A. Castro

Senile chorea : a multicenter prospective study

Senile chorea (SC) is characterized by the presence of late onset, generalized chorea with no family history and no dementia. It is unclear whether it is a distinct clinical entity or represents late onset Huntingtons disease (HD) with an undetected family history. In order to clarify this issue, we carried out a prospective, multicenter study of suspected cases of SC. Since 1994 we identified six cases that met clinical criteria for SC. Their study included routine lab tests, cerebral MRI, neuropsychological assessment, and lastly gene IT15 analysis. An abnormal expansion of the (CAG)n repeat was found in three patients. Although there were no criteria for dementia, most neuropsychological tests revealed mild to moderate deficits, particularly in visuospatial and prefrontal tasks, in all six patients, those that were finally diagnosed as having late onset “sporadic” HD, but also in patients that finally had SC. This study provides further evidence on the existence of SC; however, the distinction from late onset “sporadic” HD seems not to be possible on clinical grounds unless a genetic study is carried out. Some cases of suspected “SC” have late onset “sporadic” HD.

Requirements and approaches for a more cost-efficient assessment of ocean waters and ecosystems, and fisheries management

Development of a new generation of multifunctional sensor systems is underway to address ocean monitoring challenges. These range from more precise monitoring of the marine environment to an improved management of fisheries and, among other things, address improved life cycle cost-efficiency. These advances will be achieved through innovations such as multiplatform integration, greater reliability through better antifouling management and greater sensor and data interoperability. Requirements for the sensors have been refined through surveys and discussions with science and industry users. This paper will describe these developments in the NeXOS project.

Objectives of the NeXOS project in developing next generation ocean sensor systems for a more cost-efficient assessment of ocean waters and ecosystems, and fisheries management

The NeXOS project aims to develop new multifunctional sensor systems supporting a number of scientific, technical and societal objectives, ranging from more precise monitoring and modelling of the marine environment to an improved management of fisheries. Several sensors will be developed, based on optical and passive acoustics technologies, addressing key environmental descriptors identified by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) for Good Environmental Status (GES). Two of the new sensors will also contribute to the European Union Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), with a focus on variables of interest to an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF). An objective is the improved cost-efficiency, from procurement to operations, via the implementation of several innovations, such as multiplatform integration, greater reliability through better antifouling management, greater sensor and data interoperability and the creation of market opportunities for European enterprises. Requirements will be further analysed for each new sensor system during the first phase of the project. Those will then be translated into engineering specifications, leading to the development phase. Sensors will then be tested, calibrated, integrated on several platform types, scientifically validated and demonstrated in the field. Translation to production and broad adoption are facilitated by participating industry. Overall, the paper presents an overview of the project objectives and plans for the next four years.

NeXOS development plans in ocean optics, acoustics and observing systems interoperability

A growing concern about the health of the world oceans resulting from multiple stressors as for instance effects of climate change and increasing offshore activities leads to the need of better observational tools and strategies. The objective of the NeXOS project is to serve those needs by developing new cost-effective, innovative and compact integrated multifunctional sensor systems for ocean optics, ocean passive acoustics, and an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF), which can be deployed from mobile and fixed ocean observing platforms, as well as to develop downstream services for the Global Ocean Observing System, Good Environmental Status of European marine waters and the Common Fisheries Policy.

The challenge of preparing teams for the European robotics league: Emergency

© 2017, Society for Imaging Science and Technology. ERL Emergency is an outdoor multi-domain robotic competition inspired by the 2011 Fukushima accident. The ERL Emergency Challenge requires teams of land, underwater and flying robots to work together to survey the scene, collect environmental data, and identify critical hazards. To prepare teams for this multidisciplinary task a series of summer schools and workshops have been arranged. In this paper the challenges and hands-on results of bringing students and researchers collaborating successfully in unknown environments and in new research areas are explained. As a case study results from the euRathlon/SHERPA workshop 2015 in Oulu are given.

euRathlon and ERL Emergency: A Multi-domain Multi-robot Grand Challenge for Search and Rescue Robots

In this paper we outline the euRathlon 2015 and the ERL Emergency 2017 Grand Challenge robotics competitions, and the results and lessons learned from euRathlon 2015. Staged at Piombino, Italy in September 2015, euRathlon 2015 was the world’s first multi-domain (air, land and sea) multi-robot search and rescue competition. In a mock disaster scenario inspired by the 2011 Fukushima NPP accident the euRathlon 2015 Grand Challenge required teams of robots to cooperate to map the area, and missing workers and stem a leak. The second edition of the competition will be held also in Piombino in September 2017, under the name of ERL Emergency and as part of the new European Robotics League initiative.

