Novel Perspectives for Sensory Analysis Applied to Piperaceae and Aromatic Herbs: A Pilot Study.

Spices and aromatic herbs are important components of everyday nutrition in several countries and cultures, thanks to their capability to enhance the flavor of many dishes and convey significant emotional contributions by themselves. Indeed, spices as well as aromatic herbs are to be considered not only for their important values of antimicrobial agents or flavor enhancers everybody knows, but also, thanks to their olfactory and gustatory spectrum, as drivers to stimulate the consumers' memories and, in a stronger way, emotions. Considering these unique characteristics, spices and aromatic herbs have caught the attention of consumer scientists and experts in sensory analysis for their evaluation using semi-quantitative approaches, with interesting evidence.

Automatic noise detection for ambulatory electrocardiogram in presence of ventricular arrhythmias through a machine learning approach.

Noise detection in ambulatory electrocardiography is investigated as a machine learning binary classification problem on a set of twelve noise indices. Ten of these noise indices are replicated from relevant scientific literature. Two novel noise indices are also introduced: the electrocardiogram derivative pattern similarity index (edp) and the number of inversions of the signal's slope over a minimum amplitude threshold (inv).

Pupillary responses for social versus non-social stimuli in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Pupillometry has gained attention as a valuable tool for assessing autonomic nervous system activity and studying phasic changes in pupil size to comprehend underlying neurocognitive mechanisms. However, knowledge regarding pupillary responses to social processing in autism is limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, examining research studies on pupil size changes that compare social and non-social stimuli in autism.

Autistic traits and perspective taking in youths with anorexia nervosa: an exploratory clinical and eye tracking study.

Background: Despite their apparent dissimilarity, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) share many features, especially in terms of social and emotional difficulties. In recent years, empathic abilities in AN have been frequently assessed using self-report measures. Otherwise, the director task (DT) has been used to investigate the ability to take the visual perspective of another individual in a communicative context, using eye-tracking technology.

Deficits in emotion recognition and processing in children with high callous-unemotional traits: the role of the MAOA gene.

Children with high Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits show deficits in recognizing and processing facial expressions. Alterations in emotion recognition have been linked to a higher synaptic concentration of monoaminergic neurotransmitters. The current study investigated the relationship between the MAOA-Low-activity alleles and the ability to recognize and process facial expressions in 97 male children (8-12 years old) diagnosed with disruptive behavior disorder.

Wearable sensors to measure the influence of sonic seasoning on wine consumers in a live context: a preliminary proof-of-concept study.

Background: Any action capable of creating expectations about product quality would be able to modulate experienced pleasantness. In this context, during the 2022 edition of the Internet Festival (Pisa, Italy) a 'social experiment' was promoted to set up an affordable and reliable methodology based on wearable sensors to measure the emotions aroused in a live context on consumers by different kinds of wines. Therefore, five wines (two faulty ones and three high-quality samples) were proposed to 50 non-selected consumers in an arousing context with live jazz music as background.

Taste the emotions: pilot for a novel, sensors-based approach to emotional analysis during coffee tasting.

Background: Coffee is a natural drink with important properties for the human body and mind, capable of delivering energy and strong emotions, thus being appreciated since ancient times. The qualitative and quantitative assessment of the coffee properties is normally performed by trained panelists, though relying on standardized questionnaires, with possible biases arising. In this study, for the first time in the scientific literature, we applied a technology-based approach, based on the use of wearable sensors, to study the implicit emotional responses of a small cohort of experienced coffee judges, thus taking this chance to assess the feasibility of this approach in such a scenario.

Wearable Sensors to Evaluate Autonomic Response to Olfactory Stimulation: The Influence of Short, Intensive Sensory Training.

