Integration and Visualization Public Health Dashboard: The medi plus board Pilot Project

Traditional public health surveillance systems would benefit from integration with knowledge created by new situation-aware realtime signals from social media, online searches, mobile/sensor networks and citizens' participatory surveillance systems. However, the challenge of threat validation, cross-verification and information integration for risk assessment has so far been largely untackled. In this paper, we propose a new system, medi+board, monitoring epidemic intelligence sources and traditional case-based surveillance to better automate early warning, cross-validation of signals for outbreak detection and visualization of results on an interactive dashboard. This enables public health professionals to see all essential information at a glance. Modular and configurable to any 'event' defined by public health experts, medi+board scans multiple data sources, detects changing patterns and uses a configurable analysis module for signal detection to identify a threat. These can be validated by an analysis module and correlated with other sources to assess the reliability of the event classified as the reliability coefficient which is a real number between zero and one. Events are reported and visualized on the medi+board dashboard which integrates all information sources and can be navigated by a timescale widget. Simulation with three datasets from the swine flu 2009 pandemic (HPA surveillance, Google news, Twitter) demonstrates the potential of medi+board to automate data processing and visualization to assist public health experts in decision making on control and response measures

Fibre Reinforced Geopolymers as Inorganic Strengthening Composites for Masonry Structures

The study presents an assessment of externally bonded Fibre-Reinforced GeoPolymers (FRGPs) as strengthening material for masonry structures. Thanks to their tailored chemical and mechanical characteristics, geopolymer matrices can fulfil the restoration criteria for Built Heritage (BH) with the benefit of heat-resistant performances better than those of organic and inorganic matrices used in Externally Bonded Fibre Reinforced Polymers (EB-FRP) and Fabric-Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM) materials, respectively. This work is built on the outcomes of a previous investigation that proved the suitability of the developed geopolymer matrix for applications on clay bricks, revealing a good adhesion to masonry substrates and to embedded reinforcements. The behaviour of three FRGPs, including either a bi-directional basalt mesh, a bi-directional carbon mesh or a unidirectional Ultra High Strength Steel (UHSS) fabric, was explored by means of local tests on masonry sub-assemblages made of soft-mud clay bricks and hydraulic lime mortar. In overall, 9 single-lap shear tests on single bricks with a bonded length of 200 mm and 9 three-point bending tests on 2-brick slices, connected by a mortar joint and reinforced at the bottom face, were carried out. Lastly, the behaviour in alkaline environments of each reinforcement was investigated through tensile tests on coupons immersed for 28 days in alkaline solutions simulating the conditions of the geopolimeric matrices. Results confirmed the interesting potential of FRGPs for strengthening masonry elements, highlighting a good performance of steel and carbon reinforcements. On the other hand, precautions should be taken with basalt meshes that, as expected, were more sensitive to alkaline environment

Stability of bubbles in wax-based oleofoams: decoupling the effects of bulk oleogel rheology and interfacial rheology

Oleofoams are dispersions of gas bubbles in a continuous oil phase and can be stabilized by crystals of fatty acids or waxes adsorbing at the oil-air interface. Because excess crystals in the continuous phase form an oleogel, an effect of the bulk rheology of the continuous phase is also expected. Here, we evaluate the contributions of bulk and interfacial rheology below and above the melting point of a wax forming an oleogel in sunflower oil. We study the dissolution behaviour of single bubbles using microscopy on a temperature-controlled stage. We compare the behaviour of a bubble embedded in an oleofoam, which owes its stability to both bulk and interfacial rheology, to that of a bubble extracted from the oleofoam and resuspended in oil, for which the interfacial dilatational rheology alone provides stability. We find that below the melting point of the wax, bubbles in the oleofoam are stable whereas bubbles that are only coated with wax crystals dissolve. Both systems dissolve when heated above the melting point of the wax. These findings are rationalized through independent bulk rheological measurements of the oleogel at different temperatures, as well as measurements of the dilatational rheological properties of a wax-coated oil-air interface

