EMG-based Real Time Facial Gesture Recognition for Stress Monitoring.

An electromyogram (EMG) signal acquisition system capable of real time classification of several facial gestures is presented. The training data consist of the facial EMG collected from 10 individuals (5 female/5 male). A custom-designed sensor interface integrated circuit (IC) consisting of an amplifier and an ADC, implemented in 65nm CMOS technology, has been used for signal acquisition [1]. It consumes 3.8nW power from a 0.3V battery. Feature extraction and classification is performed in software every 300ms to give real-time feedback to the user. Discrete wavelet transforms (DWT) are used for feature extraction in the time-frequency domain. The dimensionality of the feature vector is reduced by selecting specific wavelet decomposition levels without compromising the accuracy, which reduces the computation cost of feature extraction in embedded implementations. A support vector machine (SVM) is used for the classification. Overall, the system is capable of identifying several jaw movements such as clenching, opening the jaw and resting in real-time from a single channel EMG data, which makes the system suitable for providing biofeedback during sleeping and awake states for stress monitoring, bruxism, and several orthodontic applications such as temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJD).

Oncologic doses of zoledronic acid induce site specific suppression of bone modelling in rice rats.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of zoledronic acid (ZOL) on cortical bone modelling and healing of extraction sockets in the jaw bones of a rodent model. We hypothesized ZOL suppresses both the bone formation in the modelling mode in the jaw bones and alters the extraction site healing. MATERIAL & METHODS: Rice rats were administered saline solution and two dose regimens of ZOL: 0.1 mg/kg, twice a week, for 4 weeks (n=17, saline=8 & ZOL=9) and a higher dose of 0.4 mg/kg, weekly, for 9 weeks (n=30, saline=15 & ZOL=15). Two pairs of fluorochrome bone labels were administered. Extraction of maxillary teeth was performed in maxilla. Mineral apposition rate, mineralizing surface and bone formation rate (BFR) were quantified on periodontal (PDL), alveolar and basal bone surfaces, and in the trabecular bone of proximal tibia. Bone volume (BV) was evaluated at extraction sockets. Multivariate Gaussian models were used to account for repeated measurements, and analyzes were conducted in SAS V9.3. RESULTS: ZOL suppressed bone modelling (BFR/BS) at the PDL surfaces in the mandible (P<.05), but its effect was not significant at the periosteal surfaces of both jaws. BV for the healing sockets of ZOL treated animals was not significantly different (P=.07) compared to the saline group. ZOL suppressive effect was higher in the tibia compared to the jaws. CONCLUSION: ZOL severely suppresses coupled remodelling in the tibia, and the suppression of bone formation in the modelling mode in the jaws demonstrates the site specific effects of ZOL in rice rats.

An evaluation of Vitamin E and Pycnogenol in children suffering from oral mucositis during cancer chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of Vitamin E (E) and Pycnogenol (P) in treatment of Chemotherapy-Related Oral Mucositis (ChROM) in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 72 children, aged between 6 and 15 years, with ChROM were selected and randomly divided into three groups after assessment of oral mucositis (OM) by WHO grading system. Glycerine (control), E, and P were topically applied in group I, II, and III, respectively, and the prognosis of OM was assessed by functional, objective, and subjective parameters. RESULTS: Patients of group II and III showed significant improvement when ChROM was analyzed through scoring systems - WHO grading, Oral Mucositis Assessment Scale (OMAS), and Children's International Mucositis Evaluation Scale (ChIMES) as compared to group I (P < 0.001); however, there was no significant difference between groups II and III. CONCLUSION: Both the drugs E and P per se are effective for treatment of OM with P being not effective for the treatment of severe mucositis (grade 4). Combination of E and P and additional agents may be tried for better results.

Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy coupled with multivariate analysis for measurement of acesulfame-K in diet foods.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was investigated as a method for analysis of acesulfame-K content after a simple extraction procedure for certain commercial diet food samples. Partial least squares (PLS) models were developed for prediction of acesulfame-K using select spectral ranges on the basis of relevant IR absorption bands associated with acesulfame-K. The acesulfame-K content of test food samples was predicted accurately in the fingerprint region between 1100 and 1300 cm(-1) with a maximum prediction error of 9.82% when compared with conventional HPLC method. The PLS was found to be a consistently better predictor when both PLS and principal component regression (PCR) analyses were used for quantification of acesulfame-K. The developed procedure was further validated by comparing with HPLC results as well as recovery studies. As a quick tool, the method developed is expected to be used for routine estimation of acesulfame-K in commercial products.

Renal thrombotic microangiopathy and cerebral venous thrombosis in a young man.

We report a patient of primary catastrophic antiphospholipid syndrome who presented with rapidly progressive renal failure and seizures. He was detected to have thrombotic microangiopathy on kidney biopsy and deep cerebral venous thrombosis. The patient was successfully managed with anticoagulants, steroids, plasmapheresis and cyclophosphamide.

A study of psychiatric comorbidity in alcohol dependence.

The diagnosis of comorbid psychiatric conditions have important clinical ramifications as the outcome is poorer with multiple disorders. Various studies have shown that alcohol abuse has severe adverse effects on the course of metal illness and vice versa. Only a little data on the subject are available from our country. We interviewed 30 patients suffering from alcohol dependence using SCID - I & SCID - II. Seventy six percent of the sample had axis - I comorbid diagnosis and 40% had an axis -II diagnoses. Depressive disorder and cluster B personality disorders were the most common comorbid diagnosis.

Alienation, sensation seeking and multiphasic personality questionnaire profile in men being treated for alcohol and/or opioid dependence.

Two hundred and thirty men, being treated for ICD-10 diagnosed dependence on alcohol, opioids or both, were studied 2-4 weeks after the last use of alcohol or opioids. Alienation Scale, Sensation Seeking Scale and Muliphasic Personality Questionnaire (MPQ), and selected sociodemographic and family history data were studied. All three groups showed high alienation (more in opioid cases), high sensation seeking (more in alcohol cases, more for boredom susceptibility), and a disturbed MPQ profile. The dual dependence group was similar to opioid group for age, but closer to alcohol group in terms of personality profile. Only alcohol cases showed a significantly positive correlation between alienation and sensation seeking- in terms of total scale, and boredom susceptibility and disinhibition subscales only. Thus, substance specificity was not reflected prominently in the inter-relationships between alienation, sensation seeking and MPQ scores, and sociodemographic variables.

Abuse of neuroleptic drug by psychiatric patients.

Due to the depaminergic neurotrasmission in the mesocortical and mesolimbic reward systems, the neuroleptic drugs have been considered free from the risk of abuse or dependence because of their antidopaminergic properties. Here, two cases of neuroleptic abuse have been described and a possibility of reward circuits other than mesocortical and mesolimbic systems operational behind this phenomenon has been postulated. There is a need to clinically recognise the abuse potential of neuroleptic drugs.

Huntington's disease and alcohol abuse.

The dopamine, glutamate and GABA systems are known to mediate the effects of alcohol on the movement disorders, though their exact roles are not clear. Thus, use of alcohol has implications for pathogenesis as well as management of the movement disorders. These implications are discussed citing a patient who had a strong family history of Huntington's disease and in whom movement disorder and behavioral problems were manifest under alcohol use and withdrawal, but not while being abstinent.

Visuospatial and affect recognition deficit in depression.

BACKGROUND: Theorists differ in their opinion whether interpersonal difficulties in depression is associated more with perceptual impairment or with emotional bias. The present study intended to resolve such differences of opinion. METHOD: Major depressives, general medical patients, and non-patient controls were administered three visuospatial and two affective tasks to examine the nature of performance deficit associated with each group. RESULTS: Major depressives were found significantly impaired in both visuospatial and affective tasks in comparison to general medical patients, who in turn, were impaired than non-patient controls. CONCLUSION: Major depressives' perceptual deficit is pervasive and not specific to affective categories. LIMITATION: The study could have been more informative if more psychiatric groups had been included as subjects. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Improvement in depressives' ability for visuospatial and affective tasks may be considered as a marker of their clinical improvement.