A Preliminary Study of the Noninvasive Remote Control System for Rat Bio-Robot

<正> A system is described here that can noninvasively control the navigation of freely behaving rat via ultrasonic,epidermaland LED photic stimulators on the back.The system receives commands from a remote host computer to deliver specifiedelectrical stimulations to the hearing,pain and visual senses of the rat respectively.The results demonstrate that the three stimuliwork in groups for the rat navigation.We can control the rat to proceed and make right and left turns with great efficiency.Thisexperiment verified that the rat was able to reach a setting destination in the way of cable with the help of a person through theappropriate coordination of the three stimulators.The telemetry video camera mounted on the head of the rat also achieveddistant image acquisition and helped to adjust its navigation path over a distance of 300 m.In a word,the non-invasive motioncontrol navigation system is a good,stable and reliable bio-robot.     

颅骨自动钻孔技术探析

头骨钻孔为脑部微创手术的重要步骤,现有钻孔设备多采朋手动方式,钻孔设备没有任何判断钻穿的装置,钻穿骨头后停止钻进完全靠医生的经验来实现。介绍了国内外该领域的研究现状与存在问题,提出了一种颅骨钻穿自动停刀的判断方法,提出了颅骨自动钻孔技术未来发展的趋势。     

Robotic Etiquette:Socially Acceptable Navigation of Service Robots with Human Motion Pattern Learning and Prediction

##正## Nonverbal and noncontact behaviors play a significant role in allowing service robots to structure their interactions withhumans.In this paper, a novel human-mimic mechanism of robot's navigational skills was proposed for developing sociallyacceptable robotic etiquette.Based on the sociological and physiological concerns of interpersonal interactions in movement,several criteria in navigation were represented by constraints and incorporated into a unified probabilistic cost grid for safemotion planning and control, followed by an emphasis on the prediction of the human's movement for adjusting the robot'spre-collision navigational strategy.The human motion prediction utilizes a clustering-based algorithm for modeling humans'indoor motion patterns as well as the combination of the long-term and short-term tendency prediction that takes into accountthe uncertainties of both velocity and heading direction.Both simulation and real-world experiments verified the effectivenessand reliability of the method to ensure human's safety and comfort in navigation.A statistical user trials study was also given tovalidate the users'favorable views of the human-friendly navigational behavior.     

A Mathematical Framework for Modeling Axon Guidance

In this paper, a simulation tool for modeling axon guidance is presented. A mathematical framework in which a wide range of models can been implemented has been developed together with efficient numerical algorithms. In our framework, models can be defined that consist of concentration fields of guidance molecules in combination with finite-dimensional state vectors. These vectors can characterize migrating growth cones, target neurons that release guidance molecules, or other cells that act as sources of membrane-bound or diffusible guidance molecules. The underlying mathematical framework is presented as well as the numerical methods to solve them. The potential applications of our simulation tool are illustrated with a number of examples, including a model of topographic mapping.     

Parasitic Robot System for Waypoint Navigation of Turtle

In research on small mobile robots and biomimetic robots,locomotion ability remains a major issue despite many advances in technology.However,evolution has led to there being many real animals capable of excellent locomotion.This paper presents a "parasitic robot system" whereby locomotion abilities of an animal are applied to a robot task.We chose a turtle as our first host animal and designed a parasitic robot that can perform "operant conditioning".The parasitic robot,which is attached to the turtle,can induce object-tracking behavior of the turtle toward a Light Emitting Diode (LED) and positively reinforce the behavior through repeated stimulus-response interaction.After training sessions over five weeks,the robot could successfully control the direction of movement of the trained turtles in the waypoint navigation task.This hybrid animal-robot interaction system could provide an alternative solution to some of the limitations of conventional mobile robot systems in various fields,and could also act as a useful interaction system for the behavioral sciences.     

Reinforcement Learning Navigation for Robots Based on Hippocampus Episode Cognition

Artificial intelligence is currently achieving impressive success in all fields.However,autonomous navigation remains a major challenge for AI.Reinforcement learning is used for target navigation to simulate the interaction between the brain and the environment at the behavioral level,but the Artificial Neural Network trained by reinforcement learning cannot match the autonomous mobility of humans and animals.The hippocampus-striatum circuits are considered as key circuits for target navigation planning and decision-making.This paper aims to construct a bionic navigation model of reinforcement learning corresponding to the nervous system to improve the autonomous navigation performance of the robot.The ventral striatum is considered to be the behavioral evaluation region,and the hippocampal-striatum circuit constitutes the position-reward association.In this paper,a set of episode cognition and reinforcement learning system simulating the mechanism of hip-pocampus and ventral striatum is constructed,which is used to provide target guidance for the robot to perform autonomous tasks.Compared with traditional methods,this system reflects the high efficiency of learning and better Environmental Adaptability.Our research is an exploration of the intersection and fusion of artificial intelligence and neuroscience,which is conducive to the development of artificial intelligence and the understanding of the nervous system.     

