Development of a Calibration Model for Optical Measuring Machines

AbstractThis paper presents the problem of optical measuring machine calibration, emphasizing the calibration of the “optical system”, omitting the calibration of the “machine system”. The calibration of an optical measuring machine is the first step before using the instrument for any application. For this purpose, a mathematical model has been developed to transform the coordinates of a point in space (3D) into coordinates of a point in an image (2D). Using this camera model, a calibration procedure has been developed using a grid distortion pattern. Finally, a procedure for calculating the uncertainty of the camera and geometric distortion parameters based on the Monte Carlo method has been developed

the role of human fatigue in the uncertainty of measurement

Abstract Risk of human error in measurement and testing is the result of the causal combination of factors and events that are involved in the process. This paper presents how to model technical and human errors and how these could interact in order to influences the reliability of measurement/test. Human errors were designed according with a System Dynamics approach with factors and states those are part of human's state and ability to handle with the process and procedures and instruments. Technical errors were related to the environment, its organization and suitability with standards. Human and Technical factors have been therefore integrated in order to predict states affecting the consistency of measure and uncertainty in range. Optimal combination of factors - based on a System Dynamics simulation and expert judgments - has been proposed according with a sampling analysis

Un progetto per Nowa Huta

Il volume raccoglie i progetti presentati alla IX Biennale Internazionale di Cracovia, 2002, sul tema "Less ideology - more geometry in the space to live the city". Oggetto del concorso sono quegli spazi della città, costruita come città dormitorio durante gli anni del Realismo Socialista, che possono diventare spazi pubblici per la città contemporanea. Progetto vincitore del primo premio. Born from a political will (socialist realism), from a model of urban and territorial organization (a new way of life) that imprinted its processes of conception and construction, Nowa Huta is, like all foundation towns, a city without a past, a city that appears today fixed in the everlasting present of the time (the ideology) which conceived and built it, and projected towards a future balanced between failure of the ideals (which were the very reason for the existance of the city) and the shutting-down of the huge factories to which it was connected (its practical reason). A city without a past and with an uncertain future. But the shape of Nowa Huta, its spatial structure, has an immense debt to the history and the tradition of the architecture and, set free form its political and ideological charge, it represents today an important contribution to urban research, both on a territorial scale (location, means of transport, water supply, production settlements) and on a urban scale (quarters, residential units, public services, collective buildings, green areas, traffic in its different forms). Therefore our reflection starts from the actual reality of the city, from its built structure (the layout of streets and its relationship with architecture, the residential districts and the emerging monuments) which represents the more constant and convincing element: the aggregative systems, the building types and the architectural forms have changed in the course of time, but the plan remained unchanged in its geometrical clearness

Opaline chert nodules in maar lake sediments from Camp dels Ninots (La Selva Basin, NE Spain)

Chert nodule samples from three different well cores (CC, CP1 & CA) from the lacustrine infill of the Camp dels Ninot maar-diatreme (La Selva Basin) have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction, and optical and electron microscope technique. The chert nodules replace diatomites and carbonates layers, and varies in mineralogy between opal-A to opal-A/CT. The microtexture of the opal-A rich nodules is characterized by smooth microspheres of ~2μm in diameter that forms aggregates of amalgamated microspheres. Commonly, the nodules contain diatoms and their moulds when replacing diatomites, and dolomite or ankerite crystals and their moulds when replacing carbonates. The opal-A/CT rich nodules exhibit a microtexture consisting of microspheres of ~8μm in diameter that form aggregates with botryoidal and finger-like morphologies. Results indicate that the early diagenetic transformation of opal-A to opal-CT is not complete in the studied sediments.Peer Reviewe

Caveolin-1 is required for TGF-β-induced transactivation of the EGF receptor pathway in hepatocytes through the activation of the metalloprotease TACE/ADAM17

