Food Structure Design: Innovation in food structure-properties relationships

This Special Issue gathers selected contributions from the 1st Congress on Food Structure Design, covering most of the topics described above

La valutazione d’impatto socio-economico e culturale della ricerca nelle scienze umane e sociali: uno studio di caso in una Università del Regno Unito

The aim of this paper is to describe the impact of research on society, economy and culture in the Humanities and Social sciences. In the first part of the paper, we describe the principal characteristics of the evaluation of research impact in the United Kingdom (UK), with a special focus on the new national exercise of research evaluation: the ‘Research Excellence Framework’ (REF2014). In the second part of the paper we present a case study in a British university campus where good practices of impact evaluation have been recently introduced. The main results of this study show that impact evaluation of Social sciences and Humanities research is a today’s key challenge for the academia, especially due to the difficulty in identifying the appropriate indicators for research impact measurement. Finally, we present the main themes of the current debate about the evaluation of the impacts in different fields of research.The  aim  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  the  impact  of  research  on  society,  economy  and culture in the Humanities and Social sciences. In the first part of the paper, we describe the principal characteristics  of  the  evaluation  of  research  impact  in  the  United  Kingdom  (UK),  with  a  special focus on the new national exercise of research evaluation: the ‘Research Excellence Framework’ (REF2014). In the second part of the paper we present a case study in a British university campus where good practices of impact evaluation have been recently introduced. The main results of this study show that impact evaluation of Social sciences and Humanities research is a today’s key challenge  for  the  academia,  especially  due  to the  difficulty  in  identifying  the  appropriate  indicators for research impact measurement. Finally, we present the main themes of the current debate about the evaluation of the impacts in different fields of researc

Empreendimentos hoteleiros: avaliação comparativa dos espaços de unidades habitacionais

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Civil, Florianópolis, 2014.Este trabalho propõe diretrizes de composição dos espaços de unidades habitacionais nos projetos arquitetônicos de interiores de hotéis de negócios, independentes e corporativos, através da avaliação comparativa nos quesitos relativos à forma, geometria, racionalidade e funcionalidade, em amostra composta por quatro empreendimentos hoteleiros na cidade de Florianópolis. A avaliação se dará através de metodologias apropriadas a cada caso, sendo a geometria analisada sob a ótica de teóricos como Ching, Clark & Pause, e da relação da forma de Horton e Haggett, referendados através do estudo de Martins (1999). O quesito forma seguindo a conceituação de Ferreira (1975), e apoiado nas diretrizes definidas pelo MTur/EMBRATUR (2013), através de sua matriz de classificação, avalizada pela SBClass e pela ABIH, se dará através da avaliação da análise de performance do projeto de March e do índice de compacidade de Mascaró. A racionalidade será analisada através do pensamento de Weidle, que defende o uso de um menor emprego de recursos, bem como estará fundamentada na Teoria Econômica da Utilidade. Por outro lado a funcionalidade buscará relacionar os componentes estáticos e dinâmicos definidos por Clark & Pause. As diretrizes traçadas partem da análise comparativa dos resultados obtidos, como: buscar nas UH uma forma regular de planta, mais compacta, com espaços-uso articulados e que se relacionem entre si, de maneira ordenada e funcional; que permitam trajetos lineares onde os ambientes se apresentem de maneira gradativa e setorizada; e cujos ambientes sejam amplos e possibilitem uma circulação confortável ao usuário; de forma a auxiliar empreendedores na obtenção de composições arquitetônicas de unidades habitacionais ideais, visando ambientes de maior produtividade.Abstract : This work proposes guidelines for the composition of spaces of housing units in the architectural interior designs of business hotels, independent and corporate, through benchmarking in questions concerning the form, geometry, rationality and functionality, in a sample consisting of four hotel projects in city of Florianópolis. The evaluation will be through appropriate methodologies for each case, the geometry being analyzed from the perspective of theorists like Ching, Clark & Pause, and the relationship of the form of Horton and Haggett, endorsed by studying Martins (1999). The item form following the conceptualization of Ferreira (1975), and supported the guidelines set by the Ministry of Tourism/EMBRATUR (2013), through its classification matrix, endorsed by SBClass and for the ABIH, will be through the evaluation of performance analysis project March and compactness index of Mascaró. Rationality will be analyzed by thinking of Weidle, which advocates the use of a lower job resources, and will be based on the economic theory of utility. While the functionality will seek to relate the static and dynamic components defined by Clark & Pause. The guidelines outlined run comparative analysis of the results, such as the UH seek a regular plant, more compact, with articulated-use spaces and which relate to each other in an orderly and functional manner; allowing linear paths where environments are presented gradually, sectorized way; and whose environments are large and allow a comfortable flow to the user; in order to assist entrepreneurs in obtaining architectural compositions ideal housing units, aiming at higher productivity environments

