Mobile systems for monitoring Parkinson's disease

A challenge for the clinical management of Parkinson's disease (PD) is the large within- and between-patient variability in symptom profiles as well as the emergence of motor complications which represent a significant source of disability in patients. This thesis deals with the development and evaluation of methods and systems for supporting the management of PD by using repeated measures, consisting of subjective assessments of symptoms and objective assessments of motor function through fine motor tests (spirography and tapping), collected by means of a telemetry touch screen device. One aim of the thesis was to develop methods for objective quantification and analysis of the severity of motor impairments being represented in spiral drawings and tapping results. This was accomplished by first quantifying the digitized movement data with time series analysis and then using them in data-driven modelling for automating the process of assessment of symptom severity. The objective measures were then analysed with respect to subjective assessments of motor conditions. Another aim was to develop a method for providing comparable information content as clinical rating scales by combining subjective and objective measures into composite scores, using time series analysis and data-driven methods. The scores represent six symptom dimensions and an overall test score for reflecting the global health condition of the patient. In addition, the thesis presents the development of a web-based system for providing a visual representation of symptoms over time allowing clinicians to remotely monitor the symptom profiles of their patients. The quality of the methods was assessed by reporting different metrics of validity, reliability and sensitivity to treatment interventions and natural PD progression over time. Results from two studies demonstrated that the methods developed for the fine motor tests had good metrics indicating that they are appropriate to quantitatively and objectively assess the severity of motor impairments of PD patients. The fine motor tests captured different symptoms; spiral drawing impairment and tapping accuracy related to dyskinesias (involuntary movements) whereas tapping speed related to bradykinesia (slowness of movements). A longitudinal data analysis indicated that the six symptom dimensions and the overall test score contained important elements of information of the clinical scales and can be used to measure effects of PD treatment interventions and disease progression. A usability evaluation of the web-based system showed that the information presented in the system was comparable to qualitative clinical observations and the system was recognized as a tool that will assist in the management of patients.

Automatic and objective assessment of alternating tapping performance in Parkinson’s disease

This paper presents the development and evaluation of a method for enabling quantitative and automatic scoring of alternating tapping performance of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Ten healthy elderly subjects and 95 patients in different clinical stages of PD have utilized a touch-pad handheld computer to perform alternate tapping tests in their home environments. First, a neurologist used a web-based system to visually assess impairments in four tapping dimensions (‘speed’, ‘accuracy’, ‘fatigue’ and ‘arrhythmia’) and a global tapping severity (GTS). Second, tapping signals were processed with time series analysis and statistical methods to derive 24 quantitative parameters. Third, principal component analysis was used to reduce the dimensions of these parameters and to obtain scores for the four dimensions. Finally, a logistic regression classifier was trained using a 10-fold stratified cross-validation to map the reduced parameters to the corresponding visually assessed GTS scores. Results showed that the computed scores correlated well to visually assessed scores and were significantly different across Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale scores of upper limb motor performance. In addition, they had good internal consistency, had good ability to discriminate between healthy elderly and patients in different disease stages, had good sensitivity to treatment interventions and could reflect the natural disease progression over time. In conclusion, the automatic method can be useful to objectively assess the tapping performance of PD patients and can be included in telemedicine tools for remote monitoring of tapping.

Automatic spiral analysis for objective assessment of motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease

A challenge for the clinical management of advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients is the emergence of fluctuations in motor performance, which represents a significant source of disability during activities of daily living of the patients. There is a lack of objective measurement of treatment effects for in-clinic and at-home use that can provide an overview of the treatment response. The objective of this paper was to develop a method for objective quantification of advanced PD motor symptoms related to off episodes and peak dose dyskinesia, using spiral data gathered by a touch screen telemetry device. More specifically, the aim was to objectively characterize motor symptoms (bradykinesia and dyskinesia), to help in automating the process of visual interpretation of movement anomalies in spirals as rated by movement disorder specialists. Digitized upper limb movement data of 65 advanced PD patients and 10 healthy (HE) subjects were recorded as they performed spiral drawing tasks on a touch screen device in their home environment settings. Several spatiotemporal features were extracted from the time series and used as inputs to machine learning methods. The methods were validated against ratings on animated spirals scored by four movement disorder specialists who visually assessed a set of kinematic features and the motor symptom. The ability of the method to discriminate between PD patients and HE subjects and the test-retest reliability of the computed scores were also evaluated. Computed scores correlated well with mean visual ratings of individual kinematic features. The best performing classifier (Multilayer Perceptron) classified the motor symptom (bradykinesia or dyskinesia) with an accuracy of 84% and area under the receiver operating characteristics curve of 0.86 in relation to visual classifications of the raters. In addition, the method provided high discriminating power when distinguishing between PD patients and HE subjects as well as had good test-retest reliability. This study demonstrated the potential of using digital spiral analysis for objective quantification of PD-specific and/or treatment-induced motor symptoms.

