A comparison of breathing patterns of normal full term infants in supine versus right side-lying during quiet and active behavioral sleep states

This study investigated the effect of sleep position on breathing patterns of normal full term infants during quiet and active behavioral sleep states. Tidal volume, percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume, and respiration rate were measured via respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) and pneumotachograph (PNT) in ten infants sleeping in supine versus right side-lying. Data was collected immediately following two consecutive feedings. Paired t tests and ANOVA comparisons showed no significant differences between the two postures (p $<$.05) in mean tidal volume (supine, M = 19.16, right side, M = 22.45), percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume (supine, M = 30.55, right side M = 33.20), or respiration rate (supine, M = 49.13, right side, M = 49.37) during quiet sleep. Comparisons also showed no significant differences between the two postures (p $<$.05) in mean tidal volume (supine, M = 18.89, right side, M = 20.12), percent contribution of rib cage to tidal volume (supine, M = 6.43, right side, M = 6.97) or respiration rate (supine, M = 62.18, right side, M = 61.04) during active sleep. Therefore, no differences were found in the three respiratory variables measured between the supine and right side-lying positions. These findings suggest that infants may be positioned in either sleep position without detriment to respiratory function. This information may benefit occupational therapists and other health professionals involved in the education of parents on infant positioning and their respective advantages. ^

Dynamic data retrieval on the World Wide Web

Methods for accessing data on the Web have been the focus of active research over the past few years. In this thesis we propose a method for representing Web sites as data sources. We designed a Data Extractor data retrieval solution that allows us to define queries to Web sites and process resulting data sets. Data Extractor is being integrated into the MSemODB heterogeneous database management system. With its help database queries can be distributed over both local and Web data sources within MSemODB framework. ^ Data Extractor treats Web sites as data sources, controlling query execution and data retrieval. It works as an intermediary between the applications and the sites. Data Extractor utilizes a twofold “custom wrapper” approach for information retrieval. Wrappers for the majority of sites are easily built using a powerful and expressive scripting language, while complex cases are processed using Java-based wrappers that utilize specially designed library of data retrieval, parsing and Web access routines. In addition to wrapper development we thoroughly investigate issues associated with Web site selection, analysis and processing. ^ Data Extractor is designed to act as a data retrieval server, as well as an embedded data retrieval solution. We also use it to create mobile agents that are shipped over the Internet to the client's computer to perform data retrieval on behalf of the user. This approach allows Data Extractor to distribute and scale well. ^ This study confirms feasibility of building custom wrappers for Web sites. This approach provides accuracy of data retrieval, and power and flexibility in handling of complex cases. ^

Abstractions to support dynamic adaptation of communication frameworks for user-centric communication

The convergence of data, audio and video on IP networks is changing the way individuals, groups and organizations communicate. This diversity of communication media presents opportunities for creating synergistic collaborative communications. This form of collaborative communication is however not without its challenges. The increasing number of communication service providers coupled with a combinatorial mix of offered services, varying Quality-of-Service and oscillating pricing of services increases the complexity for the user to manage and maintain ‘always best’ priced or performance services. Consumers have to manually manage and adapt their communication in line with differences in services across devices, networks and media while ensuring that the usage remain consistent with their intended goals. This dissertation proposes a novel user-centric approach to address this problem. The proposed approach aims to reduce the aforementioned complexity to the user by (1) providing high-level abstractions and a policy based methodology for automated selection of the communication services guided by high-level user policies and (2) providing services through the seamless integration of multiple communication service providers and providing an extensible framework to support the integration of multiple communication service providers. The approach was implemented in the Communication Virtual Machine (CVM), a model-driven technology for realizing communication applications. The CVM includes the Network Communication Broker, the layer responsible for providing a network-independent API to the upper layers of CVM. The initial prototype for the NCB supported only a single communication framework which limited the number, quality and types of services available. Experimental evaluation of the approach show the additional overhead of the approach is minimal compared to the individual communication services frameworks. Additionally the automated approach proposed out performed the individual communication services frameworks for cross framework switching.