SoftHand Pro-D: Matching dynamic content of natural user commands with hand embodiment for enhanced prosthesis control

State of the art of hand prosthetics is divided between simple and reliable gripper-like systems and sophisticate hi-tech poly-articular hands which tend to be complex both in their design and for the patient to operate. In this paper, we introduce the idea of decoding different movement intentions of the patient using the dynamic frequency content of the control signals in a natural way. We move a step further showing how this idea can be embedded in the mechanics of an underactuated soft hand by using only passive damping components. In particular we devise a method to design the hand hardware to obtain a given desired motion. This method, that we call of the dynamic synergies, builds on the theory of linear descriptor systems, and is based on the division of the hand movement in a slow and a fast components. We use this method to evolve the design of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand in a prototype prosthesis which, while still having 19 degrees of freedom and just one motor, can move along two different synergistic directions of motion (and combinations of the two), to perform either a pinch or a power grasp. Preliminary experimental results are presented, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed design

Adaptive Synergies for the Design and Control of the Pisa/IIT SoftHand

In this paper we introduce the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, a novel robot hand prototype designed with the purpose of being robust and easy to control as an industrial gripper, while exhibiting high grasping versatility and an aspect similar to that of the human hand. In the paper we briefly review the main theoretical tools used to enable such simplification, i.e. the neuroscience-based notion of soft synergies. A discussion of several possible actuation schemes shows that a straightforward implementation of the soft synergy idea in an effective design is not trivial. The approach proposed in this paper, called adaptive synergy, rests on ideas coming from underactuated hand design. A synthesis method to realize a desired set of soft synergies through the principled design of adaptive synergy is discussed. This approach leads to the design of hands accommodating in principle an arbitrary number of soft synergies, as demonstrated in grasping and manipulation simulations and experiments with a prototype. As a particular instance of application of the synthesis method of adaptive synergies, the Pisa/IIT SoftHand is described in detail. The hand has 19 joints, but only uses 1 actuator to activate its adaptive synergy. Of particular relevance in its design is the very soft and safe, yet powerful and extremely robust structure, obtained through the use of innovative articulations and ligaments replacing conventional joint design. The design and implementation of the prototype hand are shown and its effectiveness demonstrated through grasping experiments, reported also in multimedia extensio

Preliminary results toward a naturally controlled multi-synergistic prosthetic hand

Robotic hands embedding human motor control principles in their mechanical design are getting increasing interest thanks to their simplicity and robustness, combined with good performance. Another key aspect of these hands is that humans can use them very effectively thanks to the similarity of their behavior with real hands. Nevertheless, controlling more than one degree of actuation remains a challenging task. In this paper, we take advantage of these characteristics in a multi-synergistic prosthesis. We propose an integrated setup composed of Pisa/IIT SoftHand 2 and a control strategy which simultaneously and proportionally maps the human hand movements to the robotic hand. The control technique is based on a combination of non-negative matrix factorization and linear regression algorithms. It also features a real-time continuous posture compensation of the electromyographic signals based on an IMU. The algorithm is tested on five healthy subjects through an experiment in a virtual environment. In a separate experiment, the efficacy of the posture compensation strategy is evaluated on five healthy subjects and, finally, the whole setup is successfully tested in performing realistic daily life activities

