115 research outputs found
Beat-to-beat variability of QRS amplitude and heart rate in ischemic heart disease : diagnostic potentials
No full textThe diagnostic potential of beat-to-beat QRS amplitude variability in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) was evaluated with variance ECG and compared to exercise stress test and myocardial scintigraphy (SPECT). Two high prevalence populations of 199 and 166 patients each were investigated. The discriminative accuracy of the different methods was assessed employing receiver operating curves constructed by successive consideration of several variance ECG generated CAD index cut point values and various threshold criteria based on ST segment depression with or without exertional chest pain.The CAD index provided a significant discrimination which was matched by exerse stress test only when chest pain variable was added to ST segment depression as a discriminating criterion. Overall pathological findings at SPECT was better identified by the CAD index than by symptom limited exercise stress test. While the index was strongly diagnostic for persistent perfusion defects or combined defects, exer se stress test was diagnostic for transient defects only. Relative to pathology at coronary angiography, the CAD index had a diagnostic capa ty at least as good as that of SPECT and better than that of exer se stress test. Beat-to-beat QRS amplitude variability during dobutamine provoked myocardial ischemia was investigated in 15 patients with angiographically verified CAD. Compared to healthy controls, dobutamine infusion induced a significant increase in variability in the patients, as a sign of electrical instability of the myocardium.Variance ECG was evaluated six months after myocardial infarction (AMI)(n=73) and after coronary by pass grafting (CABG) (n=56). Patients with AMIand initially low index values increased their index. In patients subjected to CABG, the CAD index increased significantly during the six months which was prominent and reversible in character in patients with initial low index.The changes in CAD index following ischemic cardiac events may provide new insights into the dynamics of ischemic heart disease. Beat-to-beat variability of heart rate (750 beats) was recorded in healthy individuals and in patients with recent AMI, in the basal state and afterautonomic blockade. The variability was analysed in time- and frequency domain (linear methods) together with quantitative measurements of Lyapunov exponent, correlation and fractal dimension and qualitative assessment by the evolution in phase space (nonlinear methods). Heart rate variability was found to exhibit characteristics of low dimensional chaos. Patients with AMI showed significantly less complex behaviour than healthy controls but the difference was eliminated by atropine, suggestive of vagal toneas a major cause. Heart rate variability and its modulation can be described equally by linear and nonlinear methods. Nonlinear methods are deterministic thus possessing a potential to predict and control electrical instability.</p
Investigation into electric utility incentives for acquisition of conservation resources
No full textv. 1. Summary & report -- v. 2. Appendices.Title from PDF cover (viewed on February 14, 2017).This archived document is maintained by the Oregon State Library as part of the Oregon Documents Depository Program. It is for informational purposes and may not be suitable for legal purposes.Includes bibliographical references.Mode of access: Internet from the Oregon Government Publications Collection.Text in English
A rodent fauna from later Cenozoic beds of southwestern Idaho
No full textThe late Pliocene or early Pleistocene continental deposits occurring
in southwestern Idaho have yielded scattered fossil mammalian
remains during the past forty years or more. However, with the
exception of beaver material described as Castor accessor by O. P. Hay
nothing has been recorded concerning the rodents from these beds.
That a diversified assemblage of types occurs in these later Cenozoic
sediments is clearly shown by collections procured in recent years in
the course of palaeontological explorations along the Snake River
near Grand View and Hagerman, Idaho.
The westerly of the two principal localities in this region of Idaho is
situated on the west side of the Snake River approximately thirteen
miles northwest of the town of Grand View. This site was investigated
by the California Institute of Technology. The Hagerman locality,
where extensive excavations were conducted by the United States
National Museum, is situated on the Snake River across from the town
of Hagerman. In an airline, the distance between the localities at
Grand View and Hagerman is approximately sixty miles.
The United States National Museum has generously permitted me
to borrow the rodent collections obtained by that institution at the
Hagerman locality. The beaver remains were not included, since
important studies of this group are being conducted elsewhere. The
present paper embraces therefore a study of the rodent types now
known from the Hagerman and Grand View localities, with the exception
of the material noted above, and grateful acknowledgment
is made here for opportunity to study the National Museum collections.
Recent comparative material was loaned by the Division of Vertebrate
Zoology, California Institute. The illustrations of the rodent material
were prepared from photographic enlargements by John L. Ridgway.
