Search

The Blue-Cloud project developed a cyber platform bringing together and providing access to multidisciplinary data from observations and models, analytical tools, and computing facilities essential to support research to better understand and manage the many aspects of ocean sustainability. The Blue-Cloud platform architecture consists of two major families of components: (a) the Blue Cloud Data Discovery and Access service to serve federated discovery and access to 'blue data' infrastructures, and (b) the Blue Cloud Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to provide a Blue Cloud VRE as a federation of computing platforms and analytical services. This Deliverable D4.6 "Blue Cloud VRE Operation (Release 2)" is the revised and updated version of the D4.1 "Blue Cloud VRE Operation (Release 1)" [10]. It reports on the Blue-Cloud Virtual Research Environment (VRE) by complementing the architecture and infrastructure described in [9], where the constituents have been discussed. Specifically, this deliverable focuses on how the components have been exploited and operated to support the development of the Blue-Cloud gateway https://blue-cloud.d4science.org, its underlying infrastructure, and the VLabs. 9 Blue-Cloud VLabs were created and operated in the first period, while an additional 5 Blue-Cloud VLabs were created and operated in the second reporting period, from M17 (February 2021) to M35 (September 2022), bringing the total on 14 operational VLabs. Two VLabs of the second reporting period are specifically conceived to support the developments of the Blue-Cloud Demonstrators: (i) The Plankton Genomics VLab has been developed in the context of the Demonstrator #2, and (ii) The Marine Environmental Indicators Dev VLab has been developed in the context of the Demonstrator #3 - Marine Environmental Indicators. In order to support the Blue-Cloud Hackathon1 event held in February 2022 the (iii) Blue-Cloud Hackathon VLab has been developed. Finally, in the framework of the Blue-Cloud synergies programme two additional VLabs were developed as pilots to support the work of (iv) the JERICO-CORE multi-platform research infrastructure dedicated to a holistic appraisal of coastal marine system changes, and (v) the JONAS initiative, addressing the issue of underwater noise in the Atlantic Seas. These working environments are serving more than 1,300 users in total spread across more than 20 countries. Up to mid of September 2022, a total of more than 25,700 working sessions have been executed, with an average of 1,286 working sessions per month since the start of the Blue-Cloud project in October 2019. A total of more than 2,230 analytics sessions have been executed by the users of the VLabs, with an average of 55 working sessions per month. From M17 (February 2021) to M35 (September 2022), a total of 212 tickets have been created and managed in the Blue-Cloud Project Issue Trackers (85% have been closed). Moreover, 34 tickets related to Blue-Cloud have been created in the D4Science overall context (88% have been closed).

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to correlate the self-report oral health, oral hygiene and dental assistance with clinic intercurrences with hospitalization in adults in End-Stage Kidney Disease patients. METHODS Seventy-seven patients were interviewed during dialysis therapy concerning their self-report oral health, oral hygiene habits and available dental assistance. Clinical intercurrences were assessed in clinical records. Pearson correlations and linear regression tests were applied for statistical analysis. RESULTS There was a strong negative correlation between the number of brushing times/day and patient hospitalization; there was a negative correlation between oral health and patient hospitalization, there was a positive correlation between the number of teeth in the mouth and oral diseases. CONCLUSIONS The study shows an important correlation between oral health, oral hygiene habits, dental assistance and clinical intercurrences with hospitalization in dialysis patients. The results are weighty to establish protocols that can, directly improve, critical health outcomes of end-stage kidney disease patients under dialysis treatment.

