Orientador: Otto Bismarck Fazzano Gabig / Resumo: O presente estudo apresenta descrição da anatomia do coração de 9 espécies de raias, pertencentes a 3 ordens, como se segue: Rhinobatiformes (Pseudobatos percellens, Pseudobatos horkelii e Zapteryx brevirostris), Rajiformes (Rioraja agassizi, Atlantoraja cyclophora e Gurgesiella dorsalifera) e Myliobatiformes (Dasyatis hypostigma, Rhinoptera bonasus e Mobula thurstoni), todas ocorrendo na plataforma continental e talude do Sudeste e Sul do Brasil. Como objetivos, pretendeu-se verificar a existência de padrão evolutivo nas válvulas cardíacas destes animais. No total foram utilizados 92 animais, onde foram tomadas medidas morfométricas e contagem das válvulas do coração. O número de fileiras de válvulas variou de 2 a 6, com variação interespecífica. Em sua maioria as primeiras válvulas do cone arterioso são maiores e apresentam a extremidade anterior tricúspide. A análise estatística indicou diferenças morfométricas no coração entre as ordens, assim como diferença significativa no número de válvulas entre as espécies, porém algumas medidas não são significativas e portando não adequadas para uso com fins taxonômicos. Para a ordem Myliobatiforme, o número de válvulas condiz com a posição evolutiva, onde os animais apresentaram a maior quantidade de válvulas. / Mestre

Coping strategies and causal attributions have been shown to be related to recovery and adjustment following illness. Certain coping strategies and causal attributions, such as avoidant coping and other blame have been found to be related to higher levels of distress while others, like behavioural self blame and attention coping have been shown to be related to lower distress. There have however, been few longitudinal studies of the process. The study described here examined coping strategies, causal attributions and levels of distress over a period of 1 year in 91 patients following a first myocardial infarction (MI). Coping strategies (measured by the COPE), causal attributions (measured by open ended questions and a check-list) and distress (measured by the HAD a measure of anxiety and depression with minimal somatic symptoms), were measured within 2 weeks of discharge and at 2, 6 and 12 months post MI. The main findings of the study showed that both coping strategies and causal attributions changed over time. Patients were most likely to use attention coping strategies early following the illness onset but more avoidant and religious coping later on. Patients made fewer attributions as time passed and the most commonly reported causal attributions were stress and smoking. Results further revealed that both coping strategies and causal attributions were either concurrently related to and/or predictive of levels of distress. Avoidant coping was related to higher distress at all assessment times. Furthermore, both characterological self blame and other blame were found to be concurrently related to higher distress, with characterological self blame also being predictive of subsequent higher distress. These findings have implications for care and rehabilitation of cardiac patients as they imply that certain causal attributions and coping strategies might be problematic as regards post MI distress. This points towards the importance of examining and if necessary, altering certain causal attributions and coping strategies in order for the patient to gain the best possible recovery.

Primary cardiac neoplasms (PCNs) represent the rarest form of neoplastic growths worldwide with an incidence ranging from 0.001 - 0.3% in autopsy series (Yu et al., 2014) ("Primary Cardiac Neoplasms," 2014). The rarity of these tumors has contributed to the challenges associated with their diagnosis and treatment ("Primary Cardiac Neoplasms," 2014). Primary heart tumors are generally classified as benign or malignant based on whether or not the tumors cells invade their surrounding tissue. Primary benign heart tumors can be further sub-classified as non-complicated or complicated. Non-complicated tumors are those that are stable, occur alone, and do not invade the cardiac conduction system. Conversely, complicated primary benign cardiac neoplasms are those that tend to break off into systemic circulation increasing the risk for embolization, have multicentered origins within the heart and/ or invade the cardiac conduction system which may lead to heart block and sudden death ("Cardiac Tumors: Merck Manual Professional," n.d.). These distinctions have been shown to significantly impact the efficacy of treatment. Primary tumors in general tend to involve either the myocardium, i.e. the heart muscle itself, or the endocardium; i.e. the membrane that lines the heart cavities. In either case, the tumors most often appear in the left atrium (Roberts, 2001). Among primary cardiac neoplasms, myxomas (a type of non-cancerous heart tumor) are the most common accounting for approximately 40-50% of these growths ("Primary Cardiac Neoplasms," 2014). Clinicians tend to rely heavily on imaging procedures for the diagnosis of primary heart tumors because there are no characteristic clinical signs exclusive to primary cardiac neoplasms (Bartoloni & Pucci, 2013). Further, these growths have a tendency to mimic the symptomology of other better known conditions such as heart failure, stroke, and coronary artery disease ("Cardiac Tumors: Merck Manual Professional," n.d.). The mean age of diagnosis for these tumors is approximately 50 years of age but many PCNs have been identified in children (Bartoloni & Pucci, 2013; "Primary Cardiac Neoplasms," 2014). Further, sources disagree on the relative incidence of these neoplasms among men and women. Some report a higher prevalence in women while others hold that the frequencies are equal for both sexes and across all races (Bartoloni & Pucci, 2013; "Primary Cardiac Neoplasms," 2014). The standard of care for the treatment of primary cardiac neoplasms are; as with other neoplastic conditions; radiation therapy, chemotherapy, surgical resection, and; in some instances; cardiac transplantation. However, due to the differences in tumor histology, i.e. the structure and molecular characteristics of tumor cells, many of the current treatment options available to and considered curative in patients with non-complicated benign PCNs do not confer the same survival benefits in patients with complicated benign PCNs nor in patients with malignant PCNs. With treatment, the prognosis associated with primary cardiac neoplasms is heavily dependent upon the type of tumor. Primary benign non-complicated neoplasms tend to have very positive prognoses. Even with incomplete resection, reports have shown no evidence of recurrence in patients with this tumor type (Jr et al., 1987). On the other hand, primary malignant neoplasms of the heart are associated with the poorest prognoses. The longest reported median survival time is only 16.5 - 17 months after diagnosis and surgical excision of the primary tumor (Chahinian, Gutstein, & Fuster, 2000; Ostrowski, Marcinkiewicz, Kooemider, & Jaszewski, 2014; Simpson et al., 2008). In this thesis we examine the reported outcomes of the above four forms of treatment that are regarded as the standard of care for primary cardiac neoplasms. We do this by reviewing the currently available literature characterizing the results of these respective courses of therapy. We then evaluate the efficacy of these treatments relative the definition of effective treatments developed herein. Finally, based on the evidence, we conclude that effective treatments do exist for approximately 38% of people with PCNs. This minority represents the people with primary benign non-complicated cardiac neoplasms. We also regrettably conclude that for the other 62% (37% with benign complicated cardiac neoplasms and 25% with malignant cardiac neoplasms) of people with primary cardiac tumors effective treatments do not exist. For this reason, we propose the further investigation of two promising therapies. These are cardiac autotransplantation and targeted gene therapy. We believe that elucidating the possible advantages of these therapies in the heart will lead to treatments that can be deemed effective in treating complicated primary benign cardiac neoplasms as well as primary malignant cardiac neoplasms.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF DAGONG RAN, for the MASTER OF ARTS degree in PSYCHOLOGY, presented on JULY 5, 2016, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN CHILDREN: TONIC CHARACTERISTICS AND REACTIVITY MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Sarah Kertz This study investigated tonic heart rate variability (HRV) and heart rate variability reactivity in response to stress in children with anxiety and worry symptoms. Twenty-nine children age 8 to 12 from a rural Midwestern region completed the study and were included in the data analyses. Participants completed an artificial auditioning task in which they were asked to sing in front of a video camera. Electrocardiogram were recorded prior, during, and after the task. Frequency and time domain analyses of HRV were conducted. Neither parent-report or child self-report anxiety/worry symptom levels were associated with baseline frequency domain and time domain HRV. All participants showed similar HRV reactivity in response to the stress task. Specifically, high frequency HRV was higher during baseline than during stress task, and low frequency HRV was higher during baseline than both during stress task and recovery. These findings contradicted with previous literature results. More studies are needed to examine the association between anxiety and HRV in children.

