Average Respiration Rate Research Articles

Sustainable package design for efficient pomegranate cold chain: Enhancing storage space, sea freight efficiency, material sustainability, and energy conservation

This study evaluated the performance of a novel fabricated dual layer ventilated packaging (carton) design for pomegranate fruit. The study argues that higher process throughput, storage space usage (higher cargo density) and packaging material usage can be achieved through systematic design of packaging. The mechanical strength, fruit cooling speeds, and quality preservation characteristics of the new and existing carton designs were evaluated in a controlled laboratory environment. The new carton design achieved 22 % above minimum recommended industry compression strength, confirming its stacking safety during palletization. Fruit packed inside both carton designs attained an average respiration rate of 5.66 ± 1.23 mL CO2 kg−1 h−1 during cold storage. Fruit decay incidence (average 5.5 %), colour changes and sensory attributes were also similar in both carton designs after 12 weeks cold storage and 2 weeks ambient storage period. Finally, fresh pomegranate fruit (cv. Wonderful) were packed in the new and commercial package designs, palletized, containerized and exported from South Africa to Germany. The novel dual layer design had a higher freight density (1720 kg more fruit per reefer) compared to the commercial counterpart. It also improved the precooling process throughput (13 % faster), reduced carton material usage (40 %), and reduced energy usage (13 %). These advantages of the new dual layer ventilated packaging can be implemented with considerable sustainability benefits.

Observation of infant body weight and physiological conditions of Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) in ex situ conservation

The purpose of this study was to describe the infant body weight and physiological parameters of a Siamang (Symphalangus syndactylus) treated at an ex situ conservation station. This study used an infant Siamang, which was estimated to be ± 3 months old. Body weight parameters were determined based on weekly weight gain for one month. The physiological parameters measured were the heart rate, pulse rate, respiration rate, and rectal temperature. Physiological parameters were measured in the morning and evening for 14 d. The results showed that the average heart rate of infant in the morning was 202±11.5 BPM and in the afternoon was 184±14.9 BPM, the average pulse rate in the morning was 189±8.5 BPM and the afternoon was 174±7.8 BPM, the average respiration rate in the morning was 58±6.8 breaths per minutes and in the afternoon was 60±6.3 breaths per minutes, and the average rectal temperature in the morning was 37.1°C and 37.6°C in the afternoon. The body weight and physiology of the infant were good.

296 Short-Term Diurnal Heat Stress Modulation of Growing Gilt and Barrow Growth and Feed Intake

Abstract During summer months, the increase in temperature and humidity can lead to heat stress conditions that have negative impacts on the growth performance of pigs. The objective of this study was to characterize the effects of diurnal heat stress (dHS) on gilt and barrow growth, day-time and night-time feed intake. Twelve gilts and 12 barrows (46.5 ± 2.47 kg BW) were individually housed in metabolism crates over two experimental periods. For Period 1, all pigs were housed in thermoneutral (TN) conditions (20-21°C and 40-60% humidity). Following the TN period, period 2 consisted of four days of dHS (6 h at 32°C, 18 h at 27°C, 40-60% humidity). The conditions in the dHS period were designed to replicate summer, industry-applicable cyclical heat stress conditions. In each period lasting 4 days, pig BW and feed disappearance were recorded and ADG, ADFI and G:F calculated. Additionally, within each day, 0700 to 1700 h (day-time) and 1700 to 0700 h (night-time) feed intake was recorded. Changes in pig body temperatures (BT) and respiration rates (RR) were measured daily at 0800, 1200 and 1800 h. Pig was considered the experimental unit, and all data were analyzed for the fixed effects of period (TN vs. HS), sex, and period-by-sex interaction. There were no period-by-sex interactions observed for any analyzed variable (P > 0.05). As expected, dHS markedly increased pig 3-day average BT and RR compared with their TN values (P < 0.05). Compared with TN, dHS BT measurements at noon, PM, and overall were on average 1.0°C greater (P < 0.0001). The RR was also increased by 200 to 300% for AM, noon, PM, and overall, for the dHS period as compared with TN (P < 0.001). Within the dHS period, BT was highest at the noon and PM recordings, and RR was highest at the noon recording (P < 0.0001). Pigs tended to have reduced ADFI during dHS compared with TN period (1.54 vs 1.70 kg/d, P = 0.051). During the TN period, pigs consumed 61% (1.03 kg) of daily total feed consumption during day-time and 39% (0.67 kg) in the PM period (P < 0.0001). The opposite effect was found during dHS, in which pigs consumed 33.3% (0.52 kg) of their total daily feed during the peak heat conditions (day-time) and 66.7% (1.02 kg) consumed in the cooler night-time period (P < 0.0001). Compared with barrows, gilts tended to have greater overall ADFI (1.61 vs. 1.48 kg/d; P = 0.079). Within both the TN and dHS period, gilts had a lower average noon BT (P < 0.05), and lower morning RR (P < 0.05). Altogether, three days of dHS increased pig RR and BT, and decreased ADFI. However, day- and night-time feed intake patterns changed compared with the TN period. Diurnal heat stress has similar impacts to both gilts vs. barrows.

