An Evaluation of Non-Contact Photoplethysmography-Based Methods for Remote Respiratory Rate Estimation.

The respiration rate (RR) is one of the physiological signals deserving monitoring for assessing human health and emotional states. However, traditional devices, such as the respiration belt to be worn around the chest, are not always a feasible solution (e.g.

Inferring Causal Factors of Core Affect Dynamics on Social Participation through the Lens of the Observer.

A core endeavour in current affective computing and social signal processing research is the construction of datasets embedding suitable ground truths to foster machine learning methods. This practice brings up hitherto overlooked intricacies. In this paper, we consider causal factors potentially arising when human raters evaluate the affect fluctuations of subjects involved in dyadic interactions and subsequently categorise them in terms of social participation traits.

Using Gaze for Behavioural Biometrics.

A principled approach to the analysis of eye movements for behavioural biometrics is laid down. The approach grounds in foraging theory, which provides a sound basis to capture the uniqueness of individual eye movement behaviour. We propose a composite Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process for quantifying the exploration/exploitation signature characterising the foraging eye behaviour.

pyVHR: a Python framework for remote photoplethysmography.

Remote photoplethysmography (rPPG) aspires to automatically estimate heart rate (HR) variability from videos in realistic environments. A number of effective methods relying on data-driven, model-based and statistical approaches have emerged in the past two decades. They exhibit increasing ability to estimate the blood volume pulse (BVP) signal upon which BPMs (Beats per Minute) can be estimated.

Gazing at Social Interactions Between Foraging and Decision Theory.

Finding the underlying principles of social attention in humans seems to be essential for the design of the interaction between natural and artificial agents. Here, we focus on the computational modeling of gaze dynamics as exhibited by humans when perceiving socially relevant multimodal information. The audio-visual landscape of social interactions is distilled into a number of multimodal patches that convey different social value, and we work under the general frame of foraging as a tradeoff between local patch exploitation and landscape exploration.

[Native kidney ultrasound in obstructive uropathy].

The term "obstructive uropathy" refers to the complex structural and functional changes following the interruption of normal urinary runoff, which can occur at every level of the urinary tract. Depending on its origin, duration and severity, urinary tract obstructions can be acute or chronic, mono or bilateral, partial or complete. The obstruction can be localized or extended to the entire pielo-caliceal system and/or homolateral urethra.

Robust Single-Sample Face Recognition by Sparsity-Driven Sub-Dictionary Learning Using Deep Features.

Face recognition using a single reference image per subject is challenging, above all when referring to a large gallery of subjects. Furthermore, the problem hardness seriously increases when the images are acquired in unconstrained conditions. In this paper we address the challenging Single Sample Per Person (SSPP) problem considering large datasets of images acquired in the wild, thus possibly featuring illumination, pose, face expression, partial occlusions, and low-resolution hurdles.

[An unusual presentation of Amyloidosis AL].

We describe the case of a 74-year-old man admitted to our Nephrology Unit with nephrotic syndrome and mild kidney disease. A complete panel of laboratoristic and instrumental tests did not provide useful information for diagnosis. No specific signs or symptoms suggested the presence of AL amyloidosis.

[Census of the renal and dialysis units by Italian Society of Nephrology: structure and organization for renal patient assistance in Italy (2014-2015)].

Background: Given the public health challenge and burden of chronic kidney disease, the Italian Society of Nephrology (SIN) promoted a census of the renal and dialysis units to analyse structural and human resources, organizational aspects, activities and workload referring to the year 2014.

Methods: An online questionnaire, including 64 items exploring structural and human resources, organization aspects, activities and epidemiological data referred to 2014, was sent to chiefs of any renal or dialysis unit.

Results: 615 renal units were identified.

[Census of the renal and dialysis units by Italian Society of Nephrology: nephrologist's workload for renal patient assistance in Italy (2014-2015)].

Background: Given the public health challenge and burden of chronic kidney disease, the Italian Society of Nephrology (SIN) promoted acensusof the renal and dialysis units to analyse structural and human resources, organizational aspects, activities and workload referring to theyear 2014.

Methods: An online questionnaire, including 64 items exploring structural and human resources, organization aspects, activities and epidemiological data referred to 2014, was sent to chiefs of any renal or dialysis unit.

Results: Renal and dialysis activity was performed by over 2718 physicians (45 pmp).

Usefulness of US imaging in overhydrated nephropathic patients.

Achievement of a normal hydration status is one of the major targets of hemodialysis. It is based on the estimation of "dry weight", the term used to define normal body fluid content. The concept of dry weight in hemodialysis patients is clinically undisputed, but it is not always easy to achieve in this population.

[Radiofrequency in the treatment of the renal neoplasias].

The tumors of the kidney are around the 3% of the neoplasia in adult patients and, at the postmortem examination, the renal neoplasias has a frequency of 1/300 for tumors diameter of 1 to 2 cms. In the treatment of the small neoplasias, techniques of nephron sparing and enucleation are used. These techniques have shown the same therapeutic effectiveness of the radical nephrectomy in patients with tumors smaller than 4 centimeters, with reduction of morbidity.

Enterovesical fistula and acute pyelonephritis in renal transplantation. Role of ultrasound.

