Frequency-Dependent Variability of Pulse Wave Transit Time: Pilot Study.

The dynamics of the pulse wave (PW) associated with the PW transit time variability (PWTTV) determines the peripheral pulse rate variability, which is used as a surrogate for heart rate variability (HRV). The aim of the work is to analyze the frequency-dependent dynamics of PWTTV and to identify the possible frequency-phase modulation of PW velocity oscillations on the transit from the heart to the soft tissues of the distal parts of the upper extremities. RR-interval recordings and synchronous records of photoplethysmograms of 12 conditionally healthy subjects from the PhysioNet open database were used in this work. Using the Hilbert-Huang transform 3 spectral components of PWTTV and HRV were identified. It was shown that the amplitudes of PWTTV oscillations were many times (up to 8.4 times) smaller than the amplitudes of HRV, and the peaks of PWTTV spectral components were shifted towards higher frequencies than those of HRV. Functional relations between PWTTV and HRV, which can determine the phase modulation of periodic changes in the PW propagation velocity, were revealed.

Spectral Analysis of Heart Rate Variability Based on the Hilbert-Huang Method.

Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is widely used for noninvasive assessment of the state of the regulation systems of the heart. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capabilities of the Hilbert-Huang method for calculating spectral parameters of HRV in comparison with the commonly used Fourier analysis. Fourier analysis allows estimation of averaged spectral amplitudes and power of HRV oscillations in fixed frequency intervals, which are associated with the activity of sympathetic, parasympathetic, and humoral regulation systems. Using the Hilbert-Huang method, we revealed four spectral components, described by Gaussian functions, in which HRV oscillations are concentrated, and showed the absence of fixed boundaries between them. The obtained energy quantitative characteristics of the spectral components of heart rhythm oscillations can serve as the basis for diagnostic methods of heart rhythm regulation, supplementing the commonly used ones.

Skin Microhemodynamics and Mechanisms of Its Regulation in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

The review presents modern ideas about peripheral microhemodynamics, approaches to the ana-lysis of skin blood flow oscillations and their diagnostic significance. Disorders of skin microhemodynamics in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and the possibility of their interpretation from the standpoint of external and internal interactions between systems of skin blood flow regulation, based on a comparison of couplings in normal and pathological conditions, including models of pathologies on animals, are considered. The factors and mechanisms of vasomotor regulation, among them receptors and signaling events in endothelial and smooth muscle cells considered as models of microvessels are discussed. Attention was drawn to the disturbance of Ca2+-dependent regulation of coupling between vascular cells and NO-dependent regulation of vasodilation in diabetes mellitus. The main mechanisms of insulin resistance in type 2 DM are considered to be a defect in the number of insulin receptors and impaired signal transduction from the receptor to phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and downstream targets. Reactive oxygen species plays an important role in vascular dysfunction in hyperglycemia. It is assumed that the considered molecular and cellular mechanisms of microhemodynamics regulation are involved in the formation of skin blood flow oscillations. Parameters of skin blood microcirculation can be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers for assessing the state of the body.

Localization of Mechanisms of Amplitude-Frequency Modulation of Pulse Blood Perfusion of the Soft Tissue Microvasculature. Pilot Study.

Peripheral blood flow analysis is used for noninvasive assessment of the cardiovascular system. The aim was to investigate the possibility of applying Hilbert-Huang spectral analysis (HH) to localize the mechanisms of nonlinear regulation of blood perfusion dynamics in the soft tissues of distal areas of the hands in human. In 9 healthy subjects, synchronous recording of photoplethysmograms (PPG) from the index fingers of the hands was performed. Using a band-pass filter, a cardiac signal was extracted from the PPG, which was separated into the carrier and modulating components. The latter was subjected to decomposition into empirical modes by HH method. Five modes were detected, for which the coherence between the hands was evaluated. The frequencies of the modes fell within the conventional frequency intervals of skin blood flow oscillations, and the coherence was 0.6. A decreased depth of modulation in the left hand compared to the right hand was shown. The results indicate a central origin of the nonlinear regulation of the dynamics of tissue blood perfusion in the hands.

Development of a competitive double antibody lateral flow assay for the detection of antibodies specific to glycoprotein B of Aujeszky's disease virus in swine sera.

