Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Enhancing remote monitoring and classification of motor state in Parkinson’s disease using Wearable Technology and Machine Learning

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition where dopaminergic medication, such as levodopa, is typically used to improve motor symptoms, including mobility. Identifying the impact of levodopa on real-world motor state (e.g. ON/OFF/ DYSKINESIA) is important for both clinicians and people with PD. The aim of the present work was to automatically classify medication states using machine learning models. Continuous 7-day data were collected in 26 people with PD using an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) placed on the fifth lumbar vertebrae (L5) level. Over the week, each participant was asked to complete a diary by annotating medication states (off-condition and dyskinesias) with a 30-minute resolution. Diary entries were used as reference labels assigned to the processed IMU data. Two different networks were chosen for the classification: the k-Nearest Neighbors algorithm (kNN) to identify ON-OFF-DYSKINESIA classes and Fine Tree (FT) to identify only OFF and ON classes. Preliminary results demonstrate that IMU data paired with machine learning could accurately classify ON-OFF and DYSKINESIA with 84% accuracy and the ON-OFF states were classified with 95% accuracy. These results are encouraging and pave the way to a better understanding of the effect that medication has on motor symptoms in PD during everyday life and may serve as a useful tool for optimizing clinical management of people with PD.
The Quality Characteristics of Dried Arils (Anardana) Prepared From Wild Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.) Stored at Ambient Temperature Conditions

Wild pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.) widely distributed in northern India is processed into a value added dried product namely anardana. During fruiting season fruits are available in bulk and traditional sun drying process is completely weather dependent which might lead to holding period before drying. Studies were carried out for the preparation of anardana at different intervals viz. 10, 20, 30 days from stored fruits at ambient temperature conditions (18-24oC). Physico-chemical, namely TSS, sugars and anthocyanins and sensory parameters of anardana increased significantly with the advancement of storage period. However, ascorbic acid and total phenols decreased with the storage period. After 20th day of storage of fruits, the various quality characteristics of anardana increased slightly, whereas, the acid content decreased slightly after 10th day of storage of fruits with faster decreasing rate after 20th day of storage. The best quality anardana in terms of quality characteristics can be prepared from the fruits stored up to 20 days period. Bangladesh J. Bot. 52(2): 411-418, 2023 (June)
Co-Influence of Nanofiller Content and 3D Printing Parameters on Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU)/Halloysite Nanotube (HNT) Nanocomposites

Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) belongs to a polyurethane family that possesses an elongation much higher than 300%, despite having low mechanical strength, which can be overcome by incorporating clay-based halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) as additives to manufacture TPU/HNT nanocomposites. This paper focuses on the co-influence of HNT content and 3D printing parameters on the mechanical properties of 3D printed TPU/HNT nanocomposites in terms of tensile properties, hardness, and abrasion resistance via fused deposition modelling (FDM). The optimum factor-level combination for different responses was determined with the aid of robust statistical Taguchi design of experiments (DoEs). Material characterisation was also carried out to evaluate the surface morphology, nanofiller dispersion, chemical structure, thermal stability, and phase behaviour corresponding to the DoE results obtained. It is evidently shown that HNT level and infill density play a significant role in impacting mechanical properties of 3D-printed TPU/HNT nanocomposites.
Income inequality and economic growth: An empirical investigation in South Africa

Abstract This study examines the relationship between income inequality and economic growth in South Africa for the period 1989 to 2018. The study is motivated by the high disparity in income inequality and stagnant economic growth that South Africa is experiencing. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing technique, we established a long-run relationship between economic growth and income inequality. The results revealed that income inequality has a negative impact on economic growth in the long run, and no effect in the short run. These results are robust with an estimation of the ARDL procedure that considers structural breaks. Therefore, policymakers should employ strategies that entail a double effect of growth in national income and consider the distribution of income in the long run. These policies include human capital accumulation, easily accessible education, and reduction in labour market dualism.
Fatigue Perception in Adolescents with Obesity and Their Caregivers

