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PubMed2006

Spectral and wavelet based assessment of congestive heart failure patients.

Heart rate variability (HRV) can be quantified, among others, in the spectral and wavelet domain. The wavelet transform (WT) is an alternative method for the analysis of non-stationary signals. Some recent work shows that the scale-dependent WT standard deviation of the R-R intervals of human ECG can be used to distinguish patients with certain forms of cardiac pathological function from normal subjects. In this paper, we show an explicit relationship between variance of WT and corresponding spectral measure. Also, the statistics of the estimator for variance of WT is obtained. Numerical simulations support the theoretical results. By comparing expected value and variance and spectral measures, we conclude that WT measures are able to diagnose certain cardiac system function.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1993

The tuning of human photopigments may minimize red-green chromatic signals in natural conditions.

Humans and other Old World primates (Catarrhini) share very similar L (long-wavelength, 'red') and M (medium-wavelength, 'green') cone photopigment spectral sensitivities, with peaks at around 563 nm and 535 nm, respectively. Changes of single amino acid residues at critical sites in photopigment opsins can alter this peak tuning. Moreover, the photopigment alleles and spectral sensitivities of human populations are polymorphic, so there is potential for adaptive change or genetic drift. The manifest lack of variability suggests that the tuning of the L and M photopigments has adaptive significance, but the reason for this conservatism is unclear. To assess how natural spectral reflectances may have influenced pigment tuning, we have measured the chromatic (i.e. difference) signals available in natural scenes, and estimated how these signals would vary if spectral sensitivities of the pigments moved to longer or to shorter wavelengths. The size of the chromatic signal is, predictably, dependent principally on the spectral separation of the photopigments, but in addition we find that for a fixed separation there is a marked dependence on the specific peak tuning of the photopigments. Indeed, the naturally occurring L and M cone peaks may be set at a pair of points on the spectrum that on average minimizes the 'L-M' (i.e. red-green) chromatic signal. This somewhat paradoxical observation supports the view that red-green vision has evolved for a specific task, such as finding fruit, whilst minimizing interference by the chromatic signal in luminance vision to which both L and M cones contribute.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed2006

Correcting attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectra for water vapor and carbon dioxide.

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a valuable technique for characterization of biological samples, providing a detailed fingerprint of the major chemical constituents. However, water vapor and CO(2) in the beam path often cause interferences in the spectra, which can hamper the data analysis and interpretation of results. In this paper we present a new method for removal of the spectral contributions due to atmospheric water and CO(2) from attenuated total reflection (ATR)-FT-IR spectra. In the IR spectrum, four separate wavenumber regions were defined, each containing an absorption band from either water vapor or CO(2). From two calibration data sets, gas model spectra were estimated in each of the four spectral regions, and these model spectra were applied for correction of gas absorptions in two independent test sets (spectra of aqueous solutions and a yeast biofilm (C. albicans) growing on an ATR crystal, respectively). The amounts of the atmospheric gases as expressed by the model spectra were estimated by regression, using second-derivative transformed spectra, and the estimated gas spectra could subsequently be subtracted from the sample spectra. For spectra of the growing yeast biofilm, the gas correction revealed otherwise hidden variations of relevance for modeling the growth dynamics. As the presented method improved the interpretation of the principle component analysis (PCA) models, it has proven to be a valuable tool for filtering atmospheric variation in ATR-FT-IR spectra.

Artifacts↗
PubMed1992

Discrimination of narrow-band spectra. I: Spectral weights and pitch cues.

