3,412 research outputs found
Automatic control system for an oil-hydraulic actuator of a scissor lift
Lifting equipment’s have the purpose to lift goods within their safe working load and design rules specified in standards. However, some applications require additional care regarding handling the load when this care is out of the standard’s specifications. This paper presents the control and supervision system development of a scissor lift table, which should ensure, during its motion, that the vertical speed is constant. This lift table is working alongside a system for handling boxes composed by 3 entry conveyors and 1 exit conveyor. In this work, it was carried out the study of the direct and inverse kinematics to obtain the equations of position, speed and force for the oil-hydraulic actuator and the applicability of Denavit-Hartenberg’s algorithm for these equations. It was proposed a hydraulic circuit, with the selection of the main hydraulic components and the design of the oil-hydraulic actuator (a cylinder) with the magnetostrictive transducer as well. A programmable logical controller was selected, as well as the sensors and actuators for the conveyor system and a program was developed which allows to automatically control the system. The lift table’s velocity control is done by equations which define an oil flow profile of the hydraulic cylinder, which ensures a constant vertical speed of the lift table. To improve the control of the system, initial and final flow ramps were added to the equations, with reduced oil flow at the target height. It was observed that the use of Denavit-Hartenberg’s algorithm revealed to be limited, on which it was necessary to use other calculation methods to obtain the equations of speed and force. However, the proposed oil-hydraulic circuit, as well as the developed speed control, allow the control of the lift table’s position and speed.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Large-scale analysis of the SDSS-III DR8 photometric luminous galaxies angular correlation function
We analyse the large-scale angular correlation function (ACF) of the CMASS
luminous galaxies (LGs), a photometric-redshift catalogue based on the Data
Release 8 (DR8) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-III. This catalogue contains
over LGs in the range , which was split
into four redshift shells of constant width. First, we estimate the constraints
on the redshift-space distortion (RSD) parameters and ,
where is the galaxy bias, the growth rate and is the
normalization of the perturbations, finding that they vary appreciably among
different redshift shells, in agreement with previous results using DR7 data.
When assuming constant RSD parameters over the survey redshift range, we obtain
, which agrees at the level with Baryon
Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey DR9 spectroscopic results. Next, we performed
two cosmological analyses, where relevant parameters not fitted were kept fixed
at their fiducial values. In the first analysis, we extracted the baryon
acoustic oscillation peak position for the four redshift shells, and combined
with the sound horizon scale from 7-year \textit{Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy
Probe} to produce the constraints and
. In the second analysis, we used the ACF full shape
information to constrain cosmology using real data for the first time, finding
and .
These results are in good agreement with findings, showing that the ACF
can be efficiently applied to constrain cosmology in future photometric galaxy
surveys.Comment: MNRAS accepted. Minor corrections to match publish versio
Strong phenological differences between two populations of a Neotropical funnel-web wolf spider
Comparisons of phenological patterns among populations within a species are uncommon in arachnids. Aglaoctenus lagotis is a wolf spider that lives in funnel-webs across South America. The aim of this study was to describe the phenological patterns of two distant populations of A. lagotis (central Argentina, CA, and southern Uruguay, SU). Individuals of each population were sighted along transects, every month for two years. The CA and SU populations differed in their phenological patterns (Wald χ2 = 966.94, df = 66; p <0.001). The CA population showed a spring–summer unified reproductive season and immature individuals overwintered. SU showed the sexual period during autumn, the maternal period during spring–summer and the females, mostly mated, overwintered. These strong differences imply temporal isolation in mating possibilities between both populations. The differences encountered could be due to phenotypic plasticity or have a phylogenetic basis. Interpopulation studies of other features of A. lagotis would show whether they also vary, suggesting speciation.Fil: González Pérez, MarÃa de la Macarena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y EcologÃa Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FÃsicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y EcologÃa Animal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, FÃsicas y Naturales. Cátedra de Diversidad Animal I; Argentina. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Costa, Fernando G.. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Peretti, Alfredo Vicente. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas. Centro CientÃfico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Diversidad y EcologÃa Animal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FÃsicas y Naturales. Instituto de Diversidad y EcologÃa Animal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, FÃsicas y Naturales. Cátedra de Diversidad Animal I; Argentin
Nuptial gift-giving behaviour and male mating effort in the Neotropical spider Paratrechalea ornata (Trechaleidae)
Nuptial gift-giving behaviour and male mating effort in the Neotropical spider Paratrechalea ornata (Trechaleidae)
Impacts of dielectric screening on the luminescence of monolayer WSe
Single layers of transition metal dichalcogenides, such as WSe have
gathered increasing attention due to their intense electron-hole interactions,
being considered promising candidates for developing novel optical
applications. Within the few-layer regime, these systems become highly
sensitive to the surrounding environment, enabling the possibility of using a
proper substrate to tune desired aspects of these atomically-thin
semiconductors. In this scenario, the dielectric environment provided by the
substrates exerts significant influence on electronic and optical properties of
