Spectral analysis of heart rate variability: Acquisitionalysis software development

This work develops an acquisitionalysis software application to investigate the spectral content of the heart rate variability signal derived from an electrocardiographic (EKG) waveform. The location and strength of the frequency content reveals general information concerning sympathetic and parasympathetic activity within the autonomic nervous system of the study subject. Current investigations into pediatric head trauma patients have revealed specific correlations between spectral content of the heart rate variability and overall patient recovery. The levels of serum catecholamines, specifically epinephrine and norepinephrine, are also investigated for a possible correlation with both trauma severity and spectral power of the heart rate variability signal. Two frequency regions are of particular interest in the power spectral density waveform, the low frequency band (0.01-0.15 Hz) and the high frequency band (0.15-0.50 Hz). The low frequency band is indicative of sympathetic nervous system activity (such as body temperature and arterial blood pressure regulation) as well as some parasympathetic nervous system activity. The high frequency band is indicative of parasympathetic activity (such as respiratory sinus arrhythmia) only. In fact, a prominent peak located at approximately 0.20 Hz (of a normal human adult) represents heart rate variability at the respiratory frequency. Clinical application of the acquisition and analysis techniques described herein has shown that elevated levels of low-frequency HRV power are indicative of improved chances for recovery from severe brain injury. In contrast, brain-dead pediatric head trauma patients were found to possess near-zero low-frequency power. Acute animal studies have shown that decreases in low-frequency HRV power and systemic arterial blood pressure with little change in high-frequency HRV power, may be a characteristic indicator of endotoxin-induced septic shock. The acquisitionalysis package described in this work may, therefore, prove beneficial to critical care medicine, and advance our understanding of cardiovascular neurophysiology

A web-based, database bound, WYSIWYG development environment for web applications

This project, WebAppDesigner, combines a What You See Is What You Get (WYSISYG) web page designer, database table designer, query tool, and an automatic deployment process into a single easy to use solution for small businesses and individuals

Some asymptotic properties of a progressively censored nonparametric test for multiple regression

The large sample null distribution of a progressively censored nonparametric test for multiple regression proposed by Majumdar and Sen is computed. Also the asymptotic nonnull distribution for the test based on Savage scores is computed for local alternatives when the underlying distribution is exponential. The power of this test is compared with the power of the corresponding fixed sample tests. The stopping properties are also investigated. A short table of critical values is included

Mutual interference is common and mostly intermediate in magnitude

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Interference competition occurs when access to resources is negatively affected by the presence of other individuals. Within a species or population, this is known as mutual interference, and it is often modelled with a scaling exponent, <it>m</it>, on the number of predators. Originally, mutual interference was thought to vary along a continuum from prey dependence (no interference; <it>m </it>= 0) to ratio dependence (<it>m </it>= -1), but a debate in the 1990's and early 2000's focused on whether prey or ratio dependence was the better simplification. Some have argued more recently that mutual interference is likely to be mostly intermediate (that is, between prey and ratio dependence), but this possibility has not been evaluated empirically.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We gathered estimates of mutual interference from the literature, analyzed additional data, and created the largest compilation of unbiased estimates of mutual interference yet produced. In this data set, both the alternatives of prey dependence and ratio dependence were observed, but only one data set was consistent with prey dependence. There was a tendency toward ratio dependence reflected by a median <it>m </it>of -0.7 and a mean <it>m </it>of -0.8.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Overall, the data support the hypothesis that interference is mostly intermediate in magnitude. The data also indicate that interference competition is common, at least in the systems studied to date. Significant questions remain regarding how different factors influence interference, and whether interference can be viewed as a characteristic of a particular population or whether it generally shifts from low to high levels as populations increase in density.</p

Miniature, low-power X-ray tube using a microchannel electron generator electron source

Embodiments of the invention provide a novel, low-power X-ray tube and X-ray generating system. Embodiments of the invention use a multichannel electron generator as the electron source, thereby increasing reliability and decreasing power consumption of the X-ray tube. Unlike tubes using a conventional filament that must be heated by a current power source, embodiments of the invention require only a voltage power source, use very little current, and have no cooling requirements. The microchannel electron generator comprises one or more microchannel plates (MCPs), Each MCP comprises a honeycomb assembly of a plurality of annular components, which may be stacked to increase electron intensity. The multichannel electron generator used enables directional control of electron flow. In addition, the multichannel electron generator used is more robust than conventional filaments, making the resulting X-ray tube very shock and vibration resistant

Effect of varying injection rates of a saline chaser on aortic enhancement in CT angiography: phantom study

