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Blending recycled poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with elastane recovered from textile fibers: A sustainable valorization approach
No full textThe recycling of elastane from textile waste and its reintegration into polymeric matrices represents a possible pathway towards the achievement of a real circular economy in the textile industry. This study investigates the dissolution and recovery of elastane using environmentally friendly solvents and its subsequent blending with recycled poly(lactic acid) (PLA). Among tested solvents, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was the most effective, dissolving elastane at 120 °C with a solubility limit of 40.77 mg EL/g DMSO at 160 °C. Recovery via non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS) allowed for 75–80 % solvent recovery, with residual DMSO reduced down to 5–6 % after drying. Blends of recycled PLA with recovered elastane (5–15 wt.%) were produced via melt extrusion and evaluated for mechanical and thermal properties. Tensile tests revealed that adding elastane reduced the elastic modulus (from 3.52 GPa for PLA to 3.14 GPa for PLA+15) while increasing elongation at break. However, tensile strength declined due to poor interfacial adhesion between PLA and elastane. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) confirmed elastane's limited compatibility with PLA, showing separate glass transition temperatures at ∼60 °C (PLA) and ∼10 °C (elastane). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated an increase in PLA crystallinity (from 19.5 % for PLA to 24.9 % for PLA+5), followed by stabilization around 20.7 % at higher elastane content. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed elastane dispersion within the PLA matrix, with droplet coalescence at higher elastane concentrations. Despite its limited compatibility, this study highlights the potential for elastane to have a second life and demonstrates the feasibility of incorporating it into recycled PLA. It lays the foundation for future research on compatibilization strategies to improve mechanical performance
Composite Whole-Body Control of Two-Wheeled Robots
No full textDue to their fast and efficient locomotion, two-wheeled humanoids are fascinating systems with the potential to be involved in many application domains, including healthcare, manufacturing, and many others. However, these robots constitute a challenging case of study for control purposes due to the two-wheeled inverted pendulum dynamics that characterizes their mobility and support, as it is underactuated and unstable. In this article, we propose a novel whole-body control approach to stabilize two-wheeled humanoids. To tackle the control problem of their forward motion and pitch equilibrium, leveraging on the observation that such systems are usually characterized by a faster and a slower dynamics (being the pitch angle faster and the forward displacement slower), we design a composite whole-body control that combines two computed-torque control loops to stabilize both dynamics to the desired trajectories. The control approach is introduced and its derivation is described for the simpler case of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum first, and for a whole two-wheeled humanoid after. To prove its validity, the control approach is tested experimentally on the two-wheeled humanoid robot Alter-Ego. The robot proves to be able to perform complicated interaction tasks, including opening a door, grasping a heavy object, and resisting to external dynamic disturbances
Il reato di invasione di terreni o edifici al vaglio della Consulta: il ripiego sulla logica del “caso concreto” quale soluzione al problema delle occupazioni indotte dall’emergenza abitativa?
No full textE-Sail Three-Dimensional Interplanetary Transfer with Fixed Pitch Angle
No full textThe electric solar wind sail (E-sail) is a propellantless propulsion system concept based on the use of a system of very long and thin conducting tethers, which create an artificial electric field that is able to deflect the solar-wind-charged particles in order to generate a net propulsive acceleration outside the planetary magnetospheres. The radial rig of conducting tethers is deployed and stretched by rotating the spacecraft about an axis perpendicular to the nominal plane of the sail. This rapid rotation complicates the thrust vectoring of the E-sail-based spacecraft, which is achieved by changing the orientation of the sail nominal plane with respect to an orbital reference frame. For this reason, some interesting steering techniques have recently been proposed which are based, for example, on maintaining the inertial direction of the spacecraft spin axis or on limiting the excursion of the so-called pitch angle, which is defined as the angle formed by the unit vector perpendicular to the sail nominal plane with the (radial) direction of propagation of the solar wind. In this paper, a different control strategy based on maintaining the pitch angle value constant during a typical interplanetary flight is investigated. In this highly constrained configuration, the spacecraft spin axis can rotate freely around the radial direction, performing a sort of conical motion around the Sun-vehicle line. Considering an interplanetary Earth–Venus or Earth–Mars mission scenario, the flight performance is here compared with a typical unconstrained optimal transfer, aiming to quantify the flight time variation due to the pitch angle value constraint. In this regard, simulation results indicate that the proposed control law provides a rather limited (percentage) performance variation in the case where the reference propulsive acceleration of the E-sail-based spacecraft is compatible with a medium- or low-performance propellantless propulsion system
Assessment of Dance Movement Therapy Outcomes: A Preliminary Proposal
No full textContext: Dance Movement Therapy (DMT) is a therapeutic modality that utilizes movement to promote holistic well-being. Current DMT assessment methods rely heavily on the subjective judgment of the DMT professional.
