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Purpose This paper aims to present a new approach, called hybrid model reference adaptive controller or H-MRAC, for the hybrid controller (proportional-integral-derivative [PID + MRAC]) that will be used to control the position of a pneumatic manipulator. Design/methodology/approach It was developed a McKibben muscle using nautical mesh, latex and high-density polyethene connectors and it was constructed an elbow manipulator with two degrees of freedom, driven by these muscles. Then it was presented the H-MRAC control law based on the phenomenological characteristics of the plant, aiming at fast response and low damping. Lyapunov's theory was used as the project methodology, which ensures asymptotic stability for the control system. Findings It was developed a precise control system for a pneumatic manipulator and the results were compared to previous research. Research limitations/implications In collaborative robotics, human and machine occupy the same workspace. This research promotes the development of safer and more complacent mechatronic systems in the event of collisions. Practical implications As a practical implication, the research allows the substitution of electric motors by McKibben muscles in industrial robots with high accuracy. Social implications The pneumatic manipulator will make the human-robot physical interaction safer as it can prevent catastrophic collisions causing victims or equipment breakdown. Originality/value When compared to results in the literature, the present research showed a 37.51% and 36.74% lower global error in position tracking than MRAC and Adaptive proportional-integral-derivative (A-PID), respectively, validating its effectiveness.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:14:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-21 Photocatalyst-coated self-cleaning ceramic tiles are in high demand for indoor and outdoor applications aimed at keeping a clean environment. Their industrial processing, however, often requires firing at temperature (1000-1200 °C) much higher than the thermal stability limits of common photocatalysts (

A presente pesquisa avaliou a partida de um Reator UASB no tratamento de efluente doméstico por meio de parâmetros físico-químicos e operacionais. A partida empregou inoculação de 10 m³ de lodo anaeróbio como semeadura. Durante 12 semanas de avaliação observou-se estabilidade em relação aos parâmetros: pH, Temperatura, Alcalinidade Total (AT) e Ácidos Graxos Voláteis (AGV). Todavia, houve baixas eficiências de remoção para Sólidos Suspensos Totais (SST), Demanda Química de Oxigênio (DQO) e Demanda Bioquímica de Oxigênio (DBO), de 36,8%, 56,13% e 42,04%, respectivamente, justificadas pelas variações de vazão afluente à ETE, e pelas características do lodo ocasionando perda de sólidos com o efluente. Assim, apesar da inoculação, a partida não foi concluída, constatada, contudo expressiva menor variabilidade nas eficiências para DQO e DBO nas últimas semanas, apontando tendência do reator ao alcance do estado estacionário. Palavras-chave: Esgoto Sanitário. Tratamento Anaeróbio. Inoculação de Biomassa. Parâmetros Hidráulicos.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:15:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-06-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) The challenge to obtain stable glasses containing monodisperse magnetic nanoparticles with controlled size and shape is an exciting and almost unexplored field of research. Such new materials can be used in magneto-photonics or ultra-sensitive magnetic sensors. In this work, for the first time, colorless and transparent bulk glasses containing monodisperse 20 nm Fe3−δO4 nanoparticles were prepared by a melt-quenching route. Magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized by thermal decomposition and covered with a stellate mesoporous silica shell in order to protect them against dissolution during the glass melting process. The incorporation of nanoparticles into glasses and the ideal parameters obtained for this system are discussed. The new nanocomposite materials were characterized in order to investigate the structure, thermal, and magnetic properties. Such an original approach is a very promising way to incorporate a wide panel of nanoparticles, including metallic, bimetallic and metal oxide nanoparticles, into a variety of glasses providing new properties to these materials. São Paulo State University - UNESP Institute of Chemistry, P. O. Box 355 Université de Strasbourg CNRS Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg UMR 7504 São Paulo State University - UNESP Institute of Chemistry, P. O. Box 355 CNPq: 153762/2018-7 FAPESP: 2013/07793-6 FAPESP: 2018/07727-7 FAPESP: 2019/19609-1 CAPES: 88881.134870/2016-01

The coacervation process of Graham’s Salt Na(PO3)n enabled the preparation of polyphosphate coacervates (CPPs) by adding different metallic ions (Mn+), and/or low-molecular-weight solvents at a specific solution, which resulted in a phase separation. The more viscous phase is termed as CPP and the less viscous one is the supernatant. CPPs have been extensively studied in recent years as a glass precursor at room temperature. Preparation at room temperature allows the preservation of the physicochemical properties of a wide range of active principles that may be used in controlled drug-delivery systems. Despite the present limitations of CPPs in terms of high hygroscopicity, this vulnerability to water is considered one of the great advantages of this material regarding applications in the controlled release of drugs and tissue engineering. Thus, in the presence of water, CPPs will dissolve in calcium and phosphate ions, which are the major inorganic constituents of bone and hydroxyapatite (HAP). It is believed that, in contact with body fluids, CPPs will degrade and, as this process occurs, they will be replaced by HAP. Therefore, CPPs configure a potential biomaterial that offers excellent properties with a wide range of biomedical applications that will be discussed and reviewed in this paper, including the structural properties and the recent improvements of materials based on CPPs and related devices.

The 4th industrial revolution promotes the automatic inspection of all products towards a zero-defect and high-quality manufacturing. In this context, collaborative robotics, where humans and machines share the same space, comprises a suitable approach that allows combining the accuracy of a robot and the ability and flexibility of a human. This paper describes an innovative approach that uses a collaborative robot to support the smart inspection and corrective actions for quality control systems in the manufacturing process, complemented by an intelligent system that learns and adapts its behavior according to the inspected parts. This intelligent system that implements the reinforcement learning algorithm makes the approach more robust once it can learn and be adapted to the trajectory. In the preliminary experiments, it was used a UR3 robot equipped with a Force-Torque sensor that was trained to perform a path regarding a product quality inspection task.

New approaches on industrial mobile robots are changing the localization systems from old methods such as magnetic tapes to laser beacons based systems and natural landmarks since they are more adaptable and easier to install on the shop floor. Sensor fusion methods needs to be applied since there is information provided from different sources. Extended Kalman Filters are very used in the pose estimation of mobile robots with sensors that detect beacons and measure its distance and angle in a local referential frame. In certain situations, like for example wheels slippage, the number of impulses read for the encoders is wrong, resulting in a very large displacement or rotation and causing a bad estimation at the end of the prediction step. This bad estimation is used for the linearization of the non-linear equations, causing a bad linear approximation and probably a failure in the Kalman Filter. In this paper it is demonstrated that if we use the last state estimation calculated in the update step at the last cycle, instead of the estimation from the prediction step in the actual cycle, the result is an estimator much more robust to errors in the odometry information. Simulated and real results from several experiments are illustrated to demonstrate this new approach. This work is co-financed by the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation - COMPETE 2020 and the Lisboa2020 under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and through the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) as a part of project PRODUTECH SIF: POCI01-0247-FEDER-024541. This work is financed by the ERDF – European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation - COMPETE 2020 Programme, and by National Funds through the Portuguese funding agency, FCT - Fundac¸ao para a Ci ˜ encia e a Tecnolo- ˆ gia, within project SAICTPAC/0034/2015- POCI-01-0145- FEDER-016418. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Luminescence thermometry has substantially progressed in the last decade, rapidly approaching the performance of concurrent technologies. Performance is usually assessed through the relative thermal sensitivity, Sr, and temperature uncertainty, ����T. Until now, the state-of-the-art values at ambient conditions do not exceed maximum Sr of 12.5% K���1 and minimum ����T of 0.1 K. Although these numbers are satisfactory for most applications, they are insufficient for fields that require lower thermal uncertainties, such as biomedicine. This has motivated the development of materials with an improved thermal response, many of them responding to the temperature through distinct photophysical properties. This paper demonstrates how the performance of multiparametric luminescent thermometers can be further improved by simply applying new analysis routes. The synergy between multiparametric readouts and multiple linear regression makes possible a tenfold improvement in Sr and ����T, reaching a world record of 50% K���1 and 0.05 K, respectively. This is achieved without requiring the development of new materials or upgrading the detection system as illustrated by using the green fluorescent protein and Ag2S nanoparticles. These results open a new era in biomedicine thanks to the development of new diagnosis tools based on the detection of super-small temperature fluctuations in living specimens., This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 FET Open programme under grant agreement No 801305 (NanoTBTech). This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No. 823941.

