System for robot control inspired by the functionality and organisation of the human nervous system

This paper presents a model of a control system for robot systems inspired by the functionality and organisation of human neuroregulatory system. Our model was specified using software agents within a formal framework and implemented through Web Services. This approach allows the implementation of the control logic of a robot system with relative ease, in an incremental way, using the addition of new control centres to the system as its behaviour is observed or needs to be detailed with greater precision, without the need to modify existing functionality. The tests performed verify that the proposed model has the general characteristics of biological systems together with the desirable features of software, such as robustness, flexibility, reuse and decoupling.

Implementation Feasibility of a Digital Nervous System for the Construction Industry: For Efficient and Effective Information Management across the Project Lifecycle

The construction industry has long been considered as highly fragmented and non-collaborative industry. This fragmentation sprouted from complex and unstructured traditional coordination processes and information exchanges amongst all parties involved in a construction project. This nature coupled with risk and uncertainty has pushed clients and their supply chain to search for new ways of improving their business process to deliver better quality and high performing product. This research will closely investigate the need to implement a Digital Nervous System (DNS), analogous to a biological nervous system, on the flow and management of digital information across the project lifecycle. This will be through direct examination of the key processes and information produced in a construction project and how a DNS can provide a well-integrated flow of digital information throughout the project lifecycle. This research will also investigate how a DNS can create a tight digital feedback loop that enables the organisation to sense, react and adapt to changing project conditions. A Digital Nervous System is a digital infrastructure that provides a well-integrated flow of digital information to the right part of the organisation at the right time. It provides the organisation with the relevant and up-to-date information it needs, for critical project issues, to aid in near real-time decision-making. Previous literature review and survey questionnaires were used in this research to collect and analyse data about information management problems of the industry – e.g. disruption and discontinuity of digital information flow due to interoperability issues, disintegration/fragmentation of the adopted digital solutions and paper-based transactions. Results analysis revealed efficient and effective information management requires the creation and implementation of a DNS.

Phagocytosis of Photoreceptor Outer Segments by Transplanted Human Neural Stem Cells as a Neuroprotective Mechanism in Retinal Degeneration

Purpose. Transplantation of human central nervous system stem cells (HuCNS-SC) into the subretinal space of Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats preserves photoreceptors and visual function. To explore possible mechanism(s) of action underlying this neuroprotective effect, we performed a detailed morphologic and ultrastructure analysis of HuCNS-SC transplanted retinas. Methods. The HuCNS-SC were transplanted into the subretinal space of RCS rats. Histologic examination of the transplanted retinas was performed by light and electron microscopy. Areas of the retina adjacent to HuCNS-SC graft (treated regions) were analyzed and compared to control sections obtained from the same retina, but distant from the transplant site (untreated regions). Results. The HuCNS-SC were detected as a layer of STEM 121 immunopositive cells in the subretinal space. In treated regions, preserved photoreceptor nuclei, as well as inner and outer segments were identified readily. In contrast, classic signs of degeneration were observed in the untreated regions. Interestingly, detailed ultrastructure analysis revealed a striking preservation of the photoreceptor–bipolar–horizontal cell synaptic contacts in the outer plexiform layer (OPL) of treated areas, in stark contrast with untreated areas. Finally, the presence of phagosomes and vesicles exhibiting the lamellar structure of outer segments also was detected within the cytosol of HuCNS-SC, indicating that these cells have phagocytic capacity in vivo. Conclusions. This study reveals the novel finding that preservation of specialized synaptic contacts between photoreceptors and second order neurons, as well as phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments, are potential mechanism(s) of HuCNS-SC transplantation, mediating functional rescue in retinal degeneration.

Multi-agent system for control of robots inspired on the distributed activity and hormonal regulation of humans

Robotics is an emerging field with great activity. Robotics is a field that presents several problems because it depends on a large number of disciplines, technologies, devices and tasks. Its expansion from perfectly controlled industrial environments toward open and dynamic environment presents a many new challenges. New uses are, for example, household robots or professional robots. To facilitate the low cost, rapid development of robotic systems, reusability of code, its medium and long term maintainability and robustness are required novel approaches to provide generic models and software systems who develop paradigms capable of solving these problems. For this purpose, in this paper we propose a model based on multi-agent systems inspired by the human nervous system able to transfer the control characteristics of the biological system and able to take advantage of the best properties of distributed software systems. Specifically, we model the decentralized activity and hormonal variation.

