T cell migration in intact lymph nodes in vivo

In the lymph node, T cells migrate rapidly and with striking versatility in a continuous scan for antigen presenting dendritic cells. The scanning process is greatly facilitated by the lymph node structure and composition. In vivo imaging has been instrumental in deciphering the spatiotemporal dynamics of intranodal T cell migration in both health and disease. Here we review recent developments in uncovering the migration modes employed by T cells in the lymph node, the underlying molecular mechanisms, and the scanning strategies utilised by T cells to ensure a timely response to antigenic stimuli

Improving Sustainability of Smart Cities through Visualization Techniques for Big Data from IoT Devices

Fostering sustainability is paramount for Smart Cities development. Lately, Smart Cities are benefiting from the rising of Big Data coming from IoT devices, leading to improvements on monitoring and prevention. However, monitoring and prevention processes require visualization techniques as a key component. Indeed, in order to prevent possible hazards (such as fires, leaks, etc.) and optimize their resources, Smart Cities require adequate visualizations that provide insights to decision makers. Nevertheless, visualization of Big Data has always been a challenging issue, especially when such data are originated in real-time. This problem becomes even bigger in Smart City environments since we have to deal with many different groups of users and multiple heterogeneous data sources. Without a proper visualization methodology, complex dashboards including data from different nature are difficult to understand. In order to tackle this issue, we propose a methodology based on visualization techniques for Big Data, aimed at improving the evidence-gathering process by assisting users in the decision making in the context of Smart Cities. Moreover, in order to assess the impact of our proposal, a case study based on service calls for a fire department is presented. In this sense, our findings will be applied to data coming from citizen calls. Thus, the results of this work will contribute to the optimization of resources, namely fire extinguishing battalions, helping to improve their effectiveness and, as a result, the sustainability of a Smart City, operating better with less resources. Finally, in order to evaluate the impact of our proposal, we have performed an experiment, with non-expert users in data visualization.This work has been co-funded by the ECLIPSE-UA (RTI2018-094283-B-C32) project funded by Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the DQIoT (INNO-20171060) project funded by the Spanish Center for Industrial Technological Development, approved with an EUREKA quality seal (E!11737DQIOT). Ana Lavalle holds an Industrial PhD Grant (I-PI 03-18) co-funded by the University of Alicante and the Lucentia Lab Spin-off Company

Fostering Sustainability through Visualization Techniques for Real-Time IoT Data: A Case Study Based on Gas Turbines for Electricity Production

Improving sustainability is a key concern for industrial development. Industry has recently been benefiting from the rise of IoT technologies, leading to improvements in the monitoring and breakdown prevention of industrial equipment. In order to properly achieve this monitoring and prevention, visualization techniques are of paramount importance. However, the visualization of real-time IoT sensor data has always been challenging, especially when such data are originated by sensors of different natures. In order to tackle this issue, we propose a methodology that aims to help users to visually locate and understand the failures that could arise in a production process.This methodology collects, in a guided manner, user goals and the requirements of the production process, analyzes the incoming data from IoT sensors and automatically derives the most suitable visualization type for each context. This approach will help users to identify if the production process is running as well as expected; thus, it will enable them to make the most sustainable decision in each situation. Finally, in order to assess the suitability of our proposal, a case study based on gas turbines for electricity generation is presented.This work has been co-funded by the ECLIPSE-UA (RTI2018-094283-B-C32) project funded by Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities and the DQIoT (INNO-20171060) project funded by the Spanish Center for Industrial Technological Development, approved with an EUREKA quality seal (E!11737DQIOT). Ana Lavalle holds an Industrial PhD Grant (I-PI 03-18) co-funded by the University of Alicante and the Lucentia Lab Spin-off Company

Characterization of glucose-crosslinked gelatin films reinforced with chitin nanowhiskers for active packaging development

To find renewable and sustainable alternatives to reduce the severe environmental impact of single-use synthetic plastic packaging, glucose-crosslinked gelatin films containing different amounts of chitin nanowhiskers (CNWs) were prepared. CNWs were first prepared by acid hydrolysis of chitin from shrimps, and characterized (morphological and thermal properties), before their addition into film-forming formulations. The films were heat-treated to promote the chemical crosslinking Maillard reaction (MR), between glucose and gelatin. The films then became less soluble (from 100% to ∼10%), thermally more stable, had a notably improved UV–vis light absorption capacity, and presented significantly enhanced tensile strength (from 42 to 77 MPa) and Young's modulus (from 1476 to 2921 MPa), however, they also became less flexible (from 17% to 7%) and transparent. These property alterations were mainly related to changes in crystallinity, the MR and to a lesser extent, to the formation of noncovalent (electrostatic and hydrogen bonding) interactions between CNWs and gelatin. Furthermore, due to the formation of MR products, the films turned yellow/dark brown and released antioxidant compounds (inhibition ∼33%) while immersed in water, which gave the films their active properties (stabilization of free radicals). These films have considerable potential as reinforced active packaging films for renewable food packaging applications.The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment of New Zealand (MBIE, Biocide Toolbox programme) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (projects PID2019-108361RB-I00 and AGL2017-84161-C2-1-R) for funding. A.E. thanks the State Research Agency of Spain within the Juan de la Cierva - Incorporation action (IJC2019-039697I)