Three lateral flow assays (LFAs) for the detection of antibodies against glycoprotein B (gB) of Aujeszky's disease virus (ADV) in swine sera: a competitive double antibody sandwich LFA without a preincubation step (CDAS-gB-LFA), a CDAS-gB-LFA with a preincubation step (pCDAS-gB-LFA), and a competitive direct gB-LFA have been developed and were compared with each other and with a gB-ELISA. The assays are based on monoclonal antibodies to immunodominant epitopes of ADV gB. The pCDAS-gB-LFA proved to be the most specific and sensitive assay to detect antibodies directed to ADV gB. The specificity and sensitivity of the pCDAS-gB-LFA with the use of an LFA reader for test line intensity measurements were 97.6 and 94.9%, respectively. The lower diagnostic sensitivity of the pCDAS-gB-LFA compared to a gB-ELISA reflects its reduced analytical sensitivity, which was shown in titration experiments with positive sera. The pCDAS-gB-LFA, using the reader-based and visual detection modes, showed good agreement in respect to specificity; however, the LFA reader detection provided a higher diagnostic and analytical sensitivity compared to visual detection. The developed pCDAS-gB-LFA is a rapid, sensitive, and specific method for the detection of antibodies to ADV gB and can be used for screening ADV-infected swine in unvaccinated herds.

Role of additive stochastic modulation of the heart activity in the formation of 0.1-Hz blood flow oscillations in the human cardiovascular system.

In the framework of our previous hypothesis about the participation of structural and hydrodynamic properties of the vascular bed in the formation of the 0.1-Hz component of blood flow oscillations in the human cardiovascular system and on the basis of the reduced hydrodynamic model, the role of additive stochastic perturbations of the operation of the single-chamber pump that simulates the heart was investigated. It was shown that aperiodic noise modulation of the rigidity of the walls of the pump or its valves generates low-frequency oscillations of pressure and blood flow velocity of arterial vascular bed with the maximum amplitude at a frequency close to 0.1 Hz.

[Slow Ca2'-binding Mg2+- EDTA buffer for intracellular perfusion].

In studies of currents in perfused cells or their membrane fragments containing potential-dependent Ca channels and Ca2+-activated channels, a buffer slowly binding Ca2+ appears useful in some cases. A buffer with EDTA in excess of Mg2+ has been proposed, and its kinetic characteristics have been calculated. It has been shown that this buffer, depending on its component proportions, may provide Ca2+ binding with a characteristic time of up to tens of milliseconds. For comparison, in the cytoplasm, this time does not exceed 1 ms even with a large calcium signal, as follows from calculations.

[Fractal properies of gating in potential-dependent K+-channels in Lymnaea stagnalis neurons]. / Fraktal'nye svoistva vorotnogo mekhanizma potentsialozavisimykh K+ - kanalov v neironakh Lymnaea stagnalis.

Sets of the channel open times, [tau(o)], and closed times, [tau(c)], and the full set of the channel open and closed times, [tau(o), tau(c)], in the activity of single voltage-dependent K+-channels in mollusc L. stagnalis neurons were analyzed using the rescaled range analysis (Hurst method), fast Fourier and wavelet transforms. It was found that the Hurst dependence for each time series could be approximated by a polygonal line with at least two slopes: H1 and H2 (Hurst exponents). The averaged values of H1 and H2 for the sets [tau(o), tau(c)] were equal to 0.61 +/- 0.03 and 0.83 +/- 0.11, respectively; for the [tau(o)] sets H1 = 0.66 +/- 0.03 and H2 = 0.95 +/- 0.10; for the [tau(c)] sets, H1 = 0.62 +/- 0.05 and H2 = 0.85 +/- 0.10. In some cases, a third slope appeared on the Hurst dependences. It was very variable and ranged between 0.5 and 1. The Hurst exponents H1, H2, and H3 characterized short, intermediate, and long time ranges, respectively. The ranges greatly varied from experiment to experiment. The data obtained show that the channel openings and closings (gating process) represent a persistent process correlated in time. The randomization of the time sets resulted in a single slope, H, of 0.52 +/- 0.02 characteristic of random processes. The results were confirmed by the fast Fourier and wavelet transforms. In addition, possible voltage dependences of Hurst exponents and their correlation with tau(o) and tau(c) were investigated. As a whole, single channel activity may be characterized as a multifractal process with a slight voltage dependence of the Hurst exponents.

[Study of fractal properties of single ionic channel gating mechanism by the fast Fourier transform]. / Issledovanie fraktal'nykh svoistv "vorotnogo" mekhanizma odinochnykh ionnykh kanalov metodom bystrogo Fur'e-preobrazovaniia.

Sets of the channel open times (tau o), closed times (tau c) and the full set of the channel open and closed times (tau o, tau c) in the activity of single Ca(2+)-activated K+ channels in cultured kidney cells Vero were analyzed using the fast Fourier transform. It was found that in the low-frequency range (about 0.01-10 Hz), power density can be described by the equation S(f) approximately f-alpha (as a rule, 0 < alpha < 1), and this part of the Fourier spectrum usually consists of narrow peaks at almost multiple frequencies. It was shown that the upper frequency boundary of this spectrum is determined by the kinetic parameters tau o [symbol: see text] tau c. The data obtained show that ion channel gating is a fractal process (correlated in time) and can be regarded as a random signal modulated by some periodical functions (sinuses). The data obtained by the Fourier method are in agreement with the earlier results obtained using the rescaled-range analysis.