Control strategies for integration of electric motor assist and functional electrical stimulation in paraplegic cycling: Utility for exercise testing and mobile cycling

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate feedback control strategies for integration of electric motor assist and functional electrical stimulation (FES) for paraplegic cycling, with particular focus on development of a testbed for exercise testing in FES cycling, in which both cycling cadence and workrate are simultaneously well controlled and contemporary physiological measures of exercise performance derived. A second aim was to investigate the possible benefits of the approach for mobile, recreational cycling. METHODS: A recumbent tricycle with an auxiliary electric motor is used, which is adapted for paraplegic users, and instrumented for stimulation control. We propose a novel integrated control strategy which simultaneously provides feedback control of leg power output (via automatic adjustment of stimulation intensity) and cycling cadence (via electric motor control). Both loops are designed using system identification and analytical (model-based) feedback design methods. Ventilatory and pulmonary gas exchange response profiles are derived using a portable system for real-time breath-by-breath acquisition. RESULTS:We provide indicative results from one paraplegic subject in which a series of feedback-control tests illustrate accurate control of cycling cadence, leg power control, and external disturbance rejection. We also provide physiological response profiles from a submaximal exercise step test and a maximal incremental exercise test, as facilitated by the control strategy. CONCLUSION: The integrated control strategy is effective in facilitating exercise testing under conditions of well-controlled cadence and power output. Our control approach significantly extends the achievable workrate range and enhances exercise-test sensitivity for FES cycling, thus allowing a more stringent characterization of physiological response profiles and estimation of key parameters of aerobic function.We further conclude that the control approach can significantly improve the overall performance of mobile recreational cycling

Role of Esrrg in the Fibrate-Mediated Regulation of Lipid Metabolism Genes in Human ApoA-I Transgenic Mice

We have used a new ApoA-I transgenic mouse model to identify by global gene expression profiling, candidate genes that affect lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in response to fenofibrate treatment. Multilevel bioinformatical analysis and stringent selection criteria (2-fold change, 0% false discovery rate) identified 267 significantly changed genes involved in several molecular pathways. The fenofibrate-treated group did not have significantly altered levels of hepatic human APOA-I mRNA and plasma ApoA-I compared with the control group. However, the treatment increased cholesterol levels to 1.95-fold mainly due to the increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. The observed changes in HDL are associated with the upregulation of genes involved in phospholipid biosynthesis and lipid hydrolysis, as well as phospholipid transfer protein. Significant upregulation was observed in genes involved in fatty acid transport and β-oxidation, but not in those of fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis, Krebs cycle and gluconeogenesis. Fenofibrate changed significantly the expression of seven transcription factors. The estrogen receptor-related gamma gene was upregulated 2.36-fold and had a significant positive correlation with genes of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism and mitochondrial functions, indicating an important role of this orphan receptor in mediating the fenofibrate-induced activation of a specific subset of its target genes.National Institutes of Health (HL48739 and HL68216); European Union (LSHM-CT-2006-0376331, LSHG-CT-2006-037277); the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens; the Hellenic Cardiological Society; the John F Kostopoulos Foundatio

Hypo-Loop Container Freight Transport: PART II Macro-Imagineering New World Macro-Projects

The proposed Hypo-Loop megaproject, which would tunnel under the Darién Gap, could provide a safe conduit for the transport of container freight and passengers between Panama and Colombia. The advantage of a tunnel linking Central America with South America is that transport would be via an underground low-pressure steel tube that alleviates terrestrial compromises of the environmentally sensitive Darién Gap ecosystem, which is recognized as an important natural environmental linkage between Panama and Colombia. This tunnel link is technically feasible using today’s modern tunnel boring methods that are amenable to providing infrastructure for mixed modal train transport. The Darién Gap Hypo-Loop Macro-project has the potential to provide environmentally safe transport across sensitive ecosystems by tunneling beneath them and at the same time opening up expansive transfer of goods and materials in the New World. Initiation and completion of the Hypo-Loop under the Darién Gap landscape would bring this region into the 21st Century as a showcase for enhancing the quality of life and improving New World economic systems.Key-words: Panama, Columbia, Atrato River, Hypo-Loop, passenger pods, containerized freight shipment, Darién Gap, Panama Canal, tunneling technology.===================================================================== O megaprojeto Hypo-Loop proposto, com tunelamento sob o Darién Gap, poderia fornecer um canal seguro para o transporte de contêineres e passageiros entre o Panamá e a Colômbia. A vantagem de um túnel que liga a América Central à América do Sul é que o transporte seria por meio de um tubo de aço subterrâneo de baixa pressão que evitaria o comprometimento do ecossistema Darién Gap, reconhecido como um importante vínculo ambiental natural entre o Panamá e a Colômbia. Esse  túnel é tecnicamente viável pelos métodos modernos de perfuração, capazes de fornecer infraestrutura para um modal misto. O macroprojeto Darién Gap Hypo-Loop tem o potencial de fornecer transporte ambientalmente seguro através de ecossistemas sensíveis, encapsulando-o sob eles e, ao mesmo tempo, abrindo um amplo intercâmbio de bens e materiais no Novo Mundo. No cenário do Darién Gap, a realização do Hypo-Loop faria dessa região uma vitrine sobre a melhoria da qualidade de vida e dos sistemas econômicos do Novo Mundo no século XXI.Palavras-chave: Panamá, Colômbia, Rio Atrato, Hypo-Loop, cápsulas de passageiros, remessa de carga em contêiner, Darién Gap, Canal do Panamá, tecnologia de tunelamento

