Finite size corrections to disordered systems on Erd\"{o}s-R\'enyi random graphs

We study the finite size corrections to the free energy density in disorder spin systems on sparse random graphs, using both replica theory and cavity method. We derive an analytical expressions for the $O(1/N)$ corrections in the replica symmetric phase as a linear combination of the free energies of open and closed chains. We perform a numerical check of the formulae on the Random Field Ising Model at zero temperature, by computing finite size corrections to the ground state energy density.Comment: Submitted to PR

Wearable inertial sensors for human movement analysis

Introduction: The present review aims to provide an overview of the most common uses of wearable inertial sensors in the field of clinical human movement analysis.Areas covered: Six main areas of application are analysed: gait analysis, stabilometry, instrumented clinical tests, upper body mobility assessment, daily-life activity monitoring and tremor assessment. Each area is analyzed both from a methodological and applicative point of view. The focus on the methodological approaches is meant to provide an idea of the computational complexity behind a variable/parameter/index of interest so that the reader is aware of the reliability of the approach. The focus on the application is meant to provide a practical guide for advising clinicians on how inertial sensors can help them in their clinical practice.Expert commentary: Less expensive and more easy to use than other systems used in human movement analysis, wearable sensors have evolved to the point that they can be considered ready for being part of routine clinical routine

Vestibular rehabilitation training in patients with subacute stroke: a preliminary randomized controlled trial

Background: Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) consists in a customized exercise program patient-centred that includes a combination of different exercise components with the aim to promote gaze stability, improve balance and gait, and facilitate somatosensory integration. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of customized vestibular rehabilitation training on gait stability of patients with subacute stroke. METHODS: Twenty-five inpatients (12 M, age: 64.1±12.1 years) with diagnosis of subacute stroke were enrolled and randomized in two groups. All patients were evaluated before and after 4 weeks of training sessions. An instrumented 10-Meter Walk Test together with traditional clinical scales were used to assess VR effects. To investigate if any fall event occurred after patients' dismissal, they were followed-up at three and twelve months after dismissal. RESULTS: Higher values of walking speed and stride length were observed in the VR group. Conversely, no significant difference was found in terms of trunk stability. The results of between-group comparison highlight significant differences between the two groups for different clinical scale scores. CONCLUSION: VR could be included into a rehabilitation program for patients with stroke for improving their gait and dynamic balance acting on their vestibular system as facilitator of recovery

Arquitecturas de emergencia y continuidad social

Los procesos de reconstrucción posteriores a catástrofes deben tender, con la mayor celeridad posible, a proporcionar un primer refugio así como también a iniciar la reconstrucción de la dimensión comunitaria de las áreas destruidas. Muchas catástrofes han demostrado que una reconstrucción limitada a proveer un simple refugio, puede tener efectos extremadamente negativos en el desarrollo de una comunidad. Una catástrofe no destruye solo el patrimonio arquitectónico sino que además altera un patrimonio social construido a través de los siglos. Especialmente las comunidades pequeñas están sujetas, por esto, al riesgo de su completa e irreversible desaparición. Un planteamiento que no tenga en cuenta, debido a las urgencias, la necesidad de actuar no solo sobre las unidades habitacionales, sino también sobre el patrimonio social, podría afectar dramáticamente al desarrollo de la comunidad afectada. Si observamos la experiencia italiana, uno de los aspectos más traumáticos posteriores a los últimos sismos, ha sido el rechazo de parte de la población afectada hacia las arquitecturas temporales, containers, etc., en los cuales el concepto de vida comunitaria era inexistente. Este sentimiento de desapego ha registrado episodios extremos, sobretodo por parte de la población anciana, con sentimientos de confusión ligado a la pérdida repentina de arraigo a la propia comunidad. Por tanto, la reconstrucción de la comunidad junto con las unidades habitacionales se antoja una necesidad que la estrategia proyectual debe reflejar para dar una respuesta rápida, adecuada y económicamente sostenible. Este texto desea describir algunas hipótesis desarrolladas en el seno de la investigación universitaria, de soluciones arquitectónicas ante situaciones de emergencia que pretenden, con una acción de transformación social, generar un nuevo tejido comunitario, similar al precedente. Existen algunos factores comunes sobre los cuales se ha desarrollado un proceso proyectual que ha sido aplicado a diversas realidades geográficas, a diferentes contextos territoriales. Un primer aspecto es la integración de funciones, de modo que los nuevos módulos habitacionales deben ser, más que elementos autistas, una estructura integrada que estimule las relaciones sociales y que produzca beneficios para sus habitantes. En una comunidad cada persona desempeña un papel, el cual debe ser recuperado inmediatamente. Esto significa que los módulos habitacionales deben proveer espacios para oficinas, laboratorios artesanales, negocios, así como también pequeños espacios para huertas que garanticen un autoabastecimiento alimentario. La dimensión social debe ser acentuada por el modo de agregación de las unidades habitables, por el modo de generar espacios colectivos en donde la comunidad pueda reencontrarse y reconstruirse. Este planteamiento debe ir acompañado de aquellas estrategias que supongan una reducción de costes, fundamentalmente simplificando los procesos constructivos mediante la autoconstrucción. La autoconstrucción permite un abaratamiento de costes así como la participación de la comunidad local en la regeneración posterior a una catástrofe, lo cual favorece el desarrollo de una nueva cohesión social. Esto significa que se debe evitar que la población afectada por una catástrofe viva la reconstrucción como una experiencia traumática, y que, asimismo, pueda contribuir a conservar y evolucionar la memoria del patrimonio cultural tangible de la comunidad

