Archivio Istituzionale della Ricerca - Università degli Studi di Pavia
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Design and Development of a Wireless Sensors Network for Telemetry Acquisition in Space Launcher Applications
No full textIn the aerospace field, weight reduction is of paramount importance. The main objective of
this PhD work, in collaboration with ASI (Agenzia spaziale italiana) and TEMIS s.r.l., was to de-
velop a novel wireless sensor network to acquire telemetry data in aerospace environments.
Wireless sensing introduces many advantages with respect to the use of wired sensors, such
as less costs deriving from less weight, and flexibility in arranging sensors also in places where
wires cannot be placed. Additionally, another advantage pertains to reconfigurability; wire-
less sensors can be relocated to different positions without incurring the substantial costs
and time required for changing cable deployment. Anyway, some drawbacks have to be
managed, like, for example, batteries that need to satisfy a good trade-off between energy
budget and size, which again means increasing weight. Furthermore, wireless propagation
effects need to be compensated for, especially if one considers transmission of information
in an arduous environment such as that of a launcher. Different protocols for WPAN (wireless
personal area network) were analyzed to find the most suitable for this application, focusing
on high throughput, low latency, and power consumption. Among them, IEEE 802.15.4 and
802.11ah standards have been taken into account, performing a large analysis using evalua-
tion boards (EVBs) and simulations, including the development of a modified 11ah simulator,
adapted to the objective application. The main network parameters were optimized, such as
latency distribution, throughput, packet loss ratio, and energy consumption. This led to the
design of custom hardware, tested to verify the expected behavior obtained from extensive
simulations
Fear of the dark: How terrorist events affect trust in the long run
No full textoai:iris.unipv.it:11571/152425
Synthesis of Flexible Random Copolymers of Poly(butylene trans-1,4-ciclohexanedicarboxylate) Containing Pripol Moiety as Potential Candidates for Vascular Applications: Solid-State Characterization and Preliminary In Vitro Biocompatibility and Hemocompatibility
No full textIn order to envisage new solutions for complications associated with cardiovascular diseases, including the occlusion of small vessels, a family of random copolymers of poly(butylene trans-1,4-ciclohexanedicarboxylate) (PBCE), containing Pripol moiety, namely, poly(butylene trans-1,4-ciclohexaendicarboxylate/Pripol), were successfully synthesized. The copolymers display reduced crystallinity and stiffness compared with PBCE, exhibiting elastic modulus values that are comparable to those of materials previously investigated for similar applications. The stability of the materials under physiological conditions was demonstrated over an extended time. Cytotoxicity was confirmed by a direct contact assay with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and blood compatibility was established by the absence of any change in the values of activated prothrombin time and activated partial thromboplastin time, in addition to the low adhesion of blood components. The results demonstrated that the ad hoc design is pivotal in regulating solid state and functional properties, thereby facilitating the development of innovative materials for vascular tissue engineering
Wikidata come strumento di valorizzazione e di analisi delle riviste italiane
No full textWikidata è un database libero, collaborativo, multilingue e secondario che raccoglie dati strutturati per fornire supporto ai progetti del movimento Wikimedia e a chiunque nel mondo. È utilizzato da numerose e importanti biblioteche nazionali di tutto il mondo per la valorizzazione delle collezioni e la diffusione dei relativi dati e, mediante gli strumenti gratuiti e messi a disposizione dalla comunità Wikimedia, consente lo sviluppo di strumenti di misurazione delle attività relative alle riviste scientifiche, ai ricercatori e a specifici temi di ricerca.
In particolare, la pubblicazione dei dati di una rivista attraverso la piattaforma Wikidata consente di ottenere un triplice vantaggio, in termini di visibilità, di riutilizzo e di scoperta dei dati. Inoltre, attraverso l’analisi dei dati relativi agli articoli pubblicati in una rivista (e soprattutto degli autori e delle parole chiave associate) si possono fare emergere tendenze e autori importanti per la rivista stessa. A tale scopo è stato avviato un progetto pilota ed è stata realizzata una prima analisi bibliometrica incentrata sui recenti progressi della biblioteconomia e degli studi bibliografici italiani basata sull’elaborazione e lo scrutinio dei dati riguardanti le riviste biblioteconomiche italiane degli ultimi decenni. La metodologia utilizzata potrebbe esser applicata anche alla rivista Tempo (1939-1943), per fare emergere figure e tendenze importanti nella rivista che attraverso l'analisi degli articoli pubblicati (e soprattutto degli autori e delle parole chiave associate)
Single channel PICOSEC Micromegas detector with improved time resolution
No full textThis paper presents design guidelines and the experimental verification of a single-channel PICOSEC Micromegas (MM) detector with an improved time resolution. The design encompasses the detector board, vessel, auxiliary mechanical parts, and electrical connectivity for high voltage (HV) and signals, focusing on improving the stability, reducing noise, and ensuring signal integrity to optimize timing performance. A notable feature is the simple and fast reassembly procedure, facilitating quick replacement of the detector internal components that allows for an efficient measurement strategy involving different detector components. The paper also examines the influence of parasitic capacitance and inductance on the output signal integrity. To validate the design, a prototype assembly and three interchangeable detector boards with varying readout pad diameters were manufactured. Detectors were initially tested in the laboratory. Finally, the timing performance of the detectors with different pad sizes was verified using 150 GeV muons. Notably, a record time resolution for a PICOSEC Micromegas detector technology with a CsI photocathode of 12.5 ± 0.8 ps was achieved for a detector with 10 mm diameter readout pad size
From blue oceans to green horizons: Pioneering technological sustainability as the fourth pillar of sustainable development in the era of Industry 6.0.
