388 research outputs found
Communication design for health. Territorial and digital networks
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency, there has been renewed interest in issues related
to health, prevention and community well-being. Health communication and the promotion of disease prevention now require a theoretical and design approach that first and foremost requires the
identification of appropriate tools to enhance âintersectoralityâ, âcollaborationâ and âoutreachâ among
the different areas of expertise of the well-being and healthcare actors involved in the territory. The
aim is to strengthen the process of community âempowermentâ. This study investigates the communicative strategies suitable for enhancing the physical, virtual and digital relationships among the active presences in the territory, choosing those capable of mediating needs, promoting well-being and
building a dialogue between citizens and health facilities, thus finally creating a âterritorial health
networkâ
Architectures and Key Technical Challenges for 5G Systems Incorporating Satellites
Satellite Communication systems are a promising solution to extend and
complement terrestrial networks in unserved or under-served areas. This aspect
is reflected by recent commercial and standardisation endeavours. In
particular, 3GPP recently initiated a Study Item for New Radio-based, i.e., 5G,
Non-Terrestrial Networks aimed at deploying satellite systems either as a
stand-alone solution or as an integration to terrestrial networks in mobile
broadband and machine-type communication scenarios. However, typical satellite
channel impairments, as large path losses, delays, and Doppler shifts, pose
severe challenges to the realisation of a satellite-based NR network. In this
paper, based on the architecture options currently being discussed in the
standardisation fora, we discuss and assess the impact of the satellite channel
characteristics on the physical and Medium Access Control layers, both in terms
of transmitted waveforms and procedures for enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB)
and NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) applications. The proposed analysis
shows that the main technical challenges are related to the PHY/MAC procedures,
in particular Random Access (RA), Timing Advance (TA), and Hybrid Automatic
Repeat reQuest (HARQ) and, depending on the considered service and
architecture, different solutions are proposed.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Vehicular Technologies, April 201
Data circulation in health landscapes
This is the final version. Available from Alma DL Journals via the URL in this record.âŻThe crossing boundaries intends to open a dialogue between Science and Technology Studies, Social studies of Health and the emerging Data Journalism perspective. It explores major issues at stake in contemporary practices of producing and sharing data, with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic
Data-Driven Key Performance Indicators and Datasets for Building Energy Flexibility: A Review and Perspectives
Energy flexibility, through short-term demand-side management (DSM) and
energy storage technologies, is now seen as a major key to balancing the
fluctuating supply in different energy grids with the energy demand of
buildings. This is especially important when considering the intermittent
nature of ever-growing renewable energy production, as well as the increasing
dynamics of electricity demand in buildings. This paper provides a holistic
review of (1) data-driven energy flexibility key performance indicators (KPIs)
for buildings in the operational phase and (2) open datasets that can be used
for testing energy flexibility KPIs. The review identifies a total of 81
data-driven KPIs from 91 recent publications. These KPIs were categorized and
analyzed according to their type, complexity, scope, key stakeholders, data
requirement, baseline requirement, resolution, and popularity. Moreover, 330
building datasets were collected and evaluated. Of those, 16 were deemed
adequate to feature building performing demand response or building-to-grid
(B2G) services. The DSM strategy, building scope, grid type, control strategy,
needed data features, and usability of these selected 16 datasets were
analyzed. This review reveals future opportunities to address limitations in
the existing literature: (1) developing new data-driven methodologies to
specifically evaluate different energy flexibility strategies and B2G services
of existing buildings; (2) developing baseline-free KPIs that could be
calculated from easily accessible building sensors and meter data; (3) devoting
non-engineering efforts to promote building energy flexibility, such as
designing utility programs, standardizing energy flexibility quantification and
verification processes; and (4) curating datasets with proper description for
energy flexibility assessments.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, 4 table
Problem-solving for problem-solving: Data analytics to identify families for service intervention
The article draws on Bacchiâs ideas about problematisation (2020) and links to technological solutionism as governing logics of our age, to explore the double-faceted problem-solving logic operating in the UK family policy and early intervention field. Families with certain characteristics are identified as problematic, and local authorities are tasked with intervening to fix that social problem. Local authorities thus need to identify these families for problem-solving intervention, and data analytics companies will solve that problem for them. In the article, we identify discourses of transmitted deprivation and anti-social behaviour in families and the accompanying costly public sector burden as characteristics that produce families as social problems, and discursive themes around delivering powerful knowledge, timeliness and economic efficiently in data analytic companiesâ problem solving claims for their data linkage and predictive analytics systems. These discursive rationales undergird the double-faceted problem-solving for problem-solving logic that directs attention away from complex structural causes
Impact of chronic liver disease upon admission on COVID-19 in-hospital mortality: Findings from COVOCA study
