Wine corks decontamination using plasma activated water.

Cork taint provides off-odors and changes negatively wine composition. In fact, it is one of the most important causes of discarding bottled wine. 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) is the most known molecule responsible of that problem. In this study, cork stoppers were artificially contaminated with a multi-pattern solution which contained different chloroanisoles and chlorophenols. Contaminated corks were immersed for 3 h in four Plasma Activated Water (PAW) generated during 1.5 min, 5 min, 15 min and 30 min. The products of OH•, NO• and NO2• with phenol were determined by HPLC for each PAW. After treating contaminated corks with PAW generated during 5 min, more than 72 % of TCA was removed and it was suggested OH• as the main reactive species decomposing TCA. Finally, other chloroanisole and chlorophenol molecules were examined after PAW treatments showing successful reductions in almost every molecule. Thus, it was presented PAW treatment as an easy solution for solving cork taint problems in wine industry.

Confounders contributing to explain the association between sex and disease impact in patients with recent-onset psoriatic arthritis.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of potential confounders on the association between sex and disease impact in recent-onset psoriatic arthritis. METHODS: We performed a multicentre observational prospective study (2-year follow-up, regular annual visits). The study population comprised patients aged ≥18 years who fulfilled the CASPAR criteria and less than 2 years since the onset of symptoms. The dataset was generated using data for each patient at the 3 visits (baseline, first year, and second year of follow-up) matched with the PsAID values at each of the 3 visits. Once variables associated with both PsAID ≥4 and sex were selected, those that led to a difference of >10% between the adjusted and crude estimations were identified as potential confounders in the association between sex and PsAID. Lastly, the final multivariate logistic regression model estimating the association between sex and PsAID was defined. RESULTS: The dataset contained 418 observations (158 at baseline, 135 at the first follow-up visit, and 125 at the second visit). The confounders identified in the multivariate model were HAQ, global pain, level of physical activity, and joint pattern at diagnosis. After adjustment for these variables, no statistically significant association was observed between female sex and PsAID ≥4. CONCLUSIONS: The association between female sex and greater disease impact could be explained by the influence of other variables, specifically higher HAQ score, greater intensity of pain, differences in the level of physical activity and in the joint pattern at diagnosis (lower frequency of the spondylitis pattern in women).

Quantum cyber-physical systems.

This paper aims to promote a quantum framework that analyzes Industry 4.0 cyber-physical systems more efficiently than traditional simulations used to represent integrated systems. The paper proposes a novel configuration of distributed quantum circuits in multilayered complex networks that enable the evaluation of industrial value creation chains. In particular, two different mechanisms for the integration of information between circuits operating at different layers are proposed, where their behavior is analyzed and compared with the classical conditional probability tables linked to the Bayesian networks. With the proposed method, both linear and nonlinear behaviors become possible while the complexity remains bounded. Applications in the case of Industry 4.0 are discussed when a component's health is under consideration, where the effect of integration between different quantum cyber-physical digital twin models appears as a relevant implication.

Development and characterization of anti-biofilm coatings applied by Non-Equilibrium Atmospheric Plasma on stainless steel.

Biofilm-mediated microbial persistence of pathogenic and spoilage bacteria is a serious problem in food industries. Due to the difficulty of removing mature biofilms, great efforts are being made to find new strategies to prevent bacterial adherence to surfaces, the first step for biofilm development. In this study, coatings of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (APTES), tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and acrylic acid (AA) were applied by Non-Equilibrium Atmospheric Plasma on stainless steel (SS) AISI 316, the SS most commonly used in food industry equipment. Their anti-biofilm activity was assessed against Listeria monocytogenes CECT911 and Escherichia coli CECT515 after incubation at 37 °C. The best results were obtained for L. monocytogenes, with coatings consisting of a base coating of APTES and a functional coating of TEOS (AP10 + TE6) or AA (AP10 + AA6) that reduced biofilm production by 45% and 74%, respectively, when compared with the uncoated SS. These coatings were further characterized, together with a variation of the best one that replaced the acrylic acid with succinic acid (AP10 + SA6). Their anti-biofilm activity was assessed under different incubation conditions, including two strains of L. monocytogenes isolated from processing environments of a meat industry. The coating AP10 + AA6 reduced the biofilm formation by 90% after incubation at 12 °C, a temperature more representative of those commonly found in food processing environments. The morphological and physico-chemical characterization of the selected coatings showed that the coating with the highest anti-biofilm activity (i.e., AP10 + AA6) had lower surface roughness and higher hydrophilicity. This suggests that the formation of a hydration layer prevents the adherence of L. monocytogenes, an effect that seems to be enhanced by low temperature conditions, when the wettability of the strains is increased.

