Volume 23, Issue 3
Determining Energy Expenditure from Heart Rate Monitoring during Training Sessions at Bulgarian Wrestlers251-258
Nikolay Zaekov, Lubomir Petrov, Krassimir Rankov, Milena Nikolova, Rasho Makaveev, Nikola Nikolov
Nikolay Zaekov, Lubomir Petrov, Krassimir Rankov, Milena Nikolova, Rasho Makaveev, Nikola Nikolov (2019) Determining Energy Expenditure from Heart Rate Monitoring during Training Sessions at Bulgarian Wrestlers, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 251-258, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000524
Abstract: Aim of the study was to determine physical activity’s part of daily energy expenditure by heart rate monitoring and using data to control athletes’ nutritional intake. Group of 10 male and 4 female wrestlers (age = 21 ± 1.8) at national level, who train 15 hours per week served as subjects in this investigation. The 72-hour HR recording was performed with a TEMEO cardiotelemetric system (made in Bulgaria). The energy expenditure during physical activity is determined by Method 1 of Hiilloskorpi et al. (2003). The determined daily energy expenditure is compared to the theoretically calculated. The deference is less than 100 kcal, but if subjects change the intensity, volume or duration of the workouts or increase their number, the difference will be much more evident.

Keywords: Energy expenditure, Heart rate monitoring, Physical activity
Comparative Analysis of Filters for Cancellation of Power-line-interference of ECG Signal259-282
Akash Kumar Bhoi, Karma Sonam Sherpa, Bidita Khandelwal
Akash Kumar Bhoi, Karma Sonam Sherpa, Bidita Khandelwal (2019) Comparative Analysis of Filters for Cancellation of Power-line-interference of ECG Signal, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 259-282, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000500
Abstract: Filtering noises/artifacts from the electrocardiogram (ECG) can sustain the efficient clinical decision making. Comparative analysis of several filtering techniques is proposed: two adaptive noise cancellation techniques, Least Mean Square (LMS), Recursive Least Square (RLS); Savitzky-Golay (SG) smoothing filter and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). These methods are implemented on 60 Hz Power-Line Interference (PLI), ECG signals of FANTASIA database and MIT-BIH Arrhythmia Database. Here, Short-Term Fourier Transforms (STFT) and Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) is introduced as a graphical tool to measure the noise level in the filtered ECG signals and also to validate the filtering performances of the proposed techniques. Statistical evaluation is also performed calculating the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), Mean Square Error (MSE), the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Peak to Peak Amplitude (P2P) change before and after filtering of the ECG signals. The graphical results (frequency domain analysis using STFT and CWT) and statistical observation suggest that the noise cancellation performance of DWT is better, over other techniques.

Keywords: Power-line interference, Least mean square, Recursive least square; Savitzky-Golay smoothing filter, Discrete wavelet transform, Short-term Fourier transforms, Continuous wavelet transform, Signal to noise ratio, Mean square error, The root mean square error, Peak signal to noise ratio, Peak to peak amplitude
The Secondary Structural Models (16S rRNA) of Alkaline Amylase Producing Bacillus species strain SP-RM2: Phylogenetics Analysis283-292
Sonali Priyadarshini, Sukanta Kumar Pradhan, Pratima Ray
Sonali Priyadarshini, Sukanta Kumar Pradhan, Pratima Ray (2019) The Secondary Structural Models (16S rRNA) of Alkaline Amylase Producing Bacillus species strain SP-RM2: Phylogenetics Analysis, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 283-292, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000504
Abstract: Bacterial isolates especially the Bacillus strains have gained an edge over other organisms across the globe. Enzymes derived from alkaliphilic Bacillus make up about half of the total industrial enzyme market. Detergents, textiles, starch, baking and animal feed are the major industries which utmost produce and use enzymes. Alkaline α amylases are among the most important enzymes and are of great significance for biotechnology. In the present investigation, one alkalitolerant bacterial isolate coded RM2 was characterized by partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing due to its ability to produce alkaline amylase at pH 8.0. The amplified consensus 16S rRNA gene sequence (RM2) was further searched against nucleotide database using Blast program to find out its potential homologs. Twelve closest bacterial spp. were identified and the phylogenetic analysis revealed the target bacteria (RM2) isolate belong to genus Bacillus. RM2 has shown relatedness to Bacillus flexus strain IFO15715 in sequence based divergence study whereas secondary structure of 16S r-RNA of Bacillus sp. strain SP-RM2 did not show any relatedness to Bacillus flexus strain IFO15715 even though they shared sequence based similarity.

