Respiratory Rate

Respiratory infections cause significant mortality in developing countries but are frequently undiagnosed. Reasons for this are unclear. We observed 1,081 outpatient consultations with patients less than five years of age in Tanzania. In 554 patients with cough or difficulty breathing, the absolute percentages examined were 5% for respiratory rate counted, 14% chest exposed, and 25% stethoscope used. Decisions to conduct particular examinations did appear to follow clinical logic, with odds ratios of 4.28 for counting respiratory rate (95% confidence interval [CI]=1.75-10.47), 2.57 for exposing the chest (95% CI=1.67-3.95), and 18.91 for using a stethoscope (95% CI=9.52-37.57) in patients with cough or difficulty breathing. Non-clinical variables, including salary level, were also associated with examinations, and history taking was more common among clinicians originating outside the hospital area. Although respiratory examinations are relatively more common in those with cough or ...

Camels usually inhabit remote areas, where diagnostic facilities and laboratories are very scarce. The species differences between the camel and other domestic animals necessitate some specific examination techniques. The objective of this study was to describe the clinical examination methods and sources of common errors that require special consideration in the camel. Young camels are examined in the standing position, while adults require restraint. Restraining procedures, both standing and in sternal recumbency, are described. New equipment and a crush were designed. The body temperature of the camels examined fluctuated from 35.7 to 38.9°C, being lowest in the morning and highest in the afternoon; high temperature in the morning is indicative of fever, while high afternoon temperatures could be hyperthermia. It was difficult to take the pulse rate for routine procedures. The heart rate ranged from 35 to 50 per min; there was no difference between the heart rate in the morning a...

Ventilation at high respiratory rates is considered detrimental during CPR because it may increase intrathoracic pressure limiting venous return and forward blood flow generation. We examined whether ventilation at high, yet clinically plausible, tidal volumes could also be detrimental, and further examined effects on end-tidal pCO(2) (P(ET)CO(2)). Sixteen domestic pigs were randomized to one of four ventilatory patterns representing two levels of respiratory rate (min(-1)) and two levels of tidal volume (ml/kg); i.e., 10/6, 10/18, 33/6, and 33/18 during chest compression after 8 min of untreated VF. Data (mmHg, mean ± SD) are presented in the order listed above. Ventilation at 33/18 prompted higher airway pressures (p<0.05) and persistent expiratory airway flow (p<0.05) before breath delivery demonstrating air trapping. The right atrial pressure during chest decompression showed a statistically insignificant increase with increasing minute-volume (7 ± 4, 10±3, 12 ± 1, and 13 ...

In this study, the endogenous respiration rate and the observed biomass yield of denitrifying methylotrophic biomass were estimated through measuring changes in denitrification rates (DNR) as a result of maintaining the biomass under methanol deprived conditions. For this purpose, activated sludge biomass from a full-scale wastewater treatment plant was kept in 10-L batch reactors for 8 days under fully aerobic and anoxic conditions at 20 °C without methanol addition. To investigate temperature effects, another biomass sample was placed under starvation conditions over a period of 10 days under aerobic conditions at 25 °C. A series of secondary batch tests were conducted to measure DNR and observed biomass yields. The decline in DNR over the starvation period was used as a surrogate to biomass decay rate in order to infer the endogenous respiration rates of the methylotrophs. The regression analysis on the declining DNR data shows 95% confidence intervals of 0.130 ± 0.017 day−1 for ...

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) technology is often proposed as a way to tackle the increasing cost of healthcare caused by population aging. However, the sensing technology for continuous respiratory monitoring at home is lacking. Known approaches of respiratory monitoring are based on measuring either respiratory effect, e.g. tracheal sound recording by a bio-acoustic sensor, or respiratory effort, e.g. abdomen movement measurement by a tri-axial accelerometer. This paper proposes a home respiration monitoring system using a tri-axial accelerometer. Three different methods to extract a single respiratory signal from the tri-axial data are proposed and analyzed. The performance of the methods is evaluated for various possible respiration conditions, defined by the sensor orientation and respiration-induced abdomen movement. The method based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) performs better than selecting the best axis. The analytical approach called Full Angle shows worse results...

