Wearable sensors, cerebral palsy and gait assessment in everyday environments: is it a reality? A systematic review

This systematic review aimed to investigate emerging methods used to quantify gait parameters in children with cerebral palsy (CP) in everyday environments. The StArt computational tool automatically screened the following databases: ACM, Engineering Village, IEEE, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science from inception to June 2018. Studies reporting the use of wearable sensors to assess gait in daily settings in children with CP were included. Data regarding 1563 studies were extracted, but only three studies could be included on the basis of the inclusion/exclusion criteria. These studies proposed wearable technologies based on the use of signals provided by triaxial accelerometers and force resistive pressure sensors. These are able to track levels of activity and detect falls, gait deviations and gait symmetry in children with CP in their daily environments. To date, only two types of sensors have been tested in this population and it remains to be clarified how wearable sensors, used to quantify activity level, might benefit children with CP

The Female Gametophyte

The angiosperm female gametophyte is critical for plant reproduction. It contains the egg cell and central cell that become fertilized and give rise to the embryo and endosperm of the seed, respectively. Female gametophyte development begins early in ovule development with the formation of a diploid megaspore mother cell that undergoes meiosis. One resulting haploid megaspore then develops into the female gametophyte. Genetic and epigenetic processes mediate specification of megaspore mother cell identity and limit megaspore mother cell formation to a single cell per ovule. Auxin gradients influence female gametophyte polarity and a battery of transcription factors mediate female gametophyte cell specification and differentiation. The mature female gametophyte secretes peptides that guide the pollen tube to the embryo sac and contains protein complexes that prevent seed development before fertilization. Post-fertilization, the female gametophyte influences seed development through maternal-effect genes and by regulating parental contributions. Female gametophytes can form by an asexual process called gametophytic apomixis, which involves formation of a diploid female gametophyte and fertilization-independent development of the egg into the embryo. These functions collectively underscore the important role of the female gametophyte in seed and food production