Navigation Research Research Articles

Human spatial representation: what we cannot learn from the studies of rodent navigation

Studies of human and rodent navigation often reveal a remarkable cross-species similarity between the cognitive and neural mechanisms of navigation. Such cross-species resemblance often overshadows some critical differences between how humans and nonhuman animals navigate. In this review, I propose that a navigation system requires both a storage system (i.e., representing spatial information) and a positioning system (i.e., sensing spatial information) to operate. I then argue that the way humans represent spatial information is different from that inferred from the cellular activity observed during rodent navigation. Such difference spans the whole hierarchy of spatial representation, from representing the structure of an environment to the representation of subregions of an environment, routes and paths, and the distance and direction relative to a goal location. These cross-species inconsistencies suggest that what we learn from rodent navigation does not always transfer to human navigation. Finally, I argue for closing the loop for the dominant, unidirectional animal-to-human approach in navigation research so that insights from behavioral studies of human navigation may also flow back to shed light on the cellular mechanisms of navigation for both humans and other mammals (i.e., a human-to-animal approach).

Abstract 1637: The evolution of patient navigation research models to reduce breast cancer disparities: Case studies of patient navigation dissemination and implementation in Chicago

Abstract Background: Patient navigation for breast cancer seeks to diminish social, economic, cultural and medical system barriers to timely quality care. In the context of unmet patient needs, growing complexity of health care delivery systems, and significant local implementation challenges, patient navigation models must continue to evolve in order to advance context-appropriate implementation and sustainment of patient navigation into routine practice. We present five case studies in Chicago demonstrating evolving patient navigation models and in each case study, we explore challenges and opportunities related to advancing successful implementation of patient navigation interventions across the breast cancer care continuum. Methods: Case studies include: (1) a community-level adaptation of patient navigation in Chicago's Chinatown; (2) a community navigation program in Chicago's racially/ethnically diverse North Lawndale and Humboldt Park; (3) a county-wide dissemination of navigation in suburban DuPage County; (4) a state-wide scaling of a patient navigation model to the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services; and (5) a 4R patient navigation oncology model (4R = Right Information / Care / Patient / Time) grounded in systems engineering and design that leverages collaborative care plans and iterative examination and improvement of processes to address challenges of breast cancer care planning, team-based delivery and patient engagement. Results: Case studies in the evolution of patient navigation research programs show how identified gaps in care were remedied pragmatically in the course of each study. We show how patient navigation implementation efforts have been aided with evolving models incorporating the local implementation context, characteristics of program implementers, and structural, macro-level factors involving care delivery systems and public policy. Results highlight approaches for supporting organizational learning to enhance implementation and sustainability of navigation interventions; for furthering task clarification and coordination to optimize integration of patient navigation into cancer care delivery settings; and for tackling the impact of existing local, state, and national policy initiatives on patient navigation. Conclusions: Reducing breast cancer burden, especially among underserved populations, warrants adaptive, ongoing improvement of patient navigation models. Through iterative intervention development, evaluation, and refinement, patient navigation can move beyond serving as a temporary bandage for health systems fragmentation and toward an essential role in systems change for optimizing cancer care delivery. Citation Format: Melissa A. Simon, Laura S. Tom, Julia R. Trosman, Christine B. Weldon, Catherine A. O'Brian, Marcie C. Kirschner, XinQi Dong. The evolution of patient navigation research models to reduce breast cancer disparities: Case studies of patient navigation dissemination and implementation in Chicago [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 1637.

The Complex Nature of Hippocampal-Striatal Interactions in Spatial Navigation.

Decades of research have established the importance of the hippocampus for episodic and spatial memory. In spatial navigation tasks, the role of the hippocampus has been classically juxtaposed with the role of the dorsal striatum, the latter of which has been characterized as a system important for implementing stimulus-response and action-outcome associations. In many neuroimaging paradigms, this has been explored through contrasting way finding and route-following behavior. The distinction between the contributions of the hippocampus and striatum to spatial navigation has been supported by extensive literature. Convergent research has also underscored the fact that these different memory systems can interact in dynamic ways and contribute to a broad range of navigational scenarios. For example, although familiar routes may often be navigable based on stimulus-response associations, hippocampal episodic memory mechanisms can also contribute to egocentric route-oriented memory, enabling recall of context-dependent sequences of landmarks or the actions to be made at decision points. Additionally, the literature has stressed the importance of subdividing the striatum into functional gradients—with more ventral and medial components being important for the behavioral expression of hippocampal-dependent spatial memories. More research is needed to reveal how networks involving these regions process and respond to dynamic changes in memory and control demands over the course of navigational events. In this Perspective article, we suggest that a critical direction for navigation research is to further characterize how hippocampal and striatal subdivisions interact in different navigational contexts.

