Heartbeat Rate Research Articles

Fractional Order Butterworth Filter for Fetal Electrocardiographic Signal Feature Extraction

The non-invasive Fetal Electrocardiogram (FECG) signal has become a significant method for monitoring the fetus's physiological conditions, extracted from the Abdominal Electrocardiogram (AECG) during pregnancy. The current techniques are limited during delivery for detecting and analyzing fECG. The non - intrusive fECG recorded from the mother's abdomen is contaminated by a variety of noise sources, can be a more challenging task for removing the maternal ECG. These contaminated noises have become a major challenge during the extraction of fetal ECG is managed by uni-modal technique. In this research, a new method based on the combination of Wavelet Transform (WT) and Fast Independent Component Analysis (FICA) algorithm approach to extract fECG from AECG recordings of the pregnant woman is proposed. Initially, preprocessing of a signal is done by applying a Fractional Order Butterworth Filter (FBWF). To select the Direct ECG signal which is characterized as a reference signal and the abdominal signal which is characterized as an input signal to the WT, the cross-correlation technique is used to find the signal with greater similarity among the available four abdominal signals. The model performance of the proposed method shows the most frequent similarity of fetal heartbeat rate present in the database can be evaluated through MAE and MAPE is 0.6 and 0.041209 respectively. Thus the proposed methodology of de-noising and separation of fECG signals will act as the predominant one and assist in understanding the nature of the delivery on further analysis.

Combined toxicity of polystyrene microplastics and sulfamethoxazole on zebrafish embryos.

Despite extensive investigation on the toxicity of microplastics (MPs), an emerging global concern, little is known about the combined toxicity of MPs and co-occurring pollutants in aquatic environments. In this study, the combined toxicity of polystyrene MPs and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) antibiotics was explored in zebrafish embryos in terms of the developmental, physiological, and endocrine toxicities. Exposure to PS and SMZ induced mortality (rate: 25.0 ± 7.5%) and malformation (rate: 20~35%) at multiple regions and stages of zebrafish development. Physiological toxicity was also induced as shown by the significant decrease in fetal movement (by 31.1~37.0%) and swimming frequency (by 26.9~36.8%) and the increase in heartbeat rate (by 19.0~20.9%). Finally, PS and SMZ exposure also induced extensive endocrine toxicities in zebrafish as confirmed by increases in various biomarkers including vitellogenin, 17β-estradiol, testosterone, and triiodothyronine. The combination index showed that antagonistic effects were present between PS and SMZ toxicity, which slightly decreased their combined toxicity. This study aims to further understand the combined toxicity of MPs and co-occurring pollutants in aquatic environments.

Differential toxicity and teratogenic effects of the hot water and cold water extracts of Lignosusrhinocerus (Cooke) Ryvarden sclerotium on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos

Ethnopharmacological relevanceThe sclerotium of Lignosusrhinocerus (Cooke) Ryvarden is highly valued for its purported medicinal properties. The decoction and macerated materials prepared from the sclerotium are used for treating cancer and other ailments based on extensive traditional knowledge. Scientific evidence from in vitro cytototoxicity, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory analyses showed the effectiveness of sclerotial water extracts but toxicity assessment of such preparations has not been reported. Aim of the studyThis study aimed to compare the differential toxicity and teratogenicity (if any) of the hot water (HW) and cold water (CW) extracts of both wild and cultivated sclerotium on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. Materials and methodsZebrafish embryos were treated with varying concentrations of the sclerotial HW and CW extracts (0.3–500 μg/mL) for 72 h until hatching. The hatching, mortality and heartbeat rate of the embryos as well as the potential teratogenic effect of the extracts were assessed in embryos post-treatment with the extracts. ResultsWhile the sclerotial HW extracts were nontoxic (LC50 > 500 μg/mL), the sclerotial CW extracts delayed the hatching of the embryos up to 48 h and showed slight toxicity with LC50 values of 398.4 μg/mL and 428.3 μg/mL for the cultivated and wild sclerotium, respectively. The sclerotial CW extracts also induced minor tachycardia in zebrafish larvae. Phenotypic assessment revealed that, while yolk sac edema was observed at high concentrations (300 and 500 μg/mL) of all extracts, curved trunk and bent tail were only observed in the embryos treated with CW extracts of wild sclerotium (300 and 500 μg/mL) but not for CW extracts of cultivated sclerotium at similar concentrations. ConclusionThe sclerotial water extracts of L.rhinocerus prepared using different methods have varying degree of toxicity and teratogenicity in zebrafish embryos with the sclerotial CW extracts showed higher toxicity than the HW extracts.

