An optical fiber pH sensor based on a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) is reported. Two oppositely charged polymers, polyethylenimine (PEI) and polyacrylic acid (PAA), were alternately deposited on ...the sensing structure through a layer-by-layer (LbL) electrostatic self-assembly technique. Since the polymers are pH sensitive, their refractive index (RI) varies when the pH of the solution changes due to swelling/deswelling phenomena. The fabricated multilayer coating retained a similar property, enabling its use in pH-sensing applications. The pH of the PAA dipping solution was tuned so that a coated LPFG achieved a pH sensitivity of (6.3 ± 0.2) nm/pH in the 5.92-9.23 pH range. Only two bilayers of PEI/PAA were used as an overlay, which reduces the fabrication time and increases the reproducibility of the sensor, and its reversibility and repeatability were demonstrated by tracking the resonance band position throughout multiple cycles between different pH solutions. With simulation work and experimental results from a low-finesse Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity on a fiber tip, the coating properties were estimated. When saturated at low pH, it has a thickness of 200 nm and 1.53 ± 0.01 RI, expanding up to 310 nm with a 1.35 ± 0.01 RI at higher pH values, mostly due to the structural changes in the PAA.
Diffuse parenchymal lung disease represents a diverse and challenging group of pulmonary disorders. A consistent diagnostic approach to diffuse parenchymal lung disease is crucial if clinical trial ...data are to be applied to individual patients. We aimed to evaluate inter-multidisciplinary team agreement for the diagnosis of diffuse parenchymal lung disease.
We did a multicentre evaluation of clinical data of patients who presented to the interstitial lung disease unit of the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust (London, UK; host institution) and required multidisciplinary team meeting (MDTM) characterisation between March 1, 2010, and Aug 31, 2010. Only patients whose baseline clinical, radiological, and, if biopsy was taken, pathological data were undertaken at the host institution were included. Seven MDTMs, consisting of at least one clinician, radiologist, and pathologist, from seven countries (Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, and the UK) evaluated cases of diffuse parenchymal lung disease in a two-stage process between Jan 1, and Oct 15, 2015. First, the clinician, radiologist, and pathologist (if lung biopsy was completed) independently evaluated each case, selected up to five differential diagnoses from a choice of diffuse lung diseases, and chose likelihoods (censored at 5% and summing to 100% in each case) for each of their differential diagnoses, without inter-disciplinary consultation. Second, these specialists convened at an MDTM and reviewed all data, selected up to five differential diagnoses, and chose diagnosis likelihoods. We compared inter-observer and inter-MDTM agreements on patient first-choice diagnoses using Cohen's kappa coefficient (κ). We then estimated inter-observer and inter-MDTM agreement on the probability of diagnosis using weighted kappa coefficient (κw). We compared inter-observer and inter-MDTM confidence of patient first-choice diagnosis. Finally, we evaluated the prognostic significance of a first-choice diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) versus not IPF for MDTMs, clinicians, and radiologists, using univariate Cox regression analysis.
70 patients were included in the final study cohort. Clinicians, radiologists, pathologists, and the MDTMs assigned their patient diagnoses between Jan 1, and Oct 15, 2015. IPF made up 88 (18%) of all 490 MDTM first-choice diagnoses. Inter-MDTM agreement for first-choice diagnoses overall was moderate (κ=0·50). Inter-MDTM agreement on diagnostic likelihoods was good for IPF (κw=0·71 IQR 0·64-0·77) and connective tissue disease-related interstitial lung disease (κw=0·73 0·68-0·78); moderate for non-specific interstitial pneumonia (NSIP; κw=0·42 0·37-0·49); and fair for hypersensitivity pneumonitis (κw=0·29 0·24-0·40). High-confidence diagnoses (>65% likelihood) of IPF were given in 68 (77%) of 88 cases by MDTMs, 62 (65%) of 96 cases by clinicians, and in 57 (66%) of 86 cases by radiologists. Greater prognostic separation was shown for an MDTM diagnosis of IPF than compared with individual clinician's diagnosis of this disease in five of seven MDTMs, and radiologist's diagnosis of IPF in four of seven MDTMs.
Agreement between MDTMs for diagnosis in diffuse lung disease is acceptable and good for a diagnosis of IPF, as validated by the non-significant greater prognostic separation of an IPF diagnosis made by MDTMs than the separation of a diagnosis made by individual clinicians or radiologists. Furthermore, MDTMs made the diagnosis of IPF with higher confidence and more frequently than did clinicians or radiologists. This difference is of particular importance, because accurate and consistent diagnoses of IPF are needed if clinical outcomes are to be optimised. Inter-multidisciplinary team agreement for a diagnosis of hypersensitivity pneumonitis is low, highlighting an urgent need for standardised diagnostic guidelines for this disease.