Transcending Conventional Biometry Frontiers: Diffusive Dynamics PPG Biometry.

This paper presents the first photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal dynamic-based biometric authentication system with a Siamese convolutional neural network (CNN). Our method extracts the PPG signal's biometric characteristics from its diffusive dynamics, characterized by geometric patterns in the (p,q)-planes specific to the 0-1 test. PPG signal diffusive dynamics are strongly dependent on the vascular bed's biostructure, unique to each individual. The dynamic characteristics of the PPG signal are more stable over time than its morphological features, particularly in the presence of psychosomatic conditions. Besides its robustness, our biometric method is anti-spoofing, given the complex nature of the blood network. Our proposal trains using a national research study database with 40 real-world PPG signals measured with commercial equipment. Biometric system results for input data, raw and preprocessed, are studied and compared with eight primary biometric methods related to PPG, achieving the best equal error rate (ERR) and processing times with a single attempt, among all of them.

Industry 4.0 Quantum Strategic Organizational Design Configurations. The Case of 3 Qubits: One Reports to Two.

In this work we explore how the relationship between one subordinate reporting to two leaders influences the alignment of the latter with the company's strategic objectives in an Industry 4.0 environment. We do this through the implementation of quantum circuits that represent decision networks. This is done for two cases: One in which the leaders do not communicate with each other, and one in which they do. Through the quantum simulation of strategic organizational design configurations (QSOD) through 500 quantum circuit simulations, we conclude that in the first case both leaders are not simultaneously in alignment, and in the second case that both reporting nodes need to have an alignment probability higher than 90% to support the leader node.

Improvement of Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm for Max-Cut Problems.

The objective of this short letter is to study the optimal partitioning of value stream networks into two classes so that the number of connections between them is maximized. Such kind of problems are frequently found in the design of different systems such as communication network configuration, and industrial applications in which certain topological characteristics enhance value-stream network resilience. The main interest is to improve the Max-Cut algorithm proposed in the quantum approximate optimization approach (QAOA), looking to promote a more efficient implementation than those already published. A discussion regarding linked problems as well as further research questions are also reviewed.

Antibiofilm coatings through atmospheric pressure plasma for 3D printed surgical instruments.

Recently, medical applications for 3D printing are expanding rapidly and are expected to revolutionize health care, specifically, manufacturing surgical guides and protective face mask against coronavirus (COVID-19). These instruments come in contact with the human tissues, being necessary 3D printed materials free of pathogenic microbes or other contaminants. Therefore, they must be sterilized to avoid that bacteria can attach to the surface and produce biofilm. With the aim of avoiding bacterial biofilm formation and minimize the health risks, acrylic acid (AcAc) coatings applied by plasma-polymerization have been deposited on 3D printed polylactic acid (PLA) Petri dishes. Six antimicrobial-resistant clinical and two susceptible control strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus species were analyzed. AcAc coatings provide the surface with greater hydrophilicity and, consequently, the formation of a hydration layer, whose thickness is related to the surface roughness. This hydration layer could explain the reduction of bacterial attachment and, consequently, the biofilm formation. Antibiofilm coatings are more successful against P. aeruginosa strains than against S. aureus ones; due to some coatings presents a smaller topography scale than the P. aeruginosa length, reducting the contact area between the bacteria and the coating, and causing a potential rupture of the cellular membrane. AcAc coatings with less number of plasma passes were more effective, and showed up to a 50% relative biofilm reduction (in six of the eight strains studied) compared with the untreated plates.

Numerical Modeling for Simulation of Compaction of Refractory Materials for Secondary Steelmaking.

