Hyperspectral image processing for the identification and quantification of lentiviral particles in fluid samples

Optical spectroscopic techniques have been commonly used to detect the presence of biofilm-forming pathogens (bacteria and fungi) in the agro-food industry. Recently, near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy revealed that it is also possible to detect the presence of viruses in animal and vegetal tissues. Here we report a platform based on visible and NIR (VNIR) hyperspectral imaging for non-contact, reagent free detection and quantification of laboratory-engineered viral particles in fluid samples (liquid droplets and dry residue) using both partial least square-discriminant analysis and artificial feed-forward neural networks. The detection was successfully achieved in preparations of phosphate buffered solution and artificial saliva, with an equivalent pixel volume of 4 nL and lowest concentration of 800 TU·μL−1. This method constitutes an innovative approach that could be potentially used at point of care for rapid mass screening of viral infectious diseases and monitoring of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Instituto de Salud Carlos III COV20-00080 and COV20-00173Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación EQC2019-006240-PComisión Europea JRC HUMAINT projec

Digital Data Processing Peripheral Design for an Embedded Application based on the Microblaze Soft Core

In this paper we present a design of a peripheral for MicroBlaze soft core processor as part of a R+D project carried out in cooperation with three different companies. The objective of the project consisted in the development of an embedded system with a SoC implemented on a FPGA custom-designed board. This work addresses the design of a Digital Data Processing peripheral included as a part of the target SoC application, that process digital signals via the digital inputs on a proposed board. Peripheral functionality is configurable for each digital signal independently and is configured from the software running on the MicroBlaze processor core.Ministerio de Educación y Cultura TEC2007-61802/MICJunta de Andalucía EXC-2005-TIC-102

Optical imaging spectroscopy for rapid, primary screening of SARS-CoV-2: a proof of concept

Effective testing is essential to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. Here we report a-proof-of-concept study on hyperspectral image analysis in the visible and near-infrared range for primary screening at the point-of-care of SARS-CoV-2. We apply spectral feature descriptors, partial least square-discriminant analysis, and artificial intelligence to extract information from optical diffuse reflectance measurements from 5 µL fluid samples at pixel, droplet, and patient levels. We discern preparations of engineered lentiviral particles pseudotyped with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 from those with the G protein of the vesicular stomatitis virus in saline solution and artificial saliva. We report a quantitative analysis of 72 samples of nasopharyngeal exudate in a range of SARS-CoV-2 viral loads, and a descriptive study of another 32 fresh human saliva samples. Sensitivity for classification of exudates was 100% with peak specificity of 87.5% for discernment from PCR-negative but symptomatic cases. Proposed technology is reagent-free, fast, and scalable, and could substantially reduce the number of molecular tests currently required for COVID-19 mass screening strategies even in resource-limited settings.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, 2020 Emergency Call for Research Projects about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the COVID-19 disease Instituto de Salud Carlos III by Grant Number EQC2019-006240-PComisión Europea, Joint Research Center (JRC) HUMAINT project

A Proposal for a Robust Validated Weighted General Data Protection Regulation-based Scale to Assess the Quality of Privacy Policies of Mobile Health Applications: an eDelphi Study

Healthcare services are undergoing a digital transformation in which the Participatory Health Informatics field has a key role. Within this field, studies aimed to assess the quality of digital tools, including mHealth apps, are conducted. Privacy is one dimension of the quality of a mHealth app. Privacy consists of several components, including organizational, technical and legal safeguards. Within legal safeguards, giving transparent information to the users on how their data is handled is crucial. This information is usually disclosed to users through the privacy policy document. Assessing the quality of a privacy policy is a complex task and several scales supporting this process have been proposed in the literature. However, these scales are heterogeneous and even not very objective. In our previous study, we proposed a checklist of items guiding the assessment of the quality of a mHealth app privacy policy, based on the General Data Protection Regulation. Objective: To refine the robustness of our General Data Protection Regulation-based privacy scale to assess the quality of a mHealth app privacy policy, to identify new items, and to assign weights for every item in the scale. Methods: A two-round modified eDelphi study was conducted involving a privacy expert panel. Results: After the Delphi process, all the items in the scale were considered „important“ or „very important“ (4 and 5 in a 5-point Likert scale, respectively) by most of the experts. One of the original items was suggested to be reworded, while 8 tentative items were suggested. Only 2 of them were finally added after Round 2. 11 of the 16 items in the scale were considered „very important“ (weight of 1), while the other 5 were considered „important“ (weight of 0.5). Conclusions: The Benjumea privacy scale is a new robust tool to assess the quality of a mHealth app privacy policy, providing a deeper and complementary analysis to other scales that assesses the general quality. Also, this robust scale provides a guideline for the development of high-quality privacy policies of mHealth apps.Universidad de Sevilla and the Ministerio de Universidades of the Spanish Government under the Requalification of Spanish University System Program funded by European Union –NextGenerationEUCátedra de Telefónica “Inteligencia en la red“ of the Universidad de SevillaCátedra Indra “Sociedad Digital” of the Universidad de Sevill

Implementation of a FFT/IFFT Module on FPGA: Comparison of Methodologies

In this work, we have compared three different methodologies for the implementation of a FFT/IFFT module on FPGA: VHDL coding (VC), System-level tools at RT level (STR), and System-level tools at macroblock level (STM). In terms of resource usage and operation frequency, STM has obtained interesting results, although it has an important restriction about internal data width which produces a mean output error of 2.1%. VC and STR become a more general alternative that yields to a lower mean error (1.0%). Thus, we propose to combine VC and STR in order to facilitate the design process as well as allow designers to maintain total control over the module internal architecture and obtain an efficient structure

