Automation and Robotics for Experiment Operations in an Enhanced Man Tended Free Flyer (EMTFF)

As a baseline for investigations into automation an robotics for microgravity experiment operations an enhanced version of the COLUMBUS Man Tended Free Flyer is used. Four relevant experiments are selected as a basis for detailed analysis to derive typical classes of experiment tasks which have crucial importance for the identification of automation and robotics concepts. The description of the Enhanced MTFF (EMTFF), a definition of a reference payload and the derivation of a preliminary concept for EMTFF automation is presented in this paper as results of an appropriate study funded by ESA/ESTEC

Metatranscriptomics reveals contrasting effects of elevation on the activity of bacteria and bacterial viruses in soil

Soil microbial diversity affects ecosystem functioning and global biogeochemical cycles. Soil bacterial communities catalyse a diversity of biogeochemical reactions and have thus sparked considerable scientific interest. One driver of bacterial community dynamics in natural ecosystems has so far been largely neglected: the predator-prey interactions between bacterial viruses (bacteriophages) and bacteria. To generate ground level knowledge on environmental drivers of these particular predator-prey dynamics, we propose an activity-based ecological framework to simultaneous capture community dynamics of bacteria and bacteriophages in soils. An ecological framework and specifically the analyses of community dynamics across latitudinal and elevational gradients have been widely used in ecology to understand community-wide responses of innumerable taxa to environmental change, in particular to climate. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the activity of bacteria and bacteriophages codeclines across an elevational gradient. We used metatranscriptomics to investigate bacterial and bacteriophage activity patterns at five sites across 400 elevational metres in the Swiss Alps in 2015 and 2017. We found that metabolic activity (transcription levels) of bacteria declined significantly with increasing elevation, but activity of bacteriophages did not. We showed that bacteriophages are consistently active in soil along the entire gradient, making bacteriophage activity patterns divergent from that of their putative bacterial prey. Future efforts will be necessary to link the environment-activity relationship to predator-prey dynamics, and to understand the magnitude of viral contributions to carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling when infection causes bacterial cell death, a process that may represent an overlooked component of soil biogeochemical cycles

Assessing Drivers’ Vigilance State During Monotonous Driving

The differential effects of three hours of monotonous daytime driving on subjective (sleepiness, inattention, monotony), performance (choice reaction time), and physiological (EEG alpha power, P300-amplitude, heart rate) vigilance measures were examined. A linear degradation of drivers’ subjective state, mean long reaction times (as opposed to short ones), P300-amplitude and parietal alpha power with time spent on the highway was identified. An improvement of the subjective measures towards the end of the driving task was not accompanied by any improvement in performance or physiological measures. This dissociation of self-assessment and objective vigilance measures has important implications for the design of modern driver assistant systems that aim to adapt to the driver’s state

Sydnone methides - a forgotten class of mesoionic compounds for the generation of anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes

Sydnone methides are described from which only one single example has been mentioned in the literature so far. Their deprotonation gave anions which can be formulated as π-electron rich anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes. Sulfur and selenium adducts were stabilized as their methyl ethers, and mercury, gold as well as rhodium complexes of the sydnone methide carbenes were prepared. Sydnone methide anions also undergo C−C coupling reactions with 1-fluoro-4-iodobenzene under Pd(PPh3)4 and CuBr catalysis. 77Se NMR resonance frequencies and 1JC4-Se as well as 1JC4-H coupling constants have been determined to gain knowledge about the electronic properties of the anionic N-heterocyclic carbenes. The carbene carbon atom of the sydnone methide anion 3 j resonates at δ=155.2 ppm in 13C NMR spectroscopy at −40 °C which is extremely shifted upfield in comparison to classical N-heterocyclic carbenes

Assessing Drivers’ Fatigue State Under Real Traffic Conditions Using EEG Alpha Spindles

The effectiveness of EEG alpha spindles, defined by short narrowband bursts in the alpha band, as an objective measure for assessing driver fatigue under real driving conditions was examined using an algorithm for the identification of alpha spindles. The method is applied to data recorded under real traffic conditions and compared with the performance of the traditional EEG fatigue measure alpha band power. Statistical analysis revealed significant increases from the first to the last driving section of alpha band power; with larger effect sizes for the alpha spindle based measures. An increased level of fatigue for drop-outs, as compared to participants who did not abort the drive, was observed only by means of alpha spindle parameters. EEG alpha spindle parameters increase both fatigue detection sensitivity and specificity as compared to EEG alpha band power. It is demonstrated that alpha spindles are superior to EEG band power measures for assessing driver fatigue under real traffic conditions

Ethynyl-Bridged Bis-quinolinium Dyes : Studies of the Dependence of Different Types of Conjugation on Spectroscopic Properties

Dicationic bis-quinolinium salts possessing different types of conjugation are presented in which the hetareniums are separated by acetylenic or 1,4-diethynylbenzene spacers. Cross-conjugation is induced by interconnections via the 3-positions of the heteroareniums, and conjugation is realized by 2,2/2,4/4,4-interconnections. We also synthesized mixed cross-conjugated/conjugated 2,3/4,3-interconnected species. The different types of conjugation determine the charge distribution according to the rules of resonance which translate into characteristic C-13 NMR as well as UV-Vis-spectroscopic properties, LUMO geometries, and chemical properties. We found that the triple bond's resonance frequencies are sensitive C-13 NMR spectroscopic indicators for the type of conjugation. Combining cross-conjugated and conjugated structure elements of dicationic bis-quinolinium dyes via triple bonds without additional benzene spacer results in considerable bathochromic shifts of the UV-Vis absorption maxima [Delta lambda(max)approximate to 100 nm]. A charge transfer was calculated from the HOMO of the conjugated into the LUMO of the cross-conjugated partial structure.Peer reviewe

Environmental monitoring and building simulation application to Vasari Corridor: Preliminary results

Abstract The Vasari Corridor has been used in the past and present for storage and presentation of works of art which require control of microclimate for optimal preservation. To this end, it was started the collaboration between the Uffizi Gallery and Laboratory of Environmental Physic of the Florence University for the environmental monitoring of microclimatic parameters, of which this work presents the preliminary results. It's was also created a three-dimensional model of the building in the stretch from the Uffizi Gallery to Ponte Vecchio, for the dynamic simulation of the energy behavior of the building validated by on-field measured values