Containing, embracing and hyper-activating Britishness: British-based foreign-owned firms

There are in the UK ownership forms different to the characteristics of Britishness – British-based foreign-owned firms where dominant owners may have differentiated control interests. These may contain, that is, override, national institutional characteristics embedded in a particular national capitalism. Accordingly, separating the agency of these firms from presumed business system structures may reveal how diverse patterns of firm ownership – those associated with British-based foreign-owned firms – can inform dynamic ownership developments in British capitalism which contain and hyper-activate Britishness. The article theorizes British-based foreign-owned firms and provides empirical detail on how ownership characteristics influence financial commitment and strategic control in 10 of these firms

Family stories, public silence: Irish identity construction amongst the second-generation Irish in England

Formal narratives of history, especially that of colonial oppression, have been central to the construction of national identities in Ireland. But the Irish diasporic community in Britain has been cut off from the reproduction of these narratives, most notably by their absence from the curriculum of Catholic schools, as result of the unofficial 'denationalisation' pact agreed by the Church in the 19th century (Hickman, 1995). The reproduction of Irish identities is largely a private matter, carried out within the home through family accounts of local connections, often reinforced by extended visits to parent/s 'home' areas. Recapturing a public dimension has often become a personal quest in adulthood, 'filling in the gaps'. This paper explores constructions of narratives of nation by a key diasporic population, those with one or two Irish-born parents. It places particular emphasis on varying regional/national contexts within which such constructions take place, drawing on focus group discussions and interviews for the ESRC-funded Irish 2 Project in five locations — London, Glasgow, Manchester, Coventry and Banbury

Unitary Electrification of the Americas and Antarctica A Macro-Imagineering 21st Century Powerline Scenario

The development of a proposed means to physically connect the electricity grids of North and South America requires the linkage of two intercontinental macro-projects. In order to conform such an electrifying linkage requires two major international implementations: (1) a submarine cable spanning the stormy Drake Passage which should integrate a coast-sited encircling linear Antarctica wind-power collecting installation, the Bolonkin-Cathcart proposed Fabric Aerial Dam and Wind Turbine Stations, plus (2) at least one insulated cable-transmitted HVDC electricity passing safely and efficiently around the Darien Gap. Because the latter environment is a still significantly pristine 100-120 km-wide Tropic Zone landscape, it is critical to protect it by mostly preventing further intrusive schemed or unplanned real-estate development of the extant remaining, but vulnerable, inhabited rainforest therein. Critical to this macro-imagineering project is the requirement for a massive and reliable power source. We suggest the possibility of a basic North American single-source for electric energy generation at Yellowstone National Park’s huge caldera that was produced by an ancient super-volcano eruption. Such an amalgamation macro-imagines a 21st Century Americas and Antarctica electrical power generation and distribution system, a demi-globality planning scenario, that results in one completed infrastructure totality.Key words: Drake Passage, submarine power cables, Darien Gap, the Americas, HVDC grid links, Brazil, California, Yellowstone volcano caldera, Alexander A. Bolonkin (1933-2020), Antarctica.  ==================================================O desenvolvimento de uma proposta para unir fisicamente as redes eléctricas da América do Norte e do Sul requer a ligação de dois macroprojetos intercontinentais. Para configurar tal ligação, são necessárias duas grandes implementações internacionais: (1) um cabo submarino que atravessa a tempestuosa Passagem de Drake, o qual deve integrar uma instalação de coleta de energia eólica linear na Antártica, localizada na costa, a Fabric Aerial Dam proposta por Bolonkin-Cathcart e estações de turbinas eólicas, e (2) pelo menos uma transmissão elétrica HVDC, passando de forma segura e eficiente em torno do Darien Gap. Dado que este último ambiente é uma paisagem ainda significativamente intocada e vulnerável da Zona Tropical, com 100-120 km, é fundamental protegê-la, evitando principalmente o desenvolvimento imobiliário intrusivo, planejado ou não. Fundamental para este projeto de macro-imagineering é o requisito de uma fonte de energia massiva e confiável. Sugerimos a possibilidade de uma fonte única básica na América do Norte para geração de energia elétrica na enorme caldeira do Parque Nacional de Yellowstone, originada pela erupção de um supervulcão. Tal amálgama “macro-imagina” um sistema de geração e distribuição de energia elétrica para as Américas e a Antártida do século XXI, um cenário planejado que congrega infraestruturas completas.Palavras-chave: Passagem de Drake, cabos de energia submarinos, Darien Gap, Américas, ligações de rede HVDC, Brasil, Califórnia, caldeira do vulcão Yellowstone, Alexander A. Bolonkin (1933-2020), Antártida