Intelligent Grapevine Disease Detection Using IoT Sensor Network

The Internet of Things (IoT) has gained significance in agriculture, using remote sensing and machine learning to help farmers make high-precision management decisions. This technology can be applied in viticulture, making it possible to monitor disease occurrence and prevent them automatically. The study aims to achieve an intelligent grapevine disease detection method, using an IoT sensor network that collects environmental and plant-related data. The focus of this study is the identification of the main parameters which provide early information regarding the grapevine's health. An overview of the sensor network, architecture, and components is provided in this paper. The IoT sensors system is deployed in the experimental plots located within the plantations of the Research Station for Viticulture and Enology (SDV) in Murfatlar, Romania. Classical methods for disease identification are applied in the field as well, in order to compare them with the sensor data, thus improving the algorithm for grapevine disease identification. The data from the sensors are analyzed using Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and correlated with the results obtained using classical methods in order to identify and predict grapevine diseases. The results of the disease occurrence are presented along with the corresponding environmental parameters. The error of the classification system, which uses a feedforward neural network, is 0.05. This study will be continued with the results obtained from the IoT sensors tested in vineyards located in other regions.

May inflammatory markers be used for monitoring the continuous positive airway pressure effect in patients with obstructive sleep apnea and arrhythmias?

INTRODUCTION

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is defined by recurrent episodes of significant reduction or absence of the oro-nasal airflow during sleep, in the presence of thorax and abdominal movements and snoring. The pathophysiological consequences of intermittent hypoxia determined by OSAS are represented by systemic inflammation, the release of free oxygen radicals and activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Cardiac arrhythmias are a frequent comorbidity in patients with OSAS.

HYPOTHESIS

We hypothesized that the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy has an effect on inflammatory markers (erythrocyte sedimentation rate, fibrinogen, and red cell distribution width) in patients with OSAS and cardiac arrhythmias.

EVALUATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS

We tested this hypothesis on 52 patients diagnosed with OSAS and cardiac arrhythmias, divided into two groups: group A (patients who received CPAP therapy and pharmacological therapy) and group B (only pharmacological therapy). The patients were evaluated at enrollment (T0), at 3 and 6 months. We did not find a statistically significant difference of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and fibrinogen levels between the two groups. Regarding the red cell distribution width (RDW), the CPAP treatment seems to have improved the RDW values in patients who received this treatment. Also, in patients from group A, a significant decrease in the average heart rate was noticed after 3 months.

CONSEQUENCES

Fibrinogen and ESR cannot be used for monitoring the CPAP therapy in patients with OSAS and arrhythmias. Instead, the beneficial effect of CPAP in patients with OSAS and cardiac arrhythmias can be monitored with the help of the RDW, which could also be used for evaluating the cardiovascular risk in patients with OSAS and arrhythmias.

Measuring the hepatic venous pressure gradient in the upper digestive hemorrhages

The upper digestive hemorrhage is one of the main causes of mortality from liver cirrhosis (CH). The measurement of the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) by angiographic way can be used for the determination of the risk of hemorrhage. The aim of this study is to verify the influence of the HVPG measurement upon the survival in patients with CH and upper digestive hemorrhage. A retrospective pilot study on 33 patients with upper digestive hemorrhage divided into two groups according to the therapeutic attitude followed, was carried out. One group was classically treated, with variceal band ligation, non-elective beta-blockers and in emergency Octreotide. The other group was treated depending on the value of HVPG. From the moment of the first episode of digestive hemorrhage, the survival period was in average of 8.1 months for the patients with viral etiology and for those with alcoholic etiology it was of 19.7 months. In patients treated after HVPG measurement, the average survival period was of 34.2 months and in patients "classically" treated, the average survival period was of 15.5 months (significant difference). In conclusion, the measurement of HVPG allowed the selection of a high-risk group of patients. This permitted the making of a therapeutical decision with a significant prolongation of life in these patients.

Spleen preservation in a caudal pancreatic serous cystadenoma - case report

Cystic lesions of the pancreas are relatively rare entities but have been increasingly diagnosed in recent years due to advanced imaging techniques. This category encompasses pancreatic pseudocyst as well as a wide range of pancreatic tumors with benign behavior, borderline or primary malignant. Serous cystadenoma of the pancreas represents the most common benign pancreatic tumor, with a very low but well recognized malignant potential. The clinical presentation varies according to its size; small tumors may be asymptomatic and discovered incidentally, while large tumors are more likely symptomatic. We report the case of a female patient presenting with non-specific left abdominal pain, who was diagnosed through a CT scan with a caudal pancreatic tumor. The patient underwent spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy. The result of the histopathological examination revealed a serous cystadenoma.

