Environmental Epidemiology of Intestinal Schistosomiasis in Uganda: Population Dynamics of Biomphalaria (Gastropoda: Planorbidae) in Lake Albert and Lake Victoria with Observations on Natural Infections with Digenetic Trematodes

This study documented the population dynamics of Biomphalaria and associated natural infections with digenetic trematodes, along the shores of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria, recording local physicochemical factors. Over a two-and-a-half-year study period with monthly sampling, physicochemical factors were measured at 12 survey sites and all freshwater snails were collected. Retained Biomphalaria were subsequently monitored in laboratory aquaria for shedding trematode cercariae, which were classified as either human infective (Schistosoma mansoni) or nonhuman infective. The population dynamics of Biomphalaria differed by location and by lake and had positive relationship with pH (P < 0.001) in both lakes and negative relationship with conductivity (P = 0.04) in Lake Albert. Of the Biomphalaria collected in Lake Albert (N = 6,183), 8.9% were infected with digenetic trematodes of which 15.8% were shedding S. mansoni cercariae and 84.2% with nonhuman infective cercariae. In Lake Victoria, 2.1% of collected Biomphalaria (N = 13,172) were infected with digenetic trematodes with 13.9% shedding S. mansoni cercariae, 85.7% shedding nonhuman infective cercariae, and 0.4% of infected snails shedding both types of cercariae. Upon morphological identification, species of Biomphalaria infected included B. sudanica, B. pfeifferi, and B. stanleyi in Lake Albert and B. sudanica, B. pfeifferi, and B. choanomphala in Lake Victoria. The study found the physicochemical factors that influenced Biomphalaria population and infections. The number and extent of snails shedding S. mansoni cercariae illustrate the high risk of transmission within these lake settings. For better control of this disease, greater effort should be placed on reducing environmental contamination by improvement of local water sanitation and hygiene

Improving dementia care: a multi-sensory stimulation approach

This pilot-study examined the effects of a Multisensory Stimulation (MSS) programme on the interaction of residents with dementia. Six residents with moderate/severe dementia from an old people’s home were recruited. Six staff members received 8 training sessions and assistance to implement MSS in dementia care. Observational data on residents’ behaviour during morning care was collected pre- and post-intervention. Results suggest improvements of caregiver-direct gaze, laugh, verbal communication and task involvement, and a reduction of closed-eyes. The introduction of MMS during care routines may improve residents’ involvement and facilitate communication, potentially improving their well-being.Este estudo-piloto investigou os efeitos de um programa de Estimulação Multi-Sensorial (EMS) na interacção das pessoas idosas com demência institucionalizadas. Participaram no estudo 6 idosos com demência moderada/severa. Seis cuidadores formais participaram em 8 sessões sobre a aplicação da EMS nas rotinas de cuidados. Os dados foram recolhidos através de gravação em vídeo dos cuidados matinais, antes e após o programa. Verificou-se um aumento do olhar dirigido ao cuidador, riso, comunicação verbal e envolvimento na tarefa, e redução dos olhos fechados. A introdução da EMS pode aumentar o envolvimento e comunicação dos idosos, melhorando assim o seu bem-estar.The authors would like to thank to Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian for funding this research.publishe

Fecal occult blood and fecal calprotectin as point-of-care markers of intestinal morbidity in Ugandan children with Schistosoma mansoni infection.

BACKGROUND: Calprotectin is a calcium-binding cytoplasmic protein found in neutrophils and increasingly used as a marker of bowel inflammation. Fecal occult blood (FOB) is also a dependable indicator of bowel morbidity. The objective of our study was to determine the applicability of these tests as surrogate markers of Schistosoma mansoni intestinal morbidity before and after treatment with praziquantel (PZQ). METHODS: 216 children (ages 3-9 years old) from Buliisa District in Lake Albert, Uganda were examined and treated with PZQ at baseline in October 2012 with 211 of them re-examined 24 days later for S. mansoni and other soil transmitted helminths (STH). POC calprotectin and FOB assays were performed at both time points on a subset of children. Associations between the test results and infection were analysed by logistic regression. RESULTS: Fecal calprotectin concentrations of 150-300 µg/g were associated with S. mansoni egg patent infection both at baseline and follow up (OR: 12.5 P = 0.05; OR: 6.8 P = 0.02). FOB had a very strong association with baseline anemia (OR: 9.2 P = 0.03) and medium and high egg intensity schistosomiasis at follow up (OR: 6.6 P = 0.03; OR: 51.3 P = 0.003). Both tests were strongly associated with heavy intensity S. mansoni infections. There was a significant decrease in FOB and calprotectin test positivity after PZQ treatment in those children who had egg patent schistosomiasis at baseline. CONCLUSIONS: Both FOB and calprotectin rapid assays were found to correlate positively and strongly with egg patent S. mansoni infection with a positive ameloriation response after PZQ treatment indicative of short term reversion of morbidity. Both tests were appropriate for use in the field with excellent operational performance and reliability. Due to its lower-cost which makes its scale-up of use affordable, FOB could be immediately adopted as a monitoring tool for PC campaigns for efficacy evaluation before and after treatment