The enterovesical fistula is a communication between the urinary tract and the colon and is a rare complication of various inflammatory and cancer diseases. The most frequent cause is represented by diverticulitis of the sigmoid colon and less frequently from Crohn's disease, tumors of the colon and bladder, trauma, radiation therapy and appendicitis. In this report we describe the occurrence of an enterovesical fistula in a patient with renal allograft from a cadaveric donor, which onsetted with signs of acute pyelonephritis and pneumaturia due to diverticulitis of the sigmoid colon, clinically silent.

Color Doppler ultrasound and arteriovenous fistulas for hemodialysis.

Native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the vascular access of choice for hemodialysis patients. Compared with grafts and central venous catheters, AVFs last longer and are associated with fewer complications. The widespread use of the Doppler ultrasound (DUS) has increased the number of patients who are eligible for AVF by facilitating the identification of vessels that are suitable for fistula construction (preoperative vascular mapping).

[Chest ultrasound in nephrology].

The pulmonary study represents a constant appointment for Nephroplogist who frequently asks for a chest-xray in the nephrologic patient, especially in dialysis therapy. The chest x-ray and the Computed Tomography are normally used in pulmonary study, but they are not always rapidly executable and not practicable in the ambulatory and in dialysis room. The ultrasonography has recently been proposed for the study of the lung because it can be carried out rapidly in every nephro-dialytic room, also in frequent follow-up and it doesn't need particular equipment and probes.

[Assessment of correct positioning and complications after insertion of central venous catheters using chest radiography].

The central venous catheter (CVC) is a very common procedure in the daily medical practice. In fact the CVCs are used to administer liquids and chemotherapeutics, the parenteral nutrition management, the measurement of the central venous pressure, the administration of hemodialysis. The international guidelines recommends always verifying the correct positioning of the tip of the CVC and to identify possible complications before his use.

[Echocardiography in nephrology].

Cardiovascular disease is the main cause of mordibity and mortality in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) affected by a series of risk factors (hypertension, anemia, left ventricular hypertrophy, cardiac failure and dyslipidemia). The combined presence of these factors raises the cardiovascular risk in CKD patients considerably compared with that of the general population. Nephrologists can play a role in preventing and treating these risk factors and thereby delaying the development of CKD.

[Ultrasonography in the hyperhydrated patient].

The achievement of a normal hydration state is one of the major targets of hemodialysis. It is based on the estimation of ''dry weight'', which corresponds to the normal body fluid content. Even though the concept of dry weight in hemodialysis patients is clinically undisputed, it is not always easy to achieve in this population.

[Ultrasound assessment in renal infections].

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common clinical problem, especially among women. Ultrasound assessment is indicated in case of complicated UTIs, in particular in children, pregnant women and patients with chronic kidney disease. Even though B-mode imaging alone is rarely diagnostic in case of particular kidney infections such as focal and multifocal acute pyelonephritis, Doppler and power-Doppler (PD) techniques are able to increase its sensitivity.

[Color-Doppler imaging and arteriovenous fistula: preoperative evaluation and surveillance].

The native arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the preferred vascular access for hemodialysis because of the lower incidence of complications and longer survival in comparison to grafts and central venous catheters. The use of color-Doppler sonography in the surgery of vascular accesses has increased the number of patients that are eligible for AVF as it allows to optimize the search for vessels suitable for surgical intervention (preoperative vascular mapping). Furthermore, color-Doppler imaging (CDI) has improved the survival of native AVF by increasing the early diagnosis of complications (postoperative surveillance).

[Management of color-Doppler imaging in dialysis patients].

In recent decades, the survival of dialysis patients has gradually increased thanks to the evolution of dialysis techniques and the availability of new drug therapies. These elements have led to an increased incidence of a series of dialysis-related diseases that might compromise the role of dialysis rehabilitation: vascular disease, skeletal muscle disease, infectious disease, cystic kidney disease and cancer. The nephrologist is therefore in charge of a patient group with complex characteristics including the presence of indwelling vascular and/or peritoneal catheters, conditions secondary to chronic renal failure (hyperparathyroidism, anemia, amyloid disease, etc.

[The nephrologist and the role of ultrasound imaging in the diagnosis of cardiorenal syndrome].

The term cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) refers to multiple possible clinicopathological correlations between heart and kidney failure. The most recent classification recognizes five types of CRS: types I and II originate from heart failure (acute and chronic, respectively), type III and IV from kidney failure (again acute and chronic), while type V originates from a range of systemic diseases. Echocardiography and renal ultrasound are important means to arrive at a correct diagnosis.

Ultrasonography: Ariadne's Thread in the Diagnosis of the Cardiorenal Syndrome.

The term cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) describes a broad spectrum of clinical conditions with four combinations of acute and chronic heart and kidney failure. Based on the pathophysiological primum movens, the actual classification recognizes five CRS types: in type I and II CRS, the initiating event is heart failure (acute or chronic), while it is kidney failure in type III and IV CRS; type V is linked to systemic diseases. Ultrasound techniques (echocardiography and ultrasonography of the kidney, inferior vena cava and chest) can be extremely helpful in establishing a prompt diagnosis and a correct CRS classification.