The ubiquitin-proteasome system in retinal health and disease

The ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) is the main intracellular pathway for modulated protein turnover, playing an important role in the maintenance of cellular homeostasis. It also exerts a protein quality control through degradation of oxidized, mutant, denatured, or misfolded proteins and is involved in many biological processes where protein level regulation is necessary. This system allows the cell to modulate its protein expression pattern in response to changing physiological conditions and provides a critical protective role in health and disease. Impairments of UPS function in the central nervous system (CNS) underlie an increasing number of genetic and idiopathic diseases, many of which affect the retina. Current knowledge on the UPS composition and function in this tissue, however, is scarce and dispersed. This review focuses on UPS elements reported in the retina, including ubiquitinating and deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), and alternative proteasome assemblies. Known and inferred roles of protein ubiquitination, and of the related, SUMO conjugation (SUMOylation) process, in normal retinal development and adult homeostasis are addressed, including modulation of the visual cycle and response to retinal stress and injury. Additionally, the relationship between UPS dysfunction and human neurodegenerative disorders affecting the retina, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's diseases, are dealt with, together with numerous instances of retina-specific illnesses with UPS involvement, such as retinitis pigmentosa, macular degenerations, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy (DR), and aging-related impairments. This information, though still basic and limited, constitutes a suitable framework to be expanded in incoming years and should prove orientative toward future therapy design targeting sight-affecting diseases with a UPS underlying basis.

Alterations in energy metabolism, neuroprotection and visual signal transduction in the retina of parkinsonian, MPTP-treated monkeys

Parkinson disease is mainly characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the central nervous system, including the retina. Different interrelated molecular mechanisms underlying Parkinson disease-associated neuronal death have been put forward in the brain, including oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Systemic injection of the proneurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) to monkeys elicits the appearance of a parkinsonian syndrome, including morphological and functional impairments in the retina. However, the intracellular events leading to derangement of dopaminergic and other retinal neurons in MPTP-treated animal models have not been so far investigated. Here we have used a comparative proteomics approach to identify proteins differentially expressed in the retina of MPTP-treated monkeys. Proteins were solubilized from the neural retinas of control and MPTP-treated animals, labelled separately with two different cyanine fluorophores and run pairwise on 2D DIGE gels. Out of >700 protein spots resolved and quantified, 36 were found to exhibit statistically significant differences in their expression levels, of at least ±1.4-fold, in the parkinsonian monkey retina compared with controls. Most of these spots were excised from preparative 2D gels, trypsinized and subjected to MALDI-TOF MS and LC-MS/MS analyses. Data obtained were used for protein sequence database interrogation, and 15 different proteins were successfully identified, of which 13 were underexpressed and 2 overexpressed. These proteins were involved in key cellular functional pathways such as glycolysis and mitochondrial electron transport, neuronal protection against stress and survival, and phototransduction processes. These functional categories underscore that alterations in energy metabolism, neuroprotective mechanisms and signal transduction are involved in MPTPinduced neuronal degeneration in the retina, in similarity to mechanisms thought to underlie neuronal death in the Parkinson’s diseased brain and neurodegenerative diseases of the retina proper.

Assessment oxidative stress biomarkers –neuroprostanes and dihomo-isoprostanes- in elite triathletes urine after two weeks of moderate altitude training

This randomized and controlled trial investigated whether the increase in elite training at different altitudes altered the oxidative stress biomarkers of the nervous system. This is the first study to investigate four F4-neuroprostanes and four F2-dihomo-isoprostanes quantified in 24-hour urine. The quantification was carried out by Ultra High Pressure Liquid Chromatography-triple Quadrupole-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). Sixteen elite triathletes agreed to participate in the project. They were randomized in two groups, a group submitted to Altitude Training (n=8) and a group submitted to Sea Level Training (n=8), with a Control group of non-athletes (n=8). After experimental period, the Altitude Training group triathletes gave significant data: 17-epi-17-F2t-dihomo-IsoP (from 5.2 ± 1.4 µg/mL 24 h-1 to 6.6 ± 0.6 µg/mL 24 h-1), ent-7(RS)-7-F2t-dihomo-IsoP (from 6.6 ± 1.7 µg/mL 24 h-1 to 8.6 ± 0.9 µg /mL 24 h-1), and ent-7-epi-7-F2t-dihomo-IsoP (from 8.4 ± 2.2 µg/mL 24 h-1 to 11.3 ± 1.8 µg/mL 24 h-1) increased, while, of the neuronal degeneration-related compounds, only 10-epi-10-F4t-NeuroP (8.4 ± 1.7 µg/mL 24 h-1) and 10-F4t-NeuroP (5.2 ± 2.9 µg/mL 24 h-1) were detected in this group. For the control group and sea level training groups, no significant changes had occurred at the end of the 2-weeks experimental period. Therefore, and as the main conclusion, the training at moderate altitude increased the F4-NeuroPs- and F2-dihomo-isoPs-related oxidative damage of the central nervous system (CNS) compared to similar training at sea level.