Consciousness Levels Detection Using Discrete Wavelet Transforms on Single Channel EEG Under Simulated Workload Conditions

EEG signal is one of the most complex signals having the lowest amplitude which makes it challenging for analysis in real-time. The different waveforms like alpha, beta, theta and delta were studied and selected features were related with the consciousness levels. The consciousness levels detection is useful for estimating the subjects’ performance in certain selected tasks which requires high alertness. This estimation was performed by analyzing signal properties of the EEG using features extracted through discrete wavelet transform with a moving window of 10 seconds with 90% overlap. The EEG signal is decomposed in to wavelets and the average energy and power of the coefficients related to the EEG bands is taken as the features. The data is collected from standard EEG machine from the volunteers as per the protocol. C3 and C4 locations (unipolar) of the standard 10-20 electrode system were selected. The central region of the brain is most optimal location for the consciousness levels detection. The estimation of the data using Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) energy, power features provided better accuracy when the central regions were chosen. An accuracy of 99% was achieved when the algorithm was implemented using a classifier based on linear kernel support vector machines (SVM)

Dozirani pripravak valdekoksiba za topičku primjenu: Priprava i farmakološka evaluacija

Valdecoxib, a selective COX-2 inhibitor, produces serious side effects when given orally. This has led to its withdrawal. Topical application of valdecoxib was formulated and evaluated for its efficacy and safety. Standard procedures were followed and male Wistar albino rats were used to test the anti-inflammatory effect and effect in hyperalgesic conditions. Ointments, creams and gels containing valdecoxib 1 % (m/m) were prepared. These were tested for physical appearance, pH, spreadability, drug content uniformity, in vitro diffusion. Gel prepared using Carbopol 940 (F-X) was selected after the analysis of the results. Formulation F-X was evaluated for acute skin irritancy, anti-inflammatory effect, optimum effective concentration of valdecoxib, effect on hyperalgesia, inhibition of the granulation tissue formation and anti-arthritic effect. Determination of valdecoxib in test animals plasma and determining the blood clotting time and bleeding time were conducted to study the safety of topical valdecoxib. Valdecoxib gel containing 1 % (m/m) of the drug was significantly (p < 0.05) more effective in inhibiting hyperalgesia associated with inflammation, compared to placebo gel, but exhibited significantly (p < 0.05) lower suppression of inflammation than rofecoxib gel. Concentration of valdecoxib used in the preparation minimizes the risk of systemic effects, as shown by the analysis of rat plasma for the presence of valdecoxib; hence, this may be the alternative to oral preparations. The bleeding and clotting time showed no significant difference before and after application of F-X.Valdekoksib, selektivni COX-2 inhibitor, primijenjen peroralno urokuje ozbiljne nuspojave, zbog čega je povučen iz uporabe. U ovom radu izrađen je i evaluiran pripravak valdekoksiba za topičku primjenu. Uporabljeni su standardni postupci za procjenjivanje protuupalnog i analgetskog djelovanja na muškim Wistar albino štakorima. Priređene su masti, kreme i gelovi s udjelom valdekoksiba od 1% (m/m) kojima je procijenjen fizički izgled, pH, mazivost, ujednačenost sadržaja ljekovite tvari, in vitro difuzija. Nakon analize rezultata, za farmakološka ispitivanja je izabran gel s Carbopol 940 (F-X). Procijenjena je akutna iritacija kože tog pripravka, njegov protuupalni učinak, optimalna koncentracija valdekoksiba, učinak na stanje hiperalgezije, inhibicija stvaranja granulocita i antiartritični učinak. Za procjenu sigurnosti topičke primjene valdekoksiba, određena je njegova koncentracija u krvnoj plazmi, te vrijeme zgrušavanja krvi. Gel s udjelom valdekoksiba 1% (m/m) imao je značajno veći učinak u inhibiciji hiperalgezije povezane s upalom (p < 0,05) nego placebo pripravak, ali je imao značajno manji učinak (p < 0,05) od gela s rofekoksibom. Analiza plazme na prisutnost valdekoksiba ukazuje na niski rizik sistemskog učinka. Vrijeme krvarenja i zgrušavanja nije se bitno promijenilo prije i poslije uporabe F-X. Zbog toga bi ovaj pripravak mogao biti alternativa peroralnim pripravcima. Ključne riječi

Cognitive Workload Analysis of Fighter Aircraft Pilots in Flight Simulator Environment