Objective: Our research aims to develop a framework composed of different components with specific functionalities that can be integrated with the DMT modality to improve the objectivity and efficiency of DMT evaluations.
Method: The DMT framework consists of an experimental protocol for data collection and a reference-supporting architecture that includes components for video analysis, physiological signal management, and evaluation tools. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based human pose estimation techniques are also employed to derive the DMT participants’ poses during the DMT sessions for more reliable movement analysis.
Results: Our preliminary results consist of demonstrating the effectiveness of the AI-based pose estimation tool, YOLO-NAS-Pose, in accurately detecting participants’ poses.
Conclusion: The proposed framework offers a promising approach to improving DMT practices by integrating and leveraging AI-based human pose estimation to evaluate participants’ movement in the DMT setting objectively. Future research will focus on refining the framework and developing user-friendly tools for widespread adoption in real DMT contexts
Preliminary Investigation Towards a Safety Tool for Swine Brucellosis Diagnosis by a Proteomic Approach Within the One-Health Framework
No full textBrucellosis is a zoonosis that affects domestic and wild animals, causing reproductive disorders and significant economic losses in livestock. Brucella melitensis, B. abortus, and B. suis are the main agents of brucellosis in livestock and humans, thereby their control and eradication are crucial. Serological tests based on identification of antibodies against Brucella smooth lipopolysaccharides (sLPS) in the serum of infected animals are traditionally used. This approach shows two main limits: (i) tests can give false positives due to the similarity of Brucella sLPS with the LPS of other Gram-negative bacteria; (ii) antigen production represents a possible risk of zoonoses. In this work, a proteomic approach, starting from B. melitensis Brucellergene, was employed to identify possible Brucella antigenic proteins useful for a more specific and safe serological diagnosis. Four proteins binding to the infected swine serum were identified: (i) “probable sugar-binding periplasmic protein B. abortus str 2308A”; (ii) “peptide ABC transporter substrate-binding protein B. melitensis”; (iii) “GntR family transcriptional regulator B. melitensis”; (iv) “conserved hypothetical protein B. melitensis M28”. These proteins could be promising specific antigens for serological investigations in swine. In the near future, these antigenic proteins could be synthesized in vitro and used to produce a safer and more specific diagnostic kit
Interoperable Traceability in Supply Chains: A Use Case in Agritech
No full textIn the agri-food sector, traceability is essential to ensure the quality, safety, and transparency of supply chains, where transportation companies are key stakeholders in the overall movement of goods. The multitude of actors involved in supply chains makes it challenging to achieve the above mentioned objectives: each company usually uses its own information system, which is mainly aimed at tracking all relevant information of the single company and is rarely able to interact with other information systems. In addition, when multiple information systems need to exchange data, it is essential to have full control over what data is exchanged and who has access to it. In this work, we introduce the concept of interoperable traceability. We have developed an innovative model that enables the seamless integration of data from IoT devices, data management software, and distributed ledgers into a newly designed “data space”. We provide an implementation of this concept that maps to a practical use case and provides a demonstrator that facilitates the secure transfer of traceability data between existing systems. This gives stakeholders a whole new way to manage and review data with greater transparency and efficiency
Copper(II) binding properties and anticancer activity of peptide fragments from a β-strand region of angiogenin protein
No full textAngiogenin is a potent angiogenic factor overexpressed in many cancers. In this study, we report the characterization of copper(II) complexes of two peptides from the 40–50 angiogenin domain by means of analytical techniques such as potentiometry, UV–visible, circular dichroism and by DFT calculations. Potentiometry and spectroscopic analysis revealed that at physiological pH, the predominant species formed by the peptide 40–48 is [CuLH−2] in which the metal ion is coordinated by one imidazole nitrogen and three deprotonated amide nitrogen atoms. Differently, for the longer peptide Ang40-50 the main species is [CuL], with metal ion bound to one imidazole and two deprotonated amides. DFT calculations highlight the different distortion of tetragonal geometry in complex species, which increases with the involvement of more deprotonated amides. It is to note that Cu2+ center holds similar electronic features even though the number of deprotonated amides coordinated to the metal ion differs. Cytotoxic effects of peptides and their complexes were evaluated against normal human osteoblasts hFob and U2OS bone osteosarcoma cell lines using MTT assay. The free peptides show no cytotoxicity on both cell lines, whereas copper complexes are active only towards cancer cells with the most pronounced effect observed for the Cu(II)-Ang40–50 system. The effect of two peptides on mitochondrial membrane potential (ψm) was also assessed. Peptides and their complexes do not affect ψm of normal hFob cells. However, while the peptides do not affect mitochondrial potential in cancer U2OS cells, their complexes decreased the level of ψm.These findings show that copper complexes exhibit selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells by perturbing mitochondrial membrane potential