Inverse Analysis of Impact Test Data: Experimental Study on Polymeric Materials Displaying Brittle Behaviour

This paper deals with the influence of the testing equipment on impact load measurements. A previously developed method of analysis and processing of the experimental data based on a refined analogical model of the impact event and inverse problem techniques is used. This method makes it possible to obtain the mechanical response of the material, notwithstanding the disturbance of the dynamic effects associated to the test. Results from tests carried out both on falling weight and swing pendulum instrumented testing machines are compared. It is shown that this method can give an accurate estimation of the actual bending force in impact testing independent of the testing equipment.     

Contextual Fear Conditioning Is Associated With Lateralized Expression of the Immediate Early Gene c-fos in the Central and Basolateral Amygdalar Nuclei.

Fos, the protein product of the immediate early gene c-fos, was used to map functional circuitry underlying contextual conditioned fear. Male rats were given footshocks in a distinctive context and later tested using freezing as the behavioral measure and compared with no-shock and no-retention-test control groups. An increased number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons was found in the lateral part of the central nucleus and in the anterior basolateral and lateral amygdalar nuclei in the brains of the conditioned-fear group compared with controls. Further, a greater number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons was observed in the right central and anterior basolateral nuclei compared with the number of labeled neurons in these structures on the left. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ecological Neural Networks for Object Recognition and Generalization

Generalization is a critical capacity for organisms. Modeling the behavior of organisms with neural networks, some type of generalizations appear to be accessible to neural networks but other types do not. In this paper we present two simulations. In the first simulation we show that while neural networks can recognize where an object is located in the retina even if they have never experienced that object in that position ('where' generalization subtask), they have difficulty in recognizing the identity of a familiar object in a new position ('what' generalization subtask). In the second simulation we explore the hypothesis that organisms find another solution to the problem of recognizing objects in different positions on their retina: they move their eyes so that objects are always seen in the same position in the retina. This strategy emerges spontaneously in ecological neural networks that are allowed to move their 'eye' in order to bring different portions of the visible world in the central portion of their retina.     

Working Together Apart? Building a Knowledge‐Sharing Culture for Global Virtual Teams

A new impetus for greater knowledge‐sharing among team members needs to be emphasized due to the emergence of a significant new form of working known as ‘global virtual teams’. As information and communication technologies permeate every aspect of organizational life and impact the way teams communicate, work and structure relationships, global virtual teams require innovative communication and learning capabilities for different team members to effectively work together across cultural, organizational and geographical boundaries. Whereas information technology‐facilitated communication processes rely on technologically advanced systems to succeed, the ability to create a knowledge‐sharing culture within a global virtual team rests on the existence (and maintenance) of intra‐team respect, mutual trust, reciprocity and positive individual and group relationships. Thus, some of the inherent questions we address in our paper are: (1) what are the cross‐cultural challenges faced by global virtual teams?; (2) how do organizations develop a knowledge sharing culture to promote effective organizational learning among culturally‐diverse team members? and; (3) what are some of the practices that can help maximize the performance of global virtual teams? We conclude by examining ways that global virtual teams can be more effectively managed in order to reach their potential in this new interconnected world and put forward suggestions for further research.     

Implicit fault-tolerant control: application to induction motors

In this paper we propose an innovative way of dealing with the design of fault-tolerant control systems. We show how the nonlinear output regulation theory can be successfully adopted in order to design a regulator able to offset the effect of all possible faults which can occur and, in doing so, also to detect and isolate the occurred fault. The regulator is designed by embedding the (possible nonlinear) internal model of the fault. This idea is applied to the design of a fault-tolerant controller for induction motors in presence of both rotor and stator mechanical faults.     

Multipurpose modular experimental station for the DiProI beamline of Fermi@Elettra free electron laser

We present a compact modular apparatus with a flexible design that will be operated at the DiProI beamline of the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser (FEL) for performing static and time-resolved coherent diffraction imaging experiments, taking advantage of the full coherence and variable polarization of the short seeded FEL pulses. The apparatus has been assembled and the potential of the experimental setup is demonstrated by commissioning tests with coherent synchrotron radiation. This multipurpose experimental station will be open to general users after installation at the Fermi@Elettra free electron laser in 2011.     

Proteins as biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative stress in diseases: the contribution of redox proteomics

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) contribute to the pathogenesis and/or progression of several human diseases. Proteins are important molecular signposts of oxidative/nitrosative damage. However, it is generally unresolved whether the presence of oxidatively/nitrosatively modified proteins has a causal role or simply reflects secondary epiphenomena. Only direct identification and characterization of the modified protein(s) in a given pathophysiological condition can decipher the potential roles played by ROS/RNS-induced protein modifications. During the last few years, mass spectrometry (MS)-based technologies have contributed in a significant way to foster a better understanding of disease processes. The study of oxidative/nitrosative modifications, investigated by redox proteomics, is contributing to establish a relationship between pathological hallmarks of disease and protein structural and functional abnormalities. MS-based technologies promise a contribution in a new era of molecular medicine, especially in the discovery of diagnostic biomarkers of oxidative/nitrosative stress, enabling early detection of diseases. Indeed, identification and characterization of oxidatively/nitrosatively modified proteins in human diseases has just begun.     

Progress and prospects of the human–robot collaboration

Recent technological advances in hardware design of the robotic platforms enabled the implementation of various control modalities for improved interactions with humans and unstructured environments. An important application area for the integration of robots with such advanced interaction capabilities is human–robot collaboration. This aspect represents high socio-economic impacts and maintains the sense of purpose of the involved people, as the robots do not completely replace the humans from the work process. The research community’s recent surge of interest in this area has been devoted to the implementation of various methodologies to achieve intuitive and seamless human–robot-environment interactions by incorporating the collaborative partners’ superior capabilities, e.g. human’s cognitive and robot’s physical power generation capacity. In fact, the main purpose of this paper is to review the state-of-the-art on intermediate human–robot interfaces (bi-directional), robot control modalities, system stability, benchmarking and relevant use cases, and to extend views on the required future developments in the realm of human–robot collaboration.     

Natural polysaccharides platforms for oral controlled release of ketoprofen lysine salt

Context: Ketoprofen lysinate (KL) is one of the most widely used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in the symptomatic treatment of some chronic inflammatory diseases. Compared to ketoprofen, KL shows better pharmacokinetics and tolerability. However, due to its short half-life of 1–2?h, a multiple dose regimen is required for oral administration. Thus, the present work deals with its encapsulation in a hydrogel-based system by prilling in order to prolong its activity.

Objective: In this paper, we propose alginate and pectin as carriers and release tailoring agent for the development of hydrogel-based beads for KL retarded and sustained release.

Materials and methods: Beads were produced by a Nisco Encapsulator® using alginate or pectin. Operative variables were optimized to produce beads with desired morphology and size. Solid state properties were analyzed by SEM and DSC. Drug release performance was studied by Pharmacopeia pH-change assay to simulate gastrointestinal environment.

Results and discussion: Prilling technique was successfully used to encapsulate high soluble drugs as KL in polysaccharides-based hydrogels. Pectin proved to be a proper polymer able to encapsulate ketoprofen lysine salt. Formulation (F8) showed good morphological properties and size, high drug content (15.6%) and encapsulation efficiency (93.5%) and promising drug release profiles. Hosting F8 in an acid-resistant capsule (DR^®caps) a delivery platform has been developed to control KL release in a delayed (90?min lag time) and prolonged way (270?min complete release).

Conclusion: The platform may be proposed as potentially useful in the oral administration of NSAIDs in chronic inflammatory diseases affected by circadian rhythm.