The effect of varying injection rates of a saline chaser on aortic enhancement in computed tomography (CT) angiography was determined. Single-level, dynamic CT images of a physiological flow phantom were acquired between 0 and 50 s after initiation of contrast medium injection. Four injection protocols were applied with identical contrast medium administration (150ml injected at 5ml/s). For baseline protocol A, no saline chaser was applied. For protocols B, C, and D, 50ml of saline was injected at 2.5ml/s, 5ml/s, and 10ml/s, respectively. Injecting the saline chaser at twice the rate as the contrast medium yielded significantly higher peak aortic enhancement values than injecting the saline at half or at the same rate as the contrast medium (P  0.05). In CT angiography, saline chaser injected at twice the rate as the contrast medium leads to increased peak aortic enhancement and saline chaser injected at half the rate tends towards prolonging peak aortic enhancement platea

Label-Free Imaging of Lipid-Droplet Intracellular Motion in Early Drosophila Embryos Using Femtosecond-Stimulated Raman Loss Microscopy

AbstractLipid droplets are complex organelles that exhibit highly dynamic behavior in early Drosophila embryo development. Imaging lipid droplet motion provides a robust platform for the investigation of shuttling by kinesin and dynein motors, but methods for imaging are either destructive or deficient in resolution and penetration to study large populations of droplets in an individual embryo. Here we report real-time imaging and quantification of droplet motion in live embryos using a recently developed technique termed “femtosecond-stimulated Raman loss” microscopy. We captured long-duration time-lapse images of the developing embryo, tracked single droplet motion within large populations of droplets, and measured the velocity and turning frequency of each particle at different apical-to-basal depths and stages of development. To determine whether the quantities for speed and turning rate measured for individual droplets are sufficient to predict the population distributions of droplet density, we simulated droplet motion using a velocity-jump model. This model yielded droplet density distributions that agreed well with experimental observations without any model optimization or unknown parameter estimation, demonstrating the sufficiency of a velocity-jump process for droplet trafficking dynamics in blastoderm embryos

Size-dependent Catalysis of Chlorovirus Population Growth by a Messy Feeding Predator

Many chloroviruses replicate in endosymbiotic zoochlorellae that are protected from infection by their symbiotic host. To reach the high virus concentrations that often occur in natural systems, a mechanism is needed to release zoochlorellae from their hosts. We demonstrate that the ciliate predator Didinium nasutum foraging on zoochlorellae-bearing Paramecium bursaria can release live zoochlorellae from the ruptured prey cell that can then be infected by chloroviruses. The catalysis process is very effective, yielding roughly 95% of the theoretical infectious virus yield as determined by sonication of P. bursaria. Chlorovirus activation is more effective with smaller Didinia, as larger Didinia typically consume entire P. bursaria cells without rupturing them, precluding the release of zoochlorellae. We also show that the timing of Chlorovirus growth is tightly linked to the predator-prey cycle between Didinium and Paramecium, with the most rapid increase in chloroviruses temporally linked to the peak foraging rate of Didinium, supporting the idea that predator-prey cycles can drive cycles of Chlorovirus abundance

Diversity and origins of bacterial and archaeal viruses on sinking particles reaching the abyssal ocean

© The Author(s), 2022. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Luo, E., Leu, A. O., Eppley, J. M., Karl, D. M., & DeLong, E. F. Diversity and origins of bacterial and archaeal viruses on sinking particles reaching the abyssal ocean. ISME Journal, 16, : 1627–1635, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-022-01202-1.Sinking particles and particle-associated microbes influence global biogeochemistry through particulate matter export from the surface to the deep ocean. Despite ongoing studies of particle-associated microbes, viruses in these habitats remain largely unexplored. Whether, where, and which viruses might contribute to particle production and export remain open to investigation. In this study, we analyzed 857 virus population genomes associated with sinking particles collected over three years in sediment traps moored at 4000 m in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Particle-associated viruses here were linked to cellular hosts through matches to bacterial and archaeal metagenome-assembled genome (MAG)-encoded prophages or CRISPR spacers, identifying novel viruses infecting presumptive deep-sea bacteria such as Colwellia, Moritella, and Shewanella. We also identified lytic viruses whose abundances correlated with particulate carbon flux and/or were exported from the photic to abyssal ocean, including cyanophages. Our data are consistent with some of the predicted outcomes of the viral shuttle hypothesis, and further suggest that viral lysis of both autotrophic and heterotrophic prokaryotes may play a role in carbon export. Our analyses revealed the diversity and origins of prevalent viruses found on deep-sea sinking particles and identified prospective viral groups for future investigation into processes that govern particle export in the open ocean.This project is funded by grants from the Simons Foundation (#329108 to EFD and DMK, #721223 to EFD, and #721252 to DMK) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (GBMF3777 to EFD and GBMF3794 to DMK). Partial support for EL was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (PGSD3-487490-2016)