Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

About: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is a facility organization based out in Genoa, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Robot & Humanoid robot. The organization has 4561 authors who have published 14595 publications receiving 437558 citations. The organization is also known as: Italian Institute of Technology & IIT.

Electrical Stimulation Counteracts Muscle Decline in Seniors

Abstract: The loss in muscle mass coupled with a decrease in specific force and shift in fiber composition are hallmarks of aging. Training and regular exercise attenuate the signs of sarcopenia. However, pathologic conditions limit the ability to perform physical exercise. We addressed whether electrical stimulation (ES) is an alternative intervention to improve muscle recovery and defined the molecular mechanism associated with improvement in muscle structure and function. We analyzed, at functional, structural, and molecular level, the effects of ES training on healthy seniors with normal life style, without routine sport activity. ES was able to improve muscle torque and functional performances of seniors and increased the size of fast muscle fibers. At molecular level, ES induced up-regulation of IGF-1 and modulation of MuRF-1, a muscle-specific atrophy-related gene. ES also induced up-regulation of relevant markers of differentiating satellite cells and of extracellular matrix remodeling, which might guarantee shape and mechanical forces of trained skeletal muscle as well as maintenance of satellite cell function, reducing fibrosis. Our data provide evidence that ES is a safe method to counteract muscle decline associated with aging.

Resonant terahertz detection using graphene plasmons

Abstract: Plasmons, collective oscillations of electron systems, can efficiently couple light and electric current, and thus can be used to create sub-wavelength photodetectors, radiation mixers, and on-chip spectrometers. Despite considerable effort, it has proven challenging to implement plasmonic devices operating at terahertz frequencies. The material capable to meet this challenge is graphene as it supports long-lived electrically tunable plasmons. Here we demonstrate plasmon-assisted resonant detection of terahertz radiation by antenna-coupled graphene transistors that act as both plasmonic Fabry-Perot cavities and rectifying elements. By varying the plasmon velocity using gate voltage, we tune our detectors between multiple resonant modes and exploit this functionality to measure plasmon wavelength and lifetime in bilayer graphene as well as to probe collective modes in its moire minibands. Our devices offer a convenient tool for further plasmonic research that is often exceedingly difficult under non-ambient conditions (e.g. cryogenic temperatures) and promise a viable route for various photonic applications. Plasmons confined in field effect transistors were long envisioned for resonant detection of light at THz frequencies, however realization of such photodetectors has proven challenging. Here, the authors fabricate antenna-coupled graphene transistors which exhibit resonant photoresponse to incident radiation and use them to study plasmons in graphene and its moire superlattices.

Principles of robotics: regulating robots in the real world

Abstract: This paper proposes a set of five ethical principles, together with seven high-level messages, as a basis for responsible robotics. The Principles of Robotics were drafted in 2010 and published online in 2011. Since then the principles have influenced, and continue to influence, a number of initiatives in robot ethics but have not, to date, been formally published. This paper remedies that omission.

Third-Harmonic Generation Enhancement by Film-Coupled Plasmonic Stripe Resonators

Abstract: Because of their ability to strongly localize and enhance optical fields, plasmonic nanostructures have the potential to dramatically amplify the inherent nonlinear response of materials. We illustrate the impact of this plasmonic interaction by investigating the third-harmonic generation (THG) from a system of film-coupled nanostripes operating at 1500 nm. Both the film and the stripes are gold, separated by a nanoscale layer of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) grown using atomic layer deposition. This nanoscale junction, with an ultrasmooth interface, forms a waveguide cavity resonator with a large and controllable electric field enhancement, whose plasmon resonance can be tuned independently by changing the stripe width. We study experimentally the dependence of THG on the field enhancement by varying the gap size between the stripe and the metal film while simultaneously maintaining a fixed plasmon resonance. The experiments are supported with numerical simulations in which nonlinear contributions of the dielec...