INU researchers develop novel deep learning-based detection system for autonomous vehicles

The new system, aided by the Internet of things, improves the detection capabilities of autonomous vehicles even under unfavorable conditions

Peer-Reviewed Publication

INCHEON NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

 

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A NEW OBJECT DETECTION SYSTEM UTILIZES THE STATE-OF-THE-ART YOLOV3 (YOU ONLY LOOK ONCE) ALGORITHM, OFFERING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED DETECTION CAPABILITIES EVEN UNDER UNFAVORABLE CONDITIONS AND CAN, THEREFORE, HELP AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES BECOME MORE MAINSTREAM.

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CREDIT: ESCHENZWEIG FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/WIKI/FILE:AUTONOMOUS-DRIVING-BARCELONA.JPG)

Autonomous vehicles hold the promise of tackling traffic congestion, enhancing traffic flow through vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and revolutionizing the travel experience by offering comfortable and safe journeys. Additionally, integrating autonomous driving technology into electric vehicles could contribute to more eco-friendly transportation solutions.

A critical requirement for the success of autonomous vehicles is their ability to detect and navigate around obstacles, pedestrians, and other vehicles across diverse environments. Current autonomous vehicles employ smart sensors such as LiDARs (Light Detection and Ranging) for a 3D view of the surroundings and depth information, RADaR (Radio Detection and Ranging) for detecting objects at night and cloudy weather, and a set of cameras for providing RGB images and a 360-degree view, collectively forming a comprehensive dataset known as point cloud. However, these sensors often face challenges like reduced detection capabilities in adverse weather, on unstructured roads, or due to occlusion.

To overcome these shortcomings, an international team of researchers led by Professor Gwanggil Jeon from the Department of Embedded Systems Engineering at Incheon National University (INU), Korea, has recently developed a groundbreaking Internet-of-Things-enabled deep learning-based end-to-end 3D object detection system. “Our proposed system operates in real time, enhancing the object detection capabilities of autonomous vehicles, making navigation through traffic smoother and safer,” explains Prof. Jeon. Their paper was made available online on October 17, 2022, and published in Volume 24, Issue 11 of the journal IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transport Systems on November 2023.

The proposed innovative system is built on the YOLOv3 (You Only Look Once) deep learning object detection technique, which is the most active state-of-the-art technique available for 2D visual detection. The researchers first used this new model for 2D object detection and then modified the YOLOv3 technique to detect 3D objects. Using both point cloud data and RGB images as input, the system generates bounding boxes with confidence scores and labels for visible obstacles as output.

To assess the system’s performance, the team conducted experiments using the Lyft dataset, which consisted of road information captured from 20 autonomous vehicles traveling a predetermined route in Palo Alto, California, over a four-month period. The results demonstrated that YOLOv3 exhibits high accuracy, surpassing other state-of-the-art architectures. Notably, the overall accuracy for 2D and 3D object detection were an impressive 96% and 97%, respectively.

Prof. Jeon emphasizes the potential impact of this enhanced detection capability: "By improving detection capabilities, this system could propel autonomous vehicles into the mainstream. The introduction of autonomous vehicles has the potential to transform the transportation and logistics industry, offering economic benefits through reduced dependence on human drivers and the introduction of more efficient transportation methods."

Furthermore, the present work is expected to drive research and development in various technological fields such as sensors, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Going ahead, the team aims to explore additional deep learning algorithms for 3D object detection, recognizing the current focus on 2D image development.

In summary, this groundbreaking study could pave the way for a widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles and, in turn, a more environment-friendly and comfortable mode of transport.

 

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Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/TITS.2022.3210490

Authors: Imran Ahmed1 , Gwanggil Jeon2,* , and Abdellah Chehri3

Affiliations:        

1School of Computing and Information Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University

2Department of Embedded Systems Engineering, Incheon National University

3Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Royal Military College of Canada

 

*Corresponding author’s email: gjeon@inu.ac.kr

 

About Incheon National University

Incheon National University (INU) is a comprehensive, student-focused university. It was founded in 1979 and given university status in 1988. One of the largest universities in South Korea, it houses nearly 14,000 students and 500 faculty members. In 2010, INU merged with Incheon City College to expand capacity and open more curricula. With its commitment to academic excellence and an unrelenting devotion to innovative research, INU offers its students real-world internship experiences. INU not only focuses on studying and learning but also strives to provide a supportive environment for students to follow their passion, grow, and, as their slogan says, be INspired.

