The Motor Dysfunction Seen in Isolated REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Isolated Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep Behavior Disorder (iRBD) requires quantitative tools to detect incipient Parkinson's disease (PD). METHODS: A motor battery was designed and compared with the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale part III (MDS-UPDRS-III) in people with iRBD and controls. This included two keyboard-based tests (BRadykinesia Akinesia INcoordination tap test and Distal Finger Tapping) and two dual tasking tests (walking and finger tapping). RESULTS: We included 33 iRBD patients and 29 controls. The iRBD group performed both keyboard-based tapping tests more slowly (P < 0.001, P = 0.020) and less rhythmically (P < 0.001, P = 0.006) than controls. Unlike controls, the iRBD group increased their walking duration (P < 0.001) and had a smaller amplitude (P = 0.001) and slower (P = 0.007) finger tapping with dual task. The combination of the most salient motor markers showed 90.3% sensitivity for 89.3% specificity (area under the ROC curve [AUC], 0.94), which was higher than the MDS-UPDRS-III (minus action tremor) (69.7% sensitivity, 72.4% specificity; AUC, 0.81) for detecting motor dysfunction. CONCLUSION: Speed, rhythm, and dual task motor deterioration might be accurate indicators of incipient PD in iRBD. © 2024 The Authors. Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society

Non-linear models for black carbon exposure modelling using air pollution datasets

Black carbon (BC) is a product of incomplete combustion, present in urban aerosols and sourcing mainly from road traffic. Epidemiological evidence reports positive associations between BC and cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Despite this, BC is currently not regulated by the EU Air Quality Directive, and as a result BC data are not available in urban areas from reference air quality monitoring networks in many countries. To fill this gap, a machine learning approach is proposed to develop a BC proxy using air pollution datasets as an input. The proposed BC proxy is based on two machine learning models, support vector regression (SVR) and random forest (RF), using observations of particle mass and number concentrations (N), gaseous pollutants and meteorological variables as the input. Experimental data were collected from a reference station in Barcelona (Spain) over a 2 year period (2018-2019). Two months of additional data were available from a second urban site in Barcelona, for model validation. BC concentrations estimated by SVR showed a high degree of correlation with the measured BC concentrations (R-2 = 0.828) with a relatively low error (RMSE = 0.48 mu g/m3). Model performance was dependent on seasonality and time of the day, due to the influence of new particle formation events. When validated at the second station, performance indicators decreased (R-2 = 0.633; RMSE = 1.19 mu g/m(3)) due to the lack of N data and PM2.5 and the smaller size of the dataset (2 months). New particle formation events critically impacted model performance, suggesting that its application would be optimal in environments where traffic is the main source of ultrafine particles. Due to its flexibility, it is concluded that the model can act as a BC proxy, even based on EU-regulatory air quality parameters only, to complement experimental measurements for exposure assessment in urban areas.Peer reviewe

Game theory framework for MAC parameter optimization in energy-delay constrained sensor networks

Optimizing energy consumption and end-to-end (e2e) packet delay in energy-constrained, delay-sensitive wireless sensor networks is a conflicting multiobjective optimization problem. We investigate the problem from a game theory perspective, where the two optimization objectives are considered as game players. The cost model of each player is mapped through a generalized optimization framework onto protocol-specific MAC parameters. From the optimization framework, a game is first defined by the Nash bargaining solution (NBS) to assure energy consumption and e2e delay balancing. Secondy, the Kalai-Smorodinsky bargaining solution (KSBS) is used to find an equal proportion of gain between players. Both methods offer a bargaining solution to the duty-cycle MAC protocol under different axioms. As a result, given the two performance requirements (i.e., the maximum latency tolerated by the application and the initial energy budget of nodes), the proposed framework allows to set tunable system parameters to reach a fair equilibrium point that dually minimizes the system latency and energy consumption. For illustration, this formulation is applied to six state-of-the-art wireless sensor network (WSN) MAC protocols: B-MAC, X-MAC, RI-MAC, SMAC, DMAC, and LMAC. The article shows the effectiveness and scalability of such a framework in optimizing protocol parameters that achieve a fair energy-delay performance trade-off under the application requirements