Decision Support Systems And Promoting Socially Just Environmental Management

The Mauri Model DMF is unique in its approach to the management of water resources as the framework offers a transparent and inclusive approach to considering the environmental, economic, social and cultural aspects of the decisions being contemplated. The Mauri Model DMF is unique because it is capable of including multiple-worldviews and adopts mauri (intrinsic value or well-being) in the place of the more common monetised assessments of pseudo sustainability using Cost Benefit Analysis. The Mauri Model DMF uses a two stage process that first identifies participants’ worldviews and inherent bias regarding water resource management, and then facilitates transparent assessment of selected sustainability performance indicators. The assessment can then be contemplated as the separate environmental, economic, social and cultural dimensions of the decision, and collectively as an overall result; or the priorities associated with different worldviews can be applied to determine the sensitivity of the result to different cultural contexts or worldviews.

A BDI-based approach for the assessment of driver's decision-making in commuter scenarios

The rapid growth of urban areas has a significant impact on traffic and transportation systems. New management policies and planning strategies are clearly necessary to cope with the more than ever limited capacity of existing road networks. The concept of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) arises in this scenario; rather than attempting to increase road capacity by means of physical modifications to the infrastructure, the premise of ITS relies on the use of advanced communication and computer technologies to handle today’s traffic and transportation facilities. Influencing users’ behaviour patterns is a challenge that has stimulated much research in the ITS field, where human factors start gaining great importance to modelling, simulating, and assessing such an innovative approach. This work is aimed at using Multi-agent Systems (MAS) to represent the traffic and transportation systems in the light of the new performance measures brought about by ITS technologies. Agent features have good potentialities to represent those components of a system that are geographically and functionally distributed, such as most components in traffic and transportation. A BDI (beliefs, desires, and intentions) architecture is presented as an alternative to traditional models used to represent the driver behaviour within microscopic simulation allowing for an explicit representation of users’ mental states. Basic concepts of ITS and MAS are presented, as well as some application examples related to the subject. This has motivated the extension of an existing microscopic simulation framework to incorporate MAS features to enhance the representation of drivers. This way demand is generated from a population of agents as the result of their decisions on route and departure time, on a daily basis. The extended simulation model that now supports the interaction of BDI driver agents was effectively implemented, and different experiments were performed to test this approach in commuter scenarios. MAS provides a process-driven approach that fosters the easy construction of modular, robust, and scalable models, characteristics that lack in former result-driven approaches. Its abstraction premises allow for a closer association between the model and its practical implementation. Uncertainty and variability are addressed in a straightforward manner, as an easier representation of humanlike behaviours within the driver structure is provided by cognitive architectures, such as the BDI approach used in this work. This way MAS extends microscopic simulation of traffic to better address the complexity inherent in ITS technologies.

Organizations redesign and building of information systems

Develop software is still a risky business. After 60 years of experience, this community is still not able to consistently build Information Systems (IS) for organizations with predictable quality, within previously agreed budget and time constraints. Although software is changeable we are still unable to cope with the amount and complexity of change that organizations demand for their IS. To improve results, developers followed two alternatives: Frameworks that increase productivity but constrain the flexibility of possible solutions; Agile ways of developing software that keep flexibility with less upfront commitments. With strict frameworks, specific hacks have to be put in place to get around the framework construction options. In time this leads to inconsistent architectures that are harder to maintain due to incomplete documentation and human resources turnover. The main goals of this work is to create a new way to develop flexible IS for organizations, using web technologies, in a faster, better and cheaper way that is more suited to handle organizational change. To do so we propose an adaptive object model that uses a new ontology for data and action with strict normalizing rules. These rules should bound the effects of changes that can be better tested and therefore corrected. Interfaces are built with templates of resources that can be reused and extended in a flexible way. The “state of the world” for each IS is determined by all production and coordination acts that agents performed over time, even those performed by external systems. When bugs are found during maintenance, their past cascading effects can be checked through simulation, re-running the log of transaction acts over time and checking results with previous records. This work implements a prototype with part of the proposed system in order to have a preliminary assessment its feasibility and limitations.