Keywords: Alkaline α amylase, Bacillus, Phylogenetic analysis
Application of Game Theory and Evolutionary Algorithms in Solving Conflicts in Social Systems293-302
Shpend Ismaili, Stefka Fidanova
Shpend Ismaili, Stefka Fidanova (2019) Application of Game Theory and Evolutionary Algorithms in Solving Conflicts in Social Systems, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 293-302, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000545
Abstract: Modeling of behavior of social system is of high importance. It is very complex and is difficult to predict the conflicts which can arise between the different agents in the system. The behavior of an individual is changed during the time according the behavior of other individuals. There is interaction between individuals themselves and individuals and environment and all they need to be taken in to account. The social system can be represented as a multi-agent system with various types of participants. In this paper we model conflict situations during a protest applying game theory and evolutionary algorithm.

Keywords: Multi-agent system, Game theory, Evolutionary algorithm
Analysis and Detection of the Degrees and Direction of Correlations between Key Indicators of Physical Fitness of 10-12-year-old Hockey Players303-314
Antonio Antonov
Antonio Antonov (2019) Analysis and Detection of the Degrees and Direction of Correlations between Key Indicators of Physical Fitness of 10-12-year-old Hockey Players, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 303-314, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000709
Abstract: In this paper an investigation of the relationships and correlations between the 11 indicators of physical fitness, the level of which has a leading role in the sports training of 10-12-year-old hockey players. The obtained results show that there is a tendency of a slight increase of the existing correlations from weak to moderate, moderate to significant, and from significant to strong in the first year of the experiment (age 10-11). Such correlation was also observed in the second year (age 11-12) when even very strong correlations were found between 4 indicators for boys and 3 for girls.

Keywords: Hockey, Physical training, Indicators, Relationships, Speed, Endurance, Agility, Correlation analysis
A Non-coding RNA Sequence Alignment Algorithm Based on Improved Covariance Model315-326
Xiaodan Liu, Yu Wang, Na Zhang
Xiaodan Liu, Yu Wang, Na Zhang (2019) A Non-coding RNA Sequence Alignment Algorithm Based on Improved Covariance Model, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 315-326, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000719
Abstract: This paper attempts to overcome the inefficiency of covariance model (CM) in the search for non-coding sequence. For this purpose, the members of non-coding RNA family were compared and the CM of the family was discussed in details. Next, the CM was improved for structural units in the secondary structure, through the addition of the upper and lower limits on subsequence length. Based on the length distribution of each structural unit, the improved model limits the number of insertions and deletions during the evolution of sequences in the same family. After that, the author put forward a novel non-coding RNA sequence alignment algorithm. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can greatly reduce the computing time of non-coding RNA sequence comparison.

