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Fibre Bragg Gratings (FBGs), another category of optical sensors, have been widely utilized due to their small size, higher sensitivity, and multiplexing capabilities. In the presented study, FBG arrays-based respiratory belts have been designed to analyze the breathing patterns occurring during different stages of breathing i.e., Normal, Accelerated, and Apnea. The arrays were encapsulated in liquid silicone for enhanced ruggedness and flexural strength. The belts were placed in three sections of the cardiovascular section of the human anatomy namely, Chest, Upper Abdomen, and Lower Abdomen. For understanding the effects of human body postures over the performance of arrays-based respiratory belts, the respiratory activity was monitored in Standing, Sitting and Supine postures. Also, for validation and cross-referencing purposes, the data obtained was compared with an electronic respiratory belt. For de-noising the data, a comparison between various techniques has been presented, and Daubechies 5 was utilized as it offered lower values of percentage distortion (PRD i.e. distortion in denoised signal) and root mean square error (RMSE) i.e., 1.0508 and 0.5632 respectively. The performed study revealed efficient and swift data collection capabilities of array-based respiratory belts for all body postures. The data was visualized using Frequency-Time analysis (ν-T), and the effects of change in respiratory activity and subsequent frequency ranges were traced. Frequency ranges (in Hz) of (0.30–0.46) and (0.72–1.30) were acquired for normal and accelerated breathing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Growing evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a marker of physical effort and a variable sensitive to changes in exercise tolerance. The comparison between arm+leg cycling (Arm+leg) and leg cycling (Leg) has the potential to further test this notion because a greater exercise tolerance is expected in the Arm+leg modality. We systematically compared Arm+leg vs. Leg using different performance tests. Methods: Twelve males underwent six performance tests in separate, randomized visits. Three tests were performed in each of the two exercise modalities, i.e. an incremental test and two time-to-exhaustion (TTE) tests performed at 90% or 75% of the peak power output reached in the Leg incremental test (PPOLeg). Exercise tolerance, perceived exertion, and cardiorespiratory variables were recorded during all the tests. Results: A greater exercise tolerance (p < 0.001) was found for Arm+leg in the incremental test (337 ± 32W vs. 292 ± 28 W), in the TTE test at 90% of PPOLeg (638 ± 154 s vs. 307 ± 67 s), and in the TTE test at 75% of PPOLeg (1,675 ± 525 s vs. 880 ± 363 s). Unlike ...O2 and heart rate, both fR and minute ventilation were lower (p < 0.003) at isotime in all the Arm+leg tests vs. Leg tests. Furthermore, a lower perceived exertion was observed in the Arm+leg tests, especially during the TTE tests (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Minute ventilation, fR and perceived exertion are sensitive to the improvements in exercise tolerance observed when comparing Arm+leg vs. Leg, unlike ...O2 and heart rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant proportion of babies that are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) suffer from late onset sepsis (LOS). In order to prevent mortality and morbidity, the early detection of LOS is of the utmost importance. Recent works have found that the use of machine learning techniques might help detect LOS at an early stage. Some works have shown that linear methods (i.e., logistic regression) display a superior performance when predicting LOS. Nevertheless, as research on this topic is still in an early phase, it has not been ruled out that non-linear machine learning (ML) techniques can improve the predictive performance. Moreover, few studies have assessed the effect of parameters other than heart rate variability (HRV). Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of non-linear methods and assesses whether other vital parameters such as respiratory rate, perfusion index, and oxygen saturation could be of added value when predicting LOS. In contrast with the findings in the literature, it was found that non-linear methods showed a superior performance compared with linear models. In particular, it was found that random forest performed best (AUROC: 0.973), 24% better than logistic regression (AUROC: 0.782). Nevertheless, logistic regression was found to perform similarly to some non-linear models when trained with a short training window. Furthermore, when also taking training time into account, K-Nearest Neighbors was found to be the most beneficial (AUROC: 0.950). In line with the literature, we found that training the models on HRV features yielded the best results. Lastly, the results revealed that non-linear methods demonstrated a superior performance compared with linear methods when adding respiratory features to the HRV feature set, which ensured the greatest improvement in terms of AUROC score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a valid marker of physical effort. This has stimulated interest in developing devices that allow athletes and exercise practitioners to monitor this vital sign. The numerous technical challenges posed by breathing monitoring in sporting scenarios (e.g., motion artifacts) require careful consideration of the variety of sensors potentially suitable for this purpose. Despite being less prone to motion artifacts than other sensors (e.g., strain sensors), microphone sensors have received limited attention so far. This paper proposes the use of a microphone embedded in a facemask for estimating fR from breath sounds during walking and running. fR was estimated in the time domain as the time elapsed between consecutive exhalation events retrieved from breathing sounds every 30 s. Data were collected from ten healthy subjects (both males and females) at rest and during walking (at 3 km/h and 6 km/h) and running (at 9 km/h and 12 km/h) activities. The reference respiratory signal was recorded with an orifice flowmeter. The mean absolute error (MAE), the mean of differences (MOD), and the limits of agreements (LOAs) were computed separately for each condition. Relatively good agreement was found between the proposed system and the reference system, with MAE and MOD values increasing with the increase in exercise intensity and ambient noise up to a maximum of 3.8 bpm (breaths per minute) and −2.0 bpm, respectively, during running at 12 km/h. When considering all the conditions together, we found an MAE of 1.7 bpm and an MOD ± LOAs of −0.24 ± 5.07 bpm. These findings suggest that microphone sensors can be considered among the suitable options for estimating fR during exercise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Growing evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a marker of physical effort and a variable sensitive to changes in exercise tolerance. The comparison between arm+leg cycling (Arm+leg) and leg cycling (Leg) has the potential to further test this notion because a greater exercise tolerance is expected in the Arm+leg modality. We systematically compared Arm+leg vs. Leg using different performance tests.Methods: Twelve males underwent six performance tests in separate, randomized visits. Three tests were performed in each of the two exercise modalities, i.e. an incremental test and two time-to-exhaustion (TTE) tests performed at 90% or 75% of the peak power output reached in the Leg incremental test (PPOLeg). Exercise tolerance, perceived exertion, and cardiorespiratory variables were recorded during all the tests.Results: A greater exercise tolerance (p < 0.001) was found for Arm+leg in the incremental test (337 ± 32 W vs. 292 ± 28 W), in the TTE test at 90% of PPOLeg (638 ± 154 s vs. 307 ± 67 s), and in the TTE test at 75% of PPOLeg (1,675 ± 525 s vs. 880 ± 363 s). Unlike V˙O2 and heart rate, both fR and minute ventilation were lower (p < 0.003) at isotime in all the Arm+leg tests vs. Leg tests. Furthermore, a lower perceived exertion was observed in the Arm+leg tests, especially during the TTE tests (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Minute ventilation, fR and perceived exertion are sensitive to the improvements in exercise tolerance observed when comparing Arm+leg vs. Leg, unlike V˙O2 and heart rate.

