Providing industry 4.0 technologies: The case of a production technology cluster

The concept of industry 4.0 (i4.0) encompasses the integration of different technologies into an autonomous, knowledge- and sensor-based, self-regulating production system. Our objective is to synthesize which are the challenges and opportunities of adopting i4.0 from the perspective of technology provider companies. A single-case research was conducted with ten companies at the Portuguese Production Technologies Cluster. Based on i4.0 technologies – Augmented reality; Additive Manufacturing; Big Data; Cloud Computing; Cyber-Physical Systems; Cybersecurity; Smart Robotics; Simulation; and System Integration – interviewees mentioned that the main adoption challenges are the analysis of data generated, integration of new technologies with available equipment and workforce, and computational limitations. The main opportunities are improvements in: efficiency; flexibility; productivity; cybersecurity; quality of products and services; and decision process due to data analysis. Interviewees have also foreseen changes in company's business model through the integration of internal resources with complementary activities of their partners and other cluster companies.     

Loaded hip thrust-based PAP protocol effects on acceleration and sprint performance of handball players

This study aimed to investigate the acute effects of two barbell hip thrust-based (BHT) post-activation potentiation (PAP) protocols on subsequent sprint performance. Using a crossover design, eighteen handball athletes performed maximal 15-m sprints before and 15s, 4min and 8min after two experimental protocols consisting of BHT loaded with either 50% or 85% 1RM (50PAP and 85PAP, respectively), in order to profile the transient PAP effects. The resulting sprint performances were significantly impaired at 15s only after the 85PAP protocol, which induced likely and very likely greater decreases compared to the 50PAP. At 4min and 8min, significant improvements and very likely beneficial effects were observed in the 10m and 15m performances following both protocols. Significant differences were found when comparing the two PAPs over time; the results suggested very likely greater performance improvements in 10m following the 85PAP after 4min and 8min, and possible greater performance improvements in 15m after 4min. Positive correlations between BHT 1RMs values and the greatest individual PAP responses on sprint performance were found. This investigation showed that both moderate and intensive BHT exercises can induce a PAP response, but the effects may differ according to the recovery following the potentiating stimulus and the individual`s strength level.     

Optimal Nash tuning rules for robust PID controllers

In this paper, we propose tuning rules for one degree-of-freedom proportional-integral-derivative controllers, by considering important aspects such as the trade-off in the performance in the servo and regulation operation modes and the control system robustness by constraining the maximum sensitivity peak. The different conflicting objectives are dealt with by using a multi-objective optimization algorithm to generate the trade-off optimal solutions. In this context, a simple tuning rule is determined by using the Nash solutions as a multi-criteria decision making technique. The Nash criteria is shown to provide convenient trade-off solutions for the controller tuning problem. Illustrative simulation examples show the effectiveness of the method.     

Women,university and science in twentieth-century Spain

This article aims to question the widely accepted idea that female university students in Spain have, in the past, tended to opt for degrees in the field of humanities. Based on an analysis of the official statistics that are currently available, the paper demonstrates that Spanish female university students showed a clear preference for scientific studies, first medicine and later pharmacy. This pattern was not affected by Franco’s regime and remained stable until the great transformation of Spanish universities during the 1960s. Finally, the paper argues that the basic reasons for this preference for the scientific field were equal access to the prestigious male baccalaureate curriculum, which was a characteristic of the Spanish model for incorporating women into secondary education, and the uneven prestige of the professions to which the degrees provided access. The conclusion drawn is that, historically, pharmacy was the most common professional career pursued by female university graduates in Spain.     

Teams’ innovation: getting there through knowledge sharing and absorptive capacity

This study addresses the contribution of knowledge sharing behaviour and absorptive capacity to innovation at team level. Although the hypotheses reflect the dominant literature, the study’s novelty lies in the data collected from several industries in Portugal, avoiding possible industry bias. Relationships are tested outside sectors where traditionally team effects are studied, for example healthcare. Data were collected from 141 employees working in organizational teams, excluding top management teams, which are often the object of research addressing phenomena leading to innovation. There is no evidence in support of organizational size effect, team’s geographic concentration effect or gender effect. However, team tenure duration is positively related to increased knowledge sharing, that is, recent teams do not share as much knowledge as older ones. Structural Equation Modelling was used to test the mediation effect of absorptive capacity between individual knowledge sharing behaviour and team innovation. Evidence in support of full mediation was found.     

