Dietary nitrate supplementation reduces low frequency blood pressure fluctuations in rats following distal middle cerebral artery occlusion.

It is known that high blood pressure variability (BPV) in acute ischemic stroke is associated with adverse outcomes, yet there are no therapeutic treatments to reduce BPV. Studies have found increasing nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability improves neurological function following stroke, but whether dietary nitrate supplementation could reduce BPV remains unknown. We investigated the effects of dietary nitrate supplementation on heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), and beat-to-beat BPV using wireless telemetry in a rat model of distal middle cerebral artery occlusion.

Food safety labelling of chicken to prevent campylobacteriosis: consumer expectations and current practices.

Background: Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide, and contaminated chicken is a significant vehicle for spread of the disease. This study aimed to assess consumers' knowledge of safe chicken handling practices and whether their expectations for food safety labelling of chicken are met, as a strategy to prevent campylobacteriosis.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 401 shoppers at supermarkets and butcheries in Wellington, New Zealand, and a systematic assessment of content and display features of chicken labels.

Compromised Cerebrovascular Regulation and Cerebral Oxygenation in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension.

Background: Functional cerebrovascular regulatory mechanisms are important for maintaining constant cerebral blood flow and oxygen supply in heathy individuals and are altered in heart failure. We aim to examine whether pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with abnormal cerebrovascular regulation and lower cerebral oxygenation and their physiological and clinical consequences.

Methods And Results: Resting mean flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery mean flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (MCAv); transcranial Doppler), cerebral pressure-flow relationship (assessed at rest and during squat-stand maneuvers; analyzed using transfer function analysis), cerebrovascular reactivity to CO, and central chemoreflex were assessed in 11 patients with PAH and 11 matched healthy controls.

Agreement between finger plethysmography- and brachial oscillometry-derived blood pressure measurements.

Purpose: Blood pressure (BP) is commonly assessed by brachial oscillometry in clinical practice, whereas in physiological studies, finger plethysmography is often employed. This study assessed the limits of agreement between BP metrics obtained from each device.

Methods: In 96 participants, we simultaneously recorded BP by brachial oscillometry (BP+; Uscom, Sydney, NSW, Australia) and finger plethysmography (Finometer MIDI, MLE1054-V; Finapres Medical Systems B.

Hemodynamic variability and cerebrovascular control after transient cerebral ischemia.

We investigated if hemodynamic variability, cerebral blood flow (CBF) regulation, and their interrelationships differ between patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and controls. We recorded blood pressure (BP) and bilateral middle cerebral artery flow velocity (MCAv) in a cohort of TIA patients (n = 17), and age-matched controls (n = 15). Spontaneous fluctuations in BP and MCAv were characterized by spectral power analysis, and CBF regulation was assessed by wavelet phase synchronization analysis in the very low- (0.