Development of a learning pilot for the remote teaching of Smart Maintenance using open source tools

[EN] Technology has created a vast array of educational tools readily available to educators, but it also has created a shift in the skills and competences demanded from new graduates. As data science and machine learning are becoming commonplace across all industries, computer programming is emerging as one of the fundamental skills engineers will require to navigate the future and current workplace. It is, thus, the responsibility of educational institutions to rise to this challenge and to provide students with an appropriate training that facilitates the development of these skills. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of open source tools to introduce students to the more practical side of Smart Maintenance. By developing a learning pilot based mainly on computational notebooks, students without a programming background are walked through the relevant techniques and algorithms in an experiential format. The pilot highlights the superiority of Colab notebooks for the remote teaching of subjects that deal with data science and programming. The resulting insights from the experience will be used for the development of subsequent iterations during the current year.This project has received funding from the European Union’s “Erasmus+ Capacity Building in the field of Higher Education” programme under grant agreement No 2019-1949 / 001-001 (correspondent to the project shortly entitled “NePRev”, “NExt Production REVolution”).Callupe, M.; Fumagalli, L.; Nucera, DD. (2021). Development of a learning pilot for the remote teaching of Smart Maintenance using open source tools. En 7th International Conference on Higher Education Advances (HEAd'21). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1419-1427. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd21.2021.13140OCS1419142

Virulence factors and genetic variability of uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from dogs and cats in Italy

In this study, the association between virulence genotypes and phylogenetic groups among Escherichia (E.) coli isolates obtained from pet dogs and cats with cystitis was detected, and fingerprinting methods were used to explore the relationship among strains. Forty uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) isolated from dogs (n = 30) and cats (n = 10) in Italy were analysed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of virulence factors and their classification into phylogenetic groups. The same strains were characterized by repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP)- and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR techniques. We found a high number of virulence factors such as fimbriae A, S fimbriae (sfa) and cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1 (cnf1) significantly associated with phylogenetic group B2. We demonstrated a high correlation between α-hemolysin A and pyelonephritis C, sfa, and cnf1 operons, confirming the presence of pathogenicity islands in these strains. In addition, UPEC belonging to group B2 harboured a greater number of virulence factors than strains from phylogenetic groups A, B1, and D. REP- and ERIC-PCR grouped the UPEC isolates into two major clusters, the former grouping E. coli strains belonging to phylogenetic group B2 and D, the latter grouping those belonging to groups A and B1. Given the significant genetic variability among the UPEC strains found in our study, it can be hypothesized that no specific genotype is responsible for cystitis in cats or dogs

Occurrence and viability of Anisakis spp. larvae in ready to eat products made of herring (Clupea harengus) sold in Italy

The study aimed to assess the occurrence and viability of Anisakis spp. larvae in ready to eat products made of herring, a common host of Anisakis spp. and the third most commercialized fish species in the EU. A total of 135 products consisting of 50 smoked whole specimens and 85 filleted products (25 smoked, 30 marinated, 30 canned) were sampled from 2016 to 2018. Viscera and muscle of whole herrings were visually inspected and separately digested. Filleted products were also visually inspected and digested. Larvae viability was assessed, then they were counted and microscopically identified to genus level. A subsample was molecularly identified. At least one Anisakis spp. larva was found in 56 products (41.5%), for a total of 1715 larvae collected (0-172 larvae/product). Most of the larvae (91%) were found in the viscera of 49 of the 50 whole herrings (98%). A highly significant difference was observed between the positivity rate and larval density at muscle level, as 149 larvae were found in the muscle of 31 whole herrings (positivity rate 62%, 0.022 larval density/g), while only 7 larvae were found in the 85 filleted products (positivity rate 7%, 0.001 larval density/g). Larvae were molecularly identified as A. simplex. The study showed that obviously contaminated products are commercialized. All the larvae were dead, proving a negligible risk of developing anisakiasis. However, their allergenic potential is debated and the significant difference between muscle infection levels in whole and filleted herrings may result in a different risk of exposure to antigens