Feature Analysis for Classification of Physical Actions using surface EMG Data

Based on recent health statistics, there are several thousands of people with limb disability and gait disorders that require a medical assistance. A robot assisted rehabilitation therapy can help them recover and return to a normal life. In this scenario, a successful methodology is to use the EMG signal based information to control the support robotics. For this mechanism to function properly, the EMG signal from the muscles has to be sensed and then the biological motor intention has to be decoded and finally the resulting information has to be communicated to the controller of the robot. An accurate detection of the motor intention requires a pattern recognition based categorical identification. Hence in this paper, we propose an improved classification framework by identification of the relevant features that drive the pattern recognition algorithm. Major contributions include a set of modified spectral moment based features and another relevant inter-channel correlation feature that contribute to an improved classification performance. Next, we conducted a sensitivity analysis of the classification algorithm to different EMG channels. Finally, the classifier performance is compared to that of the other state-of the art algorithm

Assessing the recreation values at risk from wildfire: an exploratory analysis

The levels of participation in various types of outdoor recreation in forested areas are substantial. Studies have shown that over 18.5 million days, representing approximately 80% of recreation user days, were spent by Canadians in recreational activities in forested lands. Furthermore, recreation has significant social and economic value that should be reflected in management decisions if sustainable forest management is to be achieved. The importance of recreation in forests has resulted in the selection of measures of recreation participation as one of the relevant indicators of sustainable forest management reporting in Canada. This suggests that recreation areas should be an important component of the values of forest at risk due to loss from wildfire. However, the presence of recreationists, who are considered to be the highest values at risk, dispersed on the fire prone landscape presents some issues for fire management agencies. These issues include the possibility of recreationists perishing in a wildfire and/or the possibility of fire starts as a result of recreation activities which are projected to increase into the future. For fire management agencies that strive to suppress all wildfires, the latter issue is particularly challenging when faced with resource constraints. Thus, a move away from suppression of all wildfires to suppression based on protecting highest values at risk is needed. An explicit incorporation of recreation values is advantageous in that these values are closely linked to the presence of recreationists. Therefore, during fire events, directing resources to high value recreation areas fulfill a fire management goal of protecting highest values at risk as well as identifying areas of the landscape where the suppression efforts are to be directed.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Fat Absorption in Commercial French Fries Depending on Oil Type and Coating

This study examines the effect of edible coatings, type of oil used, and cooking method on the fat content of commercially available French fries. In contrast to earlier studies that examined laboratory prepared French fries, this study assesses commercially available French fries and cooking oils. This study also measured the fat content in oven baked French fries, comparing the two cooking methods in addition to the comparisons of different coatings’ oil uptake. The findings of this study were that the type of oil used did have a significant impact on the final oil content of the uncoated and seasoned fries. The fries coated in modified food starch and fried in peanut and soy oils had what appeared to be significantly higher oil content than those fried in corn oil or baked, but the difference was not statistically significant. Additionally, fat content in French fries with hydrocollidial coatings that were prepared in corn oil were not significantly different than French fries with the same coating that were baked

An Improved Compound Gaussian Model for Bivariate Surface EMG Signals Related to Strength Training

Recent literature suggests that the surface electromyography (sEMG) signals have non-stationary statistical characteristics specifically due to random nature of the covariance. Thus suitability of a statistical model for sEMG signals is determined by the choice of an appropriate model for describing the covariance. The purpose of this study is to propose a Compound-Gaussian (CG) model for multivariate sEMG signals in which latent variable of covariance is modeled as a random variable that follows an exponential model. The parameters of the model are estimated using the iterative Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm. Further, a new dataset, electromyography analysis of human activities database 2 (EMAHA-DB2) is developed. Based on the model fitting analysis on the sEMG signals from EMAHA-DB2, it is found that the proposed CG model fits more closely to the empirical pdf of sEMG signals than the existing models. The proposed model is validated by visual inspection, further validated by matching central moments and better quantitative metrics in comparison with other models. The proposed compound model provides an improved fit to the statistical behavior of sEMG signals. Further, the estimate of rate parameter of the exponential model shows clear relation to the training weights. Finally, the average signal power estimates of the channels shows distinctive dependency on the training weights, the subject's training experience and the type of activity.Comment: This article supersedes arXiv:2301.05417. This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessibl

Coenzyme Q10 deficiencies: pathways in yeast and humans.

Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone or CoQ) is an essential lipid that plays a role in mitochondrial respiratory electron transport and serves as an important antioxidant. In human and yeast cells, CoQ synthesis derives from aromatic ring precursors and the isoprene biosynthetic pathway. Saccharomyces cerevisiae coq mutants provide a powerful model for our understanding of CoQ biosynthesis. This review focusses on the biosynthesis of CoQ in yeast and the relevance of this model to CoQ biosynthesis in human cells. The COQ1-COQ11 yeast genes are required for efficient biosynthesis of yeast CoQ. Expression of human homologs of yeast COQ1-COQ10 genes restore CoQ biosynthesis in the corresponding yeast coq mutants, indicating profound functional conservation. Thus, yeast provides a simple yet effective model to investigate and define the function and possible pathology of human COQ (yeast or human gene involved in CoQ biosynthesis) gene polymorphisms and mutations. Biosynthesis of CoQ in yeast and human cells depends on high molecular mass multisubunit complexes consisting of several of the COQ gene products, as well as CoQ itself and CoQ intermediates. The CoQ synthome in yeast or Complex Q in human cells, is essential for de novo biosynthesis of CoQ. Although some human CoQ deficiencies respond to dietary supplementation with CoQ, in general the uptake and assimilation of this very hydrophobic lipid is inefficient. Simple natural products may serve as alternate ring precursors in CoQ biosynthesis in both yeast and human cells, and these compounds may act to enhance biosynthesis of CoQ or may bypass certain deficient steps in the CoQ biosynthetic pathway

Tourists' motivations to travel: a theoretical perspective on the existing literature

Purpose - Current study is an attempt to look into the various theoretical concepts/ theories that help to understand what motivates individuals, especially young people, to travel and which are the practical implications of the analysed theories. In particular, we chose Maslow's Theory of Needs to analyse youth travel motivations. Research Design - The study draws its base from two streams of literature, one being associated with motivations and the other dealing with the question of how motivations can influence travelling patterns of an individual. The literature review was done extensively and articles published in the domain of tourist motivations and related areas were traced and reviewed. Findings - Our analysis of youth tourism centred on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and confirmed its validity as an explanation of the most important youth travellers' motivations. The results also indicate that, due to recent technological developments affecting societies and young tourists' behaviours - especially those of Millennia's - new needs have emerged, which are discussed in detail. Research Limitations - The research has been carried out in light of the available literature and it fails to address empirical evidence. Also, the analysis of youth tourism needs to be extended to other motivation theories as those which are presented in this work