A common neural substrate for processing scenes and egomotion-compatible visual motion

Neuroimaging studies have revealed two separate classes of category-selective regions specialized in optic flow (egomotion-compatible) processing and in scene/place perception. Despite the importance of both optic flow and scene/place recognition to estimate changes in position and orientation within the environment during self-motion, the possible functional link between egomotion- and scene-selective regions has not yet been established. Here we reanalyzed functional magnetic resonance images from a large sample of participants performing two well-known “localizer” fMRI experiments, consisting in passive viewing of navigationally relevant stimuli such as buildings and places (scene/place stimulus) and coherently moving fields of dots simulating the visual stimulation during self-motion (flow fields). After interrogating the egomotion-selective areas with respect to the scene/place stimulus and the scene-selective areas with respect to flow fields, we found that the egomotion-selective areas V6+ and pIPS/V3A responded bilaterally more to scenes/places compared to faces, and all the scene-selective areas (parahippocampal place area or PPA, retrosplenial complex or RSC, and occipital place area or OPA) responded more to egomotion-compatible optic flow compared to random motion. The conjunction analysis between scene/place and flow field stimuli revealed that the most important focus of common activation was found in the dorsolateral parieto-occipital cortex, spanning the scene-selective OPA and the egomotion-selective pIPS/V3A. Individual inspection of the relative locations of these two regions revealed a partial overlap and a similar response profile to an independent low-level visual motion stimulus, suggesting that OPA and pIPS/V3A may be part of a unique motion-selective complex specialized in encoding both egomotion- and scene-relevant information, likely for the control of navigation in a structured environment

Not smoking is associated with lower risk of hypertension: results of the Olivetti Heart Study.

Few epidemiological investigations evaluated the role of smoking cessation on blood pressure (BP), and the results are not univocal. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the effect of smoking cessation on the risk to develop hypertension (HPT) and on BP values. METHODS: This longitudinal study, with a follow-up period of 8 years, included the participants of the Olivetti Heart Study. Participants were 430 untreated normotensive non-diabetic men with normal renal function, examined twice in 1994-95 and in 2002-04. The sample included current smokers (S, n = 212), former smokers (ES, n = 145) and never smokers (NS, n = 73) at baseline. RESULTS: Basal body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were significantly higher in ES than in S (ES vs. S; BMI: 27.0 ± 2.5 vs. 26.1 ± 2.9 kg/m(2); P < 0.01; SBP/DBP: 121.2 ± 9.3/80.0 ± 5.8 vs. 19.1 ± 9.9/77.4 ± 6.7 mm Hg; P < 0.05; M ± SD). After 8 years of follow-up, BP changes (Δ) were significantly lower in ES than in S (ΔSBP/DBP: 12.6 ± 13.4/7.9 ± 8.1 vs. 16.0 ± 14.9/10.3 ± 10.1 mm Hg; P < 0.05; M ± SD), also after adjustment for potential confounders. Moreover, at the last examination, the overall HPT prevalence was 33%, with lower values in ES than in S (25 vs. 38%, P = 0.01). After accounting for age, BP and BMI at baseline, and changes in smoking habit over the 8-year period, ES still had significant lower risk of HPT than S (odds ratio 0.30, 95% confidence interval 0.15-0.58; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of healthy men, smoking cessation was associated with lower BP increment and minor HPT risk, independently of potential confounders

Venous thromboembolism in covid-19 compared to non-covid-19 cohorts: A systematic review with meta-analysis

Background: A high incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is reported in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in particular in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). In patients with respiratory tract infections, including influenza A (H1N1), many studies have demonstrated an increased incidence of thromboses, but evidence is lacking regarding the risk difference (RD) of the occurrence of VTE between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients. Methods: In this systematic review with meta-analysis, we evaluated the RD of the occurrence of VTE, pulmonary embolism (PE), and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) between COVID-19 and other pulmonary infection cohorts, in particular H1N1, and in an ICU setting. We searched for all studies comparing COVID-19 vs. non-COVID-19 regarding VTE, PE, and DVT. Results: The systematic review included 12 studies and 1,013,495 patients. The RD for VTE in COVID-19 compared to non-COVID-19 patients was 0.06 (95% CI 0.11–0.25, p = 0.011, I2 = 97%), and 0.16 in ICU (95% CI 0.045–0.27, p = 0.006, I2 = 80%). The RD for PE between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients was 0.03 (95% CI, 0.006–0.045, p = 0.01, I2 = 89%). The RD for PE between COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients was 0.021 in retrospective studies (95% CI 0.00–0.04, p = 0.048, I2 = 92%) and 0.11 in ICU studies (95% CI 0.06–0.16, p < 0.001, I2 = 0%). Conclusions: The growing awareness and understanding of a massive inflammatory response combined with a hypercoagulable state that predisposes patients to thrombosis in COVID-19, in particular in the ICU, may contribute to a more appropriate strategy of prevention and earlier detection of the thrombotic events

