Correlative analyses for Homestake neutrino data

We present results from linear correlative analyses between Homestake data and several solar-activity parameters in the period 1970-1992. Our findings support the hypothesis that the observed neutrino flux exhibits a significative correlation with some solar-activity parameters, particularly with those related with the heliomagnetic field

Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation Repair at the time of Left-Sided Valve Surgery. the Impact on the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

Objective: to compare the early post-operative functional status and the efficacy of the cardiac rehabilitation program (CRP) after isolated left-sided valvular surgery or with concomitant tricuspid valve repair (TVR). Methods: we retrospectively enrolled patients admitted to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit of our institution from January 2014 to January 2019, following mitral or aortic valve surgery. In agreement with current guidelines, concomitant tricuspid annuloplasty was added to patients with severe functional tricuspid regurgitation (TR) and in those with mild to moderate TR when annulus dilatation was present. A 6-minute walk test (6mWT) was performed within the second day of admission and repeated predischarge. The distances walked on the 6mWT were reported as absolute value and as a percentage of the predicted value, taking into account anthropometric variables. Changes in the 6mWT performance and Barthel index (BI) were assessed to evaluate the impact of CRP on exercise tolerance and functional independence, respectively. Results: of 117 patients, 62 (53%) had isolated left-sided valvular surgery and 55 (47%) had concomitant TVR. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the baseline 6mWT performance and its improvement at the end of CRP. TVR was associated with a worse BI on admission, but with a greater improvement after the CRP and a pre-discharge BI comparable to isolated left-sided surgery. Upon linear regression analysis, diabetes and chronic renal disease were predictors of the baseline 6mWT performance. Conclusion: TVR does not affect the early post-operative functional status and the efficacy of the CRP after valvular surgery

UTCI field measurements in an urban park in Florence (Italy)

The aim of this study is to evaluate human thermal comfort in different green area settings in the city of Florence by using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Field measurements of air temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, wind speed and black globe thermometer were collected during hot summer days in various parts of Cascine Park, the biggest urban park in Florence (Italy). UTCI was evaluated over different surfaces (asphalt, gravel and grass) completely exposed to the sun or shaded by a large lime tree (Tilia × europaea). The results showed strong differences in UTCI values depending on the exposure to tree shade, while no significant difference was found among ground-cover materials when all surfaces were equally exposed to solar radiation. Future studies are needed to investigate the microclimatic effects of different tree species on UTCI

Central obesity in Yemeni children: A population based cross-sectional study

AIM: To establish percentile curves and to explore prevalence and correlates of central obesity among Yemeni children in a population based cross-sectional study. METHODS: A representative sample of 3114 Yemeni children (1564 boys, 1550 girls) aged 6-19 years participating in the HYpertension and Diabetes in Yemen study was studied. Data collection was conducted at home by survey teams composed of two investigators of both genders. Study questionnaire included questions about demographics, lifestyle, and medical history. Anthropometric measurements included body weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and hip circumferences. Waist to hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were then calculated. Age and gender specific smoothed percentiles of WC, WHR, and WHtR were obtained using lambda-mu-sigma parameters (LMS method). The independent predictors of central obesity defined as (1) WC percentile ≥ 90(th); (2) WHtR ≥ 0.5; or (3) WC percentile ≥ 90(th) and WHtR ≥ 0.5, were identified at multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, urban/rural location, years of school education, sedentary/active life-style. RESULTS: Percentile curves for WC, WHR and WHtR are presented. Average WC increased with age for both genders. Boys had a higher WC than girls until early adolescence and thereafter girls had higher values than boys. WHR decreased both in boys and girls until early adolescence. Thereafter while in boys it plateaued in girls it continued to decrease. Mean WHtR decreased until early adolescence with no gender related differences and thereafter increased more in girls than in boys towards adult age. Prevalence of central obesity largely varied according to the definition used which was 10.9% for WC ≥ 90(th) percentile, 18.3% for WHtR ≥ 0.5, and 8.6% when fulfilling both criteria. At adjusted logistic regression WC ≥ 90(th) percentiles and WHtR ≥ 0.5 were less prevalent in rural than in urban areas (OR = 0.52, 95%CI: 0.41-0.67 and 0.66, 0.54-0.79 respectively), being more prevalent in children with sedentary lifestyle rather than an active one (1.52, 95%CI: 1.17-1.98 and 1.42, 95%CI: 1.14-1.75, respectively). CONCLUSION: Yemeni children central obesity indices percentile curves are presented. Central obesity prevalence varied according to the definition used and was more prevalent in urban sedentary subjects

Emergency Department as an epidemiological observatory of Human Mobility: the experience of the Moroccan population

We conducted a retrospective study of the accesses to the Emergency Department registered from January 2000 to December 2014 in 5 major hospitals in the Metropolitan Area of Rome. We extrapolated data relating to patients of Moroccan origin from about 5 million total accesses, so we compared with Italians data which, in the same period, came to ED. The Moroccan population is distinguished by a larger number of diagnoses belonging to the ICD-9 code of Infectious Diseases and, more precisely, to Respiratory Infectious Diseases. There are also no differences in the assignment of such diagnoses to Moroccans with Italian citizenship, and this led to think that this could play an important role in the use of the ED and moreover that enrollment to the National Health Service may reduce its inappropriate use. Regarding to Degenerative Disorders, the result of our analysis is quite emblematic, showing that the accesses to the ED is due to Cardiovascular Diseases: 6.33% of Italians' accesses against 1.81% of Moroccans and 2.36% of Moroccans with Italian citizenship. The main explanation for this difference is, obviously, due to the age of the population: about 60% of Moroccans who accessed to ED was less than 40 years old. It is interesting how, in the field of ​​Cardiovascular Diseases, Moroccans have a lower percentage of diagnosis compared to Italians for acute diseases and a greater percentage of diagnoses for chronic diseases, suggesting once again that accesses to ED for migrants often is due to the inability to use the general services of the National Health Service. In conclusion, from the point of view of the Emergency Department, Migration Medicine still has Infectious Diseases as the main reason for access. Degenerative Disorders remain a prerogative of the Italians, but we could certainly assume that the Moroccan population would develop at some point with the aging

