INTRODUCTION Influenza vaccination rates are low in adults with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A diagnostic breathing test in adults with COPD may increase vaccination rates; however, research has not demonstrated this relationship. The purpose of this research was to determine if adults with COPD diagnosed by a breathing test were more likely to have had an influenza vaccination...

The purpose of the present study was to elucidate the effect of increasing expiratory muscle work on sympathetic vasoconstrictor outflow and arterial blood pressure (BP) during dynamic exercise. We hypothesized that expiratory muscle fatigue would elicit increases in sympathetic vasomotor outflow and BP during submaximal exercise. The subjects performed four submaximal exercise tests; two were ...

OBJECTIVE To measure the imposed power of breathing (imposed work of breathing per minute) associated with spontaneous breathing through an active impedance threshold device and a sham impedance threshold device. DESIGN Prospective randomized blinded protocol. SETTING University medical center. PATIENTS Nineteen healthy, normotensive volunteers (10 males, 9 females, age range 20-56 y, mea...

Abbreviations: TEE: Trans esophageal Echocardiography; HF: Heart Failure; HT: Heart Transplantation; LVAD: Left Ventricular Assist Device; ESHF: End Stage Heart Failure; LVHF: Left Ventricular Heart Failure; LV: Left Ventricular; LVEDV: Left Ventricular End Diastolic Volume; PV: Prolonged Ventilation; BNP: B-Type Natriuretic Peptide; VAD: Ventricular Assist Device; LVEDP: Left Ventricular End D...

Non-verbal vocalisations such as laughter, breathing, hesitation, and consent play an important role in the recognition and understanding of human conversational speech and spontaneous affect. In this contribution we discuss two different strategies for robust discrimination of such events: dynamic modelling by a broad selection of diverse acoustic Low-Level-Descriptors vs. static modelling by ...

BACKGROUND Burn is the worst tragedy among modern societies that individuals may experience. One of the most important problems of burns is pain; particularly at the time of treatment including burn dressings, debridement, surgical incisions and physiotherapy. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of rhythmic breathing on pain of dressing change in patients with burns. METHODS Th...