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) plays a dual role in hepatocytes, inducing both pro- and anti-apoptotic responses, whose balance decides cell fate. Survival signals are mediated by the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway, which is activated by TGF-β in these cells. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) is a structural protein of caveolae linked to TGF-β receptors trafficking and signaling. Previous results have indicated that in hepatocytes, Cav1 is required for TGF-β-induced anti-apoptotic signals, but the molecular mechanism is not fully understood yet. In this work, we show that immortalized Cav1(-/-) hepatocytes were more sensitive to the pro-apoptotic effects induced by TGF-β, showing a higher activation of caspase-3, higher decrease in cell viability and prolonged increase through time of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). These results were coincident with attenuation of TGF-β-induced survival signals in Cav1(-/-) hepatocytes, such as AKT and ERK1/2 phosphorylation and NFκ-B activation. Transactivation of the EGFR pathway by TGF-β was impaired in Cav1(-/-) hepatocytes, which correlated with lack of activation of TACE/ADAM17, the metalloprotease responsible for the shedding of EGFR ligands. Reconstitution of Cav1 in Cav1(-/-) hepatocytes rescued wild-type phenotype features, both in terms of EGFR transactivation and TACE/ADAM17 activation. TACE/ADAM17 was localized in detergent-resistant membrane (DRM) fractions in Cav1(+/+) cells, which was not the case in Cav1(-/-) cells. Disorganization of lipid rafts after treatment with cholesterol-binding agents caused loss of TACE/ADAM17 activation after TGF-β treatment. In conclusion, in hepatocytes, Cav1 is required for TGF-β-mediated activation of the metalloprotease TACE/ADAM17 that is responsible for shedding of EGFR ligands and activation of the EGFR pathway, which counteracts the TGF-β pro-apoptotic effects. Therefore, Cav1 contributes to the pro-tumorigenic effects of TGF-β in liver cancer cells.This work was supported by grants from: (1) the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), Spain (BFU2012-35538 and ISCIII-RTICC: RD12-0036-0029 to IF; SAF2013-43713 to PM-S; BFU2012-33932 to GE; SAF2011-25047 and CSD2009-00016 to MAdP); (2) AGAUR-Generalitat de Catalunya (2009SGR-312 to IF); and (3) People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. PITN-GA-2012-316549 (IT LIVER) to IF JM-C and RM-V were recipients of pre-doctoral fellowships from the FPU program (Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, Spain) and the FPI program (associated to SAF201125047, MINECO, Spain), respectively. We acknowledge the review and suggestions of Dr. Christoph Meyer (University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany).S

Atención primaria en España y Cataluña: una perspectiva desde la enfermería

Muchos años después de la Reforma de la Atención Primaria en España, se analizan los logros alcanzados en este nivel asistencial, así como los aspectos y expectativas aún pendientes, tanto para la disciplina médica como para la enfermería. También se analizan los planes de innovación recientemente puestos en marcha en diferentes comunidades autónomas españolas, especialmente el que se está desarrollando en Cataluña. Se aborda además en este texto, el actual desarrollo académico de la enfermería española, el desarrollo de las diferentes especialidades de enfermería y aspectos relativos a la prescripción de enfermería, el triaje y la atención de enfermería a la patología aguda, en Atención Primaria

Un progetto per Nowa Huta

Il volume raccoglie i progetti presentati alla IX Biennale Internazionale di Cracovia, 2002, sul tema "Less ideology - more geometry in the space to live the city". Oggetto del concorso sono quegli spazi della città, costruita come città dormitorio durante gli anni del Realismo Socialista, che possono diventare spazi pubblici per la città contemporanea. Progetto vincitore del primo premio. Born from a political will (socialist realism), from a model of urban and territorial organization (a new way of life) that imprinted its processes of conception and construction, Nowa Huta is, like all foundation towns, a city without a past, a city that appears today fixed in the everlasting present of the time (the ideology) which conceived and built it, and projected towards a future balanced between failure of the ideals (which were the very reason for the existance of the city) and the shutting-down of the huge factories to which it was connected (its practical reason). A city without a past and with an uncertain future. But the shape of Nowa Huta, its spatial structure, has an immense debt to the history and the tradition of the architecture and, set free form its political and ideological charge, it represents today an important contribution to urban research, both on a territorial scale (location, means of transport, water supply, production settlements) and on a urban scale (quarters, residential units, public services, collective buildings, green areas, traffic in its different forms). Therefore our reflection starts from the actual reality of the city, from its built structure (the layout of streets and its relationship with architecture, the residential districts and the emerging monuments) which represents the more constant and convincing element: the aggregative systems, the building types and the architectural forms have changed in the course of time, but the plan remained unchanged in its geometrical clearnes

Main factors controlling sedimentation and biotic change during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in the Iberian Chain

The Iberian Chain developed by inversion of Mesozoic rifts of the Iberian Basin during the Paleogene. The Maestrat and Cameros basins developed during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting cycle 2. There are two main controls on sedimentation: (1) tectonics, (2) climate, and these together control sea-level and paleoecosystems. Cameros and Maestrat basins display different styles of extensional tectonic structure probably due to a crust thermally weakened. Biotic changes in freshwater plants, continental faunas, and marine carbonate producers, reveal the evolution from Late Jurassic-Earliest Cretaceous climate to show hydrological seasonality in a general warm and humid context. This is confirmed by the coexistence of biotic markers of hydrological stress (closed stomatal structures in plants, small size in animals) with sedimentologic indicators of a long-lasting humid climate (lateritic soils and karstic bauxite deposits). The long-term global sea-level curve fits the main transgressive-regressive evolution of the Maestrat basin with some local tectonic disturbance