The efficacy and safety of nonionic dimeric contrast media in subjects with impaired renal function is largely unknown. The present study was aimed at determining the risk of tubular nephrotoxicity in patients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency who underwent intravenous urography (IVU) with the nonionic dimeric contrast agent iodixanol (Visipaque, Nycomed Imaging, Oslo, Norway). In a double-blind protocol 64 patients (55 males; mean age 68.3 years) with serum creatinine between 135 and 265 micromol/l who were to undergo IVU were randomized to receive iodixanol (a nonionic dimer) or iopromide (a nonionic monomer), 600 mg I/kg b. w. Renal function was evaluated before and 1 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h and 7 days after IVU with analysis of serum creatinine, urinary enzymes alanylaminopeptidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase, and urinary microproteins alpha-1-microglobulin and albumin. Renal function remained stable in both contrast medium groups during the follow-up period. No statistically significant differences were observed between the monomer and the dimer in terms of urinary enzyme and microprotein excretion or serum creatinine. Transient radiocontrast-induced nephropathy developed in 1 patient who had received iodixanol. The administration of the nonionic dimeric contrast medium iodixanol, or of the nonionic monomer iopromide, entailed a low nephrotoxic potential in patients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency undergoing excretory urography.

Phase contrast x-ray imaging is a powerful technique for the detection of low-contrast details in weakly absorbing objects. This method is of possible relevance in the field of diagnostic radiology. In fact, imaging low-contrast details within soft tissue does not give satisfactory results in conventional x-ray absorption radiology, mammography being a typical example. Nevertheless, up to now all applications of the phase contrast technique, carried out on thin samples, have required radiation doses substantially higher than those delivered in conventional radiological examinations. To demonstrate the applicability of the method to mammography we produced phase contrast images of objects a few centimetres thick while delivering radiation doses lower than or comparable to doses needed in standard mammographic examinations (typically approximately 1 mGy mean glandular dose (MGD)). We show images of a custom mammographic phantom and of two specimens of human breast tissue obtained at the SYRMEP bending magnet beamline at Elettra, the Trieste synchrotron radiation facility. The introduction of an intensifier screen enabled us to obtain phase contrast images of these thick samples with radiation doses comparable to those used in mammography. Low absorbing details such as 50 microm thick nylon wires or thin calcium deposits (approximately 50 microm) within breast tissue, invisible with conventional techniques, are detected by means of the proposed method. We also find that the use of a bending magnet radiation source relaxes the previously reported requirements on source size for phase contrast imaging. Finally, the consistency of the results has been checked by theoretical simulations carried out for the purposes of this experiment.

Orthognathic surgery is generally indicated for the treatment of maxillo-mandibular deformities. Surgery is performed to repair functional abnormalities, but also has a cosmetic impact.We conducted a retrospective study of 60 patients who underwent orthognathic surgery in 1996 and 1997 in order to assess patient perception of functional and cosmetic outcome. A questionnaire was sent to all patients one year after their surgery; 45 responded.We noted cosmetic, functional, and psychological changes. Patients considered that the changes were for the better. For functional abnormalities, 88.9% considered their occlusion had improved and 80% their chewing; 73.4% reported psychological improvement stating they had more self-confidence; 97.8% considered their cosmetic aspect had improved.This study enabled us to assess patients' perception of surgical outcome. It must be recalled that the patient basically decides to undertake surgery for cosmetic reasons while the surgeon proposes surgery to improve function. The psychological consequences of orthognathic surgery must be taken into account because the impact is considerable.

Non-ionic dimers induce less diuresis than non-ionic monomers, resulting in increased opacification of the urinary tract in intravenous (i.v.) urography. This double blind, comparative, randomized, parallel trial compared the efficacy of iodixanol (non-ionic dimer) and iopromide (non-ionic monomer) in 100 patients with mild to moderate renal insufficiency (serum creatinine of 135 to 265 mumol l-1) who underwent i.v. urography. A total dose of 600 mgI kg-1 bw of iodixanol (320 mgI ml-1) or iopromide (300 mgI ml-1) was injected. Radiographs were blindly evaluated by three radiologists who analysed different parameters (renal border visualization, nephrogram density, calyceal filling and density, papillary blush detection, delineation of collecting ducts, renal pelvis opacification, visualization of ureters, bladder density, bladder distention). Densitometric evaluation on the renal pelvis and bladder was also performed. Iodixanol showed better filling and density of the calyces (p = 0.004), more frequent detection of papillary blush (p = 0.003) and better opacification of the renal pelvis (p = 0.006). No significant differences between the two contrast media were found in regard to other parameters. In conclusion, the results confirmed theoretical expectations. The non-ionic dimer iodixanol is to be preferred to a non-ionic monomer such as iopromide in i.v. urography on patients with impaired renal function.

