OPENMODS 2.0 “Instrument Jamming Meeting” report

Major achievements The feedback provided by potential users on their needs was very much appreciated. They underlined the importance of having: ● an easy to deploy instrument (i.e.: from small fishing boats); ● multi-parameter sensors in ONE device; ● less maintenance effort and prioritized the variables to measure. Although, there are technical limitations and different solutions and there is no one tool that can do everything, which is low cost, has high resolution and low maintenance, the outcomes of the platforms/sensors/communications working group meet the main requirements that emerged. Priority was given to: ● a platform that will operate in drifter mode which is extremely easy to deploy and perfect for studies associated with search and rescue operations (another need that has emerged). It also constantly guarantees the knowledge of the instrument position. The platform can be easily converted into the moored mode. ● temperature and pressure sensors. The sensors will be low -cost with the idea to replace them rather than calibrate them; ● LoRaWAN communications preferably with Bluetooth integration for the in-situ download of the data

I confini del "self"

I confini del "self

Computational prediction of important regions in protein sequences

If the genomic era was characterized by the massive determination of genomic sequences, the so-called postgenomic era is, among other things, characterized by a lack of methods for obtaining functionally relevant information from these raw sequences. As the number of known protein sequences grows exponentially, it is impossible to experimentally determine their biological functions and the particular regions of these proteins responsible for such functions. For this reason, computational methods that are able to process this genomic information for extracting protein functional features are sought after. © 2012 IEEE.Peer Reviewe

Link performance evaluation procedure for the introduction of unmanned air vehicles in civil airspace

Interest in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) is growing worldwide and several efforts are underway to integrate UAS operations routinely and safely into civil airspace. Currently, UAS operations are confined to special-use airspace or are constrained, for safety reasons, by a restrictive authorization process. This paper takes into account the main issues to introduce the UAS in civil airspace, with particular attention to the problems connected with the communication links and provides some strategies to guarantee link performances in real time

What happens when the newborn hearing screening program is integrated with congenital Cytomegalovirus infection screening? Preliminary results in a tertiary hospital

Objective: Early diagnosis of congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) infection related hearing loss has increased since the spread of newborn hearing screening (NHS) programs worldwide. However, since most newborns affected are asymptomatic at birth but may develop hearing loss later, some of them may elude the NHS. The aim of this study was to compare the results in two cohorts of children, in one of which all newborns who failed the NHS were tested for cCMV. Methods: We retrospectively compared the results of early diagnosis of cCMV-related hearing loss between two groups of patients at a high-volume centre. Group 1 included the first 3 years of activity without a targeted cCMV screening and was composed of children born between 2012 and 2014. Group 2 included neonates born between 2015 and 2017: in this group, those who failed the NHS underwent urine CMV analysis within 14 days. Results: There were 17,229 live births during the study period, 20 were diagnosed with cCMV infection, with a global prevalence of 1.1:1000. 72 neonates (0.42%) with hearing loss were identified, 7% of which were diagnosed with cCMV infection, 3/34 (8.8%) in group 1 and 2/38 (5.3%) in group 2 (p =.66). One newborn in group 2 was identified through the protocol. The percentage of patients affected by cCMV-related hearing loss diagnosed during the NHS showed non-significant differences in the two groups. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the suspicion index of cCMV infection in a tertiary hospital is currently high and neonatologists are able to identify most symptomatic cases which have higher risk of developing hearing loss. Coupling the cCMV screening and the NHS program is worthwhile as it allows early recognition of asymptomatic cases with hearing loss and subsequent immediate administration of antiviral therapy

Hearing loss in children with congenital cytomegalovirus infection: An 11-year retrospective study based on laboratory database of a tertiary paediatric hospital

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection is considered the main cause of infantile non-genetic neurosensory hearing loss. Although this correlation was described more than 50 years ago, the natural history of internal ear involvement has not yet been fully defined. Hearing loss is the most frequent sequela and is seen in a variable percentage up to 30%; the hearing threshold is characterised by fluctuations or progressive deterioration. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hearing loss in cases of congenital CMV infection from Modena county, starting from the database of the microbiology and virology reference laboratory. All children undergoing urine testing for suspected CMV infection or viral DNA testing on Guthrie Card in the period between January 2004 and December 2014 were enrolled in the study. Family paediatricians were contacted and asked about clinical information on the possible presence at birth or subsequent occurrence of hearing loss, excluding cases where this was not possible. The results showed an annual prevalence of congenital cytomegalovirus infection among suspected cases that was stable over time despite the progressive increase in subjects tested. The prevalence of hearing loss was in line with the literature, whereas in long-term follow-up cases of moderate, medium-to-severe hearing loss with late onset were not detected. The introduction of newborn hearing screening in the county has allowed early diagnosis of hearing loss at birth as non-TEOAE-born births underwent a urine virus test. Moreover, despite all the limitations of the study, we can conclude that European epidemiological studies are needed to better define the relationship between congenital CMV infection and internal ear disease as the impact of environmental and genetic factors is still not entirely clarified

Epstein-Barr virus DNA in cerebrospinal fluid from an immunocompetent man with herpes simplex virus encephalitis.

Herpes simplex virus 1 meningo-encephalitis was ascertained in a 63-year-old immunocompetent man. To determine the duration of the persistence of herpesvirus DNA in the central nervous system, the cerebrospinal fluid was periodically monitored by polymerase chain reaction for 53 days. In addition to HSV-1, Epstein - Barr virus DNA was detected in the cerebrospinal fluid 9 days after disease onset. The possible meaning of the Epstein-Barr virus DNA finding is discussed

An outbreak of infantile aseptic meningitis caused by Echo 30

This paper describes an outbreak of infantile aseptic meningitis which occurred in an Apennine village during the summer 1993. It was possible to assess the etiology of the syndrome by means of virological (virus isolation, identification by hemagglutination test and typing by Lim BenyeshMelnick antiserum) and serological (complement fixation, immune-electromicroscopy, neutralisation test) methods. Three viral isolates (one from the pharyngeal and one from the faecal swab of a patient and one from the cerebrospinal fluid sample of a another patient) were obtained which were identified as Echovirus 30. All 9 patients showed an antibody response against ECHO 30