We present a two-step evolution system that produces controllable virtual creatures in physically simulated 3D environment. Previous evolutionary methods for virtual creatures did not allow any user intervention during evolution process, because they generated a creature's shape, locomotion, and high-level behaviors such as target-following and obstacle avoidance simultaneously by one-time evolution process. In this work, we divide a single system into manageable two sub-systems, and this more likely allowsuser interaction. In the first stage, a body structure and low-level motor controllers of a creature for straight movement are generated by an evolutionary algorithm. Next, a high-level control to follow a given path is achieved by a neural network. The connection weights of the neural network are optimized by a genetic algorithm. The evolved controller could follow any given path fairly well. Moreover, users can choose or abort creatures according to their taste before the entire evolution process is finished. This paper also presents a new sinusoidal controller and a simplified hydrodynamics model for a capped-cylinder, which is the basic body primitive of a creature.
Cerebral palsy is a collection of motor disorders resulting from damage to the central nervous system that arise in multiple handicaps including cognitive disorders, speech disorders, epilepsy, perception disorders, and emotion disorders. Today spastic cerebral palsy has become more prevalent because intensive care for newborns has resulted in higher survival rates for very small premature babies. Since the children grow the fastest in order for a development during one year after birth, the therapeutic intervention is provided as early as possible to the children with cerebral palsy. After seven year old, there is no effect of intervention. So, the necessity of early intervention to spastic cerebral palsied infants is increasing. The purpose of this study is to develop the music therapy activity program using the techniques of neurological music therapy(NMT), the therapeutic application of music to dysfunctions due to neurologic disease of the human nervous system, for rudimentary movement phase of spastic cerebral palsied infant. This music therapy activity program was developed on the basis of the major developmental tasks of the rudimentary movement phase, the period that children can acquire the most basic movement function at the 0 to 2. Then the developmental characteristics of spastic cerebral palsy were applied to this music therapy activity program. This music therapy activity program was classified to three domains, those are stability, locomotion, and manipulation. This study has been consisted of three steps, those are the development of the activities, the evaluation of the activities by th panels, and the adjustment and complement of the activities. Reviewing literatures and interviews were done for the development of the activities, and the evaluation the activities was done by seven music therapists. In the evaluation steps, the questionnaire was used for estimating the content validity and application efficiency. The adjustment and complement of the activities were evaluated by the panels who were participating in the music therapy for cerebral palsied children in the clinical setting, and the results of the adjustment and complement were confirmed by the panels. The evaluation was presented in a mean value with the comment of the panels. In conclusion, the music therapy activity program for the spastic cerebral palsied infants using the techniques of NMT was developed on the basis of the major developmental tasks of the rudimentary movement phase. The program is comprised of 38 activities, those are 14 activities for developing the stability, 10 activities for developing the locomotion, and 14 activities for developing the manipulation. The programed activities would bring out the answers in the affirmative for the conformance with infants' development phase, the harmony between the objective and the activity, the conformance with the cerebral palsied infants, the properness of the music and the instruments, and the utility in the clinic field. This results mean that this developed music activity program is appropriate to help spastic cerebral palsied infants progress their movement development by stages.
Objective : The purpose of this study was to investigate difference in fascicle behavior of the medial gastrocnemius during the locomotion with varying intensities, such as gait and one-legged and two-legged vertical jumping. Methods : Six subjects (3 males and 3 females; age:
The aim of this study is to investigate anti-stress effect of Scutellaria baicalensis(SB). The experiments were performed with the use of young (9 weeks of age) male rats of SD strain and the male ICR mice (20-25 g) at the time of first treatment with SB. Animals of the normal group were not exposed to any stress and the control group were exposed to stress. The rats of the Ginseng, Diazepam(BZ) and SB supplementary group were orally administered once a day 100 mg of red ginseng extract, 5 mg of BZ or 100 mg of SB extract/kg body weight and they were exposed to stress. The mice of the Ginseng, BZ and SB supplementary group were given water containing 200 mg of red ginseng extract, 10 mg of BZ or SB extract/100 ml potable water and exposed to stress. Animals were given supplements for 7 days without stress, and then were given supplement for 5 days with restraining and electroshock stress. We recorded stress related behavioral changes of the experimental animals by stressing them using the Etho-vision system and measured levels of blood corticosterone and IL-2. SB supplementation partially blocked the stress effect on locomotion in the rats and mice, and also partially blocked stress-induced behavioral changes such as freezing, burrowing, grooming, smelling, and rearing behavior in the rats and smelling, grooming, tailing, and rearing in the mice. in elevated plus maze test, the staying time of the stressed rats and mice in the open area decreased while it increased in the closed area. But these changes also partially were blocked by SB-supplementation. SB-supplementation decreased levels of the blood corticosterone which was increased by stress in the rats but did not significantly increase levels of blood interleukin 2 which was decreased by stress in mice.
