Engineering the Thermoelectrical Properties of PEDOT:PSS by Alkali Metal Ion Effect

Engineering the electrical properties of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate)(PEDOT:PSS)holds great potential for various applications such a...     

Radical Scavenging,Total Antioxidant Capacity,and Antiproliferative Activity of Phenolic Extracts from Extra Virgin Olive Oil by Cultivar ‘Frantoio’

The beneficial health effects of extra virgin olive oil are due to both its high content of monounsaturated fatty acids and its high content of phenolic compounds, which have recently attracted research interest. In this context, the aim of this work was to examine the in vitro antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the phenolic extract obtained from extra virgin olive oil from O. europea cultivar ‘Frantoio’ (samples 1–4), one of the main varieties cultivated in Italy. The total phenolic content was determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method and instead the phenolic profile was obtained by HPLC coupled to a diode array detector and mass spectrometry. Extra virgin olive oil extracts exhibited high antioxidant activity through different mechanisms of action and these activities are related to the phenolic content. Sample 3 demonstrated the strongest free radical scavenging activity with IC₅₀ value of 56.5 μg/mL. The reducing ability measured with FRAP assay revealed that samples ranged from 91.3 to 156 μM Fe(II)/g. The same interesting trend was observed with Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity value. Moreover, the virgin olive oils showed a good oxidative stability ranging between 19 to 32 h. Antiproliferative activity evaluated by SRB assay revealed that phenolic extracts from the cultivar ‘Frantoio’ showed a strong antiproliferative activity against CORL-23 cell line with an IC₅₀ value of 14.5 and 55.9 μg/mL for samples 3 and 1, respectively, and these results are comparable to the positive control vinblastine. Overall, these results showed that extra virgin olive oils from the cultivar ‘Frantoio’, may represent an interesting source of phenolic compounds as functional components that could be consumed in diets and/or used for the elaboration of functional food and pharmaceutical industries.     

Data challenges of time domain astronomy

Astronomy has been at the forefront of the development of the techniques and methodologies of data intensive science for over a decade with large sky surveys and distributed efforts such as the Virtual Observatory. However, it faces a new data deluge with the next generation of synoptic sky surveys which are opening up the time domain for discovery and exploration. This brings both new scientific opportunities and fresh challenges, in terms of data rates from robotic telescopes and exponential complexity in linked data, but also for data mining algorithms used in classification and decision making. In this paper, we describe how an informatics-based approach—part of the so-called “fourth paradigm” of scientific discovery—is emerging to deal with these. We review our experiences with the Palomar-Quest and Catalina Real-Time Transient Sky Surveys; in particular, addressing the issue of the heterogeneity of data associated with transient astronomical events (and other sensor networks) and how to manage and analyze it.     

Toward overcoming culture, skill and situation hurdles in Human-Computer Interaction

This paper proposes a new effective strategy for designing and implementing interactive systems overcoming culture, skill and situation hurdles in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The strategy to identify and reduce these hurdles is developed in the framework of a methodology based on a recently introduced model of HCI, and exploits the technological innovations of XML (Extensible Markup Language). HCI is modelled as a cyclic process in which the user and the interactive system communicate by materializing and interpreting a sequence of messages. The interaction process is formalized by specifying both the physical message appearance and the computational aspect of the interaction. This formalization allows the adoption of notation traditionally adopted by users in their workplaces as the starting point of the interactive system design. In this way, the human–system interaction language takes into account the users’ culture. Moreover, the methodology permits user representatives to build a hierarchy of systems progressively adapted to users’ situations, skills and habits, according to the work organization in the domain considered. The strategy is proved to be effective by describing how to implement it using BANCO (Browsing Adaptive Network for Changing user Operativity), a feasibility prototype based on XML, which allows the hierarchy implementation and system adaptations. Several examples from an environmental case under study are used throughout the paper to illustrate the methodology and the effectiveness of the technology adopted. Published online: 4 June 2002     

Boosting text segmentation via progressive classification

A novel approach for reconciling tuples stored as free text into an existing attribute schema is proposed. The basic idea is to subject the available text to progressive classification, i.e., a multi-stage classification scheme where, at each intermediate stage, a classifier is learnt that analyzes the textual fragments not reconciled at the end of the previous steps. Classification is accomplished by an ad hoc exploitation of traditional association mining algorithms, and is supported by a data transformation scheme which takes advantage of domain-specific dictionaries/ontologies. A key feature is the capability of progressively enriching the available ontology with the results of the previous stages of classification, thus significantly improving the overall classification accuracy. An extensive experimental evaluation shows the effectiveness of our approach.     

Experimental validation of a geographical information systems-based procedure for predicting pesticide exposure in surface water

A GIS-based procedure for predicting pesticide exposure in surface waters has been applied on a pilot river basin characterized by intensive agricultural activity. The predictive approach has been validated through experimental monitoring, performed by collecting manual and automatic water samples during the productive season. Five active ingredients (terbuthylazine, metolachlor, alachlor, linuron, fenitrothion) were selected for analysis to validate the predictive approach. Comparison between predicted and experimental values showed good agreement for terbuthylazine and metolachlor (used in large volumes within the basin), demonstrating the reliability of the approach. However, some anomalous results were obtained for some of the other chemicals, which serve to highlight the difficulties in getting reliable input data, in particular on application patterns (rate and time). Furthermore, the value of mapping pesticide exposure on the medium-large scale is described, and the limitations of the reported predictive approach are discussed.