Search

Electrocardiogram (ECG) is the main criterion for arrhythmia detection. As a means of identification, ECG leakage seems to be a common occurrence due to the development of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). The advent of the quantum era makes it difficult for classical blockchain technology to provide security for ECG data storage. Therefore, from the perspective of safety and practicality, this article proposes a quantum arrhythmia detection system named QADS, which achieves secure storage and sharing of ECG data based on quantum blockchain technology. Furthermore, a quantum neural network is used in QADS to recognize abnormal ECG data, which contributes to further cardiovascular disease diagnosis. Each quantum block stores the hash of the current and previous block to construct a quantum block network. The new quantum blockchain algorithm introduces a controlled quantum walk hash function and a quantum authentication protocol to guarantee legitimacy and security while creating new blocks. In addition, this article constructs a hybrid quantum convolutional neural network nameded HQCNN to extract the temporal features of ECG to detect abnormal heartbeats. The simulation experimental results show that HQCNN achieves an average training and testing accuracy of 94.7% and 93.6%. And the detection stability is much higher than classical CNN with the same structure. HQCNN also has certain robustness under the perturbation of quantum noise. Besides, this article demonstrates through mathematical analysis that the proposed quantum blockchain algorithm has strong security and can effectively resist various quantum attacks, such as external attacks, Entanglement-Measure attack and Interception-Measurement-Repeat attack. © IEEE, Funding: National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number: 61373131 and 62071240)

Goal: Clinical interpretation of an electrocardiogram (ECG) can be detrimentally affected by noise. Removal of the electromyographic (EMG) noise is particularly challenging due to its spectral overlap with the QRS complex. The existing EMG-denoising algorithms often distort signal morphology, thus obscuring diagnostically relevant information. Methods: Here, a new iterative regeneration method (IRM) for efficient EMG-noise suppression is proposed. The main hypothesis is that the temporary removal of the dominant ECG components enables extraction of the noise with the minimum alteration to the signal. The method is validated on SimEMG database of simultaneously recorded reference and noisy signals, MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and synthesized ECG signals, both with the noise from MIT Noise Stress Test Database. Results: IRM denoising and morphology-preserving performance is superior to the wavelet- and FIR-based benchmark methods. Conclusions : IRM is reliable, computationally non-intensive, fast and applicable to any number of ECG channels recorded by mobile or standard ECG devices.

Clinical interpretation of an electrocardiogram (ECG) can be detrimentally affected by noise. Removal of the electromyographic (EMG) noise is particularly challenging due to its spectral overlap with the QRS complex. The existing EMG-denoising algorithms often distort signal morphology, thus obscuring diagnostically relevant information. Here, a new iterative regeneration method (IRM) for efficient EMG-noise suppression is proposed. The main hypothesis is that the temporary removal of the dominant ECG components enables extraction of the noise with the minimum alteration to the signal. The method is validated on SimEMG database of simultaneously recorded reference and noisy signals, MIT-BIH arrhythmia database and synthesized ECG signals, both with the noise from MIT Noise Stress Test Database. IRM denoising and morphology-preserving performance is superior to the wavelet- and FIR-based benchmark methods. : IRM is reliable, computationally non-intensive, fast and applicable to any number of ECG channels recorded by mobile or standard ECG devices.

The ownership and demand for fitness trackers, smartwatches, and wrist-worn deviceshave been increasing globally. These devices offer various features such as measuringphysical activity, sleep monitoring, and health-related measurements like heart rate andheart rate variability using PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG). However, research indicatesthat PPG measurements are less accurate on darker skin compared to lighter skin due to thehigher presence of melanin, a light-absorbing substance in dark skin.This thesis addresses the impact of melanin on the accuracy of heart rate measurements ondifferent skin colors using four commercial smartwatches, Apple Watch Series 5, FitbitCharge 2, Xiaomi Miband 3, and Sony mSafety. The study involves analyzing the accuracyof these smartwatches on individuals with varying skin colors while controlling forexternal factors. The collected data from the smartwatches are compared to a referencesensor that uses electrocardiography (ECG) measurements with electrodes placed aroundthe chest. Three different tests are conducted wearing the devices, with no movement,while walking, and with circular hand motions.The tests were conducted on twelve participants representing the 6 different skin typescategorized using the Fitzpatrick scale. With the presented results in this thesis, it wasconcluded that the 4 smartwatches' measurement accuracy does not seem to be dependenton specific skin types. Ranked in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE), the Apple Watchshowed the lowest value, followed by Xiaomi, Fitbit and the mSafety and that the accuracydid not depend on skin color., Ägandet och efterfrågan av smartklockor har ökat globalt. Dessa enheter erbjuder olikafunktioner som mäter fysisk aktivitet, övervakning av sömn och hälsorelaterade mätningarsom puls och hjärtfrekvensvariabilitet med hjälp av PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG).Forskning har dock visat att PPG-mätningar är mindre noggranna på mörkare hud jämförtmed ljusare hud på grund av den högre närvaron av substansen melanin, ettljusabsorberande ämne.Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka påverkan av melanin på noggrannheten i pulsmätningar på olika hudfärger med hjälp av fyra kommersiella smartklockor: Apple WatchSeries 5, Fitbit Charge 2, Xiaomi Miband 3 och mSafety av Sony. Arbetet inkluderar enanalys av dessa smartklockors noggrannhet på personer med de olika hudfärger samtidigtsom externa faktorer som kan påverka noggrannheten kontrolleras. De insamlade data frånsmartklockorna jämförs med en referenssensor, Polar band, som använderelektrokardiografimätningar (ECG) med elektroder. Tre olika tester utförs med enheterna,utan rörelse, medan man går och med cirkulära handrörelser.Testerna utfördes på tolv deltagare som representerar olika hudtyper kategoriserade enligtFitzpatrick-skalan. Utifrån de presenterade resultaten i denna avhandling drogs slutsatsenatt de fyra smartklockornas mätnoggrannhet inte verkar vara beroende av specifikahudtyper. Rankade i termer av Mean Absolute Error (MAE) visade Apple Watch det lägstavärdet, följt av Xiaomi, Fitbit och mSafety.

