Association Between Heart Rate Resting State Entropy and Heart Rate Dynamics Among Healthy Adults and Patients with Aortic Stenosis

Introduction: Aortic Stenosis (AS) is a cardiovascular disease that restricts the blood flow from the left ventricle to the aorta and leads to a decline in physical activities in people with such conditions. Heart rate (HR) complexity has been implemented as a standard method to assess cardiac autonomic dysfunction in cardiovascular diseases. The HR complexity is derived from the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals while the participant rests for a minimum of five minutes. The focus of this study is to compare the HR complexity during a 5-minute resting period and the HR dynamics, which is a novel approach to measure HR changes during a 20-second physical activity among healthy young adults and older adults with AS.Methods: Healthy young adults (controls) aged 18-30 years and older adults (>60 years) with AS were recruited for this study. HR complexity was assessed by asking the participants to sit still with no interaction or movement, and HR was recorded for 5 minutes. HR dynamics were assessed when participants performed a physical task (20 seconds baseline, 20 seconds of rapid elbow flexion with the right arm, and 30 seconds recovery). HR was recorded using an ECG sensor attached to the left side of the chest and upper rib. The multiscale entropy (MSE) method with a selected scale factor of 20 was used to measure complexity during the 20 seconds physical task using time series of intervals between the heartbeats. HR dynamics parameters included percent change in HR during the activity and the recovery period after the arm flexion task. ANOVA models were used with the groups, age, BMI, and sex as independent and HR dynamics and the MSE values as dependent variables. Pearson correlations between MSE and HR dynamics were calculated. Results & Discussion: A total of 70 participants were recruited for this study, including 30 healthy controls (age=21±6 years) and 40 AS patients (age=71±11 years). There was a significant difference between HR dynamics (HR increase and decrease) between controls and AS patients, mean values of 41.46% and 15.70% for HR increase (p=0.0055) and mean values of -27.04% and -13.15% for HR decrease (p=0.0007), for controls and AS patients, respectively. The Pearson correlation between the HR dynamics and the MSE data among the two groups combined showed significant associations. Results suggest that the proposed HR dynamics can provide a quicker measure of autonomic control deficits in AS. Significance: Current findings suggest that HR outcomes obtained from a quick 20s test during physical activity can provide information on cardiac autonomic dysfunction in AS patients. AS is mainly associated with an increased risk of frailty in older adults. Frailty is a syndrome associated with low physiological reserve, which leads to muscle loss and autonomic dysfunction. Currently, there is no specific device or assessment tool available to detect frailty in AS patients. Hence, our current findings suggest that the HR dynamics outcomes obtained could provide information for assessing frailty in AS. For future investigations, we will develop an easy-to-use app on a smartwatch for identifying frailty with the use of simultaneous measures of HR dynamics and motor performance

Spectral Data for Generation of Molecular Complexity from Cyclooctatetraene: Preparation of Optically Active Protected Aminocycloheptitols and Bicyclo[4.4.1]undecatriene

Spectral data created in the course of the research project. Supports specific findings in Generation of Molecular Complexity from Cyclooctatetraene: Preparation of Optically Active Protected Aminocycloheptitols and Bicyclo[4.4.1]undecatriene . The racemic (6-cyclo-heptadienyl)Fe(CO)3+ cation ((±)-7), prepared from cyclooctatetraene, was treated with a variety of carbon and heteroatom nucleophiles. Attack took place at the less hindered C1 dienyl carbon and decomplexation of the (cycloheptadiene)Fe(CO)3 complexes gave products rich in functionality for further synthetic manipulation. In particular, a seven-step route was developed from racemic (6-styryl-2,4-cycloheptadien-1-yl)phthalimide ((±)-9 d) to afford the optically active aminocycloheptitols (−)-20 and (+)-20

The implementation of construction cost index (CCI) in Malaysia

Cost performance is an important criterion in construction industry to determine a project success. In order to enhance the construction cost estimation and cost performance, Construction Cost Index (CCD is introduced. CCI serves as a business cycle measurement in budget preparation, cost modelling and cost forecasting in construction projects lifecycle. Although CCI has been introduced by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) over a decade however the cost performances for construction projects in Malaysia are still remain unsatisfactory. Therefore, this study aims at examining the causal relationship of CCI implementation success factors to address the effectiveness of CCI in Malaysian construction industry. Principal Component Analysis (PCA), ANOVA and T-Test are conducted to examine the factors of implementation of CCI in relation to CCI components. It is found that economic condition and reliability and validity of CCI are the major success criteria in implementing CCI. Also, it is discovered that Malaysian construction industry is ready to adopt CCI to improve the cost estimating performance

Nonlinear optimisation approach to proposing novel Croatian Industrial Confidence Indicator