Exploitation of filamentous and picoplanktonic cyanobacteria for cosmetic applications: potential to improve skin structure and preserve dermal matrix components

The use of natural products in skin care formulations gained interest as a concern for modern societies. The undesirable side effects of synthetic compounds, as well as the associated environmental hazards, have driven investigation on photosynthetic organisms as sustainable sources of effective and environmentally friendly ingredients. The use of natural extracts in cosmetics has been highlighted and, along with plants and algae, cyanobacteria have come into focus. Due to their low culture demands, high grow rates and ability to produce a wide variability of bioactive metabolites, cyanobacteria emerged as an economic and sustainable base for the cosmetic industry. In this study, we evaluated the potential of ethanol extracts of picocyanobacteria strains of the genera Cyanobium and Synechocystis and filamentous strains of the genera Nodosilinea, Phormidium and Tychonema for skin applications, with focus in the field of anti-aging. The extracts were analyzed for their pigment profile, phenolic content, antioxidant potential, cytotoxicity against keratinocytes (HaCat), fibroblasts (3T3L1), endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3) and capacity to inhibit hyaluronidase (HAase). The total carotenoid content ranged from 118.69 to 383.89 μg g−1 of dry biomass, and the total phenolic content from 1.07 to 2.45 mg GAE g−1. Identified carotenoids consisted of zeaxanthin, lutein, canthaxanthin, echinenone and β-carotene, with zeaxanthin and lutein being the most representative (49.82 and 79.08 μg g−1, respectively). The highest antioxidant potential was found for Phormidium sp. LEGE 05292 and Tychonema sp. LEGE 07196 for superoxide anion radical (O2•−) scavenging (IC50 of 822.70 and 924 μg mL−1, respectively). Low or no cytotoxicity were registered. Regarding HAase inhibition, Tychonema sp. LEGE 07196 and Cyanobium sp. LEGE 07175 showed the best IC50 (182.74 and 208.36 μg mL−1, respectively). In addition, an increase in fibroblast proliferation was registered with these same strains. From this work, the ethanol extracts of the species Tychonema sp. and Cyanobium sp. are particularly interesting for their potential application in anti-aging formulations, once they stimulated fibroblast proliferation and inhibit hyaluronic acid digestion.This work was done in the framework of the projects: BLUEHUMAN-BLUE biotechnology as a road for innovation on HUMAN’s health aiming smart growth in Atlantic Area-EAPA_151/2016 of the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund; EnhanceMicroAlgae - High added-value industrial opportunities for microalgae in the Atlantic Area (EAPA_338/2016) of the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme funded by the European Regional Development Fund; ALGAVALOR - MicroALGAs: integrated production and valorization of biomass and its various applications - SI I&DT no. 352234-supported by the PORTUGAL 2020 through the European Regional Development Fund; and supported by the FCT Projects UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020. The authors acknowledge the support and the use of resources of EMBRC-ERIC, specifically of the Portuguese infrastructure node of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC-PT) CIIMAR–PINFRA/22121/2016–ALG-01-0145-FEDER-022121, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through COMPETE2020-Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI) and national funds through FCT/MCTES

