The effects of baseline heart rate recovery normality and exercise training protocol on heart rate recovery in patients with heart failure

Objective: It is unclear which exercise training protocol yields superior heart rate recovery (HRR) improvement in heart failure (HF) patients. Whether baseline HRR normality plays a role in the improvement is unknown. We hypothesized that an exercise training protocol and baseline HRR normality would be factors in altering HRR in HF patients. Methods: In this prospective, randomized, controlled and 3 group parallel study, 41 stable HF patients were randomly assigned to 3-timesweekly training sessions for 12 weeks, consisting of i) 30 minutes of interval training (IT) (n=17, 63.7±8.8 years old) versus ii) 30 minutes of continuous training (CT) (n=13, 59.6±6.8 years old) versus iii) no training (CON) (n=11, 60.6±9.9 years old). Each patient had cardiopulmonary exercise testing before and after the training program. Maximum heart rates attained during the test and heart rates at 1 and 2 min (HRR1 and HRR2) during the recovery phase were recorded. Paired samples t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for comparisons before and after training. One-way ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis was used for comparisons among groups. Results: HRR1 was unchanged after training. HRR2 improved in the IT group after training, and post-training HRR2 values were significantly faster in the IT group than in controls. Both HRR1 and HRR2 was significantly faster, irrespective of exercise protocol in patients with abnormal baseline values after training. Conclusion: HRR1 did not improve after training. HRR2 improved only in the IT group. Both HRRs in patients with abnormal baseline values improved after both exercise protocols. IT might be superior to CT in improving HRR2. Baseline HRR might play a role in its response to exercise. © 2015 by Turkish Society of Cardiology

Is amygdala size correlated with stress?

Background: One of the important mechanisms that regulate the stress response of the body is hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. One of the structures activating this axis is amygdala. We have seen people around who react calmer and cooler to very stressful situations. Are people with smaller amygdala really calmer? Or, can we say that the bigger the amygdala, which is the trigger of the body’s response to stress, the more a person panics? Aim of the study is to compare the saliva cortisol levels and amygdala volume.Materials and methods: Study conducted with 63 male students. Magnetic resonance images of students were taken before their final exam to calculate amygdala volumes. Saliva samples of all students were taken two times to detect cortisol levels in saliva. First one was 20 days before the final exam and second one was on the exam day. We assumed that the students were stressful on exam day.Results and Conclusions: No statistically significant correlation was found between saliva cortisol levels and amygdala volume in the study

Catalytic Upgrading of Biomass Model Compounds: Novel Approaches and Lessons Learnt from Traditional Hydrodeoxygenation – a Review

Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a fundamental process for bio‐resources upgrading to produce transportation fuels or added value chemicals. The bottleneck of this technology to be implemented at commercial scale is its dependence on high pressure hydrogen, an expensive resource which utilization also poses safety concerns. In this scenario, the development of hydrogen‐free alternatives to facilitate oxygen removal in biomass derived compounds is a major challenge for catalysis science but at the same time it could revolutionize biomass processing technologies. In this review we have analysed several novel approaches, including catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH), combined reforming and hydrodeoxygenation, metal hydrolysis and subsequent hydrodeoxygenation along with non‐thermal plasma (NTP) to avoid the supply of external H2. The knowledge accumulated from traditional HDO sets the grounds for catalysts and processes development among the hydrogen alternatives. In this sense, mechanistic aspects for HDO and the proposed alternatives are carefully analysed in this work. Biomass model compounds are selected aiming to provide an in‐depth description of the different processes and stablish solid correlations catalysts composition‐catalytic performance which can be further extrapolated to more complex biomass feedstocks. Moreover, the current challenges and research trends of novel hydrodeoxygenation strategies are also presented aiming to spark inspiration among the broad community of scientists working towards a low carbon society where bio‐resources will play a major role.Financial support for this work was provided by the Department of Chemical and Process Engineering of the University of Surrey and the EPSRC grants EP/J020184/2 and EP/R512904/1 as well as the Royal Society Research Grant RSGR1180353. Authors would also like to acknowledge the Ministerio de Economía, Industriay Competitividad of Spain (Project MAT2013‐45008‐P) and the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). LPP also thanks Comunitat Valenciana for her postdoctoral fellow (APOSTD2017)

Evaluation of land use potential and suitability of ecosystems in Antakya for reforestation, recreation, arable farming and residence [Antakya Ekosistemlerinin Agaçlandirma, Rekreasyon, Tarim ve Konut için Arazi Kullanim Potansiyeli ve Uygunlugunun Degerlendirilmesi]

