A systematic literature review of automatic Alzheimer's disease detection from speech and language.

OBJECTIVE: In recent years numerous studies have achieved promising results in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) detection using automatic language processing. We systematically review these articles to understand the effectiveness of this approach, identify any issues and report the main findings that can guide further research. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We searched PubMed, Ovid, and Web of Science for articles published in English between 2013 and 2019. We performed a systematic literature review to answer 5 key questions: (1) What were the characteristics of participant groups? (2) What language data were collected? (3) What features of speech and language were the most informative? (4) What methods were used to classify between groups? (5) What classification performance was achieved? RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We identified 33 eligible studies and 5 main findings: participants' demographic variables (especially age ) were often unbalanced between AD and control group; spontaneous speech data were collected most often; informative language features were related to word retrieval and semantic, syntactic, and acoustic impairment; neural nets, support vector machines, and decision trees performed well in AD detection, and support vector machines and decision trees performed well in decline detection; and average classification accuracy was 89% in AD and 82% in mild cognitive impairment detection versus healthy control groups. CONCLUSION: The systematic literature review supported the argument that language and speech could successfully be used to detect dementia automatically. Future studies should aim for larger and more balanced datasets, combine data collection methods and the type of information analyzed, focus on the early stages of the disease, and report performance using standardized metrics

A daily SMS reminder increases adherence to asthma treatment: A three-month follow-up study

SummaryBackgroundPoor adherence to asthma treatment is a well-recognised challenge and is associated with increased morbidity, mortality and consumption of health care resources. This study examined the impact of receiving a daily text message reminder on one's cell phone on adherence to asthma treatment.MethodsA total of 26 subjects aged 18–45 years, with a clinical history of asthma and a positive methacholine challenge test (PD20≤4μmol) were randomised to receive, or to not receive, a daily short message service (SMS) reminder on their cell phone to take their anti-asthmatic medication. Inhaled corticosteroids to last for eight weeks and a prescription for four additional weeks were given to the subjects. The primary outcome was adherence to asthma treatment. Secondary outcomes were reimbursement of asthma medication, and change in exhaled nitric oxide levels, lung function, and airway responsiveness.ResultsThe absolute difference in mean adherence rate between the two groups after 12 weeks was 17.8%, 95% CI (3.2–32.3%), p=0.019. No significant differences were observed between the two randomisation groups for the secondary outcomes.ConclusionDaily text message reminders are already after a short period of observation associated with increased adherence to anti-asthmatic medication

Ceria-Based Dual-Phase Membranes for High-Temperature Carbon Dioxide Separation: Effect of Iron Doping and Pore Generation with MgO Template

Dual-phase membranes for high-temperature carbon dioxide separation have emerged as promising technology to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions, especially as a pre- and post-combustion separation technique in coal burning power plants. To implement these membranes industrially, the carbon dioxide permeability must be improved. In this study, Ce0.8Sm0.2O2−δ (SDC) and Ce0.8Sm0.19Fe0.01O2−δ (FSDC) ceramic powders were used to form the skeleton in dual-phase membranes. The use of MgO as an environmentally friendly pore generator allows control over the membrane porosity and microstructure in order to compare the effect of the membrane’s ceramic phase. The ceramic powders and the resulting membranes were characterized using ICP-OES, HSM, gravimetric analysis, SEM/EDX, and XRD, and the carbon dioxide flux density was quantified using a high-temperature membrane permeation setup. The carbon dioxide permeability slightly increases with the addition of iron in the FSDC membranes compared to the SDC membranes mainly due to the reported scavenging effect of iron with the siliceous impurities, with an additional potential contribution of an increased crystallite size due to viscous flow sintering. The increased permeability of the FSDC system and the proper microstructure control by MgO can be further extended to optimize carbon dioxide permeability in this membrane system.DFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2019 - 2020 / Technische Universität Berli

Rac Activation Induces NADPH Oxidase Activity in Transgenic COSphox Cells and Level of Superoxide Production is Exchange Factor-Dependent

Transient expression of constitutively active Rac1 derivatives, (G12V) or (Q61L), was sufficient to induce phagocyte NADPH oxidase activity in a COS-7 cell model in which human cDNAs for essential oxidase components, gp91phox, p22phox, p47phox, and p67phox, were expressed as stable transgenes. Expression of constitutively active Rac1 in “COSphox” cells induced translocation of p47phox and p67phox to the membrane. Furthermore, translocation of p47phox was induced in the absence of p67phox expression, even though Rac does not directly bind p47phox. Rac effector domain point substitutions (A27K, G30S, D38A, Y40C), which can selectively eliminate interaction with different effector proteins, impaired Rac1V12-induced superoxide production. Activation of endogenous Rac1 by expression of constitutively active Rac-guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) derivatives was sufficient to induce high level NADPH oxidase activity in COSphox cells. The constitutively active form of the hematopoietic-specific GEF, Vav1, was the most effective at activating superoxide production, despite detection of higher levels of Rac1-GTP upon expression of constitutively active Vav2 or Tiam1 derivatives. These data suggest that Rac can play a dual role in NADPH oxidase activation, both by directly participating in the oxidase complex and by activating signaling events leading to oxidase assembly, and that Vav1 may be the physiologically relevant GEF responsible for activating this Rac-regulated complex

Assessing the health-related management of people with differences of sex development