Granulation–carbonation treatment of alkali activated steel slag for secondary aggregates production

In view of the EU’s circular economy strategy, there is a need to develop treatments that may allow to improve the management of industrial residues such as steel manufacturing slag, for example by producing secondary products that may be used for different applications. This work evaluates the performance of a combined carbonation and granulation treatment applied to basic oxygen furnace (BOF) steel slag with the aim of producing secondary aggregates and of storing CO2 in a solid and stable form. In order to improve the mechanical properties of the product, a solution of sodium silicate and sodium hydroxide was tested as binder instead of water in both the granulation and combined granulation–carbonation tests. The results showed that the granules produced using the alkali activator with or without CO2 addition, presented a mean size ranging from 1 to 5 mm and adequate mechanical properties for use in civil engineering applications. The maximum CO2 uptake attained was of 4% wt. for the alkali activated and carbonated granules after 60 min of treatment and 7 days curing. As for the leaching behaviour of the produced granules, an increase in the release of Cr and V was found for the product of the granulation–carbonation treatment with alkali activation. Instead, granulation with alkali activation or granulation with carbonation showed to decrease the release of Ba and Cr with regard to the untreated residues

Overground walking training with the i-Walker, a robotic servo-assistive device, enhances balance in patients with subacute stroke: a randomized controlled trial

Background: Patients affected by mild stroke benefit more from physiological overground walking training than walking-like training performed in place using specific devices. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of overground robotic walking training performed with the servo-assistive robotic rollator (i-Walker) on walking, balance, gait stability and falls in a community setting in patients with mild subacute stroke. Methods: Forty-four patients were randomly assigned to two different groups that received the same therapy in two daily 40-min sessions 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Twenty sessions of standard therapy were performed by both groups. In the other 20 sessions the subjects enrolled in the i-Walker-Group (iWG) performed with the i-Walker and the Control-Group patients (CG) performed the same amount of conventional walking oriented therapy. Clinical and instrumented gait assessments were made pre- and post-treatment. The follow-up observation consisted of recording the number of fallers in the community setting after 6 months. Results: Treatment effectiveness was higher in the iWG group in terms of balance improvement (Tinetti: 68.4 +/- 27.6 % vs. 48.1 +/- 33.9 %, p = 0.033) and 10-m and 6-min timed walking tests (significant interaction between group and time: F(1,40) = 14.252, p = 0.001; and F(1,40) = 7.883, p = 0.008, respectively). When measured, latero-lateral upper body accelerations were reduced in iWG (F = 4.727, p = 0.036), suggesting increased gait stability, which was supported by a reduced number of falls at home. Conclusions: A robotic servo-assisted i-Walker improved walking performance and balance in patients affected by mild/moderate stroke, leading to increased gait stability and reduced falls in the community

Virtual Art Therapy. Application of Michelangelo Effect to Neurorehabilitation of Patients with Stroke

In neurorehabilitation, some studies reported the effective use of art therapy for reducing psychological disorders and for enhancing physical functions and cognitive abilities. Neuroaesthetical studies showed that seeing an art masterpiece can spontaneously elicit a widespread brain arousal, also involving motor networks. To combine contemplative and performative benefits of art therapy protocols, we have developed an immersive virtual reality system, giving subjects the illusion that they are able to paint a copy of famous artistic paintings. We previously observed that during this virtual task, subjects perceived less fatigue and performed more accurate movements than when they were asked to color the virtual canvas. We named this upshot the Michelangelo effect. The aim of this study was to test the rehabilitative efficacy of our system. Ten patients with stroke in the subacute phase were enrolled and trained for one month with virtual art therapy (VAT) and physiotherapy. Their data were compared with those of ten patients matched for pathology, age and clinical parameters, trained only with conventional therapy for the same amount of time. The VAT group showed a significantly higher improvements in the Barthel Index score, a measure of independency in activities of daily living (66 ± 33% vs. 31 ± 28%, p = 0.021), and in pinching strength (66 ± 39% vs. 18 ± 33%, p = 0.008), with respect to the group treated with conventional rehabilitation