Proposal of a Hotspot-based Approach to Identifying Social Impacts along the Product-Service Systems Life Cycle in the Early Design Phases

© 2017 The Authors. The potential for sustainability has been highlighted as one of the most important characteristics of product-service systems (PSS). Nevertheless, a PSS is not intrinsically sustainable. Methods and tools for PSS sustainability assessment should be developed to be integrated into the design process, especially in the early design phases, in order to conceive sustainable solutions. In addition, a PSS should be planned considering the three sustainability dimensions, from a life cycle perspective. However, PSS design and assessment considering the full life cycle is scarcely addressed in the literature, especially concerning the social dimension of sustainability. In this sense, this study proposes a streamlined life cycle assessment based approach to identify potential social impacts along the PSS life cycle that can be integrated into the early PSS design stages. The proposal is based on a hotspot analysis, which identifies where in the life cycle the most significant issues may occur. The proposal was developed in three main phases, anchored in both hotspots analysis and PSS literature. After developing it, 10 experts in PSS and sustainability assessed the proposal strengths and weakness. Some suggestions were offered by the researchers and improvements were introduced to the proposal regarding PSS life cycle phases and the social impact subcategories. The experts considered the hotspot analysis suitable to be applied in the early design stages when there is not much information yet regarding the system to conduct a complete life cycle assessment. The next step of this research is the proposal assessment by practitioners in industry. Further work will also integrate the environmental dimension of sustainability into the proposal

Novel Human Embryonic Stem Cell Regulators Identified by Conserved and Distinct CpG Island Methylation State

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) undergo epigenetic changes in vitro which may compromise function, so an epigenetic pluripotency "signature" would be invaluable for line validation. We assessed Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine Island (CGI) methylation in hESCs by genomic DNA hybridisation to a CGI array, and saw substantial variation in CGI methylation between lines. Comparison of hESC CGI methylation profiles to corresponding somatic tissue data and hESC mRNA expression profiles identified a conserved hESC-specific methylation pattern associated with expressed genes. Transcriptional repressors and activators were over-represented amongst genes whose associated CGIs were methylated or unmethylated specifically in hESCs, respectively. Knockdown of candidate transcriptional regulators (HMGA1, GLIS2, PFDN5) induced differentiation in hESCs, whereas ectopic expression in fibroblasts modulated iPSC colony formation. Chromatin immunoprecipitation confirmed interaction between the candidates and the core pluripotency transcription factor network. We thus identify novel pluripotency genes on the basis of a conserved and distinct epigenetic configuration in human stem cells

Symbolic Partial-Order Execution for Testing Multi-Threaded Programs

We describe a technique for systematic testing of multi-threaded programs. We combine Quasi-Optimal Partial-Order Reduction, a state-of-the-art technique that tackles path explosion due to interleaving non-determinism, with symbolic execution to handle data non-determinism. Our technique iteratively and exhaustively finds all executions of the program. It represents program executions using partial orders and finds the next execution using an underlying unfolding semantics. We avoid the exploration of redundant program traces using cutoff events. We implemented our technique as an extension of KLEE and evaluated it on a set of large multi-threaded C programs. Our experiments found several previously undiscovered bugs and undefined behaviors in memcached and GNU sort, showing that the new method is capable of finding bugs in industrial-size benchmarks.Comment: Extended version of a paper presented at CAV'2

The regime of climate-related disturbance and nutrient enrichment modulate macroalgal invasions in rockpools

Patterns of invasion by the seaweeds Grateloupia turuturu Yamada and Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt under crossed combinations of the regime (mean intensity and temporal variability) of climate-related mechanical disturbance and constant nutrient enrichment were experimentally examined in rockpools in north Portugal. The cover of both species was larger under high compared to low intensity of disturbance, but this effect was enhanced by events more heterogeneously distributed over a period of 19 months. The invasion by G. turuturu was also larger in enriched pools, but only when disturbance was applied at high intensity. The richness of native taxa was increased by high intensity events of disturbance evenly distributed over time and by low intensity events heterogeneously distributed, while no differences were documented for other treatments. Temporal variability of disturbance and nutrients interactively affected the total cover of native taxa and the availability of bare rock in different directions. Enriched conditions increased the space occupancy by natives and reduced substratum availability only when associated to heterogeneous events of disturbance. At the same time, relatively more variable disturbances caused a reduced cover by native taxa and an increased availability of free space, but only under natural nutrient levels. Present findings contribute to understand the conditions that would be more likely to facilitate the spread of G. turuturu and S. muticum under current and predicted scenarios of compounded environmental changes and in relation to traits of recipient systems that are considered relevant for the success of invasions, including the native richness and the degree of usage of resources, i.e. primarily space

Liver transplantation for colorectal liver metastasis: Survival without recurrence can be achieved

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Artificial Intelligence Algorithms to Diagnose Glaucoma and Detect Glaucoma Progression: Translation to Clinical Practice

