@article{ref1,
title="Automated image-based analysis unveils acute effects due to sub-lethal pesticide doses exposure",
journal="Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.",
year="2023",
author="Manduca, Gianluca and Zeni, Valeria and Moccia, Sara and Benelli, Giovanni and Canale, Angelo and Stefanini, Cesare and Romano, Donato",
volume="2023",
number="",
pages="1-4",
abstract="Pesticides are still abused in modern agriculture. The effects of their exposure to even sub-lethal doses can be detrimental to ecosystem stability and human health. This work aims to validate the use of machine learning techniques for recognizing motor abnormalities and to assess any effect post-exposure to a minimal dosage of these substances on a model organism, gaining insights into potential risks for human health. The test subject was the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann) (Diptera: Tephritidae), exposed to food contaminated with the LC(30) of Carlina acaulis essential oil. A deep learning approach enabled the pose estimation within an arena. Statistical analysis highlighted the most significant features between treated and untreated groups. Based on this analysis, two learning-based algorithms, Random Forest (RF) and XGBoost were employed. The results were compared through different metrics. RF algorithm generated a model capable of distinguishing treated subjects with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.75 and an accuracy of 0.71. Through an image-based analysis, this study revealed acute effects due to minimal pesticide doses. So, even small amounts of these biocides drifted far from distribution areas may negatively affect the environment and humans.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2375-7477",
doi="10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340800",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/EMBC40787.2023.10340800"
}