Effectiveness of Music Therapy on Pre procedure selected physiological parameters among patients undergoing Angiography at selected hospitals of city

Background of the study: Music therapy is the use of music to improve health or functional outcomes. Music therapy is a creative arts therapy, consisting of a process in which a music therapist uses music and all of its facets physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual to help clients improve their physical and mental health. Aim: Aim of the studyto assess the effectiveness of music therapy on selected physiological parameters among the patients undergoing angiography at selected hospitals of city. Methods: The research approach adopted in this study is Evaluative Research Approach. Research design adopted for the present study was Quasi experimental Non Randomize Control group design. Results: Average change in pulse rate in experimental group was 14.6 which was 0.1 in post-test. T-value for this test was 9.9 with 58 degrees of freedom. Corresponding p-value was small (less than 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the music therapy is significantly effective in improving the pulse rate among patients undergoing angiography. Average respiration rate in experimental group was 6.5 which was -0.4 in post-test. T-value for this test was 9.6 with 58 degrees of freedom. Corresponding p-value was small (less than 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the music therapy is significantly effective in improving the respiration rate among patients undergoing angiography. Conclusion: music is a safe and easily administered intervention that can be used for selected physiological parameters reduction among patients undergoing angiography. Further research is needed to better evaluate the clinical implications associated with the elevated physiological parameters effects of music interventions during Angiography.

Effectiveness of Music Therapy on Pre procedure selected physiological parameters among patients undergoing Angiography at selected hospitals of city

Background of the study: Music therapy is the use of music to improve health or functional outcomes. Music therapy is a creative arts therapy, consisting of a process in which a music therapist uses music and all of its facets physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual to help clients improve their physical and mental health. Aim: Aim of the studyto assess the effectiveness of music therapy on selected physiological parameters among the patients undergoing angiography at selected hospitals of city. Methods: The research approach adopted in this study is Evaluative Research Approach. Research design adopted for the present study was Quasi experimental Non Randomize Control group design. Results: Average change in pulse rate in experimental group was 14.6 which was 0.1 in post-test. T-value for this test was 9.9 with 58 degrees of freedom. Corresponding p-value was small (less than 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the music therapy is significantly effective in improving the pulse rate among patients undergoing angiography. Average respiration rate in experimental group was 6.5 which was -0.4 in post-test. T-value for this test was 9.6 with 58 degrees of freedom. Corresponding p-value was small (less than 0.05), the null hypothesis is rejected. It is evident that the music therapy is significantly effective in improving the respiration rate among patients undergoing angiography. Conclusion: music is a safe and easily administered intervention that can be used for selected physiological parameters reduction among patients undergoing angiography. Further research is needed to better evaluate the clinical implications associated with the elevated physiological parameters effects of music interventions during Angiography.

Effects of chromium propionate supplementation on lactation performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation patterns, and antioxidant status in Holstein cows under heat stress