Website: http://www.inu.ac.kr/mbshome/mbs/inuengl/index.html

 

About the author

Gwanggil Jeon received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. (summa cum laude) degrees from the Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, in 2003, 2005, and 2008, respectively. From 2009 to 2011, he was with the School of Information Technology and Engineering, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, as a Post-doctoral Fellow. From 2011 to 2012, he served as an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Science and Technology at Niigata University, Japan. From 2014 to 2015 and 2015.06 to 2015.07, he remained a Visiting Scholar at Centre de Mathématiques et Leurs Applications (CMLA), École Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay (ENS-Cachan) in France. From 2019 to 2020, he served as a Prestigious Visiting Professor at Dipartimento di Informatica, Università degli Studi di Milano Statale, Italy. He has also been a visiting professor at Sichuan University, China, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain, Xinjiang University, China, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand, and University of Burgundy, Dijon, France. Dr. Jeon is currently a Full Professor at Incheon National University in Korea.

He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology (TCSVT), Elsevier Sustainable Cities and Society, IEEE Access, Springer Real-Time Image Processing, Journal of System Architecture, and Wiley Expert Systems. Dr. Jeon was a recipient of the IEEE Chester Sall Award in 2007, ACM’s Distinguished Speaker in 2022, the ETRI Journal Paper Award in 2008, and Industry-Academic Merit Award by Ministry of SMEs and Startups of Korea Minister in 2020.

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JOURNAL

IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems

DOI

10.1109/TITS.2022.3210490 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

A Smart IoT Enabled End-to-End 3D Object Detection System for Autonomous Vehicles

 

BU/VA researcher awarded funding to prevent intimate partner violence

Study focuses on Rhode Island residents

Grant and Award Announcement

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

(Boston)—Casey Taft, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been approved for a five-year, $2.8 million funding award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for his research study “A Randomized Controlled Trial to Evaluate a Trauma-Informed Partner Violence Intervention Program.”

 

Taft, who also is a staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD in the VA Boston Healthcare System, is conducting a randomized controlled trial of the Strength at Home program to prevent and end intimate partner violence (IPV) in Rhode Island. Strength at Home is the only such program shown effective in preventing partner violence in military veterans. Taft will examine whether this program is also effective within civilian populations. 

 

IPV, specifically physical and psychological aggression toward an intimate partner, represents a public health crisis that affects millions of Americans each year. It contributes to a range of mental and physical health conditions in survivors, and children exposed to IPV are at an increased risk for psychological, social, emotional, behavioral problems and are also more likely to engage in IPV later in life.

 

“Presently there is little evidence from randomized controlled trials (the gold standard method for determining effectiveness) showing that available interventions prevent and end perpetration of IPV in the general (civilian) population. This lack of demonstrated intervention effectiveness in existing programs is troubling, considering that approximately half a million people are court-mandated to these programs each year in the U.S.,” says Taft, the primary developer of the Strength at Home program.

 

“This project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and commitment to engaging patients and other healthcare stakeholders, but also for its conduct in real-world settings. It has the potential to answer an important question about intimate partner violence and fill a crucial evidence gap,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH. “We look forward to following the study’s progress and working with Boston University to share the results.” 

 

Taft has served as principal investigator on funded grants focusing on understanding and preventing partner violence through the National Institute of Mental Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Centers for Disease Control, the Department of Defense, the Blue Shield Foundation of California, the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.

 

The 2009 Linda Saltzman Memorial Intimate Partner Violence Researcher Award winner from the Institute on Violence, Abuse and Trauma, Taft is on the editorial boards of five journals and has published more than 125 academic articles and an American Psychological Association book on trauma-informed partner violence intervention. 

