A Novel Electrocardiogram Segmentation Algorithm Using a Multiple Model Adaptive Estimator

This thesis presents a novel electrocardiogram (ECG) processing algorithm design based on a Multiple Model Adaptive Estimator (MMAE) for a physiological monitoring system. Twenty ECG signals from the MIT ECG database were used to develop system models for the MMAE. The P-wave, QRS complex, and T-wave segments from the characteristic ECG waveform were used to develop hypothesis filter banks. By adding a threshold filter-switching algorithm to the conventional MMAE implementation, the device mimics the way a human analyzer searches the complex ECG signal for a useable temporal landmark and then branches out to find the other key wave components and their timing. The twenty signals and an additional signal from an animal exsanuinaiton experiment were then used to test the algorithm. Using a conditional hypothesis-testing algorithm, the MMAE correctly identified the ECG signal segments corresponding to the hypothesis models with a 96.8% accuracy-rate for the 11539 possible segments tested. The robust MMAE algorithm also detected any misalignments in the filter hypotheses and automatically restarted filters within the MMAE to synchronize the hypotheses with the incoming signal. Finally, the MMAE selects the optimal filter bank based on incoming ECG measurements. The algorithm also provides critical heart-related information such as heart rate, QT, and PR intervals from the ECG signal. This analyzer could be easily added as a software update to the standard physiological monitors universally used in emergency vehicles and treatment facilities and potentially saving thousands of lives and reducing the pain and suffering of the injured

Evidence-Based Intervention for Sleep Disturbance in Healthy Elderly Individuals

Elderly individuals have a predisposition to experiencing sleep disorder, yet many remain untreated. Consequences of untreated sleep disturbance may result in decreased cognitive functioning, lowered perceived quality of life, and loss of independence. A literature review describes the definition of sleep, consequences of sleep disorder, sleep disturbance in the elderly population, intervention efficacy, principles of gerogogy, and the role of occupational therapy in sleep intervention. The scholarly project presents a manual designed for use with well-elderly populations and intended to be guided and/or distributed by occupational therapists. The manual is entitled “Take Control of Your Sleep: An Occupational Therapy Manual to Improve Sleep Quality in Elderly Individuals” is a synthesis of cognitive-behavioral strategies and complimentary interventions aimed at life-style change and increased knowledge of sleep processes in elderly individuals. The Model of Human Occupation is selected to serve as a foundation for the sleep manual and addresses concepts of personal values and desires (volition), sleep routines (habituation), and metacognition (performance capacity), as well as attention to the sleep environment. The cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approach is well-supported in the research literature for its application to the selected population and is the main intervention strategy used throughout the sleep manual. Principles of gerogogy specific to older adult learning are utilized to guide the development of chapter content in the self-help manual

Huntington's Disease: Their loss is our gain?

Abstract‘Knockout’ mice have been developed that lack the Huntington's disease gene, in an effort to gain insight into the disorder and into the pathophysiological effects of tri-nucleotide repeat expansion

Operational rules to manage power consumption for content display

The display is often responsible for a large proportion of the overall power consumed by a device. The total power consumption of a display depends on a number of factors such as the number of pixels that need to be switched on, the color and brightness of the pixels, and the rate at which the on-screen content is updated. Displays that draw high amounts of power can deplete the available power resources of a device relatively quickly, thus shortening the amount of time a user can operate the device without needing to charge or replace the device battery. This disclosure describes techniques to specify and enforce a system of rules that dictate the operation of display pixels while rendering the content to be displayed. The rules describe upper or lower bounds for various pixel-related parameters such as switched on state, color, brightness, refresh rate, etc

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) needs assessment of parenting support programs for fathers

