OSMOSIS

S C I E N C E M A G A Z I N E

The Origins of Mathematics:

Invented or Discovered?
By Andrew Watts

Also Featured in this Issue:

ChatGPT
Seafood Mislabeling
Why Lifesavers Glow

and more!

Spring 2023 Issue

 OSMOSIS Science Magazine
Spring 2023 Edition
Writers: Editors: Designers:
Isabel Dilandro Lily Dickson Mikayla Quinn
Andrew Watts Joshua Pandian Marianna Vrakas
Jack DuPuy Paxton Mills
Ping Yen (Jeff) Tsai Alex Robertson
Ryan Cvelbar

CONGRATULATIONS GRADUATING SENIORS!

Lily Dickson
Mikayla Quinn
Joshua Pandian
Ryan Cvelbar

Cover Image from https://blog.revolutionanalytics.com/2018/04/mathematical-art-in-r-.html

OSMOSIS PAGE 1
Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up this semester’s issue of

OSMOSIS. We are a student-run magazine filled with
all things science! Inside these pages, you will find
articles exploring all aspects of science, from straight
scientific arguments to philosophical questions
regarding mathematics and learning in a world of AI.
We have a talented group of writers, editors, and
designers this year, and I cannot wait to share with
you our spring issue. It is bittersweet to put together
my final issue of OSMOSIS, and little makes me
prouder than being a part of this team. Whatever
article you choose to read, I hope you find something
you enjoy as much as we enjoyed putting it all
together.

Thanks to all who helped make the magazine possible, Spring Issue 2023
and thank you, reader, for giving us a moment of your
time.

Happy reading!

Lily Dickson, Editor-In-Chief, ‘23

OSMOSIS PAGE 2
 Table of Contents

PAGE 4 ChatGPT: A Blessing or a Curse for Education?

By Jack DuPuy

PAGE 6 The Origins of Mathmatics: Invented or Discovered?

By Andrew Watts

PAGE 10 A Mini Spark: Casting Light on the Science of Candy

By Isabel Dilandro

Seafood Mislabeling: Molecular Strategies to Identify Fish Species

PAGE 12
and Rethinking Public Outreach in Taiwan and the U.S.
By Ping Yen (Jeff) Tsai

PAGE 14 Parkinson’s on the Radar, A Revolution in Disease Diagnosis

By Ryan Cvelbar

OSMOSIS PAGE 3
ChatGPT: A Blessing or a Curse for Education?
By Jack DuPuy
I asked ChatGPT to give me a limerick teaching. Overall, ChatGPT has the potential
about itself, and here are the results: to transform education by making learning
There was an AI named ChatGPT, more accessible, personalized, and engaging
Whose language skills were pretty nifty, for students, and by providing teachers with
It could chat all day, a powerful tool to support their teaching.
In a human-like way, While ChatGPT can be a powerful tool for
And answer your questions quite swiftly. learning and education, there are also some
So what is ChatGPT and how is it changing potential risks and limitations that need to be
education for better or worse? ChatGPT is a considered. One concern is that ChatGPT
large language model developed by OpenAI may not always provide accurate or reliable
that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and information. The model's responses are
machine learning to generate human-like generated based on the data it has been
responses to natural language questions and trained on, which may contain biases or
statements. It has been trained on a vast inaccuracies. This means that students may
amount of data from a diverse range of be provided with incorrect or incomplete
sources including books, articles, and information, which could lead to
websites, allowing it to answer a wide range misunderstandings and errors in their
of questions on various topics. learning. Additionally, there is a risk that
students may become overly reliant on
ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize ChatGPT and not develop critical thinking
education in several ways. Firstly, it can and problem-solving skills. If students rely
provide a personalized learning experience too heavily on the model for answers, they
for students by answering their questions may not be developing the skills they need
and providing them with information on to think critically and creatively, which
topics they are interested in. This can help to could limit their ability to solve problems
make learning more engaging and enjoyable, and come up with new ideas. Another
as students can learn at their own pace and concern is the potential for ChatGPT to be
according to their individual needs. used for cheating. If students are able to use
Additionally, ChatGPT can be used as a tool the model to quickly generate answers to
for teachers to facilitate learning in the questions without actually learning the
classroom. By answering students' questions material, this could undermine the integrity
and providing them with relevant of assessments and lead to a devaluation of
information, ChatGPT can help to support education.
teachers in their role and provide them with
more time to focus on other aspects of I wish I could tell you that all of that
analysis was my own, but in fact ChatGPT
wrote all of that about itself. While this topic
is not a super challenging one to write about,

