and frequency space. The relative frequency components of the signals were quantified during 20 time windows of a stride from each locomotor condition. Differences in signal frequency components existed between muscles and locomotor conditions. Faster locomotor velocities led to a relative increase in high frequency components, whereas greater inclines led to a relative increase in the low frequency components. These data were interpreted as representing changes in motor unit recruitment patterns in response to changes in the locomotor demand. Motor units were not always recruited in an orderly manner, indicating that recruitment is a multi-factorial phenomenon that is not yet fully understood.

Ankle voluntary movement enhancement following robotic-assisted locomotor training in spinal cord injury

OpenAIRE

Varoqui, Deborah; Niu, Xun; Mirbagheri, Mehdi M

2014-01-01

Background In incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI), sensorimotor impairments result in severe limitations to ambulation. To improve walking capacity, physical therapies using robotic-assisted locomotor devices, such as the Lokomat, have been developed. Following locomotor training, an improvement in gait capabilities—characterized by increases in the over-ground walking speed and endurance—is generally observed in patients. To better understand the mechanisms underlying these improvements, we...

Differences in the locomotor-activating effects of indirect serotonin agonists in habituated and non-habituated rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Halberstadt, Adam L; Buell, Mahálah R; Price, Diana L; Geyer, Mark A

2012-07-01

The indirect serotonin (5-HT) agonist 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) produces a distinct behavioral profile in rats consisting of locomotor hyperactivity, thigmotaxis, and decreased exploration. The indirect 5-HT agonist α-ethyltryptamine (AET) produces a similar behavioral profile. Using the Behavioral Pattern Monitor (BPM), the present investigation examined whether the effects of MDMA and AET are dependent on the novelty of the testing environment. These experiments were conducted in Sprague-Dawley rats housed on a reversed light cycle and tested during the dark phase of the light/dark cycle. We found that racemic MDMA (RS-MDMA; 3 mg/kg, SC) increased locomotor activity in rats tested in novel BPM chambers, but had no effect on locomotor activity in rats habituated to the BPM chambers immediately prior to testing. Likewise, AET (5 mg/kg, SC) increased locomotor activity in non-habituated animals but not in animals habituated to the test chambers. These results were unexpected because previous reports indicate that MDMA has robust locomotor-activating effects in habituated animals. To further examine the influence of habituation on MDMA-induced locomotor activity, we conducted parametric studies with S-(+)-MDMA (the more active enantiomer) in habituated and non-habituated rats housed on a standard or reversed light cycle. Light cycle was included as a variable due to reported differences in sensitivity to serotonergic ligands during the dark and light phases. In confirmation of our initial studies, rats tested during the dark phase and habituated to the BPM did not show an S-(+)-MDMA (3 mg/kg, SC)-induced increase in locomotor activity, whereas non-habituated rats did. By contrast, in rats tested during the light phase, S-(+)-MDMA increased locomotor activity in both non-habituated and habituated rats, although the response in habituated animals was attenuated. The finding that habituation and light cycle interact to influence MDMA- and AET

Experimental Study on the Measurement of Water Bottom Vibration Induced by Underwater Drilling Blasting

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gu Wenbin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the lack of proper instrumentations and the difficulties in underwater measurements, the studies about water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting are seldom reported. In order to investigate the propagation and attenuation laws of blasting induced water bottom vibration, a water bottom vibration monitor was developed with consideration of the difficulties in underwater measurements. By means of this equipment, the actual water bottom vibration induced by underwater drilling blasting was measured in a field experiment. It shows that the water bottom vibration monitor could collect vibration signals quite effectively in underwater environments. The followed signal analysis shows that the characteristics of water bottom vibration and land ground vibration induced by the same underwater drilling blasting are quite different due to the different geological environments. The amplitude and frequency band of water bottom vibration both exceed those of land ground vibration. Water bottom vibration is mainly in low-frequency band that induced by blasting impact directly acts on rock. Besides the low-frequency component, land vibration contains another higher frequency band component that induced by followed water hammer wave acts on bank slope.

