A Non-Heme Iron Photocatalyst for Light-Driven Aerobic Oxidation of Methanol

Non-heme (L)FeIIIand (L)FeIII-O-FeIII(L) complexes (L=1,1-di(pyridin-2-yl)-N,N-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)ethan-1-amine) underwent reduction under irradiation to the FeIIstate with concomitant oxidation of methanol to methanal, without the need for a secondary photosensitizer. Spectroscopic and DFT studies support a mechanism in which irradiation results in charge-transfer excitation of a FeIII-μ-O-FeIIIcomplex to generate [(L)FeIV=O]2+(observed transiently during irradiation in acetonitrile), and an equivalent of (L)FeII. Under aerobic conditions, irradiation accelerates reoxidation from the FeIIto the FeIIIstate with O2, thus closing the cycle of methanol oxidation to methanal

Design fiction for critical thinking : designing consciously technological artefacts to tackle aware behaviours

DOTTORATOLe teorie e le pratiche del design critico, come lo Speculative Design e la Design Fiction, offrono principi in grado di innescare il pensiero critico e di usare il futuro come spazio di indagine critica (Dunne e Raby, 2013) per quanto riguarda le opportunità, i limiti, i vincoli e l'applicazione delle tecnologie, con lo scopo di progettare artefatti tecnologici consapevolmente. In questa ricerca, l'autore si focalizza sugli artefatti tecnologici per indirizzare i comportamenti responsabil, per esempio, influenzare gli utenti ad adottare e mantenere abitudini più sostenibili, fare scelte sostenibili (per esempio, in relazione all'inquinamento dell'aria, al consumo di energia, alla salute e al benessere, e così via). Progettare in modo più consapevole implica l'adozione del pensiero critico nella ricerca e nella pratica. Il pensiero critico è qui inteso come una capacità di ragionare sulla tecnologia e la società (considerando sia gli attori umani che non umani) come un sistema interconnesso, sfruttando le sue implicazioni etiche e sociali e i fattori trasversali coinvolti nei processi di cambiamento. Al giorno d'oggi, i ricercatori e i professionisti del design devono affrontare le complessità del mondo che cambia e la sua incertezza, dove trattare il comportamento umano è diventato un compito difficile. Progettare per consentire un comportamento umano consapevole ha bisogno di approcci più critici che possano aiutare i ricercatori e i progettisti ad affrontare queste complessità e progettare in modo più consapevole sia per gli utenti che per il pianeta. (Rapp et al. 2019) Questa ricerca si propone di esplorare e definire nuovi e più critici approcci per la progettazione di artefatti tecnologici per comportamenti responsabili, fondati sui principi della Design Fiction e su proposte di design speculativo, ritenute in grado di innescare un pensiero critico. Design Fiction ci permette di usare il futuro come spazio di indagine critica attraverso la speculazione su ciò che potrebbe essere, e di conseguenza avvicinarsi criticamente alla realtà come campo di azioni possibili. (Dune e Raby 2013, Bleeker 2009) Attraverso i principi della design fiction, come gli scenari anticipatori e i prototipi diegetici, possiamo indagare le potenziali applicazioni e implicazioni future degli artefatti tecnologici, esplorare nuove forme fisiche, esperienze e rituali di interazione. Gli scenari anticipatori sono costruzioni alternative di mondi (in senso sociale, culturale, politico, storico) all'interno dei quali il designer anticipa, crea e contestualizza il prototipo diegetico e costruisce mediazioni tra uomo - tecnologia - ambiente. Fondata sulla metodologia Research Through Design (RTD), questa ricerca si impegna a rispondere come la design fiction può aiutare i progettisti e i ricercatori del design a progettare più consapevolmente gli artefatti tecnologici per indirizzare i comportamenti responsabili, attraverso la prospettiva pluriversale considerando le implicazioni sociali ed etiche e l'esplorazione e l'anticipazione delle mediazioni generate attraverso i rituali di interazione, le esperienze, le nuove