No full textInvestigating Proactivity in Task-Oriented Dialogues
No full textThis paper investigates proactivity, a characteristic phenomenon of collaborative human-human
interaction, where a participant in the dialogue offers the addressee some useful and not explicitly
requested information. More precisely, a proactive behaviour is: (i) self-prompted and not simply
reactive, that is, the speaker does not act merely in response to the requests the other participant
has made; (ii) somehow effective for the achievement of the dialogue goal, since the speaker has a
long-term, goal-directed behaviour that predicts future states and needs. Proactivity has been poorly
investigated from a theoretical point of view, and there is a general need of empirical data for both
quantitative and qualitative research. The paper provides an extensive analysis of proactivity in several
human-human task-oriented dialogic corpora, selected with different characteristics, including
chat exchanges and telephone calls, collection modalities such as natural setting andWizard of Oz,
and two languages, Italian and English. The main result is the D-Pro Corpus, a new resource manually
annotated at the utterance level with proactivity and dialogue acts, which allows to investigate
proactivity in the context of task-oriented dialogues. There are several findings from our empirical
investigation of proactivity: (i) we find that about 20% of turns in our corpus are proactive turns,
showing that this is a very diffused and relevant phenomenon; (ii) we confirm the non-reactive
nature of proactivity, highlighting the presence of a pattern where a turn in the dialogue triggers
a reaction in a following turn and a proactive utterance is then added to the turn; (iii) we show
that only a limited number of dialogue acts are actually involved in expressing proactivity, and
we discuss the theoretical implications of this finding; (iv) we empirically confirm that proactivity
has a crucial role in recovering from goal-failure situations, contributing to the effectiveness of the
whole dialogue; (v) we support the intuition of a non-uniform distribution of proactive utterances
throughout the dialogue. Our empirical findings and the D-Pro Corpus provide relevant insights for
deeper theoretical investigations, as well as crucial resources for improving proactivity in current
task-oriented dialogue systems
Enhancing the activity of γ-hydroxy lactone derivatives as innovative peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ non-agonists inhibiting cyclin-dependent kinase 5-mediated phosphorylation
No full textInsulin resistance (IR) is a pathological condition in which tissues exhibit a reduced response to normal or elevated levels of insulin. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and Metabolic Syndrome are the most prevalent disorders associated with IR. Most of the glitazones, traditional anti-diabetic drugs acting as Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor γ (PPARγ) agonists, have been withdrawn from the market. To mitigate the
serious adverse effects associated with PPARγ agonism, a new opportunity is represented by the inhibitors of PPARγ phosphorylation by the Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 5 (CDK5). Their mechanism of action is mediated by the stabilization of the PPARγ β-sheet containing Ser245. Recently, we identified 4-(4-bromophenyl)-3-hydroxy-5-(3-hydroxyphenyl)furan-2(5H)-one (I) as a PPARγ non-agonist, capable of blocking the phosphorylation of the enzyme without direct effects on either CDK5 or PPARγ.
Here, we isolated the two enantiomers of I, unambiguously defined their absolute configuration through single crystal X-ray diffraction and demonstrated by Grating-Coupled Interferometry binding assays that both (S)–I and (R)-I exhibited comparable affinity for PPARγ. Then, a library of 12 analogs was designed through structure-
based modifications, optimizing the interactions within the ligand-binding domain. GCI analysis identified derivative 11, featuring an oxyacetic group in place of the initial hydroxyl function of the reference compound I, as the most promising candidate (KD = 186 nM). The crystal structure of the PPARγ-LBD/11 complex revealed a hydrogen bond interaction with Arg280, further stabilizing the binding conformation. These findings highlight the potential of γ-hydroxy lactone derivatives as PPARγ modulators and provide a foundation for future drug development targeting IR