Wearable Platform for Automatic Recognition of Parkinson Disease by Muscular Implication Monitoring

The need for diagnostic tools for the characterization of progressive movement disorders - as the Parkinson Disease (PD) - aiming to early detect and monitor the pathology is getting more and more impelling. The parallel request of wearable and wireless solutions, for the real-time monitoring in a non-controlled environment, has led to the implementation of a Quantitative Gait Analysis platform for the extraction of muscular implications features in ordinary motor action, such as gait. The here proposed platform is used for the quantification of PD symptoms. Addressing the wearable trend, the proposed architecture is able to define the real-time modulation of the muscular indexes by using 8 EMG wireless nodes positioned on lower limbs. The implemented system “translates” the acquisition in a 1-bit signal, exploiting a dynamic thresholding algorithm. The resulting 1-bit signals are used both to define muscular indexes both to drastically reduce the amount of data to be analyzed, preserving at the same time the muscular information. The overall architecture has been fully implemented on Altera Cyclone V FPGA. The system has been tested on 4 subjects: 2 affected by PD and 2 healthy subjects (control group). The experimental results highlight the validity of the proposed solution in Disease recognition and the outcomes match the clinical literature results

Lane, pecore e pastori in Puglia fra Tardoantico e Medioevo: novità dai dati archeozoologici

This paper deals with the bioarchaeological researches on ovine transhumance in Apulia from the Late Antiquity to the Medieval Age, with particular regard to the contribution of the zooarchaeological researches. By integrating historical, epigraphic, archaeological and bioarchaeological data it is now possible to re-enact the development and the characters of the sheep/goat movements and the transhumance products, such as wool and milk, from the 4th to the 15th c. A.D. Archaeobotanical and archaeoantropological data indicate that Apulian landscape was characterized by uncultivated areas (woods, marshlands or pasture) from Roman to the Late Antique Ages; zooarchaeological analysis propose the continuity of sheep/goat breeding until the Middle Ages, in spite of some changes, with a prevalent and continuous wool production activity. In this way the study of faunal remains can integrate the knowledge by new evaluation elements such as the mortality and the periodical slaughtering, with regard to the identification of the species in a specific territorial context and the breeding purposes. Besides the mortality data also the sexual distinction is important; a constant element is the ovine prevalence in the sheep/goat flock composition. Taking into consideration the pastoral practice from the Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages it is possible to pick out some elements that are compatible with a transhumant management of the flocks, such as a general staging post of the size on medium-big one and the above average recorded in other Italian and European sites

Electron collection by a charged satellite in the ionospheric plasma

The space charge region surrounding a highly charged, electron collecting, spacecraft moving in the ionospheric plasma, can be divided into an inner zone (close to the spacecraft), where electron collection is isotropic with respect to the magnetic-field direction, and an outer zone where the electrons are mainly collected along magnetic field lines. In this paper we outline a theory to obtain the current voltage characteristic of such a positive satellite. It is shown that the theoretical results compare very favorably with the experimental data obtained by the TSS-1R mission

Electrodynamic deorbiting of LEO satellites

In this paper we present realistic calculations of deorbiting times for a LEO satellite through the use of electrodynamic tethers. We refer to two possible tether systems (a bare and a conducting insulated tether) both equipped with an inflatable conducting balloon at the upper end. The calculations take into account average ionospheric properties and the electrical interaction of the wire with the ionosphere. Furthermore, they have been done for several inclination orbits and include also the deviation of the tether from the vertical direction under the combined action of the gravity gradient and the electrodynamic forces. The results obtained for the decay times, for typical constellation satellite, indicate that such tether systems are definitely of interest for the deorbiting application

Current collection by a highly positive body moving in the ionospheric plasma

In this paper we derive an interesting feature of the space charge region surrounding a positively charged body moving in a magnetoplasma and, precisely, the fact that, for potentials of the body in excess of a certain value, at least in an inner region close to the body, the electron collection (and the structure of the self-consistent potential) is isotropic. This is used to derive current-voltage characteristics for such a situation. These theoretical characteristics are then convincingly compared with those obtained from the analysis of the data obtained during the recently flown TSS-1R mission

Gait analysis and quantitative drug effect evaluation in Parkinson disease by jointly EEG-EMG monitoring

This work addresses the rising need for a diagnostic tool for the evaluation of the effectiveness of a drug treatment in Parkinson disease, allowing the physician to monitor of the patient gait at home and to shape the treatment on the individual peculiarity. In aim, we present a cyber-physical system for real-time processing EEG and EMG signals. The wearable and wireless system extracts the following indexes: (i) typical activation and deactivation timing of single muscles and the duty cycle in a single step (ii) typical and maximum co-contractions, as well as number of co-contraction/s. The indexes are validated by using Movement Related Potentials (MRPs). The signal processing stage is implemented on Altera Cyclone V FPGA. In the paper, we show in vivo measurements by comparing responses before and after the drug (Levodopa) treatment. The system quantifies the effect of the Levodopa treatment detecting: (i) a 17% reduction in typical agonist-antagonist co-contractions time (ii) 23.6% decrease in the maximum co-contraction time (iii) 33% decrease in number of critical co-contraction. Brain implications shows a mean reduction of 5% on the evaluated potentials

Wireless Shelf Life Monitoring and Real Time Prediction in a Supply-Chain of Perishables Goods

This paper discusses the huge potential of a Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) as a tool for real-time monitoring in a perishable goods supply chain according to the pressing need of security and food certification. The combination of an appropriate monitoring system and further data processing create a tool that can provide the most useful information for each application. In this paper we propose a case study

Wild birds of the Italian Middle Ages: diet, environment and society

Wild birds are intrinsically associated with our perception of the Middle Ages. They often feature in heraldic designs, paintings, and books of hours; few human activities typify the medieval period better than falconry. Prominent in medieval iconography, wild birds feature less frequently in written sources (as they were rarely the subject of trade transactions or legal documents) but they can be abundant in archaeological sites. In this paper we highlight the nature of wild bird exploitation in Italian medieval societies, ranging from their role as food items to their status and symbolic importance. A survey of 13 Italian medieval sites corresponding to 19 ‘period sites’, dated from the fifth to the fifteenth centuries, reveals the occurrence of more than 100 species (certainly an under-estimate of the actual number). Anseriformes and Columbiformes played a prominent role in the mid- and late medieval Italian diet, though Passeriformes and wild Galliformes were also important. In the late Middle Ages, there is an increase in species diversity and in the role of hunting as an important marker of social status

Hydrogen and Carbon Nanotubes from Pyrolysis-Catalysis of Waste Plastics: A Review

More than 27 million tonnes of waste plastics are generated in Europe each year representing a considerable potential resource. There has been extensive research into the production of liquid fuels and aromatic chemicals from pyrolysis-catalysis of waste plastics. However, there is less work on the production of hydrogen from waste plastics via pyrolysis coupled with catalytic steam reforming. In this paper, the different reactor designs used for hydrogen production from waste plastics are considered and the influence of different catalysts and process parameters on the yield of hydrogen from different types of waste plastics are reviewed. Waste plastics have also been investigated as a source of hydrocarbons for the generation of carbon nanotubes via the chemical vapour deposition route. The influences on the yield and quality of carbon nanotubes derived from waste plastics are reviewed in relation to the reactor designs used for production, catalyst type used for carbon nanotube growth and the influence of operational parameters