National Institute of Health Research, Imperial College London.
During the last decades, climate and land use changes led to an increased prevalence of megafires in Mediterranean-type climate regions (MCRs). Here, we argue that current wildfire management ...policies in MCRs are destined to fail. Focused on fire suppression, these policies largely ignore ongoing climate warming and landscape-scale buildup of fuels. The result is a 'firefighting trap' that contributes to ongoing fuel accumulation precluding suppression under extreme fire weather, and resulting in more severe and larger fires. We believe that a 'business as usual' approach to wildfire in MCRs will not solve the fire problem, and recommend that policy and expenditures be rebalanced between suppression and mitigation of the negative impacts of fire. This requires a paradigm shift: policy effectiveness should not be primarily measured as a function of area burned (as it usually is), but rather as a function of avoided socio-ecological damage and loss.
R loops are nucleic acid structures composed of an RNA-DNA hybrid and a displaced single-stranded DNA. Recently, evidence has emerged that R loops occur more often in the genome and have greater ...physiological relevance, including roles in transcription and chromatin structure, than was previously predicted. Importantly, however, R loops are also a major threat to genome stability. For this reason, several DNA and RNA metabolism factors prevent R-loop formation in cells. Dysfunction of these factors causes R-loop accumulation, which leads to replication stress, genome instability, chromatin alterations or gene silencing, phenomena that are frequently associated with cancer and a number of genetic diseases. We review the current knowledge of the mechanisms controlling R loops and their putative relationship with disease.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Photocatalytic ozonation was employed for the first time in continuous mode with TiO2-coated glass Raschig rings and light emitting diodes (LEDs) to treat urban wastewater as well as surface water ...collected from the supply area of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP). Different levels of contamination and types of contaminants were considered in this work, including chemical priority substances (PSs) and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), as well as potential human opportunistic antibiotic resistant bacteria and their genes (ARB&ARG). Photocatalytic ozonation was more effective than single ozonation (or even than TiO2 catalytic ozonation) in the degradation of typical reaction by-products (such as oxalic acid), and more effective than photocatalysis to remove the parent micropollutants determined in urban wastewater. In fact, only fluoxetine, clarithromycin, erythromycin and 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2) were detected after photocatalytic ozonation, by using solid-phase extraction (SPE) pre-concentration and LC-MS/MS analysis. In surface water, this treatment allowed the removal of all determined micropollutants to levels below the limit of detection (0.01–0.20 ng L−1). The efficiency of this process was then assessed based on the capacity to remove different groups of cultivable microorganisms and housekeeping (16S rRNA) and antibiotic resistance or related genes (intI1, blaTEM, qnrS, sul1). Photocatalytic ozonation was observed to efficiently remove microorganisms and ARGs. Although after storage total heterotrophic and ARB (to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, meropenem), fungi, and the genes 16S rRNA and intI1, increased to values close to the pre-treatment levels, the ARGs (blaTEM, qnrS and sul1) were reduced to levels below/close to the quantification limit even after 3-days storage of treated surface water or wastewater. Yeast estrogen screen (YES), thiazolyl blue tetrazolium reduction (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays were also performed before and after photocatalytic ozonation to evaluate the potential estrogenic activity, the cellular metabolic activity and the cell viability. Compounds with estrogenic effects and significant differences concerning cell viability were not observed in any case. A slight cytotoxicity was only detected for Caco-2 and hCMEC/D3 cell lines after treatment of the urban wastewater, but not for L929 fibroblasts.
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•Treatment of urban wastewater and of surface water for drinking water production.•Removal efficiency assessment of antibiotic resistant bacteria (ARB) & genes (ARGs).•Photocatalytic ozonation in continuous mode with TiO2-coated glass rings and LEDs.•Efficient removal of organic micropollutants, cultivable microorganisms and ARGs.•ARGs below/close to quantification limit even after 3-days storage of treated water.
A number of algorithms in the field of artificial intelligence offer poorly interpretable decisions. To disclose the reasoning behind such algorithms, their output can be explained by means of ...so-called evidence-based (or factual) explanations. Alternatively, contrastive and counterfactual explanations justify why the output of the algorithms is not any different and how it could be changed, respectively. It is of crucial importance to bridge the gap between theoretical approaches to contrastive and counterfactual explanation and the corresponding computational frameworks. In this work we conduct a systematic literature review which provides readers with a thorough and reproducible analysis of the interdisciplinary research field under study. We first examine theoretical foundations of contrastive and counterfactual accounts of explanation. Then, we report the state-of-the-art computational frameworks for contrastive and counterfactual explanation generation. In addition, we analyze how grounded such frameworks are on the insights from the inspected theoretical approaches. As a result, we highlight a variety of properties of the approaches under study and reveal a number of shortcomings thereof. Moreover, we define a taxonomy regarding both theoretical and practical approaches to contrastive and counterfactual explanation.