Handling Radar Cross-Section Performance in Monitoring Vital Signs Under Constraint Conditions

Two vital signs including heartbeat and respiratory rate are monitored in this work under two constraint situations; namely noise disturbance and intermittent observations. The existing scheme for finding, measuring and monitoring vital signs was Fourier Transform which could not deal with non-stationary process. As an alternative, the Wavelet Transform is used in this work which is equally applicable to both stationary and non-stationary processes. Additionally, the loss of output data may result in crucial implications in observing vital signs. Formerly, only un-interrupted data has been amalgamated in tracing vital signs. A novel adaptive ARMA-based scheme is proposed to obtain optimum estimated results in the presence of the above two critical scenarios. Simulation results obtained on real (practical) data show that the ARMA-based model produces similar vital signs as shown by clean and un-distorted data. It is shown that the proposed ARMA-based algorithm improves the breathing rate accuracy by 0.3% and heart rate accuracy by 2.5% as compared to the existing AR-based vital signal reconstruction algorithm.

Sensitivity to changes in rate of heartbeats as a measure of interoceptive ability.

Individuals vary in their ability to perceive, as conscious sensations, signals like the beating of the heart. Tests of such interoceptive ability are, however, constrained in nature and reliability. Performance of the heartbeat tracking task, a widely used test of cardiac interoception, often corresponds well with individual differences in emotion and cognition, yet is susceptible to reporting bias and influenced by higher-order knowledge, e.g., of expected heart rate. The present study introduces a new way of assessing cardiac interoceptive ability, focusing on sensitivity to short-term, naturalistic changes in frequency of heartbeats. At rest, such heart rate variability typically reflects the dominant influence of respiration on vagus parasympathetic control of the sinoatrial pacemaker. We observed an overall tendency of healthy participants to report feeling fewer heartbeats during increases in heart rate, which we speculate reflects a reduction in heartbeat strength and salience during inspiratory periods when heart rate typically increases to maintain a stable cardiac output. Within-participant performance was more variable on this measure of cardiac interoceptive sensitivity relative to the "classic" heartbeat tracking task. Our findings indicate that cardiac interoceptive ability, rather than reflecting the veridical monitoring of subtle variations in physiology, appears to involve more interpolation wherein interoceptive decisions are informed by dynamic working estimates derived from the integration of afferent signaling and higher-order predictions.NEW & NOTEWORTHY This study presents a new method for evaluating cardiac interoceptive ability, measuring sensitivity to naturalistic changes in the number of heartbeats over time periods. Results show participants have an overall tendency toward sensing fewer heartbeats during higher heart rates. This likely reflects the influence of changing heartbeat strength on cardiac interoception at rest, which should be taken into account when evaluating cardiac interoceptive ability and its relationship to anxiety and psychosomatic conditions.

Warming, temperature fluctuations and thermal evolution change the effects of microplastics at an environmentally relevant concentration

Microplastics are sometimes considered not harmful at environmentally relevant concentrations. Yet, such studies were conducted under standard thermal conditions and thereby ignored the impacts of higher mean temperatures (MT), and especially daily temperature fluctuations (DTF) under global warming. Moreover, an evolutionary perspective may further benefit the future risk assessment of microplastics under global warming. Here, we investigated the effects of two generations of exposure to an environmentally relevant concentration of polystyrene microplastics (5 μg L−1) under six thermal conditions (2 MT × 3 DTF) on the life history, physiology, and behaviour of Daphnia magna. To assess the impact of thermal evolution we thereby compared Daphnia populations from high and low latitudes. At the standard ecotoxic thermal conditions (constant 20 °C) microplastics almost had no effect except for a slight reduction of the heartbeat rate. Yet, at the challenging thermal conditions (higher MT and/or DTF), microplastics affected each tested variable and caused an earlier maturation, a higher fecundity and intrinsic growth rate, a decreased heartbeat rate, and an increased swimming speed. These effects may be partly explained by hormesis and/or an adaptive response to stress in Daphnia. Moreover, exposure to microplastics at the higher mean temperature increased the fecundity and intrinsic growth rate of cold-adapted high-latitude Daphnia, but not of the warm-adapted low-latitude Daphnia, suggesting that thermal evolution in high-latitude Daphnia may buffer the effects of microplastics under future warming. Our results highlight the critical importance of DTF and thermal evolution for a more realistic risk assessment of microplastics under global warming.

