Pre-hospital body surface potential mapping improves early diagnosis of acute coronary artery occlusion in patients with ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest

Aims: To determine whether 80-lead body surface potential mapping (BSPM) improves detection of acute coronary artery occlusion in patients presenting with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) due to ventricular fibrillation (VF) and who survived to reach hospital. Methods and results: Of 645 consecutive patients with OHCA who were attended by the mobile coronary care unit, VF was the initial rhythm in 168 patients. Eighty patients survived initial resuscitation, 59 of these having had BSPM and 12-lead ECG post-return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and in 35 patients (age 69±13 yrs; 60% male) coronary angiography performed within 24. h post-ROSC. Of these, 26 (74%) patients had an acutely occluded coronary artery (TIMI flow grade [TFG] 0/1) at angiography. Twelve-lead ECG criteria showed ST-segment elevation (STE) myocardial infarction (STEMI) using Minnesota 9-2 criteria - sensitivity 19%, specificity 100%; ST-segment depression (STD) =0.05. mV in =2 contiguous leads - sensitivity 23%, specificity 89%; and, combination of STEMI or STD criteria - sensitivity 46%, specificity 100%. BSPM STE occurred in 23 (66%) patients. For the diagnosis of TFG 0/1 in a main coronary artery, BSPM STE had sensitivity 88% and specificity 100% (c-statistic 0.94), with STE occurring most commonly in either the posterior, right ventricular or high right anterior territories. Conclusion: Among OHCA patients presenting with VF and who survived resuscitation to reach hospital, post-resuscitation BSPM STE identifies acute coronary occlusion with sensitivity 88% and specificity 100% (c-statistic 0.94). © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

Empirical performance of RSSI-based Monte Carlo localisation for active RFID patient tracking systems

The range of potential applications for indoor and campus based personnel localisation has led researchers to create a wide spectrum of different algorithmic approaches and systems. However, the majority of the proposed systems overlook the unique radio environment presented by the human body leading to systematic errors and inaccuracies when deployed in this context. In this paper RSSI-based Monte Carlo Localisation was implemented using commercial 868 MHz off the shelf hardware and empirical data was gathered across a relatively large number of scenarios within a single indoor office environment. This data showed that the body shadowing effect caused by the human body introduced path skew into location estimates. It was also shown that, by using two body-worn nodes in concert, the effect of body shadowing can be mitigated by averaging the estimated position of the two nodes worn on either side of the body. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.

Body shadowing mitigation using differentiated LOS/NLOS channel models for RSSI-based Monte Carlo personnel localization

Research into localization has produced a wealth of algorithms and techniques to estimate the location of wireless network nodes, however the majority of these schemes do not explicitly account for non-line of sight conditions. Disregarding this common situation reduces their accuracy and their potential for exploitation in real world applications. This is a particular problem for personnel tracking where the user's body itself will inherently cause time-varying blocking according to their movements. Using empirical data, this paper demonstrates that, by accounting for non-line of sight conditions and using received signal strength based Monte Carlo localization, meter scale accuracy can be achieved for a wrist-worn personnel tracking tag in a 120 m indoor office environment. © 2012 IEEE.

Switched Diversity Techniques for Indoor Off-body Communications Channels: An Experimental Analysis and Modeling

This paper investigates the potential improvement in signal reliability for indoor off-body communications channels operating at 5.8 GHz using switched diversity techniques. In particular we investigate the performance of switch-and-stay combining (SSC), switch-and-examine combining (SEC) and switch-and-examine combining with post-examining selection (SECps) schemes which utilize multiple spatially separated antennas at the base station. During the measurements a test subject, wearing an antenna on his chest, performed a number of walking movements towards and then away from a uniform linear array. It was found that all of the considered diversity schemes provided a worthwhile signal improvement. However, the performance of the diversity systems varied according to the switching threshold that was adopted. To model the fading envelope observed at the output of each of the combiners, we have applied diversity specific equations developed under the assumption of Nakagami-$m$ fading. As a measure of the goodness-of-fit, the Kullback-Leibler divergence between the empirical and theoretical probability density functions (PDFs) was calculated and found to be close to 0. To assist with the interpretation of the goodness-of-fit achieved in this study, the standard deviation, $\sigma$, of a zero-mean, $\sigma^2$ variance Gaussian PDF used to approximate a zero-mean, unit variance Gaussian PDF is also presented. These were generally quite close to 1 indicating that the theoretical models provided an adequate fit to the measured data.