An Intellectual Capital perspective for Business Model Innovation in technology-intensive industries: empirical evidences from Italian spin-offs

Innovation and competition take place increasingly between Business Models (BM), and not just among products, processes, and technologies. Therefore, Business Model Innovation (BMI) becomes the key process to unleash value creation for both established and new companies, and, among these latter, particularly for technological spin-offs. For their constituent characteristics, it emerges that BMI in technological spin-offs appears to be related to the effective management of the Intellectual Capital (IC). Despite this, current research has paid little attention to decline BMI through the lenses of IC. This study aims to provide a contribution in this direction by investigating how technological spin-offs innovate their BM by leveraging their IC dimensions. A review of relevant literature on BMI has been carried out. Then, a case study methodology has been adopted to analyze seven technological spin-offs. The analysis highlighted three main trajectories of BMI, defined in terms of the BMI scope and the main exploited IC dimension. The discussion of findings from a research and practical perspective contributes to the debate on BMI, by providing a new interpretative key based on the relevance of the IC dimensions.     

Control of PDE-ODE cascades with Neumann interconnections

We extend several recent results on full-state feedback stabilization and state estimation of PDE-ODE cascades, where the PDEs are either of heat type or of wave type, from the previously considered cases where the interconnections are of Dirichlet type, to interconnections of Neumann type. The Neumann type interconnections constrain the PDE state to be subject to a Dirichlet boundary condition at the PDE-ODE interface, and employ the boundary value of the first spatial derivative of the PDE state to be the input to the ODE. In addition to considering heat-ODE and wave-ODE cascades, we also consider a cascade of a diffusion-convection PDE with an ODE, where the convection direction is “away” from the ODE. We refer to this case as a PDE-ODE cascade with “counter-convection.” This case is not only interesting because the PDE subsystem is unstable, but because the control signal is subject to competing effects of diffusion, which is in both directions in the one-dimensional domain, and counter-convection, which is in the direction that is opposite from the propagation direction of the standard delay (transport PDE) process. We rely on the diffusion process to propagate the control signal through the PDE towards the ODE, to stabilize the ODE.     

Performance evaluation of the high sensitive troponin I assay on the Atellica IM analyser

IntroductionThe Fourth Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction Global Taskforce recommends the use of high sensitive troponin (hs-Tn) assays in the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. We evaluated the analytical performance of the Atellica IM High-sensitivity Troponin I Assay (hs-TnI) (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc., Tarrytown, USA) and compared its performance to other hs-TnI assays (Siemens Advia Centaur, Dimension Vista, Dimension EXL, and Abbott Architect (Wiesbaden, Germany)) at one or more sites across Europe.Materials and methodsPrecision, detection limit, linearity, method comparison, and interference studies were performed according to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute protocols. Values in 40 healthy individuals were compared to the manufacturer’s cut-offs. Sample turnaround time (TAT) was examined.ResultsImprecision repeatability CVs were 1.1–4.7% and within-lab imprecision were 1.8–7.6% (10.0–25,000 ng/L). The limit of blank (LoB), detection (LoD), and quantitation (LoQ) aligned with the manufacturer’s values of 0.5 ng/L, 1.6 ng/L, and 2.5 ng/L, respectively. Passing-Bablok regression demonstrated good correlations between Atellica IM analyser with other systems; some minor deviations were observed. All results in healthy volunteers fell below the 99th percentile URL, and greater than 50% of each sex demonstrated values above the LoD. No interference was observed for biotin (≤ 1500 µg/L), but a slight bias at 5.0 g/L haemoglobin and 50 ng/L Tn was observed. TAT from was fast (mean time = 10.9 minutes) and reproducible (6%CV).ConclusionsReal-world analytical and TAT performance of the hs-TnI assay on the Atellica IM analyser make this assay fit for routine use in clinical laboratories.