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

Reflexiones en torno al arte de curar la gota según un tratado médico de las postrimerías del siglo XVI

The Discurso Particular Preservativo de la Gota, by Dr. Juan Cornejo was written in 1594 for Felipe II. The intention of Cornejo is to deal with this disease, one of the usual court illnesses, that certainly affected the Spanish monarch. He examines the subjects who often suffer from this disease  and rejects the explanations given by the ancients. Prefers non-traditional remedies, in open challenge to the legacy of the authorities. The physiognomy of the suffering becomes relevant. Cornejo shows to us as a faithful representative of the spirit of Modernity that was appearing in SpainEl Discurso Particular Preservativo de la Gota, del Doctor Juan Cornejose redacta en 1594 para Felipe II. La intención de Cornejo es ocuparse de esta enfermedad, uno de los males cortesanos habituales, que aquejaba ciertamente al monarca español. Examina los sujetos que suelen sufrir este mal y rechaza las explicaciones legadas por los antiguos. Prefiere medicinas no tradicionales, en abierto desafío al legado de las Autoridades. Lo fisonómico cobra relevancia. Cornejo se nos devela como un fiel representante del espíritu de la Modernidad que ya asomaba en España

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

Tragico svcesso, mortifero estrago

We are presenting a transcript of a source of late seventeenth century on a pestilential outbreak in the city of Cordoba. The writing of such treaties, by medical professionals tried to advise patients about the necessary measures for prevention and for the healing of this pestilence. This kind of work were one of the most widespread genres of medical-health literature of the period, which falls within the genre of the Regimina Sanitatis, typical discursive expression from the medieval and early modern Dietetic whose purposes are to regulate, prevent and heal the complete life of the individual. His author, Nicholas de Vargas Valenzuela, physician, Professor of Philosophy and Physician of the Inquisition, who served at the Hospital of San Sebastian between 1638 and 1659, tells us about the characteristics that had the epidemic in Cordoba on his work of 1651, Tragico svcesso, mortifero estrago, qve la Ivsticia Diuina obro en la ciudad de Cordoua..., which was dedicated to Fray Pedro de Tapia, Bishop of Córdoba.This type of publication is extremely useful and illustrative for the historian in his task of rebuilding the pestiferous Spanish map of European modernity.Estamos presentando la transcripción de una fuente de fines del siglo XVII sobre un rebrote pestilencial en la ciudad de Córdoba. La redacción de este tipo de tratados, por parte de los profesionales de la medicina, intentaba aconsejar a colegas y pacientes acerca de las medidas conducentes tanto para la prevención como para la curación de este flagelo. Los tratados contra la peste constituyeron uno de los géneros narrativos más difundidos de la literatura médicosanitaria de la época, los cuales se encuadran dentro del género de los Regimina Sanitatis, expresión discursiva típica de la Dietética medieval y de la primera modernidad que reglamenta con fines preventivos y curativos la vida completa del individuo. Su autor, Nicolás de Vargas Valenzuela, Doctor en Medicina, Catedrático de Filosofía y Médico de la Santa Inquisición, quien prestaba servicios en el Hospital de San Sebastián entre 1638 y 1659, nos ilustra sobre las características que asumió la epidemia en Córdoba a partir de su obra de 1651, Tragico svcesso, mortifero estrago, qve la Ivsticia Diuina obro en la ciudad de Cordoua..., dedicada a Fray Pedro de Tapia, obispo de Córdoba. Este tipo de publicación es sumamente útil e ilustrativa para el historiador en su tarea de reconstruir el mapa pestífero español de la primera modernidad europea

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