In the last decades, researchers have shown the potential of using Electrocardiogram (ECG) as a biometric trait due to its uniqueness and hidden nature. However, despite the great number of ...approaches found in the literature, no agreement exists on the most appropriate methodology. This paper presents a systematic review of data acquisition methods, aiming to understand the impact of some variables from the data acquisition protocol of an ECG signal in the biometric identification process. We searched for papers on the subject using Scopus, defining several keywords and restrictions, and found a total of 121 papers. Data acquisition hardware and methods vary widely throughout the literature. We reviewed the intrusiveness of acquisitions, the number of leads used, and the duration of acquisitions. Moreover, by analyzing the literature, we can conclude that the preferable solutions include: (1) the use of off-the-person acquisitions as they bring ECG biometrics closer to viable, unconstrained applications; (2) the use of a one-lead setup; and (3) short-term acquisitions as they required fewer numbers of contact points, making the data acquisition of benefit to user acceptance and allow faster acquisitions, resulting in a user-friendly biometric system. Thus, this paper reviews data acquisition methods, summarizes multiple perspectives, and highlights existing challenges and problems. In contrast, most reviews on ECG-based biometrics focus on feature extraction and classification methods.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Climate change has been acknowledged as one of the most significant current threats for younger generations. However, few studies have focused on climate change impacts on youth and how they can be ...supported. The purpose of this systematic review is to emphasize that a developmental perspective is fundamental within the interdisciplinary studies concerning climate change. Specifically, we focus our research on how the Positive Youth Development framework may inform future approaches to promote adolescents' and young adults' well-being and engagement in the context of climate change. A systematic review was conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The search comprised two databases, and a total of 13 articles were finally considered eligible for review. Data were analyzed using a narrative method. The results show that the Positive Youth Development theory is not yet directly embedded in existing studies concerning adolescents and young adults in the context of climate change, but some of its principles were identified. Examples are provided of how Positive Youth Development characteristics and constructs can enhance future research, practice, and policies. We highlight this framework as an innovative and promising approach in the context of climate change.
Recently, several studies have demonstrated the potential of electrocardiogram (ECG) to be used as a physiological signature for biometric systems (BS). We investigated the potential of ECG as a ...biometric trait for the identification and authentication of individuals. We used data from a public database, CYBHi, containing two off-the-person records from 63 subjects, separated by 3 months. For the BS, two templates were generated: (1) cardiac cycles (CC) and (2) scalograms. The identification with CC was performed with LDA, kNN, DT, and SVM, whereas a convolutional neural network (CNN) and a distance-based algorithm were used for scalograms. The authentication was performed with a distance-based algorithm, with a leave-one-out cross validation, for impostors evaluation. The identification system yielded accuracies of 79.37% and 69.84% for CC with LDA and scalograms with CNN, respectively. The authentication yielded an accuracy of 90.48% and an impostor score of 13.06% for CC, and it had an accuracy of 98.42% and an impostor score of 14.34% for scalograms. The obtained results support the claim that ECG can be successfully used for personal recognition. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to thoroughly compare templates and methodologies to optimize the performance of an ECG-based biometric system.
Full text
Available for:
IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
To compare the safety and efficacy of two different approaches of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) production methods as intra-articular injection treatment for knee cartilage degenerative lesions ...and osteoarthritis (OA).
Methods
The study involved 144 symptomatic patients affected by cartilage degenerative lesions and OA. Seventy-two patients were treated with 3 injections of platelet concentrate prepared with a single-spinning procedure (PRGF), the other 72 with 3 injections of PRP obtained with a double-spinning approach. The patients were evaluated prospectively at the enrollment and at 2, 6, and 12 months’ follow-up with IKDC, EQ-VAS and Tegner scores; adverse events and patient satisfaction were also recorded.
Results
Both treatment groups presented a statistically significant improvement in all the scores evaluated at all the follow-up times. Better results were achieved in both groups in younger patients with a lower degree of cartilage degeneration. The comparative analysis showed similar improvements with the two procedures: in particular, IKDC subjective evaluation increased from 45.0 ± 10.1 to 59.0 ± 16.2, 61.3 ± 16.3, and 61.6 ± 16.2 at 2, 6, and 12 months in the PRGF group, and from 42.1 ± 13.5 to 60.8 ± 16.6, 62.5 ± 19.9, and 59.9 ± 20.0 at 2, 6, and 12 months in the PRP group, respectively. Concerning adverse events, more swelling (
P
= 0.03) and pain reaction (
P
= 0.0005), were found after PRP injections.