Purpose: This concise review aims to explore the potential for the clinical implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) strategies for detecting glaucoma and monitoring glaucoma progression. / Methods: Nonsystematic literature review using the search combinations "Artificial Intelligence," "Deep Learning," "Machine Learning," "Neural Networks," "Bayesian Networks," "Glaucoma Diagnosis," and "Glaucoma Progression." Information on sensitivity and specificity regarding glaucoma diagnosis and progression analysis as well as methodological details were extracted. / Results: Numerous AI strategies provide promising levels of specificity and sensitivity for structural (e.g. optical coherence tomography [OCT] imaging, fundus photography) and functional (visual field [VF] testing) test modalities used for the detection of glaucoma. Area under receiver operating curve (AROC) values of > 0.90 were achieved with every modality. Combining structural and functional inputs has been shown to even more improve the diagnostic ability. Regarding glaucoma progression, AI strategies can detect progression earlier than conventional methods or potentially from one single VF test. / Conclusions: AI algorithms applied to fundus photographs for screening purposes may provide good results using a simple and widely accessible test. However, for patients who are likely to have glaucoma more sophisticated methods should be used including data from OCT and perimetry. Outputs may serve as an adjunct to assist clinical decision making, whereas also enhancing the efficiency, productivity, and quality of the delivery of glaucoma care. Patients with diagnosed glaucoma may benefit from future algorithms to evaluate their risk of progression. Challenges are yet to be overcome, including the external validity of AI strategies, a move from a "black box" toward "explainable AI," and likely regulatory hurdles. However, it is clear that AI can enhance the role of specialist clinicians and will inevitably shape the future of the delivery of glaucoma care to the next generation. / Translational Relevance: The promising levels of diagnostic accuracy reported by AI strategies across the modalities used in clinical practice for glaucoma detection can pave the way for the development of reliable models appropriate for their translation into clinical practice. Future incorporation of AI into healthcare models may help address the current limitations of access and timely management of patients with glaucoma across the world

Holocene evolution of a barrier island system, Ria Formosa, South Portugal

Holocene evolution of the Ria Formosa barrier island system was studied through the examination of a large subsurface dataset acquired from 191 boreholes and five seismic refraction profiles. Two boreholes with total depths of 26 and 16.5 m were selected for a multi-proxy detailed laboratory analysis, including mean grain size distribution, organic matter (OM) content, color variation, shell identification, and benthic foraminifera assemblages. Selected cores are thought to be representative of the identified depositional sub-basins. Subsurface age data from 16 AMS C-14 dated samples were plotted against depth and resulted in a coherent age model of sedimentary infill. The system evolution was largely controlled by sediment availability, accommodation space, and Holocene sea level rise, first at a rapid rate of 7 mm/yr from 10 kcal yr BP to 7.25 kcal yr BP, followed by a slowdown to 1.1 mm/yr until present. A conceptual model for the origin and Holocene evolution of the Ria Formosa barrier island system implies three main steps, leading to the present system geomorphology: (1) marine flooding of incised palaeovalleys by the rapid transgression of palaeovalleys in the early Holocene(2) development of a proto-barrier island chain perched on Pleistocene detritic headlands and steeper interfluve areas during the early to middle Holoceneand (3) full development of the barrier islands chain and enclosing of the coastal lagoon, followed by the maturation of the system with subsequent siltation and salt marsh expansion from the middle Holocene until present. The onset of barrier system formation dates back to ca. 8 kcal yr BP, predating previously proposed age.SIHER project [PTDC/CTE-GIX112236/2009]EU Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Marine and Coastal Management (MACOMA) fellowship grant, under University of AlgarveEU Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate in Marine and Coastal Management (MACOMA) fellowship grant, under University of Cadi

Development and characterization of a 3D oral mucosa model as a tool for host-pathogen interactions

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)CNPq: 163551/2012-0CNPq: 400658/2012-7CAPES: 99999.007120/2015-00The aim of this study was to (i) design, develop and validate a practical and physiologically relevant reconstituted in vitro oral mucosa tissue model and (ii) to assess its applicability in in vitro host-pathogen interactions with C. albicans and S. aureus. Co-culture organotypic constructions were created by incorporating specific numbers of keratinocytes (NOK-si) onto cellularised, collagen gel scaffolds containing human gingival fibroblasts incubated in KGM media and cultured for 14 days. The detection of the appropriate oral mucosa/epithelial structure was evaluated by histology (hematoxylin and eosin (HE), periodic acid–Schiff (P.A.S.) and Picrosirius red), and immunocytochemistry (cytokeratin 13, cytokeratin 14, Ki-67 and collagen IV) compared to a normal human gingiva. The morphology of the reconstituted tissue was analyzed by Transmission Electron Microscopy. To further quantitate tissue damage, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) was measured in the tissue supernatant. NOK-si grown upon a gingival scaffold provided an organotypic model in an in vitro setting and exhibited structural characteristics typically associated with normal oral mucosa. Immunocytochemistry revealed the detection of epithelial cytokeratins 13 and 14, Col IV and Ki-67 in the reconstituted oral mucosa model. Infection was detected after 8 h and 16 h. This study presents an in vitro cellularised, organotypic model of reconstituted oral mucosa, which enables close control and characterization of its structure and differentiation over a mid-length period of time in culture