In the last few decades, while the sensory evaluation of edible products has been leveraged to make strategic decisions about many domains, the traditional descriptive analysis performed by a skilled sensory panel has been seen to be too complex and time-consuming for the industry needs, making it largely unsustainable in most cases. In this context, the study of the effectiveness of different methods for sensory training on panel performances represents a new trend in research activity. With this purpose, wearable sensors are applied to study physiological signals (ECG and skin conductance) concerned with the emotions in a cohort of volunteers undergoing a short, two-day (16 h) sensory training period related to wine tasting.

High-Risk Siblings without Autism: Insights from a Clinical and Eye-Tracking Study.

Joint attention (JA)-the human ability to coordinate our attention with that of other people-is impaired in the early stage of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, little is known about the JA skills in the younger siblings of children with ASD who do not develop ASD at 36 months of age [high-risk (HR)-noASD]. In order to advance our understanding of this topic, a prospective multicenter observational study was conducted with three groups of toddlers (age range: 18-33 months): 17 with ASD, 19 with HR-noASD and 16 with typical development (TD).

Horticultural Therapy May Reduce Psychological and Physiological Stress in Adolescents with Anorexia Nervosa: A Pilot Study.

Studies in psychiatric populations have found a positive effect of Horticultural therapy (HCT) on reductions in stress levels. The main objective of the present pilot study was to evaluate the impact of the addition of HCT to conventional clinical treatment (Treatment as Usual, TaU) in a sample of six female adolescents with anorexia nervosa restricting type (AN-R), as compared to six AN-R patients, matched for sex and age, under TaU only. This is a prospective, non-profit, pilot study on patients with a previous diagnosis of AN-R and BMI < 16, recruited in 2020 in clinical settings.

Music Modulates Autonomic Nervous System Activity in Human Fetuses.

Context: Fetal Autonomic Nervous sysTem Evaluation (FANTE) is a non-invasive tool that evaluates the autonomic nervous system activity in a fetus. Autonomic nervous system maturation and development during prenatal life are pivotal for the survival and neuropsychiatric development of the baby.

Objective: Aim of the study is to evaluate the effect of music stimulation on fetal heart rate and specific parameters linked to ANS activity, in particular fetal heart rate variability.

A randomized controlled trial into the effects of probiotics on electroencephalography in preschoolers with autism.

This study investigates the effects of a probiotic on preschoolers' brain electrical activity with autism spectrum disorder. Autism is a disorder with an increasing prevalence characterized by an enormous individual, family, and social cost. Although the etiology of autism spectrum disorder is unknown, an interaction between genetic and environmental factors is implicated, converging in altered brain synaptogenesis and, therefore, connectivity.

Parenting practices moderate the link between attention to the eyes and callous unemotional traits in children with Disruptive Behavior Disorder: An eye-tracking study.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with gaze pattern deficits in youths, though it has not yet been explored if environmental factors could influence this relationship. Since parenting can influence both CU traits and children's emotion processing, the current study sought to test whether parenting moderated the relation between gaze pattern deficits and CU traits in a sample of children with Disruptive Behavior Disorder. The sample included 92 boys (aged 7-12 years) with Conduct Disorder (N = 12) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (N = 80).

A Machine Learning Application to Predict Early Lung Involvement in Scleroderma: A Feasibility Evaluation.

Introduction: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a systemic immune-mediated disease, featuring fibrosis of the skin and organs, and has the greatest mortality among rheumatic diseases. The nervous system involvement has recently been demonstrated, although actual lung involvement is considered the leading cause of death in SSc and, therefore, should be diagnosed early. Pulmonary function tests are not sensitive enough to be used for screening purposes, thus they should be flanked by other clinical examinations; however, this would lead to a risk of overtesting, with considerable costs for the health system and an unnecessary burden for the patients.

Heartbeat-Evoked Cortical Potential during Sleep and Interoceptive Sensitivity: A Matter of Hypnotizability.

Individuals with different hypnotizability display different interoceptive sensitivity/awareness (IS) and accuracy (IA), likely sustained by morphofunctional differences in interoception-related brain regions and, thus, possibly also observable during sleep. We investigated the heartbeat-evoked cortical potential amplitude (HEP) during sleep, its association with IS, and the role of hypnotizability in such association. We performed a retrospective analysis of polysomnographic recordings of 39 healthy volunteers.