Conclusions
Although PRP injections produced more pain and swelling reaction with respect to that produced by PRGF, similar results were found at the follow-up times, with a significant clinical improvement with respect to the basal level. Better results were achieved in younger patients with a low degree of cartilage degeneration.
Level of evidence
II.
Full text
Available for:
EMUNI, FIS, FSPLJ, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Skyr yogurts have been gaining prominence because of their different sensory characteristics. Due to their healthy appeal, the use of natural sweeteners to replace sucrose in this type of yogurt can ...be an alternative for incorporating a sweet taste, in addition to increasing the functionality of the product through the incorporation of prebiotics. This study aimed to determine whether the addition of fructooligosaccharide (FOS), sucrose, stevia, and thaumatin affects the sensory profile of the skyr yogurt with mango pulp and its acceptance in two Brazilian regions. Eight formulations of skyr with mango pulp were developed. The compositional parameters evaluated were moisture, protein, lipids, ash, and carbohydrate. The tests performed were ideal sweetness and mango flavor, sweetness equivalence for each sweetener used, Quantitative Descriptive Analysis (QDA), and consumer testing in the Southeast and Northeast regions of Brazil. In general, the addition of FOS did not impact the characteristics of the formulated skyr yogurt. The type of sweetener had an impact on the sensory profile and acceptance of the skyr yogurt, affected characteristics such as mango flavor, sweet taste, sweet aftertaste, bitter taste, bitter aftertaste, and metallic flavor. The results of the affective test demonstrated that, for consumers in the Southeast, mango flavor is a positive attribute in this yogurt, and for Northeastern consumers, in addition to mango flavor, sweetness must also be taken into consideration.
Practical Application
This study may be useful for the dairy industry because in the literature, there is still a lack of sensory studies of skyr yogurt, especially when sucrose substitutes are used. The results of the consumer test in this work reinforce the importance of studies related to consumer preferences with cultural differences.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The role of tryptophan-kynurenine metabolism in psychiatric disease is well established, but remains less explored in peripheral tissues. Exercise training activates kynurenine biotransformation in ...skeletal muscle, which protects from neuroinflammation and leads to peripheral kynurenic acid accumulation. Here we show that kynurenic acid increases energy utilization by activating G protein-coupled receptor Gpr35, which stimulates lipid metabolism, thermogenic, and anti-inflammatory gene expression in adipose tissue. This suppresses weight gain in animals fed a high-fat diet and improves glucose tolerance. Kynurenic acid and Gpr35 enhance Pgc-1α1 expression and cellular respiration, and increase the levels of Rgs14 in adipocytes, which leads to enhanced beta-adrenergic receptor signaling. Conversely, genetic deletion of Gpr35 causes progressive weight gain and glucose intolerance, and sensitizes to the effects of high-fat diets. Finally, exercise-induced adipose tissue browning is compromised in Gpr35 knockout animals. This work uncovers kynurenine metabolism as a pathway with therapeutic potential to control energy homeostasis.