these layered materials, affecting the electronic band-gap and the exciton
binding energy. However, the corresponding effect on the luminescence of
transition metal dichalcogenides is still under discussion. To elucidate these
impacts, we used a broad set of materials as substrates for single-layers of
WSe, enabling the observation of these effects over a wide range of
electrical permittivities. Our results demonstrate that an increasing
permittivity induces a systematic red-shift of the optical band-gap of WSe,
intrinsically related to a considerable reduction of the luminescence
intensity. Moreover, we annealed the samples to ensure a tight coupling between
WSeand its substrates, reducing the effect of undesired adsorbates trapped
in the interface. Ultimately, our findings reveal how critical the annealing
temperature can be, indicating that above a certain threshold, the heating
treatment can induce adverse impacts on the luminescence. Furthermore, our
conclusions highlight the influence the dielectric properties of the substrate
have on the luminescence of WSe, showing that a low electrical permittivity
favours preserving the native properties of the adjacent monolayerComment: 16 pages, 8 figure
Co-exposure of the organic nanomaterial fullerene C60 with benzo[a]pyrene in Danio rerio (zebrafish) hepatocytes: Evidence of toxicological interactions
Compounds from the nanotechnology industry, such as carbon-based nanomaterials, are strong candidates to contaminate aquatic environments because their production and disposal have exponentially grown in a few years. Previous evidence shows that fullerene C60, a carbon nanomaterial, can facilitate the intake of metals or PAHs both in vivo and in vitro, potentially amplifying the deleterious effects of these toxicants in organisms. The present work aimed to investigate the effects of fullerene C60 in a Danio rerio (zebrafish) hepatocyte cell lineage exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in terms of cell viability, oxidative stress parameters and BaP intracellular accumulation. Additionally, a computational docking was performed to investigate the interaction of the fullerene C60 molecule with the detoxificatory and antioxidant enzyme Ï€GST. Fullerene C60 provoked a significant (p 0.05) alter the enzyme activity when added to GST purified extracts from the zebrafish hepatocyte cells. These results show that fullerene C60 can increase the intake of BaP into the cells, decreasing cell viability and impairing the detoxificatory response by phase II enzymes, such as GST, and this latter effect should be occurring at the transcriptional level.Fil: Ribas Ferreira, Josencler L.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Lonné, MarÃa Noelia. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: França, Thiago A.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Maximilla, Naiana R.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Lugokenski, Thiago H.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Departamento de QuÃmica; BrasilFil: Costa, PatrÃcia G.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Fillmann, Gilberto. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Soares, Félix A.. Universidade Federal de Santa Maria. Departamento de QuÃmica; BrasilFil: de la Torre, Fernando Roman. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientÃficas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas; ArgentinaFil: Monserrat, José MarÃa. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia de Nanomateriais de Carbono; Brasi
Development and characterization of 35 single nucleotide polymorphism markers for the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus
We characterized 35 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for the brown alga Fucus vesiculosus. Based on existing
Fucus Expressed Sequence Tag libraries for heat and desiccation-stressed tissue, SNPs were developed and confirmed by
re-sequencing cDNA from a diverse panel of individuals. SNP loci were genotyped using the SEQUENOM single base
extension iPLEXTM system for multiplex assays on the MassARRAY platform, which uses matrix-assisted laser desorption/
ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to discriminate allele-specific products. The SNP markers
showed a wide range of variability among 16 populations from the south-west of the UK, northern Portugal and Morocco.
The analysis of the information provided by these markers will be useful for studying population structure, historical
demography and phylogeography of F. vesiculosus. They can also be used for the identification of genes and/or linked genomic
regions potentially subject to selection in response to abiotic stressors like temperature extremes and desiccation intensity that
vary across habitats and geographical range.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologi
Salivary Amylase Induction by Tannin-Enriched Diets as a Possible Countermeasure Against Tannins
Tannins are characterized by protein-binding affinity. They have astringent/bitter properties that act as deterrents, affecting diet selection. Two groups of salivary proteins, proline-rich proteins and histatins, are effective precipitators of tannin, decreasing levels of available tannins. The possibility of other salivary proteins having a co-adjuvant role on host defense mechanisms against tannins is unknown. In this work, we characterized and compared the protein profile of mice whole saliva from animals fed on three experimental diets: tannin-free diet, diet with the incorporation of 5% hydrolyzable tannins (tannic acid), or diet with 5% condensed tannins (quebracho). Protein analysis was performed by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization-Time of Flight mass spectrometry to allow the dynamic study of interactions between diet and saliva. Since abundant salivary proteins obscure the purification and identification of medium and low expressed salivary proteins, we used centrifugation to obtain saliva samples free from proteins that precipitate after tannin binding. Data from Peptide Mass Fingerprinting allowed us to identify ten different proteins, some of them showing more than one isoform. Tannin-enriched diets were observed to change the salivary protein profile. One isoform of α-amylase was overexpressed with both types of tannins. Aldehyde reductase was only identified in saliva of the quebracho group. Additionally, a hypertrophy of parotid salivary gland acini was observed by histology, along with a decrease in body mass in the first 4 days of the experimental period
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