Open Development Platform for Embedded Systems

Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2011-2793

MANEJO EN EDAD DE REPRODUCTORAS Y TEMPERATURA DE INCUBACIÓN SOBRE VENTANA DE NACIMIENTO Y CALIDAD DEL POLLITO BB

Se evaluó el efecto del manejo en edad de reproductoras y temperatura de incubación sobre la ventana de nacimiento y la calidad del pollito bajo un diseño completamente al azar (DCA), conformado por cuatro tratamientos: huevos de reproductoras Cobb 500 de 30 semanas incubados a 37,2ºC (T1), de 34 semanas a 37,5ºC (T2) de 38 semanas a 38ºC (T3) y huevos de 42 semanas a 37,8ºC (T4). Las variables evaluadas fueron:  ventana de nacimiento (VDN), ganancia de peso (GDP), absorción del saco vitelino (ASV), peso de órganos (PDO), paquete visceral (PV) y calidad microbiológica (CM) de pollitos Los resultados en VDN evidencian diferencias significativas (p<0,05) entre los tratamientos con más pollitos nacidos para T3; mientras que, T1 obtuvo  ganancia de peso más baja 59,8 (g) frente a 71,6 (g)  T2 y T4  y 72,9 (g) T3; además, los tratamientos influyeron (p<0,05) en ASV, PDO (a excepción del corazón) y PV.  Con respecto al análisis microbiológico, se encontró presencia de E coli para T1 en todas las muestras; los análisis de los tratamientos resultaron negativos para salmonella, aspergilium y penicillium.  Se concluye que, los pollitos provenientes de reproductoras de menor edad incubados a temperatura más baja tardan más en nacer, con detrimento en las variables estudiadas inclusive la calidad del pollito BB.  Se evaluó el efecto del manejo en edad de reproductoras y temperatura de incubación sobre la ventana de nacimiento y la calidad del pollito bajo un diseño completamente al azar (DCA), conformado por cuatro tratamientos: huevos de reproductoras Cobb 500 de 30 semanas incubados a 37,2ºC (T1), de 34 semanas a 37,5ºC (T2) de 38 semanas a 38ºC (T3) y huevos de 42 semanas a 37,8ºC (T4). Las variables evaluadas fueron:  ventana de nacimiento (VDN), ganancia de peso (GDP), absorción del saco vitelino (ASV), peso de órganos (PDO), paquete visceral (PV) y calidad microbiológica (CM) de pollitos Los resultados en VDN evidencian diferencias significativas (p<0,05) entre los tratamientos con más pollitos nacidos para T3; mientras que, T1 obtuvo  ganancia de peso más baja 59,8 (g) frente a 71,6 (g)  T2 y T4  y 72,9 (g) T3; además, los tratamientos influyeron (p<0,05) en ASV, PDO (a excepción del corazón) y PV.  Con respecto al análisis microbiológico, se encontró presencia de E coli para T1 en todas las muestras; los análisis de los tratamientos resultaron negativos para salmonella, aspergilium y penicillium.  Se concluye que, los pollitos provenientes de reproductoras de menor edad incubados a temperatura más baja tardan más en nacer, con detrimento en las variables estudiadas inclusive la calidad del pollito BB. &nbsp

Recent developments and challenges of 3D-printed construction: a review of research fronts

In the last few years, scattered experiences of the application of additive manufacturing in the construction of buildings using 3D printing with robots or automated equipment have emerged around the world. These use a variety of procedures and suggest relevant advantages for the construction industry. In order to identify the different processes and features in development in this field and to guide future research and applications, this article presents a review of the literature on the main aspects involved in the use of 3D printing in the construction sector. The review includes state-of-the-art material mixtures, printing technologies, and potential uses, as well as a novel analysis of building strategies, management systems, and benefits stated about this new approach for construction. It reveals progressive experimentation regarding diverse features, with challenges related to the consolidation of procedures and this technology’s readiness to participate in the building market

New device for continuous-wave THz emission: large area emitter

We discuss two different approaches to overcome the power limitations of CW THz generation imposed to conventional photomixers. The increase in power achievable by using arrays of AEs is studied. Then ?large area emitters? are proposed as an alternate approach to overcome the power limitations. In this antenna-free new scheme of photomixing, the THz radiation originates directly from the acceleration of photo-induced charge carriers generated within a large semiconductor area. The quasi-continuous distribution of emitting elements corresponds to a high-density array and results in particularly favorable radiation profiles

An Integrated Millimeter-Wave Satellite Radiometer Working at Room-Temperature with High Photon Conversion Efficiency

In this work, the design of an integrated 183 GHz radiometer frontend for earth observation applications on satellites is presented. By means of the efficient electro-optic modulation of a laser pump with the observed millimeter-wave signal followed by the detection of the generated optical sideband, a room-temperature low-noise receiver frontend alternative to conventional Low Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) or Schottky mixers is proposed. Efficient millimeter-wave to 1550 nm upconversion is realized via a nonlinear optical process in a triply resonant high-Q Lithium Niobate (LN) Whispering Gallery Mode (WGM) resonator. By engineering a micromachined millimeter-wave cavity that maximizes the overlap with the optical modes while guaranteeing phase matching, the system has a predicted normalized photon-conversion efficiency = 10-1 per mW pump power, surpassing the state-of-the-art by around three orders of magnitude at millimeter-wave frequencies. A piezo-driven millimeter-wave tuning mechanism is designed to compensate for the fabrication and assembly tolerances and reduces the complexity of the manufacturing process.This research was funded by Fundación SENER (REFTA), Comunidad de Madrid MARTINLARA-CM (P2018/NMT-4333), Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (PID2019-109984RBC41), and RTC2017-6394-7 projects