A Wireless Power Transfer Based Implantable ECG Monitoring Device

Implantable medical devices (IMDs) enable patients to monitor their health anytime and receive treatment anywhere. However, due to the limited capacity of a battery, their functionalities are restricted, and the devices may not achieve their intended potential fully. The most promising way to solve this limited capacity problem is wireless power transfer (WPT) technology. In this study, a WPT based implantable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring device that continuously records ECG data has been proposed, and its effectiveness is verified through an animal experiment using a rat model. Our proposed device is designed to be of size 24 x 27 x 8 mm, and it is small enough to be implanted in the rat. The device transmits data continuously using a low power Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication technology. To charge the battery wirelessly, transmitting (Tx) and receiving (Rx) antennas were designed and fabricated. The animal experiment results clearly showed that our WPT system enables the device to monitor the ECG of a heart in various conditions continuously, while transmitting all ECG data in real-time.11Ysciescopu

Mobile Application Of Open Source Stack To Geo-Based Data Visualisation On E-Government Web Framework

Mobile web technologies by diverse open sources are expanding and developing so fast. Furthermore, open data policy of public organizations and governments in many countries prevails. In Korea, e-government standard framework has been developed based on Spring Framework and distributed to improve implementation efficiency of web-based information systems for public domains. For wide applications and adoption of this webframework, e-government standard framework for mobile environment was also released. These trends evoke new type of geo-based applications, and practical cases are being implemented. This open source project is for data visualization on mobile, which reflects these aspects. For implementation, open source stack including GeoServer, jQuery, OpenLayers and D3.js was applied, and e-government mobile standards framework was used for mobile UX/UI components, as well as HTML5. It is expected that this approach provides practical reference and technological basis to develop target-oriented mobile application business models using open data and e-government mobile web framework

Cdc5-Dependent Asymmetric Localization of Bfa1 Fine-Tunes Timely Mitotic Exit

In budding yeast, the major regulator of the mitotic exit network (MEN) is Tem1, a GTPase, which is inhibited by the GTPase-activating protein (GAP), Bfa1/Bub2. Asymmetric Bfa1 localization to the bud-directed spindle pole body (SPB) during metaphase also controls mitotic exit, but the molecular mechanism and function of this localization are not well understood, particularly in unperturbed cells. We identified four novel Cdc5 target residues within the Bfa1 C-terminus: 452S, 453S, 454S, and 559S. A Bfa1 mutant in which all of these residues had been changed to alanine (Bfa14A) persisted on both SPBs at anaphase and was hypo-phosphorylated, despite retaining its GAP activity for Tem1. A Bfa1 phospho-mimetic mutant in which all of these residues were switched to aspartate (Bfa14D) always localized asymmetrically to the SPB. These observations demonstrate that asymmetric localization of Bfa1 is tightly linked to its Cdc5-dependent phosphorylation, but not to its GAP activity. Consistent with this, in kinase-defective cdc5-2 cells Bfa1 was not phosphorylated and localized to both SPBs, whereas Bfa14D was asymmetrically localized. BFA14A cells progressed through anaphase normally but displayed delayed mitotic exit in unperturbed cell cycles, while BFA14D cells underwent mitotic exit with the same kinetics as wild-type cells. We suggest that Cdc5 induces the asymmetric distribution of Bfa1 to the bud-directed SPB independently of Bfa1 GAP activity at anaphase and that Bfa1 asymmetry fine-tunes the timing of MEN activation in unperturbed cell cycles

Probabilistic Fatigue Life Updating for Railway Bridges Based on Local Inspection and Repair

Railway bridges are exposed to repeated train loads, which may cause fatigue failure. As critical links in a transportation network, railway bridges are expected to survive for a target period of time, but sometimes they fail earlier than expected. To guarantee the target bridge life, bridge maintenance activities such as local inspection and repair should be undertaken properly. However, this is a challenging task because there are various sources of uncertainty associated with aging bridges, train loads, environmental conditions, and maintenance work. Therefore, to perform optimal risk-based maintenance of railway bridges, it is essential to estimate the probabilistic fatigue life of a railway bridge and update the life information based on the results of local inspections and repair. Recently, a system reliability approach was proposed to evaluate the fatigue failure risk of structural systems and update the prior risk information in various inspection scenarios. However, this approach can handle only a constant-amplitude load and has limitations in considering a cyclic load with varying amplitude levels, which is the major loading pattern generated by train traffic. In addition, it is not feasible to update the prior risk information after bridges are repaired. In this research, the system reliability approach is further developed so that it can handle a varying-amplitude load and update the system-level risk of fatigue failure for railway bridges after inspection and repair. The proposed method is applied to a numerical example of an in-service railway bridge, and the effects of inspection and repair on the probabilistic fatigue life are discussed.ope

Effect of accumulated vs continuous exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption

Background: A continuous aerobic exercise program is an effective method of improving calorie consumption on the metabolism of skeletal muscle. However, studies report that accumulated exercise of 30 minutes divided into three sessions of 10 minutes is as effective as one continuous exercise session for 30 minutes. As yet, no study has compared the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption associated with accumulated exercise and continuous exercise over these timeframes. Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to compare the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption associated with performing continuous exercise for 30 minutes and three sessions of accumulated exercise for 10 minutes at the same intensity of 60% VO2max. Method: Posters about the study were posted on the February 2019 Konkuk university homepage and bulletin board, and a total of 34 college students (males, n=18; females, n=16) volunteered to participate. Using a balanced repeated-measures crossover design, the subjects randomly took two exercises: continuous exercise (1 x 30 minutes) or accumulated exercise (3 x 10 minutes), and the washout period between the two exercises was a week. All exercises were performed using an ergometer at 60% maximal oxygen consumption. Oxygen consumption and heart rate were monitored and measured during exercise and after exercise. Lipid profile and lactate acid were measured at rest, exercise end, exercise end plus 30 minutes, and exercise end plus 60 minutes. IBM SPSS Statistics 23 was used to perform a paired t-test, and the statistically significant difference was set at <.05. Results: Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption parameters (e.g., total oxygen consumption, total calorie, and summation of heart rate) were higher in accumulated exercise than in continuous exercise (p<.05). No significant difference in the calorie during exercise between CEx and AEx (p = .140). No significant difference was observed in the lipid profile between accumulated exercise and continuous exercise (p>.05). No significant differences were observed at rest, exercise end plus 30 minutes, exercise end plus 60 minutes in lactic acid in the blood (p <.05). However, at exercise end, it was significantly higher in the accumulated exercise (p<.01). Conclusions: This study confirmed that after equalizing energy expenditure for continuous exercise and accumulated exercise in participants in their 20s, accumulated exercise results in higher excess post-exercise oxygen consumption than continuous exercise. The data suggests that accumulated exercise may be more effective in reducing body fat than continuous exercise for a given amount of energy expenditure. [Ethiop.J. Health Dev. 2020;34(Special issue-3):84-90] Keywords: Continuous exercise, accumulated exercise, excess post-exercise oxygen consumptio

Korean Society of Nephrology hemodialysis unit accreditation report (2016–2020) and future directions

Background Patients receiving hemodialysis have various complications with a high mortality rate and require specialized treatment at an institution equipped with an appropriate workforce, equipment, and facilities. The Korean Society of Nephrology (KSN) is conducting hemodialysis unit accreditation to manage the quality of hemodialysis institutions, present standard treatment guidelines, and establish a network between regional medical institutions for the safe treatment of hemodialysis patients. This study aimed to summarize the previous accreditation results and discuss future directions. Methods After the proposal of hemodialysis unit accreditation in 2009, pilot projects were undertaken for hemodialysis units and dialysis subspecialist training hospitals in the metropolitan area for 5 years. Since 2016, five hemodialysis unit accreditation projects have been conducted. Results The cumulative number of participating units was 599, and the number of accredited units was 473 (average accreditation rate, 79.0%). The participating units consisted of clinics (58.6%), non-university hospitals (28.2%), and university hospitals (13.2%). Overall, 92.4% of university hospitals, 81.2% of clinics, and 68.0% of non-university hospitals were accredited. Over 5 years, new units were added annually to apply for accreditation, and the rate of previous participants applying for reaccreditation was high (77.7%). However, considering that the total number of member institutions of the KSN is 637, the number of units with valid accreditation as of 2020 was low (267 [41.9%]). Conclusion The efforts of the KSN and its members, as well as institutional support from the government, are required for quality management of hemodialysis units through hemodialysis unit accreditation

Shared Genetic Background Between Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers and Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Background: Whether the epidemiological association of amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau pathology with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is causal remains unclear. Recent failures to demonstrate the efficacy of several Aβ-modifying drugs may indicate a possibility that the observed association is not causal, which led to efforts to develop tau-directed treatments whose efficacy remains tentative. Methods: Herein, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomisation analysis to investigate shared genetic background between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers for amyloid and tau pathology and risk for AD, and to find genetic evidence for causal association between these CSF biomarkers and risk for AD. We used summary statistics of genome-wide association study (GWAS) for CSF biomarkers (Aβ 1-42 , phosphorylated tau 181 [p-tau], and total tau [t-tau]) in 3,146 individuals and for late-onset AD (LOAD) in 21,982 LOAD cases and 41,944 cognitively-normal controls. We tested association between changes in the genetically-predicted CSF biomarkers and LOAD risk. Results: We found a decrease in the LOAD risk per one-standard deviation (SD) increase in the genetically-predicted CSF Aβ (odds ratio [OR], 2.87×10 -3 for AD; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.54×10 -4 –0.05; p = 8.91×10 -5 ). Conversely, we observed an increase in the LOAD risk per one-SD increase in the genetically-predicted CSF p-tau (OR, 19.46; 95% CI, 1.50–2.52×10 2 ; p = 0.02) and t-tau (OR, 33.80; 95% CI, 1.57–7.29×10 2 ; p = 0.02). Conclusions: Our findings suggest a shared genetic background between the CSF biomarkers and LOAD risk. Although it requires validation by future studies including more genetic variants identified in large-scale GWASs for CSF biomarkers, our results suggest a causal association between CSF biomarkers and risk for LOAD

Wave Touch: Educational Game on Interactive Tabletop with Water Simulation

International audienceIn this paper, we present an underwater exploration game called Wave Touch, designed specifically for a category of devices known as, interactive tabletops. The game provides users with a fun way to learn about important historical artifacts. An emphasis is placed on making Wave Touch entertaining to the user, a goal which is satisfied through the use of interactive tabletops and realistic water simulation. We also present the techniques we used to enable real-time water simulation effects in the game

Anti-inflammatory effects of Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae (Qinjiao), Rhizoma Coptidis (Huanglian) and Citri Unshiu Pericarpium (Wenzhou migan) in animal models

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>KHU14, an ethanolic extract of <it>Radix Gentianae Macrophyllae </it>(<it>Qinjiao</it>), <it>Rhizoma Coptidis </it>(<it>Huanglian</it>) and <it>Citri Unshiu Pericarpium </it>(<it>Wenzhou migan</it>) was tested for its anti-inflammatory effects.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Three out of 20 herbs were found to have anti-inflammatory effects. The formulation of these herbs, i.e. KHU14 was tested for croton oil-induced ear edema, carrageenan-induced paw edema, acetic acid-induced capillary permeability, cotton pellet and delayed type hypersensitivity.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>KHU14 exhibited anti-inflammatory effects in animal models of acute and chronic inflammation. The anti-inflammatory activity of KHU14 observed was comparable to that of celecoxib. KHU14 inhibited the production of NO and PGE₂in LPS/IFN-gamma-stimulated peritoneal macrophages, and reduced edema and the amount of infiltrated cells in animal models.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>KHU14 exhibited anti-inflammatory effects as demonstrated in typical immunological tests for anti-inflammation <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>.</p