OSMOSIS PAGE 4
 it is still impressive that most of you stunt our growth as students, most of the
believed that a human was writing words education world has yet to adopt that view.
that were in reality produced by an
algorithm. In the interest of transparency, I
promise that everything from here on out is
written by a human.

As you can see, this tool is revolutionary,

and I believe that educators will not be able
to escape it even if they want to. It can solve
problems in math, computer science, and the
natural sciences, provide summaries of
books, movies, and arguments, and write
decent papers on many different topics.
Unless all work is completed in class in
front of the teacher, grade-school students
will have the opportunity to use ChatGPT as
a tool for completing their work and getting
good grades. As such, I believe that
educators need to shift their focus away
from busywork and grades and more
towards learning. I don’t pretend to have all
the answers for how that can be done, but
I’m sure there are ways to implement
changes in the work students do, the
structure of the classes themselves, and how
students are tested and graded on their
understanding of the material that will
encourage students to use ChatGPT as a way
to learn rather than a way to get work done
the easy way. Please also keep in mind that
using ChatGPT without the explicit
permission of your professor constitutes an
honor violation here at UR. While I believe
trying to ban the use of AI tools works to

OSMOSIS PAGE 5
 A divisive subject amongst stu-
dents of all ages, Mathematics remains
an integral part of each student’s edu-
cational journey. Why is that? you may
wonder. The answer is that Mathemat-
The Origins of Mathematics: ics lies at the center of the natural
Invented or Discovered? world. Among its innumerable practical
By Andrew Watts
applications, Mathematics is used to
build the cars we drive and the houses
we live in, it is even used to create your
favorite video game. Perhaps you may
now wonder, how it is that the
seemingly trivial nature of Mathematics has such great ability to assist us in manipulating and
modeling the natural world? Like you, many Mathematicians and philosophers have pondered this
question and the answer to it appears to be even more complex than the subject itself. To address this
question we must first investigate the fundamental nature of Mathematics and how it came to be.
That is, was Mathematics invented or discovered? To help me explore this quandary, I spoke to
University of Richmond Mathematics Professor and Biomedical Mathematician, Dr. Lester Caudill,
about the origins of Mathematics and the reasons
that it endows us with such profound understanding
of our world.
The earliest traces of Mathematics come
thousands of years ago in the form of the counting
numbers, which the Mathematical world agrees were
invented. The counting numbers were needed to
quantify things that existed in the natural world.
Once this number system was established and
agreed upon, the arithmetic operations were able to
be deduced. For example, if an ancient farmer were
OSMOSIS PAGE 6
 to have invented the counting system to quantify the number of animals on his farm, he would
eventually be able to use addition and subtraction to quantify the change in the number of animals on
his farm. Without this numbering system that he created and believes to be true, this arithmetic
would not be possible. Dr. Caudill agrees that in all branches of Mathematics, there must be a starting
point. In the Mathematical world, these starting points are often referred to as axioms. An axiom is
essentially Mathematical jargon for a rule. Axioms are assumed to be true, and therefore do not need
to be proven to be true. A common example of an axiom, you certainly have encountered in any high
school algebra course is the additive axiom, which states that if two quantities are equal and an equal
amount is added to each, they are still equal. This axiom then allows us to solve for unknowns, like “x”
in an equation that models the real world. Mathematicians use these axioms to define the realm in
which they hope to explore. Dr. Caudill elaborated on the creation and selection of axioms, stating
that “Mathematicians often work backwards to find axioms in order to derive Mathematical
logic”. In essence, Mathematics is a deductive science as opposed to the traditional investigative
process of natural sciences which utilize inductive reasoning and discovery. In Mathematics,
theorems and axioms are set in place and the arithmetic that follows must be consistent with them;
whereas, in a science like Chemistry or Biology, scientists observe phenomena and try to decipher
why it occurs. While Mathematicians know why the Math they are using works– because the axioms
say it does– their job is then to apply the Math to the world’s pressing issues. Therefore, the axioms of
Mathematics appear to be an invention of human intellect, but the subsequent logic that can be
deduced is discovered through experimentation with arithmetic. So, you may wonder What would
happen if the axioms were to change? Dr. Caudill believes that if the most fundamental axioms of
Mathematics were changed, then Mathematics may be very different from the one we know now. If
we were to define a new set of rules, the following logic that can be discovered must also change to

