Disposable collection kit for rapid and reliable collection of saliva.

ObjectivesTo describe and evaluate disposable saliva collection kit for rapid, reliable, and reproducible collection of saliva samples.MethodsThe saliva collection kit comprised of a saliva absorbent swab and an extractor unit was used to retrieve whole saliva samples from 10 subjects. The accuracy and precision of the extracted volumes (3, 10, and 30 μl) were compared to similar volumes drawn from control samples obtained by passive drool. Additionally, the impact of kit collection method on subsequent immunoassay results was verified by assessing salivary cortisol levels in the samples and comparing them to controls.ResultsThe recovered volumes for the whole saliva samples were 3.85 ± 0.28, 10.79 ± 0.95, and 31.18 ± 1.72 μl, respectively (CV = 8.76%) and 2.91 ± 0.19, 9.75 ± 0.43, and 29.64 ± 0.91 μl, respectively, (CV = 6.36%) for the controls. There was a close correspondence between the salivary cortisol levels from the saliva samples obtained by the collection kit and the controls (R(2)  > 0.96).ConclusionsThe disposable saliva collection kit allows accurate and repeatable collection of fixed amounts of whole saliva and does not interfere with subsequent measurements of salivary cortisol. The simple collection process, lack of elaborate specimen recovery steps, and the short turnaround time (<3 min) should render the kit attractive to test subjects and researchers alike

Multi-pooling 3D Convolutional Neural Network for fMRI Classification of Visual Brain States

Neural decoding of visual object classification via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data is challenging and is vital to understand underlying brain mechanisms. This paper proposed a multi-pooling 3D convolutional neural network (MP3DCNN) to improve fMRI classification accuracy. MP3DCNN is mainly composed of a three-layer 3DCNN, where the first and second layers of 3D convolutions each have a branch of pooling connection. The results showed that this model can improve the classification accuracy for categorical (face vs. object), face sub-categorical (male face vs. female face), and object sub-categorical (natural object vs. artificial object) classifications from 1.684% to 14.918% over the previous study in decoding brain mechanisms

How Different Respiratory Rate Patterns affect Cardiorespiratory Variables and Performance

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(3): 322-329, 2017. This study aims to elucidate how respiratory rate (RR) patterns may affect respiratory gas exchange variables and performance during incremental intensity- exercise. 10 healthy young men (mean ± SD, age: 20.7 ± 0.5 years, height: 174.3 ± 5.7 cm, and body mass: 72.6 ± 10.4 kg) performed three incremental tests on a cycle ergometer at three different RR (60, 45 and 30 breaths per min) in each trial. During the tests, tidal volume (TV), minute ventilation (VE), fractional content of oxygen (FeO2), fractional content of carbon dioxide (FeCO2), oxygen uptake (VO2), expiratory carbon dioxide (VCO2), equivalent of oxygen (EqO2), VE/VCO2, and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were determinate breath-by-breath. Additionally, exercise time (as a performance marker) was measured. Statistical analyses for the results were carried out to determine significant differences between the three trials. VCO2, VO2, and exercise time did not show statistical differences in the three trials. Therefore, we concluded that RR affects some respiratory gas exchange variables but does not influence the VO2max and endurance performance

Proficiency in pole handling during Nordic walking influences exercise effectiveness in middle-aged and older adults

Nordic walking (NW) is a total body version of walking increasingly used as a health-promoting activity by middle-aged and older adults. The present study examined the relationship between force exerted through the pole and physiological response during NW. In this non-randomized exercise trial, 17 participants comprising 8 middle-aged and older recreationally trained Nordic walkers (NWrec: 63.7 ± 8.1 years) and 9 experienced NW instructors (NWinstr: 57.5 ± 7.8 years) underwent outdoor ordinary walking (OW) and NW bouts as fast as possible for 12 minutes. Walking distance, speed, heart rate (HR), energy expenditure (METs and J/kg/m) and upper and lower limb muscle activities using surface electromyogram (EMG) were assessed. A pole with a built-in load cell measured force applied to the pole with peak pole force, pole contact time, % of pole contact time with respect to the gait cycle, and pole impulse derived. We conducted two-way analysis of covariance adjusted for age and BMI. There was a significant group and walking type interaction for walking distance and speed (P = 0.04), METs (P \u3c 0.01), and HR (P = 0.04) with higher values in the NWinstr group during NW than OW. As expected, upper limb EMG activities increased (P \u3c 0.01) with NW in both groups. All pole force measures were significantly higher in NWinstr than NWrec (P ≤ 0.01). Change in walking distance and speed were correlated with pole peak force (r = 0.67, P \u3c 0.01) and pole impulse (r = 0.63, P = 0.01). Similarly, change in METs was associated with peak pole force (r = 0.66, P \u3c 0.01) and pole impulse (r = 0.56, P = 0.02). These results indicate that planting the pole on the ground more forcefully and for longer periods to derive a driving force in NW enhances the effectiveness of the exercise and potentially the health-derived benefits

Magnetic correlations in the S=5/2 quadratic lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Mn(HCOO)2･2(ND2)2CO

The magnetic correlations in the quadratic lattice S=5/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnet Mn(HCOO)2⋅2(ND2)2CO (TN=3.77K) have been studied by means of specific heat and neutron-scattering experiments. With a universal temperature scale, the temperature behavior of both the magnetic heat capacity and spin correlations are quantitatively accounted for by the pure quantum self-consistent harmonic approximation by Cuccoli et al. for S=5/2

Stent-graft detachment from aortic wall after stent-graft repair of acute aortic dissection

AbstractPreliminary studies have demonstrated that stent-graft repair is an attractive method for treatment of aortic dissection. However, few reports have described long-term results. A 72-year-old woman with acute type B aortic dissection underwent stent-graft repair. The entry was closed, and the false lumen disappeared completely. The postoperative course was uneventful for 4 years 5 months, when detachment of the stent graft from the aortic wall was noted. Because the device appears to be stable, follow-up is on an outpatient basis

Critical Diagnosis of Electronic Dimensionality Reduction in Semiconductor Quantum Well Structures

Two-dimensional (2D) systems, such as high-temperature superconductors, surface states of topological insulators, and layered materials, have been intensively studied using vacuum-ultraviolet (VUV) angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In semiconductor films (heterostructures), quantum well (QW) states arise due to electron/hole accumulations at the surface (interface). The quantized states due to quantum confinement can be observed by VUV-ARPES, while the periodic intensity modulations along the surface normal (kz) direction of these quantized states are also observable by varying incident photon energy, resembling three-dimensional (3D) band dispersion. We have conducted soft X-ray (SX) ARPES measurements on thick and ultrathin III-V semiconductor InSb(001) films to investigate the electronic dimensionality reduction in semiconductor QWs. In addition to the dissipation of the kz dispersion, the SX-ARPES observations demonstrate the changes of the symmetry and periodicity of the Brillouin zone in the ultrathin film as 2D QW compared with these of the 3D bulk one, indicating the electronic dimensionality reduction of the 3D bulk band dispersion caused by the quantum confinement. The results provide a critical diagnosis using SX-ARPES for the dimensionality reduction in semiconductor QW structures