Application of Real-Coded Genetic Algorithm in Ship Weather Routing

Solving the problem of ship weather routing has been always a goal of nautical navigation research and has been investigated by many scientists. The operation schedule of an oceangoing ship can be influenced by wave or wind disturbances, which complicate route planning. In this paper, we present a real-coded genetic algorithm to determine the minimum voyage route time for point-to-point problems in a dynamic environment. A fitness assignment method based on an individual's position in the sorted population is presented, which greatly simplifies the calculation of fitness value. A hybrid mutation operator is proposed to enhance the search for the optimal solution and maintain population diversity. Multi-population techniques and an elite retention strategy are employed to increase population diversity and accelerate convergence rates. The effectiveness of the algorithm is demonstrated by numerical simulation experiments.

NAVIGATION OF ROBOTICS PLATFORM IN UNKNOWN SPACES USING LIDAR, RASPBERRY PI AND HECTOR SLAM

This research is a base research of an alternative type navigation for our project ARES – Autonomous Research Exploration System. This system is focused on exploration of dangerous indoor spaces like caves, abandoned mines, ruins etc. In manycases, there is poor or no signal from satellite navigation systems and it is necessary to develop accurate navigation for our platform. Our platform is based on several systems like navigation using an inertial navigation unit, visual odometry and 3D space mapping. The result of our system will be a 3D map of space. The developed 3D space mapping needs accurate position for creation of a space map. This paper deals withdevelopment of an alternative position estimation method and implementation of LIDAR sensor and Raspberry PI for 2D space mapping.

Design and validation of an open-source library of dynamic reference frames for research and education in optical tracking.

Dynamic reference frames (DRFs) are a common component of modern surgical tracking systems; however, the limited number of commercially available DRFs poses a constraint in developing systems, especially for research and education. This work presents the design and validation of a large, open-source library of DRFs compatible with passive, single-face tracking systems, such as Polaris stereoscopic infrared trackers (NDI, Waterloo, Ontario). An algorithm was developed to create new DRF designs consistent with intra- and intertool design constraints and convert to computer-aided design (CAD) files suitable for three-dimensional printing. A library of 10 such groups, each with 6 to 10 DRFs, was produced and tracking performance was validated in comparison to a standard commercially available reference, including pivot calibration, fiducial registration error (FRE), and target registration error (TRE). Pivot tests showed calibration error [Formula: see text], indistinguishable from the reference. FRE was [Formula: see text], and TRE in a CT head phantom was [Formula: see text], both equivalent to the reference. The library of DRFs offers a useful resource for surgical navigation research and could be extended to other tracking systems and alternative design constraints.

Building a Smart City

This article focuses on the need of creating a digital infrastructure to make smart cities and life better. According to a report by Navigant Research, smart cities are a global phenomenon. There are 250 projects underway in 178 cities worldwide, with Europe leading the way because of its aggressive climate change policies. With digital infrastructure evolving so quickly, municipal officials need to update software frequently to improve capabilities. Cities will need new types of professionals to manage and interpret the data. The buildout of a private digital infrastructure points the way toward even greater connectivity, and it is happening rapidly whether cities are leading the way or not. New security standards are emerging to bring better security to every device on the smart network. The recently released ISO/IEC 18598 standard mandates secure but interoperable interfaces for software from different vendors. Experts suggest that cities must learn to master those flows of traffic, energy, and information to create a smarter city that makes life better for those who are connected and those who are not.

国立研究開発法人電子航法研究所(教育・研究機関紹介)

国立研究開発法人電子航法研究所(教育・研究機関紹介)

Characterizing Time to Diagnostic Resolution After an Abnormal Cancer Screening Exam in Older Adult Participants in the Ohio Patient Navigation Research Program.