OSMOSIS PAGE 7
remain consistent with the rules – thus, elucidating the philosophical complexity of the argument.
Mathematics is found in many places in the natural world. The Fibonacci sequence can be
found in the spirals of hurricanes and galaxies or the petals of a flower. Fractal geometry is demon-
strated by the intricate structures of snowflakes. Math can also be used to model occurrences in the
natural world, like using differential equations to model disease spread or population growth, thus
leading to the question: do these examples suggest that Mathematics is not only an invention of hu-
man intellect, but that it is a physical property of the natural world? Dr. Caudill does not believe so,
but rather maintains that Mathematical logic was derived from the axiomatic truths put forth by
Mathematicians. It is the application of this Mathematical logic to the natural world that leads us to

find these patterns in nature. In his own research, Dr. Caudill relies on Mathematical models to
understand deeper the mechanisms of bacterial infection in the human body. In creating these
models, he must consider all of the factors that influence bacterial growth and how the body
responds. I asked him, what is it about Mathematics that allows us to so accurately predict natural
occurrences? In his response he referenced the complexity of the model and the number of
considerations it heeds. He concludes that the more factors that must be considered, the less reliable
the model. Dr. Caudill’s logic is consistent as he maintains that Mathematical structures must first be
invented before they can be applied to the real world, as they do not naturally exist in nature. Rather,

OSMOSIS PAGE 8
nature can be described using Mathematics, much like it can be with words. Spoken language and
Mathematical language are similar in the way that they both give meaning to natural objects and
occurrences, but in order for that meaning to be understood, the words, symbols, and structures of
the two languages, themselves, must be clearly defined and universally understood.

In exploring this topic, I, myself, have become convinced that Mathematics was both invented
and discovered. Ironically, a subject whose material is often regarded as rather unambiguous has
conjured such a divisive debate– and even more paradoxical that the conclusion of two opposing
statements can both be true. I have learned that Mathematics is as precise as it is mysterious, and I
believe that to be the reason why it has captivated so many of the world’s greatest thinkers for so long
– and will continue to do so for centuries to come.

OSMOSIS PAGE 9
A Mini Spark: Casting Light on the Science of Candy
By Isabel DiLandro

