A type-level approach to component prototyping

Algebraic theories for modeling components and their interactions offer abstraction over the specifics of component states and interfaces. For example, such theories deal with forms of sequential composition of two components in a manner independent of the type of data stored in the states of the components, and independent of the number and types of methods offered by the interfaces of the combinators. General purpose programming languages do not offer this level of abstraction, which implies that a gap must be bridged when turning component models into implementations. In this paper, we present an approach to prototyping of component-based systems that employs so-called type-level programming (or compile-time computation) to bridge the gap between abstract component models and their type-safe implementation in a functional programming language. We demonstrate our approach using Barbosa’s model of components as generalized Mealy machines. For this model, we develop a combinator library in Haskell, which uses typelevel programming with two effects. Firstly, wiring between components is computed during compilation. Secondly, the well-formedness of the component compositions is guarded byHaskell’s strong type system.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal, under grant number SFRH/BD/30231/2006

Access to pulmonary rehabilitation: perspectives of patients, loved ones and healthcare professionals

Introduction: Improving access to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is an international priority, but due to several constraints, healthcare professionals are often faced with the challenge of having to prioritise patients. Evidence from quantitative research suggests that symptoms, functional and health status and not lung function should guide referrals to pulmonary rehabilitation (PR). Whether these criteria are corroborated by the opinions of different stakeholders remains unknown. This qualitative study explored criteria, barriers and facilitators to access PR from the perspectives of people with chronic respiratory disease (CRD), loved ones and healthcare professionals. Methods: An exploratory, cross-sectional qualitative study was carried out. Focus groups were conducted separately with people with CRD, loved ones and healthcare professionals; transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. All participants had previous experience with PR. Results: Seven focus groups were conducted: four with people with CRD (24 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 5 with interstitial lung disease, 75.9% male, 68.4 ± 7.5 years); one with loved ones (n = 5, 100% female, 66.6 ± 7.7 years) and two with healthcare professionals (n = 16, 25% male, 38 ± 9.2 years). Perspectives among stakeholders were mostly consensual and organised in three themes: all people with CRD should have access to PR and as early as possible “Universal access”; if prioritisation is needed then priority should be given to those motivated, with high symptom burden and impaired functional status “Priority to those struggling and motivated”; and education about PR and continuity and communication between care settings and professionals are lacking to improve access to PR “Communication, dissemination and organisation as main keys”. Conclusions: Our findings corroborate previous evidence and provide new and complementary in-depth understanding to design interventions to improve access to PR in line with the perspectives of different stakeholders.publishe

Long-term maintenance strategies after pulmonary rehabilitation: perspectives of people with chronic respiratory diseases, informal carers and healthcare professionals

No abstract available.publishe

Effect of protective cultures and different modified atmosphere packaging on Listeria innocua growth and on sensory properties in sliced cured-smoked pork loin

This study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial effect of two protective cultures combined with different modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) systems on Listeria innocua growth in sliced ready-to-eat pork loin, a Portuguese traditional cured-smoked product (Lombo). Two protective lactic acid (LAB) cultures - Lactobacillus sakei ST153 and BLC35 (CHR Hansen) were tested for their ability against L. innocua 20130c growth (as a surrogate for L. monocytogenes) in sliced “lombo” packed in two MAP conditions, (20%CO2/80%N2 and 40%CO2/60%N2) and stored at 5oC. The influence of MAP and protective cultures in the sensory characteristics of the product was also evaluated by semi-trained panel of fifteen judges. The MAP affected the growth of L. innocua, the Listeria population decreasing 3 log CFU/g after 120 days of storage at 5oC. In samples containing protective cultures a reduction of 1–2 log CFU/g in counts of L. innocua was observed after 12 hours. At the end of storage results indicated that L. sakei ST 153 was more efficient than BLC35 culture on inhibiting L. innocua growth and this inhibition was enhanced by MA (40%CO2/60%N2). Results of sensory evaluation showed that oiliness, hardness, succulence, and characteristic taste attributes of “lombo” decreased during storage whereas the bitter taste increased in both LAB applications and no significant differences between LAB cultures or MAP conditions were found

The Pipeline Repertoire for Ig-Seq Analysis

With the advent of high-throughput sequencing of immunoglobulin genes (Ig-Seq), the understanding of antibody repertoires and their dynamics among individuals and populations has become an exciting area of research. There is an increasing number of computational tools that aid in every step of the immune repertoire characterization. However, since not all tools function identically, every pipeline has its unique rationale and capabilities, creating a rich blend of useful features that may appear intimidating for newcomer laboratories with the desire to plunge into immune repertoire analysis to expand and improve their research; hence, all pipeline strengths and differences may not seem evident. In this review we provide a practical and organized list of the current set of computational tools, focusing on their most attractive features and differences in order to carry out the characterization of antibody repertoires so that the reader better decides a strategic approach for the experimental design, and computational pathways for the analyses of immune repertoires