Display omitted
•Kynurenic acid increases energy expenditure by activating Gpr35•Gpr35 activation improves energy metabolism and inflammation in mice fed a high-fat diet•Kynurenic acid enhances adipocyte beta-adrenergic receptor signaling through Rgs14•Gpr35 knockout compromises exercise-induced adipose tissue browning
Kynurenine is a neurotoxic metabolite detoxified to kynurenic acid by exercised skeletal muscle. Now, Agudelo et al. show that the rise in circulating kynurenic acid activates Gpr35 in adipose tissue and increases energy expenditure. This improves the metabolic consequences of high-fat diet feeding in mice. Gpr35 deletion causes progressive weight gain.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Soluble oligomeric aggregates of the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the conformation adopted by Aβ within these aggregates is ...not known, a β-hairpin conformation is known to be accessible to monomeric Aβ. Here we show that this β-hairpin is a building block of toxic Aβ oligomers by engineering a double-cysteine mutant (called AβCC) in which the β-hairpin is stabilized by an intramolecular disulfide bond. Aβ₄₀CC and Aβ₄₂CC both spontaneously form stable oligomeric species with distinct molecular weights and secondary-structure content, but both are unable to convert into amyloid fibrils. Biochemical and biophysical experiments and assays with conformation-specific antibodies used to detect Aβ aggregates in vivo indicate that the wild-type oligomer structure is preserved and stabilized in AβCC oligomers. Stable oligomers are expected to become highly toxic and, accordingly, we find that β-sheet-containing Aβ₄₂CC oligomers or protofibrillar species formed by these oligomers are 50 times more potent inducers of neuronal apoptosis than amyloid fibrils or samples of monomeric wild-type Aβ₄₂, in which toxic aggregates are only transiently formed. The possibility of obtaining completely stable and physiologically relevant neurotoxic Aβ oligomer preparations will facilitate studies of their structure and role in the pathogenesis of AD. For example, here we show how kinetic partitioning into different aggregation pathways can explain why Aβ₄₂ is more toxic than the shorter Aβ₄₀, and why certain inherited mutations are linked to protofibril formation and early-onset AD.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a contextualized view of participants’ accounts of self-gift consumer behaviour (SGCB) throughout the consumption cycle, from the motivations to the ...emotions that follow.
Design/methodology/approach
– This paper uses an interpretive approach, focused on participants’ constructions of meanings, using 99 critical incident technique interviews, which followed 16 in-depth interviews.
Findings
– This paper identifies the following self-gift motivations: To Reward Myself (and Others); To celebrate; To remember or get closer; To forget or part; To feel loved or cheered up; and To enjoy life. It also uncovers a compensatory/therapeutic dimension in most self-gifts. The authors identify changes in emotional responses to SGCB over time, and suggest a relationship between these emotions and the contexts that drive self-gifts. Self-gifts are conceptualized as pleasure-oriented, symbolic and special consumption experiences, which are self-directed, or both self- and others-directed; perceived by the consumer to be justified by the contexts in which they occur; and driven and followed by context-dependent emotions.
Originality/value
– This manuscript offers novel insights into participants’ uses of both SGCB and the act of labelling purchases “self-gifts”. It uncovers how consumers are concerned with accounting for indulgent spending and how this problematizes the concept of “self-gift”. It challenges the idea of a single context for SGCB, showing how interacting motivations explain it. It also introduces a temporal dimension to self-gift theory by considering emotional responses at different times. Finally, it offers a new conceptualization of and theoretical framework for SGCB.
Purpose
– The paper aims to analyse the engagement in sustainability reporting assurance (SRA) by a sample of Portuguese firms between 2008 and 2011.
Design/methodology/approach
– Bivariate and ...multivariate non-parametric statistics is used to analyse some factors that influence the decision to have sustainability reports assured.
Findings
– Results indicate that size, leverage, profitability, listing status and industrial affiliation are determinants of SRA, whereas type of ownership is not. A downward trend in sustainability reporting and its assurance was also detected.
Research limitations/implications
– The sample is small.
Originality/value
– It adds to the scarce research on SRA by providing new empirical data in a context of crisis and extends prior research by analysing the effects of listing status and type of ownership.
Summary
This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the addition of prebiotics and natural sweeteners on the temporal profile of mango skyr yoghurts. Eight formulations were made with the addition (or ...not) of prebiotics (FOS) and different sweetening agents (sucrose, stevia, thaumatin and a blend of stevia/thaumatin). The time‐intensity (TI) and temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) analyses were performed with trained assessors (n = 12) and consumers (n = 60). The addition of prebiotics did not affect the temporal profile of the sucrose‐sweetened yoghurt. Thaumatin can be used as a natural sweetener in this type of yoghurt to reduce the perceived bitterness of stevia. The results revealed important data on the use of temporal methods and different panels, contributing to understand major dynamic sensory profile for concentrated yoghurts sweetened with natural sweeteners, especially skyr.
Full text
Available for:
BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
PDF
