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Ocular abnormalities, tear production, and intraocular pressure findings in Italian holstein calves during their first four weeks of life
No full textThe study evaluated ocular abnormalities, Schirmer tear test 1 (STT 1) and intraocular pressure (IOP) values in healthy Italian-Holstein calves from birth to 4 weeks old, and compared STT 1 and IOP with those in adult bovines. Fifty-four calves underwent ophthalmic examination, and STT 1 and IOP assessment were performed within 48 h from birth, then weekly for the first weeks of age. Ophthalmic examination, STT 1 and IOP were assessed in calves' dams. Results for ocular abnormalities were shown as frequency and percentage. Differences in STT 1 and IOP were evaluated according to age, gender, and weight with ANOVA test. A t-test was used to compare calves' STT 1 and IOP at each measurement time with values in the calves' dams. Ocular lesions recorded were: 50 % subconjunctival haemorrhages, 25 % retinal haemorrhages, and 25 % cataract. At birth, remnants of the hyaloid system (51/51, 100 %) and tunica vasculosa lentis (49/51, 96 %) were detected, which regressed completely by the 16th week and 6th week, respectively. No statistical differences were found related to STT 1 and IOP. Statistical differences were observed between IOP as well as STT 1 in calves' dams and calves, for all time points (p-value <0.0001), with higher values in adult bovines. Ocular haemorrhages were the main ocular lesion observed, and cataract was the only congenital ocular abnormality diagnosed. At birth, calf STT 1 and IOP did not change during the first month of life, and adult bovines showed higher IOP and STT 1 compared to neonatal calves
High-risk atherosclerotic plaque features, covert brain infarcts, and cognitive performance: a cross-sectional analysis of the carotid artery multi-modality imaging prognostic study
No full textAims: To evaluate prevalence, clinical predictors, brain lesions and cognitive test scores of high-risk carotid plaque features-namely intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH), lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC), and plaque ulceration-in patients with asymptomatic, intermediate-degree carotid artery stenosis. Methods and results: The Carotid Artery Multi-modality imaging Prognostic (CAMP) study is a prospective, observational cohort study enrolling patients with 40-60% asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis assessed by Doppler ultrasound. The present study is a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data. High-risk plaque characteristics were evaluated with multimodal vascular imaging, including computed tomography and magnetic resonance angiography, while brain magnetic resonance imaging and neurocognitive testing assessed covert brain infarcts, cerebral small vessel disease, and cognitive functions. Among 155 patients (mean age: 72 years, 27% female, 29% with chronic coronary syndromes), at least one high-risk plaque feature (LRNC, IPH, or ulcer) was present in 51% of cases. IPH and LRNC were present in 23% for both, and ulceration in 38%. Patients with high-risk plaque features had higher high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T and 3-vessel coronary artery disease. Non-lacunar brain infarcts [cortical and large (>15 mm) subcortical brain infarcts] and markers of small vessel disease (lacunar infarcts or white matter hyperintensities) were observed in 11% and 71% of patients, respectively. In univariate analysis, homolateral IPH, LRNC, and ≥50% carotid stenosis were associated with non-lacunar brain infarcts. In multivariable models adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors and carotid stenosis, both IPH and LRNC remained significantly associated with non-lacunar brain infarcts. When high-risk plaque features (LRNC and/or IPH) and ≥50% stenosis were included in the same model, only high-risk plaque features remained significantly associated with non-lacunar brain infarcts. Low visuospatial and nonverbal memory test scores were common, with a tendency towards poorer performance in patients with high-risk features, although the differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: High-risk plaque features are frequent in patients with asymptomatic intermediate carotid disease and are associated with non-lacunar covert brain infarcts. Cognitive impairment was common in the cohort, although not associated with high-risk carotid plaque. These findings support the use of a comprehensive plaque characterization beyond stenosis grading for cerebrovascular risk assessment in such patients
Direct Feedback Alignment for Recurrent Neural Networks