forme e applicazioni delle tecnologie. A questo proposito, questa ricerca propone un approccio nuovo e più critico, e operazionalizza questo approccio in un protocollo pronto all'uso da parte di ricercatori e professionisti del design. Il protocollo è qui inteso come un insieme di regole e procedure da seguire per progettare più consapevolmente artefatti tecnologici. Il protocollo all'interno di questo dottorato stabiliscee combina diversi concetti teorici, metodi e strumenti proposti dall'approccio teorico approccio teorico, descritto in profondità nel corso della tesi.Critical design theories and practices, such as Speculative Design and Design Fiction, offer principles able to trigger critical thinking and use the future as a space for critical inquiry (Dunne and Raby, 2013) regarding the opportunities, limitations, constraints, and application of technologies, with a purpose to design more consciously technological artefacts. In this research, the author focuses on technological artefacts to tackle aware behaviours, for instance, influence the users to adopt and maintain more sustainable habits, make more sustainable choices (i.e., air pollution, energy consumption, health and wellbeing, others). To design more consciously imply the adoption of critical thinking in design research and practice. Critical thinking is intended here as a capability to reason about the technology and the society (considering both human and non -human actors) as an interconnected system, exploiting its ethical and societal implications and crosscutting factors involved in change processes. Nowadays, design researchers and practitioners are required to deal with the complexities of the changing world and its uncertainty where dealing with human behaviour have become difficult task. Designing for enabling aware human behaviour needs more critical approaches that can help design researchers and practitioners to deal with these complexities and design more consciously both for the users and for the planet. (Rapp et al. 2019) This research aims at exploring and defining new and more critical approaches for the design of technological artefacts for aware behaviours, founded on Design Fiction principles and speculative design proposals, considered able to trigger critical thinking. Design Fiction enables us to use the future as a space for critical inquiry through the speculation about what could be, and accordingly approach critically to reality as a field of possible actions. (Dune and Raby 2013, Bleeker 2009) Through design fiction principles, such as anticipatory scenarios and diegetic prototypes, we can investigate the potential future applications and implications of technological artefacts, explore new physical forms, experiences, and interaction rituals. Anticipatory scenarios are alternative constructions of the worlds (in a social, cultural, political, historical sense) within which the designer anticipates, creates, and contextualises the diegetic prototype and builds mediations between humans - technology - environment. Established upon the Research Through Design (RTD) methodology, this research commits to answer how design fiction can help design practitioners and researchers design more consciously the technological artefacts to tackle aware behaviours, through the pluriversal perspective considering the societal and ethical implications and exploration and anticipation of mediations generated through the interaction rituals, experiences, new forms and applications of technologies. In regard, this research proposes a new and more critical approach, and it operationalises this approach into the protocol ready to use by design researchers and practitioners. Protocol is intended here as a set of rules and procedures to follow to design more consciously technological artefacts. The protocol within this PhD sets and combines several theoretical concepts, methods and and tools proposed by the theoretical approach, described in depth through the dissertation.DIPARTIMENTO DI DESIGN34FERRARO, VENEREBERTOLA, PAOL