Although fatigue is a frequently occurring symptom in young patients with obesity, relatively few studies have assessed their perception of fatigue and its impact on their quality of life so far. Comparisons between the reports of fatigue in children/adolescents with obesity and their parents were assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory-Multidimensional Fatigue Scale (PedsQL-MFS). One hundred Italian children/adolescents (36 males; 64 females), aged between 11 and 17 (mean age = 15.3; SD = 1.61) with severe obesity [mean Body Mass Index (BMI: kg/m2) = 38; SD = 5.48] and their caregivers were enrolled. Perception of fatigue did not change by sex and rates of obesity in adolescents, while there was a difference (p = 0.040) in parents’ reports of cognitive fatigue between parents of children/adolescents of Group 1 (BMI SDS 2–2.99) and Group 2 (BMI SDS > 3), with a higher perception of fatigue in parents of the less heavy obese children. Significant differences in reports of general fatigue subscale were found between children/adolescents and their parents, being higher in their parents than in the young subjects with obesity (p < 0.001). Significant moderate correlations between all the subscales of PedsQL-MFS for children and parents were found with Pearson’s coefficients ranging from 0.529 to 0.571 (p < 0.001). The perception of fatigue measured with the PedsQL-MFS was comparable between obese children and their parents, thus indicating that this symptom is not hidden by children and is clearly perceived by their parents.
Automated Prediction of Osteoarthritis Level in Human Osteochondral Tissue Using Histopathological Images

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common arthritis and the leading cause of lower extremity disability in older adults. Understanding OA progression is important in the development of patient-specific therapeutic techniques at the early stage of OA rather than at the end stage. Histopathology scoring systems are usually used to evaluate OA progress and the mechanisms involved in the development of OA. This study aims to classify the histopathological images of cartilage specimens automatically, using artificial intelligence algorithms. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE)- and safranin O and fast green (SafO)-stained images of human cartilage specimens were divided into early, mild, moderate, and severe OA. Five pre-trained convolutional networks (DarkNet-19, MobileNet, ResNet-101, NasNet) were utilized to extract the twenty features from the last fully connected layers for both scenarios of SafO and HE. Principal component analysis (PCA) and ant lion optimization (ALO) were utilized to obtain the best-weighted features. The support vector machine classifier was trained and tested based on the selected descriptors to achieve the highest accuracies of 98.04% and 97.03% in HE and SafO, respectively. Using the ALO algorithm, the F1 scores were 0.97, 0.991, 1, and 1 for the HE images and 1, 0.991, 0.97, and 1 for the SafO images for the early, mild, moderate, and severe classes, respectively. This algorithm may be a useful tool for researchers to evaluate the histopathological images of OA without the need for experts in histopathology scoring systems or the need to train new experts. Incorporating automated deep features could help to improve the characterization and understanding of OA progression and development.
A Comparative Study on Cyanine Dyestuffs as Sensor Candidates for Macromolecular Crowding In Vitro and In Vivo

Pseudo isocyanine chloride (PIC) has been identified in a preceding work as a sensor suited to probe macromolecular crowding both in test tubes with solutions of synthetic crowding agents and in HeLa cells as a representative of living systems. The sensing is based on a delicate response of the self-assembly pattern of PIC towards a variation in macromolecular crowding. Based on a suitable selection of criteria established in the present study, four additional cyanine dyestuffs (TDBC, S071, S2275, and PCYN) were scrutinized for their ability to act as such a sensor, and the results were compared with the corresponding performance of PIC. UV-VIS and fluorescence spectroscopy were applied to investigate the photo-physical properties of the four candidates and, if possible, light scattering was used to characterize the self-assembly of the dyestuffs in solution. Finally, HeLa cells were exposed to solutions of the most promising candidates in order to analyze their ability to infiltrate the cells and to self-assemble therein. None of the dyestuff candidates turned out to be as similarly promising in probing crowding effects in cells as PIC turned out to be. S0271 and S2275 are at least stable enough and meet the photophysical requirements necessary to act as sensors responding to changes in macromolecular crowding.
In vitro symbiotic seed germination in Vanda wightii, an endemic orchid species of Western Ghats, India supported by Ceratobasidiaceae isolates

Symbiotic seed germination for conservation and cultivation of orchids holds colossal merit asmycorrhizal fungus in its system improves their growth and adaptability. Symbiotic activity ishighly specific in some species, but in other cases the same fungus from one species is effective in aseries of related species. The present work describes inter-specific activity of three fungal isolatesfrom seedling root of Vanda thwaitesii to support seed germination and seedling growth of V.wightii, a closely related species from India. Among the three isolates, two designated as Wyd2 andIdk were identified as Ceratobasidium sp through sequencing of ITS1 and ITS4 regions. Oneisolate designated as Wyd1 did not clad with any described genera, but remained as an out-groupunder the family Ceratobasidiaceae. All the three isolates possessed binucleate hyphae producingellipsoidal, oval or barrel shaped monilioid cells and supported 80–95% seed germination,transforming 70–85% of them into protocorms in 30 days duration. Symbiotic seedlingdevelopment starting with the promeristem formation, first leaf development and second leafinitiation occurred in 95% of the protocorms in a time interval of 60 days compared to 90–120 daysthrough asymbiotic method. The fungal isolates from Vanda thwaitesii evaluated are provedeffective in V. wightii for its symbiotic seed germination and thus useful to mycorrhiza assistedconservation.
Observational Modeling of Logical Entropy of Dynamical Systems with local approach