Every day, children experience something many electrons create a chemical imbalance
for the first time in their lives. In the mind of which results in an unstable or more reactive
a child, many naturally occurring atom. So when the number of electrons
phenomena often feel like magic. So when deviates from the
my friend told me at our third grade standard, the disparity must be resolved so
sleepover she could show me a magic trick, the atom can return to its conventional, most
I believed she really could. We stuffed stable state. The electrons from the sugar
ourselves in a closet and she pulled out crystals thus essentially supercharge the
something I could never have expected: a electrons from the nitrogen molecules,
bag of Wint-O-Green Lifesaver mints. imparting energy onto them. In order to
Unsure of what would happen next, I release all of the built-up energy, the
watched in anticipation and confusion as my nitrogen molecules generate light.
friend pulled one out, placed it in her mouth,
and bit down, hard. A fairly standard turn of Theoretically this process can occur
events when a kid gets ahold of some candy, in all candies – and does, just on an
except for one part: the mint lit up in the extremely subtle scale – but is most
dark like a tiny firework. Eureka, magic! noticeable in these specific Lifesavers
Although unexplainable then, time has because of an ingredient called methyl
proved there is some rationale behind this salicylate which gives the mints their
fantastical spectacle. specific wintergreen flavor. Methyl
salicylate is fluorescent allowing it to absorb
The mastermind behind the whole the light of shorter wavelengths emitted by
operation is a phenomenon called compounds such as sugar and convert it into
triboluminescence from the Greek verb a longer wavelength which is observable to
tribein, meaning “to rub”, and the Latin the human eye. So, the ultraviolet light set
noun lumen, meaning “light”. As the name off by nitrogen is transformed into and re-
suggests, it is a form of light that occurs emitted as light on the visible spectrum.
because of friction between molecules. In
this case, when you bite into a Wint-O- So, if you want to give this a try for
Green Lifesaver, the force of impact crushes yourself, the experiment itself is incredibly
the sugar crystals in the mint and thrust straightforward. All you need are some
electrons out of their atomic field and into Wint-O-Green Lifesaver hard mints and a
free space. Then, those electrons bump into fairly dark room; the darker the room, the
nitrogen molecules, the principal component easier it will be to see the results. Then, just
of air. However, the presence of electrons is bite down hard. Very illuminating to say the
a finicky thing. Too few or, in this case, too least!

OSMOSIS PAGE 10
 Referances:

Anne Marie Helmenstine, P. D. (2020,

January 14). Why wintergreen lifesavers
spark in the dark. ThoughtCo. Retrieved
February 26, 2023, from
https://www.thoughtco.com/why-
wintergreen-lifesavers-spark-in-the-dark-
602179
Contributors, H. S. W. (2000, November 3).
Why do wint-O-green life savers spark in
Figure 1: Jablonski energy diagram of fluorescence.
the dark? HowStuffWorks. Retrieved
February 26, 2023, from
https://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question5
05.htm

OSMOSIS PAGE 11
Seafood Mislabeling: Molecular Strategies to Identify Fish Species and
Rethinking Public Outreach in Taiwan and the U.S.

