Sviluppo e validazione di un simulatore di assetto e sottosistemi di bordo per un veicolo spaziale provvisto di propulsione elettrica

Sommario In questo lavoro è stato sviluppato un simulatore che predice l’evoluzione dell’assetto e dello stato dei sottosistemi per un satellite in orbita geocentrica. I risultati fin ora ottenuti dal simulatore hanno permesso di valutare l’affidabilità del programma e di apprezzare l’utilità di uno strumento di questo tipo per l’analisi di missione e la progettazione. Il simulatore ci ha consentito infatti di osservare in maniera diretta gli scambi di energia tra i diversi sottosistemi che compongono il satellite e monitorare lo stato degli stessi così da scegliere opportunamente la strategia di missione da utilizzare. La possibilità di collaudare il simulatore sulla missione SPES ci ha inoltre fornito l’opportunità di affrontare una situazione plausibile nella quale l’utilizzo del simulatore diventa un’esigenza più che una opzione. Infatti in quei casi in cui l’esigenze energetiche del payload e quelle dei sottosistemi del satellite sono paragonabili, solo una simulazione sufficientemente accurata consente di ottimizzare il progetto e l’analisi di missione

Image-Based Visual-Impedance Control of a Dual-Arm Aerial Manipulator

Three new image-based visual-impedance control laws are proposed in this paper allowing physical interaction of a dual-arm unmanned aerial manipulator equipped with a camera and a force/torque sensor. Namely, two first-order impedance behaviours are designed based on the transpose and the inverse of the system Jacobian matrix, respectively, while a second-order impedance behaviour is carried out as well. Visual information is employed both to coordinate the camera motion in an eye- in-hand configuration with the assigned task executed by the other robot arm, and to define the elastic wrench component of the proposed hybrid impedance equations directly in the image plane

Glycosylation of glycolipids in cancer: basis for development of novel therapeutic approaches

Altered networks of gene regulation underlie many pathologies, including cancer. There are several proteins in cancer cells that are turned either on or off, which dramatically alters the metabolism and the overall activity of the cell, with the complex machinery of enzymes involved in the metabolism of glycolipids not being an exception. The aberrant glycosylation of glycolipids on the surface of the majority of cancer cells, associated with increasing evidence about the functional role of these molecules in a number of cellular physiological pathways, has received considerable attention as a convenient immunotherapeutic target for cancer treatment. This has resulted in the development of a substantial number of passive and active immunotherapies, which have shown promising results in clinical trials. More recently, antibodies to glycolipids have also emerged as an attractive tool for the targeted delivery of cytotoxic agents, thereby providing a rationale for future therapeutic interventions in cancer. This review first summarizes the cellular and molecular bases involved in the metabolic pathway and expression of glycolipids, both in normal and tumor cells, paying particular attention to sialosylated glycolipids (gangliosides). The current strategies in the battle against cancer in which glycolipids are key players are then described.Fil: Daniotti, Jose Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Vilcaes, Aldo Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Torres Demichelis, Vanina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Ruggiero, Fernando Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Rodríguez Walker, Macarena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentin

Boundary work in value co-creation practices: the mediating role of cognitive assistants

PurposeHow to improve healthcare for the ageing population is attracting academia attention. Emerging technologies (i.e. robots and intelligent agents) look relevant. This paper aims to analyze the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects in value co-creation practices. We include the perceptions of the main actors – patients, (in)formal caregivers, healthcare professionals – for a fuller network perspective to understand the potential overlap between boundary work and value co-creation practices.Design/methodology/approachWe adopted a grounded approach to gain a contextual understanding design to effectively interpret context and meanings related to human–robot interactions. The study context concerns 21 health solutions that had embedded the Watson cognitive platform and its adoption by the youngest cohort (50–64-year-olds) of the ageing population.FindingsThe cognitive assistant acts as a boundary object by bridging actors, resources and activities. It enacts the boundary work of actors (both ageing and professional, caregivers, families) consisting of four main actions (automated dialoguing, augmented sharing, connected learning and multilayered trusting) that elicit two ageing value co-creation practices: empowering ageing actors in medical care and engaging ageing actors in a healthy lifestyle.Originality/valueWe frame the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects enabling the boundary work of ageing actors for value co-creation. A cognitive assistant is an "object of activity" that mediates in actors' boundary work by offering novel resource interfaces and widening resource access and resourceness. The boundary work of ageing actors lies in a smarter resource integration that yields broader applications for augmented agency

Particle motion in a rotating dust spacetime: the Bonnor solution

We investigate the geometrical properties, spectral classification, geodesics, and causal structure of the Bonnor's spacetime [Journal of Physics A Math. Gen., \textbf{10}, 1673 (1977)], i.e., a stationary axisymmetric solution with a rotating dust as a source. This spacetime has a directional singularity at the origin of the coordinates (related to the diverging vorticity field of the fluid there), which is surrounded by a toroidal region where closed timelike curves (CTCs) are allowed, leading to chronology violations. We use the effective potential approach to provide a classification of the different kind of orbits on the symmetry plane as well as to study the motion parallel to the symmetry axis. In the former case we find that as a general feature test particles released from a fixed space point and directed towards the singularity are repelled and scattered back as soon as they approach the CTC boundary, without reaching the central singularity.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures (10 eps files

