FOPI/FOPID Tuning Rule Based on a Fractional Order Model for the Process

This paper deals with the design of a control system based on fractional order models and fractional order proportional-integral-derivative (FOPID) controllers and fractional-order proportional-integral (FOPI) controllers. The controller design takes into account the trade-off between robustness and performance as well as the trade-off between the load disturbance rejection and set-point tracking tasks. The fractional order process model is able to represent an extensive range of dynamics, including over-damped and oscillatory behaviors and this simplifies the process modelling. The tuning of the FOPID and FOPI controllers is achieved by using an optimization, as a first step, and in a second step, several fitting functions were used to capture the behavior of the optimal parameters of the controllers. In this way, a new set of tuning rules called FOMCoRoT (Fractional Order Model and Controllers Robust Tuning) is obtained for both FOPID and FOPI controllers. Simulation examples show the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy based on fractional calculus

On the Use of FOPID Controllers for Maintenance Phase of General Anesthesia

This paper investigates the performance achievable with a fractional-order PID regulator controlling the Depth of Hypnosis (measured via the Bispectral Index Scale) through the administration of propofol during the maintenance phase of total intravenous anesthesia. In particular, two different methodologies were applied to tune the controller: in the first case, genetic algorithms (GAs) were used to minimize the integrated absolute error, while in the second case, the isodamping approach-a method that targets phase margin invariance with respect to the process dc gain-was employed. In both cases, the performance was extensively analyzed and compared with that of a standard PID controller by simulating multiple patients through a Monte Carlo method. The results demonstrate that a fractional-order PID controller can be effectively used to control the Depth of Hypnosis, but the improvement with respect to a standard PID controller is marginal

Effect of soil tillage and crop sequence on grain yield and quality of durum wheat in Mediterranean areas

Conservation agriculture (CA) can be very strategic in degradation prone soils of Mediterranean environments to recover soil fertility and consequently improve crop productivity as well as the quality traits of the most widespread crop, durum wheat, with reference to protein accumulation and composition. The results shown by two years of data in a medium long-term experiment (7-year experiment; split-plot design) that combined two tillage practices (conventional tillage (CT) and zero tillage (ZT)) with two crop sequences (wheat monocropping (WW) and wheat-faba bean (WF)) are presented. The combination ZT + WF (CA approach) induced the highest grain yields (617 and 370 g m(-2) in 2016 and 2017, respectively), principally due to an increased number of ears m(-2); on the other hand, the lowest grain yield was recorded under CT + WW (550 and 280 g m(-2) in 2016 and 2017, respectively). CA also demonstrated significant influences on grain quality because the inclusion of faba bean in the rotation favored higher N-remobilization to the grains (79.5% and 77.7% in 2017). Under ZT and WF, all gluten fractions (gliadins (Glia), high molecular-weight glutenins (GS), and low molecular-weight GS) as well as the GS/Glia ratio increased. In durum wheat-based farming systems in Mediterranean areas, the adoption of CA seems to be an optimal choice to combine high quality yields with improved soil fertility

A gain-scheduled PID controller for propofol dosing in anesthesia

6siA gain-scheduled proportional-integral-derivative controller is proposed for the closed-loop dosing of propofol in anesthesia (with the bispectral index as a controlled variable). In particular, it is shown that a different tuning of the parameters should be used during the infusion and maintenance phases. Further, the role of the noise filter is investigated.nonenonePadula, F.; Ionescu, C.; Latronico, N.; Paltenghi, M.; Visioli, A.; Vivacqua, G.Padula, Fabrizio; Ionescu, C.; Latronico, Nicola; Paltenghi, M.; Visioli, Antonio; Vivacqua, Giuli