Background: Physical exercise is a source of stress to the human body, triggering different ventilatory responses through different regulatory mechanisms and the aquatic environment imposes several restrictions to the swimmer, particularly regarding the restricted ventilation. Thus, we aimed to assess the acute ventilatory responses and to characterize the adopted breathing patterns when swimming front crawl at increasing intensity domains. Methods: Eighteen well-trained swimmers performed 7 × 200 m front crawl (0.05 m∙s−1 velocity increments) and a maximal 100 m (30 s rest intervals). Pulmonary gas exchange and ventilation were continuously measured (breath-bybreath) and capillary blood samples for lactate concentration ([La−]) analysis were collected at rest, during intervals and at the end of the protocol, allowing the identification of the low, moderate, heavy, severe and extreme intensity domains. Results: With the swimming velocity rise, respiratory frequency (fR), [La−] and stroke rate (SR) increased ([29.1–49.7] breaths∙min−1, [2.7–11.4] mmol∙L−1, [26.23–40.85] cycles; respectively) and stroke length (SL) decreased ([2.43–2.04] m∙min−1; respectively). Oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE), carbon dioxide production (VCO2) and heart rate (HR) increased until severe ([37.5–53.5] mL∙kg−1∙min−1, [55.8–96.3] L∙min−1, [32.2–51.5] mL∙kg−1∙min−1 and [152–182] bpm; respectively) and stabilized from severe to extreme (53.1 ± 8.4, mL∙kg−1∙min-1, 99.5 ± 19.1 L∙min−1, 49.7 ± 8.3 mL∙kg−1∙min−1 and 186 ± 11 bpm; respectively) while tidal volume (VT) was similar from low to severe ([2.02–2.18] L) and decreased at extreme intensities (2.08 ± 0.56 L). Lastly, the fR/SR ratio increased from low to heavy and decreased from severe to the extreme intensity domains (1.12 ± 0.24, 1.19 ± 0.25, 1.26 ± 0.26, 1.32 ± 0.26 and 1.23 ± 0.26). Conclusions: Our findings confirm a different ventilatory response pattern at extreme intensities when compared to the usually evaluated exertions. This novel insight helps to understand and characterize the maximal efforts in swimming and reinforces the importance to include extreme efforts in future swimming evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of respiratory frequency (fR) as a valid marker of physical effort, there is a growing interest in developing wearable devices measuring fR in applied exercise settings. Biosensors measuring chest wall movements are attracting attention as they can be integrated into textiles, but their susceptibility to motion artefacts may limit their use in some sporting activities. Hence, there is a need to exploit sensors with signals minimally affected by motion artefacts. We present the design and testing of a smart facemask embedding a temperature biosensor for fR monitoring during cycling exercise. After laboratory bench tests, the proposed solution was tested on cyclists during a ramp incremental frequency test (RIFT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), both indoors and outdoors. A reference flowmeter was used to validate the fR extracted from the temperature respiratory signal. The smart facemask showed good performance, both at a breath-by-breath level (MAPE = 2.56% and 1.64% during RIFT and HIIT, respectively) and on 30 s average fR values (MAPE = 0.37% and 0.23% during RIFT and HIIT, respectively). Both accuracy and precision (MOD ± LOAs) were generally superior to those of other devices validated during exercise. These findings have important implications for exercise testing and management in different populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common lung disease diagnostics by pulmonologists involve manual thorax auscultation using stethoscopes. Despite years of experience, this method is susceptible to human errors, which an automated system can alleviate to a large extent. An important step towards computerized lung disease detection involves efficient extraction of inspiration-expiration phases of complete lung sound cycles (LSCs), which mainly suffer from inter-observer variability when a manual segmentation process is employed. This work proposes automated respiratory cycle extraction by utilizing a joint spectro-temporal respiratory frequency identification approach applied to the lung sound signal envelope. Considering the dynamics of LSC over time and corresponding frequencies, the energy distribution related to modulating spectral bands of respiration is quantified to further optimize the cycle extraction process. We also compare the performance of single and multi-channel lung sound signals for precise identification of lung sound modulation frequency. Results show that the cycle demarcation provided by the proposed LSC algorithm exhibits lower error when evaluated using the ground truth values. • Automatic lung sound cycle extraction using lung acoustic recordings. • Automatic respiratory frequency identification using joint spectro-temporal feature obtained from lung sound envelope. • Lung sound cycle extraction in the absence of any reference signal. • Proposed method tested on normal, asthma, COPD, and DPLD subjects. • Single, dual, triple, quadruple channel based performance evaluated for the proposed algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Physical exercise is a source of stress to the human body, triggering different ventilatory responses through different regulatory mechanisms and the aquatic environment imposes several restrictions to the swimmer, particularly regarding the restricted ventilation. Thus, we aimed to assess the acute ventilatory responses and to characterize the adopted breathing patterns when swimming front crawl at increasing intensity domains. Methods Eighteen well-trained swimmers performed 7 × 200 m front crawl (0.05 m∙s−1 velocity increments) and a maximal 100 m (30 s rest intervals). Pulmonary gas exchange and ventilation were continuously measured (breath-by-breath) and capillary blood samples for lactate concentration ([La−]) analysis were collected at rest, during intervals and at the end of the protocol, allowing the identification of the low, moderate, heavy, severe and extreme intensity domains. Results With the swimming velocity rise, respiratory frequency (fR), [La−] and stroke rate (SR) increased ([29.1–49.7] breaths∙min−1, [2.7–11.4] mmol∙L−1, [26.23–40.85] cycles; respectively) and stroke length (SL) decreased ([2.43–2.04] m∙min−1; respectively). Oxygen uptake (VO2), minute ventilation (VE), carbon dioxide production (VCO2) and heart rate (HR) increased until severe ([37.5–53.5] mL∙kg−1∙min−1, [55.8–96.3] L∙min−1, [32.2–51.5] mL∙kg−1∙min−1 and [152–182] bpm; respectively) and stabilized from severe to extreme (53.1 ± 8.4, mL∙kg−1∙min-1, 99.5 ± 19.1 L∙min−1, 49.7 ± 8.3 mL∙kg−1∙min−1 and 186 ± 11 bpm; respectively) while tidal volume (VT) was similar from low to severe ([2.02–2.18] L) and decreased at extreme intensities (2.08 ± 0.56 L). Lastly, the fR/SR ratio increased from low to heavy and decreased from severe to the extreme intensity domains (1.12 ± 0.24, 1.19 ± 0.25, 1.26 ± 0.26, 1.32 ± 0.26 and 1.23 ± 0.26). Conclusions Our findings confirm a different ventilatory response pattern at extreme intensities when compared to the usually evaluated exertions. This novel insight helps to understand and characterize the maximal efforts in swimming and reinforces the importance to include extreme efforts in future swimming evaluations.

