A knitted garment using intarsia technique for Heart Rate Variability biofeedback: Evaluation of initial prototype.

Heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback is a method based on paced breathing at specific rate called resonance frequency by giving online feedbacks from user respiration and its effect on HRV. Since the HRV is also influence by different factors like stress and emotions, stress related to an unfamiliar measurement device, cables and skin electrodes may cover the underling effect of such kind of intervention. Wearable systems are usually considered as intuitive solutions which are more familiar to the end-user and can help to improve usability and hence reducing the stress. In this work, a prototype of a knitted garment using intarsia technique is developed and evaluated. Results show the satisfactory level of quality for Electrocardiogram and thoracic electrical bioimpedance i.e. for respiration monitoring as a part of HRV biofeedback system. Using intarsia technique and conductive yarn for making the connection instead of cables will reduce the complexity of fabrication in textile production and hence reduce the final costs in a final commercial product. Further development of garment and Android application is ongoing and usability and efficiency of final prototype will be evaluated in detail.

Slightly superior performance of bioimpedance spectroscopy over single frequency regression equations for assessment of total body water.

Electrical bioimpedance has been used for several decades to assess body fluid distribution and body composition by using single frequency and bioimpedance spectroscopic (BIS) techniques. It remains uncertain whether BIS methods have better performance compare to single frequency regression equations. In this work the performance of two BIS methods and four different 50 kHz single frequency prediction equations was studied in a data set of wrist-to-ankle tetrapolar BIS measurements (5-1000 kHz) together with reference values of total body water obtained by tritium dilution in 92 patients. Data were compared using regression techniques and Bland-Altman plots. The results of this study showed that all methods produced similarly high correlation and concordance coefficients, indicating good accuracy as a method. Limits of agreement analysis indicated that the population level performance of Sun's prediction equations was very similar to the performance of both BIS methods. However, BIS methods in practice have slightly better predictive performance than the single-frequency equations as judged by higher correlation and the limits of agreement from the Bland-Altman analysis. In any case, the authors believe that an accurate evaluation of performance of the methods cannot be done as long as the evaluation is done using Bland-Altman analysis, the commonly accepted technique for this kind of performance comparisons.

Development and preliminary evaluation of an Android based heart rate variability biofeedback system.

The reduced Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is believed to be associated with several diseases such as congestive heart failure, diabetes and chronic kidney diseases (CKD). In these cases, HRV biofeedback may be a potential intervention method to increase HRV which in turn is beneficial to these patients. In this work, a real-time Android biofeedback application based on a Bluetooth enabled ECG and thoracic electrical bioimpedance (respiration) measurement device has been developed. The system performance and usability have been evaluated in a brief study with eight healthy volunteers. The result demonstrates real-time performance of system and positive effects of biofeedback training session by increased HRV and reduced heart rate. Further development of the application and training protocol is ongoing to investigate duration of training session to find an optimum length and interval of biofeedback sessions to use in potential interventions.

Tobacco streak virus isolated from lettuce.

Tobacco streak virus (TSV) is an ilarvirus with a worldwide distribution. This virus infects many plants and causes significant yield losses. In this study, 300 samples of lettuce were collected from lettuce fields in Tehran Province. Infected plants show symptoms such as: mosaic, vein clearing, vein necrosis, yellowing and leaf distortion. DAS-ELISA (Double Antibody Sandwich-ELISA) was used with a polyclonal antiserum against TSV. Five isolates (T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5), which are collected, respectively from Mohammad Abad (Karaj), Malek Abad (Karaj), Hashtgerd (Karaj), Tarand Balla (Varamin) and Deh mah sin (Pishva) were inoculated on 29 species of Cucurbitaceae, Amaranthaceae, Solanacea, Compositae, Leguminosae and Chenopodiacea. Chenopodium quinoa 6 days after inoculation showed necrotic local lesions. Gomphrena globosa 10 days after inoculation developed chlorotic local lesions. Systemic symptoms were produced in Datura stramonium. Phaseolus vulgaris cv. Red Kidney 5 days after inoculation developed necrotic local lesions. Nicotiana tabacum 7 days after inoculation showed necrotic and chlorotic local lesions. Nicotiana clevelandii 15 days after inoculation developed leaf distortion and vein necrosis. Lactuca sativa 10-15 days after inoculation developed leaf istortion and mosaic. Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) was performed using one primer pairs designed by DSMZ. An approximately 710 bp fragment was amplified with a specific primer.

Effect of sparteine sulfate on uterine prostaglandin F in the rat.

Indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthetase, added to an in vitro bath in a concentration of 1, 5, and 10 X 10(-6) g/ml reduced sparteine-induced contractions of isolated uterine segments from pregnant rats. Contractions induced by prostaglandin F2alpha and acetylcholine were not reduced. Sparteine increased the prostaglandin F content of the blood and uterine tissue in the pregnant but not in the nonpregnant rat. This increase was significantly reduced by the administration of indomethacin (10 mg/kg). The present study suggests that the mechanism of sparteine action is mediated through a prostaglandin F system.

Synthesis and pharmacological activity of 5-substituted 2-(N,N-dialkylaminoethyl)amino- and 2-N-methylpiperazinyl-1,3,4-thiadiazoles.

5-Substituted 2-amino-1,3,4-thiadiazoles were transformed to their corresponding 2-bromo derivatives. The reaction of the 5-substituted 2-bromo-1,3,4-thiadiazoles with N,N-dialkylaminoethylamines or N-methylpiperazine afforded the corresponding amino-1,3,4-thiadiazole derivatives. All prepared compounds displayed antihistaminic, anticholinergic, and norepinephrine-potentiating activities.

Decreased incidence of indomethacin-induced gastric ulceration in rats by bile duct diversion.

Gastric mucosal ulceration was produced in rats following intraperitoneal injection of indomethacin (40 mg/kg). The incidence of ulcerations was progressively reduced as the bile flow was diverted progressively distal to the ampulla of Vater. It is suggested that bile reflux into the stomach may play a part in the pathogenesis of indomethacin-induced gastric ulceration in rats.

Decreased mitotic activity in the stomach, duodenum and colon of rats treated with high doses of histamine.

Histamine in doses of 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg significantly inhibited mitotic activity of the stomach, duodenum and colon of rats. With the above doses this effect is not dose dependent. However, only the highest dose produced acute gastric mucosal ulceration. It is suggested that decreased mitotic activity is not causally related to ulcer provocation.