Terahertz imaging for non-invasive classification of healthy and cimiciato-infected hazelnuts

The development of new non-invasive approaches able to recognize defective food is currently a lively field of research. In particular, a simple and non-destructive method able to recognize defective hazelnuts, such as cimiciato-infected ones, in real-time is still missing. This study has been designed to detect the presence of such damaged hazelnuts. To this aim, a measurement setup based on terahertz (THz) radiation has been developed. Images of a sample of 150 hazelnuts have been acquired in the low THz range by a compact and portable active imaging system equipped with a 0.14 THz source and identified as Healthy Hazelnuts (HH) or Cimiciato Hazelnut (CH) after visual inspection. All images have been analyzed to find the average transmission of the THz radiation within the sample area. The differences in the distribution of the two populations have been used to set up a classification scheme aimed at the discrimination between healthy and injured samples. The performance of the classification scheme has been assessed through the use of the confusion matrix on 50 samples. The False Positive Rate (FPR) and True Negative Rate (TNR) are 0% and 100%, respectively. On the other hand, the True Positive Rate (TPR) and False Negative Rate (FNR) are 75% and 25%, respectively. These results are relevant from the perspective of the development of a simple, automatic, real-time method for the discrimination of cimiciato-infected hazelnuts in the processing industry

A simple and accurate allometric model to predict single leaf area of twenty-one European apricot cultivars

Research in fruit tree physiology and breeding often requires accurate and non-destructive methods for estimating leaf area (LA). The development of unbiased allometric model from linear measurements [leaf length (L) and/or width (W)] to predict individual LA of apricot irrespective of cultivars is still lacking. The models were built using LA, L, and W data measured in 3,040 leaves collected on trees of nineteen apricot cultivars (calibration experiment). Model(s) were validated on 520 apricot leaves collected from the trees of two additional cultivars (validation experiment). LA prediction models based only on L measurements (L or L2) were not suitable for estimating LA of apricot. A significant improvement in LA prediction was observed when the model including W2 as an independent variable was adopted. However, the coefficients of one dimension LA model (W2) were affected by leaf shape (L:W ratio) and consequently were excluded. To develop an accurate LA model for apricot, independent of leaf shape groups, the product L×W was used as an independent variable. The linear model LA = 1.193 + 0.668 (L×W) exhibited the highest R2, the smallest mean square error (MSE) and predicted residual error sum of squares (PRESS). In the model validation, correlation coefficients showed that there was a highly reliable relationship between the predicted and the observed LA values, giving an underestimation of 2.9% in the prediction. The LA model using LW as independent variable can be successfully adopted in research on apricot, since it provides an accurate, simple and non-destructive estimation of LA across apricot cultivars without the use of any expensive device

Biodegradable mulching spray for weed control in the cultivation of containerized ornamental shrubs

Abstract Background Weed control represents a major issue in plant cultivation in containers. Manual weed control is very expensive and the use of chemical herbicide or plastic mulch films has a large environmental impact. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of an experimental biodegradable chitosan-based mulching spray in controlling weed growth in containers. This research also studied the effect of this mulch on the growth of Viburnum lucidum Mill. plants to test for possible phytotoxic effects. Results The study compared a total of six treatments derived from three types of weed control (no weed control; herbicide, oxadiazon; mulching spray) applied in containers either filled only with the sterile substrate or filled with the sterile substrate and then artificially inoculated with seeds of the weed species [Sonchus asper (L.) Hill subsp. asper and Epilobium montanum L.]. The mulch controlled the weeds effectively for more than 2 months after its application even under severe weed infestation. The mulching spray controlled the emergence of S. asper more efficiently than E. montanum plants, probably because the latter has a stronger capacity to penetrate the mulch film during emergence. Conclusions Three months after its application, the mulch started to degrade and this allowed some weeds to emerge in the containers, but, in general, the mulch performed better than the herbicide. The chitosan-based mulch did not have any negative effective on the growth of V. lucidum plants

Software development process of Neotree - a data capture and decision support system to improve newborn healthcare in low-resource settings

The global priority of improving neonatal survival could be tackled through the universal implementation of cost-effective maternal and newborn health interventions. Despite 90% of neonatal deaths occurring in low-resource settings, very few evidence-based digital health interventions exist to assist healthcare professionals in clinical decision-making in these settings. To bridge this gap, Neotree was co-developed through an iterative, user-centered design approach in collaboration with healthcare professionals in the UK, Bangladesh, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. It addresses a broad range of neonatal clinical diagnoses and healthcare indicators as opposed to being limited to specific conditions and follows national and international guidelines for newborn care. This digital health intervention includes a mobile application (app) which is designed to be used by healthcare professionals at the bedside. The app enables real-time data capture and provides education in newborn care and clinical decision support via integrated clinical management algorithms. Comprehensive routine patient data are prospectively collected regarding each newborn, as well as maternal data and blood test results, which are used to inform clinical decision making at the bedside. Data dashboards provide healthcare professionals and hospital management a near real-time overview of patient statistics that can be used for healthcare quality improvement purposes. To enable this workflow, the Neotree web editor allows fine-grained customization of the mobile app. The data pipeline manages data flow from the app to secure databases and then to the dashboard. Implemented in three hospitals in two countries so far, Neotree has captured routine data and supported the care of over 21,000 babies and has been used by over 450 healthcare professionals. All code and documentation are open source, allowing adoption and adaptation by clinicians, researchers, and developers

Preservation of modern and MIS 5.5 erosional landforms and biological structures as sea level markers : a matter of luck?

