Binaural beat salience.

Science.gov (United States)

Grose, John H; Buss, Emily; Hall, Joseph W

2012-03-01

Previous studies of binaural beats have noted individual variability and response lability, but little attention has been paid to the salience of the binaural beat percept. The purpose of this study was to gauge the strength of the binaural beat percept by matching its salience to that of sinusoidal amplitude modulation (SAM), and to then compare rate discrimination for the two types of fluctuation. Rate discrimination was measured for standard rates of 4, 8, 16, and 32 Hz - all in the 500-Hz carrier region. Twelve normal-hearing adults participated in this study. The results indicated that discrimination acuity for binaural beats is similar to that for SAM tones whose depths of modulation have been adjusted to provide equivalent modulation salience. The matched-salience SAM tones had relatively shallow depths of modulation, suggesting that the perceptual strength of binaural beats is relatively weak, although all listeners perceived them. The Weber fraction for detection of an increase in binaural beat rate is roughly constant across beat rates, at least for rates above 4 Hz, as is rate discrimination for SAM tones. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dual-source CT coronary angiography in patients with premature heart-beats: initial experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yining; Zhang Zhuhua; Kong Lingyan; Song Lan; Mu Wenbin; Wang Yun; Jin Zhengyu

2008-01-01

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of dual-source computed tomography (DSCT) coronary angiography in a population with premature heart-beats. Methods: Seventy patients with suspected coronary artery disease and premature heart-beats were routinely imaged on a DSCT scanner (Somatom Definition, Siemens AG, Germany). The images were reconstmcted before and after ECG editing. Two readers independently assessed image quality of all coronary segments using a four-point grading scale from excellent (1) to non-assessable (4). The results of the two groups were compared with a paired t-test, and a P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean heart rate during examination ranged from 49 to 111 bpm[ mean(70.7±12.4) bpm]. Twenty-eight of 70 patients with relatively small variability of the heart rate [(41.0±18.4) bpm] got diagnostic image quality without ECG editing. In other 42 patients with larger variability of the heart rate [(71.4±28.7) bpm], the mean image quality scores were 2.09±1.27 and 1.50±0.79 before and after ECG editing, there was a significant difference (t= 13.764, P 2 =121.846, P<0.01). Finally, the diagnostic image accounted 98.0% (1014/1035) in all segments of 70 patients. Conclusion: DSCT can provide diagnostic images for patients with premature heart-beats. The image quality in patients with larger variability of the heart rate can be significantly improved through ECG editing. (authors)

A comparison of auditory evoked potentials to acoustic beats and to binaural beats.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, Hillel; Starr, Arnold; Michalewski, Henry J; Dimitrijevic, Andrew; Bleich, Naomi; Mittelman, Nomi

2010-04-01

The purpose of this study was to compare cortical brain responses evoked by amplitude modulated acoustic beats of 3 and 6 Hz in tones of 250 and 1000 Hz with those evoked by their binaural beats counterparts in unmodulated tones to indicate whether the cortical processes involved differ. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to 3- and 6-Hz acoustic and binaural beats in 2000 ms duration 250 and 1000 Hz tones presented with approximately 1 s intervals. Latency, amplitude and source current density estimates of ERP components to beats-evoked oscillations were determined and compared across beat types, beat frequencies and base (carrier) frequencies. All stimuli evoked tone-onset components followed by oscillations corresponding to the beat frequency, and a subsequent tone-offset complex. Beats-evoked oscillations were higher in amplitude in response to acoustic than to binaural beats, to 250 than to 1000 Hz base frequency and to 3 Hz than to 6 Hz beat frequency. Sources of the beats-evoked oscillations across all stimulus conditions located mostly to left temporal lobe areas. Differences between estimated sources of potentials to acoustic and binaural beats were not significant. The perceptions of binaural beats involve cortical activity that is not different than acoustic beats in distribution and in the effects of beat- and base frequency, indicating similar cortical processing. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of adriamycin and irradiation on beating of rat heart muscle cells in culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrovic, D.; Brown, S.M.; Yatvin, M.B.

1977-01-01

In an attempt to elucidate the mechanisms involved in Adriamycin (ADM) induced cardiotoxicity as well as determining the possible potentiating effect that irradiation has when it is combined with the drug, heart cells from newborn rats were isolated, cultured and treated with Adriamycin. The actions of these two agents separately or in combination on the survival of beating activity and beating frequency are measured. Beating activity could be decreased temporarily either by exposing the cells to 50 krad of γ-irradiation or 0.1 μg of Adriamycin. Following 100 krad of γ-radiation or 1.0 μg Adriamycin, an irreversible cessation of beating occurred. In the case of Adriamycin, cessation was preceded by a temporary sharp increase in beating frequency. Doses of radiation up to 10 krad in combination with Adriamycin were not potentiating. The results indicate that Adriamycin produces its cardiotoxic effects, at least in part, by a direct action on heart muscle cells. It is less likely, however, that damage which occurs in the heart following therapeutic doses of irradiation is the result of such direct action

Extracting fetal heart beats from maternal abdominal recordings: selection of the optimal principal components

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Di Maria, Costanzo; Liu, Chengyu; Zheng, Dingchang; Murray, Alan; Langley, Philip

2014-01-01

This study presents a systematic comparison of different approaches to the automated selection of the principal components (PC) which optimise the detection of maternal and fetal heart beats from non-invasive maternal abdominal recordings. A public database of 75 4-channel non-invasive maternal abdominal recordings was used for training the algorithm. Four methods were developed and assessed to determine the optimal PC: (1) power spectral distribution, (2) root mean square, (3) sample entropy, and (4) QRS template. The sensitivity of the performance of the algorithm to large-amplitude noise removal (by wavelet de-noising) and maternal beat cancellation methods were also assessed. The accuracy of maternal and fetal beat detection was assessed against reference annotations and quantified using the detection accuracy score F1 [2*PPV*Se / (PPV + Se)], sensitivity (Se), and positive predictive value (PPV). The best performing implementation was assessed on a test dataset of 100 recordings and the agreement between the computed and the reference fetal heart rate (fHR) and fetal RR (fRR) time series quantified. The best performance for detecting maternal beats (F1 99.3%, Se 99.0%, PPV 99.7%) was obtained when using the QRS template method to select the optimal maternal PC and applying wavelet de-noising. The best performance for detecting fetal beats (F1 89.8%, Se 89.3%, PPV 90.5%) was obtained when the optimal fetal PC was selected using the sample entropy method and utilising a fixed-length time window for the cancellation of the maternal beats. The performance on the test dataset was 142.7 beats 2 /min 2 for fHR and 19.9 ms for fRR, ranking respectively 14 and 17 (out of 29) when compared to the other algorithms presented at the Physionet Challenge 2013. (paper)

3D force control for robotic-assisted beating heart surgery based on viscoelastic tissue model.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Chao; Moreira, Pedro; Zemiti, Nabil; Poignet, Philippe

2011-01-01

Current cardiac surgery faces the challenging problem of heart beating motion even with the help of mechanical stabilizer which makes delicate operation on the heart surface difficult. Motion compensation methods for robotic-assisted beating heart surgery have been proposed recently in literature, but research on force control for such kind of surgery has hardly been reported. Moreover, the viscoelasticity property of the interaction between organ tissue and robotic instrument further complicates the force control design which is much easier in other applications by assuming the interaction model to be elastic (industry, stiff object manipulation, etc.). In this work, we present a three-dimensional force control method for robotic-assisted beating heart surgery taking into consideration of the viscoelastic interaction property. Performance studies based on our D2M2 robot and 3D heart beating motion information obtained through Da Vinci™ system are provided.

Heart Motion Prediction in Robotic-Assisted Beating Heart Surgery: A Nonlinear Fast Adaptive Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Liang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Off-pump Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG surgery outperforms traditional on-pump surgery because the assisted robotic tools can alleviate the relative motion between the beating heart and robotic tools. Therefore, it is possible for the surgeon to operate on the beating heart and thus lessens post surgery complications for the patients. Due to the highly irregular and non-stationary nature of heart motion, it is critical that the beating heart motion is predicted in the model-based track control procedures. It is technically preferable to model heart motion in a nonlinear way because the characteristic analysis of 3D heart motion data through Bi-spectral analysis and Fourier methods demonstrates the involved nonlinearity of heart motion. We propose an adaptive nonlinear heart motion model based on the Volterra Series in this paper. We also design a fast lattice structure to achieve computational-efficiency for real-time online predictions. We argue that the quadratic term of the Volterra Series can improve the prediction accuracy by covering sharp change points and including the motion with sufficient detail. The experiment results indicate that the adaptive nonlinear heart motion prediction algorithm outperforms the autoregressive (AR and the time-varying Fourier-series models in terms of the root mean square of the prediction error and the prediction error in extreme cases.

Asynchronous beating of cilia enhances particle capture rate

Science.gov (United States)

Ding, Yang; Kanso, Eva

2014-11-01

Many aquatic micro-organisms use beating cilia to generate feeding currents and capture particles in surrounding fluids. One of the capture strategies is to ``catch up'' with particles when a cilium is beating towards the overall flow direction (effective stroke) and intercept particles on the downstream side of the cilium. Here, we developed a 3D computational model of a cilia band with prescribed motion in a viscous fluid and calculated the trajectories of the particles with different sizes in the fluid. We found an optimal particle diameter that maximizes the capture rate. The flow field and particle motion indicate that the low capture rate of smaller particles is due to the laminar flow in the neighbor of the cilia, whereas larger particles have to move above the cilia tips to get advected downstream which decreases their capture rate. We then analyzed the effect of beating coordination between neighboring cilia on the capture rate. Interestingly, we found that asynchrony of the beating of the cilia can enhance the relative motion between a cilium and the particles near it and hence increase the capture rate.

Electrical Brain Responses to Beat Irregularities in Two Cases of Beat Deafness

Science.gov (United States)

Mathias, Brian; Lidji, Pascale; Honing, Henkjan; Palmer, Caroline; Peretz, Isabelle

2016-01-01

Beat deafness, a recently documented form of congenital amusia, provides a unique window into functional specialization of neural circuitry for the processing of musical stimuli: Beat-deaf individuals exhibit deficits that are specific to the detection of a regular beat in music and the ability to move along with a beat. Studies on the neural underpinnings of beat processing in the general population suggest that the auditory system is capable of pre-attentively generating a predictive model of upcoming sounds in a rhythmic pattern, subserved largely within auditory cortex and reflected in mismatch negativity (MMN) and P3 event-related potential (ERP) components. The current study examined these neural correlates of beat perception in two beat-deaf individuals, Mathieu and Marjorie, and a group of control participants under conditions in which auditory stimuli were either attended or ignored. Compared to control participants, Mathieu demonstrated reduced behavioral sensitivity to beat omissions in metrical patterns, and Marjorie showed a bias to identify irregular patterns as regular. ERP responses to beat omissions reveal an intact pre-attentive system for processing beat irregularities in cases of beat deafness, reflected in the MMN component, and provide partial support for abnormalities in later cognitive stages of beat processing, reflected in an unreliable P3b component exhibited by Mathieu—but not Marjorie—compared to control participants. P3 abnormalities observed in the current study resemble P3 abnormalities exhibited by individuals with pitch-based amusia, and are consistent with attention or auditory-motor coupling accounts of deficits in beat perception. PMID:26941591

Electrical brain responses to beat irregularities in two cases of beat deafness

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brian eMathias

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Beat deafness, a recently documented form of congenital amusia, provides a unique window into functional specialization of neural circuitry for the processing of musical stimuli: Beat-deaf individuals exhibit deficits that are specific to the detection of a regular beat in music and the ability to move along with a beat. Studies on the neural underpinnings of beat processing in the general population suggest that the auditory system is capable of pre-attentively generating a predictive model of upcoming sounds in a rhythmic pattern, subserved largely within auditory cortex and reflected in mismatch negativity (MMN and P3 event-related potential (ERP components. The current study examined these neural correlates of beat perception in two beat-deaf individuals, Mathieu and Marjorie, and a group of control participants under conditions in which auditory stimuli were either attended or ignored. Compared to control participants, Mathieu demonstrated reduced behavioral sensitivity to beat omissions in metrical patterns, and Marjorie showed a bias to identify irregular patterns as regular. ERP responses to beat omissions reveal an intact pre-attentive system for processing beat irregularities in cases of beat deafness, reflected in the MMN component, and provide partial support for abnormalities in later cognitive stages of beat processing, reflected in an unreliable P3b component exhibited by Mathieu – but not Marjorie – compared to control participants. P3 abnormalities observed in the current study resemble P3 abnormalities exhibited by individuals with pitch-based amusia, and are consistent with attention or auditory-motor coupling accounts of deficits in beat perception.

An Experimental Study in Generative Music for Exercising to Ease Perceived Exertion by use of Heart Beat Rate as a Control Parameter

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hagensen, Troels Lunde; Serafin, Stefania; Erkut, Cumhur

This paper investigates whether generative music, adapted to a user's heart beat rate, can be used to ease the perceived exertion. A generative system was implemented and tested on 13 test participants in a controlled environment on a training bike. The test participants performed a cycling workout...

Prostanoid Receptors Involved in Regulation of the Beating Rate of Neonatal Rat Cardiomyocytes

Science.gov (United States)

Mechiche, Hakima; Grassin-Delyle, Stanislas; Robinet, Arnaud; Nazeyrollas, Pierre; Devillier, Philippe

2012-01-01

Although prostanoids are known to be involved in regulation of the spontaneous beating rate of cultured neonatal rat cardiomyocytes, the various subtypes of prostanoid receptors have not been investigated in detail. In our experiments, prostaglandin (PG)F2α and prostanoid FP receptor agonists (fluprostenol, latanoprost and cloprostenol) produced a decrease in the beating rate. Two prostanoid IP receptor agonists (iloprost and beraprost) induced first a marked drop in the beating rate and then definitive abrogation of beating. In contrast, the prostanoid DP receptor agonists (PGD2 and BW245C) and TP receptor agonists (U-46619) produced increases in the beating rate. Sulprostone (a prostanoid EP1 and EP3 receptor agonist) induced marked increases in the beating rate, which were suppressed by SC-19220 (a selective prostanoid EP1 antagonist). Butaprost (a selective prostanoid EP2 receptor agonist), misoprostol (a prostanoid EP2 and EP3 receptor agonist), 11-deoxy-PGE1 (a prostanoid EP2, EP3 and EP4 receptor agonist) did not alter the beating rate. Our results strongly suggest that prostanoid EP1 receptors are involved in positive regulation of the beating rate. Prostanoid EP1 receptor expression was confirmed by western blotting with a selective antibody. Hence, neonatal rat cardiomyocytes express both prostanoid IP and FP receptors (which negatively regulate the spontaneous beating rate) and prostanoid TP, DP1 and EP1 receptors (which positively regulate the spontaneous beating rate). PMID:22984630

Wearable Beat to Beat Blood Pressure Monitor, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — A key component of NASA's human exploration programs is a system that monitors the health of the crew during space missions. The wearable beat-to-beat blood pressure...

Efficient heart beat detection using embedded system electronics

Science.gov (United States)

Ramasamy, Mouli; Oh, Sechang; Varadan, Vijay K.

2014-04-01

The present day bio-technical field concentrates on developing various types of innovative ambulatory and wearable devices to monitor several bio-physical, physio-pathological, bio-electrical and bio-potential factors to assess a human body's health condition without intruding quotidian activities. One of the most important aspects of this evolving technology is monitoring heart beat rate and electrocardiogram (ECG) from which many other subsidiary results can be derived. Conventionally, the devices and systems consumes a lot of power since the acquired signals are always processed on the receiver end. Because of this back end processing, the unprocessed raw data is transmitted resulting in usage of more power, memory and processing time. This paper proposes an innovative technique where the acquired signals are processed by a microcontroller in the front end of the module and just the processed signal is then transmitted wirelessly to the display unit. Therefore, power consumption is considerably reduced and clearer data analysis is performed within the module. This also avoids the need for the user to be educated about usage of the device and signal/system analysis, since only the number of heart beats will displayed at the user end. Additionally, the proposed concept also eradicates the other disadvantages like obtrusiveness, high power consumption and size. To demonstrate the above said factors, a commercial controller board was used to extend the monitoring method by using the saved ECG data from a computer.

Sympathetic neurons modulate the beat rate of pluripotent cell-derived cardiomyocytes in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeuchi, Akimasa; Shimba, Kenta; Mori, Masahide; Takayama, Yuzo; Moriguchi, Hiroyuki; Kotani, Kiyoshi; Lee, Jong-Kook; Noshiro, Makoto; Jimbo, Yasuhiko

2012-12-01

Although stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes have great potential for the therapy of heart failure, it is unclear whether their function after grafting can be controlled by the host sympathetic nervous system, a component of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Here we demonstrate the formation of functional connections between rat sympathetic superior cervical ganglion (SCG) neurons and pluripotent (P19.CL6) cell-derived cardiomyocytes (P19CMs) in compartmentalized co-culture, achieved using photolithographic microfabrication techniques. Formation of synapses between sympathetic neurons and P19CMs was confirmed by immunostaining with antibodies against β-3 tubulin, synapsin I and cardiac troponin-I. Changes in the beat rate of P19CMs were triggered after electrical stimulation of the co-cultured SCG neurons, and were affected by the pulse frequency of the electrical stimulation. Such changes in the beat rate were prevented when propranolol, a β-adrenoreceptor antagonist, was added to the culture medium. These results suggest that the beat rate of differentiated cardiomyocytes can be modulated by electrical stimulation of connected sympathetic neurons.

Design a Wearable Device for Blood Oxygen Concentration and Temporal Heart Beat Rate

Science.gov (United States)

Myint, Cho Zin; Barsoum, Nader; Ing, Wong Kiing

2010-06-01

The wireless network technology is increasingly important in healthcare as a result of the aging population and the tendency to acquire chronic disease such as heart attack, high blood pressure amongst the elderly. A wireless sensor network system that has the capability to monitor physiological sign such as SpO2 (Saturation of Arterial Oxygen) and heart beat rate in real-time from the human's body is highlighted in this study. This research is to design a prototype sensor network hardware, which consists of microcontroller PIC18F series and transceiver unit. The sensor is corporate into a wearable body sensor network which is small in size and easy to use. The sensor allows a non invasive, real time method to provide information regarding the health of the body. This enables a more efficient and economical means for managing the health care of the population.

Healthcare performance and the effects of the binaural beats on human blood pressure and heart rate.

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Calvin

2008-01-01

Binaural beats are the differences in two different frequencies (in the range of 30-1000 Hz). Binaural beats are played through headphones and are perceived by the superior olivary nucleus of each hemisphere of the brain. The brain perceives the binaural beat and resonates to its frequency (frequency following response). Once the brain is in tune with the binaural beat it produces brainwaves of that frequency altering the listener's state of mind. In this experiment, the effects of the beta and theta binaural beat on human blood pressure and pulse were studied. Using headphones, three sounds were played for 7 minutes each to 12 participants: the control,- the sound of a babbling brook (the background sound to the two binaural beats), the beta binaural beat (20 Hz), and the theta binaural beat (7 Hz). Blood pressure and pulse were recorded before and after each sound was played. Each participant was given 2 minutes in-between each sound. The results showed that the control and the two binaural beats did not affect the 12 participant's blood pressure or pulse (p > 0.05). One reason for this may be that the sounds were not played long enough for the brain to either perceive and/or resonate to the frequency. Another reason why the sounds did not affect blood pressure and pulse may be due to the participant's age since older brains may not perceive the binaural beats as well as younger brains.

Electrical brain responses to beat irregularities in two cases of beat deafness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mathias, B.; Lidji, P.; Honing, H.; Palmer, C.; Peretz, I.

2016-01-01

Beat deafness, a recently documented form of congenital amusia, provides a unique window into functional specialization of neural circuitry for the processing of musical stimuli: Beat-deaf individuals exhibit deficits that are specific to the detection of a regular beat in music and the ability to

Using music structure to improve beat tracking

Science.gov (United States)

Dannenberg, Roger B.

2005-09-01

Beats are an important feature of most music. Beats are used in music information retrieval systems for genre classification, similarity search, and segmentation. However, beats can be difficult to identify, especially in music audio. Traditional beat trackers attempt to (1) match predicted beats to observations of likely beats, and (2) maintain a fairly steady tempo. A third criterion can be added: when repetitions of musical passages occur, the beats in the first repetition should align with the beats in all other repetitions. This third criterion improves beat tracking performance significantly. Repetitions of musical passages are discovered in audio data by searching for similar sequences of chroma vectors. Beats are ``tracked'' by first locating a sequence of likely beats in the music audio using high frequency energy as an indicator of beat likelihood. This beat sequence is then extended by searching forward and backward for more matching beats, allowing slight variations in tempo, and using a relaxation algorithm to optimize the proposed beat locations with respect to the three criteria. Other high-level music features may offer further improvements in beat identification.

High beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in atrial fibrillation compared to sinus rhythm.

Science.gov (United States)

Olbers, Joakim; Gille, Adam; Ljungman, Petter; Rosenqvist, Mårten; Östergren, Jan; Witt, Nils

2018-02-07

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, not entirely explained by thromboembolism. The underlying mechanisms for this association are largely unknown. Similarly, high blood pressure (BP) increases the risk for cardiovascular events. Despite this the interplay between AF and BP is insufficiently studied. The purpose of this study was to examine and quantify the beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in patients with AF in comparison to a control group of patients with sinus rhythm. We studied 33 patients - 21 in atrial fibrillation and 12 in sinus rhythm - undergoing routine coronary angiography. Invasive blood pressure was recorded at three locations: radial artery, brachial artery and ascending aorta. Blood pressure variability, defined as average beat-to-beat blood pressure difference, was calculated for systolic and diastolic blood pressure at each site. We observed a significant difference (p blood pressure variability between the atrial fibrillation and sinus rhythm groups at all locations. Systolic blood pressure variability roughly doubled in the atrial fibrillation group compared to the sinus rhythm group (4.9 and 2.4 mmHg respectively). Diastolic beat-to-beat blood pressure variability was approximately 6 times as high in the atrial fibrillation group compared to the sinus rhythm group (7.5 and 1.2 mmHg respectively). No significant difference in blood pressure variability was seen between measurement locations. Beat-to-beat blood pressure variability in patients with atrial fibrillation was substantially higher than in patients with sinus rhythm. Hemodynamic effects of this beat-to-beat variation in blood pressure may negatively affect vascular structure and function, which may contribute to the increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality seen in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Liver transplantation from maastricht category 2 non-heart-beating donors: a source to increase the donor pool?

Science.gov (United States)

Otero, A; Gómez-Gutiérrez, M; Suárez, F; Arnal, F; Fernández-García, A; Aguirrezabalaga, J; García-Buitrón, J; Alvarez, J; Máñez, R

2004-04-01

The demand for liver transplantation has increasingly exceeded the supply of cadaver donor organs. Non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs) may be an alternative to increase the cadaver donor pool. The outcome of 20 liver transplants from Maastricht category 2 NHBD was compared with that of 40 liver transplants from heart-beating donors (HBDs). After unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), cardiopulmonary support with simultaneous application of chest and abdominal compression (CPS; n = 6) or cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB; n = 14) was used to maintain the donors. At a minimum follow-up of 2 years, actuarial patient and graft survival rates with livers from Maastricht category 2 NHBD were 80% and 55%, respectively. Transplantation of organs from these donors was associated with a significantly higher incidence of primary nonfunction, biliary complications, and more severe initial liver dysfunction compared with organs from HBDs. The graft survival rates was 83% for livers from NHBDs preserved with CPS and 42% in those maintained with CPB.

Oxidative shift in tissue redox potential increases beat-to-beat variability of action potential duration.

Science.gov (United States)

Kistamás, Kornél; Hegyi, Bence; Váczi, Krisztina; Horváth, Balázs; Bányász, Tamás; Magyar, János; Szentandrássy, Norbert; Nánási, Péter P

2015-07-01

Profound changes in tissue redox potential occur in the heart under conditions of oxidative stress frequently associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Since beat-to-beat variability (short term variability, SV) of action potential duration (APD) is a good indicator of arrhythmia incidence, the aim of this work was to study the influence of redox changes on SV in isolated canine ventricular cardiomyocytes using a conventional microelectrode technique. The redox potential was shifted toward a reduced state using a reductive cocktail (containing dithiothreitol, glutathione, and ascorbic acid) while oxidative changes were initiated by superfusion with H2O2. Redox effects were evaluated as changes in "relative SV" determined by comparing SV changes with the concomitant APD changes. Exposure of myocytes to the reductive cocktail decreased SV significantly without any detectable effect on APD. Application of H2O2 increased both SV and APD, but the enhancement of SV was the greater, so relative SV increased. Longer exposure to H2O2 resulted in the development of early afterdepolarizations accompanied by tremendously increased SV. Pretreatment with the reductive cocktail prevented both elevation in relative SV and the development of afterdepolarizations. The results suggest that the increased beat-to-beat variability during an oxidative stress contributes to the generation of cardiac arrhythmias.

Cardioscopic tricuspid valve repair in a beating ovine heart.

Science.gov (United States)

Umakanthan, Ramanan; Ghanta, Ravi K; Rangaraj, Aravind T; Lee, Lawrence S; Laurence, Rita G; Fox, John A; Mihaljevic, Tomislav; Bolman, Ralph M; Cohn, Lawrence H; Chen, Frederick Y

2009-04-01

Open heart surgery is commonly associated with cardiopulmonary bypass and cardioplegic arrest. The attendant risks of cardiopulmonary bypass may be prohibitive in high-risk patients. We present a novel endoscopic technique of performing tricuspid valve repair without cardiopulmonary bypass in a beating ovine heart. Six sheep underwent sternotomy and creation of a right heart shunt to eliminate right atrial and right ventricular blood for clear visualization. The superior vena cava, inferior vena cava, pulmonary artery, and coronary sinus were cannulated, and the blood flow from these vessels was shunted into the pulmonary artery via a roller pump. The posterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve was partially excised to create tricuspid regurgitation, which was confirmed by Doppler echocardiography. A 7.0-mm fiberoptic videoscope was inserted into the right atrium to visualize the tricuspid valve. Under cardioscopic vision, an endoscopic needle driver was inserted into the right atrium, and a concentric stitch was placed along the posterior annulus to bicuspidize the tricuspid valve. Doppler echocardiography confirmed reduction of tricuspid regurgitation. All animals successfully underwent and tolerated the surgical procedure. The right heart shunt generated a bloodless field, facilitating cardioscopic tricuspid valve visualization. The endoscopic stitch resulted in annular plication and functional tricuspid valve bicuspidization, significantly reducing the degree of tricuspid regurgitation. Cardioscopy enables less invasive, beating-heart tricuspid valve surgery in an ovine model. This technique may be useful in performing right heart surgery without cardiopulmonary bypass in high-risk patients.

Risk of iron overload is decreased in beating heart coronary artery surgery compared to conventional bypass.

Science.gov (United States)

Mumby, S; Koh, T W; Pepper, J R; Gutteridge, J M

2001-11-29

Conventional cardiopulmonary bypass surgery (CCPB) increases the iron loading of plasma transferrin often to a state of plasma iron overload, with the presence of low molecular mass iron. Such iron is a potential risk factor for oxidative stress and microbial virulence. Here we assess 'off-pump' coronary artery surgery on the beating heart for changes in plasma iron chemistry. Seventeen patients undergoing cardiac surgery using the 'Octopus' myocardial wall stabilisation device were monitored at five time points for changes in plasma iron chemistry. This group was further divided into those (n=9) who had one- or two- (n=8) vessel grafts, and compared with eight patients undergoing conventional coronary artery surgery. Patients undergoing beating heart surgery had significantly lower levels of total plasma non-haem iron, and a decreased percentage saturation of their transferrin at all time points compared to conventional bypass patients. Plasma iron overload occurred in only one patient undergoing CCPB. Beating heart surgery appears to decrease red blood cell haemolysis, and tissue damage during the operative procedures and thereby significantly decreases the risk of plasma iron overload associated with conventional bypass.

Ion channels and beating heart: the players and the music

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charles Antzelevitch

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Soft gentle music accompanies us throughout our lifetime; it is the music of our heart beating. Although at times it is questionable as to who serves as conductor of the orchestra, there is little doubt that our ion channels are the main players. Whenever one of them plays too loudly, too softly or simply off key, disharmony results, sometimes leading to total disruption of the rate and rhythm. Ion channels can disrupt the music of our heart by different mechanisms. Sometimes their function is correct, but their expression is altered by underlying cardiac diseases (i.e. heart failure; sometimes the defect is in their structure, because of an underlying genetic defect, and in this case a channelopathy is present.

Beat-to-beat ECG restitution: A review and proposal for a new biomarker to assess cardiac stress and ventricular tachyarrhythmia vulnerability.

Science.gov (United States)

Fossa, Anthony A

2017-09-01

Cardiac restitution is the ability of the heart to recover from one beat to the next. Ventricular arrhythmia vulnerability can occur when the heart does not properly adjust to sudden changes in rate or in hemodynamics leading to excessive temporal and/or spatial heterogeneity in conduction or repolarization. Restitution has historically been used to study, by invasive means, the dynamics of the relationship between action potential duration (APD) and diastolic interval (DI) in sedated subjects using various pacing protocols. Even though the analogous measures of APD and DI can be obtained using the surface ECG to acquire the respective QT and TQ intervals for ECG restitution, this methodology has not been widely adopted for a number of reasons. Recent development of more advanced software algorithms enables ECG intervals to be measured accurately, on a continuous beat-to-beat basis, in an automated manner, and under highly dynamic conditions (i.e., ambulatory or exercise) providing information beyond that available in the typical resting state. Current breakthroughs in ECG technology will allow ECG restitution measures to become a practical approach for providing quantitative measures of the risks for ventricular arrhythmias as well as cardiac stress in general. In addition to a review of the underlying principles and caveats of ECG restitution, a new approach toward an advancement of more integrated restitution biomarkers is proposed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

What makes the heart of Boa constrictor (Squamata: Boidae beat faster?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Fabrício Mota Rodrigues

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Body size is highly correlated with metabolism, which in turn influences physiological rates such as heart rate. In general, heart rate is negatively influenced by the size of animal's body, but there is insufficient data corroborating this pattern in snakes. This study evaluated how body size affects heart rate in captive Boa constrictor Linnaeus, 1758. We measured the heart rate of 30 snakes using digital palpation and evaluated how this rate is influenced by body mass and sex using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA. The heart rate of the snakes was 58.8 ± 6.7 bpm (beats per minute. Body size, estimated as log-transformed body mass, negatively influenced heart rate (F1,28 = 10.27, p = 0.003, slope = -0.00004, R2 = 0.27, but sex had no effect (F1,27 = 0.07, p = 0.80. In conclusion, this result corroborates the negative relationship between body size and heart rate for snakes and reinforces the influence of related metabolic characteristics, such as body size, on the physiological parameters of snakes.

A comparison of auditory evoked potentials to acoustic beats and to binaural beats

OpenAIRE

Pratt, H; Starr, A; Michalewski, HJ; Dimitrijevic, A; Bleich, N; Mittelman, N

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare cortical brain responses evoked by amplitude modulated acoustic beats of 3 and 6 Hz in tones of 250 and 1000 Hz with those evoked by their binaural beats counterparts in unmodulated tones to indicate whether the cortical processes involved differ. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded to 3- and 6-Hz acoustic and binaural beats in 2000 ms duration 250 and 1000 Hz tones presented with approximately 1 s intervals. Latency, amplitude and source cur...

Beat-to-beat left ventricular performance in atrial fibrillation: radionuclide assessment with the computerized nuclear probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schneider, J.; Berger, H.J.; Sands, M.J.; Lachman, A.B.; Zaret, B.L.

1983-01-01

There is wide beat-to-beat variability in cycle length and left ventricular performance in patients with atrial fibrillation. In this study, left ventricular ejection fraction and relative left ventricular volumes were evaluated on a beat-to-beat basis with the computerized nuclear probe, an instrument with sufficiently high sensitivity to allow continuous evaluation of the radionuclide time-activity curve. Of 18 patients with atrial fibrillation, 5 had mitral stenosis, 6 had mitral regurgitation, and 7 had coronary artery disease. Fifty consecutive beats were analyzed in each patient. The mean left ventricular ejection fraction ranged from 17 to 51%. There was substantial beat-to-beat variation in cycle length and left ventricular ejection fraction in all patients, including those with marked left ventricular dysfunction. In 14 patients who also underwent multiple gated cardiac blood pool imaging, there was an excellent correlation between mean ejection fraction derived from the nuclear probe and gated ejection fraction obtained by gamma camera imaging (r . 0.90). Based on beat-to-beat analysis, left ventricular function was dependent on relative end-diastolic volume and multiple preceding cycle lengths, but not preceding end-systolic volumes. This study demonstrates that a single value for left ventricular ejection fraction does not adequately characterize left ventricular function in patients with atrial fibrillation. Furthermore, both the mean beat-to-beat and the gated ejection fraction may underestimate left ventricular performance at rest in such patients

Non-heart-beating lung donation : How big is the pool?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nijkamp, Danielle M.; van der Bij, Wim; Verschuuren, Erik A. M.; Heemskerk, Martin B. A.; de Buijzer, Erwin; Erasmus, Michiel E.

Lungs from non-heart-beating (NHB) donors are seldom used in The Netherlands despite the good quality of these organs. Based on a retrospective analysis of 162 NHB donor procedures we found that only 5% of the lungs were actually utilized, but that 30% of the lungs were suitable for transplantation.

Beat characteristics and beat maps of the King Seong-deok Divine Bell

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Seock-Hyun; Lee, Chi-Wook; Lee, Jang-Moo

2005-03-01

King Seong-deok Divine Bell is the second oldest bell in Korea. The bell is considered to have the best sound quality among Korean bells. The beat phenomenon is one of the most important characteristics for the sound of the King Seong-deok Divine Bell. In this study, the relationships between the modal parameters and the peculiar beat phenomena of the bell are investigated. It is theoretically proved from the beat characteristics that the sound might indeed be heard differently depending on the listening positions. The beat map method is introduced to visualize the beat distribution properties. It is shown that the beat maps can be drawn with a theoretical model based on the modal data of the bell. Using the beat maps of the King Seong-deok Divine Bell, it is investigated why clear and unclear beats, large and small amplitudes of the vibrations are repeated periodically along the circumference of the bell. Furthermore, the effect of the striking position on the beat distribution property is examined systematically.

Beat-to-beat systolic time-interval measurement from heart sounds and ECG

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paiva, R P; Carvalho, P; Couceiro, R; Henriques, J; Antunes, M; Quintal, I; Muehlsteff, J

2012-01-01

Systolic time intervals are highly correlated to fundamental cardiac functions. Several studies have shown that these measurements have significant diagnostic and prognostic value in heart failure condition and are adequate for long-term patient follow-up and disease management. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of using heart sound (HS) to accurately measure the opening and closing moments of the aortic heart valve. These moments are crucial to define the main systolic timings of the heart cycle, i.e. pre-ejection period (PEP) and left ventricular ejection time (LVET). We introduce an algorithm for automatic extraction of PEP and LVET using HS and electrocardiogram. PEP is estimated with a Bayesian approach using the signal's instantaneous amplitude and patient-specific time intervals between atrio-ventricular valve closure and aortic valve opening. As for LVET, since the aortic valve closure corresponds to the start of the S2 HS component, we base LVET estimation on the detection of the S2 onset. A comparative assessment of the main systolic time intervals is performed using synchronous signal acquisitions of the current gold standard in cardiac time-interval measurement, i.e. echocardiography, and HS. The algorithms were evaluated on a healthy population, as well as on a group of subjects with different cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In the healthy group, from a set of 942 heartbeats, the proposed algorithm achieved 7.66 ± 5.92 ms absolute PEP estimation error. For LVET, the absolute estimation error was 11.39 ± 8.98 ms. For the CVD population, 404 beats were used, leading to 11.86 ± 8.30 and 17.51 ± 17.21 ms absolute PEP and LVET errors, respectively. The results achieved in this study suggest that HS can be used to accurately estimate LVET and PEP. (paper)

Beating-heart registration for organ-mounted robots.

Science.gov (United States)

Wood, Nathan A; Schwartzman, David; Passineau, Michael J; Moraca, Robert J; Zenati, Marco A; Riviere, Cameron N

2018-03-06

Organ-mounted robots address the problem of beating-heart surgery by adhering to the heart, passively providing a platform that approaches zero relative motion. Because of the quasi-periodic deformation of the heart due to heartbeat and respiration, registration must address not only spatial registration but also temporal registration. Motion data were collected in the porcine model in vivo (N = 6). Fourier series models of heart motion were developed. By comparing registrations generated using an iterative closest-point approach at different phases of respiration, the phase corresponding to minimum registration distance is identified. The spatiotemporal registration technique presented here reduces registration error by an average of 4.2 mm over the 6 trials, in comparison with a more simplistic static registration that merely averages out the physiological motion. An empirical metric for spatiotemporal registration of organ-mounted robots is defined and demonstrated using data from animal models in vivo. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Prognostic Significance of Blood Pressure Variability on Beat-to-Beat Monitoring After Transient Ischemic Attack and Stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Webb, Alastair J S; Mazzucco, Sara; Li, Linxin; Rothwell, Peter M

2018-01-01

Visit-to-visit and day-to-day blood pressure (BP) variability (BPV) predict an increased risk of cardiovascular events but only reflect 1 form of BPV. Beat-to-beat BPV can be rapidly assessed and might also be predictive. In consecutive patients within 6 weeks of transient ischemic attack or nondisabling stroke (Oxford Vascular Study), BPV (coefficient of variation) was measured beat-to-beat for 5 minutes (Finometer), day-to-day for 1 week on home monitoring (3 readings, 3× daily), and on awake ambulatory BP monitoring. BPV after 1-month standard treatment was related (Cox proportional hazards) to recurrent stroke and cardiovascular events for 2 to 5 years, adjusted for mean systolic BP. Among 520 patients, 26 had inadequate beat-to-beat recordings, and 22 patients were in atrial fibrillation. Four hundred five patients had all forms of monitoring. Beat-to-beat BPV predicted recurrent stroke and cardiovascular events independently of mean systolic BP (hazard ratio per group SD, stroke: 1.47 [1.12-1.91]; P =0.005; cardiovascular events: 1.41 [1.08-1.83]; P =0.01), including after adjustment for age and sex (stroke: 1.47 [1.12-1.92]; P =0.005) and all risk factors (1.40 [1.00-1.94]; P =0.047). Day-to-day BPV was less strongly associated with stroke (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.29 [0.97-1.71]; P =0.08) but similarly with cardiovascular events (1.41 [1.09-1.83]; P =0.009). BPV on awake ambulatory BP monitoring was nonpredictive (stroke: 0.89 [0.59-1.35]; P =0.59; cardiovascular events: 1.08 [0.77-1.52]; P =0.65). Despite a weak correlation ( r =0.119; P =0.02), beat-to-beat BPV was associated with risk of recurrent stroke independently of day-to-day BPV (1.41 [1.05-1.90]; P =0.02). Beat-to-beat BPV predicted recurrent stroke and cardiovascular events, independently of mean systolic BP and risk factors but short-term BPV on ambulatory BP monitoring did not. Beat-to-beat BPV may be a useful additional marker of cardiovascular risk. © 2017 The Authors.

A new beating-heart off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting training model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouma, Wobbe; Kuijpers, Michiel; Bijleveld, Aanke; De Maat, Gijs E.; Koene, Bart M.; Erasmus, Michiel E.; Natour, Ehsan; Mariani, Massimo A.

OBJECTIVES: Training models are essential in mastering the skills required for off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB). We describe a new, high-fidelity, effective and reproducible beating-heart OPCAB training model in human cadavers. METHODS: Human cadavers were embalmed according to the

Heart rate turbulence after ventricular premature beats in healthy Doberman pinschers and those with dilated cardiomyopathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, J D; Little, C J L; Dennis, J M; Patteson, M W

2017-10-01

To describe the measurement of heart rate turbulence (HRT) after ventricular premature beats and compare HRT in healthy Doberman pinschers and those with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), with and without congestive heart failure (CHF). Sixty-five client-owned Dobermans: 20 healthy (NORMAL), 31 with preclinical DCM and 14 with DCM and CHF (DCM + CHF). A retrospective study of data retrieved from clinical records and ambulatory ECG (Holter) archives, including data collected previously for a large-scale prospective study of Dobermans with preclinical DCM. Holter data were reanalysed quantitatively, including conventional time-domain heart rate variability and the HRT parameters turbulence onset and turbulence slope. Heart rate turbulence could be measured in 58/65 dogs. Six Holter recordings had inadequate ventricular premature contractions (VPCs) and one exhibited VPCs too similar to sinus morphology. Heart rate turbulence parameter, turbulence onset, was significantly reduced in DCM dogs, whereas conventional heart rate variability measures were not. Heart rate variability and HRT markers were reduced in DCM + CHF dogs as expected. Heart rate turbulence can be measured from the majority of good quality standard canine 24-hour Holter recordings with >5 VPCs. Turbulence onset is significantly reduced in Dobermans with preclinical DCM which indicates vagal withdrawal early in the course of disease. Heart rate turbulence is a powerful prognostic indicator in human cardiac disease which can be measured from standard 24-hour ambulatory ECG (Holter) recordings using appropriate computer software. Further studies are warranted to assess whether HRT may be of prognostic value in dogs with preclinical DCM and in other canine cardiac disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Beat-to-beat variability of cardiac action potential duration: underlying mechanism and clinical implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Nánási, Péter P; Magyar, János; Varró, András; Ördög, Balázs

2017-10-01

Beat-to-beat variability of cardiac action potential duration (short-term variability, SV) is a common feature of various cardiac preparations, including the human heart. Although it is believed to be one of the best arrhythmia predictors, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood at present. The magnitude of SV is basically determined by the intensity of cell-to-cell coupling in multicellular preparations and by the duration of the action potential (APD). To compensate for the APD-dependent nature of SV, the concept of relative SV (RSV) has been introduced by normalizing the changes of SV to the concomitant changes in APD. RSV is reduced by I Ca , I Kr , and I Ks while increased by I Na , suggesting that ion currents involved in the negative feedback regulation of APD tend to keep RSV at a low level. RSV is also influenced by intracellular calcium concentration and tissue redox potential. The clinical implications of APD variability is discussed in detail.

moBeat: Using interactive music to guide and motivate users during aerobic exercising.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Vlist, Bram; Bartneck, Christoph; Mäueler, Sebastian

2011-06-01

An increasing number of people are having trouble staying fit and maintaining a healthy bodyweight because of lack of physical activity. Getting people to exercise is crucial. However, many struggle with developing healthy exercising habits, due to hurdles like having to leave the house and the boring character of endurance exercising. In this paper, we report on a design project that explores the use of audio to motivate and provide feedback and guidance during exercising in a home environment. We developed moBeat, a system that provides intensity-based coaching while exercising, giving real-time feedback on training pace and intensity by means of interactive music. We conducted a within-subject comparison between our moBeat system and a commercially available heart rate watch. With moBeat, we achieved a comparable success rate: our system has a significant, positive influence on intrinsic motivation and attentional focus, but we did not see significant differences with regard to either perceived exertion or effectiveness. Although promising, future research is needed.