 

Taft’s study was selected through a highly competitive review process in which patients, caregivers and other stakeholders joined scientists to evaluate the proposals. It was selected for funding through a PCORI program designed to support research that produces results that are broadly applicable to a diverse range of patients and care situations and can be more quickly taken up in routine clinical practice.  

 

Taft’s award has been approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract. 

 

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress with a mission to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better informed health and healthcare decisions.  

 

World record optical fiber transmission capacity doubles to 22.9 petabits per second

Significant increase achieved with combination of cutting-edge technologies

Reports and Proceedings

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (NICT)

 

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TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF RECENT RESULTS

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CREDIT: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (NICT)

Highlights

-A record-breaking transmission capacity of 22.9 petabits per second in a single optical fiber was demonstrated.

-Large-scale space-division multiplexing technology was successfully combined with multi-band wavelength-division multiplexing technology with 18.8 THz transmission bandwidth.

-Demo is a major step toward the realization of future ultra-large capacity optical communication networks.

Abstract

Researchers from the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.), in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology and University of L’Aquila demonstrated a record-breaking data-rate of 22.9 petabits per second using only a single optical fiber, which was more than double our previous world record of 10.66 petabits per second.

In this research, researchers succeeded in combining the latest research technologies such as large-scale Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) and multi-band Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM), to demonstrate a path to future ultra-large capacity optical communication networks.

The results of this experiment were accepted as a post-deadline paper presentation at the 49th European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2023) presented by Ben Puttnam on Thursday, October 5, 2023.

Background

To cope with the ever-increasing data traffic demands, multiplexing technologies using space and wavelength for high data-rate optical fiber communications have been investigated. The former uses advanced optical fibers containing multiple optical paths (channels) within a common cladding, whereas the latter enhances the total transmission capacity by increasing the transmission bandwidth to accommodate many independent Wavelength Division Multiplexed (WDM) data channels.

To date, NICT has realized Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) with over 100 spatial channels by combining multicore fiber (MCF) and multimode fiber transmission technologies as well as multi-band WDM with a total bandwidth of 20 THz by using the S-, C-, and L-bands (see Table 1). However, except for very short-distance cases (1 km), the combined use of multi-band WDM and SDM has only been demonstrated for uncoupled four-core MCFs. To combine multi-band WDM and SDM with large spatial channel count fibers (e.g., 114 channels with a 38-core 3-mode fiber), a multi-band-compatible MIMO receiver is required.

Achievements

NICT demonstrated the possibility of fiber-optic data communication at 22.9 petabits per second, which is more than double the previous record of 10.66 petabits per second. Using a multi-band-compatible MIMO receiver, we successfully combined multi-band WDM and multi-core, multi-mode SDM for the first time. The details of the experimental system are shown in Figure 5 in the Appendix. 293 wavelength channels were used in S-band with 457 in the C-and L-bands giving a total of 750 WDM channels covering a frequency bandwidth of 18.8 THz. Polarization-multiplexed 256 QAM was used for signal modulation. As shown in Table 1 and Figure 2, the number of spatial channels in multi-band WDM transmission demonstration increased by a factor of 28.5.

The measured transmission capacity for each core ranged from ~0.3 to 0.7 petabits per second leading to a total transmission capacity of 22.9 petabits per second. The achieved data-rate includes an overhead for an implemented forward-error correction code with the demonstration showing up to 24.7 Pb/s can be achieved with better optimized coding. This is more than 1,000 times the data-rate of currently deployed optical fiber communication systems.

While uncoupled four-core MCF is suitable for early adaptation, further improvement of the telecommunication infrastructure using ultra-large-capacity optical fibers will be needed in the future, where the data traffic demand is expected to increase by 3 orders of magnited (x1,000 times). This study demonstrates the first successful combination of multi-band WDM and SDM employing a multicore multimode fiber, which is key to the realization of future ultra-large-capacity optical fiber communication networks.

Future prospects

NICT will continue to explore multi-band WDM over large SDM fibers including randomly coupled MCFs or multimode fibers that require massive multi-band MIMO receivers. The results of this experiment were accepted as a post-deadline paper presentation at the 49th European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2023, in Glasgow, UK, 1st to 5th October 2023) and presented on Thursday, October 5, 2023.

