Subjective and Objective CPAP Compliance in Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome

Background and Objective This study aimed to investigate objective and subjective continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compliance in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Moreover, we evaluated the factors and benefits associated with good CPAP compliance. Methods Subjects were 153 OSAS patients who underwent polysomnography for CPAP titration. Subjective compliance was defined as reported CPAP use of at least 4 hours a day for five or more days per week, and objective compliance was defined as CPAP use of at least 4 hours a day for more than 70% of the time recorded in the CPAP machine. Results The subjective and objective compliance rates were 34.0% and 20.7%, respectively. Subjectively compliant patients had lower minimum O2 saturation and higher % of time with O2 saturation lower than 90% than did patients declining CPAP treatment. Objectively compliant patients had lower insomnia and depression score and lower minimum O2 saturation than did patients declining CPAP treatment. Daytime sleepiness and subjective sleep quality improved to the same extent in both objectively and subjectively compliant patients. Conclusions Lower insomnia score and more severe OSA correlate with good CPAP compliance. CPAP effect was comparable between subjectively and objectively compliant patients

A Novel Cooperative Transmission Scheme in UAV-Assisted Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the efficiency of data transmission within a limited time is critical, especially for sensors designed with small batteries. In this paper, we design a cooperative transmission scheme with an energy-charging function in a WSN where an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is considered for sensory data collection and energy charging. Specially, the sensor nodes are powered by the UAV for their data transmission. In the first phase, the UAV transmits the energy signal to the sensor nodes distributed on the ground. All the energy received by the sensor nodes is used to collect and transmit the sensory data to the UAV. In the second phase, local data transmissions are conducted among the collaborating sensor nodes in one cluster. In the third phase, the cooperative nodes send the collected sensory data to the UAV in the form of cooperative transmission. In the proposed scheme, we discovered that the size of the modulation constellation and the assigned time ratio of each phase were the key factors affecting the data transmission efficiency. In order to achieve the maximum data transmission, the optimal modulation constellation size and the optimal time ratio of each phase were found using the Lagrange multiplier method. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme with the optimal constellation size and the optimal time ratio can outperform the existing scheme in terms of the data transmission efficiency

A Novel Cooperative Transmission Scheme in UAV-Assisted Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the efficiency of data transmission within a limited time is critical, especially for sensors designed with small batteries. In this paper, we design a cooperative transmission scheme with an energy-charging function in a WSN where an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is considered for sensory data collection and energy charging. Specially, the sensor nodes are powered by the UAV for their data transmission. In the first phase, the UAV transmits the energy signal to the sensor nodes distributed on the ground. All the energy received by the sensor nodes is used to collect and transmit the sensory data to the UAV. In the second phase, local data transmissions are conducted among the collaborating sensor nodes in one cluster. In the third phase, the cooperative nodes send the collected sensory data to the UAV in the form of cooperative transmission. In the proposed scheme, we discovered that the size of the modulation constellation and the assigned time ratio of each phase were the key factors affecting the data transmission efficiency. In order to achieve the maximum data transmission, the optimal modulation constellation size and the optimal time ratio of each phase were found using the Lagrange multiplier method. Numerical results show that the proposed scheme with the optimal constellation size and the optimal time ratio can outperform the existing scheme in terms of the data transmission efficiency

Discovery of APD371: Identification of a Highly Potent and Selective CB₂ Agonist for the Treatment of Chronic Pain

The discovery of a novel, selective and fully efficacious CB₂ agonist with satisfactory pharmacokinetic and pharmaceutical properties is described. Compound <b>6</b> was efficacious in a rat model of osteoarthritis pain following oral administration and, in contrast to morphine, maintained its analgesic effect throughout a 5-day subchronic treatment paradigm. These data were consistent with our hypothesis that full agonist efficacy is required for efficient internalization and recycling of the CB₂ receptor to avoid tachyphylaxis. Based on its overall favorable preclinical profile, <b>6</b> (APD371) was selected for further development for the treatment of pain

Discovery of APD334: Design of a Clinical Stage Functional Antagonist of the Sphingosine-1-phosphate‑1 Receptor

APD334 was discovered as part of our internal effort to identify potent, centrally available, functional antagonists of the S1P₁ receptor for use as next generation therapeutics for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases. APD334 is a potent functional antagonist of S1P₁ and has a favorable PK/PD profile, producing robust lymphocyte lowering at relatively low plasma concentrations in several preclinical species. This new agent was efficacious in a mouse experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model of MS and a rat collagen induced arthritis (CIA) model and was found to have appreciable central exposure