Identifying exercise intensity boundaries has been shown to be important during endurance training for performance enhancement and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, even though surrogate markers show promise when assessed on a group level, substantial deviation from gold standards can be present in each individual. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether combining two surrogate intensity markers improved this agreement. Electrocardiogram (ECG) and gas exchange data were obtained from 21 participants who performed an incremental cycling ramp to exhaustion and evaluated for first (VT1) and second (VT2) ventilatory thresholds, heart rate (HR) variability (HRV), and ECG derived respiratory frequency (EDR). HRV thresholds (HRVT) were based on the non-linear index a1 of a Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA a1) and EDR thresholds (EDRT) upon the second derivative of the sixth-order polynomial of EDR over time. The average of HRVT and EDRT HR was set as the combined threshold (Combo). Mean VT1 was reached at a HR of 141 ± 15, HRVT1 at 152 ± 14 (p < 0.001), EDRT1 at 133 ± 12 (p < 0.001), and Combo1 at 140 ± 13 (p = 0.36) bpm with Pearson's r of 0.83, 0.78, and 0.84, respectively, for comparisons to VT1. A Bland–Altman analysis showed mean biases of 8.3 ± 7.9, −8.3 ± 9.5, and −1.7 ± 8.3 bpm, respectively. A mean VT2 was reached at a HR of 165 ± 13, HRVT2 at 167 ± 10 (p = 0.89), EDRT2 at 164 ± 14 (p = 0.36), and Combo2 at 164 ± 13 (p = 0.59) bpm with Pearson's r of 0.58, 0.95, and 0.94, respectively, for comparisons to VT2. A Bland–Altman analysis showed mean biases of −0.3 ± 8.9, −1.0 ± 4.6, and −0.6 ± 4.6 bpm, respectively. Both the DFA a1 and EDR intensity thresholds based on HR taken individually had moderate agreement to targets derived through gas exchange measurements. By combining both non-invasive approaches, there was improved correlation, reduced bias, and limits of agreement to the respective corresponding HRs at VT1 and VT2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant proportion of babies that are admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) suffer from late onset sepsis (LOS). In order to prevent mortality and morbidity, the early detection of LOS is of the utmost importance. Recent works have found that the use of machine learning techniques might help detect LOS at an early stage. Some works have shown that linear methods (i.e., logistic regression) display a superior performance when predicting LOS. Nevertheless, as research on this topic is still in an early phase, it has not been ruled out that non-linear machine learning (ML) techniques can improve the predictive performance. Moreover, few studies have assessed the effect of parameters other than heart rate variability (HRV). Therefore, the current study investigates the effect of non-linear methods and assesses whether other vital parameters such as respiratory rate, perfusion index, and oxygen saturation could be of added value when predicting LOS. In contrast with the findings in the literature, it was found that non-linear methods showed a superior performance compared with linear models. In particular, it was found that random forest performed best (AUROC: 0.973), 24% better than logistic regression (AUROC: 0.782). Nevertheless, logistic regression was found to perform similarly to some non-linear models when trained with a short training window. Furthermore, when also taking training time into account, K-Nearest Neighbors was found to be the most beneficial (AUROC: 0.950). In line with the literature, we found that training the models on HRV features yielded the best results. Lastly, the results revealed that non-linear methods demonstrated a superior performance compared with linear methods when adding respiratory features to the HRV feature set, which ensured the greatest improvement in terms of AUROC score.

Emerging evidence suggests that respiratory frequency (fR) is a valid marker of physical effort. This has stimulated interest in developing devices that allow athletes and exercise practitioners to monitor this vital sign. The numerous technical challenges posed by breathing monitoring in sporting scenarios (e.g., motion artifacts) require careful consideration of the variety of sensors potentially suitable for this purpose. Despite being less prone to motion artifacts than other sensors (e.g., strain sensors), microphone sensors have received limited attention so far. This paper proposes the use of a microphone embedded in a facemask for estimating fR from breath sounds during walking and running. fR was estimated in the time domain as the time elapsed between consecutive exhalation events retrieved from breathing sounds every 30 s. Data were collected from ten healthy subjects (both males and females) at rest and during walking (at 3 km/h and 6 km/h) and running (at 9 km/h and 12 km/h) activities. The reference respiratory signal was recorded with an orifice flowmeter. The mean absolute error (MAE), the mean of differences (MOD), and the limits of agreements (LOAs) were computed separately for each condition. Relatively good agreement was found between the proposed system and the reference system, with MAE and MOD values increasing with the increase in exercise intensity and ambient noise up to a maximum of 3.8 bpm (breaths per minute) and −2.0 bpm, respectively, during running at 12 km/h. When considering all the conditions together, we found an MAE of 1.7 bpm and an MOD ± LOAs of −0.24 ± 5.07 bpm. These findings suggest that microphone sensors can be considered among the suitable options for estimating fR during exercise.

Purpose: To compare the metabolic, cardiorespiratory and perceptual responses to three isoenergetic high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) protocols of different bout duration and an isoenergetic continuous exercise protocol. Methods: Eleven healthy males (age, 28 ± 6 yr) performed four 20-min cycling trials of equal mean power output 1 wk apart. Participants cycled either continuously (CON) or intermittently with 10 s (HIIE10), 30 s (HIIE30), or 60 s (HIIE60) bouts at intensities corresponding to 49% (CON) or 100% of power at peak oxygen uptake (V̇O2peak). Recovery intervals during the HIIE trials were 15, 45, and 90 s, respectively. Results: Average V̇O2 was similar in the HIIE trials (2.29 ± 0.42, 2.20 ± 0.43, and 2.12 ± 0.45 L·min−1, for HIIE10, HIIE30, and HIIE60, respectively), whereas in CON (2.02 ± 0.38 L·min−1), it was lower than HIIE10 (P = 0.002) and HIIE30 (P = 0.043). Average pulmonary ventilation (VE) was higher in HIIE60 compared with HIIE10, HIIE30, and CON (75.8 ± 21.8 L·min−1 vs 64.1 ± 14.5 L·min−1, 64.1 ± 16.2 L·min−1, and 54.0 ± 12.5 L·min−1, respectively, P < 0.001). The peak values and oscillations of V̇O2 and VE in HIIE60 were higher compared with all other trials (P < 0.001). Blood lactate concentration was higher in HIIE60 compared with HIIE10, HIIE30, and CON from the fifth minute onward, reaching 12.5 ± 3.5, 7.2 ± 2.1, 7.9 ± 2.9, and 4.9 ± 1.6 mmol·L−1, respectively, at the end of exercise (P < 0.001). RPE was higher and affective responses were lower in HIIE60 compared with all other trials toward the end of exercise (P < 0.001). Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of bout duration in HIIE, since shorter bouts resulted in attenuated metabolic and cardiorespiratory responses, lower RPE and feelings of displeasure compared with a longer bout, despite equal total work, duration, and work-to-recovery ratio. These results may have implications for the prescription of HIIE in various populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal volume (TV), defined as the amount of air that moves in or out of the lungs with each respiratory cycle, is important in evaluating the respiratory function. Although TV can be reliably measured in laboratory settings, this information is hardly obtainable under everyday living conditions. Under such conditions, wearable devices could provide valuable support to monitor vital signs, such as heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR). The aim of this study was to develop a model to estimate TV from wearable-device measures of HR and BR during exercise. HR and BR were acquired through the Zephyr Bioharness 3.0 wearable device in nine subjects performing incremental cycling tests. For each subject, TV during exercise was obtained with a metabolic cart (Cosmed). A stepwise regression algorithm was used to create the model using as possible predictors HR, BR, age, and body mass index; the model was then validated using a leave-one-subject-out cross-validation procedure. The performance of the model was evaluated using the explained variance (R2), obtaining values ranging from 0.65 to 0.72. The proposed model is a valid method for TV estimation with wearable devices and can be considered not subject-specific and not instrumentation-specific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat stress is a great challenge for feedlot operations established in arid zones. The aim of this study was to evaluate if increasing shade area in the pen improved physiological and productive variables in feedlot heifers under hot climate. A total of 510 European and Zebu heifers were randomly assigned to six pens which were divided in two treatments: (1) three pens with 100 heifers each with a shade area of 2.7 m2/head (control group [C]); and (2) three pens with 70 heifers each with a shade area of 3.7 m2/head (treated group [T]). Physiological variables respiratory frequency (RF) and body surface temperature (BST) of several anatomic regions were taken from 30 heifers per treatment (i.e., 10 heifers/pen). Feed intake on pen basis was recorded weekly and heifers were individually weighted on days 1, 26, and 66 of the study to calculate performance variables. Relative humidity (RH) and ambient temperature (AT) were recorded and used to estimate the temperature-humidity index (THI). Data was analyzed with analysis of variance. The average THI during the study was 81.7 units, which was categorized as dangerous heat stress. In both shaded areas, European heifers showed higher (P < 0.05) RF than Zebu heifers. In the afternoon, the temperature of head, neck, loin, paddle, and belly was higher (P < 0.05) in C compared with T. Heifers under T showed better (P < 0.05) daily weight gain (DWG), total weight gain (TWG), feed conversion (FC), and feed efficiency (FE) than heifers in C, with no effect on dry matter intake (DMI). Results indicate that during hot summer months, Zebu showed more tolerance to heat stress than European heifers; however, heifers under a shade area of 3.7 m2/head had better productive performance than those under a shade area of 2.7 m2/head during the finishing phase of the feedlot. Increasing the shade area in the finishing phase of beef cattle on feedlot improved some physiological and productive responses during heat stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Music is an invaluable tool to improve affective valence during exercise, with the potential contribution of a mechanism called rhythmic entrainment. However, several methodological limitations impair our current understanding of the effect of music on relevant psychophysiological responses to exercise, including breathing variables. This study presents conceptual, methodological, and operational insight favoring the investigation of the effect of music on breathing during exercise. Three tools were developed for the quantification of the presence, degree, and magnitude of music-locomotor, locomotor-breathing, and music-breathing entrainment. The occurrence of entrainment was assessed during 30 min of moderate cycling exercise performed either when listening to music or not, and was complemented by the recording of relevant psychophysiological and mechanical variables. Respiratory frequency and expiratory time were among the physiological variables that were affected to a greater extent by music during exercise, and a significant (p < 0.05) music-breathing entrainment was found in all 12 participants. These findings suggest the importance of evaluating the effect of music on breathing responses to exercise, with potential implications for exercise prescription and adherence, and for the development of wearable devices simultaneously measuring music, locomotor, and breathing signals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRAK. Buah parijoto termasuk tanaman herbal yang dapat dimanfaatkan dalam bidang peternakan sebagai obat dan pakan ternak. Kandungan buah parijoto berupa flavonoid, antioksidan dan saponin dapat meningkatkan daya tahan tubuh. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui hubungan suhu tubuh, frekuensi pernapasan dan profil sel darah putih kambing Peranakan Etawa yang diberi ekstrak buah parijoto. Kambing Peranakan Etawa betina berjumlah 16 ekor umur 1,5-2 tahun dengan bobot badan 80±0,57 kg. Ekstrak buah parijoto diberikan selama 21 hari dan semua data parameter diambil pada hari ke-1, ke-7, ke-14 dan ke-21. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan acak lengkap faktorial 2 faktor (dosis pemberian dan waktu pengamatan) yang terdiri dari 4 perlakuan 4 ulangan. Hasil Interaksi dosis ekstrak buah parijoto dengan waktu pengamatan tidak berpengaruh terhadap suhu badan pada kambing Peranakan Etawa dan antara perlakuan dosis ekstrak buah parijoto dan waktu pengamatan terhadap suhu badan, frekuensi pernapasan dan presentasi neutrofil pada kambing peranakan etawa dengan nilai berturut turut yaitu 0,71; 0,25 dan 0,56 (P0,05). Interaksi dosis ekstrak buah parijoto dengan waktu pengamatan yaitu 0,02; 0,03; 0,01 sehingga terdapat pengaruh nyata (P0,05) antara perlakuan dosis ekstrak buah parijoto dan waktu pengamatan terhadap jumlah sel darah putih, presentasi monosit dan presentasi eosinophil pada kambing peranakan etawa. Pemberian ekstrak buah parijoto dengan dosis dan waktu pengamatan memberikan pengaruh (P0,05) terhadap dengan jumlah sel darah putih, presentasi monosit, presentasi eosinophil tetapi tidak berpengaruh (P0,05) pada suhu badan, frekuensi pernapasan dan presentasi neutrofil. (Effects of parijoto (Medinilla speciosa) fruit extract in body temperature, respiratory frequency and profile of white blood cells on etawa crossbred goat) ABSTRACT. Parijoto fruit includes herbs that can be utilized in the field of livestock as medicine and fodder. The content of the Parijoto fruit in the form of flavonoids, antioxidants, and saponins can increase body endurance. The study aims to determine the relation of body temperature, respiratory frequency and the profile of white blood cells of the Etawa crossbred goat which had given Parijoto fruit extract. The Etawa crossbred goat is 16 head 1.5-2 years old with body weight 80 ± 0.57 kg. Parijoto fruit extracts were administered for 21 days and all parameter data is taken on the 1st, 7th, 14th and 21st day. The study used a complete randomized design of 2-factor factorial (given dose and observation time) consisting of 4 4-replay treatments. The parameters calculated in this study are body temperature, respiratory frequency, white blood cell count, differential leukocytes. The interaction of the dose of Parijoto fruit extract with the time of observation has no effect on the body temperature in the etawa crossbred goat and the treatment of the dose of Parijoto fruit extract and during observation of the body temperature, respiratory frequency and presentation of neutrophils in the Etawa crossbred goat 0.25 and 0.56 (P0.05). Interaction of the dose of Parijoto fruit extract with the current observation of 0.02, 0.03, 0.01 So there is a noticeable influence (P0.05) between the dose treatment of parijoto fruit extract and when observing the number of white blood cells, monocyte presentation and eosinophil presentation on the Etawa crossbred goat. The administration of Parijoto fruit extracts with doses and when the observation gives effect (P0.05) against the number of white blood cells, monocyte presentation, eosinophil presentation but has no effect (P0.05) at body temperature, respiratory frequency and neutrophil presentation.