The ability to detect changes in the spectral shape of narrow-band tonal complexes (spectral profiles) is examined. The standard consists of three tones of equal intensity; thresholds for detecting an increment in the level of the central, 1000-Hz tone are estimated. A roving-level procedure is used in order to impose a statistical limit on thresholds that can be obtained by basing discriminations on absolute intensity. Estimated thresholds are consistently below this limit, thus indicating the use of other cues. Generally, thresholds are constant for bandwidths ranging from less than a critical band to greater than several octaves. Spectral weight estimates, however, are highly dependent on bandwidth, providing evidence that the discrimination of narrow-band spectra involves different auditory processes than those used to discriminate wideband spectra. Additional data show that pitch cues are important within a restricted range of intermediate bandwidth, but not for wideband or very narrow-band spectra. A version of the EWAIF model involving off-frequency listening is proposed to account for the results.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Effects of treatment with etanercept (Enbrel, TNRF:Fc) on rheumatoid arthritis evaluated by Doppler ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE: to estimate and visualise the efficacy of treatment with etanercept (Enbrel) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using colour Doppler and spectral Doppler ultrasonography to determine the possible changes in synovial perfusion during a one year observation period. METHODS: Eleven patients from the European multicentre trial of the efficacy and safety of etanercept were included in this study when transferred into the open label, long term safety, and efficacy study. Before a scheduled dosage increase to 50 mg/week they were examined clinically, serologically, and by ultrasonography using the colour Doppler pixels and the spectral Doppler resistance index (RI) as indicators of inflammation. The patients were re-examined at two weeks and at one year follow up RESULTS: The clinical activity decreased significantly from baseline to week 2, but no significant changes were seen from baseline to one year. The number of coloured pixels in each region of interest decreased from baseline to week 2 with a median reduction of 60% (p=0.005). This effect on the perfusion in the synovium could not be found after one year of treatment. During the initial treatment we detected an increase in synovial RI by spectral Doppler. The median increase in peripheral resistance from baseline to week 2 as estimated by the mean RI was 22.6% (p=0.005). The increase in peripheral resistance was maintained to some extent after one year (mean RI increased by 18.8% p=0.074). CONCLUSION: Ultrasonography seems to be a promising tool for the detection of treatment response using spectral Doppler and pixel estimation.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Assessing the severity of aortic valve stenosis by spectral analysis of cardiac murmurs (spectral vibrocardiography). Part II: Clinical aspects.

Assessing the severity of aortic stenosis remains an important clinical problem. The turbulent pressure fluctuations generated by the jet downstream of the stenotic valve produce vibrations in the aortic wall. These vibrations are transmitted through the chest to the skin surface, where they can be recorded as systolic ejection murmurs. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the transvalvular aortic pressure difference by spectral analysis of heart murmurs (spectral vibrocardiography). Forty-four patients with clinical signs of aortic stenosis underwent cardiac catheterization to measure the transvalvular pressure difference. In a double blind prospective study, precordial vibrations were measured prior to catheterization using a dedicated heart sound analyzer (Vibrocard 2000) to calculate the spectral ratio of murmur energy between 100-500 Hz and 20-500 Hz. Three different weighting filters were used to compensate for individual differences in the transthoracic attenuation of murmurs. The square root of the murmur energy ratio correlated linearly with the mean transvalvular pressure difference (r = 0.80, SEE = 13 mmHg) and with the peak transvalvular pressure difference (r = 0.81, SEE = 16 mmHg). The use of individual compensation filters improved the correlation. This study shows that it is possible to estimate the transvalvular pressure difference in patients with aortic valve stenosis by spectral analysis of heart murmurs. It is a fast, simple and cost effective technique, which requires less skill than conventional methods.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

In vitro estimation and imaging of attenuation coefficients and instantaneous frequency for breast tissue characterization.

For breast tissue characterization, three acoustic parameters, integrated attenuation coefficient(IAC), frequency-dependent attenuation coefficient(FDAC) and instantaneous frequency(IF), were estimated in vitro and processed to make images of these parameters for resected human breast specimens. Experimental system with a 5 MHz center frequency was used and the same estimating and imaging system was connected with a clinical diagnostic device with a 7.5 MHz annular array probe (Aloca SSD 270) for in vivo type studies. To estimate these parameters, fast Fourier transform and spectral difference method were adopted for IAC and FDAC and the Hilbert transform for IF. Large statistical variances were found in the estimated values of these parameters. These dispersions of data may be due to insufficient size and tissue heterogeneity of the breast specimens. Additional miscellaneous problems may be involved. However, all of these can be, in part, overcome by averaging procedures. The significance of estimating and imaging these parameters for breast tissue characterization was discussed.

Acoustics↗
PubMed1992

Growth rate fluctuations in phycomyces sporangiophores.

The growth rate of the Phycomyces sporangiophore fluctuates under constant environmental conditions. These fluctuations underlie the well-characterized sensory responses to environmental changes. We compared growth fluctuations in sporangiophores of unstimulated wild type and behavioral mutants by use of maximum entropy spectral analysis, a mathematical technique that estimates the frequency and amplitude of oscillations in a time series. The mutants studied are believed to be altered near the input ("night-blind") or output ("stiff" and "hypertropic") of the photosensory transduction chain. The maximum entropy spectrum of wild type shows a sharp drop-off in spectral density above 0.3 millihertz, several minor peaks between 0.3 and 10 millihertz, and a broad maximum near 10 millihertz. Similar spectra were obtained for a night-blind mutant and a hypertropic mutant. In contrast, the spectra of three stiff mutants, defective in genes madD, madE, or madG, had distinctive peaks near 1.6 mHz and harmonics of this frequency. A madF stiff mutant, which is less stiff than madD, madE, and madG mutants, had a spectrum intermediate between wild type and the three other stiff mutants. Our results indicate that alterations in one or more steps associated with growth regulation output cause the Phycomyces sporangiophore to express a rhythmic growth rate.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Area-selective signal parameter estimation for two-dimensional MR spectroscopy data.

