A system for accelerometer-based gesture classification using artificial neural networks

© 2017 IEEE. A great many people suffer from neurological movement disorders that render typical hardware interface devices ineffective. A need exists for a universal interface device that can be trained to accept a wide range of inputs across varying types and severities of movement disorders. In this regard, this paper details the design, testing and optimization of an accelerometer-based gesture identification system. A Bluetooth-enabled IMU mounted on the wrist provides hand motion trajectory information to a local terminal. Several techniques are applied to decrease the intra-class variance and reduce classifier complexity including filtering, segmentation and temporal scaling. Datasets consisted of 520 training samples, 260 validation samples and a further 520 testing samples. A multi-layer feed forward artificial neural network (ML-FFNN) was used to classify the input space into 26 different classes. Initial system accuracy, using arbitrary hyperparameters was 77.69% with final optimized accuracy at 99.42%

Studies on thermal processing of Tuna-A comparative study in tin and tin-free steel cans

Tin-free steel can is an ideal alternative to open top sanitary tin cans (OTS) for thermal processing of little tuna (Ethynnus affinis) in curry used as filling media. Effect of heat penetration on physical, biochemical and sensory characteristics of canned tuna product were studied. The chemical analysis of raw tuna fish showed a protein content of 24.20 % and a lipid content of 1.37%. Comparatively, tuna used in the present study is more suitable for canning due to the presence of more protein and less fat in its flesh. Precooking is an important step in general canning process as it serves to reduce moisture content along with inhibiting enzymatic reaction, decreasing microbial load and cleansing the meat. The protein content of precooked tuna was 2.92% more than raw tuna due to relative concentration of moisture content decreases due to precooking. The percentage of yield of light meat and dark meat was 36.58% and 10.18% from whole cooked tuna and the same for dark and white meat was 28.40%. Tuna in curry packed in two metal containers subjected to thermal processing at 1150C for 70 minutes. The F0 (slowest heating point) values for canned tuna in curry packed in TFS and Tin cans obtained were 10.13 and 10.23 minutes and cook values were 145.5 minutes & 153.6 minutes respectively. During the storage period, the total volatile base nitrogen, trimethyleamine nitrogen, free fatty acid values were found to increase, while thiobarbituric acid value decreased and pH was slightly acidic. There was no significant difference (p<0.05) in appearance, colour, odour, taste, flavour, texture, overall quality of the raw tuna and final products. However, both canned products were acceptable even after storage of 5 months at ambient temperature and also, the product remained commercially sterile. It was concluded that according to quality of the product and heat penetration studies, tinfree steel container can be used as alternative to the open top sanitary tin cans for canning tuna meat

Investigating the Impact of Ultra-Radical Surgery on Survival in Advanced Ovarian Cancer Using Population-Based Data in a Multicentre UK Study

We investigated URS and impact on survival in whole patient cohorts with AOC treated within gynaecological cancer centres that participated in the previously presented SOCQER 2 study. National cancer registry datasets were used to identify FIGO Stage 3,4 and unknown stage patients from 11 cancer centres that had previously participated in the SOCQER2 study. Patient outcomes’ association with surgical ethos were evaluated using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards. Centres were classified into three groups based on their surgical complexity scores (SCS); those practicing mainly low complexity, (5/11 centres with >70% low SCS procedures, 759 patients), mainly intermediate (3/11, 35–50% low SCS, 356 patients), or mainly high complexity surgery (3/11, >35% high SCS, 356 patients). Surgery rates were 43.2% vs. 58.4% vs. 60.9%. across mainly low, intermediate and high SCS centres, respectively, p < 0.001. Combined surgery and chemotherapy rates were 39.2% vs. 51.8% vs. 38.3% p < 0.000 across mainly low, intermediate and high complexity groups, respectively. Median survival was 23.1 (95% CI 19.0 to 27.2) vs. 22.0 (95% CI 17.6 to 26.3) vs. 17.9 months (95% CI 15.7 to 20.1), p = 0.043 in mainly high SCS, intermediate, and low SCS centres, respectively. In an age and deprivation adjusted model, compared to patients in the high SCS centres, patients in the low SCS group had an HR of 1.21 (95% CI 1.03 to 1.40) for death. Mainly high/intermediate SCS centres have significantly higher surgery rates and better survival at a population level. Centres that practice mainly low complexity surgery should change practice. This study provides support for the utilization of URS for patients with advanced OC

Drinking behaviour and alcohol-related harm amongst older adults: analysis of existing UK datasets.

