Heart rate turbulence analysis in female patients with fibromyalgia

OBJECTIVE: Fibromyalgia is characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain and discomfort. There are several reports regarding autonomic nervous system dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia. Heart rate turbulence is expressed as ventriculophasic sinus arrhythmia and has been considered to reflect cardiac autonomic activity. Heart rate turbulence has been shown to be an independent and powerful predictor of sudden cardiac death in various cardiac abnormalities. The aim of this study is to determine whether heart rate turbulence is changed in female patients with fibromyalgia compared with healthy controls. METHODS: Thirty-seven female patients (mean age, 40±11 years) with fibromyalgia, and 35 age- and sex-matched healthy female control subjects (mean age, 42±9 years) were included. Twenty-four hours of ambulatory electrocardiography recordings were collected for all subjects, and turbulence onset and turbulence slope values were automatically calculated. RESULTS: The baseline clinical characteristics of the two groups were similar. There were no significant differences in turbulence onset and turbulence slope measures between patients and control subjects (turbulence onset: −1.648±1.568% vs. −1.582±1.436%, p ϝ 0.853; turbulence slope: 12.933±5.693 ms/RR vs. 13.639±2.505 ms/RR, p ϝ 0.508). Although body mass index was negatively correlated with turbulence slope (r ϝ −0.258, p ϝ 0.046), no significant correlation was found between body mass index and turbulence onset (r ϝ 0.228, p ϝ 0.054). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate heart rate turbulence in patients with fibromyalgia. It appears that heart rate turbulence parameters reflecting cardiac autonomic activity are not changed in female patients with fibromyalgia

Distribution dynamics of ichthyoplankton and recruitment hypotheses

WOS: 000418345300016Planktonic eggs and larvae of marine teleost fishes are considered as ichthyoplankton until they improve active locomotion. These fishes usually produce a large number of propagules however, the great majority of them die before recruitment due to the extrinsic conditions such as predation, starvation and aberrant drift. In this period, small variations in survival rates may cause important differences in recruitment success. On the other hand, the presence of the ideal habitats which can sustain maximal survival for propagules, can significantly change in space and time. Therefore, it is critically important that emergence of propagules should match with the appearance of ideal habitats. To ensure this match, fishes have advanced different spawning strategies. In this review, intrinsic (spawning strategies) and extrinsic (environmental factors) conditions affecting the spatio-temporal distribution of ichthyoplankton have been evaluated on a theoretical basis by discussing match-mismatch dynamics and recruitment hypotheses

Growth, Mortality Rate And Exploitations Rate of the Deep-Water Rose Shrimp (Parapenaeus longirostris) in the Babadillimani Bight(Silifke-Mersin)

WOS: 000292626700005This study was carried out through monthly deep trawls applications in the waters of 0-50m, 50-100m and >100m of depths in Babadillimani Bight between June 1999-April 2000. There was a linear relationship between carapace length and total length in males and females CL = -0.2257+0.2243(star)TL (R-2 = 0.9216, n = 923) for males, CL = -0.2148 + 0.222(star)TL (R-2 = 0.9649, n = 2859) for females, and CL = 0.0952+0.2223(star)TL (R-2 = 0.9652, n = 3886) for total individuals. As to equation of relationship between carapace length and weight, it was W = 0.0015(star)cL(2.6252) for males, W = 0.0009(star)cL(2.8190) for females, and W = 0.001(star)CL(2.7954) for total individuals. The von Bertalanffy growth constants in length was CL infinity = 31.20mm, K = 0.76/year, t(0) = -0.386 year, C = 0.65, WP = 0.65 for males; CL infinity = 32.30mm, K = 0.77 year(-1), t(0) = -0.387 year, C = 0.80, WP = 0.57 for females; and CL infinity = 32.10mm, K = 0.76 year(-1), t(0) = -0.394 year, C = 0.60 and WP = 0.65 for total individuals including juveniles as well as sexually maturated ones. In the study, for all the individuals of the species, the total (Z), natural (M) and fishing (F) mortality coefficient and exploitation rates (E) were determined as 4.00, 1.29, 2.71 and E = 0.67 year(-1), respectively

Temporal changes in some Rajiformes species of cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) from the west coast of Iskenderun Bay (northeastern Mediterranean)

