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Inertial measurement unit signal-based machine learning methods for frailty assessment in geriatric health.
Get PDFFrailty is a geriatric syndrome that may result in poor health outcomes such as hospitalization, disability, psychological distress, and reduced life satisfaction, and it is also associated with higher healthcare costs. The aim of this study is to classify frailty in elders at an early stage (pre-frail) to lower the risk of frailty and, hence, improve the quality of life. The other two classes in the classification task are frail and robust (non-frail). To achieve this, a dataset based on gait was utilized, which was recorded by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) sensor, including gyroscope and accelerometer data. In this study, two approaches were assessed: the first used advanced Deep Learning (DL) algorithms to analyze raw IMU signals, and the second used conventional Machine Learning (ML) methods with hand-crafted features. The DL model, i.e., InceptionTime, beat the other algorithms in the DL approach with a remarkable test accuracy of 98%. On the ML side, Random Forest reported the most successful ML method, which achieved a test accuracy of 63.3%. For a careful assessment of the models, other evaluation metrics like Precision, Recall, and F1-score were also evaluated. The evaluation of both approaches produces research benefits for the classification of frailty in older people and allows for the investigation of new areas, promoting deeper comprehension and well-informed decision-making, particularly in healthcare systems
Age-related dementia and the law: the challenges of mental capacity and equality.
No full textThis chapter, co-written by a lawyer and a psychiatrist, addresses two major challenges that dementia poses for the law. The first is the impact of dementia upon decision-making ability, and the chapter highlights both key concepts (such as substitute decision-making) and controversial areas (such as the appropriate legal response to the requirements of sexual consent in the presence of dementia). The second challenge is that of equality - what place does the law have in securing, and what steps are required to secure - for those living with dementia - the services, care and treatment that they require on a truly equal basis
Intelligent agriculture using Autonomous UAVs.
No full textThe evolution of farming robots and their impact on the sector are all topics covered in this chapter, along with intelligent farming and its elements, robotic frameworks, and ML approaches. By minimizing the target’s time, it is intended to apply the gathering of autonomous unmanned aerial aircraft and UGVs that are communicated with one another. Utilizing particle swarm optimization, it sought to explore several strategies for the ideal number of stops. The best time to harvest the apples distributed to the stalls was calculated using deterministic, binary mixed (0-1) integer modeling and the &-means approach. With the help of this modeling, it is established in which UAV may be used to gather the apple and how to determine using 0-1 binary modeling if the air vehicle has successfully gathered the fruit or not. The unmanned UGV’s path was created using the 2-opt, closest neighbor, and nearest insertion approaches
Fashion film and the art and archaeology of screen promotion
Get PDFIn this article, Marketa Uhlirova discusses some of the theoretical and practical challenges she faced in the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project on fashion film in the early 20th century she ran with fashion historian Caroline Evans and media theorist Jussi Parikka. In conversation with Emily Caston, Uhlirova probes some of the associated and different curatorial and historical questions faced in Caston’s AHRC research project on British music videos. The conversation covers questions of definition, catalogue research, the condition of hidden screen industry archives, and media archaeology research paradigms
Book review: Tourism in the city: towards an integrative agenda on urban tourism by Nicola Bellini and Cecilia Pasquinelli (Eds), Springer, 2017
Get PDFBook Review:
This edited book by Prof Nicola Bellini and Assoc Prof Cecilia Pasquinelli, two scholars who have published extensively in urban tourism studies, responds to pervious calls for more research on urban tourism (e.g. Ashworth & Page, 2011; Maxim, 2016), in particular on the interrelation between tourism development and urban transformation
Replication research in the domain of perceived L2 fluency: Approximate and close replications of Kormos and Dénes (2004) and Rossiter (2009)
Get PDFThe primary objective of this paper is to contribute to the advancement of second language (L2) fluency
research by outlining a specific proposal for future replication studies. The overarching goal is to assess
the generalisability of the original findings of the two influential studies in the area of perceived fluency:
Kormos and Dénes (2004) and Rossiter (2009). This objective will be achieved by first introducing the
concept of L2 fluency that often conflates two categories: (1) overall language proficiency; (2) temporal
features of speech production. The paper then highlights limitations in the current fluency research paradigm
emphasising the variability in the methods employed for speech analysis and rating data collection.
This diversity makes it somewhat challenging to compare results across various studies. In response to
these challenges, the second part of the paper proposes several close and approximate replications of
the two studies
Artificial Intelligence: A Twenty First Century Regulatory Challenge
Get PDFArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a twenty first century evolution. Certain aspects of
AI have been integrated into daily living. AI applications have also been
incorporated into the aviation, banking, cyber security, educational,
employment, health, and military sectors respectively. However, the
unpredictable nature of AI is a cause for concern because ‘In many instances,
AI remains under the control of users and designers, but in increasing numbers
of applications, the behaviour of a system cannot be predicted by those involved
in design and application […]. Newly developed machines are able to teach
themselves and even collect data’. Consequently, ‘The potential benefits and
harms of AI have led to calls for governments to adapt quickly to the changes
AI is already delivering and the potentially transformative changes to come.