euRathlon 2015: A Multi-domain Multi-robot Grand Challenge for Search and Rescue Robots

Staged at Piombino, Italy in September 2015, euRathlon 2015 was the world’s first multi-domain (air, land and sea) multi-robot search and rescue competition. In a mock-disaster scenario inspired by the 2011 Fukushima NPP accident, the euRathlon 2015 Grand Challenge required teams of robots to cooperate to map the area, find missing workers and stem a leak. In this paper we outline the euRathlon 2015 Grand Challenge and the approach used to benchmark and score teams. We conclude the paper with an evaluation of both the competition and the performance of the robot-robot teams in the Grand Challenge.

Multi-platform underwater passive acoustics instrument for a more cost-efficient assessment of ocean ecosystems

This paper describes the development of cost-efficient, innovative and interoperable ocean passive acoustics sensors systems deployable from multiple platforms in the European FP7 project NeXOS (Next generation Low-Cost Multifunctional Web Enabled Ocean Sensor Systems Empowering Marine, Maritime and Fisheries Management). The objective of the NeXOS project is to develop cost-effective, innovative, and compact multifunctional sensor systems in ocean optics, ocean passive acoustics and for an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF), which can be deployed from mobile and fixed platforms, with data services contributing to the GEOSS, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Common Fisheries Policy of the European Union. Development of a new generation of multifunctional sensor systems is underway to address ocean monitoring challenges. The development of innovative hydrophones will focus on the pre and post-processing of acoustic information and improved transducer integration, reducing size and overall procurement and operations cost while increasing functionality. An important part of the effort will focus on the need for greater dynamic range and the integration on autonomous platforms, such as gliders and profilers.

Marine sensors; the market, the trends and the value chain

This market analysis is based on the work performed for the EU/FP7 project NeXOS that focuses on preparing the new generation of multi-functional maritime sensors. Naturally, such a venture cannot be successful without a prior thorough assessment of the market status and an in depth understanding of the user needs and the upcoming market trends. Therefore the market assessment we have performed has the following objectives: · to map the current and upcoming applications of maritime sensors in the various fields of implementation · to create a solid understanding of the structure of the market for maritime sensors; · to draw the sectors value chain indicating the activities that produce added value to maritime sensor activities; · to assess the competitiveness of the European maritime sensor industry; and · to identify the trends for the future development of the respective market segments as well as the barriers for further development of the market; The main focus of the study is to assess the market for optic sensors, passive acoustic sensors and the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF) sensor system. These maritime sensors have been identified to be applied or have potential application in a big variety of activities ranging from environmental monitoring and climate change research to seismic research and marine mammals. The value chain of the market has been drawn to depict the distinct activities that add value to maritime observation activities. The activities on the main branch of the value chain include sensor manufacturing, sensor developing and integrating into platforms as well as adapting the sensors to the needs of the maritime observations, operating them, analysing the collected data and exploiting the results of the observations. Currently there is no clear distinction of activities performed by each stakeholder group resulting in varying perceptions of the range of value-adding activities that different stakeholders focus on. However a set of main stakeholder groups with more or less distinct behaviour has been identified and includes: i) sensor manufacturers; ii) sensor developers; iii) service providers and iv) end-users of environmental monitoring services. In our research, we have identified the main and most promising market segments for maritime sensor activities and distinguished 3 perspectives of sensor use that actually drive the user requirements for sensors. These perspectives are: i) research, ii) industry and iii) research and development. In this study we dive into the growth expectations of the different market segments beyond the traditional, long-standing markets of Europe and N America looking into the developments on a global scale. As far as competitiveness of the sector is concerned, the European sensor market position in the world is assessed compared to the ongoing strong by the N. American sector and a SWOT analysis is performed to highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the European sensor manufacturer industry. Further, the prospects of potential competitors rising in other geographical areas and claiming a part of the global market pie are assessed. Potential recommendations to strengthen the position of the European industry could include establishing common standards and developing appropriate business models that would help industrialisation of products or placing emphasis on SMEs taking into account the maturity level of each product market.