Development of a ubiquitous healthcare monitoring system combined with non-conscious and ambulatory physiological measurements and its application to medical care

The demand for ubiquitous healthcare monitoring has been increasingly raised for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, acute life support or chronic therapies for inpatients and/or outpatients having chronic disorder and home medical care. From these view points, we developed a non-conscious healthcare monitoring system without any attachment of biological sensors and operations of devices, and an ambulatory postural changes and activities monitoring system. Furthermore in this study, in order to investigate those applicability to the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring, we have developed a new healthcare monitoring system combined with the non-conscious and the ambulatory measurements developed by us. In patients with chronic cardiovascular disease or stroke, the daily health conditions such as pulse, respiration, activities and so on, could be continuously measured in the hospital, the rehabilitation room and subject\u27s own home, using the present system. The results demonstrated that the system appears useful for the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring not only at medical facility, but also during daily living at home. © 2011 IEEE

Development of a ubiquitous healthcare monitoring system combined with non-conscious and ambulatory physiological measurements and its application to medical care.

The demand for ubiquitous healthcare monitoring has been increasingly raised for prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, acute life support or chronic therapies for inpatients and/or outpatients having chronic disorder and home medical care. From these view points, we developed a non-conscious healthcare monitoring system without any attachment of biological sensors and operations of devices, and an ambulatory postural changes and activities monitoring system. Furthermore in this study, in order to investigate those applicability to the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring, we have developed a new healthcare monitoring system combined with the non-conscious and the ambulatory measurements developed by us. In patients with chronic cardiovascular disease or stroke, the daily health conditions such as pulse, respiration, activities and so on, could be continuously measured in the hospital, the rehabilitation room and subject\u27s own home, using the present system. The results demonstrated that the system appears useful for the ubiquitous healthcare monitoring not only at medical facility, but also during daily living at home

Evaluation of repetitive-PCR and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for rapid strain typing of Bacillus coagulans.

In order to establish rapid and accurate typing method for Bacillus coagulans strains which is important for controlling in some canned foods and tea-based beverages manufacturing because of the high-heat resistance of the spores and high tolerance of the vegetative cells to catechins and chemicals, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) and repetitive-PCR (rep-PCR) were evaluated. For this purpose, 28 strains of B. coagulans obtained from various culture collections were tested. DNA sequence analyses of the genes encoding 16S rRNA and DNA gyrase classified the test strains into two and three groups, respectively, regardless of their phenotypes. Both MALDI-TOF MS and rep-PCR methods classified the test strains in great detail. Strains classified in each group showed similar phenotypes, such as carbohydrate utilization determined using API 50CH. In particular, the respective two pairs of strains which showed the same metabolic characteristic were classified into the same group by both MALDI-TOF MS and rep-PCR methods separating from the other strains. On the other hand, the other strains which have the different profiles of carbohydrate utilization were separated into different groups by these methods. These results suggested that the combination of MALDI-TOF MS and rep-PCR analyses was advantageous for the rapid and detailed typing of bacterial strains in respect to both phenotype and genotype

Impact of Single Sign-on and Synchronized Patient Selection by IHE-ITI EUA (Enterprise User Authentication) and PSA (Patient Synchronized Applications) at Implementing Existing PACS and CPOE/EMR

To understand the concept of Coordination on Sign-On/Patient Selection and its merits and demerits To experience the effectiveness of the single-sign-on and synchronized patient selection by using the IHE-ITI EUA and PSA function To realize how to login and change the patient in the EUA/PSA environmentA. Necessity of single sign-on and synchronized patient selection B. Explanation of IHE ITI and CCOW C. Mechanism of Context Manager libary and introduction of application program interface D. How to organize the EUA/PSA function E. Pitfall of the implementation (analysis of each application) F. Guidelines for the EUA/PSA implementation (icons and annotation) G. Demonstration of EUA/PSA function on multiple information systems H. Merit and Demerit (time comparison with and without CCOW)In Japan, physicians have to operate multiple applications (PACS/EMR) in one clinical unit. We defined the context area of the context manager defined by the HL7 CCOW. We developed the libraries to enable the EUA and PSA functions. We modified six existing information systems to use the EUA/PSA libraries. These modifications require the considerable effort, but otherwise we achieved good seamless operation. The EUA/PSA function is indispensable for multiple information systems.RSNA200

ATR-IR spectroscopic observation on intermolecular interactions in mixtures of imidazolium-based ionic liquids C_nmimTFSA (<i>n</i> = 2–12) with DMSO

