Force dived animals undergo cardiovascular changes characterized by bradycardia, increased total peripheral resistance, and changes in blood flow distribution. Since these changes occur in decerebrated animals, the dive response must be a brainstem reflex. However, in voluntary dives, animals may show anticipatory bradycardia and may also adjust their cardiovascular responses according to anticipated dive duration, indicating suprabulbar influences upon dive responses. Studies of heart rate using telemetry have shown that there can be substantial differences in the dive response of voluntarily and force dived animals. Furthermore, some animals show a "fear bradycardia" when trapped in a stressful situation, leading some researchers to suggest that bradycardia during forced submersion is an artifact of the stress of the situation. Muskrats (Ondatra zibethica) were observed freely diving for food in an indoor tank using a video camera and VCR unit. EKG was telemetered from the animals and recorded on the audio channel of the VCR tape. Heart rate responses to voluntary dives were analyzed and compared with those from escape and forced dives. Heart rate responses were also recorded from decorticate and sham operated muskrats to elucidate the role that the cerebral cortex plays in the dive response. In all types of dives, muskrats exhibited a rapid and large bradycardia upon submergence (heart rate declined by greater than 55% of the predive heart rate). Obviously diving bradycardia in the muskrat was not due to fear or stress, but occurred as a response to submersion per se. There was no evidence of post-dive tachycardia or anticipatory immersion bradycardia. Disturbing the animal in a non-diving situation resulted in only a 13% decrease in heart rate. In intact animals voluntary, escape, and forced submergence resulted in progressively greater decreases in heart rate. Heart rate fell by 56% in voluntary dives, 65% in escape dives, and 73% in forced dives. Intensification of the bradycardia to a lower heart rate than that seen in voluntary dives was mediated by the cerebral cortex, as heart rate in decorticate muskrats in escape and forced dives did not fall below that seen in voluntary dives. This indicates that the final adjustment of dive heart rate is dependent upon an intact cerebral cortex. However, in decorticate muskrats there appeared to be a recovery of cortical function, as intensification of bradycardia in forced dives was dependent upon the time that had elapsed after surgery. This study shows that there is a cortical influence upon the cardiovascular system during diving. It also indicates that in experiments with unanesthetized animals, the degree of stress of the situation must be taken into account, as this may affect physiological responses. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

Blood flow distribution during forced and voluntary diving in ducks, and the energetic cost of diving was investigated. It has been suggested that in order for the leg muscles to generate enough power for ducks to dive, blood flow to those tissues must be maintained. A technique to determine blood flow distribution which could be used during voluntary diving was first developed and tested during forced laboratory dives of ducks. This technique was then used to determine the blood flow distribution during voluntary diving. Regional blood flow distribution was visualized by utilizing a radioactive tracer technique (macro aggregated albumin labelled with ⁹⁹ⅿ technetium). The tracer when injected into an animal is trapped and held by capillaries. During forced dives in dabbling (Anas platyrhynchos) and diving (Aythya affinis) ducks the blood flow distribution was found to be restricted to the thoracic and head areas. Whereas during a voluntary dive in A. affinis blood flow distribution was shown to be preferentially directed towards three tissue areas, the heart, brain, and active leg muscles. The work required to dive was determined from the measurement of subsurface drag forces and buoyancy in A. affinis. Subsurface drag increased as a nonlinear function of swimming velocity. At a velocity of 1 m•s⁻¹, the drag force was approximately 1.067 N. The average measured buoyant force of 11 ducks was 0.953 N. The calculated mechanical work done by ducks during a 14.4 s unrestrained dive was 9.34 J. The power output during voluntary was estimated to be 0.751 W (0.0374 ml 0₂•s⁻¹). During diving buoyancy is clearly the dominant force (8.8 J) against which ducks have to work while drag (0.54 J) adds little (~6%) to the energetic cost of diving. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

When dabbling ducks are involuntarily submerged, arterial vasoconstriction produces a large increase in the peripheral resistance to blood flow which is balanced by a decrease in output of the heart, and arterial blood pressure is maintained. Arterial baroreceptors sense systemic blood pressure, and provide the afferent information to the baroreflex for pressure regulation. The effector limbs of the baroreflex are the same as those involved in the diving responses, and the baroreceptors are likely to be important in the integration of the cardiovascular responses to diving. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the arterial baroreceptors in maintaining blood pressure during diving, and in the initiation and maintenance of the diving responses. Baroreceptor function was studied by diving ducks at various times after barodenervation, and by electrically stimulating the central end of one baroreceptor nerve in baroreceptor-denervated animals to simulate a controlled baroreceptor input before and during submersion. Intact baroreceptor innervation was not necessary for the development of peripheral vasoconstriction, but loss of the baroreceptors modified the cardiac response to submersion by impairing the vagally mediated bradycardia. There was no effect of baroreceptor nerve stimulation on peripheral resistance during diving, and the baroreflex operated via the heart rate in modulating blood pressure early in the dive. Later in the dive, stimulation was ineffective in altering either heart rate or blood pressue. Strong chemoreceptor drive results from decreased blood oxygen and increased carbon dioxide levels in the dive, and the results of experiments to determine the mechanism of baroreflex attenuation showed that an interaction between chemoreceptor and baroreceptor inputs may be at least partly responsible for reducing baroreflex effectiveness. The main conclusion from this work is that the arterial baroreceptors contribute to the diving responses through modulation of heart rate, to help balance the fall in cardiac output against the baroreceptor-independent peripheral vasoconstriction in the first minute of forced dives. / Science, Faculty of / Zoology, Department of / Graduate

