S-diagonalizable operators in quantum mechanics

In this paper we study a certain class of endomorphisms on the space of tempered distributions. More precisely, the core of the paper deals with endomorphisms, defined on the whole space of tempered distributions, for which there exists an S-basis of the space formed by their eigenvectors. We call these operators S-diagonalizable operators. One of the goals of the paper is the realization that this class of endomorphisms represents in the infinite-dimensional case what in finite-dimension is represented by the diagonalizable matrices. We concentrate our examination on two aspects: the study of the spectrum of these operators and the foundation of a functional calculus for them. Concerning the first aspect, we do not assume nothing about the spectrum of these operators. The circumstance that the eigenvalue-spectrum of these operators will be continuous (more precisely it will be a connected subset of the complex plane, as it is proved in the present note) is a consequence of our definition. Moreover, the spectral measures will be not used in the construction of the functional calculus. In such a way, the definition of the function of an operator, presented in the paper, differs deeply from the usual one, in which the spectral measures of the operators play a fundamental role (as in the spectral decomposition of an operator). Note that, even in the case in which the eigenvalues-spectrum is a subset of the real line, we show that it is not necessarily coinciding with the whole real line

On the role of gestures in human-robot interaction

This thesis investigates the gestural interaction problem and in particular the usage of gestures for human-robot interaction. The lack of a clear definition of the problem statement and a common terminology resulted in a fragmented field of research where building upon prior work is rare. The scope of the research presented in this thesis, therefore, consists in laying the foundation to help the community to build a more homogeneous research field. The main contributions of this thesis are twofold: (i) a taxonomy to define gestures; and (ii) an ingegneristic definition of the gestural interaction problem. The contributions resulted is a schema to represent the existing literature in a more organic way, helping future researchers to identify existing technologies and applications, also thanks to an extensive literature review. Furthermore, the defined problem has been studied in two of its specialization: (i) direct control and (ii) teaching of a robotic manipulator, which leads to the development of technological solutions for gesture sensing, detection and classification, which can possibly be applied to other contexts

Asymmetric Cournot Duopoly: A Game Complete Analysis

In this paper, we apply the Complete Analysis of Differentiable Games (introduced by D. Carfì in Topics in Game Theory (2012), Carfì ICT 2009, Carfì AAPP 2009, Carfì GO 2009; already employed by himself and others in Carfì TPREF 2011, Carfì AAPP 2010, Carfì ISGC 2009) and some new algorithms, using the software wxMaxima 11.04.0, in order to reach a total scenario knowledge (that is the total knowledge of the payoff space of the interaction) of the classic Cournot Duopoly (1838), viewed as a complex interaction between two competitive subjects, in a particularly interesting asymmetric case. Moreover, in this work we propose a theoretical justification, for a general kind of asymmetric duopolistic interactions (which often appear in the real economic world), by considering and proposing a Cobb-Douglas perturbation of the classic linear model of production costs

XCONE: Range Query in Sistemi P2P

La tesi, presentata per il conseguimento della Laura Specialistica in Tecnologie Informatiche, affronta le attuali problematiche di "Resource Discovery" in reti distribuite basate sul modello P2P. Viene presentato un sistema XCone, basato su un approccio originale per la risoluzione delle range query incentrato su una struttura gerarchica distribuita. La tesi propone un insieme di tecniche di aggregazione che consentono di dare una rappresentazione approssimata delle informazioni contenute in sottoinsiemi della struttura. La distribuzione dei nodi logici dell'albero ai peer avviene in modo da bilanciare il carico tra i peer stessi. Infine sono presentati un insieme di esperimenti per verificare la scalabilità della struttura e confrontare le diverse tecniche di aggregazione

A multi-sensor dataset for human-human handover

The article describes a multi-sensor dataset of human-humanhandovers composed of over 1000 recordings collected from18 volunteers. The recordings refer to 76 test configurations, whichconsider different volunteer's starting positions and roles, objectsto pass and motion strategies. In all experiments, we acquire 6-axisinertial data from two smartwatches, the 15-joint skeleton modelof one volunteer with an RGB-D camera and the upper-body modelof both persons using a total of 20 motion capture markers. Therecordings are annotated with videos and questionnaires about theperceived characteristics of the handover

