Aerobic test protocol at weeks 1and 8 of the study.

<p>Aerobic test protocol at weeks 1and 8 of the study.</p

Heart rate variability measures.

<p>A. Poincare plots for sample CTRL and LT animals (comparison of ST group to CTRL was not significant, not shown). B. HRV parameters for the 3 groups relative to their normalized value at week 1 in %.</p

Exercise protocol for the short term (ST) and long term (LT) trained groups.

<p>(Note the increased duration and intensity of the exercise in the trained groups).</p

Time course of spectral properties of VF in a control and exercised sample rats.

<p>Ten consecutive 1-second long pseudo-ECG episodes of VF (from early at top to late at bottom) with their corresponding power spectra for sample animals from the CTRL (A), ST (B) and LT (C) groups, respectively. Numbers on power spectra traces indicate values of significant peaks in Hz.</p

Heart Rate Variability (HRV) measurements.

<p>RMSSD, root mean square of successive differences; SD1, short-term HRV; SD2, long-term HRV; LF, low-frequency power; HF, high-frequency power; CTRL, control group; ST, short-term trained group; LT, long-term trained group.</p>*<p>p<0.05.</p

Induction of VF and exercise intensity.

<p>A. Current intensity and S₂ interval for VF induction in individual experiments for the 3 groups. B. Threshold current for VF induction in the studied groups (p<0.05 for ST compared to LT and CTRL, p<0.0001 for LT compared to CTRL). C. The relationship between the exercise intensity (the different groups) and the distribution of stimulus coupling interval S₂ that induces VF in the studied group (ST and LT compared to CTRL).</p

The effect of exercise on the in vivo (aerobic exercise capacity) and in vitro (cardiac output, systolic and diastolic function) measurements.

<p>CTRL, control group; ST, short term trained group; LT, long term trained group.</p

Welch power spectra.

<p>A. Welch averaged 10 consecutive power spectra of single animals from the CTRL (left), ST (middle) and LT (right) groups. B. Averaged power spectra of 1-second long pseudo-ECG segments for 93 VF events lasting more than 2 seconds in the CTRL (red) group and for 29 VF events lasting more than 2 seconds in the ST (blue) group (This analysis was not performed for the LT group because only 5 VF events in 4/7 animals were detected in that group).</p

Probability and duration of VT/VF episodes.

<p>A. Probability for VT and VF induction as percentage number of events per 1000 stimuli. B. Duration of contiguous episodes of VF in the 3 groups (p<0.05 for ST to CTRL and p<0.01 for LT to CTRL).</p

Basket mapping for the SVC position.

<p>A) Views of the location of the basket in the RA (top row), snapshots of the phase maps in the endocardium-blood interface (middle row) and of the phase map computed from the basket’s recordings (bottom row) at t = 10000 ms. PSs of the whole simulation were depicted in white over the phase maps (middle and bottom row). The black curves on the basket’s phase map correspond to the SVC, IVC and TVR orifices. CT rotor (white arrow): rotor on the crista terminalis; RWE (white dashed arrow): rotor wave extension; IMPSs (black arrows): imaginary phase singularities; FIPSs (grey arrow): false interpolation phase singularities. B) Selection of points (P1, P2 and P3) belonging to the CT rotor meandering area (top row); snapshots of the basket phase map when the CT rotor was moving through the points P1-P3 (second to bottom row). Green points denote the electrodes surrounding the CT rotor and red points denote the electrodes surrounding the IMPSs. C) EGMs at electrodes detecting the CT rotor (C3, B2, B3), IMPSs (F4, F5, G4), RWE (C7, B8, B7) and FIPS (C8, C7, B8). Blue circles on the plot of the EGMs indicate the activation time closest to t = 10000 ms. Green, red and blue arrows over the EGMs enhance the sequential activation of the electrodes detecting the CT rotor, IMPSs and RWE, respectively. However, the grey arrow over the EGMs regarding the FIPS shows the non-sequential activation of the electrodes. SVC and IVC: superior and inferior vena cava; RAA: right atrial appendage; TV: tricuspid valve; CS: coronary sinus; CT rotor: rotor on the crista terminalis; RWE: rotor wave extension. IMPS: Imaginary phase singularity; FIPS: false interpolation phase singularity.</p