Progettazione e realizzazione di un feeder bioispirato attuato con elastomeri dielettrici

Questa tesi riguarda la realizzazione di un sistema di trasporto scalabile per la movimentazione di oggetti assialsimmetrici con asse orizzontale. Il meccanismo di funzionamento è ispirato ai sistemi di attuazione soft distribuiti per il trasporto o la locomozione molto diffusi nel mondo animale come i sistemi peristaltici e ciliari. La superficie di contatto implementa un movimento di tipo ondulatorio utilizzando attuatori lineari distribuiti lungo la struttura. Come tecnologia di attuazione sono stati utilizzati gli elastomeri dielettrici (DE). Questi materiali sono dei trasduttori elettromeccanici e hanno permesso di realizzare un feeder economico, leggero e che richiede un minimo assorbimento di potenza. Una prima fase di caratterizzazione ha mostrato come alcuni parametri caratteristici dei DE influenzino le prestazioni di attuazione e del sistema di trasporto. Il circuito di alimentazione sviluppato permette il controllo indipendente di ogni attuatore ed è quindi possibile trasmettere moti di tipo diverso a diversi oggetti disposti sulla linea di trasporto implementando un controllo di tipo logico. Questo lavoro di tesi rappresenta il primo passo verso la realizzazione di un’interfaccia di attuatori distribuiti in grado di orientare e muovere oggetti disposti sulla sua superficie in modo autonomo sfruttando le due possibili modalità di trasduzione dei DE

Academic and Social Engagement of Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

The attendance of students with psychiatric disabilities has significantly increased over recent decades and these students represent the largest group of students with disabilities across college campuses (Madaus, 2011). It is important for higher education administrators and student affairs professionals to understand the experiences of students with psychiatric disabilities in order to better support their academic and social engagement in higher education. Further analysis of research related to the student experience reveals issues faced by students with psychiatric disabilities and the coping techniques used to navigate through college. The purpose of this paper is to bring forth recommendations for postsecondary institutions that provide insights on how to better support the academic and social engagement of students with psychiatric disabilities. Recommendations for postsecondary institutions include: Promoting an inclusive environment, Awareness and action training, Simplifying the process of seeking and receiving accommodations, and Ongoing research on strategies for creating better supports

Keplerian integrals, elimination theory and identification of very short arcs in a large database of optical observations

Modern asteroid surveys produce an increasingly large number of observations, which are grouped into very short arcs (VSAs) each containing a few observations of the same object in one single night. To decide whether two VSAs collected in different nights correspond to the same observed object we can attempt to compute an orbit with the observations of both arcs: this is called the linkage problem. Since the number of linkages to be attempted is very large, we need efficient methods of orbit determination. Using the first integrals of Kepler’s motion we can write algebraic equations for the linkage problem, which can be put in polynomial form. In Gronchi et al. (Celest Mech Dyn Astron 123(2):105–122, 2015) these equations are reduced to a polynomial equation of degree 9: the unknown is the topocentric distance of the observed body at the mean epoch of one VSA. Here we derive the same equations in a more concise way, and show that the degree 9 is optimal in a sense that will be specified in Sect. 3.3. We also introduce a procedure to join three VSAs: from the conservation of angular momentum we obtain a polynomial equation of degree 8 in the topocentric distance at the mean epoch of the second VSA. For both identification methods, with two and three VSAs, we discuss how to discard solutions. Finally, we present some numerical tests showing that the new methods give satisfactory results and can be used also when the time separation between the VSAs is large. The low polynomial degree of the new methods makes them well suited to deal with the very large number of asteroid observations collected by the modern surveys

Certification of the Mass Concentrations of Calcium, Chloride, Magnesium, Ortho-Phosphate, Potassium, Sodium and of pH and Conductivity in Groundwater - Certified Reference Material ERM®-CA616

This report presents the preparation and certification of the groundwater certified reference material ERM-CA616. All the steps required for the production of this water-matrix certified reference material are described in detail, from the sampling of natural groundwater until the characterisation exercise that lead to the final assignment of the certified values, following ISO Guide 34:2009 [1] and ISO Guide 35:2006 [2]. Homogeneity and stability of the water material were investigated with dedicated studies and the certification campaign for the material characterisation was based on an inter-comparison among several experienced laboratories. IRMM organised and coordinated all the phases of this project and carried out the evaluation of data. The certified values were calculated as the unweighted mean of the laboratory means of the accepted sets of results for each parameter, see below. Uncertainties were calculated in compliance with the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM, ISO/IEC Guide 98-3:2008) [3]. The stated expanded uncertainties include contributions from characterisation, homogeneity and stability.JRC.DG.D.2-Reference material