Human hydroxytyrosol's absorption and excretion from a nutraceutical

Among the various (poly)phenols that are being sold as such or as part of a more complex mixture, hydroxytyrosol (HT) is the only one that bears a European Food Safety Authority health claim. Therefore, several HT-based products are being developed and sold and it becomes necessary to evaluate its accessibility following ingestion. Twenty-one volunteers were recruited for a randomized, crossover, placebo-controlled, and double-blind intervention study.We performed a Latin square design: after one-week washout, i.e. olive-free diet, subjects were randomly assigned to the placebo (maltodextrin), 5, or 25 mg/day HT group. Twenty-four hour urine samples were collected after the intervention week, and baseline urines were collected the week before the study and during periods of washout. The results show that HT given as the foremost component of a nutraceutical preparation is bioavailable and is recovered in the urine chiefly as sulphate-3′

tabAnti-HER2 (erbB-2) oncogene effects of phenolic compounds directly isolated from commercial Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The effects of the olive oil-rich Mediterranean diet on breast cancer risk might be underestimated when HER2 (<it>ERB</it>B2) oncogene-positive and HER2-negative breast carcinomas are considered together. We here investigated the anti-HER2 effects of phenolic fractions directly extracted from Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) in cultured human breast cancer cell lines.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Solid phase extraction followed by semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to isolate phenolic fractions from commercial EVOO. Analytical capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry was performed to check for the composition and to confirm the identity of the isolated fractions. EVOO polyphenolic fractions were tested on their tumoricidal ability against HER2-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer <it>in vitro </it>models using MTT, crystal violet staining, and Cell Death ELISA assays. The effects of EVOO polyphenolic fractions on the expression and activation status of HER2 oncoprotein were evaluated using HER2-specific ELISAs and immunoblotting procedures, respectively.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the fractions mainly containing the <it>single phenols </it>hydroxytyrosol and tyrosol, the <it>polyphenol acid </it>elenolic acid, the <it>lignans </it>(+)-pinoresinol and 1-(+)-acetoxypinoresinol, and the <it>secoiridoids </it>deacetoxy oleuropein aglycone, ligstroside aglycone, and oleuropein aglycone, all the major EVOO polyphenols (<it>i.e. </it>secoiridoids and lignans) were found to induce strong tumoricidal effects within a micromolar range by selectively triggering high levels of apoptotic cell death in HER2-overexpressors. Small interfering RNA-induced depletion of HER2 protein and lapatinib-induced blockade of HER2 tyrosine kinase activity both significantly prevented EVOO polyphenols-induced cytotoxicity. EVOO polyphenols drastically depleted HER2 protein and reduced HER2 tyrosine autophosphorylation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. EVOO polyphenols-induced HER2 downregulation occurred regardless the molecular mechanism contributing to HER2 overexpression (<it>i.e</it>. naturally by gene amplification and ectopically driven by a viral promoter). Pre-treatment with the proteasome inhibitor MG132 prevented EVOO polyphenols-induced HER2 depletion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ability of EVOO-derived polyphenols to inhibit HER2 activity by promoting the proteasomal degradation of the HER2 protein itself, together with the fact that humans have safely been ingesting secoiridoids and lignans as long as they have been consuming olives and OO, support the notion that the stereochemistry of these phytochemicals might provide an excellent and safe platform for the design of new HER2-targeting agents.</p

Olive oil and prevention of chronic diseases: summary of an International conference

Olive oil is the foremost source of fat in the Mediterranean area and, among other features, sets the Mediterranean diet apart from other dietary regimens. In January 2018, the International Olive Council convened several worldwide experts at the Robert Mondavi Institute (Davis, CA), to discuss and summarize the available data on the effects of olive oil consumption on human health. In this paper, we critically provide a synthesis of the main reported findings, which underscore how and why consuming this oil as part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle improves prognosis and extends life- and health-spans

A new model to analyze the temperature effect on the microalgae performance at large scale raceway reactors

