Engage D3.7 Update on the Engage repository and knowledge hub functionality (initial)

This initial report describes the planned functionality and features of the forthcoming Engage wiki and establishes the scope of the ATM concepts roadmap

Engage D2.2 Final Communication and Dissemination Report

This deliverable reports on the communication and dissemination activities carried out by the Engage consortium over the duration of the network. Planned activities have been adapted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however a full programme of workshops and summer schools has been organised. Support has been given to the annual SESAR Innovation Days conference and there has been an Engage presence at many other events. The Engage website launched in the first month of the network. This was later joined by the Engage ‘knowledge hub’, known as the EngageWiki, which hosts ATM research and knowledge. The wiki provides a platform and consolidated repository with novel user functionality, as well as an additional channel for the dissemination of SESAR results. Engage has also supported and publicised numerous research outputs produced by PhD candidates and catalyst fund projects

Engage D2.1 Communication plan, website, and visual identity material

The purpose of this document, Deliverable 2.1, is to describe the dissemination plan, dissemination policy and initial dissemination products of the SESAR 2020 Exploratory Research action Engage, taking into account its specifications and the target audience. The following pages document the corresponding tasks involved in D2.1

Sports, executive functions and academic performance: a comparison between martial arts, team sports, and sedentary children

It is well known that curricular physical activity benefits children’s executive functions and academic performance. Therefore, this study aimed to determine whether there is an influence of extracurricular sports on executive functions and academic performance. However, it is less known which specific types of the sport better enhance executive functions in children; to investigate this issue, this study compared the performance on executive functions tasks and academic performance in one hundred and two boys and girls with an average age of 11.84 years recruited from Italian schools and gyms (N = 102), who participated in martial arts or team sports or were sedentary children. Executive functions were measured with the tests: Attenzione e Concentrazione, Digit Span test, Tower of London, IOWA Gambling task BVN 5-11, and BVN 12-18. Results demonstrated that children practicing martial arts showed better executive functioning and higher school marks than those involved in team sports or not involved in any sports. Furthermore, participants aged 12 to 15 years old outperformed in cool and hot executive functions tasks and had a better academic perfor-mance. Thus, the present findings supported the view that regular practice of extracurricular sports enhances executive functions development and consequently influences academic performance

Gene deficiency in activating Fcγ receptors influences the macrophage phenotypic balance and reduces atherosclerosis in mice

Immunity contributes to arterial inflammation during atherosclerosis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins induce an autoimmune response characterized by specific antibodies and immune complexes in atherosclerotic patients. We hypothesize that specific Fcγ receptors for IgG constant region participate in atherogenesis by regulating the inflammatory state of lesional macrophages. In vivo we examined the role of activating Fcγ receptors in atherosclerosis progression using bone marrow transplantation from mice deficient in γ-chain (the common signaling subunit of activating Fcγ receptors) to hyperlipidemic mice. Hematopoietic deficiency of Fcγ receptors significantly reduced atherosclerotic lesion size, which was associated with decreased number of macrophages and T lymphocytes, and increased T regulatory cell function. Lesions of Fcγ receptor deficient mice exhibited increased plaque stability, as evidenced by higher collagen and smooth muscle cell content and decreased apoptosis. These effects were independent of changes in serum lipids and antibody response to oxidized low-density lipoproteins. Activating Fcγ receptor deficiency reduced pro-inflammatory gene expression, nuclear factor-κB activity, and M1 macrophages at the lesion site, while increasing anti-inflammatory genes and M2 macrophages. The decreased inflammation in the lesions was mirrored by a reduced number of classical inflammatory monocytes in blood. In vitro, lack of activating Fcγ receptors attenuated foam cell formation, oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory gene expression, and increased M2-associated genes in murine macrophages. Our study demonstrates that activating Fcγ receptors influence the macrophage phenotypic balance in the artery wall of atherosclerotic mice and suggests that modulation of Fcγ receptor-mediated inflammatory responses could effectively suppress atherosclerosis

Solvability of the Hamiltonians related to exceptional root spaces: rational case

Solvability of the rational quantum integrable systems related to exceptional root spaces $G_2, F_4$ is re-examined and for $E_{6,7,8}$ is established in the framework of a unified approach. It is shown the Hamiltonians take algebraic form being written in a certain Weyl-invariant variables. It is demonstrated that for each Hamiltonian the finite-dimensional invariant subspaces are made from polynomials and they form an infinite flag. A notion of minimal flag is introduced and minimal flag for each Hamiltonian is found. Corresponding eigenvalues are calculated explicitly while the eigenfunctions can be computed by pure linear algebra means for {\it arbitrary} values of the coupling constants. The Hamiltonian of each model can be expressed in the algebraic form as a second degree polynomial in the generators of some infinite-dimensional but finitely-generated Lie algebra of differential operators, taken in a finite-dimensional representation.Comment: 51 pages, LaTeX, few equations added, one reference added, typos correcte

Stairs detection with odometry-aided traversal from a wearable RGB-D camera

Stairs are one of the most common structures present in human-made scenarios, but also one of the most dangerous for those with vision problems. In this work we propose a complete method to detect, locate and parametrise stairs with a wearable RGB-D camera. Our algorithm uses the depth data to determine if the horizontal planes in the scene are valid steps of a staircase judging their dimensions and relative positions. As a result we obtain a scaled model of the staircase with the spatial location and orientation with respect to the subject. The visual odometry is also estimated to continuously recover the current position and orientation of the user while moving. This enhances the system giving the ability to come back to previously detected features and providing location awareness of the user during the climb. Simultaneously, the detection of the staircase during the traversal is used to correct the drift of the visual odometry. A comparison of results of the stair detection with other state-of-the-art algorithms was performed using public dataset. Additional experiments have also been carried out, recording our own natural scenes with a chest-mounted RGB-D camera in indoor scenarios. The algorithm is robust enough to work in real-time and even under partial occlusions of the stair

Magnetic and magnetorheological properties of nanofiber suspensions

International audienceIn this work the preparation and characterization of magnetorheological (MR) fluids constituted by CoNi nanofibers (56 nm length, 6.6 nm width) are reported. The properties of these new fluids were characterized by usual techniques (including magnetometry and magnetorheology). The results were compared with those obtained for conventional suspensions constituted by CoNi nanosperes

Engage D3.8 Mapping ATM research concepts, past and future - including the Engage wiki implementation

This report presents the wiki produced by Engage, SESAR’s Knowledge Transfer Network. It summarises the key development processes, status and planning for the wiki, which has been built over the past two years, with increased activity in 2020 to resolve underlying data provision issues. Inter alia, the wiki hosts the first interactive research map of European ATM, an ATM concepts roadmap, the first consolidated listing of European university programmes, and sets out progress towards a new, one-stop (data) repository for the research community