Determinants of the Use of Health and Fitness Mobile Apps by Patients With Asthma: Secondary Analysis of Observational Studies

Background: Health and fitness apps have potential benefits to improve self-management and disease control among patients with asthma. However, inconsistent use rates have been reported across studies, regions, and health systems. A better understanding of the characteristics of users and nonusers is critical to design solutions that are effectively integrated in patients' daily lives, and to ensure that these equitably reach out to different groups of patients, thus improving rather than entrenching health inequities. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the use of general health and fitness apps by patients with asthma and to identify determinants of usage. Methods: A secondary analysis of the INSPIRERS observational studies was conducted using data from face-to-face visits. Patients with a diagnosis of asthma were included between November 2017 and August 2020. Individual-level data were collected, including age, gender, marital status, educational level, health status, presence of anxiety and depression, postcode, socioeconomic level, digital literacy, use of health services, and use of health and fitness apps. Multivariate logistic regression was used to model the probability of being a health and fitness app user. Statistical analysis was performed in R. Results: A total of 526 patients attended a face-to-face visit in the 49 recruiting centers and 514 had complete data. Most participants were ≤40 years old (66.4%), had at least 10 years of education (57.4%), and were in the 3 higher quintiles of the socioeconomic deprivation index (70.1%). The majority reported an overall good health status (visual analogue scale [VAS] score>70 in 93.1%) and the prevalence of anxiety and depression was 34.3% and 11.9%, respectively. The proportion of participants who reported using health and fitness mobile apps was 41.1% (n=211). Multivariate models revealed that single individuals and those with more than 10 years of education are more likely to use health and fitness mobile apps (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.22, 95%CI 1.05-4.75 and aOR 1.95, 95%CI 1.12-3.45, respectively). Higher digital literacy scores were also associated with higher odds of being a user of health and fitness apps, with participants in the second, third, and fourth quartiles reporting aORs of 6.74 (95%CI 2.90-17.40), 10.30 (95%CI 4.28-27.56), and 11.52 (95%CI 4.78-30.87), respectively. Participants with depression symptoms had lower odds of using health and fitness apps (aOR 0.32, 95%CI 0.12-0.83). Conclusions: A better understanding of the barriers and enhancers of app use among patients with lower education, lower digital literacy, or depressive symptoms is key to design tailored interventions to ensure a sustained and equitable use of these technologies. Future studies should also assess users' general health-seeking behavior and their interest and concerns specifically about digital tools. These factors may impact both initial engagement and sustained use.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Patient Experience in Home Respiratory Therapies: Where We Are and Where to Go

The increasing number of patients receiving home respiratory therapy (HRT) is imposing a major impact on routine clinical care and healthcare system sustainability. The current challenge is to continue to guarantee access to HRT while maintaining the quality of care. The patient experience is a cornerstone of high-quality healthcare and an emergent area of clinical research. This review approaches the assessment of the patient experience in the context of HRT while highlighting the European contribution to this body of knowledge. This review demonstrates that research in this area is still limited, with no example of a prescription model that incorporates the patient experience as an outcome and no specific patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) available. This work also shows that Europe is leading the research on HRT provision. The development of a specific PREM and the integration of PREMs into the assessment of prescription models should be clinical research priorities in the next several years.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Uranyl complexes formed with apara-t-butylcalix[4]arene bearing phosphinoyl pendant arms on the lower rim. Solid and solution studies

The current interest in functionalized calixarenes with phosphorylated pendant arms resides in their coordination ability towards f elements and capability towards actinide/rare earth separation. Uranyl cation forms 1:1 and 1:2 (M:L) complexes with atetra-phosphinoylated p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene, B4bL4: UO2(NO3)2(B4bL4)n· xH2O (n = 1, x = 2, 1; n = 2, x = 6, 2). Spectroscopic data point to the inner coordination sphere of 1 containing one monodentate nitrate anion, one water molecule and the four phosphinoylated arms bound to UO22+ while in 2, uranyl is only coordinated to calixarene ligands. In both cases the U(VI) ion is 8-coordinate. Uranyl complexes display enhanced metal-centred luminescence due to energy transfer from the calixarene ligands; the luminescence decays are bi-exponential with associated lifetimes in the ranges 220μs <τs <250μs and 630μs <τL < 640μs, pointing to the presence of two species with differently coordinated calixarene, as substantiated by aXPS study of U(4f5/2,7/2), O(1s) and P(2p) levels on solid state samples. The extraction study of UO22+ cation and trivalent rare-earth (Y, La, Eu) ions from acidic nitrate media by B4bL4 in chloroform shows the uranyl cation being much more extracted than rare earth