All-Optical Reinforcement Learning in Solitonic X-Junctions

L'etologia ha dimostrato che gruppi di animali o colonie possono eseguire calcoli complessi distribuendo semplici processi decisionali ai membri del gruppo. Ad esempio, le colonie di formiche possono ottimizzare le traiettorie verso il cibo eseguendo sia un rinforzo (o una cancellazione) delle tracce di feromone sia spostarsi da una traiettoria ad un'altra con feromone più forte. Questa procedura delle formiche possono essere implementati in un hardware fotonico per riprodurre l'elaborazione del segnale stigmergico. Presentiamo qui innovative giunzioni a X completamente integrate realizzate utilizzando guide d'onda solitoniche in grado di fornire entrambi i processi decisionali delle formiche. Le giunzioni a X proposte possono passare da comportamenti simmetrici (50/50) ad asimmetrici (80/20) utilizzando feedback ottici, cancellando i canali di uscita inutilizzati o rinforzando quelli usati.Ethology has shown that animal groups or colonies can perform complex calculation distributing simple decision-making processes to the group members. For example ant colonies can optimize the trajectories towards the food by performing both a reinforcement (or a cancellation) of the pheromone traces and a switch from one path to another with stronger pheromone. Such ant's processes can be implemented in a photonic hardware to reproduce stigmergic signal processing. We present innovative, completely integrated X-junctions realized using solitonic waveguides which can provide both ant's decision-making processes. The proposed X-junctions can switch from symmetric (50/50) to asymmetric behaviors (80/20) using optical feedbacks, vanishing unused output channels or reinforcing the used ones

Chemical recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) to monomers: Mathematical modeling of the transesterification reaction of bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate to dimethyl terephthalate

The accumulation of plastic waste in the environment is making recycling a compelling issue, particularly for polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used in products with a short shelf-life. An appealing route to chemical recycling of PET is glycolysis, leading to bis(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalate (BHET). Its subsequent transesterification with methanol to dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) is crucial for the recovery of polymer-grade monomers. To favor the industrial applicability of this process, this work investigates the influence of three main parameters, i.e. the methanol to ethylene glycol molar ratio, the solvent to oligomers molar ratio and the mass fraction of the catalyst, on the transesterification of BHET to DMT. A kinetic model has been proposed, and the reaction rates evaluated by comparison with the experimental data. The model was used to predict the performances of the process in a wide range of operating conditions, in order to establish the optimal ones for high yield to DMT

Super hygroscopic non-stoichiometric cerium oxide particles as electrode component for PEM fuel cells

The design of highly efficient promoters for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is an important challenge in the large-scale distribution of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Hygroscopic cerium oxide (CeO2) is here proposed as co-catalyst in combination with Pt. Physical chemical characterizations, by means of X-ray diffraction, vibrational spectroscopy, morphological and thermal analyses, were carried out, demonstrating high water affinity of the synthesized CeO2 nanoparticles. Composite catalysts (i. e., Pt : CeO2 1 : 0.5 and 1 : 1 wt:wt), were studied by either rotating disk electrode (RDE) and fuel cell tests performed at 80 °C and 110 °C. Interestingly, the cell adopting the Pt : CeO2 1 : 0.5 catalyst enabled the achievement of high power densities reaching ∼80 and ∼35 mW cm−2 under low relative humidity and high temperatures. This result demonstrates that tuning material surface properties (e. g. oxygen vacancies) could significantly boost the electrochemical performance of cathodes as a combined result of optimized water retention and improved ORR kinetic

On the Correlation Between Tactile Stimulation and Pleasantness

: several studies in the affective haptics research field showed the potential of using haptic technology to convey emotions in remote communications. In this context, it is of interest to simplify the haptic feedback without altering the informative content of the stimulus, with a two-fold advantage. on one side, it would allow the development of affective haptic devices whose technological complexity is limited, hence more compatible with wearability and portability requirements. On the other side, having a simplified set of stimuli would decrease the amount of data to be transmitted, thus improving the overall quality of remote haptic interactions. In this work, we investigated the correlation between the parameters regulating a caress-like stimulation and the perceived pleasantness. This was done by means of two experiments, in which we asked subjects to adjust the temperature and the motion velocity of a set of stimuli in order to find the most pleasant combination. results indicated that subjects preferred different values of temperature and velocity of the stimulus depending on the proposed tactile stimulation. a small difference in the pleasantness ratings was observed between caresses provided with linear movements and those given as discrete sequences of taps. In particular, participants preferred linear movements set at 34.5 °C and 3.4 cms-1. As regards caress-like stimuli provided with discrete sequences of taps, the preferred temperature and velocity were 33.2 °C and 2.9 cms-1, respectively. the presence of vibration had a little effect on the perceived pleasantness