The ownership and demand for fitness trackers, smartwatches, and wrist-worn deviceshave been increasing globally. These devices offer various features such as measuringphysical activity, sleep monitoring, and health-related measurements like heart rate andheart rate variability using PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG). However, research indicatesthat PPG measurements are less accurate on darker skin compared to lighter skin due to thehigher presence of melanin, a light-absorbing substance in dark skin.This thesis addresses the impact of melanin on the accuracy of heart rate measurements ondifferent skin colors using four commercial smartwatches, Apple Watch Series 5, FitbitCharge 2, Xiaomi Miband 3, and Sony mSafety. The study involves analyzing the accuracyof these smartwatches on individuals with varying skin colors while controlling forexternal factors. The collected data from the smartwatches are compared to a referencesensor that uses electrocardiography (ECG) measurements with electrodes placed aroundthe chest. Three different tests are conducted wearing the devices, with no movement,while walking, and with circular hand motions.The tests were conducted on twelve participants representing the 6 different skin typescategorized using the Fitzpatrick scale. With the presented results in this thesis, it wasconcluded that the 4 smartwatches' measurement accuracy does not seem to be dependenton specific skin types. Ranked in terms of Mean Absolute Error (MAE), the Apple Watchshowed the lowest value, followed by Xiaomi, Fitbit and the mSafety and that the accuracydid not depend on skin color., Ägandet och efterfrågan av smartklockor har ökat globalt. Dessa enheter erbjuder olikafunktioner som mäter fysisk aktivitet, övervakning av sömn och hälsorelaterade mätningarsom puls och hjärtfrekvensvariabilitet med hjälp av PhotoPlethysmoGraphy (PPG).Forskning har dock visat att PPG-mätningar är mindre noggranna på mörkare hud jämförtmed ljusare hud på grund av den högre närvaron av substansen melanin, ettljusabsorberande ämne.Syftet med detta arbete är att undersöka påverkan av melanin på noggrannheten i pulsmätningar på olika hudfärger med hjälp av fyra kommersiella smartklockor: Apple WatchSeries 5, Fitbit Charge 2, Xiaomi Miband 3 och mSafety av Sony. Arbetet inkluderar enanalys av dessa smartklockors noggrannhet på personer med de olika hudfärger samtidigtsom externa faktorer som kan påverka noggrannheten kontrolleras. De insamlade data frånsmartklockorna jämförs med en referenssensor, Polar band, som använderelektrokardiografimätningar (ECG) med elektroder. Tre olika tester utförs med enheterna,utan rörelse, medan man går och med cirkulära handrörelser.Testerna utfördes på tolv deltagare som representerar olika hudtyper kategoriserade enligtFitzpatrick-skalan. Utifrån de presenterade resultaten i denna avhandling drogs slutsatsenatt de fyra smartklockornas mätnoggrannhet inte verkar vara beroende av specifikahudtyper. Rankade i termer av Mean Absolute Error (MAE) visade Apple Watch det lägstavärdet, följt av Xiaomi, Fitbit och mSafety.

Blood testing has traditionally been the gold standard for the physiological analysis and monitoring of professional athletes. In recent years, blood testing has moved out of the laboratory thanks to portable handheld devices, such as lactate meters. However, despite its usefulness and widespread use, blood testing has several drawbacks and limitations, such as the need for the athlete to stop exercising for blood extraction and the inability to have data continuously collected. In this scenario, sweat has become an alternative to blood testing because of its rich content of electrolytes and metabolites, as well as small quantities of sugars, proteins, and ions. Nevertheless, there are few devices capable of analyzing this biofluid and providing useful information to users. In this paper, an electronic system designed for the autonomous analysis of sweat electrolytes and metabolites along with heart rate dynamics is presented. This system is part of a novel wearable device tailored for athletes that offers to the user a real-time assessment of their physiological status and performance, This work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Indústria, Energía y Turismo, grant numbers AEI-010500-2020-198 and AEI-010500-2022b-111, and AGAUR, grant numbers 2019 DI 18 and 2019 DI 29, Postprint (published version)

Measuring interoception (‘perceiving internal bodily states’) has diagnostic and wellbeing implications. Since heartbeats are distinct and frequent, various methods aim at measuring cardiac interoceptive accuracy (CIAcc). However, the role of exteroceptive modalities for representing heart rate (HR) across screen-based and Virtual Reality (VR) environments remains unclear. Using a PolarH10 HR monitor, we develop a modality-dependent cardiac recognition task that modifies displayed HR. In a mixed-factorial design (N=50), we investigate how task environment (Screen, VR), modality (Audio, Visual, Audio-Visual), and real-time HR modifications ($\pm$15%, $\pm$30%, None) influence CIAcc, interoceptive awareness, mind-body measures, VR presence, and post-experience responses. Findings showed that participants confused their HR with underestimates up to 30%; environment did not affect CIAcc but influenced mind-related measures; modality did not influence CIAcc, however including audio increased interoceptive awareness; and VR presence inversely correlated with CIAcc. We contribute a lightweight and extensible cardiac interoception measurement method, and implications for biofeedback displays.

Fatigue is believed to be the leading factor for traffic accidents (e.g., fatigue driving) and health problems (e.g., heart disease and diabetes). However, fatigue-related risks are difficult to quantify because there is no efficient and reliable fatigue detection method comparable to blood alcohol testing for drunk drivers. Conventional fatigue detection methods either require wiring of sensors (e.g., EEG, ECG) that are inconvenient or leverage video camera systems that are lighting sensitive and may leak privacy. We present Ubi-Fatigue, a comfortable and contactless fatigue monitor system using wireless signals. Ubi-Fatigue combines both vital signs and facial features to achieve reliable fatigue detection. A series of novel signal recovery algorithms are developed to extract the heartbeat signal and the eye blink signal from the same raw signal captured by the single-antenna radar. We have implemented a fully-functional prototype of Ubi-Fatigue using off-the-shelf radar. 20 volunteers are involved in extensive experiments for a total duration of 480 hours with more than 60 hours of collected time-series data. The results demostrate that Fatigue-Radio can reach a detection accuracy of 81.4%, which is higher than ECG-or visual-based fatigue detection systems, and is approximated to ECG+visual based fatigue detection system. Ubi-Fatigue is expected to provide a potential solution for smart home applications in the coming day. IEEE

Fatigue is believed to be the leading factor for traffic accidents (e.g., fatigue driving) and health problems (e.g., heart disease and diabetes). However, fatigue-related risks are difficult to quantify because there is no efficient and reliable fatigue detection method comparable to blood alcohol testing for drunk drivers. Conventional fatigue detection methods either require wiring of sensors (e.g., EEG, ECG) that are inconvenient or leverage video camera systems that are lighting sensitive and may leak privacy. We present Ubi-Fatigue, a comfortable and contactless fatigue monitor system using wireless signals. Ubi-Fatigue combines both vital signs and facial features to achieve reliable fatigue detection. A series of novel signal recovery algorithms are developed to extract the heartbeat signal and the eye blink signal from the same raw signal captured by the single-antenna radar. We have implemented a fully-functional prototype of Ubi-Fatigue using off-the-shelf radar. 20 volunteers are involved in extensive experiments for a total duration of 480 hours with more than 60 hours of collected time-series data. The results demostrate that Fatigue-Radio can reach a detection accuracy of 81.4%, which is higher than ECG-or visual-based fatigue detection systems, and is approximated to ECG+visual based fatigue detection system. Ubi-Fatigue is expected to provide a potential solution for smart home applications in the coming day. IEEE