The purpose of this work is to simulate the powder compaction of refractory materials, using the discrete element method (DEM). The capability of two cohesive contact models, implemented in different DEM packages, to simulate the compaction of a mixture of two refractory materials (dead burnt magnesia (MgO) and calcined alumina (Al2O3)) was analyzed, and the simulation results were compared with experimental data. The maximum force applied by the punch and the porosity and final shape quality of the compact were examined. As a starting point, the influence of Young's modulus (E), the cohesion energy density (CED), and the diameter of the Al2O3 particles (D) on the results was analyzed. This analysis allowed to distinguish that E and CED were the most influential factors. Therefore, a more extensive examination of these two factors was performed afterward, using a fixed value of D. The analysis of the combined effect of these factors made it possible to calibrate the DEM models, and consequently, after this calibration, the compacts had an adequate final shape quality and the maximum force applied in the simulations matched with the experimental one. However, the porosity of the simulated compacts was higher than that of the real ones. To reduce the porosity of the compacts, lower values of D were also modeled. Consequently, the relative deviation of the porosity was reduced from 40-50% to 20%, using a value of D equal to 0.15 mm.

Comparison of Cohesive Models in EDEM and LIGGGHTS for Simulating Powder Compaction.

The purpose of this work was to analyse the compaction of a cohesive material using different Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulators to determine the equivalent contact models and to identify how some simulation parameters affect the compaction results (maximum force and compact appearance) and computational costs. For this purpose, three cohesion contact models were tested: linear cohesion in EDEM, and simplified Johnson-Kendall-Roberts (SJKR) and modified SJKR (SJKR2) in LIGGGHTS. The influence of the particle size distribution (PSD) on the results was also investigated. Further assessments were performed on the effect of (1) selecting different timesteps, (2) using distinct conversion tolerances to export the three-dimensional models to standard triangle language (STL) files, and (3) moving the punch with different speeds. Consequently, we determined that a timestep equal to a 10% Rayleigh timestep, a conversion tolerance of 0.01 mm, and a punch speed of 0.1 m/s is adequate for simulating the compaction process using the materials and the contact models in this work. The results showed that the maximum force was influenced by the PSD due to the rearrangement of the particles. The PSD was also related to the computational cost because of the number of simulated particles and their sizes. Finally, an equivalence was found between the linear cohesion and SJKR2 contact models.

Cuantificación del estrés: información incompleta más un exceso de triunfalismo. Réplica / Quantification of stress: incomplete information plus excessive triumphalism. Reply

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Proyecto ES3: intentando la cuantificación y medida del nivel de estrés / Project ES3: attempting to quantify and measure the level of stress

Introducción. La Organización Mundial de la Salud ha calificado al estrés de ‘epidemia mundial’, debido a su cada vez mayor incidencia en la salud. El trabajo que se presenta en este artículo representa un intento de cuantificar objetivamente el nivel de estrés. Objetivo. La metodología desarrollada tiene como objetivo medir cuán lejos o cuán cerca se encuentra un sujeto de una situación considerada médica y socialmente como ‘normal’. Sujetos y métodos. Se ha realizado un estudio bibliográfico de la fisiopatología del estrés y sus métodos de estudio, en experimentación animal y en humanos. Se han puesto en marcha nueve estudios prospectivos observacionales con distintas tipologías de sujetos y estresores que cubren las diferentes tipologías de estrés. Resultados. Como resultado del estudio bibliográfico, se han identificado las distintas tipologías de estrés, los indicadores que describen resultados significativos, los tests psicométricos y los ‘agentes estresantes’ bien documentados. Este material ha permitido diseñar la metodología general y el detalle de los nueve ensayos clínicos. Los resultados preliminares obtenidos en algunos de los estudios han servido para validar los indicadores, así como la eficacia de las técnicas utilizadas experimentalmente para disminuir el estrés o para producirlo. Conclusiones. Los resultados preliminares obtenidos en los ensayos experimentales muestran que se está en el camino correcto hacia la definición y validación de marcadores multivariable para la cuantificación de los niveles de estrés, y sugieren que la metodología puede ser aplicada de forma similar al estudio de trastornos mentales (AU)