Predictive Value of Beat-to-Beat QT Variability Index across the Continuum of Left Ventricular Dysfunction: Competing Risks of Non-cardiac or Cardiovascular Death, and Sudden or Non-Sudden Cardiac Death

Science.gov (United States)

Tereshchenko, Larisa G.; Cygankiewicz, Iwona; McNitt, Scott; Vazquez, Rafael; Bayes-Genis, Antoni; Han, Lichy; Sur, Sanjoli; Couderc, Jean-Philippe; Berger, Ronald D.; de Luna, Antoni Bayes; Zareba, Wojciech

2012-01-01

Background The goal of this study was to determine the predictive value of beat-to-beat QT variability in heart failure (HF) patients across the continuum of left ventricular dysfunction. Methods and Results Beat-to-beat QT variability index (QTVI), heart rate variance (LogHRV), normalized QT variance (QTVN), and coherence between heart rate variability and QT variability have been measured at rest during sinus rhythm in 533 participants of the Muerte Subita en Insuficiencia Cardiaca (MUSIC) HF study (mean age 63.1±11.7; males 70.6%; LVEF >35% in 254 [48%]) and in 181 healthy participants from the Intercity Digital Electrocardiogram Alliance (IDEAL) database. During a median of 3.7 years of follow-up, 116 patients died, 52 from sudden cardiac death (SCD). In multivariate competing risk analyses, the highest QTVI quartile was associated with cardiovascular death [hazard ratio (HR) 1.67(95%CI 1.14-2.47), P=0.009] and in particular with non-sudden cardiac death [HR 2.91(1.69-5.01), P<0.001]. Elevated QTVI separated 97.5% of healthy individuals from subjects at risk for cardiovascular [HR 1.57(1.04-2.35), P=0.031], and non-sudden cardiac death in multivariate competing risk model [HR 2.58(1.13-3.78), P=0.001]. No interaction between QTVI and LVEF was found. QTVI predicted neither non-cardiac death (P=0.546) nor SCD (P=0.945). Decreased heart rate variability (HRV) rather than increased QT variability was the reason for increased QTVI in this study. Conclusions Increased QTVI due to depressed HRV predicts cardiovascular mortality and non-sudden cardiac death, but neither SCD nor excracardiac mortality in HF across the continuum of left ventricular dysfunction. Abnormally augmented QTVI separates 97.5% of healthy individuals from HF patients at risk. PMID:22730411

Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal

OpenAIRE

Patrick eMcConnell; Patrick eMcConnell; Brett eFroeliger; Eric L. Garland; Jeffrey C. Ives; Gary A. Sforzo

2014-01-01

Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two or more pure tones of similar frequencies are presented dichotically through stereo headphones. Although this phenomenon is thought to facilitate state changes (e.g., relaxation), few empirical studies have reported on whether binaural beats produce changes in autonomic arousal. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of binaural beating on autonomic dynamics (heart-rate variability (HRV)) during post-exercise relaxation...

Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal

OpenAIRE

McConnell, Patrick A.; Froeliger, Brett; Garland, Eric L.; Ives, Jeffrey C.; Sforzo, Gary A.

2014-01-01

Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two or more pure tones of similar frequencies are presented dichotically through stereo headphones. Although this phenomenon is thought to facilitate state changes (e.g., relaxation), few empirical studies have reported on whether binaural beats produce changes in autonomic arousal. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of binaural beating on autonomic dynamics [heart rate variability (HRV)] during post-exercise relaxation...

Heart rate response to breathing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mehlsen, J; Pagh, K; Nielsen, J S

1987-01-01

Heart rate responses to stepwise and periodic changes in lung volume were studied in seven young healthy males. Stepwise inspiration and expiration both resulted in an increase in heart rate followed by a rapid decrease in heart rate. The fastest heart rate was reached in 1.6 +/- 0.5 s and in 3.......6 +/- 1.4 s in response to inspiration and expiration, respectively (P less than 0.01). The slowest heart rate was reached in 4.8 +/- 1.0 s and in 7.6 +/- 1.9 s in response to inspiration and expiration, respectively (P less than 0.01). Following this biphasic change the heart rate returned to a steady...... level. The difference between the fastest and the slowest heart rates was significantly larger in response to inspiration (21.7 +/- 7.3 beats per minute) than in response to expiration (12.0 +/- 7.3 beats per minute; P less than 0.01). Periodic changes in lung volume were performed with frequencies from...

Utilization of negative beat-frequencies for maximizing the update-rate of OFDR

Science.gov (United States)

Gabai, Haniel; Botsev, Yakov; Hahami, Meir; Eyal, Avishay

2015-07-01

In traditional OFDR systems, the backscattered profile of a sensing fiber is inefficiently duplicated to the negative band of spectrum. In this work, we present a new OFDR design and algorithm that remove this redundancy and make use of negative beat frequencies. In contrary to conventional OFDR designs, it facilitates efficient use of the available system bandwidth and enables distributed sensing with the maximum allowable interrogation update-rate for a given fiber length. To enable the reconstruction of negative beat frequencies an I/Q type receiver is used. In this receiver, both the in-phase (I) and quadrature (Q) components of the backscatter field are detected. Following detection, both components are digitally combined to produce a complex backscatter signal. Accordingly, due to its asymmetric nature, the produced spectrum will not be corrupted by the appearance of negative beat-frequencies. Here, via a comprehensive computer simulation, we show that in contrast to conventional OFDR systems, I/Q OFDR can be operated at maximum interrogation update-rate for a given fiber length. In addition, we experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, the ability of I/Q OFDR to utilize negative beat-frequencies for long-range distributed sensing.

Feeling the beat: premotor and striatal interactions in musicians and non-musicians during beat perception

Science.gov (United States)

Grahn, Jessica A.; Rowe, James B.

2009-01-01

Little is known about the underlying neurobiology of rhythm and beat perception, despite its universal cultural importance. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study rhythm perception in musicians and non-musicians. Three conditions varied in the degree to which external reinforcement versus internal generation of the beat was required. The ‘Volume’ condition strongly externally marked the beat with volume changes, the ‘Duration’ condition marked the beat with weaker accents arising from duration changes, and the ‘Unaccented’ condition required the beat to be entirely internally generated. In all conditions, beat rhythms compared to nonbeat control rhythms revealed putamen activity. The presence of a beat was also associated with greater connectivity between the putamen and the supplementary motor area (SMA), the premotor cortex (PMC) and auditory cortex. In contrast, the type of accent within the beat conditions modulated the coupling between premotor and auditory cortex, with greater modulation for musicians than non-musicians. Importantly, the putamen's response to beat conditions was not due to differences in temporal complexity between the three rhythm conditions. We propose that a cortico-subcortical network including the putamen, SMA, and PMC is engaged for the analysis of temporal sequences and prediction or generation of putative beats, especially under conditions that may require internal generation of the beat. The importance of this system for auditory-motor interaction and development of precisely timed movement is suggested here by its facilitation in musicians. PMID:19515922

Individual Differences in Beat Perception Affect Gait Responses to Low- and High-Groove Music

Science.gov (United States)

Leow, Li-Ann; Parrott, Taylor; Grahn, Jessica A.

2014-01-01

Slowed gait in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can be improved when patients synchronize footsteps to isochronous metronome cues, but limited retention of such improvements suggest that permanent cueing regimes are needed for long-term improvements. If so, music might make permanent cueing regimes more pleasant, improving adherence; however, music cueing requires patients to synchronize movements to the “beat,” which might be difficult for patients with PD who tend to show weak beat perception. One solution may be to use high-groove music, which has high beat salience that may facilitate synchronization, and affective properties, which may improve motivation to move. As a first step to understanding how beat perception affects gait in complex neurological disorders, we examined how beat perception ability affected gait in neurotypical adults. Synchronization performance and gait parameters were assessed as healthy young adults with strong or weak beat perception synchronized to low-groove music, high-groove music, and metronome cues. High-groove music was predicted to elicit better synchronization than low-groove music, due to its higher beat salience. Two musical tempi, or rates, were used: (1) preferred tempo: beat rate matched to preferred step rate and (2) faster tempo: beat rate adjusted to 22.5% faster than preferred step rate. For both strong and weak beat-perceivers, synchronization performance was best with metronome cues, followed by high-groove music, and worst with low-groove music. In addition, high-groove music elicited longer and faster steps than low-groove music, both at preferred tempo and at faster tempo. Low-groove music was particularly detrimental to gait in weak beat-perceivers, who showed slower and shorter steps compared to uncued walking. The findings show that individual differences in beat perception affect gait when synchronizing footsteps to music, and have implications for using music in gait rehabilitation. PMID:25374521

Individual differences in beat perception affect gait responses to low- and high-groove music.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li-Ann eLeow

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Slowed gait in Parkinson’s disease (PD patients can be improved when patients synchronize footsteps to isochronous metronome cues, but limited retention of such improvements suggest that permanent cueing regimes are needed for long-term improvements. If so, music might make permanent cueing regimes more pleasant, improving adherence; however, music cueing requires patients to synchronize movements to the beat, which might be difficult for PD patients who tend to show weak beat perception. One solution may be to use high groove music, which has high beat salience that may facilitate synchronization, and affective properties which may improve motivation to move. As a first step in understanding how beat perception affects gait in complex neurological disorders, we examined how beat perception ability affected gait in neurotypical adults. Synchronization performance and gait parameters were assessed as healthy young adults with strong or weak beat perception synchronized to low groove music, high groove music, and metronome cues. High groove music was predicted to elicit better synchronization than low groove music, due to its higher beat salience. Two musical tempi, or rates, were used: (1 preferred tempo: beat rate matched to preferred step rate and (2 faster tempo: beat rate adjusted to 22.5% faster than preferred step rate. For both strong and weak beat-perceivers, synchronization performance was best with metronome cues, followed by high groove music, and worst with low groove music. In addition, high groove music elicited longer and faster steps than low groove music, both at preferred tempo and at faster tempo. Low groove music was particularly detrimental to gait in weak beat-perceivers, who showed slower and shorter steps compared to uncued walking. The findings show that individual differences in beat perception affect gait when synchronizing footsteps to music, and have implications for using music in gait rehabilitation.

Beat-to-beat evaluation of left ventricular ejection in cardiac arrhythmias

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itti, R.; Philippe, L.; Lorgeron, J.M.

1982-01-01

Conventional multi-gated cardiac blood pool studies suffer from two kinds of superimpositions: the spatial overlapping of various heart chambers and the temporal superimposition of a large number of cardiac cycles. The first problem can be partially solved by first pass techniques or by emission tomography. For the second one, which is specially critical arrhythmias, the single probe device (''nuclear stethoscope'') represents an original solution. Patients with normal cardiac rythm and patients presenting various kinds of cardiac rythm alterations were examined using a commercial ''nuclear stethoscope''. Some characteristic results achieved in these cases, were presented. For blood pool labeling, 20 mCi of 99mTc albumin was injected. The single probe detector was then positioned over the left ventricular area. The beat-to-beat left ventricular activity curve was then recorded for several minutes on paper in the same time as the E.C.G. signal. In cases with irregular cardiac rythm, the multigated techniques yield an average value of left ventricular ejection. Due to the relatively constant duration of systole, the superimposition of cycles may be valid during contration: differences mainly appear during diastole. But, as it could be demonstrated using the ''nuclear stethoscope'', individual cycles can show a large variability of ejection and average ejection fraction is only a very partial aspect of the real cardiac function

Prevention of adenosine A2A receptor activation diminishes beat-to-beat alternation in human atrial myocytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Molina, Cristina E; Llach, Anna; Herraiz-Martínez, Adela; Tarifa, Carmen; Barriga, Montserrat; Wiegerinck, Rob F; Fernandes, Jacqueline; Cabello, Nuria; Vallmitjana, Alex; Benitéz, Raúl; Montiel, José; Cinca, Juan; Hove-Madsen, Leif

2016-01-01

Atrial fibrillation (AF) has been associated with increased spontaneous calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and linked to increased adenosine A2A receptor (A2AR) expression and activation. Here we tested whether this may favor atrial arrhythmogenesis by promoting beat-to-beat alternation and irregularity. Patch-clamp and confocal calcium imaging was used to measure the beat-to-beat response of the calcium current and transient in human atrial myocytes. Responses were classified as uniform, alternating or irregular and stimulation of Gs-protein coupled receptors decreased the frequency where a uniform response could be maintained from 1.0 ± 0.1 to 0.6 ± 0.1 Hz; p < 0.01 for beta-adrenergic receptors and from 1.4 ± 0.1 to 0.5 ± 0.1 Hz; p < 0.05 for A2ARs. The latter was linked to increased spontaneous calcium release and after-depolarizations. Moreover, A2AR activation increased the fraction of non-uniformly responding cells in HL-1 myocyte cultures from 19 ± 3 to 51 ± 9 %; p < 0.02, and electrical mapping in perfused porcine atria revealed that adenosine induced electrical alternans at longer cycle lengths, doubled the fraction of electrodes showing alternation, and increased the amplitude of alternations. Importantly, protein kinase A inhibition increased the highest frequency where uniform responses could be maintained from 0.84 ± 0.12 to 1.86 ± 0.11 Hz; p < 0.001 and prevention of A2AR-activation with exogenous adenosine deaminase selectively increased the threshold from 0.8 ± 0.1 to 1.2 ± 0.1 Hz; p = 0.001 in myocytes from patients with AF. In conclusion, A2AR-activation promotes beat-to-beat irregularities in the calcium transient in human atrial myocytes, and prevention of A2AR activation may be a novel means to maintain uniform beat-to-beat responses at higher beating frequencies in patients with atrial fibrillation.

Cortical evoked potentials to an auditory illusion: binaural beats.

Science.gov (United States)

Pratt, Hillel; Starr, Arnold; Michalewski, Henry J; Dimitrijevic, Andrew; Bleich, Naomi; Mittelman, Nomi

2009-08-01

To define brain activity corresponding to an auditory illusion of 3 and 6Hz binaural beats in 250Hz or 1000Hz base frequencies, and compare it to the sound onset response. Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded in response to unmodulated tones of 250 or 1000Hz to one ear and 3 or 6Hz higher to the other, creating an illusion of amplitude modulations (beats) of 3Hz and 6Hz, in base frequencies of 250Hz and 1000Hz. Tones were 2000ms in duration and presented with approximately 1s intervals. Latency, amplitude and source current density estimates of ERP components to tone onset and subsequent beats-evoked oscillations were determined and compared across beat frequencies with both base frequencies. All stimuli evoked tone-onset P(50), N(100) and P(200) components followed by oscillations corresponding to the beat frequency, and a subsequent tone-offset complex. Beats-evoked oscillations were higher in amplitude with the low base frequency and to the low beat frequency. Sources of the beats-evoked oscillations across all stimulus conditions located mostly to left lateral and inferior temporal lobe areas in all stimulus conditions. Onset-evoked components were not different across stimulus conditions; P(50) had significantly different sources than the beats-evoked oscillations; and N(100) and P(200) sources located to the same temporal lobe regions as beats-evoked oscillations, but were bilateral and also included frontal and parietal contributions. Neural activity with slightly different volley frequencies from left and right ear converges and interacts in the central auditory brainstem pathways to generate beats of neural activity to modulate activities in the left temporal lobe, giving rise to the illusion of binaural beats. Cortical potentials recorded to binaural beats are distinct from onset responses. Brain activity corresponding to an auditory illusion of low frequency beats can be recorded from the scalp.

Sudden cardiac death in dogs with remodeled hearts is associated with larger beat-to-beat variability of repolarization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Morten Bækgaard; Truin, Michiel; van Opstal, Jurren M

2005-01-01

Increased proarrhythmia in dogs with chronic AV block (AVB) has been explained by ventricular remodeling causing a decrease in repolarization reserve. Beat-to-beat variability of repolarization (BVR) has been suggested to reflect repolarization reserve, in which high variability represents...... diminished reserve and larger propensity for repolarization-dependent ventricular arrhythmia. A subset of chronic AVB dogs (10%) suffers sudden cardiac death (SCD). With the assumption that repolarization defects constitute a potentially lethal proarrhythmic substrate, we hypothesized that BVR in SCD dogs...... are larger than in matched control chronic AVB dogs. From a population of 200 chronic AVB dogs, initially two groups were chosen retrospectively: 8 dogs that died suddenly (SCD) and 8 control dogs. Control dogs had a longer lifespan after AVB (10 to 18 weeks) than SCD dogs (5 to 10 weeks). All dogs had...

Monitoring nocturnal heart rate with bed sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Migliorini, M; Kortelainen, J M; Pärkkä, J; Tenhunen, M; Himanen, S L; Bianchi, A M

2014-01-01

This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on "Biosignal Interpretation: Advanced Methods for Studying Cardiovascular and Respiratory Systems". The aim of this study is to assess the reliability of the estimated Nocturnal Heart Rate (HR), recorded through a bed sensor, compared with the one obtained from standard electrocardiography (ECG). Twenty-eight sleep deprived patients were recorded for one night each through matrix of piezoelectric sensors, integrated into the mattress, through polysomnography (PSG) simultaneously. The two recording methods have been compared in terms of signal quality and differences in heart beat detection. On average, coverage of 92.7% of the total sleep time was obtained for the bed sensor, testifying the good quality of the recordings. The average beat-to-beat error of the inter-beat intervals was 1.06%. These results suggest a good overall signal quality, however, considering fast heart rates (HR > 100 bpm), performances were worse: in fact, the sensitivity in the heart beat detection was 28.4% while the false positive rate was 3.8% which means that a large amount of fast beats were not detected. The accuracy of the measurements made using the bed sensor has less than 10% of failure rate especially in periods with HR lower than 70 bpm. For fast heart beats the uncertainty increases. This can be explained by the change in morphology of the bed sensor signal in correspondence of a higher HR.

Some nonlinear processes relevant to the beat wave accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bingham, R.; Mori, W.B.

1985-03-01

The beat wave accelerator depends on the generation of a large amplitude plasma wave with a phase velocity close to the velocity of light c. The plasma wave (ωsub(p), ksub(p)) is generated by beating colinear laser beams (ω 1 , k 1 ) and (ω 2 ,k 2 ) with ωsub(p) = ω 1 -ω 2 , ksub(p) = k 1 -k 2 . Since the process involves both large amplitude transverse and longitudinal waves, various nonlinear instabilities associated with either wave may occur. The object of the article is to discuss some of the processes that may compete with the beat wave generation listing their threshold and growth rate. (author)

Beating Depression …Help Is Available

Science.gov (United States)

... Navigation Bar Home Current Issue Past Issues Beating Depression …Help Is Available Past Issues / Summer 2007 Table ... treatments are available from your physician. Types of Depression Just like other illnesses, such as heart disease, ...

[Flowmetric assessment of coronary bypass grafts in the conditions of artificial circulation and on the beating heart].

Science.gov (United States)

Bazylev, V V; Nemchenko, E V; Karnakhin, V A; Pavlov, A A; Mikulyak, A I

2016-01-01

Advantages and shortcomings of aortocoronary bypass grafting on the beating heart and in the conditions of artificial circulation (AC) have long been discussed. The data on patency of bypass grafts in the remote period are indicative of comparable results of operations with and without AC or advantages of using AC. In order to determine benefits of each method it is necessary to reveal intraoperative predictors of bypass grafts occlusion in the remote period. We analyzed the results of ultrasound flowmetry of the blood flow through the left internal thoracic artery during bypass grafting of the anterior descending artery with the use of AC and on the beating heart. A retrospective study included a total of 352 patients subdivided into 2 groups: Group One was composed of 120 patients undergoing surgery in the conditions of AC and Group Two comprised 232 patients subjected to similar operations on the beating heart. Blood flow was measured with the help of flowmeter VeryQ MediStim® after termination of AC and inactivation of heparin by protamine, with systolic pressure of 100-110 mm Hg. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups by the diameter and degree of stenosis of the anterior descending artery, diameter of the left internal thoracic artery. The mean volumetric blood flow velocity (Qmean) along the shunts in Group One was higher (p=0.01). No statistically significant differences by the pulsatility index (PI) between the groups were revealed (p=0.2). A conclusion was drawn that coronary bypass grafting of the anterior descending artery by the left internal thoracic artery in the conditions of artificial circulation made it possible to achieve higher volumetric velocity of blood flow through the conduit as compared with operations on the beating heart, with similar resistance index. The immediate results of the operations with the use of the both techniques did not differ.

Adaptive control with self-tuning for non-invasive beat-by-beat blood pressure measurement.

Science.gov (United States)

Nogawa, Masamichi; Ogawa, Mitsuhiro; Yamakoshi, Takehiro; Tanaka, Shinobu; Yamakoshi, Ken-ichi

2011-01-01

Up to now, we have successfully carried out the non-invasive beat-by-beat measurement of blood pressure (BP) in the root of finger, superficial temporal and radial artery based on the volume-compensation technique with reasonable accuracy. The present study concerns with improvement of control method for this beat-by-beat BP measurement. The measurement system mainly consists of a partial pressurization cuff with a pair of LED and photo-diode for the detection of arterial blood volume, and a digital self-tuning control method. Using healthy subjects, the performance and accuracy of this system were evaluated through comparison experiments with the system using a conventional empirically tuned PID controller. The significant differences of BP measured in finger artery were not showed in systolic (SBP), p=0.52, and diastolic BP (DBP), p=0.35. With the advantage of the adaptive control with self-tuning method, which can tune the control parameters without disturbing the control system, the application area of the non-invasive beat-by-beat measurement method will be broadened.

Peak heart rates at extreme altitudes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lundby, C; Van Hall, Gerrit

2001-01-01

We have measured maximal heart rate during a graded maximal bicycle exercise test to exhaustion in five healthy climbers before and during an expedition to Mt. Everest. Maximal heart rates at sea level were 186 (177-204) beats/min(-1) at sea level and 170 (169-182) beats/min(-1) with acute hypoxi...

Beat-to-beat variability of QT intervals is increased in patients with drug-induced long-QT syndrome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hinterseer, Martin; Thomsen, Morten Bækgaard; Beckmann, Britt-Maria

2008-01-01

Torsades de pointes arrhythmias (TdP) occur by definition in the setting of prolonged QT intervals. Animal models of drug induced Long-QT syndrome (dLQTS) have shown higher predictive value for proarrhythmia with beat-to-beat variability of repolarization duration (BVR) when compared with QT inte...... intervals. Here, we evaluate variability of QT intervals in patients with a history of drug-induced long QT syndrome (dLQTS) and TdP in absence of a mutation in any of the major LQTS genes.......Torsades de pointes arrhythmias (TdP) occur by definition in the setting of prolonged QT intervals. Animal models of drug induced Long-QT syndrome (dLQTS) have shown higher predictive value for proarrhythmia with beat-to-beat variability of repolarization duration (BVR) when compared with QT...

The Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT): a battery for assessing beat perception and production and their dissociation

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Shinya; Schlaug, Gottfried

2013-01-01

Humans have the abilities to perceive, produce, and synchronize with a musical beat, yet there are widespread individual differences. To investigate these abilities and to determine if a dissociation between beat perception and production exists, we developed the Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT), a new battery that assesses beat perception and production abilities. H-BAT consists of four subtests: (1) music tapping test (MTT), (2) beat saliency test (BST), (3) beat interval test (BIT), and (4) beat finding and interval test (BFIT). MTT measures the degree of tapping synchronization with the beat of music, whereas BST, BIT, and BFIT measure perception and production thresholds via psychophysical adaptive stair-case methods. We administered the H-BAT on thirty individuals and investigated the performance distribution across these individuals in each subtest. There was a wide distribution in individual abilities to tap in synchrony with the beat of music during the MTT. The degree of synchronization consistency was negatively correlated with thresholds in the BST, BIT, and BFIT: a lower degree of synchronization was associated with higher perception and production thresholds. H-BAT can be a useful tool in determining an individual's ability to perceive and produce a beat within a single session. PMID:24324421

The Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT): a battery for assessing beat perception and production and their dissociation.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujii, Shinya; Schlaug, Gottfried

2013-01-01

Humans have the abilities to perceive, produce, and synchronize with a musical beat, yet there are widespread individual differences. To investigate these abilities and to determine if a dissociation between beat perception and production exists, we developed the Harvard Beat Assessment Test (H-BAT), a new battery that assesses beat perception and production abilities. H-BAT consists of four subtests: (1) music tapping test (MTT), (2) beat saliency test (BST), (3) beat interval test (BIT), and (4) beat finding and interval test (BFIT). MTT measures the degree of tapping synchronization with the beat of music, whereas BST, BIT, and BFIT measure perception and production thresholds via psychophysical adaptive stair-case methods. We administered the H-BAT on thirty individuals and investigated the performance distribution across these individuals in each subtest. There was a wide distribution in individual abilities to tap in synchrony with the beat of music during the MTT. The degree of synchronization consistency was negatively correlated with thresholds in the BST, BIT, and BFIT: a lower degree of synchronization was associated with higher perception and production thresholds. H-BAT can be a useful tool in determining an individual's ability to perceive and produce a beat within a single session.

Liver transplantation from Maastricht category 2 non-heart-beating donors.

Science.gov (United States)

Otero, Alejandra; Gómez-Gutiérrez, Manuel; Suárez, Francisco; Arnal, Francisco; Fernández-García, Antón; Aguirrezabalaga, Javier; García-Buitrón, José; Alvarez, Joaquín; Máñez, Rafael

2003-10-15

The demand for liver transplantation has increasingly exceeded the supply of cadaver donor organs. Non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs) may be an alternative to increase the cadaver donor pool. The outcome of 20 liver transplants from Maastricht category 2 NHBDs is compared with 40 liver transplants from heart-beating donors (HBDs). After unsuccessful cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), cardiopulmonary support (CPS) with simultaneous application of chest and abdominal compression (n=6), and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB; n=14), which was hypothermic (n=7) or normothermic (n=7), were used to preserve the organs from NHBDs. Factors that may influence the outcome of livers from Maastricht category 2 NHBDs were also investigated. With a minimum follow-up of 2 years, actuarial patient and graft survivals with livers from Maastricht category 2 NHBDs were 80% and 55%, respectively. Transplantation of organs from these donors was associated with a significantly higher incidence of primary nonfunction, biliary complications, and more severe initial liver dysfunction compared with livers from HBDs. Graft survival was 83% in livers from NHBDs preserved with CPS and 42% in those maintained with CPB. No graft failed if the duration of warm ischemia did not exceed 130 min with CPR or CPS, and if the period of CPB did not surpass 150 min when this method was used after CPR, regardless if it was hypothermic or normothermic. Livers from Maastricht type 2 NHBDs may be used for transplantation if the period of warm ischemia during CPR or CPS does not exceed 130 min. Hypothermic or normothermic CPB after CPR preserves liver viability for an additional 150 min.

The impact of binaural beats on creativity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan A. Reedijk

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Human creativity relies on a multitude of cognitive processes, some of which are influenced by the neurotransmitter dopamine. This suggests that creativity could be enhanced by interventions that either modulate the production or transmission of dopamine directly, or affect dopamine-driven processes. In the current study we hypothesized that creativity can be influenced by means of binaural beats, an auditory illusion that is considered a form of cognitive entrainment that operates through stimulating neuronal phase locking. We aimed to investigate whether binaural beats affect creative performance at all, whether they affect divergent thinking, convergent thinking, or both, and whether possible effects may be mediated by the individual striatal dopamine level. Binaural beats were presented at alpha and gamma frequency. Participants completed a divergent and a convergent thinking task to assess two important functions of creativity, and filled out the Positive And Negative Affect Scale – mood State questionnaire (PANAS-S and affect grid to measure current mood. Dopamine levels in the striatum were estimated using spontaneous eye blink rates (EBRs. Results showed that binaural beats, regardless of the presented frequency, can affect divergent but not convergent thinking. Individuals with low EBRs mostly benefitted from alpha binaural beat stimulation, while individuals with high EBR were unaffected or even impaired by both alpha and gamma binaural beats. This suggests that binaural beats, and possibly other forms of cognitive entrainment, are not suited for a one-size-fits-all approach, and that individual cognitive-control systems need to be taken into account when studying cognitive enhancement methods.

The impact of binaural beats on creativity.

Science.gov (United States)

Reedijk, Susan A; Bolders, Anne; Hommel, Bernhard

2013-01-01

Human creativity relies on a multitude of cognitive processes, some of which are influenced by the neurotransmitter dopamine. This suggests that creativity could be enhanced by interventions that either modulate the production or transmission of dopamine directly, or affect dopamine-driven processes. In the current study we hypothesized that creativity can be influenced by means of binaural beats, an auditory illusion that is considered a form of cognitive entrainment that operates through stimulating neuronal phase locking. We aimed to investigate whether binaural beats affect creative performance at all, whether they affect divergent thinking, convergent thinking, or both, and whether possible effects may be mediated by the individual striatal dopamine level. Binaural beats were presented at alpha and gamma frequency. Participants completed a divergent and a convergent thinking task to assess two important functions of creativity, and filled out the Positive And Negative Affect Scale-mood State questionnaire (PANAS-S) and an affect grid to measure current mood. Dopamine levels in the striatum were estimated using spontaneous eye blink rates (EBRs). Results showed that binaural beats, regardless of the presented frequency, can affect divergent but not convergent thinking. Individuals with low EBRs mostly benefitted from alpha binaural beat stimulation, while individuals with high EBRs were unaffected or even impaired by both alpha and gamma binaural beats. This suggests that binaural beats, and possibly other forms of cognitive entrainment, are not suited for a one-size-fits-all approach, and that individual cognitive-control systems need to be taken into account when studying cognitive enhancement methods.

Beating Heart Motion Accurate Prediction Method Based on Interactive Multiple Model: An Information Fusion Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Weihong; Yu, Yang

2017-01-01

Robot-assisted motion compensated beating heart surgery has the advantage over the conventional Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) in terms of reduced trauma to the surrounding structures that leads to shortened recovery time. The severe nonlinear and diverse nature of irregular heart rhythm causes enormous difficulty for the robot to realize the clinic requirements, especially under arrhythmias. In this paper, we propose a fusion prediction framework based on Interactive Multiple Model (IMM) estimator, allowing each model to cover a distinguishing feature of the heart motion in underlying dynamics. We find that, at normal state, the nonlinearity of the heart motion with slow time-variant changing dominates the beating process. When an arrhythmia occurs, the irregularity mode, the fast uncertainties with random patterns become the leading factor of the heart motion. We deal with prediction problem in the case of arrhythmias by estimating the state with two behavior modes which can adaptively “switch” from one to the other. Also, we employed the signal quality index to adaptively determine the switch transition probability in the framework of IMM. We conduct comparative experiments to evaluate the proposed approach with four distinguished datasets. The test results indicate that the new proposed approach reduces prediction errors significantly. PMID:29124062

Beating Heart Motion Accurate Prediction Method Based on Interactive Multiple Model: An Information Fusion Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fan Liang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Robot-assisted motion compensated beating heart surgery has the advantage over the conventional Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG in terms of reduced trauma to the surrounding structures that leads to shortened recovery time. The severe nonlinear and diverse nature of irregular heart rhythm causes enormous difficulty for the robot to realize the clinic requirements, especially under arrhythmias. In this paper, we propose a fusion prediction framework based on Interactive Multiple Model (IMM estimator, allowing each model to cover a distinguishing feature of the heart motion in underlying dynamics. We find that, at normal state, the nonlinearity of the heart motion with slow time-variant changing dominates the beating process. When an arrhythmia occurs, the irregularity mode, the fast uncertainties with random patterns become the leading factor of the heart motion. We deal with prediction problem in the case of arrhythmias by estimating the state with two behavior modes which can adaptively “switch” from one to the other. Also, we employed the signal quality index to adaptively determine the switch transition probability in the framework of IMM. We conduct comparative experiments to evaluate the proposed approach with four distinguished datasets. The test results indicate that the new proposed approach reduces prediction errors significantly.

A novel type of self-beating cardiomyocytes in adult mouse ventricles

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Omatsu-Kanbe, Mariko; Matsuura, Hiroshi

2009-01-01

This study was designed to investigate the presence of resident heart cells that are distinct from terminally-differentiated cardiomyocytes. Adult mouse heart was coronary perfused with collagenase, and ventricles were excised and further digested. After spinning cardiomyocyte-containing fractions down, the supernatant fraction was collected and cultured without adding any chemicals. Two to five days after plating, some of rounded cells adhered to the culture dish, gradually changed their shape and then started self-beating. These self-beating cells did not appreciably proliferate but underwent a further morphological maturation process to form highly branched shapes with many projections. These cells were mostly multinucleated, well sarcomeric-organized and expressed cardiac marker proteins, defined as atypically-shaped cardiomyocytes (ACMs). Patch-clamp experiments revealed that ACMs exhibited spontaneous action potentials arising from the preceding slow diastolic depolarization. We thus found a novel type of resident heart cells in adult cardiac ventricles that spontaneously develop into self-beating cardiomyocytes.

The impact of beat-to-beat variability in optimising the acute hemodynamic response in cardiac resynchronisation therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steven Niederer

2015-12-01

Conclusion: The beat-to-beat variation in AHR is significant in the context of CRT cut off values. A LOS optimisation offers a novel index to identify the optimal pacing site that accounts for both the mean and variation of the baseline measurement and pacing protocol.

Midbrain adaptation may set the stage for the perception of musical beat.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajendran, Vani G; Harper, Nicol S; Garcia-Lazaro, Jose A; Lesica, Nicholas A; Schnupp, Jan W H

2017-11-15

The ability to spontaneously feel a beat in music is a phenomenon widely believed to be unique to humans. Though beat perception involves the coordinated engagement of sensory, motor and cognitive processes in humans, the contribution of low-level auditory processing to the activation of these networks in a beat-specific manner is poorly understood. Here, we present evidence from a rodent model that midbrain preprocessing of sounds may already be shaping where the beat is ultimately felt. For the tested set of musical rhythms, on-beat sounds on average evoked higher firing rates than off-beat sounds, and this difference was a defining feature of the set of beat interpretations most commonly perceived by human listeners over others. Basic firing rate adaptation provided a sufficient explanation for these results. Our findings suggest that midbrain adaptation, by encoding the temporal context of sounds, creates points of neural emphasis that may influence the perceptual emergence of a beat. © 2017 The Authors.

Midbrain adaptation may set the stage for the perception of musical beat

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

The ability to spontaneously feel a beat in music is a phenomenon widely believed to be unique to humans. Though beat perception involves the coordinated engagement of sensory, motor and cognitive processes in humans, the contribution of low-level auditory processing to the activation of these networks in a beat-specific manner is poorly understood. Here, we present evidence from a rodent model that midbrain preprocessing of sounds may already be shaping where the beat is ultimately felt. For the tested set of musical rhythms, on-beat sounds on average evoked higher firing rates than off-beat sounds, and this difference was a defining feature of the set of beat interpretations most commonly perceived by human listeners over others. Basic firing rate adaptation provided a sufficient explanation for these results. Our findings suggest that midbrain adaptation, by encoding the temporal context of sounds, creates points of neural emphasis that may influence the perceptual emergence of a beat. PMID:29118141

Neuro-adaptive control in beating heart surgery based on the viscoelastic tissue model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Setareh Rezakhani

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the problem of 3D heart motion in beating heart surgery is resolved by proposing a parallel force-motion controller. Motion controller is designed based on neuro-adaptive approach to compensate 3D heart motion and deal with uncertainity in dynamic parameters, while an implicit force control is implemented by considering a viscoelastic tissue model. Stability analysis is proved through Lypanov’s stability theory and Barballet’s lemma. Simulation results, for D2M2 robot, which is done in nominal case and viscoelastic parameter mismatches demonstrate the robust performance of the controller.

Losing the beat: deficits in temporal coordination

Science.gov (United States)

Palmer, Caroline; Lidji, Pascale; Peretz, Isabelle

2014-01-01

Tapping or clapping to an auditory beat, an easy task for most individuals, reveals precise temporal synchronization with auditory patterns such as music, even in the presence of temporal fluctuations. Most models of beat-tracking rely on the theoretical concept of pulse: a perceived regular beat generated by an internal oscillation that forms the foundation of entrainment abilities. Although tapping to the beat is a natural sensorimotor activity for most individuals, not everyone can track an auditory beat. Recently, the case of Mathieu was documented (Phillips-Silver et al. 2011 Neuropsychologia 49, 961–969. (doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.02.002)). Mathieu presented himself as having difficulty following a beat and exhibited synchronization failures. We examined beat-tracking in normal control participants, Mathieu, and a second beat-deaf individual, who tapped with an auditory metronome in which unpredictable perturbations were introduced to disrupt entrainment. Both beat-deaf cases exhibited failures in error correction in response to the perturbation task while exhibiting normal spontaneous motor tempi (in the absence of an auditory stimulus), supporting a deficit specific to perception–action coupling. A damped harmonic oscillator model was applied to the temporal adaptation responses; the model's parameters of relaxation time and endogenous frequency accounted for differences between the beat-deaf cases as well as the control group individuals. PMID:25385783

[Resonance hypothesis of heart rate variability origin].

Science.gov (United States)

Sheĭkh-Zade, Iu R; Mukhambetaliev, G Kh; Cherednik, I L

2009-09-01

A hypothesis is advanced of the heart rate variability being subjected to beat-to-beat regulation of cardiac cycle duration in order to ensure the resonance interaction between respiratory and own fluctuation of the arterial system volume for minimization of power expenses of cardiorespiratory system. Myogenic, parasympathetic and sympathetic machanisms of heart rate variability are described.

Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal.

Science.gov (United States)

McConnell, Patrick A; Froeliger, Brett; Garland, Eric L; Ives, Jeffrey C; Sforzo, Gary A

2014-01-01

Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two or more pure tones of similar frequencies are presented dichotically through stereo headphones. Although this phenomenon is thought to facilitate state changes (e.g., relaxation), few empirical studies have reported on whether binaural beats produce changes in autonomic arousal. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of binaural beating on autonomic dynamics [heart rate variability (HRV)] during post-exercise relaxation. Subjects (n = 21; 18-29 years old) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study during which binaural beats and placebo were administered over two randomized and counterbalanced sessions (within-subjects repeated-measures design). At the onset of each visit, subjects exercised for 20-min; post-exercise, subjects listened to either binaural beats ('wide-band' theta-frequency binaural beats) or placebo (carrier tones) for 20-min while relaxing alone in a quiet, low-light environment. Dependent variables consisted of high-frequency (HF, reflecting parasympathetic activity), low-frequency (LF, reflecting sympathetic and parasympathetic activity), and LF/HF normalized powers, as well as self-reported relaxation. As compared to the placebo visit, the binaural-beat visit resulted in greater self-reported relaxation, increased parasympathetic activation and increased sympathetic withdrawal. By the end of the 20-min relaxation period there were no observable differences in HRV between binaural-beat and placebo visits, although binaural-beat associated HRV significantly predicted subsequent reported relaxation. Findings suggest that listening to binaural beats may exert an acute influence on both LF and HF components of HRV and may increase subjective feelings of relaxation.

Auditory driving of the autonomic nervous system: Listening to theta-frequency binaural beats post-exercise increases parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick eMcConnell

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Binaural beats are an auditory illusion perceived when two or more pure tones of similar frequencies are presented dichotically through stereo headphones. Although this phenomenon is thought to facilitate state changes (e.g., relaxation, few empirical studies have reported on whether binaural beats produce changes in autonomic arousal. Therefore, the present study investigated the effects of binaural beating on autonomic dynamics (heart-rate variability (HRV during post-exercise relaxation. Subjects (n = 21; 18-29 years old participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study during which binaural beats and placebo were administered over two randomized and counterbalanced sessions (within-subjects repeated-measures design. At the onset of each visit, subjects exercised for 20-min; post-exercise, subjects listened to either binaural beats (‘wide-band’ theta-frequency binaural beats or placebo (carrier tone for 20-min while relaxing alone in a quiet, low-light environment. Dependent variables consisted of high frequency (HF, reflecting parasympathetic activity, low frequency (LF, reflecting sympathetic and parasympathetic activity and LF/HF normalized powers, as well as self-reported relaxation. As compared to the placebo visit, the binaural beat visit resulted in greater self-reported relaxation, as well as increased parasympathetic activation and sympathetic withdrawal. By the end of the 20-min relaxation period there were no observable differences in HRV between binaural beat and placebo visits, although binaural-beat associated HRV significantly predicted subsequent reported relaxation. Findings suggest that listening to binaural beats may exert an acute influence on both LF and HF components of HRV and may increase subjective feelings of relaxation.

[Clinical Experience of Beating Heart Atrial Septostomy Using a Device for Coronary Artery Anastomosis Site Creator].

Science.gov (United States)

Takahashi, Goro; Sai, Sadahiro; Konishi, Akinobu

2015-09-01

Intra-atrial communication was mandatory for several congenital cardiac diseases, such as pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum (PA/IVS), and either sided aortoventricular valve atresia. We assessed whether the new methods of atrial septal defect(ASD)creation was effective. We experienced 4 cases of the surgical atrial septostomy performed under on-pump beating. We used a new device, a circular punch out defect creator. All cases were alive. The mean ASD diameter was enlarged from 4.37 mm to 5.55 mm and the mean ASD shunt flow was significantly decreased from 1.47 m/s to 1.11 m/s. We performed the surgical atrial septostomy using an aortic puncher under beating heart effectively and safely.

Acoustical sensing of cardiomyocyte cluster beating

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tymchenko, Nina; Kunze, Angelika [Dept. of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg (Sweden); Dahlenborg, Kerstin [Cellectis, 413 46 Göteborg (Sweden); Svedhem, Sofia, E-mail: sofia.svedhem@chalmers.se [Dept. of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg (Sweden); Steel, Daniella [Cellectis, 413 46 Göteborg (Sweden)

2013-06-14

Highlights: •An example of the application of QCM-D to live cell studies. •Detection of human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte cluster beating. •Clusters were studied in a thin liquid film and in a large liquid volume. •The QCM-D beating profile provides an individual fingerprint of the hPS-CMCs. -- Abstract: Spontaneously beating human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes clusters (CMCs) represent an excellent in vitro tool for studies of human cardiomyocyte function and for pharmacological cardiac safety assessment. Such testing typically requires highly trained operators, precision plating, or large cell quantities, and there is a demand for real-time, label-free monitoring of small cell quantities, especially rare cells and tissue-like structures. Array formats based on sensing of electrical or optical properties of cells are being developed and in use by the pharmaceutical industry. A potential alternative to these techniques is represented by the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) technique, which is an acoustic surface sensitive technique that measures changes in mass and viscoelastic properties close to the sensor surface (from nm to μm). There is an increasing number of studies where QCM-D has successfully been applied to monitor properties of cells and cellular processes. In the present study, we show that spontaneous beating of CMCs on QCM-D sensors can be clearly detected, both in the frequency and the dissipation signals. Beating rates in the range of 66–168 bpm for CMCs were detected and confirmed by simultaneous light microscopy. The QCM-D beating profile was found to provide individual fingerprints of the hPS-CMCs. The presented results point towards acoustical assays for evaluation cardiotoxicity.

The effect of music with and without binaural beat audio on operative anxiety in patients undergoing cataract surgery: a randomized controlled trial

Science.gov (United States)

Wiwatwongwana, D; Vichitvejpaisal, P; Thaikruea, L; Klaphajone, J; Tantong, A; Wiwatwongwana, A

2016-01-01

Purpose To investigate the anxiolytic effects of binaural beat embedded audio in patients undergoing cataract surgery under local anesthesia. Methods This prospective RCT included 141 patients undergoing cataract surgery under local anesthesia. The patients were randomized into three groups; the Binaural beat music group (BB), the plain music intervention group (MI), and a control group (ear phones with no music). Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate were measured on admission, at the beginning of and 20 min after the start of the operation. Peri-operative anxiety level was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire (STAI). Results The BB and MI groups comprised 44 patients each and the control group 47. Patients in the MI group and BB group showed significant reduction of STAI state scores after music intervention compared with the control group (Pbinaural beat, was proven to decrease anxiety level and lower systolic BP. Patients who received binaural beat audio showed additional decrease in heart rate. Binaural beat embedded musical intervention may have benefit over musical intervention alone in decreasing operative anxiety. PMID:27740618

Increased Short-Term Beat-To-Beat Variability of QT Interval in Patients with Acromegaly

Science.gov (United States)

Orosz, Andrea; Csajbók, Éva; Czékus, Csilla; Gavallér, Henriette; Magony, Sándor; Valkusz, Zsuzsanna; Várkonyi, Tamás T.; Nemes, Attila; Baczkó, István; Forster, Tamás; Wittmann, Tibor; Papp, Julius Gy.; Varró, András; Lengyel, Csaba

2015-01-01

Cardiovascular diseases, including ventricular arrhythmias are responsible for increased mortality in patients with acromegaly. Acromegaly may cause repolarization abnormalities such as QT prolongation and impairment of repolarization reserve enhancing liability to arrhythmia. The aim of this study was to determine the short-term beat-to-beat QT variability in patients with acromegaly. Thirty acromegalic patients (23 women and 7 men, mean age±SD: 55.7±10.4 years) were compared with age- and sex-matched volunteers (mean age 51.3±7.6 years). Cardiac repolarization parameters including frequency corrected QT interval, PQ and QRS intervals, duration of terminal part of T waves (Tpeak-Tend) and short-term variability of QT interval were evaluated. All acromegalic patients and controls underwent transthoracic echocardiographic examination. Autonomic function was assessed by means of five standard cardiovascular reflex tests. Comparison of the two groups revealed no significant differences in the conventional ECG parameters of repolarization (QT: 401.1±30.6 ms vs 389.3±16.5 ms, corrected QT interval: 430.1±18.6 ms vs 425.6±17.3 ms, QT dispersion: 38.2±13.2 ms vs 36.6±10.2 ms; acromegaly vs control, respectively). However, short-term beat-to-beat QT variability was significantly increased in acromegalic patients (4.23±1.03 ms vs 3.02±0.80, Pacromegaly in spite of unchanged conventional parameters of ventricular repolarization. This enhanced temporal QT variability may be an early indicator of increased liability to arrhythmia. PMID:25915951

Average beta-beating from random errors

CERN Document Server

Tomas Garcia, Rogelio; Langner, Andy Sven; Malina, Lukas; Franchi, Andrea; CERN. Geneva. ATS Department

2018-01-01

The impact of random errors on average β-beating is studied via analytical derivations and simulations. A systematic positive β-beating is expected from random errors quadratic with the sources or, equivalently, with the rms β-beating. However, random errors do not have a systematic effect on the tune.