Figure 1: Conceptual image of the ultralarge-capacity optical fiber transmission in this study

Figure 2: Number of spatial channels and frequency bandwidth of recent experimental results on SDM transmission over >1 km distance

CREDIT

National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT)

References

International Conference: European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC 2023) Post-deadline Paper

Title: 22.9 Pb/s Data-Rate by Extreme Space-Wavelength Multiplexing

Authors: B. J. Puttnam, M. van den Hout, G. Di Sciullo, R. S. Luis, G. Rademacher, J. Sakaguchi, C. Antonelli, C. Okonkwo, and H. Furukawa

Previous NICT Press Releases

- "World's First Successful Transmission of 1 Petabit per Second in a Standard Cladding Diameter Multi-core Fiber"

https://www.nict.go.jp/en/press/2022/05/30-1.html

 -“Demonstration of World Record Transmission Capacity in a Single Optical Fiber over a 38-core 3-mode Optical Fiber”

https://www.nict.go.jp/en/press/2020/02/14-1.html

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

WAIT, WHAT?!

Optimistic thinking linked with lower cognitive abilities – new research

Study flags negative implications for financial wellbeing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

Optimistic thinking has long been immortalized in self-help books as the key to happiness, good health and longevity but it can also lead to poor decision making,  with particularly serious implications for people’s financial wellbeing.

Research from the University of Bath shows that excessive optimism is actually associated with lower cognitive skills such as verbal fluency, fluid reasoning, numerical reasoning, and memory. Whereas those high on cognitive ability tend to be both more realistic and pessimistic in their expectations about the future.  

“Forecasting the future with accuracy is difficult and for that reason we night expect those with low cognitive ability to make more errors in judgments, both pessimistic and optimistic. But the results are clear: low cognitive ability leads to more self-flattering biases - people essentially deluding themselves to a degree.” said Dr Chris Dawson of the University’s School of Management.

“This points to the idea that whilst humans may be primed by evolution to expect the best, those high on cognitive ability are more able to override this automatic response when it comes to important decisions. Plans based on overly optimistic beliefs make for poor decisions and are bound to deliver worse outcomes than would realistic beliefs,” Dr Dawson added.

Decisions on major financial issues such as employment, investments or savings, and any choice involving risk and uncertainty, were particularly prone to this effect and posed serious implications for individuals.

“Unrealistically optimistic financial expectations can lead to excessive levels of consumption and debt, as well as insufficient savings. It can also lead to excessive business entries and subsequent failures. The chances of starting a successful business are tiny, but optimists always think they have a shot and will start businesses destined to fail,” Dr Dawson said.

The study – “Looking on the (B)right Side of Life: Cognitive Ability and Miscalibrated Financial Expectations” - took data from a UK survey of over 36,000 households and looked at people’s expectations of their financial wellbeing and compared them with their actual financial outcomes. The research found that those highest on cognitive ability experienced a 22% increase in the probability of “realism” and a 35 per cent decrease in the probability of “extreme optimism”.

“The problem with our being programmed to think positively is that it can adversely affect our quality of decision making, particularly when we have to make serious decisions. We need to be able to over-ride that and this research shows that people with high cognitive ability manage this better than those with low cognitive ability,” he said.

“Unrealistic optimism is one of the most pervasive human traits and research has shown people consistently underestimate the negative and accentuate the positive. The concept of ‘positive thinking’ is almost unquestioningly embedded in our culture – and it would be healthy to revisit that belief,” Dr Dawson added

ENDS/TR

Notes to editors

• For more information contact the University of Bath Press office at press@bath.ac.uk

The University of Bath

The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities for high-impact research with a reputation for excellence in education, student experience and graduate prospects.

We are named ‘University of the Year’ in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2023, and ranked among the world’s top 10% of universities, placing 148th in the QS World University Rankings 2024. We are ranked 5th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2024, 6th in the Guardian University Guide 2024 and 8th in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024.