A smart data holistic approach for context-aware data analytics (AETHER-UA)

A smart data holistic approach for context-aware data analytics (AETHER-UA) is one of the four subprojects, developed in the University of Alicante, being part of the whole project AETHER. This project is being developed by four partners: (i) University of Malaga - Coordinator; (ii) University of Alicante, (iii) University of Castilla La-Mancha, and (iv) University of Seville. The project is funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. The main goal of this project is to advance towards a knowledge-based framework integrating novel solutions for data, process and business analytics. The research activities for designing and developing Aether will mainly focus on three main challenges: the characterization of the datasets, the improvement and automation of the algorithms, and the generation of mechanisms to enhance model explainability and interpretation of the results. The project is highly related to data processing, integration, analysis and modeling. More concretely, within the AETHER-UA project, several proposals are being developed for the modeling of user’s requirements for Machine Learning applications, the developing of a framework based on Model Driven Development (MDD) for eXplanable Artificial Intelligence and several approaches for the data bias analysis

The New Era of Business Intelligence Applications: Buildingfrom a Collaborative Point of View

Collaborative business intelligence (BI) iswidely embraced by enterprises as a way of making themost of their business processes. However, decision mak-ers usually work in isolation without the knowledge or thetime needed to obtain and analyze all the available infor-mation for making decisions. Unfortunately, collaborativeBI is currently based on exchanging e-mails and documentsbetween participants. As a result, information may be lost,participants may become disoriented, and the decision-making task may not yield the needed results. The authorspropose a modeling language aimed at modeling andeliciting the goals and information needs of participants ofcollaborative BI systems. This approach is based on inno-vative methods to elicit and model collaborative systemsand BI requirements. A controlled experiment was per-formed to validate this language, assessing its under-standability, scalability, efficiency, and user satisfaction byanalyzing two collaborative BI systems. By using theframework proposed in this work, clear guideless can beprovided regarding: (1) collaborative tasks, (2) their par-ticipants, and (3) the information to be shared among them.By using the approach to design collaborative BI systems,practitioners may easily trace every element needed in thedecision processes, avoiding the loss of information andfacilitating the collaboration of the stakeholders of suchprocesses

Hidden genetic variation in LCA9-associated congenital blindness explained by 5′UTR mutations and copy-number variations of NMNAT1

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a severe autosomal-recessive retinal dystrophy leading to congenital blindness. A recently identified LCA gene is NMNAT1, located in the LCA9 locus. Although most mutations in blindness genes are coding variations, there is accumulating evidence for hidden noncoding defects or structural variations (SVs). The starting point of this study was an LCA9-associated consanguineous family in which no coding mutations were found in the LCA9 region. Exploring the untranslated regions of NMNAT1 revealed a novel homozygous 5'UTR variant, c.-70A>T. Moreover, an adjacent 5'UTR variant, c.-69C>T, was identified in a second consanguineous family displaying a similar phenotype. Both 5'UTR variants resulted in decreased NMNAT1 mRNA abundance in patients' lymphocytes, and caused decreased luciferase activity in human retinal pigment epithelial RPE-1 cells. Second, we unraveled pseudohomozygosity of a coding NMNAT1 mutation in two unrelated LCA patients by the identification of two distinct heterozygous partial NMNAT1 deletions. Molecular characterization of the breakpoint junctions revealed a complex Alu-rich genomic architecture. Our study uncovered hidden genetic variation in NMNAT1-associated LCA and emphasized a shift from coding to noncoding regulatory mutations and repeat-mediated SVs in the molecular pathogenesis of heterogeneous recessive disorders such as hereditary blindness

Experimental and numerical investigation of an axisymmetric supersonic jet

21 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables.A comprehensive study of a steady axisymmetric supersonic jet of CO2, including experiment, theory, and numerical calculation, is presented. The experimental part, based on high-sensitivity Raman spectroscopy mapping, provides absolute density and rotational temperature maps covering the significant regions of the jet: the zone of silence, barrel shock, Mach disk, and subsonic region beyond the Mach disk. The interpretation is based on the quasi-gasdynamic (QGD) system of equations, and its generalization (QGDR) considering the translational–rotational breakdown of thermal equilibrium. QGD and QGDR systems of equations are solved numerically in terms of a finite-difference algorithm with the steady state attained as the limit of a time-evolving process. Numerical results show a good global agreement with experiment, and provide information on those quantities not measured in the experiment, like velocity field, Mach numbers, and pressures. According to the calculation the subsonic part of the jet, downstream of the Mach disk, encloses a low-velocity recirculation vortex ring.This research was supported by the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Enseñanza Superior (DGICYES), Research Projects PB94{1526 and PB97{1203, and by the Fund for Fundamental Investigations of the Russian Academy of Sciences N 98-01-00155.Peer reviewe