Poly(epsilon-caprolactone)nanocapsules as carrier systems for herbicides: Physico-chemical characterization and genotoxicity evaluation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Geoprocessing applied to the assessment of environmental noise: a case study in the city of Sorocaba, São Paulo, Brazil

Noise mapping has been used as an instrument for assessment of environmental noise, helping to support decision making on urban planning. In Brazil, urban noise is not yet recognized as a major environmental problem by the government. Besides, cities that have databases to drive acoustic simulations, making use of advanced noise mapping systems, are rare. This study sought an alternative method of noise mapping through the use of geoprocessing, which is feasible for the Brazilian reality and for other developing countries. The area chosen for the study was the central zone of the city of Sorocaba, located in So Paulo State, Brazil. The proposed method was effective in the spatial evaluation of equivalent sound pressure level. The results showed an urban area with high noise levels that exceed the legal standard, posing a threat to the welfare of the population.

Harmonised framework for ecological risk assessment of sediments from ports and estuarine zones of North and South Atlantic

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Assessment of agroeconomic indices in polycultures of lettuce, rocket and carrot through uni- and multivariate approaches in semi-arid Brazil

The polyculture among vegetables is an activity that to have good results, needs a proper planning. Although it often requires more labor, has several advantages over monoculture, among them is that polycultures are generally are more productive, provide with productivity of various plant constituents and a more balanced human diet, contribute to economic return, economic and yield stability, social benefits and farmer's direct participation in decision-making. The objective of this study was to evaluate agroeconomic indices of polycultures derived from the combination of two cultivars of lettuce with two cultivars of rocket in two cultures strip-intercropped with carrot cultivar 'Brasilia' through uni-multivariate approaches in semi-arid Brazil. The experimental design used was of randomized complete blocks with five replications and the treatments arranged in a factorial scheme of 2 x 2. The treatments consisted of the combination of two lettuce cultivars (Baba de Verao and Taina) with two rocket cultivars (Cultivada and Folha Larga) in two cultures associated with carrot cv. Brasilia. hi each block were grown plots with two lettuce cultivars and two rocket cultivars, and carrot in sole crop. In each system was determined the lettuce leaf yield, rocket green mass yield and carrot commercial yield. Agrieconomic indices such as operational cost, gross and net income, monetary advantage, rate of return, profit margin, land equivalent ratio and yield efficiency for DEA were used to measure the efficiency of intercropping systems. In the bicropping of lettuce and rocket associated with carrot cv. 'Brasilia', suggests the use of lettuce cultivar 'Taina' combined with rocket cultivars 'Cultivada' or 'Folha Larga'. It was observed significant effect of lettuce cultivars in the evaluation of polycultures of lettuce, carrot and rocket, with strong expression for the lettuce cultivar 'Taina'. Both uni- and multivariate approaches were effective in the discrimination of the best polycultures. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Respirometric techniques for assessment of biological kinetics in constructed wetland

The aim of this research was the development of a procedure to measure biological kinetics of organic matter oxidation and nitrification in constructed wetland, by using respirometric techniques. Columns simulating cores of vertical subsurface flow systems were investigated. The oxygen uptake rate (OUR) of the columns was calculated on the basis of the difference of DO concentrations measured continuously at the top and at the bottom of the column. From the respirogram, the following kinetic parameters have been evaluated: maximum rate of oxidation of readily biodegradable COD, maximum rate of nitrification, endogenous respiration of the biomass grown inside the bed. In order to improve the interpretation of the respirograms, additional respirometric tests were carried out on the wetland columns by using pure substrates, such as acetate (carbon source) and ammonium (substrate for nitrification). The kinetic parameters obtained from respirograms can be useful for control and design of constructed wetlands or for improving nutrient and carbon mass balances.

Multi-objective evolutionary particle swarm optimization in the assessment of the impact of distributed generation

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Cost assessment of efficiency losses in hydroelectric plants

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Genotoxicity assessment of water soluble fractions of biodiesel and its diesel blends using the Salmonella assay and the in vitro MicroFlow (R) kit (Litron) assay

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Assessment of maturity degree of composts from domestic solid wastes by fluorescence and fourier transform infrared spectroscopies

Methods of assessment of compost maturity are needed so the application of composted materials to lands will provide optimal benefits. The aim of the present paper is to assess the maturity reached by composts from domestic solid wastes (DSW) prepared under periodic and permanent aeration systems and sampled at different composting time, by means of excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). EEM spectra indicated the presence of two different fluorophores centered, respectively, at Ex/Em wavelength pairs of 330/425 and 280/330 nm. The fluorescence intensities of these peaks were also analyzed, showing trends related to the maturity of composts. The contour density of EEM maps appeared to be strongly reduced with composting days. After 30 and 45 days of composting, FT-IR spectra exhibited a decrease of intensity of peaks assigned to polysaccharides and in the aliphatic region. EEM and FT-IR techniques seem to produce spectra that correlate with the degree of maturity of the compost. Further refinement of these techniques should provide a relatively rapid method of assessing the suitability of the compost to land application.