Error signals driving locomotor adaptation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Choi, Julia T; Jensen, Peter; Nielsen, Jens Bo

2016-01-01

Locomotor patterns must be adapted to external forces encountered during daily activities. The contribution of different sensory inputs to detecting perturbations and adapting movements during walking is unclear. Here we examined the role of cutaneous feedback in adapting walking patterns to force...... walking (Choi et al. 2013). Sensory tests were performed to measure cutaneous touch threshold and perceptual threshold of force perturbations. Ankle movement were measured while subjects walked on the treadmill over three periods: baseline (1 min), adaptation (1 min) and post-adaptation (3 min). Subjects...

Manipulation of dopamine metabolism contributes to attenuating innate high locomotor activity in ICR mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamaguchi, Takeshi; Nagasawa, Mao; Ikeda, Hiromi; Kodaira, Momoko; Minaminaka, Kimie; Chowdhury, Vishwajit S; Yasuo, Shinobu; Furuse, Mitsuhiro

2017-06-15

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is defined as attention deficiency, restlessness and distraction. The main characteristics of ADHD are hyperactivity, impulsiveness and carelessness. There is a possibility that these abnormal behaviors, in particular hyperactivity, are derived from abnormal dopamine (DA) neurotransmission. To elucidate the mechanism of high locomotor activity, the relationship between innate activity levels and brain monoamines and amino acids was investigated in this study. Differences in locomotor activity between ICR, C57BL/6J and CBA/N mice were determined using the open field test. Among the three strains, ICR mice showed the greatest amount of locomotor activity. The level of striatal and cerebellar DA was lower in ICR mice than in C57BL/6J mice, while the level of L-tyrosine (L-Tyr), a DA precursor, was higher in ICR mice. These results suggest that the metabolic conversion of L-Tyr to DA is lower in ICR mice than it is in C57BL/6J mice. Next, the effects of intraperitoneal injection of (6R)-5, 6, 7, 8-tetrahydro-l-biopterin dihydrochloride (BH 4 ) (a co-enzyme for tyrosine hydroxylase) and L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) on DA metabolism and behavior in ICR mice were investigated. The DA level in the brain was increased by BH 4 administration, but the increased DA did not influence behavior. However, L-DOPA administration drastically lowered locomotor activity and increased DA concentration in several parts of the brain. The reduced locomotor activity may have been a consequence of the overproduction of DA. In conclusion, the high level of locomotor activity in ICR mice may be explained by a strain-specific DA metabolism. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Short-Range Sensor for Underwater Robot Navigation using Line-lasers and Vision

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Peter Nicholas; Nielsen, Mikkel Cornelius; Christensen, David Johan

2015-01-01

This paper investigates a minimalistic laser-based range sensor, used for underwater inspection by Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). This range detection system system comprise two lasers projecting vertical lines, parallel to a camera’s viewing axis, into the environment. Using both lasers...

Durable underwater superoleophobic PDDA/halloysite nanotubes decorated stainless steel mesh for efficient oil-water separation

Science.gov (United States)

Hou, Kun; Zeng, Yicheng; Zhou, Cailong; Chen, Jiahui; Wen, Xiufang; Xu, Shouping; Cheng, Jiang; Lin, Yingguang; Pi, Pihui

2017-09-01

A durable underwater superoleophobic mesh was conveniently prepared by layer-by-layer (LBL) assembly of poly (diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) and halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) on a stainless steel mesh. The hierarchical structure and roughness of the PDDA/HNTs coating surface were controlled by adjusting the number of layer deposition cycles. When the PDDA/HNTs coating with 10 deposition cycles was decorated on the mesh with pore size of about 54 μm, the underwater superoleophobic mesh was obtained. The as-prepared underwater superoleophobic PDDA/HNTs decorated mesh exhibits outstanding oil-water separation performance with a separation efficiency of over 97% for various oil/water mixtures, which allowed water to pass through while repelled oil completely. In addition, the as-prepared decorated mesh still maintained high separation efficiency above 97% after repeated 20 separation times for hexane/water mixture or chloroform/water mixture. More importantly, the as-prepared decorated mesh is durable enough to resist chemical and mechanical challenges, such as strong alkaline, salt aqueous and sand abrasion. Therefore, the as-prepared decorated mesh has practical utility in oil-water separation due to its stable oil-water performance, remarkable chemical and mechanical durability and the facile and eco-friendly preparation process.