Predicting behavior of needled geotextile materials made of recycled polyester fibres up to yield point

The paper reports the results of the analysis of mechanical properties of nonwoven geotextile material from recycled polyester fibres of areal density 150, 200, 250, 300 and 500 g/m2. Also, the limits to yield point of needled geotextile materials, which define the permissible loads of geotextiles, are determined. Using mechanical models (model of Lethersich) and experimental results, the behavior of needled geotextiles made of recycled polyester fibres in the region up to the yield point can be described. The proposed method and the results can be used to predict the acceptable loads that nonwoven geotextile materials made from recycled polyester fibres can be subjected to exploitation with application

Implementing data-driven systems for work and health: The role of incentives in the use of physiolytics

Following the recent success of health wearable devices (smartwatches, activity trackers) for personal and leisure activities, organizations have started to build digital occupational health programs and data-driven health insurance around these systems. In this way, firms or health insurance companies seek to both support a new form of health promotion for their workforce/clients and to take advantage of large amounts of collected data for organizational purposes. Still, the success in the implementation of wearable health devices (also known as physiolytics) in organizational settings is entirely dependent on the individual motivation to adopt and use physiolytics over time (since organizations cannot establish a mandated use). Therefore, organizations often use incentives to encourage individuals to participate in such data-driven programs. Yet, little is known about these mechanisms that serve to align the interests of an organization with the interests of a group of individuals. This is an important challenge because these incentives may blunder the frontiers between what is voluntary and what is not. Against this background, this thesis aims, from a critical realist perspective, to build general knowledge regarding incentives in physiolytics-centered organizational programs. By doing so, individuals may be able to recognize challenges linked to participation in such programs; organizations may create sensible incentives; policymakers may identify new social issues that appear with this form of digitalization in organizations; and, finally, researchers may investigate new practical and social challenges regarding digitalization in organizations. In concrete terms, the first explorative phase of the thesis shows that feedback, gamification features and financial incentives are the most implemented incentives in physiolytics-centered organizational programs. There is also an overrepresentation of financial incentives for data-health plans, indicating that health insurance companies are building their strategy on external motivators. A second, more explanatory phase serves to further explore these types of incentives and specify recommendations by taking a higher perspective than normative views, so that it is possible to create more alternative managerial strategies or develop other policy perspectives. This part principally shows that the most influential incentives on user behavior are the ones that are transparent, that stimulate individual empowerment, and that propose defined benefits. In terms of contributions, this thesis allows individuals to evaluate how their autonomy and integrity is impacted by incentives in such data-driven programs. This thesis also outlines the necessity for organizations to invest time and resources to know their audience. Organizations additionally need to develop several strategies, by mixing incentives or gradually introducing them. Policymakers must ensure that regulations permit the clear consent of participants; guarantee a proportionality of incentives, and involve entities that can guide individuals through data-sharing. Finally, this thesis enables researchers to further investigate how organizations can develop appropriate and desirable environments regarding data-driven technology, so that individuals may enhance their decision-making processes and organizations may succeed in their implementation

Acceptable nudge strategies to incentivize the use of wearables and physiolytics at work: A Q-methodology examination

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the pressure on organizations to ensure health and safety in the workplace. An increasing number of organizations are considering wearables and physiolytics devices as part of their safe return to work programs so as to comply with governments’ accountability rules. As with other technologies with ambivalent use (i.e., simultaneously beneficial and harmful), the introduction of these devices in work settings is met with skepticism. In this context, nudging strategies as a way of using design, information, and other ways to manipulate behaviors (system 1 nudge) and choices (system 2 nudge) has gained traction and is often applied alongside the introduction of ambivalent technologies with the aim to “nudge” their use. While the feasibility of different nudge strategies is often studied from only a managerial perspective, where employees’ volitional autonomy and dignity is often treated as secondary, we explore which nudges are acceptable from the perspectives of ordinary workers. Using Q-methodology as a more evolutionary and participatory way to design nudges, we describe five basic strategies that are (to varying degrees) acceptable to them: (a) positive reinforcement and fun, (b) controlling the organizational environment, (c) self-responsibility, (d) collective responsibility, and (e) adapting the individual environment. Our findings show that there is a wide range of viewpoints on what is being considered an acceptable nudge and stress the importance of a transparent, equal dialogue between those who design nudges and potential nudgees

Bacterial infections associated with allogenic bone transplantation

© 2015, Institut za Vojnomedicinske Naucne Informacije/Documentaciju. All Rights Reserved. Background/Aim. Bone allografts are frequently used in or-thopedic reconstructive procedures carrying a high risk for re-cipients. To assess the nature and frequency of allograft con-tamination and associated surgical infection the case records from our institutional bone bank were reviewed. Methods. We retrospectively analyzed the microbiology of discarded bone al-lografts and the surgical site of the recipients. A case series of patients who acquired surgical site infection after allogenic bone transplantation was presented. Swab culturing was con-ducted on 309 femoral heads from living donors who under-went partial and total hip arthroplasty between January 2007 and December 2013. To prevent potential bone allograft con-tamination we used saline solution of 2.0 mg/ml of amikacin during thawing. The overall infection rate was analyzed in 197 recipients. Results. Of the 309 donated femoral heads, 37 were discarded due to bacterial contamination, giving the overall contamination rate of 11.97%. The postoperative survey of 213 bone allotransplantations among 197 recipients showed the in-fection rate of 2.03%. The coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most commonly identified contaminant of bone allografts and recipient surgical sites. Conclusion. The allograft con-tamination rate and the infection rate among recipients in our institution are in accordance with the international standards. The coagulase-negative Staphylococcus was the most commonly identified contaminant of bone allografts and recipient surgical sites. There is no strong evidence that surgical site infections were associated with bone allograft utilization. We plan further improvements in allograft handling and decontamination with highly concentrated antibiotic solutions in order to reduce in-fection risk for recipients

