Photoplethysmography (PPG) is a non-invasive optical technique that employs variations in light absorption produced by alteration in the blood volume in capillaries at the skin during the cardiac cycle. This study aims to understand factors related to PPG morphology; a hand-elevation, the study has modified blood flow to and from the finger was conducted in the laboratory. It is widely established that the position of the limb relative to the heart has an effect on blood flow in arteries and venous. Peripheral digital pulse wave (DPW) signals were obtained from 15 healthy volunteer participants during hand-elevation, and hand-lowering techniques wherein the right hand was lifted and lowered relative to heart level, while the left hand remained static. The pulse width, time to peak (TTP), the time to the maximum slope (TTMas) were computed from 30sec DPW signals at three positions of the right hand with regard to heart level, i.e. 35 cm above heart level (+35 cm), at the level of the heart (0 cm), and 35 cm below the level of the heart (-35 cm). DPW characteristics were found to alter with hand position. On lowering the hand to -35 cm relative to heart level, DPW width from the middle finger increased by (6%), but lowering the arm decreased the TTP (by 11 %), TTMas (by 18 %). These changes in time-dependent DPW indices may be attributed to changes in hydrostatic pressure and the venoarterial reflex that changes the blood vessels filling from completely filled one at -35 cm due to arterial vasoconstriction and decreased venous return to partially emptied blood vessels due to arterial vasodilatation and increased venous return at +35 cm. It was assumed that these time-dependent morphological DPW indices alterations were controlled by changes in downstream venous resistance rather than arterial or arteriolar, resistance. Keywords: photo plethysmography, hand elevation, vasoconstriction, vasodilation, vascular mechanics
Thirty-four dolomite and dolomitic limestone samples were collected from Aqra – Bekhma (It is difficult to separate the two formations as they are intervening) Formation in Bekhma Gorge area near Shaqlawa in northern Iraq. Alizarin red - s was used to distinguish calcite from dolomite. The saddle dolomite was recognized as a virtually rough crystalline material with milky-white or rosy color when seen in outcrop. In addition, we observed a pearl luster and a characteristically marred crystal building that is, in principle, described as damaged crystal faces with cleavage planes, while microscopically it appeared as a widespread extinction. The crystal faces, although well advanced, are frequently pavement-like facets.
In project management process, the objective is to define and develop a model for planning, scheduling, controlling, and monitoring different activities of a particular project. Time scheduling plays an important role in successful implementation of various activities and general outcome of project. In practice, various factors cause projects to suffer from time delay in accomplishing the activities. One important reason is imprecise knowledge about time duration of activities. This study addresses the problem of project scheduling in uncertain resource environments, which are defined by uncertain activity durations. The study presents a solution of the levelling and allocation problems for projects that have some uncertain ac
... Show MoreBackground subtraction is the dominant approach in the domain of moving object detection. Lots of research has been done to design or improve background subtraction models. However, there are a few well-known and state-of-the-art models that can be applied as a benchmark. Generally, these models are applied to different dataset benchmarks. Most of the time, choosing an appropriate dataset is challenging due to the lack of dataset availability and the tedious process of creating ground-truth frames for the sake of quantitative evaluation. Therefore, in this article, we collected local video scenes of a street and river taken by a stationary camera, focusing on dynamic background challenges. We presented a new technique for creati
... Show MoreThe approach of green synthesis of bio-sorbent has become simple alternatives to chemical synths as they use for example plant extracts, plus green synthesis outperforms chemical methods because it is environmentally friendly besides has wide applications in environmental remediation. This paper investigates the removal of ciprofloxacin (CIP) using green tea nano zero-valent iron (GT-NZVI) in an aqueous solution. The synthesized GT-NZVI was categorized using SEM, AFM, BET, FTIR, and Zeta potentials techniques. The spherical nanoparticles were found to be nano zero-valent, with an average size of 85 nm and a surface area of 2.19m2/g. The results showed that the removal efficiency of ciprofloxacin depends on the initial pH (2.5-10),
... Show MoreCarbon dioxide geo-sequestration (CGS) into sediments in the form of (gas) hydrates is one proposed method for reducing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere and, thus reducing global warming and climate change. However, there is a serious lack of understanding of how such CO2 hydrate forms and exists in sediments. We thus imaged CO2 hydrate distribution in sandstone, and investigated the hydrate morphology and cluster characteristics via x-ray micro-computed tomography in 3D in-situ. A substantial amount of gas hydrate (∼17% saturation) was observed, and the stochastically distributed hydrate clusters followed power-law relations with respect to their size distributions and surface area-volume relationships. The layer-
... Show MoreThe impacts of numerous important factors on the Energy Absorption (EA) of torsional Reinforced Concrete (RC) beams strengthened with external FRP is the main purpose and innovation of the current research. A total of 81 datasets were collected from previous studies, focused on the investigation of EA behaviour. The impact of nine different parameters on the Torsional EA of RC-beams was examined and evaluated, namely the concrete compressive strength (f’c), steel yield strength (fy), FRP thickness (tFRP), width-to-depth of the beam section (b/h), horizontal (ρh) and vertical (ρv) steel ratio, angle of twist (θu), ultimate torque (Tu), and FRP ultimate strength (fy-FRP). For the evaluation of the energy absorption capacity at di
... Show MoreFree vibration behavior was developed under the ratio of critical buckling temperature of laminated composite thin plates with the general elastic boundary condition. The equations of motion were found based on classical laminated plate theory (CLPT) while the solution functions consists of trigonometric function and a continuous function that is added to guarantee the sufficient smoother of the so-named remaining displacement function at the boundaries, in this research, a modified Fourier series were used, a generalized procedure solution was developed using Ritz method combined with the imaginary spring technique. The influences of many design parameters such as angles of layers, aspect ratio, thickness ratio, and ratio of initial in-
... Show MoreA total of 258 voluntary blood donors (males 101; females 157) in the age range of 18-52 yr among males and 18-55 yr among females were examined for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies (IgG), and (IgM) by immunological technique (Enzyme linked Immunosorbant Assay) during the period from March 2009 to April 2010. This study covered a wide range of factors including immunological, age ,sex , place of residence and symptoms that may have a possible relationship with toxoplasmosis. Results presented in this study showed clearly that 38 (14.7%) of individuals participated in this study having IgG Toxoplasma Ab, among those 10 samples (9.9%) were males and 28 samples (17.8%) were females. Moreover, we found the prevalence of IgM seropositivity in th
... Show MoreImproved oral bioavailability of lipophilic substances can be achieved using self-emulsifying drug delivery systems. However, because the properties of self-emulsifying are greatly influenced by surfactant amount and type, type of oil used, droplet size, charge, cosolvents, and physiological variables, the synthesis of self-emulsifying is highly complex; consequently, only a small number of excipient self-emulsifying formulations has been developed so far for clinical use. This study reports a highly effective procedure for developing self-emulsifying formulations using a novel approach based on the hydrophilic-lipophilic difference theory. Microemulsion characteristics, such as the constituents and amounts of oil and surfactant electrolyte
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