The importance of doing regular physical activity (exercise) as a key element in the prevention of several diseases is well known. The following experiment was performed to evaluate the acute physiological effects of a home-exercise machine on 22 young, apparently healthy, university students. While the individuals exercised in the machine for ten (10) minutes, measures of heart rate, energy expenditure and peripheral circulation to the legs were taken and recorded. The results were contrasted against the claims made in different ads promoting the selected apparatus. There were no significant acute physiological effects resulting from the utilization of the machine during a 10-minute period. Heart rate increased only 8 beats per minute (bpm) from baseline and the temperature measured on the legs showed no variation or was even reduced. Energy expenditure was not significantly higher while using the device in comparison with the resting condition. These results suggest that consumers using this home-exercise equipment as a substitute of performing regular physical activity will be sacrificing important health benefits., A la luz de la importancia de la actividad física regular como un elemento clave en la prevención de muchas enfermedades, se reportan a continuación los resultados del estudio realizado con un aparato para ejercitarse en la casa. 22 estudiantes universitarios jóvenes, aparentemente saludables, participaron en el estudio. Se midió el efecto agudo de 10 minutos de ejercicio con el dispositivo sobre la frecuencia cardíaca, el costo energético y la circulación periférica en las piernas. Se contrastan los resultados obtenidos con las afirmaciones que se hacen en distintas versiones de publicidad del aparato en cuestión. No se obtuvieron efectos fisiológicos agudos significativos de la utilización del dispositivo durante 10 minutos continuos: la frecuencia cardíaca aumentó apenas 8 latidos por minuto con respecto al reposo y la temperatura cutánea no varió o más bien disminuyó. El costo energético no fue significativamente mayor mientras se usaba el dispositivo en comparación con la condición de reposo. Estos resultados sugieren que aquellas personas que utilicen este dispositivo en sustitución de la actividad física regular estarán sacrificando beneficios importantes para su salud.

The purpose of the present study was to compare the blood pressure, heart rate, and rate pressure product behavior during interval and continuous aerobic exercise in physically active women. Eight physically active women with prior indoor cycling experience were recruited for the present study. Participants visited the laboratory for three sessions, the first visit was used for familiarization and the remaining two visits were to perform the experimental protocols in a randomized order: 1) Twenty-one minutes of continuous indoor cycling at 70% of maximum heart rate (CONT), and 2) Twenty-one minutes of interval indoor cycling, alternating one minute at 90% and two minutes at 60% of maximum heart rate (INT). To assess the hemodynamic behavior, blood pressure, heart rate, and rate pressure product were also measuring at 6-minute (During-6), 12-minute (During-12), 18-minute (During-18), and 21-minute (During-21) intervals. Both protocols (continuous and interval) showed significant increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and rate pressure product in three out of four moments (During-6, During-12, and During-21), with the interval protocol showing higher values compared to the continuous protocol. The results of this study have practical implications for both prescription and cardiac rehabilitation and may be used in an athletic and non-athletic population, since a hypotension effect and lower cardiac workload is advantageous to one’s fitness., El propósito del presente estudio fue comparar lo comportamiento de la presión arterial, la frecuencia cardíaca y doble producto durante el ejercicio aeróbico continuo y a intervalos en mujeres físicamente activas. Para el presente estudio se reclutaron ocho mujeres físicamente activas con experiencia previa en ciclismo indoor. Los participantes visitaron el laboratorio durante tres sesiones, la primera visita se utilizó para familiarizarse y les das visitas restantes fueron para realizar los protocolos experimentales en un orden aleatorio: 1) Veintiún minutos de ciclismo indoor continuo al 70% de la frecuencia cardíaca máxima (CONT), y 2) Veintiún minutos de ciclismo indoor a intervalos, alternando un minuto al 90% y dos minutos al 60% de la frecuencia cardíaca máxima (INT). Para evaluar el comportamiento de la presión arterial, la frecuencia cardíaca y doble producto también se midieron a los 6 minutos (Durante-6), 12 minutos (Durante-12), 18 minutos (Durante-18) y 21 minutos (durante-21) durante la actividad. Ambos los protocolos (CONT y INT) mostraron aumentos significativos en la presión arterial, la frecuencia cardíaca, y el doble producto en tres de cuatro momentos (Durante-6, Durante-12 y durante-21), con el protocolo INT que muestra los valores más altos en comparación al protocolo CONT. Los resultados de este estudio tienen implicaciones prácticas tanto para la prescripción médica como para la rehabilitación cardíaca y pueden usarse en una población atlética y no atlética, ya que un efecto de hipotensión y una menor carga de trabajo cardíaco son ventajosos para la aptitud física.