Ocean Research Enabled by Underwater Gliders.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudnick, Daniel L

2016-01-01

Underwater gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that profile vertically by changing their buoyancy and use wings to move horizontally. Gliders are useful for sustained observation at relatively fine horizontal scales, especially to connect the coastal and open ocean. In this review, research topics are grouped by time and length scales. Large-scale topics addressed include the eastern and western boundary currents and the regional effects of climate variability. The accessibility of horizontal length scales of order 1 km allows investigation of mesoscale and submesoscale features such as fronts and eddies. Because the submesoscales dominate vertical fluxes in the ocean, gliders have found application in studies of biogeochemical processes. At the finest scales, gliders have been used to measure internal waves and turbulent dissipation. The review summarizes gliders' achievements to date and assesses their future in ocean observation.

Cluster protocols in Underwater Sensor Networks: a Research Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Ovaliadis

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSN have different characteristics in relation to terrestrial wireless sensor networks; such as limited bandwidth capacity, high propagation delays and limited battery power. Although there has been much work completed in developing protocols and models for terrestrial networks, these are rarely applicable for underwater sensor networks. Up to today major efforts have been made for designing efficient protocols while considering the underwater communication characteristics. An important issue on this research area is the construction of an efficient clustering algorithm. Clustering in the context of UWSN is important as it contributes a great deal towards the efficient use of energy resources. This paper reviews the most significant cluster based protocols proposed for UWSN. Major performance issues of these protocols with respect to the network conditions such as packet delivery ratio, average packet delay, node mobility effect and energy consumption are examined. The advantages and disadvantages of each protocol are also pointed out.

Automated gravity gradient tensor inversion for underwater object detection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Lin; Tian, Jinwen

2010-01-01

Underwater abnormal object detection is a current need for the navigation security of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). In this paper, an automated gravity gradient tensor inversion algorithm is proposed for the purpose of passive underwater object detection. Full-tensor gravity gradient anomalies induced by an object in the partial area can be measured with the technique of gravity gradiometry on an AUV. Then the automated algorithm utilizes the anomalies, using the inverse method to estimate the mass and barycentre location of the arbitrary-shaped object. A few tests on simple synthetic models will be illustrated, in order to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of the new algorithm. Moreover, the method is applied to a complicated model of an abnormal object with gradiometer and AUV noise, and interference from a neighbouring illusive smaller object. In all cases tested, the estimated mass and barycentre location parameters are found to be in good agreement with the actual values

UNDERWATER STROKE KINEMATICS DURING BREATHING AND BREATH-HOLDING FRONT CRAWL SWIMMING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nickos Vezos

2007-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to determine the effects of breathing on the three - dimensional underwater stroke kinematics of front crawl swimming. Ten female competitive freestyle swimmers participated in the study. Each subject swam a number of front crawl trials of 25 m at a constant speed under breathing and breath-holding conditions. The underwater motion of each subject's right arm was filmed using two S-VHS cameras, operating at 60 Hz, which were positioned behind two underwater viewing windows. The spatial coordinates of selected points were calculated using the DLT procedure with 30 control points and after the digital filtering of the raw data with a cut-off frequency of 6 Hz, the hand's linear displacements and velocities were calculated. The results revealed that breathing caused significantly increases in the stroke duration (t9 = 2.764; p < 0.05, the backward hand displacement relative to the water (t9 = 2.471; p<0.05 and the lateral displacement of the hand in the X - axis during the downsweep (t9 = 2.638; p < 0.05. On the contrary, the peak backward hand velocity during the insweep (t9 = 2.368; p < 0.05 and the displacement of the hand during the push phase (t9 = -2.297; p < 0.05 were greatly reduced when breathing was involved. From the above, it was concluded that breathing action in front crawl swimming caused significant modifications in both the basic stroke parameters and the overall motor pattern were, possibly due to body roll during breathing