SummarySteep slope vineyards are a complex scenario for the development of ground robots. Planning a safe robot trajectory is one of the biggest challenges in this scenario, characterized by irregular surfaces and strong slopes (more than 35°). Moving the robot through a pile of stones, spots with high slope or/and with wrong robot yaw may result in an abrupt fall of the robot, damaging the equipment and centenary vines, and sometimes imposing injuries to humans. This paper presents a novel approach for path planning aware of center of mass of the robot for application in sloppy terrains. Agricultural robotic path planning (AgRobPP) is a framework that considers the A* algorithm by expanding inner functions to deal with three main inputs: multi-layer occupation grid map, altitude map and robot’s center of mass. This multi-layer grid map is updated by obstacles taking into account the terrain slope and maximum robot posture. AgRobPP is also extended with algorithms for local trajectory replanning during the execution of a trajectory that is blocked by the presence of an obstacle, always assuring the safety of the re-planned path. AgRobPP has a novel PointCloud translator algorithm called PointCloud to grid map and digital elevation model (PC2GD), which extracts the occupation grid map and digital elevation model from a PointCloud. This can be used in AgRobPP core algorithms and farm management intelligent systems as well. AgRobPP algorithms demonstrate a great performance with the real data acquired from AgRob V16, a robotic platform developed for autonomous navigation in steep slope vineyards.

The diagnostics of the autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA), a rare disease caused by autoantibody-induced hemolysis, is still prone to false positives for it is based on visual observation in the so-called Direct Coombs test. In this study, we developed a specific IgG hemolysis immunosensor produced with layer-by-layer (LbL) films containing a monoclonal antibody against human immunoglobulin (mAbIMUG) deposited along with a layer of silk fibroin (SF) derived from Bombyx mori cocoons. Adsorption of mAbIMUG on a SF layer was confirmed by the fluorescence emission band at 326 nm. Immunosensors were prepared with LbL films deposited on interdigitated gold electrodes for impedance spectroscopy and on screen printed carbon electrodes for electrochemical measurements. When the SF/mAbIMUGLbL film was exposed to healthy red blood cells (RBCs), no cell binding was observed by the optical microscopy images. In addition, no major changes were observed in the signals of the square wave voltammogram and in the impedance spectra. In contrast, the electrochemical signal was significantly increased and the dielectric loss curve shifted for the sensing units containing RBCs with the antibody attached on the surface ("sick cells"). Furthermore, cell attachment was so strong that optical images still showed covered electrodes even after washing in PBS buffer. The detection with two distinct methods seems promising for an effective diagnosis of AIHA.

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T16:59:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-03-01 The search for more efficient catalysts and less polluting and less costly reagents has made heterogeneous catalysis one of the most advantageous processes in this scenario. In this work, recoverable heterogeneous catalysts were prepared by incorporating maghemite nanoparticles (M-NP) into mesoporous silica matrix and further coated with dense or mesoporous layers by the sol-gel process. The catalytic activity of the nanocomposites was evaluated in hydrocarbon oxidation accomplished by the epoxidation of Z-cyclooctene. The materials were characterized by small-angle-x-ray scattering (SAXS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis that confirms the coating over the nanocomposites and also the dependence of the reagent amount on the thickness of coating. SAXS curves and nitrogen adsorption-desorption analysis are in agreement with typical profiles of well-ordered hexagonal lattice with the surface area obtained from BET analysis of 454 m 2 /g and the pore volume of 0.917 cm 3 /g for the non-coated mesoporous silica. TEM and XRD results show the formation of maghemite phase with nanoparticle diameters between 3.5 and 20 nm. In addition, the catalytic results show that the nanocomposites coated with a mesoporous silica coating displayed higher substrate conversion than those coated with dense silica coating. Universidade de Franca UNIFRAN, CP 82 São Carlos Physics Institute University of São Paulo, CP 369 Institute of Chemistry UNESP São Paulo State University, CP 355 Institute of Chemistry UNESP São Paulo State University, CP 355

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T16:58:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-02-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Nowadays there is a demand for ecologically efficient sustainable materials. The combination of cellulose and clay can provide materials with improved mechanical, thermal, and optical properties, besides better water and gas barrier, and flame resistance than pristine polymers. In the present work, composites were produced using cellulose nanofibers (CNF) and Laponite. The presence of clay modified the properties of the composite films compared to the pristine cellulose nanofibers film, such as lower CNF aggregation, better thermal stability (45 °C for CNF/Lap 3.5:1 by mass) and higher water vapor permeability (157% for CNF/Lap 1:1). In addition, XRD data suggested isolation of different types of CNF/Laponite composites when the mass ratio is modified, pointing out applications for these materials as for instance scaffold in tissue engineering, in regenerative medicine or as drug delivery systems. Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University-UNESP, CP 355 Research Center on Biotechnology – Uniara, Street: Carlos Gomes, 1338, Centro Department of Fundamental Chemistry Institute of Chemistry University of São Paulo (USP), Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes 748 Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University-UNESP, CP 355

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:03:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-05-14 In this work, we synthesized colloidal silica nanospheres with an average size of 400 nm through the modified Stöber method and successfully fabricated an ordered close-packed silica nanosphere monolayer onto ITO-coated glass substrates using a three-step spin-coating method. ITO films showed resistivity comparable to that of commercial ITO and the silica nanosphere monolayer-coated ITO/glass substrate exhibited good optical transmittance in the visible (550 nm) and near-infrared (900 nm) regions of 62% and 82%, respectively. The results suggest that this monolayer can be used in optoelectronic devices to enhance efficiency in photovoltaic cells. Grupo de Nanociência e Nanotecnologia (NANO) Departamento de Física Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF) Laboratório de Biopolímeros e Biomateriais (BIOPOLMAT) Departamento de Biotecnologia Universidade de Araraquara (UNIARA) Departamento de Física Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF) Institudo de Química Universidade Estatual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Laboratório de Optoeletrônica Molecular (LOEM) Departamento de Física Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas Universidade Estatual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Institudo de Química Universidade Estatual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas Universidade Estatual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP)