Chromium propionate (CrP) supplementation has the potential effects on mitigating metabolic stress on dairy cows, however, the effect of increased CrP supply on alleviating heat stress of mid-lactation cows is rarely evaluated. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of CrP supplementation on lactation performance, nutrient digestibility, rumen fermentation patterns, and antioxidant status in dairy cows under heat stress. Sixty-four Holstein dairy cows in mid-lactation with similar parity (2.1 ± 0.2), current milk production (40 ± 1.4 kg/d), and days in milk (143 ± 7.8 d) were randomly allocated to one of four treatments with a completely randomized design. After a 7-day adaptation period, cows were fed CrP at doses of 0, 4, 8, and 12 mg/d of Cr per head for 49 d. The average temperature humidity index (THI) was 77 during the experimental period. The average respiration rate and rectal temperature decreased quadratically (P < 0.01) with increasing CrP supplementation. Dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield, and milk lactose yield increased quadratically (P < 0.05) with increasing CrP supplementation, whereas 4% fat-corrected milk was not affected by treatments, and feed efficiency tended to decrease quadratically (P = 0.07). The percentage of milk protein and lactose increased linearly (P = 0.05) with increasing CrP supplementation, whereas milk urea-N concentration and somatic cell count decreased quadratically (P < 0.01). Although total-tract apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and ether extract was not affected by CrP supplementation, neutral detergent fiber digestibility increased quadratically (P = 0.01) with increasing CrP supplementation. The concentrations of milk Cr and urinary Cr were not affected by CrP supplementation. Ruminal pH, the concentration of total VFA and ammonia-N, and the molar proportion of propionate and butyrate were not affected by treatments, whereas the molar proportion of acetate increased quadratically (P < 0.01) with increasing CrP supplementation. The blood urea-N concentration decreased quadratically (P < 0.01) and the concentration of glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase increased quadratically (P < 0.01) with increasing CrP supplementation, while the ratio of glucose to insulin and the concentration of glucose and malonaldehyde did not differ among treatments. In conclusion, CrP supplementation could increase milk yield in mid-lactation cows under heat stress by increasing DMI, reducing respiration rate and rectal temperature, and improving antioxidant status. The recommended dose of CrP is 4–8 mg/d of Cr per cow in hot weather.

Tripod Position and Pursed Lip Breathing on Respiration Rate in COPD Patients

Many people with COPD develop emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Both conditions cause obstruction of airflow in the respiratory system and cause an increase in the frequency of external respiration. One of the non-pharmacological management is tripod position and pursed lip breathing. This study aimed to determine the effect of giving a tripod position and pursed lip breathing on respiration rate in COPD patients. The design of this study used a one group pretest-post test design. The population in this study were all COPD patients at Bangil Hospital, Pasuruan in June 2021. The sampling technique of this study was consecutive sampling, the sample was obtained by 25 respondents. The instrument used observation and SOP. The results showed that the average respiration rate before giving the combination of tripod position and pursed lip breathing was 28.8x/minute, and the average value of respiration rate after giving the tripod position and pursed lip breathing was 23.2x/minute. Wilcoxon test results value = 0.000 on respiration rate before and after the combination of tripod position and pursed lip breathing, which means that tripod position and pursed lip breathing are proven to be effective on respiration rate in COPD patients. Tripod position and pursed lip breathing will loosen the chest cavity, provide positive pressure on the lungs so that air can go in and out more smoothly and reduce shortness of breath

Pi-ViMo: Physiology-inspired Robust Vital Sign Monitoring using mmWave Radars

Continuous monitoring of human vital signs using non-contact mmWave radars is attractive due to their ability to penetrate garments and operate under different lighting conditions. Unfortunately, most prior research requires subjects to stay at a fixed distance from radar sensors and to remain still during monitoring. These restrictions limit the applications of radar vital sign monitoring in real life scenarios. In this article, we address these limitations and present Pi-ViMo, a non-contact P hysiology- i nspired Robust Vi tal Sign Mo nitoring system, using mmWave radars. We first derive a multi-scattering point model for the human body, and introduce a coherent combining of multiple scatterings to enhance the quality of estimated chest-wall movements. It enables vital sign estimations of subjects at any location in a radar’s field of view (FoV). We then propose a template matching method to extract human vital signs by adopting physical models of respiration and cardiac activities. The proposed method is capable to separate respiration and heartbeat in the presence of micro-level random body movements (RBM) when a subject is at any location within the field of view of a radar. Experiments in a radar testbed show average respiration rate errors of 6% and heart rate errors of 11.9% for the stationary subjects, and average errors of 13.5% for respiration rate and 13.6% for heart rate for subjects under different RBMs.

Respiration rate scales inversely with sinking speed of settling marine aggregates.