This thesis includes one qualitative literature review, three empirical studies and one meta-analysis examining the measurement of physical activity in children. Previous research has highlighted the difficulties inherent in measuring children's habitual activity. This has lead to confusion regarding the relationships between physical activity and health in children. Recently a new type of activity monitor has been developed. Uniaxial (WAM, Computer Science Applications, Shalimar, Florida, USA) and triaxial (Tritrac, Professional Products, a division of Reining International, Madison, WI, USA) accelerometers that record temporal, frequency and intensity information of movement are now commercially available. The aims of this thesis were to evaluate the validity of these and other measures of physical activity in children, to examine the relationship between physical activity and body fat in children and to investigate the effect the mode of activity measurement has on this relationship. The main findings were: a) The Tritrac provided a significantly better estimate of scaled oxygen consumption during typical children's activities than the WAM, heart rate or pedometry; b) Physical activity, measured by the Tritrac or the pedometer, was inversely correlated with body fat and positively correlated with aerobic fitness; c) Heart rate measures of physical activity did not correlate significantly with body fat or aerobic fitness; d) Meta-analytic procedures showed a small to moderate relationship between activity levels and body fat in children; e) The strength of this relationship was heavily dependent on the method used to assess activity levels. Observation methods produced an effect size significantly higher than questionnaire or heart rate methods, though not significantly different to motion counter methods. In conclusion it appears that heart rate methods are inappropriate for the assessment of habitual activity in children. The use of motion counters or observation methods for assessing activity are recommended. Motion counter methods are particularly appropriate for medium to large sample sizes.

This thesis examined the conscious processing hypothesis as a potential explanation for the way in which anxiety affects motor performance. The thesis is written as a series of research papers (studies). The five papers are preceded by a general introduction and followed by a general discussion. The first study replicated and extended previous research in the area of conscious processing. Participants acquired the skill of golf putting explicitly and implicitly across 400 trials. During a high anxiety transfer test, the performance of participants who learned explicitly was less robust than that of participants who learned implicitly, supporting the conscious processing hypothesis. Study 2 tested the conscious processing hypothesis using a performance rather than learning paradigm to control for possible desensitisation effects identified as a possible alternative explanation for the results of study 1. Results supported the conscious processing hypothesis, but an alternative attentional explanation was identified. Study 3 examined the conscious processing hypothesis while controlling for both desensitisation and attentional effects. Kinematic measures were also adopted to examine the golf putting task in vivo. Performance results partially supported the conscious processing hypothesis. Study 4 replicated and extended the design adopted in study 3. Study 4 also examined processing efficiency theory as a plausible alternative to the conscious processing hypothesis. Kinematic and cardiovascular measures were incorporated into the design. Performance scores suggested a processing efficiency interpretation. However, conscious processing effects could not be totally discounted. The fifth study examined the suggestion that the use of process goals by skilled but anxious performers might actively encourage lapses into conscious processing. Increases in state anxiety did not produce performance decrements. A lack of training in the use of goals was identified as an explanation for the absence of performance impairment. Implications for future research and applied practice are derived from the five studies.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:32:12Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-02-10Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T21:03:38Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 roscani_mg_dr_botfm.pdf: 1793815 bytes, checksum: ef58e271a6e22be8d19da25e6d3d13c8 (MD5) / A adaptação cardíaca à insuficiência aórtica resulta em hipertrofia excêntrica seguida de disfunção ventricular e insuficiência cardíaca. A evolução desse processo ainda não é bem compreendida. Avaliar a adaptação cardíaca à insuficiência aórtica aguda experimental por meio de ecocardiografia, identificar os marcadores anatâmicos de transição da hipertrofia excêntrica compensada para a fase descompensada e verificar se existe associação entre marcadores