Generalized Featured Product Page

The goal of my senior project was to generalize the process of creating featured product pages with iFixit. Featured product pages are pages with custom content describing an individual product such as text blurbs, images, and even some responsive components. These do not have a simple template like products you might see on Amazon but instead involve scrolling through a variable amount of content. In order to generalize these, each part of the page was broken into discrete components that contain custom content. There are components for images, paragraph blurbs, lists, footers and more. These components are implemented with React and can have their custom content passed in to the individual components. To make the page then involves rendering a series of components in order with whatever custom content desired for that product. This project solves the problem of how to create featured product pages quicker by providing a cleaner and more straightforward way for programmers to create new ones. With less hard coding, programmers can rely on previous examples more easily and change only parts of the page that are required to be custom. Also, the components will be implemented in a way that is more general and will require less style tweaking. This final process should allow for many pages to be created with minimal code duplication and minimal time spent programming

NUTRITIONAL AND FEEDING STRATEGIES TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSION FROM DAIRY COWS

The general aim of the present thesis was to evaluate the effects of several nutritional and feeding strategies to reduce methane (CH4) production from dairy cows. The thesis includes the results of three experiments conducted with the financial support from EU Research Project LIFE 09 ENV/IT/0214 Gas-Off. The aim of the first study was to measure total gas and CH4 production from 30 total mixed rations (TMRs) fed to dry and lactating cows in 20 commercial dairy farms of the Po Plain (Italy). Samples were analyzed for chemical composition, in situ 48 h fiber digestibility (NDFD) and in vitro gas production (GP) and CH4 concentration at 24 h of incubation. Neutral detergent fiber digestibility of TMRs from dry and lactating cows was identical (52.1%; P=0.995). The TMRs fed to dry and lactating cows differed for GP (43.0 and 54.4 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P<0.001) and CH4 (7.24 and 8.85 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P=0.001), but not for CH4 as percentage of GP (24.3 and 23.7%, respectively; P=0.286). Data were also analyzed dividing the TMRs into quartiles depending on \u201cstarch:ADF\u201d ratio; the average ratios of the groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 37, 77, 116 and 138, respectively. Increasing \u201cstarch:ADF\u201d ratio determined a higher GP: 42.2, 51.4, 55.1 and 56.2 mL/200 mg DM for groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively (P<0.001), whilst CH4 (mL/200 mg DM) was lower (P<0.001) for group 1 (7.12) in comparison with the others (8.82 on average). Acetate, expressed as percentage on total volatile fatty acids (VFA) decreased for increasing \u201cstarch:ADF\u201d ratio (P=0.009), whereas butyrate tended to increase (from 8.11 to 9.23% on total VFA; P=0.069) and the \u201cacetate:propionate\u201d ratio to decrease (from 3.35 to 3.09; P=0.082). The lack of a higher CH4 concentration in GP from diets richer in fiber might be attributed mainly to the relatively short time of incubation. The second trial was aimed to evaluate at first the effects of 18 essential oils, yeast, Quebracho tannin and Quillaja saponin on ruminal methane and gas production (GP) in vitro. A lactating cow diet was incubated with rumen inoculum. Doses of the additives (mg/L) were: essential oils=500; tannin=67; yeast=8.35 and 16.7; saponin=300. Lemongrass, estragole, eugenol, geraniol, limonen, thyme oil and thymol produced less gas (overall mean 33.8 mL/200 mg DM) than control (43.6 mL/200 mg DM; P<0.001). Methane produced (mL/200 mg DM) by guaiacol (10.7), lemongrass (9.6), limonene (11.4), thyme oil (10.9) and thymol (2.1) was lower than control (12.5) (P<0.001). Methane percentage on total GP was lower (P<0.001) for cinnamic alcohol (25.4), guaiacol (24.5), thymol (19.7) and vanillin (26.3) than control (28.8). In the second part of the experiment, thymol, guaiacol and yeast were added to the diet of dry fistulated cows to determine in situ NDF digestibility (NDFD) of six forages and in vivo dietary NDFD. Thymol and yeast decreased in situ NDFD after 24 h (33.9% and 33.5% vs 38.1%; P=0.008). Thymol decreased in vivo total tract NDFD (40.8% vs. 51.4%; P=0.02). Differences in GP and methane levels were registered within classes of additives. A careful selection of additives may allow for the manipulation of ruminal fermentation. The third experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of diets with different starch contents and fish oil (FO) supplementation on lactation performance, in vivo total-tract nutrient digestibility, N balance and methane (CH4) production in lactating dairy cows. The experiment was conducted as a 4 74 Latin square design with a 2 72 factorial arrangement: two levels of dietary starch content (low vs high), the presence or absence of FO supplement (0.80% DM) and their interaction were evaluated. Four Italian Friesian cows were fed one of the following four diets in four consecutive 26-d periods: 1) low starch (LS), 2) low starch plus FO (LSO), 3) high starch (HS) and 4) high starch plus FO (HSO). The diets contained the same amount of forages (corn silage, alfalfa and meadow hay). The starch content was balanced using different proportions of corn meal and soybean hulls. The cows were housed in metabolic stalls inside open-circuit respiration chambers to allow the measurement of CH4 production and the collection of separate urine and feces samples. No differences among treatments were observed for dry matter intake: neither FO nor the use of soybean hulls negatively influenced this parameter (22.9 kg/d, on average). A trend was observed for the effect of FO on milk yield (P=0.10), with a higher milk production compared with the diets without FO (29.2 vs 27.5 kg/d on average, respectively). Moreover, FO supplementation favorably decreased the n-6:n-3 ratio of the milk polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Consistent with the literature, the milk protein percentage was negatively influenced by FO (P<0.01): 3.37% on average for the LSO and HSO diets vs 3.67% for the LS and HS diets. With regard to digestibility, the HS diet negatively influenced all the parameters measured, with starch as the only exception. The percentage of N intake excreted with feces was influenced by both the FO (P=0.09) and starch content (P=0.04): the HS diet showed the highest value, followed by the HSO and LS diets and finally by the LSO diet. With regard to methanogenesis, there was a trend (P=0.08) of lower CH4 emissions (g/d) with the HS and HSO diets compared with the LS and LSO diets (396 vs 415 on average, respectively). Fish oil supplementation did not reduce methanogenesis. Previous in vitro studies have demonstrated a reduction in CH4 production as a consequence of FO supplementation; the decrease in CH4 production is generally accompanied by marked reductions in dry matter and fiber digestibility, which were not observed in the present work