Croatian Industrial Confidence Indicator (ICI) is one of the measures of mangers’ sentiment about the economic situation in the Croatian manufacturing industry. Since 2005, the ICI has been calculated in accordance with the harmonised European Commission methodology as a simple average of three variables: order books, stocks of finished products and production expectation. It was empirically confirmed that the ICI could predict the direction of change in industrial production more than one month ahead. With the aim of raising the ICI forecasting power, this paper proposes a novel ICI with a different weighting scheme. The empirical analysis is based on monthly data for three standard ICI subcomponents and industrial production expressed as year-on-year growth rates. The data set covers the period from May 2008 to February 2019. Data sources were the European Commission and Eurostat. The newly defined ICI was constructed by using the nonlinear optimisation approach. The weights were determined by minimizing the root mean square error (RMSE) in a simple regression model and by maximizing the correlation coefficient between the ICI and industrial production for various time lags. The results reveal that the newly defined ICI performs better in adapting and following the industrial production growth rate as well as that the dominant component in the ICI is the production expectation

Development of No Discharge Zones in Virginia Tidal Waters Phase I

he Commonwealth of Virginia currently has no regulations in effect to restrict the discharge of waste from vessels in state waters. This poses concern as Virginia continues its efforts to improve water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. The degradation of critical environmental habitat is accelerated by the introduction of waste, which in turn threatens the ecological, aesthetic, and commercial values of Virginia\u27s waters. The purpose of this project is two-fold. First a comprehensive review of regulatory statutes in states enforcing no discharge zones (NDZ) was conducted. This product is delivered as a separate document. Second, a large-scale inventory of environmentally sensitive areas for consideration in the delineation of no discharge zones within Chesapeake Bay waters has been produced. A large digital database was generated at the Comprehensive Coastal Inventory (CCI) Facility at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS). The database includes several valuable inventories which historically have been archived as hardcopy maps. This effon developed methodologies to transfer these data to digital format. The database has been designed in an Arc/Info Geographic Information System (GIS) format. A description of the database layout, data sources, and coverages is presented. The development of the NDZ database is viewed by the Center for Coastal Management and Policy as Phase 1 in a series of anticipated activities which will ultimately provide the necessary resources to implement management policy in this area

Les Actions en Responsabilité Médicale pour Faute de Diagnostic. Aspects de Droit Comparé Français et Ivoirien

Si l’erreur de diagnostic ne constitue pas en elle-même une faute pénale, il en est tout autre de la faute de diagnostic qui prouvée, permet au patient d’engager la responsabilité du médecin- auteur du diagnostic, tant devant les juridictions judiciaires qu’administratives, outre les voies de règlement amiable du litige. Cette efficacité avec laquelle le législateur français entend prendre en compte les actions des patients-victimes contre les professionnels de santé pour la réparation des préjudices subis, reste inexistante en droit ivoirien, malgré les multiples dénonciations des manquements fautifs des médecins dans la prise en charge de leurs patients. Toute chose qui appelle aujourd’hui, à l’impérieuse nécessité d’une réforme du droit de la santé ivoirien au regard du droit français. Afin de garantir au patient un traitement sérieux de sa pathologie conformément aux données acquises par la science.   If the error of diagnosis does not constitute in itself a penal fault, it is quite different for the fault of diagnosis which, once proven, allows the patient to engage the responsibility of the doctor-author of the diagnosis, as well before the judicial jurisdictions as administrative, in addition to the ways of amicable settlement of the litigation. This efficiency with which the French legislator intends to take into account the actions of patient-victims against health professionals for the reparation of the prejudices suffered, remains non-existent in Ivorian law, in spite of the multiple denunciations of the faulty failings of doctors in the care of their patients. All this calls for the urgent need to reform Ivorian health law in line with French law. In order to guarantee the patient a serious treatment of his pathology in accordance with the data acquired by science

Les Actions en Responsabilité Médicale pour Faute de Diagnostic. Aspects de Droit Comparé Français et Ivoirien

Si l’erreur de diagnostic ne constitue pas en elle-même une faute pénale, il en est tout autre de la faute de diagnostic qui prouvée, permet au patient d’engager la responsabilité du médecin- auteur du diagnostic, tant devant les juridictions judiciaires qu’administratives, outre les voies de règlement amiable du litige. Cette efficacité avec laquelle le législateur français entend prendre en compte les actions des patients-victimes contre les professionnels de santé pour la réparation des préjudices subis, reste inexistante en droit ivoirien, malgré les multiples dénonciations des manquements fautifs des médecins dans la prise en charge de leurs patients. Toute chose qui appelle aujourd’hui, à l’impérieuse nécessité d’une réforme du droit de la santé ivoirien au regard du droit français. Afin de garantir au patient un traitement sérieux de sa pathologie conformément aux données acquises par la science.   If the error of diagnosis does not constitute in itself a penal fault, it is quite different for the fault of diagnosis which, once proven, allows the patient to engage the responsibility of the doctor-author of the diagnosis, as well before the judicial jurisdictions as administrative, in addition to the ways of amicable settlement of the litigation. This efficiency with which the French legislator intends to take into account the actions of patient-victims against health professionals for the reparation of the prejudices suffered, remains non-existent in Ivorian law, in spite of the multiple denunciations of the faulty failings of doctors in the care of their patients. All this calls for the urgent need to reform Ivorian health law in line with French law. In order to guarantee the patient a serious treatment of his pathology in accordance with the data acquired by science