Sci Pub Date : 2024-04-10 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020023

Sara Romano, D. Esposito, Miriam Aricò, E. Arigliani, Gioia Cavalli, Miriam Vigliante, Roberta Penge, C. Sogos, Francesco Pisani, Maria Romani

{"title":"Giftedness and Twice-Exceptionality in Children Suspected of ADHD or Specific Learning Disorders: A Retrospective Study","authors":"Sara Romano, D. Esposito, Miriam Aricò, E. Arigliani, Gioia Cavalli, Miriam Vigliante, Roberta Penge, C. Sogos, Francesco Pisani, Maria Romani","doi":"10.3390/sci6020023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020023","url":null,"abstract":"The expression “twice-exceptionality” has been used to describe conditions in which giftedness and specific disorders coexist. Our study offers a retrospective analysis of clinical reports of gifted children evaluated for suspected specific learning disorders (SLD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The initial sample included 456 school-aged children referred to our clinic for suspected SLD and/or ADHD over a two-year interval. The inclusion criteria were: a General Ability Index score above 120 in the cognitive assessment; age 6–18 years; and not satisfying diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorder. Forty children were selected for the study. We grouped patients according to the final diagnosis: neurodevelopmental disorder (SLD and/or ADHD) (n = 15), psychopathological disorder (n = 8), mixed neurodevelopmental and psychopathological (n = 13), no emerging disorder (n = 4). The study included 36 (90%) males. Mean age was 9.3 years (SD 1.62). Mean Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient was 121.7 (SD 7.77), mean General Ability Index was 130.2 (SD 6.79). Furthermore, the cognitive assessment of the different groups highlighted a non-homogeneous profile in all groups, with lower scores on working memory and processing speed indexes. Our results support the hypothesis that difficulties in gifted children’s adaptation to scholastic and social settings could be misinterpreted as a manifestation of a clear disease.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140717232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Capacity Allocation in Cancer Centers Considering Demand Uncertainty 考虑需求不确定性的癌症中心容量分配

Sci Pub Date : 2024-04-07 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020022

M. Keshtzari, Bryan A. Norman

{"title":"Capacity Allocation in Cancer Centers Considering Demand Uncertainty","authors":"M. Keshtzari, Bryan A. Norman","doi":"10.3390/sci6020022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020022","url":null,"abstract":"This paper introduces a model to aid decision-makers in answering many of the important questions regarding how best to operate a cancer center. This study aims to allocate the available cancer center capacity to different cancer types to minimize the deviation in patient demand satisfied from desired supply targets across multiple cancer types. A stochastic chance-constrained model is proposed to consider uncertainties in new and returning patient demand. The proposed model determines the optimal specialization mix for oncologists based on the distribution of demand by cancer type, preventing potential mismatches. Additionally, it aims to balance workloads among oncologists and individual clinics and indirectly reduce support service costs by limiting their clinic days. Numerical results are presented using historical data collected from our collaborating cancer center to demonstrate the usefulness of the model. The results confirm that the ability to satisfy patient demand increases as oncologists become more flexible. In addition, the results show that even having a small number of highly flexible oncologists is sufficient to achieve strong patient demand satisfaction. Moreover, restricting the allowable workload difference among oncologists achieves an acceptable trade-off between workload balance and satisfying patient demand.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"2 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140733332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Performance Analysis of Deep Learning Model-Compression Techniques for Audio Classification on Edge Devices 用于边缘设备音频分类的深度学习模型压缩技术性能分析

Sci Pub Date : 2024-04-02 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020021

Afsana Mou, M. Milanova

{"title":"Performance Analysis of Deep Learning Model-Compression Techniques for Audio Classification on Edge Devices","authors":"Afsana Mou, M. Milanova","doi":"10.3390/sci6020021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020021","url":null,"abstract":"Audio classification using deep learning models, which is essential for applications like voice assistants and music analysis, faces challenges when deployed on edge devices due to their limited computational resources and memory. Achieving a balance between performance, efficiency, and accuracy is a significant obstacle to optimizing these models for such constrained environments. In this investigation, we evaluate diverse deep learning architectures, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), for audio classification tasks on the ESC 50, UrbanSound8k, and Audio Set datasets. Our empirical findings indicate that Mel spectrograms outperform raw audio data, attributing this enhancement to their synergistic alignment with advanced image classification algorithms and their congruence with human auditory perception. To address the constraints of model size, we apply model-compression techniques, notably magnitude pruning, Taylor pruning, and 8-bit quantization. The research demonstrates that a hybrid pruned model achieves a commendable accuracy rate of 89 percent, which, although marginally lower than the 92 percent accuracy of the uncompressed CNN, strikingly illustrates an equilibrium between efficiency and performance. Subsequently, we deploy the optimized model on the Raspberry Pi 4 and NVIDIA Jetson Nano platforms for audio classification tasks. These findings highlight the significant potential of model-compression strategies in enabling effective deep learning applications on resource-limited devices, with minimal compromise on accuracy.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"181 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140754902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Colorimetric Determination of Salivary Cortisol Levels in Artificial Saliva for the Development of a Portable Colorimetric Sensor (Salitrack) 人工唾液中皮质醇水平的比色测定，用于开发便携式比色传感器（Salitrack）

