Underwater swarm robotics review

Underwater robotics is a growing field in which more research is required. A literature review has been conducted on underwater robotics, focusing on the swarm problem with this type of robotics to help overcome this gap. Consensus control of robotic swarms is focused on, with a brief description of formation control and how it can be applied in the underwater setting. The basic concepts behind Particle Swarm Optimization, Ant Colony Optimization, Bees Algorithm and Heterogeneous Swarms has also been presented. The problems that are associated with communicating underwater are shown, with some possible solutions to this problem also being presented. Possible future work is described to conclude the paper.

Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators : literature review

OBJECTIVE: To review the peer-reviewed literature on relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators and suggest areas of inquiry for future research. We define the fundamental principles of intuitive eating as: (i) eating when hungry; (ii) stopping eating when no longer hungry/full; and (iii) no restrictions on types of food eaten unless for medical reasons. DESIGN: We include articles cited by PubMed, PsycInfo and Science Direct published in peer-reviewed journals or theses that include 'intuitive eating' or related concepts in the title or abstract and that test relationships between intuitive eating and physical or mental health indicators. RESULTS: We found twenty-six articles that met our criteria: seventeen cross-sectional survey studies and nine clinical studies, eight of which were randomised controlled trials. The cross-sectional surveys indicate that intuitive eating is negatively associated with BMI, positively associated with various psychological health indicators, and possibly positively associated with improved dietary intake and/or eating behaviours, but not associated with higher levels of physical activity. From the clinical studies, we conclude that the implementation of intuitive eating results in weight maintenance but perhaps not weight loss, improved psychological health, possibly improved physical health indicators other than BMI (e.g. blood pressure; cholesterol levels) and dietary intake and/or eating behaviours, but probably not higher levels of physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Research on intuitive eating has increased in recent years. Extant research demonstrates substantial and consistent associations between intuitive eating and both lower BMI and better psychological health. Additional research can add to the breadth and depth of these findings. The article concludes with several suggestions for future research.

Geotechnical Data and Numerical Analysis of Edifice Collapse and Related Hazards at Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala

The continual eruptive activity, occurrence of an ancestral catastrophic collapse, and inherent geologic features of Pacaya volcano (Guatemala) demands an evaluation of potential collapse hazards. This thesis merges techniques in the field and laboratory for a better rock mass characterization of volcanic slopes and slope stability evaluation. New field geological, structural, rock mechanical and geotechnical data on Pacaya is reported and is integrated with laboratory tests to better define the physical-mechanical rock mass properties. Additionally, this data is used in numerical models for the quantitative evaluation of lateral instability of large sector collapses and shallow landslides. Regional tectonics and local structures indicate that the local stress regime is transtensional, with an ENE-WSW sigma 3 stress component. Aligned features trending NNW-SSE can be considered as an expression of this weakness zone that favors magma upwelling to the surface. Numerical modeling suggests that a large-scale collapse could be triggered by reasonable ranges of magma pressure (greater than or equal to 7.7 MPa if constant along a central dyke) and seismic acceleration (greater than or equal to 460 cm/s2), and that a layer of pyroclastic deposits beneath the edifice could have been a factor which controlled the ancestral collapse. Finally, the formation of shear cracks within zones of maximum shear strain could provide conduits for lateral flow, which would account for long lava flows erupted at lower elevations.