These include calls to pause AI development and for countries […] to deliver a
step-change in regulation’. ‘In March 2023, more than 1,000 artificial
intelligence experts, researchers and backers signed an open letter calling for
an immediate pause on the creation of “giant” AIs for at least six months, so
the capabilities and dangers of such systems can be properly studied and
mitigated’ . What are the benefits of AI? What are the risks of AI? Which crimes
can be committed via AI? What are the regulatory challenges? What has been
the international response? In this article, we will explore whether there is a
justification for regulating AI from ethical, legal and law enforcement
perspectives
The Efficiency of Calcium Oxide on Microbial Self-Healing Activity in Alkali-Activated Slag (AAS)
Get PDFAlkali-activated slag (AAS) materials are one of the most promising sustainable construction composites. These novel materials are highly characterized by their improved mechanical and durability properties. Nevertheless, the high shrinkage rate hinders their full-scale applications. The low Ca/Si ratio, complex hydration process, and fine pore microstructure are the main causes of the reported shrinkage behavior. This study introduces Bacillus subtilis culture for healing the cracking behavior. The enzymatic action leads to precipitating calcium carbonate crystals that fill AAS cracks and pores. Incorporating calcium oxide has been recommended in multiple studies. The main purpose of adding calcium oxide is to enhance the engineering properties of AAS and provide more calcium ions for the biochemical reactions induced by the added bacteria. However, inconsistent findings about the influence of calcium oxide have been reported. This research provides further insights into the effect of calcium oxide (CaO) on the performance of microbial self-healing efficiency in AAS composite. The results highlight that incorporating calcium oxide as 7% of the binder partial replacement has an impact on the engineering properties of bio-AAS materials. The study recommends correlating the percentage of free calcium ions within the AAS mixture with the microbial activity
THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT ISOLATION METHODS ON THE IMMUNOMODULATORY POTENCY OF EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES ISOLATED FROM AN IMMORTALISED MESENCHYMAL STROMAL CELL LINE
No full textBackground & Aim
Introduction: Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can influence immune cell behaviour through their secretome, comprising of extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) and other factors. Conclusions on the role and mechanism of action underlying MSC-EVs immunomodulation are hindered by their heterogeneity, which is linked to cell source as well as the EV bioprocessing. This study's aim was to develop an immortalised MSC line to allow the assessment of EV isolation methods on the EV phenotype and immune modulatory function. This will aid identifying critical quality attributes for enabling greater reproducibility when researching EV therapeutic products.
Methods, Results & Conclusion: Methods
To facilitate standardisation an immortalized MSC (ImmMSC) line, exhibiting a similar MSC phenotype and immunomodulatory potency to primary human bone marrow derived MSCs, was produced. To isolate EVs, supernatants collected from ImmMSCs underwent either Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), differential ultracentrifugation (DUC) or ExoQuick-TC™ precipitation. Supernatants not subjected to these isolation methods, were used to assess the released secretome. EV yield and expression of specific EV markers obtained from the different isolation methods were assessed with nanoparticle tracking analysis and R-plex MSD assay, respectively. The immunomodulatory potency of the secretome and respective individual components, MSC-EV and MSC secreted proteins, were evaluated by measuring T cell proliferation in a Mixed Lymphocyte Reaction (MLR) assay.
Results
Different EV isolation methods resulted in varying yields of tetraspanin expressing nanoparticles. Of the isolation methods tested, EV-enriched fractions acquired using ExoQuick-TC™ or SEC showed significantly higher expression of EV markers than those isolated by DUC. Interestingly, we observed that although MSC-EVs inhibited T cell proliferation, it was the protein-enriched EV-free SEC fractions that suppressed T cell proliferation more effectively.
Conclusions
SEC or ExoQuick-TC™ were more efficient in isolating EVs than DUC. Secretome fractions lacking EVs supressed T cell proliferation better than the EVs, suggesting secretome proteins to be the more potent mediators of MSC immunomodulation
Painting workshops for people living with dementia as a means of expression and communication: Revelations from our elders
Get PDFPurpose: To explore art workshops for people living with dementia as a process enabling creative expression and fostering communication with others.
Design/methodology/approach: To enable detailed exploration of the expressive powers of painting and drawing, we draw several examples from a series of painting workshops for people living with dementia which formed part of the PPI for research into experiences of restraint within care.
Findings: Artwork enabled personal expression, facilitated conversation with others, and revealed hidden knowledge and abilities, but also revealed dangers of miscommunication, specifically here related to technological changes and spirituality.
Originality: Much work in this area explores art activities for people living with dementia in terms of beneficial outcomes. Our work explores the creative process inherent in painting, drawing upon insights from art theory and providing in-depth individual insights through case studies. Both researchers in this study are artists and the work drew upon their understanding of the processes of painting.
Research limitations/implications: Individual differences in responses to painting will exist.
Social implications: Attention to the process of painting can be beneficial in fostering verbal and non-verbal communication with individuals who have difficulties in communication. Attention to cultural issues in care needs to incorporate understanding of spiritual and religious issues and take note of gaps in understanding related to technological as well as cultural changes between generations