When scuba diving under a physical overhead such as a cave, a mine, a shipwreck, or under a virtual overhead due to decompression requirements, it makes it impossible to safely access the surface in the event of an emergency. Therefore, diving with overhead is often described as technical diving. In this research, I address how technical divers in Outaouais, Quebec, practice this risky sport with unforgiving consequences. Based on fieldwork in Outaouais, I focus on divers, including myself, who perform trimix dives deeper than 200 feet. I argue that the process of becoming a deep diver is a lifelong journey where a diver learns to adapt to a milieu hostile to human life. The basic skills are acquired during classes to ensure that a novice diver will survive in this limit-environment. As divers bend the rules and take more risks to go deeper for longer lengths of time, they will go through a series of limit-experiences and near misses that are essential to their development and found to be regenerative. In turn, those limit-experiences and near-miss events shared with teammates create mutual trust. It is this trust that becomes the foundation of the team and allows the team to improve upon existing techniques and increase the depth and difficulty of their dives.

Title: The influence of spinning on a time extension in the static apnea during free diving Objectives: The objective of this work was to find out whether even a short and intensive training can have an affect on the increase of a vital lung capacity, on a time extension in the static apnea, and on a performance improvement during free diving. Methods: The search of available literature and its recherche. Measurement methods determination: digital stopwatch for the apnea, spirometer for the vital lung capacity, and a Sport-tester and a Borg scale for the spinning program. Data collection. Results: The statistical analysis of the values of a vital lung capacity and a static apnea before and after sports training Keywords: diving, vital lung capacity, spinning, apnea, free diving

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

Thesis name: Scuba diving equipment, systems of equipment organization and their comparison Thesis aim: To draw out historical information, to describe diving equipment and its function. To process individual systems of diving equipment's orders and to describe pro-and- cons of each of those systems. Method: Studying of accessible sources. Content analysis of technical literature and other sources. Retrieval of equipment's technical parametres. Analysis and processing of information. Results: The outcome is evaluation of different systems of diving equipment's orders. Comparison and recommendation of suitability for different kinds of scuba diving with equipment. Keywords: Diving equipment, systems of diving equipment's orders, buoyancy compensator, configuration, scuba diving with equipment

In this paper, I will reflect on the challenges I faced from the first idea to the final export of 40 Meters Down, and how I overcame these.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

There is strong evidence that the skeletal muscles of pinnipeds are adapted for an aerobic, lipid-based metabolism under the hypoxic conditions associated with breath-hold diving. However, regional variations in mitochondrial density are unknown, and the few fiber typing studies performed on pinniped skeletal muscles are not consistent with an aerobic physiological profile. Thus, the objectives of this study were to (1) reexamine the fiber type distribution throughout the primary locomotory muscles of the harbor seal, and (2) to better understand the density and distribution of mitochondria in the locomotory muscles. Multiple samples from transverse sections of the epaxial muscles and a single sample of the pectoralis muscle of wild harbor seals were analyzed using immunohistochemical fiber typing and electron microscopy. Fiber typing results indicated that harbor seal epaxial muscles are composed of 47.4% type I (slow twitch, oxidative) fibers and 52.8%, IIa (fast twitch, oxidative) fibers. No fast twitch, glycolytic (type IIb) fibers were detected in the epaxial muscles or the pectoralis muscle. Mean volume density of mitochondria [Vv(mt,f)] was 5.6%, which is elevated over what would be predicted for a terrestrial mammal of similar mass. The elevated Vv(mt,f) had a high proportion of intermyofibrillar mitochondria, a trait not normally found in the muscles of terrestrial mammals with elevated Vv(mt,f). These results provide further evidence that the elevated mitochondrial volume density in pinniped muscle decreases the oxygen diffusion distance between myoglobin and mitochondria to facilitate aerobic respiration in working muscles. In addition, analyses of heterogeneity revealed that the regions of the epaxial muscles that were located deep within the muscle showed a significantly higher Vv(mt,f) relative to those regions that were superficially-located. In contrast, there was no significant heterogeneity of fiber type detected in either plane of the epaxial muscles. Thus, there was a fine-scale pattern of spatial heterogeneity of Vv(mt,f) within the epaxial muscles that does not manifest in fiber type distribution, indicating that the fibers have similar oxidative capacities.