This study aims to test the effectiveness of a patient navigation (PN) intervention to reduce time to diagnostic resolution among older adults age ≥65 years versus those <65 years with abnormal breast, cervical, or colorectal cancer screening exams participating in the Ohio Patient Navigation Research Program (OPNRP). The OPNRP utilized a nested cohort group-randomized trial design to randomize 862 participants ( n = 67 for ≥65 years; n = 795 for <65 years) to PN or usual care conditions. A shared frailty Cox model tested the effect of PN on time to resolution. Older adult participants randomized to PN achieved a 6-month resolution rate that was 127% higher than those randomized to usual care ( p = .001). This effect was not significantly different from participants <65 years. PN significantly reduced time to diagnostic resolution among older adults beginning 6 months after an abnormal cancer screening exam. Health care systems should include this population in PN programs to reduce cancer disparities.

Soft X-ray detectors for pulsar navigation

This paper summarizes the requirement of X-ray pulsar navigation and the development of X-ray detector. The difficulties of pulsar navigation in space environment are pointed out. The lack of detectors in terms of detection efficiency, time resolution and load is discussed. Finally, some suggestions are given for future research in X-ray pulsar navigation.

Global Positioning System Navigation Above 76,000 KM for NASA'S Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, launched in March of 2015, consists of a controlled formation of four spin-stabilized spacecraft in similar highly elliptic orbits reaching apogee at radial distances of 12 and 25 Earth radii (RE) in the first and second phases of the mission. Navigation for MMSis achieved independently on-board each spacecraft by processing Global Positioning System (GPS) observables using NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)'s Navigator GPS receiver and the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS) extended Kalman filter software. To our knowledge, MMS constitutes, by far, the highest-altitude operational use of GPS to date and represents a high point of over a decade of high-altitude GPS navigation research and development at GSFC. In this paper we will briefly describe past and ongoing high-altitude GPS research efforts at NASA GSFC and elsewhere, provide details on the design of the MMS GPS navigation system, and present on-orbit performance data from the first phase. We extrapolate these results to predict performance in the second phase orbit, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of the MMS results for future high-altitude GPS navigation, which we believe to be broad and far-reaching.

Design and Piloted Simulator Evaluation of Adaptive Safe Flight Envelope Protection Algorithm

This paper discusses the design and evaluation of an efficient safe flight envelope protection method for keeping an augmented aircraft with manual flight control laws within the safe envelope bounds. This flight envelope is estimated adaptively, so that configuration changes and possible failures can be taken into account. The updated information of the safe envelope is used in the flight control laws to prevent loss of control in flight. It has been found that a control architecture involving separate pilot command filtering is particularly well suited to incorporate these adaptive protections. Moreover, haptic feedback to the pilot controls can be included as well, based on the same adaptive bounds. This has the potential to further increase the flight crew awareness about the risk of losing control in flight. These algorithms have been evaluated in the Simulation, Motion, and Navigation Research Simulator at Delft University of Technology to investigate the impact on the awareness of the crew. Commercial airline crews flew multiple challenging approach and landing scenarios in a relevant simulated environment. Results show that the algorithms support the flight crew significantly. They contribute to “carefree” flying and to avoiding loss of control in flight.

運輸省電子航法研究所電子航法開発部航法システム研究室(国内,ラボラトリーズ)

運輸省電子航法研究所電子航法開発部航法システム研究室(国内,ラボラトリーズ)

Chilean underground mine dataset

This article presents a robotic dataset collected from the largest underground copper mine in the world. The sensor measurements from a 3D scanning lidar, a 2D radar, and stereo cameras were recorded from an approximately two kilometer traverse of a production-active tunnel. The equipment used and the data collection process is discussed in detail, along with the format of the data. This dataset is suitable for research in robotic navigation, as well as simultaneous localization and mapping. The download instructions are available at the following website http://dataset.amtc.cl .

A hardware-software complex for modelling and research of near navigation based on pseudolites

The paper considers a hardware-software complex for research of characteristics of accuracy and noise immunity of a near navigation system based on pseudolites. The complex is implemented on the basis of the “National Instruments” hardware platform and “LabView” coding environment. It provides a simulated navigation field, the analysis of the received signals, the determination of the errors of measurement of navigation parameters for pseudolites signals, comparing the measured error with the characteristics of a standard GNSS receiver.

What Makes Patient Navigation Most Effective: Defining Useful Tasks and Networks.