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:03:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-05-13 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Instituto Nacional de Fotônica Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) is a natural biopolymer obtained by gram-negative bacteria by means of a green and inexhaustible biotechnological process using glucose as producing source. BCN hydrogels is formed by cellulose nanofibrils that maintain an open network structure, an ideal matrix to produce new class of organic-inorganic nanocomposites (OIN) for multifunctional applications. The polyoxometalates (POMs) are complex molecules with several metallic ions sharing oxide ions, forming a highly symmetrical metal oxide cluster. Phosphotungstic acid (PWA), H3PW12O40 photoreduction process activated under ultraviolet irradiation, promoting color change. In this work, photochromic organic-inorganic nanocomposites were prepared by soaking phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40) in wet BNC membranes mats at room temperature. Semi-transparent and free-standing BNC/PWA nanocomposite with paper-like aspect were obtained. BNC network was able to control, stabilize and disperse PWA particles in a narrow nanometric distribution, and FTIR spectra indicated that the primary Keggin structure was also preserved in the nanocomposites, independently on the PWA content. The nanoparticles present a narrow distribution of around 16 nm, independently on the PWA concentration. BNC/PWA nanocomposites showed reversible photochromic behavior characteristic of the equilibrium between different tungsten oxidation states. PWA reduction (W6+→ W5+) and organic matrix oxidation is proposed to occur through a radical process involving the interaction of one electron from the oxygen atom of the PWA and one hydrogen from BNC matrix. The photochromic effect vanishes almost completely after 5 h. This mechanism is real in the presence of oxygen, however, if the membranes are left in nitrogen or under vacuum the blue color remains longer than 45 days. Photo-electrochemical behavior was studied by spectroelectrochemistry measurements. It is worth noting that all processes were still reversible in the timescale of the experiment and color changes were observed in several cycles. Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) Laboratório de Biopolímeros e Biomateriais (BioPolMat) Universidade de Araraquara Instituto de Química – Universidade de São Paulo USP Departamento de Física Instituto de Ciências Exatas Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF) Deparment of Chemistry Federal University of São Departamento de Física Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) FAPESP: 2013/07793-6 FAPESP: 2013/24725-4 FAPESP: 2014/12424-2 FAPESP: 2016/11591-8 FAPESP: 2018/25512-8 FAPESP: 2020/04509-9 Instituto Nacional de Fotônica: 407822/2018-6

There are several industrial processes that are controlled by a PID or similar controller. In robotics it is also usual the need of position control of joints. Tune a controller is the process to obtain the gains that optimise the behaviour of the system while maintaining its stability and robustness. This paper presents an approach of tuning a speed controller using the Internal Model Control (IMC) method and a position controller using the second order Bessel prototype while testing in different controllers methodology, such as PID, Cascade and feedforward combination with dead zone compensation. In order to compare the controllers, results for an Hermite reference position will allow to validate the proposed solution. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:14:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-30 Photonic materials featuring simultaneous iridescence and light emission are an attractive alternative for designing novel optical devices. The luminescence study of a new optical material that integrates light emission and iridescence through liquid crystal self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystal-template silica approach is herein presented. These materials containing Rhodamine 6G were obtained as freestanding composite films with a chiral nematic organization. The scanning electron microscopy confirms that the cellulose nanocrystal film structure comprises multi-domain Bragg reflectors and the optical properties of these films can be tuned through changes in the relative content of silica/cellulose nanocrystals. Moreover, the incorporation of the light-emitting compound allows a complementary control of the optical properties. Overall, such findings demonstrated that the photonic structure plays the role of direction-dependent inner-filter, causing selective suppression of the light emitted with angle-dependent detection. Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) Department of Physics University of Aveiro Biopolymers and Biomaterials Laboratory University of Araraquara Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP)

The public-good nature of benefits of fuel management explains its current undersupply and the consequent wildfire blow. Policies to promote fuel management are thus required. To be cost-effective, they need to be informed by context-specific estimates of forest owners’ willingness-to-accept (WTA) for managing fuel. This study develops a choice-modeling approach to this problem. A survey of forest owners was undertaken in a wildfire-prone parish in Portugal. Respondents were asked about their willingness to subscribe different management contracts. A choice model was estimated and used to predict owners’ WTA for different fuel management commitments, and the marginal cost of reducing burned area in the parish. Estimated WTA amounts depend on owner type and commitment. Active owners demanded lower amounts for adopting silvicultural intervention commitments, and higher for those implying income foregone. The marginal cost of reducing burned area through fuel management increases with area, but it currently is yet smaller than the corresponding marginal benefit. Our results suggest that zero burned area is not an option and optimum fuel management lies beyond the current level. It will be shifted even beyond by targeted (key-spot) fuel management approaches, WTA differences across owners can be used to design context-specific policies that are more cost-effective.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:12:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-04 Bacterial cellulose (BC) combined with organo-bridged porous silica nanoparticles offers potential opportunities to develop smart hybrid materials such as advanced drug delivery nanosystems. This work reports the preparation of bacterial cellulose membrane (BCM) and their modification by in situ methodology with the organo-bridged precursor 1,4-bis(triethoxysilyl)benzene (BTEB). BTEB was successfully incorporated into the BCM, and spherical hybrid silica nanoparticles with heterogeneous particle size (30-100 nm) and probably porous structure were formed and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). We further combined solid-state NMR with dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) to achieve sensitivity enhancement and to selectively enhance the NMR signal of the hydrophobic BTEB moieties on the BCM surface. This allowed us to get more detailed structural information about the BTEB-BCM multicomponent material. Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) São Carlos Institute of Physics University of São Paulo, PO Box 369 ICGM Univ. Montpellier CNRS ENSCM Institut für Physikalische Chemie Technische Universität Darmstadt University of Araraquara (UNIARA) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP)

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T10:17:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-03-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Ciência e Tecnologia do Estado de Pernambuco Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Owing to the tremendous possibility of contactless temperature probing with micro- and nanometric spatial resolution, photoluminescent single-particle thermometry at the micro or nanoscale is rapidly advancing towards its successful applications in electronics, biological thermal imaging, or investigating thermodynamics around microsystems, for instance. The first step is the characterization of a suitable sized particle which will play the role of a thermometer in the desired/needed size scale. To that end, possibilities of using Er3+/Yb3+ doped β-NaYF4 rare-earth single microcrystals are explored particularly in this work due to its luminescence efficiency in the visible band and morphological stability in a temperature range compatible with biological systems. Under CW excitation at 977 nm, the Er3+ ions in β-NaYF4 host allow observing photoluminescence around 525 nm and 547 nm, corresponding to the 2H11/2 → 4I15/2 and 4S3/2 → 4I15/2 transitions, respectively. As these 2H11/2 and 4S3/2 states are close enough in energy, it is expected the Luminescence Intensity Ratio (LIR) to follow a Maxwell-Boltzmann thermal distribution, but experiments performed in this work present a deviation from this prediction. This discrepancy is explained by an analytical and numerical solution of a system of rate equations, which shows that the nonradiative decay from 4S3/2 to 4F9/2 and the mechanism of excitation of the thermally coupled levels play an important role in the LIR analysis. Department of Physics Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (UFPE) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP)

The micromouse competition has been gaining prominence in the robotic atmosphere, due to the challenging and multidisciplinary characteristics provided by the teams’ duels, being a gateway for those who intend to deepen their studies in autonomous robotics. In this context, this paper presents a realistic micromouse simulator developed with Unity software, a widely game engine with dynamics and 3D development platform used. The developed simulator has hardware-in-the-loop capabilities, aims to be simple to use, it can be customizable, and designed to be as similar as possible to the real robot configurations. In this way, the proposed simulator requires few modifications to port the microcontroller code to a real robot. Therefore, the framework presented in this work allows the user to simulate the development of new algorithm strategies dedicated to competition and also hardware updates. The simulation supports several mazes, from previous competitions and has the possibility to add different mazes elaborated by the user. Thus, the features and functionality of the simulator can serve to accelerate the project’s development of the beginning and advanced competitors, using real models to reduce the gap between the mouse robot behavior in the simulation and the reality. The developed simulation environment is available to the community. © 2021, The Author(s). This work has been supported by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDB/50014/2020. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:08:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-02-01 This research study reports the formation of flexible and multifunctional organic-inorganic hybrid membranes (BC-SiO2-TiO2/Ag) based on bacterial cellulose (BC) that contain photoactive (TiO2) and antibacterial (Ag) components, rendering them photocatalytic, self-cleaning and UV-shielding properties (due to TiO2) as well as antibacterial activity. Coating of BC with sol-gel derived silica and titania particles was achieved through hydrolysis-polycondensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate and titanium (IV) isopropoxide, respectively, and a soft hydrothermal treatment (140 °C, 20 h) was used to obtain well-crystalline TiO2. The prepared BC-SiO2-TiO2/Ag photoactive membranes were characterized by an array of analytical techniques including XRD, XRF, SEM-EDS, electronic absorption spectroscopy and vibrational spectroscopy. The morphology of TiO2 coatings changes from a homogenous film-like smooth one to a rougher one consisting of randomly oriented titania particles (170 ± 35 nm) upon increasing the TiO2 loading of the membranes. These prepared photoactive BC-SiO2-TiO2 membranes exhibited excellent TiO2-loading dependent photocatalytic/self-cleaning activity towards crystal violet dye deposited as an over-layer on the surface of the membranes, degrading 97 % of the dye within 50 min of UV illumination. In addition to good photoactivity, the BC-SiO2-TiO2/Ag membranes demonstrated reasonable antibacterial activity against five different bacterial strains under dark conditions. These flexible BC-based hybrid membranes with photocatalytic, self-cleaning, antibacterial properties have the potential to be used in the design of self-cleaning and antibacterial surfaces, filters and facemasks that could be easily disinfected under UV irradiation from a lamp or natural sunlight and safely discarded and even recycled. Institute of Chemical Sciences University of Peshawar Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University - UNESP, CP 355 Government Girls Degree College Institute of Research and Development Duy Tan University Institute of Physics Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University - UNESP, CP 355