In this paper, we introduce a new kind of the logical entropy through a local relative approach. The notions of local relative logical entropy and local relative conditional logical entropy from an observer's viewpoint on local relative probability measure space are introduced and some of their ergodic properties are studied. Some properties of the local relative logical entropy of independent partitions are investigated and the concavity property for the local relative logical entropy has been proved. We show that, the basic properties of Shannon entropy of partitions on probability measure spaces, are established for the case of the local relative logical entropy. So the suggested measures can be used besides of the Shannon entropy of partitions . Using the concept of the local relative logical entropy of partitions, we define the local relative logical entropy of a dynamical system and present some of its properties. Finally, it is shown that the local relative logical entropy of dynamical systems is invariant under isomorphism. So the notion of local relative logical entropy of dynamical systems can be a new tool for distinction of non-isomorphic relative dynamical systems.
Harnessing the Value of Tripolium pannonicum and Crithmum maritimum Halophyte Biomass through Integrated Green Biorefinery

Bioactive extracts are often the target fractions in bioprospecting, and halophyte plants could provide a potential source of feedstock for high-value applications as a part of integrated biorefineries. Tripolium pannonicum (Jacq.) Dobrocz. (sea aster) and Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel) are edible plants suggested for biosaline halophyte-based agriculture. After food production and harvesting of fresh leaves for food, the inedible plant fractions could be utilized to produce extracts rich in bioactive phytochemicals to maximize feedstock application and increase the economic feasibility of biomass processing to bioenergy. This study analyzed fresh juice and extracts from screw-pressed sea aster and sea fennel for their different phenolic compounds and pigment concentrations. Antioxidant and enzyme inhibition activities were also tested in vitro. Extracts from sea aster and sea fennel had phenolic contents up to 45.2 mgGAE/gDM and 64.7 mgGAE/gDM, respectively, and exhibited >70% antioxidant activity in several assays. Ethanol extracts also showed >70% inhibition activity against acetylcholinesterase and >50% inhibition of tyrosinase and α-glucosidase. Therefore, these species can be seen as potential feedstocks for further investigations.
The Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on Social Connectedness and Psychological Distress in U.S. Adults with Chronic Diseases

Lockdown measures enacted in 2020 to control the spread of COVID-19 led to increases in the prevalence of mental health problems. Due to their high-risk status, individuals with chronic diseases may be at increased risk and disproportionately adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The investigators examined associations between having a high-risk chronic condition, social connectedness, and general distress and COVID-19-specific distress among U.S. adults during the COVID-19 lockdown. Baseline measures of a longitudinal survey collected at the beginning of the pandemic (April to June 2020) were analyzed to identify factors associated with loss of social connectedness from pre- to post-lockdown. The associations between social connectedness and both general and COVID-19-specific psychological distress were adjusted for certain high-risk chronic illnesses and interaction effects. The sample available for analysis included 1354 subjects (262 high-risk chronic diseases and 1092 without chronic illness). Those reporting the loss of social connectedness were younger (median = 39 vs. 42) and more likely to be unemployed because of the pandemic (19.4% vs. 11.0%). Adjustment for interaction demonstrated a stronger negative association between social connectedness change and the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 for those with high-risk illness(es) (change in connectedness*chronic illness OR = 0.88, 95%CI: 0.79–0.98, p = 0.020). These findings inform our understanding of the distribution and intersection of responses to public health lockdown orders in the U.S. and build further evidence of the importance of social connectedness on psychological distress.
Superficial temporal artery aneurysm

The superficial temporal artery (STA), an end branch of the external carotid artery, is a major artery of the head. Due to its location, where skin and fat tissue remain the only protection of the artery, it can be easily damaged while head injury, causing an aneurysm to form. So far around four hundreds of cases of STA aneurysms have been described in the literature. We present a 37-year-old woman with a painless pulsatile mass of approximately one centimeter above the left ear and headaches in the left temporal area. In the past, she was a victim of domestic violence with a few head trauma. The STA aneurysm was confirmed in ultrasound imaging. The patient did not meet the criteria for the diagnosis of giant cell arteritis. She was presented for a vascular surgery consultation and qualified for surgical resection of the aneurysm. In addition, the patient was diagnosed with hepatic hemangioma and mild aortic and mitral valve regurgitation. According to the available literature, STA aneurysms have mostly been reported as post-traumatic. The gold standard for STA aneurysm treatment is surgical resection. The procedure was reported as safe, as well as a low grade of recurrence or complications during the procedure was shown in the literature.
Mismatches in the ecosystem services-wellbeing nexus: a case study for Chilean Patagonia

