Marine Litter Tracking System: A Case Study with Open-Source Technology and a Citizen Science-Based Approach.

It is well established that most of the plastic pollution found in the oceans is transported via rivers. Unfortunately, the main processes contributing to plastic and debris displacement through riparian systems is still poorly understood. The Marine Litter Drifter project from the Arno River aims at using modern consumer software and hardware technologies to track the movements of real anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) from rivers.

Combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and skin conductance to detect localized neural response to psychological stress: a pilot study.

Objective: This preliminary study aims at investigating the neural correlates of the stress response, intended as an emotional and cognitive response, through the description of the activation of the autonomic nervous system in a problem-solving task and central functional data; in particular, we recorded skin conductance level (SCL) and response (SCR) and observed the correlation with fMRI data.

Materials And Methods: The results obtained from 6 healthy subjects, 3 males and 3 females, aged between 18 and 45 (average = 27, SD = 7.08) who voluntarily offered to participate in the study were examined.

Drones for litter mapping: An inter-operator concordance test in marking beached items on aerial images.

Unmanned aerial systems (UAS, aka drones) are being used to map macro-litter on the environment. Sixteen qualified researchers (operators), with different expertise and nationalities, were invited to identify, mark and categorize the litter items (manual image screening, MS) on three UAS images collected at two beaches. The coefficient of concordance (W) among operators varied between 0.

Feasibility and functional correlates of left atrial volume changes during stress echocardiography in chronic coronary syndromes.

An enlarged left atrial volume index (LAVI) at rest mirrors increased LA pressure and/or impairment of LA function. A cardiovascular stress may acutely modify left atrial volume (LAV) within minutes. Aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and functional correlates of LAV-stress echocardiography (SE) Out of 514 subjects referred to 10 quality-controlled labs, LAV-SE was completed in 490 (359 male, age 67 ± 12 years) with suspected or known chronic coronary syndromes (n = 462) or asymptomatic controls (n = 28).

Feasibility and value of two-dimensional volumetric stress echocardiography.

Background: Stroke volume response during stress is a major determinant of functional status in heart failure and can be measured by two-dimensional (2-D) volumetric stress echocardiography (SE). The present study hypothesis is that SE may identify mechanisms underlying the change in stroke volume by measuring preload reserve through end-diastolic volume (EDV) and left ventricular contractile reserve (LVCR) with systolic blood pressure and end-systolic volume (ESV).

Methods: We enrolled 4735 patients (age 63.

Functional, Anatomical, and Prognostic Correlates of Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve During Stress Echocardiography.

Background: The assessment of coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) in left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) expands the risk stratification potential of stress echocardiography (SE) based on stress-induced regional wall motion abnormalities (RWMA).

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and functional correlates of CFVR.

Methods: This prospective, observational, multicenter study initially screened 3,410 patients (2,061 [60%] male; age 63 ± 11 years; ejection fraction 61 ± 9%) with known or suspected coronary artery disease and/or heart failure.

Normal basic 2D echocardiographic values to screen and follow up the athlete's heart from juniors to adults: What is known and what is missing. A critical review.

In the last few years, multiple echocardiographic nomograms have been published. However, normal values calculated in the general population are not applicable to athletes, whose hearts may be enlarged and hypercontractile. Accordingly, athletes require specific nomograms.

Adult echocardiographic nomograms: overview, critical review and creation of a software for automatic, fast and easy calculation of normal values.

Unlabelled: There is a crescent interest on normal adult echocardiographic values and the introduction of new deformation imaging and 3D parameters pose the issue of normative data. A multitude of nomograms has been recently published, however data are often fragmentary, difficult to find, and their strengths/limitations have been never evaluated.

Aims: (I) to provide a review of current echocardiographic nomograms; (II) to generate a tool for easy and fast access to these data.

Quality control of regional wall motion analysis in stress Echo 2020.

Background: The trial "Stress Echo (SE) 2020" evaluates novel applications of SE beyond coronary artery disease. The aim of the study was control quality and harmonize reading criteria.

Methods: One reader from 78 centers of the SE 2020 network asked for credentials to read a set of 20 SE video-clips selected by the core lab.

B-lines with Lung Ultrasound: The Optimal Scan Technique at Rest and During Stress.