Given the importance of respiratory frequency (fR) as a valid marker of physical effort, there is a growing interest in developing wearable devices measuring fR in applied exercise settings. Biosensors measuring chest wall movements are attracting attention as they can be integrated into textiles, but their susceptibility to motion artefacts may limit their use in some sporting activities. Hence, there is a need to exploit sensors with signals minimally affected by motion artefacts. We present the design and testing of a smart facemask embedding a temperature biosensor for fR monitoring during cycling exercise. After laboratory bench tests, the proposed solution was tested on cyclists during a ramp incremental frequency test (RIFT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT), both indoors and outdoors. A reference flowmeter was used to validate the fR extracted from the temperature respiratory signal. The smart facemask showed good performance, both at a breath-by-breath level (MAPE = 2.56% and 1.64% during RIFT and HIIT, respectively) and on 30 s average fR values (MAPE = 0.37% and 0.23% during RIFT and HIIT, respectively). Both accuracy and precision (MOD ± LOAs) were generally superior to those of other devices validated during exercise. These findings have important implications for exercise testing and management in different populations.

A wireless and wearable system was recently developed for mobile monitoring of respiratory rate (RR). The present study was designed to compare RR mobile measurements with reference capnographic measurements on a medical-surgical ward. The wearable sensor measures impedance variations of the chest from two thoracic and one abdominal electrode. Simultaneous measurements of RR from the wearable sensor and from the capnographic sensor (1 measure/minute) were compared in 36 ward patients. Patients were monitored for a period of 182 ± 56 min (range 68–331). Artifact-free RR measurements were available 81% of the monitoring time for capnography and 92% for the wearable monitoring system (p < 0.001). A total of 4836 pairs of simultaneous measurements were available for analysis. The average reference RR was 19 ± 5 breaths/min (range 6–36). The average difference between the wearable and capnography RR measurements was − 0.6 ± 2.5 breaths/min. Error grid analysis showed that the proportions of RR measurements done with the wearable system were 89.7% in zone A (no risk), 9.6% in zone B (low risk) and < 1% in zones C, D and E (moderate, significant and dangerous risk). The wearable method detected RR values > 20 (tachypnea) with a sensitivity of 81% and a specificity of 93%. In ward patients, the wearable sensor enabled accurate and precise measurements of RR within a relatively broad range (6–36 b/min) and the detection of tachypnea with high sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim to assess the effect of short-term thermal stress on physiological traits of ewes an experiment was designed. Fourteen hair sheep ewes were selected during early reproductive management and randomly segregated in two groups. Control group (CG) with indoor conditions, and an experimental group (EG) under continuous outdoor conditions without shadow accessing during 14 days (d). Respiratory frequency (RF), rectal temperature (RT) and infrared image temperatures were estimated. Traits were measured for 8 d twice a d (9:00 am and 15:00 pm). Environmental temperature and humidity were monitored, and temperature and humidity index was estimated. All physiological and environmental traits showed significantly variation by group and time of measurement (P < 0.001). RT and RF were significantly higher for EG and during pm measurements. Environmental conditions indicated thermal stress conditions for outdoor EG during the afternoon was related ultimately with respiratory mechanism as the main indicator of continuous thermal stress. Head infrared image temperature was a good predictor of body temperature.

Recent advances in understanding the importance of respiratory frequency (ƒR) as a sensitive marker of a variety of physiopathological stressors are fostering growing interest in respiratory monitoring. This interest is further stimulated by the ever-increasing efforts that companies are devoting to the development of systems measuring ƒR. There are a variety of techniques based on different sensors and technologies for ƒR monitoring. These techniques are commonly classified as contact-based or contactless, depending on whether the system which embeds the sensor is in contact with the body or not. This review is focused on the contactless methods for ƒR monitoring. We have introduced the main fields of use where contactless respiratory monitoring is important and provided a taxonomy to classify the most popular contactless techniques for ƒR monitoring. Finally, we have described the performances of the most popular methods, the main open challenges, and the main perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tidal volume (TV), defined as the amount of air that moves in or out of the lungs with each respiratory cycle, is important in evaluating the respiratory function. Although TV can be reliably measured in laboratory settings, this information is hardly obtainable under everyday living conditions. Under such conditions, wearable devices could provide valuable support to monitor vital signs, such as heart rate (HR) and breathing rate (BR). The aim of this study was to develop a model to estimate TV from wearable-device measures of HR and BR during exercise. HR and BR were acquired through the Zephyr Bioharness 3.0 wearable device in nine subjects performing incremental cycling tests. For each subject, TV during exercise was obtained with a metabolic cart (Cosmed). A stepwise regression algorithm was used to create the model using as possible predictors HR, BR, age, and body mass index; the model was then validated using a leave-one-subject-out cross-validation procedure. The performance of the model was evaluated using the explained variance (R2), obtaining values ranging from 0.65 to 0.72. The proposed model is a valid method for TV estimation with wearable devices and can be considered not subject-specific and not instrumentation-specific.

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Skin mucus has been demonstrated to provide stress biomarkers for evaluating the physiological status, providing new convenient and non‐invasive methods to detect stress response in fish. Here, we investigated the anaesthetic efficacy of tricaine methanesulphonate (MS‐222; 75–115 mg/L) for discus Symphysodon aequifasciata (34.27 ± 4.46 g; 8.10 ± 0.59 cm) using skin mucus stress biomarkers. The induction time, recovery time and respiratory frequency were also determined. According to the criteria for anaesthesia and recovery, discus fish to reach stage A3 (deep anaesthesia) within 3 min and to reach stage R4 (full recovery of normal behaviour) within 5 min were observed at 95–105 mg/L MS‐222. Respiratory frequency increased first and then decreased during MS‐222 exposure and increased after recovery. At 10 min after deep anaesthesia, a lower mucus glucose was only observed at 115 mg/L MS‐222. No change in mucus cortisol and increased lactate were observed in all treatments. Increased mucus protein was observed at 75, 85 and 95 mg/L MS‐222. At 10 min after recovery, increased mucus glucose and decreased mucus protein were observed at 85, 95 and 115 mg/L MS‐222, but increased mucus cortisol only at 115 mg/L and lactate only at 75 and 105 mg/L MS‐222. At 24 hr after recovery, mucus glucose returned to the initial level only at 75, 95 and 105 mg/L MS‐222, while cortisol at 75 and 85 mg/L and protein and lactate at 75 mg/L respectively. Overall, the effective dose of MS‐222 for discus fish has been suggested to be 95–105 mg/L. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Athlete's respiratory frequency and the physical energy consumption model based on speech recognition technology is presented in this paper. We use the series of rotation angles reflects changes in the electrical axis of the heart caused by breathing, and then power spectrum analysis of the breathing signal is used to then estimate the breathing rate. The novelties of the paper are summarized as three aspects. (1) Gaussian mixture model is used to model the speaker. This system has the better noise robustness than the traditional feature parameters at low signal-to-noise ratio. (2) We use the photoelectric sensor technology to measure the heart rate of the human body, which can detect weak pulse signals. (3) The collected respiratory sound signals are processed by the dedicated data compression module and then displayed on the entire screen, as the system will show the analytic results. The experimental results have proven the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and possible interaction with respiratory frequency (f R) and heart rate (HR) in spontaneously breathing, unanesthetized newborn Wistar rats (2- to 5-day-old; n = 54) and the adult rats (8-week-old; n = 34). Instantaneous heart rate (inst -HR) was calculated as the reciprocal of the inter-beat-interval. For each breath, RSA was determined as the difference between the maximum and minimum inst -HR value. The absolute RSA or RSA% (RSA per HR) were calculated as the average RSA of 10 consecutive breaths. RSA (or RSA%) in the newborn rats was significantly lower than that in the adult rats. Correlation coefficient between RSA (or RSA%) and 1/ f R or HR/ f R , but not HR, was significant in newborn rats, whereas only that between RSA (or RSA%) and HR was significant in adult rats. The power spectrum density of heartbeat fluctuation was detectable in both age groups. The present findings suggest that RSA exists and could be influenced by f R , rather than HR, in newborn rats. ● Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was examined in unanesthetized newborn rats. ● Heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (f R) were averaged in ten consecutive breaths. ● RSA in the newborn rats was significantly lower than that in the adult rats. ● Correlations were significant between RSA and 1/ f R or HR/ f R , not HR, in newborns. ● RSA exists and could be influenced by f R , rather than HR, in newborn rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A classical method for estimation of respiratory information from electrocardiogram (ECG), called ECG - derived respiration (EDR), is using flexible electrodes located at standard electrocardiography positions. This work introduces an alternative approach suitable for miniaturized sensors with low inter-electrode separation and electrodes fixed to the sensor encapsulation. Application of amplitude EDR algorithm on single-lead wireless sensor system with optimized electrode positions shows results comparable with standard robust systems. The modified method can be applied in daily physiological monitoring, in sleep studies or implemented in smart clothes when standard respiration techniques are not suitable.