Evaluation of concentration of heavy metals in animal rearing system

Animal manure is one of the diffusion routes of heavy metals and metalloids into the environment, where the soil can accumulate them. Heavy metals and metalloids can then be released into groundwater sources, be absorbed by crops, and enter the food chain with negative effects for human and animal health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of heavy metals and mineral nutrients from modern animal rearing systems in order to develop effective strategies to increase the sustainability. Samples of feed (n\ubc24: n\ubc16 from swine, n\ubc8 from cattle), faeces (n\ubc120: n\ubc80 from swine, n\ubc40 from cattle) and water (n\ubc8), were collected from eight typical intensive swine and cattle farms located in northern Italy. All samples were analysed for the humidity and the principal components. The samples were also dried, mineralised, and analysed by ICP-MS to detect the following elements: Na, Mg, K, Ca, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Mo, Cd, and Pb. The swine diets represented the highest amounts of Zn and Cu, with an average concentration for the finishing and weaning phases of Zn: 1737.9 \ub1 301.3; 821.7 \ub1 301.3; Cu: 133.8 \ub1 11.6; 160.1 \ub1 11.6 mg/kg as fed, respectively. The faecal content reflected the heavy metal composition from feed. The average content of cattle diets of Zn and Cu did not result higher than the maximum permitted levels. We observed that the swine manure represented the sources of Zn and Cu output into the environment. The Zn and Cu content should be monitored strictly in line with agroecology principles

G-CNV: A GPU-based tool for preparing data to detect CNVs with read-depth methods

Copy number variations (CNVs) are the most prevalent types of structural variations (SVs) in the human genome and are involved in a wide range of common human diseases. Different computational methods have been devised to detect this type of SVs and to study how they are implicated in human diseases. Recently, computational methods based on high-throughput sequencing (HTS) are increasingly used. The majority of these methods focus on mapping short-read sequences generated from a donor against a reference genome to detect signatures distinctive of CNVs. In particular, read-depth based methods detect CNVs by analyzing genomic regions with significantly different read-depth from the other ones. The pipeline analysis of these methods consists of four main stages: (i) data preparation, (ii) data normalization, (iii) CNV regions identification, and (iv) copy number estimation. However, available tools do not support most of the operations required at the first two stages of this pipeline. Typically, they start the analysis by building the read-depth signal from pre-processed alignments. Therefore, third-party tools must be used to perform most of the preliminary operations required to build the read-depth signal. These data-intensive operations can be efficiently parallelized on graphics processing units (GPUs). In this article, we present G-CNV, a GPU-based tool devised to perform the common operations required at the first two stages of the analysis pipeline. G-CNV is able to filter low-quality read sequences, to mask low-quality nucleotides, to remove adapter sequences, to remove duplicated read sequences, to map the short-reads, to resolve multiple mapping ambiguities, to build the read-depth signal, and to normalize it. G-CNV can be efficiently used as a third-party tool able to prepare data for the subsequent read-depth signal generation and analysis. Moreover, it can also be integrated in CNV detection tools to generate read-depth signals

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals from wastewater through a Typha latifolia and Thelypteris palustris phytoremediation system

Animal production is a source of heavy metals in livestock wastewater and also a key link in the food chain, with negative impacts on human and animal health. In intensive animal production systems, the most critical elements are zinc and copper. In order to development of innovative non-invasive strategies to reduce the environmental impact of livestock, this study assessed the ability of two plants, Typha latifolia and Thelypteris palustris, to bioaccumulate the heavy metals used in animal nutrition, from wastewater. Four mesocosms (width 2.0\u202fm, length 2.0\u202fm, 695\u202fL of water, 210\u202fkg of soil) were assembled outdoors at the Botanical Garden. Two of them were planted with T. latifolia (TL treated, n\u202f=\u202f30; TL control, n\u202f=\u202f30) and two with T. palustris (TP treated, n\u202f=\u202f60; TP control, n\u202f=\u202f60). In T0 a solution of a mineral additive premix (Zn 44.02\u202fmg/L; Cu 8.63\u202fmg/L) was dissolved in the treated mesocosms. At T0, d 15 (T1) and d 45 (T2) samples of roots, leaves, stems, soil and water were collected, dried, mineralized and analyzed using ICP-MS in order to obtain HMs content. We found that T. latifolia and T. palustris accumulate and translocate Zn, Cu from contaminated wastewater into plant tissues in a way that is directly related to the exposure time (T2 for Zn: 271.64\u202f\ub1\u202f17.70, 409.26\u202f\ub1\u202f17.70 for Cu: 47.54\u202f\ub1\u202f3.56, 105.58\u202f\ub1\u202f3.56\u202fmg/kg of DM, respectively). No visual toxicity signs were observed during the experimental period. This phytoremediation approach could be used as an eco-sustainable approach to counteract the output of heavy metals

