المؤلفون: Alexandra König, Johannes Tröger, Elisa Mallick, Mario Mina, Nicklas Linz, Carole Wagnon, Julia Karbach, Caroline Kuhn, Jessica Peter

المصدر: BMC Psychiatry, Vol 22, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Depressive symptoms, Automated speech analysis, Acoustic features, Textual features, Machine learning, Psychiatry, RC435-571

الوصف: Abstract Background Automated speech analysis has gained increasing attention to help diagnosing depression. Most previous studies, however, focused on comparing speech in patients with major depressive disorder to that in healthy volunteers. An alternative may be to associate speech with depressive symptoms in a non-clinical sample as this may help to find early and sensitive markers in those at risk of depression. Methods We included n = 118 healthy young adults (mean age: 23.5 ± 3.7 years; 77% women) and asked them to talk about a positive and a negative event in their life. Then, we assessed the level of depressive symptoms with a self-report questionnaire, with scores ranging from 0–60. We transcribed speech data and extracted acoustic as well as linguistic features. Then, we tested whether individuals below or above the cut-off of clinically relevant depressive symptoms differed in speech features. Next, we predicted whether someone would be below or above that cut-off as well as the individual scores on the depression questionnaire. Since depression is associated with cognitive slowing or attentional deficits, we finally correlated depression scores with performance in the Trail Making Test. Results In our sample, n = 93 individuals scored below and n = 25 scored above cut-off for clinically relevant depressive symptoms. Most speech features did not differ significantly between both groups, but individuals above cut-off spoke more than those below that cut-off in the positive and the negative story. In addition, higher depression scores in that group were associated with slower completion time of the Trail Making Test. We were able to predict with 93% accuracy who would be below or above cut-off. In addition, we were able to predict the individual depression scores with low mean absolute error (3.90), with best performance achieved by a support vector machine. Conclusions Our results indicate that even in a sample without a clinical diagnosis of depression, changes in speech relate to higher depression scores. This should be investigated in more detail in the future. In a longitudinal study, it may be tested whether speech features found in our study represent early and sensitive markers for subsequent depression in individuals at risk.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://doaj.org/toc/1471-244XTest

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/44177b145fef4cf18722e82b51e0e781Test

المؤلفون: Johannes Tröger, Ebru Baykara, Jian Zhao, Daphne ter Huurne, Nina Possemis, Elisa Mallick, Simona Schäfer, Louisa Schwed, Mario Mina, Nicklas Linz, Inez Ramakers, Craig Ritchie

المصدر: Digital Biomarkers, Vol 6, Iss 3, Pp 107-116 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: mild cognitive impairment, digital biomarker, speech biomarker, dementia, speech analysis, clinical trials, Biology (General), QH301-705.5

الوصف: Introduction: Progressive cognitive decline is the cardinal behavioral symptom in most dementia-causing diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. While most well-established measures for cognition might not fit tomorrow’s decentralized remote clinical trials, digital cognitive assessments will gain importance. We present the evaluation of a novel digital speech biomarker for cognition (SB-C) following the Digital Medicine Society’s V3 framework: verification, analytical validation, and clinical validation. Methods: Evaluation was done in two independent clinical samples: the Dutch DeepSpA (N = 69 subjective cognitive impairment [SCI], N = 52 mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and N = 13 dementia) and the Scottish SPeAk datasets (N = 25, healthy controls). For validation, two anchor scores were used: the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale. Results: Verification: The SB-C could be reliably extracted for both languages using an automatic speech processing pipeline. Analytical Validation: In both languages, the SB-C was strongly correlated with MMSE scores. Clinical Validation: The SB-C significantly differed between clinical groups (including MCI and dementia), was strongly correlated with the CDR, and could track the clinically meaningful decline. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the ki:e SB-C is an objective, scalable, and reliable indicator of cognitive decline, fit for purpose as a remote assessment in clinical early dementia trials.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/526471Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2504-110XTest

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/d715274c09c14aa5807f9200f2c82a8fTest

المؤلفون: Johan Skoog, Elisa Mallick, Timothy Hadarsson Bodin, Mario Mina, Nicklas Linz, Johannes Tröger, Ingmar Skoog

المصدر: Alzheimer's & Dementia. 18

مصطلحات موضوعية: Psychiatry and Mental health, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Neurology (clinical), Geriatrics and Gerontology

