46 research outputs found
Thermal imaging system for use in a vehicle driver assistance system to provide information or warnings has image processing means with specific animal models for automatic animal and human type identification
No full textCase Report: Asymptomatic SARS-COV2 infection triggering recurrent Takotsubo syndrome
No full textTakotsubo syndrome (TTS) is a rare disease mimicking acute coronary syndrome, often triggered by physical or emotional stress, and characterized by transient left ventricular dysfunction. Recurrences are described in about 5% of cases and may have different clinical and imaging patterns. In the present report, SARS-COV-2 infection, even in the absence of symptoms and overt emotional stress, seems correlated with recurrence of TTS, due to the absence of other recognized triggers. The hypothesis is that in predisposed patients, events like catecholamine-induced myocyte injury, direct viral damage, cytokine storm, immune-mediated damage, and procoagulant state, all possibly induced by the infection, may elicit endothelial dysfunction as substrate for TTS onset
La sorveglianza del rischio infettivo in emodialisi: esperienza nell’Azienda Ospedaliera Umberto I Ancona.
No full textInlections surveillance represents the basis of every programme of prevention: the collection and analysis of data allow the individuation of risks factors. This monitoring is foremost unavoidable if considering the impaired state of immunity typical of the ESRD patient. According to SIN data, the 7% of deaths among patients undergoing haemodialysis is caused by infections. The microbiological contamination 0f dialysis fluids is a demonstrated cause of different acute and chronic troubles, such as: pyrogenic reactions, shock, osteoporosis, carpal tunnel syndrome,
amyloidosis. From 1992, the Service of Hospital Hygiene of the "Umberto l'' hospital of Ancona carries out
microbiological controls of specimens coming from the water treatment system and from the dialysis monitors; since October 2001 the LAL test technique (gel-clot method) for the detection of bacterial endotoxins has been introduced.
The low number of unacceptable specimens in this decade of surveillance indicates the efficacy of hygienic
management of the system and the effectiveness of all involved staff efforts
IR Pedestrian Detection for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
No full textThis paper describes a system for pedestrian detection in infrared images implemented and tested on an experimental vehicle. A specific stabilization procedure is applied after image acquisition and before processing to cope with vehicle movements affecting the camera calibration. The localization of pedestrians is based on the search for warm symmetrical objects with specific size and aspect ratio. A set of filters is used to reduce false detections. The final validation process relies on the human shape’s morphological characteristics
A new laser device for ultra-rapid and sustainable aerosol sterilization
No full textThe current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of aerosol-based transmission of human pathogens; this therefore calls for novel medical devices which are able to sterilize contaminated aerosols. Here we describe a new laser device able to sterilize droplets containing either viruses or bacteria. Using engineered viral particles, we determined the 10,600 nm wavelength as the most efficient and exploitable laser source to be manufactured in a commercial device. Given the lack of existing working models to reproduce a human aerosol containing living microbial particles, we developed a new system mimicking human droplet formation and preserving bacterial and viral viability. This evidenced the efficacy of 10,600 nm laser light to kill two aerosol transmitted human pathogens, Legionella pneumophila and SARS-CoV-2. The minimal exposure time of <15 ms was required for the inactivation of over 99% pathogens in the aerosol; this is a key element in the design of a device that is safe and can be used in preventing inter-individual transmission. This represents a major advantage over existing devices, which mainly aim at either purifying incoming air by filters or sterilizing solid surfaces, which are not the major transmission routes for airborne communicable diseases
Labour regulation, corporate governance and varieties of capitalism
No full textThe literature aimed at exploring labor regulation and cross-country comparisons has left partly unexplored two major points: the first is the influence of employees within managerial processes, through the channel of employee representation at firm level. The second point concerns potential complementarities or substitutions between patterns of ownership or shareholder protection and labour regulation. The paper offers a critical overview of some selected studies that have started at filling these gaps by considering labour institutions for their influence on the ‘balance’ of power inside the firm, between owners, management, and employees. Firstly, it examines the literature which gives a central importance to the effects of legal origins on labour regulation and labour market outcomes. Secondly, it reviews the studies which focus on informal rules and de-facto practices and favour a stakeholder approach. A particular concern is paid to the overall consequences of the different institutional setups in the perspective of the “varieties of capitalism”, in which systems of labour regulation exert their function by strategical interactions with other institutions. Finally, it presents recent theoretical and empirical studies centring on employee investments in firm-specific human capital and on institutional devices which have the effect of tying the fortunes of the employee together with those of the firm. In the varieties of capitalism characterised by general skills and patterns of radical innovation, it is emphasized the internal governance exerted by ‘critical employees’. In economies with firm and industry specific skills, cooperation of employees with management in more shareholder value oriented firm (‘negotiated shareholder system’) are the more successful roads.Stakeholders, Corporate Governance, Varieties of Capitalism.
Collision object e.g. person, searching process for use in motor vehicle, involves searching and identifying collision objects in areas, of original image, where no collision objects are found in intermediate image
No full textPersistent viremia and urine shedding of tick-borne encephalitis virus in an infected immunosuppressed patient from a new epidemic cluster in North-Eastern Italy
No full textA persistent tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in an immune-suppressed patient is presented. Such an unusual clinical case offers the unique chance of detecting persistent viremia associated to the erythrocyte fraction and shedding of the virus in the urine for more than six weeks. The infection occurred in a new area of the Friuli Venezia-Giulia region (North Eastern Italy) where two additional cases are also being reported
SARS-CoV-2-induced damage to rat cortical neuronal networks ex vivo is mediated by the pro-inflammatory activation of the cGAS-STING pathway
No full textSevere Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 infection has been associated to neurological symptoms characteristic of long-lasting post-acute coronavirus disease. However, the complex mechanisms involved in these clinical manifestations are still unclear. Glial cells are key to inflammation and neurodegeneration in response to central nervous system infection. To investigate this pathway, induced pluripotent stem cells human astrocytes and human microglial HMC3 cells were infected with SARS-CoV-2. Astrocytes showed to be prone to infection, while HMC3 supported only marginal virus replication. A significant IFN-β response was induced in astrocytes, while both cell types showed some level of chemoattractant production. Interestingly, both glial cells showed signs of senescence and activation of the pro-inflammatory cGAS-STING pathway. To investigate if glial cells infection could impair the function of neuronal networks, primary rat cortical cultures seeded on multi-electrode arrays were used to monitor the electrical activity after exposure to SARS-CoV-2. Effective SARS-CoV-2 infection of the glia led to a major loss of synaptic connections, an increase expression and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, and an increase of DNA damage foci. Intriguingly, the pro-inflammatory response was cGAS-STING dependent. Finally, an antagonist of the cGAS-STING pathway was able to ameliorate the decrease in electrical activity early post-infection. These data point to SARS-CoV-2 infection of the glia as a culprit for neurological complications during COVID-19