Among magnetoelectric (ME) heterostructures, ME laminates of the type Metglas-like/PVDF (magnetostrictive+piezoelectric constituents) have shown the highest induced ME voltages, usually detected at ...the magnetoelastic resonance of the magnetostrictive constituent. This ME coupling happens because of the high cross-correlation coupling between magnetostrictive and piezoelectric material, and is usually associated with a promising application scenario for sensors or actuators. In this work we detail the basis of the operation of such devices, as well as some arising questions (as size effects) concerning their best performance. Also, some examples of their use as very sensitive magnetic fields sensors or innovative energy harvesting devices will be reviewed. At the end, the challenges, future perspectives and technical difficulties that will determine the success of ME composites for sensor applications are discussed.
Covering almost a quarter of Brazil, the Cerrado is the world's most biologically rich tropical savanna. Fire is an integral part of the Cerrado but current land use and agricultural practices have ...been changing fire regimes, with undesirable consequences for the preservation of biodiversity. In this study, fire frequency and fire return intervals were modelled over a 12-year time series (1997-2008) for the Jalapão State Park, a protected area in the north of the Cerrado, based on burned area maps derived from Landsat imagery. Burned areas were classified using object based image analysis. Fire data were modelled with the discrete lognormal model and the estimated parameters were used to calculate fire interval, fire survival and hazard of burning distributions, for seven major land cover types. Over the study period, an area equivalent to four times the size of Jalapão State Park burned and the mean annual area burned was 34%. Median fire intervals were generally short, ranging from three to six years. Shrub savannas had the shortest fire intervals, and dense woodlands the longest. Because fires in the Cerrado are strongly responsive to fuel age in the first three to four years following a fire, early dry season patch mosaic burning may be used to reduce the extent of area burned and the severity of fire effects.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We used the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) active fire data (375 m spatial resolution) to automatically extract multispectral samples and train a One-Class Support Vector Machine ...for burned area mapping, and applied the resulting classification algorithm to 300-m spatial resolution imagery from the Project for On-Board Autonomy-Vegetation (PROBA-V). The active fire data were screened to prevent extraction of unrepresentative burned area samples and combined with surface reflectance bi-weekly composites to produce burned area maps. The procedure was applied over the Brazilian Cerrado savanna, validated with reference maps obtained from Landsat images and compared with the Collection 6 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Burned Area product (MCD64A1) Results show that the algorithm developed improved the detection of small-sized scars and displayed results more similar to the reference data than MCD64A1. Unlike active fire-based region growing algorithms, the proposed approach allows for the detection and mapping of burn scars without active fires, thus eliminating a potential source of omission error. The burned area mapping approach presented here should facilitate the development of operational-automated burned area algorithms, and is very straightforward for implementation with other sensors.
In many regions of the world, fires are an important and highly variable source of air pollutant emissions, and they thus constitute a significant if not dominant factor controlling the interannual ...variability of the atmospheric composition. This paper describes the 41‐year inventory of vegetation fire emissions constructed for the Reanalysis of the Tropospheric chemical composition over the past 40 years project (RETRO), a global modeling study to investigate the trends and variability of tropospheric ozone and other air pollutants over the past decades. It is the first attempt to construct a global emissions data set with monthly time resolution over such a long period. The inventory is based on a literature review, on estimates from different satellite products, and on a numerical model with a semiphysical approach to simulate fire occurrence and fire spread. Burned areas, carbon consumption, and total carbon release are estimated for 13 continental‐scale regions, including explicit treatment of some major burning events such as Indonesia in 1997 and 1998. Global carbon emissions from this inventory range from 1410 to 3140 Tg C/a with the minimum and maximum occurring in 1974 and 1992, respectively (mean of 2078 Tg C/a). Emissions of other species are also reported (mean CO of 330 Tg/a, NOx of 4.6 Tg N/a, CH2O of 3.9 Tg/a, CH4 of 15.4 Tg/a, BC of 2.2 Tg/a, OC of 17.6 Tg/a, SO2 of 2.2 Tg/a). The uncertainties of these estimates remain high even for later years where satellite data products are available. Future versions of this inventory may benefit from ongoing analysis of burned areas from satellite data going back to 1982.
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