Motility and chemotaxis are crucial for disease development in many motile pathogens, including spirochetes. In many bacteria, motility is provided by flagella rotation, which is controlled by a chemotaxis-signal-transduction system. Thus, motility and chemotaxis are inextricably linked. Spirochetes are a unique group of bacteria with distinctive flat-wave morphology and corkscrew-like locomotion. This unusual motility pattern is believed to be important for efficient motility within the dense tissues through which these spirochetes preferentially disseminate in a host. Unlike other externally flagellated bacteria-where flagella are in the ambient environment-the flagella of spirochetes are enclosed by the outer membrane and thus are called periplasmic flagella or endoflagella. Although motilityand chemotaxis-associated genes are well studied in some bacteria, the knowledge of how the spirochete achieves complex swimming and the roles of most of the putative spirochetal chemotaxis proteins are still elusive. Recently, cutting-edge imaging methods and unique genetic manipulations in spirochetes have helped to unravel the mystery of motility and chemotaxis in spirochetes. These contemporary advances in understanding the motility and chemotaxis of spirochetes in a host's persistence and disease process are highlighted in this review.
A futuristic locomotion system called Hyperloop is projected for driving at ulta-high speed, levitated in the tube. In hyperloop localization of pods on the linear synchronous motor is essential for pod driving. precision localization is required for acceleration and deceleration of pods driving at speed above 1,000km/h, and also required for adjusting the pod speed driving at this very-high speed to maintain inter-vehicle distance. In this work, a new scale of localization is challenged by modified laser surface velocimeter. In acceleration the speed of a virtual pod is calculated along its displacement measured by laser reflection. Under the requirement of precise localization of the pod driving at ultra-high speed, a displacement measurement device, which detects the difference in reflections from tiles passing by the pod, is developed and evaluated through performance test. Tests of pod speeds below 500km/h have showed exact localization results of the precision in centimeters, and tests of pod speeds above 500km/h have showed localization with very low error rates under 0.1%. For the measurement above 500km/h, future works would pursue the error rate converges to zero.
Pyroligneous liquid(PL) is produced by carbonizing Oak in 350-40
The aim of this study was to identify the effects of dithiopyr (DTP), a herbicide, on behavior in zebrafish. The toxicity of DTP has rarely been investigated in fish. In the present study, zebrafish were exposed to different concentrations of DTP in the range of 10-20 μM for 48 h in a test container, in order to measure the value of median lethal concentrations (LC50). Behavioral experiments were performed, including the novel tank test (NTT) and the open field test (OFT), to assess stress responses or locomotion. After exposure to the DTP solution at a sublethal concentration of 2.5–10 μM for 6 min, the behavior of the zebrafish was observed for 6 min. In the acute toxicity test, the LC50 value of DTP showed as 14.49 μM in the zebrafish. The NTT showed that the duration of immobility and the velocity were significantly increased by exposure at a concentration of 5 μM of DTP, compared with a control group (p<0.05). However, compared with the control group, DTP significantly decreased the distance moved and the frequency at the top of the tank, and significantly increased the turn angle and duration at the bottom, in a concentration-dependent manner (p<0.05). In addition, in the OFT, exposure to DTP significantly decreased the distance moved and velocity compared with the control group (p<0.05). Exposure to DTP also significantly increased the duration of immobility, the turn angle, and the meandering movement, in a concentration-dependent manner (p<0.05). Further, exposure to DTP at a low concentration elevated whole-body cortisol levels in the zebrafish. The results of this study thus suggest that DTP induces a toxic response and negative effects on behavior and the endocrine system in zebrafish.
The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70
The wall shear stress in the vicinity of end-to end anastomoses under steady flow conditions was measured using a flush-mounted hot-film anemometer(FMHFA) probe. The experimental measurements were in good agreement with numerical results except in flow with low Reynolds numbers. The wall shear stress increased proximal to the anastomosis in flow from the Penrose tubing (simulating an artery) to the PTFE: graft. In flow from the PTFE graft to the Penrose tubing, low wall shear stress was observed distal to the anastomosis. Abnormal distributions of wall shear stress in the vicinity of the anastomosis, resulting from the compliance mismatch between the graft and the host artery, might be an important factor of ANFH formation and the graft failure. The present study suggests a correlation between regions of the low wall shear stress and the development of anastomotic neointimal fibrous hyperplasia(ANPH) in end-to-end anastomoses. 30523 T00401030523 ^x Air pressure decay(APD) rate and ultrafiltration rate(UFR) tests were performed on new and saline rinsed dialyzers as well as those roused in patients several times. C-DAK 4000 (Cordis Dow) and CF IS-11 (Baxter Travenol) reused dialyzers obtained from the dialysis clinic were used in the present study. The new dialyzers exhibited a relatively flat APD, whereas saline rinsed and reused dialyzers showed considerable amount of decay. C-DAH dialyzers had a larger APD(11.70