Wearable Sensors for Assessing the Role of Olfactory Training on the Autonomic Response to Olfactory Stimulation.

Wearable sensors are nowadays largely employed to assess physiological signals derived from the human body without representing a burden in terms of obtrusiveness. One of the most intriguing fields of application for such systems include the assessment of physiological responses to sensory stimuli. In this specific regard, it is not yet known which are the main psychophysiological drivers of olfactory-related pleasantness, as the current literature has demonstrated the relationship between odor familiarity and odor valence, but has not clarified the consequentiality between the two domains.

Effects of Probiotic Supplementation on Gastrointestinal, Sensory and Core Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Unlabelled: The microbiota-gut-brain axis has been recently recognized as a key modulator of neuropsychiatric health. In this framework, probiotics (recently named "psychobiotics") may modulate brain activity and function, possibly improving the behavioral profiles of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). We evaluated the effects of probiotics on autism in a double-blind randomized, placebo-controlled trial of 85 preschoolers with ASD (mean age, 4.

Electronic Nose as a Novel Method for Diagnosing Cancer: A Systematic Review.

Cancer is fast becoming the most important cause of death worldwide, its mortality being mostly caused by late or wrong diagnosis. Novel strategies have been developed to identify early signs of cancer in a minimally obtrusive way, including the Electronic Nose (E-Nose) technology, user-friendly, cost- and time-saving alternative to classical approaches. This systematic review, conducted under the PRISMA guidelines, identified 60 articles directly dealing with the E-Nose application in cancer research published up to 31 January 2020.

"Mom Let's Go to the Dentist!" Preliminary Feasibility of a Tailored Dental Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the Italian Public Health Service.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show worse oral health than their peers. Their access to health services is, at present, inadequate: few high-quality interventions have been designed and implemented to improve their care procedures so far. The purpose of this study is to describe an experience of dental care supported by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), for children with ASD in a public health service.

Rich at risk: socio-economic drivers of COVID-19 pandemic spread.

COVID-19, the novel coronavirus affecting the most part of worldwide countries since early 2020, is fast increasing its prevalence around the world, representing a significant emergency for the population and the health systems at large. While proper treatments are being developed, in-depth studies concerning its way of diffusion are necessary, in order to understand how the virus is actually spreading, through the investigation on some socio-economic indicators for the various countries in the world, retrieved through open-access data publicly available. The correlation analysis displayed significant relationships between COVID-19 incidence with several of such indicators, including the Gross Domestic Product per capita and the number of flights per capita, whereas mortality is mainly related to the main age of the population.

Behavioral and Autonomic Responses in Treating Children with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder: Clinical and Phenomenological Insights from Two Case Reports.

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the process applied in subjects with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) to elaborate and communicate their experiences of daily life activities, as well as to assess the autonomic nervous system response that subtend such a process. This procedure was evaluated for the first time in two eight-year-old girls with high-functioning ASDs. The subjects performed six months of training, based on the cognitive-motivational-individualized (c.

EYES Are The Window to the Mind: Eye-Tracking Technology as a Novel Approach to Study Clinical Characteristics of ADHD.

In recent years, the study of eye movements has increasingly become a window into neurological function and processes. This paper reports data about applications of eye-tracking technology in the field of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially in studying the clinical characteristics of ADHD. These studies indicated that eye-tracking approach represents a non-invasive methodology to test specific domains, such as attention networks and inhibition control, in an objectively and reliable way in youths.

A feasibility study on non-invasive fetal ECG to evaluate prenatal autonomic nervous system activity.

Background: Maturity of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is of paramount importance for fetal adaptation to extrauterine life and for early neurological development. Markers of ANS maturity, such as electrophysiological heart rate parameters, are of interest as tools to determine prenatal fetal maturity. The available technology, fetal magnetocardiography is expensive and not suitable for clinical use.