Activity Monitoring Made Easier by Smart 360-degree Cameras

This paper proposes the use of smart 360-degree cameras for activity monitoring. By exploiting the geometric properties of these cameras and adopting off-the-shelf tracking algorithms adapted to equirectangular images, this paper shows how simple it becomes deploying a camera network, and detecting the presence of pedestrians in predefined regions of interest with minimal information on the camera, namely its height. The paper further shows that smart 360-degree cameras can enhance motion understanding in the environment and proposes a simple method to estimate the heatmap of the scene to highlight regions where pedestrians are more often present. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach

Real-Time Particle Radiography by Means of Scintillating Fibers Tracker and Residual Range Detectors

In this chapter, a detailed description of the construction and the procedure for the measurement of performances of a charged particle imaging system is given. Such a system can be realized by the combined use of a position sensitive detector and a residual range detector. The position sensitive detector is made up of two superimposed and right-angled planes, each of which subsists of two layers of pre-aligned and juxtaposed scintillating fibers. The selected 500 μm square section fibers are optically coupled to two silicon photomultiplier arrays adopting a channel reduction system patented by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. The residual range detector consists of 60 parallel layers of the same fibers used in the position detector, each of which is optically coupled to a channel of silicon photomultiplier array by means of two wavelength-shifting fibers. The sensitive area of both detectors is 90 × 90 mm2. The performance of the prototypes was tested in different facilities with protons and carbon ions at energy up to about 250 MeV and rate up to about 109 particles per second. The comparison between simulations and measurements confirms the validity of this system. Based on the results, a future development is a real-time radiography system exploiting high-intensity pencil beams and real-time treatment plan verification

Relationship Between Heart Rate Recovery After Exercise and Maximal Oxygen Uptake in Sedentary Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

AIMS: Heart rate recovery after exercise (HRR) is an estimate of autonomic modulation of the heart, and has been shown to be inversely associated with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is associated with decreased maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max). Aim of our study was to assess the relationship between HRR and VO2max in sedentary patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Maximal exercise testing to determine VO2max (ml ∙ Kg-1 ∙ min-1) was performed in 16 sedentary patients with type 2 diabetes (DP) and in 16 age-matched sedentary healthy controls (HS). HRR (bpm) 2 min after cessation of the exercise was recorded. Simple linear regression was used to assess the relations between HRR and VO2max. RESULTS: VO2max and HRR were significantly lower in DP compared to HS (P = 0.002 and P = 0.008 respectively). A correlation between HRR and VO2max has been found, stronger in DP (r = 0.672, P = 0.004) than HS (r = 0.620, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that regular physical activity aimed to improve the levels of VO2max in subjects with diabetes may improve the HRR and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events

Photodinamic therapy with toipical aminolevulinic acid for the treatment of plantar warts

Aim. treatment currently employed for plantar warts (PW) are often painfl and poorly effective. This study evaluates the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) with δ-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) on PW. Methods. Before treatment, the superficial hyperkeratotic layer of warts was removed by the application, for 7 days, of an ointment containing 10% urea and 10% salicylic acid. Then, after gentle curettage, a cream containing 20% ALA was applied under occlusive dressing for 3h on 3 patients with 84 warts, while 30 patients with 62 warts (controls) receveid only base cream. Both groups were irradiated using a visible light lamp (range 400-700 n, peaking at 630 nm). The light dose was 50 J/cm2 each session. Patients were followed-up for 12 months. During the treatemtn some patients referred mild burning sensation or slight pain. The absorption of ALA in warts was investigated and demonstrated by in vivo fluorescence spectroscopy. Results. Two months after the last irradiative session, 84.5% of the ALA-PDT treated lesions and 22.5% of controls had resolved. Conclusions. The results of this study suggest that topical ALA-PDT can be considered as alternative treatment for PW

Generalized Virtual Networking: an enabler for Service Centric Networking and Network Function Virtualization

In this paper we introduce the Generalized Virtual Networking (GVN) concept. GVN provides a framework to influence the routing of packets based on service level information that is carried in the packets. It is based on a protocol header inserted between the Network and Transport layers, therefore it can be seen as a layer 3.5 solution. Technically, GVN is proposed as a new transport layer protocol in the TCP/IP protocol suite. An IP router that is not GVN capable will simply process the IP destination address as usual. Similar concepts have been proposed in other works, and referred to as Service Oriented Networking, Service Centric Networking, Application Delivery Networking, but they are now generalized in the proposed GVN framework. In this respect, the GVN header is a generic container that can be adapted to serve the needs of arbitrary service level routing solutions. The GVN header can be managed by GVN capable end-hosts and applications or can be pushed/popped at the edge of a GVN capable network (like a VLAN tag). In this position paper, we show that Generalized Virtual Networking is a powerful enabler for SCN (Service Centric Networking) and NFV (Network Function Virtualization) and how it couples with the SDN (Software Defined Networking) paradigm