anatâmicos e de disfunção ventricular e fibrose miocárdica. Estudo experimental com 35 ratos Wistar machos, 23 animais submetidos à insuficiência aórtica aguda (grupo IAO) e 12 animais a procedimento simulado (Grupo Controle). Todos os animais foram seguidos com ecocardiogramas seriados com 1, 4, 8 e 16 semanas. No término do protocolo, foi realizada mortometria do tecido cardíaco. A análise estatística foi efetuada por meio do teste t de Student, Mann-Whitney, ANOVA de medidas repetidas, Modelo de Regressão Longitudinal (GEE) e Modelo de Regressão Linear simples e múltipla. Em todos os casos, o nível de significância adotado foi p<O,05. Houve interação entre tempo e insuficiência aórtica para aumentar o diâmetro diastólico do ventrículo esquerdo (DDVE, p<O,001), a área normalizada do átrio esquerdo (AAE(AAD, p==O,0011) e índice de esfericidade (I(L, p<O,001) e diminuir a do ventrículo esquerdo (pp (DDVE, p=O,009) e a porcentagem de encurtamento (%E, p<O,001). Comparativamente à semana 1, o aumento do l(L na semana 4 (0,72±O,10 vs. O,65±O,60; p<O,001) ocorreu anteriormente ao aumento do DDVE (9,OO±1,30 mm vs. 7,60±O,63 mm; p<O,05), observado na semana 8. Também precedeu o aumento da AAE(AAD (1,59±O,35 vs. 1,45±O,20; p<O,05) e a redução da PP(DDVE (O,18±O,04 vs. O,20±O,02; p=O,003), observados na semana 16. Houve interação entre tempo e I(L para reduzir a %E (p<O,001)... / To evaluate the cardiac adaptation to experimental acute aortic regurgitation by echocardiography, to identify the anatomical markers of the transition from compensated eccentric hypertrophy to decompensated stage and to investigate the association between anatomical markers of ventricular dysfunction and myocardial flbrosis. Thirty flve Male Wistar rats underwent surgical procedure for inducing acute aorta regurgitation (AR group, n= 23) or sham operation (SH group, n= 12). Transthoracic echocardiograms were performed at 1, 4, 8 and 16 weeks after procedure. At the end of the protocol, morphometry of the heart tissue was performed. Statistical analyses used t test, Mann-Whitney, repeated measures ANOVA, GEE model (General Estimative Equation, STATA 10.0), linear regression model and multiple linear regression. In ali cases, the levei of significance was p <0.05. There were interactions between time and AR for increasing left ventricle diastolic diameter (LVDD, p<0.0011), normalized left atrium area (LAA, p=0.0011) and sphericity index (SI, p<0.0011), and for decreasing relative wall thickness (RWT, p=0.002) and fractional shortening (F5, p<0.001). Compared to week 1, the increased SI at week 4 (0.72±0.10 vs. 0.65±0.60; p<0.001) preceded the LVDD enlargement (9.00±1.30mm vs. 7.60±0.63mm; p<0.05) and LAA increasing (1.59±0.35 vs. 1.45±0.20; p<0.05) observed at week 8 and RWT decreasing observed at week 16 (O.18±0.04 vs. 0.20±0.02; p=0.003). There was an interaction between time and SI for reducing F5 (p<0.001). LV systolic dysfunction was detected at week 8 and preceded LAA enlargement at week 16. This suggested increased LV diastolic pressure and it was coincident with the decreased RWT indicating LV dilation

The proteome is in constant flux and therefore it is important to understand the contribution of protein dynamics to the function of an organism. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a recognised model organism that is widely used to investigate physiological processes. The focus of this thesis was to develop a method to calculate the rates of synthesis of heart proteins of zebrafish on a proteome-wide scale. The initial stage of the project involved the optimisation of a method to characterise the protein complement of individual zebrafish hearts. It was concluded that for the rapid screening of proteins 1-dimensional gel electrophoresis in conjunction with high resolution liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was the most appropriate experimental approach. In order to determine the rates of protein synthesis, zebrafish were administered with a stable isotope-labelled amino acid ([2H7] L-leucine) via the diet and its incorporation into heart proteins was monitored over an 8 week time course. Using this method it was possible to calculate the synthesis rates of over 600 proteins. The experimental strategy was then applied to define the changes in protein synthesis rates in hearts from zebrafish that were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS). A variety of stressors on zebrafish comprising air emersion, net chasing or net confinement were employed to model CUS. These approaches were validated by a parallel behavioural analysis. The results revealed that glycolytic and gluconeogenic enzymes as well as proteins involved in hypoxia had significantly altered synthesis rates in response to induced stress. This thesis describes for the first time a proteomics approach to determine the rates of synthesis of individual proteins in the zebrafish and its application to investigate the effects of stress conditions on heart proteome dynamics.