The vibrational spectra of natural and perdeuterated monochlorogallane, H2Ga([mu]-Cl)2GaH2, and an empirical harmonic potential function

The infrared and Raman spectra of monochlorogallane and its fully deuterated isotopomer are recorded and assigned on the basis of the dimeric structures. H2Ga(μ-Cl)2GaH2 and D2Ga(μ-Cl)2GaD2, conforming to D2 symmetry. The observed frequencies are corrected for anharmonicity and fitted to a potential function in which 19 of the 33 independent force constants are refined.

Evaluation of empirical mode decomposition for event-related potential analysis

Current methods for estimating event-related potentials (ERPs) assume stationarity of the signal. Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is a data-driven decomposition technique that does not assume stationarity. We evaluated an EMD-based method for estimating the ERP. On simulated data, EMD substantially reduced background EEG while retaining the ERP. EMD-denoised single trials also estimated shape, amplitude, and latency of the ERP better than raw single trials. On experimental data, EMD-denoised trials revealed event-related differences between two conditions (condition A and B) more effectively than trials lowpass filtered at 40 Hz. EMD also revealed event-related differences on both condition A and condition B that were clearer and of longer duration than those revealed by low-pass filtering at 40 Hz. Thus, EMD-based denoising is a promising data-driven, nonstationary method for estimating ERPs and should be investigated further.

Bland äckliga fittor och kunskapsluckor : En kritisk analys av tonårstjejers sexuella agens och dess frigörande och diciplinerande potential, baserat på berättelser av barnmorskor och kuratorer

Ett använt begrepp när det gäller tonårstjejer och sexualitet är sexuell agens, att handla efter egna beslut. Avsikten med denna studie är att nå en ökad förståelse av vad som påverkar utvecklingen av sexuell agens hos tonårstjejer, utifrån berättelser av två professioner vid ungdomsmottagningar. Syftet är också att göra en kritisk analys och en sociologisk teoretisering av upplevelsen av sexuell agens samt utifrån ett maktperspektiv utreda dess disciplinerande och frigörande potential. Tidigare forskning visar främst att det finns en avsaknad av lust och kunskap hos tonårstjejer samt att deras förmåga att ta självständiga beslut i relation till sexualitet är avhängt deras agens. I denna studie genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med barnmorskor och kuratorer vid ungdomsmottagningar. Tematisk analysmetod användes vid tolkningsförfarandet. Det empiriska materialet visade bland annat att tonårstjejers agens är influerat av yttre påverkan, gränssättning, skam, självförtroende och kunskap. För att nå en sociologisk förståelse av det empiriska materialet har sociologiska perspektiv på sexualitet, makt samt Foucaults teori om kroppens disciplinering använts. Baserat på professionerna vid ungdomsmottagningarna visade analysen att utvecklingen av sexuell agens gynnas av kunskap och självförtroende, hämmas av påverkan och skam samt både gynnas och hämmas av gränssättning. Den fördjupade analysen visade att sexuell agens kan skapa autonoma beslut, vilket minskar sårbarheten för maktens disciplin och därmed verkar frigörande inom disciplinens egendefinierade gränser. En avslutande slutsats var att upplevelsen av sexuell agens bör förstås som främst disciplinerande.  