The effect of beat frequency on eye movements during free viewing.

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Maróti, Emese; Knakker, Balázs; Vidnyánszky, Zoltán; Weiss, Béla

2017-02-01

External periodic stimuli entrain brain oscillations and affect perception and attention. It has been shown that background music can change oculomotor behavior and facilitate detection of visual objects occurring on the musical beat. However, whether musical beats in different tempi modulate information sampling differently during natural viewing remains to be explored. Here we addressed this question by investigating how listening to naturalistic drum grooves in two different tempi affects eye movements of participants viewing natural scenes on a computer screen. We found that the beat frequency of the drum grooves modulated the rate of eye movements: fixation durations were increased at the lower beat frequency (1.7Hz) as compared to the higher beat frequency (2.4Hz) and no music conditions. Correspondingly, estimated visual sampling frequency decreased as fixation durations increased with lower beat frequency. These results imply that slow musical beats can retard sampling of visual information during natural viewing by increasing fixation durations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beat-to-beat assessment of left ventricular ejection in atrial fibrillation

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Benjelloun, H.; Brochier, M.; Itti, R.; Philippe, L.; Lorgeron, J.M.

1983-01-01

Beat-to-beat left ventricular ejection was evaluated in a group of 20 patients with chronic atrial fibrillation using a computerized single probe detector. The reference group consisted of 10 patients with sinus rhythm. For each patient 30 successive cardiac cycles were analyzed and the relative variations of four parameters were assessed: R-R interval, diastolic and systolic time intervals, and ejection amplitude, corresponding to the left ventricular stroke volume. The mean variations were respectively 3.4%, 10.4%, 8.4%, and 11.8% in patients with sinus rhythm, and 21.9%, 37.9%, 10.6% and 30.5% in patients with artrial fibrillation. This demonstrates that changes in ejection are mainly related to the duration of the filling phase, with nearly constant systolic times. Correlations between R-R intervals and systolic ejection amplitudes were highly significant (P<0.001) in patients with atrial fibrillation in 85% of cases. This information complements the average ejection fraction obtained from multiple cycle superimposition. (orig.)

Beat-to-beat assessment of left ventricular ejection in atrial fibrillation

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Benjelloun, H; Brochier, M; Itti, R; Philippe, L; Lorgeron, J M

1983-05-01

Beat-to-beat left ventricular ejection was evaluated in a group of 20 patients with chronic atrial fibrillation using a computerized single probe detector. The reference group consisted of 10 patients with sinus rhythm. For each patient 30 successive cardiac cycles were analyzed and the relative variations of four parameters were assessed: R-R interval, diastolic and systolic time intervals, and ejection amplitude, corresponding to the left ventricular stroke volume. The mean variations were respectively 3.4%, 10.4%, 8.4%, and 11.8% in patients with sinus rhythm, and 21.9%, 37.9%, 10.6% and 30.5% in patients with artrial fibrillation. This demonstrates that changes in ejection are mainly related to the duration of the filling phase, with nearly constant systolic times. Correlations between R-R intervals and systolic ejection amplitudes were highly significant (P<0.001) in patients with atrial fibrillation in 85% of cases. This information complements the average ejection fraction obtained from multiple cycle superimposition.

Human auditory steady state responses to binaural and monaural beats.

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Schwarz, D W F; Taylor, P

2005-03-01

Binaural beat sensations depend upon a central combination of two different temporally encoded tones, separately presented to the two ears. We tested the feasibility to record an auditory steady state evoked response (ASSR) at the binaural beat frequency in order to find a measure for temporal coding of sound in the human EEG. We stimulated each ear with a distinct tone, both differing in frequency by 40Hz, to record a binaural beat ASSR. As control, we evoked a beat ASSR in response to both tones in the same ear. We band-pass filtered the EEG at 40Hz, averaged with respect to stimulus onset and compared ASSR amplitudes and phases, extracted from a sinusoidal non-linear regression fit to a 40Hz period average. A 40Hz binaural beat ASSR was evoked at a low mean stimulus frequency (400Hz) but became undetectable beyond 3kHz. Its amplitude was smaller than that of the acoustic beat ASSR, which was evoked at low and high frequencies. Both ASSR types had maxima at fronto-central leads and displayed a fronto-occipital phase delay of several ms. The dependence of the 40Hz binaural beat ASSR on stimuli at low, temporally coded tone frequencies suggests that it may objectively assess temporal sound coding ability. The phase shift across the electrode array is evidence for more than one origin of the 40Hz oscillations. The binaural beat ASSR is an evoked response, with novel diagnostic potential, to a signal that is not present in the stimulus, but generated within the brain.

Left ventricular beat-to-beat performance in atrial fibrillation: Contribution of Frank-Starling mechanism after short rather than long intervals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gosselink, A.T.M.; Blanksma, P.K.; Crijns, H.J.G.M.; Gelder, I.C. van; Kam, P.J. de; Hillege, H.L.; Niemeijer, M.G.; Lie, K.I.; Meijler, F.L.

1995-01-01

This study sought to evaluate control mechanisms of the varying left ventricular performance in atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is characterized by a randomly irregular ventricular response, resulting in continuous variation in left ventricular beat-to-beat mechanical behavior and

Keep the Beat Recipes | NIH MedlinePlus the Magazine

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... the Beat Recipes: Deliciously Healthy Dinners. The new cookbook features 75 simple and delicious recipes influenced by ... nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/Dinners_Cookbook_508-compliant.pdf . Fall 2011 Issue: Volume 6 ...

LEFT-VENTRICULAR BEAT-TO-BEAT PERFORMANCE IN ATRIAL-FIBRILLATION - CONTRIBUTION OF FRANK-STARLING MECHANISM AFTER SHORT RATHER THAN LONG RR INTERVALS

NARCIS (Netherlands)

GOSSELINK, ATM; BLANKSMA, PK; CRIJNS, HJGM; VANGELDER, IC; DEKAM, PJ; HILLEGE, HL; NIEMEIJER, MG; LIE, KI; MEIJLER, FL

1995-01-01

Objectives. This study sought to evaluate control mechanisms of the varying left ventricular performance in atrial fibrillation. Background. Atrial fibrillation is characterized by a randomly irregular ventricular response, resulting in continuous variation in left ventricular beat-to-beat

Non-model-based correction of respiratory motion using beat-to-beat 3D spiral fat-selective imaging.

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Keegan, Jennifer; Gatehouse, Peter D; Yang, Guang-Zhong; Firmin, David N

2007-09-01

To demonstrate the feasibility of retrospective beat-to-beat correction of respiratory motion, without the need for a respiratory motion model. A high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) spiral black-blood scan of the right coronary artery (RCA) of six healthy volunteers was acquired over 160 cardiac cycles without respiratory gating. One spiral interleaf was acquired per cardiac cycle, prior to each of which a complete low-resolution fat-selective 3D spiral dataset was acquired. The respiratory motion (3D translation) on each cardiac cycle was determined by cross-correlating a region of interest (ROI) in the fat around the artery in the low-resolution datasets with that on a reference end-expiratory dataset. The measured translations were used to correct the raw data of the high-resolution spiral interleaves. Beat-to-beat correction provided consistently good results, with the image quality being better than that obtained with a fixed superior-inferior tracking factor of 0.6 and better than (N = 5) or equal to (N = 1) that achieved using a subject-specific retrospective 3D translation motion model. Non-model-based correction of respiratory motion using 3D spiral fat-selective imaging is feasible, and in this small group of volunteers produced better-quality images than a subject-specific retrospective 3D translation motion model. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Binaural auditory beats affect vigilance performance and mood.

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Lane, J D; Kasian, S J; Owens, J E; Marsh, G R

1998-01-01

When two tones of slightly different frequency are presented separately to the left and right ears the listener perceives a single tone that varies in amplitude at a frequency equal to the frequency difference between the two tones, a perceptual phenomenon known as the binaural auditory beat. Anecdotal reports suggest that binaural auditory beats within the electroencephalograph frequency range can entrain EEG activity and may affect states of consciousness, although few scientific studies have been published. This study compared the effects of binaural auditory beats in the EEG beta and EEG theta/delta frequency ranges on mood and on performance of a vigilance task to investigate their effects on subjective and objective measures of arousal. Participants (n = 29) performed a 30-min visual vigilance task on three different days while listening to pink noise containing simple tones or binaural beats either in the beta range (16 and 24 Hz) or the theta/delta range (1.5 and 4 Hz). However, participants were kept blind to the presence of binaural beats to control expectation effects. Presentation of beta-frequency binaural beats yielded more correct target detections and fewer false alarms than presentation of theta/delta frequency binaural beats. In addition, the beta-frequency beats were associated with less negative mood. Results suggest that the presentation of binaural auditory beats can affect psychomotor performance and mood. This technology may have applications for the control of attention and arousal and the enhancement of human performance.

Human cortical responses to slow and fast binaural beats reveal multiple mechanisms of binaural hearing.

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Ross, Bernhard; Miyazaki, Takahiro; Thompson, Jessica; Jamali, Shahab; Fujioka, Takako

2014-10-15

When two tones with slightly different frequencies are presented to both ears, they interact in the central auditory system and induce the sensation of a beating sound. At low difference frequencies, we perceive a single sound, which is moving across the head between the left and right ears. The percept changes to loudness fluctuation, roughness, and pitch with increasing beat rate. To examine the neural representations underlying these different perceptions, we recorded neuromagnetic cortical responses while participants listened to binaural beats at a continuously varying rate between 3 Hz and 60 Hz. Binaural beat responses were analyzed as neuromagnetic oscillations following the trajectory of the stimulus rate. Responses were largest in the 40-Hz gamma range and at low frequencies. Binaural beat responses at 3 Hz showed opposite polarity in the left and right auditory cortices. We suggest that this difference in polarity reflects the opponent neural population code for representing sound location. Binaural beats at any rate induced gamma oscillations. However, the responses were largest at 40-Hz stimulation. We propose that the neuromagnetic gamma oscillations reflect postsynaptic modulation that allows for precise timing of cortical neural firing. Systematic phase differences between bilateral responses suggest that separate sound representations of a sound object exist in the left and right auditory cortices. We conclude that binaural processing at the cortical level occurs with the same temporal acuity as monaural processing whereas the identification of sound location requires further interpretation and is limited by the rate of object representations. Copyright © 2014 the American Physiological Society.

A model-based Bayesian framework for ECG beat segmentation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayadi, O; Shamsollahi, M B

2009-01-01

The study of electrocardiogram (ECG) waveform amplitudes, timings and patterns has been the subject of intense research, for it provides a deep insight into the diagnostic features of the heart's functionality. In some recent works, a Bayesian filtering paradigm has been proposed for denoising and compression of ECG signals. In this paper, it is shown that this framework may be effectively used for ECG beat segmentation and extraction of fiducial points. Analytic expressions for the determination of points and intervals are derived and evaluated on various real ECG signals. Simulation results show that the method can contribute to and enhance the clinical ECG beat segmentation performance

Noninvasive beat-to-beat finger arterial pressure monitoring during orthostasis : a comprehensive review of normal and abnormal responses at different ages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Wijnen, V K; Finucane, C; Harms, M P M; Nolan, H; Freeman, R L; Westerhof, B. E.; Kenny, R A; Ter Maaten, J C; Wieling, W

2017-01-01

Over the past 30years, noninvasive beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP) monitoring has provided great insight into cardiovascular autonomic regulation during standing. Although traditional sphygmomanometric measurement of BP may be sufficient for detection of sustained orthostatic hypotension, it fails

Keeping the Beat: A Large Sample Study of Bouncing and Clapping to Music

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Tranchant, Pauline; Vuvan, Dominique T.; Peretz, Isabelle

2016-01-01

The vast majority of humans move in time with a musical beat. This behaviour has been mostly studied through finger-tapping synchronization. Here, we evaluate naturalistic synchronization responses to music–bouncing and clapping–in 100 university students. Their ability to match the period of their bounces and claps to those of a metronome and musical clips varying in beat saliency was assessed. In general, clapping was better synchronized with the beat than bouncing, suggesting that the choice of a specific movement type is an important factor to consider in the study of sensorimotor synchronization processes. Performance improved as a function of beat saliency, indicating that beat abstraction plays a significant role in synchronization. Fourteen percent of the population exhibited marked difficulties with matching the beat. Yet, at a group level, poor synchronizers showed similar sensitivity to movement type and beat saliency as normal synchronizers. These results suggest the presence of quantitative rather than qualitative variations when losing the beat. PMID:27471854

Keeping the Beat: A Large Sample Study of Bouncing and Clapping to Music.

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Pauline Tranchant

Full Text Available The vast majority of humans move in time with a musical beat. This behaviour has been mostly studied through finger-tapping synchronization. Here, we evaluate naturalistic synchronization responses to music-bouncing and clapping-in 100 university students. Their ability to match the period of their bounces and claps to those of a metronome and musical clips varying in beat saliency was assessed. In general, clapping was better synchronized with the beat than bouncing, suggesting that the choice of a specific movement type is an important factor to consider in the study of sensorimotor synchronization processes. Performance improved as a function of beat saliency, indicating that beat abstraction plays a significant role in synchronization. Fourteen percent of the population exhibited marked difficulties with matching the beat. Yet, at a group level, poor synchronizers showed similar sensitivity to movement type and beat saliency as normal synchronizers. These results suggest the presence of quantitative rather than qualitative variations when losing the beat.

Finger-to-beat coordination skill of non-dancers, street dancers, and the world champion of a street-dance competition

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Akito eMiura

2016-04-01

Full Text Available The coordination of body movements to a musical beat is a common feature of many dance styles. However, the auditory-motor coordination skills of dancers remain largely uninvestigated. The purpose of this study was to examine the auditory-motor coordination skills of non-dancers, street dancers, and the winner of a celebrated international street dance competition, while coordinating their rhythmic finger movements to a beat. The beat rate of a metronome increased from 1.0 to 3.7 Hz. The participants were asked to either flex or extend their index fingers on the beat in each condition. Under the extend-on-the-beat condition, both the dancers and non-dancers showed a spontaneous transition from the extend-on-the-beat to the flex-on-the-beat or to a phase wandering pattern. However, the critical frequency at which the transition occurred was significantly higher in the dancers (3.3 Hz than in the non-dancers (2.6 Hz. Under the flex-on-the-beat condition, the dancers were able to maintain their coordination pattern more stably at high beat rates compared to the non-dancers. Furthermore, the world champion matched the timing of movement peak velocity to the beat across the different beat rates. This may give a sense of unity between the movement and the beat for the audience because the peak velocity of the rhythmic movement works as a temporal cue for the audiovisual synchrony perception. These results suggest that the skills of accomplished dancers lie in their small finger movements and that the sensorimotor learning of street dance is characterized by a stabilization of the coordination patterns, including the inhibition of an unintentional transition to other coordination patterns.

Walking to the beat of different drums: practical implications for the use of acoustic rhythms in gait rehabilitation.

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Roerdink, Melvyn; Bank, Paulina J M; Peper, C Lieke E; Beek, Peter J

2011-04-01

Acoustic rhythms are frequently used in gait rehabilitation, with positive instantaneous and prolonged transfer effects on various gait characteristics. The gait modifying ability of acoustic rhythms depends on how well gait is tied to the beat, which can be assessed with measures of relative timing of auditory-motor coordination. We examined auditory-motor coordination in 20 healthy elderly individuals walking to metronome beats with pacing frequencies slower than, equal to, and faster than their preferred cadence. We found that more steps were required to adjust gait to the beat, the more the metronome rate deviated from the preferred cadence. Furthermore, participants anticipated the beat with their footfalls to various degrees, depending on the metronome rate; the faster the tempo, the smaller the phase advance or phase lead. Finally, the variability in the relative timing between footfalls and the beat was smaller for metronome rates closer to the preferred cadence, reflecting superior auditory-motor coordination. These observations have three practical implications. First, instantaneous effects of acoustic stimuli on gait characteristics may typically be underestimated given the considerable number of steps required to attune gait to the beat in combination with the usual short walkways. Second, a systematic phase lead of footfalls to the beat does not necessarily reflect a reduced ability to couple gait to the metronome. Third, the efficacy of acoustic rhythms to modify gait depends on metronome rate. Gait is coupled best to the beat for metronome rates near the preferred cadence. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The brain responses to different frequencies of binaural beat sounds on QEEG at cortical level.

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Jirakittayakorn, Nantawachara; Wongsawat, Yodchanan

2015-01-01

Beat phenomenon is occurred when two slightly different frequency waves interfere each other. The beat can also occur in the brain by providing two slightly different frequency waves separately each ear. This is called binaural beat. The brain responses to binaural beat are in discussion process whether the brain side and the brain area. Therefore, this study aims to figure out the brain responses to binaural beat by providing different binaural beat frequencies on 250 carrier tone continuously for 30 minutes to participants and using quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) to interpret the data. The result shows that different responses appear in different beat frequency. Left hemisphere dominance occur in 3 Hz beat within 15 minutes and 15 Hz beat within 5 minutes. Right hemisphere dominance occurs in 10 Hz beat within 25 minute. 6 Hz beat enhances all area of the brain within 10 minutes. 8 Hz and 25 Hz beats have no clearly responses while 40 Hz beat enhances the responses in frontal lobe. These brain responses can be used for brain modulation application to induce the brain activity in further studies.

Enhanced timing abilities in percussionists generalize to rhythms without a musical beat.

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Cameron, Daniel J; Grahn, Jessica A

2014-01-01

The ability to entrain movements to music is arguably universal, but it is unclear how specialized training may influence this. Previous research suggests that percussionists have superior temporal precision in perception and production tasks. Such superiority may be limited to temporal sequences that resemble real music or, alternatively, may generalize to musically implausible sequences. To test this, percussionists and nonpercussionists completed two tasks that used rhythmic sequences varying in musical plausibility. In the beat tapping task, participants tapped with the beat of a rhythmic sequence over 3 stages: finding the beat (as an initial sequence played), continuation of the beat (as a second sequence was introduced and played simultaneously), and switching to a second beat (the initial sequence finished, leaving only the second). The meters of the two sequences were either congruent or incongruent, as were their tempi (minimum inter-onset intervals). In the rhythm reproduction task, participants reproduced rhythms of four types, ranging from high to low musical plausibility: Metric simple rhythms induced a strong sense of the beat, metric complex rhythms induced a weaker sense of the beat, nonmetric rhythms had no beat, and jittered nonmetric rhythms also had no beat as well as low temporal predictability. For both tasks, percussionists performed more accurately than nonpercussionists. In addition, both groups were better with musically plausible than implausible conditions. Overall, the percussionists' superior abilities to entrain to, and reproduce, rhythms generalized to musically implausible sequences.

Enhanced Timing Abilities in Percussionists Generalize to Rhythms Without a Musical Beat

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Daniel J Cameron

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The ability to entrain movements to music is arguably universal, but it is unclear how specialized training may influence this. Previous research suggests that percussionists have superior temporal precision in perception and production tasks. Such superiority may be limited to temporal sequences that resemble real music or, alternatively, may generalize to musically implausible sequences. To test this, percussionists and nonpercussionists completed two tasks that used rhythmic sequences varying in musical plausibility. In the beat tapping task, participants tapped with the beat of a rhythmic sequence over 3 stages: finding the beat (as an initial sequence played, continuation of the beat (as a second sequence was introduced and played simultaneously, and switching to a second beat (the initial sequence finished, leaving only the second. The metres of the two sequences were either congruent or incongruent, as were their tempi (minimum inter-onset intervals. In the rhythm reproduction task, participants reproduced rhythms of four types, ranging from high to low musical plausibility: Metric simple rhythms induced a strong sense of the beat, metric complex rhythms induced a weaker sense of the beat, nonmetric rhythms had no beat, and jittered nonmetric rhythms also had no beat as well as low temporal predictability. For both tasks, percussionists performed more accurately than nonpercussionists. In addition, both groups were better with musically plausible than implausible conditions. Overall, the percussionists’ superior abilities to entrain to, and reproduce, rhythms generalized to musically implausible sequences.

Response of cat inferior colliculus neurons to binaural beat stimuli: possible mechanisms for sound localization.

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Kuwada, S; Yin, T C; Wickesberg, R E

1979-11-02

The interaural phase sensitivity of neurons was studied through the use of binaural beat stimuli. The response of most cells was phase-locked to the beat frequency, which provides a possible neural correlate to the human sensation of binaural beats. In addition, this stimulus allowed the direction and rate of interaural phase change to be varied. Some neurons in our sample responded selectively to manipulations of these two variables, which suggests a sensitivity to direction or speed of movement.

Cardiac function and perfusion dynamics measured on a beat-by-beat basis in the live mouse using ultra-fast 4D optoacoustic imaging

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Ford, Steven J.; Deán-Ben, Xosé L.; Razansky, Daniel

2015-03-01

The fast heart rate (~7 Hz) of the mouse makes cardiac imaging and functional analysis difficult when studying mouse models of cardiovascular disease, and cannot be done truly in real-time and 3D using established imaging modalities. Optoacoustic imaging, on the other hand, provides ultra-fast imaging at up to 50 volumetric frames per second, allowing for acquisition of several frames per mouse cardiac cycle. In this study, we combined a recently-developed 3D optoacoustic imaging array with novel analytical techniques to assess cardiac function and perfusion dynamics of the mouse heart at high, 4D spatiotemporal resolution. In brief, the heart of an anesthetized mouse was imaged over a series of multiple volumetric frames. In another experiment, an intravenous bolus of indocyanine green (ICG) was injected and its distribution was subsequently imaged in the heart. Unique temporal features of the cardiac cycle and ICG distribution profiles were used to segment the heart from background and to assess cardiac function. The 3D nature of the experimental data allowed for determination of cardiac volumes at ~7-8 frames per mouse cardiac cycle, providing important cardiac function parameters (e.g., stroke volume, ejection fraction) on a beat-by-beat basis, which has been previously unachieved by any other cardiac imaging modality. Furthermore, ICG distribution dynamics allowed for the determination of pulmonary transit time and thus additional quantitative measures of cardiovascular function. This work demonstrates the potential for optoacoustic cardiac imaging and is expected to have a major contribution toward future preclinical studies of animal models of cardiovascular health and disease.

The Impact of Monaural Beat Stimulation on Anxiety and Cognition

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Leila Chaieb

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Application of auditory beat stimulation has been speculated to provide a promising new tool with which to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and to enhance cognition. In spite of reportedly similar EEG effects of binaural and monaural beats, data on behavioral effects of monaural beats are still lacking. Therefore, we examined the impact of monaural beat stimulation on anxiety, mood and memory performance. We aimed to target states related to anxiety levels and general well-being, in addition to long-term and working memory processes, using monaural beats within the range of main cortical rhythms. Theta (6 Hz, alpha (10 Hz and gamma (40 Hz beat frequencies, as well as a control stimulus were applied to healthy participants for 5 min. After each stimulation period, participants were asked to evaluate their current mood state and to perform cognitive tasks examining long-term and working memory processes, in addition to a vigilance task. Monaural beat stimulation was found to reduce state anxiety. When evaluating responses for the individual beat frequencies, positive effects on state anxiety were observed for all monaural beat conditions compared to control stimulation. Our results indicate a role for monaural beat stimulation in modulating state anxiety and are in line with previous studies reporting anxiety-reducing effects of auditory beat stimulation.

The Impact of Monaural Beat Stimulation on Anxiety and Cognition.

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Chaieb, Leila; Wilpert, Elke C; Hoppe, Christian; Axmacher, Nikolai; Fell, Juergen

2017-01-01

Application of auditory beat stimulation has been speculated to provide a promising new tool with which to alleviate symptoms of anxiety and to enhance cognition. In spite of reportedly similar EEG effects of binaural and monaural beats, data on behavioral effects of monaural beats are still lacking. Therefore, we examined the impact of monaural beat stimulation on anxiety, mood and memory performance. We aimed to target states related to anxiety levels and general well-being, in addition to long-term and working memory processes, using monaural beats within the range of main cortical rhythms. Theta (6 Hz), alpha (10 Hz) and gamma (40 Hz) beat frequencies, as well as a control stimulus were applied to healthy participants for 5 min. After each stimulation period, participants were asked to evaluate their current mood state and to perform cognitive tasks examining long-term and working memory processes, in addition to a vigilance task. Monaural beat stimulation was found to reduce state anxiety. When evaluating responses for the individual beat frequencies, positive effects on state anxiety were observed for all monaural beat conditions compared to control stimulation. Our results indicate a role for monaural beat stimulation in modulating state anxiety and are in line with previous studies reporting anxiety-reducing effects of auditory beat stimulation.

ProSeal laryngeal mask airway as an alternative to standard endotracheal tube in securing upper airway in the patients undergoing beating-heart coronary artery bypass grafting

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Kalpana Shah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: ProSeal laryngeal mask airways (PLMAs are routinely used after failed tracheal intubation as airway rescue, facilitating tracheal intubation by acting as a conduit and to secure airway during emergencies. In long duration surgeries, use of endotracheal tube (ETT is associated with various hemodynamic complications, which are minimally affected during PLMA use. However, except for few studies, there are no significant data available that promote the use of laryngeal mask during cardiac surgery. This prospective study was conducted with the objective of demonstrating the advantages of PLMA over ETT in the patients undergoing beating-heart coronary artery bypass graft (CABG. Methodology: This prospective, interventional study was carried out in 200 patients who underwent beating-heart CABG. Patients were randomized in equal numbers to either ETT group or PLMA group, and various hemodynamic and respiratory parameters were observed at different time points. Results: Patients in PLMA group had mean systolic blood pressure 126.10 ± 5.31 mmHg compared to the patients of ETT group 143.75 ± 6.02 mmHg. Pulse rate in the PLMA group was less (74.52 ± 10.79 per min (P < 0.05 compared to ETT group (81.72 ± 9.8. Thus, hemodynamic changes were significantly lower (P < 0.05 in PLMA than in ETT group. Respiratory parameters such as oxygen saturation, pressure CO 2 (pCO 2 , peak airway pressure, and lung compliance were similar to ETT group at all evaluation times. The incidence of adverse events was also lower in PLMA group. Conclusion: In experience hand, PLMA offers advantages over the ETT in airway management in the patients undergoing beating-heart CABG.

Control, synchronization, and enhanced reliability of aperiodic oscillations in the Mercury Beating Heart system

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Kumar, Pawan; Parmananda, P.

2018-04-01

Experiments involving the Mercury Beating Heart (MBH) oscillator, exhibiting irregular (aperiodic) dynamics, are performed. In the first set of experiments, control over irregular dynamics of the MBH oscillator was obtained via a superimposed periodic voltage signal. These irregular (aperiodic) dynamics were recovered once the control was switched off. Subsequently, two MBH oscillators were coupled to attain synchronization of their aperiodic oscillations. Finally, two uncoupled MBH oscillators were subjected, repeatedly, to a common stochastic forcing, resulting in an enhancement of their mutual phase correlation.

Work Hardening Behavior of 1020 Steel During Cold-Beating Simulation

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CUI, Fengkui; LING, Yuanfei; XUE, Jinxue; LIU, Jia; LIU, Yuhui; LI, Yan

2017-03-01

The present research of cold-beating formation mainly focused on roller design and manufacture, kinematics, constitutive relation, metal flow law, thermo-mechanical coupling, surface micro-topography and microstructure evolution. However, the research on surface quality and performance of workpieces in the process of cold-beating is rare. Cold-beating simulation experiment of 1020 steel is conducted at room temperature and strain rates ranging from 2000 to 4000 s-1 base on the law of plastic forming. According to the experimental data, the model of strain hardening of 1020 steel is established, Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM) is conducted, the mechanism of the work hardening of 1020 steel is clarified by analyzing microstructure variation of 1020 steel. It is found that the strain rate hardening effect of 1020 steel is stronger than the softening effect induced by increasing temperatures, the process of simulation cold-beating cause the grain shape of 1020 steel significant change and microstructure elongate significantly to form a fibrous tissue parallel to the direction of deformation, the higher strain rate, the more obvious grain refinement and the more hardening effect. Additionally, the change law of the work hardening rate is investigated, the relationship between dislocation density and strain, the relationship between work hardening rate and dislocation density is obtained. Results show that the change trend of the work hardening rate of 1020 steel is divided into two stages, the work hardening rate decreases dramatically in the first stage and slowly decreases in the second stage, finally tending toward zero. Dislocation density increases with increasing strain and strain rate, work hardening rate decreases with increasing dislocation density. The research results provide the basis for solving the problem of improving the surface quality and performance of workpieces under cold-beating formation of 1020 steel.

Beats on the Table: Beat Writing in the Chicago Review and Big Table

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Jaap van der Bent

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false NL X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Kleine literaire tijdschriften, zogenaamde little magazines, hebben een belangrijke rol gespeeld bij de doorbraak, in de loop van de jaren vijftig, van de Amerikaanse Beat Generation. Aangezien grotere uitgeverijen en de gevestigde tijdschriften lange tijd terugschrokken voor de zowel inhoudelijk als formeel van de norm afwijkende uitingen van de Beats, verscheen hun werk aanvankelijk vooral in kleinere tijdschriften als de twee waaraan in dit artikel aandacht wordt besteed: de Chicago Review en Big Table. Aan de hand van een beschrijving van de inhoud van deze twee tijdschriften wordt geprobeerd duidelijk te maken hoe het werk van de Beat Generation zich in deze tijdschriften gaandeweg een eigen plaats verwierf. Speciale aandacht wordt besteed aan de rol van de redacteuren Irving Rosenthal en Paul Carroll; door zijn uitgekiende strategie om voor het omstreden werk van Beat-auteur William S. Burroughs geleidelijk een steeds grotere plaats in te ruimen, bepaalde vooral Rosenthal het veranderende karakter van de Chicago Review. De veranderingen bij dat tijdschrift verliepen niet zonder slag of stoot en waren voor de eigenaar ervan, de University of Chicago, op een gegeven moment aanleiding om de Chicago Review aan censuur te onderwerpen. Ook deze censuur en de reactie erop, de oprichting van Big Table, worden in het artikel belicht.

Beating time: How ensemble musicians' cueing gestures communicate beat position and tempo.

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Bishop, Laura; Goebl, Werner

2018-01-01

Ensemble musicians typically exchange visual cues to coordinate piece entrances. "Cueing-in" gestures indicate when to begin playing and at what tempo. This study investigated how timing information is encoded in musicians' cueing-in gestures. Gesture acceleration patterns were expected to indicate beat position, while gesture periodicity, duration, and peak gesture velocity were expected to indicate tempo. Same-instrument ensembles (e.g., piano-piano) were expected to synchronize more successfully than mixed-instrument ensembles (e.g., piano-violin). Duos performed short passages as their head and (for violinists) bowing hand movements were tracked with accelerometers and Kinect sensors. Performers alternated between leader/follower roles; leaders heard a tempo via headphones and cued their partner in nonverbally. Violin duos synchronized more successfully than either piano duos or piano-violin duos, possibly because violinists were more experienced in ensemble playing than pianists. Peak acceleration indicated beat position in leaders' head-nodding gestures. Gesture duration and periodicity in leaders' head and bowing hand gestures indicated tempo. The results show that the spatio-temporal characteristics of cueing-in gestures guide beat perception, enabling synchronization with visual gestures that follow a range of spatial trajectories.

What makes a rhythm complex? The influence of musical training and accent type on beat perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouwer, Fleur L; Burgoyne, J Ashley; Odijk, Daan; Honing, Henkjan; Grahn, Jessica A

2018-01-01

Perception of a regular beat in music is inferred from different types of accents. For example, increases in loudness cause intensity accents, and the grouping of time intervals in a rhythm creates temporal accents. Accents are expected to occur on the beat: when accents are "missing" on the beat, the beat is more difficult to find. However, it is unclear whether accents occurring off the beat alter beat perception similarly to missing accents on the beat. Moreover, no one has examined whether intensity accents influence beat perception more or less strongly than temporal accents, nor how musical expertise affects sensitivity to each type of accent. In two experiments, we obtained ratings of difficulty in finding the beat in rhythms with either temporal or intensity accents, and which varied in the number of accents on the beat as well as the number of accents off the beat. In both experiments, the occurrence of accents on the beat facilitated beat detection more in musical experts than in musical novices. In addition, the number of accents on the beat affected beat finding more in rhythms with temporal accents than in rhythms with intensity accents. The effect of accents off the beat was much weaker than the effect of accents on the beat and appeared to depend on musical expertise, as well as on the number of accents on the beat: when many accents on the beat are missing, beat perception is quite difficult, and adding accents off the beat may not reduce beat perception further. Overall, the different types of accents were processed qualitatively differently, depending on musical expertise. Therefore, these findings indicate the importance of designing ecologically valid stimuli when testing beat perception in musical novices, who may need different types of accent information than musical experts to be able to find a beat. Furthermore, our findings stress the importance of carefully designing rhythms for social and clinical applications of beat perception, as not

The Simplest Demonstration on Acoustic Beats

Science.gov (United States)

Ganci, Alessio; Ganci, Salvatore

2015-01-01

The classical demonstration experiment on acoustic beats using two signal generators and a dual trace oscilloscope is an important ingredient in teaching the subject. This short laboratory note aims to point out what may be the simplest demonstrative experiment on acoustic beats to carry out in a classroom without employing any lab apparatus.

Real-time Continuous Assessment Method for Mental and Physiological Condition using Heart Rate Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshida, Yutaka; Yokoyama, Kiyoko; Ishii, Naohiro

It is necessary to monitor the daily health condition for preventing stress syndrome. In this study, it was proposed the method assessing the mental and physiological condition, such as the work stress or the relaxation, using heart rate variability at real time and continuously. The instantanuous heart rate (HR), and the ratio of the number of extreme points (NEP) and the number of heart beats were calculated for assessing mental and physiological condition. In this method, 20 beats heart rate were used to calculate these indexes. These were calculated in one beat interval. Three conditions, which are sitting rest, performing mental arithmetic and watching relaxation movie, were assessed using our proposed algorithm. The assessment accuracies were 71.9% and 55.8%, when performing mental arithmetic and watching relaxation movie respectively. In this method, the mental and physiological condition was assessed using only 20 regressive heart beats, so this method is considered as the real time assessment method.

Stochastic Alternating Dynamics for Synchronous EAD-Like Beating Rhythms in Cultured Cardiac Myocytes

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHANG Ning; ZHANG Hui-Min; LIU Zhi-Qiang; DING Xue-Li; YANG Ming-Hao; GU Hua-Guang; REN Wei

2009-01-01

Dissolved cardiac myocytes can couple together and generate synchronous beatings in culture. We observed a synchronized early after-depolarization(EAD)-like rhythm in cultured cardiac myocytes and reproduced the experimental observation in a network mathematical model whose dynamics are close to a Hopf bifurcation. The mechanism for this EAD-like rhythm is attributed to noised-induced stochastic alternatings between the focus and the limit cycle. These results provide novel understandings for pathological heart rhythms like the early immature beatings.

Binaural auditory beats affect long-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Garcia-Argibay, Miguel; Santed, Miguel A; Reales, José M

2017-12-08

The presentation of two pure tones to each ear separately with a slight difference in their frequency results in the perception of a single tone that fluctuates in amplitude at a frequency that equals the difference of interaural frequencies. This perceptual phenomenon is known as binaural auditory beats, and it is thought to entrain electrocortical activity and enhance cognition functions such as attention and memory. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of binaural auditory beats on long-term memory. Participants (n = 32) were kept blind to the goal of the study and performed both the free recall and recognition tasks after being exposed to binaural auditory beats, either in the beta (20 Hz) or theta (5 Hz) frequency bands and white noise as a control condition. Exposure to beta-frequency binaural beats yielded a greater proportion of correctly recalled words and a higher sensitivity index d' in recognition tasks, while theta-frequency binaural-beat presentation lessened the number of correctly remembered words and the sensitivity index. On the other hand, we could not find differences in the conditional probability for recall given recognition between beta and theta frequencies and white noise, suggesting that the observed changes in recognition were due to the recollection component. These findings indicate that the presentation of binaural auditory beats can affect long-term memory both positively and negatively, depending on the frequency used.

Beat frequency ultrasonic microsphere contrast agent detection system

Science.gov (United States)

Pretlow, III, Robert A. (Inventor); Yost, William T. (Inventor); Cantrell, Jr., John H. (Inventor)

1997-01-01

A system for and method of detecting and measuring concentrations of an ultrasonically-reflective microsphere contrast agent involving detecting non-linear sum and difference beat frequencies produced by the microspheres when two impinging signals with non-identical frequencies are combined by mixing. These beat frequencies can be used for a variety of applications such as detecting the presence of and measuring the flow rates of biological fluids and industrial liquids, including determining the concentration level of microspheres in the myocardium.

Quantification of fetal heart rate regularity using symbolic dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

van Leeuwen, P.; Cysarz, D.; Lange, S.; Geue, D.; Groenemeyer, D.

2007-03-01

Fetal heart rate complexity was examined on the basis of RR interval time series obtained in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. In each fetal RR interval time series, short term beat-to-beat heart rate changes were coded in 8bit binary sequences. Redundancies of the 28 different binary patterns were reduced by two different procedures. The complexity of these sequences was quantified using the approximate entropy (ApEn), resulting in discrete ApEn values which were used for classifying the sequences into 17 pattern sets. Also, the sequences were grouped into 20 pattern classes with respect to identity after rotation or inversion of the binary value. There was a specific, nonuniform distribution of the sequences in the pattern sets and this differed from the distribution found in surrogate data. In the course of gestation, the number of sequences increased in seven pattern sets, decreased in four and remained unchanged in six. Sequences that occurred less often over time, both regular and irregular, were characterized by patterns reflecting frequent beat-to-beat reversals in heart rate. They were also predominant in the surrogate data, suggesting that these patterns are associated with stochastic heart beat trains. Sequences that occurred more frequently over time were relatively rare in the surrogate data. Some of these sequences had a high degree of regularity and corresponded to prolonged heart rate accelerations or decelerations which may be associated with directed fetal activity or movement or baroreflex activity. Application of the pattern classes revealed that those sequences with a high degree of irregularity correspond to heart rate patterns resulting from complex physiological activity such as fetal breathing movements. The results suggest that the development of the autonomic nervous system and the emergence of fetal behavioral states lead to increases in not only irregular but also regular heart rate patterns. Using symbolic dynamics to

Study Heart Rate by Tools from Complex Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Makowiec, D.; Wdowczyk-Szulc, J.; Zarczynska-Buchowiecka, M.; Gruchala, M.; Rynkiewicz, A.

2011-01-01

Heart rate measured as beat-to-beat time intervals varies in time. It is believed that time intervals between subsequent normal heart contractions carry information about the regulatory system of the heart. How to quantify such signals is not clear and because of that heart rate variability is still apart from the clinic routine. In the following, we propose a method for representing a heart rate signal as a directed network. Then we study the signal properties by complex network tools. The signals to study were collected from patients recovering after the heart transplantation. The aim is to classify the progress of adapting of the new heart - graft. Moreover, it is expected that the method allows for visual classification. Our investigations are preliminary, however the obtained results are promising. (authors)

Rhythmic regularity revisited : Is beat induction indeed pre-attentive?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwer, F.; Honing, H.; Cambouropoulos, E.; Tsougras, C.; Mavromatis, P.; Pastiadis, K.

2012-01-01

When listening to musical rhythm, regularity in time is often perceived in the form of a beat or pulse. External rhythmic events can give rise to the perception of a beat, through a process known as beat induction. In addition, internal processes, like long-term memory, working memory and automatic

Diminution of Heart Rate Variability in Bipolar Depression

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brandon Hage

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Autonomic nervous system (ANS dysregulation in depression is associated with symptoms associated with the ANS. The beat-to-beat pattern of heart rate defined as heart rate variability (HRV provides a noninvasive portal to ANS function and has been proposed to represent a means of quantifying resting vagal tone. We quantified HRV in bipolar depressed (BDD patients as a measure of ANS dysregulation seeking to establish HRV as a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for treatment outcome. Forty-seven BDD patients were enrolled. They were randomized to receive either escitalopram–celecoxib or escitalopram-placebo over 8 weeks in a double-blind study design. Thirty-five patients completed the HRV studies. Thirty-six healthy subjects served as controls. HRV was assessed at pretreatment and end of study and compared with that of controls. HRV was quantified and corrected for artifacts using an algorithm that incorporates time and frequency domains to address non-stationarity of the beat-to-beat heart rate pattern. Baseline high frequency-HRV (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia was lower in BDD patients than controls, although the difference did not reach significance. Baseline low-frequency HRV was significantly lower in BDD patients (ln4.20 than controls (ln = 5.50 (p < 0.01. Baseline heart period was significantly shorter (i.e., faster heart rate in BDD patients than controls. No significant change in HRV parameters were detected over the course of the study with either treatment. These findings suggest that components of HRV may be diminished in BDD patients.

Experimental Observation of Chaotic Beats in Oscillators Sharing Nonlinearity

Science.gov (United States)

Paul Asir, M.; Jeevarekha, A.; Philominathan, P.

This paper deals with the generation of chaotic beats in a system of two forced dissipative LCR oscillators sharing a nonlinear element. The presence of two external periodic excitations and a common nonlinear element in the chosen system enables the facile generation of chaotic beats. Thus rendered chaotic beats were characterized in both time domain and phase space. Lyapunov exponents and envelope of the beats were computed to diagnose the chaotic nature of the signals. The role of common nonlinearity on the complexity of the generated beats is discussed. Real-time experimental hardware implementation has also been done to confirm the subsistence of the phenomenon, for the first time. Extensive Multisim simulations were carried out to understand, a bit more about the shrinkage and revivals of state variables in phase space.

Evaluation of the influence of change in heart rate on left ventricular diastolic function indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Motomasa; Yamagishi, Hiroaki; Seino, Yasuyuki; Odano, Ikuo; Sakai, Kunio; Yamamoto, Tomohiko; Tsuda, Takashi

1988-01-01

In order to assess the influence of change in heart rate on left ventricular diastolic function indices, ECG gated cardiac pool study was performed in 6 patients with implanted programmable AAI pacemakers. Heart rate was changed by atrial pacing from 50 to 120 beats/min, every 10 beats/min. The filling fraction during first third of diastole (1/3FF), the peak filling rate (PFR), mean first third filling rate (1/3FR-mean) and early filling volume ratio (%EFV), being used as the indices of left ventricular diastolic performance, were assessed. In accordance with increase in heart rate, 1/3FF decreased significantly. PFR were fairly stable from 50 to 80 beats/min, but increased significantly from 90 to 120 beats/min. 1/3FR-mean and %EFV did not change significantly, but 1/3FR-mean showed decreasing tendency and %EFV showed increasing tendency as the heart rate was increased. %EFV was more changeable index than other indices among clinical cases. These results indicate that PFR and 1/3FR-mean were appropriate diastolic phase indices at rest. (author)

Beat gestures help preschoolers recall and comprehend discourse information.

