Pipe inspection and repair system

A multi-module pipe inspection and repair device. The device includes a base module, a camera module, a sensor module, an MFL module, a brush module, a patch set/test module, and a marker module. Each of the modules may be interconnected to construct one of an inspection device, a preparation device, a marking device, and a repair device

Providers’ constructions of pregnant and early parenting women who use substances

The research literature indicates that problematic substance use as a form of health behaviour is poorly understood, being sometimes viewed as deviance, at other times as a disease, and most often as a combination of these states. The use of substances by women who are pregnant or new parents is often conceptualised within an individualised framework. Yet drinking alcohol and using other drugs during pregnancy and early parenthood cuts across social divisions and is shaped by socio-structural contexts including health care. There is a growing body of literature that critically examines public health interventions that are aimed at implementing harm reduction and health promotion techniques in service delivery to help pregnant and early parenting women who are identified as problem substance users. We examine qualitative data from representatives of a recent harm reduction intervention, focusing, in particular, on providers' individual conceptualisations of the problematic behaviour. Our results show that most study participants regard any substance use during pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period as fundamentally unacceptable. This framing of problematic substance use is accomplished via gendered responsibilisation of women as foetal incubators and primary caregivers of infants. We discuss our results in light of the current literature and suggest policy implications

Telerobotics in the deep ocean

This paper presents experimental results of the control system for the JASON ROV that has been designed for precision survey and other automated applications. The JASON control system emphasizes a form of supervisory control where the human pilot and the automatic system share the control tasks. Results presented include hovering, automatic track following, and several interactive modes

Gas Main Sensor and Communications Network System

Automatika, Inc. was contracted by the Department of Energy (DOE) and with co-funding from the New York Gas Group (NYGAS), to develop an in-pipe natural gas prototype measurement and wireless communications system for assessing and monitoring distribution networks. A prototype system was built for low-pressure cast-iron mains and tested in a spider- and serial-network configuration in a live network in Long Island with the support of Keyspan Energy, Inc. The prototype unit combined sensors capable of monitoring pressure, flow, humidity, temperature and vibration, which were sampled and combined in data-packages in an in-pipe master-slave architecture to collect data from a distributed spider-arrangement, and in a master-repeater-slave configuration in serial or ladder-network arrangements. It was found that the system was capable of performing all data-sampling and collection as expected, yielding interesting results as to flow-dynamics and vibration-detection. Wireless in-pipe communications were shown to be feasible and valuable data was collected in order to determine how to improve on range and data-quality in the future

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND FIELD DEMONSTRATION OF EXPLORER: A LONG-RANGE UNTETHERED LIVE GASLINE INSPECTION ROBOT SYSTEM

This program is undertaken in order to construct and field-demonstrate ''EXPLORER'', a modular, remotely controllable, self-powered, untethered robot system for the inspection of live gas distribution 150 mm (6- inch) to 200 mm (8-inch) diameter mains. The modular design of the system allows it to accommodate various components intended to accomplish different inspection, repair, sample retrieval, and other in-pipe tasks. The prototype system being built under this project will include all the basic modules needed, i.e. the locomotor, power storage, wireless communication, and camera. The camera, a solid-state fisheye-type, is used to transmit real-time video to the operator that allows for the live inspection of gas distribution pipes. The system under development significantly advances the state of the art in inspection systems for gas distribution mains, which presently consist of tethered systems of limited range (about 500 ft form the point of launch) and limited inspection views. Also current inspection systems have no ability to incorporate additional modules to expand their functionality. This development program is a joint effort among the Northeast Gas Association (formerly New York Gas Group), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Johnson Space Center (JSC), Carnegie Mellon University's (CMU) National Robotics Engineering Consortium (NREC), and the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) The present report summarizes the accomplishments of the project during its fourth six-month period. The project has in general achieved its goals for this period as outlined in the report. The fabrication of the prototype is complete and is now been tested in the laboratory mainly focusing on endurance testing and testing of launching procedures. Testing of the prototype in the lab is expected to be completed by Fall 2003, to be followed by two field demonstrations in Winter 2003-2004