No full textTime series and sequential data are widespread in many real-world environments. However, implementing physical and adaptive dynamical systems remains a challenge. Direct Feedback Alignment (DFA) is a learning algorithm for neural networks that overcomes some of the limits of backpropagation and can be implemented in neuromorphic hardware (e.g., photonic accelerators). Until now, DFA has been investigated mainly for feedforward architectures. We adapt DFA for both “vanilla” and gated recurrent networks. Unlike backpropagation, the update rule of our DFA can be applied in parallel across time steps, thus removing the sequential propagation of errors. We benchmark DFA on 4 datasets for sequence classification tasks. Although backpropagation still achieves a better predictive accuracy, our DFA shows promising results, especially for environments and physical systems where backpropagation is unavailable
Dynamic subcellular localization of HMGB1 in colorectal cancer cells following exposure to environmental mutagens
No full textClinical, genetic and immunohistochemical characterization of sinonasal tumors with neuroectodermal differentiation
No full textAddressing the Challenge of Wastewater Upcycling Through Cavitation–Plasma Synergy: From Pilot to Semi-Industrial Scale
No full textPharmaceutical residues, especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), are emerging contaminants that hinder sustainable water management and limit wastewater upcycling. In this work, we address the challenge of wastewater upcycling via the scale-up of a hybrid advanced oxidation process (AOP) that couples hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and non-thermal electrical discharge (ED) plasma, and that will enable the in situ generation of ROS. In order to demonstrate process scalability, the hybrid HC/ED plasma system was initially validated at pilot scale (600 L h-1) and subsequently up-scaled to a semi-industrial reactor (3200 L h-1), specifically designed starting from the pilot unit. The effective exploitation of HC/ED plasma synergy led to the process achieving the quantitative degradation of model pollutants, specifically ibuprofen and diclofenac (10 mg/L), in competitive times (13 passes) and without detectable byproducts, thereby validating the process' robustness and successful scale-up. Although current wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) recover nutrients from sludge, biologically treated effluents still contain pharmaceutical residues. This work therefore, potentially solves this issue by providing a sustainable strategy for complete wastewater upcycling in WWTPs, delivering safe regenerated water for agricultural and irrigation reuse, while closing the water cycle
Particle approximation of nonlocal interaction energies
No full textWe consider Riesz-type nonlocal energies with general interaction kernels and their discretizations related to particle systems. We prove that the discretized energies Γ-converge in the weak-∗ topology to the Riesz functional defined over the space of probability measures. We also address the minimization problem for the discretized energies, and prove the existence of minimal configurations of particles in a very general and natural setting
Stone-Curlews Burhinus oedicnemus Wintering in Grosseto Province (Central Italy): Status, Habitat Use and Possible Threats
No full textThe Eurasian Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus is a steppe bird distributed in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Although not globally threatened, it is considered a species of European conservation concern. The Grosseto province is one of the most important areas for Stone-curlews in Central Italy. Previous studies there have found that this population is largely resident and therefore suitable for assessing long term population trends. We carried out this study from December 2013 to January 2023, surveying all known winter roost sites annually. Our estimate shows that over the past ten years, the population has remained relatively stable, with no significant increasing or decreasing trend. However, both the raw survey data and the predicted values from a GAMM model, developed to estimate the global trend, reveal considerable fluctuation in the count data. For this reason, and given the elusive behaviour of the species, it is difficult to produce an accurate estimate of the minimum and maximum number of birds wintering in the Grosseto area. Nonetheless, maximum counts of 500-600 birds suggest that this may be approximately the size of the wintering Stone-curlew population. In addition, ten GPS-tagged birds were studied to outline their roosting behaviour. These data helped to explain the observed variability in the counts. Stone-curlews exhibited two contrasting behaviours: they showed remarkable fidelity to certain roosting areas that were regularly used over multiple years, but they also displayed notable mobility between different roosts, occasionally occupying new sites not previously used. Overall, the incidence of disturbance factors was low but warrants further investigation. Recent agricultural changes in Grosseto –particularly the expansion of vineyards and the decline of traditional farming– appear to be partially exploited by Stone-curlews, which frequently used vineyards as winter roosts. However, the conservation value of these habitats remains uncertain, especially given their potential negative impacts during the breeding season