L’estudi de l’activitat cardíaca en fetus és una eina vital per conèixer i monitorar la resposta del cor a diferents estímuls i, el comportament d’altres sistemes que l’afecten, com el sistema nerviós. Un dels paràmetres més emprats per estudiar el cor és la variabilitat del ritme cardíac (Heart Rate Variability, HRV). Existeixen diferents dispositius que permeten obtenir la freqüència cardíaca fetal, i conseqüentment, la HRV. En el present treball, s’ha fet ús d’un micròfon connectat a la sortida d’un cardiotocògraf per registrar els sons cardíacs d’un fetus. Aquest projecte té com a objectiu analitzar l’activitat cardíaca fetal per estudiar la influència de diferents estímuls auditius en forma de veu. S’han emprat diferents mètodes de processament de senyals per obtenir els paràmetres referents a la HRV, com per exemple filtrar, interpolar, calcular l’envolupant i la densitat espectral de potència. Els resultats obtinguts permeten analitzar el comportament cardíac d’un fetus influenciat per una veu externa. Els paràmetres temporals de la HRV augmenten a mesura que avança el registre, és a dir que la variabilitat del ritme cardíac creix. A la vegada, hi ha un canvi de predominança de la banda de freqüència. En un inici, la HF presenta una major potència, fet que es veu invertit cap al final del registre fonogràfic. Aquest fet s’assimila a què el fetus passa d’estar en repòs a estar actiu, però relaxat, i cap al final de la prova, sembla que es comença a estressar. Els resultats obtinguts s'han de contrastar en una base de dades major, que permeti determinar si aquests resultats són generalitzables, i analitzar si hi ha altres factors que puguin influenciar la resposta cardíaca del fetus., El estudio de la actividad cardíaca en fetos es una herramienta vital para conocer y monitorizar la respuesta del corazón a diferentes estímulos y, el comportamiento de otros sistemas que le afectan, como el sistema nervioso. Uno de los parámetros más empleados para estudiar el corazón es la variabilidad del ritmo cardíaco (Heart Rate Variability, HRV). Existen diferentes dispositivos que permiten obtener la frecuencia cardíaca fetal y, por tanto, la HRV. En el presente trabajo se ha utilizado un micrófono conectado a la salida de un cardiotocógrafo para registrar los sonidos cardíacos de un feto. Este proyecto tiene como objetivo analizar la actividad cardíaca fetal para estudiar la influencia de diferentes estímulos auditivos en forma de voz. Se han empleado diferentes métodos de procesamiento de señales para obtener los parámetros referentes a la HRV, como por ejemplo filtrar, interpolar, calcular el envolvente y la densidad espectral de potencia. Los resultados obtenidos permiten analizar el comportamiento cardíaco de un feto influenciado por una voz externa. Los parámetros temporales de la HRV aumentan a medida que avanza el registro, es decir, la variabilidad del ritmo cardíaco aumenta. A su vez, hay un cambio de predominancia de la banda de frecuencia. En un inicio, la HF presenta una mayor potencia, factor que se ve invertido en el final del registro fonográfico. Este hecho se asimila a que el feto pasa de estar en reposo a estar activo, pero relajado, y al final de la prueba, parece que se empieza a estresar. Los resultados obtenidos se deben contrastar en una base de datos mayor, que permita determinar si estos resultados son generalizables, y analizar si hay otros factores que puedan influir en la respuesta cardíaca del feto., The study of cardiac activity in fetuses is a vital tool for understanding and monitoring the response of the heart to different stimuli and the behavior of other systems that affect it, such as the nervous system. One of the most commonly used parameters to study the heart is the Heart Rate Variability (HRV). There are different devices that allow obtaining the fetal heart rate, and consequently, the HRV. In the present work, a microphone connected to the output of a cardiotocograph has been used to record the heart sounds of a fetus. The aim of this project is to analyze fetal cardiac activity in order to study the influence of different auditory stimuli in the form of a voice. Different signal processing methods have been used to obtain the HRV parameters, such as filtering, interpolation, calculation of the envelope and power spectral density. The results obtained allow us to analyze the cardiac behavior of a fetus influenced by an external voice. The time parameters of the HRV increase as the recording progresses, i.e., the variability of the heart rate increases. At the same time, there is a change in the predominance of the frequency band. Initially, HF presents a greater power, a fact that is reversed towards the end of the phonographic recording. This is likened to the fetus going from being at rest to being active, but relaxed, and at the end of the test, it appears to start to become stressed. The results obtained should be checked against a large database to determine whether these results are generalizable, and to analyze whether there are other factors that may influence the fetal cardiac response.

As one of the biggest contributors to road accidents and fatalities, drink driving is worthy of significant research attention. However, most existing systems on detecting or preventing drink driving either require special hardware or require much effort from the user, making these systems inapplicable to continuous drink driving monitoring in a real driving environment. In this paper, we present DetectDUI, a contactless, non-invasive, real-time system that yields a relatively highly accurate drink driving monitoring by combining vital signs (heart rate and respiration rate) extracted from in-car WiFi system and driver's psychomotor coordination through steering wheel operations. The framework consists of a series of signal processing algorithms for extracting clean and informative vital signs and psychomotor coordination, and integrate the two data streams using a self-attention convolutional neural network (i.e., C-Attention). In safe laboratory experiments with 15 participants, DetectDUI achieves drink driving detection accuracy of 96.6% and BAC predictions with an average mean error of 2 ~ 5mg/dl. These promising results provide a highly encouraging case for continued development. Author

Fatigue is believed to be the leading factor for traffic accidents (e.g., fatigue driving) and health problems (e.g., heart disease and diabetes). However, fatigue-related risks are difficult to quantify because there is no efficient and reliable fatigue detection method comparable to blood alcohol testing for drunk drivers. Conventional fatigue detection methods either require wiring of sensors (e.g., EEG, ECG) that are inconvenient or leverage video camera systems that are lighting sensitive and may leak privacy. We present Ubi-Fatigue, a comfortable and contactless fatigue monitor system using wireless signals. Ubi-Fatigue combines both vital signs and facial features to achieve reliable fatigue detection. A series of novel signal recovery algorithms are developed to extract the heartbeat signal and the eye blink signal from the same raw signal captured by the single-antenna radar. We have implemented a fully-functional prototype of Ubi-Fatigue using off-the-shelf radar. 20 volunteers are involved in extensive experiments for a total duration of 480 hours with more than 60 hours of collected time-series data. The results demostrate that Fatigue-Radio can reach a detection accuracy of 81.4%, which is higher than ECG-or visual-based fatigue detection systems, and is approximated to ECG+visual based fatigue detection system. Ubi-Fatigue is expected to provide a potential solution for smart home applications in the coming day. IEEE

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As one of the biggest contributors to road accidents and fatalities, drink driving is worthy of significant research attention. However, most existing systems on detecting or preventing drink driving either require special hardware or require much effort from the user, making these systems inapplicable to continuous drink driving monitoring in a real driving environment. In this paper, we present DetectDUI, a contactless, non-invasive, real-time system that yields a relatively highly accurate drink driving monitoring by combining vital signs (heart rate and respiration rate) extracted from in-car WiFi system and driver's psychomotor coordination through steering wheel operations. The framework consists of a series of signal processing algorithms for extracting clean and informative vital signs and psychomotor coordination, and integrate the two data streams using a self-attention convolutional neural network (i.e., C-Attention). In safe laboratory experiments with 15 participants, DetectDUI achieves drink driving detection accuracy of 96.6% and BAC predictions with an average mean error of 2 ~ 5mg/dl. These promising results provide a highly encouraging case for continued development. Author

As one of the biggest contributors to road accidents and fatalities, drink driving is worthy of significant research attention. However, most existing systems on detecting or preventing drink driving either require special hardware or require much effort from the user, making these systems inapplicable to continuous drink driving monitoring in a real driving environment. In this paper, we present DetectDUI, a contactless, non-invasive, real-time system that yields a relatively highly accurate drink driving monitoring by combining vital signs (heart rate and respiration rate) extracted from in-car WiFi system and driver's psychomotor coordination through steering wheel operations. The framework consists of a series of signal processing algorithms for extracting clean and informative vital signs and psychomotor coordination, and integrate the two data streams using a self-attention convolutional neural network (i.e., C-Attention). In safe laboratory experiments with 15 participants, DetectDUI achieves drink driving detection accuracy of 96.6% and BAC predictions with an average mean error of 2 ~ 5mg/dl. These promising results provide a highly encouraging case for continued development. Author

