The multi-modal interface of Robot-Era multi-robot services tailored for the elderly

Socially assistive robotic platforms are now a realistic option for the long-term care of ageing populations. Elderly users may benefit from many services provided by robots operating in different environments, such as providing assistance inside apartments, serving in shared facilities of buildings or guiding people outdoors. In this paper, we present the experience gained within the EU FP7 ROBOT-ERA project towards the objective of implementing easy-to-use and acceptable service robotic system for the elderly. In particular, we detail the user-centred design and the experimental evaluation in realistic environments of a web-based multi-modal user interface tailored for elderly users of near future multi-robot services. Experimental results demonstrate positive evaluation of usability and willingness to use by elderly users, especially those less experienced with technological devices who could benefit more from the adoption of robotic services. Further analyses showed how multi-modal modes of interaction support more flexible and natural elderly–robot interaction, make clear the benefits for the users and, therefore, increase its acceptability. Finally, we provide insights and lessons learned from the extensive experimentation, which, to the best of our knowledge, is one of the largest experimentation of a multi-robot multi-service system so far.     

Engineering of poly(ε-caprolactone) microcarriers to modulate protein encapsulation capability and release kinetic

Drug delivery applications using biodegradable polymeric microspheres are becoming an important means of delivering therapeutic agents. The aim of this work was to modulate the microporosity of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microcarriers to control protein loading capability and release profile. PCL microparticles loaded with BSA (bovine serum albumin) have been de novo synthesized with double emulsion solvent evaporation technique transferred and adapted for different polymer concentrations (1.7 and 3% w/v) and stabilizer present in the inner aqueous phase (0.05, 0.5 and 1% w/v). SEM (scanning electron microscope) and CLSM (confocal laser scanning microscope) analysis map the drug distribution in homogeneously distributed cavities inside the microspheres with dimensions that can be modulated by varying double emulsion process parameters. The inner structure of BSA-loaded microspheres is greatly affected by the surfactant concentration in the internal aqueous phase, while a slight influence of polymer concentration in the oil phase was observed. The surfactant concentration mainly determines microspheres morphology, as well as drug release kinetics, as confirmed by our in-vitro BSA release study. Moreover, the entrapped protein remained unaltered during the protein encapsulation process, retaining its bio-activity and structure, as shown through a dedicated gel chromatographic analytical method.     

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Reprograms Circulating Extracellular Vesicles from ACS Patients Impairing Their Cardio-Protective Properties

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are promising therapeutic tools in the treatment of cardiovascular disorders. We have recently shown that EVs from patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) undergoing sham pre-conditioning, before percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were cardio-protective, while EVs from patients experiencing remote ischemic pre-conditioning (RIPC) failed to induce protection against ischemia/reperfusion Injury (IRI). No data on EVs from ACS patients recovered after PCI are currently available. Therefore, we herein investigated the cardio-protective properties of EVs, collected after PCI from the same patients. EVs recovered from 30 patients randomly assigned (1:1) to RIPC (EV-RIPC) or sham procedures (EV-naive) ({"type":"clinical-trial","attrs":{"text":"NCT02195726","term_id":"NCT02195726"}}NCT02195726) were characterized by TEM, FACS and Western blot analysis and evaluated for their mRNA content. The impact of EVs on hypoxia/reoxygenation damage and IRI, as well as the cardio-protective signaling pathways, were investigated in vitro (HMEC-1 + H9c2 co-culture) and ex vivo (isolated rat heart). Both EV-naive and EV-RIPC failed to drive cardio-protection both in vitro and ex vivo. Consistently, EV treatment failed to activate the canonical cardio-protective pathways. Specifically, PCI reduced the EV-naive Dusp6 mRNA content, found to be crucial for their cardio-protective action, and upregulated some stress- and cell-cycle-related genes in EV-RIPC. We provide the first evidence that in ACS patients, PCI reprograms the EV cargo, impairing EV-naive cardio-protective properties without improving EV-RIPC functional capability.     

Transient measurement of phononic states with covariance-based stochastic spectroscopy

We present a novel approach to transient Raman spectroscopy, which combines stochastic probe pulses and a covariance-based detection to measure stimulated Raman...     

Optimization of edible Alyssum homalocarpum seed gum-chitosan coating formulation to improve the postharvest storage potential and quality of apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.)

