Abstract
We demonstrate in this research that surface-enhanced resonance Raman scattering combined with Raman imaging can be effectively used for analysis of distinct forms of organic dyes in antimicrobial Ag-loaded textile fibers. The potential of this approach, as a non-destructive characterization method of fabrics, was evaluated with Raman studies performed on the molecular forms of methylene blue (MB), used here as the organic dye model. On the basis of the surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra of MB monomers and dimers, the Raman imaging of Ag-loaded linen fibers previously treated with MB solution was performed and then used for identification of the adsorbate species in distinct regions of the substrates. A semi-quantitative analysis is then performed by considering the area of the Raman bands ascribed to the MB molecular forms and image analysis applied to Raman images. Copyright (c) 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract
A computational method for optical fiber trapping of healthy and Malariainfected blood cells characterization is proposed. A trapping force relation with the infection stage was found, which could trigger the development of a diagnostic sensor. © OSA 2017.

Abstract
While most physical systems or phenomena occur in continuous-time, identification methods based on discrete-time models are more widespread among practitioners and academic community, possibly due to the discrete-time nature of the data records. There has been a growing interest in estimating continuous-time (CT) models in the last decade. This work develops algorithms to estimate the parameters of multivariable state-space CT models from input-output samples using a method based on the recently developed MOLI-ZOFT approach. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using real data from an industrial winding process.

Abstract
In this paper we introduce a new Android library, called ULTEMAT, for the delivery of ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) on mobile devices and we present its use in the MoodBuster app developed in the H2020 E-COMPARED project. We discuss context-aware, or event-based, triggers for the presentation of EMAs and discuss the potential they have to improve the effectiveness of mobile provision of mental health interventions as they allow for the delivery of assessments to the patients when and where these are most appropriate. Following this, we present the abilities of ULTEMAT to use such context-aware triggers to schedule EMAs and we discuss how a similar approach can be used for Ecological Momentary Interventions (EMIs).

Abstract

Abstract
The impact of inherited genetic variation on gene expression in humans is well-established. The majority of known expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) impact expression of local genes (cis-eQTLs). More research is needed to identify effects of genetic variation on distant genes (trans-eQTLs) and understand their biological mechanisms. One common trans-eQTLs mechanism is “mediation” by a local (cis) transcript. Thus, mediation analysis can be applied to genome-wide SNP and expression data in order to identify transcripts that are “cis-mediators” of trans-eQTLs, including those “cis-hubs” involved in regulation of many trans-genes. Identifying such mediators helps us understand regulatory networks and suggests biological mechanisms underlying trans-eQTLs, both of which are relevant for understanding susceptibility to complex diseases. The multitissue expression data from the Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) program provides a unique opportunity to study cis-mediation across human tissue types. However, the presence of complex hidden confounding effects in biological systems can make mediation analyses challenging and prone to confounding bias, particularly when conducted among diverse samples. To address this problem, we propose a new method: Genomic Mediation analysis with Adaptive Confounding adjustment (GMAC). It enables the search of a very large pool of variables, and adaptively selects potential confounding variables for each mediation test. Analyses of simulated data and GTEx data demonstrate that the adaptive selection of confounders by GMAC improves the power and precision of mediation analysis. Application of GMAC to GTEx data provides new insights into the observed patterns of cis-hubs and trans-eQTL regulation across tissue types.