Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis: background.

The following principles of appropriate antibiotic use for adults with acute bronchitis apply to immunocompetent adults without complicating comorbid conditions, such as chronic lung or heart disease. The evaluation of adults with an acute cough illness or a presumptive diagnosis of uncomplicated acute bronchitis should focus on ruling out serious illness, particularly pneumonia. In healthy, nonelderly adults, pneumonia is uncommon in the absence of vital sign abnormalities or asymmetrical lung sounds, and chest radiography is usually not indicated. In patients with cough lasting 3 weeks or longer, chest radiography may be warranted in the absence of other known causes. Routine antibiotic treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis is not recommended, regardless of duration of cough. If pertussis infection is suspected (an unusual circumstance), a diagnostic test should be performed and antimicrobial therapy initiated. Patient satisfaction with care for acute bronchitis depends most on physician--patient communication rather than on antibiotic treatment

Reservoir computing using a delayed feedback system: towards photonic implementations

Delayed feedback systems are known to exhibit a rich dynamical behavior, showing a wide variety of dynamical regimes. We use this richness to implement reservoir computing, a processing concept in machine learning. In this paper we demonstrate the proof of principle on an electronic system, however the approach is readily transferable to photonics, promising fast and computationally efficient all-optical processing. Using only one single node with delayed feedback instead of an entire network of nodes, we succeed in obtaining state-of-the-art results on benchmarks such as spoken digit recognition and system identification

Coexistence of Paramagnetic-Charge-Ordered and Ferromagnetic-Metallic Phases in La0.5Ca0.5MnO3 evidenced by ESR

Throughout a complete Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and magnetization study of La0.5Ca0.5MnO3, we discuss about the nature of the complex phase-segregated state established in this compound below T~210 K. Between TN<T<TC, the ESR spectra shows two lines characteristic of two different magnetic phases. From the resonance field (Hr) derived for each line we argue that the incommensurate-charge-ordering phase (ICO) which coexists with ferromagnetic-metallic (FMM) clusters in this temperature interval, is mainly paramagnetic and not antiferromagnetic. The FMM/ICO ratio can be tuned with a relatively small field, which suggests that the internal energy associated with those phases is very similar. Below TN, there is an appreciable FM contribution to the magnetization and the ESR spectra indicates the presence of FM clusters in an antiferromagnetic matrix (canted). Our results show that ESR could be a very useful tool to investigate the nature of the phase-separated state now believed to play a fundamental role in the physics of mixed valent manganites.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

New solutions to capture and enrich bacteria from complex samples

Current solutions to diagnose bacterial infections though reliable are often time-consuming, laborious and need a specific laboratory setting. There is an unmet need for bedside accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases with a short turnaround time. Moreover, low-cost diagnostics will greatly benefit regions with poor resources. Immunoassays and molecular techniques have been used to develop highly sensitive diagnosis solutions but retaining many of the abovementioned limitations. The detection of bacteria in a biological sample can be enhanced by a previous step of capture and enrichment. This will ease the following process enabling a more sensitive detection and increasing the possibility of a conclusive identification in the downstream diagnosis. This review explores the latest developments regarding the initial steps of capture and enrichment of bacteria from complex samples with the ultimate goal of designing low cost and reliable diagnostics for bacterial infections. Some solutions use specific ligands tethered to magnetic constructs for separation under magnetic fields, microfluidic platforms and engineered nano-patterned surfaces to trap bacteria. Bulk acoustics, advection and nano-filters comprise some of the most innovative solutions for bacteria enrichment.This research is affiliated to the VibrANT project that received funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Sklowdowska-Curie Grant, agreement no 765042. In addition, MGS, TC and LRR acknowledge the fnancial support from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2020 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684), through national funds and where applicable co-fnanced by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. The same authors also acknowledge BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020-Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design of materials to capture and enrich bacterial samples

Background: Diseases arising from pathogenic infections cause immense loss of life and illnesses globally besides having severe negative social and economic impact. Current methods of diagnosing such infections rely mostly on culture-based assays which are complex, time consuming and expensive. Other related problems include low detection limits of diagnostic methods, thus requiring methods to concentrate and enrich the samples being analysed. Objectives: It is imperative that novel diagnostic methods which are simple, accurate, quick and costeffective are developed. An approach to develop such a diagnostic platform is by including an enrichment step to concentrate the microorganisms present in the biological samples and then the detection of specific pathogens. Methods: To capture and concentrate bacteria from samples, collagen nanoparticles were synthesised and then incubated with those samples. Collagen binds to bacteria leading to enrichment upon elution. In addition, magnetic particles were added to the collagen nanoparticles in order to facilitate the recovery of the nanoparticles from the samples. After enrichment of a given sample a specific detection method utilizing voltammetric biosensors was used. Electrodes to be used can also be functionalised to specifically capture bacteria and avoid the adhesion of unspecific molecules to the electrode which could affect the accuracy of the readout. Results: Bacteria bind to the collagen-magnetic nanoparticles and these nanoparticles can be recovered using a magnetic field. Polypropylene - which is the substrate being used for the electrodes construction was functionalised by physical treatments including plasma, UV and ozone to ultimately produce an antiadhesive surface.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Dynamical Study of a Moored Vessel Using Computer Vision

[Abstract]: Wind and wave effects have a major impact on the design of mooring and anchoring systems, whose purpose is to prevent the movement of the cargo and the moored ship while optimizing the operations which have to take place in port. The dynamic behavior of a ship moored in waves has been mathematically described and interactions between ships and environmental loads have been commonly tested for different docks and mooring systems in scale models. However, the behavior of real ships in true mooring conditions has not been properly addressed in scientific literature. This paper proposes a novel computer vision technique to monitor moored ships. This approach uses the correlation of visual features in the images of the ship to estimate its movements along time. The proposed technique has been validated in laboratory conditions and applied in a real scenario to study the behavior of the ship Urania Mella in the Outer Port of A Coruña (Spain), in Punta Langosteira, obtaining very promising results.The authors wish to thank the Port Authority of A Coruña, Aquática Ingeniería Civil and Siport21 for their cooperation and technical assistance, and the Urania Mella owners and crew for the facilities on board. The development of the artificial vision algorithm was partially funded by FEDER funds and Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness, R & D National Plan, within the projects CGL2012-34688 and BIA2017- 86738-R

The Relation between Dynamical Mass-to-light Ratio and Color for Massive Quiescent Galaxies out to z ~ 2 and Comparison with Stellar Population Synthesis Models

Article / Letter to editorSterrewach

Operational thresholds of moored ships at the oil terminal of inner port of A Coruña (Spain)

[Abstract] Minimizing the stay of a vessel in port can lead to improvements in harbor efficiency. Currently, downtimes of cargo operations or their performance reduction because of excessive vessel motion are especially relevant. This work aims to evaluate the operational conditions of moored vessels in the inner port of A Coruña (Spain), comparing them with motion thresholds established by international standards for cargo operations. To this end, motions of 19 ships were monitored. Data analysis revealed large angular motions, particularly roll and yaw, including amplitudes that exceeded the limiting criteria of the standards in most of the analyzed vessels, with no registered downtime. Regarding linear movements, heave and surge recorded lower amplitudes compared to the values of standard thresholds. The specific behavior of each vessel was analyzed in terms of its size, maritime conditions, and mooring location. Field campaigns such as those performed in this work are an effective way of analyzing the operational conditions of ports, which could help in identifying problems in the mooring zone.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad; BIA2017-86738-