Purpose Health care requirements and perception of people with differences of sex development (DSD) have changed enormously since the "Chicago Consensus Conference" in 2005. Therefore, new standards of care and evaluation of care have to be developed. Methods We summarize the social and legal approach to care for DSD during the last two decades and report the main results of European research activities. Results The last two decades were accompanied by legal and societal discussion regarding how to deal with a nonbinary concept of sex. This leads to the necessity to assess health care requirements for individuals with DSD in an objective manner. We briefly review the results of the recently funded European research projects dealing with health-related issues in DSD like EU COST Action DSD, I-DSD, and dsd-LIFE, and address the compilation of quality indicators that will be needed to benchmark health care provision and health care-related outcomes. Conclusions The benchmarking process has to be implemented among health care providers for individuals with DSD within the European Reference Networks for Rare Conditions

How Much Speech Data Is Needed for Tracking Language Change in Alzheimer’s Disease? A Comparison of Random Length, 5-Min, and 1-Min Spontaneous Speech Samples

Introduction: Changes in speech can act as biomarkers of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). While shorter speech samples would promote data collection and analysis, the minimum length of informative speech samples remains debated. This study aims to provide insight into the effect of sample length in analyzing longitudinal recordings of spontaneous speech in AD by comparing the original random length, 5- and 1-minute-long samples. We hope to understand whether capping the audio improves the accuracy of the analysis, and whether an extra 4 min conveys necessary information. Methods: 110 spontaneous speech samples were collected from decades of Youtube videos of 17 public figures, 9 of whom eventually developed AD. 456 language features were extracted and their text-length-sensitivity, comparability, and ability to capture change over time were analyzed across three different sample lengths. Results: Capped audio files had advantages over the random length ones. While most extracted features were statistically comparable or highly correlated across the datasets, potential effects of sample length should be acknowledged for some features. The 5-min dataset presented the highest reliability in tracking the evolution of the disease, suggesting that the 4 extra minutes do convey informative data. Conclusion: Sample length seems to play an important role in extracting the language feature values from speech and tracking disease progress over time. We highlight the importance of further research into optimal sample length and standardization of methods when studying speech in AD

Rac GTPase isoform-specific regulation of NADPH oxidase and chemotaxis in murine neutrophils in vivo: Role of the C-terminal polybasic domain

The Rho family GTPase Rac acts as a molecular switch for signal transduction to regulate various cellular functions. Mice deficient in the hematopoietic-specific Rac2 isoform exhibit agonist-specific defects in neutrophil chemotaxis and superoxide production, despite expression of the highly homologous Rac1 isoform. To examine whether functional defects in rac2–/– neutrophils reflect effects of an overall decrease in total cellular Rac or an isoform-specific role for Rac2, retroviral vectors were used to express exogenous Rac1 or Rac2 at levels similar to endogenous. In rac2–/– neutrophils differentiated from transduced myeloid progenitors in vitro, increasing cellular Rac levels by expression of either exogenous Rac1 or Rac2 increased formylmethionylleucylphenylalanine- or phorbol ester-stimulated NADPH oxidase activity. Of note, placement of an epitope tag on the N terminus of Rac1 or Rac2 blunted reconstitution of responses in rac2–/– neutrophils. In rac2–/– neutrophils isolated from mice transplanted with Rac-transduced bone marrow cells, superoxide production and chemotaxis were fully reconstituted by expression of exogenous Rac2, but not Rac1. A chimeric Rac1 protein in which the Rac1 C-terminal polybasic domain, which contains six lysines or arginines, was replaced with that of the human Rac2 polybasic domain containing only three basic residues, also reconstituted superoxide production and chemotaxis, whereas expression of a Rac2 derivative in which the polybasic domain was replaced with that of Rac1 did not and resulted in disoriented cell motility. Thus, the composition of the polybasic domain is sufficient for determining Rac isoform specificity in the production of superoxide and chemotaxis in murine neutrophils in vivo

Grafting and stabilization of ordered mesoporous silica COK-12 with graphene oxide for enhanced removal of methylene blue

Large-pore ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) COK-12, analogous to the well-known SBA-15, but synthesized in a more environmentally friendly way and exhibiting a shorter plate-like structure, was grafted with different amounts of graphene oxide (GO) for the first time in an inexpensive and rapid process, that was successfully upscaled. Samples were examined with nitrogen sorption analysis, SAXS, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, and zeta potential analysis. Adsorption experiments with the cationic dye methylene blue (MB) were conducted on the grafted materials and on pure COK-12, taking into account the influence of initial dye concentration (30–600 mg L−1), adsorbent dosage (0.2–14 g L−1), contact time (0.3–300 min), solution pH (4–10), and influence of salts and temperature (0–1 M NaCl, 80 °C) to simulate industrial dye effluent. The adsorption process was found to be represented best by the Langmuir isotherm model, i.e., adsorption is a monolayer process. The calculated maximum adsorption capacities were found to be 20.2 and 197.5 mg g−1 at dosages of 5 and 0.5 g L−1 for pure COK-12 and COK-12 grafted with 50 wt% GO, respectively, at pH 5.65 and MB concentration of 100 mg L−1. Adsorption kinetics were found to follow the pseudo-second order model, i.e., chemisorption is the rate controlling step. The adsorption performances could be well preserved at simulated dye effluent. Desorption was found to be most effective with hydrochloric acid. The COK-12 grafted with GO presented in this work shows superior adsorption properties in comparison to other grafted OMS materials. In addition, grafting with GO remarkably improved the stability of COK-12 in aqueous solution.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 201