Inflammatory, degenerative and vascular lesions in long-term dialysed patients

No other medical field but nephrology showed so important achievements as a result of concerted efforts of doctors, biologists and technicians. Considering that in renal insufficiency, regardless of its aetiology, the common path is represented by the transitory or definite damage of the "renal filter", many attempts have been made in order to reproduce the process of blood cleaning by the kidney.

AIM

The high prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in hemodialysed population suggested that the disease could begin before or during the stage of chronic renal insufficiency. We investigated the vascular lesions, especially the immunologic features of patients involved in hemodialysis programs. Our study reflects a general picture of the immunologic status of hemodialysed patients, helping to understand the special profile ofa hemodialysed patient.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Two groups have been selected and analyzed: one of 15 patients from the Hemodialysis Department in "Sfântul Ioan" Hospital, and another one composed of 30 patients with other diseases (the control group), from the Medical Department. The detection of specific antibodies against some HCV proteins corresponding to the most conserved regions of the viral genome has been done using the immune test LiaTEK HCV III. In the hemodialysed group, a blood sample has been drawn before and after the hemodialysis session, at 15-20 minutes, while in the other group the blood sample has been drawn together with the other tests. A flow cytometry examination was made at the Center of Immunology, in order to determine simultaneously several physical and chemical parameters. We analyzed the two groups of patients (HD/n=15; the reference group/n=30) regarding immunophenotyping, all types of lymphocytes and interleukin 2 (IL-2).

RESULTS

The results have classified the HD patients into three subgroups, depending on the mean of the results from flow cytometry exam, referred to normal values. The assessment of the patients with or without HD to each group was made on the basis of the similar behavior of the markers investigated. The most affected age group in patients with HD was 31-40 years, followed by the age group 41-50 years (26%). The majority patients of the control group were of the same age 31-40 years old (40%), while 33% of them were between 41 and 50 years old. One subgroup (A) of HD patients showed the improvement of the total number of T lymphocytes (CD3+/CD19-) after the session, while the total number of B lymphocytes was stable. The number ofT lymphocytes with receptors for interleukin 2 (CD25) improved after hemodialysis. The second group (B) presented from the beginning a low number of total T lymphocytes (CD3+/CD19-). We found that the value of B lymphocytes (CD19+/CD3-) decreased after hemodialysis. Activated T lymphocytes (CD25), with receptors for interleukin 2, achieved greater values (3.66%), which cannot be found in the other groups. The third group (C) showed normal values for total T lymphocytes (CD3+/CD19-) before HD, which did not modify significantly after the session. The patients had the same decreased values for B lymphocytes, which have continued to decrease after the HD (7.98%).

CONCLUSIONS

Post dialytic immunologic changes of the mononuclear cells represent the hallmark of the complexity of the immune response generally and especially too, in hemodialysed patients. We have noticed patients that presented an increase of the total number of T lymphocytes after the dialysis, but only T and NK lymphocytes and not B lymphocytes as well, suggesting the susceptibility to infections. The evaluation of the immune response using flow cytometry has confirmed the presence of high variations of the immune profile in hemodialysed patients, the decrease of T-cells activation but, it does not support the data regarding intrinsic functions of T and B cells. The high diversity of the immune response in hemodialysed patients is a consequence of the genetic individuality of each patient and also of the associated pathology or equipment used (viral infection, membrane type).

The usefulness of immunohistochemistry in sporadic colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer is an important disease with a large morbidity and mortality and also with increasing health care costs because of widespread of the multi-modal therapy and of the new drugs that continue to appear. There are 678.000 colorectal cancer cases and 400.000 deaths from the disease worldwide. It is the second commonest cause of cancer death in the European Union but, unlike the commonest cause of cancer related death that is lung cancer, the basis of the disease initiation is currently not understood. At the same time, the incidence increases with age, the carcinomas being rare before the age of 40 years, excepting individuals with genetic predisposition or predisposing conditions such as inflammatory bowel diseases. The early detection of colorectal cancer is potential associated with an important decrease of the cancer related mortality.

AIM

Our study proposes to find out the significance of some immunohistochemical markers (VEGF, p53, CK20 and CEA) in sporadic colorectal carcinoma cases and to establish the statistical correlations between molecular markers and tumor grade and stage.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We investigated histopathological 40 inpatients (19 female and 21 males) who undergone surgery for colorectal carcinomas in "Sf. Ioan" Emergency Hospital, Bucharest, between September 2005-September 2006. We proceeded the histopathological examination to establish the grade, stage and the main features of the tumors, and then we analyzed using ABC method for immunohistochemistry the following markers for 20 selected cases: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), carcinoembrionic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin 20 (CK20), and p53 oncoprotein. Finally, we analyzed statistical the results using t-Student test.