Maintaining and balancing an optimal level of workload is essential for completing the task productively. Fighter aircraft is one such example, where the pilot is loaded heavily both physically (due to G manoeuvering) and cognitively (handling multiple sensors, perceiving, processing and multi-tasking including communications and handling weapons) to fulfill the combat mission requirements. This cognitive demand needs to be analysed to understand the workload of fighter pilot. Objective of this study is to analyse dynamic workload of fighter pilots in a realistic high-fidelity flight simulator environment during different flying workload conditions. The various workload conditions are (a) normal visibility, (b) low visibility, (c) normal visibility with secondary task, and (d) low visibility with secondary task. Though, pilot’s flying performance score was good, the physiological measure like heart rate variability (HRV) features and subjective assessment (NASA-TLX) components are found to be statistically significant (p&lt;0.05) between tasks. HRV features such as SD2, SDNN, VLF and total power are found to be significant at all task load conditions. The features LFnu and HFnu are able to differentiate the effect of low visibility and secondary cognitive task, which was imposed as increased task in this study. This result benefits to understand the pilot’s task and performance at each flying phase and their cognitive demands during dynamic workload using HRV, which could assist pilot’s training schedule in optimal way on simulators as well as in actual flight conditions

Wearable Sensors Based Real-time Monitoring Of Gait Kinematics For Lower Extremity Exoskeletons

This paper presents a real-time gait analyzer used to record the gait pattern of a subject which can beprimary input to lower extremity exoskeletons. Studies have been carried out on walking behaviour ofsubjects indicating that lower extremity exoskeletons can take inputs as hip and knee joint movement anglesin sagittal plane. Wearable gait motion analyzer can be used to operate lower extremity exoskeletons in twodifferent modes: real-time gait and pre-defined gait. For pre-defined gait mode, wearable gait motionanalyzer provides wearer specific gait pattern of hip and knee joint angles in sagittal plane. A comparisonstudy on gait data obtained from gait lab and wearable gait motion analyser was carried out and showed 98%correlation match. Gyroscopes of IMU are also used to measure angular velocity of hip and knee joints toestimate specifications of exoskeleton actuators

WEARABLE SENSORS BASED REAL-TIME MONITORING OF GAIT KINEMATICS FOR LOWER EXTREMITY EXOSKELETONS

This paper presents a real-time gait analyzer used to record the gait pattern of a subject which can beprimary input to lower extremity exoskeletons. Studies have been carried out on walking behaviour ofsubjects indicating that lower extremity exoskeletons can take inputs as hip and knee joint movement anglesin sagittal plane. Wearable gait motion analyzer can be used to operate lower extremity exoskeletons in twodifferent modes: real-time gait and pre-defined gait. For pre-defined gait mode, wearable gait motionanalyzer provides wearer specific gait pattern of hip and knee joint angles in sagittal plane. A comparisonstudy on gait data obtained from gait lab and wearable gait motion analyser was carried out and showed 98%correlation match. Gyroscopes of IMU are also used to measure angular velocity of hip and knee joints toestimate specifications of exoskeleton actuators

Trends and Non-Stationarity in Groundwater Level Changes in Rapidly Developing Indian Cities

In most of the Indian cities, around half of the urban water requirement is fulfilled by groundwater. Recently, seasonal urban droughts have been frequently witnessed globally, which adds more stress to groundwater systems. Excessive pumping and increasing demands in several Indian cities impose a high risk of running out of groundwater storage, which could potentially affect millions of lives in the future. In this paper, groundwater level changes have been comprehensively assessed for seven densely populated and rapidly growing secondary cities across India. Several statistical analyses were performed to detect the trends and non-stationarity in the groundwater level (GWL). Also, the influence of rainfall and land use/land cover changes (LULC) on the GWL was explored. The results suggest that overall, the groundwater level was found to vary between &plusmn;10 cm/year in the majority of the wells. Further, the non-stationarity analysis revealed a high impact of rainfall and LULC due to climate variability and anthropogenic activities respectively on the GWL change dynamics. Statistical correlation analysis showed evidence supporting that climate variability could potentially be a major component affecting the rainfall and groundwater recharge relationship. Additionally, from the LULC analysis, a decrease in the green cover area (R = 0.93) was found to have a higher correlation with decreasing groundwater level than that of urban area growth across seven rapidly developing cities