Science.gov (United States)

Llanes-Coromina, Judith; Vilà-Giménez, Ingrid; Kushch, Olga; Borràs-Comes, Joan; Prieto, Pilar

2018-08-01

Although the positive effects of iconic gestures on word recall and comprehension by children have been clearly established, less is known about the benefits of beat gestures (rhythmic hand/arm movements produced together with prominent prosody). This study investigated (a) whether beat gestures combined with prosodic information help children recall contrastively focused words as well as information related to those words in a child-directed discourse (Experiment 1) and (b) whether the presence of beat gestures helps children comprehend a narrative discourse (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 51 4-year-olds were exposed to a total of three short stories with contrastive words presented in three conditions, namely with prominence in both speech and gesture, prominence in speech only, and nonprominent speech. Results of a recall task showed that (a) children remembered more words when exposed to prominence in both speech and gesture than in either of the other two conditions and that (b) children were more likely to remember information related to those words when the words were associated with beat gestures. In Experiment 2, 55 5- and 6-year-olds were presented with six narratives with target items either produced with prosodic prominence but no beat gestures or produced with both prosodic prominence and beat gestures. Results of a comprehension task demonstrated that stories told with beat gestures were comprehended better by children. Together, these results constitute evidence that beat gestures help preschoolers not only to recall discourse information but also to comprehend it. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Listen to your heart beat and shiver! An experimental study of anxiety-related emotional reasoning in children.

Science.gov (United States)

Muris, Peter; Mayer, Birgit; Bervoets, Sabine

2010-08-01

The present study investigated anxiety-related emotional reasoning in 9-13-year-old children using an experimental approach. Eighty-one children completed a computerized ambiguous situations test for assessing their perception of threat under two conditions. In the experimental condition, children were attached to an apparatus that allegedly recorded their heart beat, the sound of which was presented to them via headphones. In the control condition, children listened to the sound of an African djembe drum while completing the ambiguous situations test. It was found that children in the experimental condition generally provided higher threat ratings than children in the control condition, and this difference remained significant when controlling for levels of anxiety sensitivity, panic and other anxiety symptoms. These results are in keeping with the idea that children may partially rely on internal physical sensations when evaluating the dangerousness of ambiguous events. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of bile salt toxicity in the pathogenesis of bile duct injury after non-heart-beating porcine liver transplantation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yska, Marit J.; Buis, Carlijn I.; Monbaliu, Diethard; Schuurs, Theo A.; Gouw, Annette S. H.; Kahmann, Olivier N. H.; Visser, Dorien S.; Pirenne, Jacques; Porte, Robert J.

2008-01-01

Background. Intrahepatic bile duct strictures are a serious complication after non-heart-beating (NHB) liver transplantation. Bile salt toxicity has been identified as an important factor in the pathogenesis of bile duct injury and cholangiopathies. The role of bile salt toxicity in the development

On binaural beats.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritze, W

1985-01-01

Binaural beats have been investigated in normal volunteers using high-stable synthesizers. There are considerable differences between the subjective rhythm heard and the difference of the two frequencies, indicating that this dissimilarity must be caused centrally.

Clinical implications of hypothermic ventricular fibrillation versus beating-heart technique during cardiopulmonary bypass for pulmonary valve replacement in patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ji-Hyun; Lee, Ji-Eun; Shin, Jungho; Song, In-Kyung; Kim, Hee-Soo; Kim, Chong-Sung; Kim, Woong-Han; Kim, Jin-Tae

2017-09-01

This study aimed to compare the effects of hypothermic ventricular fibrillation and beating-heart techniques during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on postoperative outcomes after simple pulmonary valve replacement in patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). We retrospectively reviewed the data of 47 patients with repaired tetralogy of Fallot at a single institution, who received pulmonary valve replacement under the ventricular fibrillation or beating-heart technique without cardioplegic cardiac arrest during CPB between January 2005 and April 2015. The patients were divided into fibrillation (n = 32) and beating-heart (n = 15) groups. On comparing these groups, the fibrillation group had a larger sinotubular junction (27.1 ± 4.6 vs 22.1 ± 2.4 mm), had a longer operation duration (396 ± 108 vs 345 ± 57 min), required more postoperative transfusions (2.1 ± 2.6 vs 5.0 ± 6.3 units) and had a higher vasoactive-inotropic score at intensive care unit admission (8.0 vs 10, all P tetralogy of Fallot. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Effect of oxygen treatment on heart rate after abdominal surgery

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosenberg-Adamsen, S; Lie, C; Bernhard, A

1999-01-01

BACKGROUND: Cardiac complications are common during the postoperative period and may be associated with hypoxemia and tachycardia. Preliminary studies in high-risk patients after operation have shown a possible beneficial effect of oxygen therapy on arterial oxygen saturation and heart rate....... METHODS: The authors studied the effect of oxygen therapy on arterial oxygen saturation and heart rate in 100 consecutive unselected patients randomly and double blindly allocated to receive air or oxygen therapy between the first and fourth day after major abdominal surgery. RESULTS: The median arterial...... oxygen saturation rate increased significantly from 96% to 99% (P heart rate decreased significantly from 85 beats/min to 81 beats/min (P heart rate occurred...

Auditory beat stimulation and its effects on cognition and mood states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Leila eChaieb

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Auditory beat stimulation may be a promising new tool for the manipulation of cognitive processes and the modulation of mood-states. Here we aim to review the literature examining the most current applications of auditory beat stimulation and its targets. We give a brief overview of research on auditory steady-state responses and its relationship to auditory beat stimulation. We have summarized relevant studies investigating the neurophysiological changes related to auditory beat stimulation and how they impact upon the design of appropriate stimulation protocols. Focusing on binaural beat stimulation, we then discuss the role of monaural and binaural beat frequencies in cognition and mood-states, in addition to their efficacy in targeting disease symptoms. We aim to highlight important points concerning stimulation parameters and try to address why there are often contradictory findings with regard to the outcomes of auditory beat stimulation.

Wife beating amongst Africans as a challenge to pastoral care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magezi E. Baloyi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Traditional African people are known for respecting their marriage. Even though marriage is so highly regarded, it is astonishing to realise that wife beating has become an extremely common practice amongst them. It therefore becomes an important research question to ask about the extent to which deeply-seated traditional customs regarding wife beating as a form of stamping down authority and of trying to keep the household in order, will have to be confronted with what is deemed to be good practice from the perspective of the law, community and pastoral caregivers. There are women who live with scars on their faces and bodies, having been beaten by their husbands. Although there are many forms of abuse towards women in family situations, this article aims particularly to focus on wife beating that is practiced for traditional as well as other related reasons. This research will involve itself with establishing whether the reasons for wife beating are part of the traditional system for keeping the household in order and interrogate both legal and pastoral interventions that attempt to eliminate or avoid such behaviour.

Tracking EEG changes in response to alpha and beta binaural beats.

Science.gov (United States)

Vernon, D; Peryer, G; Louch, J; Shaw, M

2014-07-01

A binaural beat can be produced by presenting two tones of a differing frequency, one to each ear. Such auditory stimulation has been suggested to influence behaviour and cognition via the process of cortical entrainment. However, research so far has only shown the frequency following responses in the traditional EEG frequency ranges of delta, theta and gamma. Hence a primary aim of this research was to ascertain whether it would be possible to produce clear changes in the EEG in either the alpha or beta frequency ranges. Such changes, if possible, would have a number of important implications as well as potential applications. A secondary goal was to track any observable changes in the EEG throughout the entrainment epoch to gain some insight into the nature of the entrainment effects on any changes in an effort to identify more effective entrainment regimes. Twenty two healthy participants were recruited and randomly allocated to one of two groups, each of which was exposed to a distinct binaural beat frequency for ten 1-minute epochs. The first group listened to an alpha binaural beat of 10 Hz and the second to a beta binaural beat of 20 Hz. EEG was recorded from the left and right temporal regions during pre-exposure baselines, stimulus exposure epochs and post-exposure baselines. Analysis of changes in broad-band and narrow-band amplitudes, and frequency showed no effect of binaural beat frequency eliciting a frequency following effect in the EEG. Possible mediating factors are discussed and a number of recommendations are made regarding future studies, exploring entrainment effects from a binaural beat presentation. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Binaural beats at high frequencies.

Science.gov (United States)

McFadden, D; Pasanen, E G

1975-10-24

Binaural beats have long been believed to be audible only at low frequencies, but an interaction reminiscent of a binaural beat can sometimes be heard when different two-tone complexes of high frequency are presented to the two ears. The primary requirement is that the frequency separation in the complex at one ear be slightly different from that in the other--that is, that there be a small interaural difference in the envelope periodicities. This finding is in accord with other recent demonstrations that the auditory system is not deaf to interaural time differences at high frequencies.

A kinematic approach for efficient and robust simulation of the cardiac beating motion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Takashi Ijiri

Full Text Available Computer simulation techniques for cardiac beating motions potentially have many applications and a broad audience. However, most existing methods require enormous computational costs and often show unstable behavior for extreme parameter sets, which interrupts smooth simulation study and make it difficult to apply them to interactive applications. To address this issue, we present an efficient and robust framework for simulating the cardiac beating motion. The global cardiac motion is generated by the accumulation of local myocardial fiber contractions. We compute such local-to-global deformations using a kinematic approach; we divide a heart mesh model into overlapping local regions, contract them independently according to fiber orientation, and compute a global shape that satisfies contracted shapes of all local regions as much as possible. A comparison between our method and a physics-based method showed that our method can generate motion very close to that of a physics-based simulation. Our kinematic method has high controllability; the simulated ventricle-wall-contraction speed can be easily adjusted to that of a real heart by controlling local contraction timing. We demonstrate that our method achieves a highly realistic beating motion of a whole heart in real time on a consumer-level computer. Our method provides an important step to bridge a gap between cardiac simulations and interactive applications.

Direct Visualization of Mechanical Beats by Means of an Oscillating Smartphone

Science.gov (United States)

Giménez, Marcos H.; Salinas, Isabel; Monsoriu, Juan A.; Castro-Palacio, Juan C.

2017-10-01

The resonance phenomenon is widely known in physics courses. Qualitatively speaking, resonance takes place in a driven oscillating system whenever the frequency approaches the natural frequency, resulting in maximal oscillatory amplitude. Very closely related to resonance is the phenomenon of mechanical beating, which occurs when the driving and natural frequencies of the system are slightly different. The frequency of the beat is just the difference of the natural and driving frequencies. Beats are very familiar in acoustic systems. There are several works in this journal on visualizing the beats in acoustic systems. For instance, the microphone and the speaker of two mobile devices were used in previous work to analyze the acoustic beats produced by two signals of close frequencies. The formation of beats can also be visualized in mechanical systems, such as a mass-spring system or a double-driven string. Here, the mechanical beats in a smartphone-spring system are directly visualized in a simple way. The frequency of the beats is measured by means of the acceleration sensor of a smartphone, which hangs from a spring attached to a mechanical driver. This laboratory experiment is suitable for both high school and first-year university physics courses.

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications

OpenAIRE

Chaudhry, Beenish M.

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone?s camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, ?Unique Heart Rate Monitor?, you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal ...

A New UK 2006 National Kidney Allocation Scheme for deceased heart-beating donor kidneys.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Rachel J; Fuggle, Susan V; Mumford, Lisa; Bradley, J Andrew; Forsythe, John L R; Rudge, Chris J

2010-02-27

In 2004, it was agreed that a new allocation scheme for kidneys from deceased heart-beating donors was required in the United Kingdom to address observed inequities in access to transplant. The 2006 National Kidney Allocation Scheme (2006 NKAS) was developed to meet agreed objectives and preparatory work included a review of the criteria for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) matching and simulation evidence about the effectiveness of alternative schemes. ALGORITHM FOR 2006 NKAS: The 2006 NKAS gives absolute priority to all 000 HLA-A, -B, -DR-mismatched patients and well-matched pediatric patients (inequity of access will take a number of years to address fully.

Exaggerated heart rate oscillations during two meditation techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, C K; Mietus, J E; Liu, Y; Khalsa, G; Douglas, P S; Benson, H; Goldberger, A L

1999-07-31

We report extremely prominent heart rate oscillations associated with slow breathing during specific traditional forms of Chinese Chi and Kundalini Yoga meditation techniques in healthy young adults. We applied both spectral analysis and a novel analytic technique based on the Hilbert transform to quantify these heart rate dynamics. The amplitude of these oscillations during meditation was significantly greater than in the pre-meditation control state and also in three non-meditation control groups: i) elite athletes during sleep, ii) healthy young adults during metronomic breathing, and iii) healthy young adults during spontaneous nocturnal breathing. This finding, along with the marked variability of the beat-to-beat heart rate dynamics during such profound meditative states, challenges the notion of meditation as only an autonomically quiescent state.

“Would you like to meet the secret Beat?” – Tram Combs and a Beat poetry less celebrated

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Bent

of the poetry of Tram Combs, “the secret Beat”, whose 1957 collection Pilgrim’s Terrace contained forewords by both William Carlos Williams and Kenneth Rexroth, and whose collaborators included Allen Ginsberg – yet whose name is persistently left out of the Beat canon. One wonders why, when he is an example...... directly at Gorm, and asked: “Would you like to meet the secret Beat, then?” The old gentleman proceeded to introduce himself as Tram Combs, poet, bookseller, nude model and gay man about town, and for the next few days he took Gorm to art museums, gallery openings and story-telling sessions in his...

Classic electrocardiogram-based and mobile technology derived approaches to heart rate variability are not equivalent.

Science.gov (United States)

Guzik, Przemyslaw; Piekos, Caroline; Pierog, Olivia; Fenech, Naiman; Krauze, Tomasz; Piskorski, Jaroslaw; Wykretowicz, Andrzej

2018-05-01

We compared classic ECG-derived versus a mobile approach to heart rate variability (HRV) measurement. 29 young adult healthy volunteers underwent a simultaneous recording of heart rate using an ECG and a chest heart rate monitor at supine rest, during mental stress and active standing. Mean RR interval, Standard Deviation of Normal-to-Normal (SDNN) of RR intervals, and Root Mean Square of the Successive Differences (RMSSD) between RR intervals were computed in 168 pairs of 5-minute epochs by in-house software on a PC (only sinus beats) and by mobile application "ELITEHRV" on a smartphone (no beat type identification). ECG analysis showed that 33.9% of the recordings contained at least one non-sinus beat or artefact, the mobile app did not report this. The mean RR intervals were significantly longer (p = 0.0378), while SDNN (p = 0.0001) and RMSSD (p = 0.0199) were smaller for the mobile approach. Measures of identical HRV parameters by ECG-based and mobile approaches are not equivalent. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Binaural Beats on Visuospatial Working Memory and Cortical Connectivity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christine Beauchene

Full Text Available Binaural beats utilize a phenomenon that occurs within the cortex when two different frequencies are presented separately to each ear. This procedure produces a third phantom binaural beat, whose frequency is equal to the difference of the two presented tones and which can be manipulated for non-invasive brain stimulation. The effects of binaural beats on working memory, the system in control of temporary retention and online organization of thoughts for successful goal directed behavior, have not been well studied. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated the effects of binaural beats on brain connectivity during working memory tasks. In this study, we determined the effects of different acoustic stimulation conditions on participant response accuracy and cortical network topology, as measured by EEG recordings, during a visuospatial working memory task. Three acoustic stimulation control conditions and three binaural beat stimulation conditions were used: None, Pure Tone, Classical Music, 5Hz binaural beats, 10Hz binaural beats, and 15Hz binaural beats. We found that listening to 15Hz binaural beats during a visuospatial working memory task not only increased the response accuracy, but also modified the strengths of the cortical networks during the task. The three auditory control conditions and the 5Hz and 10Hz binaural beats all decreased accuracy. Based on graphical network analyses, the cortical activity during 15Hz binaural beats produced networks characteristic of high information transfer with consistent connection strengths throughout the visuospatial working memory task.

The Effect of Binaural Beats on Visuospatial Working Memory and Cortical Connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchene, Christine; Abaid, Nicole; Moran, Rosalyn; Diana, Rachel A; Leonessa, Alexander

2016-01-01

Binaural beats utilize a phenomenon that occurs within the cortex when two different frequencies are presented separately to each ear. This procedure produces a third phantom binaural beat, whose frequency is equal to the difference of the two presented tones and which can be manipulated for non-invasive brain stimulation. The effects of binaural beats on working memory, the system in control of temporary retention and online organization of thoughts for successful goal directed behavior, have not been well studied. Furthermore, no studies have evaluated the effects of binaural beats on brain connectivity during working memory tasks. In this study, we determined the effects of different acoustic stimulation conditions on participant response accuracy and cortical network topology, as measured by EEG recordings, during a visuospatial working memory task. Three acoustic stimulation control conditions and three binaural beat stimulation conditions were used: None, Pure Tone, Classical Music, 5Hz binaural beats, 10Hz binaural beats, and 15Hz binaural beats. We found that listening to 15Hz binaural beats during a visuospatial working memory task not only increased the response accuracy, but also modified the strengths of the cortical networks during the task. The three auditory control conditions and the 5Hz and 10Hz binaural beats all decreased accuracy. Based on graphical network analyses, the cortical activity during 15Hz binaural beats produced networks characteristic of high information transfer with consistent connection strengths throughout the visuospatial working memory task.

Beating HF waves to generate VLF waves in the ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Spencer; Snyder, Arnold; Kossey, Paul; Chang, Chia-Lie; Labenski, John

2012-03-01

Beat-wave generation of very low frequency (VLF) waves by two HF heaters in the ionosphere is formulated theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. The heater-induced differential thermal pressure force and ponderomotive force, which dominate separately in the D and F regions of the ionosphere, drive an electron current for the VLF emission. A comparison, applying appropriate ionospheric parameters shows that the ponderomotive force dominates in beat-wave generation of VLF waves. Three experiments, one in the nighttime in the absence of D and E layers and two in the daytime in the presence of D and E layers, were performed. X mode HF heaters of slightly different frequencies were transmitted at CW full power. VLF waves at 10 frequencies ranging from 3.5 to 21.5 kHz were generated. The frequency dependencies of the daytime and nighttime radiation intensities are quite similar, but the nighttime radiation is much stronger than the daytime one at the same radiation frequency. The intensity ratio is as large as 9 dB at 11.5 kHz. An experiment directly comparing VLF waves generated by the beat-wave approach and by the amplitude modulation (AM) approach was also conducted. The results rule out the likely contribution of the AM mechanism acting on the electrojet and indicate that beat-wave in the VLF range prefers to be generated in the F region of the ionosphere through the ponderomotive nonlinearity, consistent with the theory. In the nighttime experiment, the ionosphere was underdense to the HF heaters, suggesting a likely setting for effective beat-wave generation of VLF waves by the HF heaters.

Heart rate monitoring mobile applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaudhry, Beenish M

2016-01-01

Total number of times a heart beats in a minute is known as the heart rate. Traditionally, heart rate was measured using clunky gadgets but these days it can be measured with a smartphone's camera. This can help you measure your heart rate anywhere and at anytime, especially during workouts so you can adjust your workout intensity to achieve maximum health benefits. With simple and easy to use mobile app, 'Unique Heart Rate Monitor', you can also maintain your heart rate history for personal reflection and sharing with a provider.

Binaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess neuropsychologic, physiologic, and electroencephalographic effects.

Science.gov (United States)

Wahbeh, Helané; Calabrese, Carlo; Zwickey, Heather; Zajdel, Dan

2007-03-01

When two auditory stimuli of different frequency are presented to each ear, binaural beats are perceived by the listener. The binaural beat frequency is equal to the difference between the frequencies applied to each ear. Our primary objective was to assess whether steady-state entrainment of electroencephalographic activity to the binaural beat occurs when exposed to a specific binaural beat frequency as has been hypothesized. Our secondary objective was to gather preliminary data on neuropsychologic and physiologic effects of binaural beat technology. A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled crossover experiment in 4 healthy adult subjects. Subjects were randomized to experimental auditory stimulus of 30 minutes of binaural beat at 7 Hz (carrier frequencies: 133 Hz L; 140 Hz R) with an overlay of pink noise resembling the sound of rain on one session and control stimuli of the same overlay without the binaural beat carrier frequencies on the other session. Data were collected during two separate sessions 1 week apart. Neuropsychologic and blood pressure data were collected before and after the intervention; electroencephalographic data were collected before, during, and after listening to either binaural beats or control. Neuropsychologic measures included State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Profile of Mood States, Rey Auditory Verbal List Test, Stroop Test, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test. Spectral and coherence analysis was performed on the electroencephalogram (EEG), and all measures were analyzed for changes between sessions with and without binaural beat stimuli. There were no significant differences between the experimental and control conditions in any of the EEG measures. There was an increase of the Profile of Mood States depression subscale in the experimental condition relative to the control condition (p = 0.02). There was also a significant decrease in immediate verbal memory recall (p = 0.03) in the experimental condition compared to control

Neural Entrainment and Sensorimotor Synchronization to the Beat in Children with Developmental Dyslexia: An EEG Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lincoln J. Colling

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Tapping in time to a metronome beat (hereafter beat synchronization shows considerable variability in child populations, and individual differences in beat synchronization are reliably related to reading development. Children with developmental dyslexia show impairments in beat synchronization. These impairments may reflect deficiencies in auditory perception of the beat which in turn affect auditory-motor mapping, or may reflect an independent motor deficit. Here, we used a new methodology in EEG based on measuring beat-related steady-state evoked potentials (SS-EPs, Nozaradan et al., 2015 in an attempt to disentangle neural sensory and motor contributions to behavioral beat synchronization in children with dyslexia. Children tapped with both their left and right hands to every second beat of a metronome pulse delivered at 2.4 Hz, or listened passively to the beat. Analyses of preferred phase in EEG showed that the children with dyslexia had a significantly different preferred phase compared to control children in all conditions. Regarding SS-EPs, the groups differed significantly for the passive Auditory listening condition at 2.4 Hz, and showed a trend toward a difference in the Right hand tapping condition at 3.6 Hz (sensorimotor integration measure. The data suggest that neural rhythmic entrainment is atypical in children with dyslexia for both an auditory beat and during sensorimotor coupling (tapping. The data are relevant to a growing literature suggesting that rhythm-based interventions may help language processing in children with developmental disorders of language learning.

Relationship between age and location of the apex beat among ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Location of apex beat is an integral part of routine cardiovascular system examination in clinical practice. However, there is paucity of ... Apex beat location in the intercostal space was determined and distance of apex beat from the midline, midclavicular line and nipple lines were measured. The measured distances were ...

Amplitude differences least squares method applied to temporal cardiac beat alignment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Correa, R O; Laciar, E; Valentinuzzi, M E

2007-01-01

High resolution averaged ECG is an important diagnostic technique in post-infarcted and/or chagasic patients with high risk of ventricular tachycardia (VT). It calls for precise determination of the synchronism point (fiducial point) in each beat to be averaged. Cross-correlation (CC) between each detected beat and a reference beat is, by and large, the standard alignment procedure. However, the fiducial point determination is not precise in records contaminated with high levels of noise. Herein, we propose an alignment procedure based on the least squares calculation of the amplitude differences (LSAD) between the ECG samples and a reference or template beat. Both techniques, CC and LSAD, were tested in high resolution ECG's corrupted with white noise and 50 Hz line interference of varying amplitudes (RMS range: 0-100μV). Results point out that LSDA produced a lower alignment error in all contaminated records while in those blurred by power line interference better results were found only within the 0-40 μV range. It is concluded that the proposed method represents a valid alignment alternative

A quantitative electroencephalographic study of meditation and binaural beat entrainment.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavallee, Christina F; Koren, Stanley A; Persinger, Michael A

2011-04-01

The study objective was to determine the quantitative electroencephalographic correlates of meditation, as well as the effects of hindering (15 Hz) and facilitative (7 Hz) binaural beats on the meditative process. The study was a mixed design, with experience of the subject as the primary between-subject measure and power of the six classic frequency bands (δ, θ, low α, high α, β, γ), neocortical lobe (frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital), hemisphere (left, right), and condition (meditation only, meditation with 7-Hz beats, meditation with 15-Hz beats) as the within-subject measures. The study was conducted at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The subjects comprised novice (mean of 8 months experience) and experienced (mean of 18 years experience) meditators recruited from local meditation groups. Experimental manipulation included application of hindering and facilitative binaural beats to the meditative process. Experienced meditators displayed increased left temporal lobe δ power when the facilitative binaural beats were applied, whereas the effect was not observed for the novice subjects in this condition. When the hindering binaural beats were introduced, the novice subjects consistently displayed more γ power than the experienced subjects over the course of their meditation, relative to baseline. Based on the results of this study, novice meditators were not able to maintain certain levels of θ power in the occipital regions when hindering binaural beats were presented, whereas when the facilitative binaural beats were presented, the experienced meditators displayed increased θ power in the left temporal lobe. These results suggest that the experienced meditators have developed techniques over the course of their meditation practice to counter hindering environmental stimuli, whereas the novice meditators have not yet developed those techniques.

Effects of single cycle binaural beat duration on auditory evoked potentials.

Science.gov (United States)

Mihajloski, Todor; Bohorquez, Jorge; Özdamar, Özcan

2014-01-01

Binaural beat (BB) illusions are experienced as continuous central pulsations when two sounds with slightly different frequencies are delivered to each ear. It has been shown that steady-state auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) to BBs can be captured and investigated. The authors recently developed a new method of evoking transient AEPs to binaural beats using frequency modulated stimuli. This methodology was able to create single BBs in predetermined intervals with varying carrier frequencies. This study examines the effects of the BB duration and the frequency modulating component of the stimulus on the binaural beats and their evoked potentials. Normal hearing subjects were tested with a set of four durations (25, 50, 100, and 200 ms) with two stimulation configurations, binaural dichotic (binaural beats) and diotic (frequency modulation). The results obtained from the study showed that out of the given durations, the 100 ms beat, was capable of evoking the largest amplitude responses. The frequency modulation effect showed a decrease in peak amplitudes with increasing beat duration until their complete disappearance at 200 ms. Even though, at 200 ms, the frequency modulation effects were not present, the binaural beats were still perceived and captured as evoked potentials.

Measuring and characterizing beat phenomena with a smartphone

Science.gov (United States)

Osorio, M.; Pereyra, C. J.; Gau, D. L.; Laguarda, A.

2018-03-01

Nowadays, smartphones are in everyone’s life. Apart from being excellent tools for work and communication, they can also be used to perform several measurements of simple physical magnitudes, serving as a mobile and inexpensive laboratory, ideal for use physics lectures in high schools or universities. In this article, we use a smartphone to analyse the acoustic beat phenomena by using a simple experimental setup, which can complement lessons in the classroom. The beats were created by the superposition of the waves generated by two tuning forks, with their natural frequencies previously characterized using different applications. After the characterization, we recorded the beats and analysed the oscillations in time and frequency.

The effect of binaural beats on verbal working memory and cortical connectivity.

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchene, Christine; Abaid, Nicole; Moran, Rosalyn; Diana, Rachel A; Leonessa, Alexander

2017-04-01

Synchronization in activated regions of cortical networks affect the brain's frequency response, which has been associated with a wide range of states and abilities, including memory. A non-invasive method for manipulating cortical synchronization is binaural beats. Binaural beats take advantage of the brain's response to two pure tones, delivered independently to each ear, when those tones have a small frequency mismatch. The mismatch between the tones is interpreted as a beat frequency, which may act to synchronize cortical oscillations. Neural synchrony is particularly important for working memory processes, the system controlling online organization and retention of information for successful goal-directed behavior. Therefore, manipulation of synchrony via binaural beats provides a unique window into working memory and associated connectivity of cortical networks. In this study, we examined the effects of different acoustic stimulation conditions during an N-back working memory task, and we measured participant response accuracy and cortical network topology via EEG recordings. Six acoustic stimulation conditions were used: None, Pure Tone, Classical Music, 5 Hz binaural beats, 10 Hz binaural beats, and 15 Hz binaural beats. We determined that listening to 15 Hz binaural beats during an N-Back working memory task increased the individual participant's accuracy, modulated the cortical frequency response, and changed the cortical network connection strengths during the task. Only the 15 Hz binaural beats produced significant change in relative accuracy compared to the None condition. Listening to 15 Hz binaural beats during the N-back task activated salient frequency bands and produced networks characterized by higher information transfer as compared to other auditory stimulation conditions.

Global beta-beating compensation of the ALS W16 wiggler

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robin, D.; Decking, W.; Nishimura, H.

1997-05-01

The W16 wiggler is the first wiggler and highest field insertion device to be installed in the ALS storage ring. When the gaps of the W16 wiggler are closed, the vertical tune increases by 0.065 and the vertical beta function is distorted by up to ±37%. There are 48 quadrupoles in the ring whose fields can be adjusted individually to restore the tunes and partially compensate the beta-beating. In order to adjust the quadrupole field strengths to accurately compensate the focusing, it is necessary to have a method to precisely determine the beta-beating. In this paper we compare measurements of the induced beta-beating using two methods: measuring the tune dependence on quadrupole field strength and fitting a lattice model with measured response matrices. The fitted model also allows us to predict quadrupole field strengths that will best compensate the beta beating. These quadrupole field strengths are then applied and the resultant beta-beating is measured

The relationship between phase and heart rate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Underwood, S.R.; Walton, S.; Brown, N.J.G.; Laming, P.J.; Ell, P.J.; Emanuel, R.W.; Swanton, R.H.

1984-01-01

The Fourier phase image is used in rest and stress radionuclide angiocardiography to assess the timing of ventricular wall motion in a regional fashion, and areas of high phase are taken to reprensent areas of delayed contraction. However, phase increases with heart rate and this can make interpretation difficult. This study investigates the relationship between phase and heart rate. A heterogenous group of 43 subjects was studied by ECG-gated equilibrium radionuclide angiocardiography, all of the subjects having normal extent of left ventricular wall motion as judged by normal ejection fraction and normal amplitude image. Mean left ventricular phase correlated well with mean time of end systole (r=0.92), but there was no correlation with time of end diastole.Thus phase reflects the time of end systole as a proportion of cycle length and should be linearly related to heart rate provided the duration of systole is unchanged. In 28 normal subjects mean left ventricular phase correlated linearly with resting rate (r=0.91), and when exercised the relationship was maintained up to 90 beats per minute. Above this rate the increases were less marked as the duration of systole shortened. The same was true in 4 subjects paced at different rates. Mean resting heart rate in the normal subjects was 70 beats per minute and correcting phase linearly to rate 70 did not change mean left ventricular phase but did decrease the standard deviation from 18 degree to 12 degree. It is concluded that correcting phase for heart rate below 90 beats per minute will increase the sensitivity of the phase image to abnormalities of the timing of ventricular contraction. This correction should be appropriate in resting, isometric exercise, and cold pressor studies but because of the higher heart rates involved will not be appropriate for bicycle exercise. (Author)

Heart-Rate Variability—More than Heart Beats?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gernot Ernst

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Heart-rate variability (HRV is frequently introduced as mirroring imbalances within the autonomous nerve system. Many investigations are based on the paradigm that increased sympathetic tone is associated with decreased parasympathetic tone and vice versa. But HRV is probably more than an indicator for probable disturbances in the autonomous system. Some perturbations trigger not reciprocal, but parallel changes of vagal and sympathetic nerve activity. HRV has also been considered as a surrogate parameter of the complex interaction between brain and cardiovascular system. Systems biology is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on complex interactions within biological systems like the cardiovascular system, with the help of computational models and time series analysis, beyond others. Time series are considered surrogates of the particular system, reflecting robustness or fragility. Increased variability is usually seen as associated with a good health condition, whereas lowered variability might signify pathological changes. This might explain why lower HRV parameters were related to decreased life expectancy in several studies. Newer integrating theories have been proposed. According to them, HRV reflects as much the state of the heart as the state of the brain. The polyvagal theory suggests that the physiological state dictates the range of behavior and psychological experience. Stressful events perpetuate the rhythms of autonomic states, and subsequently, behaviors. Reduced variability will according to this theory not only be a surrogate but represent a fundamental homeostasis mechanism in a pathological state. The neurovisceral integration model proposes that cardiac vagal tone, described in HRV beyond others as HF-index, can mirror the functional balance of the neural networks implicated in emotion–cognition interactions. Both recent models represent a more holistic approach to understanding the significance of HRV.

Heart-Rate Variability-More than Heart Beats?

Science.gov (United States)

Ernst, Gernot

2017-01-01

Heart-rate variability (HRV) is frequently introduced as mirroring imbalances within the autonomous nerve system. Many investigations are based on the paradigm that increased sympathetic tone is associated with decreased parasympathetic tone and vice versa . But HRV is probably more than an indicator for probable disturbances in the autonomous system. Some perturbations trigger not reciprocal, but parallel changes of vagal and sympathetic nerve activity. HRV has also been considered as a surrogate parameter of the complex interaction between brain and cardiovascular system. Systems biology is an inter-disciplinary field of study focusing on complex interactions within biological systems like the cardiovascular system, with the help of computational models and time series analysis, beyond others. Time series are considered surrogates of the particular system, reflecting robustness or fragility. Increased variability is usually seen as associated with a good health condition, whereas lowered variability might signify pathological changes. This might explain why lower HRV parameters were related to decreased life expectancy in several studies. Newer integrating theories have been proposed. According to them, HRV reflects as much the state of the heart as the state of the brain. The polyvagal theory suggests that the physiological state dictates the range of behavior and psychological experience. Stressful events perpetuate the rhythms of autonomic states, and subsequently, behaviors. Reduced variability will according to this theory not only be a surrogate but represent a fundamental homeostasis mechanism in a pathological state. The neurovisceral integration model proposes that cardiac vagal tone, described in HRV beyond others as HF-index, can mirror the functional balance of the neural networks implicated in emotion-cognition interactions. Both recent models represent a more holistic approach to understanding the significance of HRV.

Multifactorial Biological Modulation of Warm Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Liver Transplantation From Non-Heart-Beating Donors Eliminates Primary Nonfunction and Reduces Bile Salt Toxicity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Monbaliu, Diethard; Vekemans, Katrien; Hoekstra, Harm; Vaahtera, Lauri; Libbrecht, Louis; Derveaux, Katelijne; Parkkinen, Jaakko; Liu, Qiang; Heedfeld, Veerle; Wylin, Tine; Deckx, Hugo; Zeegers, Marcel; Balligand, Erika; Buurman, Wim; van Pelt, Jos; Porte, Robert J.; Pirenne, Jacques

Objective: To design a multifactorial biological modulation approach targeting ischemia reperfusion injury to augment viability of porcine liver grafts from non-heart-beating donors (NHBD). Background Data: Liver Transplantation (LTx) from NHBD is associated with an increased risk of primary

Beat-wave generation of plasmons in semiconductor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, V.I.; Mahajan, S.M.

1995-08-01

It is shown that in semiconductor plasmas, it is possible to generate large amplitude plasma waves by the beating of two laser beams with frequency difference close to the plasma frequency. For narrow gap seimconductors (for example n-type InSb), the system can simulate the physics underlying beat wave generation in relativistic gaseous plasmas

Ratings of speed in real music as a function of both original and manipulated beat tempo.

Science.gov (United States)

Madison, Guy; Paulin, Johan

2010-11-01

There is an apparent contradiction between the narrow range of tempi optimal for perceptual judgment and motor synchronization and the wide range of beat tempi found in real music. The relation between listeners' perception of speed and beat tempo was therefore investigated, both for real music excerpts (ME) and metronome sequences. Tempi ranged from 42 to 200 beats per minute (BPM), and some excerpts were further tempo manipulated in four levels from ±5 to ±20%. Regression analyses showed that speed was a shallower function of original tempo for fast (>150 BPM) and slow (tempo had twice as large an effect on speed as had original tempo. In contrast, speed was an almost linear function of tempo for metronome sequences. Taken together, these results show that the non-linearity stems from properties of the musical signal, rather than being a subjective perceptual effect. They indicate an inverse relation between tempo and relative event density in real music, and demonstrate that the perception of periodic signals is affected not only by the beat level, but also by faster and slower levels.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived beating cardiac tissues on paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li; Xu, Cong; Zhu, Yujuan; Yu, Yue; Sun, Ning; Zhang, Xiaoqing; Feng, Ke; Qin, Jianhua

2015-11-21

There is a growing interest in using paper as a biomaterial scaffold for cell-based applications. In this study, we made the first attempt to fabricate a paper-based array for the culture, proliferation, and direct differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) into functional beating cardiac tissues and create "a beating heart on paper." This array was simply constructed by binding a cured multi-well polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold with common, commercially available paper substrates. Three types of paper material (print paper, chromatography paper and nitrocellulose membrane) were tested for adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of human-derived iPSCs. We found that hiPSCs grew well on these paper substrates, presenting a three-dimensional (3D)-like morphology with a pluripotent property. The direct differentiation of human iPSCs into functional cardiac tissues on paper was also achieved using our modified differentiation approach. The cardiac tissue retained its functional activities on the coated print paper and chromatography paper with a beating frequency of 40-70 beats per min for up to three months. Interestingly, human iPSCs could be differentiated into retinal pigment epithelium on nitrocellulose membrane under the conditions of cardiac-specific induction, indicating the potential roles of material properties and mechanical cues that are involved in regulating stem cell differentiation. Taken together, these results suggest that different grades of paper could offer great opportunities as bioactive, low-cost, and 3D in vitro platforms for stem cell-based high-throughput drug testing at the tissue/organ level and for tissue engineering applications.

Deep learning based beat event detection in action movie franchises

Science.gov (United States)

Ejaz, N.; Khan, U. A.; Martínez-del-Amor, M. A.; Sparenberg, H.

2018-04-01

Automatic understanding and interpretation of movies can be used in a variety of ways to semantically manage the massive volumes of movies data. "Action Movie Franchises" dataset is a collection of twenty Hollywood action movies from five famous franchises with ground truth annotations at shot and beat level of each movie. In this dataset, the annotations are provided for eleven semantic beat categories. In this work, we propose a deep learning based method to classify shots and beat-events on this dataset. The training dataset for each of the eleven beat categories is developed and then a Convolution Neural Network is trained. After finding the shot boundaries, key frames are extracted for each shot and then three classification labels are assigned to each key frame. The classification labels for each of the key frames in a particular shot are then used to assign a unique label to each shot. A simple sliding window based method is then used to group adjacent shots having the same label in order to find a particular beat event. The results of beat event classification are presented based on criteria of precision, recall, and F-measure. The results are compared with the existing technique and significant improvements are recorded.

Beat-wave generation of plasmons in semiconductor plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berezhiani, V.I.; Mahajan, S.M.

1995-08-01

It is shown that in semiconductor plasmas, it is possible to generate large amplitude plasma waves by the beating of two laser beams with frequency difference close to the plasma frequency. For narrow gap semiconductor (for example n-type InSb), the system can simulate the physics underlying beat wave generation in relativistic gaseous plasmas. (author). 7 refs

The effect of binaural beats on verbal working memory and cortical connectivity

Science.gov (United States)

Beauchene, Christine; Abaid, Nicole; Moran, Rosalyn; Diana, Rachel A.; Leonessa, Alexander

2017-04-01

Objective. Synchronization in activated regions of cortical networks affect the brain’s frequency response, which has been associated with a wide range of states and abilities, including memory. A non-invasive method for manipulating cortical synchronization is binaural beats. Binaural beats take advantage of the brain’s response to two pure tones, delivered independently to each ear, when those tones have a small frequency mismatch. The mismatch between the tones is interpreted as a beat frequency, which may act to synchronize cortical oscillations. Neural synchrony is particularly important for working memory processes, the system controlling online organization and retention of information for successful goal-directed behavior. Therefore, manipulation of synchrony via binaural beats provides a unique window into working memory and associated connectivity of cortical networks. Approach. In this study, we examined the effects of different acoustic stimulation conditions during an N-back working memory task, and we measured participant response accuracy and cortical network topology via EEG recordings. Six acoustic stimulation conditions were used: None, Pure Tone, Classical Music, 5 Hz binaural beats, 10 Hz binaural beats, and 15 Hz binaural beats. Main results. We determined that listening to 15 Hz binaural beats during an N-Back working memory task increased the individual participant’s accuracy, modulated the cortical frequency response, and changed the cortical network connection strengths during the task. Only the 15 Hz binaural beats produced significant change in relative accuracy compared to the None condition. Significance. Listening to 15 Hz binaural beats during the N-back task activated salient frequency bands and produced networks characterized by higher information transfer as compared to other auditory stimulation conditions.

Induction of chagasic-like arrhythmias in the isolated beating hearts of healthy rats perfused with Trypanosoma cruzi-conditioned medium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Rodriguez-Angulo

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Chagas' myocardiopathy, caused by the intracellular protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, is characterized by microvascular alterations, heart failure and arrhythmias. Ischemia and arrythmogenesis have been attributed to proteins shed by the parasite, although this has not been fully demonstrated. The aim of the present investigation was to study the effect of substances shed by T. cruzi on ischemia/reperfusion-induced arrhythmias. We performed a triple ischemia-reperfusion (I/R protocol whereby the isolated beating rat hearts were perfused with either Vero-control or Vero T. cruzi-infected conditioned medium during the different stages of ischemia and subsequently reperfused with Tyrode's solution. ECG and heart rate were recorded during the entire experiment. We observed that triple I/R-induced bradycardia was associated with the generation of auricular-ventricular blockade during ischemia and non-sustained nodal and ventricular tachycardia during reperfusion. Interestingly, perfusion with Vero-infected medium produced a delay in the reperfusion-induced recovery of heart rate, increased the frequency of tachycardic events and induced ventricular fibrillation. These results suggest that the presence of parasite-shed substances in conditioned media enhances the arrhythmogenic effects that occur during the I/R protocol.

Heart rate detection from an electronic weighing scale

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

González-Landaeta, R; Casas, O; Pallàs-Areny, R

2008-01-01

We propose a novel technique for beat-to-beat heart rate detection based on the ballistocardiographic (BCG) force signal from a subject standing on a common electronic weighing scale. The detection relies on sensing force variations related to the blood acceleration in the aorta, works even if wearing footwear and does not require any sensors attached to the body because it uses the load cells in the scale. We have devised an approach to estimate the sensitivity and frequency response of three commercial weighing scales to assess their capability to detect the BCG force signal. Static sensitivities ranged from 490 nV V −1 N −1 to 1670 nV V −1 N −1 . The frequency response depended on the subject's mass but it was broad enough for heart rate estimation. We have designed an electronic pulse detection system based on off-the-shelf integrated circuits to sense heart-beat-related force variations of about 0.24 N. The signal-to-noise ratio of the main peaks of the force signal detected was higher than 30 dB. A Bland–Altman plot was used to compare the RR time intervals estimated from the ECG and BCG force signals for 17 volunteers. The error was ±21 ms, which makes the proposed technique suitable for short-term monitoring of the heart rate

Study on the Relationship among Parents' Cognition on China Anti-Domestic Violence, Attitude of Beating Children and Frequency of Beating Children

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Shi

2018-01-01

This research aims at analyzing the correlation between parents' awareness of anti-domestic violence in China, attitude and frequency of beating children. According to the literature analysis, this paper sets children's parents' anti-domestic violence cognition and attitude of beating children as independent variable, and the frequency of beating…

Auditory beat stimulation and its effects on cognition and mood States.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaieb, Leila; Wilpert, Elke Caroline; Reber, Thomas P; Fell, Juergen

2015-01-01

Auditory beat stimulation may be a promising new tool for the manipulation of cognitive processes and the modulation of mood states. Here, we aim to review the literature examining the most current applications of auditory beat stimulation and its targets. We give a brief overview of research on auditory steady-state responses and its relationship to auditory beat stimulation (ABS). We have summarized relevant studies investigating the neurophysiological changes related to ABS and how they impact upon the design of appropriate stimulation protocols. Focusing on binaural-beat stimulation, we then discuss the role of monaural- and binaural-beat frequencies in cognition and mood states, in addition to their efficacy in targeting disease symptoms. We aim to highlight important points concerning stimulation parameters and try to address why there are often contradictory findings with regard to the outcomes of ABS.