Bath is rated in the world’s top 10 universities for sport in the QS World University Ranking by Subject 2023. We produce some of the world’s most job-ready graduates and were named University of the Year for Graduate Jobs by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024, as well as ranking as one of the world’s top 90 universities for employer reputation according to the QS World University Rankings 2024.

Research from Bath is helping to change the world for the better. Across the University’s three Faculties and School of Management, our research is making an impact in society, leading to low-carbon living, positive digital futures, and improved health and wellbeing. Find out all about our Research with Impact: www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/research-with-impact/

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JOURNAL

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin

DOI

10.1177/01461672231209400 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Looking on the (B)right Side of Life: Cognitive Ability and Miscalibrated Financial Expectations

 

Colonic surgery complications reduced across globe after online training program

EAGLE study led to fewer anastomotic leaks following surgery in more than 300 global surgery sites

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Patients around the world needing colonic surgery may be less likely to experience major complications after surgeons received online education run by the University of Birmingham’s Global Surgery Unit.

 

The reduction in anastomotic leaks taking place following types of colon surgery including right colectomy is analysed in a new publication in the British Journal of Surgery. The research team for the EAGLE trial, coordinated by the University of Birmingham, found that surgical teams that completed an online education module and followed more harmonised surgical techniques saw a substantial (50%) reduction in leaks.

 

Professor Dion Morton OBE, Barling Professor of Surgery at the University of Birmingham and senior author of the paper said:

 

“Complications from colonic surgery leading to anastomotic leaks are not infrequent and can be life threatening, affecting around one in 12 patients undergoing bowel resection. We set out to provide expert training in the form of an online education module that surgical teams undertook as part of the EAGLE study. We are delighted to see that among those teams who took part in the trial and completed the module, there was a sizeable reduction in the number of leaks following surgery.

 

“Now that we have demonstrated that EAGLE resources can help to reduce this serious complication, we are providing the educational package across the world for free so that as many patients as possible can benefit.”

 

Anastomotic leaks are where two sections of the channel in the gut that have been operated on aren’t joined together properly. This leads to the contents of the patients’ gut leaking into the surrounding tissue including gut bacteria. It is associated with a five-fold increase in mortality following surgery.

 

Dr Elizabeth Li, Academic Clinical Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Birmingham and corresponding author of the study said:

 

“Our findings reflect the importance of team building in surgical departments and the strong connection of this into improved patient outcomes. The EAGLE study was a global collaborative effort and represents the beginning of a new method of delivering education and behavioural change in surgery.”

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JOURNAL

BJS (British Journal of Surgery)

DOI

10.1093/bjs/znad370 

ARTICLE TITLE

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

 

Brain waves usually found in sleep can protect against epileptic activity

Peer reviewed | Experimental study | People

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

Slow waves that usually only occur in the brain during sleep are also present during wakefulness in people with epilepsy and may protect against increased brain excitability associated with the condition, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL.

The research, published in Nature Communications and involving the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) UCLH Biomedical Research Centre, examined electroencephalogram (EEG) scans from electrodes in the brains of 25 patients with focal epilepsy (a type of epilepsy characterised by seizures arising from a specific part of the brain), while they carried out an associative memory task.

The electrodes had been placed in the patients’ brains to localise abnormal activity and inform surgical treatment.

During the task, participants were presented with 27 pairs of images that remained on a screen for six seconds. The images were in nine groups of three – each group featuring a picture of a person, a place and an object. In each case, participants had to remember which images had been grouped together. EEG data were recorded continuously throughout the task.

After reviewing the EEG data, the team found that the brains of people with epilepsy were producing slow waves – lasting less than one second - while they were awake and taking part in the task.

The occurrence of these “wake” slow waves increased in line with increases in brain excitability and decreased the impact of epileptic spikes on brain activity.

In particular, there was a decrease in the “firing” of nerve cells, which the researchers say could protect against epileptic activity. 

Senior author, Professor Matthew Walker (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), said: “Sleep is crucial for repair, maintenance and resetting brain activity. When we are awake we experience a progressive increase in brain excitability, which is redressed during sleep.

