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

Network of Hydrogen Bonds as a Medium for DNA Interaction in Solvents

We suggest that the DNA molecules could form the cholesteric phase owing to an interaction mediated by the network of the hydrogen bonds (H-network) in the solvent. The model admits of the dependence of the optical activity of the solution on the concentration of the PEG, and the change in the sense of the cholesteric twist due to the intercalation by the daunomicyn. Using the experimental data for the cholesteric phase of the DNA dispersion, we obtain a rough estimate for the energy given by our model, and show that it should be taken into account as well as the energy due to the steric repulsion, van der Waals, and electrostatic forces, generally used for studying the DNA molecules. The elastic constant of the H-network generating the interaction between the DNA molecules is determined by the energy due to the proton's vibration in the hydrogen bonds.Comment: 12 pages, Latex, 2 figure

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

Modelling spectral and timing properties of accreting black holes: the hybrid hot flow paradigm

The general picture that emerged by the end of 1990s from a large set of optical and X-ray, spectral and timing data was that the X-rays are produced in the innermost hot part of the accretion flow, while the optical/infrared (OIR) emission is mainly produced by the irradiated outer thin accretion disc. Recent multiwavelength observations of Galactic black hole transients show that the situation is not so simple. Fast variability in the OIR band, OIR excesses above the thermal emission and a complicated interplay between the X-ray and the OIR light curves imply that the OIR emitting region is much more compact. One of the popular hypotheses is that the jet contributes to the OIR emission and even is responsible for the bulk of the X-rays. However, this scenario is largely ad hoc and is in contradiction with many previously established facts. Alternatively, the hot accretion flow, known to be consistent with the X-ray spectral and timing data, is also a viable candidate to produce the OIR radiation. The hot-flow scenario naturally explains the power-law like OIR spectra, fast OIR variability and its complex relation to the X-rays if the hot flow contains non-thermal electrons (even in energetically negligible quantities), which are required by the presence of the MeV tail in Cyg X-1. The presence of non-thermal electrons also lowers the equilibrium electron temperature in the hot flow model to <100 keV, making it more consistent with observations. Here we argue that any viable model should simultaneously explain a large set of spectral and timing data and show that the hybrid (thermal/non-thermal) hot flow model satisfies most of the constraints.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. To be published in the Space Science Reviews and as hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI - The Physics of Accretion on to Black Holes (Springer Publisher

D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel $D^{*+}\to (D^0 \to K^- \pi^+) \pi^+$ (+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The $e^+p$ cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with $5<Q^2<100 GeV^2$ and $y<0.7$ is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region {$1.3<p_T(D^{*\pm})<9.0$ GeV and $| \eta(D^{*\pm}) |<1.5$}. Differential cross sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), $\eta(D^{*\pm}), W$ and $Q^2$ are compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and $\eta$(D^{*\pm}), the charm contribution $F_2^{c\bar{c}}(x,Q^2)$ to the proton structure function is determined for Bjorken $x$ between 2 $\cdot$ 10$^{-4}$ and 5 $\cdot$ 10$^{-3}$.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure

Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA

Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5 GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the $\gamma p$ centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4 GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil

Chronic neuropsychiatric sequelae of SARS‐CoV‐2: Protocol and methods from the Alzheimer's Association Global Consortium

Introduction Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused >3.5 million deaths worldwide and affected >160 million people. At least twice as many have been infected but remained asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic. COVID-19 includes central nervous system manifestations mediated by inflammation and cerebrovascular, anoxic, and/or viral neurotoxicity mechanisms. More than one third of patients with COVID-19 develop neurologic problems during the acute phase of the illness, including loss of sense of smell or taste, seizures, and stroke. Damage or functional changes to the brain may result in chronic sequelae. The risk of incident cognitive and neuropsychiatric complications appears independent from the severity of the original pulmonary illness. It behooves the scientific and medical community to attempt to understand the molecular and/or systemic factors linking COVID-19 to neurologic illness, both short and long term. Methods This article describes what is known so far in terms of links among COVID-19, the brain, neurological symptoms, and Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias. We focus on risk factors and possible molecular, inflammatory, and viral mechanisms underlying neurological injury. We also provide a comprehensive description of the Alzheimer's Association Consortium on Chronic Neuropsychiatric Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (CNS SC2) harmonized methodology to address these questions using a worldwide network of researchers and institutions. Results Successful harmonization of designs and methods was achieved through a consensus process initially fragmented by specific interest groups (epidemiology, clinical assessments, cognitive evaluation, biomarkers, and neuroimaging). Conclusions from subcommittees were presented to the whole group and discussed extensively. Presently data collection is ongoing at 19 sites in 12 countries representing Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Discussion The Alzheimer's Association Global Consortium harmonized methodology is proposed as a model to study long-term neurocognitive sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection

A decline in planned, but not spontaneous, preterm birth rates in a large Australian tertiary maternity centre during COVID-19 mitigation measures

First published: 12 July 2021 OnlinePublBACKGROUND: Reports from around the world suggest that rates of preterm birth decreased during COVID-19 lockdown measures. AIMS: To compare the prevalence of preterm birth and stillbirth rates during COVID-19 restriction measures with infants born at the same maternity centre during the same weeks in 2013-2019. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Deidentified data were extracted from the Mater Mothers' healthcare records database. This is a supra-regional tertiary perinatal centre. Logistic regressions were used to examine singleton live preterm birth rates during the beginning of COVID-19 restrictions (16 March-17 April; 'early'; 6955 births) and during the strictest part of COVID-19 restrictions (30 March-1 May; 'late'; 6953 births), according to gestational age subgroups and birth onset (planned or spontaneous). We adjusted for multiple covariates, including maternal age, body mass index, ethnicity, parity, socioeconomic status, maternal asthma, diabetes mellitus and/or hypertensive disorder. Singleton stillbirth rates were also examined between 16 March-1 May. RESULTS: Planned moderate/late preterm births declined by more than half during early COVID-19 restrictions compared with the previous seven years (29 vs an average of 64 per 1000 births; adjusted odds ratio 0.39, 95% CI 0.22-0.71). There was no effect on extremely or very preterm infants, spontaneous preterm births, or stillbirth rates. Rolling averages from January to June revealed a two-week non-significant spike in spontaneous preterm births from late April to early May, 2020. CONCLUSIONS: Together with evidence from other nations, the pandemic provides a unique opportunity to identify causal and preventative factors for preterm birth.Linda A. Gallo,Tania F. Gallo, Danielle J. Borg, Karen M. Moritz, Vicki L. Clifton and Sailesh Kuma

Prenatal alcohol consumption and placental outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies

December 2021Objective: A systematic review was conducted to determine placental outcomes following prenatal alcohol exposure in women. Data Sources: The search terms “maternal OR prenatal OR pregnant OR periconception” AND “placenta” AND “alcohol OR ethanol” were used across 5 databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and CINAHL) from inception until November 2020. Study Eligibility Criteria: Articles were included if they reported placental outcomes in an alcohol exposure group compared with a control group. Studies were excluded if placentas were from elective termination before 20 weeks’ gestation, animal studies, in vitro studies, case studies, or coexposure studies. Methods: Study quality was assessed by 2 reviewers using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale. Title and abstract screening was conducted by 2 reviewers to remove duplicates and irrelevant studies. Remaining full text articles were screened by 2 reviewers against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Placental outcome data were extracted and tabulated separately for studies of placentation, placental weight, placental morphology, and placental molecular studies. Meta-analyses were conducted for outcomes reported by >3 studies. Results: Database searching retrieved 640 unique records. Screening against inclusion and exclusion criteria resulted in 33 included studies. The quality assessment identified that 61% of studies were high quality, 30% were average quality, and 9% were low quality. Meta-analyses indicated that prenatal alcohol exposure increased the likelihood of placental abruption (odds ratio, 1.48; 95% confidence interval, 1.37–1.60) but not placenta previa (odds ratio, 1.14; 95% confidence interval, 0.84–1.34) and resulted in a reduction in placental weight of 51 g (95% confidence interval, −82.8 to −19.3). Reports of altered placental vasculature, placental DNA methylation, and gene expression following prenatal alcohol exposure were identified. A single study examined placentas from male and female infants separately and found sex-specific placental outcomes. Conclusion: Prenatal alcohol exposure increases the likelihood of placental abruption and is associated with decreased placental weight, altered placental vasculature, DNA methylation, and molecular pathways. Given the critical role of the placenta in determining pregnancy outcomes, further studies investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying alcohol-induced placental dysfunction are required. Sex-specific placental adaptations to adverse conditions in utero have been well documented; thus, future studies should examine prenatal alcohol exposure–associated placental outcomes separately by sex.Sarah E. Steane, Sophia L. Young, Vicki L. Clifton, Linda A. Gallo, Lisa K. Akison, Karen M. Morit