Recycling of multilayer packaging waste with switchable anionic surfactants

Switchable Anionic Surfactants (SAS) were used for delaminating flexible packaging waste composed of various plastic layers and aluminium, thereby promoting the recycling of such waste streams from a circular economy perspective. The delamination protocol was optimized on de-pulped food and beverage cartons containing low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and aluminium, varying the carboxylic acid and its counterion constituting the SAS (C8[sbnd]C18 carboxylic acids as the anionic part; inorganic bases and primary, secondary and tertiary amines as the cationic one) their molar ratio (carboxylic acid: base molar ratio from 1:1 to 1:3), SAS concentration (0.15, 0.3 and 0.5 wt%), time (0.5–3 h) and material weight in input (1–10 wt%). High-quality LDPE and aluminium were separated and recovered by using a diluted solution of a surfactant based on lauric acid and triethanolamine (C12-TEA), with performances not achievable with other anionic or cationic surfactants available on the market. The C12-TEA solution was then applied to a large variety of multilayer waste materials composed of polypropylene and aluminium, polyolefins/polyethylene terephthalate/aluminium, giving a material separation dependant on the structure and composition of the material in input. At the end of the process, lauric acid was recovered from the aqueous solution used for washing the separated materials by tuning its water solubility with CO2

Innovative Bioplasticizers from Residual Cynara cardunculus L. Biomass-Derived Levulinic Acid and Their Environmental Impact Assessment by LCA Methodology

This work compares five bioplasticizersobtained from biomass-derivedlevulinic acid in terms of their environmental impacts together withPHB-induced thermal and mechanical properties.This work is focusedon the application of Life Cycle Assessment(LCA) methodology for the quantification of the potential environmentalimpacts associated with the obtainment of levulinic acid from residual Cynara cardunculus L. biomassand its subsequent valorization in innovative bioplasticizers fortuning the properties as well as the processability of biopolymers.This potentially allows the production of fully biobased and biodegradablebioplastic formulations, thus addressing the issues related to thefossil origin and nonbiodegradability of conventional additives, suchas phthalates. Steam explosion pretreatment was applied to the epigeanresidue of C. cardunculus L. followedby a microwave-assisted acid-catalyzed hydrolysis. After purification,the as-obtained levulinic acid was used to synthesize different ketal-diesterderivatives through a three-step selective synthesis. The levulinicacid-base additives demonstrated remarkable plasticizing efficiencywhen added to biobased plastics. The LCA results were used in conjunctionwith those from the experimental activities to find the optimal compromisebetween environmental impacts and mechanical and thermal properties,induced by the bioadditives in poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB biopolymer

Human V6: functional characterisation and localisation.

Human visual area V6, in the parieto-occipital sulcus, is thought to have an important role in the extraction of optic flow for the monitoring and guidance of self-motion (egomotion) because it responds differentially to egomotion-compatible optic flow when compared to: (a) coherent but egomotion-incompatible flow (Cardin & Smith, 2010), and (b) incoherent motion (Pitzalis et al., 2010). It is not clear, however, whether V6 responds more strongly to egomotion-incompatible global motion than to incoherent motion. This is relevant not only for determining the functional properties of V6, but also in order to choose optimal stimuli for localising V6 accurately with fMRI. Localisation with retinotopic mapping is difficult and there is a need for a simple, reliable method. We conducted an event-related 3T fMRI experiment in which participants viewed a display of dots which either: a) followed a time-varying optic flow trajectory in a single, egomotion-compatible (EC) display; b) formed an egomotion-incompatible (EI) 3 × 3 array of optic flow patches; or c) moved randomly (RM). Results from V6 show an ordering of response magnitudes: EC > EI > RM. Neighbouring areas V3A and V7 responded more strongly to EC than to RM, but about equally to EC and EI. Our results suggest that although V6 may have a general role in the extraction of global motion, in clear contrast to neighbouring motion areas it is especially concerned with encoding EC stimuli. They suggest two strategies for localising V6: (1) contrasting EC and EI; or (2) contrasting EC and RM, which is more sensitive but carries a risk of including voxels from neighbouring regions that also show a EC > RM preference

IoTwins: Design and implementation of a platform for the management of digital twins in industrial scenarios

With the increase of the volume of data produced by IoT devices, there is a growing demand of applications capable of elaborating data anywhere along the IoT-to-Cloud path (Edge/Fog). In industrial environments, strict real-time constraints require computation to run as close to the data origin as possible (e.g., IoT Gateway or Edge nodes), whilst batch-wise tasks such as Big Data analytics and Machine Learning model training are advised to run on the Cloud, where computing resources are abundant. The H2020 IoTwins project leverages the digital twin concept to implement virtual representation of physical assets (e.g., machine parts, machines, production/control processes) and deliver a software platform that will help enterprises, and in particular SMEs, to build highly innovative, AI-based services that exploit the potential of IoT/Edge/Cloud computing paradigms. In this paper, we discuss the design principles of the IoTwins reference architecture, delving into technical details of its components and offered functionalities, and propose an exemplary software implementation