Fifth EC-JRC aromatic compounds inter-laboratory comparison with automatic analysers

This report presents the results of the fifth inter-laboratory comparison for BTEX automatic analysers performed at the JRC Ispra from the 23rd to the 26th of September 2019. Thirteen national reference laboratories with fifteen instruments participated in this exercise. Six concentration levels were tested during the inter-laboratory comparison. Benzene concentrations ranged from 1 to 20 μg/m3. The exercise was evaluated according to ISO 13528 methodologies for the evaluation of inter-laboratory proficiency assessment and the recommendation of the protocol N37 of the AQUILA network. Participating laboratories are identified as requested by the afore-mentioned protocol. The robust average value calculated according to ISO13528 was adopted as reference value for the exercise. The report provides information on the technique and instrumentation used by each participant and shows the results of linearity tests, identification of outliers, repeatability, reproducibility and robustness of the method. Furthermore, parameters to evaluate individual laboratory results: repeatability score, Z-score, bias and En scores are also provided. In general, the results showed in terms of accuracy and precision a behaviour similar to the previous inter-laboratory exercise (EUR-28692-EN). The decrease in concentration avoided problems of sample’s overload at the highest concentrations, i.e. toluene. For benzene and toluene, average repeatability and reproducibility values were about 6 % and 13 %, respectively. Ethyl-benzene, m,p-xylene and o-xylene showed higher repeatability values of around 9 %, while their values of reproducibility were about 20 %.JRC.C.5-Air and Climat

Applications of Mesoporous Silica Materials in Food: a Review

[EN] Mesoporous silica materials have been developed for some applications in the health field. These solids are used for the controlled release of bioactive molecules, as catalysts in the synthesis of essential nutrients, as sensors to detect unhealthy products etc., with many applications in food technologies. By combining mesoporous silica materials with food, we can create healthier products, the products that improve our quality of life. The development of mesoporous materials applied to food could result in protecting bioactive molecules during their passage though the digestive system. For this reason, the controlled release of bioactive molecules is a very interesting topic for the discipline of food technology. The use of mesoporous silica supports as catalysts in the synthesis of nutrients and as sensors for the detection of unhealthy products, essential in food, is in great demand industrially for the manufacture of functional foods and films for food and industrial packaging. This review shows some examples of silica materials and their applications in food.Supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic, Project No. MSM C73.Bernardos Bau, A.; Kourimská, L. (2013). Applications of Mesoporous Silica Materials in Food: a Review. Czech Journal of Food Sciences. 31(2):99-107. https://doi.org/10.17221/240/2012-CJFS9910731

Nanotechnology in the Development of Novel Functional Foods or their Package. An Overview Based in Patent Analysis

[EN] In recent years nanotechnology has become a significant component in food industry. It is present in all food chain steps, from the design of new ingredients or additives, to the most modern systems of food quality methods or packaging, demonstrating the great potential of this new technology in a sector as traditional as food. However, while interest by industry in nanotechnology increases, the rejection by consumers, concerned about the potential risk, does too. The aim of this review is to evaluate the development of food nanotechnology by means of a patent analysis, highlighting current applications of nanotechnology along the whole food chain and contextualizing this evolution in the social scene.Financial support from the Spanish Government (project MAT2009-14564-C04-01 and AGL2010-20539) and the Generalitat Valencia (project PROMETEO/2009/016) are gratefully acknowledged. E.P. thanks the Ministerio de Educación for a fellowshipPérez-Esteve, É.; Bernardos Bau, A.; Martínez-Máñez, R.; Barat Baviera, JM. (2013). Nanotechnology in the Development of Novel Functional Foods or their Package. An Overview Based in Patent Analysis. Recent Patents on Food, Nutrition and Agriculture. 5(1):35-43. https://doi.org/10.2174/2212798411305010006S35435

Mesoporous silica materials for controlled delivery based on enzymes

[EN] This review summarises examples of capped mesoporous silica materials for controlled delivery that use enzymes as external triggers or functional components of the gating ensemble.Financial support from the Spanish Government and FEDER funds (Project MAT2015-64139-C4-1) and the Generalitat Valencia (Project PROMETEOII/2014/047) is gratefully acknowledged. A. Llopis-Lorente is grateful to "La Caixa'' Banking Foundation for his PhD fellowship. B. Lozano-Torres is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MEC) for her FPU grant. Also A. Bernardos thanks the Spanish MEC for her Juan de la Cierva Contract.Llopis-Lorente, A.; Lozano-Torres, B.; Bernardos Bau, A.; Martínez-Máñez, R.; Sancenón Galarza, F. (2017). Mesoporous silica materials for controlled delivery based on enzymes. Journal of Materials Chemistry B. 5(17):3069-3083. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7TB00348JS3069308351