Underwater Robots Surface in Utah

Science.gov (United States)

Hurd, Randy C.; Hacking, Kip S.; Damarjian, Jennifer L.; Wright, Geoffrey A.; Truscott, Tadd

2015-01-01

Underwater robots (or ROVs: Remotely Operated Vehicles as they are typically called in industry) have recently become a very popular instructional STEM activity. Nationally, ROVs have been used in science and technology classrooms for several years in cities such as Seattle, San Diego, Virginia Beach, and other coastal areas. In the past two…

Nonuniform Illumination Correction Algorithm for Underwater Images Using Maximum Likelihood Estimation Method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonali Sachin Sankpal

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Scattering and absorption of light is main reason for limited visibility in water. The suspended particles and dissolved chemical compounds in water are also responsible for scattering and absorption of light in water. The limited visibility in water results in degradation of underwater images. The visibility can be increased by using artificial light source in underwater imaging system. But the artificial light illuminates the scene in a nonuniform fashion. It produces bright spot at the center with the dark region at surroundings. In some cases imaging system itself creates dark region in the image by producing shadow on the objects. The problem of nonuniform illumination is neglected by the researchers in most of the image enhancement techniques of underwater images. Also very few methods are discussed showing the results on color images. This paper suggests a method for nonuniform illumination correction for underwater images. The method assumes that natural underwater images are Rayleigh distributed. This paper used maximum likelihood estimation of scale parameter to map distribution of image to Rayleigh distribution. The method is compared with traditional methods for nonuniform illumination correction using no-reference image quality metrics like average luminance, average information entropy, normalized neighborhood function, average contrast, and comprehensive assessment function.

Energy Consumption Research of Mobile Data Collection Protocol for Underwater Nodes Using an USV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhichao Lv

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV integrated with an acoustic modem is a novel mobile vehicle for data collection, which has an advantage in terms of mobility, efficiency, and collection cost. In the scenario of data collection, the USV is controlled autonomously along the planning trajectory and the data of underwater nodes are dynamically collected. In order to improve the efficiency of data collection and extend the life of the underwater nodes, a mobile data collection protocol for underwater nodes using the USV was proposed. In the protocol, the stop-and-wait ARQ transmission mechanism is adopted, where the duty cycle is designed considering the ratio between the sleep mode and the detection mode, and the transmission ratio is defined by the duty cycle, wake-up signal cycles, and USV’s speed. According to protocol, the evaluation index for energy consumption is constructed based on the duty cycle and the transmission ratio. The energy consumption of the protocol is simulated and analyzed using the mobile communication experiment data of USV, taking into consideration USV’s speed, data sequence length, and duty cycle. Optimized protocol parameters are identified, which in turn denotes the proposed protocol’s feasibility and effectiveness.

Immature spinal locomotor output in children with Cerebral Palsy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Germana Cappellini

