Proton CT on biological phantoms for x-ray CT calibration in proton treatment planning.

To present and characterize a novel method for x-ray computed tomography (xCT) calibration in proton treatment planning, based on proton CT (pCT) measurements on biological phantoms.A pCT apparatus was used to perform direct measurements of 3D stopping power relative to water (SPR) maps on stabilized, biological phantoms. Two single-energy xCT calibration curves-i.

Quantitative assessment of transmural fibrosis profile in the human atrium: evidence for a three-dimensional arrhythmic substrate by slice-to-slice histology.

Aims: Intramural fibrosis represents a crucial factor in the formation of a three-dimensional (3D) substrate for atrial fibrillation (AF). However, the transmural distribution of fibrosis and its relationship with atrial overload remain largely unknown. The aim of this study is to quantify the transmural profile of atrial fibrosis in patients with different degrees of atrial dilatation and arrhythmic profiles by a high-resolution 3D histology method.

A Particle Filtering Approach for Fault Detection and Isolation of UAV IMU Sensors: Design, Implementation and Sensitivity Analysis.

Sensor fault detection and isolation (SFDI) is a fundamental topic in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) development, where attitude estimation plays a key role in flight control systems and its accuracy is crucial for UAV reliability. In commercial drones with low maximum take-off weights, typical redundant architectures, based on triplex, can represent a strong limitation in UAV payload capabilities. This paper proposes an FDI algorithm for low-cost multi-rotor drones equipped with duplex sensor architecture.

Decentralized Mesh-Based Model Predictive Control for Swarms of UAVs.

This paper deals with the design of a decentralized guidance and control strategy for a swarm of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with the objective of maintaining a given connection topology with assigned mutual distances while flying to a target area. In the absence of obstacles, the assigned topology, based on an extended Delaunay triangulation concept, implements regular and connected formation shapes. In the presence of obstacles, this technique is combined with a model predictive control (MPC) that allows forming independent sub-swarms optimizing the formation spreading to avoid obstacles and collisions between neighboring vehicles.

Scalable Distributed State Estimation in UTM Context.

This article proposes a novel approach to the Distributed State Estimation (DSE) problem for a set of co-operating UAVs equipped with heterogeneous on board sensors capable of exploiting certain characteristics typical of the UAS Traffic Management (UTM) context, such as high traffic density and the presence of limited range, Vehicle-to-Vehicle communication devices. The proposed algorithm is based on a scalable decentralized Kalman Filter derived from the Internodal Transformation Theory enhanced on the basis of the Consensus Theory. The general benefit of the proposed algorithm consists of, on the one hand, reducing the estimation problem to smaller local sub-problems, through a self-organization process of the local estimating nodes in response to the time varying communication topology; and on the other hand, of exploiting measures carried out nearby in order to improve the accuracy of the local estimates.

An optimized histological proceeding to study the female gametophyte development in grapevine.

Background: Reproductive success in seed plants depends on a healthy fruit and seed set. Normal seed development in the angiosperms requires the production of functional female gametophytes. This is particularly evident in seedless cultivars where defects during megagametophyte's developmental processes have been observed through cytohistological analysis.

Discovery, Radiolabeling, and Evaluation of Subtype-Selective Inhibitors for Positron Emission Tomography Imaging of Brain Phosphodiesterase-4D.

We aimed to develop radioligands for PET imaging of brain phosphodiesterase subtype 4D (PDE4D), a potential target for developing cognition enhancing or antidepressive drugs. Exploration of several chemical series gave four leads with high PDE4D inhibitory potency and selectivity, optimal lipophilicity, and good brain uptake. These leads featured alkoxypyridinyl cores.

Towards Digital Twin Implementation for Assessing Production Line Performance and Balancing.

The optimization of production processes has always been one of the cornerstones for manufacturing companies, aimed to increase their productivity, minimizing the related costs. In the Industry 4.0 era, some innovative technologies, perceived as far away until a few years ago, have become reachable by everyone.

Effects of low-dosage ozone pre-treatment on the anaerobic digestion of secondary and mixed sludge.

The present study investigated the effects of ozonation pre-treatment at low-ozone dosage (below 100 mgO/gTS) with respect to previous studies, on the anaerobic digestion of waste-activated sludge alone and a mixture of activated sludge and primary sludge. Methane production and volatile suspended solids reduction efficiency were determined for different specific ozone dosages and compared with the values obtained in the absence of pre-treatment. Among the dosages tested in the study (from 4.

Upregulation of miR-133b and miR-328 in Patients With Atrial Dilatation: Implications for Stretch-Induced Atrial Fibrillation.

Atrial stretch and dilatation are common features of many clinical conditions predisposing to atrial fibrillation (AF). MicroRNAs (miRs) are emerging as potential molecular determinants of AF, but their relationship with atrial dilatation (AD) is poorly understood. The present study was designed to assess the specific miR expression profiles associated with AD in human atrial tissue.

Metabolic Bone Disease of Prematurity: Diagnosis and Management.

Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) of prematurity is a multifactorial disorder commonly observed in very low birth weight (VLBW, <1,500 g) newborns, with a greater incidence in those extremely low birth weight (ELBW, <1,000 g). MBD is characterized by biochemical and radiological findings related to bone demineralization. Several antenatal and postnatal risk factors have been associated to MBD of prematurity, although the main pathogenetic mechanism is represented by the reduced placental transfer of calcium and phosphate related to preterm birth.

Aromatic C-H amination in hexafluoroisopropanol.

We report a direct radical aromatic amination reaction that provides unprotected anilines with an improvement in the substrate scope compared to prior art. Hydrogen bonding by the solvent hexafluoroisopropanol to anions of cationic species is responsible for increased reactivity and can rationalize the enhancement in substrate scope. Our findings may have bearings on radical additions to arenes for direct C-H functionalization in general.