International audienceThe intermolecular interactions in mixtures of ionic liquids (ILs) of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide (CnmimTFSA) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) have been elucidated by measurements of refractive indexes, densities, and ATR-IR spectra as a function of the alky chain length (n = 2–12) of Cnmim+ and DMSO molar fraction xDMSO. The excess quantities of refractive indexes and molar volumes showed that in all CnmimTFSA + DMSO systems the packing of IL and DMSO is the loosest around 1:3 molar ratio of IL to DMSO. However, the significant alkyl chain dependence was not observed in both quantities. This suggests that the hydrogen bonding of the three imidazolium hydrogen atoms with DMSO molecules mainly contributes to the loose packing. From the ATR-IR spectra measured for CnmimTFSA + DMSO mixtures, the excess molar absorbance in the wavenumber ranges of the imidazolium ring C[sbnd]H vibrations and the S[dbnd]O vibrations of TFSA− anion and DMSO was depicted as a function of DMSO content. The excess molar absorbance of the C[sbnd]H vibrations revealed that the three imidazolium C2,4,5[sbnd]H sites, particularly the C2[sbnd]H, are progressively hydrogen-bonded with DMSO as the molar fraction increases to xDMSO ≈ 0.6. The S[dbnd]O vibrations of TFSA− anion suggested that TFSA− anions are eliminated from the imidazolium rings with increasing xDMSO to the same. Hence, TFSA− anions are replaced by DMSO around the imidazolium rings with increasing DMSO content. However, the hydrogen bonding between them is not significantly influenced by the cation's alkyl chain. The partial molar absorbance of the S[dbnd]O vibrations of DMSO showed that DMSO molecules self-aggregate in the mixtures above xDMSO ≈ 0.6. However, the aggregation of DMSO molecules may be suppressed with the longer alkyl chain of Cnmim+

Dynamic tractography- based localization of spike sources and animation of spike propagations

ObjectiveThis study was undertaken to build and validate a novel dynamic tractography- based model for localizing interictal spike sources and visualizing monosynaptic spike propagations through the white matter.MethodsThis cross- sectional study investigated 1900 spike events recorded in 19 patients with drug- resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) who underwent extraoperative intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) and resective surgery. Twelve patients had mesial TLE (mTLE) without a magnetic resonance imaging- visible mass lesion. The remaining seven had a mass lesion in the temporal lobe neocortex. We identified the leading and lagging sites, defined as those initially and subsequently (but within - ¤50 ms) showing spike- related augmentation of broadband iEEG activity. In each patient, we estimated the sources of 100 spike discharges using the latencies at given electrode sites and diffusion- weighted imaging- based streamline length measures. We determined whether the spatial relationship between the estimated spike sources and resection was associated with postoperative seizure outcomes. We generated videos presenting the spatiotemporal change of spike- related fiber activation sites by estimating the propagation velocity using the streamline length and spike latency measures.ResultsThe spike propagation velocity from the source was 1.03 mm/ms on average (95% confidence interval = .91- 1.15) across 133 tracts noted in the 19 patients. The estimated spike sources in mTLE patients with International League Against Epilepsy Class 1 outcome were more likely to be in the resected area (83.9% vs. 72.3%, Ï Â = .137, p < .001) and in the medial temporal lobe region (80.5% vs. 72.5%, Ï Â = .090, p = .002) than those associated with the Class - ¥2 outcomes. The resulting video successfully animated spike propagations, which were confined within the temporal lobe in mTLE but involved extratemporal lobe areas in lesional TLE.SignificanceWe have, for the first time, provided dynamic tractography visualizing the spatiotemporal profiles of rapid propagations of interictal spikes through the white matter. Dynamic tractography has the potential to serve as a unique epilepsy biomarker.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170234/1/epi17025_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/170234/2/epi17025.pd

Carob pod polyphenols suppress the differentiation of adipocytes through posttranscriptional regulation of C/EBPβ.

Obesity is a major risk factor for various chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer; hence, there is an urgent need for an effective strategy to prevent this disorder. Currently, the anti-obesity effects of food ingredients are drawing attention. Therefore, we focused on carob, which has high antioxidant capacity and various physiological effects, and examined its anti-obesity effect. Carob is cultivated in the Mediterranean region, and its roasted powder is used as a substitute for cocoa powder. We investigated the effect of carob pod polyphenols (CPPs) on suppressing increases in adipose tissue weight and adipocyte hypertrophy in high fat diet-induced obesity model mice, and the mechanism by which CPPs inhibit the differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes into adipocytes in vitro. In an in vivo experimental system, we revealed that CPPs significantly suppressed the increase in adipose tissue weight and adipocyte hypertrophy. Moreover, in an in vitro experimental system, CPPs acted at the early stage of differentiation of 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and suppressed cell proliferation because of differentiation induction. They also suppressed the expression of transcription factors involved in adipocyte differentiation, thereby reducing triacylglycerol synthesis ability and triglycerol (TG) accumulation. Notably, CPPs regulated CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBP)β, which is expressed at the early stage of differentiation, at the posttranscriptional level. These results demonstrate that CPPs suppress the differentiation of adipocytes through the posttranscriptional regulation of C/EBPβ and may serve as an effective anti-obesity compound