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Detailed descriptions of gait impairments have been reported in cerebral palsy (CP, but it is still unclear how maturation of the spinal motoneuron output is affected. Spatiotemporal alpha-motoneuron activation during walking can be assessed by mapping the electromyographic activity profiles from several, simultaneously recorded muscles onto the anatomical rostrocaudal location of the motoneuron pools in the spinal cord, and by means of factor analysis of the muscle activity profiles. Here, we analysed gait kinematics and EMG activity of 11 pairs of bilateral muscles with lumbosacral innervation in 35 children with CP (19 diplegic, 16 hemiplegic, 2-12 years and 33 typically developing (TD children (1-12 years. TD children showed a progressive reduction of EMG burst durations and a gradual reorganization of the spatiotemporal motoneuron output with increasing age. By contrast, children with CP showed very limited age-related changes of EMG durations and motoneuron output, as well as of limb intersegmental coordination and foot trajectory control (on both sides for diplegic children and the affected side for hemiplegic children. Factorization of the EMG signals revealed a comparable structure of the motor output in children with CP and TD children, but significantly wider temporal activation patterns in children with CP, resembling the patterns of much younger TD infants. A similar picture emerged when considering the spatiotemporal maps of alpha-motoneuron activation. Overall, the results are consistent with the idea that early injuries to developing motor regions of the brain substantially affect the maturation of the spinal locomotor output and consequently the future locomotor behaviour.

Underwater Coatings Testing for INEEL Fuel Basin Applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Julia L. Tripp

2004-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is deactivating several fuel storage basins. Airborne contamination is a concern when the sides of the basins are exposed and allowed to dry during water removal. One way of controlling this airborne contamination is to fix the contamination in place while the pool walls are still submerged. There are many underwater coatings available on the market that are used in marine, naval and other applications. A series of tests were run to determine whether the candidate underwater fixatives are easily applied and adhere well to the substrates (pool wall materials) found in INEEL fuel pools. The four pools considered included (1) Test Area North (TAN-607) with epoxy painted concrete walls; (2) Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) (CPP-603) with bare concrete walls; (3) Materials Test Reactor (MTR) Canal with stainless steel lined concrete walls; and (4) Power Burst Facility (PBF-620) with stainless steel lined concrete walls on the bottom and epoxy painted carbon steel lined walls on the upper portions. Therefore, the four materials chosen for testing included bare concrete, epoxy painted concrete, epoxy painted carbon steel, and stainless steel. The typical water temperature of the pools varies from 55 F to 80 F dependent on the pool and the season. These tests were done at room temperature

Underwater Coatings Testing for INEEL Fuel Basin Applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Julia L. Tripp

2004-01-01

The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) is deactivating several fuel storage basins. Airborne contamination is a concern when the sides of the basins are exposed and allowed to dry during water removal. One way of controlling this airborne contamination is to fix the contamination in place while the pool walls are still submerged. There are many underwater coatings available on the market that are used in marine, naval and other applications. A series of tests were run to determine whether the candidate underwater fixatives are easily applied and adhere well to the substrates (pool wall materials) found in INEEL fuel pools. The four pools considered included (1) Test Area North (TAN-607) with epoxy painted concrete walls; (2) Idaho Nuclear Technology and Engineering Center (INTEC) (CPP-603) with bare concrete walls; (3) Materials Test Reactor (MTR) Canal with stainless steel lined concrete walls; and (4) Power Burst Facility (PBF-620) with stainless steel lined concrete walls on the bottom and epoxy painted carbon steel lined walls on the upper portions. Therefore, the four materials chosen for testing included bare concrete, epoxy painted concrete, epoxy painted carbon steel, and stainless steel. The typical water temperature of the pools varies from 55 F to 80 F dependent on the pool and the season. These tests were done at room temperature.

Improved clinical status, quality of life, and walking capacity in Parkinson's disease after body weight-supported high-intensity locomotor training

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rose, Martin Høyer; Løkkegaard, Annemette; Sonne-Holm, Stig

2013-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training in Parkinson's disease (PD) on (1) clinical status; (2) quality of life; and (3) gait capacity. DESIGN: Open-label, fixed sequence crossover study. SETTING: University motor control laboratory......±93 to 637±90m. CONCLUSIONS: Body weight-supported progressive high-intensity locomotor training is feasible and well tolerated by patients with PD. The training improved clinical status, quality of life, and gait capacity significantly....... were found in all outcome measures compared with the control period. Total MDS-UPDRS score changed from (mean ± 1SD) 58±18 to 47±18, MDS-UPDRS motor part score changed from 35±10 to 29±12, PDQ-39 summary index score changed from 22±13 to 13±12, and the six-minute walking distance changed from 576...