Use of PSInSAR data to map highly compressible soil layers

A new approach to the use of Persistent Scatterers (PS) Interferometry data in the reconstruction of the extension of compressible geological bodies is presented. The methodology was applied in the test area of the Tiber River delta (Italy), characterized by the presence of two large marshy zones, known as the Maccarese and Ostia Antica ponds. PSInSARâ\u84¢ data, derived from ERS1/2, ENVISAT and RADARSAT-1 images, and spanning a time interval between 1992 and 2006 were used to verify the possibility to reconstruct the spatial distribution of the peat levels inside the Maccarese and Ostia Antica ponds. Borehole information was analyzed to calibrate the InSAR data and the deformation rates were used to hypothesize the presence of a thick compressible layer where geological information is lacking. Variations in deformation rates registered by the single PS were assumed to be representative of a variation in the stratigraphic asset. The obtained results demonstrate that this approach could be satisfactorily used to investigate wide areas in a short time, reducing the number of boreholes to drill, and it could be a complementary technique to obtain information about the 2D geometry of specific geological levels

Comparative analysis of inbreeding parameters and runs of homozygosity islands in 2 Italian autochthonous cattle breeds mainly raised in the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese production region

Reggiana and Modenese are autochthonous cattle breeds, reared in the North of Italy, that can be mainly distinguished for their standard coat color (Reggiana is red, whereas Modenese is white with some pale gray shades). Almost all milk produced by these breeds is transformed into 2 mono-breed branded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheeses, from which farmers receive the economic incomes needed for the sustainable conservation of these animal genetic resources. After the setting up of their herd books in 1960s, these breeds experienced a strong reduction in the population size that was subsequently reverted starting in the 1990s (Reggiana) or more recently (Modenese) reaching at present a total of about 2,800 and 500 registered cows, respectively. Due to the small population size of these breeds, inbreeding is a very important cause of concern for their conservation programs. Inbreeding is traditionally estimated using pedigree data, which are summarized in an inbreeding coefficient calculated at the individual level (FPED). However, incompleteness of pedigree information and registration errors can affect the effectiveness of conservation strategies. High-throughput SNP genotyping platforms allow investigation of inbreeding using genome information that can overcome the limits of pedigree data. Several approaches have been proposed to estimate genomic inbreeding, with the use of runs of homozygosity (ROH) considered to be the more appropriate. In this study, several pedigree and genomic inbreeding parameters, calculated using the whole herd book populations or considering genotyping information (GeneSeek GGP Bovine 150K) from 1,684 Reggiana cattle and 323 Modenese cattle, were compared. Average inbreeding values per year were used to calculate effective population size. Reggiana breed had generally lower genomic inbreeding values than Modenese breed. The low correlation between pedigree-based and genomic-based parameters (ranging from 0.187 to 0.195 and 0.319 to 0.323 in the Reggiana and Modenese breeds, respectively) reflected the common problems of local populations in which pedigree records are not complete. The high proportion of short ROH over the total number of ROH indicates no major recent inbreeding events in both breeds. ROH islands spread over the genome of the 2 breeds (15 in Reggiana and 14 in Modenese) identified several signatures of selection. Some of these included genes affecting milk production traits, stature, body conformation traits (with a main ROH island in both breeds on BTA6 containing the ABCG2, NCAPG, and LCORL genes) and coat color (on BTA13 in Modenese containing the ASIP gene). In conclusion, this work provides an extensive comparative analysis of pedigree and genomic inbreeding parameters and relevant genomic information that will be useful in the conservation strategies of these 2 iconic local cattle breeds

Novel yttrium and zirconium catalysts featuring reduced Ar-BIANH2 ligands for olefin hydroamination (Ar-BIANH2 = bis-arylaminoacenaphthylene)

The novel class of bis-arylaminoacenaphthylenes (Ar-BIANH(2)) was employed for the preparation of zirconium and yttrium complexes to be used as catalysts for cyclohydroamination of a number of primary and secondary aminoalkenes. The complex [(2,6-iPr(2)C(6)H(3)-BIAN)Zr(NMe2)(2)(eta(1)-NHMe2)] was isolated and completely characterized, including X-ray diffraction analysis. Despite its easy and almost quantitative isolation, it showed only moderate catalytic performance in the intramolecular hydroamination, irrespective of the cyclization precursor used. On the other hand, in situ generated Y-III complexes obtained using the same class of ligands were found to be very active, leading to the hydroamination of substrates including those normally reluctant in undergoing cyclization such as those featuring an internal non-activated C=C double bond. Electron donating substituents and especially steric hindrance on the ligand improve the performance of the catalysts, allowing us to decrease the catalyst loading to 1 mol% in the latter case