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T15:05:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-04-26 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Hexavalent chromium (Cr(vi)) is an noxious and highly toxic heavy metal that presents a serious threat to human health if present even in low concentrations in drinking water. Photocatalytic reduction of Cr(vi) to its less toxic Cr(iii) state is a potential strategy to combat Cr(vi) pollution, but the efficiency of the process is low, especially in the absence of hole scavenger organic reagents. To address this issue and prepare efficient photocatalysts for Cr(vi) removal from water, in this study, we explored Prussian blue (PB) as a co-catalyst for improving the photoreduction performance of different high surface area TiO2-based materials (titania or silica-titania nanoparticles and aerogels). The photocatalyst nanomaterials were surface-modified with nanocrystalline PB using the photodeposition route. The PB layer acts as an effective electron acceptor/mediator between the semiconductor photocatalyst and Cr(vi) species. All the PB-modified photocatalysts exhibit higher photocatalytic activity (up to 9 times faster) as compared to the unmodified photocatalysts towards reduction of Cr(vi). Importantly, the PB-modified photocatalysts exhibited high photocatalytic performance (98-99% reduction in 40 min for pH = 5.6 and in 10 min for pH = 3) without addition of organic reagents. The simple approach reported herein can be followed to prepare new PB-photocatalyst systems with improved photocatalytic performance towards Cr(vi) reduction and other target applications. Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Chem Sao Carlos, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Chem, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Univ Peshawar, Inst Chem Sci, POB 25120, Peshawar, Pakistan Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Inst Phys, BR-79070900 Campo Grande, MS, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Geosci & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, BR-13506970 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil Lawrence Livermore Natl Lab, Phys & Life Sci Directorate, Livermore, CA 94550 USA Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Chem, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Geosci & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, BR-13506970 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2013/24948-3 FAPESP: 2015/22828-6 FAPESP: 2016/10939-0 FAPESP: 2018/01934-0 FAPESP: 2018/19785-1 U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: DEAC52-07NA27344 Higher Education Commission, Pakistan: 9286

Most path planning algorithms used presently in multi-robot systems are based on offline planning. The Timed Enhanced A* (TEA*) algorithm gives the possibility of planning in real time, rather than planning in advance, by using a temporal estimation of the robot’s positions at any given time. In this article, the implementation of a control system for multi-robot applications that operate in environments where communication faults can occur and where entire sections of the environment may not have any connection to the communication network will be presented. This system uses the TEA* to plan multiple robot paths and a supervision system to control communications. The supervision system supervises the communication with the robots and checks whether the robot’s movements are synchronized. The implemented system allowed the creation and execution of paths for the robots that were both safe and kept the temporal efficiency of the TEA* algorithm. Using the Simtwo2020 simulation software, capable of simulating movement dynamics and the Lazarus development environment, it was possible to simulate the execution of several different missions by the implemented system and analyze their results. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-26T06:17:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-05-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Auxilio Financeiro a Projeto Educacional ou de Pesquisa Two samples of N-(2-hydroxy)-propyl-3-trimethylammonium, O-palmitoyl chitosan (DPCat) with different av-erage degrees of quaternization named as DPCat35 (DQ = 35%) and DPCat80 (DQ = 80%), were successfully syn-thesized by reacting glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) with O-palmitoyl chitosan (DPCh) derivative (DS = 12%). Such amphiphilic derivatives of chitosan were fully water-soluble at 1.0 < pH < 12.0 and showed significant electrostatic stability enhancement of a self-assembly micellar nanostructure (100 & ndash;320 nm) due to its positively-charged out-layer. In vitro mucoadhesive and cytotoxicity essays toward healthy fibroblast cells (Balb/C 3T3 clone A31 cell), human prostate cancer (DU145) and liver cancer (HepG2/ C3A) cell lines revealed that the biological properties of DPCat derivatives were strongly dependent on DQ. Ad-ditionally, DPCat35 had better interactions with the biological tissue and with mucin glycoproteins at pH 7.4 as well as exhibited potential to be used on the development of drug delivery systems for prostate and liver cancer treatment. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Chem, Av Prof Francisco Degni 55,237, BR-14800900 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Inst Chem, Av Trabalhador Sao Carlense 400,780, BR-13566590 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Brazilian Corp Agr Res, Embrapa Instrumentat, Rua XV Novembro 1452, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Sch Pharmaceut Sci, Rod Araraquara Jau Km 01 S-N, BR-14800903 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Chem, Av Prof Francisco Degni 55,237, BR-14800900 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Sch Pharmaceut Sci, Rod Araraquara Jau Km 01 S-N, BR-14800903 Araraquara, SP, Brazil FAPESP: FAPESP 2016/20970-2 FAPESP: 2017/20973-4 FAPESP: 2019/13656-8 CNPq: CNPq 141353/2016-3 CNPq: 150964/2017-0 CNPq: 309568/2019-6 CAPES: 001 Auxilio Financeiro a Projeto Educacional ou de Pesquisa: AUXPE 139/2015