We propose a novel life-detection radar using a wideband Boolean-chaos signal as a probe signal. The range between the radar and the human target can be obtained by correlating the echo signal from the target with its delayed duplicate. This range is modulated periodically by human chest's displacements along the recording time axis and the modulation frequency is the same as the respiratory frequency. Therefore, the authors propose a life-detection algorithm based on correlation method to detect the human target's respiratory frequency and range. Experimental results demonstrate that the authors’ radar can simultaneously detect the respiratory frequency and range of the human target behind a 20-cm-thick wall. In addition, the high range resolution and excellent anti-jamming property of the chaotic radar have been demonstrated by their previous studies, which make it perform superbly in complex electromagnetic environments.

Integration of technological solutions aims to improve accuracy, precision and repeatability in farming operations, and biosensor devices are increasingly used for understanding basic biology during livestock production. The aim of this study was to design and validate a miniaturized tri-axial accelerometer for non-invasive monitoring of farmed fish with re-programmable schedule protocols. The current device (AE-FishBIT v.1s) is a small (14 mm × 7 mm × 7 mm), stand-alone system with a total mass of 600 mg, which allows monitoring animals from 30 to 35 g onwards. The device was attached to the operculum of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles for monitoring their physical activity by measurements of movement accelerations in x- and y-axes, while records of operculum beats (z-axis) served as a measurement of respiratory frequency. Data post-processing of exercised fish in swimming test chambers revealed an exponential increase of fish accelerations with the increase of fish speed from 1 body-length to 4 body-lengths per second, while a close relationship between oxygen consumption (MO2) and opercular frequency was consistently found. Preliminary tests in free-swimming fish kept in rearing tanks also showed that device data recording was able to detect changes in daily fish activity. The usefulness of low computational load for data pre-processing with on-board algorithms was verified from low to submaximal exercise, increasing this procedure the autonomy of the system up to 6 h of data recording with different programmable schedules. Visual observations regarding tissue damage, feeding behavior and circulating levels of stress markers (cortisol, glucose, and lactate) did not reveal at short term a negative impact of device tagging. Reduced plasma levels of triglycerides revealed a transient inhibition of feed intake in small fish (sea bream 50–90 g, sea bass 100–200 g), but this disturbance was not detected in larger fish. All this considered together is the proof of concept that miniaturized devices are suitable for non-invasive and reliable metabolic phenotyping of farmed fish to improve their overall performance and welfare. Further work is underway for improving the attachment procedure and the full device packaging.

Breathing pattern (BP) is related to key psychophysiological and performance variables during exercise. Modern wearable sensors and data analysis techniques facilitate BP analysis during running but are lacking crucial validation steps in their deployment. Thus, we sought to evaluate a wearable garment with respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) sensors in combination with a custom-built algorithm versus a reference spirometry system to determine its concurrent validity in detecting flow reversals (FR) and BP. Twelve runners completed an incremental running protocol to exhaustion with synchronized spirometry and RIP sensors. An algorithm was developed to filter, segment, and enrich the RIP data for FR and BP estimation. The algorithm successfully identified over 99% of FR with an average time lag of 0.018 s (−0.067,0.104) after the reference system. Breathing rate (BR) estimation had low mean absolute percent error (MAPE = 2.74 [0.00,5.99]), but other BP components had variable accuracy. The proposed system is valid and practically useful for applications of BP assessment in the field, especially when measuring abrupt changes in BR. More studies are needed to improve BP timing estimation and utilize abdominal RIP during running.

Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common form of occupational ill-health. Neck pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders experienced by computer workers. Wrong postural habits and non-compliance of the workstation to ergonomics guidelines are the leading causes of neck pain. These factors may also alter respiratory functions. Health and safety interventions can reduce neck pain and, more generally, the symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders and reduce the consequent economic burden. In this work, a multi-parametric wearable system based on two fiber Bragg grating sensors is proposed for monitoring neck movements and breathing activity of computer workers. The sensing elements were positioned on the neck, in the frontal and sagittal planes, to monitor: (i) flexion-extension and axial rotation repetitions, and (ii) respiratory frequency. In this pilot study, five volunteers were enrolled and performed five repetitions of both flexion-extension and axial rotation, and ten breaths of both quite breathing and tachypnea. Results showed the good performances of the proposed system in monitoring the aforementioned parameters when compared to optical reference systems. The wearable system is able to well-match the trend in time of the neck movements (both flexion-extension and axial rotation) and to estimate mean and breath-by-breath respiratory frequency values with percentage errors ≤6.09% and ≤1.90%, during quiet breathing and tachypnea, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a novel life-detection radar using a wideband Boolean-chaos signal as a probe signal. The range between the radar and the human target can be obtained by correlating the echo signal from the target with its delayed duplicate. This range is modulated periodically by human chest's displacements along the recording time axis and the modulation frequency is the same as the respiratory frequency. Therefore, the authors propose a life-detection algorithm based on correlation method to detect the human target's respiratory frequency and range. Experimental results demonstrate that the authors' radar can simultaneously detect the respiratory frequency and range of the human target behind a 20-cm-thick wall. In addition, the high range resolution and excellent anti-jamming property of the chaotic radar have been demonstrated by their previous studies, which make it perform superbly in complex electromagnetic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the performances of a head-mounted wearable device for the breath-by-breath monitoring of respiratory frequency (${f}_{{R}}$) during exercise. The device exploits a new algorithm to estimate ${f}_{{R}}$ from the breathing-related pressure drops (${\Delta } {P}$) recorded at the nostrils level. Performances of the wearable device in measuring the breath-by-breath and 30-s average ${f}_{{R}}$ values were evaluated during two high-intensity cycling exercise tests performed in the laboratory. ${\Delta } {P}$ signals were collected from ten volunteers with the wearable device, and the simultaneous measurements with a reference instrument were performed for validation purposes. In addition, numerical simulations were carried out to reproduce the conditions expected in applied settings. Bland–Altman analysis, linear regression (${r}^{2}$), and percentage error (% $E$) were used for comparing the two instruments. Experimental tests demonstrate the robustness and validity of the proposed wearable device and the related algorithm to measure the breath-by-breath ${f}_{R}$ (overall $\%{E} = {4.03\%}$) and 30-s average ${f}_{R}$ (overall ${\%E} = {2.38\%}$) values. Biases obtained with the breath-by-breath analysis (max. −0.06 ± 6.27 breaths/min) were higher than those obtained in the 30-s window analysis (max. −0.03 ± 1.60 breaths/min). In the simulated conditions, $\%E$ increased up to 6.65%. The proposed wearable device is suitable for a wide variety of indoor applications where the ${f}_{R}$ monitoring during exercise at reduced invasiveness is of great value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integration of technological solutions aims to improve accuracy, precision and repeatability in farming operations, and biosensor devices are increasingly used for understanding basic biology during livestock production. The aim of this study was to design and validate a miniaturized tri-axial accelerometer for non-invasive monitoring of farmed fish with re-programmable schedule protocols. The current device (AE-FishBIT v.1s) is a small (14 mm × 7 mm × 7 mm), stand-alone system with a total mass of 600 mg, which allows monitoring animals from 30 to 35 g onwards. The device was attached to the operculum of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) and European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles for monitoring their physical activity by measurements of movement accelerations in x - and y -axes, while records of operculum beats (z -axis) served as a measurement of respiratory frequency. Data post-processing of exercised fish in swimming test chambers revealed an exponential increase of fish accelerations with the increase of fish speed from 1 body-length to 4 body-lengths per second, while a close relationship between oxygen consumption (MO2) and opercular frequency was consistently found. Preliminary tests in free-swimming fish kept in rearing tanks also showed that device data recording was able to detect changes in daily fish activity. The usefulness of low computational load for data pre-processing with on-board algorithms was verified from low to submaximal exercise, increasing this procedure the autonomy of the system up to 6 h of data recording with different programmable schedules. Visual observations regarding tissue damage, feeding behavior and circulating levels of stress markers (cortisol, glucose, and lactate) did not reveal at short term a negative impact of device tagging. Reduced plasma levels of triglycerides revealed a transient inhibition of feed intake in small fish (sea bream 50–90 g, sea bass 100–200 g), but this disturbance was not detected in larger fish. All this considered together is the proof of concept that miniaturized devices are suitable for non-invasive and reliable metabolic phenotyping of farmed fish to improve their overall performance and welfare. Further work is underway for improving the attachment procedure and the full device packaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In order to evaluate the influence of thermal stress on physiological parameters, and the oocyte quality of Girolando (n = 12) and adapted Pantaneira (n = 12) cattle, twelve sessions of ultrasound guided follicular aspiration (OPU) were performed, between January and November 2014 (during dry (May–September) and rainy season (October–April) in Brazil). The recovered cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were selected and classified, according to quality, immediately after OPU. The oocytes were then stored in 3% paraformaldehyd before conducting immunofluorescence analysis under confocal microscopy to identify HSP70 and 90 proteins. Before each OPU session, the rectal temperature (RT) and respiratory frequency (RF) of each animal were measured. The black globe humidity index (BGHI) was calculated on the day of the OPUs and 90 days before each OPU session, and related to the thermal stress of the animals. The quality of oocytes from Girolando cattle, but not Pantaneira, showed a negative relationship with BGHI of 90 days before OPU. RT of both breeds did not exceed normal values for cattle below BGHI 95. BGHI variation on the day of OPU did not affect RF of the adapted Pantaneira breed (p = 0.3221). On the other hand, Girolando cattle showed a positive relationship between RF and BGHI (p = 0.0103). With increasing BGHI, the amount of HSP70 increased in Girolando oocytes, however, decreased in the Pantaneira breed. We have not observed a relationship between HSP 90 and BGHI, however Girolando cattle produced a greater amount of this protein in relation to the Pantaneira breed. In conclusion, higher BGHIs, 90 days before OPU session, negatively affect oocyte quality of Girolando cattle and positively affect oocyte quality of the Pantaneira breed. Higher BGHIs on the day of the OPU session negatively affected the respiratory frequency of the Girolando breed, and lead to a higher recruitment of HSP70 to protect oocyte maturation. The opposite pattern was observed for Pantaneira. In addition, Pantaneira cattle produced twice as much as HSP70 as Girolando cattle, suggesting that a natural higher production of this protein could be involved in the mechanisms of adaptation to heat conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Performance – Lambs finished in the cold season were more efficient in the use of food. • Thermal comfort – The hot season provided conditions less suitable for finishing lambs.. • Behavior – The cold season allows better behavior of the physiological variables of the lambs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the thermal comfort, performance, and behavior of feedlot lambs finished in two climatic conditions. Twenty castrated Texel lambs at an average age of 75 days were used in the experiment. Diets consisted of corn silage as the roughage component plus concentrate, with roughage-to-concentrate ratios of 50:50 and 50.5:49.5 for the higher and lower heat conditions, respectively. Higher respiratory frequencies and temperatures in the eye region were observed in lambs finished in the higher temperature, whereas rectal temperature did not differ between the climatic conditions. Lambs finished in the higher and lower heat conditions experienced 15 and four days under heat stress, respectively, which correspond to 27.7 and 6.5% of the feedlot period. The group finished in the higher temperature conditions remained on average six hours per day under heat stress, whose peak occurred at 14h30 to 16h30. Dry matter intake relative to body weight and to metabolic weight did not differ between the climatic conditions. Lambs finished in the cold season were more efficient in using the feed based on their residual feed intake and feed and rumination efficiencies. Climatic conditions affected the performance and behavior of the lambs as a result of thermal discomfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Respiratory rate is a fundamental vital sign that is sensitive to different pathological conditions (e.g., adverse cardiac events, pneumonia, and clinical deterioration) and stressors, including emotional stress, cognitive load, heat, cold, physical effort, and exercise-induced fatigue. The sensitivity of respiratory rate to these conditions is superior compared to that of most of the other vital signs, and the abundance of suitable technological solutions measuring respiratory rate has important implications for healthcare, occupational settings, and sport. However, respiratory rate is still too often not routinely monitored in these fields of use. This review presents a multidisciplinary approach to respiratory monitoring, with the aim to improve the development and efficacy of respiratory monitoring services. We have identified thirteen monitoring goals where the use of the respiratory rate is invaluable, and for each of them we have described suitable sensors and techniques to monitor respiratory rate in specific measurement scenarios. We have also provided a physiological rationale corroborating the importance of respiratory rate monitoring and an original multidisciplinary framework for the development of respiratory monitoring services. This review is expected to advance the field of respiratory monitoring and favor synergies between different disciplines to accomplish this goal.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of supplementation on sun tolerance and physiological parameters of goats in grazing. Sixty goats (20 Alpine, 18 Anglo-Nubian and 22 crossbred Boer) primiparous and multiparous, with average body weight of 49.33 ± 1.41 kg were used in this experiment. The goats were kept in rotational pastures of Panicum maximum cv. Tobiatã and supplemented with two levels of concentrate: 300 (NS30) and 600 g/ kg (NS60) of the daily dry matter requirements, assessed from pre-breeding season to approximately 110 days of lactation. Visual observations of tolerance of goats in the sun were made monthly, each 15 minutes during the entire period that the animals remained in the pasture. The respiratory rate and rectal temperature were evaluated monthly, being measured at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Temperature and air relative humidity were recorded every hour, on the days of data collection. Breed influenced the respiratory rate and rectal temperature at 1 p.m., and the crossbred Boer animals showed more appropriate physiological parameters, leading to greater heat tolerance. There was no influence of treatment on the physiological variables of the goats. The Anglo-Nubian goats showed higher resistance to direct sun radiation, staying longer in the sun, being the most suitable for the production system in pasture.