Methane yield from dry and lactating cows diets in the Po Plain (Italy) using an in vitro gas production technique

The aim of the study was to measure total gas and methane (CH4) production from 30 total mixed rations (TMRs) fed to dry and lactating cows in 20 commercial dairies in the Po Plain (Italy). Samples were analysed for chemical composition, in situ 48 h fibre digestibility (NDFD) and in vitro gas production (GP) and CH4 concentration at 24 h of incubation. NDFD of TMRs from dry and lactating cows was identical (52.1%; P=0.995). The TMRs fed to dry and lactating cows differed for GP (43.0 and 54.4 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P<0.001) and CH4 (7.24 and 8.85 mL/200 mg DM, respectively; P=0.001), but not for CH4 as percentage of GP (24.3 and 23.7%, respectively; P=0.286). The data were analysed dividing the TMRs into quartiles depending on starch:ADF ratio; the average ratios of the groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 37, 77, 116 and 138, respectively. Increasing starch:ADF ratio determined a higher GP: 42.2, 51.4, 55.1 and 56.2 mL/200 mg DM for groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively (P<0.001), whilst CH4 (mL/200 mg DM) was lower (P<0.001) for group 1 (7.12) in comparison with the others (8.82 on average). Acetate (% on total VFA) decreased for increasing starch:ADF ratio (P=0.009), whereas butyrate tended to increase (from 8.11 to 9.23% on total VFA; P=0.069) and the acetate:propionate ratio to decrease (from 3.35 to 3.09; P=0.082). The lack of a higher CH4 concentration in GP from diets richer in fibre might be attributed mainly to the relatively short time of incubation

Air-leak management after upper lobectomy in patients with fused fissure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a pilot trial comparing sealant and standard treatment