Brain Cognition Mechanism-Inspired Hierarchical Navigation Method for Mobile Robots

Autonomous navigation is a fundamental problem in robotics.Traditional methods generally build point cloud map or dense feature map in perceptual space;due to lack of cognition and memory formation mechanism,traditional methods exist poor robustness and low cognitive ability.As a new navigation technology that draws inspiration from mammal's navigation,bionic navigation method can map perceptual information into cognitive space,and have strong autonomy and environment adaptability.To improve the robot's autonomous navigation ability,this paper proposes a cognitive map-based hierarchical navigation method.First,the mammals'navigation-related grid cells and head direction cells are modeled to provide the robots with location cognition.And then a global path planning strategy based on cognitive map is proposed,which can anticipate one preferred global path to the target with high efficiency and short distance.Moreover,a hierarchical motion controlling method is proposed,with which the target navigation can be divided into several sub-target navigation,and the mobile robot can reach to these sub-targets with high confidence level.Finally,some experiments are implemented,the results show that the proposed path planning method can avoid passing through obstacles and obtain one preferred global path to the target with high efficiency,and the time cost does not increase extremely with the increase of experience nodes number.The motion controlling results show that the mobile robot can arrive at the target successfully only depending on its self-motion information,which is an effective attempt and reflects strong bionic properties.     

Autonomous Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Based on Chaotic Bionics Theory

In this paper a new reactive mechanism based on perception-action bionics for multi-sensory integration applied to Un-manned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) navigation is proposed.The strategy is inspired by the olfactory bulb neural activity observed inrabbits subject to external stimuli.The new UAV navigation technique exploits the use of a multiscroll chaotic system which isable to be controlled in real-time towards less complex orbits,like periodic orbits or equilibrium points,considered as perceptiveorbits.These are subject to real-time modifications on the basis of environment changes acquired through a Synthetic ApertureRadar (SAR) sensory system.The mathematical details of the approach are given including simulation results in a virtual en-vironment.The results demonstrate the capability of autonomous navigation for UAV based on chaotic bionics theory in com-plex spatial environments.     

自动识别技术在昆虫分类鉴别研究中的应用

昆虫的自动识别是重要的新兴研究领域,它以直接、快速、方便等优点日益受到人们的青睐。昆虫是世界上最大的生物类群,鉴定工作费时耗力,然而分类专家又在逐渐减少。近年来,昆虫自动识别技术的发展为解决这一矛盾提供了乐观的方案。众多分类学家不断探索自动识别的方法和理论,并开发出了一批识别软件。本文介绍自动识别的原理,分类讨论自动识别的技术和方法,并分析提出面临的困难和应对策略。     

On the Use of Human Mobility Proxies for Modeling Epidemics

Human mobility is a key component of large-scale spatial-transmission models of infectious diseases. Correctly modeling and quantifying human mobility is critical for improving epidemic control, but may be hindered by data incompleteness or unavailability. Here we explore the opportunity of using proxies for individual mobility to describe commuting flows and predict the diffusion of an influenza-like-illness epidemic. We consider three European countries and the corresponding commuting networks at different resolution scales, obtained from (i) official census surveys, (ii) proxy mobility data extracted from mobile phone call records, and (iii) the radiation model calibrated with census data. Metapopulation models defined on these countries and integrating the different mobility layers are compared in terms of epidemic observables. We show that commuting networks from mobile phone data capture the empirical commuting patterns well, accounting for more than 87% of the total fluxes. The distributions of commuting fluxes per link from mobile phones and census sources are similar and highly correlated, however a systematic overestimation of commuting traffic in the mobile phone data is observed. This leads to epidemics that spread faster than on census commuting networks, once the mobile phone commuting network is considered in the epidemic model, however preserving to a high degree the order of infection of newly affected locations. Proxies'' calibration affects the arrival times'' agreement across different models, and the observed topological and traffic discrepancies among mobility sources alter the resulting epidemic invasion patterns. Results also suggest that proxies perform differently in approximating commuting patterns for disease spread at different resolution scales, with the radiation model showing higher accuracy than mobile phone data when the seed is central in the network, the opposite being observed for peripheral locations. Proxies should therefore be chosen in light of the desired accuracy for the epidemic situation under study.     

Ablation of Post Transplant Atrial Flutter and Pseudo-fibrillation Using Magnetic Navigation via a Superior Approach

Ablation of cavotricuspid isthmus flutter and atrial tachycardia in a complex substrate has never been reported using remote navigation via superior approach. Venous access was obtained via right internal jugular for ablation and left subclavian for duodecapolar catheter placement into the coronary sinus. In a posttransplant patient presenting with both regular and irregular tachycardia, both cavotricuspid isthmus flutter in the donor and atrial tachycardia in the recipient was mapped using a two catheter approach. Successful ablation of typical atrial flutter and anastomotic block was achieved. This is the first report of successful ablation of cavotricuspid isthmus flutter and posttransplant atrial tachycardia using magnetic navigation via superior approach. Using only two catheters, this approach is logical and feasible in complex substrates with interrupted inferior venous access.     