The role of Doppler techniques in the differential diagnosis of benign from malignant solid breast lesions remains to be defined; indeed, it is still debated whether the diagnostic findings of Doppler US add further information to mammographic and B-mode US results. We investigated the diagnostic effectiveness of Doppler techniques in the differential diagnosis of breast nodules, especially in a selected group of patients with questionable diagnosis because of atypical morphological features or benign appearance detected in women over 40 years old. Color Doppler studies were performed on 111 breast nodules with solid features at US; 53 vascularized lesions were also studied with duplex Doppler. All the nodules were submitted to biopsy, which demonstrated 6 nonvascularized lesions to be complicated cysts. There were 105 solid breast nodules (65 benign and 40 malignant). Color Doppler US showed vascular signals in 71% of benign nodules, mainly at the periphery. 12% of benign nodules had Doppler signals of malignancy at color Doppler US; 92% of malignant lesions was vascularized, with irregular intratumoral signals in 37% of them. The peak systolic velocity and the resistive index were higher in malignant tumors (p0.02); peak systolic velocity changed in malignant lesions according to tumor size (p0.01). Color Doppler correctly suspected malignancy in 62% of the nodules with questionable features; conversely, 31% of the nodules with questionable findings and no color Doppler signs of malignancy proved malignant at biopsy. In conclusion, the role of Doppler studies remains currently limited in the differential diagnosis of solid breast lesions.

Fifty-three ankles of 29 normal volunteers were examined with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to improve the anatomical MR knowledge of tibiotalar and subtalar joints. The aim of our study was therefore to assess the visibility of articular cartilages, tendons and ligaments of the ankle and to define the best scan plane for their visualization. MR studies were performed with SE T1-weighted sequences on the sagittal, coronal and axial planes. The visibility of articular cartilages was 70.8% for the tibiotalar joint and 56.3% for the subtalar joint. All ankle tendons and four of the eight ankle ligaments considered in our study were assessed, at least on one of the sagittal, coronal or axial planes, with over 70% visibility. The deltoid ligament was detected in 95% of the cases on coronal images, the anterior and the posterior talofibular ligaments were seen respectively in 82% and in 75% of the cases on axial images, while the interosseous ligament was detected in 87.5% of the cases on sagittal images. Our study assessed both the capabilities and the limitations of MRI in the detection of anatomical structures of the tibiotalar and subtalar joints and defined the best scan plane for their visualization.

The Campania Region has the highest prevalence rate of smokers in Italy and lowest age of initiation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the target age for antismoking health education campaign and the risk factors of becoming a smoker. A total of 5.1% of the students in the 8th grade in Benevento smoked, and 12.1% were considered at risk for this behaviour. The presence of at least one smoking sibling or friend was a mayor risk factor, while smoking was not associated with parents' profession or smoking habits. Smoking habit begins spreading among 11-13 years old children and it increases exponentially later: a great potential for prevention exists because the problem is perceived but most of students are free.

The SYRMEP (SYnchrotron Radiation for MEdical Physics) imaging system is based on the combination of a monochromatic laminar X-ray beam, with a laminar high-efficiency pixel silicon detector. The use of synchrotron radiation X-rays has the advantage of minimising the radiation dose delivered to the sample because it is possible to choose the best energy for the considered radiological examination. The high efficiency of the detector (about 90% in 18-28 keV energy range) also lowers this dose figure. Since the detector is capable of single-photon counting, the information contained in the beam is fully exploited, leading to high contrast resolution. The present phase of the SYRMEP project involves a systematic study of in vitro breast tissue samples. The same samples are then imaged by means of a conventional mammographic Mo anode tube used in the common diagnostic practice and recorded on film/screen system. The comparison of the two imaging modalities shows the advantages, with special regard to contrast resolution, of the SYRMEP imaging system compared with conventional film-screen devices.