SAMPLING AND SENSING STRATEGIES FOR NOVEL APPLICATIONS WITH AN ARTIFICIAL OLFACTORY SYSTEM

L’utilizzo dei cinque sensi, di cui ognuno di noi è normalmente dotato, ci permette quotidianamente di percepire ed interpretare il mondo che ci circonda, molto spesso senza aver coscienza di farne uso, ma semplicemente sfruttando i risultati che ne otteniamo per l’interazione con l’ambiente circostante. L’olfatto è probabilmente uno dei sensi del quale l’essere umano, nella sua evoluzione, ha perso maggiormente la capacità di sfruttare al massimo le potenzialità. Tuttavia l’odore rappresenta una importante sorgente di informazioni, grazie alla capacità di sintesi di una serie di parametri e di interazioni che noi non siamo in grado di raccogliere, interpretare ed elaborare contemporaneamente. L’oggetto di questa tesi è il naso elettronico realizzato presso i laboratori del Gruppo Sensori e Microsistemi dell’Università degli Studi di Roma ‘Tor Vergata’. L’obiettivo del lavoro è quello di individuare le problematiche fondamentali relative all’utilizzo di questa tecnologia e, tramite lo studio delle possibili soluzioni, raggiungere un generale perfezionamento dell’intero sistema. Sono svariati i campi nei quali le grandi potenzialità di un sistema olfattivo artificiale possono trovare utile applicazione. La caratteristica multidisciplinare di un così differenziato ventaglio di applicazioni, richiede la progettazione di una serie di sistemi di campionamento specifici per ogni scopo. Sebbene il cuore dell’intero sistema consista nei suoi principi di funzionamento e nel tipo di materiale sensibile utilizzato, il campionamento riveste una importanza fondamentale all’interno della catena di misura, perché attraverso la sua ottimizzazione si rende possibile un efficace utilizzo dello strumento nella pratica dei problemi reali relativi ai diversi campi. Proprio per questa ragione, il modo migliore di operare è quello di progettare dei protocolli sperimentali ‘ad hoc’ specifici per ogni applicazione. In questa tesi sono considerate tre differenti sperimentazioni: applicazioni in campo medico ed ambientale, e campionamento dell’odore in condizioni statiche. In particolare viene presentata l’esperienza di sei anni di sperimentazioni relative allo studio del tumore al polmone tramite l’analisi dell’espirato per mezzo del naso elettronico.Everyday, everyone of us uses the five senses, very often without consciousness at all of using them, but simply exploiting the results. The results consist in an interpretation of the real world around us. Olfaction is probably one of the senses humans have lost potentiality to exploit during evolution, but odour is a very important source of data, because of the power of synthesis of a lot of interactions and parameters we are not able to collect, read and elaborate at the same time. An existing technology, the Electronic Nose of the Sensors and Microsystems Group of the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, is the objective of this Thesis. The aim is to ask fundamental questions about it, and by studying the possible solutions, reach the whole system improvement. The great potentialities of artificial olfactory systems can be exploited in many fields. This multidisciplinary range of applications asks for designing of dedicated sampling systems depending on the different scope. Although the working principle and the sensitive material are the basis on which these devices are developed, the sampling, within the measure chain, is a fundamental step to optimize the whole system performances. According to these considerations the best way for designing “ad hoc“ experimental set is to specialize a specific sampling procedure for each application. In this thesis three different studies are considered: medical and environmental applications, and odour sampling in static conditions. In particular, the experience of the six years of experiments dedicated to lung cancer study by mean of e-nose breath analysis is illustrated

Front Lines of Thoracic Surgery

Front Lines of Thoracic Surgery collects up-to-date contributions on some of the most debated topics in today's clinical practice of cardiac, aortic, and general thoracic surgery,and anesthesia as viewed by authors personally involved in their evolution. The strong and genuine enthusiasm of the authors was clearly perceptible in all their contributions and I'm sure that will further stimulate the reader to understand their messages. Moreover, the strict adhesion of the authors' original observations and findings to the evidence base proves that facts are the best guarantee of scientific value. This is not a standard textbook where the whole discipline is organically presented, but authors' contributions are simply listed in their pertaining subclasses of Thoracic Surgery. I'm sure that this original and very promising editorial format which has and free availability at its core further increases this book's value and it will be of interest to healthcare professionals and scientists dedicated to this field

An Investigation of the Diagnostic Potential of Autofluorescence Lifetime Spectroscopy and Imaging for Label-Free Contrast of Disease

