Fetal heart rate and fetal heart rate variability in Lipizzaner broodmares

Monitoring fetal heart rate (FHR) and fetal heart rate variability (FHRV) helps to understand and evaluate normal and pathological conditions in the foal. The aim of this study was to establish normal heart rate reference values for the ongoing equine pregnancy and to perform a heart rate variability (HRV) time-domain analysis in Lipizzaner mares. Seventeen middle- and late-term (days 121–333) pregnant Lipizzaner mares were examined using fetomaternal electrocardiography (ECG). The mean FHR (P = 0.004) and the standard deviation of FHR (P = 0.012) significantly decreased during the pregnancy. FHR ± SD values decreased from 115 ± 35 to 79 ± 9 bpm between months 5 and 11. Our data showed that HRV in the foal decreased as the pregnancy progressed, which is in contrast with the findings of earlier equine studies. The standard deviation of normal-normal intervals (SDNN) was higher (70 ± 25 to 166 ± 108 msec) than described previously. The root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) decreased from 105 ± 69 to 77 ± 37 msec between the 5th and 11th month of gestation. Using telemetric ECG equipment, we could detect equine fetal heartbeat on day 121 for the first time. In addition, the large differences observed in the HR values of four mare-fetus pairs in four consecutive months support the assumption that there might be ‘high-HR’ and ‘low-HR’ fetuses in horses. It can be concluded that the analysis of FHR and FHRV is a promising tool for the assessment of fetal well-being but the applicability of these parameters in the clinical setting and in studs requires further investigation

Особливості формування самостійної пізнавальної діяльності майбутніх учителів математики

(uk) У статті зроблено спробу розкрити особливості самостійної пізнавальної діяльності майбутніх вчителів; досліджуються різні підходи до цього поняття; розкриваються такі його складові, як самостійність, пізнавальна самостійність, пізнавальна діяльність.(ru) В статье сделана попытка раскрыть особенности самостоятельной познавательной деятельности будущих учителей; исследуются различные подходы к этому понятию; раскрываются такие его составляющие, как самостоятельность, познавательная самостоятельность, познавательная деятельность

Characterization of pulmonary function in 10â18 year old patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Pulmonary function loss in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is progressive and leads to pulmonary insufficiency. The purpose of this study in 10â18 year old patients with DMD is the assessment of the inter-correlation between pulmonary function tests (PFTs), their reliability and the association with the general disease stage measured by the Brooke score. Dynamic PFTs (peak expiratory flow [PEF], forced vital capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in one second [FEV1]) and maximum static airway pressures (MIP, MEP) were prospectively collected from 64 DMD patients enrolled in the DELOS trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01027884). Baseline PEF percent predicted (PEF%p) was <80% and patients had stopped taking glucocorticoids at least 12 months prior to study start. At baseline PEF%p, FVC%p and FEV1%p correlated well with each other (Spearman's rho: PEF%pâFVC%p: 0.54; PEF%pâFEV1%p: 0.72; FVC%pâFEV1%p: 0.91). MIP%p and MEP%p correlated well with one another (MIP%pâMEP%p: 0.71) but less well with PEF%p (MIP%pâPEF%p: 0.40; MEP%pâPEF%p: 0.41) and slightly better with FVC%p (MIP%pâFVC%p: 0.59; MEP%pâFVC%p: 0.74). The within-subject coefficients of variation (CV) for successive measures were 6.97% for PEF%p, 6.69% for FVC%p and 11.11% for FEV1%p, indicating that these parameters could be more reliably assessed compared to maximum static airway pressures (CV for MIP%p: 18.00%; MEP%p: 15.73%). Yearly rates of PFT decline (placebo group) were larger in dynamic parameters (PEF%p: â8.9% [SD 2.0]; FVC%p: â8.7% [SD 1.1]; FEV1%p: â10.2% [SD 2.0]) than static airway pressures (MIP%p: â4.5 [SD 1.3]; MEP%p: â2.8 [SD 1.1]). A considerable drop in dynamic pulmonary function parameters was associated with loss of upper limb function (transition from Brooke score category 4 to category 5). In conclusion, these findings expand the understanding of the reliability, correlation and evolution of different pulmonary function measures in DMD patients who are in the pulmonary function decline phase

Idebenone reduces respiratory complications in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), progressive loss of respiratory function leads to restrictive pulmonary disease and places patients at significant risk for severe respiratory complications. Of particular concern are ineffective cough, secretion retention and recurrent respiratory tract infections. In a Phase 3 randomized controlled study (DMD Long-term Idebenone Study, DELOS) in DMD patients 10–18 years of age and not taking concomitant glucocorticoid steroids, idebenone (900 mg/day) reduced significantly the loss of respiratory function over a 1-year study period. In a post-hoc analysis of DELOS we found that more patients in the placebo group compared to the idebenone group experienced bronchopulmonary adverse events (BAEs): placebo: 17 of 33 patients, 28 events; idebenone: 6 of 31 patients, 7 events. The hazard ratios (HR) calculated “by patient” (HR 0.33, p = 0.0187) and for “all BAEs” (HR 0.28, p = 0.0026) indicated a clear idebenone treatment effect. The overall duration of BAEs was 222 days (placebo) vs. 82 days (idebenone). In addition, there was also a difference in the use of systemic antibiotics utilized for the treatment of BAEs. In the placebo group, 13 patients (39.4%) reported 17 episodes of antibiotic use compared to 7 patients (22.6%) reporting 8 episodes of antibiotic use in the idebenone group. Furthermore, patients in the placebo group used systemic antibiotics for longer (105 days) compared to patients in the idebenone group (65 days). This post-hoc analysis of DELOS indicates that the protective effect of idebenone on respiratory function is associated with a reduced risk of bronchopulmonary complications and a reduced need for systemic antibiotics

A critical review of fear tests used on cattle, pigs, sheep, poultry and horses

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Statistical Coding and Decoding of Heartbeat Intervals

The heart integrates neuroregulatory messages into specific bands of frequency, such that the overall amplitude spectrum of the cardiac output reflects the variations of the autonomic nervous system. This modulatory mechanism seems to be well adjusted to the unpredictability of the cardiac demand, maintaining a proper cardiac regulation. A longstanding theory holds that biological organisms facing an ever-changing environment are likely to evolve adaptive mechanisms to extract essential features in order to adjust their behavior. The key question, however, has been to understand how the neural circuitry self-organizes these feature detectors to select behaviorally relevant information. Previous studies in computational perception suggest that a neural population enhances information that is important for survival by minimizing the statistical redundancy of the stimuli. Herein we investigate whether the cardiac system makes use of a redundancy reduction strategy to regulate the cardiac rhythm. Based on a network of neural filters optimized to code heartbeat intervals, we learn a population code that maximizes the information across the neural ensemble. The emerging population code displays filter tuning proprieties whose characteristics explain diverse aspects of the autonomic cardiac regulation, such as the compromise between fast and slow cardiac responses. We show that the filters yield responses that are quantitatively similar to observed heart rate responses during direct sympathetic or parasympathetic nerve stimulation. Our findings suggest that the heart decodes autonomic stimuli according to information theory principles analogous to how perceptual cues are encoded by sensory systems