RESULTS

The distribution of colorectal cancer cases (n = 40) regarding the age has showed the preponderance of patients older than 70 years (22/55%) and a small percentage of younger adults (2/5%). The repartition of colorectal tumors of sex ratio outlines a small difference between males (21/52.5%), and females (19/47.5%). The histopathological analysis of tumor grade in the 40 cases has revealed a high percent of moderate grade tumors (23/57.5%), in comparison with the poor differentiated tumors (11/27.5%) and the well-differentiated cancers (6/15%). The neovascularity within the stroma, the main features of tumor growth, has been noticed in 15 cases (3.75%), and also an important inflammatory lymphocyte infiltrate in nine cases (22.5%). We have noticed positive correlation between VEGF1 and CK20 (r = 0.4, p = 0.05), and between VEGF1 and CEA (r = 0.88, p = 0.001). In addition, our results demonstrate a positive correlation between tumor grade and CEA (r = 0.43, p = 0.009), and no relation among the other markers.

CONCLUSIONS

Our present study shows that CK20 and CEA are positive immunostaining markers no matter the stage (100%). The oncoprotein p53 has been negative in T1 and T2 stages, but in advanced stages has been positive in a half of cases (50%). Regarding the location, p53 and VEGF showed positively results whatever the topography. We have noticed a direct proportional relation in VEGF expression and CEA, and CEA and tumor grade (r = 0.88, p<0.001).

Clinical factors and biomarkers in ovarian tumors development

Ovarian cancer is a disease difficult to detect in early stages due to nonspecific symptoms and has a rapid progression with frequent relapses after radical surgical procedure. For these reasons, ovarian cancer generally represents the fourth cause of death through cancer in females, while in our country it is surpassed only by cervix cancer. The reduced survival is associated with the absence of symptoms, especially in early stages. Therefore, the diagnosis is delayed, when the metastases are already present and the prognosis is poor. While the etiology of the ovarian cancer is less understood, the histopathological studies and experiments regarding ovarian cancer development suggest that the majority of the tumors refined to the surface epithelium, a cuboidal layer that lays the ovary. It is still unclear if the molecular changes in this layer generate a neoplastic precursor that can be used for establishing an early diagnosis. None of the changes of the involved genes (p53, k-Ras, Her-2/neu, c-Myc, etc.) does seem to follow certain steps. We analyzed histological and immunohistochemical a group of 60 female patients admitted during January 2004 and January 2005 in Surgery Clinic of "Sfantul Ioan" Emergency Hospital, Bucharest. Our study reveals that a high percent (68.33%) of females had a correct diagnosis at admission, only five patients (8.33%) being diagnosed with other diseases. In 86.66% of cases, total hysterectomy with bilateral anexectomy has been made, in two cases (3.33%) tumor resection was the only needed therapy and in 19 cases (31.66%) peritoneal implants were found. More than 75% were serous tumors, 20% mucinous carcinoma and 5% borderline ovarian tumors. We found three cases of borderline tumors (5%) that histopathological proved to be serous tumors. The analysis of hormone receptors showed estrogen receptors in 32 cases (71.1%) of serous ovarian adenocarcinoma, in seven cases (58.33%) of mucinous adenocarcinoma, all three cases (100%) of borderline tumors and in four cases (21.05%) of the 19 with peritoneal implants. Progesterone receptors were found in 27 cases (60%) of serous carcinoma, five cases (41.66%) of mucinous carcinoma, one case (33.33%) of borderline tumors and five cases (26.31%) with peritoneal metastases. Immunohistochemical study of CerbB-2 showed positively only in 37 cases (82.22%) of serous carcinomas, five cases (41.66%) of mucinous carcinomas, one case (33.33%) of borderline tumor and eight cases (42.10%) with peritoneal metastases. All tumor types presented positives for CA125 (91.1% in serous tumors, 83.33% in mucinous tumors, 33.33% in borderline tumors and 73.68% in tumors with peritoneal implants. The investigated proliferative factors p53 and Ki-67 demonstrated correlation with tumor aggressiveness. Lack of positivity in borderline tumors and strong positivity in serous and mucinous carcinomas shows correlations with literature. This study outlines that an immunohistochemical analysis of certain antibodies cannot offer useful data regarding the prognosis or the screening for ovarian cancer.