Sci Pub Date : 2024-04-02 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020020

Tashfia Ahmed, M. Powner, M. Qassem, Panayiotis A. Kyriacou

{"title":"Colorimetric Determination of Salivary Cortisol Levels in Artificial Saliva for the Development of a Portable Colorimetric Sensor (Salitrack)","authors":"Tashfia Ahmed, M. Powner, M. Qassem, Panayiotis A. Kyriacou","doi":"10.3390/sci6020020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020020","url":null,"abstract":"Mental illnesses, such as clinical depression, have taken an unprecedented toll on society and the economy on a global scale. The relationship between stress management and mental health decline is of utmost significance, especially as most avenues of mental health management remain inaccessible for the majority of the general public, i.e., interview-based, and face-to-face interventions or costly drug-based therapies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, regulates the stress response in the human body and, through persistent activation, can lead to chronic stress and mental health deterioration. Thereby, the measurement and evaluation of cortisol within saliva could harness potential developments in management and diagnostic tools to monitor physiological and psychological stress in simple point-of-care applications. The current study aims to determine the concentration of salivary cortisol in spiked artificial saliva samples using blue tetrazolium (BT) dye as a colorimetric indicator. The proposed method showcases the use of the BT dye as an effective method for the rapid measurement of salivary cortisol, with accuracy comparable to the gold-standard method for salivary cortisol analysis, enzyme-linked immunoassays (ELISAs). Finally, a prototype colorimetric sensor has been developed for point-of-care applications of stress monitoring via salivary cortisol measurement.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"308 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140751105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Extended Reality Therapies for Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review of Patients’ and Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives 治疗焦虑症的扩展现实疗法：对患者和医护人员观点的系统回顾

Sci Pub Date : 2024-04-01 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020019

Pranavsingh Dhunnoo, L. Wetzlmair, Veronica O’Carroll

{"title":"Extended Reality Therapies for Anxiety Disorders: A Systematic Review of Patients’ and Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives","authors":"Pranavsingh Dhunnoo, L. Wetzlmair, Veronica O’Carroll","doi":"10.3390/sci6020019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020019","url":null,"abstract":"(1) Background: Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric conditions and have a rising prevalence. Patients with anxiety disorders can, however, be deterred from seeking treatment due to associated stigmas and medication side effects. Evidence indicates that promising digital health solutions to address those concerns reside in the growing field of extended reality (XR). The limited literature synthesis from the perspectives of patients and healthcare professionals (HCPs) regarding the experiences and effectiveness of XR-based anxiety disorder therapies motivated the undertaking of this systematic review. (2) Methods: A systematic search of the literature was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines on the following databases: CINAHL, APA PsycNet and PubMed. The search was completed on 23 January 2024 with no restriction on the time of publication. Studies were screened based on a predetermined selection criteria relevant to the research aims. (3) Results: Five studies fulfilled the inclusion requirements. The majority investigated the use of XR tools for individual therapy and indicated that they can be as effective for patients as traditional methods and can aid in HCPs’ therapeutic tasks. (4) Conclusions: XR-based anxiety disorder therapies are generally perceived as immersive and with minimal side effects by patients, while HCPs mostly consider XR tools as practical and assistive. However, refinements with the XR setup could further improve the experience. Such modalities represent potent drug-free alternatives or supplements to traditional therapy and could be considered for remote, individual care. The findings’ generalisability requires further research into more conditions within the anxiety disorder group, as well as larger sample sizes.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140771396","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Mood Profile Clusters among Greek Exercise Participants and Inactive Adults 希腊运动参与者和非运动成年人的情绪特征集群