The work presented in this thesis aimed to study the application of fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy (FLS) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to investigate their potential for diagnostic contrast of diseased tissue with a particular emphasis on autofluorescence (AF) measurements of gastrointestinal (GI) disease. Initially, an ex vivo study utilising confocal FLIM was undertaken with 420 nm excitation to characterise the fluorescence lifetime (FL) images obtained from 71 GI samples from 35 patients. A significant decrease in FL was observed between normal colon and polyps (p = 0.024), and normal colon and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) (p = 0.015). Confocal FLIM was also performed on 23 bladder samples. A longer, although not significant, FL for cancer was observed, in paired specimens (n = 5) instilled with a photosensitizer. The first in vivo study was a clinical investigation of skin cancer using a fibre-optic FL spectrofluorometer and involved the interrogation of 27 lesions from 25 patients. A significant decrease in the FL of basal cell carcinomas compared to healthy tissue was observed (p = 0.002) with 445 nm excitation. A novel clinically viable FLS fibre-optic probe was then applied ex vivo to measure 60 samples collected from 23 patients. In a paired analysis of neoplastic polyps and normal colon obtained from the same region of the colon in the same patient (n = 12), a significant decrease in FL was observed (p = 0.021) with 435 nm excitation. In contrast, with 375 nm excitation, the mean FL of IBD specimens (n = 4) was found to be longer than that of normal tissue, although not statistically significant. Finally, the FLS system was applied in vivo in 17 patients, with initial data indicating that 435 nm excitation results in AF lifetimes that are broadly consistent with ex vivo studies, although no diagnostically significant differences were observed in the signals obtained in vivo.Open Acces

Major v. Security Equipment Corp. Clerk\u27s Record v. 2 Dckt. 39414

https://digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho_supreme_court_record_briefs/2188/thumbnail.jp

Medical-Data-Models.org:A collection of freely available forms (September 2016)

MDM-Portal (Medical Data-Models) is a meta-data repository for creating, analysing, sharing and reusing medical forms, developed by the Institute of Medical Informatics, University of Muenster in Germany. Electronic forms for documentation of patient data are an integral part within the workflow of physicians. A huge amount of data is collected either through routine documentation forms (EHRs) for electronic health records or as case report forms (CRFs) for clinical trials. This raises major scientific challenges for health care, since different health information systems are not necessarily compatible with each other and thus information exchange of structured data is hampered. Software vendors provide a variety of individual documentation forms according to their standard contracts, which function as isolated applications. Furthermore, free availability of those forms is rarely the case. Currently less than 5 % of medical forms are freely accessible. Based on this lack of transparency harmonization of data models in health care is extremely cumbersome, thus work and know-how of completed clinical trials and routine documentation in hospitals are hard to be re-used. The MDM-Portal serves as an infrastructure for academic (non-commercial) medical research to contribute a solution to this problem. It already contains more than 4,000 system-independent forms (CDISC ODM Format, www.cdisc.org, Operational Data Model) with more than 380,000 dataelements. This enables researchers to view, discuss, download and export forms in most common technical formats such as PDF, CSV, Excel, SQL, SPSS, R, etc. A growing user community will lead to a growing database of medical forms. In this matter, we would like to encourage all medical researchers to register and add forms and discuss existing forms

European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020

The European Position Paper on Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps 2020 is the update of similar evidence based position papers published in 2005 and 2007 and 2012. The core objective of the EPOS2020 guideline is to provide revised, up-to-date and clear evidence-based recommendations and integrated care pathways in ARS and CRS. EPOS2020 provides an update on the literature published and studies undertaken in the eight years since the EPOS2012 position paper was published and addresses areas not extensively covered in EPOS2012 such as paediatric CRS and sinus surgery. EPOS2020 also involves new stakeholders, including pharmacists and patients, and addresses new target users who have become more involved in the management and treatment of rhinosinusitis since the publication of the last EPOS document, including pharmacists, nurses, specialised care givers and indeed patients themselves, who employ increasing self-management of their condition using over the counter treatments. The document provides suggestions for future research in this area and offers updated guidance for definitions and outcome measurements in research in different settings. EPOS2020 contains chapters on definitions and classification where we have defined a large number of terms and indicated preferred terms. A new classification of CRS into primary and secondary CRS and further division into localized and diffuse disease, based on anatomic distribution is proposed. There are extensive chapters on epidemiology and predisposing factors, inflammatory mechanisms, (differential) diagnosis of facial pain, allergic rhinitis, genetics, cystic fibrosis, aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease, immunodeficiencies, allergic fungal rhinosinusitis and the relationship between upper and lower airways. The chapters on paediatric acute and chronic rhinosinusitis are totally rewritten. All available evidence for the management of acute rhinosinusitis and chronic rhinosinusitis with or without nasal polyps in adults and children is systematically reviewed and integrated care pathways based on the evidence are proposed. Despite considerable increases in the amount of quality publications in recent years, a large number of practical clinical questions remain. It was agreed that the best way to address these was to conduct a Delphi exercise. The results have been integrated into the respective sections. Last but not least, advice for patients and pharmacists and a new list of research needs are included.Peer reviewe