245 research outputs found
Social acceptance and perceived ecosystem services of urban agriculture in Southern Europe: The case of Bologna, Italy
Diagnosis of right bundle branch block: a concordance study
Bundle branch block; ConcordanceBloqueig de branca; ConcordançaBloqueo de rama; ConcordanciaBACKGROUND:
Right bundle branch block is one of the most common electrocardiographic abnormalities. Most cases of right bundle branch block are detected in asymptomatic patients in primary care, so a correct interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) at this level is necessary. The objective of this research is to determine the degree of concordance in the diagnosis of incomplete and complete right bundle branch block between four primary care researchers and a cardiologist.
METHODS:
The research design is a retrospective cohort study of patients over 18 years of ages of patients over 18 years of ages who underwent an ECG for any reason and were diagnosed with right bundle branch block by their physician. The physicians participating, 4 primary care researchers and a cardiologist were specialized in interpreting electrocardiographic records. The diagnosis of incomplete and complete right bundle branch block was recorded and other secondary variables were analysed. In case of diagnostic discordance between the researchers, the ECGs were reviewed by an expert cardiologist, who interpreted them, established the diagnosis and analysed the possible causes for the discrepancy.
RESULTS:
We studied 160 patients diagnosed with right bundle branch block by their general practise. The patients had a mean age of 64.8 years and 54% of them were men. The concordance in the diagnosis of incomplete right bundle branch block showed a Fleiss' kappa index (k) of 0.71 among the five researchers and of 0.85 among only the primary care researchers. The k for complete right bundle branch block was 0.93 among the five researchers and 0.96 among only the primary care researchers.
CONCLUSION:
The interobserver agreement in the diagnosis of right bundle branch block performed by physicians specialized in ECG interpretation (primary care physicians and a cardiologist) was very good. The variability was greater for the diagnosis of incomplete right bundle branch block
Optical fiber-to-chip assembly process for ultra-low loss photonic devices based on silicon nitride for space applications
[EN] In this work, we demonstrate an efficient fiber array-to-chip assembly process with a high number of
input/output ports. The proposed approach is based on using a pre-alignment coupling structure to separately align
the input and output ports. The assembling process has been experimentally validated in photonic integrated
circuits fabricated with an ultra-low-loss waveguide technology based on silicon nitride, which features
propagation losses as low as 9.5 dB/m. The developed technology is expected to extend the use of integrated
photonics for space applicationsThis work was supported by EU-funded H2020 project RETINA under grant agreement n° 821943Brimont, ACJ.; Zurita Herranz, D.; Duarte, VC.; Mengual, T.; Chmielak, B.; Suckow, S.; Giesecke, A.... (2020). Optical fiber-to-chip assembly process for ultra-low loss photonic devices based on silicon nitride for space applications. 1-3. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/1786581
Techniques and crops for efficient rooftop gardens in Bologna, Italy
Urban rooftop farming favours local food production. Although rooftop farming is perceived as 33 a sustainable system, there is a lack of quantitative studies on rooftop farming. There we set up 34 experiments in the community rooftop garden of a public housing building in Bologna, Italy, 35 between 2012 and 2014. We grew lettuce, a leafy vegetable, using three techniques: nutrient 36 film, floating hydroponic and soil cultivation. We also grew tomato, chilli pepper, eggplant, 37 melon, watermelon on soils. Data was analysed by life cycle assessment for environmental and 38 economic performance. Results reveal that the best techniques of lettuce cultivation to address 39 global warming were floating in the summer, with 65-85% less environmental impact per kg 40 than nutrient film; and soil production in the winter, with 85-95% less environmental impact. 41 Furthermore, floating production was 25% cheaper in summer and soil was 65% cheaper in 42 winter, compared to the nutrient film technique. For soil production, eggplants and tomatoes 43 showed the best environmental performances of about 74 g CO2 per kg. Eggplant production in 44 soil gave in the cheapest crop of 0.13 € per kg
Quantifying the Production of Fruit-Bearing Trees Using Image Processing Techniques
[EN] In recent years, the growth rate of world agricultural production and crop yields have decreased. Crop irrigation becomes essential in very dry areas and where rainfall is scarce, as in Egypt. Persimmon needs low humidity to obtain an optimal crop. This article proposes the monitoring of its performance, in order to regulate the amount of water needed for each tree at any time. In our work we present a technique that consists of obtaining images of some of the trees with fruit, which are subsequently treated, to obtain reliable harvest data. This technique allows us to have control and predictions of the harvest. Also, we present the results obtained in a first trial, through which we demonstrate the feasibility of using the system to meet the objectives set. We use 5 different trees in our experiment. Their fruit production is different (between 20 and 47kg of fruit). The correlation coefficient of the obtained regression model is 0.97.This work has been partially supported by European Union
through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation
through ERANET joint activities and beyond) project
ERANETMED3-227 SMARTWATIR by the Conselleria de
Educación, Cultura y Deporte with the Subvenciones para la
contratación de personal investigador en fase postdoctoral,
grant number APOSTD/2019/04, and by the Cooperativa
Agrícola Sant Bernat Coop.V.García, L.; Parra-Boronat, L.; Basterrechea-Chertudi, DA.; Jimenez, JM.; Rocher-Morant, J.; Parra-Boronat, M.; García-Navas, JL.... (2019). Quantifying the Production of Fruit-Bearing Trees Using Image Processing Techniques. IARIA XPS Press. 14-19. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/180619S141