Relationship between hypertension, diabetes and proteinuria in rural and urban households in Yemen

Little information is available on the meanings of proteinuria in low-resource settings. A population-based, cross-sectional survey was performed in Yemen on 10 242 subjects aged 15–69 years, stratified by age, gender and urban/rural residency. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure (BP) of ⩾140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP of ⩾90 mm Hg, and/or self-reported use of antihypertensive drugs; diabetes is diagnosed as fasting glucose of ⩾126 mg dl(−1) or self-reported use of hypoglycaemic medications; proteinuria is defined as ⩾+1 at dipstick urinalysis. Odds ratios (ORs) for associations were determined by multivariable logistic regression models. Prevalence (weighted to the Yemen population aged 15–69 years) of hypertension, diabetes and proteinuria were 7.5, 3.7 and 5.1% in urban, and 7.8, 2.6 and 7.3% in rural locations, respectively. Proteinuria and hypertension were more prevalent among rural dwellers (adjusted ORs 1.56; 95% confidence limit (Cl) 1.31–1.86, and 1.23; 1.08–1.41, respectively), diabetes being less prevalent in rural areas (0.70; 0.58–0.85). Differently from hypertension and diabetes, proteinuria was inversely related with age. Most importantly, 4.6 and 6.1% of urban and rural dwellers, respectively, had proteinuria in the absence of hypertension and diabetes. The approach of considering kidney damage as a consequence of hypertension and diabetes might limit the effectiveness of prevention strategies in low-income countries

SEíS: Sistema basado en tecnologías semánticas para integrar la información energética de los edificios

Access to reliable energy related data is a fundamental factor when taking decisions that help to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. The increase in the amount of data we have available has led to the need to develop information systems that facilitate the analysis of such data to the agents which are present throughout the building life cycle, from the design phase to maintenance. Semantic web technologies provide a solution to interlink distributed data sources. This requires the construction of shared vocabularies (i.e. ontologies) which capture the meaning that users give to the data and facilitate access to them. As yet there are no consolidated methods to build these vocabularies. This article presents the methodology developed to create SEíS, an energy information system that uses semantic technologies to integrate energy related data and to facilitate services to the different agents involved throughout the stages of the building life cycle.El acceso a los datos relacionados con la energía es un factor fundamental para tomar decisiones que ayuden a mejorar la eficiencia energética de los edificios. El incremento de la cantidad de datos disponibles ha llevado a la necesidad de desarrollar sistemas de información que faciliten el análisis de los mismos a los agentes que participan a lo largo del ciclo de vida del edificio, desde el diseño hasta el mantenimiento. Las tecnologías de la web semántica proporcionan una solución para interconectar fuentes de datos distribuidas. Esto requiere la construcción de vocabularios compartidos (i.e. ontologías) que capten el significado que le dan los usuarios a la información y faciliten el acceso a los datos. No existen aún métodos consolidados para construir estos vocabularios. En este artículo se presenta la metodología desarrollada para crear SEíS, un sistema de información energética que utiliza tecnologías semánticas para integrar datos energéticos y facilitar servicios a los agentes que intervienen a lo largo de las fases del ciclo de vida del edificio

Impact of one or two visits strategy on hypertension burden estimation in HYDY, a population-based cross-sectional study: implications for healthcare resource allocation decision making.

CONTEXT: The prevalence of hypertension in developing countries is coming closer to values found in developed countries. However, surveys usually rely on readings taken at a single visit, the option to implement the diagnosis on readings taken at multiple visits, being limited by costs. OBJECTIVE: To estimate more accurately the magnitude and extent of the resource that should be allocated to the prevention of hypertension. DESIGN: Population-based cross-sectional survey with triplicate blood pressure (BP) readings taken on two separate home-visits. SETTING: Rural and urban locations in three areas of Yemen (capital, inland and coast). PARTICIPANTS: A nationally representative sample of the Yemen population aged 15–69 years (5063 men and 5179 women), with an overall response rate of 92% in urban and 94% in rural locations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Hypertension diagnosed as systolic BP ≥140 mm Hg and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg and/or self-reported use of antihypertensive drugs. RESULTS: Hypertension prevalence (age-standardised to the WHO world population 2001) based on fulfilling the same criteria on both visits (11.3%; 95% Cl 10.7% to 11.9%), was 35% lower than estimation based on the first visit (17.3%; 16.5% to 18.0%). Advanced age, blood glucose ≥7 mmol/l or proteinuria ≥1+ at dipstick test at visit one were significant predictors of confirmation at visit 2. The 959 participants found to be hypertensive at visit 1 or at visit 2 only and thus excluded from the final diagnosis had a rate of proteinuria (5.0%; 3.8% to 6.5%) comparable to rates of the general population (6.1%; 5.6% to 6.6%), and of subjects normotensive at both visits (5.6%; 5.1% to 6.2%). Only 1.9% of Yemen population classified at high or very high cardiovascular (CV) risk at visit 1 moved to average, low or moderate CV risk categories after two visits. CONCLUSIONS: Hypertension prevalence based on readings obtained after two visits is 35% lower than estimation based on the first visit, subjects were excluded from final diagnosis belonging to low CV risk classes

Observations of Mercury's northern cusp region with MESSENGER's Magnetometer

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95510/1/grl29143.pd