Sinking marine aggregates have been studied for a long time to understand their role in carbon sequestration. Traditionally, sinking speed and respiration rates have been treated as independent variables, but two recent papers suggest that there is a connection albeit in contrasting directions. Here we collected recently formed (<2 days old) aggregates from sediment traps mounted underneath mesocosms during two different experiments. The mesocosms were moored off Gran Canaria, Spain (~ 27.9 N; 15.4 E) in a coastal, sub-tropical and oligotrophic ecosystem. We determined the respiration rates of organisms (mainly heterotrophic prokaryotes) attached to aggregates sinking at different velocities. The average respiration rate of fast sinking aggregates (>100 m d-1) was 0.12 d-1 ± 0.08 d-1 (SD). Slower sinking aggregates (<50 m d-1) had on average higher (p <0.001) and more variable respiration rates (average 0.31 d-1 ± 0.16 d-1, SD). There was evidence that slower sinking aggregates had higher porosity than fast sinking aggregates, and we hypothesize that higher porosity increase the settlement area for bacteria and the respiration rate. These findings provide insights into the efficiency of the biological carbon pump and help resolve the apparent discrepancy in the recent studies of the correlation between respiration and sinking speed.

Effect of sprinkler with fan on growth, physiology and behaviour of Murrahbuffalo calves

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of sprinkler with ceiling fans on the growth performance, physiological responses and behaviour of Murrah buffalo calves. For this study, a total of twelve Murrah buffalo female calves were selected based on the age and body weight and allocated to two treatments (n=6 each). In the first treatment (T1), the calves were provided with sprinkler with fan. While, in second treatment called control (T0), the calves were not provided with any cooling system. The average daily gain was greater in T1 than T0 calves on week (w) 3 (P=0.01), w 4 (P=0.03), w 5 (P=0.04), w 6 (P=0.02), w7 (P=0.01) and w 8 (P=0.05). While it was similar between the calves of two groups on the w 1 (P= 0.32), w 2 (P=0.31), w 9(P=0.16), w 10 (P=0.19), w 11 (P=0.12), w 12 (P=0.1).The overall eye temperature was significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher in control group(37.42±0.04 ºC) than treatment group (36.42±0.13 ºC) calves. The overall muzzle (P=0.01) and skin temperature (P=0.001) was also significantly higher in control calves as compared to treatment calves. The average respiration rate was lower (P&lt;0.05) in T1(22.83±0.18 breaths/min) than in T0 (30.83±0.12 breaths/min)calves. Similarly, overall pulse rate was also lower (P&lt;0.05) in T1(38.36±0.11 No./min) as compared to T0 (60.19±0.13 No./min)calves. The average time spent on eating, ruminating and resting was significantly greater in T1 than in T0 calves. In conclusion, the provision of sprinkler with fan reduces physiological response along with body temperatures. Consequently, it improved the growth performance and helped in normal behavioural expression of the buffalo calves.

Thermal imaging and physiological responses of crossbred goats under different housing system during hot humid season

In order to observe the effect of hot humid (July-August) season on physiological responses and skin surface temperature, eighteen adult female crossbred goats were selected divided equally into three groups i.e. Group I (control), Group II(modified shed) and Group III (open environment) based on their body weight. These animals were fed as per the standard feeding schedule followed at NDRI, Karnal. The average respiration rate of group I, II and III was 76.11±1.03, 67.22±0.06 and 70.49±0.61per minute respectively during morning hours. The RR increased significantly during afternoon over morning values in all the groups due to increase of THI. The rectal temperature of goats during morning hours was 38.73±0.02, 38.57±0.03 and38.68±0.03°C in group I, II and III respectively and no significant change in RT was observed during the afternoon. The overall lowest and highest skin temperature were recorded at the lower part of legs and ears respectively in group I and II, whereas ingroup III the highest skin temperatures was found to be at dorsal and lowest at ventral region of the body. The information generated may serve as normal reference values for crossbred goats under different housing conditions and may be useful for predicting the animal welfare and prognosis of diseases.

How should the respiration rate be counted in cattle?