Background Italy has been the first Western country to be heavily affected by the spread of SARS-COV-2 infection and among the pioneers of the clinical management of pandemic. To improve the outcome, identification of patients at the highest risk seems mandatory. Objectives Aim of this study is to identify comorbidities and clinical conditions upon admission associated with in-hospital mortality in several COVID Centers in Campania Region (Italy). Methods COVOCA is a multicentre retrospective observational cohort study, which involved 18 COVID Centers throughout Campania Region, Italy. Data were collected from patients who completed their hospitalization between March-June 2020. The endpoint was in-hospital mortality, assessed either from data at discharge or death certificate, whilst all exposure variables were collected at hospital admission. Results Among 618 COVID-19 hospitalized patients included in the study, 143 in-hospital mortality events were recorded, with a cumulative incidence of about 23%. At multivariable logistic analysis, male sex (OR 2.63, 95%CI 1.42â4.90; p = 0.001), Chronic Liver Disease (OR 5.88, 95%CI 2.39â14.46; p<0.001) and malignancies (OR 2.62, 95%CI 1.21â5.68; p = 0.015) disclosed an independent association with a poor prognosis, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Respiratory Severity Scale allowed to identify at higher mortality risk. Sensitivity analysis further enhanced these findings. Conclusion Mortality of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 appears strongly affected by both clinical conditions on admission and comorbidities. Originally, we observed a very poor outcome in subjects with a chronic liver disease, alongside with an increase of hepatic damage
Not Just a Pathogen? : Description of a Plant-Beneficial Pseudomonas syringae Strain
Plants develop in a microbe-rich environment and must interact with a plethora of microorganisms, both pathogenic and beneficial. Indeed, such is the case of Pseudomonas, and its model organisms P. fluorescens and P. syringae, a bacterial genus that has received particular attention because of its beneficial effect on plants and its pathogenic strains. The present study aims to compare plant-beneficial and pathogenic strains belonging to the P. syringae species to get new insights into the distinction between the two types of plant-microbe interactions. In assays carried out under greenhouse conditions, P. syringae pv. syringae strain 260-02 was shown to promote plant-growth and to exert biocontrol of P. syringae pv. tomato strain DC3000, against the Botrytis cinerea fungus and the Cymbidium Ringspot Virus. This P. syringae strain also had a distinct volatile emission profile, as well as a different plant-colonization pattern, visualized by confocal microscopy and gfp labeled strains, compared to strain DC3000. Despite the different behavior, the P. syringae strain 260-02 showed great similarity to pathogenic strains at a genomic level. However, genome analyses highlighted a few differences that form the basis for the following hypotheses regarding strain 260-02. P. syringae strain 260-02: (i) possesses nonfunctional virulence genes, like the mangotoxin-producing operon Mbo; (ii) has different regulation pathways, suggested by the difference in the autoinducer system and the lack of a virulence activator gene; (iii) has genes encoding DNA methylases different from those found in other P. syringae strains, suggested by the presence of horizontal-gene-transfer-obtained methylases that could affect gene expression
âA good little tool to get to know yourself a bit betterâ: a qualitative study on usersâ experiences of app-supported menstrual tracking in Europe
Background: Menstrual apps facilitate observation and analysis of menstrual cycles and associated factors through
the collection and interpretation of data entered by users. As a subgroup of health-related apps, menstrual apps
form part of one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing developments in biomedicine and health care.
However, despite their popularity, qualitative research on how people engaging in period-tracking use and
experience these apps remains scarce. Results: An inductive content analysis was performed and eight characteristics of app-supported menstrual
tracking were identified: 1) tracking menstrual cycle dates and regularities, 2) preparing for upcoming periods, 3)
getting to know menstrual cycles and bodies, 4) verifying menstrual experiences and sensations, 5) informing
healthcare professionals, 6) tracking health, 7) contraception and seeking pregnancy, and 8) changes in tracking.
Our study finds that period-tracking via apps has the potential to be an empowering practice as it helps users to be
more aware of their menstrual cycles and health and to gain new knowledge. However, we also show that
menstrual tracking can have negative consequences as it leads to distress in some cases, to privacy issues, and the
work it requires can result in cessation. Finally, we present practical implications for healthcare providers and app
developers.
Conclusions: This qualitative study gives insight into usersâ practices and experiences of app-supported menstrual
tracking. The results provide information for researchers, health care providers and app designers about the
implications of app-supported period-tracking and describe opportunities for patient-doctor interactions as well as
for further development of menstrual apps.This research has received funding from the European Unionâs Horizon 2020
research and innovation program under the Marie SkĆodowska-Curie grant
agreement No 675378
A geroscience approach for Parkinson's disease: Conceptual framework and design of PROPAG-AGEING project
Advanced age is the major risk factor for idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD), but to date the biological relationship between PD and ageing remains elusive. Here we describe the rationale and the design of the H2020 funded project âPROPAG-AGEINGâ, whose aim is to characterize the contribution of the ageing process to PD development. We summarize current evidences that support the existence of a continuum between ageing and PD and justify the use of a Geroscience approach to study PD. We focus in particular on the role of inflammaging, the chronic, low-grade inflammation characteristic of elderly physiology, which can propagate and transmit both locally and systemically. We then describe PROPAG-AGEING design, which is based on the multi-omic characterization of peripheral samples from clinically characterized drug-naĂŻve and advanced PD, PD discordant twins, healthy controls and "super-controls", i.e. centenarians, who never showed clinical signs of motor disability, and their offspring. Omic results are then validated in a large number of samples, including in vitro models of dopaminergic neurons and healthy siblings of PD patients, who are at higher risk of developing PD, with the final aim of identifying the molecular perturbations that can deviate the trajectories of healthy ageing towards PD development
- âŠ