MoonLight: a lightweight tool for monitoring spatio-temporal properties

We present MoonLight, a tool for monitoring temporal and spatio-temporal properties of mobile, spatially distributed, and interacting entities such as biological and cyber-physical systems. In MoonLight the space is represented as a weighted graph describing the topological configuration in which the single entities are arranged. Both nodes and edges have attributes modeling physical quantities and logical states of the system evolving in time. MoonLight is implemented in Java and supports the monitoring of Spatio-Temporal Reach and Escape Logic (STREL). MoonLight can be used as a standalone command line tool, such as Java API, or via MatlabTM and Python interfaces. We provide here the description of the tool, its interfaces, and its scripting language using a sensor network and a bike sharing example. We evaluate the tool performances both by comparing it with other tools specialized in monitoring only temporal properties and by monitoring spatio-temporal requirements considering different sizes of dynamical and spatial graphs

Left ventricular (LV) pacing in newborns and infants. Echo assessment of LV systolic function and synchrony at 5-year follow-up

Background: Small retrospective studies reported that left ventricular (LV) pacing is likely to preserve LV function in children with isolated congenital complete atrioventricular block (CCAVB). The aim of this study was to prospectively evaluate LV contractility and synchrony in a cohort of neonates/infants at pacemaker implantation and follow-up. Methods: Patients with CCAVB who underwent LV pacing were evaluated with electrocardiogram and echocardiogram in a single-center, prospective study. Data were collected at implantation, at 1-month and every year of follow-up, up to 5 years. LV ventricular dimensions (diameters and volumes), systolic function (ejection fraction [EF] and global longitudinal strain [GLS]), and synchrony were evaluated. Data are reported as median (25th-75th centiles). Results: Twenty consecutive patients with CCAVB underwent pacemaker implantation (12 single-chamber pacemaker [VVIR] and eight dual-chamber pacemaker [DDD]) with epicardial leads: 17 on the LV apex and three on the free wall. Age at implantation was 0.3 months (1 day-4.5 months). Patients showed good clinical status, normal LV dimensions, preserved systolic function, and synchrony at 60 (30-60) months follow-up. EF increased to normal values in patients with preimplantation EF <50%. Presence of antibodies and pacing mode (DDD vs VVIR) had no impact on the outcome. Conclusions: LV pacing preserved LV systolic function and synchrony in neonates and infants with CCAVB at 5-year follow-up. LV EF improved in patients with low preimplantation EF. Pacing mode or the presence of autoantibodies did not demonstrated an impact on LV contractility and synchrony

The sensor-based biomechanical risk assessment at the base of the need for revising of standards for human ergonomics

Due to the epochal changes introduced by “Industry 4.0”, it is getting harder to apply the varying approaches for biomechanical risk assessment of manual handling tasks used to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMDs) considered within the International Standards for ergonomics. In fact, the innovative human–robot collaboration (HRC) systems are widening the number of work motor tasks that cannot be assessed. On the other hand, new sensor-based tools for biomechanical risk assessment could be used for both quantitative “direct instrumental evaluations” and “rating of standard methods”, allowing certain improvements over traditional methods. In this light, this Letter aims at detecting the need for revising the standards for human ergonomics and biomechanical risk assessment by analyzing the WMDs prevalence and incidence; additionally, the strengths and weaknesses of traditional methods listed within the International Standards for manual handling activities and the next challenges needed for their revision are considered. As a representative example, the discussion is referred to the lifting of heavy loads where the revision should include the use of sensor-based tools for biomechanical risk assessment during lifting performed with the use of exoskeletons, by more than one person (team lifting) and when the traditional methods cannot be applied. The wearability of sensing and feedback sensors in addition to human augmentation technologies allows for increasing workers’ awareness about possible risks and enhance the effectiveness and safety during the execution of in many manual handling activities

Proteolytic Activity and Production of γ-Aminobutyric Acid by Streptococcus thermophilus Cultivated in Microfiltered Pasteurized Milk

