Patient dose in digital projection radiography

In projection radiography, two types of digital imaging systems are currently available, computed radiography (CR) and direct radiography (DR): a difference between them can be stated in terms of dose and image quality. In the Radiology Emergency Department of our hospital, a flat-panel DR equipment (Siemens Axiom Aristos FX) and two CR systems (Kodak CR-850) are employed. In 2006, five standard radiographic examinations (abdomen, chest, lumbar spine, pelvis, skull) were considered: doses delivered to patients in terms of both entrance skin dose (ESD) and effective dose (E) were calculated and compared in order to study the dosimetric discrepancies between CR and DR. Assessment of image quality is undertaken by Consultant Radiologists to ensure that the quality criteria for diagnostic radiographic images of the European guidelines were met. Results showed that both ESD and E in DR are lower than that in CR; all images met the criteria in the European Guidelines for both modalities and were used for reporting by the radiologists. Since the operators are the same and the image quality is comparable in both modalities, this study shows that in the considered examinations, DR can perform better than CR from a dosimetric point of view.     

Unified theory for confinement of RC solid and hollow circular columns

Hollow bridge piers are incorporated in tall bridges to maximize the structural efficiency of the strength-mass and stiffness-mass ratios. Column jacketing with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials has been extensively studied in recent years but it is uncertain how FRP jackets may perform when retrofitting hollow concrete columns since the topic has been little researched.A confinement model for circular hollow sections is proposed which can be extended to the case of solid sections. The model is able to estimate confinement effectiveness and to plot stress–strain relationships, which are different in the case of solid and hollow sections.     

A LC-HRMS After QuEChERS Cleanup Method for the Rapid Determination of Dye Residues in Fish Products

The reliability of a rapid LC-HRMS method was studied in order to find a sensitive and accurate, simple, cheap, and rapid method for screening and quantitative determination of malachite green (MG), leucomalachite green (LMG), brilliant green (BG), crystal violet (CV), and leucocrystal violet (LCV) in fish muscle. All the analytes were extracted using a mixture of acetonitrile and citrate buffer, while the cleanup phase was carried out by Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged, and Safe (QuEChERS) method. All the data analyzed were acquired using both full MS and dd-MS² modes. Good specificity, precision (relative standard deviation <11% for each sample tested), recovery (10–60%), decision limit (CCα between 0.55 and 0.62 μg kg^?1), detection capabilities (CCβ between 0.65 and 0.78 μg kg^?1), and ruggedness were achieved for the reliability of the method. Satisfactory results were obtained during the linearity test in the range of 0.10–2 ng mL^?1 (r ² > 0.999). Best recoveries were obtained by the QuEChERS cleanup method for all the analytes examined, presenting values between 70 and 104%. The application of 70,000 FWHM mass resolution and narrow mass windows significantly improved the selectivity of the method, leading to simultaneous screening and quantification of dye residues in comparison to other methods proposed in literature. The optimized method proposed in this work enables a simple and fast preparation; it offers exceptional sensitivity and selectivity and maximizes efficiency and reproducibility with a low consumption of reagents. Finally, the present method was successfully employed to detect dye residues in 73 fish samples, as provided for the national residue control plan.     

Standard output versus standard gross margin,a new paradigm in the EU farm economic typology: what are the implications for wine-grape growers?

A new farm economic typology has recently been introduced in the EU. This study compares the economic performance of wine-grape growers in four important quality wine areas of Sicily taking into account the different EU economic typology standards of standard gross margin (the old method) and standard output (the new method). The objective of this study is to identify the differences between the two methods and to ascertain the potential implications for small wine-grape growers’ profitability and their access to public support. We seek to determine whether restrictions can be identified that limit the potential benefits from rural development policies.

For this purpose, we applied the economic criteria of the EU to a representative sample of Sicilian wine-grape growers in order to compare the economic profitability of wine-grape farms in protected designation of origin areas. This comparative approach has allowed us to categorize the economic size of the sample in accordance with recent EU modifications and discuss the possible impacts that the adoption of the new economic criteria would have on access to the Rural Development Programme measures for wine-grape growers.     