Revisiting Vitis vinifera Subtilase Gene Family: A Possible Role in Grapevine Resistance against Plasmopara viticola

Subtilisin-like proteases, also known as subtilases, are a very diverse family of serine peptidases present in many organisms. In grapevine, there are hints of the involvement of subtilases in defense mechanisms, but their role is not yet understood. The first characterization of the subtilase gene family was performed in 2014. However, simultaneously, the grapevine genome was re-annotated and several sequences were re-annotated or retrieved. We have performed a re-characterization of this family in grapevine and identified 82 genes coding for 97 putative proteins, as result of alternative splicing. All the subtilases identified present the characteristic S8 peptidase domain and the majority of them also have a pro-domain I9 inhibitor, a protease-associated (PA) domain, and a signal peptide for targeting to the secretory pathway. Phylogenetic studies revealed six subtilase groups denominated VvSBT1 to VvSBT6. As several evidences have highlighted the participation of plant subtilases in response to biotic stimulus, we have investigated subtilase participation in grapevine resistance to Plasmopara viticola, the causative agent of downy mildew. Fourteen grapevine subtilases presenting either high homology to P69C from tomato, SBT3.3 from Arabidopsis thaliana or located near the Resistance to P. viticola (RPV) locus were selected. Expression studies were conducted in the grapevine-P. viticola pathosystem with resistant and susceptible cultivars. Our results may indicate that some of grapevine subtilisins are potentially participating in the defense response against this biotrophic oomycete.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The impact of intelligent automation in internal supply chains

Nowadays, industry is being forced to produce smaller and more diverse batches, increasing the complexity of internal supply chains. Data has become a valuable asset, supporting the development of intelligent automation solutions. Decision support systems, which leverage data, require the automation pyramid to be more flexible, as information needs to be exchanged simultaneously and in real-time with all automation layers. This paper proposes a framework for intelligent automation to deal with current challenges in acquisition and management of data in industrial settings, towards feeding decision support systems. It frames the topic within the scope of internal supply chains, addressing the framework impact on work practices within the organisation. Two real industrial implementation cases are examined, in the wood and chemical industries. Results help practitioners address the most impactful challenges affecting the performance of internal supply chains, by developing systems which are faster, more flexible, efficient and with improved quality.This work was supported by FCT, through IDMEC, under LAETA, project UIDB/50022/2020

Dual-resource Constrained Scheduling for Quality Control Laboratories

This work presents a novel formulation for quality control laboratory scheduling considering both equipment and analysts as constraints. The problem is modelled as a dualresource constrained exible job shop problem. The formulation considers analyst's tasks in multiple time points during the processing of samples. The mathematical model is implemented as a mixed integer linear programming model (MILP) aiming to minimize makespan. Two sets of instances for the scheduling problem are developed and solved. The rst instance consists on a small example that illustrates the proposed formulation and is solved to optimality. The second instance mimics the real industrial problem and shows the challenges resulting from growing complexity

Intelligent Sensors for Real-Time Decision-Making

The simultaneous integration of information from sensors with business data and how to acquire valuable information can be challenging. This paper proposes the simultaneous integration of information from sensors and business data. The proposal is supported by an industrial imple mentation, which integrates intelligent sensors and real-time decision-making, using a combination of PLC and PC Platforms in a three-level architecture: cloud-fog-edge. Automatic identification intelligent sensors are used to improve the decision-making of a dynamic scheduling tool. The proposed platform is applied to an industrial use-case in analytical Quality Control (QC) laborato ries. The regulatory complexity, the personalized production, and traceability requirements make QC laboratories an interesting use case. We use intelligent sensors for automatic identification to improve the decision-making of a dynamic scheduling tool. Results show how the integration of intelligent sensors can improve the online scheduling of tasks. Estimations from system processing times decreased by over 30%. The proposed solution can be extended to other applications such as predictive maintenance, chemical industry, and other industries where scheduling and rescheduling are critical factors for the production.This work was supported by FCT, through IDMEC, under LAETA, project UIDB/50022/2020

Reinforcement Learning for Dual-Resource Constrained Scheduling

This paper proposes using reinforcement learning to solve scheduling problems where two types of resources of limited availability must be allocated. The goal is to minimize the makespan of a dual-resource constrained flexible job shop scheduling problem. Efficient practical implementation is very valuable to industry, yet it is often only solved combining heuristics and expert knowledge. A framework for training a reinforcement learning agent to schedule diverse dual-resource constrained job shops is presented. Comparison with other state-of-theart approaches is done on both simpler and more complex instances that the ones used for training. Results show the agent produces competitive solutions for small instances that can outperform the implemented heuristic if given enough time. Other extensions are needed before real-world deployment, such as deadlines and constraining resources to work shifts