Self-Assembling Multi-Component Nanofibers for Strong Bioinspired Underwater Adhesives

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Chao; Gurry, Thomas; Cheng, Allen A; Downey, Jordan; Deng, Zhengtao; Stultz, Collin M.; Lu, Timothy K

2014-01-01

Many natural underwater adhesives harness hierarchically assembled amyloid nanostructures to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Despite recent advances, our understanding of the molecular design, self-assembly, and structure-function relationship of those natural amyloid fibers remains limited. Thus, designing biomimetic amyloid-based adhesives remains challenging. Here, we report strong and multi-functional underwater adhesives obtained from fusing mussel foot proteins (Mfps) of Mytilus galloprovincialis with CsgA proteins, the major subunit of Escherichia coli amyloid curli fibers. These hybrid molecular materials hierarchically self-assemble into higher-order structures, in which, according to molecular dynamics simulations, disordered adhesive Mfp domains are exposed on the exterior of amyloid cores formed by CsgA. Our fibers have an underwater adhesion energy approaching 20.9 mJ/m2, which is 1.5 times greater than the maximum of bio-inspired and bio-derived protein-based underwater adhesives reported thus far. Moreover, they outperform Mfps or curli fibers taken on their own at all pHs and exhibit better tolerance to auto-oxidation than Mfps at pH ≥7.0. This work establishes a platform for engineering multi-component self-assembling materials inspired by nature. PMID:25240674

Synthesis and Development of Gold Polypyrrole Actuator for Underwater Application

Science.gov (United States)

Panda, S. K.; Bandopadhya, D.

2018-02-01

Electro-active polymer (EAP) such as Polypyrrole has gained much attention in the category of functional materials for fabrication of both active actuator and sensor. Particularly, PPy actuator has shown potential in fluid medium application because of high strain, large bending displacement and work density. This paper focuses on developing a low cost active actuator promising in delivering high performance in underwater environment. The proposed Au-pyrrole actuator is synthesized by adopting the layer-by-layer electrochemical polymerization technique and is fabricated as strip actuator from aqueous solution of Pyrrole and NaDBS in room temperature. In the follow-up, topographical analysis has been carried out using SEM and FESEM instruments showing surface morphology and surface integrity of chemical components of the structure. Several experiments have been conducted under DC input voltage evaluating performance effectiveness such as underwater bending displacement and tip force etc. This is observed that the actuator exhibits quite similar stress profile as of natural muscle, endowed with high modulus makes them effective in working nearly 10,000 cycles underwater environment. In addition, the bending displacement up to 5.4 mm with a low input voltage 1.3 V makes the actuator suitable for underwater micro-robotics applications.

A Model of Locomotor-Respiratory Coupling in Quadrupeds

Science.gov (United States)

Giuliodori,, Mauricio J.; Lujan, Heidi L.; Briggs, Whitney S.; DiCarlo, Stephen E.

2009-01-01

Locomotion and respiration are not independent phenomena in running mammals because locomotion and respiration both rely on cyclic movements of the ribs, sternum, and associated musculature. Thus, constraints are imposed on locomotor and respiratory function by virtue of their linkage. Specifically, locomotion imposes mechanical constraints on…

Experimental study on underwater electrical explosion of a copper wire

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Qing; Zhang Jun; Tan Xiangyu; Ren Baozhong; Zhang Qiaogen

2010-01-01

Through analyzing the physical process of underwater electrical wire explosion, electrical wire explosions with copper wires were investigated underwater using pulsed voltage in the time scale of a few microseconds. A self-integrating Rogowsky coil and a voltage divider were used for current and voltage at the wire load, respectively. The shock wave pressure is measured with a piezoelectric pressure probe at the same distance. The current rise rate was adjusted by changing the applied voltage, circuit inductance, length and diameter of copper wire. The change of the current rise rate had a great effect on the process of underwater electrical wire explosion with copper wires. At last, the effect of discharge voltage, circuit inductance, length and diameter of copper wire were obtained on the explosion voltage and current as well as shock wave pressure. (authors)

