18,269 research outputs found
Neuro-electronic technology in medicine and beyond
This dissertation looks at the technology and social issues involved with interfacing electronics directly to the human nervous system, in particular the methods for both reading and stimulating nerves. The development and use of cochlea implants is discussed, and is compared with recent developments in artificial vision. The final sections consider a future for non-medicinal applications of neuro-electronic technology. Social attitudes towards use for both medicinal and non-medicinal purposes are discussed, and the viability of use in the latter case assessed
Insect diversity and composition during the wet and dry seasons in three forest types of Johor, Malaysia
The insect diversity and abundance in three forest types namely: Endau Rompin
(pristine lowland forest) Gunung Ledang (pristine highland forest) and Bukit Soga
(degraded lowland forest) in Johor, Malaysia were studied. The study focused on
10 common insect orders. The objectives are (1) to investigate the composition
and abundance of insect morphospecies in three forest types; (2) to compare the
composition and abundance of insect morphospecies in the wet and dry seasons in
three forest types; and (3) to determine the dominant insect of the study sites.
There were four sampling methods employed as baited pitfall traps, aerial net,
manual collection and sweep net. The sampling methods were employed three
days in each location. The different insects sampled, were higher during the wet
season as compared to the dry season (diversity and abundance). Although Bukit
Soga lowland a degraded forest had the highest diversity of 52; and abundance of
112,081 individuals, it had the lowest Shannon weiner index of species diversity
and lowest evenness of (H’1.09 and evenness of 0.28). Gunung Ledang, had
lowest species diversity of 32 and abundance of 1,695 individuals but had the
highest H’of 2.34 and highest evenness of 0.68. Endau Rompin had 46 species
diversity and abundance of 70,821individuals and H’of 1.17and evenness of 0.30.
In highland forest the most diverse dominant insects were the butterflies
(Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Meanwhile ant, (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) was
more diverse in lowland forest than the highland forest. In all the three locations,
ant was most abundant. Since Jaccard similarity index was low between Gunung
Ledang and Bukit Soga (0.22); and between Gunung Ledang and Endau Rompin
(0.27) it is concluded that altitude had a greater effect on insect diversity. This is
supported by a two ways ANOVA analyses that showed insect diversity and
abundance between the two lowland forests (Endau Rompin and Bukit Soga) and
highland forest (Gunung Ledang) are significantly different. Difference between
the lowland forests was not significant. Generally, effect of wet and dry seasons
has no clear impact on diversity but abundance was higher during wet season
especially for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Redundant neural vision systems: competing for collision recognition roles
Ability to detect collisions is vital for future robots that interact with humans in complex visual environments. Lobula giant movement detectors (LGMD) and directional selective neurons (DSNs) are two types of identified neurons found in the visual pathways of insects such as locusts. Recent modelling studies showed that the LGMD or grouped DSNs could each be tuned for collision recognition. In both biological and artificial vision systems, however, which one should play the collision recognition role and the way the two types of specialized visual neurons could be functioning together are not clear. In this modeling study, we compared the competence of the LGMD and the DSNs, and also investigate the cooperation of the two neural vision systems for collision recognition via artificial evolution. We implemented three types of collision recognition neural subsystems – the LGMD, the DSNs and a hybrid system which combines the LGMD and the DSNs subsystems together, in each individual agent. A switch gene determines which of the three redundant neural subsystems plays the collision recognition role. We found that, in both robotics and driving environments, the LGMD was able to build up its ability for collision recognition quickly and robustly therefore reducing the chance of other types of neural networks to play the same role. The results suggest that the LGMD neural network could be the ideal model to be realized in hardware for collision recognition
The Research Space: using the career paths of scholars to predict the evolution of the research output of individuals, institutions, and nations
In recent years scholars have built maps of science by connecting the
academic fields that cite each other, are cited together, or that cite a
similar literature. But since scholars cannot always publish in the fields they
cite, or that cite them, these science maps are only rough proxies for the
potential of a scholar, organization, or country, to enter a new academic
field. Here we use a large dataset of scholarly publications disambiguated at
the individual level to create a map of science-or research space-where links
connect pairs of fields based on the probability that an individual has
published in both of them. We find that the research space is a significantly
more accurate predictor of the fields that individuals and organizations will
enter in the future than citation based science maps. At the country level,