Rescuing survivors in unknown environment can be extreme difficulty. The use of UAVs to map the environment and also to obtain remote information can benefit the rescue tasks. This paper proposes an organizational system for multi-UAVs to map indoor environments that have been affected by a natural disaster. The robot’s organization is focused on avoiding possible collisions between swarm’s members, and also to prevent searching in locations that have already discovered. This organizational approach is inspired by bees behavior. Thus, the multi- UAVs must search, in a collaborative way, in order to map the scenario in the shortest possible time and, consequently, to travel the shortest reasonable distance. Therefore, three strategies were evaluated in a simulation scenario created in the V-REP software. The results indicate the feasibility of the proposed approach and compare the three plans based on the number of locations discovered and the path taken by each UAV. This work is supported by Grant #337/2014 (Fundação Araucária - Brazil), the grant from the bi-national cooperation scheme of UTFPR- IPB and by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects Scopem UIDB/05757/2020. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Three-dimensional scanning is a task that is highly important for our modern society and this is translated by a wide area of knowledge that contains numerous approaches to this task. As this process is non-trivial, most of the technologies are expensive, with even the low-cost ones being a great investment for the regular user. Therefore, this work presents a low-cost LIDAR-based 3D scanning system that can perform 3D scans of small objects and reconstruct their digital STL models. The system consists of one rotating platform and a scanning arcshaped structure, which both are actuated by stepper motors. The project that gave rise to these results received the support of a fellowship from ”la Caixa” Foundation (ID 100010434). The fellowship code is LCF/BQ/DI20/11780028. This work also has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects UIDB/50014/2020 and UIDB/05757/2020. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:47:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-12-25 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Glasses are materials with highly flexible compositions and high chemical and physical durability. These characteristics make them suitable materials for hosting nanoparticles for different purposes. Hybrid glasses containing magnetic nanoparticles have been highlighted due to their potential for application as ultra-sensitive magnetic sensors and magnetic devices. In this work, phosphate bulk glasses containing 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% in mass of metallic CoPt alloy nanoparticles were prepared by melt-quenching technique. The CoPt nanoparticles were synthesized by reducing metal precursors in a high temperature organic solvent and, in the second step, they were covered with a silica layer in order to protect the nanoparticles for the subsequent melting. The nanoparticles were treated at different temperatures. Heat treatment at 900 °C showed the highest values of saturation magnetization and coercivity, and for that reason these nanoparticles were chosen for incorporation into glass. In the transmission electron microscopy images of the glass containing 2.0% in mass of nanoparticles, the interplanar distance of 0.21 nm was identified and indexed to the 111 plane of CoPt, confirming that the nanoparticles were successfully embedded into the matrix. The UV–Vis spectra presented Co2+ characteristic bands at 528, 578, and 626 nm, indicating that these ions are tetrahedrally coordinated in the matrix. Themagnetic measurements presented behavior close to ferromagnetic, showing that it is possible to prepare a magnetic glass containing bimetallic nanoparticles. Institute of Chemistry - São Paulo State University - UNESP, P. O. Box 355 Federal University of Sao Carlos (UFSCar) Graduate Program in Materials Science and Engineering Department of Materials Engineering Instituto de Física Núcleo de Física Aplicada Universidade de Brasília Instituto Federal Goiano Institute of Chemistry - São Paulo State University - UNESP, P. O. Box 355 CAPES: 001 FAPESP: 2013/07793-6 FAPESP: 2018/07727-7 FAPESP: 2019/19609-1 CAPES: 88882.332718/2019-01

COVID pandemic has changed the way in which we carry out our daily life and also have affected educational processes. Teaching and learning have changed from a most common face to face context to a blended or online context. This implies changes in the way to carry out the activates and have an impact in research projects such as RoboSTEAM. Such project, that applies Challenge Based Learning methodologies with application of Robotics and Mechatronics, requires to change its approach to show how it is possible to succeed in the new situation. This paper describes how the project has evolved, how it has been affected by COVID and the possible changes to carry out. Regarding this last issue remote labs and online tools are presented as solutions to support changes in the application of challenge-based learning methodology. This paper is supported by ROBOSTEAM Erasmus+ KA201 Project with reference 2018-1-ES01-KA201-050939 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:06:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-10-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) The pursuit of biocompatible, breathable and skin-conformable wearable sensors has predominantly focused on synthetic stretchable hydrophobic polymers. Microbial nanocellulose (MNC) is an exceptional skin-substitute natural polymer routinely used for wound dressing and offers unprecedented potential as substrate for wearable sensors. A versatile strategy for engineering wearable sensing platforms is reported, with sensing units made of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) on MNC. As-prepared SPCEs were used to detect the toxic metals cadmium (Cd2+) and lead (Pb2+) with limits of detection of 1.01 and 0.43 μM, respectively, which are sufficient to detect these metal ions in human sweat and urine. SPCEs functionalized through anodic pre-treatments were used for detecting uric acid and 17β-estradiol in artificial sweat, with detection limits of 1.8 μM and 0.58 μM, respectively. The electrochemical treatment created oxygen groups on the carbon surfaces, thus improving wettability and hydrophilicity. MNC was herein exploited as an adhesive-free, yet highly skin-adherent platform for wearable sensing devices that also benefit from the semi-permeable, non-allergenic, and renewable features that make MNC unique within the pool of materials that have been used for such a purpose. Our findings have clear implications for the developments on greener and more biocompatible but still efficient substrates and may pave the route for combining immunosensing devices with drug delivery therapies. São Carlos Institute of Physics University of São Paulo (USP) São Carlos Institute of Chemistry University of São Paulo (USP) Institute of Chemistry University of Campinas (UNICAMP), P.O. Box 6154 Biopolymers and Biomaterials Laboratory (BIOPOLMAT) University Center of Araraquara (UNIARA) Brazilian Nanotechnology National Laboratory (LNNano) Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) São Paulo State University (UNESP) Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry Rua Professor Francisco Degni, 55, Araraquara14800-060 São Paulo State University (UNESP) Department of General and Inorganic Chemistry Rua Professor Francisco Degni, 55, Araraquara14800-060 FAPESP: 2013/14262–7 FAPESP: 2015/01770–0 FAPESP: 2016/01919–6 FAPESP: 2016/06612–6 CNPq: 423952/2018-8

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:49:05Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-10-01 Infectious diseases are a major global concern being responsible for high morbidity and mortality mainly due to the development and enhancement of multidrug-resistant microorganisms exposing the fragility of medicines and vaccines commonly used to these treatments. Taking into account the scarcity of effective formulation to treat infectious diseases, nanotechnology offers a vast possibility of ground-breaking platforms to design new treatment through smart nanostructures for drug delivery purposes. Among the available nanosystems, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) stand out due their multifunctionality, biocompatibility and tunable properties make them emerging and actual nanocarriers for specific and controlled drug release. Considering the high demand for diseases prevention and treatment, this review exploits the MSNs fabrication and their behavior in biological media besides highlighting the most of strategies to explore the wide MSNs functionality as engineered, smart and effective controlled drug release nanovehicles for infectious diseases treatment. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) School of Pharmaceutical Sciences São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP)

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T12:20:08Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-09-16 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) Sao Paulo State University (UNESP) To address the problems associated with the use of unsupported nanomaterials, in general, and molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), in particular, we report the preparation of self-supported hybrid aerogel membranes that combine the mechanical stability and excellent textural properties of bacterial nanocellulose (BC)-based organic macro/mesoporous scaffolds with the excellent adsorption-cum-photocatalytic properties and high contaminant removal performance of MoS2 nanostructures. A controlled hydrothermal growth and precise tuning of the synthetic parameters allowed us to obtain BC/MoS2-based porous, self-supported, and stable hybrid aerogels with a unique morphology resulting from a molecular precision in the coating of quantum-confined photocatalytic MoS2 nanostructures (2-4 nm crystallite size) on BC nanofibrils. These BC/MoS2 samples exhibit high surface area (97-137 m(2).g(-1)) and pore volume (0.28-0.36 cm(3).g(-1)) and controlled interlayer distances (0.62-1.05 nm) in the MoS2 nanostructures. Modification of BC with nanostructured MoS2 led to an enhanced pollutants removal efficiency of the hybrid aerogels both by adsorptive and photocatalytic mechanisms, as indicated by a detailed study using a specifically designed membrane photoreactor containing the developed photoactive/adsorptive BC/MoS2 hybrid membranes. Most importantly, the prepared BC/Mo(S)2 aerogel membranes showed high performance in the photoassisted in-flow removal of both organic dye (methylene blue (MB)) molecules (96% removal within 120 min, K-obs = 0.0267 min(-1)) and heavy metal ions (88% Cr(VI) removal within 120 min, K-obs = 0.0012 min(-1)), separately and/or simultaneously, under UV-visible light illumination as well as excellent recyclability and photostability. Samples with interlayer expanded MoS2 nanostructures were particularly more efficient in the removal of smaller species (CrO42-) as compared to larger (MB) dye molecules. The prepared hybrid aerogel membranes show promising behavior for application in in-flow water purification, representing a significant advancement in the use of self-supported aerogel membranes for photocatalytic applications in liquid media. Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Chem, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Univ Peshawar, Inst Chem Sci, Peshawar, Pakistan Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Inst Phys, BR-79070900 Campo Grande, MS, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Chem Sao Carlos, BR-13560970 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Geosci & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, BR-13500970 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Chem, BR-14800060 Araraquara, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ, Inst Geosci & Exact Sci, Dept Phys, BR-13500970 Rio Claro, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2015/22828-6 FAPESP: 2018/01934-0 Higher Education Commission, Pakistan: 9286