abstract: ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this randomized parallel two-arm trial was to examine the effect that an intervention of combining daily almond consumption (2.5 ounces) with a walking program would have on heart rate recovery and resting heart rate when compared to the control group that consumed a placebo (cookie butter) in men and postmenopausal women, aged 20-69, in Phoenix, Arizona. Design: 12 men and women from Phoenix, Arizona completed an 8-week walking study (step goal: 10,000 steps per day). Subjects were healthy yet sedentary, non-smokers, free from gluten or nut allergies, who had controlled blood pressure. At week 5, participants were randomized into one of two groups: ALM (2.5 oz of almonds daily for last 3 weeks of trial) or CON (4 tbsp of cookie butter daily for last 3 weeks of trial). Body weight, BMI, and percent body fat were measured using a stadiometer and Tanita at the screening visit. Resting heart rate, heart rate recovery, and anthropometric measurements were taken at weeks 0, 5, and 8. Results: 8 weeks of walking 10,000 steps per day, with or without 3 weeks of almond consumption did not significantly improve heart rate recovery (p=0.818) or resting heart rate (0.968). Conclusions: Almond consumption in combination with a walking intervention does not significantly improve heart rate recovery or resting heart rate. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Nutrition 2016

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:23:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2010-02-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T18:12:12Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 souza_dsb_me_botfm.pdf: 638871 bytes, checksum: 9fa2900e6fc35bf88e820c9d2e7ffb22 (MD5) / O objetivo geral deste estudo foi avaliar a presença, a sintomatologia predominante e as fases do estresse, identificar estratégias de enfrentamento de problemas utilizadas por mães de crianças cardiopatas submetidas a cirurgia cardíaca, e os objetivos específicos associar as variáveis tais como estratégia de enfrentamento e cardiopatia, fase de estresse e cardiopatia, fase de estresse e faixa etária da mãe, estratégia de enfrentamento e idade da mãe, fase de estresse e estratégia de enfrentamento, classe sócio-econômica e estratégia de enfrentamento. A amostra da pesquisa constituiu-se de 60 mães de crianças cardiopatas. Foram incluídas no estudo somente as mães biológicas, as quais vivenciavam a experiência da primeira cirurgia cardíaca do filho logo após a revelação do diagnóstico. Foi um estudo epidemiológico de prevalência do tipo transversal. Os resultados indicaram que a maioria das mães apresentou estresse na fase de resistênci , fase caracterizada por demasiado estresse e vulnerabilidade a doenças, com predominância de sintomas psicológicos, a estratégia de enfrentamento prioritária foi a busca de práticas religiosas. Para a análise estatística foi utilizado o teste Qui-quadrado, que mostrou não haver associação entre as variáveis tipo de cardiopatia com as estratégias de enfrentamento P= 0,840, cardiopatia com a fase de estresse P= 0,675, fase de estresse com estratégia de enfrentamento P= 0,375, fase de estresse com faixa etária, estratégia de enfrentamento com faixa etária e classe social com estratégia de enfrentamento P= 0,444, pois os valores de P foram > 0,05. Com base nos resultados obtidos concluiu-se que é necessário uma intervenção profissional com o objetivo de acolher, orientar e disponibilizar recursos de auxílio as mães desde o diagnóstico à alta hospitalar da criança para favorecer a um enfrentamento e adaptação... / Study general objectives: to assess stress and coping in mothers of children with congenital heart disease who had undergone surgery; and specifics objectives to associate coping style, stress, mothers age, heart disease and social class. Methods: Sixty mothers whose children had undergone surgery for congenital heart disease filled the Lipp Stress Symptoms Inventory for Adults, and the Ways of Coping Scale. Results: most mothers were in the resistance stage of stress. Psychological symptoms of stress were predominant and the most used coping strategy was religion. Chi-square test showed no association (p≤0.05) between heart disease and coping style (p = 0,840), heart disease and stress stage (p = 0,675), stress stage and coping (p = 0,375), stress and age, coping and age and social class and age and social class and coping (P = 0,444). The presence of and age stress in the resistance stage in most participants indicates the need for professional intervention from diagnosis until the discharge after surgery, to favor positive coping strategies and a better quality of life for mother and child.