Sharpemosegaard8323

Vinyl floors are widely used in public areas for their low cost and easy cleaning. From 1960 to 1980, asbestos was often added to improve vinyl floor performances. The Italian Ministerial Decree (M.D.) 06/09/94 indicates asbestos vinyl tiles as non-friable materials and, therefore, few dangerous to human health. This work aims to check through three different experimental tests if asbestos floor tiles, after decades of use, maintain their characteristics of compactness and non-friability. The effect of a small stone fragment stuck in the sole of rubber shoes was reproduced by striking the vinyl floor with a crampon. A vinyl tile was broken into smaller pieces with the aid of pliers to simulate what normally happens when workers replace the floors or sample it to verify the presence of asbestos. The third test reproduced the abrasion of the tile surface due to the dragging of furniture or heavy materials or sand grains that remain attached to the soles of shoes. The tests were carried out in safe conditions, working under an extractor hood with a glove box. Airborne sampling in the hood obtained the concentration of asbestos fibers produced in each test. The simulation tests performed confirms the possible release of fibers if the vinyl tiles are cut, abraded or perforated, as indicated by the Italian M.D.Low-cost sensors, i [...].Liquid biopsies can be used to analyse tissue-derived information, including cell-free DNA (cfDNA), circulating rare cells, and circulating extracellular vesicles in the blood or other bodily fluids, representing a new way to guide therapeutic decisions in cancer. Among the new challenges of liquid biopsy, we found clinical application in nontumour pathologies, including autoimmune diseases. Since the discovery of the presence of high levels of cfDNA in patients with systemic lupus erythaematosus (SLE) in the 1960s, cfDNA research in autoimmune diseases has mainly focused on the overall quantification of cfDNA and its association with disease activity. However, with technological advancements and the increasing understanding of the role of DNA sensing receptors in inflammation and autoimmunity, interest in cfDNA and autoimmune diseases has not expanded until recently. In this review, we provide an overview of the basic biology of cfDNA in the context of autoimmune diseases as a biomarker of disease activity, progression, and prediction of the treatment response. We discuss and integrate available information about these important aspects.Electrochemically based technologies are rapidly moving from the laboratory to bedside applications and wearable devices, like in the field of cardiovascular disease. Major efforts have focused on the biosensor component in contrast with those employed in creating more suitable detection algorithms for long-term real-world monitoring solutions. The calibration curve procedure presents major limitations in this context. The objective is to propose a new algorithm, compliant with current clinical guidelines, which can overcome these limitations and contribute to the development of trustworthy wearable or telemonitoring solutions for home-based care. A total of 123 samples of phosphate buffer solution were spiked with different concentrations of troponin, the gold standard method for the diagnosis of the acute coronary syndrome. These were classified as normal or abnormal according to established clinical cut-off values. Off-the-shelf screen-printed electrochemical sensors and cyclic voltammetry measurements (sweep between -1 and 1 V in a 5 mV step) was performed to characterize the changes on the surface of the biosensor and to measure the concentration of troponin in each sample. A logistic regression model was developed to accurately classify these samples as normal or abnormal. The model presents high predictive performance according to specificity (94%), sensitivity (92%), precision (92%), recall (92%), negative predictive value (94%) and F-score (92%). The area under the curve of the precision-recall curve is 97% and the positive and negative likelihood ratios are 16.38 and 0.082, respectively. Moreover, high discriminative power is observed from the discriminate odd ratio (201) and the Youden index (0.866) values. The promising performance of the proposed algorithm suggests its capability to overcome the limitations of the calibration curve procedure and therefore its suitability for the development of trustworthy home-based care solutions.Computer-enabled screen systems containing visual elements have long been employed with captive primates for assessing preference, reactions and for husbandry reasons. These screen systems typically play visual enrichment to primates without them choosing to trigger the system and without their consent. Yet, what videos primates, especially monkeys, would prefer to watch of their own volition and how to design computers and methods that allow choice is an open question. In this study, we designed and tested, over several weeks, an enrichment system that facilitates white-faced saki monkeys to trigger different visual stimuli in their regular zoo habitat while automatically logging and recording their interaction. By analysing this data, we show that the sakis triggered underwater and worm videos over the forest, abstract art, and animal videos, and a control condition of no-stimuli. We also note that the sakis used the device significantly less when playing animal videos compared to other conditions. Yet, plotting the data over time revealed an engagement bell curve suggesting confounding factors of novelty and habituation. As such, it is unknown if the stimuli or device usage curve caused the changes in the sakis interactions over time. this website Looking at the sakis' behaviours and working with zoo personnel, we noted that the stimuli conditions resulted in significantly decreasing the sakis' scratching behaviour. For the research community, this study builds on methods that allow animals to control computers in a zoo environment highlighting problems in quantifying animal interactions with computer devices.Osteoporosis is called the 'silent disease' because, although it does not give significant symptoms when it is not complicated, can cause fragility fractures, with serious consequences and death. Furthermore, the consequences of osteoporosis have been calculated to weigh heavily on the costs of health systems in all the countries. Osteoporosis is considered a female disease. Actually, the hormonal changes that occur after menopause certainly determine a significant increase in osteoporosis and the risk of fractures in women. However, while there is no doubt that women are more exposed to osteoporosis and fragility fractures, the literature clearly indicates that physicians tend to underestimate the osteoporosis in men. The review of the literature done by the authors shows that osteoporosis and fragility fractures have a high incidence also in men; and, furthermore, the risk of fatal complications in hip fractured men is higher than that for women. The authors report the evidence of the literature on male osteoporosis, dwelling on epidemiology, causes of osteoporosis in men, diagnosis, and treatment.