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Number of results: 9
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Abstract

Heartbeat and respiration of southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina), Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and Antarctic fur seals (Arctocephalus gazella) were monitored simultaneously using a visual and non-intrusive method, at King George Island, South Shetland Islands. All three species demonstrated sleep apnoea with reduced heart rate. In adult elephant seals, heartbeat fell 18% in apnoea; spells lasted up to nine min, usually ending in disturbance from conspecifics or human visitors. Slight human disturbance (notably slight noise) reduced time spent in apnoea from over 40% to 4%, significantly reducing the frequency of falling into apnoea and increasing mean heartbeat. Further disturbance resulted in head raising, aggression, scratching, rolling and movement away. The visual monitoring of heartbeat and respiration can be used with resting or slightly disturbed animals but not when major body movements occur.

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Authors and Affiliations

Katarzyna Salwicka
Bernard Stonehouse
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Abstract

This study applied a modified OxiTop® system to determine the oxygen uptake rate during a 2-day respiration test of selected composting materials at different moisture contents, air-filled porosities and composition of composting mixtures. The modification of the OxiTop® respirometer included replacement and adjustment of a glass vessel (i.e. a 1.9-L glass vessel with wide mouth was used instead of a standard 1-L glass bottle, additionally the twist-off vessel lid was adjusted to attach the measuring head) and application of a closed steel mesh cylinder of 5 cm in diameter and 10 cm in height with the open surface area of the mesh of approximately 56.2%. This modification allowed obtaining different bulk densities (and thus air-porosities) of the investigated composting materials in laboratory composting studies. The test was performed for apple pomace and composting mixtures of apple pomace with wood chips at ratios of 1:0.5, 1:1, 1:1.5 (d.w), moisture contents of 60%, 65% and 75% and air-filled porosities ranging from 46% to 1%. Due to diverse biodegradability of the investigated apple pomace and composting mixtures this test allows for the determination of the effects of different air-porosities (due to compaction in a pile) on the oxygen uptake rate for mixtures with a fixed ratio of a bulking agent. The described method allows for laboratory determination of the effects of moisture content and compaction on biodegradation dynamics during composting.

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Authors and Affiliations

Krystyna Malińska
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Abstract

With the increase of agricultural production, residues of crop are the main source of organic matter in the soil and they are alternatives to inorganic fertilizers. For this purpose, effects of organic residues (cotton stalk, maize stalk, almond bark) commonly grown in Turkey were investigated for some soil microbial activity in clay soil. In this study, incubation experiment was set up. Five doses (0%, 2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) of organic residues (maize stalks, cotton stalks or almond bark) were applied to soil. Soil microbiological properties of soil samples such as CO2 respiration, dehydrogenase and urease activity were determined. According to the results obtained, maize stalk, cotton stalks and almond bark applications increased some soil microbiological activities, such as CO2 respiration, dehydrogenase and urease activities according to control soil. Maize stalk in comparison to other residues affects better on the biological properties of the soil. It is determined that enhancing effects of the added organic residues (maize stalk, cotton stalk, almond bark) into the soil were changed according to the type of organic residues, dosage and application terms.

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Authors and Affiliations

Çiğdem Küçük
Y.Tuba Tekgül
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Abstract

Respiratory rate measurement is important under different types of health issues. The need for technological developments for measuring respiratory rate has become imperative for healthcare professionals. The paper presents an approach to respiratory monitoring, with the aim to improve the accuracy and efficacy of the data monitored. We use multiple types of sensors on various locations on the body to continuously transmit real-time data, which is processed to calculate the respiration rate. Variations in the respiration rate will help us identify the current health condition of the patient also for diagnosis and further medical treatment. The software tools such as Keil μVision IDE, Mbed Studio IDE, Energia IDE are used to compile and build the system architecture and display information. EasyEDA is used to provide pin map details and complete architecture information.
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Authors and Affiliations

Kanthi M
1
Ravilla Dilli
2

  1. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
  2. Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
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Abstract

The possibility of a normal distribution indicates that few particles are in the same phase during a breath and their reflections can be observed on the chest wall, then a few explosive waves with relatively large power occurr occasionally. Therefore, the one-cycle sine wave which is simulated as a single burst of the explosive effect phenomenon penetrates through the chest wall and was analysed to explore the reason of the crackle sounds. The results explain the differences between the definitions of crackle proposed by Sovijärvi et al. (2000a). The crackles in the lungs were synthesised by a computer simulation. When the coarse crackles occur, the results indicate that higher burst frequency carriers (greater than 100 Hz) directly penetrate the bandpass filter to simulate the chest wall. The simulated coarse crackle sounds were low pitched, with a high amplitude and long duration. The total duration was greater than 10 ms. However, for a lower frequency carrier (approximately 50 Hz), the fundamental frequency component was filtered out. Therefore, the second harmonic component of the lower frequency carrier, i.e., the fine crackle, penetrated the chest wall. Consequently, it is very possible that the normal lung sounds may contain many crackle-shaped waves with very small amplitudes because of the filtering effects of the chest wall, environment noises, electric devices, stethoscopes, and human ears, the small crackles disappear in the auscultations. In addition, our study pointed out that some unknown crackles of the very low frequency under the bandwidth of the human ears cannot penetrate the airways and be detected by medical doctors. Therefore, it might be necessary to focus advanced electronic instrumentation on them in order to analyse their possible characteristics for diagnosis and treatment of the respiration system.
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Authors and Affiliations

