A Novel Algorithm for Movement Artifact Removal in ECG Signals Acquired from Wearable Systems Applied to Horses

This study reports on a novel method to detect and reduce the contribution of movement artifact (MA) in electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings gathered from horses in free movement conditions. We propose a model that integrates cardiovascular and movement information to estimate the MA contribution. Specifically, ECG and physical activity are continuously acquired from seven horses through a wearable system. Such a system employs completely integrated textile electrodes to monitor ECG and is also equipped with a triaxial accelerometer for movement monitoring. In the literature, the most used technique to remove movement artifacts, when noise bandwidth overlaps the primary source bandwidth, is the adaptive filter. In this study we propose a new algorithm, hereinafter called Stationary Wavelet Movement Artifact Reduction (SWMAR), where the Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT) decomposition algorithm is employed to identify and remove movement artifacts from ECG signals in horses. A comparative analysis with the Normalized Least Mean Square Adaptive Filter technique (NLMSAF) is performed as well. Results achieved on seven hours of recordings showed a reduction greater than 40% of MA percentage (between before- and after- the application of the proposed algorithm). Moreover, the comparative analysis with the NLMSAF, applied to the same ECG recordings, showed a greater reduction of MA percentage in favour of SWMAR with a statistical significant difference (p–value < 0.0.5).     

Uptake by corn and chemical extractability of heavy metals from a four year compost treated soil

This paper gives the results from four-year field experiments on compost application, added at the maximum rate allowed by Italian legislation (30 t/ha/y). The purpose of the experiment was to evaluate any eventual heavy metal accumulation in soil and corn plants. Cadmium in corn plants increased particularly in the roots from 0.22 mg kg⁻¹ to 1.31 mg kg⁻¹, concentration of Zn and Cu increased in grains, from 26.8 to 35.8 and from 2.4 to 4.2 mg kg⁻¹ respectively. Relevant increase in the roots was detected for Zn from 34.6 to 146.8 mg kg⁻¹. Only in the 4th year Ni concentration increases in the root portion while the content of Pb and Cr in corn was generally unaffected by the compost application. Heavy metals in the soil determined by a sequential chemical extraction, indicated that extractability changed with time. A certain increase was found from the beginning to the end of the experiment particularly for Zn, from 23.3 mg kg⁻¹ to 45.1 mg kg⁻¹ in extractable forms. Nevertheless the extractable amounts are rather small in respect to the total heavy metal content of compost.     

Localization of growth arrest-specific genes on mouse Chromosomes 1, 7, 8, 11, 13, and 16

Growth arrest in NIH3T3 cells is associated with increased expression of a variety of mRNAs, several of which have been isolated as cDNA clones. Six of these growth arrest-specific (Gas) genes were mapped by following the inheritance of DNA restriction fragment length variants (RFLVs) associated with them in panels of recombinant inbred (RI) strains of mice and in the progeny of backcrosses both between laboratory mouse strains and between a laboratory strain and Mus spretus. The six genes are unlinked. Gas-1 maps to Chromosome (Chr) 13, Gas-2 to Chr 7, Gas-3 to Chr 11, Gas-4 to Chr 16, Gas-6 to Chr 8, and Gas-10 to Chr 1.     

Three major mesoplanktonic communities resolved by in situ imaging in the upper 500 m of the global ocean

Aim

The distribution of mesoplankton communities has been poorly studied at global scale, especially from in situ instruments. This study aims to (1) describe the global distribution of mesoplankton communities in relation to their environment and (2) assess the ability of various environmental-based ocean regionalizations to explain the distribution of these communities.

Location

Global ocean, 0–500 m depth.

Time Period

2008–2019.

Major Taxa Studied

Twenty-eight groups of large mesoplanktonic and macroplanktonic organisms, covering Metazoa, Rhizaria and Cyanobacteria.

Methods

From a global data set of 2500 vertical profiles making use of the Underwater Vision Profiler 5 (UVP5), an in situ imaging instrument, we studied the global distribution of large (>600 μm) mesoplanktonic organisms. Among the 6.8 million imaged objects, 330,000 were large zooplanktonic organisms and phytoplankton colonies, the rest consisting of marine snow particles. Multivariate ordination (PCA) and clustering were used to describe patterns in community composition, while comparison with existing regionalizations was performed with regression methods (RDA).

Results

Within the observed size range, epipelagic plankton communities were Trichodesmium-enriched in the intertropical Atlantic, Copepoda-enriched at high latitudes and in upwelling areas, and Rhizaria-enriched in oligotrophic areas. In the mesopelagic layer, Copepoda-enriched communities were also found at high latitudes and in the Atlantic Ocean, while Rhizaria-enriched communities prevailed in the Peruvian upwelling system and a few mixed communities were found elsewhere. The comparison between the distribution of these communities and a set of existing regionalizations of the ocean suggested that the structure of plankton communities described above is mostly driven by basin-level environmental conditions.