F-Deoxyfluorination of Phenols via Ru π-Complexes.

The deficiency of robust and practical methods for F-radiofluorination is a bottleneck for positron emission tomography (PET) tracer development. Here, we report the first transition-metal-assisted F-deoxyfluorination of phenols. The transformation benefits from readily available phenols as starting materials, tolerance of moisture and ambient atmosphere, large substrate scope, and translatability to generate doses appropriate for PET imaging.

Selection of reference genes is critical for miRNA expression analysis in human cardiac tissue. A focus on atrial fibrillation.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key regulators of complex biological processes in several cardiovascular diseases, including atrial fibrillation (AF). Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction is a powerful technique to quantitatively assess miRNA expression profile, but reliable results depend on proper data normalization by suitable reference genes. Despite the increasing number of studies assessing miRNAs in cardiac disease, no consensus on the best reference genes has been reached.

Toll-like receptor 4 signalling mediates inflammation in skeletal muscle of patients with chronic kidney disease.

Background: Inflammation in skeletal muscle is implicated in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and cachexia but why uremia up-regulates pro-inflammatory cytokines is unknown. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) regulate locally the innate immune responses, but it is unknown whether in chronic kidney disease (CKD) TLR4 muscle signalling is altered. The aim of the study is to investigate whether in CKD muscle, TLRs had abnormal function and may be involved in transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokine.

Selective Aromatic C-H Hydroxylation Enabled by -Coordination to Iridium(III).

We report an aromatic C-H hydroxylation protocol in which the arene is activated through -coordination to an iridium(III) complex. -Coordination of the arene increases its electrophilicity and allows for high positional selectivity of hydroxylation at the site of least electron density. Through investigation of intermediate -cyclohexadienyl adducts and arene exchange reactions, we evaluate incorporation of arene -activation into a catalytic cycle for C-H functionalization.

Effect of ultrasonication on anaerobic degradability of solid waste digestate.

This paper evaluates the effect of ultrasonication on anaerobic biodegradability of lignocellulosic residues. While ultrasonication has been commonly applied as a pre-treatment of the feed substrate, in the present study a non-conventional process configuration based on recirculation of sonicated digestate to the biological reactor was evaluated at the lab-scale. Sonication tests were carried out at different applied energies ranging between 500 and 50,000kJ/kg TS.

Sludge reduction in a small wastewater treatment plant by electro-kinetic disintegration.

Sludge reduction in a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) has recently become a key issue for the managing companies, due to the increasing constraints on the disposal alternatives. Therefore, all the solutions proposed with the aim of minimizing sludge production are receiving increasing attention and are tested either at laboratory or full-scale to evaluate their real effectiveness. In the present paper, electro-kinetic disintegration has been applied at full-scale in the recycle loop of the sludge drawn from the secondary settlement tank of a small WWTP for domestic sewage.

Photodamage in deep tissue two-photon optical biopsy of human skin.

Photodamage, induced by femtosecond laser radiation, was studied in thick samples of human skin tissue (healthy skin and neoplastic lesions). Photobleaching, photoionization, and thermomechanical damage effects were characterized comparatively. The laser power dependence of the damage rates allowed to connect macroscopic effects to underlying molecular processes.

Phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) molecular pharmacology and Alzheimer's disease.

Between 20% and 25% of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) do not have amyloid burden as assessed by positron emission tomography imaging. Thus, there is a need for nonamyloid-directed therapies for AD, especially for those patients with non-amyloid AD. The family of phosphodiesterase-4 (PDE4) enzymes are underexploited therapeutic targets for central nervous system indications.

Enhanced glomerular Toll-like receptor 4 expression and signaling in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy and microalbuminuria.

Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a component of the innate immune system, is recognized to promote tubulointerstitial inflammation in overt diabetic nephropathy (DN). However, there is no information on immune activation in resident renal cells at an early stage of human DN. In order to investigate this, we studied TLR4 gene and protein expression and TLR4 downward signaling in kidney biopsies of 12 patients with type 2 diabetes and microalbuminuria, and compared them with 11 patients with overt DN, 10 with minimal change disease (MCD), and control kidneys from 13 patients undergoing surgery for a small renal mass.

Ozonation effects for excess sludge reduction on bacterial communities composition in a full-scale activated sludge plant for domestic wastewater treatment.

Activated sludge process is the most widely diffused system to treat wastewater to control the discharge of pollutants into the environment. Microorganisms are responsible for the removal of organic matter, nitrogen, phosphorous and other emerging contaminants. The environmental conditions of biological reactors significantly affects the ecology of the microbial community and, therefore, the performance of the treatment process.

Quantification of fibrin in blood thrombi formed in hemodialysis central venous catheters: a pilot study on 43 CVCs.

Purpose: Fibrin deposition and thrombotic occlusion represent a serious cause of access dysfunction in hemodialysis central venous catheters (CVCs). The aim of this work was to define and apply a method for imaging and quantifying fibrin in thrombi formed into the side holes of CVCs.

Methods: Forty-three CVCs removed from a cohort of dialyzed patients were analyzed in this pilot study.

Techno-economic evaluation of the application of ozone-oxidation in a full-scale aerobic digestion plant.

This paper deals with the application of the ozone-oxidation in a full scale aerobic sludge digester. Ozonation was applied continuously to a fraction of the biological sludge extracted from the digestion unit; the ozonated sludge was then recirculated to the same digester. Three different ozone flow rates were tested (60,500 and 670g O3 h(-1)) and their effects evaluated in terms of variation of the total and soluble fractions of COD, nitrogen and phosphorous, of total and volatile suspended solids concentrations and Sludge Volume Index in the aerobic digestion unit.