Background. Emotions have long been discussed in conjunction with the autonomic nervous system. Most research on heart-mood linkages does not consider sex differences or an evident underlying mechanism for sex differences- sex hormone levels. Further, most research is limited to cross-sectional and laboratory studies. The degree to which affect-autonomic associations manifest in everyday life may be different and may vary by sex and, for women, by menstrual cycle phase. This study employs ambulatory monitoring of cardiovascular measures (e.g., heart rate and heart rate variability; HRV) and concurrent emotions (e.g., sadness, stress, anxiety, anger, and happiness) in everyday life to better characterize affect-autonomic associations as a function of sex and menstrual cycle phase. Methods. Participants (N = 174) were monitored over a 5-day observation period (one 2-day and one 3-day session), using an ambulatory 24-hour electrocardiogram to monitor heart rate and ecological momentary assessment to record emotions every approximately 30 minutes. Women were monitored in both the early to mid-follicular and -luteal phases of their menstrual cycles and men in two comparably distanced sessions. Results. Multilevel models indicated that for both sexes, negative emotions and happiness were associated with elevated heart rate. Relative to men, women exhibited elevated heart rate and reduced HRV during reports of anger. For women, during the luteal phase, momentary reports of sadness, stress, and anxiety were found to predict increased heart rate and reduced HRV. Conclusion. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering sex and menstrual cycle phase in research investigating heart-mood linkages.

The Family Antilocapridae is considered to have first appeared in the Early Hemingfordian of western North America. Here we report a mandible of a merycodontine antilocaprid from the Late Arikareean Harrison Formation of eastern Wyoming. The mandible has three lower molars preserved and mandibular ramus features that allow it to be differentiated from other contemporaneous selenodont artiodactyl families, yet the lack of detailed understanding of intraspecific variation in Paracosoryx and Merycodus warrant caution in assigning this to a genus. This new material predates the previous first appearance of antilocaprids by approximately 3–4 million years and suggests that antilocaprid immigration from Eurasian ruminant stock occurred earlier than previously assumed and that caution should be exercised when using first appearances in broader analyses.

End-stage renal disease is a chronic, terminal condition in which the kidneys retain less than 5% of their normal capacity for filtering wastes and fluids from the bloodstream. Kidney failure represents a significant and costly public health problem, especially for Hispanic patients. While there are no known direct psychosocial causes of kidney failure, sociobehavioral factors play a crucial role in determining the capacity for survival for the end-stage renal disease patient; in addition to taking on dialysis treatment, in which an artificial kidney filters waste products from the body, patients must take dozens of medications and monitor and restrict their diet and fluid intake, resulting in high disease burden, high cognitive demand, and high risk for morbidity and mortality. Additionally, changes in cognitive and psychosocial functioning over the course of the dialytic cycle may be crucial in determining treatment outcomes for these patients. The purpose of the present study was to examine the interrelationships between cognitive functioning, general and disease-specific social support, and the length of the interdialytic interval on adherence to treatment in a sample of patients on hemodialysis. The study was the first to explore these relationships using a sophisticated electronic diary system.

Participants included 22 (female n = 11; Mean age 44 years) English- and Spanish-speaking, primarily Hispanic patients being treated for kidney failure at the UC Irvine Medical Center. Overall, levels of social support in this sample were high, and reports of cognitive dysfunction were minimal. Some aspects of social support, particularly diet-related support, were associated with improved adherence to treatment, but in general, support did not substantially influence engagement in behaviors of disease self-management. Additionally, contrary to hypotheses, cognitive functioning was greater over two-day interdialytic intervals than shorter one-day intervals, and was not found to mediate the relationship between length of the interdialytic interval and disease self-management. Likewise, the effect of cognitive functioning on treatment adherence was not buffered by social support. Such findings provide some limited support for an osmotic theory of cognitive dysfunction resulting from hemodialysis, but should interpreted with caution pending recruitment of a larger sample and a higher degree of compliance with the ecological momentary assessment protocol.

Introduction

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Background

Objectives

Animals

Methods

Results

Conclusions and clinical importance