Repeating the Errors of Our Parents? Family-of-Origin Spouse Violence and Observed Conflict Management in Engaged Couples

Based on a developmental social learning analysis, it was hypothesized that observing parental violence predisposes partners to difficulties in managing couple conflict. Seventy-one engaged couples were assessed on their observation of parental violence in their family of origin. All couples were videotaped discussing two areas of current relationship conflict, and their cognitions during the interactions were assessed using a video-mediated recall procedure. Couples in which the male partner reported observing parental violence (male-exposed couples) showed more negative affect and communication during conflict discussions than couples in which neither partner reported observing parental violence (unexposed couples). Couples in which only the female partner reported observing parental violence (female- exposed couples) did not differ from unexposed couples in their affect or behavior. Female-exposed couples reported more negative cognitions than unexposed couples, but male-exposed couples did not differ from unexposed couples in their reported cognitions

Pilot canine investigation of the cardiopulmonary baroreflex control of ventricular contractility

Doors topped with the Three Shades; In August 1880, the Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Arts, Edmond Turquet (1836-1914), invited Rodin to provide monumental bronze doors for a planned new museum of decorative arts. It appears that it was Rodin’s decision to choose Dante’s Inferno as the theme for the doors that became known as the Gates of Hell. In 1885 Rodin announced that the Gates would be ready to be cast in six months. Plans for building the museum were soon canceled, however. Freed from a deadline, he let the plaster work stand in his studio, intermittently revising the figure groups and architectural mouldings. Not until 1917 did Léonce Bénédite, the Musée Rodin’s first curator, manage to persuade the sculptor to allow him to reconstruct his masterpiece in order to have it cast in bronze. Rodin died before seeing the result of all these long years of effort. The first bronze was made in 1925; there are a total of six bronzes. The original plaster in the Musée d’Orsay remains the property of the French government. This cast made by Fonderie Alexis Rudier in 1928 for the Musée Rodin. Source: Musée Rodin [website]; http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en/ (accessed 5/12/2014

Spontaneous baroreflex control of heart rate versus cardiac output: altered coupling in heart failure

Dynamic cardiac baroreflex responses are frequently investigated by analyzing the spontaneous reciprocal changes in arterial pressure and heart rate (HR). However, whether the spontaneous baroreflex-induced changes in HR translate into changes in cardiac output (CO) is unknown. In addition, this linkage between changes in HR and changes in CO may be different in subjects with heart failure (HF). We examined these questions using conscious dogs before and after pacing-induced HF. Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity in the control of HR and CO was evaluated as the slopes of the linear relationships between HR or CO and left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) during spontaneous sequences of greater or equal to three consecutive beats when HR or CO changed inversely versus pressure. Furthermore, the translation of baroreflex HR responses into CO responses (HR-CO translation) was examined by computing the overlap between HR and CO sequences. In normal resting conditions, 44.0 +/- 4.4% of HR sequences overlapped with CO sequences, suggesting that only around half of the baroreflex HR responses cause CO responses. In HF, HR-LVSP, CO-LVSP, and the HR-CO translation significantly decreased compared with the normalcondition ( - 2.29 +/- 0.5 vs. - 5.78 +/- 0.7 beats.min(-1).mmHg(-1); - 70.95 +/- 11.8 vs. - 229.89 +/- 29.6 ml.min(-1).mmHg(-1); and 19.66 +/- 4.9 vs. 44.0 +/- 4.4%, respectively). We conclude that spontaneous baroreflex HR responses do not always cause changes in CO. In addition, HF significantly decreases HR-LVSP, CO-LVSP, and HR-CO translation

Muscle metaboreflex attenuates spontaneous heart rate baroreflex sensitivity during dynamic exercise