الوصول الحر: https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::9e50e4564a3b9190a4c6b5b8e57b2222Test
https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.067821Test

المؤلفون: Nicklas Linz, Elisa Mallick, Mario Mina, Nina Possemis, Alexandra König, Daphne B.G. ter Huurne, Inez H.G.B. Ramakers, Johannes Tröger

المصدر: Alzheimer's & Dementia. 18

مصطلحات موضوعية: Psychiatry and Mental health, Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Developmental Neuroscience, Epidemiology, Health Policy, Neurology (clinical), Geriatrics and Gerontology

الوصول الحر: https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::d76b16caf1c911123fd79b740922f60eTest
https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.061600Test

المؤلفون: Alexander Trischack, Camila A. Cabeza, Amal El Gohary Ahmed, Mario Minauf, Michael Harasek

المصدر: Chemical Engineering Transactions, Vol 105 (2023)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Chemical engineering, TP155-156, Computer engineering. Computer hardware, TK7885-7895

الوصف: Starch hydrolysates, typically produced by enzymatic hydrolysis of starch from different raw materials, are presented as glucose syrups with a brownish colour due to colour compounds formed during the processing. The colour must be removed for further commercial use, usually done by activated carbon (AC) downstream treatment. This research studied the decolourization of starch hydrolysates with AC to evaluate better optimum process conditions, thus help reducing resource consumption and waste generation in the actual downstream systems. Adsorption by powdered NORIT GBSP AC was carried out in a lab-scale batch process at a constant temperature (70 °C) for different contact times in a range of 5 to 90 minutes, AC dosages from 0.1 to 0.8 g / 100 ml solution and sugar concentrations of 16, 20, 30, and 40 Brix. The results showed that the adsorption time to reach equilibrium decreases with higher dilution (10, 20, 30 and 60 min for 16, 20, 30 and 40 Brix solution). All dilutions achieved decolourization from 85 % to 90 %, with colour reduced to nearly 50 ICUMSA Units. Regarding the obtained product sugar, a lower amount of AC is required for higher sugar concentration (0.020, 0.021, 0.021, and 0.010 g AC per g decolourised sugar for 16, 20, 30, and 40 Brix). For better determination of best decolourization conditions, further investigation of the correlation between faster adsorption with higher water and energy consumption and lower dilution for less required AC is required. Additional studies in other separation techniques are proposed, especially membranes, showing high AC waste reduction potential.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: http://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/13798Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2283-9216Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/bec27195e6be41048c9d6fc18af77650Test

المؤلفون: Raffaella Griffo, Francesco Di Natale, Mario Minale, Mariano Sirignano, Arianna Parisi, Claudia Carotenuto

المصدر: Nanomaterials, Vol 14, Iss 3, p 301 (2024)

مصطلحات موضوعية: carbon nanoparticles, soot, thin film, wettability, superhydrophobic materials, contact angle, Chemistry, QD1-999

الوصف: Wettability, typically estimated through the contact angle, is a fundamental property of surfaces with wide-ranging implications in both daily life and industrial processes. Recent scientific interest has been paid to the surfaces exhibiting extreme wettability: superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, characterized by high water repellency and exceptional water wetting, respectively. Both chemical composition and morphology play a role in the determination of the wettability “performance” of a surface. To tune surface-wetting properties, we considered coatings of carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) in this study. They are a new class of nanomaterials synthesized in flames whose chemistry, dimension, and shape depend on combustion conditions. For the first time, we systematically studied the wettability of CNP coatings produced in a controlled rich ethylene/air flame stabilized over a McKenna burner. A selected substrate was intermittently inserted in the flame at 15 mm above the burner to form a thin coating thanks to a thermophoretic-driven deposition mechanism. The chemical-physical quality and the deposed quantity of the CNPs were varied by opportunely combing the substrate flame insertion number (from 1 to 256) and the carbon-to-oxygen ratio, C/O (from 0.67 to 0.87). The wettability of the coatings was evaluated by measuring the contact angle, CA, with the sessile drop method. When the C/O = 0.67, the CNPs were nearly spherical, smaller than 8 nm, and always generated hydrophilic coatings (CA < 35°). At higher C/O ratios, the CNPs reached dimensions of 100 nm, and fractal shape aggregates were formed. In this case, either hydrophilic (CA < 76°) or superhydrophobic (CA ~166°) behavior was observed, depending on the number of carbon nanoparticles deposed, i.e., film thickness. It is known that wettability is susceptible to liquid surface tension, and therefore, tests were conducted with different fluids to establish a correlation between the flame conditions and the nanostructure of the film. This method offers a fast and simple approach to determining mesoscale information for coating roughness and topographical homogeneity/inhomogeneity of their surfaces.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/14/3/301Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2079-4991Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/740babc32fe541228b93fef5ade7a6d8Test