Abstract This study aimed at characterizing the modulation of skeletal muscle contraction and cardiorespiratory response of tambaqui, Colossoma macropomum submitted to baths using anaesthetic concentrations (capable of inducing fast, i.e. < 5 min, and full body immobilization) of propofol (PRP) and essential oil of Nepeta cataria (EON). For the evaluation of electromyography, electrocardiographic data, and opercular beat intensity (OBI) and rate (OBR), fish (5.6 ± 1.8 g, 8.0 ± 0.3 cm, total length) were assigned to the following groups: a) control (basal recording), b) ethanol-exposed fish (vehicle control), c) fish submitted to induction with EON at 175 μL L−1 and subsequent recovery, and d) fish submitted to induction with PRP at 4 μL L−1 and subsequent recovery. Eight fish (n = 8) per group were used. Both products induced full body immobilization and suppressed (99.9%) dorsal muscle contraction power, determining a general anaesthesia-like state. During exposure to either anaesthetic, cardiac function was transiently affected, with decreased heart rates (42–43%) and a mild arrhythmia in PRP recovering fish. Moreover, ventilatory capacity was reduced with this drug (85.3% and 59.6% decrease in OBI and OBR, respectively), yet without mortality. On the other hand, EON did not alter ECG tracings, allowing for the maintenance of normal ventilation intensity during exposure, albeit a slight increment in OBR occurred during deep anaesthesia. This study confirms propofol anaesthesia in fish and presents N. cataria essential oil as a novel and safe natural anaesthetic for juvenile Colossoma macropomum and potentially for other teleost species. Highlights • This is the first study using Nepeta cataria essential oil as an anaesthetic for fish. • Propofol and N. cataria essential oil blunted muscle contraction power in Colossoma macropomum. • Exposure to short-term baths using propofol and N. cataria essential oil did not compromise cardioventilatory function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differences in gross target volume (GTV) and central point positions among moving lung cancer models constructed by CT scanning at different frequencies were compared, in order to explore the effect of different respiratory frequencies on the GTV constructions in moving lung tumors. Eight models in different shapes and sizes were established to stimulate lung tumors. The three-dimensional computed tomography (3DCT) and four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT) scanning were performed at 10, 15 and 20 times/min in different models. Differences in GTV volumes and central point positions at different motion frequencies were compared by means of GTV3Ds (GTV3D-10, GTV3D-15, GTV3D-20) and IGTV4Ds (IGTV4D-10, IGTV4D-15, IGTV4D-20). Volumes of GTV3D-10, GTV3D-15, GTV3D-20 were 12.41±14.26, 10.38±11.18 and 12.50±15.23 cm3 respectively (P=0.687). Central point coordinates in the x-axis direction were −8.16±96.21, −8.57±96.08 and −8.56±95.73 respectively (P=0.968). Central point coordinates in the y-axis direction were 108.22±25.03, 110.41±22.47 and 109.04±24.24 (P=0.028). Central point coordinates in the z-axis direction were 65.19±13.68, 65.43±13.40 and 65.38±13.17 (P=0.902). The difference was significant in the y-axis direction (P=0.028). Volumes of IGTV4D-10, IGTV4D-15, IGTV4D-20 were 17.78±19.42, 17.43±19.56 and 17.44±18.80 cm3 (P=0.417). Central point coordinates in the x-axis direction were −7.73±95.93, −7.86±95.56 and −7.92±95.14 (P=0.325). Central point coordinates in the y-axis direction were 109.41±24.54, 109.60±24.13 and 109.16±24.28 (P=0.525). Central point coordinates in the z-axis direction were 65.52±13.31, 65.59±13.39 and 65.51±13.34 (P=0.093). However, the central point position of GTV in the head and foot direction by 3DCT scanning was severely affected by the respiratory frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ECG - Derived Respiration (EDR) is a classical method for estimation of respiratory information from Electrocardiogram (ECG). This method normally uses flexible electrodes located at standard electrocardiography positions. This study introduces an alternative approach suitable for miniaturized sensors with low inter-electrode separation and electrodes fixed to the sensor encapsulation. Application of EDR amplitude algorithm on a single-lead wireless sensor system with optimized electrode positions shows results comparable with standard robust systems. The modified method can be applied in daily physiological monitoring, in sleep research studies or it can be implemented in smart clothes when standard respiration techniques are not suitable. In this paper we report optimization of the positions of miniaturized device for measurement of ECG and ECG-derived respiration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors have gained popularity in medicine for some valuable features, such as small size, immunity to electromagnetic interferences, and good metrological properties. Among several applications, this technology has been used in the analysis of gases in mechanical ventilation. In this field, in particular during invasive ventilation, the gas delivered by the ventilator must be warmed and humidified in order to reach the patients with optimal conditions (100% of relative humidity and 37 °C). The most popular device used to accomplish this task is the heated wire humidifiers (HWHs). Unfortunately, their performances are influenced by ventilatory settings (e.g., respiratory frequency) and environmental conditions. The aim of this paper is to fabricate a probe based on an FBG sensor able to monitor both the gas relative humidity and the respiratory frequency. This information can be used as a feedback to improve the performance of the HWHs. The probe consists of a needle, which houses an FBG sensor coated by hygroscopic material (i.e., agar). This solution allows an easy insertion of the probe within the ducts connecting the ventilator to the patient. The proposed system has been assessed during mechanical ventilation at different respiratory frequencies. Future testing will be focused on the development of a system able to monitor other parameters that influence the HWHs performances (e.g., gas temperature and minute volume). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]