Abstract
We have recently demonstrated that tripodal hexadentate chelators, based on 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone units, can limit the access of iron to bacteria and have a significant inhibitory effect in the intramacrophagic growth of Mycobacterium avium. The results showed that the chelation of iron is a determinant although not sufficient property for antimicrobial activity. The rhodamine B isothiocyanate labelled chelator (MRH7) exhibited the strongest inhibitory activity and was identified as a lead compound since a dose response effect was observed. Significant inhibition of M. avium growth was achieved at a concentration as low as 1 mu M. To identify key molecular features essential for the biological activity we designed parent hexadentate and bidentate chelators, in which different structural groups are introduced in the molecular framework. Herein, we report the work concerning three novel fluorescent chelators: a hexadentate ligand labelled with 5(6)-carboxytetramethylrhodamine (MRH8) and two 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone fluorescent bidentate ligands labelled with rhodamine B isothiocyanate (MRB7) and 5(6)-carboxytetramethylrhodamine (MRB8). The results show that all fluorescent chelators are capable of restricting the intramacrophagic growth of M. avium and that the inhibitory effect is dependent on the fluorophore. In fact, for compounds bearing the same fluorophore the results obtained with the hexadentate or bidentate chelator (MRH7/MRB7 or MRH8/MRB8) are identical as long as the appropriate stoichiometric amount of chelator is used. The inhibitory effect of the rhodamine B isothiocyanate labelled compounds (MRH7 and MRB7) is significantly greater than that observed for the other two chelators, thus pointing out the significance of the rhodamine B isothiocyanate molecular fragment.

Abstract
The synthesis and sensing properties of a new fluorescent probe designed to have a 4-amino-1,8-naphthalimide fluorescent platform functionalized with a 3-hydroxy-4-pyridinone bidentate chelating unit at the 4-position and a terminal aliphatic dimethylamino group at the imide site, are reported. The absorption and fluorescence properties of the ligand were investigated in DMSO and in aqueous solution at variable pH and in the presence of increasing concentration of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+. Analysis of the UV-Vis spectra at variable pH allowed the determination of three pK(a) values (PKa1 = 3.19, pK(a2) = 8.38, pK(a3) = 9.95) and establishment of the corresponding speciation diagram. Fluorescence spectra obtained in the same conditions show that the fluorescence intensity of the probe decreases with increasing pH and are off above pH 9 as a result of photo-induced electron transfer arising from the aliphatic dimethylamino group. Under physiological pH conditions, the probe shows an absorption band centred at 439 nm and emits in the green at lambda = 536 nm. Analysis of UV-Vis and EPR spectra of the ligand in the presence of Fe3+ and Cu2+ is consistent with the formation of the corresponding metal ion complexes. The fluorescence intensity of the ligand is quenched in the presence of variable concentrations of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ and under physiological pH conditions the fluorescence of the probe is ca 92%, 88% and 91% quenched in the presence of Fe3+, Cu2+ and Zn2+ respectively.

Abstract
In this paper, a new fast and computationally light weight methodology is proposed to pinpoint a robot in a structured scenario. The localisation algorithm performs a tracking routine to pinpoint the robot's position as it moves in a known map. To perform such tracking routine, it is necessary to know the initial position of the vehicle. This paper briefly describes the tracking routine and presents a solution to pinpoint that initial position in an autonomous way. Experimental results on the performance of the proposed methodology are presented in this paper in two different scenarios: 1) in the Middle Size Soccer Robotic League (MSL), with artificial vision data from an omni directional robot, and 2) in an indoor environment with a Laser Range Finder data from a differential traction robot (called Robot Vigil). © 2012 IEEE.

Abstract
Video segmentation is one of the most important parts of a vision system which allows partitioning each frame into homogeneous regions that share a common property. This work proposes a new methodology that aggregates three different techniques: background subtraction, region growing and a pseudo Fuzzy colour model to define colour subspaces that characterize each class. In addition, the pseudo Fuzzy colour model allows a given colour to belong to more than one class and enables the expansion ofthe classes through a dynamic model based on belonging and persistence information. In case of shared colours among classes, regional features are searched in order to determine the object's class. Tests with test and real videos of sports footages show promising results.

Abstract

Abstract
We propose an online sensorimotor architecture for controlling a low-cost humanoid robot to perform dance movements synchronized with musical stimuli. The proposed architecture attempts to overcome the robot's motor constraints by adjusting the velocity of its actuators and inter-changing the attended beat metrical-level on-the-fly. Moreover, we propose quantitative metrics for measuring the level of beat-synchrony of the generated robot dancing motion and complement them with a qualitative survey about several aspects of the demonstrated robot dance performances. Tests with different dance movements and musical pieces demonstrated satisfactory beat-synchrony results despite the physical limitations of the robot. The comparison against robot dance sequences generated without inter-changing the attended metrical-level validated our sensorimotor approach for controlling beat-synchronous robot dancing motions using different dance movements and facing distinct musical tempo conditions.