المؤلفون: Camila A. Cabeza, Amal El-Gohary-Ahmed, Mario Minauf, Michael Harasek

المصدر: Chemical Engineering Transactions, Vol 96 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Chemical engineering, TP155-156, Computer engineering. Computer hardware, TK7885-7895

الوصف: Starch hydrolysates have strict quality demands of production where low content of impurities is required. The quality of the product depends on the raw material, the suitability of clarification and the evaporation process of juices. The manufacture of starch products plays an essential role in numerous applications in widely different industries, such as food ingredients, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products, and other products for wide-ranging technical applications. However, the current industrial downstream processes used after hydrolysation to purify these products significantly impact the environment and have high energy demands. For this reason, it is essential to investigate other sustainable separation techniques commercially available for the industry, such as membrane separation technologies. Membrane technology could increment the quality of the product while reducing energy consumption and waste production compared with other methods. For instance, ultrafiltration (UF) membranes have demonstrated the efficient separation and purification of various sugar juices. They are pressure-driven membranes able to fractionate the product from non-sugar compounds and impurities. Therefore, as a starting point, this research evaluated two different UF membranes available in the market to treat starch hydrolysates (70 kDa and 20 kDa). The influence of two operating parameters, such as temperature and transmembrane pressure (TMP), on the separation of colour particles, sugar permeation and permeate flux from the starch hydrolysates were evaluated through the filtration processes. The 70 kDa membrane obtained the best performance at optimal operating conditions of 60 °C and 8 bar with around 27 % colour removal, the highest permeate flux value of 105.4 L/m2.h and minimum sugar loss of 3%. Finally, the results indicate the suitability of UF technology for the partial decolourisation of starch hydrolysates; however, it is recommended to continue studying the combination of UF with another separation method to eliminate the remaining impurities in the final product. These results would be a valuable guide for downstream process design and practical operation in subsequent industrial applications.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/12859Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2283-9216Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/267784acc4594a2e90f530397cd3a04fTest

المؤلفون: Camila A. Cabeza, Amal El Gohary Ahmed, Mario Minauf, Michael Harasek

المصدر: Chemical Engineering Transactions, Vol 94 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Chemical engineering, TP155-156, Computer engineering. Computer hardware, TK7885-7895

الوصف: The decolourization during the production of starch hydrolysates involves removing impurities to obtain a brilliant, light-coloured, transparent syrup. However, conventional processes in the industry result in low yield and quality, wasting energy and high-value chemicals. Therefore, starch hydrolysate production requires new separation techniques, such as membrane separation technology, which have overcome traditional methods in different applications. This technology used for product decolourization can reduce chemicals and benefit the subsequent evaporation and crystallization processes, increasing product recovery. Nevertheless, a single membrane step is sometimes impractical in achieving high colour removal, desalination, and sugar permeation due to their limited selectivity in complex solutions and low permeate flux. Consequently, integrating different membrane processes is necessary to improve separation selectivity and decolourization while ensuring high operational flux. In this study, three commercially available membranes (70 kDa, 5 kDa and 150-300 Da) were selected to investigate the colour removal, sugar permeation and conductivity change from a diluted glucose syrup obtained from saccharified starch hydrolysates. The experiments were conducted with a lab-scale crossflow membrane module and constant temperature (60°C). Depending on the maximum capacity of each membrane unit, different operating conditions were considered (feed concentration and transmembrane pressure). The most colour removed was achieved with the 5 kDa membrane with 36 %, followed by the 70 kDa membrane with 27.5 %. Besides, a considerable portion of salts can be removed during NF or 150-300 Da membrane, with an approximated 56 % conductivity change. This study proposed an integrated membrane system and using a theoretical balance was found that the colour of starch hydrolysates could be reduced to 53.6 % using three different steps of membrane filtration. These results will be helpful in the future as a starting point to evaluate in more detail the integration of varying membrane separation techniques and possible process scale-up. The new integrated system is expected to improve the separation of non-sugar compounds and operating conditions during starch hydrolysates' decolourization.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.cetjournal.it/index.php/cet/article/view/12753Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2283-9216Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/dd337b916ba044bdacd6c0e6faa0718cTest