Edible coating based on Alyssum homalocarpum seed gum (AHSG) and chitosan for coating of fresh apricot was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM). The independent variables included concentrations of AHSG and chitosan in coating solution. The response variables studied were total soluble solid, weight loss, titratably acidity, pH, reducing sugar, moisture content, and firmness. Results indicated that RSM models were significantly (p < .05) qualified for all response variables, except for total soluble solid and titratable acidity. The regression models demonstrated R² ranging from .78 to .99. AHSG concentration influenced the weight loss, pH, and firmness, while chitosan concentration had an effect on pH and moisture content. This study showed that the coating can improve apricot firmness and stability in terms of weight loss, pH, and moisture content. The study suggested that a combination of AHSG 1.02% (w/w) and chitosan 0.33% (w/w) is the best one to achieve the desirable responses.     

Fiber quality of emmer (Triticum dicoccumSchubler) and einkorn wheat (T monococcumL) landraces as determined by analytical pyrolysis

Hulled wheat grain is used mainly in the alternative or health food market. Most of the suggested beneficial effects of these cereals are due to specific characteristics of their fibre. Pyrolysis/gas-chromatography/mass-spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) has proved to be a reproducible analytical tool for fibre analysis applicable to the analysis of cereal fibre. Pericarp fibre of 10 emmer and einkorn wheat landraces were analysed by PY/GC/MS and compared to a test durum wheat variety. The pyrolysis fragments derived from the polysaccharide fraction were significantly more abundant in emmers than in the other genotypes, whereas the highest percentage of lignin-derived pyrolysis fragments was detected in durum wheat. The genotype groups (winter and spring emmers, einkorn and durum wheat) were satisfactorily discriminated on the basis of the molecular composition of the fibre, whereas a discrimination within groups was not possible due to the limited number of samples available. The results suggest that the native emmer genetic material may represent a source of high-value dietary fibre. Breeding should aim at preserving such characters. © 1998 Society of Chemical Industry     

Structural characterization of In2O3 hierarchical microwires synthesized through decomposition thermal treatment of InSe single crystal

In this paper, we report the obtention of In₂O₃ nanostructured microwires by the decomposition thermal treatment of InSe single crystal in two-steps under an oxygen–ammonia flow without the presence of any catalyst. Long In₂O₃ microwires with uniform shape and homogeneous surface were first synthesized through thermal treatment of InSe single crystal at temperature of about 640 °C; then, furnace temperature was increased to 750 °C and, as annealing time proceeded, the obtained microwires served as substrates on which nanorod branches grew. The shape and the structure of the microarchitectures were characterized by means scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected area diffraction pattern, X-Ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. Our results indicated that In₂O₃ primary wires with a clean surface grew in the [100] direction and that the secondary protuberances grew in the [011] direction. A possible growth mechanism of the hierarchical microwires was also proposed.     

Non-lithographic SERS substrates: tailoring surface chemistry for Au nanoparticle cluster assembly

Near‐field plasmonic coupling and local field enhancement in metal nanoarchitectures, such as arrangements of nanoparticle clusters, have application in many technologies from medical diagnostics, solar cells, to sensors. Although nanoparticle‐based cluster assemblies have exhibited signal enhancements in surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors, it is challenging to achieve high reproducibility in SERS response using low‐cost fabrication methods. Here an innovative method is developed for fabricating self‐organized clusters of metal nanoparticles on diblock copolymer thin films as SERS‐active structures. Monodisperse, colloidal gold nanoparticles are attached via a crosslinking reaction on self‐organized chemically functionalized poly(methyl methacrylate) domains on polystyrene‐block‐poly(methyl methacrylate) templates. Thereby nanoparticle clusters with sub‐10‐nanometer interparticle spacing are achieved. Varying the molar concentration of functional chemical groups and crosslinking agent during the assembly process is found to affect the agglomeration of Au nanoparticles into clusters. Samples with a high surface coverage of nanoparticle cluster assemblies yield relative enhancement factors on the order of 10⁹ while simultaneously producing uniform signal enhancements in point‐to‐point measurements across each sample. High enhancement factors are associated with the narrow gap between nanoparticles assembled in clusters in full‐wave electromagnetic simulations. Reusability for small‐molecule detection is also demonstrated. Thus it is shown that the combination of high signal enhancement and reproducibility is achievable using a completely non‐lithographic fabrication process, thereby producing SERS substrates having high performance at low cost.     

Color space transformations for digital photography exploiting information about the illuminant estimation process

The color reproduction accuracy is a key factor to the overall perceived image quality in digital photography. In this framework, both the illuminant estimation process and the color correction matrix concur in the formation of the overall perceived image quality. To the best of our knowledge, the two processes have always been studied separately, thus ignoring the interactions between them. We investigate here these interactions, showing how the color correction transform amplifies the illuminant estimation errors. We demonstrate that incorporating knowledge about the illuminant estimation behavior in the optimization of the color correction matrix makes it possible to alleviate the error amplification. Different strategies to improve color accuracy under both perfect and imperfect white point estimations are investigated, and the experimental results obtained with a digital camera simulator are reported.