Breathing feedback system with wearable textile sensors

Breathing exercises form an essential part of the treatment for respiratory illnesses such as cystic fibrosis. Ideally these exercises should be performed on a daily basis. This paper presents an interactive system using a wearable textile sensor to monitor breathing patterns. A graphical user interface provides visual real-time feedback to patients. The aim of the system is to encourage the correct performance of prescribed breathing exercises by monitoring the rate and the depth of breathing. The system is straightforward to use, low-cost and can be installed easily within a clinical setting or in the home. Monitoring the user with a wearable sensor gives real-time feedback to the user as they perform the exercise, allowing them to perform the exercises independently. There is also potential for remote monitoring where the user’s overall performance over time can be assessed by a clinician

Identification of sleep apnea events using discrete wavelet transform of respiration, ECG and accelerometer signals

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder in which patient sleep patterns are disrupted due to recurrent pauses in breathing or by instances of abnormally low breathing. Current gold standard tests for the detection of apnea events are costly and have the addition of long waiting times. This paper investigates the use of cheap and easy to use sensors for the identification of sleep apnea events. Combinations of respiration, electrocardiography (ECG) and acceleration signals were analysed. Results show that using features, formed using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT), from the ECG and acceleration signals provided the highest classification accuracy, with an F1 score of 0.914. However, the novel employment of just the accelerometer signal during classification provided a comparable F1 score of 0.879. By employing one or a combination of the analysed sensors a preliminary test for sleep apnea, prior to the requirement for gold standard testing, can be performed

Wearable sensors and feedback system to improve breathing technique

Breathing is an important factor in our well-being as it oxygenates the body, revitalizes organs, cells and tissues. It is a unique physiological system in that it is both voluntary and involuntary. By breathing in a slow, deep and regular manner, the heartbeat become smooth and regular, blood pressure normalizes, stress hormones drop, and muscles relax. Breathing techniques are important for athletes to improve performance and reduce anxiety during competitions. Patients with respiratory illnesses often tend to take shallow short breaths causing chest muscle weakness, reduced oxygen circulation, shortness of breath and fatigue. Proper breathing exercises can help to reduce these symptoms as well as strengthen muscles, improve posture and mental ability. This work presents a wearable system which monitors breathing technique and provides straightforward feedback to the user through a graphical interface

Smart tablecloths - ambient feedback of domestic electricity consumption

In this work we discuss the topic of ambiently informing individuals of their home electricity usage, with the ultimate goal being to induce positive change and reduction in users’energy usage. We believe that simple ambient feedback, integrated into the surroundings as the colour of a home textile, may provide a powerful motivator in better raising awareness of electricity comsumption. This demonstrator shows the use of an illuminated colour-changing fabric to provide feedback on realtime energy use

A touchdown nucleic acid amplification protocol as an alternative to culture backup for immunofluorescence in the routine diagnosis of acute viral respiratory tract infections

BACKGROUND: Immunofluorescence and virus culture are the main methods used to diagnose acute respiratory virus infections. Diagnosing these infections using nucleic acid amplification presents technical challenges, one of which is facilitating the different optimal annealing temperatures needed for each virus. To overcome this problem we developed a diagnostic molecular strip which combined a generic nested touchdown protocol with in-house primer master-mixes that could recognise 12 common respiratory viruses. RESULTS: Over an 18 month period a total of 222 specimens were tested by both immunofluorescence and the molecular strip. The specimens came from 103 males (median age 3.5 y), 80 females (median age 9 y) and 5 quality assurance scheme specimens. Viruses were recovered from a number of specimen types including broncho-alveolar lavage, nasopharyngeal secretions, sputa, post-mortem lung tissue and combined throat and nasal swabs. Viral detection by IF was poor in sputa and respiratory swabs. A total of 99 viruses were detected in the study from 79 patients and 4 quality control specimens: 31 by immunofluorescence and 99 using the molecular strip. The strip consistently out-performed immunofluorescence with no loss of diagnostic specificity. CONCLUSIONS: The touchdown protocol with pre-dispensed primer master-mixes was suitable for replacing virus culture for the diagnosis of respiratory viruses which were negative by immunofluorescence. Results by immunofluorescence were available after an average of 4–12 hours while molecular strip results were available within 24 hours, considerably faster than viral culture. The combined strip and touchdown protocol proved to be a convenient and reliable method of testing for multiple viruses in a routine setting

