The effect of spontaneous versus paced breathing on EEG, HRV, skin conductance and skin temperature

A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science in Engineering, in the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. January 2017 JohannesburgIt is well known that emotional stress has a negative impact on people’s health and physical, emotional and mental performance. Previous research has investigated the effects of stress on various aspects of physiology such as respiration, heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance, skin temperature and electrical activity in the brain. Essentially, HRV, Electroencephalography (EEG), skin conductance and skin temperature appear to reflect a stress response or state of arousal. Whilst the relationship between respiration rate, respiration rhythm and HRV is well documented, less is known about the relationship between respiration rate, EEG, skin conductance and skin temperature, whilst HRV is maximum (when there is resonance between HRV and respiration i.e. in phase with one another). This research project aims to investigate the impact that one session of slow paced breathing has on EEG, heart rate variability (HRV), skin conductance and skin temperature. Twenty male participants were randomly assigned to either a control or intervention group. Physiological data were recorded for the intervention and control group during one breathing session, over a short initial baseline (B1), a main session of 12 minutes, and a final baseline (B2). The only difference between the control and intervention groups was that during the main session, the intervention group practiced slow paced breathing (at 6 breaths per minute), while the control group breathed spontaneously. Wavelet transformation was used to analyse EEG data while Fourier transformation was used to analyse HRV. The study shows that slow-paced breathing significantly increases the low frequency and total power of the HRV but does not change the high frequency power of HRV. Furthermore, skin temperature significantly increased for the control group from B1 to Main, and was significantly higher for the control group when compared to the intervention group during the main session. There were no significant skin temperature changes between sessions for the intervention group. Skin conductance increased significantly from Main to B2 for the control group. No significant changes were found between sessions for the intervention group and between groups. EEG theta power at Cz decreased significantly from Main to B2 for the control group only, while theta power decreased at F4 from Main to B2 for both groups. Lastly, beta power at Cz decreased from B1 to B2 for the control group only. This significant effect that slow-paced breathing has on HRV suggests the hypothesis that with frequent practice, basal HRV would increase, and with it, potential benefits such as a reduction in anxiety and improved performance in specific tasks. Slow-paced breathing biofeedback thus shows promise as a simple, cheap, measurable and effective method to reduce the impact of stress on some physiological signals, suggesting a direction for future research.MT201

Is inclusion working at one middle school in Iowa?

This study investigated how the inclusive special education program was operating at Thompson Middle School in Southeast Iowa. Three conclusions were found. First, a majority of the teachers interviewed felt inclusive education was having a positive impact on all students. Second, most of interviewees felt the administrators needed to provide more resources to insure success. Finally, the more years teaching experience an educator possessed, the less they viewed inclusive education as having a positive impact. Recommendations are made to address these conclusions

Master of Science

thesisAnkle-related ailments resulting from genetics or injury vary throughout the population and a variety of treatment methods exist to help these individuals cope with limited ankle mobility. Major ankle ailments such as tarsal coalitions and ankle arthritis cause severe ankle pain, especially on uneven surfaces, limit the range of lateral ankle motion, and often require expensive surgical treatments. Noninvasive treatments exist but none are capable of reducing ankle pain on uneven surfaces. A device capable of maintaining a level walking surface on low-angled terrain was developed to test whether this concept would be feasible to reduce ankle moment requirements resulting from reduced lateral ankle motion on these surfaces. After three design iterations: first an orthotic, then a shoe sole, and finally a rocker/roller pin system with elastic sidewalls; two prototypes with different sidewall thickness were built. Prototype characteristics were determined using a custom test fixture, force plate, and motion capture system. Pilot testing was performed using a "wooden sandal" with thin wall prototype attached to the bottom. Data were collected using a motion capture system and results suggest the prototype could significantly reduce user ankle deflection. However, stability concerns prohibited further human trials. Therefore, a mathematical model was developed to simulate the possible effects the system would have on ankle moments on angled terrain

Incarcerating Exceptional Pupils: Is there a School-to-Prison Pipeline in Eastern Oklahoma?