A set of 191 strains of Streptococcus thermophilus were preliminarily screened for the presence of the genes codifying for cell envelope-associated proteinase (prtS) and for glutamate decarboxylase (gadB) responsible for \u3b3-aminobutyric acid (GABA) production. The growth and proteolytic activity of the gadB-positive strains (9 presenting the prtS gene and 11 lacking it) were studied in microfiltered pasteurized milk. Degradation of both caseins (capillary electrophoresis) and soluble nitrogen fractions (HPLC) and changes in the profile of free amino acids (FAAs; ion-exchange chromatography) were evaluated at inoculation and after 6 and 24 h of incubation at 41 \ub0C. None of the strains was capable of hydrolyzing caseins and \u3b2-lactoglobulin, and only two hydrolyzed part of \u3b1-lactalbumin, these proteins being present in their native states in pasteurized milk. Contrarily, most strains were able to hydrolyze peptones and peptides. For initial growth, most strains relied on the FAAs present in milk, whereas, after 6 h, prtS+ strains released variable amounts of FAA. One prtS+ strain expressed a PrtS- phenotype, and two prtS- strains showed a rather intense proteolytic activity. Only five strains (all prtS+) produced GABA, in variable quantities (up to 100 mg/L) and at different rates, depending on the acidification strength. Addition of glutamate did not induce production of GABA in nonproducing strains that, however, unexpectedly were shown to adopt the degradation of arginine into citrulline and ornithine as an alternative acid resistance system and likely as a source of ATP

A robust genetic algorithm for learning temporal specifications from data

We consider the problem of mining signal temporal logical requirements from a dataset of regular (good) and anomalous (bad) trajectories of a dynamical system. We assume the training set to be labeled by human experts and that we have access only to a limited amount of data, typically noisy. We provide a systematic approach to synthesize both the syntactical structure and the parameters of the temporal logic formula using a two-steps procedure: first, we leverage a novel evolutionary algorithm for learning the structure of the formula; second, we perform the parameter synthesis operating on the statistical emulation of the average robustness for a candidate formula w.r.t. its parameters. We compare our results with our previous work [9] and with a recently proposed decision-tree [8] based method. We present experimental results on two case studies: an anomalous trajectory detection problem of a naval surveillance system and the characterization of an Ineffective Respiratory effort, showing the usefulness of our work

The prognosis of allocentric and egocentric neglect : evidence from clinical scans

We contrasted the neuroanatomical substrates of sub-acute and chronic visuospatial deficits associated with different aspects of unilateral neglect using computed tomography scans acquired as part of routine clinical diagnosis. Voxel-wise statistical analyses were conducted on a group of 160 stroke patients scanned at a sub-acute stage. Lesion-deficit relationships were assessed across the whole brain, separately for grey and white matter. We assessed lesions that were associated with behavioural performance (i) at a sub-acute stage (within 3 months of the stroke) and (ii) at a chronic stage (after 9 months post stroke). Allocentric and egocentric neglect symptoms at the sub-acute stage were associated with lesions to dissociated regions within the frontal lobe, amongst other regions. However the frontal lesions were not associated with neglect at the chronic stage. On the other hand, lesions in the angular gyrus were associated with persistent allocentric neglect. In contrast, lesions within the superior temporal gyrus extending into the supramarginal gyrus, as well as lesions within the basal ganglia and insula, were associated with persistent egocentric neglect. Damage within the temporo-parietal junction was associated with both types of neglect at the sub-acute stage and 9 months later. Furthermore, white matter disconnections resulting from damage along the superior longitudinal fasciculus were associated with both types of neglect and critically related to both sub-acute and chronic deficits. Finally, there was a significant difference in the lesion volume between patients who recovered from neglect and patients with chronic deficits. The findings presented provide evidence that (i) the lesion location and lesion size can be used to successfully predict the outcome of neglect based on clinical CT scans, (ii) lesion location alone can serve as a critical predictor for persistent neglect symptoms, (iii) wide spread lesions are associated with neglect symptoms at the sub-acute stage but only some of these are critical for predicting whether neglect will become a chronic disorder and (iv) the severity of behavioural symptoms can be a useful predictor of recovery in the absence of neuroimaging findings on clinical scans. We discuss the implications for understanding the symptoms of the neglect syndrome, the recovery of function and the use of clinical scans to predict outcome

