Ocean colour validation activities at the Acqua Alta Oceanographic Tower in the northern Adriatic Sea

The development and validation of ocean colour products require the availability of in situ atmospheric and marine data. Since 1995, the Coastal Atmosphere and Sea Time Series (CoASTS) Program ensures the collection of an in situ comprehensive set of measurements taken from an oceanographic tower in the northern Adriatic Sea. An example of a validation exercise is presented through the comparison of in situ and satellite-derived aerosol optical thickness at various wavelengths in the 443–865?nm spectral interval.     

Synthesis and characterization of lanthanum bonded agar-carbomer hydrogel:a promising tool for biomedical research

Agar-Carbomer(branched poly(acrylic acid)) hydrogel,an injectable bio-resorbable scaffold with a controlled nanostructure specifically designed for neural cell housing,was developed together with a new protocol for building three dimensional biohybrid cell/hydrogel systems.In order to overcome classic structural analysis inconveniences due to the high water amount,which affects instruments results and reliability,agar-Carbomer hydrogels were synthesized by microwave-assisted block copolymerization together with La3+ salts.Propylene glycol,glycerol and buffered saline solution were used as cross-linking agents and solvent,respectively.Biomaterial properties were not affected by the presence of lanthanum,and were checked via swelling and rheological analysis.Moreover,the presence of La3+ within the polymeric network was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis,environmental scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy.The results showed that the rare earth presented uniform distribution in the hydrogel network due to the formation of chemical bonds after polymerization without being modified its luminescence emission spectrum that allowed hydrogel detection.These results made the obtained host-guest system a useful tool for analytical research studies concerning regenerative medical applications that could also be potentially taken up with in vivo experiments.     

Research on probabilistic methods for control system design

A novel approach based on probability and randomization has emerged to synergize with the standard deterministic methods for control of systems with uncertainty. The main objective of this paper is to provide a broad perspective on this area of research known as “probabilistic robust control”, and to address in a systematic manner recent advances. The focal point is on design methods, based on the interplay between uncertainty randomization and convex optimization, and on the illustration of specific control applications.     

Space and time basis function design for the method of moments in time‐domain analysis of wire and planar structures

In this article, an algorithm able to deal at the same time with wire frame and surface patch models for the method of moments in time domain is presented. After a unified theory combining both models, attention is focused on stability dependence issues on the time basis function chosen and on other algorithm parameters. An accurate analysis of time interpolation functions and of their time filtering properties is provided. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2011.     

An ontology-based fuzzy decision support system for multiple sclerosis

The use of Magnetic Resonance (MR) as a supporting tool in the diagnosis and monitoring of multiple sclerosis (MS) and in the assessment of treatment effects requires the accurate determination of cerebral white matter lesion (WML) volumes. In order to automatically support neuroradiologists in the classification of WMLs, an ontology-based fuzzy decision support system (DSS) has been devised and implemented. The DSS encodes high-level, specialized medical knowledge in terms of ontologies and fuzzy rules and applies this knowledge in conjunction with a fuzzy inference engine to classify WMLs and to obtain a measure of their volumes. The performance of the DSS has been quantitatively evaluated on 120 patients affected by MS. Specifically, binary classification results have been first obtained by applying thresholds on fuzzy outputs and then evaluated, by means of ROC curves, in terms of trade-off between sensitivity and specificity. Similarity measures of WMLs have been also computed for a further quantitative analysis. Moreover, a statistical analysis has been carried out for appraising the DSS influence on the diagnostic tasks of physicians. The evaluation has shown that the DSS offers an innovative and valuable way to perform automated WML classification in real clinical settings.     

A new software architecture for developing and testing algorithms for space exploration missions

In recent years, planet exploration has received an increasing interest due to the possibility of exploiting planet resources and assuring a human–robotic colonized presence on suitable planetary surfaces. These goals can be reached through the development of smart robots, which are able to work on their own and without requiring a constant human supervision but, at the same time, assuring a great level of safety and reliability. To this aim, the development of effective architectures, concerning both software and hardware issues, could represent a great improvement toward this ambitious objective. This paper presents a novel modular architecture called Test Bench for Robotics and Autonomy (TBRA), the main objective of which is to create a test bench for rover autonomy missions where different implementations of a particular subsystem can be easily tested, while keeping the rest of the system unchanged. Thus, it allows the developers to be able to compare the results of tests and understand which version works better. Such architecture has been built on top of the Workframe, a generic middleware for real-time robotics. This two-layered approach allows the final user to deal only with the TBRA interface, which is designed to be extremely simple to use and takes care of most real-time programming problems, while allowing flexibility in the development, maintenance and future extension of the TBRA itself.     

A Hydrogel Platform that Incorporates Laminin Isoforms for Efficient Presentation of Growth Factors – Neural Growth and Osteogenesis

Laminins (LMs) are important structural proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The abundance of every LM isoform is tissue-dependent, suggesting that LM has tissue-specific roles. LM binds growth factors (GFs), which are powerful cytokines widely used in tissue engineering due to their ability to control stem cell differentiation. Currently, the most commonly used ECM mimetic material in vitro is Matrigel, a matrix of undefined composition containing LM and various GFs, but subjected to batch variability and lacking control of physicochemical properties. Inspired by Matrigel, a new and completely defined hydrogel platform based on hybrid LM-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels with controllable stiffness (1–25 kPa) and degradability is proposed. Different LM isoforms are used to bind and efficiently display GFs (here, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) and beta-nerve growth factor (β-NGF)), enabling their solid-phase presentation at ultralow doses to specifically target a range of tissues. The potential of this platform to trigger stem cell differentiation toward osteogenic lineages and stimulate neural cells growth in 3D, is demonstrated. These hydrogels enable 3D, synthetic, defined composition, and reproducible cell culture microenvironments reflecting the complexity of the native ECM, where GFs in combination with LM isoforms yield the full diversity of cellular processes.     

A SiGe BiCMOS 24-GHz receiver front-end for automotive short-range radar

This paper presents a fully integrated SiGe BiCMOS 24-GHz receiver front-end implemented for a ultra-wideband automotive short-range radar sensor. The circuit consists of a homodyne I/Q down-converter and a 24-GHz synthesizer. The receiver front-end is able to achieve a power conversion gain as high as 30 dB and a 6-dB noise figure, while preserving high linearity performance thanks to a 1-bit gain control. The frequency synthesizer, which also includes an on-chip loop filter, guarantees a phase noise of −104 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset from the 24.125-GHz carrier and a 4.7-GHz tuning range from 20.4 to 25.1 GHz.     

Low-voltage nanopower clock generator for RFID applications

The design of an on-chip RC-based oscillator, implemented in a standard BiCMOS process, without any external component, is presented. The proposed oscillator provides a clock signal at a frequency of 50 kHz with a temperature coefficient smaller than 0.3%/^°C over a temperature range from 0 to , without any external trimming. The proposed oscillator operates with a supply voltage of 0.8 V and has a power consumption of at room temperature. The chip area is .