Hypoperfusion of active skeletal muscle elicits a reflex pressor response termed the muscle metabore-flex. Dynamic exercise attenuates spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (SBRS) in the control of heart rate (HR) during rapid, spontaneous changes in blood pressure (BP). Our objective was to determine whether muscle metaboreflex activation (MRA) further diminishes SBRS. Conscious dogs were chronically instrumented for measurement of HR. cardiac Output, mean arterial pressure. and left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP) at rest and during mild (3.2 km/h) or moderate (6.4 km/h at 10% grade) dynamic exercise before and after MRA (via partial reduction of hindlimb blood flow). SBRS was evaluated as the slopes of the linear relations (LRs) between HR and LVSP during spontaneous sequences of at least three consecutive beats when HR changed inversely vs. pressure (expressed as beats (.) min(-1) (.) mmHg(-1)). During mild exercise, these LRs shifted upward. with a significant decrease in SBRS (-3.0 +/- 0.4 vs. -5.2 +/- 0.4. P < 0.05 vs, rest). MRA shifted LRS upward and rightward and decreased SBRS (-2.1 +/- 0.1, P < 0.05 vs. mild exercise). Moderate exercise shifted LRS upward and rightward and significantly decreased SBRS (-1.2 +/- 0. 1. P < 0.05 vs. rest). MRA elicited further Upward and rightward shifts of the LRs and reductions in SBRS (-0.9 +/- 0.1. P < 0.05 vs. moderate exercise). We Conclude that dynamic exercise resets the arterial baroreflex to higher BP and HR as exercise intensity increases. In addition, increases in exercise intensity. as well as MRA. attenuate SBRS

Spontaneous baroreflex control of cardiac output during dynamic exercise, muscle metaboreflex activation, and heart failure

We have previously shown that spontaneous baroreflex-induced changes in heart rate (HR) do not always translate into changes in cardiac output (CO) at rest. We have also shown that heart failure (HF) decreases this linkage between changes in HR and CO. Whether dynamic exercise and muscle metaboreflex activation ( via imposed reductions in hindlimb blood flow) further alter this translation in normal and HF conditions is unknown. We examined these questions using conscious, chronically instrumented dogs before and after pacing-induced HF during mild and moderate dynamic exercise with and without muscle metaboreflex activation. We measured left ventricular systolic pressure (LVSP), CO, and HR and analyzed the spontaneous HR-LVSP and CO-LVSP relationships. In normal animals, mild exercise significantly decreased HR-LVSP (-3.08 +/- 0.5 vs. -5.14 +/- 0.6 beats . min(-1) . mmHg(-1); P < 0.05) and CO-LVSP (-134.74 +/- 24.5 vs. - 208.6 +/- 22.2 ml . min(-1) - mmHg(-1); P < 0.05). Moderate exercise further decreased both and, in addition, significantly reduced HR-CO translation (25.9 +/- 2.8% vs. 52.3 +/- 4.2%; P < 0.05). Muscle metaboreflex activation at both workloads decreased HR- LVSP, whereas it had no significant effect on CO-LVSP and the HR- CO translation. HF significantly decreased HR- LVSP, CO-LVSP, and the HR- CO translation in all situations. We conclude that spontaneous baroreflex HR responses do not always cause changes in CO during exercise. Moreover, muscle metaboreflex activation during mild and moderate dynamic exercise reduces this coupling. In addition, in HF the HR- CO translation also significantly decreases during both workloads and decreases even further with muscle metaboreflex activation

Spontaneous baroreflex control of heart rate during exercise and muscle metaboreflex activation in heart failure

In heart failure (HF), there is a reduced baroreflex sensitivity at rest, and during dynamic exercise there is enhanced muscle metaboreflex activation (MRA). However, how the arterial baroreflex modulates HR during exercise is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (SBRS) is attenuated during exercise in HF and that MRA further depresses SBRS. In seven conscious dogs we measured heart rate (HR), cardiac output, and left ventricular systolic pressure at rest and during mild and moderate dynamic exercise, before and during MRA (via imposed reductions of hindlimb blood flow), and before and after induction of HF (by rapid ventricular pacing). SBRS was assessed by the sequences method. In control, SBRS was reduced from rest with a progressive resetting of the baroreflex stimulus-response relationship in proportion to exercise intensity and magnitude of MRA. In HF, SBRS was significantly depressed in all settings; however, the changes with exercise and MRA occurred with a pattern similar to the control state. As in control, the baroreflex stimulus-response relationship showed an intensity- and muscle metaboreflex (MMR)-dependent rightward and upward shift. The results of this study indicate that HF induces an impairment in baroreflex control of HR at rest and during exercise, although the effects of exercise and MRA on SBRS occur with a similar pattern as in control, indicating the persistence of some vagal activity