In-hand manipulation planning using human motion dictionary

Dexterous in-hand manipulation is a peculiar and useful human skill. This ability requires the coordination of many senses and hand motion to adhere to many constraints. These constraints vary and can be influenced by the object characteristics or the specific application. One of the key elements for a robotic platform to implement reliable inhand manipulation skills is to be able to integrate those constraints in their motion generations. These constraints can be implicitly modelled, learned through experience or human demonstrations. We propose a method based on motion primitives dictionaries to learn and reproduce in-hand manipulation skills. In particular, we focused on fingertip motions during the manipulation, and we defined an optimization process to combine motion primitives to reach specific fingertip configurations. The results of this work show that the proposed approach can generate manipulation motion coherent with the human one and that manipulation constraints are inherited even without an explicit formalization

Poly-Left-Lactic Acid tubular scaffolds via Diffusion Induced Phase Separation (DIPS): control of morphology

n this work, tubular poly-left-lactic acid scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering applications were produced by an innovative two-step method. The scaffolds were obtained by performing a dip-coating around a nylon fiber, followed by a diffusion induced phase separation process. Morphological analysis revealed that the internal lumen of the as-obtained scaffold is equal to the diameter of the fiber utilized; the internal surface is homogeneous with micropores 1–2 μm large. Moreover, a porous open structure was detected across the thickness of the walls of the scaffold. An accurate analysis of the preparation process revealed that it is possible to tune up the morphology of the scaffold (wall thickness, porosity, and average pore dimension), simply by varying some experimental parameters. Preliminary in vitro cell culture tests were carried out inside the scaffold. The results showed that cells are able to grow within the internal surface of the scaffolds and after 3 weeks they begin to form a “primordial” vessel-like structure. Modeling predictions of the dip-coating process display always an underestimate of experimental data (dependence of wall thickness upon extraction rate).In this work, tubular poly-left-lactic acid scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering applications were produced by an innovative two-step method. The scaffolds were obtained by performing a dip-coating around a nylon fiber, followed by a diffusion induced phase separation process. Morphological analysis revealed that the internal lumen of the as-obtained scaffold is equal to the diameter of the fiber utilized; the internal surface is homogeneous with micropores 1–2 lm large. Moreover, a porous open structure was detected across the thickness of the walls of the scaffold. An accurate analysis of the preparation process revealed that it is possible to tune up the morphology of the scaffold (wall thickness, porosity, and average pore dimension), simply by varying some experimental parameters. Preliminary in vitro cell culture tests were carried out inside the scaffold. The results showed that cells are able to grow within the internal surface of the scaffolds and after 3 weeks they begin to form a ‘‘primordial’’ vessel-like structure. Modeling predictions of the dipcoating process display always an underestimate of experimental data (dependence of wall thickness upon extraction rate)

Solution-based processing for scaffold fabrication in tissue engineering applications: A brief review

The fabrication of 3D scaffolds is under wide investigation in tissue engineering (TE) because of its incessant development of new advanced technologies and the improvement of traditional processes. Currently, scientific and clinical research focuses on scaffold characterization to restore the function of missing or damaged tissues. A key for suitable scaffold production is the guarantee of an interconnected porous structure that allows the cells to grow as in native tissue. The fabrication techniques should meet the appropriate requirements, including feasible reproducibility and time-and cost-effective assets. This is necessary for easy processability, which is associated with the large range of biomaterials supporting the use of fabrication technologies. This paper presents a review of scaffold fabrication methods starting from polymer solutions that provide highly porous structures under controlled process parameters. In this review, general information of solution-based technologies, including freeze-drying, thermally or diffusion induced phase separation (TIPS or DIPS), and electrospinning, are presented, along with an overview of their technological strategies and applications. Furthermore, the differences in the fabricated constructs in terms of pore size and distribution, porosity, morphology, and mechanical and biological properties, are clarified and critically reviewed. Then, the combination of these techniques for obtaining scaffolds is described, offering the advantages of mimicking the unique architecture of tissues and organs that are intrinsically difficult to design