Keywords: Non-coding RNA, Sequence structure, Covariance model, Secondary structure
Application of the ATP Bioluminescence Method in Rapid Detection of Microorganisms in Jet Fuel327-342
Xinfeng Sun, Yun Xiong, Peng Su, Peng Zhu, Mingming Niu, Dongliang Zhou
Xinfeng Sun, Yun Xiong, Peng Su, Peng Zhu, Mingming Niu, Dongliang Zhou (2019) Application of the ATP Bioluminescence Method in Rapid Detection of Microorganisms in Jet Fuel, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 327-342, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000720
Abstract: Rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel can effectively prevent a series of problems caused by microbial contamination. In this paper, the application of the ATP bioluminescence method developed by the research group is systematically studied in the rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel. The results show that the ATP standard curve of the ATP bioluminescence method has good linear relationships with the standard curves of the colonies of five major contamination fungi and mixed bacteria (R2 is all above 0.96), and that the ATP content in each single colony is on the order of magnitude of 10-17 mol, indicating that this method can achieve rapid and effective measurement of the total number of microorganisms in jet fuel. The method also proves t have good measuring performance in various aspects – the method detection limit is 8.8x10-17 mol and the repeatability and reproducibility is 29.35%, which are within the acceptable range; the fluorescence reaction is highly stable, and a fluorescence decay of 5% can be guaranteed within 60 s. This method has little difference in field detection with the HY-LITE® JET A1 fuel test method recommended by IATA, and what is more, it is accurate, stable and lost-cost, making it effective as an alternative method. It is an independent intellectual property of China and can be recommended as a method for rapid detection of microorganisms in jet fuel in national standards.

Keywords: ATP bioluminescence method, Jet fuel, Contamination fungi, Detection
Experimental Investigation of Electromyographic Activities of Upper Limb Muscles without and with a Passive Exoskeleton with Four Degrees of Freedoms343-354
Rositsa Raikova, Silvija Angelova, Ivanka Veneva, Ivaylo Christov
Rositsa Raikova, Silvija Angelova, Ivanka Veneva, Ivaylo Christov (2019) Experimental Investigation of Electromyographic Activities of Upper Limb Muscles without and with a Passive Exoskeleton with Four Degrees of Freedoms, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 343-354, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000673
Abstract: The choice of suitable human surface muscles and of their electromyographic (EMG) signal processing have always been a challenge, especially when technical devices are to be controlled by these signals. Experiments with six healthy volunteers were performed with a NORAXON measuring and processing system. EMG signals from 8 muscles of the upper right arm performing the main motions in the shoulder and elbow joints were registered and processed. Four angles in the joints were also registered. Six motor tasks were performed, without and with an exoskeleton with four degrees of freedom. Since the EMG signal of the muscle pectoralis major was contaminated by noise coming from the electrical activity of the heart, first this signal was filtered using recently developed dynamic filter. Normalization according to maximal isometric tasks was performed after filtration. Rectification and smoothing ensured a suitable signal for proportional control of the exoskeleton. On/off control was simulated by setting different constants for maximal EMG amplitude levels.

Keywords: EMG signals, Upper limb, Exoskeleton, Rehabilitation
Internet of Things Platform Supporting Mobility of Disabled Learners355-368
Todorka Glushkova, Stanimir Stoyanov, Ivan Popchev
Todorka Glushkova, Stanimir Stoyanov, Ivan Popchev (2019) Internet of Things Platform Supporting Mobility of Disabled Learners, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 355-368, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000590
Abstract: Cyber-Physical-Social Spaces (CPSS) and Internet of Things (IoT), two closely related concepts provide new yet unknown opportunities to support disabled people through information and communication technologies. This paper presents an IoT reference architecture known as Virtual Physical Space (ViPS) designed to support the mobility of people with disabilities. Furthermore, a modeling component, known as AmbiNet and hosted in ViPS, is described in more detail. The AmbiNet supports presentation of spatial aspects of physical “things” to be virtualized in an Internet of Things application. In AmbiNet, the “things” of interest are modeled as a network of interacting ambients. The environment is implemented on the top of the Calculus of Context-aware Ambients (CCA). The ambient-oriented modeling in AmbiNet is demonstrated by an example.