Derivative FTIR spectroscopy for cluster analysis and classification of morocco olive oils

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra were employed for differentiation and classification of olive oils from several producing regions of Morocco. A preliminary treatment of the FTIR data was done by a derivative elaboration based on the Savitzky–Golay algorithm to reduce the noise and extract a largest number of analytical information from the spectra. A multivariate statistical procedure based on cluster analysis (CA) coupled to partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), was elaborated, providing an effective classification method. On the basis of a hierarchical agglomerative CA and principal component analysis (PCA), four distinctive clusters were recognised. The PLS-DA procedure was then applied to classify samples from the same regions, picked in different times, or unknown olive oil samples. The model was optimised by applying the Martens’ Uncertainty Test that provided to select the wavelength zones giving the most useful analytical information. The proposed method furnished results reliable in classifying olive oils from different lands with the advantages of being rapid, inexpensive and requiring no prior separation procedure.     

Nutritional and sensory characteristics of “early” potato cultivars under organic and conventional cultivation systems

Potato production in several Mediterranean countries is focused on the “early” crop type, and is generally associated with intensive applications of farming inputs. Recently, the enhanced interest for environmentally-sustainable production systems has led to a major expansion in the organic farming sector. Due to the lack of data in the literature about the qualitative traits of organic “early” potato, we studied some nutritional and sensory characteristics of three cultivars (Arinda, Ditta and Nicola) grown either organically or conventionally. Overall, the organic farming allowed to obtain a product with a higher nutritional value due to higher total phenolic and lower nitrate content, and better sensory performance after frying (strong taste and crisp flesh). Moreover, the lower amount of soluble sugars and higher level of dry matter under organic farming is noticeable for the possible use of “early” potato for frying. Our findings also indicate as the cultivar choice is a key aspect determining the overall quality of the organic tuber.     

Oscillations of heart rate and respiration synchronize during affective visual stimulation

The objective of this study is to investigate the synchronization between breathing patterns and heart rate during emotional visual elicitation, that is, using sets of images gathered from the international affective picture system having five levels of arousal and five levels of valence, including a neutral reference level. Thirty-five healthy volunteers were emotionally elicited in agreement with a bidimensional spatial localization of affective states, i.e., arousal/valence plane, while two peripheral physiological signals, ECG and Respiration activity, were acquired simultaneously. The synchronization was then quantified by applying the concept of phase synchronization of chaotic oscillators, i.e., the cardio-respiratory synchrogram. This technique allowed us to estimate the synchronization ratio m:n as the attendance of n heartbeats in each m respiratory cycle, even for noisy and nonstationary data. We found a stronger evidence of cardiorespiratory synchronization during arousal than during neutral states.     

Plasma Exosome Profile in ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients with and without Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest

The identification of new biomarkers allowing an early and more accurate characterization of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is still needed, and exosomes represent an attractive diagnostic tool in this context. However, the characterization of their protein cargo in relation to cardiovascular clinical manifestation is still lacking. To this end, 35 STEMI patients (17 experiencing resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA-STEMI) and 18 uncomplicated) and 32 patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) were enrolled. Plasma exosomes were characterized by the nanoparticle tracking analysis and Western blotting. Exosomes from STEMI patients displayed a higher concentration and size and a greater expression of platelet (GPIIb) and vascular endothelial (VE-cadherin) markers, but a similar amount of cardiac troponin compared to CCS. In addition, a difference in exosome expression of acute-phase proteins (ceruloplasmin, transthyretin and fibronectin) between STEMI and CCS patients was found. GPIIb and brain-associated marker PLP1 accurately discriminated between OHCA and uncomplicated STEMI. In conclusion, the exosome profile of STEMI patients has peculiar features that differentiate it from that of CCS patients, reflecting the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in STEMI. Additionally, the exosome expression of brain- and platelet-specific markers might allow the identification of patients experiencing ischemic brain injury in STEMI.