Main Conclusions

In both layers, three types of plankton communities emerged and seemed to be mostly driven by regional environmental conditions. This work sheds light on the role not only of metazoans, but also of unexpected large protists and cyanobacteria in structuring large mesoplankton communities.     

Effects of Sirolimus treatment on patients with β-Thalassemia: Lymphocyte immunophenotype and biological activity of memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells

Inhibitors of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) have been proposed to improve vaccine responses, especially in the elderly. Accordingly, testing mTOR inhibitors (such as Sirolimus) and other geroprotective drugs might be considered a key strategy to improve overall health resilience of aged populations. In this respect, Sirolimus (also known as rapamycin) is of great interest, in consideration of the fact that it is extensively used in routine therapy and in clinical studies for the treatment of several diseases. Recently, Sirolimus has been considered in laboratory and clinical studies aimed to find novel protocols for the therapy of hemoglobinopathies (e.g. β-Thalassemia). The objective of the present study was to analyse the activity of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in β-Thalassemia patients treated with Sirolimus, taking advantages from the availability of cellular samples of the NCT03877809 clinical trial. The approach was to verify IFN-γ releases following stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to stimulatory CEF and CEFTA peptide pools, stimulatory for CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells, respectively. The main results of the present study are that treatment of β-Thalassemia patients with Sirolimus has a positive impact on the biological activity and number of memory CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells releasing IFN-γ following stimulation with antigenic stimuli present in immunological memory. These data are to our knowledge novel and in our opinion of interest, in consideration of the fact that β-Thalassemia patients are considered prone to immune deficiency.     

Spermatozoon Ultrastructure in Two Species of Amphibolus (Eutardigrada,Eohypsibiidae)

We examined the ultrastructure of the spermatozoa from two species of eutardigrades, gonochoristic Amphibolus volubilis and hermaphroditic A. weglarskae, by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The gametes from the two species were morphologically quite similar, each consisting of a short head, neck and tail. The head included a conic, corkscrew-shaped, bilayered acrosome and a cylindrical nucleus with condensed chromatin. The nucleus is surrounded by cytoplasm organized in ovoid elements with an electron-dense core. The neck is very simple, containing a centriole and unmodified mitochondria. The flagellum contains a 9+2 axoneme and terminates in a tuft of between eight and 10 microtubules. The spermatozoa of Amphibolus, like those of the other eutardigrades, are of the modified type, but nonetheless maintain some primitive aspects of the gametes from heterotardigrades.     

Evidence for increased intracellular transport of m-sarcolysine (alkylating moiety) when combined with two amino acid analogs (PTT-119)

PTT-119 is an antineoplastic agent in which an alkylating moiety, m-sarcolysine, is linked to two amino acid analogs. Previous studies showed a higher "in vitro" cytotoxicity of PTT-119 when compared to free m-sarcolysine; the mechanisms of this enhanced activity are not completely understood. In this study we incubated peripheral blood cells from 8 chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients with both m-sarcolysine and equimolar concentrations of PTT-119, measuring the intracellular concentration of the alkylating moiety. We observed a significantly higher intracellular concentration of m-sarcolysine in cells incubated with the peptide-bound drug than with the free drug (58.3 +/- 39.6 versus 4.4 +/- 1.9 ng/10(6) cells; P = 0.013). This observation could explain the higher cytotoxic activity of PTT-119 and the lack of cross-resistance with melphalan.     

Variations of soil structure and microbial population in a compost amended soil

Changes in soil structure and in microbial population were recorded in a long term field experiment over the growing season of maize (June–November). Determinations were made on samples from plots which had received, for two years, the following treatments: mineral fertilizers, farmyard manure and three rates of compost. Seasonal variations were observed for the stability of soil aggregates, total porosity, pore size distribution, mycorrhizal infection and aerobic cellulolytic microorganisms. The stability of the soil aggregates changed in a similar way to that found for both mycorrhizal infection and the number of aerobic cellulolytic microorganisms. Physical characteristics were not affected in any instance by the organic dressings and microbiological populations were generally influenced only by the higher doses of compost.     

Studies on the possible biological effects of 50 Hz electric and/or magnetic fields: Evaluation of some glycolytic enzymes,glycolytic flux,energy and oxido-reductive potentials in human erythrocytes exposed in vitro to power frequency fields

An attempt has been made to understand whether 50 Hz electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) are involved in producing bioeffects by exposing human erythrocytes in vitro. The study evaluated some key glycolytic enzymes, glucose consumption, lactate production, energy charge, 2,3-diphosphoglycerate, and reduced glutathione levels. all of which are biochemical parameters significant to erythrocyte function. Cells exposed to individual or superimposed EMFs have not shown any significant difference compared with the controls. © 1993 Wiley-Liss. Inc.