by Ping Yen (Jeff) Tsai

Swapping identical fish with substitutes has the targeted gene sequence of the sample with
been a widespread issue across the globe. the GenBank sequence database. However, a
Despite the valiant efforts of policymakers, large-scale search by Steinegger and Salzberg
seafood misidentification continues to be (2020) found more than 2 million contaminated
pervasive among large and small vendors, from entries in the database, posing a potential risk of
sushi venues to grocery stores in the United misidentifying species. Blanco-Fernandez et al.
States. A customer could order a plate of local (2021) found widespread mislabelling of over-
seafood with good intentions of supporting small caught Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)
businesses and later realize that they may have as albacore (Thunnus alalunga) in Spain. It turns
consumed lower-value products from poorly out that 2-3% of bluefin tuna share identical
managed fisheries (Kroetz et al. 2020). mitochondrial DNA with albacore, "which has
Dishonest vendors could substitute white tuna often misled mitochondrial-based phylogenetic
for escolar, which can cause severe inferences of the genus Thunnus" (Díaz-Arce
gastrointestinal issues if consumers are sensitive and Rodríguez-Ezpeleta 2023). Although the
to its toxin, gempylotoxin. In a 2013 study done 2021 study claims that certain T. thynnus
by Oceana, 84% of the tuna samples collected products were sold as T. alalunga, their best
nationwide were found to be escolar. In Taiwan, BLAST hit is not evidence of mislabelling. It is
vendors in unregulated wet markets would due to mitochondrial introgression between T.
continue to sell escolar as tuna to increase their alalunga and T. thynnus.
profit margin. As a result, news channels began Due to the presence of contaminated sequences
educating consumers on distinguishing the two in GenBank, BLAST can be unreliable when an
fishes in the market by the color and texture of identical species carries mitochondrial
their fish skin, the elasticity of the meat, and introgression. With molecular barcoding
technology, researchers in Taiwan and the U.S.
bone sizes. Policymakers should continually identified mislabelling in popular fishes such as
enforce interdisciplinary measures to safeguard
tuna, salmon, snapper, halibut, and mackerel
consumers’ health and prevent seafood fraud in with deep microbiome profiling. DNA
the market. barcoding targets regions encoding the
To combat seafood mislabelling, researchers use
mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to identify (MT-CO1) and the 16S ribosomal RNA (16S
differences in the genetic sequences of fishes
rRNA) gene. Most recently in Taiwan, the gross
that are otherwise easily substituted on the substitution rate of fish products is 18.9%
market. Scientists use PCR to amplify many among the 127 samples collected. "Snapper,
copies of the target DNA region, so they can
cod, and surimi products are particularly
later check whether different samples’ genetic vulnerable to fraudulent substitutions,"
sequences share similarities. First, the genetic according to Chen et al. (2020). In a similar
material (DNA) is extracted from the fish. PCR study conducted in Los Angeles, California, the
then amplifies a target gene region with primers average substitution rate is higher at 40%, yet
to copy the sequence for multiple cycles. The mislabeling is distinctive across all species.
resulting DNA fragments are then visualized via Willette et al. (2017) found that "all samples of
gel electrophoresis to determine if the sample's
red snapper were mislabelled (100%) [...] 89%
base pairs are similar or different. The Basic of red snapper samples (Lutjanus campechanus)
Tool Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) can were replaced by eight different fish taxa,"
speed up the identification process by aligning including the red seabream. The Taiwanese

OSMOSIS PAGE 12
 study also discovered a whopping 84.6%
mislabelling rate in snappers from sushi, References:
sashimi, cooked dishes, and ingredients. As a
result, we could pay to eat fish that wasn’t what Blanco-Fernandez, C., A. Ardura, P. Masiá, N.
Rodriguez, L. Voces, M. Fernandez-Raigoso, A.
we expected to receive.
Roca, G. Machado-Schiaffino, E. Dopico & E.
Garcia-Vazquez. 2021. Fraud in highly appreciated
Identifying mislabeled seafood products can be fish detected from DNA in Europe may undermine
difficult for consumers, especially when the Development Goal of sustainable fishing in
numerous fish products are prepackaged or Africa. Scientific Reports 11, 11423.
processed for purchase. It could be particularly
concerning for those who want to avoid fish like Chen, P.Y., C.W. Ho, A.C. Chen, C.Y. Huang, T.Y.
escolar or those with higher mercury content like Liu, K.H Liang. 2020. Investigating seafood
mackerel. In Taiwan, seafood is regularly sold in substitution problems and consequences in Taiwan
regulated and unregulated wet markets. Vendors using molecular barcoding and deep microbiome
in my neighborhood start setting up their stands profiling. Scientific Reports 10, 21997.
from 3 to 4 am, dumping bags of fresh ice into
Díaz-Arce, N. and N. Rodríguez-Ezpeleta. Best
huge styrofoam boxes, and laying out the fresh BLAST hit alone cannot be used as evidence of
catches. Since I visited these markets from a fraud. 2023. Scientific Reports 13, 905.
young age with my mom, I gradually realized
how each fish looked different, despite many Eastern Broadcasting Company News. 2016. Looking
having identical white meat. Public outreach similar: Selling escolars as white tuna, be careful not
should focus on releasing pictorial seafood be scammed (真的好像！「油魚當鱈魚賣」小心別
guides for consumers to distinguish between 被坑了). Available online at
species and enhance transparency in venues on https://news.ebc.net.tw/News/living/37984; last
releasing information regarding the source accessed February 28, 2023.
regions of their seafood products.
Although combating seafood misidentification is FAO. 2022. GLOBEFISH Highlights – International
difficult, it is necessary to safeguard the health markets for fisheries and aquaculture products,
of many sensitive to allergens in different fish. second issue 2022, with January–December 2021
Statistics. FAO of the United Nations. Available
Furthermore, mislabeling can undermine
online at https://doi.org/10.4060/cc1350en; last
people’s confidence in sustainable fisheries if accessed February 28, 2023.
they do not receive seafood products that are
high quality and nutritious as expected. After the Kroetz, K., G.M. Luque, J.A. Gephart, S.L. Jardine,
pandemic, the global fish economy continues to P. Lee, K.C. Moore, C. Cole, A. Steinkruger, C.J.
dominate at USD 178.1 billion by total export Donlan. Consequences of seafood mislabeling for
revenue in 2022, according to the Food and marine populations and fisheries management. 2020.
Agriculture Organization (FAO). Despite Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
regulations becoming stricter, the fishery 117, 30318–30323.
industry still strives to maximize its financial
gain as unethical actions go unnoticed and Warner, K., W. Timme, B. Lowell, M. Hirshfield.
2013. Oceana study reveals seafood fraud
unpunished. The scale of global fishery
nationwide. Oceana. Available online at
commerce prompts policymakers to continue https://oceana.org/reports/oceana-study-reveals-
designing innovative interventions to minimize seafood-fraud-nationwide/; last accessed February
mislabeling. It will prevent illegally captured 28, 2023.
fish from entering legal trade. As Seafood fraud
remains prevalent in our everyday life, policies Willette, D.A., S.E. Simmonds, S.H. Cheng, S.
should continuously enforce the correct labeling Esteves, T.L. Kane, H. Nuetzel, N. Pilaud, R.
of fish once they enter the supply chain. Rachmawati, P.H. Barber. Using DNA barcoding to
track seafood mislabeling in Los Angeles restaurants.
2017. Conservation Biology 31, 1076–1085.