Automatic containment sampling of recombinant escherichia coli fermentations

A containment sampling system for shake flasks and fermentors has been developed from a blood collection system used in hospitals. The core of the system is a collection vial with a vacuum inside. When a needle connected to the fermentation fluid penetrates a rubber seal on the vial, a sample is withdrawn. The system has been developed in two versions, a manual method for shake flasks, and an automated version for fermentors including cool storage of samples. The sampling system offers the same safety for fermentation containment as the original system offers safety for patients and hospital staff. (c) 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Navigation impacts on freshwater fish assemblages: the ecological relevance of swimming performance

Waterways provide many ecological and socialservices, such as water supply, navigation,freshwater reservoirs for aquatic organisms,recreation, and fisheries. However, in heavilydeveloped waterways, the diversity andproductivity of fish assemblages typicallybecome reduced, mainly due to migrationbarriers, pollution, habitat loss, and biotopesimplification. Additionally, navigation maydirectly or indirectly reduce fish assemblages,amplifying the effects of habitat destruction.This study summarizes navigation impacts toimprove the evaluation of direct navigationeffects on fish assemblages. Literature onhydraulic forces created by moving tows wasreviewed to compare the pressures induced byshipping with the biological capabilities offish, especially with their swimming speeds.Available studies of swimming performance offreshwater fishes were compiled to developgeneral models of length-specific burst, aswell as critical swimming speeds. Modelsregressing total length on burst and criticalswimming speeds were highly significant.Linking applied hydrology and hydraulicengineering with fish ecology and physiology,absolute speed was concluded to be the bestpredictor for thresholds and limitations ofhabitat use by fish. A navigation-inducedhabitat bottleneck hypothesis (NBH) wasinferred from the threshold flow velocity,determining habitat availability for fish.According to the NBH presented here, swimmingperformance of juvenile freshwater fish is themajor bottleneck for fish recruitment inwaterways, as a result of their inability towithstand bank-directed navigation-inducedphysical forces. In essence, under commonnavigation conditions, with respect to inlandwaterway morphology, channel cross section,vessel speeds, and dimensions of commercialvessels, the navigation-induced return currentsalong the shore are usually around 0.8 ms^–1 (0.7–1.0 m s^–1) accompanied by a0.1–0.3 m drawdown. Under such conditions, theproposed threshold for small fish survival wasestimated to be 147 mm total length at criticalswimming performance (>20 s – 60 min withoutfatigue) and 47 mm at burst performance (<20s). These theoretical findings were supportedby empirical studies of fish recruitment inwaterways. The strong dependence of fishrecruitment on hydraulic forces opens uppossibilities of formulating suitable criteriafor safe ship operation (speed and distance tobank), as well as for effective fairwaymanagement (construction and maintenance) andsustainable fish conservation (species andproduction). A more ecologically orientatedhydraulic engineering will not constraincommercial navigation and their socioeconomicbenefits, but it will substantially enhancefish recruitment in waterways and theirecological sustainability, for the overallbenefit of fish, fisheries, and society.     

Traveling in clutter: Navigation in the Central Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti

The Central Australian desert ant Melophorus bagoti is the most thermophilic ant on the continent. It comes out to forage during the hottest part of the day in the summer months. The ant shares a cluttered, plant-filled habitat with other arthropods and uses a range of navigational strategies. We review recent studies on this species concerning its use of habitual routes, distant landmarks, landmarks around the nest, and path integration, which is keeping track of the distance and direction traveled from one's starting point. Functional predictions concerning the acquisition, retention, and integration of memories of distances and of landmarks are also reviewed, illuminating the behavioral ecology of spatial cognition.     

Modeling the Contributions of Basal Ganglia and Hippocampus to Spatial Navigation Using Reinforcement Learning

A computational neural model that describes the competing roles of Basal Ganglia and Hippocampus in spatial navigation is presented. Model performance is evaluated on a simulated Morris water maze explored by a model rat. Cue-based and place-based navigational strategies, thought to be subserved by the Basal ganglia and Hippocampus respectively, are described. In cue-based navigation, the model rat learns to directly head towards a visible target, while in place-based navigation the target position is represented in terms of spatial context provided by an array of poles placed around the pool. Learning is formulated within the framework of Reinforcement Learning, with the nigrostriatal dopamine signal playing the role of Temporal Difference Error. Navigation inherently involves two apparently contradictory movements: goal oriented movements vs. random, wandering movements. The model hypothesizes that while the goal-directedness is determined by the gradient in Value function, randomness is driven by the complex activity of the SubThalamic Nucleus (STN)-Globus Pallidus externa (GPe) system. Each navigational system is associated with a Critic, prescribing actions that maximize value gradients for the corresponding system. In the integrated system, that incorporates both cue-based and place-based forms of navigation, navigation at a given position is determined by the system whose value function is greater at that position. The proposed model describes the experimental results of [1], a lesion-study that investigates the competition between cue-based and place-based navigational systems. The present study also examines impaired navigational performance under Parkinsonian-like conditions. The integrated navigational system, operated under dopamine-deficient conditions, exhibits increased escape latency as was observed in experimental literature describing MPTP model rats navigating a water maze.     

Automatic Inference of Sequence from Low-Resolution Crystallographic Data

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