1,339 research outputs found
Plethysmography system to monitor the jugular venous pulse: A feasibility study
Cerebral venous outflow is investigated in the diagnosis of heart failure through the monitoring of jugular venous pulse, an indicator to assess cardiovascular diseases. The jugular venous pulse is a weak signal stemming from the lying internal jugular vein and often invasive methodolo-gies requiring surgery are mandatory to detect it. Jugular venous pulse can also be extrapolated via the ultrasound technique, but it requires a qualified healthcare operator to perform the exami-nation. In this work, a wireless, user-friendly, wearable device for plethysmography is developed to investigate the possibility of monitoring the jugular venous pulse non-invasively. The proposed device can monitor the jugular venous pulse and the electrocardiogram synchronously. To study the feasibility of using the proposed device to detect physiological variables, several measurements were carried out on healthy subjects by considering three different postures: supine, sitting, and upright. Data acquired in the experiment were properly filtered to highlight the cardiac oscillation and remove the breathing contribution, which causes a considerable shift in the amplitude of signals. To evaluate the proper functioning of the wearable device for plethysmography, a comparison with the ultrasound technique was carried out. As a satisfactory result, the acquired signals resemble the typical jugular venous pulse waveforms found in literature
Le reti di imprese: accesso al credito e misurazione delle performance
Il modello di rete rappresenta un’importante forma di aggregazione per le piccole e medie imprese, che può consentire un miglioramento delle condizioni di accesso al credito. Anche le banche hanno iniziato a considerare le reti un’opportunità , sia sotto il profilo commerciale, sia sotto il profilo del contenimento dei rischi. La valutazione della rete e delle imprese in rete richiede però la definizione di un’adeguata metodologia di misurazione delle performance, in grado di evidenziare lo stato di avanzamento del programma comune e gli effetti sulle imprese aderenti
Preferential use of the perchlorate over the nitrate in the respiratory processes mediated by the Bacterium Azospira sp. OGA 24
Here we report the results obtained for a strain isolated from a polluted site and classified as Azospira sp. OGA 24. The capability of OGA 24 to utilize perchlorate and nitrate and the regulation of pathways were investigated by growth kinetic studies and analysis of messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of the genes of perchlorate reductase alpha subunit (pcrA), chlorite dismutase (cld), and periplasmic nitrate reductase large subunit (napA). In aerobic conditions and in a minimal medium containing 10 mM acetate as carbon source, 5.6 ± 0.34 mmol L-1 perchlorate or 9.7 ± 0.22 mmol L-1 nitrate were efficiently reduced during the growth with 10 mM of either perchlorate or nitrate. In anaerobiosis, napA was completely inhibited in the presence of perchlorate as the only electron acceptor, pcrA was barely detectable in nitrate-reducing conditions. The cell growth kinetics were in accordance with expression data, indicating a separation of nitrate and perchlorate respiration pathways. In the presence of both compounds, anaerobic nitrate consumption was reduced to 50% (4.9 ± 0.4 vs. 9.8 ± 0.15 mmol L-1 without perchlorate), while that of perchlorate was not affected (7.2 ± 0.5 vs. 6.9 ± 0.6 mmol L-1 without nitrate). Expression analysis confirmed the negative effect of perchlorate on nitrate respiration. Based on sequence analysis of the considered genes and 16S ribosomal gene (rDNA), the taxonomic position of Azospira sp. OGA 24 in the perchlorate respiring bacteria (PRB) group was further defined by classifying it in the oryzae species. The respiratory characteristics of OGA 24 strain make it very attractive in terms of potential applications in the bioremediation of environments exposed to perchlorate salts
Georadar investigations to detect cavities in a historical town damaged by an earthquake of the past
This paper aims to highlight the use of the georadar as a useful prospecting
technique to identify the areal density and the geometrical features of the
grottoes placed in a historical town characterised by high seismic hazard.
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The town considered here is Rionero in Vulture (Southern Italy) that was hit
by several historical earthquakes, among which the 1930 Irpinia earthquake
(Me=6.7, Is=VIII MCS).
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For this event a damage map was already available from a previous study
(Gizzi and Masini, 2006). This map shows that some sectors of the town
suffered higher damage. One factor causing the uneven distribution of the
effects is considered to be the presence of grottoes.