OSMOSIS PAGE 13
 Parkinson’s on the Radar,
A Revolution in Disease Diagnosis
By Ryan Cvelbar

According to the Parkinson’s Foundation, The product of Katabi and her team’s work at MIT is
a device called, “Emerald”. Emerald is a neural
Parkinson’s disease is one of the fastest-growing network that looks like a WiFi router and emits radio
neurological diseases in the world, second only to signals to its sleeping patient to track nocturnal
Alzheimer’s. The National Institute on Aging loosely breathing patterns. For those of you who are not
defines Parkinson’s disease as a brain disorder that familiar with what a neural network is; it is a series of
develops over the course of several years resulting algorithms that mimics the human brain by using
from nerve cell death in the basal ganglia, a section data relationships to arrive at conclusions. Put more
of the brain that controls movement. These nerve simply, you might think of the program functioning
cells are known to produce the neurotransmitter, like a filter in Microsoft Excel that allows you to
dopamine, that is necessary for proper movement pinpoint similarities, differences, and trends in data
of your body. As more of these cells die, less to draw conclusions and execute decisions. The data
dopamine is produced than normal and patients
begin to experience symptoms.
The most well-known symptoms of
Parkinson’s are motor in nature and include
uncontrollable movements such as tremors, stiffness,
and poor coordination. These symptoms begin to
manifest years after onset of the disease once most
of the disease’s irreversible damage has taken place.
Parkinson’s disease also results in a loss of norepi-
nephrine, the main signal used by the autonomic
nervous system to control automatic functions like
heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing, resulting
in irregularities in autonomic functioning. Dr. James
Parkinson, the first to diagnose Parkinson’s disease,
identified this connection between irregularities in in this case being the patient’s breathing data that is
autonomic functioning, particularly breathing compared against thousands of other patients’ data.
patterns, and the disease during his career as a Emerald works by measuring how radio waves
surgeon. A recent advance in medical technology, bounce off the patient and back to the device. The
and the topic of this article, has identified a way to rate and depth of rib cage expansion and
exploit Dr. Parkinson’s observation and identify this contraction varies based on disease presence and
biomarker of Parkinson’s disease years ahead of the severity or degree of disease progression,
motor symptom development, helping patients to resulting in a spectrum of frequencies with which the
seek treatment before significant irreversible radio waves bounce off the patient and return to the
damage has occurred. device. The frequency, intensity, and pattern with
According to Forbes, Dina Katabi, principal which the waves reach the device are processed by
investigator at MIT Jameel Clinic, is the first to the machine’s neural network that compares the
develop a mechanism for capturing this biomarker. breathing data of the patient to the artificial