Approximate filtering via discrete dual processes

We consider the task of filtering a dynamic parameter evolving as a diffusion process, given data collected at discrete times from a likelihood which is conjugate to the marginal law of the diffusion, when a generic dual process on a discrete state space is available. Recently, it was shown that duality with respect to a death-like process implies that the filtering distributions are finite mixtures, making exact filtering and smoothing feasible through recursive algorithms with polynomial complexity in the number of observations. Here we provide general results for the case of duality between the diffusion and a regular jump continuous-time Markov chain on a discrete state space, which typically leads to filtering distribution given by countable mixtures indexed by the dual process state space. We investigate the performance of several approximation strategies on two hidden Markov models driven by Cox-Ingersoll-Ross and Wright-Fisher diffusions, which admit duals of birth-and-death type, and compare them with the available exact strategies based on death-type duals and with bootstrap particle filtering on the diffusion state space as a general benchmark

Indigenous Cultural Safety Training in Health, Education, and Social Service Work

Background: Indigenous Cultural Safety (ICS) training is a growing field of study; however, little consensus exists about how ICS is conceptualized and operationalized. This lack of consistency can lead to misinterpretation and misappropriation of Indigenous knowledges and histories that can further perpetuate colonial harms. Objective: The objective of this scoping review is to explore and characterize the academic literature related to the conceptualization and operationalization of ICS training within the fields of health, social services, and education. Methods: This scoping review protocol employs the Joanna Briggs Institute’s three-step search strategy to identify articles in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, ERIC, and ASSIA. This protocol follows the PRISMA guidelines for Scoping Reviews (Joanna Briggs Institute, 2015; Tricco et al., 2018). Discussion: This review will add new knowledge by offering insights into the historic and contemporary approaches to defining and operationalizing ICS training in the health, education and social services fields. The results produced will be of interest to scholars and health, social services, and education providers looking to apply the most current and appropriate concepts and practices of ICS

NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF THE TOTAL RESISTANCE OF A YACHT

One of the main goals of the ship design process is the reduction of the total resistance, which is nowadays even more highlighted due to increasingly stringent rules related to ship energy efficiency. In this paper, the investigation of the impact of the bow on the total resistance of a yacht is carried out for three models by towing tank tests and numerical simulations. The verification and validation studies are performed, and satisfactory agreement is achieved. Also, a comparison of three turbulence models for the prediction of the total resistance of a yacht is made. The flow around the models of the yacht is analysed and it is demonstrated that bulbous bow causes the reduction of wave elevations. Experimental and numerical results indicate that the decrease in the total resistance due to bulbous bow can be up to 7%. Finally, the applicability of CFD within the ship design process is presented

Machine learning use for prognostic purposes in multiple sclerosis

The course of multiple sclerosis begins with a relapsing-remitting phase, which evolves into a secondarily progressive form over an extremely variable period, depending on many factors, each with a subtle influence. To date, no prognostic factors or risk score have been validated to predict disease course in single individuals. This is increasingly frustrating, since several treatments can prevent relapses and slow progression, even for a long time, although the possible adverse effects are relevant, in particular for the more effective drugs. An early prediction of disease course would allow differentiation of the treatment based on the expected aggressiveness of the disease, reserving high-impact therapies for patients at greater risk. To increase prognostic capacity, approaches based on machine learning (ML) algorithms are being attempted, given the failure of other approaches. Here we review recent studies that have used clinical data, alone or with other types of data, to derive prognostic models. Several algorithms that have been used and compared are described. Although no study has proposed a clinically usable model, knowledge is building up and in the future strong tools are likely to emerge

Autism spectrum disorders and intestinal microbiota

Through extensive microbial-mammalian co-metabolism, the intestinal microbiota have evolved to exert a marked influence on health and disease via gut-brain-microbiota interactions. In this addendum, we summarize the findings of our recent study on the fecal microbiota and metabolomes of children with pervasive developmental disorder–not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) or autism (AD) compared with healthy children (HC). Children with PDD-NOS or AD have altered fecal microbiota and metabolomes (including neurotransmitter molecules). We hypothesize that the degree of microbial alteration correlates with the severity of the disease since fecal microbiota and metabolomes alterations were higher in children with PDD-NOS and, especially, AD compared to HC. Our study indicates that the levels of free amino acids (FAA) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) differ in AD subjects compared to children with PDD-NOS, who are more similar to HC. Finally, we propose a new perspective on the implications for the interaction between intestinal microbiota and AD