Stress Prediction and Detection Using IoT and Deep Learning: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract: Stress is the part of life that is an unpleasant emotional state that individuals experience in situations like working for long hours ahead of a computer. Stress is often positive, but it can affect your health if it's chronic. Also Stress is a characteristic response to different pressure instigating factors which can prompt physiological and conduct changes. On the off chance that continues for a more extended period, stress can cause destructive consequences for our body. The body sensors alongside the idea of the Internet of Things can give rich data about one's psychological and actual wellbeing. The proposed work focuses the mind level and identifies enthusiastic changes that happened in an individual when he/she is under pressure, melancholy, or uneasiness. On recognizing, A hint message will be sent to their relatives so that they will assist that individual with emerging from his/her circumstances to fostering an IoT framework which can proficiently identify the anxiety of an individual and give an input which can help the individual to adapt to the stressors. Index Terms: Stress Detection, IoT, Heartbeat Rate, Sensors, Mind analysis & Monitoring.

The Effectiveness of Adenosine in Treating the Acute Attacks of Supra-ventricular Tachycardia

Background: Adenosine is a natural adenine nucleoside available endogenously that decreases heart beat by blocking atrioventricular (AV) node transiently so that extend the duration of conduction in (AV) node when injected intravenously. It has a curative value in the conversion of majority of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) to sinus rhythm. In order to evaluate the adenosine in the management of arrhythmias we conduct this study. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of intravenous adenosine therapy for treatment of (SVT), to determine the optimal adenosine dose effective in (SVT), and to determine the underlying conditions affecting the effective dose. And to evaluate the effectiveness of vagal maneuvers in terminating of spontaneous SVT patients and methods: A cross-sectional study conducts in a group consist of 69 patients ranged from 23-70 years old admitted to the Coronary care unit in Azadi Teaching Hospital ,in Kirkuk city, from July 2014 to June 2016. The diagnosis of (SVT) was made by present of tachycardia which is of narrow complex with a heart beat rate greater than 140 beats/ min by 12 leads chest electrocardiography (ECG). In patients who are hemodynamically stable, vagal maneuvers were carried out initially in the form of carotid sinus massage, gag reflex and Valsalva maneuver, if this failed intravenous administration of adenosine as recommended doses were preformed. If three doses of adenosine boluses were unsuccessful to convert the arrhythmia, patients were managed with other available antiarrythmias or managed with direct electrical cardio version (DC). In unstable patients were managed with (DC). Results: Of 69 included patients, diagnosed as (SVT), M: F ratio was 1:2.1. Their age ranged from 23 years to 70 years with mean age of 57 years. Vagal maneuvers (VM) resulted in restoration of sinus rhythm (SR) in 8patients (7.6%). Out of 57 episodes of (SVT), Adenosine was effective in reverting 51 episodes of SVT to sinus rhythm (89.5%). Of those converted, 18 required a single dose (6mg) (31.6%), fifteen required one additional (12mg) dose (26.3%), and another 18 required two additional doses (81mg) (31.6%).four patients were hemo-dynamically unstable (systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg) which required (DC). Six patients (10.5%) not responding to full adenosine dose(81mg), started treatment with other medication, 1 with verapamil, 4 with amiodarone, and1 with digoxin. All of them were successfully treated. Conclusions: Adenosine is an effective medicine in treating (SVT) in those patients in whom vagal maneuvers has unsuccessful. It demonstrates a high rate of success in terminating acute attack of SVT. A higher dose may be required in majority of patients specially

Protective Effects of Fucoidan Isolated from Sargassum fusiform on AAPH-induced Antioxidant Response in Zebrafish Model

