Computer processing of artifact and arrhythmias in heart rate variability analysis.

Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) with Holter monitoring is often difficult due to excessive artifacts and arrhythmias. While short sudden surges are treated successfully by most methods, slow heart rate (HR) variations, nocturnal trapezoidally-shaped HR increases and special types of arrhythmias which are similar to normal HRV fluctuations may distort further time domain and spectral analysis. This paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of different methods for preprocessing of HR data. We have developed the following approach to the analysis of HRV. (1) A combination method based on the absolute difference between HR values and both the last normal HR value and an updated mean is used for removal of artifacts and arrhythmias. This method can detect both sudden surges in HR values as well as longer periods of noise combined with slow normal variations. An additional stage of wild point removal is then optionally applied. (2) Certain special problems such as large T-waves, bigeminal rhythm, slow HR variations and nocturnal trapezoidally-shaped HR increases are also identified. Although none of the algorithms can be applied successfully to all cases, the final computer analysis for preprocessing described in the present study has proved to be superior to the simplified methods which are usually used and provides more suitable data for HRV analysis.     

Social comparison and affiliation under threat: Going beyond the affiliate-choice paradigm.

Examined the emotional similarity hypothesis, a derivation from social comparison theory, which predicts that increasing fear should lead to greater affiliation with someone who is awaiting the same threat (and who therefore is of relatively similar emotional status) relative to someone who has already experienced the threat (and who therefore is of relatively dissimilar emotional status). Results failed to support the emotional similarity hypothesis and in so doing challenged the importance of emotional comparison as a determinant of verbal affiliation under threat. Cognitive clarity concerns instead seemed to account better for the observed effects on verbal affiliation. Supplementary analyses of nonverbal affiliation (facial glances) likewise ran counter to an emotional similarity prediction. Effects of affiliation on anxiety were also examined. Previous conclusions regarding the pattern and causes of affiliation under threat that have relied on the affiliate-choice paradigm are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Abietoid seed fatty acid composition—A review of the genera Abies, Cedrus, Hesperopeuce, Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Tsuga and preliminary inferences on the taxonomy of Pinaceae

The seed fatty acid (FA) compositions of Abietoids (Abies, Cedrus, Hesperopeuce, Keteleeria, Pseudolarix, and Tsuga) are reviewed in the present study in conclusion to our survey of Pinaceae seed FA compositions. Many unpublished data are given. Abietoids and Pinoids (Pinus, Larix, Ficea, and Pseudotsuga)—constituting the family Pinaceae—are united by the presence of several Δ5-olefinic acids, taxoleic (5,9–18∶2), pinolenic (5,9,12–18∶3) coniferonic (5,9,12,15–18∶4), keteleeronic (5,11–20∶2), and sciadonic (5,11,14–20∶3) acids, and of 14-methyl hexadecanoic (anteiso-17∶0) acid. These acids seldom occur in angiosperm seeds. The proportions of individual Δ5-olefinic acids, however, differ between Pinoids and Abietoids. In the first group, pinolenic acid is much greater than taxoleic acid, whereas in the second group, pinolenic acid is greater than or equal to taxoleic acid. Moreover, taxoleic acid in Abietoids is much greater than taxoleic acid in Pinoids, an apparent limit between the two subfamilies being about 4.5% of that acid relative to total FA. Tsuga spp. appear to be a major exception, as their seed FA compositions are much like those of species from the Pinoid group. In this respect, Hesperopeuce mertensiana, also known as Tsuga mertensiana, has little in common with Abietoids and fits the general FA pattern of Pinoids well. Tsuga spp. and H. mertensiana, from their seed FA compositions, should perhaps be separated from the Abietoid group and their taxonomic position revised. It is suggested that a “Tsugoid” subfamily be created, with seed FA in compliance with the Pinoid pattern and other botanical and immunological criteria of the Abietoid type. All Pinaceae genera, with the exception of Pinus, are quite homogeneous when considering their overall seed FA compositions, including Δ5-olefinic acids. In all cases but one (Pinus), variations from one species to another inside a given genus are of small amplitude. Pinus spp., on the other hand, have highly variable levels of Δ5-olefinic acids in their FA compositions, particularly when sections (e.g., Cembroides vs. Pinus sections) or subsections (e.g., Flexiles and Cembrae subsections from the section Strobus) are compared, although they show qualitatively the same FA patterns characteristic of Pinoids. Multicomponent analysis of Abietoid seed FA allowed grouping of individual species into genera that coincide with the same genera otherwise characterized by more classical botanical criteria. Our studies exemplify how seed FA compositions, particularly owing to the presence of Δ5-olefinic acids, may be useful in sustaining and adding some precision to existing taxonomy of the major family of gymnosperms, Pinaceae.     

Future Proof: The Transition to Digital at IFI Archive

Informed by research over the past two years and the work of colleagues in peer institutions, the IFI Irish Film Archive developed a six-year Digital Preservation and Access strategy which launched in 2014. Fundamental to this Strategy was the design and installation of digital archive tools for long term preservation and the redesign of workflow practices to facilitate accession and management of high resolution digital film and broadcast assets and associated metadata. This article outlines the steps taken and standards applied in developing a future proof digital audiovisual archive.     