Innovative use of essential oil cold diffusion system for improving air quality on indoor cultural heritage spaces

[EN] Bioaerosols play an important role in Cultural Heritage (CH) spaces air quality and biodeterioration risk and there is a growing interest to reduce them in actual conservation strategies. Essential oils (EOs) have been wellknown in several fields for their antimicrobial properties and they have found use in a number of applications. In this work Melaleuca alternifolia (Tea tree) and Thymus vulgaris (Thyme) EOs are cold diffused in unventilated lab spaces for reducing air bacterial and fungi contamination. Moreover, Tea tree EO was also tested in an unventilated real CH space. The effectiveness of EOs in reducing air bacterial and fungi contamination in unventilated indoor spaces during 24 h was evaluated. Air quality was also analyzed by means of temperature, humidity and particulate matter variation. EOs' diffusion system CH artworks risks was studied by means of thermography, diffusion range and EOs compounds deposition on the artistic materials by GC-MS. Tea tree EOs vaporization showed the best results with 77,3% and 95,0% fungi and bacteria air contamination reduction, with no thermohydrometric alteration and absence of EOs components deposition on the artistic vault.The authors wish to thank to the priest of the Santos Juanes Church of Valencia; the 'Direccion General de Patrimonio' and Professor Pilar Roig Picazo; for giving us the permits needed in order to develop this research. We would like to thank to Fundacion Hortensia Herrero, the Spanish Government (projects RTI2018-100910-B-C41 and RTI2018-101599-B-C22-AR (MCUI, FEDER, EU) and A.B. her Beatriz Galindo contract BG20/00020) and the Generalitat Valenciana (project PROM-ETEO 2018/024) for its financial support. Authors wish to thank the collaboration of the Dr. Ignacio Bosch Roig on the thermographic analysis and Dr. Enrique Vivo Soria for the review of the thermohydrometric data.Díaz Alonso, J.; Bernardos Bau, A.; Regidor Ros, JL.; Martínez-Máñez, R.; Bosch-Roig, P. (2021). Innovative use of essential oil cold diffusion system for improving air quality on indoor cultural heritage spaces. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation. 162:1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2021.10525111016

Mesoporous Silica-Based Materials with Bactericidal Properties

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bernardos, A., Piacenza, E., Sancenón, F., Hamidi, M., Maleki, A., Turner, R. J., Martínez-Máñez, R., Mesoporous Silica-Based Materials with Bactericidal Properties. Small 2019, 15, 1900669. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201900669 , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201900669. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] Bacterial infections are the main cause of chronic infections and even mortality. In fact, due to extensive use of antibiotics and, then, emergence of antibiotic resistance, treatment of such infections by conventional antibiotics has become a major concern worldwide. One of the promising strategies to treat infection diseases is the use of nanomaterials. Among them, mesoporous silica materials (MSMs) have attracted burgeoning attention due to high surface area, tunable pore/particle size, and easy surface functionalization. This review discusses how one can exploit capacities of MSMs to design and fabricate multifunctional/controllable drug delivery systems (DDSs) to combat bacterial infections. At first, the emergency of bacterial and biofilm resistance toward conventional antimicrobials is described and then how nanoparticles exert their toxic effects upon pathogenic cells is discussed. Next, the main aspects of MSMs (e.g., physicochemical properties, multifunctionality, and biosafety) which one should consider in the design of MSM-based DDSs against bacterial infections are introduced. Finally, a comprehensive analysis of all the papers published dealing with the use of MSMs for delivery of antibacterial chemicals (antimicrobial agents functionalized/adsorbed on mesoporous silica (MS), MS-loaded with antimicrobial agents, gated MS-loaded with antimicrobial agents, MS with metal-based nanoparticles, and MS-loaded with metal ions) is provided.The authors thank the Spanish Government (projects MAT2015-64139-C4-1-R and AGL2015-70235-C2-2-R (MINECO/FEDER)) and the Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETEOII/2014/047 and PROMETEO/2018/024) for support. A.B. thanks the Spanish Government for her Juan de la Cierva incorporacion contract IJCI-2014-21534.Bernardos Bau, A.; Piacenza, E.; Sancenón Galarza, F.; Hamidi, M.; Maleki, A.; Turner, R.; Martínez-Máñez, R. (2019). Mesoporous Silica-Based Materials with Bactericidal Properties. Small. 15(24):1-34. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201900669S134152