On Safety Enhancement in IIoT Scenarios through Heterogeneous Localization Techniques

In the field of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), strictly related to Industry 4.0, one of the main aspects to be carefully considered by the governing board of a manufacturing company is the safety level to be guaranteed to the workers inside production plants. This involves daily human activities, together with production machines to be used during the working hour (and periodically maintained), and mobile industrial vehicles moving around the production plant. To this end, a precise localization of both workers and vehicles is expedient to improve the safety level—avoiding that people move inside forbidden areas or perform dangerous actions—as well as allowing a more accurate control and reporting to national authorities in charge of verifying the compliance to safety regulations (e.g., aggregated data, not shared outside the company, used to fill injuries reports in case of official inspections), in the presence of accidents and anomalous events. In this paper, we present the design of IIoT-related localization mechanisms exploiting heterogeneous communication technologies, in turn analysing how the localization can cope with the adoption of wideband (e.g., Wi-Fi) and narrowband (e.g., Narrowband IoT, NB-IoT) communication protocols and discussing how these communication paradigms may impact existing and modern production plants

Health care providers’ perspectives on the content and structure of a culturally tailored antenatal care programme to expectant parents and family members in Nepal.

Background: In Nepal childbirth is one of the most vulnerable periods of a woman's life and knowledge about the normal birth process, as well as danger signs, could be a life-saving intervention. Antenatal care programmes are therefore particularly relevant in Nepal where women deliver on their own in rural areas as well as in facility and hospital settings. Aim: This study aimed to describe the relevant content and structure of a culturally tailored antenatal care programme in Nepal to be developed from the input of healthcare providers. Methods: Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 26 health care providers were analyzed using Elo and Kyngäs’ content analysis. This study received ethical approval from the research ethics committee at Dalarna University, Sweden, and the Nepal Health Research Council. Findings: The results present possible (1) content and (2) structure of a culturally tailored antenatal care programme. Content is comprised of (a) how pregnancy affects the mother and how her lifestyle affects the unborn child; (b) normal childbirth, complications, and preparations; and (c) postpartum period – parenthood, childcare, and breastfeeding. Structure is related to (a) programme leader and location; (b) participants; and (c) pedagogy. Conclusion: This antenatal care programme will be culturally tailored to empower women with self-confidence and their decision-making power may increase in the family system regarding their own and their children’s health and wellbeing. Clinical Application: This study can help those designing culturally sensitive antenatal care programs in Nepal

Ensemble Riemannian data assimilation over the Wasserstein space

In this paper, we present an ensemble data assimilation paradigm over a Riemannian manifold equipped with the Wasserstein metric. Unlike the Euclidean distance used in classic data assimilation methodologies, the Wasserstein metric can capture the translation and difference between the shapes of square-integrable probability distributions of the background state and observations. This enables us to formally penalize geophysical biases in state space with nonGaussian distributions. The new approach is applied to dissipative and chaotic evolutionary dynamics, and its potential advantages and limitations are highlighted compared to the classic ensemble data assimilation approaches under systematic errors

Screening and characterisation of CdTe/CdS quantum dot-binding peptides for material surface functionalisation

Quantum dots (QDs) are promising nanomaterials due to their unique photophysical properties. For them to be useful in biological applications, the particle surface generally needs to be conjugated to biological molecules, such as antibodies. In this study, we screened CdTe/CdS QD-binding peptides from a phage display library as linkers for simple and bio-friendly QD modification. Among five QD-binding peptide candidates, a series of truncated peptides designed from two high-affinity peptides were subjected to an array-based binding assay with QDs to assess their functional core sequences and characteristics. Linking these isolated, shortened peptides (PWSLNR and SGVYK) with an antibody-binding peptide (NKFRGKYK) created dual-functional peptides that are capable of QD surface functionalisation by antibodies. Consequently, the dual-functional peptides could mediate anti-CD9 antibody functionalisation onto CdTe/CdS QD surface; CD9 protein imaging of cancer cells was also demonstrated. Our proposed peptides offer an effective vehicle for QD surface functionalisation in biological applications

Redox-engineering enhances maize thermotolerance and grain yield in the field

Contains fulltext : 252904.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)08 juli 202

Analysis of microsatellite polymorphisms in south Indian patients with non syndromic cleft lip and palate

Non Syndromic Cleft Lip and/or Palate (NSCLP) is a complex congenital anomaly with varying incidence among patients of different geographical origins. Multiple contributing factors are known to trigger the cleft formation. There are several genes involved in the aetiology of NSCLP and they are different in different populations. The genetic components of clefts that underlie the susceptibility to respond to the environment still remain unclear. In this study, five microsatellite polymorphisms from five candidate genes were employed to analyze the association between these genes and NSCLP in 83 patients and 90 controls. Genotyping was performed by separating and visualizing the fluorescently-labeled Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) products. The association of the five microsatellite polymorphisms with NSCLP was tested by using the CLUMP v1.9 program that uses the Monte Carlo method. The genotypic distribution is in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the control group for only the MSX1 and DLX3 genes. The RARA microsatellite was significantly associated with NSCLP. Our results suggest that the RARA gene is involved in pathogenesis of cleft lip and palate in south Indians