Intracranial electroencephalography power and phase synchronization changes during monaural and binaural beat stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Becher, Ann-Katrin; Höhne, Marlene; Axmacher, Nikolai; Chaieb, Leila; Elger, Christian E; Fell, Juergen

2015-01-01

Auditory stimulation with monaural or binaural auditory beats (i.e. sine waves with nearby frequencies presented either to both ears or to each ear separately) represents a non-invasive approach to influence electrical brain activity. It is still unclear exactly which brain sites are affected by beat stimulation. In particular, an impact of beat stimulation on mediotemporal brain areas could possibly provide new options for memory enhancement or seizure control. Therefore, we examined how electroencephalography (EEG) power and phase synchronization are modulated by auditory stimulation with beat frequencies corresponding to dominant EEG rhythms based on intracranial recordings in presurgical epilepsy patients. Monaural and binaural beat stimuli with beat frequencies of 5, 10, 40 and 80 Hz and non-superposed control signals were administered with low amplitudes (60 dB SPL) and for short durations (5 s). EEG power was intracranially recorded from mediotemporal, temporo-basal and temporo-lateral and surface sites. Evoked and total EEG power and phase synchronization during beat vs. control stimulation were compared by the use of Bonferroni-corrected non-parametric label-permutation tests. We found that power and phase synchronization were significantly modulated by beat stimulation not only at temporo-basal, temporo-lateral and surface sites, but also at mediotemporal sites. Generally, more significant decreases than increases were observed. The most prominent power increases were seen after stimulation with monaural 40-Hz beats. The most pronounced power and synchronization decreases resulted from stimulation with monaural 5-Hz and binaural 80-Hz beats. Our results suggest that beat stimulation offers a non-invasive approach for the modulation of intracranial EEG characteristics. © 2014 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Eliminating the Attentional Blink through Binaural Beats: A Case for Tailored Cognitive Enhancement.

Science.gov (United States)

Reedijk, Susan A; Bolders, Anne; Colzato, Lorenza S; Hommel, Bernhard

2015-01-01

Enhancing human cognitive performance is a topic that continues to spark scientific interest. Studies into cognitive-enhancement techniques often fail to take inter-individual differences into account, however, which leads to underestimation of the effectiveness of these techniques. The current study investigated the effect of binaural beats, a cognitive-enhancement technique, on attentional control in an attentional blink (AB) task. As predicted from a neurocognitive approach to cognitive control, high-frequency binaural beats eliminated the AB, but only in individuals with low spontaneous eye-blink rates (indicating low striatal dopamine levels). This suggests that the way in which cognitive-enhancement techniques, such as binaural beats, affect cognitive performance depends on inter-individual differences.

Eliminating the attentional blink through binaural beats: A case for tailored cognitive enhancement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susan A. Reedijk

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Enhancing human cognitive performance is a topic that continues to spark scientific interest. Studies into cognitive enhancement techniques often fail to take inter-individual differences into account, however, which leads to underestimation of the effectiveness of these techniques. The current study investigated the effect of binaural beats, a cognitive enhancement technique, on attentional control in an attentional blink task. As predicted from a neurocognitive approach to cognitive control, high-frequency binaural beats eliminated the attentional blink, but only in individuals with low spontaneous eye-blink rates (indicating low striatal dopamine levels. This suggests that the way in which cognitive enhancement techniques, such as binaural beats, affect cognitive performance depends on inter-individual differences.

Mismatch negativity to acoustical illusion of beat: how and where the change detection takes place?

Science.gov (United States)

Chakalov, Ivan; Paraskevopoulos, Evangelos; Wollbrink, Andreas; Pantev, Christo

2014-10-15

In case of binaural presentation of two tones with slightly different frequencies the structures of brainstem can no longer follow the interaural time differences (ITD) resulting in an illusionary perception of beat corresponding to frequency difference between the two prime tones. Hence, the beat-frequency does not exist in the prime tones presented to either ear. This study used binaural beats to explore the nature of acoustic deviance detection in humans by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG). Recent research suggests that the auditory change detection is a multistage process. To test this, we employed 26 Hz-binaural beats in a classical oddball paradigm. However, the prime tones (250 Hz and 276 Hz) were switched between the ears in the case of the deviant-beat. Consequently, when the deviant is presented, the cochleae and auditory nerves receive a "new afferent", although the standards and the deviants are heard identical (26 Hz-beats). This allowed us to explore the contribution of auditory periphery to change detection process, and furthermore, to evaluate its influence on beats-related auditory steady-state responses (ASSRs). LORETA-source current density estimates of the evoked fields in a typical mismatch negativity time-window (MMN) and the subsequent difference-ASSRs were determined and compared. The results revealed an MMN generated by a complex neural network including the right parietal lobe and the left middle frontal gyrus. Furthermore, difference-ASSR was generated in the paracentral gyrus. Additionally, psychophysical measures showed no perceptual difference between the standard- and deviant-beats when isolated by noise. These results suggest that the auditory periphery has an important contribution to novelty detection already at sub-cortical level. Overall, the present findings support the notion of hierarchically organized acoustic novelty detection system. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Beat Dreams?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Bent

2009-01-01

Two of the founding members of the Beat Generation of the 1950s wrote dream books with almost identical titles: Jack Kerouac's Book of Dreams (1961) and William Burroughs' My Education: A Book of Dreams (1995). This paper queries the function of such dream books, both from a perspective of seeing...... dream writing as a confessional genre, and from the perspective of didacticism implicit in sharing one's dream life with one's readers. What role does memory, politics, fantasies and reality play in communicating with and via dreams?...

Binaural beat technology in humans: a pilot study to assess psychologic and physiologic effects.

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Wahbeh, Helané; Calabrese, Carlo; Zwickey, Heather

2007-01-01

Binaural beat technology (BBT) products are sold internationally as personal development and health improvement tools. Producers suggest benefit from regular listening to binaural beats including reduced stress and anxiety, and increased focus, concentration, motivation, confidence, and depth in meditation. Binaural beats are auditory brainstem responses that originate in the superior olivary nucleus as a result of different frequency auditory stimuli provided to each ear. Listeners to binaural beat "hear" a beat at a frequency equal to the difference between the frequencies of the applied tones. The objectives of this pilot study were to gather preliminary data on psychologic and physiologic effects of 60 days daily use of BBT for hypothesis generation and to assess compliance, feasibility, and safety for future studies. Uncontrolled pilot study. Eight healthy adults participated in the study. Participants listened to a CD with delta (0-4 Hz) binaural beat frequencies daily for 60 days. Psychologic and physiological data were collected before and after a 60-day intervention. PSYCHOLOGIC: Depression (Beck Depression Inventory-2), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), mood (Profile of Mood States), absorption (Tellegen Absorption Scale) and quality of Life (World Health Organization-Quality of Life Inventory). PHYSIOLOGICAL: Cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone, melatonin, insulin-like growth factor-1, serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, weight, blood pressure, high sensitivity C-reactive protein. There was a decrease in trait anxiety (p = 0.004), an increase in quality of life (p = 0.03), and a decrease in insulin-like growth factor-1 (p = 0.01) and dopamine (p = 0.02) observed between pre- and postintervention measurements. Binaural beat technology may exhibit positive effect on self-reported psychologic measures, especially anxiety. Further research is warranted to explore the effects on anxiety using a larger, randomized and controlled trial.

Ultrasound functional imaging in an ex vivo beating porcine heart platform

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Petterson, Niels J.; Fixsen, Louis S.; Rutten, Marcel C. M.; Pijls, Nico H. J.; van de Vosse, Frans N.; Lopata, Richard G. P.

2017-12-01

In recent years, novel ultrasound functional imaging (UFI) techniques have been introduced to assess cardiac function by measuring, e.g. cardiac output (CO) and/or myocardial strain. Verification and reproducibility assessment in a realistic setting remain major issues. Simulations and phantoms are often unrealistic, whereas in vivo measurements often lack crucial hemodynamic parameters or ground truth data, or suffer from the large physiological and clinical variation between patients when attempting clinical validation. Controlled validation in certain pathologies is cumbersome and often requires the use of lab animals. In this study, an isolated beating pig heart setup was adapted and used for performance assessment of UFI techniques such as volume assessment and ultrasound strain imaging. The potential of performing verification and reproducibility studies was demonstrated. For proof-of-principle, validation of UFI in pathological hearts was examined. Ex vivo porcine hearts (n  =  6, slaughterhouse waste) were resuscitated and attached to a mock circulatory system. Radio frequency ultrasound data of the left ventricle were acquired in five short axis views and one long axis view. Based on these slices, the CO was measured, where verification was performed using flow sensor measurements in the aorta. Strain imaging was performed providing radial, circumferential and longitudinal strain to assess reproducibility and inter-subject variability under steady conditions. Finally, strains in healthy hearts were compared to a heart with an implanted left ventricular assist device, simulating a failing, supported heart. Good agreement between ultrasound and flow sensor based CO measurements was found. Strains were highly reproducible (intraclass correlation coefficients  >0.8). Differences were found due to biological variation and condition of the hearts. Strain magnitude and patterns in the assisted heart were available for different pump action, revealing

A high-density EEG investigation into steady state binaural beat stimulation.

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Peter Goodin

Full Text Available Binaural beats are an auditory phenomenon that has been suggested to alter physiological and cognitive processes including vigilance and brainwave entrainment. Some personality traits measured by the NEO Five Factor Model have been found to alter entrainment using pulsing light stimuli, but as yet no studies have examined if this occurs using steady state presentation of binaural beats for a relatively short presentation of two minutes. This study aimed to examine if binaural beat stimulation altered vigilance or cortical frequencies and if personality traits were involved. Thirty-one participants were played binaural beat stimuli designed to elicit a response at either the Theta (7 Hz or Beta (16 Hz frequency bands while undertaking a zero-back vigilance task. EEG was recorded from a high-density electrode cap. No significant differences were found in vigilance or cortical frequency power during binaural beat stimulation compared to a white noise control period. Furthermore, no significant relationships were detected between the above and the Big Five personality traits. This suggests a short presentation of steady state binaural beats are not sufficient to alter vigilance or entrain cortical frequencies at the two bands examined and that certain personality traits were not more susceptible than others.

A high-density EEG investigation into steady state binaural beat stimulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodin, Peter; Ciorciari, Joseph; Baker, Kate; Carey, Anne-Marie; Carrey, Anne-Marie; Harper, Michelle; Kaufman, Jordy

2012-01-01

Binaural beats are an auditory phenomenon that has been suggested to alter physiological and cognitive processes including vigilance and brainwave entrainment. Some personality traits measured by the NEO Five Factor Model have been found to alter entrainment using pulsing light stimuli, but as yet no studies have examined if this occurs using steady state presentation of binaural beats for a relatively short presentation of two minutes. This study aimed to examine if binaural beat stimulation altered vigilance or cortical frequencies and if personality traits were involved. Thirty-one participants were played binaural beat stimuli designed to elicit a response at either the Theta (7 Hz) or Beta (16 Hz) frequency bands while undertaking a zero-back vigilance task. EEG was recorded from a high-density electrode cap. No significant differences were found in vigilance or cortical frequency power during binaural beat stimulation compared to a white noise control period. Furthermore, no significant relationships were detected between the above and the Big Five personality traits. This suggests a short presentation of steady state binaural beats are not sufficient to alter vigilance or entrain cortical frequencies at the two bands examined and that certain personality traits were not more susceptible than others.

[Regeneration of the ciliary beat of human ciliated cells].

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Wolf, G; Koidl, B; Pelzmann, B

1991-10-01

The influence of an isotonic, alkaline saline solution (diluted "Emser Sole" or brine from the spa of Bad Ems) on the ciliary beat of isolated cultured human ciliated cells of the upper respiratory tract was investigated. The ciliary beat was observed via an inverted phase contrast microscope (Zeiss Axiomat IDPC) and measured microphotometrically under physiological conditions and after the damaging influence of 1% propanal solution. Under physiological conditions the saline solution had a positive, although statistically not significant influence on the frequency of the ciliary beat. After damage of the cultivated cells by 1% propanal solution, the saline solution had a significant better influence on the regeneration of the cultured cells than a physiological sodium chloride solution. It is concluded that diluted brine from Bad Ems has a positive effect on the ciliary beat of the respiratory epithelium and accelerates its regeneration after damage by viral and bacterial infections, surgery or inhaled noxae.

Sensitivity analysis and comparison of two methods of using heart rate to represent energy expenditure during walking.

Science.gov (United States)

Karimi, Mohammad Taghi

2015-01-01

Heart rate is an accurate and easy to use method to represent the energy expenditure during walking, based on physiological cost index (PCI). However, in some conditions the heart rate during walking does not reach to a steady state. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the energy expenditure by use of the PCI index. The total heart beat index (THBI) is a new method to solve the aforementioned problem. The aim of this research project was to find the sensitivity of both the physiological cost index (PCI) and total heart beat index (THBI). Fifteen normal subjects and ten patients with flatfoot disorder and two subjects with spinal cord injury were recruited in this research project. The PCI and THBI indexes were determined by use of heart beats with respect to walking speed and total distance walked, respectively. The sensitivity of PCI was more than that of THBI index in the three groups of subjects. Although the PCI and THBI indexes are easy to use and reliable parameters to represent the energy expenditure during walking, their sensitivity is not high to detect the influence of some orthotic interventions, such as use of insoles or using shoes on energy expenditure during walking.

Moving to the Beat and Singing are Linked in Humans

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Dalla Bella, Simone; Berkowska, Magdalena; Sowiński, Jakub

2015-01-01

The abilities to sing and to move to the beat of a rhythmic auditory stimulus emerge early during development, and both engage perceptual, motor, and sensorimotor processes. These similarities between singing and synchronization to a beat may be rooted in biology. Patel (2008) has suggested that motor synchronization to auditory rhythms may have emerged during evolution as a byproduct of selection for vocal learning (“vocal learning and synchronization hypothesis”). This view predicts a strong link between vocal performance and synchronization skills in humans. Here, we tested this prediction by asking occasional singers to tap along with auditory pulse trains and to imitate familiar melodies. Both vocal imitation and synchronization skills were measured in terms of accuracy and precision or consistency. Accurate and precise singers tapped more in the vicinity of the pacing stimuli (i.e., they were more accurate) than less accurate and less precise singers. Moreover, accurate singers were more consistent when tapping to the beat. These differences cannot be ascribed to basic motor skills or to motivational factors. Individual differences in terms of singing proficiency and synchronization skills may reflect the variability of a shared sensorimotor translation mechanism. PMID:26733370

More attentional focusing through binaural beats: evidence from the global-local task.

Science.gov (United States)

Colzato, Lorenza S; Barone, Hayley; Sellaro, Roberta; Hommel, Bernhard

2017-01-01

A recent study showed that binaural beats have an impact on the efficiency of allocating attention over time. We were interested to see whether this impact affects attentional focusing or, even further, the top-down control over irrelevant information. Healthy adults listened to gamma-frequency (40 Hz) binaural beats, which are assumed to increase attentional concentration, or a constant tone of 340 Hz (control condition) for 3 min before and during a global-local task. While the size of the congruency effect (indicating the failure to suppress task-irrelevant information) was unaffected by the binaural beats, the global-precedence effect (reflecting attentional focusing) was considerably smaller after gamma-frequency binaural beats than after the control condition. Our findings suggest that high-frequency binaural beats bias the individual attentional processing style towards a reduced spotlight of attention.

Continuing studies of the plasma beat wave accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joshi, C.

1990-01-01

This is a proposal for the release of third year funds for the ''Plasma Beat Wave Accelerator'' program (PBWA) at UCLA under the direction of Professor C. Joshi. This report is also a summary of progress on this project since March 1990; i.e., the date of the last report to the DOE. Once again we note that although the program is for historical reasons called the Plasma Beat Wave Accelerator Program, our group is active in all areas of applications of lasers and plasmas in future high energy accelerators. These are as follows: heat gradient plasma structures; excited by plasma beat wave technique; laser wake field technique; and plasma wake field technique. Development of a photoinjector-driven, 20 MeV linac; and theoretical studies of the plasma lens and use of plasmas at the final focus

Possible parametric instabilities of beat waves in a transversely magnetized plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salimullah, M.

1988-05-01

The effect of an external magnetic field on the various possible parametric instabilities of the longitudinal beat wave at the difference frequency of two incident laser beams in a hot plasma has been thoeretically investigated. The kinetic equation is employed to obtain the nonlinear response of the magnetized electrons due to the nonlinear coupling of the beat wave with the low-frequency electrostatic plasma modes. It is noted that the growth rates of the three-wave and the four-wave parametric instabilities can be influenced by the external transverse magnetic field. (author). 20 refs, 3 figs

Beat-wave excitation and current driven in tokamak plasma. Vol. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohamed, B F [Plasma physics Department, Nuclear Research Center, Atomic Energy Authority, Cairo (Egypt)

1996-03-01

Wave heating current drive in tokamaks is a growing subject in the plasma physics literature. For current drive in tokamaks by electromagnetic waves, different methods have been proposed recently. One of the promising schemes for current drive remains the beat wave scheme. This technique employs two CO- or counterpropagating monochromatic laser beams (or microwaves) whose frequency difference matches the plasma frequency, while the wave number difference (or sum, in the case of counterpropagating) determine the wave number of the resulting plasma beat wave. In this work, the basic analysis of a beat wave current drive scheme in which collinear waves are used is discussed. by assuming a Gaussian profile for the amplitude of these pump waves, the amplitudes of the longitudinal and radial fields of the beat wave due to the nonlinear wave interactions have been calculated. Besides, the transfer of momentum flux that accompanies the transfer of wave action in beat-wave scattering will be used to drive the toroidal radial currents in tokamaks. self-generated magnetic fields due to those currents were also calculated. 1 fig.

Disentangling beat perception from sequential learning and examining the influence of attention and musical abilities on ERP responses to rhythm.

Science.gov (United States)

Bouwer, Fleur L; Werner, Carola M; Knetemann, Myrthe; Honing, Henkjan

2016-05-01

Beat perception is the ability to perceive temporal regularity in musical rhythm. When a beat is perceived, predictions about upcoming events can be generated. These predictions can influence processing of subsequent rhythmic events. However, statistical learning of the order of sounds in a sequence can also affect processing of rhythmic events and must be differentiated from beat perception. In the current study, using EEG, we examined the effects of attention and musical abilities on beat perception. To ensure we measured beat perception and not absolute perception of temporal intervals, we used alternating loud and soft tones to create a rhythm with two hierarchical metrical levels. To control for sequential learning of the order of the different sounds, we used temporally regular (isochronous) and jittered rhythmic sequences. The order of sounds was identical in both conditions, but only the regular condition allowed for the perception of a beat. Unexpected intensity decrements were introduced on the beat and offbeat. In the regular condition, both beat perception and sequential learning were expected to enhance detection of these deviants on the beat. In the jittered condition, only sequential learning was expected to affect processing of the deviants. ERP responses to deviants were larger on the beat than offbeat in both conditions. Importantly, this difference was larger in the regular condition than in the jittered condition, suggesting that beat perception influenced responses to rhythmic events in addition to sequential learning. The influence of beat perception was present both with and without attention directed at the rhythm. Moreover, beat perception as measured with ERPs correlated with musical abilities, but only when attention was directed at the stimuli. Our study shows that beat perception is possible when attention is not directed at a rhythm. In addition, our results suggest that attention may mediate the influence of musical abilities on beat

Aerobic exercise during pregnancy and presence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Van Leeuwen

Full Text Available It has been shown that short-term direct interaction between maternal and fetal heart rates may take place and that this interaction is affected by the rate of maternal respiration. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal aerobic exercise during pregnancy on the occurrence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization.In 40 pregnant women at the 36th week of gestation, 21 of whom exercised regularly, we acquired 18 min. RR interval time series obtained simultaneously in the mothers and their fetuses from magnetocardiographic recordings. The time series of the two groups were examined with respect to their heart rate variability, the maternal respiratory rate and the presence of synchronization epochs as determined on the basis of synchrograms. Surrogate data were used to assess whether the occurrence of synchronization was due to chance.In the original data, we found synchronization occurred less often in pregnancies in which the mothers had exercised regularly. These subjects also displayed higher combined fetal-maternal heart rate variability and lower maternal respiratory rates. Analysis of the surrogate data showed shorter epochs of synchronization and a lack of the phase coordination found between maternal and fetal beat timing in the original data.The results suggest that fetal-maternal heart rate coupling is present but generally weak. Maternal exercise has a damping effect on its occurrence, most likely due to an increase in beat-to-beat differences, higher vagal tone and slower breathing rates.

Aerobic exercise during pregnancy and presence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Leeuwen, Peter; Gustafson, Kathleen M; Cysarz, Dirk; Geue, Daniel; May, Linda E; Grönemeyer, Dietrich

2014-01-01

It has been shown that short-term direct interaction between maternal and fetal heart rates may take place and that this interaction is affected by the rate of maternal respiration. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal aerobic exercise during pregnancy on the occurrence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization. In 40 pregnant women at the 36th week of gestation, 21 of whom exercised regularly, we acquired 18 min. RR interval time series obtained simultaneously in the mothers and their fetuses from magnetocardiographic recordings. The time series of the two groups were examined with respect to their heart rate variability, the maternal respiratory rate and the presence of synchronization epochs as determined on the basis of synchrograms. Surrogate data were used to assess whether the occurrence of synchronization was due to chance. In the original data, we found synchronization occurred less often in pregnancies in which the mothers had exercised regularly. These subjects also displayed higher combined fetal-maternal heart rate variability and lower maternal respiratory rates. Analysis of the surrogate data showed shorter epochs of synchronization and a lack of the phase coordination found between maternal and fetal beat timing in the original data. The results suggest that fetal-maternal heart rate coupling is present but generally weak. Maternal exercise has a damping effect on its occurrence, most likely due to an increase in beat-to-beat differences, higher vagal tone and slower breathing rates.

Aerobic Exercise during Pregnancy and Presence of Fetal-Maternal Heart Rate Synchronization

Science.gov (United States)

Van Leeuwen, Peter; Gustafson, Kathleen M.; Cysarz, Dirk; Geue, Daniel; May, Linda E.; Grönemeyer, Dietrich

2014-01-01

It has been shown that short-term direct interaction between maternal and fetal heart rates may take place and that this interaction is affected by the rate of maternal respiration. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal aerobic exercise during pregnancy on the occurrence of fetal-maternal heart rate synchronization. Methods In 40 pregnant women at the 36th week of gestation, 21 of whom exercised regularly, we acquired 18 min. RR interval time series obtained simultaneously in the mothers and their fetuses from magnetocardiographic recordings. The time series of the two groups were examined with respect to their heart rate variability, the maternal respiratory rate and the presence of synchronization epochs as determined on the basis of synchrograms. Surrogate data were used to assess whether the occurrence of synchronization was due to chance. Results In the original data, we found synchronization occurred less often in pregnancies in which the mothers had exercised regularly. These subjects also displayed higher combined fetal-maternal heart rate variability and lower maternal respiratory rates. Analysis of the surrogate data showed shorter epochs of synchronization and a lack of the phase coordination found between maternal and fetal beat timing in the original data. Conclusion The results suggest that fetal-maternal heart rate coupling is present but generally weak. Maternal exercise has a damping effect on its occurrence, most likely due to an increase in beat-to-beat differences, higher vagal tone and slower breathing rates. PMID:25162592

Increased Short-Term Beat-to-Beat QT Interval Variability in Patients with Impaired Glucose Tolerance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Orosz

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Prediabetic states and diabetes are important risk factors for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Determination of short-term QT interval variability (STVQT is a non-invasive method for assessment of proarrhythmic risk. The aim of the study was to evaluate the STVQT in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT. 18 IGT patients [age: 63 ± 11 years, body mass index (BMI: 31 ± 6 kg/m2, fasting glucose: 6.0 ± 0.4 mmol/l, 120 min postload glucose: 9.0 ± 1.0 mmol/l, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c: 5.9 ± 0.4%; mean ± SD] and 18 healthy controls (age: 56 ± 9 years, BMI: 27 ± 5 kg/m2, fasting glucose: 5.2 ± 0.4 mmol/l, 120 min postload glucose: 5.5 ± 1.3 mmol/l, HbA1c: 5.4 ± 0.3% were enrolled into the study. ECGs were recorded, processed, and analyzed off-line. The RR and QT intervals were expressed as the average of 30 consecutive beats, the temporal instability of beat-to-beat repolarization was characterized by calculating STVQT as follows: STVQT = Σ|QTn + 1 − QTn| (30x√2−1. Autonomic function was assessed by means of standard cardiovascular reflex tests. There were no differences between IGT and control groups in QT (411 ± 43 vs 402 ± 39 ms and QTc (431 ± 25 vs 424 ± 19 ms intervals or QT dispersion (44 ± 13 vs 42 ± 17 ms. However, STVQT was significantly higher in IGT patients (5.0 ± 0.7 vs 3.7 ± 0.7, P < 0.0001. The elevated temporal STVQT in patients with IGT may be an early indicator of increased instability of cardiac repolarization during prediabetic conditions.

The role of nonlinear beating currents on parametric instabilities in magnetoplasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuo, S.P.

1996-01-01

A general coupled mode equation for the low-frequency decay modes of parametric instabilities in magnetoplasmas is derived. The relative importance of the nonlinear contributions from the ponderomotive force, nonlinear beating current, and anisotropic effect to the parametric coupling is then manifested by the coupling terms of the equation. It is first shown in the unmagnetized case, that the contribution of the nonlinear beating current is negligibly small because of the small coefficient (i.e., weight) of this current contribution, instead of the beating current itself. It then follows that the weight of the beating current contribution increases significantly in the magnetized case, and consequently, this contribution to the parametric coupling is found to be important, as exemplified by two specific examples. copyright 1996 American Institute of Physics

A binaural beat constructed from a noise

Science.gov (United States)

Akeroyd, Michael A

2012-01-01

The binaural beat has been used for over one hundred years as a stimulus for generating the percept of motion. Classically the beat consists of a pure tone at one ear (e.g. 500 Hz) and the same pure tone at the other ear but shifted upwards or downwards in frequency (e.g., 501 Hz). An experiment and binaural computational analysis are reported which demonstrate that a more powerful motion percept can be obtained by applying the concept of the frequency shift to a noise, via an upwards or downwards shift in the frequency of the Fourier components of its spectrum. PMID:21218863

Beat map drawing method for large oriental bell based on operational deflection shape method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Joong Hyeok; Kim, Seock Hyun [Dept. of Advanced Mechanical Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Park, In Seok [TB Tires Development 1 Team, R and D Center, Kumho Tire, Yongin (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Oriental bells produce a peculiar sound in the form of beats, which are periodic repetitions of strong and weak sounds. A beating sound with a proper period gives the illusion of the bell being alive and breathing. To produce a good beating sound, appropriate modal parameters are required for beat tuning after casting the bell. Conventionally, modal parameters were extracted using frequency response functions of the excitation and response signals. However, a large oriental bell is usually struck by a heavy wooden hammer and hence, only the response signal can be measured. In this study, we extract the modal parameters using the response signal only and employ the data to predict the beat properties of the bell sound. Finally, the validity of the predicted beat properties is experimentally verified for a large oriental bell.

Binaural beats and frequency-coding.

Science.gov (United States)

Fritze, W; Köhler, W

1986-01-01

Binaural beats were studied before and during a situation of temporary threshold shift, and no frequency shift could be found. In contrast, subjective binaural frequency comparison revealed a distinct shift. These findings demonstrate the two known modes of perception.

Inhibition of sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase decreases atrioventricular node-paced heart rate in rabbits.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Hongwei; Smith, Godfrey L; Orchard, Clive H; Hancox, Jules C; Burton, Francis L

2012-10-01

Recent data indicate that Ca(2+) cycling in isolated atrioventricular node (AVN) cells contributes to setting spontaneous rate. The aim of the present study was to extend this observation to the intact AVN in situ, by evaluating the effects of inhibiting sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) uptake with cyclopiazonic acid (CPA) on intact AVN spontaneous activity and its response to isoprenaline. A model of the AVN-paced heart was produced to investigate intact AVN automaticity, by surgical ablation of the sino-atrial node (SAN) in the rabbit Langendorff-perfused heart. Electrograms were recorded from a site close to the AVN (triangle of Koch), an atrial site above the AVN, the left atrium and right ventricle, enabling AVN pacing of the preparation to be confirmed. Before SAN ablation, the heart rate was 166.8 ± 5.4 beats min(-1). Ablation of the SAN was clearly indicated by a sudden and significant decrease of heart rate to 108.6 ± 9.6 beats min(-1) (P AVN rate to 187.8 ± 12.0 beats min(-1) after 1 min of application (P AVN rate to 81.6 ± 4.8 (n = 9) and 77.4 ± 6.0 beats min(-1) (n = 7), respectively [P AVN rate increase in response to isoprenaline from 78.8 ± 10.0 to 46.8 ± 6.8 and 26.7 ± 5.3%, respectively (P AVN rate and its response to isoprenaline indicate that Ca(2+) cycling is important to the intact AVN spontaneous activity and its acceleration during sympathetic stimulation.

Physiological and performance adaptations to an in-season soccer camp in the heat: Associations with heart rate and heart rate variability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buchheit, M; Voss, S C; Nybo, Lars

2011-01-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between adaptive responses to an in-season soccer training camp in the heat and changes in submaximal exercising heart rate (HRex, 5-min run at 9 ¿km/h), postexercise HR recovery (HRR) and HR variability (HRV). Fifteen well-trained but ......The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between adaptive responses to an in-season soccer training camp in the heat and changes in submaximal exercising heart rate (HRex, 5-min run at 9 ¿km/h), postexercise HR recovery (HRR) and HR variability (HRV). Fifteen well......-trained but non-heat-acclimatized male adult players performed a training week in Qatar (34.6¿±¿1.9°C wet bulb globe temperature). HRex, HRR, HRV (i.e. the standard deviation of instantaneous beat-to-beat R-R interval variability measured from Poincaré plots SD1, a vagal-related index), creatine kinase (CK...... at the beginning and at the end of the training week. Throughout the intervention, HRex and HRV showed decreasing (P¿...

Cross-cultural influences on rhythm processing: reproduction, discrimination, and beat tapping.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Daniel J; Bentley, Jocelyn; Grahn, Jessica A

2015-01-01

The structures of musical rhythm differ between cultures, despite the fact that the ability to entrain movement to musical rhythm occurs in virtually all individuals across cultures. To measure the influence of culture on rhythm processing, we tested East African and North American adults on perception, production, and beat tapping for rhythms derived from East African and Western music. To assess rhythm perception, participants identified whether pairs of rhythms were the same or different. To assess rhythm production, participants reproduced rhythms after hearing them. To assess beat tapping, participants tapped the beat along with repeated rhythms. We expected that performance in all three tasks would be influenced by the culture of the participant and the culture of the rhythm. Specifically, we predicted that a participant's ability to discriminate, reproduce, and accurately tap the beat would be better for rhythms from their own culture than for rhythms from another culture. In the rhythm discrimination task, there were no differences in discriminating culturally familiar and unfamiliar rhythms. In the rhythm reproduction task, both groups reproduced East African rhythms more accurately than Western rhythms, but East African participants also showed an effect of cultural familiarity, leading to a significant interaction. In the beat tapping task, participants in both groups tapped the beat more accurately for culturally familiar than for unfamiliar rhythms. Moreover, there were differences between the two participant groups, and between the two types of rhythms, in the metrical level selected for beat tapping. The results demonstrate that culture does influence the processing of musical rhythm. In terms of the function of musical rhythm, our results are consistent with theories that musical rhythm enables synchronization. Musical rhythm may foster musical cultural identity by enabling within-group synchronization to music, perhaps supporting social cohesion.

The effects of auditory stimulation with music on heart rate variability in healthy women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriano L. Roque

2013-07-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: There are no data in the literature with regard to the acute effects of different styles of music on the geometric indices of heart rate variability. In this study, we evaluated the acute effects of relaxant baroque and excitatory heavy metal music on the geometric indices of heart rate variability in women. METHODS: We conducted this study in 21 healthy women ranging in age from 18 to 35 years. We excluded persons with previous experience with musical instruments and persons who had an affinity for the song styles. We evaluated two groups: Group 1 (n = 21, who were exposed to relaxant classical baroque musical and excitatory heavy metal auditory stimulation; and Group 2 (n = 19, who were exposed to both styles of music and white noise auditory stimulation. Using earphones, the volunteers were exposed to baroque or heavy metal music for five minutes. After the first music exposure to baroque or heavy metal music, they remained at rest for five minutes; subsequently, they were re-exposed to the opposite music (70-80 dB. A different group of women were exposed to the same music styles plus white noise auditory stimulation (90 dB. The sequence of the songs was randomized for each individual. We analyzed the following indices: triangular index, triangular interpolation of RR intervals and Poincaré plot (standard deviation of instantaneous beat-by-beat variability, standard deviation of the long-term RR interval, standard deviation of instantaneous beat-by-beat variability and standard deviation of the long-term RR interval ratio, low frequency, high frequency, low frequency/high frequency ratio, standard deviation of all the normal RR intervals, root-mean square of differences between the adjacent normal RR intervals and the percentage of adjacent RR intervals with a difference of duration greater than 50 ms. Heart rate variability was recorded at rest for 10 minutes. RESULTS: The triangular index and the standard deviation of

The effects of auditory stimulation with music on heart rate variability in healthy women.

Science.gov (United States)

Roque, Adriano L; Valenti, Vitor E; Guida, Heraldo L; Campos, Mônica F; Knap, André; Vanderlei, Luiz Carlos M; Ferreira, Lucas L; Ferreira, Celso; Abreu, Luiz Carlos de

2013-07-01

There are no data in the literature with regard to the acute effects of different styles of music on the geometric indices of heart rate variability. In this study, we evaluated the acute effects of relaxant baroque and excitatory heavy metal music on the geometric indices of heart rate variability in women. We conducted this study in 21 healthy women ranging in age from 18 to 35 years. We excluded persons with previous experience with musical instruments and persons who had an affinity for the song styles. We evaluated two groups: Group 1 (n = 21), who were exposed to relaxant classical baroque musical and excitatory heavy metal auditory stimulation; and Group 2 (n = 19), who were exposed to both styles of music and white noise auditory stimulation. Using earphones, the volunteers were exposed to baroque or heavy metal music for five minutes. After the first music exposure to baroque or heavy metal music, they remained at rest for five minutes; subsequently, they were re-exposed to the opposite music (70-80 dB). A different group of women were exposed to the same music styles plus white noise auditory stimulation (90 dB). The sequence of the songs was randomized for each individual. We analyzed the following indices: triangular index, triangular interpolation of RR intervals and Poincaré plot (standard deviation of instantaneous beat-by-beat variability, standard deviation of the long-term RR interval, standard deviation of instantaneous beat-by-beat variability and standard deviation of the long-term RR interval ratio), low frequency, high frequency, low frequency/high frequency ratio, standard deviation of all the normal RR intervals, root-mean square of differences between the adjacent normal RR intervals and the percentage of adjacent RR intervals with a difference of duration greater than 50 ms. Heart rate variability was recorded at rest for 10 minutes. The triangular index and the standard deviation of the long-term RR interval indices were reduced

Atenolol Is Associated with Lower Day of Surgery Heart Rate as compared to Long and Short-acting Metoprolol

Science.gov (United States)

Schonberger, Robert B.; Brandt, Cynthia; Feinleib, Jessica; Dai, Feng; Burg, Matthew M.

2012-01-01

Objectives We analyzed the association between outpatient beta-blocker type and day-of-surgery heart rate in ambulatory surgical patients. We further investigated whether differences in day of surgery heart rate between atenolol and metoprolol could be explained by once-daily versus twice-daily dosing regimens. Design Retrospective observational study. Setting VA Hospital Participants Ambulatory surgical patients on chronic atenolol or metoprolol. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Using a propensity-score matched cohort, we compared day of surgery heart rates of patients prescribed atenolol versus metoprolol. We then differentiated between once-daily and twice-daily metoprolol formulations and compared day of surgery heart rates within a general linear model. Day of surgery heart rates in patients prescribed atenolol vs. any metoprolol formulation were slower by a mean of 5.1 beats/min (66.6 vs. 71.7; 95% CI of difference 1.9 to 8.3, p=0.002), a difference that was not observed in preoperative primary care visits. The general linear model demonstrated that patients prescribed atenolol (typically QD dosing) had a mean day of surgery heart rate 5.6 beats/min lower compared to patients prescribed once-daily metoprolol succinate (68.9 vs. 74.5; 95% CI of difference: −8.6 to −2.6, p<0.001) and 3.8 beats/minute lower compared to patients prescribed twice-daily metoprolol tartrate (68.9 vs. 72.7; 95% CI of difference: −6.1 to −1.6, p<0.001). Day of surgery heart rates were similar between different formulations of metoprolol (95% CI of difference: −1.0 to +4.6, p=0.22). Conclusions Atenolol is associated with lower day of surgery heart rate vs. metoprolol. The heart rate difference is specific to the day of surgery and is not explained by once-daily versus twice-daily dosing regimens. PMID:22889605

Beating of Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a closed-loop interferometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jo, Sanghyun; Chang, Dong-In; Lee, Hu-Jong; Khym, Gyong Luck; Kang, Kicheon; Chung, Yunchul; Mahalu, Diana; Umansky, Vladimir

2007-01-01

One of the points at issue with closed-loop-type interferometers is beating in the Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations. Recent observations suggest the possibility that the beating results from the Berry-phase pickup by the conducting electrons in materials with the strong spin-orbit interaction (SOI). In this study, we also observed beats in the AB oscillations in a gate-defined closed-loop interferometer fabricated on a GaAs/Al 0.3 Ga 0.7 As two-dimensional electron-gas heterostructure. Since this heterostructure has very small SOI, the picture of the Berry-phase pickup is ruled out. The observation of beats in this study, with the controllability of forming a single transverse subband mode in both arms of our gate-defined interferometer, also rules out the often-claimed multiple transverse subband effect. It is observed that nodes of the beats with an h/2e period exhibit a parabolic distribution for varying the side gate. These results are shown to be well interpreted, without resorting to the SOI effect, by the existence of two-dimensional multiple longitudinal modes in a single transverse subband. The Fourier spectrum of measured conductance, despite showing multiple h/e peaks with the magnetic-field dependence that are very similar to that from strong-SOI materials, can also be interpreted as the two-dimensional multiple-longitudinal-modes effect

The Roles of Traditional Gender Myths and Beliefs About Beating on Self-Reported Partner Violence.

Science.gov (United States)

Husnu, Shenel; Mertan, Biran E

2015-08-24

The aim of the current study was to investigate the roles of beliefs about beating, traditional gender myth endorsement, ambivalent sexism, and perceived partner violence in determining an individual's own reported violence toward his or her partner. The sample consisted of 205 (117 women; 88 men) Turkish and Turkish Cypriot undergraduate students, aged between 16 and 29 years. Participants completed measures of beliefs about beating, traditional gender myth endorsement, and ambivalent sexism and rated the extent to which they experienced abusive behaviors from their partner as well as the extent to which they were themselves abusive to their partners. Results showed that positive beliefs about beating, endorsing traditional gender myths, and experiencing partner abuse were all predictive of self-reported abuse to one's partner. Furthermore, the relationship between myth endorsement and self-abusive behavior was mediated by beliefs toward beating-only in men. Results are discussed in light of the traditional gender system evident in Turkish societal makeup. © The Author(s) 2015.

Beat gestures and prosodic prominence: impact on learning

OpenAIRE

Kushch, Olga

2018-01-01

Previous research has shown that gestures are beneficial for language learning. This doctoral thesis centers on the effects of beat gestures– i.e., hand and arm gestures that are typically associated with prosodically prominent positions in speech - on such processes. Little is known about how the two central properties of beat gestures, namely how they mark both information focus and rhythmic positions in speech, can be beneficial for learning either a first or a second language. The main go...

Activating and relaxing music entrains the speed of beat synchronized walking

OpenAIRE

Leman, Marc; Moelants, Dirk; Varewyck, Matthias; Styns, Frederik; van Noorden, Leon; Martens, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

Inspired by a theory of embodied music cognition, we investigate whether music can entrain the speed of beat synchronized walking. If human walking is in synchrony with the beat and all musical stimuli have the same duration and the same tempo, then differences in walking speed can only be the result of music-induced differences in stride length, thus reflecting the vigor or physical strength of the movement. Participants walked in an open field in synchrony with the beat of 52 different musi...

Nonlinear beat excitation of low frequency wave in degenerate plasmas

Science.gov (United States)

Mir, Zahid; Shahid, M.; Jamil, M.; Rasheed, A.; Shahbaz, A.

2018-03-01

The beat phenomenon due to the coupling of two signals at slightly different frequencies that generates the low frequency signal is studied. The linear dispersive properties of the pump and sideband are analyzed. The modified nonlinear dispersion relation through the field coupling of linear modes against the beat frequency is derived in the homogeneous quantum dusty magnetoplasmas. The dispersion relation is used to derive the modified growth rate of three wave parametric instability. Moreover, significant quantum effects of electrons through the exchange-correlation potential, the Bohm potential, and the Fermi pressure evolved in macroscopic three wave interaction are presented. The analytical results are interpreted graphically describing the significance of the work. The applications of this study are pointed out at the end of introduction.

smRithm: Graphical user interface for heart rate variability analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nara, Sanjeev; Kaur, Manvinder; Datta, Saurav

2015-01-01

Over the past 25 years, Heart rate variability (HRV) has become a non-invasive research and clinical tool for indirectly carrying out investigation of both cardiac and autonomic system function in both healthy and diseased. It provides valuable information about a wide range of cardiovascular disorders, pulmonary diseases, neurological diseases, etc. Its primary purpose is to access the functioning of the nervous system. The source of information for HRV analysis is the continuous beat to beat measurement of inter-beat intervals. The electrocardiography (ECG or EKG) is considered as the best way to measure inter-beat intervals. This paper proposes an open source Graphical User Interface (GUI): smRithm developed in MATLAB for HRV analysis that will apply effective techniques on the raw ECG signals to process and decompose it in a simpler manner to obtain more useful information out of signals that can be utilized for more powerful and efficient applications in the near future related to HRV.

Robust electrocardiogram (ECG) beat classification using discrete wavelet transform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minhas, Fayyaz-ul-Amir Afsar; Arif, Muhammad

2008-01-01

This paper presents a robust technique for the classification of six types of heartbeats through an electrocardiogram (ECG). Features extracted from the QRS complex of the ECG using a wavelet transform along with the instantaneous RR-interval are used for beat classification. The wavelet transform utilized for feature extraction in this paper can also be employed for QRS delineation, leading to reduction in overall system complexity as no separate feature extraction stage would be required in the practical implementation of the system. Only 11 features are used for beat classification with the classification accuracy of ∼99.5% through a KNN classifier. Another main advantage of this method is its robustness to noise, which is illustrated in this paper through experimental results. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) has been used for feature reduction, which reduces the number of features from 11 to 6 while retaining the high beat classification accuracy. Due to reduction in computational complexity (using six features, the time required is ∼4 ms per beat), a simple classifier and noise robustness (at 10 dB signal-to-noise ratio, accuracy is 95%), this method offers substantial advantages over previous techniques for implementation in a practical ECG analyzer

Simulation of the Beating Heart Based on Physically Modeling a Deformable Balloon

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rohmer, Damien; Sitek, Arkadiusz; Gullberg, Grant T.

2006-01-01

The motion of the beating heart is complex and creates artifacts in SPECT and x-ray CT images. Phantoms such as the Jaszczak Dynamic Cardiac Phantom are used to simulate cardiac motion for evaluation of acquisition and data processing protocols used for cardiac imaging. Two concentric elastic membranes filled with water are connected to tubing and pump apparatus for creating fluid flow in and out of the inner volume to simulate motion of the heart. In the present report, the movement of two concentric balloons is solved numerically in order to create a computer simulation of the motion of the moving membranes in the Jaszczak Dynamic Cardiac Phantom. A system of differential equations, based on the physical properties, determine the motion. Two methods are tested for solving the system of differential equations. The results of both methods are similar providing a final shape that does not converge to a trivial circular profile. Finally, a tomographic imaging simulation is performed by acquiring static projections of the moving shape and reconstructing the result to observe motion artifacts. Two cases are taken into account: in one case each projection angle is sampled for a short time interval and the other case is sampled for a longer time interval. The longer sampling acquisition shows a clear improvement in decreasing the tomographic streaking artifacts

Subdividing the beat: auditory and motor contributions to synchronization

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Loehr, J.D.; Palmer, C.