The school-to-prison pipeline metaphor represents an educational environment that allows public schools to push many at-risk children out of school and into the juvenile justice system or even worse, the adult criminal justice system (Wald and Losen, 2003; Lynn, 2010; Tuzzolo and Hewitt, 2006). The purpose of this study is to examine whether a school-to-prison pipeline exists in eastern Oklahoma, and if so, to better understand the characteristics of the public schools that may be contributing to it. The school-to-prison pipeline metaphor guided three research questions regarding whether certain public schools in eastern Oklahoma referred greater percentages of their students, special needs students, and special needs population to the Oklahoma Office of Juvenile Affairs (OJA), the juvenile authority in Oklahoma. To answer these questions a survey was conducted during the 2011 and 2012 academic school year that measured public school referrals of students, particularly special needs students, to the OJA in ten eastern Oklahoma counties. Further data were collected from the Oklahoma Department of Education on nine specific demographic variables to create a profile of each of the 154 schools in the sample population. Multiple regression analysis indicate that greater percentages of students referred by public schools to the OJA are related to (1) higher percentages of African Americans, (2) higher percentages of Native Americans, (3) higher percentages of students receiving a free or subsidized lunch, (4) higher percentages of male students, and (5) higher percentages of special needs students in the public school. The study provides policy recommendations that focus on intervention strategies that might prevent unnecessary (1) referrals to juvenile justice and (2) recommendations for future research

Sonochemical route to create superconducting and superparamagnetic nanocomposites

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the capability of a single process, heterogenous sonochemistry, as a tool to produce two very different nanocomposites with tunable properties: a superconductor, MgB2 with nano-inclusions, and iron/iron oxide (Fe/Fe2O3) in an alumina (Al2O3) matrix. By modifying the sonochemical parameters, one is able to tune the magnetic properties and enhance the superconducting properties of MgB2 and the superparamagnetic (SPM) properties of the Fe/Al2O3 system. This tuning is done through the ability of sonochemical irradiation, “)))” or the exposure to high intensity ultrasound (HIU), to produce extreme environments where chemical and physical processes can occur due to acoustic cavitation. ))) has been shown to reduce particle size, increase reactivity, act as a catalyst, and improve powder homogeneity. These are the effects of ))) which are exploited in this study. For the MgB2 study, B powder (both with and without dopants/inclusions) is exposed to HIU in a decane solution before reaction with Mg to form MgB2 nanocomposites. MgB2 is produced by encapsulation of stoichiometric amounts of B and Mg in a Ta pouch, which is then reacted and pressed using hot isostatic press (HIP). The result is a dense MgB2 pellet that is then cut, polished, and measured using a SQUID MPMS magnetometer. Critical current, Jc, values are calculated using the Bean critical state and compared at 25K and 30K. Samples, post-))), show an increase in grain connectivity, as seen by SEM, leading to an enhancement of Jc. The SPM study utilized ))) to create SPM nanocomposites through the irradiation with HIU of the carrier matrix material, Al2O3 in the presence of a volatile organometallic precursor, Fe(CO)5. ))) results in nanosized Fe and Fe2O3 being uniformly dispersed throughout the Al2O3 matrix. Magnetic properties of these materials are measured using the SQUID MPMS magnetometer and the nanosized Fe and Fe2O3 can be seen in SEM images. Analysis of the data shows a SPM component and a general trend of the data with the adjustment of slurry loading, V% of sample to medium, and mass percentage, M% of Fe to Fe+Al2O3. The trends suggest that an increase in M% results in an increased number of SPM particles, but the V% has a optimized value where the magnetization peaks, corresponding to a peak in the moment per SPM particle

Collaboration and Reflexivity in Wildland Fire Risk Governance in the Western United States