The Mediterranean Basin is characterized by a significant variability in tectonic behaviour, ranging from subsidence to uplifting. However, those coastal areas considered to be tectonically stable show coastal landforms at elevations consistent with eustatic and isostatic sea level change models. In particular, geomorphological indicators—such as tidal notches or shore platforms—are often used to define the tectonic stability of the Mediterranean coasts. We present the results of swim surveys in nine rocky coastal sectors in the central Mediterranean Sea using the Geoswim approach. The entire route was covered in 22 days for a total distance of 158.5 km. All surveyed sites are considered to have been tectonically stable since the last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5.5 [MIS 5.5]), because related sea level markers fit well with sea level rise models. The analysis of visual observations and punctual measurements highlighted that, with respect to the total length of surveyed coast, the occurrence of tidal notches, shore platforms, and other indicators accounts for 85% of the modern coastline, and only 1% of the MIS 5.5 equivalent. Therefore, only 1% of the surveyed coast showed the presence of fossil markers of paleo sea levels above the datum. This significant difference is mainly attributable to erosion processes that did not allow the preservation of the geomorphic evidence of past sea level stands. In the end, our research method showed that the feasibility of applying such markers to define long-term tectonic behaviour is much higher in areas where pre-modern indicators have not been erased, such as at sites with hard bedrock previously covered by post-MIS 5.5 continental deposits, e.g., Sardinia, the Egadi Islands, Ansedonia, Gaeta, and Circeo. In general, the chances of finding such preserved indicators are very low.peer-reviewe

The inner fluctuations of the brain in presymptomatic frontotemporal dementia: the chronnectome fingerprint

© 2019 Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) is preceded by a long period of subtle brain changes, occurring in the absence of overt cognitive symptoms, that need to be still fully characterized. Dynamic network analysis based on resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is a potentially powerful tool for the study of preclinical FTD. In the present study, we employed a "chronnectome" approach (recurring, time-varying patterns of connectivity) to evaluate measures of dynamic connectivity in 472 at-risk FTD subjects from the Genetic Frontotemporal dementia research Initiative (GENFI) cohort. We considered 249 subjects with FTD-related pathogenetic mutations and 223 mutation non-carriers (HC). Dynamic connectivity was evaluated using independent component analysis and sliding-time window correlation to rs-fMRI data, and meta-state measures of global brain flexibility were extracted. Results show that presymptomatic FTD exhibits diminished dynamic fluidity, visiting less meta-states, shifting less often across them, and travelling through a narrowed meta-state distance, as compared to HC. Dynamic connectivity changes characterize preclinical FTD, arguing for the desynchronization of the inner fluctuations of the brain. These changes antedate clinical symptoms, and might represent an early signature of FTD to be used as a biomarker in clinical trials.This work was supported in part by grants from the NIH (R01REB020407, P20GM103472), NSF grant 1539067 and the Well- come Trust grant (JBR 103838).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clinical features and outcomes of elderly hospitalised patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure or both

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and heart failure (HF) mutually increase the risk of being present in the same patient, especially if older. Whether or not this coexistence may be associated with a worse prognosis is debated. Therefore, employing data derived from the REPOSI register, we evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in a population of elderly patients admitted to internal medicine wards and having COPD, HF or COPD + HF. Methods: We measured socio-demographic and anthropometric characteristics, severity and prevalence of comorbidities, clinical and laboratory features during hospitalization, mood disorders, functional independence, drug prescriptions and discharge destination. The primary study outcome was the risk of death. Results: We considered 2,343 elderly hospitalized patients (median age 81 years), of whom 1,154 (49%) had COPD, 813 (35%) HF, and 376 (16%) COPD + HF. Patients with COPD + HF had different characteristics than those with COPD or HF, such as a higher prevalence of previous hospitalizations, comorbidities (especially chronic kidney disease), higher respiratory rate at admission and number of prescribed drugs. Patients with COPD + HF (hazard ratio HR 1.74, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.16-2.61) and patients with dementia (HR 1.75, 95% CI 1.06-2.90) had a higher risk of death at one year. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a higher mortality risk in the group of patients with COPD + HF for all causes (p = 0.010), respiratory causes (p = 0.006), cardiovascular causes (p = 0.046) and respiratory plus cardiovascular causes (p = 0.009). Conclusion: In this real-life cohort of hospitalized elderly patients, the coexistence of COPD and HF significantly worsened prognosis at one year. This finding may help to better define the care needs of this population

Tangible interfaces for download: initial observations from users' everyday environments

Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) have been promoted and discussed in the HCI community for 15 years. Most reported TUIs are research prototypes, available in laboratories or museums. This paper reports an attempt to understand the impact of TUIs in users' everyday environments through a low-cost, simple set-up tangible interface for music that can be freely downloaded from a website. The system requires only a regular computer, a webcam and a printer - the physical parts of the interface can be folded out of ordinary paper. Logging interaction with the interfaces and analyzing content posted by users on the web we observed that the TUIs were accepted as normal: just interfaces to make music rather than esoteric systems

Ubicomp to the masses: a large-scale study of two tangible interfaces for download

Tangible user interfaces have been promoted and discussed in the Ubicomp and HCI communities for 15 years. In TUIs physical objects are used for the control and representation of digital information, similarly to how icons are used in graphical user interfaces for the same purpose. Most reported TUI systems have the nature of research prototypes, available in laboratories or museums. This paper reports an attempt to understand the impact of TUIs in users' everyday environments through 2 low-cost simple set-up tangible interfaces for music that can be freely downloaded from a website. The systems are based on computer vision, printed paper and audio output. A few hundreds of users downloaded them and played with them. We logged users’ interaction with the interfaces and analysed content posted by them on our own and other web sites to observe and evaluate how they relate to such novel systems, taking measures to protect their privacy. Both the interaction logs and the users' comments indicate that the tangible interfaces were accepted as normal: they were perceived just as interfaces to make music rather than esoteric systems. It’s time to bring Ubicomp technology to the masses