Walking Behavior Change Detector for a “Smart” Walker

AbstractThis study investigates the design of a novel real-time system to detect walking behavior changes using an accelerometer on a rollator. No sensor is required on the user. We propose a new non-invasive approach to detect walking behavior based on the motion transfer by the user on the walker. Our method has two main steps; the first is to extract a gait feature vector by analyzing the three-axis accelerometer data in terms of magnitude, gait cycle and frequency. The second is to classify gait with the use of a decision tree of multilayer perceptrons. To assess the performance of our technique, we evaluated different sampling window lengths of 1, 3 an 5seconds and four different Neural Network architectures. The results revealed that the algorithm can distinguish walking behavior such as normal, slow and fast with an accuracy of about 86%. This research study is part of a project aiming at providing a simple and non-invasive walking behavior detector for elderly who use rollators

Regulation of biotransformation systems and ABC transporters by Benznidazole in HepG2 cells: involvement of Pregnane X-Receptor

Background: Benznidazole (BZL) is the only antichagasic drug available in most endemic countries. Its effect on the expression and activity of drug-metabolizing and transporter proteins has not been studied yet. Methodology/Principal Findings: Expression and activity of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), Multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2), Cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4), and Glutathione S-transferase (GST) were evaluated in HepG2 cells after treatment with BZL. Expression was estimated by immunoblotting and real time PCR. P-gp and MRP2 activities were estimated using model substrates rhodamine 123 and dinitrophenyl-S-glutathione (DNP-SG), respectively. CYP3A4 and GST activities were evaluated through their abilities to convert proluciferin into luciferin and 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene into DNP-SG, respectively. BZL (200 µM) increased the expression (protein and mRNA) of P-gp, MRP2, CYP3A4, and GSTπ class. A concomitant enhancement of activity was observed for all these proteins, except for CYP3A4, which exhibited a decreased activity. To elucidate if pregnane X receptor (PXR) mediates BZL response, its expression was knocked down with a specific siRNA. In this condition, the effect of BZL on P-gp, MRP2, CYP3A4, and GSTπ protein up-regulation was completely abolished. Consistent with this, BZL was able to activate PXR, as detected by reporter gene assay. Additional studies, using transporter inhibitors and P-gp-knock down cells, demonstrated that P-gp is involved in BZL extrusion. Pre-treatment of HepG2 cells with BZL increased its own efflux, as a consequence of P-gp up-regulation. Conclusions/Significance: Modifications in the activity of biotransformation and transport systems by BZL may alter the pharmacokinetics and efficiency of drugs that are substrates of these systems, including BZL itself.Fil: Rigalli, Juan Pablo. Universität Heidelberg; Alemania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Perdomo, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Luquita, Marcelo Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Villanueva, Silvina Stella Maris. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Arias, Agostina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Theile, Dirk. Universität Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Weiss, Johanna. Universität Heidelberg; AlemaniaFil: Mottino, Aldo Domingo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Catania, Viviana Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Rosario. Instituto de Fisiología Experimental (i); Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; Argentin

Exercise and postprandial lipemia: effects on vascular health in inactive adults

Background: There is evidence to suggest that postprandial lipemia are is linked to the impairment of endothelial function, which is characterized by an imbalance between the actions of vasodilators and vasoconstrictors. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of a 12-week high-intensity training (HIT) and moderate continuous training (MCT) protocol on postprandial lipemia, vascular function and arterial stiffness in inactive adults after high-fat meal (HFM) ingestion. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was conducted in 20 healthy, inactive adults (31.6 ± 7.1 years). Participants followed the two exercise protocols for 12 weeks. To induce a state of postprandial lipemia (PPL), all subjects received a HFM. Endothelial function was measured using flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD), normalized brachial artery FMD (nFMD), aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (AIx). Plasma total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), triglycerides and glucose were also measured. Results: The effects of a HFM were evaluated in a fasted state and 60, 120, 180, and 240 min postprandially. A significant decrease in serum glucose between 0 min (fasted state) and 120 min postprandially was found in the HIT group (P= 0. 035). Likewise, FMD (%) was significantly different between the fasted state and 60 min after a HFM in the HIT group (P = 0.042). The total cholesterol response expressed as area under curve (AUC)(0–240) was lower following HIT than following MCT, but no significant differences were observed (8%, P > 0.05). Similarly, triglycerides AUC(0–240) was also lower after HIT compared with MCT, which trended towards significance (24%, P= 0.076). The AUC(0–240) for the glucose response was significantly lower following HIT than MCT (10%, P = 0.008). FMD and nFMD AUC(0–240) were significantly higher following HIT than following MCT (46.9%, P = 0.021 and 67.3%, P = 0.009, respectively). PWV AUC(0–240) did not differ following between the two exercise groups (2.3%, P > 0.05). Conclusions: Supervised exercise training mitigates endothelial dysfunction and glucose response induced by PPL. Exercise intensity plays an important role in these protective effects, and medium-term HIT may be more effective than MCT in reducing postprandial glucose levels and attenuating vascular impairment.This study as funded in part by the Center for Studies on Measurement of Physical Activity, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario (Code N° FIUR DN-BG001). We declare that the results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or appropriate data manipulatio