This dissertation presents both quantitative and qualitative analysis on different aspects of wildland fire risk management in the western United States. Each of these chapters is framed by and examines the sociological concept of reflexivity, which describes a process of individual and/or collective reflection. This reflexivity is needed to identify and enact alternative management strategies that contend with the expected increases in the number and severity of wildland fires in the future due to the combined effects of even-aged forest growth after years of timber extraction, a legacy of fire suppression, climate change, and increasing human development in the wildland-urban interface. The first chapter in this dissertation is a general technical report that outlines theories and methods about the social dynamics of wildland fire risk management. The second chapter is a qualitative analysis of twenty semi-structured interviews conducted with members of a wildland fire management social network in northcentral Washington. In these interviews, participants described both opportunities and barriers to collaboration. The third chapter of this dissertation is a mixed-methods analysis of a proposal to fund restoration of northern Arizona ponderosa pine forests through registered carbon offsets. Results demonstrate potential carbon benefits from restoration but also illuminate administrative, technical, and theoretical barriers to registering these benefits as carbon offsets. And finally, the fourth chapter is an autoethnographic essay. These findings are important since wildland fire management will need to be even more collaborative in the future due to expected increases in the number and severity of wildland fires, which will also exacerbate the need for increased funding for forest restoration. Moreover, these results speak to the complex and contested nature of human values at risk in these fire-prone landscapes, which will also need to be incorporated into wildland fire risk management in order to achieve better outcomes in the face of an uncertain future

Separation anxieties: representations of separatist communities in late twentieth century fiction and film

In the late 20th century and beyond, American social movements advocating equality have increased national attention to issues of exclusion, inclusion, and multiculturalism within communities. As a result, studying the nature of communities—how the term community might be defined, who belongs to a given group or social structure, who does not belong, and why—has become increasingly important. American artists have responded by exploring these sites of social, political, and personal change in their works. Separation Anxieties: Representations of Separatist Communities in Late Twentieth Century Fiction and Film analyzes seven fictional works in which some group is philosophically and/or geographically isolated—sometimes by choice, sometimes not—from mainstream America. Each chapter in this study focuses on works that represent and explore a different separatist iteration. Each work utilizes a different representation of America’s dominant community. Their respective separatist characters distance themselves from dominant American society and create a new community defined by a limited set of characteristics—gender and sexuality, religious beliefs, experience, race. Yet the complexities of American life continually creep into their separatist spheres, complicating the characters’ attempts to belong; these complications often lead to conflicts within, or even to the dissolution of, the separatist communities. In these works, accepting complexities and individual voices is represented as more conducive to communal survival than suppressing alternate ideas and/or dissent. Studying these texts leads to a reconsideration of traditional American myth—the Union, equality, inalienable rights, the various freedoms that America is supposed to embody—and to a reexamination of why those myths might be rejected, of what kinds of communities might be formed, and of how those communities might succeed and fail. Separation Anxieties is an attempt to engage with and understand narrative constructions and, through them, the real-life ideals, communities, and people recognizable in the representation

Genetic and phenotypic variation of the equine infectious anemia virus surface unit envelope glycoprotein during disease progression

Lentiviruses are single-stranded RNA viruses generally associated with chronic diseases of the immune and central nervous systems. In contrast to the insidious, progressive nature of most lentiviral diseases, equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) infection results in rapid onset of a variable disease course in equids. Acute disease is accompanied with high-titered viremia, thrombocytopenia, fever, depression, and inappetance. The chronic stage is usually characterized by recurrent episodes of disease. Equids that survive recurrent disease episodes progress to the inapparent stage of disease where no clinical signs are evident; however, there is persistent, ongoing virus replication. Lentiviruses exist within the host as a population of closely related genotypes, termed a quasispecies. Variation in the virus surface unit envelope glycoprotein (SU) has been demonstrated to contribute to immune evasion of host responses during chronic disease. However, little is known about the SU genotypes and phenotypes associated with disease progression to the inapparent stage of disease. The goal of this research is a genotypic and phenotypic characterization of the SU quasispecies during clinical and inapparent stages of disease. To accomplish this goal, I undertook a longitudinal study of SU variation in a pony experimentally inoculated with the virulent, wild-type, EIAVWyo. There was a marked increase in quasispecies diversity and divergence that coincided with maturation of the immune response and progression to the inapparent stage of disease. Variation was characterized by point mutations in each SU variable region as well as deletion/insertions within the principal neutralizing domain (PND). Genotypes representative of predominant PND variants were used to construct chimeric proviral clones for virus neutralization assays. A type-specific virus neutralizing antibody response was associated with resolution of acute disease. Variants predominant at later stages of disease showed increasing resistance to both type- and group-specific neutralizing antibody. Variants most resistant to group-specific antibody showed reduced replication fitness in vitro. These studies provide evidence that neutralizing antibody selects for resistant SU variants and thereby plays an important role in immune control of virus replication during the inapparent stage of disease