“Recent studies have indicated that a specific form of brain activity, slow waves during sleep, play a crucial role in these restorative functions. We wanted to address whether these ‘sleep’ slow waves could occur during wakefulness in response to abnormal increases in brain activity associated with epilepsy.

“This study unveils, for the first time, a potential protective mechanism, ‘wake’ slow waves, employed by the brain to counteract epileptic activity. This mechanism takes advantage of protective brain activity that normally occurs during sleep, but, in people with epilepsy, can occur during wakefulness.”

As part of the research, the team also wanted to test if the occurrence of “wake” slow waves had any negative effects on cognitive function.

During the memory task, researchers found that the “wake” slow waves reduced nerve cell activity and so affected cognitive performance – increasing the length of time required by patients to complete the task.

The team reported that for each increase of one slow wave per second, the reaction time increased by 0.56 seconds.

Professor Walker said: “This observation suggests that the cognitive difficulties - in particularly, memory deficits - experienced by individuals with epilepsy may be attributed, in part, to the brief impairments induced by these slow waves.”

The team hope that future studies will be able to increase such activity as a potential novel treatment for people with epilepsy.

Lead author, Dr Laurent Sheybani (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), said: “The parallel between the function of slow waves during sleep and, here, their beneficial impact in a pathological condition, is particularly interesting.

“Our study suggests that a naturally occurring activity is employed by the brain to offset pathological activities; however, this comes with a price, since ‘wake’ slow waves are shown to impact on memory performance.

“From a purely neurobiological perspective, the research also reinforces the idea that sleep activity can happen in specific areas of the brain, rather than occurring evenly throughout the brain.”

The research was funded by the Medical Research Council, Wellcome, UCLH Biomedical Research Centre and The Swiss National Science Foundation.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-42971-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Wake slow waves in focal human epilepsy impact network activity and cognition

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

30-Nov-2023

 

Common headaches tied to neck inflammation

Reports and Proceedings

RADIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA

 

IMAGE: 

EXEMPLARY CASES FOR TRAPEZIUS MUSCLE SEGMENTATIONS. (A) SEGMENTATION MASKS OF THE BILATERAL TRAPEZIUS MUSCLES (RED AREAS) IN A 25-YEAR-OLD FEMALE AND (B) IN A 24-YEAR-OLD MALE.

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CREDIT: RSNA/NICO SOLLMANN, M.D., PH.D.

CHICAGO – Researchers have identified objective evidence of how the neck muscles are involved in primary headaches, according to a study being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The findings could lead to better treatments.

The distinct underlying causes of primary headaches are still not fully understood. The most common primary headaches are tension-type headaches and migraines.

“Our imaging approach provides first objective evidence for the very frequent involvement of the neck muscles in primary headaches, such as neck pain in migraine or tension-type headache, using the ability to quantify subtle inflammation within muscles,” said Nico Sollmann, M.D., Ph.D., resident in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at University Hospital Ulm, and the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology at University Hospital Rechts der Isar in Munich, Germany.

Tension-type headaches affect two out of every three adults in the U.S. People with tension-type headaches often feel a tightening in the head and mild to moderate dull pain on both sides of the head. While these headaches are typically associated with stress and muscle tension, their exact origin is not fully understood.

Migraines are characterized by a severe throbbing pain. Migraines generally occur on one side of the head, or the pain is worse on one side. Migraines may also cause nausea, weakness and light sensitivity. According to the American Migraine Foundation, over 37 million people in the U.S. are affected by migraine, and up to 148 million people worldwide suffer from chronic migraine.

Neck pain is commonly associated with primary headaches. However, no objective biomarkers exist for myofascial involvement. Myofascial pain is associated with inflammation or irritation of muscle or of the connective tissue, known as fascia, that surrounds the muscle.

For the study, Dr. Sollmann and colleagues aimed to investigate the involvement of the trapezius muscles in primary headache disorders by quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to explore associations between muscle T2 values and headache and neck pain frequency.

The prospective study included 50 participants, mostly women, ranging in age from 20 to 31 years old. Of the study group, 16 had tension-type headache, and 12 had tension-type headache plus migraine episodes. The groups were matched with 22 healthy controls.