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) produces autonomic dysfunction that promotes the development of arrhythmia and hypertension in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This paper investigated different heart rate variability (HRV) indices in the context of IH using a rat model for OSA. Linear and non-linear HRV parameters were assessed from ultra-short (15-s segments) and short-term (5 min) analyses of heartbeat time-series. Transient changes observed from pre-apnea segments to hypoxia episodes were evaluated, besides the relative and global impact of IH, as a function of its severity. Results showed an overall increase in ultra-short HRV markers as immediate response to hypoxia: standard deviation of normal RR intervals, SDNN = 1.2 ms (IQR: 1.1-2.1) vs 1.4 ms (IQR: 1.2-2.2), p = 0.015; root mean square of the successive differences, RMSSD = 1.7 ms (IQR: 1.5-2.2) vs 1.9 ms (IQR: 1.6-2.4), p = 0.031. The power in the very low frequency (VLF) band also showed a significant increase: 0.09 ms 2 (IQR: 0.05-0.20) vs 0.16 ms 2 (IQR: 0.12-0.23), p = 0.016, probably associated with the potentiation of the carotid body chemo-sensory response to hypoxia. Moreover, a clear link between severity of IH and short-term HRV measures was found in VLF and LF power, besides their progressive increase seen throughout the experiment after each apnea sequence. However, only those markers quantifying fragmentation levels in RR series were significantly affected when the experiment ended, as compared to baseline measures: percentage of inflection points, PIP = 49% (IQR: 45-51) vs 53% (IQR: 47-53), p = 0.031; percentage of short (geq 3 RR intervals) accelerated/decelerated segments, PSS = 75% (IQR: 51-81) vs 87% (IQR: 51-90), p = 0.046. These findings suggest a significant deterioration of cardiac rhythm with a more erratic behavior beyond the normal sinus arrhythmia, that may lead to a future cardiac condition., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

As the use of pesticides reached massive proportion, a darker side of these toxic chemicals revealed itself. Carried by natural forces such as wind, rain and the flow of rivers and ocean currents, residues of organochlorines being to appear everywhere on the globe, from tropical forests to Antarctic snows. Worse still, the slowly decomposing chemicals were talking their toll among many non–target fish and wildlife species. It becomes clear from the residue found in the bodies of dead or dying birds, that pesticides were directly responsible for their deaths. The direct kills were very stunning and at the gradual build-up of organochlorines in fish and wildlife tissues was another unforeseen consequence that posed an even greater long–term threat. Organochlorines residues persist in the environment for years after their application has ceased. Because of their stability, as well as other chemical properties, they accumulate at high concentration in the bodies of animals at the top of some ecological food chains. Present research paper pointing out the effect of Endosulfan on Hear beat of fresh water crab Barytelphusa guerini by analyzing statically data with graphically.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients exhibit impaired autonomic control which can be assessed by heart rate variability analysis. The study aims to evaluate the cardiac autonomic responses of COPD patients after completing a conventional six-minute walk test (6MWT). Fifty COPD patients were included in the study, for which an ECG signal (lead II) was acquired by a wearable device, before, during, and after the test. We used the heart rate (HR) time-series to assess the heart rate dynamic during recovery. The heart rate recovery (HRR) marker was evaluated every 5 s after the 6MWT and showed different dynamic trends among severity groups. We compared the HRR among patient groups classified according to the GOLD standard. Significantly larger normalized HRR values (nHRR) were found in mild COPD patients (n=23, GOLD={1,2}; nHRR1=14.8±7.5 %, nHRR2=18.6±8.1 %) compared to those with more disease severity (n=23, GOLD={3,4}; nHRR1=9.3±5.8 %, p=0.002; and nHRR2= 13.7±6.7 %, p=0.041). The largest differences were observed around the first 30 s of the recovery phase (nHRR=10.8±6.6 % vs. nHRR=5.6±4 % p=0.001). Our results showed a slower recovery for the severest patients, suggesting that cardiac parameters like the ones we propose here, may provide valuable information for a better characterization of COPD severity., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

L’objectiu del present projecte és la posada en pràctica dels coneixements adquirits durant el grau, que s’hauran de materialitzar en el present treball. L’usuari d’una bicicleta i l’entorn que l’envolta, generen unes dades que és possible monitoritzar. En el present projecte s’ha dissenyat un enginy específic per a bicicletes que monitoritza i comparteix amb l’usuari, tan les dades que genera el propi usuari de la bicicleta en utilitzar-la, com ara la velocitat o la freqüència cardíaca, com les dades generades per l’entorn, com pot ser la contaminació o la lluminositat, entre d’altres. Aquest enginy s’ha dissenyat per donar resposta a una demanda no coberta per cap altre producte del mercat, que permetria tan la millora en el rendiment de l’usuari com conèixer els factors ambientals que afecten l’usuari durant la realització de l’activitat. Es mostraria com una eina eficaç en l’apartat de seguretat vial, ja que permet avisar amb diferents alarmes de problemes a l’entor, com un accident de circulació o falta de lluminositat, i en l’apartat d’emergències mèdiques és capaç de detectar signes d’insuficiència cardíaca en l’usuari i excés de contaminació ambiental, alhora que permet indicar quin és el moment més òptim per a dur a terme l’activitat. Aquest dispositiu s’ha dissenyat per funcionar amb dispositius mòbils o autònomament., El objetivo del presente proyecto es la puesta en práctica de los conocimientos adquiridos durante el grado, que se deberán materializar en el presente trabajo. El usuario de una bicicleta, juntamente con el entorno en el que está, genera unos datos que es posible monitorizar. En el presente proyecto se ha diseñado un ingenio específico para bicicletas que monitoriza y comparte con el usuario tanto los datos generados por el propio usuario de la bicicleta al utilizar-la, como la velocidad o la frecuencia cardíaca, como los datos generado por el entorno, como pueden ser la contaminación o la luminosidad ambiental, entre otros. Este ingenio se ha diseñado para dar respuesta a una demanda no cubierta por ningún otro producto en el mercado, que permitiría la mejora en el rendimiento del usuario, así como conocer los factores ambientales que afectan al usuario durante la realización de la actividad. Se muestra como una herramienta eficaz en el apartado de seguridad vial, ya que permite avisar con diferentes alarmas de problemas ambientales tales como un accidente de circulación o falta de luminosidad, y en el apartado de emergencias médicas es capaz de detectar signos de insuficiencia cardíaca en el usuario y exceso de contaminación ambiental, a la vez que permite indicar cuál es el momento idóneo para llevar a cabo la actividad. Este dispositivo está diseñado para funcionar juntamente con dispositivos móviles o bien autónomamente., The aim of this project is to apply all the knowledge acquired on the Bachelor degree in the design of a bicycle device. A cyclist and his/her surrounded environment generate data that, by using the device designed in this project, can be recorded and shared with the user as, for example, the speed or the heart rate. Furthermore, this device can also provide information about the surroundings like the air pollution or road’s brightness. In this project it’s reported the design and the production of a device which allow the user (cyclist) to obtain information about possible issues presented during the route. Moreover, this gadget which responds to a demand not covered by any other product in the market. The information given include two different categories: road safety and medical emergencies. In the first category, issues as traffic accident or dark roads would be reported by the device to warn the user by different alarms. In the second category, information about environmental pollution or heartbeat disturbances would be provided to the user. This device is designed to work by itself or with mobile device.