Underwater Time Service and Synchronization Based on Time Reversal Technique

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Hao; Wang, Hai-bin; Aissa-El-Bey, Abdeldjalil; Pyndiah, Ramesh

2010-09-01

Real time service and synchronization are very important to many underwater systems. But the time service and synchronization in existence cannot work well due to the multi-path propagation and random phase fluctuation of signals in the ocean channel. The time reversal mirror technique can realize energy concentration through self-matching of the ocean channel and has very good spatial and temporal focusing properties. Based on the TRM technique, we present the Time Reversal Mirror Real Time service and synchronization (TRMRT) method which can bypass the processing of multi-path on the server side and reduce multi-path contamination on the client side. So TRMRT can improve the accuracy of time service. Furthermore, as an efficient and precise method of time service, TRMRT could be widely used in underwater exploration activities and underwater navigation and positioning systems.

Locomotor differences in Mongolian gerbils with the effects of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Locomotor differences in Mongolian gerbils with the effects of midazolam ... African Health Sciences ... We subjected the gerbils to an adapted “Open Field” to determine the possible effects on central nervous system of midazolam. Gerbils ...

Point features extraction: towards slam for an autonomous underwater vehicle

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Matsebe, O

2010-07-01

Full Text Available and Control. Available: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~pnewman/papers/Robotica.pdf, date accessed: [2009, 05/20] [7] Williams, S.B., Newman, P., Rosenblatt, J., Dissanayake, G. & Whyte, H.D., Autonomous Underwater Simultaneous and Localisation and Map Building.... Available: http://www.robots.ox.ac.uk/~pnewman/papers/Robotica.pdf., date accessed: [2009, 05/20] [8]http://www.tritech.co.uk/products/products-micron_sonar.htm, date accessed: [10/01/10] [9] Tena, I., Petillot, Y., Lane, D.M.,Salson. Feature Extraction...

Human neural stem cells differentiate and promote locomotor recovery in an early chronic spinal cord injury NOD-scid mouse model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Desirée L Salazar

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI results in partial or complete paralysis and is characterized by a loss of neurons and oligodendrocytes, axonal injury, and demyelination/dysmyelination of spared axons. Approximately 1,250,000 individuals have chronic SCI in the U.S.; therefore treatment in the chronic stages is highly clinically relevant. Human neural stem cells (hCNS-SCns were prospectively isolated based on fluorescence-activated cell sorting for a CD133(+ and CD24(-/lo population from fetal brain, grown as neurospheres, and lineage restricted to generate neurons, oligodendrocytes and astrocytes. hCNS-SCns have recently been transplanted sub-acutely following spinal cord injury and found to promote improved locomotor recovery. We tested the ability of hCNS-SCns transplanted 30 days post SCI to survive, differentiate, migrate, and promote improved locomotor recovery.hCNS-SCns were transplanted into immunodeficient NOD-scid mice 30 days post spinal cord contusion injury. hCNS-SCns transplanted mice demonstrated significantly improved locomotor recovery compared to vehicle controls using open field locomotor testing and CatWalk gait analysis. Transplanted hCNS-SCns exhibited long-term engraftment, migration, limited proliferation, and differentiation predominantly to oligodendrocytes and neurons. Astrocytic differentiation was rare and mice did not exhibit mechanical allodynia. Furthermore, differentiated hCNS-SCns integrated with the host as demonstrated by co-localization of human cytoplasm with discrete staining for the paranodal marker contactin-associated protein.The results suggest that hCNS-SCns are capable of surviving, differentiating, and promoting improved locomotor recovery when transplanted into an early chronic injury microenvironment. These data suggest that hCNS-SCns transplantation has efficacy in an early chronic SCI setting and thus expands the "window of opportunity" for intervention.