Older adults experience age-related physiological changes that increase sensitivity and decrease tolerance to alcohol and there are a number of age-related harms such as falls, social isolation and elder abuse, which are compounded by alcohol misuse. Despite this unique vulnerability and the fact that the number of older adults is increasing, the literature on drinking behaviour and alcohol-related harm in older adults is sparse. This article describes a secondary analysis of UK data to address this knowledge gap

Light hadron, Charmonium(-like) and Bottomonium(-like) states

Hadron physics represents the study of strongly interacting matter in all its manifestations and the understanding of its properties and interactions. The interest on this field has been revitalized by the discovery of new light hadrons, charmonium- and bottomonium-like states. I review the most recent experimental results from different experiments.Comment: Presented at Lepton-Photon 2011, Mumbai, India; 21 pages, 18 figures; add more references; some correctio

Inner-sphere oxidation of ternary iminodiacetatochromium(III) complexes involving DL-valine and L-arginine as secondary ligands. Isokinetic relationship for the oxidation of ternary iminodiacetato-chromium(III) complexes by periodate

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In this paper, the kinetics of oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Val)(H₂O)₂]⁺and [Cr^III(HIDA)(Arg)(H₂O)₂]⁺(HIDA = iminodiacetic acid, Val = DL-valine and Arg = L-arginine) were studied. The choice of ternary complexes was attributed to two considerations. Firstly, in order to study the effect of the secondary ligands DL-valine and L-arginine on the stability of binary complex [Cr^III(HIDA)(IDA)(H₂O)] towards oxidation. Secondly, transition metal ternary complexes have received particular focus and have been employed in mapping protein surfaces as probes for biological redox centers and in protein capture for both purification and study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results have shown that the reaction is first order with respect to both [IO₄^-] and the complex concentration, and the rate increases over the pH range 2.62 – 3.68 in both cases. The experimental rate law is consistent with a mechanism in which both the deprotonated forms of the complexes [Cr^III(IDA)(Val)(H₂O)₂] and [Cr^III(IDA)(Arg)(H₂O)₂] are significantly more reactive than the conjugate acids. The value of the intramolecular electron transfer rate constant for the oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Arg)(H₂O)₂]⁺, <it>k</it>₃(1.82 × 10^-3s^-1), is greater than the value of <it>k</it>₁(1.22 × 10^-3s^-1) for the oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Val)(H₂O)₂]⁺at 45.0°C and <it>I </it>= 0.20 mol dm^-3. It is proposed that electron transfer proceeds through an inner-sphere mechanism <it>via </it>coordination of IO₄^-to chromium(III).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Val)(H₂O)₂]⁺and [Cr^III(HIDA)(Arg)(H₂O)₂]⁺by periodate may proceed through an inner-sphere mechanism via two electron transfer giving chromium(VI). The value of the intramolecular electron transfer rate constant for the oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Arg)(H₂O)₂]⁺, <it>k</it>₃, is greater than the value of <it>k</it>₁for the oxidation of [Cr^III(HIDA)(Val)(H₂O)₂]⁺. A common mechanism for the oxidation of ternary iminodiacetatochromium(III) complexes by periodate is proposed, and this is supported by an excellent isokinetic relationship between ΔH* and ΔS* values for these reactions.</p

Segmentation of epidermal tissue with histopathological damage in images of haematoxylin and eosin stained human skin.

Background: Digital image analysis has the potential to address issues surrounding traditional histological techniques including a lack of objectivity and high variability, through the application of quantitative analysis. A key initial step in image analysis is the identification of regions of interest. A widely applied methodology is that of segmentation. This paper proposes the application of image analysis techniques to segment skin tissue with varying degrees of histopathological damage. The segmentation of human tissue is challenging as a consequence of the complexity of the tissue structures and inconsistencies in tissue preparation, hence there is a need for a new robust method with the capability to handle the additional challenges materialising from histopathological damage.Methods: A new algorithm has been developed which combines enhanced colour information, created following a transformation to the L*a*b* colourspace, with general image intensity information. A colour normalisation step is included to enhance the algorithm's robustness to variations in the lighting and staining of the input images. The resulting optimised image is subjected to thresholding and the segmentation is fine-tuned using a combination of morphological processing and object classification rules. The segmentation algorithm was tested on 40 digital images of haematoxylin & eosin (H&E) stained skin biopsies. Accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the algorithmic procedure were assessed through the comparison of the proposed methodology against manual methods.Results: Experimental results show the proposed fully automated methodology segments the epidermis with a mean specificity of 97.7%, a mean sensitivity of 89.4% and a mean accuracy of 96.5%. When a simple user interaction step is included, the specificity increases to 98.0%, the sensitivity to 91.0% and the accuracy to 96.8%. The algorithm segments effectively for different severities of tissue damage.Conclusions: Epidermal segmentation is a crucial first step in a range of applications including melanoma detection and the assessment of histopathological damage in skin. The proposed methodology is able to segment the epidermis with different levels of histological damage. The basic method framework could be applied to segmentation of other epithelial tissues

Age, Disease Severity and Ethnicity Influence Humoral Responses in a Multi-Ethnic COVID-19 Cohort