La freqüència cardíaca és un dels indicadors fisiològics i psicològics més importants de l'ésser humà. No obstant això, els mètodes tradicionals per mesurar-la impliquen contacte amb sensors electrònics o instruments especialitzats, cosa que és incòmoda i/o inconvenient. Així doncs, en aquest projecte es planteja una alternativa de mesura remota sense necessitat de contacte. En aquest document queden recollits el desenvolupament i resultats de la implementació d'un sistema de detecció i monitoratge no invasius de la freqüència cardíaca mitjançant eines de visió per computador., Heart rate is one of the most important physiological and psychological indicators of human beings. However, traditional methods for measuring it involve contact with electronic sensors or specialized instruments, which is uncomfortable and/or inconvenient. Thus, this project proposes an alternative of remote measurement without the need for contact. This document sets out the development and results of the implementation of a non-invasive heart rate detection and monitoring system using computer vision tools.

La asociación entre la obesidad y un mayor riesgo de morbimortalidad cardiometabólica es un hecho, pero las alteracionesmetabólicas provocan cambios autonómicos que no siempre son detectados en una institución de salud. Objetivo: Evidenciar el efecto deun protocolo interválico de alta intensidad sobre la actividad cardiovagal en personas con sobrepeso, evaluando por medio de lavariabilidad de la frecuencia cardiaca. Método: Colaboraron 20 personas con sobrepeso, sin otros antecedentes mórbidos. Su edad fue de24,6 ± 2,17 años; índice de masa corporal (IMC) de 27,11 ± 1,38 kg•m-2; presión arterial sistólica y diastólica de 126,4 ± 2,49 y de 86,1± 1,85 mmHg, respectivamente. El muestreo fue realizado por conveniencia. Se distribuyeron aleatoriamente en Grupo de intervención(GI, n=10) y Grupo de Control (GC, n=10). Resultados: Se registraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos, en los tiempos dondelos valores de inicio son menores que a la sexta semana (F: 120,412; G.L.=1; 7; p= 0,003). Además, existe diferencia estadística entre elvalor SD1 del GC > GE (F: 6,700; G.L.=1; 7; p= 0,036) y solamente en el GI, entre la 1 semana > 6 semana (EMMEANS =10,400;p=0,001). Conclusión: En seis semanas de intervención, con un protocolo de activación vagal, aumentó la modulación parasimpática enreposo en personas con sobrepeso., The association between obesity and an increased risk of cardiometabolic morbidity and mortality is a fact, but most of thetime there are metabolic disorders that cause autonomic changes not always detected by health institutions. Objective: To demonstratethe effect of a high intensity and short duration interval protocol on cardiovagal activity in overweight people through the evaluation ofheart rate variability. Method: a total of 20 overweight people without other morbid backgrounds collaborated in the study. Their age was24.6 ± 2.17 years old; body mass index (BMI) of 27.11 ± 1.38 kg • m-2; systolic and diastolic blood pressure of 126.4 ± 2.49 and 86.1± 1.85 mmHg, respectively. Sampling was done by convenience. They were randomly distributed in Intervention Group (GI, n = 10) andControl Group (GC, n = 10). Results: Significant differences were registered between the groups, the starting values being lower thanafter sixth week (F: 120,412; G.L. = 1; 7; p = 0,003). In addition, there is a statistical difference between the SD1 value of the GC> GE(F: 6,700; GL = 1; 7; p = 0.036) and only in the GI, between 1 week> 6 weeks (EMMEANS = 10,400; p = 0.001). Conclusion: Afterthe six-week intervention with a vagal activation protocol, parasympathetic modulation at rest increased in overweight people.

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting /republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works, Neural respiratory drive as measured by the electromyography allows the study of the imbalance between the load on respiratory muscles and its capacity. Surface respiratory electromyography (sEMG) is a non-invasive tool used for indirectly assessment of NRD. It also provides a way to evaluate the level and pattern of respiratory muscle activation. The prevalence of electrocardiographic activity (ECG) in respiratory sEMG signals hinders its proper evaluation. Moreover, the occurrence of abnormal heartbeats or cardiac arrhythmias in respiratory sEMG measures can make even more challenging the NRD estimation. Respiratory sEMG can be evaluated using the fixed sample entropy (fSampEn), a technique which is less affected by cardiac artefacts. The aim of this work was to investigate the performance of the fSampEn, the root mean square (RMS) and the average rectified value (ARV) on respiratory sEMG signals with supraventricular arrhythmias (SVA) for NRD estimation. fSampEn, ARV and RMS parameters increased as the inspiratory load increased during the test. fSampEn was less influenced by ECG with SVAs for the NRD estimation showing a greater response to respiratory sEMG, reflected with a higher percentage increase with increasing load (228 % total increase, compared to 142 % and 135 % for ARV and RMS, respectively)., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