OSMOSIS PAGE 14
 Intelligence program’s standard breathing dataset. final supporting evidence in favor of the device’s
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), accuracy is the fact that the device managed to
this standard breathing dataset was constructed by show a diagnostic accuracy of 90% when tested
Katabi and her team by recording breathing against data not used during the initial training
patterns of 757 Parkinson’s patients and 6,914 process of the program’s neural network, which is
healthy patients over the course of 11,964 nights usually never the case for AI-derived diagnostics.
consisting of more than 120,000 hours of nocturnal This advance in medical technology
breathing signals. This data forms the basis of the development is invaluable for the field of medicine
neural network that the AI program uses to identify because, according to the National Institute on
similarities in breathing to the 757 Parkinson’s Aging, there are currently no tests to diagnose
patients and differences from the 6,914 healthy Parkinson’s before motor symptom development.
patients to diagnose Parkinson’s. Current diagnoses consist of taking a medical
According to the NIH, Emerald is remarkably history, cerebrospinal fluid extraction, or performing
sensitive to nuances in breathing patterns as neuroimaging similar to an MRI. These expensive
Emerald was able to correctly identify Parkinson’s and invasive methods do not make sense for
86% of the time with one night of breathing data patients who have not yet developed symptoms of
and 95% of the time with 12 nights of data. the disease and so are only used on suspected
Dr. Charles Dinerstein, vascular surgeon and Parkinson’s patients years after disease onset when
Director of Medicine at the American Council on motor symptoms begin to appear. Additionally,
Science and Health, further supports the efficacy of there is no cure for Parkinson’s capable of stopping
Emerald. He states that compared to digital mam- or reversing its progression, but treatments to slow
mography, widely used to screen and identify breast progression do exist.
cancer, Emerald is just as specific and sensitive. He In addition to facilitating a jumpstart on
also cites Emerald’s 0.94 correlation with the MDS- slowing disease progression, Emerald is accelerating
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale currently clinical trials of potential treatments and cures for
used by doctors to subjectively diagnose the Parkinson’s. Where once it was merely impossible to
disease, indicating the algorithm’s ability to judge if Parkinson’s symptoms were improving or
accurately track disease progression. Dr. Dinerstein’s worsening during clinical trials, Emerald now

OSMOSIS PAGE 15
provides an accurate and systematic way of www.parkinson.org/understanding-parkinsons/
measuring a drug’s effect on disease progression statistics#:~:text=Nearly%20one%20million%
with just a couple nights of breathing data. 20people%20in,diagnosed%20with%20PD%
According to Katabi, Emerald is already being used 20each%20year.
by large pharmaceutical and biotech companies Tabikha, Kamal. “Syrian Scientist Develops AI System
working on Parkinson’s treatments. The future of to Detect Parkinson's Early from Breathing Pat-
Emerald looks endless and green as it is already terns.” The National, The National, 14 Oct. 2022,
being investigated for use in earlier detection of https://www.thenationalnews.com/
heart disease and business experts foresee mena/2022/10/14/syrian-scientist-develops-ai-
Emerald’s future commercialization, making it as system-to-detect-parkinsons-early-from-
common a household item as at-home detectors of breathing-patterns/.
atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Verma, Pranshu. “A New Algorithm Could Spot
Parkinson's Early. Will It Help?” The Washington
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detect-parkinsons-disease-from-night-breathing
-patterns/.
Kite-Powell, Jennifer. “See How This AI Analyzes
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