Keywords: Cyber-physical-social spaces, Internet of Things, Ambient-oriented modeling, Calculus of context-aware ambients, AmbiNet, Disabled learners
Clinical Application of CTVision Images-guided Precise Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients with Postoperative369-386
Zihai Xu, Lei Tong, Yuan Fang, Chaomin Chen
Zihai Xu, Lei Tong, Yuan Fang, Chaomin Chen (2019) Clinical Application of CTVision Images-guided Precise Radiotherapy in Breast Cancer Patients with Postoperative, Int J Bioautomation, 23 (3), 369-386, doi: 10.7546/ijba.2019.23.3.000627
Abstract: By applying kilovolt (KV) level computerized tomography (CT) in Image-Guided Radiation Therapy system (IGRT) – CTVision, setup errors of postoperative breast cancer patients after breast bracket with thermoplastic molding in precise radiotherapy is studied, advantages and disadvantages of manual osseous registration and skin tag tumor bed area registration are compared, it is verified that breast bracket with thermoplastic phantom is the best fixing mode for postoperative breast cancer patients and then clinically possible extended value of CTV (Clinical Target Volume) and PRV (Planning Organ at Risk Volume) are discussed. Materials and methods: Siemens CTVision image-guided system is adopted for 10 cases of postoperative breast cancer patients, including 7 patients with modified radical mastectomy and 3 breast-conserving surgery patients which is using breast bracket with thermoplastic molding and scaned by Large aperture CT of CTVision image-guided system. Image guidance is respectively conducted 3 continuous times three days before treatment and once weekly during treatment, osseous manual registration and skin tag tumor bed area registration are conducted for verification image and planned image of postoperative breast cancer patients, setup error data of two different registration modes is measured, displacement error difference in direction of horizontal (X-axis), vertical (Y-axis) and longitudinal (Z-axis) is analyzed, and error effect on CTV and PRV extended boundary is explored. Results: 10 cases of postoperative breast cancer patients received 80 scans, average displacement errors in horizontal (X-axis) direction of osseous manual registration and skin tag tumor bed region registration are 0.7 ± 2.4 mm and -1.3 ± 5.6 mm respectively; displacement errors in vertical (Y-axis) direction are 0.5 ± 2.6 mm and -0.3 ± 4.4 mm respectively; displacement errors in longitudinal (Z-axis) direction are 0.7 ± 1.1 mm and 1.9 ± 2.0 mm respectively. Extended boundary of CTV of osseous manual registration and skin tag tumor bed area registration are 4.79 mm and 13.62 mm, 5.81 mm and 8.52 mm, 1.46 mm and 3.71 mm respectively in X-, Y-, Z-axis direction; extended boundary of organs at risk (PRV) are 2.62 mm and 7.28 mm, 3.13 mm and 4.50 mm, 0.80 mm and 2.04 mm respectively in X-, Y-, Z-axis direction. Re-setup or online mobile treatment couch calibration is conducted for the above osseous manual registration displacement error value over 5 mm in three-dimensional direction, and corrected displacement errors in X, Y, and Z directions are lower than those before correction, with re-setup or online correction rate at 3.8%. Discussion: (1) Setup error of intensity modulated radiotherapy of postoperative breast cancer patients with large aperture CT scan imaging of CTVsion image guided radiation therapy system is within an acceptable range, osseous manual registration is superior to skin tag tumor bed region registration, and therefore, intensity modulated radiotherapy of postoperative breast cancer patients with osseous manual registration to decide set-up errors is a more realistic option. (2) Fixing mode of breast bracket joint thermoplastic phantom is with good repeatability and stability, low positioning failure rate, and thermoplastic phantom can effectively control error caused by respiratory movement in longitudinal direction. Breast bracket joint thermoplastic phantom is one of the best fixing mode for postoperative breast cancer patients. (3) Based on the study on systemic error and random error in two registration modes of intensity modulated radiotherapy of postoperative breast cancer patients, CTV and PRV extended value obtained by setup errors of osseous manual registration mode is more realistic, extension of 5 mm of postoperative breast cancer plan is clinically feasible, and extension of organs at risk PRV should be decided by patients’ tumor site and treatment plan design, etc.

Keywords: Image guidance, Siemens CTVision, Postoperative breast cancer, Intensity modulated radiotherapy, Setup errors, Extended boundary

Sponsored by National Science Fund of Bulgaria, Grant No KP-06-NP/9/2018

© 2019, BAS, Institute of Biophysics and Biomedical Engineering