Sci Pub Date : 2024-03-26 DOI: 10.3390/sci6020018

Peter C. Terry, Renée L. Parsons-Smith, S. Vlachopoulos, Andrew M. Lane

{"title":"Mood Profile Clusters among Greek Exercise Participants and Inactive Adults","authors":"Peter C. Terry, Renée L. Parsons-Smith, S. Vlachopoulos, Andrew M. Lane","doi":"10.3390/sci6020018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6020018","url":null,"abstract":"Mood profile clusters have previously been identified in several cultural contexts. In the present study, six mood profile clusters referred to as the iceberg, inverse Everest, inverse iceberg, shark fin, submerged, and surface profiles, were investigated in a Greek population. The names of the mood profiles reflect how they appear after raw scores for Tension, Depression, Anger, Vigor, Fatigue, and Confusion (in that order), are converted to T-scores and depicted graphically. A Greek translation of the Brunel Mood Scale (BRUMS-Greek) was completed by 1786 adults, comprising 1417 exercise participants and 369 physically inactive adults (male = 578, female = 1208) aged 18–64 years (M = 34.73 ± 11.81 years). Although the male–female ratio emphasized females, sample sizes of over 500 suggest some degree of representativeness. Seeded k-means cluster analysis clearly identified the six hypothesized mood profiles. Men were over-represented for the iceberg profile. For age, the 18–25 years group were under-represented for the iceberg profile, whereas the 46–55 and 56+ years groups were over-represented. The 56+ years group were under-represented for the inverse Everest, and the 18–25 years group were over-represented for the shark fin profile. For body mass index (BMI), participants in the obese weight category were over-represented for the inverse iceberg and shark fin profiles and under-represented for the submerged profile. Active participants were over-represented for the iceberg and submerged profiles, and under-represented for the inverse Everest, inverse iceberg, and surface profiles. Findings supported the cross-cultural equivalence of the mood profile clusters and confirmed the link between physical inactivity, obesity, and negative mood profiles.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"72 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140378268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Intensified Selection, Elevated Mutations, and Reduced Adaptation Potential in Wild Barley in Response to 28 Years of Global Warming 野生大麦在应对 28 年全球变暖过程中的选择加剧、突变增加和适应潜力降低

Sci Pub Date : 2024-03-14 DOI: 10.3390/sci6010016

Yong-Bi Fu, G. W. Peterson, Eviatar Nevo, Ana Badea

引用次数: 0

Net Isotopic Signature of Atmospheric CO2 Sources and Sinks: No Change since the Little Ice Age 大气二氧化碳源和汇的净同位素特征：小冰河时期以来没有变化

Sci Pub Date : 2024-03-14 DOI: 10.3390/sci6010017

Demetris Koutsoyiannis

引用次数: 0

The Impacts of the African Growth Opportunity Act on the Economic Performances of Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Comprehensive Review 非洲增长机会法》对撒哈拉以南非洲国家经济表现的影响：全面审查

Sci Pub Date : 2024-03-01 DOI: 10.3390/sci6010014

B. Tadesse

{"title":"The Impacts of the African Growth Opportunity Act on the Economic Performances of Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Comprehensive Review","authors":"B. Tadesse","doi":"10.3390/sci6010014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6010014","url":null,"abstract":"The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) has been a crucial trade and development initiative, offering preferential access to qualified Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to the United States market since its enactment in 2000. This paper presents a comprehensive review of scholarly articles and policy reports that analyze the impact of AGOA on the economic performance of SSA countries. Employing various econometric methods and data analysis techniques, researchers have investigated the effects of AGOA on trade flows, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows, employment, economic growth, and poverty levels. The findings reveal that AGOA has positively affected the region’s trade, particularly in apparel, textiles, and agriculture. However, its influence on promoting export diversification and attracting FDI is nuanced, with substantial heterogeneity among the beneficiary countries and industries within each country. While some SSA countries have experienced substantial export growth and FDI inflows, others have not fully leveraged the benefits of AGOA due to absorptive capacity constraints and governance challenges. AGOA’s effectiveness in promoting broad-based employment, GDP growth, and poverty reduction remains an active area of inquiry, necessitating further research to understand the policy’s sustained impact and inform future trade policy designs for SSA countries.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"104 33","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140089996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Impact of Combined Action of Chloride and Carbonation on Cement-Based Materials with Fly Ash 氯化物和碳化作用对含粉煤灰水泥基材料的影响

Sci Pub Date : 2024-02-28 DOI: 10.3390/sci6010013

R. Malheiro, A. Camões, G. Meira, Rui Reis, A. Nóbrega

{"title":"Impact of Combined Action of Chloride and Carbonation on Cement-Based Materials with Fly Ash","authors":"R. Malheiro, A. Camões, G. Meira, Rui Reis, A. Nóbrega","doi":"10.3390/sci6010013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/sci6010013","url":null,"abstract":"Integrating waste and industrial by-products into concrete is an alternative way to reduce global cement consumption, enhancing its eco-friendliness. In this context, residues with fly ash have been increasingly utilised. Considering the vulnerability of concrete with fly ash to carbonation and, at the same time, its high resistance to chlorides, it is important to investigate the behaviour of these concretes under their combined actions. For this purpose, an experimental investigation was conducted, studying mortar and concrete specimens with 40% replacement of cement with fly ash. These specimens were subjected to a combination of actions (Cl− and CO2) in two phases: initially through immersion and drying tests, and subsequently through a combination of accelerated tests. Concerning the chloride impact study, free and total chloride profiles were studied. Concerning the impact of carbonation, colourimetric and chemical tests were used. The results demonstrate a significant influence of combined action not only on chloride penetration in cement-based materials with fly ash but also on the development of a carbonation front. Exposure of cement-based materials with fly ash to environments with high Cl− and CO2 content sequentially may lead, on the one hand, to an increase in carbonation resistance. However, on the other hand, it may result in a substantial reduction in chloride penetration resistance.","PeriodicalId":510703,"journal":{"name":"Sci","volume":"5 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140423256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

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