2009-01-01

THE CURRENT STUDY EXAMINED HOW AUDITORY AND kinematic information influenced pianists' ability to synchronize musical sequences with a metronome. Pianists performed melodies in which quarter-note beats were subdivided by intervening eighth notes that resulted from auditory information (heard tones),

The Effect of Binaural Beats on Visuospatial Working Memory and Cortical Connectivity

OpenAIRE

Beauchene, Christine; Abaid, Nicole; Moran, Rosalyn; Diana, Rachel A.; Leonessa, Alexander

2016-01-01

Binaural beats utilize a phenomenon that occurs within the cortex when two different frequencies are presented separately to each ear. This procedure produces a third phantom binaural beat, whose frequency is equal to the difference of the two presented tones and which can be manipulated for non-invasive brain stimulation. The effects of binaural beats on working memory, the system in control of temporary retention and online organization of thoughts for successful goal directed behavior, hav...

Beat processing is pre-attentive for metrically simple rhythms with clear accents: an ERP study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fleur L Bouwer

Full Text Available The perception of a regular beat is fundamental to music processing. Here we examine whether the detection of a regular beat is pre-attentive for metrically simple, acoustically varying stimuli using the mismatch negativity (MMN, an ERP response elicited by violations of acoustic regularity irrespective of whether subjects are attending to the stimuli. Both musicians and non-musicians were presented with a varying rhythm with a clear accent structure in which occasionally a sound was omitted. We compared the MMN response to the omission of identical sounds in different metrical positions. Most importantly, we found that omissions in strong metrical positions, on the beat, elicited higher amplitude MMN responses than omissions in weak metrical positions, not on the beat. This suggests that the detection of a beat is pre-attentive when highly beat inducing stimuli are used. No effects of musical expertise were found. Our results suggest that for metrically simple rhythms with clear accents beat processing does not require attention or musical expertise. In addition, we discuss how the use of acoustically varying stimuli may influence ERP results when studying beat processing.

Wife beating refusal among women of reproductive age in urban and rural Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurmu, Eshetu; Endale, Senait

2017-03-16

Wife beating is the most common and widespread form of intimate partner violence in Ethiopia. It results in countless severe health, socio-economic and psychological problems and has contributed to the violation of human rights including the liberty of women to enjoy conjugal life. The main purpose of this study is to assess the levels and patterns of wife beating refusal and its associated socio-cultural and demographic factors in rural and urban Ethiopia. The 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) data based on 11,097 and 5287 women in the reproductive age group (i.e. 15-49 years) living in rural and urban areas, respectively,were used in this study. Cronbach's alpha was used to assess the internal consistency of the measure of women's attitudes towards wife beating. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences was applied to analyze the data. A binary logistic regression model was fitted to identify variables that significantly predict respondents' refusal of wife beating. Separate analysis by a place of residence was undertaken as attitude towards wife beating vary between rural and urban areas. The likelihood of refusing wife beating in Ethiopia was significantly higher among urban women (54.2%) than rural women (24.5%). Although there was a significant variations in attitude towards refusing wife beating among different regions in Ethiopia, increasing educational level, high access to media, age of respondents were associated with high level of refusal of wife beating. In contrast, rural residence, being in marital union, high number of living children, being followers of some religions (Muslim followers in urban and Protestants in rural) were associated with low level of refusal of wife beating. The findings of this study reveal that wife beating in Ethiopia is a function of demographic and socio-cultural factors among which age and educational attainment of respondents, number of living children, religious affiliation, marital commitment and

Adult Murine Skeletal Muscle Contains Cells That Can Differentiate into Beating Cardiomyocytes In Vitro

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Winitsky Steve O

2005-01-01

Full Text Available It has long been held as scientific fact that soon after birth, cardiomyocytes cease dividing, thus explaining the limited restoration of cardiac function after a heart attack. Recent demonstrations of cardiac myocyte differentiation observed in vitro or after in vivo transplantation of adult stem cells from blood, fat, skeletal muscle, or heart have challenged this view. Analysis of these studies has been complicated by the large disparity in the magnitude of effects seen by different groups and obscured by the recently appreciated process of in vivo stem-cell fusion. We now show a novel population of nonsatellite cells in adult murine skeletal muscle that progress under standard primary cell-culture conditions to autonomously beating cardiomyocytes. Their differentiation into beating cardiomyocytes is characterized here by video microscopy, confocal-detected calcium transients, electron microscopy, immunofluorescent cardiac-specific markers, and single-cell patch recordings of cardiac action potentials. Within 2 d after tail-vein injection of these marked cells into a mouse model of acute infarction, the marked cells are visible in the heart. By 6 d they begin to differentiate without fusing to recipient cardiac cells. Three months later, the tagged cells are visible as striated heart muscle restricted to the region of the cardiac infarct.

Adult murine skeletal muscle contains cells that can differentiate into beating cardiomyocytes in vitro.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steve O Winitsky

2005-04-01

Full Text Available It has long been held as scientific fact that soon after birth, cardiomyocytes cease dividing, thus explaining the limited restoration of cardiac function after a heart attack. Recent demonstrations of cardiac myocyte differentiation observed in vitro or after in vivo transplantation of adult stem cells from blood, fat, skeletal muscle, or heart have challenged this view. Analysis of these studies has been complicated by the large disparity in the magnitude of effects seen by different groups and obscured by the recently appreciated process of in vivo stem-cell fusion. We now show a novel population of nonsatellite cells in adult murine skeletal muscle that progress under standard primary cell-culture conditions to autonomously beating cardiomyocytes. Their differentiation into beating cardiomyocytes is characterized here by video microscopy, confocal-detected calcium transients, electron microscopy, immunofluorescent cardiac-specific markers, and single-cell patch recordings of cardiac action potentials. Within 2 d after tail-vein injection of these marked cells into a mouse model of acute infarction, the marked cells are visible in the heart. By 6 d they begin to differentiate without fusing to recipient cardiac cells. Three months later, the tagged cells are visible as striated heart muscle restricted to the region of the cardiac infarct.

Analysis of the respiratory component of heart rate variability in the Cururu toad Rhinella schneideri.

Science.gov (United States)

Zena, Lucas A; Leite, Cléo A C; Longhini, Leonardo S; Dias, Daniel P M; da Silva, Glauber S F; Hartzler, Lynn K; Gargaglioni, Luciane H; Bícego, Kênia C

2017-11-23

Beat-to-beat variation in heart rate (f H ) has been used as a tool for elucidating the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic modulation of the heart. A portion of the temporal changes in f H is evidenced by a respiratory influence (cardiorespiratory interaction) on heart rate variability (HRV) with heartbeats increasing and decreasing within a respiratory cycle. Nevertheless, little is known about respiratory effects on HRV in lower vertebrates. By using frequency domain analysis, we provide the first evidence of a ventilatory component in HRV similar to mammalian respiratory sinus arrhythmia in an amphibian, the toad Rhinella schneideri. Increases in the heartbeats arose synchronously with each lung inflation cycle, an intermittent breathing pattern comprised of a series of successive lung inflations. A well-marked peak in the HRV signal matching lung inflation cycle was verified in toads whenever lung inflation cycles exhibit a regular rhythm. The cardiac beat-to-beat variation evoked at the moment of lung inflation accounts for both vagal and sympathetic influences. This cardiorespiratory interaction may arise from interactions between central and peripheral feedback mechanisms governing cardiorespiratory control and may underlie important cardiorespiratory adjustments for gas exchange improvement especially under extreme conditions like low oxygen availability.

Electron non-linearities in Langmuir waves with application to beat-wave experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bell, A.R.; Gibbon, P.

1988-01-01

Non-linear Langmuir waves are examined in the context of the beat-wave accelerator. With a background of immobile ions the waves in one dimension are subject to the relativistic non-linearity of Rosenbluth, M.N. and Liu, C.S., Phys. Rev. Lett., 1972, 29, 701. In two or three dimensions, other electron non-linearities occur which involve electric and magnetic fields. The quasi-linear equations for these non-linearities are developed and solved numerically in a geometry representative of laser-driven beat waves. (author)

Cross-Cultural Influences on Rhythm Processing: Reproduction, Discrimination, and Beat Tapping

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Daniel J Cameron

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The structures of musical rhythm differ between cultures, despite the fact that the ability to synchronize one’s movements to musical rhythms appears to be universal. To measure the influence of culture on rhythm processing, we tested East African and North American adults on the perception, production, and beat tapping of rhythms derived from East African and Western music. To assess rhythm perception, participants identified whether pairs of rhythms were same or different. To assess rhythm production, participants reproduced rhythms after hearing them. To assess beat tapping, participants tapped the beat along with repeated rhythms. We expected that performance in all three tasks would be influenced both by the culture of the participant and by the culture of the rhythm. Specifically, we predicted that a participant’s ability to discriminate, reproduce, and accurately tap the beat would be better for rhythms from their own culture than for rhythms from another culture. In the rhythm discrimination task, there were no differences in discriminating culturally familiar and unfamiliar rhythms. In the rhythm reproduction task, both groups reproduced East African rhythms more accurately than Western rhythms, but East African participants also showed an effect of cultural familiarity, leading to a significant interaction. In the beat tapping task, participants in both groups tapped the beat more accurately for culturally familiar than unfamiliar rhythms. The results demonstrate that culture does influence the processing of musical rhythm. In terms of the function of musical rhythm, our results are consistent with theories that musical rhythm enables synchronization. Musical rhythm may foster musical cultural identity by enabling within-group synchronization to music, perhaps supporting social cohesion.

Influences of rolling method on deformation force in cold roll-beating forming process

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Yongxiang; Cui, Fengkui; Liang, Xiaoming; Li, Yan

2018-03-01

In process, the research object, the gear rack was selected to study the influence law of rolling method on the deformation force. By the mean of the cold roll forming finite element simulation, the variation regularity of radial and tangential deformation was analysed under different rolling methods. The variation of deformation force of the complete forming racks and the single roll during the steady state under different rolling modes was analyzed. The results show: when upbeating and down beating, radial single point average force is similar, the tangential single point average force gap is bigger, the gap of tangential single point average force is relatively large. Add itionally, the tangential force at the time of direct beating is large, and the dire ction is opposite with down beating. With directly beating, deformation force loading fast and uninstall slow. Correspondingly, with down beating, deformat ion force loading slow and uninstall fast.

Pectoral fin beat frequency predicts oxygen consumption during spontaneous activity in a labriform swimming fish (Embiotoca lateralis)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tudorache, Christian; Jordan, Anders D.; Svendsen, Jon Christian

2009-01-01

The objective of this study was to identify kinematic variables correlated with oxygen consumption during spontaneous labriform swimming. Kinematic variables (swimming speed, change of speed, turning angle, turning rate, turning radius and pectoral fin beat frequency) and oxygen consumption (MO2......) of spontaneous swimming in Embiotoca lateralis were measured in a circular arena using video tracking and respirometry, respectively. The main variable influencing MO2 was pectoral fin beat frequency (r (2) = 0.71). No significant relationship was found between swimming speed and pectoral fin beat frequency....... Complementary to other methods within biotelemetry such as EMG it is suggested that such correlations of pectoral fin beat frequency may be used to measure the energy requirements of labriform swimming fish such as E. lateralis in the field, but need to be taken with great caution since movement and oxygen...

Wife beating amongst Africans as a challenge to pastoral care

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magezi E. Baloyi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Traditional African people are known for respecting their marriage. Even though marriage is so highly regarded, it is astonishing to realise that wife beating has become an extremely common practice amongst them. It therefore becomes an important research question to ask about the extent to which deeply-seated traditional customs regarding wife beating as a form of stamping down authority and of trying to keep the household in order, will have to be confronted with what is deemed to be good practice from the perspective of the law, community and pastoral caregivers. There are women who live with scars on their faces and bodies, having been beaten by their husbands. Although there are many forms of abuse towards women in family situations, this article aims particularly to focus on wife beating that is practiced for traditional as well as other related reasons. This research will involve itself with establishing whether the reasons for wife beating are part of the traditional system for keeping the household in order and interrogate both legal and pastoral interventions that attempt to eliminate or avoid such behaviour. Tradisionele Afrikane is nog altyd daarvoor bekend dat hulle die instelling van die huwelik respekteer. Verbasend genoeg is vroueslanery egter ’n ou gevestigde gebruik wat vandag algemeen onder Afrikane voorkom. Die mate waartoe diepgewortelde gebruike soos vroueslanery as ’n manier om gesag af te dwing en orde in die huis te handhaaf, gekonfronteer sal moet word met wat as goeie praktyk beskou word vanuit die gesigspunt van die reg, die gemeenskap en pastorale versorgers, is dus ’n belangrike navorsingsvraag. Baie vroue dra fisiese en emosionele littekens wat deur hulle eggenote veroorsaak is. Alhoewel daar baie vorme van vrouemishandeling in familiesituasies voorkom, fokus hierdie artikel veral op vroueslanery wat om tradisionele en verwante redes beoefen word. Hierdie navorsing probeer vasstel of die redes vir

Electrocardiogram application based on heart rate variability ontology and fuzzy markup language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wang, M.-H.; Lee, C.-S.; Acampora, G.; Loia, V.; Gacek, A.; Pedrycz, W.

2011-01-01

The electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is adopted extensively as a low-cost diagnostic procedure to provide information concerning the healthy status of the heart. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a physiological phenomenon where the time interval between heart beats varies. It is measured by the

Measuring Neural Entrainment to Beat and Meter in Infants: Effects of Music Background

Science.gov (United States)

Cirelli, Laura K.; Spinelli, Christina; Nozaradan, Sylvie; Trainor, Laurel J.

2016-01-01

Caregivers often engage in musical interactions with their infants. For example, parents across cultures sing lullabies and playsongs to their infants from birth. Behavioral studies indicate that infants not only extract beat information, but also group these beats into metrical hierarchies by as early as 6 months of age. However, it is not known how this is accomplished in the infant brain. An EEG frequency-tagging approach has been used successfully with adults to measure neural entrainment to auditory rhythms. The current study is the first to use this technique with infants in order to investigate how infants' brains encode rhythms. Furthermore, we examine how infant and parent music background is associated with individual differences in rhythm encoding. In Experiment 1, EEG was recorded while 7-month-old infants listened to an ambiguous rhythmic pattern that could be perceived to be in two different meters. In Experiment 2, EEG was recorded while 15-month-old infants listened to a rhythmic pattern with an unambiguous meter. In both age groups, information about music background (parent music training, infant music classes, hours of music listening) was collected. Both age groups showed clear EEG responses frequency-locked to the rhythms, at frequencies corresponding to both beat and meter. For the younger infants (Experiment 1), the amplitudes at duple meter frequencies were selectively enhanced for infants enrolled in music classes compared to those who had not engaged in such classes. For the older infants (Experiment 2), amplitudes at beat and meter frequencies were larger for infants with musically-trained compared to musically-untrained parents. These results suggest that the frequency-tagging method is sensitive to individual differences in beat and meter processing in infancy and could be used to track developmental changes. PMID:27252619

Comparison of the measurement of heart rate in adult free-range chickens (Gallus domesticus) by auscultation and electrocardiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, C F; Gavaghan, B J; McSweeney, D; Powell, V; Lisle, A

2014-12-01

To compare the heart rates of adult free-range chickens (Gallus domesticus) measured by auscultation with a stethoscope with those measured simultaneously using electrocardiography (ECG). With each bird in a standing position, estimation of the heart rate was performed by placing a mark on paper for every 4 beats for roosters and 8 beats for hens as detected by auscultation over 30 s, while simultaneous ECG was performed. Heart rates measured by auscultation showed a high correlation (r = 0.97) with those measured by ECG. There was a high correlation between the heart rates of adult free-range chickens measured by auscultation with a stethoscope and those measured simultaneously using ECG. © 2014 Australian Veterinary Association.

The Beats as Cultural Others/Exotics in Recent Memoirs by Exile Poets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Bent

Poets who have come to the USA during the 1950s and 60s as expatriates or exiles from central European countries dominated by Communist regimes have often looked to Beat Generation writers as role models and inspirational figures. This is no doubt due to the spirit of individuality, non-conformis......Poets who have come to the USA during the 1950s and 60s as expatriates or exiles from central European countries dominated by Communist regimes have often looked to Beat Generation writers as role models and inspirational figures. This is no doubt due to the spirit of individuality, non......-conformism and jubilant celebration of difference and otherness which permeates the writings of poets such as Allen Ginsberg, and which resonated with dissident poets often oppressed by totalitarian regimes. Authors such as Andrei Codrescu and Charles Simic have published memoirs and poems detailing their fascination...... with figures associated with the Beat Generation. This paper examines the representation of Beat writers such as Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac in Codrescu and Simic's texts, and argues that the exile poets overlay the well-known figures of the Beat writers with yet another dimension of otherness and exoticism...

The Effect of Heart Rate on the Heart Rate Variability Response to Autonomic Interventions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George E Billman

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Heart rate variability (HRV, the beat-to-beat variation in either heart rate (HR or heart period (R-R interval, has become a popular clinical and investigational tool to quantify cardiac autonomic regulation. However, it is not widely appreciated that, due to the inverse curvilinear relationship between HR and R-R interval, HR per se can profoundly influence HRV. It is, therefore, critical to correct HRV for the prevailing HR particularly, as HR changes in response to autonomic neural activation or inhibition. The present study evaluated the effects of HR on the HRV response to autonomic interventions that either increased (submaximal exercise, n = 25 or baroreceptor reflex activation, n = 20 or reduced (pharmacological blockade: β-adrenergic receptor, muscarinic receptor antagonists alone and in combination, n = 25, or bilateral cervical vagotomy, n = 9 autonomic neural activity in a canine model. Both total (RR interval standard deviation, RRSD and the high frequency variability (HF, 0.2 to 1.04 Hz were determined before and in response to an autonomic intervention. All interventions that reduced or abolished cardiac parasympathetic regulation provoked large reductions in HRV even after HR correction [division by mean RRsec or (mean RRsec2 for RRSD and HF, respectively] while interventions that reduced HR yielded mixed results. β-adrenergic receptor blockade reduced HRV (RRSD but not HF while both RRSD and HF increased in response to increases in arterial blood (baroreceptor reflex activation even after HR correction. These data suggest that the physiological basis for HRV is revealed after correction for prevailing HR and, further, that cardiac parasympathetic activity is responsible for a major portion of the HRV in the dog.

Beat my bass, pluck my drum

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hengeveld, B.J.; Funk, M.; Doing, V.

2014-01-01

Beating a bass, plucking a drum -- new systems of instruments make it possible. In this paper we describe recent research into networked musical instruments for group improvisation; instruments that reciprocally influence each other's behaviour, making, contrary to what we are used to, the

Modeling of Nonlinear Beat Signals of TAE's

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Zhang, Bo; Berk, Herbert; Breizman, Boris; Zheng, Linjin

2012-03-01

Experiments on Alcator C-Mod reveal Toroidal Alfven Eigenmodes (TAE) together with signals at various beat frequencies, including those at twice the mode frequency. The beat frequencies are sidebands driven by quadratic nonlinear terms in the MHD equations. These nonlinear sidebands have not yet been quantified by any existing codes. We extend the AEGIS code to capture nonlinear effects by treating the nonlinear terms as a driving source in the linear MHD solver. Our goal is to compute the spatial structure of the sidebands for realistic geometry and q-profile, which can be directly compared with experiment in order to interpret the phase contrast imaging diagnostic measurements and to enable the quantitative determination of the Alfven wave amplitude in the plasma core

Effect of pre operative heart rate on post spinal hypotension in obsteric patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khan, S.; Zahoor, M.U.; Zaid, A.Y.; Buland, K.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the study was to determine the association between of preoperative heart rate and post spinal hypotension in women undergoing cesarean section, Two hundred patients undergoing caesarean were included in the study selected on non probability convenience sampling technique, The patients were divided into two groups depending upon their pre operative heart rate. Spinal anesthesia was administered and number of patients developing hypotension was noted. Among 200 patients, who were included in the study; 112 were placed in group A and 88 were placed in group B depending on mean heart rate of 90 beats per minute or less or 91 beats per minute or more respectively. In group A 14 (11.86%) patients developed hypotension where as in group B 28 (31,82%) patients developed hypotension. Pre operative heart rate is significantly associated with post spinal hypotension in obstetric patients undergoing cesarean section. (author)

The effect of gamma-enhancing binaural beats on the control of feature bindings.

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Colzato, Lorenza S; Steenbergen, Laura; Sellaro, Roberta

2017-07-01

Binaural beats represent the auditory experience of an oscillating sound that occurs when two sounds with neighboring frequencies are presented to one's left and right ear separately. Binaural beats have been shown to impact information processing via their putative role in increasing neural synchronization. Recent studies of feature-repetition effects demonstrated interactions between perceptual features and action-related features: repeating only some, but not all features of a perception-action episode hinders performance. These partial-repetition (or binding) costs point to the existence of temporary episodic bindings (event files) that are automatically retrieved by repeating at least one of their features. Given that neural synchronization in the gamma band has been associated with visual feature bindings, we investigated whether the impact of binaural beats extends to the top-down control of feature bindings. Healthy adults listened to gamma-frequency (40 Hz) binaural beats or to a constant tone of 340 Hz (control condition) for ten minutes before and during a feature-repetition task. While the size of visuomotor binding costs (indicating the binding of visual and action features) was unaffected by the binaural beats, the size of visual feature binding costs (which refer to the binding between the two visual features) was considerably smaller during gamma-frequency binaural beats exposure than during the control condition. Our results suggest that binaural beats enhance selectivity in updating episodic memory traces and further strengthen the hypothesis that neural activity in the gamma band is critically associated with the control of feature binding.

Beating motion of a circular cylinder in vortex-induced vibrations

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Shen, Linwei; Chan, Eng-Soon; Wei, Yan

2018-04-01

In this paper, beating phenomenon of a circular cylinder in vortex-induced vibration is studied by numerical simulations in a systematic manner. The cylinder mass coefficients of 2 and 10 are considered, and the Reynolds number is 150. Two distinctive frequencies, namely cylinder oscillation and vortex shedding frequencies, are obtained from the harmonic analysis of the cylinder displacement. The result is consistent with that observed in laboratory experiments. It is found that the cylinder oscillation frequency changes with the natural frequency of the cylinder while the reduced velocity is varied. The added-mass coefficient of the cylinder in beating motion is therefore estimated. Meanwhile, the vortex shedding frequency does not change dramatically in the beating situations. In fact, it is very close to 0.2. Accordingly, the lift force coefficient has two main components associated with these two frequencies. Besides, higher harmonics of the cylinder oscillation frequency appear in the spectrum of the lift coefficient. Moreover, the vortex shedding timing is studied in the beating motion by examining the instantaneous flow fields in the wake, and two scenarios of the vortex formation are observed.

Assessing Metabolic Syndrome Through Increased Heart Rate During Exercise

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Masoumeh Sadeghi

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The present study aimed to assess changes in resting and maximum heart rates as primary indicators of cardiac autonomic function in metabolic syndrome (MetS patients and to determine their value for discriminating MetS from non-MetS. 468 participants were enrolled in this cross-sectional study and assessed according to the updated adult treatment panel III (ATP-III definition of MetS. Resting and maximum heart rates were recorded following the Bruce protocol during an exercise. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC curve was used to identify the best cutoff point for discriminating MetS from the non-MetS state. 194 participants (41.5% were diagnosed as MetS. The mean resting heart rate (RHR was not statistically different between the two groups (P=0.078. However, the mean maximum heart (MHR rate was considerably higher in participants with MetS (142.37±14.84 beats per min compared to the non-MetS group (134.62±21.63 beats per min (P<0.001. In the MetS group, the MHR was positively correlated with the serum triglyceride level (β=0.185, P=0.033 and was inversely associated with age (β=-0.469, P<0.001. The MHR had a moderate value for discriminating MetS from the non-MetS state (c=0.580, P=0.004 with the optimal cutoff point of 140 beats per min. In MetS patients, the MHR was significantly greater compared to non-MetS subjects and was directly correlated with serum triglyceride levels and inversely with advanced age. Moreover, MHR can be used as a suspicious indicator for identifying MetS.

Assessing Metabolic Syndrome Through Increased Heart Rate During Exercise.

Science.gov (United States)

Sadeghi, Masoumeh; Gharipour, Mojgan; Nezafati, Pouya; Shafie, Davood; Aghababaei, Esmaeil; Sarrafzadegan, Nizal

2016-11-01

The present study aimed to assess changes in resting and maximum heart rates as primary indicators of cardiac autonomic function in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients and to determine their value for discriminating MetS from non-MetS. 468 participants were enrolled in this cross-sectional study and assessed according to the updated adult treatment panel III (ATP-III) definition of MetS. Resting and maximum heart rates were recorded following the Bruce protocol during an exercise. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to identify the best cutoff point for discriminating MetS from the non-MetS state. 194 participants (41.5%) were diagnosed as MetS. The mean resting heart rate (RHR) was not statistically different between the two groups (P=0.078). However, the mean maximum heart (MHR) rate was considerably higher in participants with MetS (142.37±14.84 beats per min) compared to the non-MetS group (134.62±21.63 beats per min) (P<0.001). In the MetS group, the MHR was positively correlated with the serum triglyceride level (β=0.185, P=0.033) and was inversely associated with age (β=-0.469, P<0.001). The MHR had a moderate value for discriminating MetS from the non-MetS state (c=0.580, P=0.004) with the optimal cutoff point of 140 beats per min. In MetS patients, the MHR was significantly greater compared to non-MetS subjects and was directly correlated with serum triglyceride levels and inversely with advanced age. Moreover, MHR can be used as a suspicious indicator for identifying MetS.

Analysis of fluid flow around a beating artificial cilium

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Mojca Vilfan

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Biological cilia are found on surfaces of some microorganisms and on surfaces of many eukaryotic cells where they interact with the surrounding fluid. The periodic beating of the cilia is asymmetric, resulting in directed swimming of unicellular organisms or in generation of a fluid flow above a ciliated surface in multicellular ones. Following the biological example, externally driven artificial cilia have recently been successfully implemented as micropumps and mixers. However, biomimetic systems are useful not only in microfluidic applications, but can also serve as model systems for the study of fundamental hydrodynamic phenomena in biological samples. To gain insight into the basic principles governing propulsion and fluid pumping on a micron level, we investigated hydrodynamics around one beating artificial cilium. The cilium was composed of superparamagnetic particles and driven along a tilted cone by a varying external magnetic field. Nonmagnetic tracer particles were used for monitoring the fluid flow generated by the cilium. The average flow velocity in the pumping direction was obtained as a function of different parameters, such as the rotation frequency, the asymmetry of the beat pattern, and the cilium length. We also calculated the velocity field around the beating cilium by using the analytical far-field expansion. The measured average flow velocity and the theoretical prediction show an excellent agreement.

Brain Responses to a 6-Hz Binaural Beat: Effects on General Theta Rhythm and Frontal Midline Theta Activity.

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Jirakittayakorn, Nantawachara; Wongsawat, Yodchanan

2017-01-01

A binaural beat is a beat phenomenon that is generated by the dichotic presentation of two almost equivalent pure tones but with slightly different frequencies. The brain responses to binaural beats remain controversial; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate theta activity responses to a binaural beat by controlling factors affecting localization, including beat frequency, carrier tone frequency, exposure duration, and recording procedure. Exposure to a 6-Hz binaural beat on a 250 Hz carrier tone for 30 min was utilized in this study. Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) was utilized as the recording modality. Twenty-eight participants were divided into experimental and control groups. Emotional states were evaluated by Brunel Mood Scale (BRMUS) before and after exposing to the stimulus. The results showed that theta activity was induced in the entire cortex within 10 min of exposure to the stimulus in the experimental group. Compared to the control group, theta activity was also induced at the frontal and parietal-central regions, which included the Fz position, and left hemisphere dominance was presented for other exposure durations. The pattern recorded for 10 min of exposure appeared to be brain functions of a meditative state. Moreover, tension factor of BRUMS was decreased in experimental group compared to control group which resembled the meditation effect. Thus, a 6-Hz binaural beat on a 250 Hz carrier tone was suggested as a stimulus for inducing a meditative state.

Brain Responses to a 6-Hz Binaural Beat: Effects on General Theta Rhythm and Frontal Midline Theta Activity

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Nantawachara Jirakittayakorn

2017-06-01

Full Text Available A binaural beat is a beat phenomenon that is generated by the dichotic presentation of two almost equivalent pure tones but with slightly different frequencies. The brain responses to binaural beats remain controversial; therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate theta activity responses to a binaural beat by controlling factors affecting localization, including beat frequency, carrier tone frequency, exposure duration, and recording procedure. Exposure to a 6-Hz binaural beat on a 250 Hz carrier tone for 30 min was utilized in this study. Quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG was utilized as the recording modality. Twenty-eight participants were divided into experimental and control groups. Emotional states were evaluated by Brunel Mood Scale (BRMUS before and after exposing to the stimulus. The results showed that theta activity was induced in the entire cortex within 10 min of exposure to the stimulus in the experimental group. Compared to the control group, theta activity was also induced at the frontal and parietal-central regions, which included the Fz position, and left hemisphere dominance was presented for other exposure durations. The pattern recorded for 10 min of exposure appeared to be brain functions of a meditative state. Moreover, tension factor of BRUMS was decreased in experimental group compared to control group which resembled the meditation effect. Thus, a 6-Hz binaural beat on a 250 Hz carrier tone was suggested as a stimulus for inducing a meditative state.

Activating and relaxing music entrains the speed of beat synchronized walking.

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Leman, Marc; Moelants, Dirk; Varewyck, Matthias; Styns, Frederik; van Noorden, Leon; Martens, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

Inspired by a theory of embodied music cognition, we investigate whether music can entrain the speed of beat synchronized walking. If human walking is in synchrony with the beat and all musical stimuli have the same duration and the same tempo, then differences in walking speed can only be the result of music-induced differences in stride length, thus reflecting the vigor or physical strength of the movement. Participants walked in an open field in synchrony with the beat of 52 different musical stimuli all having a tempo of 130 beats per minute and a meter of 4 beats. The walking speed was measured as the walked distance during a time interval of 30 seconds. The results reveal that some music is 'activating' in the sense that it increases the speed, and some music is 'relaxing' in the sense that it decreases the speed, compared to the spontaneous walked speed in response to metronome stimuli. Participants are consistent in their observation of qualitative differences between the relaxing and activating musical stimuli. Using regression analysis, it was possible to set up a predictive model using only four sonic features that explain 60% of the variance. The sonic features capture variation in loudness and pitch patterns at periods of three, four and six beats, suggesting that expressive patterns in music are responsible for the effect. The mechanism may be attributed to an attentional shift, a subliminal audio-motor entrainment mechanism, or an arousal effect, but further study is needed to figure this out. Overall, the study supports the hypothesis that recurrent patterns of fluctuation affecting the binary meter strength of the music may entrain the vigor of the movement. The study opens up new perspectives for understanding the relationship between entrainment and expressiveness, with the possibility to develop applications that can be used in domains such as sports and physical rehabilitation.

Use of binaural beat tapes for treatment of anxiety: a pilot study of tape preference and outcomes.

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Le Scouarnec, R P; Poirier, R M; Owens, J E; Gauthier, J; Taylor, A G; Foresman, P A

2001-01-01

Recent studies and anecdotal reports suggest that binaural auditory beats can affect mood, performance on vigilance tasks, and anxiety. To determine whether mildly anxious people would report decreased anxiety after listening daily for 1 month to tapes imbedded with tones that create binaural beats, and whether they would show a definite tape preference among 3 tapes. A 1-group pre-posttest pilot study. Patients' homes. A volunteer sample of 15 mildly anxious patients seen in the Clinique Psyché, Montreal, Quebec. Participants were asked to listen at least 5 times weekly for 4 weeks to 1 or more of 3 music tapes containing tones that produce binaural beats in the electroencephalogram delta/theta frequency range. Participants also were asked to record tape usage, tape preference, and anxiety ratings in a journal before and after listening to the tape or tapes. Anxiety ratings before and after tape listening, pre- and post-study State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores, and tape preferences documented in daily journals. Listening to the binaural beat tapes resulted in a significant reduction in the anxiety score reported daily in patients' diaries. The number of times participants listened to the tapes in 4 weeks ranged from 10 to 17 (an average of 1.4 to 2.4 times per week) for approximately 30 minutes per session. End-of-study tape preferences indicated that slightly more participants preferred tape B, with its pronounced and extended patterns of binaural beats, over tapes A and C. Changes in pre- and posttest listening State-Trait Anxiety Inventory scores trended toward a reduction of anxiety, but these differences were not statistically significant. Listening to binaural beat tapes in the delta/theta electroencephalogram range may be beneficial in reducing mild anxiety. Future studies should account for music preference among participants and include age as a factor in outcomes, incentives to foster tape listening, and a physiologic measure of anxiety reduction. A

Does training with beat gestures favour children's narrative discourse abilities?

OpenAIRE

Vilà Giménez, Ingrid

2016-01-01

There is consensus evidence that gestures and prosody are important precursors of children’s early language abilities and development. Previous literature has investigated the beneficial role of beat gestures in the recall of information by preschoolers (Igualada, Esteve-Gibert, & Prieto, under review; Austin & Sweller, 2014). However, to our knowledge, little is known about whether the use of beat gestures can promote children’s later linguistic abilities and specifically whether training wi...

Effect of a novel intracycle motion correction algorithm on dual-energy spectral coronary CT angiography: A study with pulsating coronary artery phantom at high heart rates

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Xing, Yan; Zhao, Yuan; Pan, Cun Xue; Azati, Gulina; Wang, Yan Wei; Liu, Wen Ya [Imaging Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Xinjiang (China); Guo, Ning [CT Imaging Research Center, GE Healthcare, Beijing (China)

2017-11-15

Using a pulsating coronary artery phantom at high heart rate settings, we investigated the efficacy of a motion correction algorithm (MCA) to improve the image quality in dual-energy spectral coronary CT angiography (CCTA). Coronary flow phantoms were scanned at heart rates of 60–100 beats/min at 10-beats/min increments, using dual-energy spectral CT mode. Virtual monochromatic images were reconstructed from 50 to 90 keV at 10-keV increments. Two blinded observers assessed image quality using a 4-point Likert Scale (1 = non-diagnostic, 4 = excellent) and the fraction of interpretable segments using MCA versus conventional algorithm (CA). Comparison of variables was performed with the Wilcoxon rank sum test and McNemar test. At heart rates of 70, 80, 90, and 100 beats/min, images with MCA were rated as higher image scores compared to those with CA on monochromatic levels of 50, 60, and 70 keV (each p < 0.05). Meanwhile, at a heart rate of 90 beats/min, image interpretability was improved by MCA at a monochromatic level of 60 keV (p < 0.05) and 70 keV (p < 0.05). At a heart rate of 100 beats/min, image interpretability was improved by MCA at monochromatic levels of 50 keV (from 69.4% to 86.1%, p < 0.05), 60 keV (from 55.6% to 83.3%, p < 0.05) and 70 keV (from 33.3% to 69.3%, p < 0.05). Low-keV monochromatic images combined with MCA improves image quality and image interpretability in CCTAs at high heart rates.

Uncovering beat deafness: detecting rhythm disorders with synchronized finger tapping and perceptual timing tasks.

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Dalla Bella, Simone; Sowiński, Jakub

2015-03-16

A set of behavioral tasks for assessing perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities in the general population (i.e., non-musicians) is presented here with the goal of uncovering rhythm disorders, such as beat deafness. Beat deafness is characterized by poor performance in perceiving durations in auditory rhythmic patterns or poor synchronization of movement with auditory rhythms (e.g., with musical beats). These tasks include the synchronization of finger tapping to the beat of simple and complex auditory stimuli and the detection of rhythmic irregularities (anisochrony detection task) embedded in the same stimuli. These tests, which are easy to administer, include an assessment of both perceptual and sensorimotor timing abilities under different conditions (e.g., beat rates and types of auditory material) and are based on the same auditory stimuli, ranging from a simple metronome to a complex musical excerpt. The analysis of synchronized tapping data is performed with circular statistics, which provide reliable measures of synchronization accuracy (e.g., the difference between the timing of the taps and the timing of the pacing stimuli) and consistency. Circular statistics on tapping data are particularly well-suited for detecting individual differences in the general population. Synchronized tapping and anisochrony detection are sensitive measures for identifying profiles of rhythm disorders and have been used with success to uncover cases of poor synchronization with spared perceptual timing. This systematic assessment of perceptual and sensorimotor timing can be extended to populations of patients with brain damage, neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder).

Efficiency of brainwave entrainment by binaural beats in reducing anxiety

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Ahmad Alipoor

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Anxiety is a fundamental phenomenon that is a common symptom in all mental disorders. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of brainwave entrainment on anxiety reduction using binaural beats. Methods: In this experimental double-blind study, 30 employees were selected from an engineering research firm through random sampling and replacement and divided into two groups: control group and experimental group. All participants completed the Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI. Then, the experimental group listened to binaural beats which was recorded on a non-vocal piece of music for 4 weeks, 3 sessions each week. Each session lasted about 20 minutes. At the same time, the control group listened to the background music without any entrainment sound. At the end, both groups completed the anxiety questionnaire and the anxiety scores of both groups obtained before and after intervention were analyzed by ANCOVA. Results: The findings showed that the brainwave entrainment using binaural beats led to the significant reduction of state anxiety (P<0.001 and trait anxiety (P<0.018. Conclusion: Brainwave entrainment using binaural beats is an effective factor in decreasing state and trait anxiety; so, it can be used to reduce anxiety in mental health centers.

Tracking and characterization of fragments in a beating heart using 3D ultrasound for interventional guidance.

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Thienphrapa, Paul; Elhawary, Haytham; Ramachandran, Bharat; Stanton, Douglas; Popovic, Aleksandra

2011-01-01

Fragments generated by explosions and similar incidents can become trapped in a patient's heart chambers, potentially causing disruption of cardiac function. The conventional approach to removing such foreign bodies is through open heart surgery, which comes with high perioperative risk and long recovery times. We thus advocate a minimally invasive surgical approach through the use of 3D transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and a flexible robotic end effector. In a phantom study, we use 3D TEE to track a foreign body in a beating heart, and propose a modified normalized cross-correlation method for improved accuracy and robustness of the tracking, with mean RMS errors of 2.3 mm. Motion analysis of the foreign body trajectory indicates very high speeds and accelerations, which render unfeasible a robotic retrieval method based on following the tracked trajectory. Instead, a probability map of the locus of the foreign body shows that the fragment tends to occupy only a small sub-volume of the ventricle, suggesting a retrieval strategy based on moving the robot end effector to the position with the highest spatial probability in order to maximize the possibility of capture.

Modulations of Heart Rate, ECG, and Cardio-Respiratory Coupling Observed in Polysomnography

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Thomas Penzel

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The cardiac component of cardio-respiratory polysomnography is covered by ECG and heart rate recordings. However their evaluation is often underrepresented in summarizing reports. As complements to EEG, EOG, and EMG, these signals provide diagnostic information for autonomic nervous activity during sleep. This review presents major methodological developments in sleep research regarding heart rate, ECG and cardio-respiratory couplings in a chronological (historical sequence. It presents physiological and pathophysiological insights related to sleep medicine obtained by new technical developments. Recorded nocturnal ECG facilitates conventional heart rate variability analysis, studies of cyclical variations of heart rate, and analysis of ECG waveform. In healthy adults, the autonomous nervous system is regulated in totally different ways during wakefulness, slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep. Analysis of beat-to-beat heart-rate variations with statistical methods enables us to estimate sleep stages based on the differences in autonomic nervous system regulation. Furthermore, up to some degree, it is possible to track transitions from wakefulness to sleep by analysis of heart-rate variations. ECG and heart rate analysis allow assessment of selected sleep disorders as well. Sleep disordered breathing can be detected reliably by studying cyclical variation of heart rate combined with respiration-modulated changes in ECG morphology (amplitude of R wave and T wave.

Modulations of Heart Rate, ECG, and Cardio-Respiratory Coupling Observed in Polysomnography.

Science.gov (United States)

Penzel, Thomas; Kantelhardt, Jan W; Bartsch, Ronny P; Riedl, Maik; Kraemer, Jan F; Wessel, Niels; Garcia, Carmen; Glos, Martin; Fietze, Ingo; Schöbel, Christoph

2016-01-01

The cardiac component of cardio-respiratory polysomnography is covered by ECG and heart rate recordings. However, their evaluation is often underrepresented in summarizing reports. As complements to EEG, EOG, and EMG, these signals provide diagnostic information for autonomic nervous activity during sleep. This review presents major methodological developments in sleep research regarding heart rate, ECG, and cardio-respiratory couplings in a chronological (historical) sequence. It presents physiological and pathophysiological insights related to sleep medicine obtained by new technical developments. Recorded nocturnal ECG facilitates conventional heart rate variability (HRV) analysis, studies of cyclical variations of heart rate, and analysis of ECG waveform. In healthy adults, the autonomous nervous system is regulated in totally different ways during wakefulness, slow-wave sleep, and REM sleep. Analysis of beat-to-beat heart-rate variations with statistical methods enables us to estimate sleep stages based on the differences in autonomic nervous system regulation. Furthermore, up to some degree, it is possible to track transitions from wakefulness to sleep by analysis of heart-rate variations. ECG and heart rate analysis allow assessment of selected sleep disorders as well. Sleep disordered breathing can be detected reliably by studying cyclical variation of heart rate combined with respiration-modulated changes in ECG morphology (amplitude of R wave and T wave).

Beat Synchronization across the Lifespan: Intersection of Development and Musical Experience.

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Elaine C Thompson

Full Text Available Rhythmic entrainment, or beat synchronization, provides an opportunity to understand how multiple systems operate together to integrate sensory-motor information. Also, synchronization is an essential component of musical performance that may be enhanced through musical training. Investigations of rhythmic entrainment have revealed a developmental trajectory across the lifespan, showing synchronization improves with age and musical experience. Here, we explore the development and maintenance of synchronization in childhood through older adulthood in a large cohort of participants (N = 145, and also ask how it may be altered by musical experience. We employed a uniform assessment of beat synchronization for all participants and compared performance developmentally and between individuals with and without musical experience. We show that the ability to consistently tap along to a beat improves with age into adulthood, yet in older adulthood tapping performance becomes more variable. Also, from childhood into young adulthood, individuals are able to tap increasingly close to the beat (i.e., asynchronies decline with age, however, this trend reverses from younger into older adulthood. There is a positive association between proportion of life spent playing music and tapping performance, which suggests a link between musical experience and auditory-motor integration. These results are broadly consistent with previous investigations into the development of beat synchronization across the lifespan, and thus complement existing studies and present new insights offered by a different, large cross-sectional sample.

Smartphone-based photoplethysmographic imaging for heart rate monitoring.

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Alafeef, Maha

2017-07-01

The purpose of this study is to make use of visible light reflected mode photoplethysmographic (PPG) imaging for heart rate (HR) monitoring via smartphones. The system uses the built-in camera feature in mobile phones to capture video from the subject's index fingertip. The video is processed, and then the PPG signal resulting from the video stream processing is used to calculate the subject's heart rate. Records from 19 subjects were used to evaluate the system's performance. The HR values obtained by the proposed method were compared with the actual HR. The obtained results show an accuracy of 99.7% and a maximum absolute error of 0.4 beats/min where most of the absolute errors lay in the range of 0.04-0.3 beats/min. Given the encouraging results, this type of HR measurement can be adopted with great benefit, especially in the conditions of personal use or home-based care. The proposed method represents an efficient portable solution for HR accurate detection and recording.

Inhibitory stimulation of the ventral premotor cortex temporarily interferes with musical beat rate preference.