Properties of submillimeter galaxies in the CANDELS GOODS-south field

We derive physical properties of 10 submillimeter galaxies located in the CANDELS coverage of the GOODS-S field. The galaxies were first identified as submillimeter sources with the LABOCA bolometer and subsequently targeted for 870 m continuum observation with ALMA. The high angular resolution of the ALMA imaging allows secure counterparts to be identified in the CANDELS multiband data set. The CANDELS data provide deep photometric data from UV through near-infrared wavelengths. Using synthetic spectral energy distributions, we derive photometric redshifts, stellar masses, extinction, ages, and the star formation history. The redshift range is z = 1.65-4.76, with two of the galaxies located at z > 4. Two submillimeter galaxy (SMG) counterparts have stellar masses 2-3 orders of magnitude lower than the rest. The remaining SMG counterparts have stellar masses around 1 x 1011 M. The stellar population in the SMGs is typically older than the expected duration of the submillimeter phase, suggesting that the star formation history of SMGs is more complex than a single burst. Non-parametric morphology indices suggest that the SMG counterparts are among the most asymmetric systems compared with galaxies of the same stellar mass and redshift. The Hubble Space Telescope images show that three of the SMGs are associated with ongoing mergers. The remaining counterparts are isolated. Estimating the dust and molecular gas mass from the submillimeter fluxes, and comparing with our stellar masses shows that the gas mass fraction of SMGs is ~28% and that the final stellar mass is likely to be ~(1 - 2) x 1011 M.IS

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Search for gravitational-lensing signatures in the full third observing run of the LIGO-Virgo network

Gravitational lensing by massive objects along the line of sight to the source causes distortions of gravitational wave-signals; such distortions may reveal information about fundamental physics, cosmology and astrophysics. In this work, we have extended the search for lensing signatures to all binary black hole events from the third observing run of the LIGO--Virgo network. We search for repeated signals from strong lensing by 1) performing targeted searches for subthreshold signals, 2) calculating the degree of overlap amongst the intrinsic parameters and sky location of pairs of signals, 3) comparing the similarities of the spectrograms amongst pairs of signals, and 4) performing dual-signal Bayesian analysis that takes into account selection effects and astrophysical knowledge. We also search for distortions to the gravitational waveform caused by 1) frequency-independent phase shifts in strongly lensed images, and 2) frequency-dependent modulation of the amplitude and phase due to point masses. None of these searches yields significant evidence for lensing. Finally, we use the non-detection of gravitational-wave lensing to constrain the lensing rate based on the latest merger-rate estimates and the fraction of dark matter composed of compact objects

Search for eccentric black hole coalescences during the third observing run of LIGO and Virgo

Despite the growing number of confident binary black hole coalescences observed through gravitational waves so far, the astrophysical origin of these binaries remains uncertain. Orbital eccentricity is one of the clearest tracers of binary formation channels. Identifying binary eccentricity, however, remains challenging due to the limited availability of gravitational waveforms that include effects of eccentricity. Here, we present observational results for a waveform-independent search sensitive to eccentric black hole coalescences, covering the third observing run (O3) of the LIGO and Virgo detectors. We identified no new high-significance candidates beyond those that were already identified with searches focusing on quasi-circular binaries. We determine the sensitivity of our search to high-mass (total mass M&gt;70 M⊙) binaries covering eccentricities up to 0.3 at 15 Hz orbital frequency, and use this to compare model predictions to search results. Assuming all detections are indeed quasi-circular, for our fiducial population model, we place an upper limit for the merger rate density of high-mass binaries with eccentricities 0&lt;e≤0.3 at 0.33 Gpc−3 yr−1 at 90\% confidence level