© 2019 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0, A measurement method of heart rate and heart rate variability (HRV) based on smartphone has been developed and validated. The method is based on photoplethysmography (PPG) acquired with the smartphone camera (SPPG). SPPG was compared with the electrocardiogram (ECG), used as the gold standard, and with an external PPG sensor. Twenty-three healthy subjects were measured using two different smartphone models in three different breathing conditions. The error of the first differentiation between SPPG and ECG series is minimized with the fiducial point at maximum first derivative of the SPPG. The obtained standard deviation of error (SDE) between SPPG and ECG is around 5.4 ms and it is similar to SDE between PPG and ECG. Good agreement between SPPG and ECG for NN, SDNN and RMSSD have been found but it is insufficient agreement for LF/HF. Similar levels of agreement for SPPG-ECG and PPG-ECG have been obtained for the HRV indices. Finally, the differences between smartphone models for HRV indices are slight. Therefore, the smartphone can be used for measuring accurately the following HRV indices: NN, SDNN and RMSSD., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting /republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works, Developing a tool which identifies emotions based on their effect on cardiac activity may have a potential impact on clinical practice, since it may help in the diagnosing of psycho-neural illnesses. In this study, a method based on the analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) guided by respiration is proposed. The method was based on redefining the high frequency (HF) band, not only to be centered at the respiratory frequency, but also to have a bandwidth dependent on the respiratory spectrum. The method was first tested using simulated HRV signals, yielding the minimum estimation errors as compared to classical and respiratory frequency centered at HF band based definitions, independently of the values of the sympathovagal ratio. Then, the proposed method was applied to discriminate emotions in a database of video-induced elicitation. Five emotional states, relax, joy, fear, sadness and anger, were considered. The maximum correlation between HRV and respiration spectra discriminated joy vs. relax, joy vs. each negative valence emotion, and fear vs. sadness with p-value = 0.05 and AUC = 0.70. Based on these results, human emotion characterization may be improved by adding respiratory information to HRV analysis., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Objective: This works investigates the time-frequency content of impedance cardiography signals during a propofol-remifentanil anesthesia. Materials and Methods: In the last years, impedance cardiography (ICG) is a technique which has gained much attention. However, ICG signals need further investigation. Time-Frequency Distributions (TFDs) with 5 different kernels are used in order to analyze impedance cardiography signals (ICG) before the start of the anesthesia and after the loss of consciousness. In total, ICG signals from one hundred and thirty-one consecutive patients undergoing major surgery under general anesthesia were analyzed. Several features were extracted from the calculated TFDs in order to characterize the time-frequency content of the ICG signals. Differences between those features before and after the loss of consciousness were studied. Results: The Extended Modified Beta Distribution (EMBD) was the kernel for which most features shows statistically significant changes between before and after the loss of consciousness. Among all analyzed features, those based on entropy showed a sensibility, specificity and area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic above 60%. Conclusion: The anesthetic state of the patient is reflected on linear and non-linear features extracted from the TFDs of the ICG signals. Especially, the EMBD is a suitable kernel for the analysis of ICG signals and offers a great range of features which change according to the patient’s anesthesia state in a statistically significant way., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Purpose This study was conducted to test, in mountain running route conditions, the accuracy of the Polar V800™ monitor as a suitable device for monitoring the heart rate variability (HRV) of runners. Method Eighteen healthy subjects ran a route that included a range of running slopes such as those encountered in trail and ultra-trail races. The comparative study of a V800 and a Holter SEER 12 ECG Recorder™ included the analysis of RR time series and short-term HRV analysis. A correction algorithm was designed to obtain the corrected Polar RR intervals. Six 5-min segments related to different running slopes were considered for each subject. Results The correlation between corrected V800 RR intervals and Holter RR intervals was very high (r¿=¿0.99, p¿<¿0.001), and the bias was less than 1 ms. The limits of agreement (LoA) obtained for SDNN and RMSSD were (-¿0.25 to 0.32 ms) and (-¿0.90 to 1.08 ms), respectively. The effect size (ES) obtained in the time domain HRV parameters was considered small (ES¿<¿0.2). Frequency domain HRV parameters did not differ (p¿>¿0.05) and were well correlated (r¿=¿0.96, p¿<¿0.001). Conclusion Narrow limits of agreement, high correlations and small effect size suggest that the Polar V800 is a valid tool for the analysis of heart rate variability in athletes while running high endurance events such as marathon, trail, and ultra-trail races., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

The aim of the study was to analyze heart rate variability (HRV) response to high-intensity exercise during a 35-km mountain trail race and to ascertain whether fitness level could influence autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation. Time-domain, frequency-domain, and multi-scale entropy (MSE) indexes were calculated for eleven mountain-trail runners who completed the race. Many changes were observed, mostly related to exercise load and fatigue. These changes were characterized by increased mean values and standard deviations of the normal-to-normal intervals associated with sympathetic activity, and by decreased differences between successive intervals related to parasympathetic activity. Normalized low frequency (LF) power suggested that ANS modulation varied greatly during the race and between individuals. Normalized high frequency (HF) power, associated with parasympathetic activity, varied considerably over the race, and tended to decrease at the final stages, whereas changes in the LF/HF ratio corresponded to intervals with varying exercise load. MSE indexes, related to system complexity, indicated the existence of many interactions between the heart and its neurological control mechanism. The time-domain, frequency-domain, and MSE indexes were also able to discriminate faster from slower runners, mainly in the more difficult and in the final stages of the race. These findings suggest the use of HRV analysis to study cardiac function mechanisms in endurance sports, Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)

Emotions are directly related whit external or internal stimulation which a person is submitted, influencing these stimuli on their physical and mental health. These emotional changes produce variations in cardiovascular behavior and respiratory activity. This research proposes the characterization of cardiac system in healthy subject submitted to 3 different audiovisual stimuli, by means of the analysis of Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and upward and downward slopes of the QRS complex. The electrocardiographic signal (3 leads) was recorded from 29 healthy subjects. An audiovisual stimulation protocol was designed. Principal characteristic of ECG signals were extracted. After, a model was designed based on a Fuzzy K Nearest Neighbors classifier to determine different cardiac patterns related to each stimulus. Two classification procedure were performed, the first comparing all groups of stimuli, and the second comparing each pair of stimuli. These comparisons were applied to each obtained characteristic, HRV, and slopes. According to the results, HRV was able to differentiate between basal state and fear, with an area under the curve of 79%. Finally, two new healthy subjects were analysed with the obtained model. The pattern used with HRV and the upward slope of QRS showed clear differences between the propose stimuli., Postprint (published version)

Background: Optimization of cardiac output (CO) has been evidenced to reduce postoperative complications and to expedite the recovery. Likewise, CO and other dynamic cardiac parameters can describe the systemic blood flow and tissue oxygenation state and can be useful in different clinical fields. This study aimed to validate the qCO monitor (Quantium Medical, Barcelona, Spain), a new device to estimate CO and other related parameters in a continuous, fully non-invasive way using advanced digital signal processing of impedance cardiography. Methods: The LiDCOrapidv2 (LiDCO Ltd, London, UK) was used to compare the performance of the qCO in 15 patients during major surgery under general anesthesia. Full surgeries were recorded and cardiac output obtained by both devices was compared by using correlation and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: The Bland-Altman analysis showed sufficient agreement with a mean bias of -0.03 ± 0.71 L/min. Conclusions: The findings showed that both systems offered comparable values and thus the non-invasive measurement of CO with qCO is a promising, feasible method. Further investigation will be required to validate this new device against calibrated devices and outcome studies would also be highly recommended., Postprint (author's final draft)

A novel algorithm JDet for ballistocardiogram (BCG) cycle extraction is presented that is intended for the fast generation of ensemble averages in ambulatory scenarios where the ECG signal is not available. First, the sensitivity (Se) and positive predictivity (+P) of JDet are evaluated on recordings obtained from 14 healthy subjects that stood on a modified weighing scale, and the results are compared with those from BSeg++, a popular BCG cycle-extraction algorithm. Second, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is calculated for ensemble averages generated by using JDet, BSeg++, and the ECG R-waves on recordings of different duration. The results show that JDet has higher Se and similar +P than BSeg++. Therefore, the quality of the ensemble averages generated from JDet can be comparable to those generated from the ECG, the only cost being a 25% longer recording time., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