Thin-film sensors surfaces are becoming popular to collect data in several specific and complex processes, namely plastic injection or metal stamping, allowing the digitization of such processes through the use of Internet of Things technologies. A particular challenge in such thin-film sensors surfaces is the data acquisition and signal conditioning system, which implementation is complex due to the characteristics of these sensors (e.g., low amplitude and noisy signals), but even more complex when implemented in real industrial processes, which are subject to harsh conditions, namely noise, dirt and aggressive elements. This work describes a modular data acquisition and signals conditioning system for thin-film sensors surfaces, meeting the requirements of scalability, robustness and low-cost, meaning that it can be easily expanded according to the number of sensors required for the application scenario. The work reported in this paper was supported by ONSURF- Mobilizar Competências Tecnológicas em Engenharia de Superfícies, Projeto n.o POCI-01-0247-FEDER-024521. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

STEAM Education is nowadays a key element for our current digital society. Integrating STEAM and developing competences such as Computational Thinking is highly demanded by the industry and higher education institutions. In order to do so new methodological approaches are required. RoboSTEAM project is an Erasmus+ project defined to address these topics by using of physical devices and robotics employing Challenge Based Learning methodology. One of the first steps in the project development is the definition of current landscape in the research field. Which means to carry out a literature mapping that considers previous applications of Challenge Based Learning in STEAM education and use of robots and physical devices to do so. This paper shows the mapping review process and the main results obtained. The mapping analyze 242 candidate works from the most relevant bibliographic sources and selected 54. Form them it was possible to see that there are not many initiatives on STEM Education related to Challenge base learning and the most of them are specially focused on the application of specific tools and in the development of concrete competences.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:36:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-05-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Herein we report the synthesis of highly-doped silver nanocluster in fluorophosphate glasses through the melting-quenching method in order to achieve sensitization with Tm3+ and Mn2+ ions. Blue and red emission belonging to Tm3+ (470 to 490 nm) and Mn2+ (550 to 750 nm) ions could be obtained via non-resonant excitation of Tm3+ and Mn2+. Slight decrease of the fluorescence decay times confirmed an energy transfer as a possible mechanism to explain the Tm3+ and Mn2+ emission. The composition of 5 mol% of AgNO3, 0.4 mol% of Tm2O3 and 0.2 mol% of MnF2 in our sample leads to distance between donor (silver nanoclusters) and acceptor (Tm3+-Mn2+) as short as 11 Å, which suggests that the main mechanism for blue and red emission from Tm3+ and Mn2+ is Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). The results presented here show that the studied material has potential application for multicolor generation as luminophore in white light emitting diodes (W-LED). Institute of Chemistry - São Paulo State University - UNESP Department of Chemical Physics and Optics Faculty of Mathematics and Physics Charles University, Ke Karlovu 3 Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Chalmers University of Technology Institute of Chemistry - São Paulo State University - UNESP FAPESP: #2013/07793-6 FAPESP: #2016/16343-2 FAPESP: #2016/16900-9

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T00:57:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-03-05 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Inorganic oxides doped with RE3+ have interesting optical properties for converting photons into higher and/or lower energy from excitation, ultraviolet (UV) or infrared (IR). The luminescence materials Y2O3:Yb3+,Eu3+,Er3+ (xYb: 1.2; xEu: 2.0; xEr: 0.1–3.0 mol%) were successfully prepared using different precursors, NH4OH (ammonium hydroxide), H2C2O4 (oxalic acid), C6H8O7 (acid citrate) and CH4N2O (urea). The as prepared materials were annealed at 900, 1000 and 1100 °C. The crystalline structure and morphology of these materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV excited and upconversion photoluminescence. Structural investigation of materials exhibited formation of the cubic phase, indicating efficient doping ions in the matrix. In the analysis of the diffractograms, the use of the Scherrer equation showed the increase of the crystallite size by increasing the annealing temperature. There was also a small variation in the microstrain values of materials indicating the possible presence of structural defects. Photoluminescence investigations indicate that all the precursors used are favorable for the synthesis verified from the intense luminescence of the materials. Y2O3:Yb3+,Eu3+,Er3+ to be excited simultaneously at 394 and 980 nm, which exhibited emission narrow bands at 524 nm, 541 nm, 662 nm and 601 nm, 612 nm, assigned to the Er3+ and Eu3+ ion, respectively. There is a cross relaxation process due to decreased lifetime values (between 0.73 and 1.69 ms) when compared to materials doped with Eu3+ alone. In all materials, the amount of dopant was observed to not influence the morphology of the materials or the photoluminescent properties, providing potential applications in energy conversion, specific in solar cell. Grupo de Pesquisa em Química de Materiais (GPQM) Departamento de Ciências Naturais (DCNat) Universidade Federal de São João del Rei (UFSJ) Laboratório de Materiais Vítreos (LaMaV) Departamento de Engenharia de Materiais (DEMa) Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) Department of Chemistry and Physics University of Tennessee at Martin Grupo de Química de Materiais Inorgânicos Nanoestruturados (GQMIN) Institute of Chemistry – (IQ) Federal University of Uberlândia – (UFU), Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121 – Bairro Santa Mônica Desenvolvimento de Materiais Inorgânicos com Terras Raras – DeMITeR Laboratório de Materiais Fotoluminescentes (LAMAF) Institute of Chemistry – (IQ) Federal University of Uberlândia – (UFU), Av. João Naves de Ávila, 2121 – Bairro Santa Mônica Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) Institute of Chemistry São Paulo State University (UNESP) CAPES: 001 FAPEMIG: CEX - RED-00010- 14