In this paper a simplified temperature model for raceway reactors is developed, allowing to determine the temperature of the microalgae culture as a function of reactor design and environmental conditions. The model considers the major phenomena taking place in raceway reactors, especially heat absorption by radiation and heat losses by evaporation among others. The characteristic parameters of the model have been calibrated using genetic algorithms, next being validated with a long set of more than 50 days covering different weather conditions. It is worth to highlight the use of the developed model as a tool to analyze the influence of the temperature on the performance of microalgae cultures at large scale. As example, the annual variation of the performance of up to five different microalgae strains has been determined by computing the temperature index, thus the normalized value of performance of whatever microalgae at the real temperature with respect to that achievable at optimal temperature can be established. Results confirm that only strains tolerant to wide ranges of temperature can be efficiently produced all the year around in large scale outdoor raceway reactors without additional temperature control systems

Olive oil and prevention of chronic diseases: summary of an International conference

Abstract Olive oil is the foremost source of fat in the Mediterranean area and, among other features, sets the Mediterranean diet apart from other dietary regimens. In January 2018, the International Olive Council convened several worldwide experts at the Robert Mondavi Institute (Davis, CA), to discuss and summarize the available data on the effects of olive oil consumption on human health. In this paper, we critically provide a synthesis of the main reported findings, which underscore how and why consuming this oil as part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle improves prognosis and extends life- and health-spans

Olive oil's bitter principle reverses acquired autoresistance to trastuzumab (Herceptin™) in HER2-overexpressing breast cancer cells

[Background] A low incidence of breast cancer in the Mediterranean basin suggests that a high consumption of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) might confer this benefit. While the anti-HER2 oncogene effects of the main ω-9 fatty acid present in EVOO triacylglycerols (i.e., oleic acid) have been recently described, the anti-breast cancer activities of EVOO non-glyceridic constituents -which consist of at least 30 phenolic compounds-, remained to be evaluated. [Methods] Semi-preparative HPLC was used to isolate EVOO polyphenols (i.e., tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein). Both the anti-proliferative and the pro-apoptotic effects of EVOO phenolics were evaluated by using MTT-based quantification of metabolically viable cells and ELISA-based detection of histone-associated DNA fragments, respectively. The nature of the interaction between oleuropein aglycone and the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody trastuzumab (Herceptin™) was mathematically evaluated by the dose-oriented isobologram technique. HER2-specific ELISAs were employed to quantitatively assess both the basal cleavage of the HER2 extracellular domain (ECD) and the expression level of total HER2. The activation status of HER2 was evaluated by immunoblotting procedures using a monoclonal antibody specifically recognizing the tyrosine phosphorylated (Phosphor-Tyr1248) form of HER2. [Results] Among EVOO polyphenols tested, oleuropein aglycone was the most potent EVOO phenolic in decreasing breast cancer cell viability. HER2 gene-amplified SKBR3 cells were ~5-times more sensitive to oleuropein aglycone than HER2-negative MCF-7 cells. Retroviral infection of the HER2 oncogene in MCF-7 cells resulted in a "SKBR3-assimilated" phenotype of hypersensitivity to oleuropein aglycone. An up to 50-fold increase in the efficacy of trastuzumab occurred in the presence of oleuropein aglycone. A preclinical model of acquired autoresistance to trastuzumab (SKBR3/Tzb100 cells) completely recovered trastuzumab sensitivity (> 1,000-fold sensitization) when co-cultured in the presence of oleuropein aglycone. Indeed, the nature of the interaction between oleuropein aglycone and trastuzumab was found to be strongly synergistic in Tzb-resistant SKBR3/Tzb100 cells. Mechanistically, oleuropein aglycone treatment significantly reduced HER2 ECD cleavage and subsequent HER2 auto-phosphorylation, while it dramatically enhanced Tzb-induced down-regulation of HER2 expression. [Conclusion] Olive oil's bitter principle (i.e., oleuropein aglycone) is among the first examples of how selected nutrients from an EVOO-rich "Mediterranean diet" directly regulate HER2-driven breast cancer disease.JAM is the recipient of a Basic, Clinical and Translational Research Award (BCTR0600894) from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (Texas, USA). This work was also supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria -FIS-, Spain, Grants CP05-00090 and PI06-0778 to JAM, and Grant RD06-0020-0028 to JAM, RC and JB)