This thesis, assigned by Plantronics, proposes a solution to the motion artifacts that corrupt the results of PPG (Photo Plethysmo Graphic) signals and therefore the determined heart rate during physical exercises. An Infra-Red light emitting diode and phototransistor package was used to create a PPG signal that was amplified using an operational amplifier and filtered using a high pass and low pass filter. Research was done on PPG signals corrupted by motion with the help of an accelerometer. The fast Fourier transform of the signals showed that there is a relation between the frequency components of the PPG signal and motion signals. Based on this finding a working filter was designed in MATLAB that compares the frequency spectrum of the PPG to motion signals and removes any overlap. The experimental results for running motions prove the correct functioning of this system and showed that invasive sensing techniques are unnecessary., Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics & Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

This work proposes a systematic procedure to report the differences between heart rate variability time series obtained from alternative measurements reporting the spread and mean of the differences as well as the agreement between measuring procedures and quantifying how stationary, random and normal the differences between alternative measurements are. A description of the complete automatic procedure to obtain a differences time series (DTS) from two alternative methods, a proposal of a battery of statistical tests, and a set of statistical indicators to better describe the differences in RR interval estimation are also provided. Results show that the spread and agreement depend on the choice of alternative measurements and that the DTS cannot be considered generally as a white or as a normally distributed process. Nevertheless, in controlled measurements the DTS can be considered as a stationary process., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (published version)

Postprint (author's final draft)

Postprint (author's final draft)

Myocardial ischaemia is hypothesized to stimulate the cardiac sympathetic excitatory afferents and, therefore, the spontaneous changes of heart period (approximated as the RR interval), and the QT interval in ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (IDC) patients might reflect this sympathetic activation. Symbolic analysis is a nonlinear and powerful tool for the extraction and classification of patterns in time-series analysis, which implies a transformation of the original series into symbols and the construction of patterns with the symbols. The aim of this work was to investigate whether symbolic transformations of RR and QT cardiac series can provide a better separation between IDC patients and healthy control (HC) subjects compared with traditional linear measures. The variability of these cardiac series was studied during daytime and night-time periods and also during the complete 24 h recording over windows of short data sequences of approximately 5 min. The IDC group was characterized by an increase in the occurrence rate of patterns without variations (0V%) and a reduction in the occurrence rate of patterns with one variation (1 V%) and two variations (2V%). Concerning the RR variability during the daytime, the highest number of patterns had 0V%, whereas the rates of 1V% and 2V% were lower. During the night, 1V% and 2V% increased at the expense of diminishing 0V%. Patterns with and without variations between consecutive symbols were able to increase the separation between the IDC and HC groups, allowing accuracies higher than 80%. With regard to entropy measures, an increase in RR regularity was associated with cardiac disease described by accuracy > 70% in the RR series and by accuracy > 60% in the QTc series. These results could be associated with an increase in the sympathetic tone in IDC patients., Postprint (author’s final draft)

En este trabajo se estudia la actividad eléctrica cardíaca por medio del modelo del bidominio, el cual, describe el comportamiento eléctrico del tejido cardíaco, basado en el flujo de corriente, la distribución del potencial eléctrico y la conservación de carga y corriente [7], para esto se utiliza el esquema de volúmenes finitos construido sobre mallas rectangulares, donde se realiza un análisis cualitativo de acuerdo a las simulaciones realizadas -- La discretización se enfocará en los algoritmos existentes para ecuaciones elípticas y parabólicas donde su convergencia estará garantizada por la teoría clásica -- En general el modelo de los volúmenes finitos involucra los siguientes pasos (42): a) Descomposición del dominio en volúmenes de control -- b) Formulación de las integrales sobre cada volumen de control -- c) Aproximación de las integrales por integración numérica -- d) Aproximación de las derivadas por algún esquema numérico como el de Euler -- e) Montaje y solución del sistema algebraico discreto

This thesis, assigned by Plantronics, proposes a solution to the motion artifacts that corrupt the results of PPG (Photo Plethysmo Graphic) signals and therefore the determined heart rate during physical exercises. An Infra-Red light emitting diode and phototransistor package was used to create a PPG signal that was amplified using an operational amplifier and filtered using a high pass and low pass filter. Research was done on PPG signals corrupted by motion with the help of an accelerometer. The fast Fourier transform of the signals showed that there is a relation between the frequency components of the PPG signal and motion signals. Based on this finding a working filter was designed in MATLAB that compares the frequency spectrum of the PPG to motion signals and removes any overlap. The experimental results for running motions prove the correct functioning of this system and showed that invasive sensing techniques are unnecessary., Electrical Engineering, Microelectronics & Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Determinar les característiques de bombeig d'un cor com a bomba volumétrica.Simular comportament cor sa, incloent-hi dinámica de vàlvules i l'evolució dels volums durant un cicle. Avaluar l'efecte de determinades cardiopaties comunicants sobre el bombeig. Ampliar simulació i fer-ne anàlisi.Introduir efectes no lineals i propietats reològiques reals de la sang., En l’actualitat, el nombre d’investigacions i de projectes realitzats amb la col·laboració de diverses disciplines de la ciència i la tecnologia és més elevat. Per tal de trobar equacions o lleis genèriques que permetin definir la realitat, cada vegada més es requereix un conjunt de coneixements de diversos àmbits. En el cas del present estudi, es pretén fer un anàlisi comparatiu de la capacitat de bombeig del cor en condicions normals i quan es presenten algunes cardiopaties congènites. Per assolir-ho, s’ha emprat els sistemes Bondgraph que permeten definir qualsevol realitat com un conjunt d’elements interconnectats entre si que dissipen energia, n’emmagatzemen, etc. Els resultats obtinguts obren les portes a assajar altres cardiopaties congènites o patologies cardiovasculars., Nowadays researches and projects that include all kind of science and technology disciplines are increasing in number. In order to find equations or general laws that can define reality, knowledge in several fields is increasingly required. In the case of this study, the aim is to make a comparative analysis of the pumping ability of the human heart between normal conditions and some congenital heart diseases. To do so, Bondgraph systems have been considered the best option because they allow to represent the reality as a set of interconnected elements which can dissipate energy, keep energy, etc. The obtained results lead to try other congenital heart diseases or some other cardiovascular diseases.

In this paper we present a framework to enable data-intensive Spark workloads on MareNostrum, a petascale supercomputer designed mainly for compute-intensive applications. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to investigate optimized deployment configurations of Spark on a petascale HPC setup. We detail the design of the framework and present some benchmark data to provide insights into the scalability of the system. We examine the impact of different configurations including parallelism, storage and networking alternatives, and we discuss several aspects in executing Big Data workloads on a computing system that is based on the compute-centric paradigm. Further, we derive conclusions aiming to pave the way towards systematic and optimized methodologies for fine-tuning data-intensive application on large clusters emphasizing on parallelism configurations., Peer Reviewed, Postprint (author's final draft)