Modulation of spontaneous locomotor and respiratory drives to hindlimb motoneurons temporally related to sympathetic drives as revealed by Mayer waves.

Science.gov (United States)

Wienecke, Jacob; Enríquez Denton, Manuel; Stecina, Katinka; Kirkwood, Peter A; Hultborn, Hans

2015-01-01

In this study we investigated how the networks mediating respiratory and locomotor drives to lumbar motoneurons interact and how this interaction is modulated in relation to periodic variations in blood pressure (Mayer waves). Seven decerebrate cats, under neuromuscular blockade, were used to study central respiratory drive potentials (CRDPs, usually enhanced by added CO2) and spontaneously occurring locomotor drive potentials (LDPs) in hindlimb motoneurons, together with hindlimb and phrenic nerve discharges. In four of the cats both drives and their voltage-dependent amplification were absent or modest, but in the other three, one or other of these drives was common and the voltage-dependent amplification was frequently strong. Moreover, in these three cats the blood pressure showed marked periodic variation (Mayer waves), with a slow rate (periods 9-104 s, mean 39 ± 17 SD). Profound modulation, synchronized with the Mayer waves was seen in the occurrence and/or in the amplification of the CRDPs or LDPs. In one animal, where CRDPs were present in most cells and the amplification was strong, the CRDP consistently triggered sustained plateaux at one phase of the Mayer wave cycle. In the other two animals, LDPs were common, and the occurrence of the locomotor drive was gated by the Mayer wave cycle, sometimes in alternation with the respiratory drive. Other interactions between the two drives involved respiration providing leading events, including co-activation of flexors and extensors during post-inspiration or a locomotor drive gated or sometimes entrained by respiration. We conclude that the respiratory drive in hindlimb motoneurons is transmitted via elements of the locomotor central pattern generator. The rapid modulation related to Mayer waves suggests the existence of a more direct and specific descending modulatory control than has previously been demonstrated.

Modulation of spontaneous locomotor and respiratory drives to hindlimb motoneurons temporally related to sympathetic drives as revealed by Mayer waves

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Katinka eStecina

2015-02-01

Full Text Available In this study we investigated how the networks mediating respiratory and locomotor drives to lumbar motoneurons interact and how this interaction is modulated in relation to periodic variations in blood pressure (Mayer waves. Seven decerebrate cats, under neuromuscular blockade, were used to study central respiratory drive potentials (CRDPs, usually enhanced by added CO2 and spontaneously occurring locomotor drive potentials (LDPs in hindlimb motoneurons, together with hindlimb and phrenic nerve discharges. In four of the cats both drives and their voltage-dependent amplification were absent or modest, but in the other three, one or other of these drives was common and the voltage-dependent amplification was frequently strong. Moreover, in these three cats the blood pressure showed marked periodic variation (Mayer waves, with a slow rate (periods 9 - 104 s, mean 39 ± 17 SD. Profound modulation, synchronized with the Mayer waves was seen in the occurrence and/or in the amplification of the CRDPs or LDPs. In one animal, where CRDPs were present in most cells and the amplification was strong, the CRDP consistently triggered sustained plateaux at one phase of the Mayer wave cycle. In the other two animals, LDPs were common, and the occurrence of the locomotor drive was gated by the Mayer wave cycle, sometimes in alternation with the respiratory drive. Other interactions between the two drives involved respiration providing leading events, including co-activation of flexors and extensors during post-inspiration or a locomotor drive gated or sometimes entrained by respiration. We conclude that the respiratory drive in hindlimb motoneurons is transmitted via elements of the locomotor central pattern generator. The rapid modulation related to Mayer waves suggests the existence of a more direct and specific descending modulatory control than has previously been demonstrated.

Self-flowing underwater concrete mixtures for high rise structures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousri, K.M.

2005-01-01