Objective: A 2,2-azobis(2-methylpropylimidazole) dihydrochloride(AAPH)-stimulated zebrafish model was studied and used for investigating the antioxidant activities of a fucoidan(SFPS) isolated from Sargassum fusiform(S. fusiform). Methods: SFPS extracted from S. fusiform and the chemical composition of SFPS were determined. The scavenging capacities of SFPS on 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt(ABTS) radicals were determined to evaluate its antioxidant activity in vitro. Then the AAPH-induced oxidative stress model of zebrafish was studied and optimized. Three phenotypic indexes(survival rate, yolk sac size and heartbeat rate) as well as levels of cell death and reactive oxygen species(ROS) were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of SFPS in vivo. Results: The SFPS contained 75.30%±1.77% carbohydrates content, 21.39%±1.07% sulfate content, 1.78%±0.19% protein content and 1.47%±0.02% phenolic content. Compared with the crude polysaccharide(SFPSC), lower IC50 values of SFPS for DPPH and ABTS were determined to be 0.59 and 0.69 mg/mL, respectively. Besides, SFPS was nontoxic to zebrafish embryos in the range of 50~200 μg/mL and dose-dependently protect zebrafishfrom AAPH induced oxidative damage. At the optimal concentration of 200 μg/mL, the survival rate of zebrafish embryos was significantly increased(100%, P SFPS would have strong antioxidant activity in vitro, and had superior antioxidant ability and oxidative damage repair ability in vivo, thus indicated that SFPS as a natural antioxidant would have a wide application prospect in the field of health food and cosmetics.

The effect of hemoperfusion on the outcome, clinical and laboratory findings of patients with severe COVID-19: a retrospective study

Hemoperfusion is a method of blood filtering to remove toxins and inflammatory factors. Cytokine storms and high levels of inflammatory factors play a role in the pathogenesis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The present study aims to evaluate the effect of hemoperfusion on the clinical and laboratory findings and outcomes of patients with severe COVID-19. Forty-eight patients with severe COVID-19 and a positive PCR test, who were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU), participated in the study. All patients were treated by routine treatment protocol for COVID-19. Hemoperfusion was performed for 24 patients in addition to treatment with conventional antiviral therapies. The other 24 patients made up the control group. Demographic data, laboratory findings and patient outcomes before and after treatment were retrospectively collected and analysed. There was no significnt difference in mortality or length of hospital stays between the control group and the hemoperfusion group. The breathing rate (P-vaalue = 0.001) and heart beat rate (P-value = 0.028) of patients decreased after hemoperfusion. The hemoperfusion resulted in a significant increase in the SpO2 levels and a significant decrease in the CRP of patients compared to the conventional treatment (P-value = 0.009). Hemoperfusion can improve respiratory distress. It can reduce the CRP in patients with severe COVID-19 but has no effect on mortality.

WAYS TO PROVIDE SECURE WORKING CONDITIONS OF GAS AND SMOKE DIVERS THROUGH MONITORING THEIR HEART BEAT RATE

Background. In a device with compressed air in an environment unsuitable for breathing, it is necessary to ensure safe operating modes of gas and smoke divers based on remote monitoring of heart rate monitoring. Purpose. To develop a model of heart beat rate zone parameters for controlling the safety of gas and smoke divers in a breathing apparatus with compressed air in an nonserviceable environment. Materials and methods. 30 cadets (young men) aged 20-23 years took part in the study on the basis of the laboratory of functional diagnostics. The time interval for maintaining the maximum intensity of work when performing physical exercises on a treadmill and an exercise bike in firefighter combat clothing using a compressed air breathing apparatus and the heart rate during various physical exertion were recorded. The results were processed using Excel and SPSS Statistics 22 programs. Results. It is established that in the light zone of heart beat rate there is an exponential law of the distribution of the operating time, and in the moderate - the normal distribution. The constructed probabilistic model allows for well as information support for the decision-making process for assessing the secure workings of operating modes based on remote monitoring of the functional state of smoked divers. The novelty of the study is determined by the technical capabilities of the telemetry systems of modern breathing apparatus with compressed air. Conclusion. When designing telemetric systems for monitoring the safety of gas and smoke divers, taking into account the quantitative pulse indicator that characterizes their condition when performing fire extinguishing operations in an inhospitable environment, it is necessary to take into account the normal distribution of working time in the pulse zone and the level of efficiency of the gas and smoke divers.