المؤلفون: Hayder Al-Hraishawi, Mario Minardi, Houcine Chougrani, Oltjon Kodheli, Jesus Fabian Mendoza Montoya, Symeon Chatzinotas

المصدر: IEEE Access, Vol 9, Pp 158587-158598 (2021)

مصطلحات موضوعية: Broadband connectivity, in-space backhauling, nanosatellites, non-geostationary (NGSO) satellite constellations, radio access design, software-defined networking (SDN), Electrical engineering. Electronics. Nuclear engineering, TK1-9971

الوصف: In this paper, we propose an approach for constructing a multi-layer multi-orbit space information network (SIN) to provide high-speed continuous broadband connectivity for space missions (nanosatellite terminals) from the emerging space-based Internet providers. This notion has been motivated by the rapid developments in satellite technologies in terms of satellite miniaturization and reusable rocket launch, as well as the increased number of nanosatellite constellations in lower orbits for space downstream applications, such as earth observation, remote sensing, and Internet of Things (IoT) data collection. Specifically, space-based Internet providers, such as Starlink, OneWeb, and SES O3b, can be utilized for broadband connectivity directly to/from the nanosatellites, which allows a larger degree of connectivity in space network topologies. Besides, this kind of establishment is more economically efficient and eliminates the need for an excessive number of ground stations while achieving real-time and reliable space communications. This objective necessitates developing suitable radio access schemes and efficient scalable space backhauling using inter-satellite links (ISLs) and inter-orbit links (IOLs). Particularly, service-oriented radio access methods in addition to software-defined networking (SDN)-based architecture employing optimal routing mechanisms over multiple ISLs and IOLs are the most essential enablers for this novel concept. Thus, developing this symbiotic interaction between versatile satellite nodes across different orbits will lead to a breakthrough in the way that future downstream space missions and satellite networks are designed and operated.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9627690Test/; https://doaj.org/toc/2169-3536Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/34239cffaf1a43e4a19760fee9c1bf10Test

المؤلفون: Giorgio Baiamonte, Luciano Gristina, Santo Orlando, Salvatore Samuel Palermo, Mario Minacapilli

المصدر: Remote Sensing, Vol 14, Iss 16, p 4064 (2022)

مصطلحات موضوعية: soil carbon accounting, Mediterranean environment, soil erosion, arable land, 4p1000 initiative, Science

الوصف: No-tillage (NT) has been considered an agronomic tool to sequester soil organic carbon (SOC) and match the 4p1000 initiative requirements of conservative soil management. Recently, some doubts have emerged about the NT effect on SOC sequestration, often because observations and experimental data vary widely depending on climate and geographic characteristics. Therefore, a suitable SOC accounting method is needed that considers climate and morphology interactions. In this study, the yearly ratio between SOC in NT and conventional tillage (CT) (RRNT/CT) collected in a previous study for flat (96 samples) and sloping (44 samples) paired sites was used to map the overestimation of SOC sequestration. It was assumed that there would be an overestimation of NT capacity in sloping fields due to lower erosion processes with respect to CT. Towards this aim, Geographical Information System (GIS) techniques and an extensive input database of high spatial resolution maps were used in a simplified procedure to assess the overestimation of SOC stocks due to the sloping conditions and spatial variability of the Aridity Index (AI). Moreover, this also made it possible to quantify the effects of adopting NT practices on soil carbon sequestration compared to CT practices. The method was applied to the arable lands of five Mediterranean countries (France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) ranging between the 35° and 46° latitude. The results showed an overestimation of SOC sequestration, when the AI and soil erosion were considered. The average overestimation rate in the studied Mediterranean areas was 0.11 Mg ha−1 yr−1. Carbon stock overestimation ranged from 34 to 1417 Gg for Portugal and Italy, respectively. Even if overestimation is considered, 4p1000 goals are often reached, especially in the more arid areas. The findings of this research allowed us to map the areas suitable to meet the 4p1000 that could be achieved by adopting conservative practices such as NT.

وصف الملف: electronic resource

العلاقة: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/16/4064Test; https://doaj.org/toc/2072-4292Test

الوصول الحر: https://doaj.org/article/b31f50b8606d4684b808b2b0845387e0Test