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Kornysheva, Katja; von Anshelm-Schiffer, Anne-Marike; Schubotz, Ricarda I

2011-08-01

Behavioral studies suggest that preference for a beat rate (tempo) in auditory sequences is tightly linked to the motor system. However, from a neuroscientific perspective the contribution of motor-related brain regions to tempo preference in the auditory domain remains unclear. A recent fMRI study (Kornysheva et al. [2010]: Hum Brain Mapp 31:48-64) revealed that the activity increase in the left ventral premotor cortex (PMv) is associated with the preference for a tempo of a musical rhythm. The activity increase correlated with how strongly the subjects preferred a tempo. Despite this evidence, it remains uncertain whether an interference with activity in the left PMv affects tempo preference strength. Consequently, we conducted an offline repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) study, in which the cortical excitability in the left PMv was temporarily reduced. As hypothesized, 0.9 Hz rTMS over the left PMv temporarily affected individual tempo preference strength depending on the individual strength of tempo preference in the control session. Moreover, PMv stimulation temporarily interfered with the stability of individual tempo preference strength within and across sessions. These effects were specific to the preference for tempo in contrast to the preference for timbre, bound to the first half of the experiment following PMv stimulation and could not be explained by an impairment of tempo recognition. Our results corroborate preceding fMRI findings and suggest that activity in the left PMv is part of a network that affects the strength of beat rate preference. Copyright © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Analytic methods to find beating transitions of asymmetric Gaussian beams in GNLS equations

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Ianetz, David; Schiff, Jeremy

2018-01-01

In a simple model of propagation of asymmetric Gaussian beams in nonlinear waveguides, described by a reduction to ordinary differential equations of generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations with cubic-quintic (CQ) and saturable (SAT) nonlinearities and a graded-index profile, the beam widths exhibit two different types of beating behavior, with transitions between them. We present an analytic model to explain these phenomena, which originate in a 1:1 resonance in a 2 degree-of-freedom Hamiltonian system. We show how small oscillations near a fixed point close to 1:1 resonance in such a system can be approximated using an integrable Hamiltonian and, ultimately, a single first order differential equation. In particular, the beating transitions can be located from coincidences of roots of a pair of quadratic equations, with coefficients determined (in a highly complex manner) by the internal parameters and initial conditions of the original system. The results of the analytic model agree with the numerics of the original system over large parameter ranges, and allow new predictions that can be verified directly. In the CQ case, we identify a band of beam energies for which there is only a single beating transition (as opposed to 0 or 2) as the eccentricity is increased. In the SAT case, we explain the sudden (dis)appearance of beating transitions for certain values of the other parameters as the grade-index is changed.

Heart rate effects of intraosseous injections using slow and fast rates of anesthetic solution deposition.

Science.gov (United States)

Susi, Louis; Reader, Al; Nusstein, John; Beck, Mike; Weaver, Joel; Drum, Melissa

2008-01-01

The authors, using a crossover design, randomly administered, in a single-blind manner, 3 primary intraosseous injections to 61 subjects using: the Wand local anesthetic system at a deposition rate of 45 seconds (fast injection); the Wand local anesthetic system at a deposition rate of 4 minutes and 45 seconds (slow injection); a conventional syringe injection at a deposition rate of 4 minutes and 45 seconds (slow injection), in 3 separate appointments spaced at least 3 weeks apart. A pulse oximeter measured heart rate (pulse). The results demonstrated the mean maximum heart rate was statistically higher with the fast intraosseous injection (average 21 to 28 beats/min increase) than either of the 2 slow intraosseous injections (average 10 to 12 beats/min increase). There was no statistically significant difference between the 2 slow injections. We concluded that an intraosseous injection of 1.4 mL of 2% lidocaine with 1 : 100,000 epinephrine with the Wand at a 45-second rate of anesthetic deposition resulted in a significantly higher heart rate when compared with a 4-minute and 45-second anesthetic solution deposition using either the Wand or traditional syringe.

An empirical investigation of attitudes towards wife-beating among men and women in seven sub-Saharan African countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Rani, Manju; Bonu, Sekhar; Diop-Sidibe, Nafissatou

2004-12-01

This study used data from the demographic and health surveys (DHS) conducted between 1999 and 2001 in Benin, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe, to examine the magnitude and correlates of conditional acceptance of wife-beating among both men and women. Multivariate logistic regression models were fitted to investigate the independent association between different socio-demographic characteristics and acceptance of wife-beating. The acceptance of wife-beating for transgressing certain gender roles was widespread in all the countries. Men were consistently less likely to justify wife-beating than women. Household wealth and education emerged as strongest and most consistent negative predictors of acceptance of wife-beating among both men and women. Older men and women were less likely to justify wife-beating. Men and women in the polygamous union were more likely to accept wife-beating, though the association was not always significant. With the exception of Uganda, women working for pay were more likely to justify wife-beating than non-working women were. The results indicate that dominant social and cultural norms create images of "ideal" women among both men and women that include definition and widespread acceptance of gender roles as well as sanction use of force to enforce these gender roles. The State and its different institutions may fail to mitigate wife-beating, as sensitivity to objectively address wife-beating may be tellingly lacking. Though education, economic growth, etc, can reduce acceptance of wife-beating, the process may be too slow and too late to make a substantial difference in the near future. Proactive measures may be required to change attitudes towards wife-beating among both men and women.

Electrophysiological measurement of binaural beats: effects of primary tone frequency and observer age.

Science.gov (United States)

Grose, John H; Mamo, Sara K

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the electrophysiological binaural beat steady state response as a gauge of temporal fine structure coding, particularly as it relates to the aging auditory system. The hypothesis was that the response would be more robust in a lower, than in a higher, frequency region and in younger, than in older, adults. Two experiments were undertaken. The first measured the 40 Hz binaural beat steady state response elicited by tone pairs in two frequency regions: lower (390 and 430 Hz tone pair) and higher (810 and 850 Hz tone pair). Frequency following responses (FFRs) evoked by the tones were also recorded. Ten young adults with normal hearing participated. The second experiment measured the binaural beat and FFRs in older adults but only in the lower frequency region. Fourteen older adults with relatively normal hearing participated. Response metrics in both experiments included response component signal-to-noise ratio (F statistic) and magnitude-squared coherence. Experiment 1 showed that FFRs were elicited in both frequency regions but were more robust in the lower frequency region. Binaural beat responses elicited by the lower frequency pair of tones showed greater amplitude fluctuation within a participant than the respective FFRs. Experiment 2 showed that older adults exhibited similar FFRs to younger adults, but proportionally fewer older participants showed binaural beat responses. Age differences in onset responses were also observed. The lower prevalence of the binaural beat response in older adults, despite the presence of FFRs, provides tentative support for the sensitivity of this measure to age-related deficits in temporal processing. However, the lability of the binaural beat response advocates caution in its use as an objective measure of fine structure coding.

Quantum beat and entanglement of multi-qubits interacting with a common reservoir

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sato, Arata; Ishi-Hayase, Junko; Minami, Fujio; Sasaki, Masahide

2006-01-01

The qubits can be entangled when they interact with a common Ohmic reservoir. We analyze how the reservoir-induced entanglement of qubits can be observed as the beat signal in the decay curve of the macroscopic polarization. The origin of this effect is the Lamb phase shift on the qubit array. We quantify the amount of the reservoir-induced entanglement and show how to experimentally evaluate it from the decay curve of the macroscopic polarization. We discuss how the beat signal can be discriminated from the other kinds of beat signals. We also show that our analysis can be used to estimate the reservoir characteristics

Emergence of flagellar beating from the collective behavior of individual ATP-powered dyneins

Science.gov (United States)

Namdeo, S.; Onck, P. R.

2016-10-01

Flagella are hair-like projections from the surface of eukaryotic cells, and they play an important role in many cellular functions, such as cell-motility. The beating of flagella is enabled by their internal architecture, the axoneme, and is powered by a dense distribution of motor proteins, dyneins. The dyneins deliver the required mechanical work through the hydrolysis of ATP. Although the dynein-ATP cycle, the axoneme microstructure, and the flagellar-beating kinematics are well studied, their integration into a coherent picture of ATP-powered flagellar beating is still lacking. Here we show that a time-delayed negative-work-based switching mechanism is able to convert the individual sliding action of hundreds of dyneins into a regular overall beating pattern leading to propulsion. We developed a computational model based on a minimal representation of the axoneme consisting of two representative doublet microtubules connected by nexin links. The relative sliding of the microtubules is incorporated by modeling two groups of ATP-powered dyneins, each responsible for sliding in opposite directions. A time-delayed switching mechanism is postulated, which is key in converting the local individual sliding action of multiple dyneins into global beating. Our results demonstrate that an overall nonreciprocal beating pattern can emerge with time due to the spatial and temporal coordination of the individual dyneins. These findings provide insights in the fundamental working mechanism of axonemal dyneins and could possibly open new research directions in the field of flagellar motility.

AUTONOMIC CONTROL OF HEART RATE AFTER EXERCISE IN TRAINED WRESTLERS

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Carlos F Henríquez

2013-04-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to establish differences in vagal reactivation, through heart rate recovery and heart rate variability post exercise, in Brazilian jiu-jitsu wrestlers (BJJW. A total of 18 male athletes were evaluated, ten highly trained (HT and eight moderately trained (MT, who performed a maximum incremental test. At the end of the exercise, the R-R intervals were recorded during the first minute of recovery. We calculated heart rate recovery (HRR60s, and performed linear and non-linear (standard deviation of instantaneous beat-to-beat R-R interval variability – SD1 analysis of heart rate variability (HRV, using the tachogram of the first minute of recovery divided into four segments of 15 s each (0-15 s, 15-30 s, 30-45 s, 45-60 s. Between HT and MT individuals, there were statistically significant differences in HRR60s (p <0.05 and in the non linear analysis of HRV from SD130-45s (p <0.05 and SD145-60s (p <0.05. The results of this research suggest that heart rate kinetics during the first minute after exercise are related to training level and can be used as an index for autonomic cardiovascular control in BJJW.

Miniaturized bead-beating device to automate full DNA sample preparation processes for gram-positive bacteria.

Science.gov (United States)

Hwang, Kyu-Youn; Kwon, Sung Hong; Jung, Sun-Ok; Lim, Hee-Kyun; Jung, Won-Jong; Park, Chin-Sung; Kim, Joon-Ho; Suh, Kahp-Yang; Huh, Nam

2011-11-07

We have developed a miniaturized bead-beating device to automate nucleic acids extraction from Gram-positive bacteria for molecular diagnostics. The microfluidic device was fabricated by sandwiching a monolithic flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane between two glass wafers (i.e., glass-PDMS-glass), which acted as an actuator for bead collision via its pneumatic vibration without additional lysis equipment. The Gram-positive bacteria, S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus, were captured on surface-modified glass beads from 1 mL of initial sample solution and in situ lyzed by bead-beating operation. Then, 10 μL or 20 μL of bacterial DNA solution was eluted and amplified successfully by real-time PCR. It was found that liquid volume fraction played a crucial role in determining the cell lysis efficiency in a confined chamber by facilitating membrane deflection and bead motion. The miniaturized bead-beating operation disrupted most of S. aureus within 3 min, which turned out to be as efficient as the conventional benchtop vortexing machine or the enzyme-based lysis technique. The effective cell concentration was significantly enhanced with the reduction of initial sample volume by 50 or 100 times. Combination of such analyte enrichment and in situ bead-beating lysis provided an excellent PCR detection sensitivity amounting to ca. 46 CFU even for the Gram-positive bacteria. The proposed bead-beating microdevice is potentially useful as a nucleic acid extraction method toward a PCR-based sample-to-answer system. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

Human sperm steer with second harmonics of the flagellar beat.

Science.gov (United States)

Saggiorato, Guglielmo; Alvarez, Luis; Jikeli, Jan F; Kaupp, U Benjamin; Gompper, Gerhard; Elgeti, Jens

2017-11-10

Sperm are propelled by bending waves traveling along their flagellum. For steering in gradients of sensory cues, sperm adjust the flagellar waveform. Symmetric and asymmetric waveforms result in straight and curved swimming paths, respectively. Two mechanisms causing spatially asymmetric waveforms have been proposed: an average flagellar curvature and buckling. We image flagella of human sperm tethered with the head to a surface. The waveform is characterized by a fundamental beat frequency and its second harmonic. The superposition of harmonics breaks the beat symmetry temporally rather than spatially. As a result, sperm rotate around the tethering point. The rotation velocity is determined by the second-harmonic amplitude and phase. Stimulation with the female sex hormone progesterone enhances the second-harmonic contribution and, thereby, modulates sperm rotation. Higher beat frequency components exist in other flagellated cells; therefore, this steering mechanism might be widespread and could inspire the design of synthetic microswimmers.

Activating and relaxing music entrains the speed of beat synchronized walking.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marc Leman

Full Text Available Inspired by a theory of embodied music cognition, we investigate whether music can entrain the speed of beat synchronized walking. If human walking is in synchrony with the beat and all musical stimuli have the same duration and the same tempo, then differences in walking speed can only be the result of music-induced differences in stride length, thus reflecting the vigor or physical strength of the movement. Participants walked in an open field in synchrony with the beat of 52 different musical stimuli all having a tempo of 130 beats per minute and a meter of 4 beats. The walking speed was measured as the walked distance during a time interval of 30 seconds. The results reveal that some music is 'activating' in the sense that it increases the speed, and some music is 'relaxing' in the sense that it decreases the speed, compared to the spontaneous walked speed in response to metronome stimuli. Participants are consistent in their observation of qualitative differences between the relaxing and activating musical stimuli. Using regression analysis, it was possible to set up a predictive model using only four sonic features that explain 60% of the variance. The sonic features capture variation in loudness and pitch patterns at periods of three, four and six beats, suggesting that expressive patterns in music are responsible for the effect. The mechanism may be attributed to an attentional shift, a subliminal audio-motor entrainment mechanism, or an arousal effect, but further study is needed to figure this out. Overall, the study supports the hypothesis that recurrent patterns of fluctuation affecting the binary meter strength of the music may entrain the vigor of the movement. The study opens up new perspectives for understanding the relationship between entrainment and expressiveness, with the possibility to develop applications that can be used in domains such as sports and physical rehabilitation.

Activating and Relaxing Music Entrains the Speed of Beat Synchronized Walking

Science.gov (United States)

Leman, Marc; Moelants, Dirk; Varewyck, Matthias; Styns, Frederik; van Noorden, Leon; Martens, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

Inspired by a theory of embodied music cognition, we investigate whether music can entrain the speed of beat synchronized walking. If human walking is in synchrony with the beat and all musical stimuli have the same duration and the same tempo, then differences in walking speed can only be the result of music-induced differences in stride length, thus reflecting the vigor or physical strength of the movement. Participants walked in an open field in synchrony with the beat of 52 different musical stimuli all having a tempo of 130 beats per minute and a meter of 4 beats. The walking speed was measured as the walked distance during a time interval of 30 seconds. The results reveal that some music is ‘activating’ in the sense that it increases the speed, and some music is ‘relaxing’ in the sense that it decreases the speed, compared to the spontaneous walked speed in response to metronome stimuli. Participants are consistent in their observation of qualitative differences between the relaxing and activating musical stimuli. Using regression analysis, it was possible to set up a predictive model using only four sonic features that explain 60% of the variance. The sonic features capture variation in loudness and pitch patterns at periods of three, four and six beats, suggesting that expressive patterns in music are responsible for the effect. The mechanism may be attributed to an attentional shift, a subliminal audio-motor entrainment mechanism, or an arousal effect, but further study is needed to figure this out. Overall, the study supports the hypothesis that recurrent patterns of fluctuation affecting the binary meter strength of the music may entrain the vigor of the movement. The study opens up new perspectives for understanding the relationship between entrainment and expressiveness, with the possibility to develop applications that can be used in domains such as sports and physical rehabilitation. PMID:23874469

Childhood exposure to domestic violence and attitude towards wife beating in adult life: a study of men in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Ying; Dalal, Koustuv

2010-03-01

This study examined men's justification of wife beating in relation to their perceived rights and autonomy using a nationally representative sample of 18,047 men in India with childhood exposure to parental violence. Five reasons for wife beating justification, four items of men's perceived rights, and five items of household autonomy were analysed using chi2 test and logistic regression. Among 18,047 participants, 67% justified wife beating. Low education, economic stress and being unmarried were generally more associated with justifying wife beating for all five reasons. Wife's refusal of sex and husband's final say on household autonomy are risk factors. Joint autonomy on household decision making and wife's autonomy on managing her own earnings are protective factors. Perceived relationship rights and autonomy are highly predictive of wife-beating justification for the men who have been exposed to parental violence during childhood. The study has significant implications for public health planners and education strategies.

Heart Rate Variability - A Historical Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

George E Billman

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Heart rate variability (HRV, the beat-to-beat variation in either heart rate or the duration of the R-R interval – the heart period, has become a popular clinical and investigational tool. The temporal fluctuations in heart rate exhibit a marked synchrony with respiration (increasing during inspiration and decreasing during expiration – the so called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA and are widely believed to reflect changes in cardiac autonomic regulation. Although the exact contributions of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system to this variability are controversial and remain the subject of active investigation and debate, a number of time and frequency domain techniques have been developed to provide insight into cardiac autonomic regulation in both health and disease. It is the purpose of this essay to provide an historical overview of the evolution in the concept of heart rate variability. Briefly, pulse rate was first measured by ancient Greek physicians and scientists. However, it was not until the invention of the Physician’s Pulse Watch (a watch with a second hand that could be stopped in 1707 that changes in pulse rate could be accurately assessed. The Rev. Stephen Hales (1733 was the first to note that pulse varied with respiration and in 1847 Carl Ludwig was the first to record RSA. With the measurement of the ECG (1895 and advent of digital signal processing techniques in the 1960’s, investigation of HRV and its relationship to health and disease has exploded. This essay will conclude with a brief description of time domain, frequency domain, and non-linear dynamic analysis techniques (and their limitations that are commonly used to measure heart rate variability.

Auditory evoked responses to binaural beat illusion: stimulus generation and the derivation of the Binaural Interaction Component (BIC).

Science.gov (United States)

Ozdamar, Ozcan; Bohorquez, Jorge; Mihajloski, Todor; Yavuz, Erdem; Lachowska, Magdalena

2011-01-01

Electrophysiological indices of auditory binaural beats illusions are studied using late latency evoked responses. Binaural beats are generated by continuous monaural FM tones with slightly different ascending and descending frequencies lasting about 25 ms presented at 1 sec intervals. Frequency changes are carefully adjusted to avoid any creation of abrupt waveform changes. Binaural Interaction Component (BIC) analysis is used to separate the neural responses due to binaural involvement. The results show that the transient auditory evoked responses can be obtained from the auditory illusion of binaural beats.

Orthogonal linear polarization tunable-beat ring laser with a superluminescent diode

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Takahashi, Y.; Yoshino, T. [Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gunma University, 1-5-1 Tenjin-cho, Kiryu, Gunma 376 (Japan)

1997-09-01

An orthogonal linear polarization operated ring laser with a superluminescent diode has been demonstrated to generate a tunable optical beat signal. The ring cavity contains a superluminescent diode as the optical gain medium, Faraday rotators, and a variable phase retarder (Babinet-Soleil compensator). By controlling the retarder, we changed the beat frequency in the range from a few tens of megahertz to 100 MHz. {copyright} 1997 Optical Society of America

Critical hematocrit and oxygen partial pressure in the beating heart of pigs.

Science.gov (United States)

Hiebl, B; Mrowietz, C; Ploetze, K; Matschke, K; Jung, F

2010-12-01

In cardiac surgery the substitution of lost blood volume by plasma substitutes is a common therapeutical approach. None of the currently available blood substitutes has a sufficient oxygen transport capacity. This can limit the functional integrity of the myocardium known as highly oxygen consumptive. The study was aimed to get information about the minimal hematocrit, also known as critical hematocrit (cHct), which guarantees a stable and adequate oxygen partial pressure in the myocardium (pO2). In adult female pigs (n=7) the hematocrit was reduced by isovolemic blood dilution with an intravenous infusion of isotonic 4% gelatine polysuccinate solution, The substituted blood volume ranged between 3000ml and 7780ml (mean: 5254±1672ml). In all animals the pO2 of the myocardium of the beating heart and of the resting skeletal muscle increased until blood dilution resulted in a Hct decrease down to 15%. Further blood dilution resulted in a decrease of the pO2. Only after the Hct was <10% the pO2 was lower than before blood dilution and accompanied by a lethal ischemia of the myocardium. These data indicate a cHct of about 10% in the pig animal model. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Results of beating heart mitral valve surgery via the trans-septal approach Resultados da abordagem transeptal para a valva mitral com coração batendo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomas A Salerno

2009-03-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Mitral valve surgery can be performed through the trans-atrial or the trans-septal approach. Although the trans-atrial is the preferred method, the trans-septal approach has also been used recently and has a particular value in beating-heart mitral valve surgery. Herein we report our experience with beating-heart mitral valve surgery via trans-septal approach, and discuss its advantages and pitfalls. METHODS: Between 2000 and 2007, 214 consecutive patients were operated upon utilizing beating heart technique for mitral valve surgery. The operation was performed via transseptal approach with the aorta unclamped, the heart beating, with normal electrocardiogram and in sinus rhythm. RESULTS: Mean age was 56.03 ± 13.93 years (range: 19-86 years; median: 56 years. There were 131 (61.2% males and 83 (38.8% females. Of the prostheses used, 108 (50.5% were biological, and 39 (18.2% were mechanical. Mitral repairs were performed in 67 (31.3% patients. Mean hospital stay was 17.4 ± 20.0 days (range: 3-135 days; median: 11 days. Intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP utilization was required in 12 (5.6% of 214 patients. One-month mortality was 7.4%, and re-operation for bleeding was needed in 15 (7% patients. CONCLUSIONS: Beating-heart mitral valve surgery is an option for myocardial protection in patients undergoing mitral valve surgery. This technique is facilitated by the trans-septal approach due to reduced aortic insufficiency and improved visualization of the mitral apparatus.OBJETIVO: A cirurgia da valva mitral pode ser feita via transatrial ou transeptal. Embora a transatrial seja a preferida, a via transeptal tem sido utilizada mais recentemente e tido um grande valor nas operações com o coração batendo. Mostramos a nossa experiência na cirurgia da valva mitral via transeptal com coração batendo e discutimos seus benefícios e problemas. MÉTODOS: Entre 2000 e 2007, 214 pacientes consecutivos foram operados com o coração batendo. A

HEART RATE VARIABILITY CLASSIFICATION USING SADE-ELM CLASSIFIER WITH BAT FEATURE SELECTION

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R Kavitha

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The electrical activity of the human heart is measured by the vital bio medical signal called ECG. This electrocardiogram is employed as a crucial source to gather the diagnostic information of a patient’s cardiopathy. The monitoring function of cardiac disease is diagnosed by documenting and handling the electrocardiogram (ECG impulses. In the recent years many research has been done and developing an enhanced method to identify the risk in the patient’s body condition by processing and analysing the ECG signal. This analysis of the signal helps to find the cardiac abnormalities, arrhythmias, and many other heart problems. ECG signal is processed to detect the variability in heart rhythm; heart rate variability is calculated based on the time interval between heart beats. Heart Rate Variability HRV is measured by the variation in the beat to beat interval. The Heart rate Variability (HRV is an essential aspect to diagnose the properties of the heart. Recent development enhances the potential with the aid of non-linear metrics in reference point with feature selection. In this paper, the fundamental elements are taken from the ECG signal for feature selection process where Bat algorithm is employed for feature selection to predict the best feature and presented to the classifier for accurate classification. The popular machine learning algorithm ELM is taken for classification, integrated with evolutionary algorithm named Self- Adaptive Differential Evolution Extreme Learning Machine SADEELM to improve the reliability of classification. It combines Effective Fuzzy Kohonen clustering network (EFKCN to be able to increase the accuracy of the effect for HRV transmission classification. Hence, it is observed that the experiment carried out unveils that the precision is improved by the SADE-ELM method and concurrently optimizes the computation time.

Beat-wave laser accelerators, further comment including note on the 'Surfatron' concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawson, J.D.

1984-07-01

The paper deals with the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) study of the beat-wave particle accelerator, intended for high energy physics. Three factors; the build-up of beat-wave, the surfatron concept and the self-focusing effects are considered in the context of the RAL study. (U.K.)

What makes a rhythm complex? The influence of musical training and accent type on beat perception

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwer, F.L.; Burgoyne, J.A.; Odijk, D.; Honing, H.; Grahn, J.A.

2018-01-01

Perception of a regular beat in music is inferred from different types of accents. For example, increases in loudness cause intensity accents, and the grouping of time intervals in a rhythm creates temporal accents. Accents are expected to occur on the beat: when accents are “missing” on the beat,

Volumetric Single-Beat Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography: Relationship of Image Quality, Heart Rate, and Body Mass Index. Initial Patient Experience With a New Computed Tomography Scanner.

Science.gov (United States)

Latif, Muhammad Aamir; Sanchez, Frank W; Sayegh, Karl; Veledar, Emir; Aziz, Muhammad; Malik, Rehan; Haider, Imran; Agatston, Arthur S; Batlle, Juan C; Janowitz, Warren; Peña, Constantino; Ziffer, Jack A; Nasir, Khurram; Cury, Ricardo C

2016-01-01

Cardiac computed tomography (CT) image quality (IQ) is very important for accurate diagnosis. We propose to evaluate IQ expressed as Likert scale, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) from coronary CT angiography images acquired with a new volumetric single-beat CT scanner on consecutive patients and assess the IQ dependence on heart rate (HR) and body mass index (BMI). We retrospectively analyzed the data of the first 439 consecutive patients (mean age, 55.13 [SD, 12.1] years; 51.47% male), who underwent noninvasive coronary CT angiography in a new single-beat volumetric CT scanner (Revolution CT) to evaluate chest pain at West Kendall Baptist Hospital. Based on patient BMI (mean, 29.43 [SD, 5.81] kg/m), the kVp (kilovolt potential) value and tube current were adjusted within a range of 80 to 140 kVp and 122 to 720 mA, respectively. Each scan was performed in a single-beat acquisition within 1 cardiac cycle, regardless of the HR. Motion correction software (SnapShot Freeze) was used for correcting motion artifacts in patients with higher HRs. Autogating was used to automatically acquire systolic and diastolic phases for higher HRs with electrocardiographic milliampere dose modulation. Image quality was assessed qualitatively by Likert scale and quantitatively by SNR and CNR for the 4 major vessels right coronary, left main, left anterior descending, and left circumflex arteries on axial and multiplanar reformatted images. Values for Likert scale were as follows: 1, nondiagnostic; 2, poor; 3, good; 4, very good; and 5, excellent. Signal-to-noise ratio and CNR were calculated from the average 2 CT attenuation values within regions of interest placed in the proximal left main and proximal right coronary artery. For contrast comparison, a region of interest was selected from left ventricular wall at midcavity level using a dedicated workstation. We divided patients in 2 groups related to the HR: less than or equal to 70 beats/min (bpm) and

Using Science and Much More to Beat the Flood

Science.gov (United States)

Seeley, Claire

2014-01-01

The Beat the Flood challenge involves designing and building a model flood-proof home, which is then tested in "flood" conditions. It is set on the fictitious Watu Island. The children form teams, with each team member being assigned a responsibility for the duration of the task--team leader, chief recorder, and resource manager. This…

First Beta-Beating Measurement in the LHC

CERN Document Server

Aiba, M; Franchi, A; Giovannozzi, M; Kain, V; Morita, A; Tomás, R; Vanbavinckhove, G; Wenninger, J

2009-01-01

This note reports on the first LHC beta-beating and coupling measurements. Thanks to an excellent functioning of the BPM system and the related software, injection oscillations were recorded for the first 90 turns at all BPMs of Beam 2. Three different algorithms are used to measure the optics parameters from the BPM data. All algorithms show consistent measurements but feature different accuracy. The Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) approach shows a high resolution despite the limited number of turns. The vertical beta-beating is observed to be about a factor of two larger than in the horizontal plane. This asymetry is partly due to sextupoles misalignments but also suggests the possible existance of focusing errors at defocussing locations. Rather large coupling is observed since no skew quadrupole was excited at the time of the data acquisition. We also report a list of suspected malfunctioning BPMs identified through various analyses.

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE: Acceleration by plasma beat waves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1995-01-01

An experiment by a multi-disciplinary team including laser, plasma, accelerator and particle detector specialists at the École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France, has confirmed the principle of particle acceleration by the 'beating' of laser waves. The first accelerated electrons were detected in May 1994, just after the apparatus had been completely assembled, during the subsequent set of experiments in July, and again in January. In the continual quest for new acceleration methods, such ideas had been proposed for several decades, but it was only about ten years ago that experimental verification of these effects began. In existing accelerators using radiofrequency cavities the electric field is limited to some hundred megavolts per metre, beyond which breakdowns occur. The joint use of power lasers and plasmas, however, should make it possible to generate fields very much greater than a GV/m. The light wave fulfils the same purpose as radiofrequency and the material medium required to couple the electromagnetic energy to the particle beam is provided by the plasma which - already fully ionized - is not destroyed by a breakdown. In the wave-beating method, proposed in 1979 by Dawson and Tajima, two laser waves of adjacent frequencies are transmitted and produce 'beats'. If the frequency of these is equal to the natural oscillation frequency of the plasma electrons, there is resonant energy transfer. The resultant longitudinal electric field is propagated at slightly below the speed of light and may be used to accelerate particles injected into the plasma in the right phase

Electrocardiogram: his bundle potentials can be recorded noninvasively beat by beat on surface electrocardiogram.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Gaopin; Liu, Renguang; Chang, Qinghua; Xu, Zhaolong; Zhang, Yingjie; Pan, Dianzhu

2017-03-15

The micro waveform of His bundle potential can't be recorded beat-to-beat on surface electrocardiogram yet. We have found that the micro-wavelets before QRS complex may be related to atrioventricular conduction system potentials. This study is to explore the possibility of His bundle potential can be noninvasively recorded on surface electrocardiogram. We randomized 65 patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation of paroxysmal superventricular tachycardia (exclude overt Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome) to receive "conventional electrocardiogram" and "new electrocardiogram" before the procedure. His bundle electrogram was collected during the procedure. Comparative analysis of PA s (PA interval recorded on surface electrocardiogram), AH s (AH interval recorded on surface electrocardiogram) and HV s (HV interval recorded on surface electrocardiogram) interval recorded on surface "new electrocardiogram" and PA, AH, HV interval recorded on His bundle electrogram was investigated. There was no difference (P > 0.05) between groups in HV s interval (49.63 ± 6.19 ms) and HV interval (49.35 ± 6.49 ms). Results of correlational analysis found that HV S interval was significantly positively associated with HV interval (r = 0.929; P electrocardiogram. Noninvasive His bundle potential tracing might represent a new method for locating the site of atrioventricular block and identifying the origin of a wide QRS complex.

Effect of depth beating on the fiber properties and enzymatic saccharification efficiency of softwood kraft pulp.

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Wenhua; Xiang, Zhouyang; Chen, Kefu; Yang, Rendang; Yang, Fei

2015-01-01

Commercial bleached softwood kraft pulp was mechanically fibrillated by a PFI-mill with beating revolution from 5000 to 30,000 r. The extent of fibrillating on the pulp was evaluated by beating degree, fiber morphological properties (fiber length, width, coarseness and curls index), water retention value (WRV) and physical properties of paper made from the pulp. Depth beating process significantly affected the pulp fibrillations as showed by the decreased fiber length and width as well as the SEM analysis, but the effects were limited after beating revolution of 15,000. Depth beating process also improved the total internal pore and inter-fibril surface areas as shown by the increased WRV values. Substrate enzymatic digestibility (SED) of beaten pulp at 5000 revolutions could reach 95% at cellulase loading of 15 FPU/g of glucan. After the enzymatic hydrolysis, the size of the pulp residues was reduced to micro-scale, and a relative uniform size distribution of the residues appeared at 10,000 r beating revolution. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Reduced Dietary Sodium Intake Increases Heart Rate

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Graudal, Niels A; Hubeck-Graudal, Thorbjørn; Jürgens, Gesche

2016-01-01

Reduced dietary sodium intake (sodium reduction) increases heart rate in some studies of animals and humans. As heart rate is independently associated with the development of heart failure and increased risk of premature death a potential increase in heart rate could be a harmful side......-effect of sodium reduction. The purpose of the present meta-analysis was to investigate the effect of sodium reduction on heart rate. Relevant studies were retrieved from an updated pool of 176 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in the period 1973-2014. Sixty-three of the RCTs including 72 study...... populations reported data on heart rate. In a meta-analysis of these data sodium reduction increased heart rate with 1.65 beats per minute [95% CI: 1.19, 2.11], p heart rate. This effect was independent of baseline blood pressure. In conclusion sodium reduction...

The modulatory effects of noradrenaline on vagal control of heart rate in the dogfish, Squalus acanthias.

Science.gov (United States)

Agnisola, Claudio; Randall, David J; Taylor, Edwin W

2003-01-01

The possible interactions between inhibitory vagal control of the heart and circulating levels of catecholamines in dogfish (Squalus acanthias) were studied using an in situ preparation of the heart, which retained intact its innervation from centrally cut vagus nerves. The response to peripheral vagal stimulation typically consisted of an initial cardiac arrest, followed by an escape beat, leading to renewed beating at a mean heart rate lower than the prestimulation rate (partial recovery). Cessation of vagal stimulation led to a transient increase in heart rate, above the prestimulation rate. This whole response was completely abolished by 10(-4) M atropine (a muscarinic cholinergic antagonist). The degree of vagal inhibition was evaluated in terms of both the initial, maximal cardiac interval and the mean heart rate during partial recovery, both expressed as a percentage of the prestimulation heart rate. The mean prestimulation heart rate of this preparation (36+/-4 beats min(-1)) was not affected by noradrenaline but was significantly reduced by 10(-4) M nadolol (a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist), suggesting the existence of a resting adrenergic tone arising from endogenous catecholamines. The degree of vagal inhibition of heart rate varied with the rate of stimulation and was increased by the presence of 10(-8) M noradrenaline (the normal in vivo level in routinely active fish), while 10(-7) M noradrenaline (the in vivo level measured in disturbed or deeply hypoxic fish) reduced the cardiac response to vagal stimulation. In the presence of 10(-7) M noradrenaline, 10(-4) M nadolol further reduced the vagal response, while 10(-4) M nadolol + 10(-4) M phentolamine had no effect, indicating a complex interaction between adrenoreceptors, possibly involving presynaptic modulation of vagal inhibition.

What do we need to hear a beat? The influence of attention, musical abilities, and accents on the perception of metrical rhythm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwer, F.L.

2016-01-01

In this dissertation, I examine beat perception, the process that allows us to make music together. I explore the effects of attention, musical abilities, and accents on beat perception. Additionally, I address several methodological issues that arise when probing beat perception with event-related

Inter-symbol interference and beat noise in flexible data-rate coherent OCDMA and the BER improvement by using optical thresholding.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xu; Wada, Naoya; Kitayama, Ken-Ichi

2005-12-26

Impairments of inter-symbol interference and beat noise in coherent time-spreading optical code-division-multiple-access are investigated theoretically and experimentally by sweeping the data-rate from 622 Mbps up to 10 Gbps with 511-chip superstructured fiber Bragg grating. The BER improvement by using optical thresholding technique has been verified in the experiment.

Unconstrained monitoring of long-term heart and breath rates during sleep

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Wenxi; Zhu, Xin; Wei, Daming; Nemoto, Tetsu; Sugitani, Kayo; Kitamura, Kei-ichiro

2008-01-01

An unconstrained method for the long-term monitoring of heart and breath rates during sleep is proposed. The system includes a sensor unit and a web-based network module. The sensor unit is set beneath a pillow to pick up the pressure variations from the head induced by inhalation/exhalation movements and heart pulsation during sleep. The measured pressure signal was digitized and transferred to a remote database server via the network module. A wavelet-based algorithm was employed to detect the heart and breath rates, as well as body movement, during sleep. The overall system was utilized for a total six-month trial operation delivered to a female subject. The profiles of the heart and breath rates on a beat-by-beat and daily basis were obtained. Movements during sleep were also estimated. The results show that the daily average percentage of undetectable periods (UPs) during 881.6 sleep hours over a 180 day period was 17.2%. A total of 89.2% of sleep hours had a UP of not more than 25%. The profile of the heart rate revealed a periodic property that corresponded to the female monthly menstrual cycle. Our system shows promise as a long-term unconstrained monitor for heart and breath rates, and for other physiological parameters related to the quality of sleep and the regularity of the menstrual cycle. (note)

Beat the Instructor: An Introductory Forecasting Game

Science.gov (United States)

Snider, Brent R.; Eliasson, Janice B.

2013-01-01

This teaching brief describes a 30-minute game where student groups compete in-class in an introductory time-series forecasting exercise. The students are challenged to "beat the instructor" who competes using forecasting techniques that will be subsequently taught. All forecasts are graphed prior to revealing the randomly generated…

Energy savings in sea bass swimming in a school: measurements of tail beat frequency and oxygen consumption at different swimming speeds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Herskin, J; Steffensen, JF

1998-01-01

Tail beat frequency of sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax (L.) (23.5 ± 0·5 cm, LT), swimming at the front of a school was significantly higher than when swimming at the rear, for all water velocities tested from 14·8 to 32 cm s-1. The logarithm of oxygen consumption rate, and the tail beat frequency...... of solitary swimming sea bass (28·8 ± 0·4 cm, LT), were each correlated linearly with swimming speed, and also with one another. The tail beat frequency of individual fish was 9-14% lower when at the rear of a school than when at the front, corresponding to a 9-23% reduction in oxygen consumption rate....

Paramecium swimming and ciliary beating patterns: a study on four RNA interference mutations.

Science.gov (United States)

Funfak, Anette; Fisch, Cathy; Abdel Motaal, Hatem T; Diener, Julien; Combettes, Laurent; Baroud, Charles N; Dupuis-Williams, Pascale

2015-01-01

Paramecium cells swim and feed by beating their thousands of cilia in coordinated patterns. The organization of these patterns and its relationship with cell motility has been the subject of a large body of work, particularly as a model for ciliary beating in human organs where similar organization is seen. However the rapid motion of the cells makes quantitative measurements very challenging. Here we provide detailed measurements of the swimming of Paramecium cells from high-speed video at high magnification, as they move in microfluidic channels. An image analysis protocol allows us to decouple the cell movement from the motion of the cilia, thus allowing us to measure the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and the spatio-temporal organization into metachronal waves along the cell periphery. Two distinct values of the CBF appear at different regions of the cell: most of the cilia beat in the range of 15 to 45 Hz, while the cilia in the peristomal region beat at almost double the frequency. The body and peristomal CBF display a nearly linear relation with the swimming velocity. Moreover the measurements do not display a measurable correlation between the swimming velocity and the metachronal wave velocity on the cell periphery. These measurements are repeated for four RNAi silenced mutants, where proteins specific to the cilia or to their connection to the cell base are depleted. We find that the mutants whose ciliary structure is affected display similar swimming to the control cells albeit with a reduced efficiency, while the mutations that affect the cilia's anchoring to the cell lead to strongly reduced ability to swim. This reduction in motility can be related to a loss of coordination between the ciliary beating in different parts of the cell.

Justification of Wife Beating in Adolescents: Associated Beliefs and Behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Devenish, Bethany; Hooley, Merrilyn; Mellor, David

2018-04-01

Socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescents who are exposed to social norms related to violence against women are more likely to experience or be perpetrators of intimate partner violence. This study evaluated factors hypothesized to be associated with acceptance of wife beating among 240 male and female adolescents aged 10-16 years participating in a World Vision program in Armenia. Acceptance of wife beating was associated with relational victimization, perceived social support, and parent and community boundaries and expectations, but was not associated with overt victimization or aggression. These findings highlight several areas that may be important for violence prevention research.

Cochlear implant users move in time to the beat of drum music.

Science.gov (United States)

Phillips-Silver, Jessica; Toiviainen, Petri; Gosselin, Nathalie; Turgeon, Christine; Lepore, Franco; Peretz, Isabelle

2015-03-01

Cochlear implant users show a profile of residual, yet poorly understood, musical abilities. An ability that has received little to no attention in this population is entrainment to a musical beat. We show for the first time that a heterogeneous group of cochlear implant users is able to find the beat and move their bodies in time to Latin Merengue music, especially when the music is presented in unpitched drum tones. These findings not only reveal a hidden capacity for feeling musical rhythm through the body in the deaf and hearing impaired population, but illuminate promising avenues for designing early childhood musical training that can engage implanted children in social musical activities with benefits potentially extending to non-musical domains. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Heart rate variability - a historical perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Billman, George E

2011-01-01

Heart rate variability (HRV), the beat-to-beat variation in either heart rate or the duration of the R-R interval - the heart period, has become a popular clinical and investigational tool. The temporal fluctuations in heart rate exhibit a marked synchrony with respiration (increasing during inspiration and decreasing during expiration - the so called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, RSA) and are widely believed to reflect changes in cardiac autonomic regulation. Although the exact contributions of the parasympathetic and the sympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system to this variability are controversial and remain the subject of active investigation and debate, a number of time and frequency domain techniques have been developed to provide insight into cardiac autonomic regulation in both health and disease. It is the purpose of this essay to provide an historical overview of the evolution in the concept of HRV. Briefly, pulse rate was first measured by ancient Greek physicians and scientists. However, it was not until the invention of the "Physician's Pulse Watch" (a watch with a second hand that could be stopped) in 1707 that changes in pulse rate could be accurately assessed. The Rev. Stephen Hales (1733) was the first to note that pulse varied with respiration and in 1847 Carl Ludwig was the first to record RSA. With the measurement of the ECG (1895) and advent of digital signal processing techniques in the 1960s, investigation of HRV and its relationship to health and disease has exploded. This essay will conclude with a brief description of time domain, frequency domain, and non-linear dynamic analysis techniques (and their limitations) that are commonly used to measure HRV.

Tuning-in to the beat: Aesthetic appreciation of musical rhythms correlates with a premotor activity boost.

Science.gov (United States)

Kornysheva, Katja; von Cramon, D Yves; Jacobsen, Thomas; Schubotz, Ricarda I

2010-01-01

Listening to music can induce us to tune in to its beat. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that the motor system becomes involved in perceptual rhythm and timing tasks in general, as well as during preference-related responses to music. However, the role of preferred rhythm and, in particular, of preferred beat frequency (tempo) in driving activity in the motor system remains unknown. The goals of the present functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study were to determine whether the musical rhythms that are subjectively judged as beautiful boost activity in motor-related areas and if so, whether this effect is driven by preferred tempo, the underlying pulse people tune in to. On the basis of the subjects' judgments, individual preferences were determined for the different systematically varied constituents of the musical rhythms. Results demonstrate the involvement of premotor and cerebellar areas during preferred compared to not preferred musical rhythms and indicate that activity in the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) is enhanced by preferred tempo. Our findings support the assumption that the premotor activity increase during preferred tempo is the result of enhanced sensorimotor simulation of the beat frequency. This may serve as a mechanism that facilitates the tuning-in to the beat of appealing music. 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Nonstationary self-action of electromagnetic wave beams in the beat accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abramyan, L.A.; Litvak, A.G.; Mironov, V.A.

1990-01-01

The resonance excitation of a plasma wave in a modified accelerator using the beats of two electromagnetic waves permits to increase considerably the intensity of the accelerating field and, consequently, the rate of the accumulation of the energy by charged particles. The efficiency of the electromagnetic radiation conversion to the longitudinal wave is defined by nonlinear processes. The saturation of the accelerating field is considered which is due to the appearance of multiflux motion of electrons oscillating in the wave field with overturn of waves, due to the development of parametric instabilities and due to the change of natural frequency of plasma oscillations caused by the relativistic increase of electron mass. The effects of self-action which change the form of the electromagnetic radiation pulse and the wave beam structure play a significant role in the most promising laser plasma beat accelerator. We consider dynamics of space distribution of the plasma wave in a self-consistent field of the wave beam. (author) 5 refs., 2 figs

Elastohydrodynamic synchronization of adjacent beating flagella

Science.gov (United States)

Goldstein, Raymond E.; Lauga, Eric; Pesci, Adriana I.; Proctor, Michael R. E.

