Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) is a diagnostic tool that is routinely used noninvasively to assess the electrical and muscular functions of the heart. All nurses should be able to recognize basic ECG rhythms. Objective: This study aimed to determine the ECG knowledge and practice among nurses in university hospitals in North Cyprus. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on the registered nurses who worked in critical care units, including intensive care unit, coronary care unit, emergency department, recovery department, and cardiology department in two university hospitals (Near East University Hospital and Dr. Suat Gü nsel Hospital). Totally, 72 registered nurses worked in both hospitals 65 one of whom took part in the study voluntarily. The study data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire was prepared in Turkish and was used after being reviewed by three specialist nurses and one cardiologist. The questionnaire contained three sections and 15 questions. Results: The majority of the nurses had B. Sc. degrees (93. 8%) and recorded ECGs for patients (89. 2%). The majority of the participants had passed ECG training courses (60. 0%). Considering the nurses’ knowledge of ECG, the total frequency of correct answers was 69%. Considering their practice of ECG interpretations, the total frequency of correct answers was 67%. Cardiology department nurses had the highest percentage of correct answers (P = 0. 002). Indeed, the lowest and highest means of correct answers were observed among the nurses with less than one year and more than six years of work experience, respectively. Conclusion: The study results showed a high level of ECG knowledge and practice among the nurses. The hospital unit and passage of previous ECG training courses played an important role in the nurses’ experience of ECG interpretation. Hence, ECG training courses were effective in improving the nurses’ ECG knowledge.

In this paper, we have exploited the first-order sliding mode control method to track the ECG data of the human heart by three different nonlinear control laws. In order to lessen the intrinsic chattering of the classic sliding mode control system, smooth function approximations of the control input, by means of the hyperbolic tangent and the saturation function, were used. The fast Fourier transform was used to evaluate the average chattering frequency of the control inputs. The synthesized control schemes namely SMC-sign, SMC-tanh, and SMC-sat, were able to track the real-world ECG signal with an average root mean square error of 0. 0306 and a chattering frequency of 92. 7 Hz. The findings show that the sliding mode controllers can be implemented in electronic artificial pacemakers to provide the intended results successfully. Based on today's electronics, the involved frequency range (556. 4 Hz for the worst case) is quite acceptable and practical.

Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) plays a vital role in the analysis of heart activity. It can be used to analyze the different heart diseases and mental stress assessment also. Various noises, such as baseline wandering, muscle artifacts and power line interface disturbs the information within the ECG signal. To acquire correct information from ECG signal, these noises should be removed. Methods: In the proposed work, the improved variational mode decomposition (IVMD) method for the removal of noise in ECG signals is used. In the proposed method, the weighted signal amplitude integrated over the timeframe of the ECG signal varies the window size during decomposition. Raw ECG data are extracted from 10 subjects and ECG data are also taken from the MIT BIH database for the proposed method. Results: The performance comparison of traditional variational mode decomposition (VMD) and the proposed technique is also calculated using mean square error, percentage root mean square difference, signal to noise ratio and correlation coefficient. The extracted highest signal to noise ratio (SNR) value of acquired ECG signals using traditional VMD is 42db whereas highest value of signal to noise ratio (SNR) using improved VMD (IVMD) is 83db. Conclusion: The proposed IVMD technique represented better performance than traditional VMD for denoising of ECG signals.

Background: An electrocardiogram (ECG) can provide information on subclinical myocardial damage. The presence, and more importantly, the quantity of coronary artery calcification (CAC), relates well with the overall severity of the atherosclerotic process. A strong relation has been demonstrated between coronary calcium burden and the incidence of myocardial infarction, a relation independent of age. The aim of this study was to assess the relation of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and ECG abnormalities with CAC. Methods: The study population comprised 566 postmenopausal women selected from a population-based cohort study. Information on LVH and repolarization abnormalities (T-axis and QRS-T angle) was obtained using electrocardiography. Modular ECG Analysis System (MEANS) was used to assess ECG abnormalities. The women underwent a multi detectorrow computed tomography (MDCT) scan (Philips Mx 8000 IDT 16) to assess CAC. The Agatston score was used to quantify CAC; scores greater than zero were considered as the presence of coronary calcium. Logistic regression was used to assess the relation of ECG abnormality with coronary calcification.Results: LVH was found in 2.7% (n = 15) of the women. The prevalence of T-axis abnormality was 6% (n = 34), whereas 8.5% (n = 48) had a QRS-T angle abnormality. CAC was found in 62% of the women. Compared to women with a normal T-axis, women with borderline or abnormal T-axes were 3.8 fold more likely to have CAC (95% CI: 1.4-10.2). Similarly, compared to women with a normal QRS-T angle, in women with borderline or abnormal QRS-T angle, CAC was 2.0 fold more likely to be present (95% CI: 1.0-4.1). Conclusion: Among women with ECG abnormalities reflecting subclinical ischemia, CAC is commonly found and may in part explain the increased coronary heart disease risk associated with these ECG abnormalities.

Background: Alcohol consumption leads to a significant number of deaths, mostly in men, worldwide. Considering the effect of ethanol toxicity on the heart, we studied various Electrocardiographic (ECG) changes in patients with acute ethanol poisoning. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on patients admitted to Khorshid Hospital (affiliated to Isfahan University of Medical Sciences) due to ethanol poisoning. All 15-to 50-year-old patients with acute ethanol intoxication were included in the study (N=250). The patients’ information, including the demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, and ECG changes were recorded and analyzed. Different variables were compared between the patients with or without ECG changes. Results: Most of the research patients (n=208) were men (83. 82%). The Mean± SD age of the study patients was 26. 8± 8. 87 years. About 54. 8% of the patients presented abnormal ECG. The changes in ECG were not significantly different based on the demographic characteristic and clinical manifestations. The time interval between ethanol consumption and admission was significantly higher in patients with abnormal ECG, compared to those with normal ECG (Mean± SD: 7. 09± 10. 67 vs. 4. 77± 4. 54 hours, respectively) (P=0. 03). Conclusion: ECG changes are common in patients with ethanol poisoning. The time interval between ethanol consumption to hospital admission may be an important factor in the occurrence of ECG changes.