Development of a Sensor-Based Heartbeat and Body Temperature Monitoring System for Remote Chronic Patients

The growing number of chronic diseases have stretched the healthcare sector. Globally, more than 36 million deaths per year are attributed to chronic disease complications. This has increased the demand for telemedicine in managing chronic patients as they must be on continuous monitoring for a long time. The involvement of wireless sensor networks and cloud computing technology in the health sector is increasing due to the potential it possesses in remote sensing and monitoring applications. This paper presents a developed system prototype for monitoring the heartbeat rate and body temperature of chronic patients using sensors. The monitored data are sent to a cloud database in real-time via an internet connection using the ESP8266 wireless module. The approach involves connecting a heart pulse sensor, an MLX90614 contactless temperature sensor, and the ESP8266 module to the Arduino development board. The goal of this work is to create a system that interfaces chronic patients and medical personnel in an attempt to avert the effects of insufficient health facilities, especially in rural Africa. The patient’s data in the cloud database can also be retrieved by medical personnel anytime in order to track the patient’s conditions and to advise the patient accordingly. The sensed heartbeat and body temperature readings were processed, sent, and recorded in the cloud database effectively.

Hypoxic Threshold for Yellow Perch Embryonic Development

AbstractThe effects of hypoxia on the embryonic development and larval survival of Yellow Perch were examined at three different dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations: hypoxia (H) 3–4 mg/L, moderate‐hypoxia (MH) 5 mg/L, and normoxia (N) 7–8 mg/L. Each DO concentration was tested in replicates of four within twelve 38‐L aquaria, at temperatures of 16.8 ± 0.4°C. To examine the effects of DO on the incubation of Yellow Perch embryos, samples of fertilized eggs (1.58 ± 0.1 g, 631 eggs/g) were placed in twelve 38‐L aquaria. The embryos were observed until hatching, or mortality. Significant differences were observed in embryonic survival and hatching among the three DO treatments. At 43 h after fertilization (haf, optic‐cup stage), embryonic development in H‐treatment groups was completely arrested, while the embryos of MH and N groups developed normally, possessing a distinct body trunk shape and optic caps at 43 haf. At 168 haf, all embryos were either developmentally arrested or dead in H treatment groups, while average percentage of live embryos in MH and N treatment groups was 12 ± 9.8% and 99 ± 0.4%, respectively. Heartbeat appeared at 72 haf in the N treatment groups, and about 96 haf in MH treatment groups. Heartbeat rate differed significantly (P &lt; 0.05) between the N and MH groups (143 ± 10/min and 117 ± 17/min, respectively). Hatching rate in N groups (78.3 ± 8.6%) was significantly higher than that of MH groups (20.0 ± 8.7%), and there was no hatching observed in H groups. In the second experiment, 300 freshly hatched (72haf) larvae were stocked to each of the 12 aquaria to observe the effect of different oxygen concentrations (H, MH, and N) on survival for 5 d. We did not observe an effect on survival of the larvae. Overall, results indicate that hypoxic conditions below 3.5 mg/L (39% saturation at 16°C) have a profound negative effect on the development and survival of Yellow Perch embryos, while Yellow Perch larvae are capable of surviving this low‐DO environment.

Heart Disease Detection using ML and ES (Smart Wearable Health Monitoring System)

This paper proposed a smart wearable system for heart disease detection using machine learning and embedded systems. A smart wearable system that able to monitor the heart beat rate condition of patient. The heart beat rate is detected using photoplethysmogram (PPG). The signal is processed using ATmega32 Microcontroller to determine heart beat rate per minute. Then, it sends the heart rate represented as BPM to Android App Via Bluetooth Communication, Android app sends SMS alert to the mobile phone of medical experts or patient's family member, or their relatives via SMS contains user's current location, Android app calculates daily steps count. Android/Desktop app allow user to check nearest hospitals, cardiac centers, nearest Health centers (GYM) and also user's current location. Android/Desktop app allow user to know if he suffers from heart disease or not by one click which run a machine/Deep learning module that analyze user ‘s data to detect heart disease.