however, the research space and citations based science maps are equally
accurate. These findings show that data on career trajectories-the set of
fields that individuals have previously published in-provide more accurate
predictors of future research output for more focalized units-such as
individuals or organizations-than citation based science maps
Near range path navigation using LGMD visual neural networks
In this paper, we proposed a method for near range path navigation for a mobile robot by using a pair of biologically
inspired visual neural network – lobula giant movement detector (LGMD). In the proposed binocular style visual system, each LGMD processes images covering a part of the wide field of view and extracts relevant visual cues as its output. The outputs from the two LGMDs are compared and translated into executable motor commands to control the wheels of the robot in real time. Stronger signal from the LGMD in one side pushes the robot away from this side step by step; therefore, the robot can navigate in a visual environment naturally with the proposed vision system. Our experiments showed that this bio-inspired system worked well in different scenarios
Cortical region interactions and the functional role of apical dendrites
The basal and distal apical dendrites of pyramidal cells occupy distinct
cortical layers and are targeted by axons originating in different cortical
regions. Hence, apical and basal dendrites receive information from distinct
sources. Physiological evidence suggests that this anatomically observed
segregation of input sources may have functional significance. This possibility
has been explored in various connectionist models that employ neurons with
functionally distinct apical and basal compartments. A neuron in which separate
sets of inputs can be integrated independently has the potential to operate in a
variety of ways which are not possible for the conventional model of a neuron in
which all inputs are treated equally. This article thus considers how
functionally distinct apical and basal dendrites can contribute to the
information processing capacities of single neurons and, in particular, how
information from different cortical regions could have disparate affects on
neural activity and learning
Connectivity of the Superficial Muscles of the Human Perineum: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging-Based Global Tractography Study.
Despite the importance of pelvic floor muscles, significant controversy still exists about the true structural details of these muscles. We provide an objective analysis of the architecture and orientation of the superficial muscles of the perineum using a novel approach. Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Images (MR-DTI) were acquired in 10 healthy asymptomatic nulliparous women, and 4 healthy males. Global tractography was then used to generate the architecture of the muscles. Micro-CT imaging of a male cadaver was performed for validation of the fiber tracking results. Results show that muscles fibers of the external anal sphincter, from the right and left side, cross midline in the region of the perineal body to continue as transverse perinea and bulbospongiosus muscles of the opposite side. The morphology of the external anal sphincter resembles that of the number '8' or a "purse string". The crossing of muscle fascicles in the perineal body was supported by micro-CT imaging in the male subject. The superficial muscles of the perineum, and external anal sphincter are frequently damaged during child birth related injuries to the pelvic floor; we propose the use of MR-DTI based global tractography as a non-invasive imaging technique to assess damage to these muscles
Reactive direction control for a mobile robot: A locust-like control of escape direction emerges when a bilateral pair of model locust visual neurons are integrated
Locusts possess a bilateral pair of uniquely identifiable visual neurons that respond vigorously to
the image of an approaching object. These neurons are called the lobula giant movement
detectors (LGMDs). The locust LGMDs have been extensively studied and this has lead to the
development of an LGMD model for use as an artificial collision detector in robotic applications.
To date, robots have been equipped with only a single, central artificial LGMD sensor, and this
triggers a non-directional stop or rotation when a potentially colliding object is detected. Clearly,
for a robot to behave autonomously, it must react differently to stimuli approaching from
different directions. In this study, we implement a bilateral pair of LGMD models in Khepera
robots equipped with normal and panoramic cameras. We integrate the responses of these LGMD
models using methodologies inspired by research on escape direction control in cockroaches.
Using ‘randomised winner-take-all’ or ‘steering wheel’ algorithms for LGMD model integration,
the khepera robots could escape an approaching threat in real time and with a similar
distribution of escape directions as real locusts. We also found that by optimising these
algorithms, we could use them to integrate the left and right DCMD responses of real jumping
locusts offline and reproduce the actual escape directions that the locusts took in a particular
trial. Our results significantly advance the development of an artificial collision detection and
evasion system based on the locust LGMD by allowing it reactive control over robot behaviour.
The success of this approach may also indicate some important areas to be pursued in future
biological research
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