Respiration rate (RR) is a proficient indicator to measure the health status of cattle. The common method of measurement is to count the number of respiratory cycles each minute based on flank movements. However, there is no consistent method of execution. In previous studies, various methods have been described, including counting flank movements for 15 s, 30 s or 60 s as well as stopping the time for 5 or 10 breaths. We assume that the accuracy of the aforementioned methods differs. Therefore, we compared their precision with an RR sensor, which was used as the reference method in this study. Five scientists from the fields of agricultural science and veterinary medicine quantified the flank movement according to each of the five methods mentioned above. The results showed that with an average RR of 30 breaths per minute (bpm), all methods showed a high correlation to the values of the RR sensor. However, counting breaths for 60 s had the highest level of conformity with the RR sensor (Lin`s concordance correlation coefficient: 0.96) regardless of the level of RR. With rising RR, the inaccuracy increased significantly for the other four investigated methods, especially when counting 5 and 10 breaths. Therefore, we would recommend that counting for 60 s should be used as the standard method for future studies due to its high precision regardless of the level of RR.

Influence of analysis focus and playing time on internal average and peak physical demands of professional male basketball players during competition. [Influencia del tiempo de juego en las demandas de carga interna pico y promedio en jugadores de baloncesto.

The main aim of this study was identifying the internal demands during competition including the impact of analysis method (i.e., average vs. peak demands). A secondary aim was to analyze the effects of playing time on the internal demands (average and peak). Methods: Twenty-two professional basketball players were mo- nitored during 11 games. The following internal workload variables were recorded as averages (i.e., value per minute considering the entire game) and peak values (i.e., greatest 1-minute window): 1) average Heart Rate (HR), peak HR, average Respiration Rate (RR), peak RR, average Ventilation (VE), peak VE, average VO2 and peak VO2. Results: Significantly higher peak values (very large effect size) for all internal variables were evident when compared to their average demand. Concerning playing time comparison, significantly greater average values were reached for large playing time group (24.54 ± 3.23 min) for all variables compared to small playing time group (14.13 ± 3.78 min). However, non-significant differences were apparent between large playing time and small playing time group at their internal PD. Conclusions: Understanding internal load demands using averages values drastically underestimates the internal peak values of games. Thus, 14 minutes of total playing time (1.5 quarters; ~37% of a game) is enough to expose to the players to internal peak demands.

Towards Estimation of Tidal Volume and Respiratory Timings via Wearable-Patch-Based Impedance Pneumography in Ambulatory Settings.

Evaluating convenient, wearable multi-frequency impedance pneumography (IP)-based respiratory monitoring in ambulatory persons with novel electrode positioning. A wearable multi-frequency IP system was utilized to estimate tidal volume (TV) and respiratory timings in 14 healthy subjects. A 5.1 cm × 5.1 cm tetrapolar electrode array, affixed to the sternum, and a conventional thoracic electrode configuration were employed to measure the respective IP signals, patch and thoracic IP. Data collected during static postures-sitting and supine-and activities-walking and stair-stepping-were evaluated against a simultaneously-obtained spirometer (SP) volume signal. Across all measurements, estimated TV obtained from the patch and thoracic IP maintained a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.93 ± 0.05 and 0.95 ± 0.05 to the ground truth TV, respectively, with an associated root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.177 L and 0.129 L, respectively. Average respiration rates (RRs) were extracted from 30-second segments with mean-absolute-percentage errors (MAPEs) of 0.93% and 0.74% for patch and thoracic IP, respectively. Likewise, average inspiratory and expiratory timings were identified with MAPEs less than 6% and 4.5% for patch and thoracic IP, respectively. We demonstrated that patch IP performs comparably to traditional, cumbersome IP configurations. We also present for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that IP can robustly estimate breath-by-breath TV and respiratory timings during ambulation. This work represents a notable step towards pervasive wearable ambulatory respiratory monitoring via the fusion of a compact chest-worn form factor and multi-frequency IP that can be readily adapted for holistic cardiopulmonary monitoring.

Methodology for the determination of human respiration rate by using Doppler radar and Empirical Modal Decomposition

In this work, a methodology is presented for the determination of the respiration rate of a person under test (PUT), the detection of movements, as well as the elimination of the spurious effects produced by the movements of the PUT. The methodology is based on Empirical Modal Decomposition (EMD) applied to the phase signal obtained by means of a quadrature Doppler radar operating in S band. The EMD allows to automatically eliminate the continuos component (CC) which is present in the phase signal since one of the main characteristics of the modes generated by the EMD is that its mean is equal to zero. On the other hand, the first mode of the EMD is used for the detection of movements while the sum of the second and third modes are used for the elimination of the CC drift caused by the DC drift and the high frequency components produced by the movements of the PUT. The proposed methodology was successfully tested in a PUT at rest and performing movements of the head, arm and combination of head, arm, and torso. The average respiration rate measured was 20.78 breaths / min with a standard deviation of 2.53 breaths/min.