Teaching based on challenges and competitions is one of the most exciting and promising methods for students. In this paper, a competition of the Portuguese Robotics Open is addressed and a solution is proposed. The Robot@Factory Lite is a new challenge and accepts participants from secondary schools (Rookie) and universities. The concepts of simulation, hardware-in-the-loop and timed finite state machine are presented and validated in the real robot prototype. The aim of this paper is to disseminate the developed solution in order to attract more students to STEM educational program. This work is financed by the ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation- COMPETE 2020 Programme within project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006961), and by National Funds through the FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) as part of project UID /EEA/50014/2013. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The Robot@Factory Lite (R@FL) is a competition held at the Portuguese Robotics Open that aims to present a problem inspired by the deployment of autonomous mobile robots on a factory shop floor. This paper proposes an approach to transform this competition according to the Industry 4.0 concept using the Wi-Fi to attribute orders to the mobile robot. The main contribution of this paper is to address a Supply Chain Management (SPM) of the ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) that will inform the tasks to the robot so that it can schedule. It is presented a new hardware architecture that should be able to read the information of the parts through Wi-Fi in a client-server methodology. It also includes encoders that allow to feedback the wheels rotation and can be used to estimate the odometry. This work has been supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia within the Projects: UIDB/05757/2020 and UIDB/50014/2020 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Effective conservation requires that conservation policies and management decisions first target local actors who are dependent on natural resource use in Protected Areas (PA) of Developing Countries (DC). In rural areas of DCs, these actors are mainly farmers who also rely on off-farm activities such as harvest of Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to complement their livelihoods. Here, we propose a novel approach to support the development of policy interventions aimed at achieving conservation goals through the sustainable development of local people in PAs of DCs. The approach consists in identifying the main Livelihood and Farming Systems (LFS) and select those that are more conservation-friendly, and that may contribute to solve conservation and development problems such as Human-wildlife conflict. Identifying the existing LFS can also help in searching for conservation-relevant improvements that can contribute to local people wellbeing, considering the existing FS as the starting point for a sustainable development strategy in PAs of DC. Data from the Niassa National Reserve (NNR), the largest PA in Mozambique, were used to develop this LFS approach. Measures of effort applied in harvesting NTFPs and in managing agricultural inputs and outputs were collected from 329 households through a structured survey. Cluster analysis was performed to identify and characterise the main LFS in the NNR. Based on the cluster results, we have identified four livelihood systems (LS): gatherers, hunters, farmers and employees; four farming systems (FS): specialized in maize, rice and sorghum, and a mixed FS. A Multinomial Logistic Model was also applied to understand the drivers of LFS choice. Livelihood systems were mainly driven by householdlevel socio-economic factors, while FS were driven by village-level biophysical conditions. Households who were employed and had diversified farming and off-farm activities were better off and more resilient to climate change and crop-raiding animals. Intensification appears to occur gradually but has found to be limited by rainfall availability. Based on our findings, we propose that conservation experts and policy-makers should use a LFS approach to re-frame the conservation narrative in PAs of DCs and promote the existing practices that can better protect biodiversity while improving livelihood and welfare of local people info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Human mobility is the key element of everyday life, its reduction or loss deeply affects daily activities. In assisted rehabilitation, robotic devices have focuses on the biomechanics of motor control. However, biomechanics does not study the neurological and physiological processes related to normal gait. Biomimetics combined with biomechanics, can generate a more efficient stimulation of the motor cortex and the locomotor system. The highest efficiency obtained through torque generation models, based on the physiological response of muscles and bones to reaction forces, together with control techniques based on autonomic computation. An autonomic control algorithm has a self-adjusting behaviour, ensuring patient safety and robot operation without the continuous monitoring of the physiotherapist. Thus, this work will identify the elements that characterize the physiological stimuli related to normal human gait, focusing on the ankle joint, aiming the development of biomimetic algorithms for robots for rehabilitation of the lower limbs.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T15:07:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-11-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious clinical condition which early and accurate diagnosis may contribute to the reduction of associated morbidity and mortality. VTE occurs when a blood clot (thrombus) blocks the vein blood flow causing deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and, when it migrates to the lungs, it may clog the pulmonary arteries characterizing pulmonary embolism (PE). Analysis using fibrin degradation products or D-dimer and coagulation factor VIII may assist early diagnosis of VTE. Thus, two immunosensors were built using layer-by-layer (LbL) films technique, one containing the anti-D-dimer immobilized on polyethylene imine (PEI) and another the anti-FVIII on silk fibroin (SF). Immunosensor response, the antigen-antibody specific interaction, was investigated using cyclic voltammetry. When immunosensors, PEI/anti-D-dimer and SF/anti-FVIII, were exposed to antigens, D-dimer and Factor VIII, the voltammograms area and current were significantly increased with increasing specific antigen concentration. The specific interaction was confirmed with control experiments, electrodes containing only PEI or SF, that no significant changes in the voltammogram responses were observed and principal component analysis confirmed these results. The films formation and response were verified using scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The developed immunosensor seems to be a promising and effective early complementary exam to assist in the VTE diagnosis, through the combined response of two biomarkers very sensible. Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Ciencia & Tecnol, Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Fis Sao Carlos, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Quim, Araraquara, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Hemoctr Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Quim, Araraquara, SP, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Hemoctr Botucatu, Botucatu, SP, Brazil FAPESP: 2014/03145-2 CNPq: 480896/2013-5

This paper presents a closed-form solution for direct and inverse kinematic models of a four-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator designed for weld torch positioning of orbital welding of metallic pipes. The mathematical model was developed, implemented and simulated considering the geometric parameters of the prototype. The proposed closed-form solution showed that the mathematical model matched the behavior of the manipulator, confirming that the motion was entirely defined through the mathematical and geometric relations, without the requirement of iterations or numerical solutions. The closed-form solution also offered a simpler approach for the mechanical behavior of the manipulator, making it feasible to implement a less complex-coded routine in the embedded microcontroller due to its lower computational requirements.

Inspection based on mobile autonomous robots can assume an important role in many industries. Instead of having fixed sensors, the concept of assembling the sensors on a mobile robot that performs the scanning and inspection through a defined path is cheaper, configurable and adaptable. This paper describes a mobile robot, equipped with several gas sensors and a LIDAR device, that scans an established area by following a trajectory based on way-points searching for gas leakage and simultaneously avoid obstacles in the map. In other words, the robot follows the trajectory while the gas concentration is under a defined value and surrounding the obstacles. Otherwise, the autonomous robot starts the leakage search based on a search algorithm that allows to find the leakage position. The proposed methodology is verified in simulation based on a model of the real robot. The search test performed in a simulation environment allows to validate the proposed methodology. This work is financed by the ERDF - European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation- COMPETE 2020 Programme within project (POCI-01-0145-FEDER- 006961), and by National Funds through the FCT - Funda~ao para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology) as part of project UID/EEA/50014/2013. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The collaboration between humans and machines, where humans can share the same work environment without safety equipment due to the collision avoidance characteristic is one of the research topics for the Industry 4.0. This work proposes a system that acquires the space of the environment through an RGB-Depth sensor, verifies the free spaces in the created Point Cloud and executes the trajectory of the collaborative manipulator avoiding collisions. It is demonstrated a simulated environment before the system in real situations, in which the movements of pick-and-place tasks are defined, diverting from virtual obstacles with the RGB-Depth sensor. It is possible to apply this system in real situations with obstacles and humans, due to the results obtained in the simulation. The basic structure of the system is supported by the ROS software, in particular, the Movelt! and Rviz. These tools serve both for simulations and for real applications. The obtained results allow to validate the system using the algorithms PRM and RRT, chosen for being commonly used in the field of robot path planning. This work has been partially funded by Junta de Castilla y León and FEDER funds, under Research Grant No. LE028P17 and by "Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades" of the Kingdom of Spain through grant RTI2018-100683- B-I00. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

A series of para-substituted tetraarylborates were investigated as aryl radical generator for photopolymerization reactions, using 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate as monomer. The first steps of the photopolymerization process involve the use of tetraarylborate as monocomponent photoinitiator or combination of two-component systems (riboflavin and tetraarylborate anion) to generate the aryl radical species, which is used to initiate the radicalar polymerization of vinyl monomers. Both photoinitiator systems herein investigated are very attractive for vinyl polymerization upon light irradiation. The polymerization and photochemical results indicate that the changes on the para-substituted ligand may be used to improve the formation of aryl radical species and the rate constant of electron transfer into two-component systems. In consequence of this reaction, the kinetics of radical polymerization is also modulated by electron donor/acceptor features of para-substituent ligands.