We consider the problem of parametric spectral analysis of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) data. Estimating the signal components from 2D MRS data is becoming common practice in many clinical MR applications. The most frequently used signal processing tool for this estimation problem is the non-parametric 2D-FFT. There are several alternative parametric methods available to perform this analysis, yet their computational complexity is generally rather high and it becomes prohibitive when the number of points in the measured data matrix is large. In this paper, we propose a novel signal parameter estimation technique which operates on a pre-specified sub-area of the 2D spectrum. This area-selective approach can be used either to estimate only the signal components of main interest in the data, or to compute signal parameter estimates of all present signal components as the computational burden for each sub-area is low. In the numerical example section we consider both simulated data and in vitro 1H data acquired from a 1.5 T MR scanner.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1999

On the statistical significance of electrophysiological steady-state responses.

Steady-state stimulation is a useful paradigm in many physiologic and clinical situations, for ERG, Pattern-ERG and VEP. One of the advantages is the easy evaluation of the response via Fourier analysis. However, the question whether a given response is statistically significant or not has received little attention so far, although it is especially relevant in high noise, low amplitude recordings, as often occur in pathologic conditions. A given response is statistically significant if it is unlikely that its value is due to noise fluctuations. Thus appropriate estimates of noise and response are required. We have analytically derived formulas for the statistical significance of a given signal-to-noise-ratio s, based on two different estimates of noise: (1) Noise estimate by a 'no stimulus' recording, or by a '+/-average'. The former needs an additional recording, the latter can simultaneously be calculated as the standard average. (2) Noise is estimated as the average of the two neighboring spectral lines (one below, and one above the response frequency). Analytical solutions were obtained for both noise estimates that can easily be evaluated in all appropriate recordings. Noise estimate (1) performs much poorer than noise estimate (2), as can be seen from the following landmark values: Typical significance levels of 5%, 1%, and 0.1% require s values of 4.36, 9.95, and 31.6 (1), and 2.82, 4.55, and 8.40 (2). The noise estimate based on the neighboring frequencies can be easily applied after recording, provided that the noise spectrum is reasonably smooth around the response and frequency-overspill was avoided. It allows a quantitative assessment of low responses in physiological threshold analyses and pathological conditions, e.g., 'submicrovolt flicker-ERG'.

Electroretinography↗
PubMed1999

Bilateral sound propagation characteristics in electronic TMJ sound recording.

Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ) sounds, clicking and crepitation, are important signs of possible TM disorder or dysfunction (TMD). The sound are usually recorded and observed by stethoscope auscultation or palpation. Sound from one TMJ may propagate through head tissues and be recorded on the contra lateral side misleading the examiner to classify both joints as non-silent. Errors in localization of sound source may lead to an erroneous diagnosis. Widmalm et al. (1997) suggested a mathematical model for estimation of the sound propagation characteristics through the head tissues. A modified model applying the auto-spectral density and cross-spectral density of the signal was used to estimate the bilateral sound propagation characteristics of temporomandibular joint sounds from two subjects. The result indicates that the head tissues act as a bandpass filter causing strong attenuation in some frequency areas with little attenuation in others. The phase response of the transfer function provides a good mean to estimate the latency in time between sounds.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

A measure for predicting audibility discrimination thresholds for spectral envelope distortions in vowel sounds.

Both in speech synthesis and in sound coding it is often beneficial to have a measure that predicts whether, and to what extent, two sounds are different. This paper addresses the problem of estimating the perceptual effects of small modifications to the spectral envelope of a harmonic sound. A recently proposed auditory model is investigated that transforms the physical spectrum into a pattern of specific loudness as a function of critical band rate. A distance measure based on the concept of partial loudness is presented, which treats detectability in terms of a partial loudness threshold. This approach is adapted to the problem of estimating discrimination thresholds related to modifications of the spectral envelope of synthetic vowels. Data obtained from subjective listening tests using a representative set of stimuli in a 3IFC adaptive procedure show that the model makes reasonably good predictions of the discrimination threshold. Systematic deviations from the predicted thresholds may be related to individual differences in auditory filter selectivity. The partial loudness measure is compared with previously proposed distance measures such as the Euclidean distance between excitation patterns and between specific loudness applied to the same experimental data. An objective test measure shows that the partial loudness measure and the Euclidean distance of the excitation patterns are equally appropriate as distance measures for predicting audibility thresholds. The Euclidean distance between specific loudness is worse in performance compared with the other two.

