Design and Development of a License Plate Recognition System for Adventist University of the Philippines

Plate number recording is a practice that is done in vehicular terminals to ensure the security and order inside the premise that corresponds to the vehicular terminal. The Adventist University of the Philippines adopts the method by manual logging of plate numbers at the university main gate. The study designed an automation process of recording vehicle’s plate number using Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) algorithm, a barrier beam prototype-to-software interaction using Arduino microcontroller, and secured data storage using MySQL administrator. Findings showed that the ALPR library is tuned to have greater affinity with 2016 Philippine Plate Number format. The software interacts with the barrier beam through serial communication that which is facilitated by the microcontroller. The system is able to detect and recognize the plate number of interacting vehicles, and store it in the database with minimum supervision required. It also has the ability to distinguish local vehicles from the visiting ones. The system’s override capabilities compensate for the ever-varying environment and situation in the university. On the other hand, the barrier beam reacts accordingly for every prompt given by the system. The proposed system is warranted as useful for automating the license plate recording process in the university’s vehicular terminals

The rapid spread of SARS-COV-2 Omicron variant in Italy reflected early through wastewater surveillance

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant emerged in South Africa in November 2021, and has later been identified worldwide, raising serious concerns. A real-time RT-PCR assay was designed for the rapid screening of the Omicron variant, targeting characteristic mutations of the spike gene. The assay was used to test 737 sewage samples collected throughout Italy (19/21 Regions) between 11 November and 25 December 2021, with the aim of assessing the spread of the Omicron variant in the country. Positive samples were also tested with a real-time RT-PCR developed by the European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC), and through nested RT-PCR followed by Sanger sequencing. Overall, 115 samples tested positive for Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant. The first occurrence was detected on 7 December, in Veneto, North Italy. Later on, the variant spread extremely fast in three weeks, with prevalence of positive wastewater samples rising from 1.0% (1/104 samples) in the week 5–11 December, to 17.5% (25/143 samples) in the week 12–18, to 65.9% (89/135 samples) in the week 19–25, in line with the increase in cases of infection with the Omicron variant observed during December in Italy. Similarly, the number of Regions/Autonomous Provinces in which the variant was detected increased from one in the first week, to 11 in the second, and to 17 in the last one. The presence of the Omicron variant was confirmed by the JRC real-time RT-PCR in 79.1% (91/115) of the positive samples, and by Sanger sequencing in 66% (64/97) of PCR amplicons. In conclusion, we designed an RT-qPCR assay capable to detect the Omicron variant, which can be successfully used for the purpose of wastewater-based epidemiology. We also described the history of the introduction and diffusion of the Omicron variant in the Italian population and territory, confirming the effectiveness of sewage monitoring as a powerful surveillance tool

Brief Report of Preliminary Outcomes of an Emotion Regulation Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

DOI: 10.1007/s10803-015-2446-1Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often present with comorbid psychopathology including problems with emotion regulation. The goal of the present research was to investigate the feasibility of a multicomponent manualized cognitive behavior therapy treatment program for improving emotion regulation in youth with ASD 8 to 12 years of age. Thirteen males and their parents participated in the intervention, reporting high satisfaction with the activities and program overall, and attending all sessions. Preliminary outcomes regarding emotion regulation and psychopathology, and feasibility of the intervention, are summarized and discussed.Chair in Autism Spectrum Disorders Treatment and Care Research (#RN284208; Canadian Institutes of Health Research in partnership with NeuroDevNet, Sinneave Family Foundation, CASDA, Autism Speaks Canada and Health Canada) and seed funding from the Spectrum of Hope Autism Foundatio

Terapia ormonale sostitutiva nella menopausa chirurgica

[No abstract available

Targeting of PBP1 by β-lactams determines recA/SOS response activation in heterogeneous MRSA clinical strains.

The SOS response, a conserved regulatory network in bacteria that is induced in response to DNA damage, has been shown to be associated with the emergence of resistance to antibiotics. Previously, we demonstrated that heterogeneous (HeR) MRSA strains, when exposed to sub-inhibitory concentrations of oxacillin, were able to express a homogeneous high level of resistance (HoR). Moreover, we showed that oxacillin appeared to be the triggering factor of a β-lactam-mediated SOS response through lexA/recA regulators, responsible for an increased mutation rate and selection of a HoR derivative. In this work, we demonstrated, by selectively exposing to β-lactam and non-β-lactam cell wall inhibitors, that PBP1 plays a critical role in SOS-mediated recA activation and HeR-HoR selection. Functional analysis of PBP1 using an inducible PBP1-specific antisense construct showed that PBP1 depletion abolished both β-lactam-induced recA expression/activation and increased mutation rates during HeR/HoR selection. Furthermore, based on the observation that HeR/HoR selection is accompanied by compensatory increases in the expression of PBP1,-2, -2a, and -4, our study provides evidence that a combination of agents simultaneously targeting PBP1 and either PBP2 or PBP2a showed both in-vitro and in-vivo efficacy, thereby representing a therapeutic option for the treatment of highly resistant HoR-MRSA strains. The information gathered from these studies contributes to our understanding of β-lactam-mediated HeR/HoR selection and provides new insights, based on β-lactam synergistic combinations, that mitigate drug resistance for the treatment of MRSA infections

Bone mass density in post-menopausal women

To evaluate the effect of age, years since menopause and body weight on bone mass density (BMD) in 283 patients. Bone mass density was assessed by bone computerized mineralometry at two sites of the forearm. The mean distal BMD and ultra BMD in the postmenopausal group were negatively correlated with age (P < 0.001, r = -0.48 and P < 0.001, r = -0.50, respectively) and years since menopause (P < 0.001, r = -0.32 and P < 0.001, r = -0.33, respectively). When body-mass index was regressed against distal and ultra distal BMD, positive correlations were found (P = 0.008 and P = 0.007). From our data, forearm computerized mineralometry seems to be a reliable method for the evaluation of the effects of age and body-mass index on bone mass