Using wearable sensor systems for objective assessment of parkinson's disease

This paper presents a novel wearable sensor system based on the integration of miniaturised IMUs for fine hand movement analysis. The system, named SensHand V1, is composed of full 9-axis inertial sensors, placed on the fingers and wrist, which are managed by a cortex-M3 microcontroller. The acquired data are sent to a data logger through the use of Bluetooth communication. In this paper, the system is used for the objective diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, which is commonly assessed by neurologists through visual examination of motor tasks and semi-quantitative rating scales. Here, these motor tasks are also assessed using the SensHand V1, and then compared with the subjective metrics. Results demonstrate that the system is adequate to support neurologists in diagnostic procedures and allows for an objective evaluation of the disease

Empowering patients in self-management of parkinson's disease through cooperative ICT systems

The objective of this chapter is to demonstrate the technical feasibility and medical effectiveness of personalised services and care programmes for Parkinson's disease, based on the combination of mHealth applications, cooperative ICTs, cloud technologies and wearable integrated devices, which empower patients to manage their health and disease in cooperation with their formal and informal caregivers, and with professional medical staff across different care settings, such as hospital and home. The presented service revolves around the use of two wearable inertial sensors, i.e. SensFoot and SensHand, for measuring foot and hand performance in the MDS-UPDRS III motor exercises. The devices were tested in medical settings with eight patients, eight hyposmic subjects and eight healthy controls, and the results demonstrated that this approach allows quantitative metrics for objective evaluation to be measured, in order to identify pre-motor/pre-clinical diagnosis and to provide a complete service of tele-health with remote control provided by cloud technologies. © 2016, IGI Global. All rights reserved

OFDM based WiFi Passive Sensing: a reference-free non-coherent approach

WiFi based passive sensing is attracting considerable interest in the scientific community for both research and commercial purposes. In this work, we aim at taking a step forward in an endeavor to achieve good sensing capabilities employing compact, low-cost, and stand-alone WiFi sensors. To this end, we resort to a reference-free non-coherent signal processing scheme, where the presence of a moving target echo is sought by detecting the amplitude modulation that it produces on the direct signal transmitted from the WiFi access point. We first validate the proposed strategy against simulated data, identifying advantages and limitations. Then, we apply the conceived solution on experimental data collected in a small outdoor area with the purpose of detecting a small cooperative drone

Preliminary evaluation of SensHand V1 in assessing motor skills performance in Parkinson Disease

Nowadays, the increasing old population 65+ as well as the pace imposed by work activities lead to a high number of people that have particular injuries for limbs. In addition to persistent or temporary disabilities related to accidental injuries we must take into account that part of the population suffers from motor deficits of the hands due to stroke or diseases of various clinical nature. The most recurrent technological solutions to measure the rehabilitation or skill motor performance of the hand are glove-based devices, able to faithfully capture the movements of the hand and fingers. This paper presents a system for hand motion analysis based on 9-axis complete inertial modules and dedicated microcontroller which are fixed on fingers and forearm. The technological solution presented is able to track the patients' hand motions in real-time and then to send data through wireless communication reducing the clutter and the disadvantages of a glove equipped with sensors through a different technological structure. The device proposed has been tested in the study of Parkinson's disease

Effect of rLH Supplementation during Controlled Ovarian Stimulation for IVF: Evidence from a Retrospective Analysis of 1470 Poor/Suboptimal/Normal Responders Receiving Either rFSH plus rLH or rFSH Alone

We retrospectively studied a real-life population of 1470 women undergoing IVF, with poor/suboptimal/normal ovarian responsiveness to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), comparing the cumulative live birth rate (cLBR) when COS was performed using rFSH alone or rFSH + rLH in a 2:1 ratio. Overall, we observed significantly higher cLBR in the rFSH alone group than in the rFSH + rLH group (29.3% vs. 22.2%, p < 0.01). However, considering only suboptimal/poor responders (n = 309), we observed comparable cLBR (15.6% vs. 15.2%, p = 0.95) despite the fact that patients receiving rFSH + rLH had significantly higher ages and worse ovarian reserve markers. The equivalent effectiveness of rFSH + rLH and rFSH alone was further confirmed after stratification according to the number of oocytes retrieved: despite basal characteristics were still in favor of rFSH alone group, the cLBR always resulted comparable. Even subdividing patients according to the POSEIDON classification, irrespective of differences in the baseline clinical characteristics in favor of FSH alone group, the cLBR resulted comparable in all subgroups. Despite the retrospective, real-life analysis, our data suggest that rLH supplementation in COS may represent a reasonable option for patients with predictable or unexpected poor/suboptimal ovarian responsiveness to FSH, those matching the Bologna criteria for poor responsiveness, and those included in the POSEIDON classification