Aggressiveness Overcomes Body-Size Effects in Fights Staged between Invasive and Native Fish Species with Overlapping Niches

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

UNITARY POLE APPROXIMATION FOR THE COULOMB-PLUS-YAMAGUCHI POTENTIAL AND APPLICATION TO A 3-BODY BOUND-STATE CALCULATION

The unitary pole approximation is used to construct a separable representation for a potential U which consists of a Coulomb repulsion plus an attractive potential of the Yamaguchi type. The exact bound-state wave function is employed. U is chosen as the potential which binds the proton in the 1d5/2 single-particle orbit in F-17. Using the separable representation derived for U, and assuming a separable Yamaguchi potential to describe the 1d5/2 neutron in O-17, the energies and wave functions of the ground state (1+) and the lowest 0+ state of F-18 are calculated in the Gore-plus-two-nucleons model solving the Faddeev equations.

Study of the potential of irregular shaped bodies and orbits around a non-spherical body

In the present work we show the expressions of the gravitational potential of homogeneous bodies with non-spherical three-dimensional shapes in order to study the trajectories around these bodies. The potentials of a prolate and an oblate ellipsoids with different values of semi-major axis are presented. Their results are validated with a test using a spherical body in order to guarantee the approximation of any body as a polyhedral model of the body. With these expressions we study trajectories of a point of mass around the three-dimensional bodies and the results indicated that there is a group of orbits around those bodies and the polyhedral form of the object does work very well. Copyright IAF/IAA. All rights reserved.

Mass-Imbalanced Three-Body Systems in 2D: Bound States and the Analytical Approach to the Adiabatic Potential

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Aggressiveness Overcomes Body-Size Effects in Fights Staged between Invasive and Native Fish Species with Overlapping Niches

Approximately 50 years ago, Nile tilapia were accidentally introduced to Brazil, and the decline of pearl cichlid populations, which has been intensified by habitat degradation, in some locations has been associated with the presence of Nile tilapia. There is, however, little strong empirical evidence for the negative interaction of non-native fish populations with native fish populations; such evidence would indicate a potential behavioural mechanism that could cause the population of the native fish to decline. In this study, we show that in fights staged between pairs of Nile tilapia and pearl cichlids of differing body size, the Nile tilapia were more aggressive than the pearl cichlid. Because this effect prevailed over body-size effects, the pearl cichlids were at a disadvantage. The niche overlap between the Nile tilapia and the pearl cichlid in nature, and the competitive advantage shown by the Nile tilapia in this study potentially represent one of several possible results of the negative interactions imposed by an invasive species. These negative effects may reduce population viability of the native species and cause competitive exclusion.

Global and Regional Ventricular Repolarization Study by Body Surface Potential Mapping in Patients with Left Bundle-Branch Block and Heart Failure Undergoing Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy

Background: The controversial effects promoted by cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on the ventricular repolarization (VR) have motivated VR evaluation by body surface potential mapping (BSPM) in CRT patients. Methods: Fifty-two CRT patients, mean age 58.8 +/- 12.3 years, 31 male, LVEF 27.5 +/- 9.2, NYHA III-IV heart failure with QRS181.5 +/- 14.2 ms, underwent 87-lead BSPM in sinus rhythm (BASELINE) and biventricular pacing (BIV). Measurements of mean and corrected QT intervals and dispersion, mean and corrected T peak end intervals and their dispersion, and JT intervals characterized global and regional (RV, Intermediate, and LV regions) ventricular repolarization response. Results: Global QTm (P < 0.001) and QTcm (P < 0.05) were decreased in BIV; QTm was similar across regions in both modes (P = ns); QTcm values were lower in RV/LV than in Intermediate region in BASELINE and BIV (P < 0.001); only RV/Septum showed a significant difference (P < 0.01) in the BIV mode. QTD values both of BASELINE (P < 0.01) and BIV (P < 0.001) were greater in the Intermediate than in the LV region. CRT effect significantly reduced global/regional QTm and QTcm values. QTD was globally decreased in RV/LV (Intermediate: P = ns). BIV mode significantly reduced global T peak end mean and corrected intervals and their dispersion. JT values were not significant. Conclusions: Ventricular repolarization parameters QTm, QTcm, and QTD global/regional values, as assessed by BSPM, were reduced in patients under CRT with severe HF and LBBB. Greater recovery impairment in the Intermediate region was detected by the smaller variation of its dispersion.