Enhanced Deep Learning Approach For IoT Enabled Sensitive Clinical Data Analytics

With the enormous upgrade of clinical sensors, it has acquired developing interest to investigate the Healthcare Internet of Things (H-IoT) because of its wide relevance for wellbeing of patient. Current medical services are providing only a limited significance with the emergence of a new strain Covid-19. People are dealing with an issue of unforeseen demise because of different ailment which is a direct result of absence of clinical consideration to the patients at perfect time. Hence in this situation, an IoT based smart healthcare checking framework is necessary during this pandemic. In this paper, an enhanced deep learning framework is proposed that efficiently deep belief network perform IoT-enabled clinical data analytics. The proposed framework is utilized to PIMA Indian physiological parameter dataset quantify to the actual boundaries like internal heat level, heart beat rate, and oxygen level checking with the assistance of sensors. The proposed framework involves the secured cloud infrastructure where the clinical sensor data are acquired and stored. For secured cloud storage and to provide an improved security, Improved Elliptic Curve Cryptography (IECC) algorithm utilized set up a transfer a medical records trust between the doctors and patients centralised repository trailed by enabling a typical session key for communication. The proposed solution automatically predicts any abnormalities exist in the patient and it is communicated to the medical experts for disease diagnosis and appropriate medical consultancy is provided for the patient through secured channel. The proposed framework is deployed in real-time environment for remote healthcare especially in rural area.

Design and Implementation of Human Stress Detection System: especially for Autistic children

Stress can be recognized as a normal feeling when it is in its limit. If it sustains for more days it will surely lead to a number of diseases. A person should learn to handle stress in order that doesn’t affect him as well as his surroundings. Many people don’t realize the occurrence and reason of stress. The working condition of some people never gives any option of thinking mental strength (i.e., stress management). Children who are referred to be autistic will not be able to express their internal feelings which also reduce their confidence level. Hence a system which monitors, detects, and analyses the health parameters will really help as a supplement care taking unit. It consists of a pulse sensor, temperature and skin resistance detecting circuit. The former sensor detects the heart beat rate and temperature of the human body which helps in the stress detection. Skin resistance circuit makes use of skin property namely galvanic skin response to detect the stress levels. These sensor detected values were used to manipulate the stress level. The ThingSpeak cloud is accessed to store the data obtained. The data can be sent to the user through email automatically after the prescribed time. This report can be used for stress management and also for treatment purpose. The person will definitely realize the importance of stress management and hence the concerned person will have a look on the report.

A new smart healthcare framework for real-time heart disease detection based on deep and machine learning.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the most critical heart diseases. Accurate analytics for real-time heart disease is significant. This paper sought to develop a smart healthcare framework (SHDML) by using deep and machine learning techniques based on optimization stochastic gradient descent (SGD) to predict the presence of heart disease. The SHDML framework consists of two stage, the first stage of SHDML is able to monitor the heart beat rate condition of a patient. The SHDML framework to monitor patients in real-time has been developed using an ATmega32 Microcontroller to determine heartbeat rate per minute pulse rate sensors. The developed SHDML framework is able to broadcast the acquired sensor data to a Firebase Cloud database every 20 seconds. The smart application is infectious in regard to displaying the sensor data. The second stage of SHDML has been used in medical decision support systems to predict and diagnose heart diseases. Deep or machine learning techniques were ported to the smart application to analyze user data and predict CVDs in real-time. Two different methods of deep and machine learning techniques were checked for their performances. The deep and machine learning techniques were trained and tested using widely used open-access dataset. The proposed SHDML framework had very good performance with an accuracy of 0.99, sensitivity of 0.94, specificity of 0.85, and F1-score of 0.87.

Evaluation of Maghemite Nanoparticles-Induced Developmental Toxicity and Oxidative Stress in Zebrafish Embryos/Larvae.