Effects of age, gender, and target location on seated reach capacity and posture

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of age, gender, and target location upon arm reach capacity and posture. BACKGROUND: The older adult population is growing in number. Their specific needs must be better understood to improve the design of work and life spaces. METHOD: Thirty-eight adults, divided into four groups according to their gender and age, participated in the experiment. They were asked to reach 84 targets located in a large space defined according to their anthropometry and reach capacities. Reach capacities and postures were analyzed. RESULTS: On average, older participants showed shorter maximal reach distances (by 4.8% of upper limb length) as compared with younger participants. No gender difference was found for maximum reach distance. Age also had significant effects on reach posture, especially through its interactions with target azimuth. Older participants tended to use their trunk less whenever possible. Reduced neck and trunk/seat axial rotations were observed for the older participants when the target deviated from the sagittal plane. They compensated by a greater rotation of the pelvis with respect to the seat. CONCLUSION: Older people's reach capacities should be taken as references, rather than those of younger people, in order to accommodate a wider range of the population. APPLICATION: These results can be used to improve the arrangement of living spaces and work spaces for older people.     

Bridging the Gap between Legal and Technical Contracts

Two or more parties typically establish a business relationship using a contract, but a large gap still exists between the provisions of contracts produced by lawyers and the details of computer security and performance addressed by technologists. Some contractual clauses address legal issues that technology can manage as well - the TrustCoM framework offers a paradigm for automating these clauses as technical operations. If a business relationship forms across a service-oriented architecture, the parties involved often manage their collaboration as a virtual organization (VO). In TrustCoM, agreements are the key means of steering VO collaborations and mitigating the risks inherent in integrating processes and resources across organizational boundaries.     

Evaluation of time-dependent and quantitative properties of contraction from left ventricular pressure

Several mechanical indices predicted from a model of cardiac muscle contraction are tested. In the in-vivo canine heart, dp/dtmax and t-dp/dt, the time interval from onset of contraction to dp/dtmax, were measured. The product of these parameters Ap = t-dp/dtmax was calculated. t-dp/dt was shortened when heart rate was elevated and remained constant when ventricular end diastolic volume was changed. Ap increased with augmentation of ventricular end diastolic volume. To achieve constant muscle length when heart rate is changed, analogous tension measurements (assigned as dT/dtmax, t-dT/dt and AT) of prestretched Walton Brodie strain-gauge arch had been taken instead of pressure measurements. In the experiments in which Tmax, maximal isometric tension, was not changed for various heart rates, AT was also unchanged. These results are consistent with the predictions that t-dp/dt and Ap can be used as two independent mechanical indices: 1) t-dp/dt for the evaluation of the "time-dependent properties" of contraction and 2) Ap, for the evaluation of the "quantitative properties" of contraction. The advantages of applying these two mechanical indices for use in the intact ejecting heart, instead of the well-established parameters Vmax and Po are emphasized.     

Multitarget miss distance via optimal assignment

The concept of miss distance-Euclidean, Mahalanobis, etc.-is a fundamental, far-reaching, and taken-for-granted element of the engineering theory and practice of single-target systems. In this paper we introduce a comprehensive L/sub p/-type theory of distance metrics for multitarget (and, more generally, multiobject) systems. We show that this theory extends, and provides a rigorous theoretical basis for, an intuitively appealing optimal-assignment approach proposed by Drummond for evaluating the performance of multitarget tracking algorithms. We describe tractable computational approaches for computing such metrics based on standard optimal assignment or convex optimization techniques. We describe the potentially far-reaching implications of these metrics for applications such as performance evaluation and sensor management. In the former case, we demonstrate the application of multitarget miss-distance metrics as measures of effectiveness (MoEs) for multitarget tracking algorithms.     

Identification of the Primary Factors Determining the Specificity of Human VKORC1 Recognition by Thioredoxin-Fold Proteins

Redox (reduction–oxidation) reactions control many important biological processes in all organisms, both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. This reaction is usually accomplished by canonical disulphide-based pathways involving a donor enzyme that reduces the oxidised cysteine residues of a target protein, resulting in the cleavage of its disulphide bonds. Focusing on human vitamin K epoxide reductase (hVKORC1) as a target and on four redoxins (protein disulphide isomerase (PDI), endoplasmic reticulum oxidoreductase (ERp18), thioredoxin-related transmembrane protein 1 (Tmx1) and thioredoxin-related transmembrane protein 4 (Tmx4)) as the most probable reducers of VKORC1, a comparative in-silico analysis that concentrates on the similarity and divergence of redoxins in their sequence, secondary and tertiary structure, dynamics, intraprotein interactions and composition of the surface exposed to the target is provided. Similarly, hVKORC1 is analysed in its native state, where two pairs of cysteine residues are covalently linked, forming two disulphide bridges, as a target for Trx-fold proteins. Such analysis is used to derive the putative recognition/binding sites on each isolated protein, and PDI is suggested as the most probable hVKORC1 partner. By probing the alternative orientation of PDI with respect to hVKORC1, the functionally related noncovalent complex formed by hVKORC1 and PDI was found, which is proposed to be a first precursor to probe thiol–disulphide exchange reactions between PDI and hVKORC1.