BOA: Asbestos Pipe-Insulation Abatement Robot System

The BOA system is a mobile pipe-external robotic crawler used to remotely strip and bag asbestos-containing lagging and insulation materials (ACLIM) from various diameter pipes in (primarily) industrial installations. Steam and process lines within the DOE weapons complex warrant the use of a remote device due to the high labor costs and high level of radioactive contamination, making manual removal extremely costly and highly inefficient. Currently targeted facilities for demonstration and remediation are Fernald in Ohio and Oak Ridge in Tennessee

How Mistimed and Unwanted Pregnancies Affect Timing of Antenatal Care Initiation in three Districts in Tanzania

Early antenatal care (ANC) initiation is a doorway to early detection and management of potential complications associated with pregnancy. Although the literature reports various factors associated with ANC initiation such as parity and age, pregnancy intentions is yet to be recognized as a possible predictor of timing of ANC initiation. Data originate from a cross-sectional household survey on health behaviour and service utilization patterns. The survey was conducted in 2011 in Rufiji, Kilombero and Ulanga districts in Tanzania on 910 women of reproductive age who had given birth in the past two years. ANC initiation was considered to be early only if it occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy gestation. A recently completed pregnancy was defined as mistimed if a woman wanted it later, and if she did not want it at all the pregnancy was termed as unwanted. Chisquare was used to test for associations and multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine how mistimed and unwanted pregnancies affect timing of ANC initiation. Although 49.3% of the women intended to become pregnant, 50.7% (34.9% mistimed and 15.8% unwanted) became pregnant unintentionally. While ANC initiation in the 1st trimester was 18.5%, so was 71.7% and 9.9% in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that ANC initiation in the 2nd trimester was 1.68 (95% CI 1.10‒2.58) and 2.00 (95% CI 1.05‒3.82) times more likely for mistimed and unwanted pregnancies respectively compared to intended pregnancies. These estimates rose to 2.81 (95% CI 1.41‒5.59) and 4.10 (95% CI 1.68‒10.00) respectively in the 3rd trimester. We controlled for gravidity, age, education, household wealth, marital status, religion, district of residence and travel time to a health facility. Late ANC initiation is a significant maternal and child health consequence of mistimed and unwanted pregnancies in Tanzania. Women should be empowered to delay or avoid pregnancies whenever they need to do so. Appropriate counseling to women, especially those who happen to conceive unintentionally is needed to minimize the possibility of delaying ANC initiation.\u

Off-Label Use of Phakic Intraocular Lens with a “Piggyback” Technique

Purpose: We report a case of a highly myopic pseudophakic patient who received off-label placement of a phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) via a “piggyback” technique, allowing the placement of an intraocular lens (IOL) in his fellow eye, resulting in improved visual acuity and emmetropia. Case Report: A 66-year-old, highly myopic, pseudophakic male with an IOL implant in his left eye was referred for second opinion for surgical options for his phakic right eye. Given the severe myopic status of both eyes, he received off-label placement of a posterior chamber pIOL with a piggyback technique for the pseudophakic left eye followed by standard cataract surgery and intraocular lens implantation in the right eye. For the left eye, uncorrected best visual acuity improved from 20/70 to 20/25. Conclusion: This case demonstrates the successful off-label use of a phakic IOL in a pseudophakic, highly myopic patient with a piggyback technique, resulting in improved visual acuity and ultimately allowing IOL placement in the fellow eye for emmetropia. This off-label use of pIOL can offer ophthalmologists an alternative option for pseudophakic patents with severe refractive error

BOA: Asbestos pipe-insulation removal robot system, Phase 2. Topical report, January--June 1995

This report explored the regulatory impact and cost-benefit of a robotic thermal asbestos pipe-insulation removal system over the current manual abatement work practice. The authors are currently in the second phase of a two-phase program to develop a robotic asbestos abatement system, comprised of a ground-based support system (including vacuum, fluid delivery, computing/electronics/power, and other subsystems) and several on-pipe removal units, each sized to handle pipes within a given diameter range. The intent of this study was to (i) aid in developing design and operational criteria for the overall system to maximize cost-efficiency, and (ii) to determine the commercial potential of a robotic pipe-insulation abatement system