The cigarette box as an advertising vehicle in the UK : a case for plain packaging

This research aimed to study tobacco advertising between 1950-2003 and to evaluate the role of the cigarette box in advertising. Tobacco company advertisements (n = 204) were coded for content and meanings used to promote their product. There was a significant shift from cigarettes being displayed to the cigarette box only. Changes in advertising and the meanings evoked were unrelated to changes in smoking behaviour. It is argued that the cigarette box has absorbed the meanings associated with smoking and has become an effective vehicle for advertising. It is also argued that this can only be minimised with plain packaging

Short-Term Global Crop Acreage Response to International Food Prices and Implications of Volatility

Understanding how producers make decisions to allot acreage among crops and how decisions about land use are affected by changes in prices and their volatility is fundamental for predicting the supply of staple crops and, hence, assessing the global food supply situation. The innovations of the present paper are estimates of monthly (i.e. seasonal) versus annual global acreage response models for four staple crops: wheat, soybeans, corn and rice. We focus on the impact of (expected) crop prices, oil and fertilizer prices and market risks as main determinants for farmers’ decisions on how to allocate their land. Primary emphasis is given to the magnitude and speed of the allocation process. Estimation of intra-annual acreage elasticity is crucial for expected supply and for input demand, especially in the light of the recent short-term volatility in food prices. Such aggregate estimates are also valuable to verify whether involved country-specific estimations add up to patterns that are apparent in the aggregate international data. The econometric results indicate that global crop acreage responds to crop prices and price risks, input costs as well as a time trend. Depending on respective crop, short-run elasticities are about 0.05 to 0.25; price volatility tends to reduce acreage response of some crops; comparison of the annual and the monthly acreage response elasticities suggests that acreage adjusts seasonally around the globe to new information and expectations. Given the seasonality of agriculture, time is of the essence for acreage response: The analysis indicates that acreage allocation is more sensitive to prices in northern hemisphere spring than in winter and the response varies across months

Waddlia chondrophila Infects and Multiplies in Ovine Trophoblast Cells Stimulating an Inflammatory Immune Response

BACKGROUNDWaddlia chondrophila (W. chondrophila) is an emerging abortifacient organism which has been identified in the placentae of humans and cattle. The organism is a member of the order Chlamydiales, and shares many similarities at the genome level and in growth studies with other well-characterised zoonotic chlamydial abortifacients, such as Chlamydia abortus (C. abortus). This study investigates the growth of the organism and its effects upon pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in a ruminant placental cell line which we have previously utilised in a model of C. abortus pathogenicity.METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGSUsing qPCR, fluorescent immunocytochemistry and electron microscopy, we characterised the infection and growth of W. chondrophila within the ovine trophoblast AH-1 cell line. Inclusions were visible from 6 h post-infection (p.i.) and exponential growth of the organism could be observed over a 60 h time-course, with significant levels of host cell lysis being observed only after 36 h p.i. Expression of CXCL8, TNF-?, IL-1? and IL-1? were determined 24 h p.i. A statistically significant response in the expression of CXCL8, TNF-? and IL-1? could be observed following active infection with W. chondrophila. However a significant increase in IL-1? expression was also observed following the exposure of cells to UV-killed organisms, indicating the stimulation of multiple innate recognition pathways.CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCEW. chondrophila infects and grows in the ruminant trophoblast AH-1 cell line exhibiting a complete chlamydial replicative cycle. Infection of the trophoblasts resulted in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines in a dose-dependent manner similar to that observed with C. abortus in previous studies, suggesting similarities in the pathogenesis of infection between the two organisms