Adaptive support ventilation (ASV) is a closed loop mode of mechanical ventilation (MV) that provides a target minute ventilation by automatically adapting inspiratory pressure and respiratory rate with the minimum work of breathing for the patient. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of ASV on total MV duration when compared to Pressure Assist/Control Ventilation (P-ACV). Adult medical patients intubated and mechanically ventilated for more than 24 hours in a medical ICU were randomized either to ASV or P-ACV. Sedation and medical treatment were standardized for each group. Primary outcome was the total MV duration. Secondary outcomes were the weaning duration, number of manual settings of the ventilator and weaning success rates. Two hundred and twenty nine patients were included. Median MV duration until weaning, weaning and total MV duration were significantly shorter in the ASV group [67 (43-94) vs. 92 (61-165) hours, p= 0.003; 2 (2-2) vs. 2 (2-80) hours, p=0.001 ...

Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) is sometimes hard to identify in neonates, in particular when the respiratory rate approaches half the mean heart rate. It is shown that the analysis of the cardiac event series may reveal RSA in cases where traditional heart rate variability analysis methods fail. A signal analysis approach to event series processing is reviewed. The validation of

There is no evidence to support the use of humidification in low-flow oxygen therapy as a usual clinical practice in the management of bronchiolitis. To investigate the clinical benefits of using humidification in low-flow oxygen therapy. Specific objectives were to investigate via an assessment of the number of nasal lavages whether humidification can help to decrease the nasal mucus viscosity, to determine whether it can relieve feeding difficulties by comparing the weight gain in infants, to ascertain whether it can relieve respiratory distress by assessing the heart and respiratory rates and contribute to improved clinical outcomes, measured by the length of stay and oxygen requirements DESIGN: A controlled quasi-experimental study. A total of 97 infants were included, aged ≤ 6 months, with bronchiolitis, low-flow oxygen therapy and bronchodilators nebulized with hypertonic saline 3%. Data from the control group (non-humidified) were gathered from 2010 - 2012 (49 infants), and d...

Twenty single male Assaf lambs were divided into two groups and housed in semi-open barns. Air temperature averaged 35°C. For 9 weeks after parturation, one group was cooled by fan between 1000 and 1600 hours and the other group was not cooled. Rectal and skin (head and testis) temperatures, respiration rate, and pulse rate were recorded twice daily. Lambs were weighed individually every week and levels of T3 and thyroxin were determined. Differences in rectal, head, and testis temperatures (P < 0.05) and respiration rates (P < 0.01) between the two groups were significant. Growth was affected positively by fan treatment, live weight increased by 15%, and cooled lambs had higher thyroxin levels.

This study examined the effect of exercise mode on geometrical, and time and frequency domain measures of heart rate variability (HRV) during steady-state, moderate intensity exercise of the same HR. Seventeen healthy, active male participants volunteered for this study and completed a treadmill $ \dot V{\text{O}}_{{\text{2max}}} $ determination. One week later, cardiorespiratory, perceptual and HRV measures were recorded during seated rest (15 min) and consecutive bouts (15 min) of steady-state exercise at 50 and 65% of maximal HR. Exercise was performed using either upper body (arm ergometer), lower body (cycle) or whole body (treadmill) modes. Separated by 1 week and in a random order, participants undertook the same procedures with the remaining exercise modes. Cardiorespiratory, perceptual and HRV responses were determined during rest and steady-state exercise and analysed by two-way (mode vs. stage) repeated measures ANOVA and post hoc pairwise comparisons. Apart from a reduced respiratory rate during lower body exercise, whole and lower body exercise resulted in similar cardiorespiratory, perceptual and HRV responses. Compared to whole or lower body exercise, upper body exercise resulted in significantly (P < 0.05) greater measures of HRV particularly those within the very low (0–0.04 Hz) and low (0.04–0.15 Hz) frequency bands, greater rating of perceived exertion and less oxygen consumption. Upper body, moderate intensity exercise resulted in greater HRV compared to whole or lower body exercise with further studies necessary to elucidate the mechanisms and clinical implications for this greater HRV.

Disturbed gastric emptying (GE) occurs commonly in critically ill patients. Admission diagnoses are believed to influence the incidence of delayed GE and subsequent feed intolerance. Although patients with burns and head injury are considered to be at greater risk, the true incidence has not been determined by examination of patient groups of sufficient number. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of admission diagnosis on GE in critically ill patients. A retrospective review of patient demographics, diagnosis, intensive care unit (ICU) admission details, GE, and enteral feeding was performed on an unselected cohort of 132 mechanically ventilated patients (94 males, 38 females; age 54 +/- 1.2 years; admission Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II [APACHE II] score of 22 +/- 1) who had undergone GE assessment by 13C-octanoic acid breath test. Delayed GE was defined as GE coefficient (GEC) of less than 3.20 and/or gastric half-emptying time (t50) of more than 140 minute...