► In this study we show heart rate variability which can be used as a passive means to quantify drowsiness. Frequency domain components of HRV is used for early detection of fatigue. ► We also ...designed a neural network based artificial intelligent algorithm which detects whether the given HRV signal is in alert of fatigue state. ► The frequency domain components of HRV were also used to distinguish between parasympathetic (HF) and sympathetic (LF) activities using LF/HF ratio. Statistical analysis was also performed to identify the difference between LF/HF ratio during alert and fatigue states.
Long duration driving is a significant cause of fatigue related accidents on motorways. Fatigue caused by driving for extended hours can acutely impair driver’s alertness and performance. This papers presents an artificial intelligence based system which could detect early onset of fatigue in drivers using heart rate variability (HRV) as the human physiological measure. The detection performance of neural network was tested using a set of electrocardiogram (ECG) data recorded under laboratory conditions. The neural network gave an accuracy of 90%. This HRV based fatigue detection technique can be used as a fatigue countermeasure.
A new method to assess causality of suspected adverse drug reactions, the Liverpool Adverse Drug Reaction Causality Assessment Tool (LCAT), showed high interrater agreement when used by its ...developers. Our aim was to compare the interrater agreement achieved by LCAT to that achieved by another causality assessment method, the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre system for standardised case causality assessment (WHO-UMC system), in our setting.
Four raters independently assessed adverse drug reaction causality of 48 drug-event pairs, identified during a hospital-based survey. A randomised design ensured that no washout period was required between assessments with the two methods. We compared the methods' interrater agreement by calculating agreement proportions, kappa statistics, and the intraclass correlation coefficient. We identified potentially problematic questions in the LCAT by comparing raters' responses to individual questions.
Overall unweighted kappa was 0.61 (95% CI 0.43 to 0.80) on the WHO-UMC system and 0.27 (95% CI 0.074 to 0.46) on the LCAT. Pairwise unweighted Cohen kappa ranged from 0.33 to 1.0 on the WHO-UMC system and from 0.094 to 0.71 on the LCAT. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.86 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.92) on the WHO-UMC system and 0.61 (95% CI 0.39 to 0.77) on the LCAT. Two LCAT questions were identified as significant points of disagreement.
We were unable to replicate the high interrater agreement achieved by the LCAT developers and instead found its interrater agreement to be lower than that achieved when using the WHO-UMC system. We identified potential reasons for this and recommend priority areas for improving the LCAT.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
We summarize antimicrobial resistance surveillance data in human and chicken isolates of Campylobacter. Isolates were from a sentinel county study from 1989 through 1990 and from nine state health ...departments participating in National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System for enteric bacteria (NARMS) from 1997 through 2001. None of the 297 C. jejuni or C. coli isolates tested from 1989 through 1990 was ciprofloxacin-resistant. From 1997 through 2001, a total of 1,553 human Campylobacter isolates were characterized: 1,471 (95%) were C. jejuni, 63 (4%) were C. coli, and 19 (1%) were other Campylobacter species. The prevalence of ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter was 13% (28 of 217) in 1997 and 19% (75 of 384) in 2001; erythromycin resistance was 2% (4 of 217) in 1997 and 2% (8 of 384) in 2001. Ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter was isolated from 10% of 180 chicken products purchased from grocery stores in three states in 1999. Ciprofloxacin resistance has emerged among Campylobacter since 1990 and has increased in prevalence since 1997.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Translocation is defined as the human-managed movement of living organisms from one area for free release in another. Throughout the world, increasing numbers of animals are translocated every year. ...Most of these movements involve native mammals, birds and fish, and are made by private and national wildlife agencies to augment existing populations, usually for sporting purposes. The translocation of endangered species, often to reintroduce them into a part of the historical range from which they have been extirpated, has also become an important conservation technique. The main growth in reintroduction projects over the last decade has involved smaller animals, including amphibians, insects and reptiles. The success of potentially expensive, high-profile wildlife translocation projects depends to a large extent on the care with which wildlife biologists and their veterinary advisers evaluate the suitability of the animals and chosen release site, and on the ability of the translocated animals to colonise the area. The veterinary aspects of reintroduction projects are of extreme importance. There are instances of inadequate disease risk assessment resulting in expensive failures and, worse still, the introduction of destructive pathogens into naïve resident wildlife populations. In this paper, some of the disease risks attending wildlife translocation are described. Risk assessment, involving the examination of founder and recipient populations and their habitats, is now a pre-requisite of managed movements of animals.
Process heat integration using pinch analysis is a respected tool for achieving energy efficiency. This article explains what pinch analysis is and how to use it in process design and operation to ...attain real-world energy efficiency gains.
Older patients with glioblastoma appear to benefit more from treatment combining a shorter course (3 weeks rather than 6 weeks) of radiotherapy together with temozolomide than from radiotherapy ...alone.
Glioblastoma is a fatal illness that is associated with a median survival of less than 2 years. Population studies of glioblastoma have shown that survival declines with increasing age,
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and the incidence of glioblastoma is increasing, especially among the elderly.
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Older patients have been underrepresented in most randomized trials, in which the average age of participants is approximately 55 years, as compared with the population-based median for patients with glioblastoma of 65 years of age.
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In 2005, a phase 3 trial of radiotherapy alone (60 Gy over a period of 6 weeks) versus radiotherapy plus temozolomide showed longer survival . . .
Provides a unique overview of energy management for the process industries -Provides an overall approach to energy management and places the technical issues that drive energy efficiency in context ...-Combines the perspectives of freewheeling consultants and corporate insiders -In two sections, the book provides the organizational framework (Section 1) within which the technical aspects of energy management, described in Section 2, can be most effectively executed -Includes success stories from three very different companies that have achieved excellence in their energy management efforts -Covers energy management, including the role of the energy manager, designing and implementing energy management programs, energy benchmarking, reporting, and energy management systems -Technical topics cover efficiency improvement opportunities in a wide range of utility systems and process equipment types, as well as techniques to improve process design and operation
There is recent in vitro evidence that human neurons express the innate immune response receptor, Toll-like receptor-3 (TLR-3), and that expression is enhanced in viral infections. The authors ...examined the immunohistochemical expression of TLR-3 in the cerebellar cortex of postmortem human brains. Purkinje cells were found to express TLR-3 in all cases of rabies (4 of 4) and herpes simplex encephalitis (2 of 2) as well as in cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (1 of 2), stroke (1 of 2), and Alzheimer's disease (3 of 3). In cases of viral infection, direct viral infection was not necessary for enhanced neuronal TLR-3 expression, suggesting that soluble factors likely play an important role in inducing TLR-3 expression. In addition to neurons, occasional Bergmann glia expressed TLR-3 in some cases. This study has provided evidence that human brain neurons can express TLR-3 in vivo and suggests that neurons may play an important role in initiating an inflammatory reaction in a variety of neurological diseases. Journal of NeuroVirology (2006) 12, 229-234.
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