Speech Features for Discriminating Stress Using Branch and Bound Wrapper Search

Stress detection from speech is a less explored field than Automatic Emotion Recognition and it is still not clear which features are better stress discriminants. VOCE aims at doing speech classification as stressed or not-stressed in real-time, using acoustic-prosodic features only. We therefore look for the best discriminating feature subsets from a set of 6285 features – 6125 features extracted with openSMILE toolkit and 160 Teager Energy Operator (TEO) features. We use a mutual information filter and a branch and bound wrapper heuristic with an SVM classifier to perform feature selection. Since many feature sets are selected, we analyse them in terms of chosen features and classifier performance concerning also true positive and false positive rates. The results show that the best feature types for our application case are Audio Spectral, MFCC, PCM and TEO. We reached results as high as 70.36% for generalisation accuracyinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

REALMS Study: Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Fingolimod in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis in Portugal

Background: Fingolimod, an oral sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor modulator, is approved by EMA for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Objectives: To assess the effectiveness and safety of fingolimod in patients with RRMS in real-world clinical practice in Portugal. Methods: Retrospective, multicentre, non-interventional study, reporting 3 years follow-up of data collected from October 2015 to July 2016. Sociodemographic data and previous treatments at baseline and data regarding disease evolution, including number of relapses, annualised relapse rates (ARR) and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), were collected. Results: Two-hundred and seventy-five participants were enrolled in the REALMS study. Results showed that the main reason to switch to fingolimod was failure of previous treatment (56.7%) and only 3.6% were naïve patients. In the total population, there was a significant decrease in ARR of 64.6% in the first year of treatment, 79.7% in the second year and 82.3% in the third year, compared with baseline. More than 67.0% of patients had no relapses during the 3 years after switching to fingolimod. EDSS remained stable throughout the study. Conclusions: Therapy with fingolimod showed a sustained effectiveness and safety over the 3 years, particularly on patients switched from first-line drugs (BRACE). No new safety issues were reported.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cardiovascular Responses During Resistance Exercise in Patients with Parkinson Disease

Background: Patients with Parkinson disease (PD) present cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction which impairs blood pressure control. However, cardiovascular responses during resistance exercise are unknown in these patients. Objective: Investigate the cardiovascular responses during resistance exercise performed with different muscle masses, in patients with PD. Design: Two groups, repeated-measures design. Setting: Exercise Hemodynamic Laboratory, School of Physical Education and Sport, University of São Paulo. Participants: Thirteen patients with PD (4 women, 62.7±1.3 years, stages 2-3 of modified Hoehn and Yahr scale; "on" state of medication) and thirteen paired controls without PD (7 women, 66.2±2.0years) Interventions: Both groups performed, in a random order, bilateral and unilateral knee extension exercises (2 sets, 10–12 RM, 2 min of interval). Main Outcome Measurements: Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate (HR) were assessed before (pre) and during the exercises. Results: Independent of set and exercise type, SBP and HR increases were significantly lower in PD than the control group (combined values: +45±2 vs. +73±4 mmHg and +18±1 vs. +31±2 bpm, P =.003 and .007, respectively). Independently of group and set, the SBP increase was greater in the bilateral than the unilateral exercise (combined values: +63±4 vs +54±3 mmHg, P=.002), while the HR increase was similar. In addition, independently of group and exercise type, the SBP increase was higher in the 2nd than the 1st set (combined values: +56±4 vs +61±4 mmHg, P=.04), while the HR increases were similar. Conclusions: Patients with PD present attenuated 25 increases in SBP and HR during resistance exercise in comparison with healthy subjects. These results support that resistance exercise is safe and well tolerated for patients with PD from a cardiovascular point of view supporting its recommendation for this population

Use of a polyphasic approach including MALDI-TOF MS for identification of Aspergillus section Flavi strains isolated from food commodities in Brazil

