Influence of event duration on automatic wheeze classification

Patients with respiratory conditions typically exhibit adventitious respiratory sounds, such as wheezes. Wheeze events have variable duration. In this work we studied the influence of event duration on wheeze classification, namely how the creation of the non-wheeze class affected the classifiers' performance. First, we evaluated several classifiers on an open access respiratory sound database, with the best one reaching sensitivity and specificity values of 98% and 95%, respectively. Then, by changing one parameter in the design of the non-wheeze class, i.e., event duration, the best classifier only reached sensitivity and specificity values of 55% and 76%, respectively. These results demonstrate the importance of experimental design on the assessment of wheeze classification algorithms' performance.publishe

The impact of breeding Yellow-Legged Gulls on vegetation cover and plant composition of Grey Dune habitats

The establishment of large populations of yellow-legged gull Larus michahellis in coastal and urban areas can lead to strong changes in vegetation cover and composition through creating physical disturbance in the vegetation and impacting the soil quality through defecation. In this study, we evaluated the effects of breeding yellow-legged gull populations on tall and short vegetation cover and plant species composition in old (occupied for 13 years) and new (occupied for 3 years) colony sites in grey dunes of the Algarve, southern Portugal. In each site, sampling plots were used to measure the percentage of vegetation cover in areas with and without breeding gulls. In the old colony site, the cover by tall vegetation was substantially reduced and the cover by short vegetation substantially increased in the areas where gulls are breeding in comparison with the adjacent areas. In the new colony sites, there were only minor differences. The increase in cover of short vegetation in the breeding area of the old colony site was mostly by nitrophilous species (Paronychia argentea and Malcolmia littorea) and should be explained by the decrease in vegetation cover of tall plant species and by feces deposition. Tall and slow-growing species Suaeda maritima and Helichrysum italicum covers were negatively affected. Our results showed that yellow-legged gulls affected vegetation cover and composition of grey dunes after 3 years of consecutive breeding, and this should be considered in the management of these habitats where breeding yellow-legged gulls are increasing.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cryopreservation of Vasconcellea quercifolia St.-Hil (Caricaceae) Zygotic Embryos

Vasconcellea quercifolia A. St.-Hil. (Caricaceae) is a tropical fruit species native to Brazil, with a great importance in plant breeding programs. The V. quercifolia has a resistance to the main diseases of Caricaceae, Papaya Ringspot Virus (PRSV). Considering its potential, cryopreservation becomes a tool for the conservation of this species. The objective of this paper was to study the cryopreservation of V. quercifolia zygotic embryos through dehydration in silica gel. Excised zygotic embryos were dehydrated in silica at 0, 20, 40, 80 and 100 minutes and then inoculated in MS medium. The percentage of germinated and recovered embryos, and growth analysis were evaluated, besides water content. Subsequently, they were acclimatized in a growth room with temperature controlled. For cryopreservation, the embryos were excised and dehydrated in silica for 0, 20, 40 and 60 minutes, immersed in Liquid Nitrogen (LN) for 1 hour, thawed in Recovery Solution (RS) and inoculated in MS medium. After 30 days, the percentage of germinated and recovered embryos was evaluated. The silica gel promotes a fast dehydrate of embryos. The results showed that embryo dehydration affected seedling development, and dehydration for over 20 minutes showed a reduction in all evaluated parameters. The plantlets regenerated from embryos dehydrate survive the acclimatization. It was possible to cryopreserve the V. quercifolia zygotic embryos when the dehydration time of 20 minutes by silica gel was used

Microbiological evaluation of homemade mayonnaise and self-serve acai sold in Araguaína, Tocantins

Abstract Foodborne diseases are common illnesses caused by the consumption of food contaminated with microorganisms, such as viruses, fungi, bacteria, and protozoa. Every year, 600 million people become ill and 420,000 people die as a result of consuming contaminated food. Therefore, food safety is an important issue. In this study, samples of homemade spiced mayonnaise and self-serve acai sold in the city of Araguaína, Tocantins, Brazil were analyzed for microbiological contaminants. Acai was collected from 10 stores, one sample from each store, and tested for mold, yeast, and coliforms, as well as coliform identification and total and thermotolerant coliform counts. Mayonnaise was collected from 20 snack bars, one sample from each. These samples were inoculated on MacConkey and Salmonella Shigella agar plates, and the plates were analyzed for growth. Salmonella spp. were detected in some Mayonnaise samples, and coliforms were detected in all acai samples; 60% of samples had thermotolerant coliforms, and only 40% were within the limits established by ANVISA. The collected samples of mayonnaise and acai were contaminated with molds and yeasts above the established limit of 103 CFU/g. Thus, the analyzed mayonnaise and acai samples were contaminated and unfit for consumption, demonstrating the importance of hygienic-sanitary measures in food handling

Biotransformation of Metal-Rich Effluents and Potential Recycle Applications

In this chapter, it was introduced about the metallurgic effluents, and their potential to be converted into some feasible coproducts for industries. Some possibilities to introduce circular economy in the context of metallurgic effluents, and in the same way, some techniques to promote bioremediation using microorganisms and products from them were also described. Reported studies, as well as some perspectives to use metal-rich effluents in agriculture and soil quality improvement, were also shown. Copper effluents were kept as the main candidate for sustainable use, as a potentially interesting material for circular economy approaches

A comprehensive assessment of the transcriptome of cork oak (Quercus suber) through EST sequencing

Background: Cork oak (Quercus suber) is one of the rare trees with the ability to produce cork, a material widely used to make wine bottle stoppers, flooring and insulation materials, among many other uses. The molecular mechanisms of cork formation are still poorly understood, in great part due to the difficulty in studying a species with a long life-cycle and for which there is scarce molecular/genomic information. Cork oak forests are of great ecological importance and represent a major economic and social resource in Southern Europe and Northern Africa. However, global warming is threatening the cork oak forests by imposing thermal, hydric and many types of novel biotic stresses. Despite the economic and social value of the Q. suber species, few genomic resources have been developed, useful for biotechnological applications and improved forest management. Results: We generated in excess of 7 million sequence reads, by pyrosequencing 21 normalized cDNA libraries derived from multiple Q. suber tissues and organs, developmental stages and physiological conditions. We deployed a stringent sequence processing and assembly pipeline that resulted in the identification of ~159,000 unigenes. These were annotated according to their similarity to known plant genes, to known Interpro domains, GO classes and E.C. numbers. The phylogenetic extent of this ESTs set was investigated, and we found that cork oak revealed a significant new gene space that is not covered by other model species or EST sequencing projects. The raw data, as well as the full annotated assembly, are now available to the community in a dedicated web portal at http://www.corkoakdb.org. Conclusions: This genomic resource represents the first trancriptome study in a cork producing species. It can be explored to develop new tools and approaches to understand stress responses and developmental processes in forest trees, as well as the molecular cascades underlying cork differentiation and disease response.Peer Reviewe

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele