709 research outputs found
Response of Autonomic Nervous System to Body Positions: Fourier and Wavelet Analysis
Two mathematical methods, the Fourier and wavelet transforms, were used to
study the short term cardiovascular control system. Time series, picked from
electrocardiogram and arterial blood pressure lasting 6 minutes, were analyzed
in supine position (SUP), during the first (HD1), and the second parts (HD2) of
head down tilt and during recovery (REC). The wavelet transform
was performed using the Haar function of period (,2,,6) to
obtain wavelet coefficients. Power spectra components were analyzed within
three bands, VLF (0.003-0.04), LF (0.04-0.15) and HF (0.15-0.4) with the
frequency unit cycle/interval. Wavelet transform demonstrated a higher
discrimination among all analyzed periods than the Fourier transform. For the
Fourier analysis, the LF of R-R intervals and VLF of systolic blood pressure
show more evident difference for different body positions. For the wavelet
analysis, the systolic blood pressures show much more evident difference than
the R-R intervals. This study suggests a difference in the response of the
vessels and the heart to different body positions. The partial dissociation
between VLF and LF results is a physiologically relevant finding of this work.Comment: RevTex,8 figure
Detection of synchronization from univariate data using wavelet transform
A method is proposed for detecting from univariate data the presence of
synchronization of a self-sustained oscillator by external driving with varying
frequency. The method is based on the analysis of difference between the
oscillator instantaneous phases calculated using continuous wavelet transform
at time moments shifted by a certain constant value relative to each other. We
apply our method to a driven asymmetric van der Pol oscillator, experimental
data from a driven electronic oscillator with delayed feedback and human
heartbeat time series. In the latest case, the analysis of the heart rate
variability data reveals synchronous regimes between the respiration and slow
oscillations in blood pressure.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Outcome of children with resistant and relapsed Hodgkin's disease.
During the period 1974-89, 169 children with Hodgkin's disease were treated in the Paediatric Oncology Units of the Royal Marsden and St Bartholomew's Hospitals. The overall actuarial survival for the whole group was 81% at 10 years. Thirty-five of the 169 children either did not achieve a complete remission or subsequently relapsed. The estimated actuarial survival from initial relapse or failure of primary treatment was 60% at 5 years and 45% at 10 years. Over half of the patients requiring salvage therapy had declared themselves within 2 years and only 3 relapses occurred more than 3 years from diagnosis. Very few patients remain disease free long term after failure of primary and initial salvage therapy. Patients relapsing within a year of diagnosis or not achieving a complete response to primary therapy and those with disseminated relapse had a poor response to salvage therapy. A significant subgroup of patients had prolonged survival despite multiple relapses. Neither initial histology nor stage affected survival from relapse although numbers in each subgroup were small
The first legal mortgagor: a consumer without adequate protection?
This article contends that the UK governmentâs attempt to create a well-functioning consumer credit market will be undermined if it fails to reform the private law framework relating to the first legal mortgage. Such agreements are governed by two distinct regulatory regimes that are founded upon very different conceptions of the mortgagor. The first, the regulation of financial services overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority, derives from public law and is founded upon a conception of the mortgagor as âconsumerâ. The other is land law, private law regulation implemented by the judiciary and underpinned by a conception of the mortgagor as âlandownerâ. Evidence suggests that the operation of these two regimes prevents mortgagors from receiving fair and consistent treatment. The current reform of financial services regulation therefore will change only one part of this governance regime and will leave mortgagors heavily reliant upon a regulator that still has to prove itself. What this article argues is that reform of the rules of private law must also be undertaken with the aim of initiating a paradigm shift in the conception of the mortgagor from âlandownerâ to âconsumerâ. Cultural shifts of this kind take time but the hope is that this conceptual transformation will occur in time to deter the predicted rise in mortgage possessions
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