Shade effect on behaviour, physiology, performance, and carcass weight of heat-stressed feedlot steers in humid subtropical area

Context Environmental conditions during hot weather decrease feed intake and cattle growth. Aims This study conducted over three consecutive years, during the summer, evaluated access to shade as a strategy to mitigate heat stress of finishing cattle in Uruguay. Methods Each year, 32 Bos taurus and/or Bos taurus crossbred steers (initially weighing 461 ± 28 kg) were blocked by initial liveweight and assigned to one of eight pens, where one of two treatments were applied, namely, no shade access or shade access (mean shaded area 4.5 m2/animal). Finishing diet was offered three times per day and cattle had ad libitum access to water. Twenty-four pens were considered in a randomised complete-block design. Average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI) and feed efficiency were measured, and hot carcass weight was collected at slaughter. Ruminal pH and temperature were obtained using ruminal boluses. Feeding, drinking, rumination, inactive behaviours, respiration rate and painting score were observed. Key results Mean days on feed were 70.6 ± 5.5. The average THI ranged from 70 to 72. Steers with access to shade had greater DMI (P = 0.003), ADG (P = 0.004), and feed:gain ratio (P = 0.05) than did not shaded steers. Ruminal pH was higher (P &lt; 0.0001) in shaded than in not shaded animals. The slaughter weight of shaded steers was 10 kg greater (P = 0.02) than that of not shaded steers. A trend (P = 0.06) to higher hot carcass weight after dressing was obtained by shaded steers. The average respiration rate and panting score was consistently lower (P &lt; 0.0001) for shaded than for not shaded steers, except in the early morning. Access to shade increased the time spent by animals feeding (P = 0.008) and ruminating (P = 0.001), decreasing inactive time (P &lt; 0.0001). Conclusions Shade could improve performance and welfare of feedlot cattle during summertime, even in regions with an average THI from 70 to 72. Implications Access to shade allowed fattening cattle to dissipate heat stored during the day at night and to alleviate the effect of heat load during summer in subtropical region.

Physical, physiological, physicochemical and nutritional characterization of pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) in postharvest stage cultivated in Antioquia-Colombia

Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima), also called squash is a mass consumption fruit used in agroindustrial transformations to obtain new food products. This study aimed to evaluate the physical, physiological and physicochemical properties during a storage period of 42 days and the nutritional compounds of the freshly harvested fruit fractions. According to the CIEL*a*b* space, both the pulp and peel did not present significant changes in L* and a* values during the evaluated storage time; however, in the peel, a change in the b* values was evidenced. In addition, there was a decrease in the firmness of 10.8% in the fruit with peel and in the pulp, it was of 19.8% was observed, with a whole fruit weight loss of 2.33% and an average respiration rate of 6.9 mg CO2 kg-1h-1. According to physicochemical characteristics evaluated in the pulp, the values of pH, percentage of humidity, acidity, water activity and total soluble solids had no statistically significant changes occurred during the storage time. At the nutritional level, pumpkin is a good source of minerals, with a high concentration of potassium in all its fractions, and also has in total carotenoids (4.11±1.6 mg of β-carotene g-1 oven dry (o.d) in pulp and 6.24±2.7 mg of β-carotene g-1 (o.d) in peel). It was possible to conclude that the pumpkin has a low respiration rate, maintaining its physicochemical characteristics suitable for consumption throughout the evaluation period, presenting suitable conditions.