Auditory Threshold↗
PubMed1997

NMR 15N relaxation and structural studies reveal slow conformational exchange in barstar C40/82A.

Barstar an 89-residue protein consisting of four helices and a three-stranded parallel beta-sheet, is the intracellular inhibitor of the endoribonuclease barnase. Barstar C40/82A, a mutant in which the two cysteine residues have been replaced by alanine, has been used as a pseudo wild-type in folding studies and in the crystal structure of the barnase:barstar C40/82A complex. We have determined a high resolution solution structure of barstar C40/82A. The structures of barstar C40/82A and the wild-type are superimposable. A comparison with the crystal structure of the barnase:barstar C40/82A complex revealed subtle differences in the regions involved in the binding of barstar to barnase. Side-chain rotations of residues Asn33, Asp35 and Asp39 and a movement of the binding loop (Pro27-Glu32) towards the binding site of barnase facilitate the formation of interface hydrogen bonds and aromatic contacts in the complex. Extreme line broadening and missing signals in 1H-15N correlation spectra indicate substantial conformational exchange for a large subset of residues. 15N relaxation data at two magnetic field strengths, 11.74 T and 14.10 T, were used to estimate exchange contributions and to map the spectral density function at five frequencies: 0, 50, 60, 450 and 540 MHz. Based on these results, model-free calculations with the inclusion of estimated exchange contributions were used to derive order parameters and internal correlation times. The validity of this approach has been investigated with model-free calculations that incorporate longitudinal relaxation rates and heteronuclear 1H-15N NOE data only at 11.74 T and 14.10 T. The relaxation data suggest substantial conformational exchange in regions of barstar C40/82A, including the binding loop, the second and the third helices, and the second and the third strands. Amide proton exchange experiments suggest a stable hydrogen bond network for all helices and sheets except the third helix and the C-terminal of the second and the third strands. The combined results indicate a rigid body movement of the second helix and twisting motions of the beta-sheet of barstar, which might be important for the interaction with barnase.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed2005

Short-term blood pressure and heart rate variability in congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (Ondine's curse).

The effect of CCHS (congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, or Ondine's curse) on short-term BP (blood pressure) and HR (heart rate) variability was evaluated in 16-year-old subjects presenting a form of CCHS requiring night ventilatory assistance. The 12 patients were compared with 12 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers. Recordings were obtained during daytime while the subjects were breathing spontaneously. Continuous BP was measured with a Finapres device in the supine, head-up tilt and standing positions. The manoeuvre of actively standing was also analysed. HR levels were elevated in CCHS subjects at supine rest (+23%) with a reduced HR overall variability (-88%). The low- and high-frequency components of HR variability were affected. BP levels were preserved at rest, but the manoeuvres demonstrated a limited capacity to elevate BP. There was no overshoot in BP during the manoeuvre of actively standing, and steady standing BP levels in patients were not higher than supine BP levels as usually observed in healthy controls. The spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity estimated using the sequence technique or the cross-spectral analysis fell in the patients to approx. one-third of the sensitivity estimated in the healthy controls whatever the position. This cardiovascular profile suggests a predominant vagal dysfunction with signs of vagal withdrawal and baroreflex failure, and relative preservation of the cardiac and vascular sympathetic function. It is likely that the impaired ontogeny of the visceral reflexes, considered now to cause CCHS syndrome, includes the baroreceptive pathway and mainly its vagal component.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Spectral-shape preference of primary auditory cortex neurons in awake cats.