Given the momentum in adopting patient navigation into cancer care, there is a need to understand the contribution of specific navigator activities to improved clinical outcomes. A mixed-methods study combined direct observations of patient navigators within the Patient Navigation Research Program and outcome data from the trial. We correlated the frequency of navigator tasks with the outcome of rate of diagnostic resolution within 365 days among patients who received the intervention relative to controls. A focused content analysis examined those tasks with the strongest correlations between navigator tasks and patient outcomes. Navigating directly with specific patients (r = 0.679), working with clinical providers to facilitate patient care (r = 0.643), and performing tasks not directly related to their diagnostic evaluation for patients were positively associated with more timely diagnosis (r = 0.714). Using medical records for non-navigation tasks had a negative association (r = -0.643). Content analysis revealed service provision directed at specific patients improved care while systems-focused activities did not.

Research of Optimal Path Automatic Navigation in the Prescribed Scope

Research of Optimal Path Automatic Navigation in the Prescribed Scope

Simulation Toolkit for Onboard Optimal Maneuver Planning in Active Debris Removal Using Angles-Only Navigation

During the transition from ground-based to onboard relative navigation and ensuing autonomous rendezvous, the relative state estimations are computed from a low-volume/mass, power saving, and low-cost optical/infrared camera's observations, active space debris removal faces the drawback of range-observability problem using angles-only navigation. To sever the conceptual design of Clean Space One project better as well as push forward the angles-only navigation research, integrating the latest techniques both published in papers and developed ourselves, a Matlab based simulation toolkit is developed. The developed tool can be used as angles-only navigation algorithms test bed as well as optimal maneuver profiles designer. A detailed analysis is given deriving the novel closed-loop linear covariance using SRUKF measurements filtering scheme as well as covariance triggered onboard optimal maneuver profiles planning method and showing how these results correlate to past methods and missions, and how they could potentially influences future ones.

Stereo-camera visual odometry for outdoor areas and in dark indoor environments

A major goal in the research and development area of navigation is to improve the accuracy and the integrity of navigational systems. Scientists and researchers in this field are working on increasing the performance of navigational algorithms while the sensors for navigation systems become smaller and cheaper. Nonetheless ring laser gyroscope (RLG) and fiber optic gyroscope (FOG) are navigational components of the high price segment. For ultra-low-cost navigation systems RLGs and FOGs are too expensive at the present time, so that predominantly MEMS IMUs (microelectromechanical system inertial measurement units) are integrated into such systems. Due to the strong drift of MEMS sensors, aiding sensors have to be used to guarantee the integrity of the system and to get a longterm stable navigation solution. To limit inertial navigation error in outdoor scenarios the usage of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is an opportunity to deal with this problem. However, it is obvious that the use of GNSS is constrained by the limited availability of satellite signals in urban canyons or indoor situations. Especially close to buildings, GNSS signals are not always available and the information of the satellite signal can be negatively impacted due to multipath and shading. This is why optical sensors like laser range finders or cameras are frequently used as aiding sensors in urban areas or inside buildings.

Patient Navigation in Breast Cancer Treatment and Survivorship: A Systematic Review.

Patient navigation is an intervention approach that improves cancer outcomes by reducing barriers and facilitating timely access to cancer care. Little is known about the benefits of patient navigation during breast cancer treatment and survivorship. This systematic review evaluates the efficacy of patient navigation in improving treatment and survivorship outcomes in women with breast cancer. The review included experimental and quasi-experimental studies of patient navigation programs that target breast cancer treatment and breast cancer survivorship. Articles were systematically obtained through electronic database searches of PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, CINAHL, and Cochrane Library. The Effective Public Health Practice Project Quality Assessment Tool was used to evaluate the methodologic quality of individual studies. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Most were of moderate to high quality. Outcomes targeted included timeliness of treatment initiation, adherence to cancer treatment, and adherence to post-treatment surveillance mammography. Heterogeneity of outcome assessments precluded a meta-analysis. Overall, results demonstrated that patient navigation increases surveillance mammography rates, but only minimal evidence was found with regard to its effectiveness in improving breast cancer treatment outcomes. This study is the most comprehensive systematic review of patient navigation research focused on improving breast cancer treatment and survivorship. Minimal research has indicated that patient navigation may be effective for post-treatment surveillance; however, more studies are needed to draw definitive conclusions about the efficacy of patient navigation during and after cancer treatment.