This study reports the results of a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) needs assessment of programs, services, and support systems for fathers in the City of Detroit, Michigan. The goal of this needs assessment was to assess the availability of parenting support services tomen throughmultiple perspectives. To enact a CBPR approach, the research teamcollected qualitative data through interviews with service providers and community dialogues with fathers and consulted a community advisory board for further guidance on the research efforts. The research teamengaged inmember checking to improve the accuracy and credibility of study findings. Results indicated that both service providers and fathers agreed that very fewparenting support services are available to fathers, particularly young African American fathers, and they also largely agreed in establishing priorities to address community fathers' parenting needs. Practice implications include the need for greater collaboration across service sectors and for greater outreach, possibly through technology, to young fathers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/120570/1/2016 Lee Hoffman Harris CBPR Needs Assessment.pd

Corporate, Social, and Political Networks of Koch Industries Inc. and TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation: Extension to the State of Nebraska

The importance of interlocking board directorships among corporations and between corporations and social organizations has been confirmed for defining the modern political economy. This paper finds the networks of those interlocks for Koch Industries Inc. and TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation and extends the networks to describe and analyze the accompanying political network of contributions to Nebraska political campaigns. For corporate and social networks, conventional theoretical structures are utilized to find the new database of those networks for Koch Industries and TD Ameritrade. The new theoretical structure and database discovered in the research is for the campaign contributions of the board directors in the corporate and social networks, as they are traced to campaigns for federal offices (see columns I, J, K and L of Figure 3 and Tables 1 and 2). The new political campaign finance structure discovered here includes thousands of interconnected campaign finance conduits through which money flows to political campaigns. JEL Codes: B52, D72, Z1

Inclusion of Adolescents in STI/HIV Biomedical Prevention Trials: Autonomy, Decision Making, and Parental Involvement

In order to develop new methods for prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infection (STI) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), clinical trials must be conducted in relevant populations. In the U.S., half of all STI incident infections are among 15-24 year olds (Satterwhite et al., 2013), making healthy adolescents a highly relevant population. The inclusion of adolescents in STD/HIV prevention research is critical for developing appropriate strategies to promote adolescent sexual health. Results from adult studies may not generalize to adolescents, given their biological and psychosocial developmental status (Hwang et al., 2009). In order to understand the extent to which these differences are applicable to safety, efficacy, and acceptability, the products must be tested in minors. Enrolling adolescents who have not reached the legal age of majority in sexual health research, though, poses legal and ethical challenges. Investigators have been described as facing moral conflict between their responsibility to protect the scientific rigor of the study and the well-being of the participants (Merritt, 2005). Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) must balance the interests of minors, their parents, and the institution (Knopf et al., 2016). Data suggest that adolescents are under-represented in biomedical trials of HIV and STD prevention (Tolley et al., 2014; Hoffman et al., 2016). We propose that the inclusion of these adolescents in sexual health research is not only ethically permissible but is ethically required

Computation predicts rapidly adapting mechanotransduction currents cannot account for tactile encoding in Merkel cell-neurite complexes

Distinct firing properties among touch receptors are influenced by multiple, interworking anatomical structures. Our understanding of the functions and crosstalk of Merkel cells and their associated neurites—the end organs of slowly adapting type I (SAI) afferents—remains incomplete. Piezo2 mechanically activated channels are required both in Merkel cells and in sensory neurons for canonical SAI responses in rodents; however, a central unanswered question is how rapidly inactivating currents give rise to sustained action potential volleys in SAI afferents. The computational model herein synthesizes mechanotransduction currents originating from Merkel cells and neurites, in context of skin mechanics and neural dynamics. Its goal is to mimic distinct spike firing patterns from wildtype animals, as well as Atoh1 knockout animals that completely lack Merkel cells. The developed generator function includes a Merkel cell mechanism that represents its mechanotransduction currents and downstream voltage-activated conductances (slower decay of current) and a neurite mechanism that represents its mechanotransduction currents (faster decay of current). To mimic sustained firing in wildtype animals, a longer time constant was needed than the 200 ms observed for mechanically activated membrane depolarizations in rodent Merkel cells. One mechanism that suffices is to introduce an ultra-slowly inactivating current, with a time constant on the order of 1.7 s. This mechanism may drive the slow adaptation of the sustained response, for which the skin’s viscoelastic relaxation cannot account. Positioned within the sensory neuron, this source of current reconciles the physiology and anatomical characteristics of Atoh1 knockout animals