The study of the influence of spectral envelopes of complex tones on cortical neuron discharges is important with respect to understanding the formant processing of vowels. That the sharpness of formants can contribute to the vowel quality has previously been shown in psychophysical experiments. However, it is unknown how this parameter is reflected by cortical neuron discharges, especially when a formant falls into different portions of the neuronal frequency receptive field (FRF). To show this is the aim of this study focusing on the sustained discharging neurons in the low frequency portion of cat primary auditory cortex (A1). The stimuli were multi-frequency tones whose spectral envelope was sinusoidally modulated with a peak fixed at a neuron's best frequency. The modulation depth, defined as damping-amplitude (DA), varied systematically. Stimulus bandwidth also varied systematically. Large DA at off-center frequencies produces a prominent spectral peak with steep slope, whereas small DA has a less well-defined spectral peak with gentle slope. Single frequency and two tone stimuli served to delineate the excitatory and inhibitory subfields of FRF. The A1 neuron preferred large DA when the sound energy fell into FRF with the relatively large inhibitory-subfield, while the same cell preferred small DA when it fell into FRF with the relatively small inhibitory-subfield. It is concluded that the A1 neuron can estimate steepness of slope of a spectral peak, and that a preference for steep slopes stems from a shift of balance toward the spectral inhibition, whereas a preference for gentle slopes, toward the spectral excitation.

Acoustic Stimulation↗
PubMed2004

Cross-comparison of time- and frequency-domain methods for monitoring the myoelectric signal during a cyclic, force-varying, fatiguing hand-grip task.

Various conventional methods to estimate the mean and median power spectral frequencies, and amplitude of the surface electromyogram during 30-90 min, cyclic, force-varying, constant-posture contractions were cross-compared in an experimental trial. The aim was to determine the most appropriate algorithm implementations and reduce the total number of algorithms that need to be considered when monitoring time trends. Subjects produced hand-grip contractions in a repeated intermittent pattern until exhaustion. For all estimated parameters: analysis of contraction levels below 25% maximum voluntary contraction produced poor estimates due to high relative measurement noise; parameter reproducibility was best when comparisons were aligned to the actual force produced rather than the target force and when the biomechanics of the contraction were more consistent; and estimates were not greatly influenced by the rate of change of the force trajectory. For frequency parameters: estimates based on the short-time Fourier transform were similar to those based on time-varying autoregressive methods; longer duration analysis windows exhibited better repeatability; and simple frequency-domain noise filters were not effective in reducing the impact of measurement noise. For amplitude estimates: whitening reduced the variance of the amplitude estimate; and the best analysis window duration was a trade-off between bias (decreased with a short duration window) and variance (decreased with a long duration window).

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Understanding autonomic sympathovagal balance from short-term heart rate variations. Are we analyzing noise?

Heart rate variations reflect the output of the complex control of the heart mediated by the autonomic nervous system. Because of that, they also encode different types of information, namely the efferent outflow of reflex mechanisms involved in the beat-to-beat control of cardiac function, the efferent activity of neurohumoral elements involved in the control of other cardiovascular parameters and random noise resulting from the hysteresis of the different controllers. The degree to which power spectrum estimation methods will uncover the periodic component of heart rate variations is in direct relation with the status of the system under study. Although the utility of spectral methods is now established in mammalian research, very little is known on the utility of these techniques in non-mammalian cardiovascular research. This review covers this space by discussing the physiological significance of heart rate variations in non-mammalian vertebrates. A detailed account of the different steps of the technique, its limitations and the ways to overcome these problems are also presented. These are: the recording of the cardiac event signal, the detection and digital processing methods, the satisfaction of stationarity conditions, the problem of spectral leakage and the different methods to estimate the power spectrum.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Synthesis fidelity and time-varying spectral change in vowels.

Recent studies have shown that synthesized versions of American English vowels are less accurately identified when the natural time-varying spectral changes are eliminated by holding the formant frequencies constant over the duration of the vowel. A limitation of these experiments has been that vowels produced by formant synthesis are generally less accurately identified than the natural vowels after which they are modeled. To overcome this limitation, a high-quality speech analysis-synthesis system (STRAIGHT) was used to synthesize versions of 12 American English vowels spoken by adults and children. Vowels synthesized with STRAIGHT were identified as accurately as the natural versions, in contrast with previous results from our laboratory showing identification rates 9%-12% lower for the same vowels synthesized using the cascade formant model. Consistent with earlier studies, identification accuracy was not reduced when the fundamental frequency was held constant across the vowel. However, elimination of time-varying changes in the spectral envelope using STRAIGHT led to a greater reduction in accuracy (23%) than was previously found with cascade formant synthesis (11%). A statistical pattern recognition model, applied to acoustic measurements of the natural and synthesized vowels, predicted both the higher identification accuracy for vowels synthesized using STRAIGHT compared to formant synthesis, and the greater effects of holding the formant frequencies constant over time with STRAIGHT synthesis. Taken together, the experiment and modeling results suggest that formant estimation errors and incorrect rendering of spectral and temporal cues by cascade formant synthesis contribute to lower identification accuracy and underestimation of the role of time-varying spectral change in vowels.

Adult↗