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To strengthen this work hypothesis it was necessary to in-depth investigate
the subsoil of Rionero in Vulture. Therefore, geophysical data were
correlated and integrated with data obtained from field surveys and
historical documentary sources. All these investigations allowed to obtain
more insights about the influences of the man-made caves on seismic damage
The environmental noise level in the rejuvenation pruning on centuries-old olive tree
ArticleIn the Italian agricultural economy, olive cultivation plays a fundamental role, and this
is especially true for the southern regions where almost all cultivation is spread. In Calabria, in
particular, olive cultivation has seen over the last few decades significantly improve the quality
of production also as a result of investments aimed at the creation of new mechanizable plants
and/or the modernization of existing ones; today some areas have got both PDO and PGI
certification.
In the ‘Piana di Gioia Tauro’, located north-west of the Reggio Calabria metropolitan area, olive
growing extends over 20,000 hectares and the presence of centuries-old olive tree is still
widespread. The olive varieties mainly belong to the local cultivars of ‘Sinopolese’ and
‘Ottobratica’, characterized by a remarkable rusticity and high development, perhaps unique in
the world; they reach 20–25 meters high, forming what is called a ‘forest of olive trees’.
The pruning operations are carried out by means of chainsaws of different power and size
whereby, in addition to the previously described difficulties, operators are exposed to prolonged
periods of noise levels. The purpose of this study is precisely to assess the exposure of operators
to this particular olive grove. The aim is to identify the acoustic levels generated by the two
pruning and cross-cutting activities, the risk thresholds and the exposure to which the individual
workers of the two work sites are subjected, giving indications on the appropriate safety distances
to maintain (according to current regulations) compared to noise sources
Characterization of biochars produced from pyrolysis of pelletized agricultural residues
Biochars produced from pelletized grape vine (GV) and sunflower husk (SFH) agricultural residues were studied by pyrolysis in a batch reactor at 400 and 500°C. Chemical and physical evolution of the biomass under pyrolysis conditions was determined and the products were characterized, including the main gaseous organic components. . Results showed a decrease in solid biochar yield with increasing temperature. Biochar is defined as a "porous carbonaceous solid" produced by thermochemical conversion of organic materials in an oxygen depleted atmosphere, which has physiochemical properties suitable for the safe and long-term storage of carbon in the environment and, potentially, soil improvement. The aim of this work is to improve the knowledge and acceptability of alternative use of the biochar gained from agro-forestry biomass residuals, such as grape vine and sunflower husks, by means of modern chemical and physical characterization tools
Concettualizzazione e contestualizzazione dei beni culturali archeologici
This report describes the observations made while developing a new methodology for historic surveys used for the re-contextualisation of archaeological finds. This particular methodology avails itself of both traditional historic surveys as well as the representation of knowledge through ontology. The methodology described here was developed in reference to specific cases of re-contextualisation of archaeological artefacts from Pompeii which are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples
Plasma activated water as resistance inducer against bacterial leaf spot of tomato
Plant bacterial diseases are routinely managed with scheduled treatments based on heavy metal compounds or on antibiotics; to reduce the negative environmental impact due to the use of such chemical compounds, as pollution or selection of antibiotic resistant pathogens, the integrated control management is required. In the frame of a sustainable agriculture the use of bacterial antagonists, biological agents, plant defence response elicitors or resistant host plant genotypes are the most effective approaches. In this work, cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) was applied to sterile distilled water, inducing the production of a hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate, and a pH reduction. In particular, an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been used to produce plasma activated water (PAW), that was firstly assayed in in vitro experiments and then in planta through application at the root apparatus of tomato plants, against Xanthomonas vesicatoria (Xv), the etiological agent of bacterial leaf spot. Moreover, the transcription abundance of five genes related to the plant defense was investigated in response to PAW treatment. PAW did not show direct antimicrobial activity against Xv in in vitro experiments, but it enhanced the tomato plants defenses. It was effective in reducing the disease severity by giving relative protections of ca. 61, 51 and 38% when applied 1 h, 24 h and 6 days before the experimental inoculation, respectively. In addition, the experiments highlighted the pal gene involvement in response to the PAW treatments and against the pathogen; its transcription levels resulted significantly high from 1 to 48 h until their decrease 192 h after PAW application
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