All participants underwent 3D turbo spin-echo MRI. The bilateral trapezius muscles were manually segmented, followed by muscle T2 extraction. Associations between muscle T2 values and the presence of neck pain, number of days with headache, and number of myofascial trigger points as determined by manual palpation of the trapezius muscles were analyzed (adjusting for age, sex and body mass index).

The tension-type headache plus migraine group demonstrated the highest muscle T2 values. Muscle T2 was significantly associated with the number of headache days and the presence of neck pain. The increased muscle T2 values could be interpreted as a surrogate of inflammation arising from the nervous system and increased sensitivity of nerve fibers within myofascial tissues.

“The quantified inflammatory changes of neck muscles significantly correlate with the number of days lived with headache and the presence of subjectively perceived neck pain,” Dr. Sollmann said. “Those changes allow us to differentiate between healthy individuals and patients suffering from primary headaches.”

Muscle T2 mapping could be used to stratify patients with primary headaches and to track potential treatment effects for monitoring.

“Our findings support the role of neck muscles in the pathophysiology of primary headaches,” Dr. Sollmann said. “Therefore, treatments that target the neck muscles could lead to a simultaneous relief of neck pain, as well as headache.”

Dr. Sollmann pointed out that non-invasive treatment options that directly target the site of pain in the neck muscles could be highly effective and safer than systemic drugs.

“Our imaging approach with delivery of an objective biomarker could facilitate therapy monitoring and patient selection for certain treatments in the near future,” he added.

Co-authors are Paul Schandelmaier, M.D., Gabby B. Joseph, Ph.D., Dimitrios C. Karampinos, Ph.D., Meinrad J. Beer, M.D., Claus Zimmer, M.D., Florian Heinen, M.D., Thomas Baum, M.D., and Michaela V. Bonfert. M.D.

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Note: Copies of RSNA 2023 news releases and electronic images will be available online at RSNA.org/press23.

RSNA is an association of radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists and related scientists promoting excellence in patient care and health care delivery through education, research and technologic innovation. The Society is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. (RSNA.org)

Editor’s note: The data in these releases may differ from those in the published abstract and those actually presented at the meeting, as researchers continue to update their data right up until the meeting. To ensure you are using the most up-to-date information, please call the RSNA Newsroom at 1-312-791-6610.

For patient-friendly information on MRI of the head and neck, visit RadiologyInfo.org.

 

Conscientious personalities less at risk of dementia diagnosis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - DAVIS

People with personality traits such as conscientiousness, extraversion and positive affect are less likely to be diagnosed with dementia than those with neuroticism and negative affect, according to a new analysis by researchers at the University of California, Davis and Northwestern University. The difference was not linked to physical damage to brain tissue found in dementia patients, but more likely to how certain personality traits help people navigate dementia-related impairments.

The work is published Nov. 29 in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.

Previous studies have tried to establish links between personality traits and dementia, but these were mostly small and represented only specific populations, said Emorie Beck, assistant professor of psychology at UC Davis and first author on the paper.

“We wanted to leverage new technology to synthesize these studies and test the strength and consistency of these associations,” Beck said. If those links hold up, then targeting personality traits for change in interventions earlier in life could be a way to reduce dementia risk in the long term, she said.

Beck and colleagues analyzed data from eight published studies including over 44,000 people, of whom 1,703 developed dementia. They looked at measures of the “big five” personality traits  (conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, neuroticism and agreeableness) and subjective wellbeing (positive and negative affect, and life satisfaction) compared to clinical symptoms of dementia (performance on cognitive tests) and brain pathology at autopsy.

Personality is typically thought to be linked to dementia risk through behavior, Beck said. For example, people who score high on conscientiousness may be more likely to eat well and take care of their health, which results in better health in the long term.

The researchers found that high scores on negative traits (neuroticism, negative affect) and low scores on positive traits (conscientiousness, extraversion, positive affect) were associated with a higher risk of a dementia diagnosis. High scores on openness to experience, agreeableness, and life satisfaction had a protective effect in a smaller subset of studies.

