17 research outputs found

    Immunity-based autonomous guided vehicles control

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    The human immune system is a self-organizing and highly distributed multi-agent system. These properties impart a high degree of robustness and performance that has created great interest in implementing engineering systems. This adopted engineering analogue is called artificial immune system (AIS). This paper presents an immunity-based control framework, which has the ability to detect changes, adapt to dynamic environment and coordinate vehicles activities for goals achievement, to deploy a fleet of autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) for material handling in an automated warehouse. A robust and flexible automated warehousing system is achieved through the self-organized and fully decentralized origination of AGVs. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

    Effect of prepubertal gonadectomy and sex steroid treatment on the growth and lymphocyte populations of the rat thymus

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    The age at which rats are most sensitive to prepubertal gonadectomy, in terms of thymic growth, was investigated. Gonadectomy enhanced thymic growth at each age; the greatest difference in thymic weight between gonadectomized and intact animals occurred in male rats gonadectomized at 5 weeks of age (64%) and in female rats gonadectomized at 4-5 weeks of age (43-46%). The effect of various synthetic sex steroids on growth and lymphocyte populations of the thymus in gonadectomized rats was examined. Diethylstilboestrol, 1 mg per animal, inhibited thymic growth by more than 35% in both males and females. Ethinyloestradiol, 40 micrograms per animal, inhibited thymic growth by 26% in males but by only 4% in females. Fluoxymesterone, 10 mg per animal, inhibited thymic growth by more than 46% in both sexes. Norgestrel, 12 micrograms per animal, had no effect on thymic growth. The synthetic steroids that significantly inhibited thymic growth decreased the intensity and altered the localization of staining for total T cells (antibody clone MRC OX 19), T helper cells and macrophages (W 3/5), T cytotoxic/suppressor cells (MRC OX 8) and B cells (MRC OX 12).</jats:p
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