Introduction. The WHO has qualified stress as a ‘world epidemic’ due to its increasingly greater incidence on health. The work described in this paper represents an attempt to objectively quantify the level of stress. Aim. The aim of the method developed here is to measure how close or how far a subject is from a situation that can be considered ‘normal’ in medical and social terms. Subjects and methods. The literature on the pathophysiology of stress and its methods of study in experiments on both animals and humans was reviewed. Nine prospective observational studies were undertaken with different types of subjects and stressors covering the different types of stress. Results. The results of the literature review made it possible to identify the different types of stress, the indicators that yield significant results, the psychometric tests and the well-documented ‘stressors’. This material was then used to design the general method and the details of the nine clinical trials. The preliminary results obtained in some of the studies were used to validate the indicators as well as the efficacy of the techniques used experimentally to diminish stress or to produce it. Conclusions. The early results obtained in the experimental trials show that we are on the right path towards defining and validating multivariable markers for quantifying levels of stress and also suggest that the method can be applied in a similar way to the study of mental disorders (AU)

Project ES3: attempting to quantify and measure the level of stress.

INTRODUCTION: The WHO has qualified stress as a 'world epidemic' due to its increasingly greater incidence on health. The work described in this paper represents an attempt to objectively quantify the level of stress. AIM: The aim of the method developed here is to measure how close or how far a subject is from a situation that can be considered 'normal' in medical and social terms. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The literature on the pathophysiology of stress and its methods of study in experiments on both animals and humans was reviewed. Nine prospective observational studies were undertaken with different types of subjects and stressors covering the different types of stress. RESULTS: The results of the literature review made it possible to identify the different types of stress, the indicators that yield significant results, the psychometric tests and the well-documented 'stressors'. This material was then used to design the general method and the details of the nine clinical trials. The preliminary results obtained in some of the studies were used to validate the indicators as well as the efficacy of the techniques used experimentally to diminish stress or to produce it. CONCLUSIONS: The early results obtained in the experimental trials show that we are on the right path towards defining and validating multivariable markers for quantifying levels of stress and also suggest that the method can be applied in a similar way to the study of mental disorders.

TITLE: Proyecto ES3: intentando la cuantificacion y medida del nivel de estres.Introduccion. La Organizacion Mundial de la Salud ha calificado al estres de 'epidemia mundial', debido a su cada vez mayor incidencia en la salud. El trabajo que se presenta en este articulo representa un intento de cuantificar objetivamente el nivel de estres. Objetivo. La metodologia desarrollada tiene como objetivo medir cuan lejos o cuan cerca se encuentra un sujeto de una situacion considerada medica y socialmente como 'normal'. Sujetos y metodos. Se ha realizado un estudio bibliografico de la fisiopatologia del estres y sus metodos de estudio, en experimentacion animal y en humanos. Se han puesto en marcha nueve estudios prospectivos observacionales con distintas tipologias de sujetos y estresores que cubren las diferentes tipologias de estres. Resultados. Como resultado del estudio bibliografico, se han identificado las distintas tipologias de estres, los indicadores que describen resultados significativos, los tests psicometricos y los 'agentes estresantes' bien documentados. Este material ha permitido diseñar la metodologia general y el detalle de los nueve ensayos clinicos. Los resultados preliminares obtenidos en algunos de los estudios han servido para validar los indicadores, asi como la eficacia de las tecnicas utilizadas experimentalmente para disminuir el estres o para producirlo. Conclusiones. Los resultados preliminares obtenidos en los ensayos experimentales muestran que se esta en el camino correcto hacia la definicion y validacion de marcadores multivariable para la cuantificacion de los niveles de estres, y sugieren que la metodologia puede ser aplicada de forma similar al estudio de trastornos mentales.

TAO-robust backpropagation learning algorithm.

In several fields, as industrial modelling, multilayer feedforward neural networks are often used as universal function approximations. These supervised neural networks are commonly trained by a traditional backpropagation learning format, which minimises the mean squared error (mse) of the training data. However, in the presence of corrupted data (outliers) this training scheme may produce wrong models. We combine the benefits of the non-linear regression model tau-estimates [introduced by Tabatabai, M. A. Argyros, I. K. Robust Estimation and testing for general nonlinear regression models. Applied Mathematics and Computation. 58 (1993) 85-101] with the backpropagation algorithm to produce the TAO-robust learning algorithm, in order to deal with the problems of modelling with outliers. The cost function of this approach has a bounded influence function given by the weighted average of two psi functions, one corresponding to a very robust estimate and the other to a highly efficient estimate. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are studied with an example.