Modular Biometric Monitoring System

A modular system for acquiring biometric data includes a plurality of data acquisition modules configured to sample biometric data from at least one respective input channel at a data acquisition rate. A representation of the sampled biometric data is stored in memory of each of the plurality of data acquisition modules. A central control system is in communication with each of the plurality of data acquisition modules through a bus. The central control system is configured to control communication of data, via the bus, with each of the plurality of data acquisition modules

Data Acquisition for Modular Biometric Monitoring System

A modular system for acquiring biometric data includes a plurality of data acquisition modules configured to sample biometric data from at least one respective input channel at a data acquisition rate. A representation of the sampled biometric data is stored in memory of each of the plurality of data acquisition modules. A central control system is in communication with each of the plurality of data acquisition modules through a bus. The central control system is configured to collect data asynchronously, via the bus, from the memory of the plurality of data acquisition modules according to a relative fullness of the memory of the plurality of data acquisition modules

Transfer Function Control for Biometric Monitoring System

A modular apparatus for acquiring biometric data may include circuitry operative to receive an input signal indicative of a biometric condition, the circuitry being configured to process the input signal according to a transfer function thereof and to provide a corresponding processed input signal. A controller is configured to provide at least one control signal to the circuitry to programmatically modify the transfer function of the modular system to facilitate acquisition of the biometric data

Scaling of human behavior during portal browsing

We investigate transitions of portals users between different subpages. A weighted network of portals subpages is reconstructed where edge weights are numbers of corresponding transitions. Distributions of link weights and node strengths follow power laws over several decades. Node strength increases faster than linearly with node degree. The distribution of time spent by the user at one subpage decays as power law with exponent around 1.3. Distribution of numbers P(z) of unique subpages during one visit is exponential. We find a square root dependence between the average z and the total number of transitions n during a single visit. Individual path of portal user resembles of self-attracting walk on the weighted network. Analytical model is developed to recover in part the collected data.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Post Activation Potentiation of Back Squat and Trap Bar Deadlift on Acute Sprint Performance

Please refer to the pdf version of the abstract located adjacent to the title

Ganciclovir/valganciclovir prophylaxis decreases cytomegalovirus-related events and bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome after lung transplantation

BACKGROUND: Until recently, cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection represented a major threat to lung transplant recipients. Preliminary studies have shown that antiviral prophylaxis might improve the outcome for these patients. METHODS: We extended our initial pilot trial of prolonged prophylaxis with either oral ganciclovir (1 g 3 times per day) or valganciclovir (450 mg twice per day). The trial included 96 patients who were at risk for CMV-related events. RESULTS: CMV prophylaxis resulted in a significant decrease in CMV-related events (i.e., active infection and disease), from 75% in a control group and for 274 cases from the literature who did not receive prophylaxis to a cumulative incidence of 27% (P < .001). Only 11% of the prophylaxis recipients experienced CMV disease (P = .002). Moreover, at 5 years, there was a significant decrease in the rate of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, from 60% to 43% (P = .002), and an improved rate of survival, from 47% to 73% (P= .036), irrespective of the immunosuppressive regimen received. CMV strains with UL97 mutations were recovered from 7 of 12 analyzed cases, but the presence of this mutation had no impact on the severity of CMV disease. CONCLUSIONS: A regimen of prolonged ganciclovir or valganciclovir prophylaxis decreased the rate of active CMV infection and disease, reduced the incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome, and improved the survival rate. Drug-resistant CMV strains may occur, but such strains appeared to have no impact on the outcome of CMV-related events

Physical Stability and Viscoelastic Properties of Co-Amorphous Ezetimibe/Simvastatin System

The purpose of this paper is to examine the physical stability as well as viscoelastic properties of the binary amorphous ezetimibe–simvastatin system. According to our knowledge, this is the first time that such an amorphous composition is prepared and investigated. The tendency toward re-crystallization of the amorphous ezetimibe–simvastatin system, at both standard storage and elevated temperature conditions, have been studied by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). Our investigations have revealed that simvastatin remarkably improves the physical stability of ezetimibe, despite the fact that it works as a plasticizer. Pure amorphous ezetimibe, when stored at room temperature, begins to re-crystallize after 14 days after amorphization. On the other hand, the ezetimibe-simvastatin binary mixture (at the same storage conditions) is physically stable for at least 1 year. However, the devitrification of the binary amorphous composition was observed at elevated temperature conditions (T = 373 K). Therefore, we used a third compound to hinder the re-crystallization. Finally, both the physical stability as well as viscoelastic properties of the ternary systems containing different concentrations of the latter component have been thoroughly investigated