Antibiotic resistance and biofilm formation ability among coagulase-negative staphylococci in healthy individuals from Portugal

In the past few years the interest in coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) species has significantly increased due to their impact on human health and disease. CoNS are common bacterial colonizers of the normal human microflora and usually have a benign relationship with the host.This work was funded by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) and COMPETE grants PTDC/BIA-MIC/113450/2009 and FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-014309

Insights into cystic fibrosis polymicrobial consortia: the role of species interactions in biofilm development, phenotype, and response to in-use antibiotics

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb. 2016.02146/full#supplementary-materialCystic Fibrosis (CF) airways disease involves complex polymicrobial infections where different bacterial species can interact and influence each other and/or even interfere with the whole community. To gain insights into the role that interactions between Pseudomonas aeruginosa in co-culture with Staphylococcus aureus, Inquilinus limosus,and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia may play in infection, the reciprocal effect during biofilm formation and the response of dual biofilms toward ciprofloxacin under in vitro atmospheres with different oxygen availabilities were evaluated. Biofilm formation kinetics showed that the growth of S. aureus, I. limosus, and S. maltophilia was disturbed in the presence of P. aeruginosa, under both aerobic and anaerobic environments. On the other hand, under aerobic conditions, I. limosus led to a decrease in biofilm mass production by P. aeruginosa, although biofilm-cells viability remains unaltered. The interaction between S. maltophilia and P. aeruginosa positively influenced dual biofilm development by increasing its biomass. Compared with monocultures, biomass of P. aeruginosaC S. aureus biofilms was significantly reduced by reciprocal interference. When grown in dual biofilms with P. aeruginosa, ciprofloxacin was less effective against S. aureus, I. limosus, and S. maltophilia, with increasing antibiotic doses leading to drastic inhibitions of P. aeruginosa cultivability. Therefore, P. aeruginosa might be responsible for the protection of the whole dual consortia against ciprofloxacin activity. Based on the overall data, it can be speculated that reciprocal interferences occur between the different bacterial species in CF lung, regardless the level of oxygen. The findings also suggest that alterations of bacterial behavior due to species interplay may be important for disease progression in CF infection.The authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 and COMPETE 2020 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-006684). This study was also supported by FCT and the European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, under the scope of the Projects RECI/BBBEBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462), “BioHealth– Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027 and NORTE-070124-FEDER-000025 – RL2_ Environment & Health, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O NovoNorte), QREN, FEDER. The authors also acknowledge the grants of Susana P. Lopes (SFRH/BPD/95616/2013) and Andreia P.Magalhães (UMINHO/BD/25/2016)

Wearable Technology as a Tool to Motivate Health Behaviour: A Case Study

According to the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits, work-related exposures are estimated to account for about 15% of all adult respiratory diseases. Today, the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is the only way for workers to prevent disease. Nevertheless, its use is highly sparse. Currently, products and systems embedded with wearable technologies are able to protect, motivate and educate users. The authors then suggested the development of a novel wearable system following the beliefs that wearable technology can be persuasive and elicit a conscious behaviour towards the use of the PPEs by consequently improving their health condition. The authors here describe the result of a Transnational Research Project named “P_O_D Plurisensorial Device to prevent Occupational Disease.” The chapter describes the findings achieved so far, the research phase and the new wearable system conceived as a possible example of how to use wearable technology as a useful tool to influence behavioural change

A Privacy Impact Assessment Method for Organizations Implementing IoT for Occupational Health and Safety

Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are increasingly being integrated into occupational health and safety (OHS) practices; however, their adoption raises significant privacy concerns. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has established the requirement for organizations to conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) prior to processing personal data, emphasizing the need for privacy safeguards in the workplace. Despite this, the GDPR provisions related to the IoT, particularly in the area of OHS, lack clarity and specificity. This research aims to bridge this gap by proposing a tailored method for conducting PIAs in the OHS context, with a particular focus on addressing the how to aspect of the assessment process. The proposed method integrates insights from domain experts, relevant literature sources, and GDPR regulations, ultimately leading to the development of an online PIA tool