Observación y análisis de los sistemas agropecuarios. Una visión crítica del modelo productivo actual e introducción a los principios agroecológicos

Ponencia presentada en 1º Congreso Argentino de Agroecología. "Otra agricultura es posible: Cultivando interacciones para el mañana". Mendoza, Argentina, 18 al 20 de septiembre de 2019.Fil: Sánchez, Juan Vicente. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Luque, Stella M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Arborno, Vilda Miryam. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Bisio, Catalina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Pietrarelli, Liliana Teresa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Leguía, Héctor Luis. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentina.Fil: Soto, Gustavo S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Silvetti, Felicitas M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Cáceres, Daniel Mario. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Cabrol, Diego Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.La experiencia surge en el año 1985, originalmente el nombre de la asignatura fue Observación y Análisis de la Realidad Agrícola Ganadera, dictada por un grupo de jóvenes profesionales, en primer año de la carrera acompañando el ciclo de los principales rubros productivos de la región centro de Córdoba. Se busco introducir al estudiante, en el conocimiento de las diferentes problemáticas por la que atraviesa el sector agropecuario. No desde una visión teórica, sino desde la reflexión e interpretación de las prácticas rurales, estimulando el pensamiento relacional a modo de un darse cuenta que las definiciones y los conceptos aprendidos en clase no son estáticos sino que se cotejan con la realidad y a su vez se pueden recrear. Como resultado, el estudiante adquiere una visión sistémica del objeto de estudio de las Ciencias Agropecuarias, desplegando habilidades para observar y analizar los sistemas productivos, su estructura y dinámica, esto le brinda una experiencia integral de aprendizaje.Fil: Sánchez, Juan Vicente. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Luque, Stella M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Arborno, Vilda Miryam. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Bisio, Catalina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Pietrarelli, Liliana Teresa. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Leguía, Héctor Luis. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias; Argentina.Fil: Soto, Gustavo S. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Silvetti, Felicitas M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Cáceres, Daniel Mario. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Cabrol, Diego Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina

Unexpected Course of Nonlinear Cardiac Interbeat Interval Dynamics during Childhood and Adolescence

The fluctuations of the cardiac interbeat series contain rich information because they reflect variations of other functions on different time scales (e.g., respiration or blood pressure control). Nonlinear measures such as complexity and fractal scaling properties derived from 24 h heart rate dynamics of healthy subjects vary from childhood to old age. In this study, the age-related variations during childhood and adolescence were addressed. In particular, the cardiac interbeat interval series was quantified with respect to complexity and fractal scaling properties. The R-R interval series of 409 healthy children and adolescents (age range: 1 to 22 years, 220 females) was analyzed with respect to complexity (Approximate Entropy, ApEn) and fractal scaling properties on three time scales: long-term (slope β of the power spectrum, log power vs. log frequency, in the frequency range 10−4 to 10−2 Hz) intermediate-term (DFA, detrended fluctuation analysis, α2) and short-term (DFA α1). Unexpectedly, during age 7 to 13 years β and ApEn were higher compared to the age <7 years and age >13 years (β: −1.06 vs. −1.21; ApEn: 0.88 vs. 0.74). Hence, the heart rate dynamics were closer to a 1/f power law and most complex between 7 and 13 years. However, DFA α1 and α2 increased with progressing age similar to measures reflecting linear properties. In conclusion, the course of long-term fractal scaling properties and complexity of heart rate dynamics during childhood and adolescence indicates that these measures reflect complex changes possibly linked to hormonal changes during pre-puberty and puberty

Congenital and childhood atrioventricular blocks: pathophysiology and contemporary management

Atrioventricular block is classified as congeni- tal if diagnosed in utero, at birth, or within the first month of life. The pathophysiological process is believed to be due to immune-mediated injury of the conduction system, which occurs as a result of transplacental pas- sage of maternal anti-SSA/Ro-SSB/La antibodies. Childhood atrioventricular block is therefore diagnosed between the first month and the 18th year of life. Genetic variants in multiple genes have been described to date in the pathogenesis of inherited progressive car- diac conduction disorders. Indications and techniques of cardiac pacing have also evolved to allow safe perma- nent cardiac pacing in almost all patients, including those with structural heart abnormalities