Effects of seasonal acclimatization on temperature dependence of cardiac excitability in the roach, Rutilus rutilus.

Temperature sensitivity of electrical excitability is a potential limiting factor for performance level and thermal tolerance of excitable tissues in ectothermic animals. To test whether the rate and rhythm of the heart acclimatize to seasonal temperature changes, thermal sensitivity of cardiac excitation in a eurythermal teleost, the roach (Rutilus rutilus), was examined. Excitability of the heart was determined from in vivo electrocardiograms and in vitro microelectrode recordings of action potentials (APs) from winter and summer roach acclimatized to 4 and 18°C, respectively. Under heat ramps (3°C h(-1)), starting from the acclimatization temperatures of the fish, heart rate increased to maximum values of 78±5 beats min(-1) (at 19.8±0.5°C) and 150±7 beats min(-1) (at 28.1±0.5°C) for winter and summer roach, respectively, and then declined in both groups. Below 20°C, heart rate was significantly higher in winter than in summer roach (P<0.05), indicating positive thermal compensation. Cardiac arrhythmias appeared with rising temperature as missing QRS complexes, increase in variability of heart rate, episodes of atrial tachycardia, ventricular bradycardia and complete cessation of the heartbeat (asystole) in both winter and summer roach. Unlike winter roach, atrial APs of summer roach had a distinct early repolarization phase, which appeared as shorter durations of atrial AP at 10% and 20% repolarization levels in comparison to winter roach (P<0.05). In contrast, seasonal acclimatization had only subtle effects on ventricular AP characteristics. Plasticity of cardiac excitation appears to be necessary for seasonal improvements in performance level and thermal resilience of the roach heart.

Safety profile of morphine following surgery in neonates.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of morphine on duration of mechanical ventilation, apnoea and hypotension among full-term neonates who underwent thoracic or abdominal surgery in a level III neonatal intensive care unit. METHOD: Medical records of 82 infants were reviewed retrospectively and data including patient demographics, clinical diagnosis, type of surgery, postoperative opioid administration, duration of mechanical ventilation, hypotension, apnoea and pain scores (premature infant pain profile (PIPP) score) were collected. RESULT: Sixty-two neonates (76%) received morphine following surgery as a continuous intravenous infusion during the postoperative period. Linear regression analysis showed that morphine dosage and duration were significantly associated with the duration of mechanical ventilation. An increase in morphine infusion rate by 10 microg kg(-1) h(-1) was associated with an increase in the duration of mechanical ventilation by 24 h (P<0.0001) and an increase in morphine duration of 1 hour was associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation by 38 min (P<0.0001). Logistic regression analysis showed no association between morphine infusion rate or duration and hypotension. Apnoea was not associated with morphine dosage or duration of infusion in neonates receiving morphine following extubation. Score on the PIPP correlated significantly with morphine infusion rate across time (r=0.47, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: Postoperative morphine dose and duration may prolong the duration of mechanical ventilation but there are no significant dose-dependent effects on other parameters including apnoea or hypotension following extubation in term neonates. More research is needed to determine the safety profile of morphine for management of pain in non-ventilated neonates.

Three-dimensional electrohydrodynamic temporal instability of a moving dielectric liquid sheet emanated into a gas medium.

A linear electrohydrodynamic instability analysis is presented for an inviscid dielectric liquid sheet emanated into an inviscid dielectric gas medium in the presence of a horizontal electric field. The influence of Weber number, gas-to-liquid density ratio, and the applied electric field on the evolution of two-, and three-dimensional disturbances of symmetrical and antisymmetrical types is studied. It is found, for antisymmetrical waves, that two-dimensional disturbances always prevail over three-dimensional disturbances, regardless of Weber number or gas-to-liquid density ratio values, especially for long waves; while for short waves, both two- and three-dimensional disturbances grow at approximately the same rate. It is also found, for symmetrical waves, that two-dimensional disturbances always dominate the instability process at low Weber number, and when the Weber number is large, symmetrical three-dimensional disturbances become more unstable than two-dimensional ones for long waves. The effect of increasing the gas-to-liquid density ratio is to promote the dominance of long three-dimensional symmetrical waves over their two-dimensional counterpart. Finally, the equilibrium Weber number at which the growth rates of two- and three-dimensional modes are equal is discussed for both symmetrical- and antisymmetrical-disturbances cases.

Electro-aerodynamic instability of a thin dielectric liquid sheet sprayed with an air stream.

The instability of a thin sheet of dielectric liquid moving in the same direction as an air stream in the presence of a uniform horizontal electric field is studied theoretically. It is found that aerodynamic-enhanced instability occurs if the Weber number is much less than a critical value related to the ratio of the air and liquid stream velocities, the electric field, and the dielectric constant values. The electric field is found to have a stabilizing effect, and there exists a critical Weber number above which instability is suppressed by the surface tension effect. The condition for disintegrating the sheet is obtained in terms of the electric field values, and some limiting cases are recovered.

Sarcoplasmic reticulum, potassium, and cardiac force in rainbow trout and plaice.

The role played by the sarcoplasmic reticulum in force development and in cellular Ca2+ balance and its dependence on extracellular K+ were examined in heart ventricular tissue of rainbow trout and plaice. Compared with the steady-state twitch at a stimulation rate of 0.2 Hz, a 30-s rest led to a similar increase in twitch force in trout heart, regardless of whether [K+] was 2.5 or 5 mM. At 5 mM (but not at 2.5 mM) post-rest potentiation increased with increasing rest periods (from 30 to 900 s). These post-rest potentiations were removed or transformed into a loss of force by 10 microM ryanodine or 8 mM caffeine. In the plaice heart, where the sarcoplasmic reticulum is claimed to be sparse, the post-rest potentiation and the influence of ryanodine were small. The Ca2+ uptake measured during 5 min with 45Ca in the trout heart was higher in 5 than in 2.5 mM K+, regardless of the concomitant stimulation rate. This effect of K+ was removed by 10 microM ryanodine. The twitch force after 5 min of rest correlated significantly with the Ca2+ uptake, whereas the twitch force developed at a rate of 0.2 or 1.0 Hz did not. In conclusion, an elevation of K+ appears to stimulate the Ca2+ uptake of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The twitch force after prolonged rest seems to relate to the Ca2+ contained in this organelle, whereas this does not apply to the twitch force developed at more physiological rates (0.2 or 1 Hz).