WOS: 000325268300004Some Rajiformes species among the cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes) that are distributed on the west coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun were seasonally obtained by bottom trawling from 2 different depth layers between the years 2004 and 2011. The spatiotemporal changes in catch per unit effort (CPUE) values were investigated by considering 2 depth contours (10 and 20 m). Six species belonging to 6 different Rajiformes families were identified during the sampling period, including Dasyatis pastinaca (common stingray), Gymnura altavela (spiny butterfly ray), Rhinobatos rhinobatos (common guitarfish), Raja radula (rough ray), Myliobatis aquila (common eagle ray), and Torpedo marmorata (marbled electric ray). A general linear model was used to analyze the changes in the total and separate weights of cartilaginous fish. For this purpose, the logarithms of CPUE values in weight were classed according to the depth, season, and years. Seasonal variations and year-season 2-way interactions were found to be highly significant for total cartilaginous CPUE values (P < 0.01). The annual changes in R. rhinobatos were the only significant annual difference (P < 0.05), while the year-season interactions of D. pastinaca were found to be significant (P < 0.01). The seasonal variations of D. pastinaca and G. altavela were also highly significant (P < 0.01)

Endothelial dysfunction in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia: Decreased flow-mediated dilatation in the brachial artery

© 2015, Biomed Res-India. All rights reserved.The underlying pathology of Isolated Coronary Artery Ectasia (ICAE) still remains unknown; however, endothelial dysfunction (ED) may be responsible for the disease process. The aim of this study was to assess the endothelial functions of patients with ICAE in comparison to patients with normal coronary arteries (NCA) by using flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in the brachial artery. Thirty patients with ICAE, and 30 control subjects with angiographically NCA were included in this study. The FMD was measured in all patients using a high-resolution ultrasonographic system. The results showed that the baseline brachial artery diameters in patients with ICAE were not statistically different from those in patients with NCA (4.3 ± 0.3 vs.4.2 ± 0.3 mm, respectively, p = 0.265). However, the forearm FMD of the patients with ICAE was significantly lower than the values in the control group (8.5 ± 4.0 vs. 13.7 ± 3.0%, p <0.001). In addition, patients with ICAE have significantly higher levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol compared to the control group (114.5 ± 28.8 vs. 97.9 ± 31.5 mg/dL, p = 0.03). Therefore, we conclude that patients with ICAE have more severe ED than patients with NCA, which supports the hypothesis that atherosclerosis may be involved in the pathogenesis of coronary ectasia. Hyperlipidemia may have a key role in the disease process

A New Cardiac Autonomic Function Predictor (Heart Rate Turbulence) in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Objective: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic systemic disease. The risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality is high in patients with AS. Heart rate turbulence (HRT) expresses ventriculophasic sinus arrhythmia and has been considered to reflect cardiac autonomic activity. It has been shown that HRT is an independent and powerful predictor of mortality. The aim of this study was to determine HRT changes in patients with AS in comparison with healthy controls

Heart rate variability and heart rate turbulence in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: Cardiac autonomic dysfunction may develop in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) are used in assessing cardiac autonomic functions. The goal of this study was to compare the cardiac autonomic functions in patients with PCOS and healthy controls. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating cardiac autonomic functions in patients with PCOS with respect to both HRV and HRT

Estimation of monthly diffuse nutrient loads for a watershed in Turkey

Diffuse pollution has a complex nature depending on various land-use activities like agriculture, livestock breeding and forestry. In this study, an alternative methodology is applied for decreasing the spatial uncertainty of diffuse nutrient load estimations. It is applied in the Melen Watershed, Turkey, which is an important watershed from where additional water will be supplied for the megacity Istanbul via interbasin water transfer. Monthly diffuse nutrient loads were estimated for each subwatershed by utilizing remote sensing (RS) and geographical information systems (GIS). Estimated nutrient loads were considerably different in various months due to the temporally irregular fertilizer application and meteorological conditions. Temporal differences were also predicted in the spatial distribution of the nutrient loads. The methodology is applicable in watershed protection studies, especially where necessary etudes should be conducted in the short term and with limited data. Such efforts in identifying and determining the diffuse loads are important for sustainable management of the watershed

Heart rate variability and heart rate turbulence in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome

Objective: Cardiac autonomic dysfunction may develop in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) are used in assessing cardiac autonomic functions. The goal of this study was to compare the cardiac autonomic functions in patients with PCOS and healthy controls. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating cardiac autonomic functions in patients with PCOS with respect to both HRV and HRT