Stability of bubbles in wax-based oleofoams: decoupling the effects of bulk oleogel rheology and interfacial rheology

Oleofoams are dispersions of gas bubbles in a continuous oil phase and can be stabilized by crystals of fatty acids or waxes adsorbing at the oil-air interface. Because excess crystals in the continuous phase form an oleogel, an effect of the bulk rheology of the continuous phase is also expected. Here, we evaluate the contributions of bulk and interfacial rheology below and above the melting point of a wax forming an oleogel in sunflower oil. We study the dissolution behaviour of single bubbles using microscopy on a temperature-controlled stage. We compare the behaviour of a bubble embedded in an oleofoam, which owes its stability to both bulk and interfacial rheology, to that of a bubble extracted from the oleofoam and resuspended in oil, for which the interfacial dilatational rheology alone provides stability. We find that below the melting point of the wax, bubbles in the oleofoam are stable whereas bubbles that are only coated with wax crystals dissolve. Both systems dissolve when heated above the melting point of the wax. These findings are rationalized through independent bulk rheological measurements of the oleogel at different temperatures, as well as measurements of the dilatational rheological properties of a wax-coated oil-air interface

Influence of Ageing Time and Method on Beef Quality and Safety

The effectiveness of dry ageing with regard to retaining meat quality is still subject to debate. At 4 d post mortem, samples of boneless strip loins were excised from young Charolais carcasses and then stored for a further 26 d in a cooler, either vacuum-packaged (VP) or dried-aged (DA). Loin samples were also dissected 7 d post mortem as a control treatment (CT). Chemical, instrumental and microbiological data (n = 18) were determined in longissimus dorsi and underwent ANOVA to estimate the differences in the ageing fixed factor split into two orthogonal contrasts: control vs. aged and VP vs. DA. Ageing loss (both surface dehydration and water purge) was greater in DA compared to VP samples, resulting in the lowest moisture content and highest crude protein and fat percentage in DA loins. The ageing method did not affect meat surface colour, except for redness, which had the lowest value in DA samples. Meat tenderness improved a similar amount following both VP and DA ageing treatments. Compared to the control, prolonged ageing raised both the peroxide value and the total microbial count, especially in DA samples, though both remained within the recommended limits. In summation, both ageing methods improved beef meat tenderisation, preserving its shelf life

RTN in GexSe1-x OTS Selector Devices

Random telegraph noise (RTN) signals in GexSe1-x ovonic threshold switching (OTS) selector have been analyzed in this work, both before and after the first-fire (FF) operation and at on- and off-states. It is observed that RTN appears after the FF, and its absolute amplitude at the off-state is small and negligible in comparison with the RTN signals in RRAM devices. At the on-state, large RTN signals are observed, which can either partially or fully block the conduction path, supporting that a conductive filament is formed or activated by FF and then modulated during switching. Statistical analysis reveals that the relative RTN amplitude at on-state in GexSe1-x OTS selector is smaller than or equivalent to those in RRAM devices

Discriminating between Cognitive and Supportive Group Therapies for Chronic Mental Illness

This descriptive and comparative study employed a Q-sort process to describe common factors of therapy in two group therapies for inpatients with chronic mental illness. While pharmacological treatments for chronic mental illness are prominent, there is growing evidence that cognitive therapy is also efficacious. Groups examined were part of a larger study comparing the added benefits of cognitive versus supportive group therapy to the treatment milieu. In general, items described the therapist’s attitudes and behaviors, the participants’ attitudes and behaviors, or the group interactions. Results present items that were most and least characteristic of each therapy and items that discriminate between the two modalities. Therapists in both groups demonstrated good therapy skills. However, the cognitive group was described as being more motivated and active than the supportive group, indicating that the groups differed in terms of common as well as specific factors of treatment