Quality of out-of-hospital palliative emergency care depends on the expertise of the emergency medical team—a prospective multi-centre analysis
Acetylation of the Pro-Apoptotic Factor, p53 in the Hippocampus following Cerebral Ischemia and Modulation by Estrogen
Recent studies demonstrate that acetylation of the transcription factor, p53 on lysine(373) leads to its enhanced stabilization/activity and increased susceptibility of cells to stress. However, it is not known whether acetylation of p53 is altered in the hippocampus following global cerebral ischemia (GCI) or is regulated by the hormone, 17β-estradiol (17β-E(2)), and thus, this study examined these issues.The study revealed that Acetyl p53-Lysine(373) levels were markedly increased in the hippocampal CA1 region after GCI at 3 h, 6 h and 24 h after reperfusion, an effect strongly attenuated by 17β-E(2). 17β-E(2) also enhanced interaction of p53 with the ubiquitin ligase, Mdm2, increased ubiquitination of p53, and induced its down-regulation, as well as attenuated elevation of the p53 transcriptional target, Puma. We also observed enhanced acetylation of p53 at a different lysine (Lys(382)) at 3 h after reperfusion, and 17β-E(2) also markedly attenuated this effect. Furthermore, administration of an inhibitor of CBP/p300 acetyltransferase, which acetylates p53, was strongly neuroprotective of the CA1 region following GCI. In long-term estrogen deprived (LTED) animals, the ability of 17β-E(2) to attenuate p53 acetylation was lost, and intriguingly, Acetyl p53-Lysine(373) levels were markedly elevated in sham (non-ischemic) LTED animals. Finally, intracerebroventricular injections of Gp91ds-Tat, a specific NADPH oxidase (NOX2) inhibitor, but not the scrambled tat peptide control (Sc-Tat), attenuated acetylation of p53 and reduced levels of Puma following GCI.The studies demonstrate that p53 undergoes enhanced acetylation in the hippocampal CA1 region following global cerebral ischemia, and that the neuroprotective agent, 17β-E(2), markedly attenuates the ischemia-induced p53 acetylation. Furthermore, following LTED, the suppressive effect of 17β-E(2) on p53 acetylation is lost, and p53 acetylation increases in the hippocampus, which may explain previous reports of increased sensitivity of the hippocampus to ischemic stress following LTED
Combined proteome and transcriptome analyses for the discovery of urinary biomarkers for urothelial carcinoma
Background:
Proteomic discovery of cancer biomarkers in body fluids is challenging because of their low abundance in a complex
background. Altered gene expression in tumours may not reflect protein levels in body fluids. We have tested combining gene
expression profiling of tumours with proteomic analysis of cancer cell line secretomes as a strategy to discover urinary biomarkers
for bladder cancer.
Methods:
We used shotgun proteomics to identify proteins secreted by three bladder cancer cell lines. Secreted proteins with
high mRNA levels in bladder tumours relative to normal urothelium were assayed by ELISA in urine samples from 642 patients.
Results:
Midkine and HAI-1 were significantly increased in bladder cancer patients, with the highest levels in invasive disease
(area under the receiver operating characteristic curve 0.89
vs
non-cancer). The urinary concentration of both proteins was too
high to be explained by bladder cancer associated haematuria and most likely arises by direct tumour secretion.
Conclusions:
This ‘dual-omic’ strategy identified tumour secreted proteins whose urine concentrations are increased significantly
by bladder cancer. Combined secretome-transcriptome analysis may be more useful than direct proteomic analysis of body fluids
for biomarker discovery in both bladder cancer and other tumour type
Design of a WSN for smart irrigation in citrus plots with fault-tolerance and energy-saving algorithms
[EN] Wireless sensor networks are widely used for monitoring different processes, including
agriculture, in order to reach sustainability. One of the keys to sustainable crops is water
saving. In particular, saving water is extremely important in arid and semiarid regions. In
those regions, citrus trees are cultivated, and drip irrigation is used to save water. In this paper,
we propose a smart irrigation system for citrus trees using a WSN. We describe the employed
sensors and nodes for this proposal. Next, we present the proposed architecture and the
operational algorithms for the nodes. Moreover, we designed different algorithms for fault
tolerance and energy saving functionalities. The energy saving algorithm is based on the
relevance of the gathered data, which is analyzed in order to consider whether the
information should be forwarded or not. A TPC-based protocol is proposed to perform the
communication among the nodes of our system. In addition, we present different simulations
of the proposed system. Particularly, we show the consumed bandwidth and the remaining
energy in the different nodes. Finally, we test different energy configurations to evaluate the
network lifetime and the remaining energy when the first node depletes its energy.This work has been partially supported by the “Conselleria d' Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport” through the “Subvenciones para la contratación de personal investigator de carácter predoctoral (Convocatoria 2017)” Grant number ACIF/2017/069, by the “Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte”, through the “Ayudas para contratacion predoctoral de Formación del Profesorado Universitario FPU (Convocatoria 2014)”. Grant number FPU14/02953 and finally, the research leading to these results has received funding from “la Caixa” Foundation and Triptolemos Foundation. This work has also been partially supported by European Union through the ERANETMED (Euromediterranean Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond) project ERANETMED3-227 SMARTWATIR.Parra-Boronat, L.; Rocher-Morant, J.; García-García, L.; Lloret, J.; Tomás Gironés, J.; Romero Martínez, JO.; Rodilla, M.... (2018). Design of a WSN for smart irrigation in citrus plots with fault-tolerance and energy-saving algorithms. Network Protocols and Algorithms. 10(2):95-115. https://doi.org/10.5296/npa.v10i2.13205S9511510
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