The author also wishes to thank Dr. Chester Stock for opportunity to
study the California Institute collections and for supervision of the
work, as well as for a critical reading of the manuscript
Why Ethics and Respect Matter
No full textTHE CENTER FOR ETHICS PETER S. HAGERMAN \u2761 LECTURE IN ETHICS "Why Ethics and Respect Matter" CARLY FIORINA Chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Company (1999-2005) and Best-Selling Author The Center for Ethics is funded in part by the ENDOWMENT FUND for the TEACHING of ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING. Visit our website at ethicscenter.cas2.lehigh.ed
Response to the Letter to the Editor on: Effect of yoga versus hydrotherapy training on health-related quality of life and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure: A randomized controlled study
No full textn/a</p
Building scale in community impact investing through nonfinancial performance measurement
No full textThe measurement of nonfinancial performance is becoming increasingly important in the community impact investing industry, where individuals and institutions actively deploy capital in low-income domestic markets for both financial and social returns. Quality data ensure that the creation of jobs, construction of community facilities, financing of affordable housing, and other benefits that characterize the sector are delivered cost-effectively and transparently. This paper discusses the limited practice and future direction of nonfinancial performance measurement by revisiting four key questions: ; 1. Does nonfinancial performance measurement really matter for investors? ; 2. If it does matter, is nonfinancial performance measurement even possible? ; 3. If nonfinancial performance is possible to measure, what form should it take? ; 4. How will nonfinancial performance measurement increase community impact investing? ; The paper examines the barriers to a more robust regime of nonfinancial performance measurement and posits both that innovation in the sector ought to be driven by the discrete but explicit needs and demands of investors, and that greater accountability has a special role to play in making disclosure more attractive. The report concludes that nonfinancial performance measurement directly informs the investment process and is essential to growing community impact investing because it provides latent sources of capital with market-level information on the tradeoffs between financial and social return. Although the industry is unlikely to discover the “silver bullet” of nonfinancial performance measurement in the near future, there is reason to be hopeful: measurement strategies can – and will – converge through private- and public-sector innovation.Community development
Risk-Based Evidence for Animal Health Policy
No full textThis eBook is a collection of articles from a Frontiers Research Topic. Frontiers Research Topics are very popular trademarks of the Frontiers Journals Series: they are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject. With their unique mix of varied contributions from Original Research to Review Articles, Frontiers Research Topics unify the most influential researchers, the latest key findings and historical advances in a hot research area! Find out more on how to host your own Frontiers Research Topic or contribute to one as an author by contacting the Frontiers Editorial Office: frontiersin.org/about/contac
Effects of yoga versus hydrotherapy training on health-related quality of life and exercise capacity in patients with heart failure: A randomized controlled study
No full textAims: The aims of this study were to determine whether yoga and hydrotherapy training had an equal effect on the health-related quality of life in patients with heart failure and to compare the effects on exercise capacity, clinical outcomes, and symptoms of anxiety and depression between and within the two groups. Methods: The design was a randomized controlled non-inferiority study. A total of 40 patients, 30% women (meanSD age 64.98.9 years) with heart failure were randomized to an intervention of 12 weeks, either performing yoga or training with hydrotherapy for 45-60 minutes twice a week. Evaluation at baseline and after 12 weeks included self-reported health-related quality of life, a six-minute walk test, a sit-to-stand test, clinical variables, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Results: Yoga and hydrotherapy had an equal impact on quality of life, exercise capacity, clinical outcomes, and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Within both groups, exercise capacity significantly improved (hydrotherapy p=0.02; yoga p=0.008) and symptoms of anxiety decreased (hydrotherapy p=0.03; yoga p=0.01). Patients in the yoga group significantly improved their health as rated by EQ-VAS (p=0.004) and disease-specific quality of life in the domains symptom frequency (p=0.03), self-efficacy (p=0.01), clinical summary as a combined measure of symptoms and social factors (p=0.05), and overall summary score (p=0.04). Symptoms of depression were decreased in this group (p=0.005). In the hydrotherapy group, lower limb muscle strength improved significantly (p=0.01). Conclusions: Yoga may be an alternative or complementary option to established forms of exercise training such as hydrotherapy for improvement in health-related quality of life and may decrease depressive symptoms in patients with heart failure.</p
Theory Testing of Patient Perspectives Using a Mobile Health Technology System in Heart Failure Self-care
No full textBackground: There is an increasing interest in mobile health (mHealth), the use of mobile devices for supporting self-care in persons with heart failure. However, an established theoretical framework to explain, predict, and understand the phenomena of mHealth to support self-care is lacking. Objective: The aim of this study was to deductively test if the situation-specific theory of heart failure self-care could be applied in the context of persons with heart failure using an mHealth system with a tablet computer connected to a weighing scale to support their self-care. We wanted to test whether the 3 phases of the self-care process (ie, self-care maintenance, symptom perception, and self-care management) could be validated in the experiences of persons with heart failure using an mHealth tool. Methods: A qualitative study design was used with semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed deductively using content analysis and coded according to a structured matrix into 1 of the 3 predefined categories: self-care maintenance, symptom perception, or self-care management Results: Seventeen persons with heart failure, with mean age of 75 years, participated. The mHealth system was found to be feasible, influencing adherence and providing support for maintaining self-care as well as influencing both physical and psychological symptom perception. In persons with heart failure, the mHealth tool experience influenced the development and use of skills and fostered independence in self-care management. An interaction with healthcare professionals was sometimes needed in combination with the mHealth tool. Conclusions: The findings confirmed that "the situation-specific theory of heart failure self-care" could be applied in this context.</p
- …