User-centric music information retrieval

The rapid growth of the Internet and the advancements of the Web technologies have made it possible for users to have access to large amounts of on-line music data, including music acoustic signals, lyrics, style/mood labels, and user-assigned tags. The progress has made music listening more fun, but has raised an issue of how to organize this data, and more generally, how computer programs can assist users in their music experience. An important subject in computer-aided music listening is music retrieval, i.e., the issue of efficiently helping users in locating the music they are looking for. Traditionally, songs were organized in a hierarchical structure such as genre->artist->album->track, to facilitate the users’ navigation. However, the intentions of the users are often hard to be captured in such a simply organized structure. The users may want to listen to music of a particular mood, style or topic; and/or any songs similar to some given music samples. This motivated us to work on user-centric music retrieval system to improve users’ satisfaction with the system. The traditional music information retrieval research was mainly concerned with classification, clustering, identification, and similarity search of acoustic data of music by way of feature extraction algorithms and machine learning techniques. More recently the music information retrieval research has focused on utilizing other types of data, such as lyrics, user-access patterns, and user-defined tags, and on targeting non-genre categories for classification, such as mood labels and styles. This dissertation focused on investigating and developing effective data mining techniques for (1) organizing and annotating music data with styles, moods and user-assigned tags; (2) performing effective analysis of music data with features from diverse information sources; and (3) recommending music songs to the users utilizing both content features and user access patterns.

An Analytical Workflow for Metagenomic Data and its Application to the Study of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Metagenomics is the culture-independent study of genetic material obtained directly from environmental samples. It has become a realistic approach to understanding microbial communities thanks to advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing technologies over the past decade. Current research has shown that different sites of the human body house varied bacterial communities. There is a strong correlation between an individual’s microbial community profile at a given site and disease. Metagenomics is being applied more often as a means of comparing microbial profiles in biomedical studies. The analysis of the data collected using metagenomics can be quite challenging and there exist a plethora of tools for interpreting the results. An automatic analytical workflow for metagenomic analyses has been implemented and tested using synthetic datasets of varying quality. It is able to accurately classify bacteria by taxa and correctly estimate the richness and diversity of each set. The workflow was then applied to the study of the airways microbiome in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). COPD is a progressive lung disease resulting in narrowing of the airways and restricted airflow. Despite being the third leading cause of death in the United States, little is known about the differences in the lung microbial community profiles of healthy individuals and COPD patients. Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples were collected from COPD patients, active or ex-smokers, and never smokers and sequenced by 454 pyrosequencing. A total of 56 individuals were recruited for the study. Substantial colonization of the lungs was found in all subjects and differentially abundant genera in each group were identified. These discoveries are promising and may further our understanding of how the structure of the lung microbiome is modified as COPD progresses. It is also anticipated that the results will eventually lead to improved treatments for COPD.

What factors influence persistence rates in active older adult group exercise programs?

The purpose of this research is to determine factors that influence the persistence rates of active older adults participating in group exercise classes. During the study, group participants and instructors in a Florida facility were asked to respond to surveys ascertaining motivational factors regarding participation in active older adult classes. Utilizing participant data, instructors were given a professional development course as part of the treatment. Data indicates participants prefer working in group settings to prevent health related illness, for socialization, and for instructors. Research demonstrates that the instructor plays a critical role in advancing exercise understanding and providing motivation that encourages participants to attend classes. Instructor response included a heightened awareness of motivational factors and a determination to improve standards.

Dynamic data retrieval on the world wide web

Methods for accessing data on the Web have been the focus of active research over the past few years. In this thesis we propose a method for representing Web sites as data sources. We designed a Data Extractor data retrieval solution that allows us to define queries to Web sites and process resulting data sets. Data Extractor is being integrated into the MSemODB heterogeneous database management system. With its help database queries can be distributed over both local and Web data sources within MSemODB framework. Data Extractor treats Web sites as data sources, controlling query execution and data retrieval. It works as an intermediary between the applications and the sites. Data Extractor utilizes a two-fold "custom wrapper" approach for information retrieval. Wrappers for the majority of sites are easily built using a powerful and expressive scripting language, while complex cases are processed using Java-based wrappers that utilize specially designed library of data retrieval, parsing and Web access routines. In addition to wrapper development we thoroughly investigate issues associated with Web site selection, analysis and processing. Data Extractor is designed to act as a data retrieval server, as well as an embedded data retrieval solution. We also use it to create mobile agents that are shipped over the Internet to the client's computer to perform data retrieval on behalf of the user. This approach allows Data Extractor to distribute and scale well. This study confirms feasibility of building custom wrappers for Web sites. This approach provides accuracy of data retrieval, and power and flexibility in handling of complex cases.