ABSTRACT The supply of ecosystem services (ES) is commonly assumed to be linked to human wellbeing within socio-ecological systems. However, these linkages are seldom assessed using quantitative approaches at large scales and low spatial resolution. Here, we investigated the complex bidirectional linkages between ES supply and material wellbeing (income) using data from 382,199 rural properties in 178 municipalities from Chilean Patagonia. We assessed two model groups using structural equation modeling (SEM), wherein the first group assumed an impact of ES supply on wellbeing and the second postulated the opposite impact, with wellbeing affecting ES supply. For each group we run a separate SEM per ES category (i.e. provisioning, regulating, and cultural), making a total of six SEM analyzed. We found that neither model group was significantly stronger than the other, as the linkage between ES supply and material wellbeing was not significant in any model. Each model differed notably in their significant path coefficients, with models for cultural and regulating ES showing a better fit than for provisioning ES. We therefore assert that previously assumed links between ES and material wellbeing do not necessarily hold at larger spatial scales and in contexts where rural economies are more diverse and less dependent on natural capital. Understanding ES supply-wellbeing dynamics and how they vary across spatial and temporal scales is important for fostering sustainable socio-ecological systems.
The origin of carbon-atmosphere white dwarfs with implications for type Ia supernovae

Bart Hayden Dunlap: The Origin of Carbon-Atmosphere White Dwarfs with Implications for Type Ia Supernovae (Under the Direction of J. Christopher Clemens) This study weaves together two strands that at first do not seem to be intertwined. Type Ia supernovae are the class of explosions crucial to measuring out distances on cosmological scales. In the classical theory of their origin, a white dwarf amasses enough material from a main sequence or giant companion star that its interior carbon ignites and explodes. However, these kinds of binary systems may be too sparse to account for the observed rate of type Ia supernova explosions, and much recent work has gone into exploring alternatives, especially the merger of two white dwarfs (the double degenerate scenario). In merger simulations this either results in a type Ia supernova or, depending on initial conditions, produces a massive white dwarf with a magnetic field. In this context the discovery of a new class of variable white dwarf stars in our solar neighborhood would not seem relevant, but it is. We present the discovery of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th variables among the white dwarfs with carbon-dominated atmospheres (the hot DQs), which establishes them as a class of variables. We show that the properties of this class are consistent with their being massive white dwarfs that are rotating rapidly with magnetic spots that account for the variability. Furthermore, we show that the existence of these stars at their observed temperatures represents a conundrum. They have the space motions of an older stellar population but the
Accuracy and Velocity of the Elite Female Turkish Handball Players

We aimed to compare the overarm throwing accuracy of the handball players to the goal with/without the signed target (w/woST) and to assess the role of the trunk and the throwing arm segments. Elite female handball players (N=12) are in the age of 22.92 ± 2.43 years and have been in the Turkish National Team since they are 12.0 ± 2.2 years, were participated to this study. In this study, he segmental angular and linear velocities of their trunk and the throwing arm, with the speed of the ball were examined. The maximum speed of the ball to the goal was 85 kmh-1 during wST and 88kmh-1 woST. The decrease in the angular velocity of the internal rotation (55%) and the flexion (66%) of the upper arm segment was significant in favour of the goal wST (p < 0.01). The angular velocity of shoulder internal rotation and the resultant linear acceleration of the elbow joint during the woST accurate throws were related (p = 0.02). Thus, there is a slowing down in the upper arm segment (flexion and internal rotation) at pre-release to ensure the accuracy of the throws wST. Additionally, internal rotation and extension of the elbow velocity are important for the maximal accurate throws to the target; pelvic rotation is effective on elbow internal rotation at pre-release. Therefore, for the acquired overarm throws, the elbow extension and internal rotation; shoulder internal rotation are important as well as the pelvic rotations of the handball players.
Parkinson’s Detection: Emotional Intelligence Perspective

Parkinson’s disease is a neurological ailment affecting millions of individuals throughout the world. Early detection and accurate diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) are crucial for effective treatment and management of the disease. In recent years, there has been growing interest in using Emotional Intelligence-based approaches to detect PD, as changes in emotional processing are a common symptom of the disease. Emotion recognition using various techniques of emotional intelligence can aid in early detection, management, and monitoring of the disease. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the research on PD detection. Also, the taxonomy approaches to PD detection using different biomarkers and Emotional Intelligence (EI) are discussed. In this paper, it also reviews recent studies on the use of Emotional intelligence techniques for PD detection and proposes future directions for research in this area. Overall, the review suggests that using Emotional Intelligence approaches has a high potential for enhancing the accuracy and reliability of PD detection and monitoring, and can have significant implications for improving the quality of life of PD patients.