География и ономастика. Географическая терминология в оронимии балеарских островов

Received on 18 November 2021. Accepted on 11 November 2022.Статья поступила в редакцию 18.11.2021. Рукопись принята к печати 11.11.2022.Toponymy and, more specifically, toponymic generics constitute an important source of geographical terminology, which is a valuable object of study in both linguistics and cultural geography. Based on this, the authors compiled, analysed and classifi ed the oronymic generics of the Balearic Islands (Spain) from the largest toponymic collection of the archipelago, made up of some 50,000 place names gathered for the Balearic Topographical Map at a scale of 1:5,000. A considerable part of toponyms was obtained from field work, which consisted of hundreds of interviews with informants previously selected for their special knowledge of the territory they live in. Field work allowed to obtain popular (“folk,” “unofficial”) toponyms that contain specific generics used in the function of geographical terms, often based on metaphor or another type of semantic shift. This work made it possible to bring together the terms that, in the Catalan language of the Balearic Islands, identify the diverse inland orographic morphologies of each of the islands that form the archipelago (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, and Formentera). The corpus of terminology relating to the names of the relief of the Balearic Islands is formed by 120 oronymic generics. All the terms are classified into three groups distinguishing between terms related to positive relief features (macro, meso- and micro-relief), negative relief features (elongated, rounded, and elevated depressions), and neutral relief that brings together and differentiates forms of vertical, horizontal, inclined and stepped relief. Quantitative observations made by the author show the relatively wider diversity of terminology used in the names of positive relief features, in which macro-relief features are predominant. In the negative relief group, the most varied subgroup of term relates to longitudinal depressions, while in the neutral relief the biggest part of terms specifically designates sloped landforms.Топонимия — важный источник географической терминологии, являющейся объектом изучения как лингвистики, так и культурной географии. Авторы статьи собрали, проанализировали и классифицировали оронимическую терминологию Балеарских островов (Испания), извлеченную из наиболее полной топонимической картотеки, содержащей около 50 000 географических названий. Картотека отражает все топонимы, отмеченные на топографической карте Балеарских островов масштаба 1 : 5000. Значительная часть топонимов была собрана в ходе полевой работы — методом интервьюирования информантов, хорошо знающих местность, в которой они живут. Полевая работа позволила дополнить картотеку неофициальной («народной») топонимией, которая также содержит апеллятивные элементы в функции географических терминов, частично основанных на метафоре или ином типе семантического переноса. Эта работа дала возможность собрать воедино термины, которые в каталанском языке Балеарских островов служат для именования различных форм рельефа каждого из крупнейших островов архипелага (Майорка, Менорка, Ибица и Форментера). Терминологический корпус состоит из 120 единиц. Авторы подразделяют термины на группы в зависимости от обозначаемого типа рельефа: термины, называющие элементы положительного рельефа (т. е. возвышенности, среди которых выделяются макро-, мезо- и микроэлементы), отрицательного рельефа (т. е. низменности; также выделяются термины, именующие округлые и вытянутые котловины) и нейтрального рельефа (данная группа объединяет термины, называющие объекты с преимущественно вертикальными, горизонтальными, наклонными или ступенчатыми формами). Наблюдения показывают большее разнообразие терминов, относящихся к положительному рельефу, среди них явно выделяются термины, обозначающие элементы макрорельефа. В группе терминов, называющих объекты отрицательного рельефа, выделяются термины, относящиеся к вытянутым формам рельефа, в то время как в группе терминов нейтрального рельефа наибольшее количество единиц относится к наименованиям наклонных форм

Agricultural mechanisation in the Balearic Islands (1960-1970). The transition from traditional to industrial agriculture

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Agricultural mechanisation in the Balearic Islands (1960-1970). The transition from traditional to industrial agriculture

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La mecanización del campo en las Islas Baleares (1960-1970). El tránsito de la agricultura tradicional a la industrial

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