Link to diagnosis but not pathology

To their surprise, however, no link was found between these personality traits and actual neuropathology in the brains of people after death.

“This was the most surprising finding to us,” Beck said. “If personality is predictive of performance on cognitive tests but not pathology, what might be happening?”

One explanation is that some personality traits could make people more resilient to the damage caused by diseases such as Alzheimer’s. People with higher levels of some traits may find ways, whether they are aware of it or not, to cope with and work around impairments. Other work by members of the study team has shown that some people with quite extensive pathology can show little impairment on cognitive tests.

The researchers also looked at other factors that could moderate the relationship between personality and dementia risk and neuropathology, including age, gender and educational attainment.

“We found almost no evidence for effects, except that conscientiousness’s protective effect increased with age,” Beck said.

Many factors contribute to the development of dementia. Among those that aren’t directly related to genetics, this study is a first step in teasing out the associations between personality and dementia, Beck said. The researchers plan to continue and expand the work, including looking at people who show little impairment in the face of a lot of pathology. They also hope to look at other everyday factors that might play a role in developing dementia.

Part of the work was conducted while Beck was a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University in Chicago. Coauthors are: Tomiko Yoneda, UC Davis and Northwestern; Daniel Mroczek and Eileen Graham, Northwestern; Bryan James, David Bennett and John Morris, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago; Jason Hassenstab, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis; Mindy Katz and Richard Lipton, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, the Bronx.

The work was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging.

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JOURNAL

Alzheimer s & Dementia

DOI

10.1002/alz.13523 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Personality predictors of dementia diagnosis and neuropathological burden: An individual participant data meta-analysis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

29-Nov-2023

Nature's palette reinvented: new fermentation breakthrough in sustainable food coloring

Peer-Reviewed Publication

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET THE NOVO NORDISK FOUNDATION CENTER FOR BIOSUSTAINABILITY

Researchers from The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) have developed an innovative fermentation process that produces natural betalain-type food colours. This groundbreaking technology is set to revolutionize the food colour industry by offering a more sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional extraction methods.

Betalanins, which give red beets their distinctive hue, are commonly used worldwide in products ranging from meat substitutes to candies and ice creams. The most recognized of this group is betanin – a pigment that up until now is sourced from red beets. But the concentration of betanin in red beets is at aprox 0.2 % of the wet weight. This low content makes traditional extraction methods very wasteful.

"What's truly revolutionary about our process is not just its sustainability and potentially lower cost, but also that you can obtain a product at a higher purity. While the beetroot extract contains sugars at high concentrations, our fermented product can be made sugar-free and thus can be made more concentrated. Furthermore, the current process presents a platform from which we can expand to making other betalanin-type colours, which are currently too expensive to be extracted from plants," says Professor Irina Borodina.

The research group at DTU Biosustain, supervised by Prof. Borodina, used an oleaginous yeast commonly found in cheese, Yarrowia lipolytica, to achieve this feat. The team further performed metabolic engineering to optimize the cellular metabolism, ensuring enhanced color production and reduced by-products, thereby averting undesirable browning.
 

Can satisfy the world´s demand with just one-tenth of the equivalent land area

As part of the research project, researchers from the Sustainable Innovation Office at DTU Biosustain, provided a comprehensive life cycle assessment of the new fermentation process:

 "Our findings indicate that the fermentation-based process uses significantly fewer resources, energy, and land when compared to traditional betanin extraction from beets. In effect, if we harness the potential of this fermentation-based colour production fully, we can satisfy the world´s demand with just one-tenth of the equivalent land area," says Dr. Sumesh Sukumara.

Further techno-economic evaluations indicate that fermentation-produced betanin could well be a feasible alternative in today's market conditions. This opens up the potential for a broader palette of natural food colours, which are both more sustainably produced and potentially more affordable.

This groundbreaking new technology holds immense promise for various industries, including biotech, food colour manufacturing, metabolic engineering, and TEA/LCA professionals.

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JOURNAL

Nature Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41564-023-01517-5 

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Beet red food colourant can be produced more sustainably with engineered Yarrowia lipolytica