Collective emotions online and their influence on community life

E-communities, social groups interacting online, have recently become an object of interdisciplinary research. As with face-to-face meetings, Internet exchanges may not only include factual information but also emotional information - how participants feel about the subject discussed or other group members. Emotions are known to be important in affecting interaction partners in offline communication in many ways. Could emotions in Internet exchanges affect others and systematically influence quantitative and qualitative aspects of the trajectory of e-communities? The development of automatic sentiment analysis has made large scale emotion detection and analysis possible using text messages collected from the web. It is not clear if emotions in e-communities primarily derive from individual group members' personalities or if they result from intra-group interactions, and whether they influence group activities. We show the collective character of affective phenomena on a large scale as observed in 4 million posts downloaded from Blogs, Digg and BBC forums. To test whether the emotions of a community member may influence the emotions of others, posts were grouped into clusters of messages with similar emotional valences. The frequency of long clusters was much higher than it would be if emotions occurred at random. Distributions for cluster lengths can be explained by preferential processes because conditional probabilities for consecutive messages grow as a power law with cluster length. For BBC forum threads, average discussion lengths were higher for larger values of absolute average emotional valence in the first ten comments and the average amount of emotion in messages fell during discussions. Our results prove that collective emotional states can be created and modulated via Internet communication and that emotional expressiveness is the fuel that sustains some e-communities.Comment: 23 pages including Supporting Information, accepted to PLoS ON

Trends in Decline of Antiretroviral Resistance among ARV-Experienced Patients in the HIV Outpatient Study: 1999–2008

Background. Little is known about temporal trends in frequencies of clinically relevant ARV resistance mutations in HIV strains from U.S. patients undergoing genotypic testing (GT) in routine HIV care. Methods. We analyzed cumulative frequency of HIV resistance among patients in the HIV Outpatient Study (HOPS) who, during 1999–2008 and while prescribed antiretrovirals, underwent GT with plasma HIV RNA >1,000 copies/mL. Exposure ≥4 months to each of three major antiretroviral classes (NRTI, NNRTI and PI) was defined as triple-class exposure (TCE). Results. 906 patients contributed 1,570 GT results. The annual frequency of any major resistance mutations decreased during 1999–2008 (88% to 79%, P = 0.05). Resistance to PIs decreased among PI-exposed patients (71% to 46%, P = 0.010) as exposure to ritonavir-boosted PIs increased (6% to 81%, P < 0.001). Non-significant declines were observed in resistance to NRTIs among NRTI-exposed (82% to 67%), and triple-class-resistance among TCE patients (66% to 41%), but not to NNRTIs among NNRTI-exposed. Conclusions. HIV resistance was common but declined in HIV isolates from subgroups of ARV-experienced HOPS patients during 1999–2008. Resistance to PIs among PI-exposed patients decreased, possibly due to increased representation of patients whose only PI exposures were to boosted PIs

CoCo trial: Color-coded blood pressure Control, a randomized controlled study

BACKGROUND: Inadequate blood pressure (BP) control is a frequent challenge in general practice. The objective of this study was to determine whether a color-coded BP booklet using a traffic light scheme (red, >180 mmHg systolic BP and/or >110 mmHg diastolic BP; yellow, >140–180 mmHg systolic BP or >90–110 mmHg diastolic BP; green, ≤140 mmHg systolic BP and ≤90 mmHg diastolic BP) improves BP control and adherence with home BP measurement. METHODS: In this two-group, randomized controlled trial, general practitioners recruited adult patients with a BP >140 mmHg systolic and/or >90 mmHg diastolic. Patients in the control group received a standard BP booklet and the intervention group used a color-coded booklet for daily home BP measurement. The main outcomes were changes in BP, BP control (treatment goal <140/90 mmHg), and adherence with home BP measurement after 6 months. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-one of 137 included patients qualified for analysis. After 6 months, a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic BP was achieved in both groups, with no significant difference between the groups (16.1/7.9 mmHg in the intervention group versus 13.1/8.6 mmHg in the control group, P=0.3/0.7). BP control (treatment target <140/90 mmHg) was achieved significantly more often in the intervention group (43% versus 25%; P=0.037; number needed to treat of 5). Adherence with home BP measurement overall was high, with a trend in favor of the intervention group (98.6% versus 96.2%; P=0.1) CONCLUSION: Color-coded BP self-monitoring significantly improved BP control (number needed to treat of 5, meaning that every fifth patient utilizing color-coded self-monitoring achieved better BP control after 6 months), but no significant between-group difference was observed in BP change. A markedly higher percentage of patients achieved BP values in the normal range. This simple, inexpensive approach of color-coded BP self-monitoring is user-friendly and applicable in primary care, and should be implemented in the care of patients with arterial hypertension