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all individuals across the globe in some way. Despite large numbers of reported seroprevalence studies, there remains a limited understanding of how the magnitude and epitope utilization of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 viral anti-gens varies within populations following natural infection. Here, we designed a quantitative, multi-epitope protein microarray comprising various nucleocapsid protein structural motifs, including two structural domains and three intrinsically disordered regions. Quantitative data from the microarray provided complete differentiation between cases and pre-pandemic controls (100% sensitivity and specificity) in a case-control cohort (n = 100). We then assessed the influence of disease severity, age, and ethnicity on the strength and breadth of the humoral response in a multi-ethnic cohort (n = 138). As expected, patients with severe disease showed significantly higher antibody titers and interestingly also had significantly broader epitope coverage. A significant increase in antibody titer and epitope coverage was observed with increasing age, in both mild and severe disease, which is promising for vaccine efficacy in older individuals. Additionally, we observed significant differences in the breadth and strength of the humoral immune response in relation to ethnicity, which may reflect differences in genetic and lifestyle factors. Furthermore, our data enabled localization of the immuno-dominant epitope to the C-terminal structural domain of the viral nucleocapsid protein in two independent cohorts. Overall, we have designed, validated, and tested an advanced serological assay that enables accurate quantitation of the humoral response post natural infection and that has revealed unexpected differences in the magnitude and epitope utilization within a population

Establishing Human Lacrimal Gland Cultures with Secretory Function

PURPOSE: Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial chronic disabling disease mainly caused by the functional disruptions in the lacrimal gland. The treatment involves palliation like ocular surface lubrication and rehydration. Cell therapy involving replacement of the gland is a promising alternative for providing long-term relief to patients. This study aimed to establish functionally competent lacrimal gland cultures in-vitro and explore the presence of stem cells in the native gland and the established in-vitro cultures. METHODS: Fresh human lacrimal gland from patients undergoing exenteration was harvested for cultures after IRB approval. The freshly isolated cells were evaluated by flow cytometry for expression of stem cell markers ABCG2, high ALDH1 levels and c-kit. Cultures were established on Matrigel, collagen and HAM and the cultured cells evaluated for the presence of stem cell markers and differentiating markers of epithelial (E-cadherin, EpCAM), mesenchymal (Vimentin, CD90) and myofibroblastic (α-SMA, S-100) origin by flow cytometry and immunocytochemistry. The conditioned media was tested for secretory proteins (scIgA, lactoferrin, lysozyme) post carbachol (100 µM) stimulation by ELISA. RESULTS: Native human lacrimal gland expressed ABCG2 (mean±SEM: 3.1±0.61%), high ALDH1 (3.8±1.26%) and c-kit (6.7±2.0%). Lacrimal gland cultures formed a monolayer, in order of preference on Matrigel, collagen and HAM within 15-20 days, containing a heterogeneous population of stem-like and differentiated cells. The epithelial cells formed 'spherules' with duct like connections, suggestive of ductal origin. The levels of scIgA (47.43 to 61.56 ng/ml), lysozyme (24.36 to 144.74 ng/ml) and lactoferrin (32.45 to 40.31 ng/ml) in the conditioned media were significantly higher than the negative controls (p<0.05 for all comparisons). CONCLUSION: The study reports the novel finding of establishing functionally competent human lacrimal gland cultures in-vitro. It also provides preliminary data on the presence of stem cells and duct-like cells in the fresh and in-vitro cultured human lacrimal gland. These significant findings could pave way for cell therapy in future

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis in ancient clergymen

Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a common but often unrecognized systemic disorder observed mainly in the elderly. DISH is diagnosed when the anterior longitudinal ligament of the spine is ossified on at least four contiguous spinal levels or when multiple peripheral enthesopathies are present. The etiology of DISH is unknown but previous studies have shown a strong association with obesity and insulin-independent diabetes mellitus. DISH can lead to back pain, dysphagia, myelopathy, musculoskeletal impairment and grossly unstable spine fractures after minor trauma. In archeological studies a high prevalence of DISH has been demonstrated in ancient clergymen. The present study describes the pathological changes of human remains excavated from the abbey court (Pandhof) in the city of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Human remains of 51 individuals buried between 275 and 1795 ce were excavated and examined. The remains were investigated according to a standardized physical anthropological report and individuals demonstrating ossification of spinal ligaments and/or multiple peripheral enthesopathies were included in the study group. The authors reviewed all available material and after reaching consensus, each abnormality found was given a diagnosis and subsequently recorded. After examination, 28 individuals were considered to be adult males; 11 adult females; three adults of indeterminate sex and nine individuals were of sub adult age. The mean age at death for adults was 36.8 years. Seventeen adult individuals (40.4% of all adults), displayed ossifications of at least four contiguous spinal levels and/or multiple enthesopathies of the appendicular skeleton and were therefore, assigned the diagnosis DISH. The mean age of these individuals was 49.5 ± 13.0 years. In at least three of these individuals, DISH had led to extensive ossification and subsequent ankylosis of axial and peripheral skeletal structures. In this population of (presumably) clergymen and high-ranking citizens, DISH was observed in unusual high numbers at a relatively young age. Some of the examined cases suggest that DISH may be a seriously incapacitating disorder when the more advanced stages of the disease have been reached. It is hypothesized that “a monastic way of life” can predispose to DISH. Present demographic trends in obesity and diabetes mellitus as potential co-factors for the development of DISH warrant further study to investigate its future prevalence