Abstract P705: Lesion Symptom Mapping of Cardiac Autonomic Dysfunction in Patients With Acute Ischaemic Stroke: A Prospective Cohort Study

Introduction: About 15% of patients with stroke show elevated Troponin T levels without presenting an acute coronary syndrome. Dysbalance in the autonomous nervous system is discussed as a possible reason. However, it remains unknown which brain regions affect specific autonomous biosignals. Methods: Prospectively from July 2018 to May 2019 we performed simultaneous non-invasive 30-min recordings of autonomous biosignals with all patients at our centre suffering from an ischaemic stroke within the last 7 days. Previously described autonomous risk factors were investigated and a lesion symptom mapping based on MRI was done. Results: In total, 100 patients with ischaemic stroke were measured. Subsequently 10 patients had to be excluded because of atrial fibrillation during recording, resulting in a study population of 90 patients. Mean age was 64.9 years, 38 patients (42.2%) were female. Mean NIHSS-Score at first admission was 3.7 points. The five parameters baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), deceleration capacity of the heart rate, expiration-triggered sinus arrhythmia, mean heart rate and average respiration rate were analysed for their association with ischaemic lesion location. Using established dichotomy limits in the lesion symptom mapping we could find risk factor related overlaps in different brain regions, such as an association of disturbed BRS with pontine strokes. Conclusion: Previous studies show that patients with abnormalities in autonomous parameters have higher cardiovascular risk. Identifying brain regions that affect the cardiac autonomous system is relevant for better understanding the underlying pathophysiology as well as early identification of these patients at risk. It is interesting to speculate if patients with lesions in these brain regions could benefit from early cardiologic surveillance. We are currently validating our findings with a higher sample size and follow up data.

Effects of lead and cadmium exposure on oxygen respiration rates of individual Antarctic foraminifera during agglutinated shell formation

Heavy metal exposure from anthropogenic pollutants negatively affects many marine organisms, including foraminiferan protists. As such, foraminifera are often used as bioindicators of stressed environmental conditions. Primary research has commonly focused on how heavy metals affect foraminiferal assemblages, ultrastructure, and shell morphology; however, little if any data have been reported on how heavy metals affect their physiological functions. Here we measure respiration rates of individual foraminifera after acute exposure to three concentrations of toxic but sub-lethal levels of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd). These experiments relied on the large cell size of an agglutinated Antarctic foraminifer, Astrammina rara. Cells were isolated from sediment collected by scuba divers in Explorers Cove, Antarctica. In the laboratory, individual, live cells were removed from their shells and placed in sealed respirometry chambers with either normal or Pb- or Cd-spiked artificial seawater. Cells in the process of shell formation were used to ensure that all individuals were aerobically active and in similar metabolic states. Noninvasive oxygen-sensing optode technology was used to measure oxygen consumption during the first 24–36 h of shell formation. The average respiration rate was 1.07 nmol O2 h−1 (range 0.78–1.84 nmol O2 h−1) for normal cells. We compared the results from each exposure group to this baseline rate and found that both Pb and Cd significantly suppressed the respiration rate of A. rara in all but the highest level of Pb exposure. This study provides a novel, powerful, and short-term way to measure foraminiferal physiological responses to heavy metal toxicants.

Respiration characteristics and its responses to hydrothermal seasonal changes in reconstructed soils

Seasonal changes in respiration and the components of four reconstructed soils (gravel + meteorite + lou; gravel + shale + lou; gravel + sand + lou; and gravel + soft rock + lou) in barren gravel land were monitored using the soil carbon flux measurement system. The results showed that (1) the monthly average respiration rate and the rates of the components in the four reconstructed soils were the highest in summer and lowest in winter. In winter, the monthly average respiration rates of the four reconstructed soils were not different (p > 0.05). In summer, the monthly average respiration rate of the sand or meteorite reconstructed soil was different from that of the other three (p < 0.05). (2) The heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration rates were different between the four reconstructed soils (p < 0.05). The contribution of heterotrophic respiration to total respiration in the four reconstructed soils was greater than that of autotrophic respiration throughout the year. In winter, autotrophic respiration accounts for the smallest proportion of total respiration. As the temperature rises, the proportion of autotrophic respiration to total respiration gradually increases and peaks in summer. In summer, the proportion of heterotrophic respiration in the total respiration is the smallest. With the decrease in temperature, the proportion of heterotrophic respiration in total respiration gradually increases and peaks in winter. (3) The maximum and minimum values of the monthly average respiration rate of the four reconstructed soils coincided with the months of maximum and minimum soil temperature. The soil volumetric water content changed with the amount of precipitation. The correlation between soil respiration and temperature was greater than that between soil respiration and volumetric water content. (4) The correlation in seasonal variation between respiration of the four remodelled soils and hydrothermal factors in the study area can be characterised by an exponential function and power-exponential function.