Made available in DSpace on 2018-12-11T17:37:29Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2018-10-15 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Komagataeibacter rhaeticus, a bacterium isolated from Kombucha tea, was used to produce bacterial cellulose (BC) through its cultivation in a static sugarcane molasses (SCM) supplemented-culture medium (totally or partially), as an alternative carbon source. BC membranes were characterized by different physicochemical analysis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission gun-scanning electron microscopy (FEG-SEM), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA) and PeakForce quantitative nanomechanics atomic force microscopy (PeakForce (QNM-AFM)). FTIR, XRD and TGA results suggest great similarity among all membranes produced by distinct culture media. Although the glucose (F1) and SCM (F6) media presented the lowest BC yield, all SCM-supplemented culture media (from F2 to F5) showed BC yield values similar to the HS culture medium (F0). FEG-SEM analysis showed that as higher SCM concentrations on culture media higher dense nanofibers network could be prepared. Quantitative nanomechanical results obtained by AFM technique corroborate FEG-SEM analysis besides show smoother and more flexible BC membranes as a function of the increasing of the SCM concentrations. The modification of the carbon source of the culture medium with an important by-product of Brazilian agroindustry appears as a viable alternative to reduce cost of BC production (of up to 20.06%) besides increase the possibilities of industrial scale BC preparation. University of Araraquara – UNIARA Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Advanced Materials Centro de Ciências da Natureza – CNN Universidade Federal do Piauí – UFPI Institute of Chemistry – São Paulo State University – UNESP Group ‘Materials + Technologies’ (GMT) Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering Faculty of Engineering Gipuzkoa University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Plaza Europa 1 Faculty of Engineering Vitoria-Gasteiz University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), C/Nieves Cano 12 Laboratório de Pesquisa Desenvolvimento & Inovação, Apis Flora Ind. Coml. Ltda, Ribeirão Preto Institute of Chemistry – São Paulo State University – UNESP

The combination of cellulosic materials and clays, such as Laponite, can provide composites with superior optical and mechanical properties compared to pristine cellulose. Synthetic clays can also be used as a host matrix for the immobilization of luminescent complexes, as the incorporated complexes may present enhanced emission quantum efficiency, photo and thermostability compared to the non-immobilized ones. In this way, we, herein, report the preparation of luminescent composites through the incorporation of a Eu(III) complex [Eu3+(tta)n] containing Laponite (Lap) into cellulose nanofibers (CNF). The thermogravimetry results show that the obtained CNF/Lap@[Eu3+(tta)n] films present higher thermal resistance than the CNF film. The Eu3+(tta)n species were found in the composite structure with preserved luminescence characteristics, and no leaching or degradation of the organic ligand was observed with the preparation of the composites.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-10T17:26:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-02-14 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Lanthanide (Ln) complexes emitting in the near-infrared (NIR) region have fostered great interest as upcoming optical tags owing to their high spatial and temporal resolution emission as well deeper light penetration in biological tissues for non-invasive monitoring. For use in live-cell imaging, lanthanide complexes with long-wavelength absorption and good brightness are especially critical. Light-harvesting ligands of Ln complexes are typically excited in the ultraviolet region, which in turn trigger simultaneously autofluorescence and long-exposition damage of living systems. The association of d-metalloligands rather than organic chromophores enables the excitation of NIR-emitting Ln complex occurs in the visible region. Taking advantage of the long-lived excited states and intense absorption band in the ultraviolet (UV) to NIR region of Ru(II), we successfully design a dual-emitting (in the visible and NIR region) d-f heterobinuclear complex based on Ru(II) metalloligand and Yb(III) complex. In addition, we developed luminescent nanohybrids by grafting of Ru(II)-Yb(III) heterobinuclear complexes containing silylated ligands on the surface of mesoporous and dense silica matrix. The nanomarkers were successfully applied for imaging of murine melanoma B16-F10 and neonatal human dermal fibroblast HDFn cell cultures by one-photon or two-photon absorption using laser scanning confocal microscopy. Great cellular uptake, low cytotoxicity and the possibility to achieve visible and NIR emission via two-photons excitation show that the nanohybrids are remarkable markers for in vitro and a potential tool for in vivo applications. Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Chem, Araraquara, SP, Brazil CIRIMAT Univ Toulouse, CNRS, UPS, INPT, 118 Route Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse 9, France Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Quim, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Filosofia Ciencias & Letras Ribeirao Preto, Dept Fis, BR-14040901 Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil Univ Sao Paulo, Sao Carlos Inst Phys, Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Inst Chem, Araraquara, SP, Brazil

The present study focuses on the sintering of silicon carbide-based ceramics (SiC) by liquid phase sintering (LPS) followed by characterization of the produced ceramics. AlN/Re2O3 mixtures were used as additives in the LPS process. In the first step, the LPS-SiC materials were produced in a graphite resistance furnace in the form of discs at different temperatures. The conditions with the best results regarding real density and relative density were taken as reference for sintering in the form of prismatic bars. In the second step, these samples were evaluated regarding fracture toughness (KIC), by the Single Edge V Notch Beam – SEVNB – method, and flexural strength. KIC behavior was evaluated according to the depth and curvature radius of the notches. Reliable KIC values were presented when the ceramic displayed a small curvature radius at the notch tip. When the radius was large, it did not maintain the square root singularity of the notch tip. Tests were carried out to determine KIC values in atmospheric air and water. KIC results were lower in water than air, with a decrease ranging between 2.56% and 11.26%. The observations indicated a direct grain size correlation between KIC values and fracture strength of the SiC ceramics.

Purpose Several studies have aimed to develop robotic systems which move in transmission lines. Until this moment, all of them have a high weight and cost associated with the equipment and reduced battery autonomy time. In this context, this paper aims to propose the POLIBOT (POwer Lines Inspection roBOT) with low cost and weight, enabling the movement over the lines and an easier installation and remove. Design/methodology/approach The designed robot uses the Profiles Manufacturing Methodology (PMM). The construction of the robot mechanical structure uses modularized aluminum parts built through square profiles. Thus, it’s possible a drastic reduction in production time as well as cost reduction and weight when comparing this method with other manufacturing processes like foundry, for example. For hardware and software systems, the use of free and open source software causes a significant reduction in cost and project execution time. The benefits of using open source systems are immeasurable, both from academic and industrial applications. Findings The POLIBOT platform is one solution to the problem of inspection in power lines. With this robot, more lines are maintained with lower time. In its constructive aspect, the robotic mechanism is designed using principles of bioengineering. The use of this principle was successful, considering that obstacle transposition is performed with stability and low energy consumption. Research limitations/implications The suggestion for future researches is to replace the battery for solar energy and construction in polymeric material to avoid high magnetic fields. Practical implications The commercial application is evident because manual inspections are inefficient, very expensive and dangerous. Thus, it is growing the number of researches that develop mechatronics systems for this kind of inspection. Social implications The impact is the reduction of accidents because the present procedure requires precision of movements, where the pilot and electrical technician are close to high electrical and magnetic fields. In addition, for some tasks, the worker has to walk on the line to reach some important points. Thus, those tasks involve high risk of death. Originality/value The PMM methodology represents an innovation to the state of the art because others robotic mechanisms proposed for inspection tasks present total structure mass between 50 and 100 kg and POLIBOT has only 9 kg. Other fact is its price for implementation as this robot used the robot operating system (ROS) framework, what dispense the use of licenses. Other important features are that the robot performs the tasks autonomously, which reduces errors introduced by the operator and its low manufacturing cost as compared with other projects.

Bombyx mori silk fibroin offers unlimited opportunities for functionalization, processing, and biological integration. We describe in this work the design of structured organic inorganic hybrids based on silica and silk fibroin, taking advantage of the relationship between the structure and processing of the latter. In situ self-assembly of fibroin nanofibers along with hydrolysis and polycondensation of tetraethyl orthosilicate was employed. Structural characterization was performed by Raman and solid state NMR spectroscopies. Our findings demonstrated that fibroin precipitates in the reaction medium with prevailing β-sheet conformation. The transition from amorphous to crystalline state was observed to be favored by the increase of the fibroin concentration in the samples. The samples were obtained as robust and biocompatible monoliths, making them candidates for several applications, particularly in the biomedical field. As a novel development, the fibroin nanofibers were used as pore biotemplates to create mechanically robust silica monoliths with a hierarchical macro-mesoporous network in an easy templating process. The template was removed by thermal treatment and the as obtained silica based materials displayed surface area values ranging from 704 to 1057 m2 g−1 and a maximum pore volume of 0.621 mL g−1. The porous silica monoliths were then doped with rhodamine 6G and typical random laser action could be observed, with a minimum laser threshold of 9.7 μJ per pulse and a linewidth narrowing from 40 to 4 nm. In addition, it was shown that two coupled gain mechanisms were taking place, the random lasing and the stimulated Raman scattering, allowing us to observe Raman Stokes lines due to vibrational modes of the dye molecule.