PROTOCOLO HIIT APLICANDO PARA ALUNOS DE ACADEMIA DURANTE CORRINA NA ESTEIRA

Após revisão de literatura, foi possível afirmar sem dúvida que os treinos de alta intensidade promovem mudanças no desempenho nas variáveis fisiológicas de quem utiliza o HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training, ainda não podemos criar um consenso da magnitude dos benefícios do HIIT, principalmente porque há diferentes tipos de estímulos, de intensidade de estímulos e tempo de recuperações, número de repetições, duração de cada estimulo e de cada recuperação, relação esforço pausa. O HIIT é caracterizado uma atividade de alta intensidade com curto período de intervalo de descanso, o chamado HIIT de baixo volume geralmente é de aproximadamente 10 minutos de exercício intenso com duração total da atividade de 30 minutos levando em conta aquecimento, resfriamento e intervalos de descanso. Um teste comum de treino chamado Wingate onde o praticante faz e 4-6 séries em alta intensidade com intervalo de 4 minutos, esse teste possibilita o aumento da capacidade oxidativa muscular com capacidade enzimática mitocondrial maximizada, aumento da sensibilidade a insulina, perda de tecido adiposo, aumento do consumo de oxigênio pós exercício, aumento de massa magra nos membros inferiores e aumento de VO2max. Neste contexto, este estágio teve por objetivo aplicar um protocolo HIIT em praticantes de academia que possuíam um nível avançado de treinamento e que estavam dispostos a provar o treino de corrida. Noto-se que o desempenho melhorou muito em pouco tempo, e para a surpresa dos alunos até mesmo o treino de musculação teve o desempenho maximizado

Experiences, Emotions, and Health Consequences among COVID-19 Survivors after Intensive Care Unit Hospitalization

Literature suggested that COVID-19 patients experienced hospitalization as a physically and psychologically stressful event, with the risk to develop post-traumatic stress symptoms. The study aimed to understand psychological experiences of COVID-19 survivors with severe complications during and after ICU hospitalization, and any relevant health consequences. From October 2020 to January 2021, a qualitative study was conducted in Italy via semi-structured interviews by phone or video call addressed to COVID-19 survivors, randomly enrolled among people who released their stories publicly on newspapers, television, or social media. Fifteen individuals (three women and twelve men with average age of 56.4 years) were interviewed. Four main themes emerged: (i) emotion of fear; (ii) isolation and loneliness; (iii) unawareness about the gravity of the situation as a protective factor; (iv) "Long COVID" as consequences of the disease on physical and psychological health. During hospitalization, 66.7% of participants had mild or moderate values of anxiety and depression. After discharge, 86.7% moved to normal values. The results suggest that long-COVID is an important problem to manage to improve patients' quality of life. It is essential to guarantee a holistic take in charge starting before the discharge and continuing care after discharge in the community where they live

Design and Assessment of Control Maps for Multi-Channel sEMG-Driven Prostheses and Supernumerary Limbs

Proportional and simultaneous control algorithms are considered as one of the most effective ways of mapping electromyographic signals to an artificial device. However, the applicability of these methods is limited by the high number of electromyographic features that they require to operate—typically twice as many the actuators to be controlled. Indeed, extracting many independent electromyographic signals is challenging for a number of reasons—ranging from technological to anatomical. On the contrary, the number of actively moving parts in classic prostheses or extra-limbs is often high. This paper faces this issue, by proposing and experimentally assessing a set of algorithms which are capable of proportionally and simultaneously control as many actuators as there are independent electromyographic signals available. Two sets of solutions are considered. The first uses as input electromyographic signals only, while the second adds postural measurements to the sources of information. At first, all the proposed algorithms are experimentally tested in terms of precision, efficiency, and usability on twelve able-bodied subjects, in a virtual environment. A state-of-the-art controller using twice the amount of electromyographic signals as input is adopted as benchmark. We then performed qualitative tests, where the maps are used to control a prototype of upper limb prosthesis. The device is composed of a robotic hand and a wrist implementing active prono-supination movement. Eight able-bodied subjects participated to this second round of testings. Finally, the proposed strategies were tested in exploratory experiments involving two subjects with limb loss. Results coming from the evaluations in virtual and realistic settings show encouraging results and suggest the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Cross-talk between chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) tumor B cells and mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs): implications for neoplastic cell survival

Leukemic cells from Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) patients interact with stromal cells of the surrounding microenvironment. Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (MSCs) represent the main population in CLL marrow stroma, which may play a key role for disease support and progression. In this study we evaluated whether MSCs influence in vitro CLL cell survival. MSCs were isolated from the bone marrow of 46 CLL patients and were characterized by flow cytometry analysis. Following co-culture of MSCs and leukemic B cells, we demonstrated that MSCs were able to improve leukemic B cell viability, this latter being differently dependent from the signals coming from MSCs. In addition, we found that the co-culture of MSCs with leukemic B cells induced an increased production of IL-8, CCL4, CCL11, and CXCL10 chemokines.As far as drug resistance is concerned, MSCs counteract the cytotoxic effect of Fludarabine/Cyclophosphamide administration in vivo, whereas they do not protect CLL cells from the apoptosis induced by the kinase inhibitors Bafetinib and Ibrutinib. The evidence that leukemic clones are conditioned by environmental stimuli suggest new putative targets for therapy in CLL patients