Brazil is one the largest producers and exporters of food commodities in the world. The evaluation of fungi capable of spoilage and the production mycotoxins in these commodities is an important issue that can be of help in bioeconomic development. The present work aimed to identify fungi of the genus Aspergillus section Flavi isolated from different food commodities in Brazil. Thirty-five fungal isolates belonging to the section Flavi were identified and characterised. Different classic phenotypic and genotypic methodologies were used, as well as a novel approach based on proteomic profiles produced by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Type or reference strains for each taxonomic group were included in this study. Three isolates that presented discordant identification patterns were further analysed using the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and calmodulin gene sequences. The data obtained from the phenotypic and spectral analyses divide the isolates into three groups, corresponding to taxa closely related to Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus parasiticus, and Aspergillus tamarii. Final polyphasic fungal identification was achieved by joining data from molecular analyses, classical morphology, and biochemical and proteomic profiles generated by MALDI-TOF MS.Acknowledgments are due to FAPEMIG - Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (Brazil) for financial support. F. C. da Silva extends thanks to CAPES - Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (Brazil) for the PhD grant. C. Santos and N. Lima thank CAPES for the financial support as international visiting professors in the Post-Graduate Programme in Agricultural Microbiology, Federal University of Lavras, Lavras (MG), Brazil

Recurrence of Diabetic Pedal Ulcerations Following Tendo-Achilles Lengthening

Foot and ankle surgeons are frequently challenged by the devastating systemic consequences of diabetes mellitus manifested through neuropathy, integumentary and joint breakdown, delayed healing, decreased ability to fight infection, and fragile tendon/ligaments. Diabetic neuropathic pedal ulcerations lead to amputations at an alarming rate and also carry a high mortality rate. This article will discuss causes of diabetic pedal ulcerations that persist or recur after tendo-Achilles lengthening and will highlight areas that need to be addressed by the practitioner such as infection, vascular and nutritional status, glucose control, off-loading, biomechanics, and patient compliance

Structural Insights into Human Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor Delta (PPAR-Delta) Selective Ligand Binding

Peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs δ, α and γ) are closely related transcription factors that exert distinct effects on fatty acid and glucose metabolism, cardiac disease, inflammatory response and other processes. Several groups developed PPAR subtype specific modulators to trigger desirable effects of particular PPARs without harmful side effects associated with activation of other subtypes. Presently, however, many compounds that bind to one of the PPARs cross-react with others and rational strategies to obtain highly selective PPAR modulators are far from clear. GW0742 is a synthetic ligand that binds PPARδ more than 300-fold more tightly than PPARα or PPARγ but the structural basis of PPARδ:GW0742 interactions and reasons for strong selectivity are not clear. Here we report the crystal structure of the PPARδ:GW0742 complex. Comparisons of the PPARδ:GW0742 complex with published structures of PPARs in complex with α and γ selective agonists and pan agonists suggests that two residues (Val312 and Ile328) in the buried hormone binding pocket play special roles in PPARδ selective binding and experimental and computational analysis of effects of mutations in these residues confirms this and suggests that bulky substituents that line the PPARα and γ ligand binding pockets as structural barriers for GW0742 binding. This analysis suggests general strategies for selective PPARδ ligand design

Long-term TNT and DNT contamination: 1-D modeling of natural attenuation in the vadose zone: case study, Portugal

The vadose zone of a trinitrotoluene (TNT) and dinitrotoluene (DNT) contaminated site was investigated to assess the mobility of those explosives under natural conditions. Located in the left margin of the River Tejo Basin, Portugal, the site is located on unconsolidated sediments. Wastewaters associated with the 50-year explosives production were disposed in excavated ponds, from where water would infiltrate and pollute the unsaturated and saturated parts of the local aquifers. Two boreholes were drilled to 9 m depth in such a former waste pond to investigate the contaminant's fate in the vadose zone. Sediment samples were taken every 1-2 m for analysis of the polynitroaromatics (p-NACs) and organic volatile compounds, pH, organic carbon content, cation exchange capacity and grain size analysis. The main contaminant was TNT representing >70 % of the total p-NACs concentration that peaked approximately 7 mg/kg in one borehole, even if the median in both boreholes was of similar to 1 mg/kg. DNT was 4-30 % of the total p-NACs and nitrotoluene (NT), up to 5 %. No other (volatile) organic compound was detected. The predominance of TNT as the main contaminant implies that any natural mass reduction has been inefficient to clean the site. Several 1-D model simulations of p-NACs cleaning of the vadose zone under natural conditions indicated that the most probable scenario of combined advection and partitioning will only remove TNT after 10's of years, whereas DNT and NT will hardly be removed. Such low concentrations and long times for the p-NACs removal, suggest that by now those compounds have been washed-out to a level below standard limits