Bing-Yuh Lu
1 2
Meng-Lun Hsueh
3
Huey-Dong Wu
4

  1. Faculty of Automation, Guangdong University of Petrochemical Technology, No. 139, Sec. 2, Guando Road, Maoming City, Guangdong 525000, China
  2. Department of Electronic Engineering, Tungnan University, No. 152, Sec. 3., BeiShen Rd., ShenKeng Dist., New Taipei City 22202, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
  3. Department of Electronic Engineering, Hwa Hsia University of Technology, No. 111, Gongzhuan Rd., Zhonghe Dist., New Taipei City 235, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
  4. Section of Respiration Therapy, Department of Integrated Diagnostics and Therapeutics, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City 100, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
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Abstract

Operations conducted by petroleum industry generate an entire range of drilling waste. The chemical composition of drilling waste and its toxicity depend primarily on the geological and technological conditions of drilling, the type of drilled rock deposits and on the type and composition of the drilling mud used. In the course of drilling operations, drilling fluids are in constant contact with bacteria, fungi and other organisms infecting the mud. Pioneer species, capable of surviving and using the resources of this specific environment, are selected. For this reason, the effectiveness of microbiota survival on different types of spent drilling muds and in different dilutions with brown soil was measured. Spent drilling muds samples came from drilling operations in various regions of Poland, e.g. Subcarpathia, the Polish Lowland and Pomerania regions. Oxygen consumption after 96 h was around 20 μg·g‒1 dry mass in soil or soil/drilling water-based mud mixture. Soil mixes contained 10 wt% synthetic base, mud had a higher oxygen consumption – 38 μg · g‒1 dry mass. Oxygen consumption decreases sharply as the content of the spent synthetic base mud fraction increases. A higher concentration of spent SBM (35 wt%) reduced the aerobic metabolism by slightly more than 50%. A high concentration of reduced carbon decreased the respiratory quotient (RQ) value to 0.7. All the researched drilling waste shows microbiological activity. At the full concentration of drilling fluids and non-dilution options, the chemical composition (salinity, inhibitors, etc.) strongly inhibits microbiota development and consequently, respiration

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Authors and Affiliations

Aleksandra Jamrozik
1
Roman Żurek
2
Andrzej Gonet
1
ORCID: ORCID
Rafał Wiśniowski
1

  1. AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland
  2. Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Nature Conservation, Poland
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Abstract

The emission of dust from power and industrial sources introduces a lot of contaminants into the air, including compounds of trace clements contained in fuels and raw materials. They arc contained in rcspirablc dust particles, creating hazard to human health. The results of investigations into the occurrence of selected trace clements in PM1, PM25 and PM10 fractions of dust emitted from coal-fired boilers equipped with air protection devices such as cyclone, clectrofiltcr, wet and dry-scrubbing FGD plant have been presented. Dust emitted from a coke battery (battery heating) and rotary kiln for cement manufacture was also subjected to research. The research material was taken by means of a cascade impactor, enabling a fraction or different grain size dust to be separated from a stream of dust collected in an elcctrofiltcr. The ICP-AES method (of atomic emission spectrometry (AES) with plasma excitation) was used to determine the trace clements alter prior mineralization of samples by microwave method. The results of measurements and analyses were presented by determining the ranges of trace elements occurrence in flue dust and emission factors in PM,s It was found out that big utility boilers and rotary kilns in the cement industry which are equipped with air protection devices meeting BAT requirements do not contaminate the air with dust and dust-related trace elements in the amounts that could create hazard. Excessive emission of dust, including a resp i rabie fraction is still observed in the case of municipal heating plants equipped solely with mechanical dust separators (cyclones). Coke battery heating docs not pose danger due to small range of influence.
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Authors and Affiliations

Jan Konieczyński
Katarzyna Stec
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Abstract

In the diagnosis of many disease entities directly or indirectly related to disorders of respiratory parameters and heart disease, an important support would be to estimate the temporal changes in these parameters (most often respiratory wave (RW) and respiratory rate (RR)) on the basis the results of measurements of other physiological parameters of the patient. Such a possibility exists during ECG examination. The paper presents three methods for estimating RWand RR using ECG signal processing. The three procedures developed are shown: using Savitzky–Golay filtering (S-G), the ECG-Derived Respiration method (EDR) and the Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia Analysis method (RSA). It must be clearly stated that the proposed methods are not designed to fully diagnose the patient’s respiratory function, but they can be applied to detect some conditions that are difficult to diagnose when performing an ECG, such as sleep-disordered breathing. The obtained results of the analysis were compared with those obtained from a dedicated measurement system developed by the authors. The second part of the paper will show the results of preliminary clinical verification of the developed analysis methods, taking into account the physiological parameters of the patient.
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Authors and Affiliations

Miroslaw Szmajda
1
Mirosław Chyliński
1
Jerzy Szacha
2
Janusz Mroczka
3

  1. Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatic Control and Informatics, Opole University of Technology, Prószkowska 76 Street, 45-758 Opole, Poland
  2. Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Opole University of Technology, Prószkowska 76 Street, 45-758 Opole; Department of Cardiology, University Hospital in Opole, 45-401 Opole, Poland
  3. Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, Department of Electronic and Photonic Metrology, Wrocław University of Science and Technology, B. Prusa 53/55 Street, 50-317 Wrocław, Poland

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