It is essential that land use decisions made by local administrations be compatible with sustainable use and management principles of natural resources. In this study, we evaluated the use potential and suitability of 27 land mapping units of 4,891 ha in Antakya for three different land use types: (1) recreation- reforestation, (2) residence and (3) arable farming. For this purpose, land suitability evaluation was carried out using soil and land data, the ŞENOL land evaluation system, and a PC compatible ILSEN software package. The study showed that a total of 478 ha of land had the potential for residential use in the west and north of Antakya. The urban growth of Antakya needs to be directed accordingly to these recommended areas instead of to the prime farmlands of Amik plain. It was determined that the majority of the land suitable for reforestation and recreation uses were in the north and north-west of Antakya, and their total land area was 1.511 ha. The quantification of both expected benefits due to sustained productivity of natural resources and environmental degradation due to unsustainable land uses assists decision makers in ensuring that land is used according to its capacity to satisfy human needs for present and future generations

Updating of conventional soil maps via GIS to evaluate and monitor the soil qualities in Kocas State farm in Turkey

Conventional soil maps (CSM), as the major data source for information on the spatial variation of soil, are limited in terms of both the level of spatial detail and the accuracy of soil attributes. These soil maps however, contain valuable knowledge on soil and environmental relationships. Such knowledge can be extracted for updating conventional soil maps through the use of available quality data on environmental variables and land use. We used a method to update conventional soil maps using digital soil mapping techniques without additional field work, which can be used in situations where the study area contains no or few soil profile descriptions at set points. The basis of the method is that soil polygons on a CSM correspond to landscape units, which can be considered as combinations of environmental factors. We extracted the knowledge on soil and environment relationships after the updating of CSM by the Geography Information System (GIS). The extracted knowledge was then used for correlation of the soil properties. This method was demonstrated through a case study for updating a conventional soil map of the Kocas Stale Farm in Central Anatolia, Turkey. The case study showed that the updated digital soil map contained much greater spatial detail than the conventional soil map. Results of this studying are indicating that the proposed method is an effective approach to updating conventional soil maps. © by PSP

Definition of the physiographic units and land use capability classes of soils in mountainous areas via satellite imaging

This study was conducted on soils of the mountainous regions of northern Adana. The area of study was located between two dams, Catalan and Seyhan. The aims of this study were to identify the Main Physiographic Units (MPU) and soil classes (Land Use Capability, LUC) to provide comprehensive data about soils within the area of study. 26 soil profiles have been identified to represent the physiographic units and soil series in the area of study. Based on remote sensing data and GIS, the area of study can be divided into 7 MPU (Bajada: base land-clay deposit; colluvial; foot slope; Terraces-aged, marine, young; ridge/hilly; river bank and terrace) and each of these units takes up 7, 3, 6, 36,10, 33, and 5% of the area, respectively. Foot slope and ridge/hilly units comprise 36% and 33% of the area, respectively. The remaining physiographic units make up 10% or less of the study area. 7 classes of soils were identified for LUC for studying soils. These classes are I, II, III, IV, VI, VII and VIII, and their percentages are 2, 5, 20, 22,40, 9 and 2, respectively. The percentage of the first three classes (I, II and III) is 27% and the percentage of the area not suitable for cultivated agriculture is 51%

Renal stem cells [Böbrek kök hücreleri]

Kidney diseases, related to high morbidity and mortality, are one of the diseases that should be primarily investigated. Development of acute and chronic kidney diseases is due to lack of functioning renal repair mechanisms. Embryonic progenitor cells are precursors of renal cells that are able to differentiate to several types of nephron epithelium. Fetal renal progenitor cells are partially capable of self-renewal. In the adult human kidney, whole nephron regeneration is not possible. Progenitor-like cells continuously replace the cells that are lost physiologically or by damage. These cells have been differentiated to epithelial and endothelial cells in vitro. Transplantation of stem cells to the damaged kidney is one of the regenerative therapy options. In recent studies, it has been shown that chronic kidney disease, graft rejection and other kidney diseases could be treated and nephrons and other structures could be regenerated by stem cell therapy. Stem cells are the best candidates for the treatment of kidney diseases, organ transplantation and producing a functional organ. The success of this method is due to the ability of the cells to differentiate, to penetrate the existing tissue and the capacity of the cells to secrete renoprotective factors

Catenary soil relationships in the Çukurova Region, southern Turkey

A catenary sequence from the north to the south of the Çukurova Region was studied using pedo-geomorphological criteria. The catena studied is typical for the Mediterranean coastal areas covering surfaces - geomorphic units - formed by neotectonic activity and the following processes related to pedology. Each geomorphic unit was determined to comprise soils at different stages of development. However a trend showing increase of age with increasing elevation was found from the south to the north of the region. Soils occurring on Fluvio-Marine Terraces are Mollisols and Alfisols; on the Bajadas are Vertisols, Entisols and Inceptisols; on the River Terraces are Entisols; on the Bottom Lands are Entisols, Vertisols, Inceptisols; on the Delta are Vertisols, and Inceptisols; on the Coastal sand Dunes are Entisols; and on the Uplands are Entisols and Mollisols. © 1991