VGF peptides as novel biomarkers in Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN). At disease onset, a diagnosis is often difficult. VGF peptides are abundant in the SN and peripheral circulation; hence, we investigate whether their plasma profile may reflect the brain dopamine reduction. Using antibodies against the VGF C-terminal portion, we analyzed the rat brain and human plasma, with immunohistochemistry and ELISA. Rats were unilaterally lesioned with 6-hyroxydopamine and sacrificed either 3 or 6 weeks later with or without levodopa treatment. Plasma samples were obtained from PD patients, either at the time of diagnosis (group 1, drug naïve, n = 23) or upon dopamine replacement (group 2, 1–6 years, n = 24; group 3, &gt; 6 years, n = 16), compared with age-matched control subjects (group 4, n = 21). Assessment of the olfactory function was carried out in group 2 using the “Sniffin’ Sticks” test. VGF immunoreactivity was present in GABAergic neurons and, on the lesioned side, it was reduced at 3 weeks and abolished at 6 weeks after lesion. Conversely, upon levopoda, VGF labeling was restored. In PD patients, VGF levels were reduced at the time of diagnosis (1504 ± 587 vs. 643 ± 348 pmol/mL, means ± S.E.M: control vs. naïve; p &lt; 0.05) but were comparable with the controls after long-term drug treatment (&gt; 6 years). A linear correlation was demonstrated between VGF immunoreactivity and disease duration, levodopa equivalent dose and olfactory dysfunction. Plasma VGF levels may represent a useful biomarker, especially in the early stages of PD

The Effect of Service on Research Performance: A Study on Italian Academics in Management

Academics all over the world are feeling the increasing pressure to attain satisfactory research performance. Since research is not the only activity required of academics, though, the debate on how it may be coupled with other knowledge transfer activities like teaching, patenting, and dissemination has been captivating scholars interested in higher education. Literature is surprisingly silent about the interplay between research performance and other roles and tasks that faculty are expected to carry out, namely academic citizenship, intended as the service that they provide to their institution, to the scientific community, and to the larger society. Through a negative binomial regression conducted on 692 Italian academics in management, this paper investigates both the direct and moderating effect exerted by academic citizenship on the relationship between research performance in two subsequent evaluation exercises, thus advancing our knowledge of the relationship between research and service. Findings show that institutional service acts as a pure moderator, discipline-based service is a quasi-moderator, while public service exerts only a direct negative effect on research performance. In light of the emergent interplay between research and service, the necessity to boost reflection on academic citizenship is discussed and suggestions for its acknowledgement and advancement are formulated

No evidence of association between prothrombotic gene polymorphisms and the development of acute myocardial infarction at a young age

Background : we investigated the association between 9 polymorphisms of genes encoding hemostasis factors and myocardial infarction in a large sample of young patients chosen because they have less coronary atherosclerosis than older patients, and thus their disease is more likely to be related to a genetic predisposition to a prothrombotic state Methods and Results : this nationwide case-control study involved 1210 patients who had survived a first myocardial infarction at an age of 45 years who underwent coronary arteriography in 125 coronary care units and 1210 healthy subjects matched for age, sex, and geographical origin. None of the 9 polymorphisms of genes encoding proteins involved in coagulation (G-455A -fibrinogen: OR, 1.0; CI, 0.8 to 1.2; G1691A factor V: OR, 1.1; CI, 0.6 to 2.1; G20210A factor II: OR, 1.0; CI, 0.5 to 1.9; and G10976A factor VII: OR, 1.0; CI, 0.8 to 1.3), platelet function (C807T glycoprotein Ia: OR, 1.1; CI, 0.9 to 1.3; and C1565T glycoprotein IIIa: OR, 0.9; CI, 0.8 to 1.2), fibrinolysis (G185T factor XIII: OR, 1.2; CI, 0.9 to 1.6; and 4G/5G plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1: OR, 0.9; CI, 0.7 to 1.2), or homocysteine metabolism (C677T methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase: OR, 0.9; CI, 0.8 to 1.1) were associated with an increased or decreased risk of myocardial infarction Conclusions : this study provides no evidence supporting an association between 9 polymorphisms of genes encoding proteins involved in hemostasis and the occurrence of premature myocardial infarction or protection against it

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease

BACKGROUND:Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neuron disease, is a fatal neuromuscular disease characterized by progressive muscle weakness resulting in paralysis, which might be treated with ciliary neurotrophic factor. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to examine the efficacy of ciliary neutrophic factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group trials register (searched June 2003) for randomized trials, MEDLINE (from January 1966 to October 2003) and EMBASE (from January 1980 to October 2003), checked the reference lists of papers identified and contacted the authors of studies identified to get additional unpublished results. SELECTION CRITERIA: We considered the following selection criteria: Types of studies: randomized controlled clinical trials; Types of participants: adults with a diagnosis of either probable or definite amyotrophic lateral sclerosis according to the El Escorial criteria; Types of interventions: treatment with ciliary neurotrophic factor for at least six months, in a placebo-controlled randomized format; Types of outcome measures Primary: survival; Secondary: muscle strength, respiratory function, changes in bulbar functions, changes in quality of life, proportion of patients with adverse side effects (such as cough, asthenia, nausea, anorexia, weight loss and increased salivation). DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We identified two randomized trials. The data were extracted and examined independently by the reviewers. Some missing data were obtained from investigators. MAIN RESULTS: Two trials, with a total population of 1,300 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients treated with subcutaneous injections of recombinant human ciliary neurotrophic factor, were examined in this review. The methodological quality of these trials was considered adequate. No significant difference was observed between ciliary neurotrophic factor and placebo groups for survival, the primary outcome measure. The relative risk was 1.07 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.41). No significant differences between the groups were observed for most of the secondary outcomes. However, a significant increase of the incidence of several adverse events was noted in groups treated with higher doses of CNTF. REVIEWERS' CONCLUSIONS: Ciliary neurotrophic factor treatment has no effect on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis progression. At high concentration, several side effects were observed. A combination of ciliary neurotrophic factor with other neurotrophic factors (as suggested by results on animal models), and more efficient delivery methods should be tested