A systematic way of achieving Total Continuous Process Improvement (TCPI) in an industry

This paper highlights the steps that are required to achieve total continuous process improvement in the production of products in a manufacturing industry. The importance of each step will be discussed and the strategies that need to be taken to achieve the objectives of each of the steps will be mentioned. The aim of this paper is to provide essential guidelines for operators, supervisors, engineers and managers so that they are aware of the various steps that need to be taken in achieving TCPI

Pediatric sleep-related breathing disorders: advances in imaging and computational modeling

We understand now that sleep of sufficient length and quality is required for good health. This is particularly true for infants and children, who have the added physiologic task of growth and development, as compared to their adult counterparts. Sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs) are common in childhood and if unrecognized and not treated can result in significant morbidity. For example, children with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can exhibit behavioral, mood, and learning difficulties. If left untreated, alterations in the function of the autonomic nervous system and a chronic inflammatory state result, contributing to the risk of heart disease, stroke, glucose intolerance, and hypertension in adulthood

McDAPS: A multi-channel physiological signals display and analysis system for clinical researchers

We introduce McDAPS, an interactive software for assessing autonomic imbalance from non-invasive multi-channel physiological recordings. McDAPS provides a graphical user interface for data visualization, beat-to-beat processing and interactive analyses. The software extracts beat-to-beat RR interval systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, the pulse amplitude of photoplethysmogram and the pulse-to-pulse interval. The analysis modules include stationary and time-varying power spectral analyses, moving-correlation analysis and univariate analyses. Analyses can also be performed in batch mode if multiple datasets have to be processed in the same way. The program exports results in standard CSV format.McDAPS runs in MATLAB, and is supported on MS Windows and MAC OS systems. The MATLAB source code is available at https://github.com/thuptimd/McDAPS.git

Sleep-related changes in autonomic control in obstructive sleep Apnea: a model-based perspective

This paper reviews our current understanding of the long-term effects of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on cardiovascular autonomic function in humans, focusing directly on the knowledge derived from noninvasive measurements of heart rate, beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP), and respiration during wakefulness and sleep. While heart rate variability (HRV) as a means of autonomic assessment has become ubiquitous, there are serious limitations with the conventional time-domain and spectral methods of analysis. These shortcomings can be overcome with the application of a multivariate mathematical model that incorporates BP, respiration and other external factors as physiological sources of HRV. Using this approach, we have found that: (a) both respiratory-cardiac coupling and baroreflex dynamics are impaired in OSA; (b) continuous positive airway pressure therapy partially restores autonomic function; (c) baroreflex gain, which increases during sleep in normals, remains unchanged or decreases in OSA subjects; and (d) the autonomic changes that accompany transient arousal from NREM sleep in normals are largely absent in patients with OSA