The Influence of Two Different Breeding Systems on Quality and Clotting Properties of Milk from Dairy Buffaloes Reared in Sicily (Italy)

This study focuses on nine buffalo farms (a total of 692 buffaloes), five intensive herds (161 lactating buffalo cows) and four semiextensive herds (111 lactating buffalo cows), which are the most common in Sicily. The average milk and cheese yield, fat, protein and lactose contents were very similar between the two breeding systems. Milk casein was higher (P=0.04) in intensive herds than in semiextensive herds (4.07% vs 3.51%), whereas the urea content was higher in semi-extensive herds (40.68 mg/dL vs 37.50 mg/dL), yet within the normal range for buffalo milk. As regards milk pH and titration acidity (°SH), no difference was observed between the two breeding systems. Milk produced by the intensive herds scored the best clotting ability with shorter curd firming time (k20 3.08 min) and greater curd firmness (a30 32.69 mm). Milk produced by the semi-extensive herds, instead, was characterized by a longer curd firming time (k20 5.26 min) and lower curd firmness (a30 27.33 mm). This milk from buffaloes bred in Sicily (Italy) also showed a good chemical composition and clotting ability in particular when produced by the intensive herds

Relationship between heart rate variability and repeated sprint exercise in young soccer players

Aim: The sport of soccer is characterized by neuromuscular performance resulting in short bursts interspersed by brief recovery periods over an extended period of time. Several studies suggest that the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) assessed by heart rate variability (HRV) may provide useful information regarding the functional adaptations to training stimulus. Although HRV has often been associated with aerobic power and cardiovascular fitness, the influence of sympathovagal balance on neuromuscular performance in young athletes is not well assessed. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of the autonomic system on the performance of repeated sprints, involving predominantly muscular power and anaerobic metabolism, in young soccer players. Method: Twelve young soccer players, selected for the Sicilian Regional Representative of the Italian Football Federation, mean age 15 years, were recruited. Resting HRV was measured and indices of power spectral analysis (ratio LF/HF) were calculated to evaluate the sympathovagal balance. To assess the state of physical fitness of subjects, VO2max was determined by maximal graded treadmill test. Finally, the athletes performed 10 maximal all-out 6-sec cycling sprints (RS), interspersed with 30-sec of passive recovery, to measure the peak power (PP) represented by the highest value recorded during a single sprint, and the average of the values of maximum power (AP) recorded during all sprints. Results: On the basis of their VO2max (56.22 ± 3.93 ml/Kg/min), all subjects showed good levels of physical fitness. HRV index (LF/HF = 1.31 ± 0.74) showed an inverse correlation with PP (14.05 ± 0.89 W/Kg; r = -0.709, P = 0.01), and with AP (12.82 ± 0.88 W/Kg; r = -0.606, P = 0.04). Conclusion: Our study shows that a low ratio LF/HF, which reflects a parasympathetic predominance in the ANS balance, is associated with a better anaerobic contribution to performance resulting in higher values of PP and AP during brief repeated maximal cycling sprints. The assessment of resting HRV before exercise may be useful for performance monitoring of young soccer players

Antibiotic Resistance Profiling, Analysis of Virulence Aspects and Molecular Genotyping of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated in Sicily, Italy

Staphylococcus aureus is the major cause of foodborne diseases worldwide. In this retrospective study, 84 S. aureus strains were characterized. The collection comprises 78 strains isolated during 1998 and 2014 from dairy products and tissue samples from livestock bred for dairy production in Sicily. One isolate was obtained from a pet (dog), one from an exotic animal (a circus elephant), and four human isolates were obtained during a severe food poisoning outbreak that occurred in Sicily in 2015. All the strains were characterized by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), for antibiotic resistance and presence of toxin genes. PFGE results showed 10 different pulsotypes, with three relatively frequent and three unique. The antibiotic resistance profiling showed that penicillin G (35.7%) and tetracycline (20.2%) resistance is largely spread. Most isolates contained at least one toxin gene making them a potential threat for public health. Enterotoxin sec gene was observed in 28.6% and seg in 23.8% of the strains, respectively; the human isolates were the only ones to concurrently harbor both seg and sei genes. In addition, 24 isolates were randomly selected and analyzed by multilocus sequence typing. Interestingly, the analysis showed the presence of 12 sequence types (STs), of which 6 were novel. One of them, ST700, was detected in 29% of the isolates and was found to be spread throughout Sicily. ST700 has been present in the island for almost 16 years (1998-2014) and it shows no host preference since it was isolated from different ruminant species. Four human isolates shared both the pulsotype (PT10) and the sequence type (ST9), as well as the virulence genes (seg-sei); this observation suggests that the isolates originated from a single clone, although they were obtained from two different individuals