At-home sleep monitoring using generic ear-EEG.

Introduction: A device comprising two generic earpieces with embedded dry electrodes for ear-centered electroencephalography (ear-EEG) was developed. The objective was to provide ear-EEG based sleep monitoring to a wide range of the population without tailoring the device to the individual. Methods: To validate the device ten healthy subjects were recruited for a 12-night sleep study. The study was divided into two parts; part A comprised two nights with both ear-EEG and polysomnography (PSG), and part B comprised 10 nights using only ear-EEG. In addition to the electrophysiological measurements, subjects filled out a questionnaire after each night of sleep. Results: The subjects reported that the ear-EEG system was easy to use, and that the comfort was better in part B. The performance of the system was validated by comparing automatic sleep scoring based on ear-EEG with PSG-based sleep scoring performed by a professional trained sleep scorer. Cohen's kappa was used to assess the agreement between the manual and automatic sleep scorings, and the study showed an average kappa value of 0.71. The majority of the 20 recordings from part A yielded a kappa value above 0.7. The study was compared to a companioned study conducted with individualized earpieces. To compare the sleep across the two studies and two parts, 7 different sleeps metrics were calculated based on the automatic sleep scorings. The ear-EEG nights were validated through linear mixed model analysis in which the effects of equipment (individualized vs. generic earpieces), part (PSG and ear-EEG vs. only ear-EEG) and subject were investigated. We found that the subject effect was significant for all computed sleep metrics. Furthermore, the equipment did not show any statistical significant effect on any of the sleep metrics. Discussion: These results corroborate that generic ear-EEG is a promising alternative to the gold standard PSG for sleep stage monitoring. This will allow sleep stage monitoring to be performed in a less obtrusive way and over longer periods of time, thereby enabling diagnosis and treatment of diseases with associated sleep disorders.

Seroepidemiological study of cystic echinococcosis in nomadic communities in the southwest of Iran: A population-based study.

The current study aimed at the seroepidemiological survey of human cystic echinococcosis (CE) in nomadic people in Boyer-Ahmad District in the southwest of Iran. One thousand and five nomads were selected by cross-sectional sample collection in nomadic tribes of Boyer-Ahmad District in the southwest of Iran. Blood samples were taken from each individual, and the sera were tested for detection of anti-hydatid cyst antibodies using antigen B-ELISA. A predesigned questionnaire which contained basic epidemiological and individual information related to hydatid cyst was filled for each subject during sample collecting. Subjects of the study were 227 males (22.6%) and 778 (77.4%) females. The mean age of the participants was 40.4 years old (±16.6). Anti-hydatid cyst antibodies were detected in 81 (8.1%) of the subjects. Seroprevalence rate for CE in females (9%) was more than males (4.8%). Multivariate logistic regression revealed significant associations between CE seropositivity and sex (odds ratio [OR] = 1.88; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.93-3.80) and dog ownership (OR = 8.3; 95% CI = 3.94-16.37). The rate of infection with CE in nomadic people in southwest of Iran is considerable. Treatment of dogs and increasing the level of people awareness may contribute a substantial advancement in the control of the disease in the area.

Seroprevalence and Molecular Evaluation of Toxoplasmosis in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy for Malignancies in the Bushehr Province, Southwest Iran.

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in organ transplant recipients, people receiving corticosteroid or radiation therapy, people with malignancies, and AIDS patients. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients receiving chemotherapy for malignancies in the Bushehr province of southwest Iran. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 86 patients who were continuously referred to the chemotherapy center in Bushehr province and evaluated by ELISA to determine anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies. Moreover, a blood buffy coat of each sample was assessed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), targeting a 529 bp gene of T. gondii. PCR products of the positive samples were sequenced to determine the genotype of the parasite. RESULTS: Anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were detected in the sera of 21 (24.4%) cases. All of the patients were negative for anti-Toxoplasma IgM antibodies. No statistically significant correlation was found between seropositivity to Toxoplasma and duration of chemotherapy or having contact with cats. PCR detected a 529 bp band of T. gondii in the buffy coats of two out of 86 (2.3%) cases. The sequence analysis demonstrated that both cases were 95% identical to type III (VEG strain) of T. gondii. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this study demonstrated the presence of type III T. gondii in the buffy coats of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Given that toxoplasmosis is a life-threatening infection in immunocompromised patients, these patients should be screened for toxoplasmosis before and during chemotherapy to prevent acute toxoplasmosis.