2016-11-01

It is now well established that nearby beating pairs of eukaryotic flagella or cilia typically synchronize in phase. A substantial body of evidence supports the hypothesis that hydrodynamic coupling between the active filaments, combined with waveform compliance, provides a robust mechanism for synchrony. This elastohydrodynamic mechanism has been incorporated into bead-spring models in which the beating flagella are represented by microspheres tethered by radial springs as they are driven about orbits by internal forces. While these low-dimensional models reproduce the phenomenon of synchrony, their parameters are not readily relatable to those of the filaments they represent. More realistic models, which reflect the underlying elasticity of the axonemes and the active force generation, take the form of fourth-order nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs). While computational studies have shown the occurrence of synchrony, the effects of hydrodynamic coupling between nearby filaments governed by such continuum models have been examined theoretically only in the regime of interflagellar distances d large compared to flagellar length L . Yet in many biological situations d /L ≪1 . Here we present an asymptotic analysis of the hydrodynamic coupling between two extended filaments in the regime d /L ≪1 and find that the form of the coupling is independent of the microscopic details of the internal forces that govern the motion of the individual filaments. The analysis is analogous to that yielding the localized induction approximation for vortex filament motion, extended to the case of mutual induction. In order to understand how the elastohydrodynamic coupling mechanism leads to synchrony of extended objects, we introduce a heuristic model of flagellar beating. The model takes the form of a single fourth-order nonlinear PDE whose form is derived from symmetry considerations, the physics of elasticity, and the overdamped nature of the dynamics. Analytical

High-Frequency Binaural Beats Increase Cognitive Flexibility: Evidence from Dual-Task Crosstalk.

Science.gov (United States)

Hommel, Bernhard; Sellaro, Roberta; Fischer, Rico; Borg, Saskia; Colzato, Lorenza S

2016-01-01

Increasing evidence suggests that cognitive-control processes can be configured to optimize either persistence of information processing (by amplifying competition between decision-making alternatives and top-down biasing of this competition) or flexibility (by dampening competition and biasing). We investigated whether high-frequency binaural beats, an auditory illusion suspected to act as a cognitive enhancer, have an impact on cognitive-control configuration. We hypothesized that binaural beats in the gamma range bias the cognitive-control style toward flexibility, which in turn should increase the crosstalk between tasks in a dual-task paradigm. We replicated earlier findings that the reaction time in the first-performed task is sensitive to the compatibility between the responses in the first and the second task-an indication of crosstalk. As predicted, exposing participants to binaural beats in the gamma range increased this effect as compared to a control condition in which participants were exposed to a continuous tone of 340 Hz. These findings provide converging evidence that the cognitive-control style can be systematically biased by inducing particular internal states; that high-frequency binaural beats bias the control style toward more flexibility; and that different styles are implemented by changing the strength of local competition and top-down bias.

High-frequency binaural beats increase cognitive flexibility: evidence from dual-task crosstalk

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernhard Hommel

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Increasing evidence suggests that cognitive-control processes can be configured to optimize either persistence of information processing (by amplifying competition between decision-making alternatives and top-down biasing of this competition or flexibility (by dampening competition and biasing. We investigated whether high-frequency binaural beats, an auditory illusion suspected to act as a cognitive enhancer, have an impact on cognitive-control configuration. We hypothesized that binaural beats in the gamma range bias the cognitive-control style towards flexibility, which in turn should increase the crosstalk between tasks in a dual-task paradigm. We replicated earlier findings that the reaction time in the first-performed task is sensitive to the compatibility between the responses in the first and the second task—an indication of crosstalk. As predicted, exposing participants to binaural beats in the gamma range increased this effect as compared to a control condition in which participants were exposed to a continuous tone of 340 Hz. These findings provide converging evidence that the cognitive-control style can be systematically biased by inducing particular internal states; that high-frequency binaural beats bias the control style towards more flexibility; and that different styles are implemented by changing the strength of local competition and top-down bias.

A Good Suit Beats a Good Idea.

Science.gov (United States)

Machiavelli, Nick

1992-01-01

Inspired by Niccolo Machiavelli, this column offers beleaguered school executives advice on looking good, dressing well, losing weight, beating the proper enemy, and saying nothing. Administrators who follow these simple rules should have an easier life, jealous colleagues, well-tended gardens, and respectful board members. (MLH)

Comparison of NASA-TLX scale, Modified Cooper-Harper scale and mean inter-beat interval as measures of pilot mental workload during simulated flight tasks.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansikka, Heikki; Virtanen, Kai; Harris, Don

2018-04-30

The sensitivity of NASA-TLX scale, modified Cooper-Harper (MCH) scale and the mean inter-beat interval (IBI) of successive heart beats, as measures of pilot mental workload (MWL), were evaluated in a flight training device (FTD). Operational F/A-18C pilots flew instrument approaches with varying task loads. Pilots' performance, subjective MWL ratings and IBI were measured. Based on the pilots' performance, three performance categories were formed; high-, medium- and low-performance. Values of the subjective rating scales and IBI were compared between categories. It was found that all measures were able to differentiate most task conditions and there was a strong, positive correlation between NASA-TLX and MCH scale. An explicit link between IBI, NASA-TLX, MCH and performance was demonstrated. While NASA-TLX, MCH and IBI have all been previously used to measure MWL, this study is the first one to investigate their association in a modern FTD, using a realistic flying mission and operational pilots.

Changes in heart rate and heart rate variability during transportation of horses by road and air.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohmura, Hajime; Hobo, Seiji; Hiraga, Atsushi; Jones, James H

2012-04-01

To determine the influence of transportation by road and air on heart rate (HR) and HR variability (HRV) in horses. Animals-6 healthy horses. ECG recordings were obtained from horses before (quarantine with stall rest [Q]; 24 hours) and during a journey that included transportation by road (RT; 4.5 hours), waiting on the ground in an air stall (W; 5.5 hours), and transportation by air (AT; 11 hours); HR was determined, and HRV indices of autonomic nervous activity (low-frequency [LF; 0.01 to 0.07 Hz] and high-frequency [HF; 0.07 to 0.6 Hz] power) were calculated. Mean ± SD HRs during Q, RT, W, and AT were 38.9 ± 1.5 beats/min, 41.7 ± 5.6 beats/min, 41.5 ± 4.3 beats/min, and 48.8 ± 5.6 beats/min, respectively; HR during AT was significantly higher than HR during Q. The LF power was significantly higher during Q (3,454 ± 1,087 milliseconds(2)) and AT (3,101 ± 567 milliseconds(2)) than it was during RT (1,824 ± 432 milliseconds(2)) and W (2,072 ± 616 milliseconds(2)). During Q, RT, W, and AT, neither HF powers (range, 509 to 927 milliseconds(2)) nor LF:HF ratios (range, 4.1 to 6.2) differed significantly. The HR during RT was highly correlated with LF power (R(2) = 0.979), and HR during AT was moderately correlated with the LF:HF ratio (R(2) = 0.477). In horses, HR and HRV indices during RT and AT differed, suggesting that exposure to different stressors results in different autonomic nervous influences on HR.

Binaural beats increase interhemispheric alpha-band coherence between auditory cortices.

Science.gov (United States)

Solcà, Marco; Mottaz, Anaïs; Guggisberg, Adrian G

2016-02-01

Binaural beats (BBs) are an auditory illusion occurring when two tones of slightly different frequency are presented separately to each ear. BBs have been suggested to alter physiological and cognitive processes through synchronization of the brain hemispheres. To test this, we recorded electroencephalograms (EEG) at rest and while participants listened to BBs or a monaural control condition during which both tones were presented to both ears. We calculated for each condition the interhemispheric coherence, which expressed the synchrony between neural oscillations of both hemispheres. Compared to monaural beats and resting state, BBs enhanced interhemispheric coherence between the auditory cortices. Beat frequencies in the alpha (10 Hz) and theta (4 Hz) frequency range both increased interhemispheric coherence selectively at alpha frequencies. In a second experiment, we evaluated whether this coherence increase has a behavioral aftereffect on binaural listening. No effects were observed in a dichotic digit task performed immediately after BBs presentation. Our results suggest that BBs enhance alpha-band oscillation synchrony between the auditory cortices during auditory stimulation. This effect seems to reflect binaural integration rather than entrainment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Metal Flow Behavior and Residual Stress Formation of Complex Functional Profiles under High-Speed Cold Roll-Beating

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fengkui Cui

2018-01-01

Full Text Available To obtain a good surface layer performance of the complex functional profile during the high-speed cold roll-beating forming process, this paper analyzed the metal plastic flow and residual stress-formed mechanism by using a theoretical model of the metal flow and residual stress generation. By using simulation software, the cold roll-beating forming process of a spline shaft was simulated and analyzed. The metal flow and residual stress formation law in the motion were researched. In a practical experiment, the changes in the grains in the spline tooth profile section and the residual stress distribution on the tooth profile were studied. A microcorrespondence relationship was established between the metal plastic flow and the residual stress generation. The conclusions indicate that the rate at which the metal flow decreases changes gradually at different metal layers. The residual stress value is directly related to the plastic flow difference. As the roll-beating speed increases, the uneven degree of plastic deformation at the workpiece surface increases, and the residual stress in the tooth profile is generally greater. At the same roll-beating speed, the rate change trend of the metal flow decreases gradually from the surface to the inner layer and from the dedendum to the addendum. The residual stress distribution on the surface of the tooth profile decreases from the dedendum to the addendum. These findings provide a basis and guidance for the controlled use of residual stress, obtaining better surface layer quality in the high-speed cold roll-beating process of the complex functional profile.

Beat wave current drive experiment on the Davis Diverted Tokamak (DDT)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hwang, D.Q.; Horton, R.D.; Rogers, J.H.

1993-01-01

The beatwave current drive experiment is summarized. The first phase of the experiment was the construction of the microwave sources and the diagnostics needed to demonstrate the beat wave effects, i.e. the measurement of the electrostatic plasma wave produced by the beating of two high intensity electromagnetic waves. In order to keep the cost of the experiments to a minimum, a low density filament plasma source (10 8 ) to (10 10 particles cm -3 ) was employed and the magnetic field in the toroidal plasma was produced by a dc power supply

The Short Supply of Saints: Limits on Replication of Models that "Beat the Odds"

Science.gov (United States)

Wilder, Tamara; Jacobsen, Rebecca

2010-01-01

Researchers have identified effective practices that allow schools to "beat the odds" and close the reading achievement gap. Although identifying these practices is important, researchers have paid little attention to the work it takes to implement them. Through interviews with teachers who work at schools identified as beating the odds, this…

Proof-of-principle experiment of the vacuum beat wave accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ting, A.; Krushelnick, K.; Esarey, E.; Sprangle, P.

1997-01-01

The vacuum beat wave accelerator (VBWA) is discussed and design parameters for proof-of-principle experiment are presented. The VBWA utilizes two focused laser beams of differing wavelengths to generate a beat wave that can impart a net acceleration to charged particles. Theory and simulations show that the single-stage energy gain of the VBWA is limited by diffraction of the laser beams, particle slippage in phase and velocity, and radial walk-off. In the simulations the particles are synchronous with the beat wave for a short interval of time and the energy gain has the nature of an impulse delivered near the focal region. Simulations also show that the problem of radial walk-off may be ameliorated by using a converging beam of particles. For terawatt-level laser beams, with wavelengths 1 μm and 0.5 μm, and a 4.5 MeV finite-emittance electron beam the energy can be increased to ∼12.5MeV in a non-synchronous interaction over a distance of under 4 mm, with a peak acceleration gradient >15GeV/m and an estimated trapping fraction of -1%. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics

Use of a novel cell adhesion method and digital measurement to show stimulus-dependent variation in somatic and oral ciliary beat frequency in Paramecium.

Science.gov (United States)

Bell, Wade E; Hallworth, Richard; Wyatt, Todd A; Sisson, Joseph H

2015-01-01

When Paramecium encounters positive stimuli, the membrane hyperpolarizes and ciliary beat frequency increases. We adapted an established immobilization protocol using a biological adhesive and a novel digital analysis system to quantify beat frequency in immobilized Paramecium. Cells showed low mortality and demonstrated beat frequencies consistent with previous studies. Chemoattractant molecules, reduction in external potassium, and posterior stimulation all increased somatic beat frequency. In all cases, the oral groove cilia maintained a higher beat frequency than mid-body cilia, but only oral cilia from cells stimulated with chemoattactants showed an increase from basal levels. © 2014 The Author(s) Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology © 2014 International Society of Protistologists.

Comparative effect of mechanical beating and nanofibrillation of cellulose on paper properties made from bagasse and softwood pulps.

Science.gov (United States)

Afra, Elyas; Yousefi, Hossein; Hadilam, Mohamad Mahdi; Nishino, Takashi

2013-09-12

Cellulose fibers were fibrillated using mechanical beating (shearing refiner) and ultra-fine friction grinder, respectively. The fibrillated fibers were then used to make paper. Mechanical beating process created a partial skin fibrillation, while grinding turned fiber from micro to nanoscale through nanofibrillation mechanism. The partially fibrillated and nano fibrillated fibers had significant effects on paper density, tear strength, tensile strength and water drainage time. The effect of nanofibrillation on paper properties was quantitatively higher than that of mechanical beating. Paper sheets from nanofibrillated cellulose have a higher density, higher tensile strength and lower tear strength compared to those subjected to mechanical beating. Mechanical beating and nanofibrillation were both found to be promising fiber structural modifications. Long water drainage time was an important drawback of both fibrillation methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nonlinear amplitude dynamics in flagellar beating.

Science.gov (United States)

Oriola, David; Gadêlha, Hermes; Casademunt, Jaume

2017-03-01

The physical basis of flagellar and ciliary beating is a major problem in biology which is still far from completely understood. The fundamental cytoskeleton structure of cilia and flagella is the axoneme, a cylindrical array of microtubule doublets connected by passive cross-linkers and dynein motor proteins. The complex interplay of these elements leads to the generation of self-organized bending waves. Although many mathematical models have been proposed to understand this process, few attempts have been made to assess the role of dyneins on the nonlinear nature of the axoneme. Here, we investigate the nonlinear dynamics of flagella by considering an axonemal sliding control mechanism for dynein activity. This approach unveils the nonlinear selection of the oscillation amplitudes, which are typically either missed or prescribed in mathematical models. The explicit set of nonlinear equations are derived and solved numerically. Our analysis reveals the spatio-temporal dynamics of dynein populations and flagellum shape for different regimes of motor activity, medium viscosity and flagellum elasticity. Unstable modes saturate via the coupling of dynein kinetics and flagellum shape without the need of invoking a nonlinear axonemal response. Hence, our work reveals a novel mechanism for the saturation of unstable modes in axonemal beating.

Lack of beat isochrony disrupts motor performance in a child drummer prodigy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Farrugia Nicolas

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Several studies have focused on coupling between perception and action (e.g., via finger tapping, and more generally on entrainment, in average musicians and non-musicians. Yet, little is known about the effects of entrainment on timing and movement kinematics in individuals exhibiting outstanding rhythmical abilities. In this study we examined the effect of beat isochrony on the performance of IF, a 7-year-old child drummer prodigy. IF displayed very early (at 3-4 years of age outstanding musical abilities, and exceptional sensorimotor synchronization. To assess whether temporal regularity of the underlying beat (i.e., isochrony during music playing affects IF’s performance we tested IF and a “control” group (i.e., children from music schools with 1-to1.5 years of percussion training in a motion capture study. Participants imitated a short 6-note isochronous metrical pattern (Strong-weak-weak-Strong-weak-weak on a percussion pad under four conditions. In the first condition the pattern was imitated repeatedly along with a metronome. In the second condition, the pattern was repeated but with a break in between repetitions, together with a metronome. In the third condition, similar breaks were introduced, but disrupting beat isochrony (i.e., with an irregular, though predictable, metronome. Finally, in the fourth condition break durations were random. IF exhibited higher temporal accuracy than controls with an isochronous metronome. However, his performance was much less accurate with disrupted beat isochrony. This was accompanied by overall differences between IF and controls in movement kinematics in terms of movement amplitude, and anticipation times. Enhanced performance in the presence of an isochronous beat, as opposed to lack of isochrony, suggests that motor entrainment may act as a marker of musical expertise early during development.

VLF wave generation by beating of two HF waves in the ionosphere

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Spencer; Snyder, Arnold; Kossey, Paul; Chang, Chia-Lie; Labenski, John

2011-05-01

Theory of a beat-wave mechanism for very low frequency (VLF) wave generation in the ionosphere is presented. The VLF current is produced by beating two high power HF waves of slightly different frequencies through the nonlinearity and inhomogeneity of the ionospheric plasma. Theory also shows that the density irregularities can enhance the beat-wave generation. An experiment was conducted by transmitting two high power HF waves of 3.2 MHz and 3.2 MHz + f, where f = 5, 8, 13, and 2.02 kHz, from the HAARP transmitter. In the experiment, the ionosphere was underdense to the O-mode heater, i.e., the heater frequency f0 > foF2, and overdense or slightly underdense to the X-mode heater, i.e., f0 < fxF2 or f0 ≥ fxF2. The radiation intensity increased with the VLF wave frequency, was much stronger with the X-mode heaters, and was not sensitive to the electrojet. The strongest VLF radiation of 13 kHz was generated when the reflection layer of the X-mode heater was just slightly below the foF2 layer and the spread of the O-mode sounding echoes had the largest enhancement, suggesting an optimal setting for beat-wave generation of VLF waves by the HF heaters.

More attentional focusing through binaural beats: Evidence from the global-local task

OpenAIRE

Colzato, L.S.; Barone, H.; Sellaro, R.; Hommel, B.

2017-01-01

A recent study showed that binaural beats have an impact on the efficiency of allocating attention over time. We were interested to see whether this impact affects attentional focusing or, even further, the top-down control over irrelevant information. Healthy adults listened to gamma-frequency (40?Hz) binaural beats, which are assumed to increase attentional concentration, or a constant tone of 340?Hz (control condition) for 3?min before and during a global?local task. While the size of the ...

A novel recursive Fourier transform for nonuniform sampled signals: application to heart rate variability spectrum estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, Alexander; Aboy, Mateo

2009-07-01

We present a novel method to iteratively calculate discrete Fourier transforms for discrete time signals with sample time intervals that may be widely nonuniform. The proposed recursive Fourier transform (RFT) does not require interpolation of the samples to uniform time intervals, and each iterative transform update of N frequencies has computational order N. Because of the inherent non-uniformity in the time between successive heart beats, an application particularly well suited for this transform is power spectral density (PSD) estimation for heart rate variability. We compare RFT based spectrum estimation with Lomb-Scargle Transform (LST) based estimation. PSD estimation based on the LST also does not require uniform time samples, but the LST has a computational order greater than Nlog(N). We conducted an assessment study involving the analysis of quasi-stationary signals with various levels of randomly missing heart beats. Our results indicate that the RFT leads to comparable estimation performance to the LST with significantly less computational overhead and complexity for applications requiring iterative spectrum estimations.

Heart Rate and Oxygen Saturation Change Patterns During 6-min Walk Test in Subjects With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Inagaki, Takeshi; Terada, Jiro; Yahaba, Misuzu; Kawata, Naoko; Jujo, Takayuki; Nagashima, Kengo; Sakao, Seiichiro; Tanabe, Nobuhiro; Tatsumi, Koichiro

2017-12-26

The 6-min walk test (6MWT) is commonly performed to assess functional status in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. However, changes in heart rate and oxygen saturation ( S pO 2 ) patterns during 6MWT in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension remain unclear. Thirty-one subjects with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension were retrospectively evaluated to examine the relationships between the change in heart rate (Δheart rate), heart rate acceleration time, slope of heart rate acceleration, heart rate recovery during the first minute after 6MWT (HRR1), change in S pO 2 (Δ S pO 2 ), S pO 2 reduction time, and S pO 2 recovery time during 6MWT, and the severity of pulmonary hemodynamics assessed by right heart catheterization and echocardiography. Subjects with severe chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension had significantly longer heart rate acceleration time (144.9 ± 63.9 s vs 96.0 ± 42.5 s, P = .033), lower Δheart rate (47.4 ± 16.9 vs 61.8 ± 13.6 beats, P = .02), and lower HRR1 (13.3 ± 9.0 beats vs 27.1 ± 9.2 beats, P pulmonary hypertension. Subjects with severe chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension also had significantly longer S pO 2 reduction time (178.3 ± 70.3 s vs 134.3 ± 58.4 s, P = .03) and S pO 2 recovery time (107.6 ± 35.3 s vs 69.8 ± 32.7 s, P = .004) than did subjects with mild chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Multivariate linear regression analysis showed only mean pulmonary arterial pressure independently was associated with heart rate acceleration time and slope of heart rate acceleration. Heart rate and S pO 2 change patterns during 6MWT is predominantly associated with pulmonary hemodynamics in subjects with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Evaluating heart rate and S pO 2 change patterns during 6MWT may serve a safe and convenient way to follow the change in pulmonary hemodynamics. Copyright © 2017 by Daedalus Enterprises.

A filled duration illusion in music: Effects of metrical subdivision on the perception and production of beat tempo.

Science.gov (United States)

Repp, Bruno H; Bruttomesso, Meijin

2010-01-13

This study replicates and extends previous findings suggesting that metrical subdivision slows the perceived beat tempo (Repp, 2008). Here, musically trained participants produced the subdivisions themselves and were found to speed up, thus compensating for the perceived slowing. This was shown in a synchronization-continuation paradigm (Experiment 1) and in a reproduction task (Experiment 2a). Participants also judged the tempo of a subdivided sequence as being slower than that of a preceding simple beat sequence (Experiment 2b). Experiment 2 also included nonmusician participants, with similar results. Tempo measurements of famous pianists' recordings of two variation movements from Beethoven sonatas revealed a strong tendency to play the first variation (subdivided beats) faster than the theme (mostly simple beats). A similar tendency was found in musicians' laboratory performances of a simple theme and variations, despite instruc-tions to keep the tempo constant (Experiment 3a). When playing melodic sequences in which only one of three beats per measure was subdivided, musicians tended to play these beats faster and to perceive them as longer than adjacent beats, and they played the whole sequence faster than a sequence without any subdivisions (Experiments 3b and 3c). The results amply demonstrate a filled duration illusion in rhythm perception and music performance: Intervals containing events seem longer than empty intervals and thus must be shortened to be perceived as equal in duration.

Beliefs About Wife Beating Among Social Work Students in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Haj-Yahia, Muhammad M; Shen, April Chiung-Tao

2017-07-01

Based on an integrative framework, this study addresses the beliefs that a group of social work students from Taiwan had about wife beating. A self-administered questionnaire was filled out by 790 students (76.5% female, 23.5% male) spanning all 4 years of undergraduate studies. The results show that male students exhibited a greater tendency than their female counterparts to justify wife beating and to hold battered women responsible for violence against them. This tendency was also found among students who held traditional attitudes toward women, students who held patriarchal expectations of marriage, and students who had witnessed interparental violence in childhood. In addition, male students and students with traditional attitudes toward women exhibited the strongest tendency to believe that wives benefit from beating. Conversely, female students expressed more willingness than their male counterparts to help battered women, as did students who held liberal attitudes toward women and students who held egalitarian expectations of marriage. Furthermore, female students and those with liberal attitudes toward women tended to hold violent husbands responsible for their behavior, and to express support for punishing violent husbands. This article concludes with a discussion of the study's limitations and the results' implications for future research on the topic.

Energy cascading in the beat-wave accelerator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKinstrie, C.J.; Batha, S.H.

1987-01-01

A review is given of energy cascading in the beat-wave accelerator. The properties of the electromagnetic cascade and the corresponding plasma-wave evolution are well understood within the framework of an approximate analytic model. Based on this model, idealized laser-plasma coupling efficiencies of the order of 10% do not seem unreasonable. 28 refs

Analyzing the Acoustic Beat with Mobile Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Jochen; Vogt, Patrik; Hirth, Michael

2014-01-01

In this column, we have previously presented various examples of how physical relationships can be examined by analyzing acoustic signals using smartphones or tablet PCs. In this example, we will be exploring the acoustic phenomenon of small beats, which is produced by the overlapping of two tones with a low difference in frequency ?f. The…

Increasing T-type calcium channel activity by β-adrenergic stimulation contributes to β-adrenergic regulation of heart rates.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yingxin; Zhang, Xiaoxiao; Zhang, Chen; Zhang, Xiaoying; Li, Ying; Qi, Zhao; Szeto, Christopher; Tang, Mingxin; Peng, Yizhi; Molkentin, Jeffery D; Houser, Steven R; Xie, Mingxing; Chen, Xiongwen

2018-04-01

Cav3.1 T-type Ca 2+ channel current (I Ca-T ) contributes to heart rate genesis but is not known to contribute to heart rate regulation by the sympathetic/β-adrenergic system (SAS). We show that the loss of Cav3.1 makes the beating rates of the heart in vivo and perfused hearts ex vivo, as well as sinoatrial node cells, less sensitive to β-adrenergic stimulation; it also renders less conduction acceleration through the atrioventricular node by β-adrenergic stimulation. Increasing Cav3.1 in cardiomyocytes has the opposite effects. I Ca-T in sinoatrial nodal cells can be upregulated by β-adrenergic stimulation. The results of the present study add a new contribution to heart rate regulation by the SAS system and provide potential new mechanisms for the dysregulation of heart rate and conduction by the SAS in the heart. T-type Ca 2+ channel can be a target for heart disease treatments that aim to slow down the heart rate ABSTRACT: Cav3.1 (α 1G ) T-type Ca 2+ channel (TTCC) is expressed in mouse sinoatrial node cells (SANCs) and atrioventricular (AV) nodal cells and contributes to heart rate (HR) genesis and AV conduction. However, its role in HR regulation and AV conduction acceleration by the β-adrenergic system (SAS) is unclear. In the present study, L- (I Ca-L ) and T-type (I Ca-T ) Ca 2+ currents were recorded in SANCs from Cav3.1 transgenic (TG) and knockout (KO), and control mice. I Ca-T was absent in KO SANCs but enhanced in TG SANCs. In anaesthetized animals, different doses of isoproterenol (ISO) were infused via the jugular vein and the HR was recorded. The EC 50 of the HR response to ISO was lower in TG mice but higher in KO mice, and the maximal percentage of HR increase by ISO was greater in TG mice but less in KO mice. In Langendorff-perfused hearts, ISO increased HR and shortened PR intervals to a greater extent in TG but to a less extent in KO hearts. KO SANCs had significantly slower spontaneous beating rates than control SANCs before and after

Application of a "relative" procedure to a problem in binaural beat perception.

Science.gov (United States)

1963-08-01

The existence of binaural beats has long been considered an indication of binaural interaction for timing and for periodicity of information. In the past, bilaterally matched sound pressure or sensation levels have been used in the investigation of t...

Fast Gated EPR Imaging of the Beating Heart: Spatiotemporally-Resolved 3D Imaging of Free Radical Distribution during the Cardiac Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Zhiyu; Reyes, Levy A.; Johnson, David H.; Velayutham, Murugesan; Yang, Changjun; Samouilov, Alexandre; Zweier, Jay L.

2012-01-01

In vivo or ex vivo electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) is a powerful technique for determining the spatial distribution of free radicals and other paramagnetic species in living organs and tissues. However, applications of EPRI have been limited by long projection acquisition times and the consequent fact that rapid gated EPRI was not possible. Hence in vivo EPRI typically provided only time-averaged information. In order to achieve direct gated EPRI, a fast EPR acquisition scheme was developed to decrease EPR projection acquisition time down to 10 – 20 ms, along with corresponding software and instrumentation to achieve fast gated EPRI of the isolated beating heart with submillimeter spatial resolution in as little as 2 to 3 minutes. Reconstructed images display temporal and spatial variations of the free radical distribution, anatomical structure, and contractile function within the rat heart during the cardiac cycle. PMID:22473660

Heart rate is a marker of amiodarone mortality reduction in severe heart failure. The GESICA-GEMA Investigators. Grupo de Estudio de la Sobrevida en la Insuficiencia Cardiaca en Argentina-Grupo de Estudios Multicéntricos en Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Nul, D R; Doval, H C; Grancelli, H O; Varini, S D; Soifer, S; Perrone, S V; Prieto, N; Scapin, O

1997-05-01

The impact of amiodarone on mortality in patients with severe congestive heart failure (CHF) (New York Heart Association functional classes II [advanced], III and IV; left ventricular ejection fraction Insuficiencia Cardiaca en Argentina (GESICA) trial was analyzed in relation to initial mean baseline heart rate (BHR) and its change after 6 months of follow-up. Trials of amiodarone therapy in CHF have produced discordant results, suggesting that the effect is not uniform in all patient subgroups with regard to survival. The present analysis was carried out in 516 patients randomized to receive amiodarone, 300 mg/day (n = 260), or nonantiarrhythmic therapy (n = 256, control group) and followed up for 2 years. Survival was evaluated for patients with a BHR > or = 90 beats/min (control: n = 132; amiodarone: n = 122) and or = 90 beats/min, amiodarone therapy reduced mortality to 38.4% compared with 62.4% in control patients (relative risk [RR] 0.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.35 to 0.95, p or = 90 beats/min, which was reduced at 6 months. Elevated rest heart rates in severe CHF identify a subgroup of patients who benefit from treatment with amiodarone. Amiodarone-induced heart rate slowing may be an important benefit for patients.

Mice lacking melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 demonstrate increased heart rate associated with altered autonomic activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Astrand, Annika; Bohlooly-Y, Mohammad; Larsdotter, Sara; Mahlapuu, Margit; Andersén, Harriet; Tornell, Jan; Ohlsson, Claes; Snaith, Mike; Morgan, David G A

2004-10-01

Melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) plays an important role in energy balance. The current studies were carried out on a new line of mice lacking the rodent MCH receptor (MCHR1(-/-) mice). These mice confirmed the previously reported lean phenotype characterized by increased energy expenditure and modestly increased caloric intake. Because MCH is expressed in the lateral hypothalamic area, which also has an important role in the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, heart rate and blood pressure were measured by a telemetric method to investigate whether the increased energy expenditure in these mice might be due to altered autonomic nervous system activity. Male MCHR1(-/-) mice demonstrated a significantly increased heart rate [24-h period: wild type 495 +/- 4 vs. MCHR1(-/-) 561 +/- 8 beats/min (P dark phase: wild type 506 +/- 8 vs. MCHR1(-/-) 582 +/- 9 beats/min (P light phase: wild type 484 +/- 13 vs. MCHR1(-/-) 539 +/- 9 beats/min (P vs. MCHR1(-/-) 113 +/- 0.4 mmHg (P > 0.05)]. Locomotor activity and core body temperature were higher in the MCHR1(-/-) mice during the dark phase only and thus temporally dissociated from heart rate differences. On fasting, wild-type animals rapidly downregulated body temperature and heart rate. MCHR1(-/-) mice displayed a distinct delay in the onset of this downregulation. To investigate the mechanism underlying these differences, autonomic blockade experiments were carried out. Administration of the adrenergic antagonist metoprolol completely reversed the tachycardia seen in MCHR1(-/-) mice, suggesting an increased sympathetic tone.

A mitral annulus tracking approach for navigation of off-pump beating heart mitral valve repair.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Feng P; Rajchl, Martin; Moore, John; Peters, Terry M

2015-01-01

To develop and validate a real-time mitral valve annulus (MVA) tracking approach based on biplane transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) data and magnetic tracking systems (MTS) to be used in minimally invasive off-pump beating heart mitral valve repair (MVR). The authors' guidance system consists of three major components: TEE, magnetic tracking system, and an image guidance software platform. TEE provides real-time intraoperative images to show the cardiac motion and intracardiac surgical tools. The magnetic tracking system tracks the TEE probe and the surgical tools. The software platform integrates the TEE image planes and the virtual model of the tools and the MVA model on the screen. The authors' MVA tracking approach, which aims to update the MVA model in near real-time, comprises of three steps: image based gating, predictive reinitialization, and registration based MVA tracking. The image based gating step uses a small patch centered at each MVA point in the TEE images to identify images at optimal cardiac phases for updating the position of the MVA. The predictive reinitialization step uses the position and orientation of the TEE probe provided by the magnetic tracking system to predict the position of the MVA points in the TEE images and uses them for the initialization of the registration component. The registration based MVA tracking step aims to locate the MVA points in the images selected by the image based gating component by performing image based registration. The validation of the MVA tracking approach was performed in a phantom study and a retrospective study on porcine data. In the phantom study, controlled translations were applied to the phantom and the tracked MVA was compared to its "true" position estimated based on a magnetic sensor attached to the phantom. The MVA tracking accuracy was 1.29 ± 0.58 mm when the translation distance is about 1 cm, and increased to 2.85 ± 1.19 mm when the translation distance is about 3 cm. In the study on

Assessment of beating parameters in human induced pluripotent stem cells enables quantitative in vitro screening for cardiotoxicity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sirenko, Oksana, E-mail: oksana.sirenko@moldev.com [Molecular Devices LLC, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (United States); Cromwell, Evan F., E-mail: evan.cromwell@moldev.com [Molecular Devices LLC, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (United States); Crittenden, Carole [Molecular Devices LLC, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 (United States); Wignall, Jessica A. [Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States); Wright, Fred A. [Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States); Rusyn, Ivan [Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (United States)

2013-12-15

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes show promise for screening during early drug development. Here, we tested a hypothesis that in vitro assessment of multiple cardiomyocyte physiological parameters enables predictive and mechanistically-interpretable evaluation of cardiotoxicity in a high-throughput format. Human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes were exposed for 30 min or 24 h to 131 drugs, positive (107) and negative (24) for in vivo cardiotoxicity, in up to 6 concentrations (3 nM to 30 uM) in 384-well plates. Fast kinetic imaging was used to monitor changes in cardiomyocyte function using intracellular Ca{sup 2+} flux readouts synchronous with beating, and cell viability. A number of physiological parameters of cardiomyocyte beating, such as beat rate, peak shape (amplitude, width, raise, decay, etc.) and regularity were collected using automated data analysis. Concentration–response profiles were evaluated using logistic modeling to derive a benchmark concentration (BMC) point-of-departure value, based on one standard deviation departure from the estimated baseline in vehicle (0.3% dimethyl sulfoxide)-treated cells. BMC values were used for cardiotoxicity classification and ranking of compounds. Beat rate and several peak shape parameters were found to be good predictors, while cell viability had poor classification accuracy. In addition, we applied the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi) approach to integrate and display data across many collected parameters, to derive “cardiosafety” ranking of tested compounds. Multi-parameter screening of beating profiles allows for cardiotoxicity risk assessment and identification of specific patterns defining mechanism-specific effects. These data and analysis methods may be used widely for compound screening and early safety evaluation in drug development. - Highlights: • Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes are promising in vitro models. • We tested if evaluation

Assessment of beating parameters in human induced pluripotent stem cells enables quantitative in vitro screening for cardiotoxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sirenko, Oksana; Cromwell, Evan F.; Crittenden, Carole; Wignall, Jessica A.; Wright, Fred A.; Rusyn, Ivan

2013-01-01

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cardiomyocytes show promise for screening during early drug development. Here, we tested a hypothesis that in vitro assessment of multiple cardiomyocyte physiological parameters enables predictive and mechanistically-interpretable evaluation of cardiotoxicity in a high-throughput format. Human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes were exposed for 30 min or 24 h to 131 drugs, positive (107) and negative (24) for in vivo cardiotoxicity, in up to 6 concentrations (3 nM to 30 uM) in 384-well plates. Fast kinetic imaging was used to monitor changes in cardiomyocyte function using intracellular Ca 2+ flux readouts synchronous with beating, and cell viability. A number of physiological parameters of cardiomyocyte beating, such as beat rate, peak shape (amplitude, width, raise, decay, etc.) and regularity were collected using automated data analysis. Concentration–response profiles were evaluated using logistic modeling to derive a benchmark concentration (BMC) point-of-departure value, based on one standard deviation departure from the estimated baseline in vehicle (0.3% dimethyl sulfoxide)-treated cells. BMC values were used for cardiotoxicity classification and ranking of compounds. Beat rate and several peak shape parameters were found to be good predictors, while cell viability had poor classification accuracy. In addition, we applied the Toxicological Prioritization Index (ToxPi) approach to integrate and display data across many collected parameters, to derive “cardiosafety” ranking of tested compounds. Multi-parameter screening of beating profiles allows for cardiotoxicity risk assessment and identification of specific patterns defining mechanism-specific effects. These data and analysis methods may be used widely for compound screening and early safety evaluation in drug development. - Highlights: • Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes are promising in vitro models. • We tested if evaluation of

The Ability to Tap to a Beat Relates to Cognitive, Linguistic, and Perceptual Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Tierney, Adam T.; Kraus, Nina

2013-01-01

Reading-impaired children have difficulty tapping to a beat. Here we tested whether this relationship between reading ability and synchronized tapping holds in typically-developing adolescents. We also hypothesized that tapping relates to two other abilities. First, since auditory-motor synchronization requires monitoring of the relationship…

Disentangling beat perception from sequential learning and examining the influence of attention and musical abilities on ERP responses to rhythm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouwer, F.L.; Werner, C.M.; Knetemann, M.; Honing, H.

Beat perception is the ability to perceive temporal regularity in musical rhythm. When a beat is perceived, predictions about upcoming events can be generated. These predictions can influence processing of subsequent rhythmic events. However, statistical learning of the order of sounds in a sequence

General anesthesia suppresses normal heart rate variability in humans

Science.gov (United States)

Matchett, Gerald; Wood, Philip

2014-06-01

The human heart normally exhibits robust beat-to-beat heart rate variability (HRV). The loss of this variability is associated with pathology, including disease states such as congestive heart failure (CHF). The effect of general anesthesia on intrinsic HRV is unknown. In this prospective, observational study we enrolled 100 human subjects having elective major surgical procedures under general anesthesia. We recorded continuous heart rate data via continuous electrocardiogram before, during, and after anesthesia, and we assessed HRV of the R-R intervals. We assessed HRV using several common metrics including Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA), Multifractal Analysis, and Multiscale Entropy Analysis. Each of these analyses was done in each of the four clinical phases for each study subject over the course of 24 h: Before anesthesia, during anesthesia, early recovery, and late recovery. On average, we observed a loss of variability on the aforementioned metrics that appeared to correspond to the state of general anesthesia. Following the conclusion of anesthesia, most study subjects appeared to regain their normal HRV, although this did not occur immediately. The resumption of normal HRV was especially delayed on DFA. Qualitatively, the reduction in HRV under anesthesia appears similar to the reduction in HRV observed in CHF. These observations will need to be validated in future studies, and the broader clinical implications of these observations, if any, are unknown.

Accelerated high-frame-rate mouse heart cine-MRI using compressed sensing reconstruction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Motaal, Abdallah G.; Coolen, Bram F.; Abdurrachim, Desiree; Castro, Rui M.; Prompers, Jeanine J.; Florack, Luc M. J.; Nicolay, Klaas; Strijkers, Gustav J.

2013-01-01

We introduce a new protocol to obtain very high-frame-rate cinematographic (Cine) MRI movies of the beating mouse heart within a reasonable measurement time. The method is based on a self-gated accelerated fast low-angle shot (FLASH) acquisition and compressed sensi ng reconstruction. Key to our

Dichotic beats of mistuned consonances.

Science.gov (United States)

Feeney, M P

1997-10-01

The beats of mistuned consonances (BMCs) result from the presentation of two sinusoids at frequencies slightly mistuned from a ratio of small integers. Several studies have suggested that the source of dichotic BMCs is an interaction within a binaural critical band. In one case the mechanism has been explained as an aural harmonic of the low-frequency tone (f1) creating binaural beats with the high-frequency tone (f2). The other explanation involves a binaural cross correlation between the excitation pattern of f1 and the contralateral f2--occurring within the binaural critical band centered at f2. This study examined the detection of dichotic BMCs for the octave and fifth. In one experiment with the octave, narrow-band noise centered at f2 was presented to one ear along with f1. The other ear was presented with f2. The noise was used to prevent interactions in the binaural critical band centered at f2. Dichotic BMCs were still detected under these conditions, suggesting that binaural interaction within a critical band does not explain the effect. Localization effects were also observed under this masking condition for phase reversals of tuned dichotic octave stimuli. These findings suggest a new theory of dichotic BMCs as a between-channel phase effect. The modified weighted-image model of localization [Stern and Trahiotis, in Auditory Physiology and Perception, edited by Y. Cazals, L. Demany, and K. Horner (Pergamon, Oxford, 1992), pp. 547-554] was used to provide an explanation of the between-channel mechanism.

Measurement of optical-beat frequency in a photoconductive terahertz-wave generator using microwave higher harmonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Murasawa, Kengo; Sato, Koki; Hidaka, Takehiko

2011-05-01

A new method for measuring optical-beat frequencies in the terahertz (THz) region using microwave higher harmonics is presented. A microwave signal was applied to the antenna gap of a photoconductive (PC) device emitting a continuous electromagnetic wave at about 1 THz by the photomixing technique. The microwave higher harmonics with THz frequencies are generated in the PC device owing to the nonlinearity of the biased photoconductance, which is briefly described in this article. Thirteen nearly periodic peaks in the photocurrent were observed when the microwave was swept from 16 to 20 GHz at a power of -48 dBm. The nearly periodic peaks are generated by the homodyne detection of the optical beat with the microwave higher harmonics when the frequency of the harmonics coincides with the optical-beat frequency. Each peak frequency and its peak width were determined by fitting a Gaussian function, and the order of microwave harmonics was determined using a coarse (i.e., lower resolution) measurement of the optical-beat frequency. By applying the Kalman algorithm to the peak frequencies of the higher harmonics and their standard deviations, the optical-beat frequency near 1 THz was estimated to be 1029.81 GHz with the standard deviation of 0.82 GHz. The proposed method is applicable to a conventional THz-wave generator with a photomixer.

MHD simulation of a beat frequency heated plasma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milroy, R.D.; Capjack, C.E.; James, C.R.; McMullin, J.N.

1976-01-01

The heating of a plasma in a solenoid, with a beat frequency harmonic which is excited at a frequency near to that of a Langmuir mode in a plasma, is examined. It is shown that at high temperatures the heating rate is very insensitive to changes in plasma density. The amount of energy that can be coupled to a plasma in a solenoid with this heating scheme is investigated by using a one-dimensional computer code which incorporates an exact solution of the relevant MHD equations. The absorption of energy from a high powered laser is shown to be significantly enhanced with this process. (author)

Multiscale time irreversibility of heart rate and blood pressure variability during orthostasis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chladekova, L; Czippelova, B; Turianikova, Z; Tonhajzerova, I; Calkovska, A; Javorka, M; Baumert, M

2012-01-01

Time irreversibility is a characteristic feature of non-equilibrium, complex systems such as the cardiovascular control mediated by the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Time irreversibility analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) and blood pressure variability (BPV) represents a new approach to assess cardiovascular regulatory mechanisms. The aim of this paper was to assess the changes in HRV and BPV irreversibility during the active orthostatic test (a balance of ANS shifted towards sympathetic predominance) in 28 healthy young subjects. We used three different time irreversibility indices—Porta’s, Guzik's and Ehler's indices (P%, G% and E, respectively) derived from data segments containing 1000 beat-to-beat intervals on four timescales. We observed an increase in the HRV and a decrease in the BPV irreversibility during standing compared to the supine position. The postural change in irreversibility was confirmed by surrogate data analysis. The differences were more evident in G% and E than P% and for higher scale factors. Statistical analysis showed a close relationship between G% and E. Contrary to this, the association between P% and G% and P% and E was not proven. We conclude that time irreversibility of beat-to-beat HRV and BPV is significantly altered during orthostasis, implicating involvement of the autonomous nervous system in its generation. (paper)

Connection forms for beating the heart

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mensch, Arthur; Piuze, Emmanuel; Lehnert, Lucas

2014-01-01

We combine recent work on modeling cardiac mechanics using a finite volume method with the insight that heart wall myofiber orientations exhibit a particular volumetric geometry. In our finite vol- ume mechanical simulation we use Maurer-Cartan one-forms to add a geometrical consistency term...... to control the rate at which myofiber ori- entation changes in the direction perpendicular to the heart wall. This allows us to estimate material properties related to both the passive and active parameters in our model. We have obtained preliminary results on the 4 canine datasets of the 2014 mechanics...... challenge using the FEBio software suite. In ongoing work we are validating and improving the model using rat heart (ex-vivo DTI and in-vivo tagging) MRI datasets, from which we have estimated strain tensors....