Various lung ultrasound (LUS) scanning modalities have been proposed for the detection of B-lines, also referred to as ultrasound lung comets, which are an important indication of extravascular lung water at rest and after exercise stress echo (ESE). The aim of our study was to assess the lung water spatial distribution (comet map) at rest and after ESE. We performed LUS at rest and immediately after semi-supine ESE in 135 patients (45 women, 90 men; age 62 ± 12 y, resting left ventricular ejection fraction = 41 ± 13%) with known or suspected heart failure or coronary artery disease.

Stress echocardiography with smartphone: real-time remote reading for regional wall motion.

The diffusion of smart-phones offers access to the best remote expertise in stress echo (SE). To evaluate the reliability of SE based on smart-phone filming and reading. A set of 20 SE video-clips were read in random sequence with a multiple choice six-answer test by ten readers from five different countries (Italy, Brazil, Serbia, Bulgaria, Russia) of the "SE2020" study network.

Pediatric echocardiographic nomograms: What has been done and what still needs to be done.

Nomograms are essential tools for quantification in pediatric echocardiography. In the last few years, multiple sources highlight that nomograms employed for decades presented significant numerical and methodological limitations. As a result, widely different ranges of normality were generated, thus creating confusion in estimation of several cardiac diseases.

The Effects of Vaccinium myrtillus Extract on Hamster Pial Microcirculation during Hypoperfusion-Reperfusion Injury.

Introduction: The present study was aimed to assess the in vivo hamster pial microvessel alterations due to 30 min transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) and reperfusion (60 min); moreover, the neuroprotective effects of Vaccinium myrtillus extract, containing 34.7% of anthocyanins, were investigated.

Materials And Methods: Two groups of male hamsters were used: the first fed with control diet and the other with Vaccinium myrtillus supplemented diet.

Ultrasound tissue characterization of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaque.

A thrombotic occlusion of the vessel fed by ruptured coronary atherosclerotic plaque may result in unstable angina, myocardial infarction or death, whereas embolization from a plaque in carotid arteries may result in transient ischemic attack or stroke. The atherosclerotic plaque prone to such clinical events is termed high-risk or vulnerable plaque, and its identification in humans before it becomes symptomatic has been elusive to date. Ultrasonic tissue characterization of the atherosclerotic plaque is possible with different techniques--such as vascular, transesophageal, and intravascular ultrasound--on a variety of arterial segments, including carotid, aorta, and coronary districts.

Glucose-related arterial stiffness and carotid artery remodeling: a study in normal subjects and type 2 diabetes patients.

Context: Hyperglycemia is associated with a higher carotid intima-media thickness (IMT); however, it is not established whether this increase reflects early atherosclerotic changes or adaptive remodeling responding to hyperglycemia-induced alteration in mechanical properties of the arterial wall.

Objective: The aims of this study were to compare carotid geometry and circumferential wall stress between patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and healthy controls and to evaluate the associations between chronic glucose exposure and measures of arterial structure and function.

Design And Setting: This was a case-control and cross-sectional study within institutional practice.

Pial microvascular responses induced by transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion in Zucker rats.

This study was aimed to assess the in vivo geometric and functional characteristics of lean Zucker (ZL) and obese Zucker rat (ZO) pial microvascular networks and to evaluate the vascular responses to cerebral hypoperfusion-reperfusion. Rat pial microcirculation was observed by fluorescence microscopy through a closed cranial window. Bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) lasted 30 min and reperfusion 60 min.

Long-term remodeling of rat pial microcirculation after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the in vivo structural and functional remodeling of pial arteriolar networks in the ischemic area of rats submitted to transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) and different time intervals of reperfusion.

Methods And Results: Two closed cranial windows were implanted above the left and right parietal cortex to observe pial microcirculation by fluorescence microscopy. The geometric characteristics of pial arteriolar networks, permeability increase, leukocyte adhesion and capillary density were analyzed after 1 h or 1, 7, 14 or 28 days of reperfusion.

Rat Pial Microvascular Responses to Transient Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Occlusion and Reperfusion: Quercetin's Mechanism of Action.

The aim of the present study was to assess quercetin's mechanism of action in rat pial microvessels during transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO) and reperfusion. Rat pial microcirculation was visualized using fluorescence microscopy through a closed cranial window. Pial arterioles were classified in five orders of branchings.

A computer-aided diagnosis approach for emphysema recognition in chest radiography.

The purpose of this work is twofold: (i) to develop a CAD system for the assessment of emphysema by digital chest radiography and (ii) to test it against CT imaging. The system is based on the analysis of the shape of lung silhouette as imaged in standard chest examination. Postero-anterior and lateral views are processed to extract the contours of the lung fields automatically.