Linear perturbations of the Wigner transform and the Weyl quantization

We study a class of quadratic time-frequency representations that, roughly speaking, are obtained by linear perturbations of the Wigner transform. They satisfy Moyal's formula by default and share many other properties with the Wigner transform, but in general they do not belong to Cohen's class. We provide a characterization of the intersection of the two classes. To any such time-frequency representation, we associate a pseudodifferential calculus. We investigate the related quantization procedure, study the properties of the pseudodifferential operators, and compare the formalism with that of the Weyl calculus.Comment: 38 pages. Contributed chapter for volume on the occasion of Luigi Rodino's 70th birthda

Wodzicki Residue for Operators on Manifolds with Cylindrical Ends

We define the Wodzicki Residue TR(A) for A in a space of operators with double order (m_1,m_2). Such operators are globally defined initially on R^n and then, more generally, on a class of non-compact manifolds, namely, the manifolds with cylindrical ends. The definition is based on the analysis of the associate zeta function. Using this approach, under suitable ellipticity assumptions, we also compute a two terms leading part of the Weyl formula for a positive selfadjoint operator belonging the mentioned class in the case m_1=m_2.Comment: 24 pages, picture changed, added references, corrected typo

First report of venereal and vertical transmission of canine leishmaniosis from naturally infected dogs in Germany

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is a zoonotic disease caused by <it>Leishmania (L.) infantum</it>. It is endemic to several tropical and subtropical countries but also to the Mediterranean region. It is transmitted by phlebotomine sandflies but occasional non-vector transmissions have been reported, including vertical and horizontal transmission.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The authors report a case of CanL in a female boxer dog from Dusseldorf, Germany, that had never been in an endemic region. A serum sample from the bitch was tested positive for antibodies against <it>Leishmania </it>(IFAT 1:2,000, ELISA 72). The bitch had whelped three litters, and one puppy from the third litter was also found to be seropositive for <it>Leishmania </it>antibodies (IFAT 1:4,000, ELISA 78).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Up to now, despite intensive searching, the occurrence of sandflies could not be proved in the bitch's region of origin. Thus, vertical and horizontal transmission are to be discussed as possible ways of infection. This may be the first report of venereal and vertical transmission of <it>L. infantum </it>in naturally infected dogs in Germany.</p

Early prediction of cardiac resynchronization therapy response by non-invasive electrocardiogram markers

[EN] Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is an effective treatment for those patients with severe heart failure. Regrettably, there are about one third of CRT "non-responders", i.e. patients who have undergone this form of device therapy but do not respond to it, which adversely affects the utility and cost-effectiveness of CRT. In this paper, we assess the ability of a novel surface ECG marker to predict CRT response. We performed a retrospective exploratory study of the ECG previous to CRT implantation in 43 consecutive patients with ischemic (17) or non-ischemic (26) cardiomyopathy. We extracted the QRST complexes (consisting of the QRS complex, the S-T segment, and the T wave) and obtained a measure of their energy by means of spectral analysis. This ECG marker showed statistically significant lower values for non-responder patients and, joint with the duration of QRS complexes (the current gold-standard to predict CRT response), the following performances: 86% accuracy, 88% sensitivity, and 80% specificity. In this manner, the proposed ECG marker may help clinicians to predict positive response to CRT in a non-invasive way, in order to minimize unsuccessful procedures.This work was supported by MINECO under grants MTM2013-43540-P and MTM2016-76647-P.Ortigosa, N.; Pérez-Roselló, V.; Donoso, V.; Osca Asensi, J.; Martínez-Dolz, L.; Fernández Rosell, C.; Galbis Verdu, A. (2018). Early prediction of cardiac resynchronization therapy response by non-invasive electrocardiogram markers. Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing. 56(4):611-621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1711-1S611621564Boggiatto P, Fernández C, Galbis A (2009) A group representation related to the stockwell transform. 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One Health: The global challenge of epidemic and endemic leishmaniasis

'One Health' proposes the unification of medical and veterinary sciences with the establishment of collaborative ventures in clinical care, surveillance and control of cross-species disease, education, and research into disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy and vaccination. The concept encompasses the human population, domestic animals and wildlife, and the impact that environmental changes ('environmental health') such as global warming will have on these populations. Visceral leishmaniasis is a perfect example of a small companion animal disease for which prevention and control might abolish or decrease the suffering of canine and human patients, and which aligns well with the One Health approach. In this review we discuss how surveillance for leishmaniases is undertaken globally through the control of anthroponootic visceral leishmaniasis (AVL) and zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (ZVL). The ZVL epidemic has been managed to date by the culling of infected dogs, treatment of human cases and control of the sandfly vector by insecticidal treatment of human homes and the canine reservoir. Recently, preventive vaccination of dogs in Brazil has led to reduction in the incidence of the canine and human disease. Vaccination permits greater dog owner compliance with control measures than a culling programme. Another advance in disease control in Africa is provided by a surveillance programme that combines remote satellite sensing, ecological modelling, vector surveillance and geo-spatial mapping of the distribution of vectors and of the animal-to-animal or animal-to-human pathogen transmission. This coordinated programme generates advisory notices and alerts on emerging infectious disease outbreaks that may impede or avoid the spreading of visceral leishmaniasis to new areas of the planet as a consequence of global warming