Maghemite nanoparticles ([Formula: see text] NPs) have a wide array of applications in various industries including biomedical field. There is an absence of legislation globally for the regulation of the production, use, and disposal of such NPs as they are eventually dumped into the environment where these NPs might affect the living systems. This study evaluates the effect of the [Formula: see text] NP-induced developmental toxicity in zebrafish embryos/larvae. The commercially available Fe2O3 NPs were purchased, and zebrafish embryos toxicity test was done by exposing embryos to various concentrations of [Formula: see text] NPs at 1 hpf and analyzed at 96 hpf. Based on the LC50 value (60.17ppm), the sub-lethal concentrations of 40 and 60ppm were used for further experiments. Hatching, lethality, developmental malformations, and heartbeat rate were measured in the control and treated embryos/larvae. The ionicFe content in the media, and the larvae was quantified using ICP-MS and AAS. The biomolecular alterations in the control and treated groups were analyzed using FT-IR. The Fe ions present in the larvae were visualized using SEM-EDXS. In situ detection of AChE and apoptotic bodies was done using staining techniques. Biochemical markers (total protein content, AChE, and Na+ K+-ATPase) along with oxidants and antioxidants were assessed. A significant decrease in the heartbeat rate and hatching delay was observed in the treated groups affecting the developmental processes. Teratogenic analysis showed increased developmental deformity incidence in treated groups in a dose-dependent manner. The accumulation of Fe was evidenced from the ICP-MS, AAS, and SEM-EDXS. Alterations in AChE and Na+ K+-ATPase activity were observed along with an increment in the oxidants level with a concomitant decrease in antioxidant enzymes. These results show [Formula: see text] NP exposure leads to developmental malformation and results in the alteration of redox homeostasis.

Contact and Non-contact Heart Beat Rate Measurement Techniques: Challenges and Issues

The heart is the most important organ in the human body as it circulates the blood throughout the body through blood vessels. In the human circulatory system, the heart beats according to the body’s physical needs. Therefore, the physical condition of a person can be determined by observing the heartbeat rate (HBR). There are plenty of methods that can be used to measure the HBR. Among the methods, photoplethysmography (PPG), electrocardiogram (ECG) and the oscillometric method are the standard methods utilised in medical institutes for continuous measurement of the HBR of a patient. Out of these three methods, PPG is the only method which has evolved to a non-contact imaging-based method from the conventional contact sensory based method. The incentive for developing the non-contact-based imaging PPG method in measuring the HBR provides the advantage of excluding the direct contact of sensors on specific body parts. This brings huge improvements to remote monitoring of healthcare especially for the purpose of social distancing. Moreover, the rapid progression of technology (particularly the interactive electronic gadgets advancement) also motivates researchers and engineers to create a mobile application using the PPG imaging method, which is feasible in measuring the HBR. Hence, this study seeks to review and present the fundamental concept, the present research and the evolution of the aforementioned methods in measuring the HBR.

Monitoring adaptation of skin tissue oxygenation during cycling ergometer exercise by frequency-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy.

In addition to supplying oxygen molecule O2 for metabolic functions during the adaptation to exercise, blood also plays a critical role in heat dissipation for core temperature stabilization. This study investigates the status of hemodynamic oxygenation in the forearm's skin tissue of three participants during a complete ergometer exercise from the resting to exercising, and to recovering conditions using a three-wavelength frequency-domain diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (FD DRS) alongside the monitoring of heartbeat rate and skin temperature. The FD DRS system was synchronized with radiofrequency (RF)-modulated input photon sources and the respective output to extract time-course absorption and scattering coefficients of the skin tissue, which, through the fitting of lambert's law of absorbance, can be used to determine the concentration of oxygenated/deoxygenated hemoglobin molecules, and consequentially, the oxygen saturation of skin tissue and total hemoglobin (THb) concentration. Expressly, a sudden jump in heartbeat rate at the beginning of the exercise, a temporal lag of the rising edge of skin temperature behind that of the THb concentration in the procession of step-wise incremental working intensity, and the uprising of THb in the exhaustion zone in responses to the physiological adaptation to exercise were identified. Finally, conclusive remarks were drawn that the FD DRS system is useful in extracting the hemodynamic properties of forearm skin which is often being neglected in previous exercise physiology studies by DRS-related techniques. The detailed variation of hemodynamic and optical scattering parameters of forearm skin elucidated in the studies can be applied for the analysis of athletes' physiological status, and may be a potential reference for the design of future wearable devices.