A pilot trial to compare the efficacy of two different procedures to prevent postoperative air-leak in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients submitted to upper lobectomy for non-small cell lung cancer. Sixty patients with COPD and lung cancer at the upper pulmonary lobes eligible for lobectomy were enrolled and randomly assigned either to standard treatment (ST) with stapling device or to electrocautery dissection and application of a collagen patch coated with human fibrinogen and thrombin (TachoSil) (experimental treatment [ET]) for the intra-operative completion of their fused fissures. Thirty patients were enrolled in each group during a three-year period. Preoperative characteristics were similar between the two groups. Statistically significant reduction of air-leak was registered in the ET group when overall incidence of postoperative air-leak (55% vs. 96%; P=0.03), postoperative air-leak (mean 1.63+/-1.96 vs. 4.33+/-4.12 days; P=0.0018), chest-drain (mean 3.53+/-1.59 vs. 5.90+/-3.72 days; P=0.0021) and hospital stay duration (mean 5.87+/-1.07 vs. 7.50+/-3.20 days; P=0.01) were considered. The use of TachoSil to prevent postoperative air-leak after interlobar fissure completion in patients with COPD submitted to upper lobectomy seems to be safe and more effective than the ST based on stapling device application

Prediction of post-stroke motor recovery benefits from measures of sub-acute widespread network damages.

Following a stroke in regions of the brain responsible for motor activity, patients can lose their ability to control parts of their body. Over time, some patients recover almost completely, while others barely recover at all. It is known that lesion volume, initial motor impairment and cortico-spinal tract asymmetry significantly impact motor changes over time. Recent work suggested that disabilities arise not only from focal structural changes but also from widespread alterations in inter-regional connectivity. Models that consider damage to the entire network instead of only local structural alterations lead to a more accurate prediction of patients' recovery. However, assessing white matter connections in stroke patients is challenging and time-consuming. Here, we evaluated in a data set of 37 patients whether we could predict upper extremity motor recovery from brain connectivity measures obtained by using the patient's lesion mask to introduce virtual lesions in 60 healthy streamline tractography connectomes. This indirect estimation of the stroke impact on the whole brain connectome is more readily available than direct measures of structural connectivity obtained with magnetic resonance imaging. We added these measures to benchmark structural features, and we used a ridge regression regularization to predict motor recovery at 3 months post-injury. As hypothesized, accuracy in prediction significantly increased (R 2 = 0.68) as compared to benchmark features (R 2 = 0.38). This improved prediction of recovery could be beneficial to clinical care and might allow for a better choice of intervention

Post-stroke reorganization of transient brain activity characterizes deficits and recovery of cognitive functions

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been widely employed to study stroke pathophysiology. In particular, analyses of fMRI signals at rest were directed at quantifying the impact of stroke on spatial features of brain networks. However, brain networks have intrinsic time features that were, so far, disregarded in these analyses. In consequence, standard fMRI analysis failed to capture temporal imbalance resulting from stroke lesions, hence restricting their ability to reveal the interdependent pathological changes in structural and temporal network features following stroke. Here, we longitudinally analyzed hemodynamic-informed transient activity in a large cohort of stroke patients (n = 103) to assess spatial and temporal changes of brain networks after stroke. Metrics extracted from the hemodynamic-informed transient activity were replicable within- and between-individuals in healthy participants, hence supporting their robustness and their clinical applicability. While large-scale spatial patterns of brain networks were preserved after stroke, their durations were altered, with stroke subjects exhibiting a varied pattern of longer and shorter network activations compared to healthy individuals. Specifically, patients showed a longer duration in the lateral precentral gyrus and anterior cingulum, and a shorter duration in the occipital lobe and in the cerebellum. These temporal alterations were associated with white matter damage in projection and association pathways. Furthermore, they were tied to deficits in specific behavioral domains as restoration of healthy brain dynamics paralleled recovery of cognitive functions (attention, language and spatial memory), but was not significantly correlated to motor recovery. These findings underscore the critical importance of network temporal properties in dissecting the pathophysiology of brain changes after stroke, thus shedding new light on the clinical potential of time-resolved methods for fMRI analysis

A Spectral Method for Generating Surrogate Graph Signals

The increasing availability of network data is leading to a growing interest in processing of signals on graphs. One notable tool for extending conventional signal-processing operations to networks is the graph Fourier transform that can be obtained as the eigendecomposition of the graph Laplacian. In this letter, we used the graph Fourier transform to define a new method for generating surrogate graph signals. The approach is based on sign-randomization of the graph Fourier coefficients and, therefore, the correlation structure of the surrogate graph signals (i.e., smoothness on the graph topology) is imposed by the measured data. The proposed method of surrogate data generation can be widely applied for nonparametric statistical hypothesis testing. Here, we showed a proof-of-concept with a high-density electroencephalography dataset