The heart rate - breathing rate relationship in aquatic mammals： A comparative analysis with terrestrial species

Aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals, while resting at the water surface or ashore, breathe with a low frequency （f） by comparison to terrestrial mammals of the same body size, the difference increasing the larger the species. Among various interpretations, it was suggested that the low-f breathing is a consequence of the end-inspiratory breath-holding pattern adopted by aquatic mammals to favour buoyancy at the water surface, and evolved to be part of the genetic makeup. If this interpretation was correct it could be expected that, differently from f, the heart rate （HR, beats/min） of aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals at rest would not need to differ from that of terrestrial mammals and that their HR-fratio would be higher than in terrestrial species. Literature data for HR （beats/min） in mammals at rest were gathered for 56 terrestrial and 27 aquatic species. In aquatic mammals the allometric curve （HR=191 .M^18; M= body mass, kg） did not differ from that of terrestrial species （HR=212.M^-0.22） and their HR-fratio （on average 32±5） was much higher than in terrestrial species （5±1） （P〈0.0001）. The comparison of these HR allometric curves to those forfpreviously published indicated that the HR-fratio was body size-independent in terrestrial species while it increased significantly with M in aquatic species. The similarity in HR and differences in f between aquatic and terrestrial mammals agree with the possibility that the lowfof aquatic and semi-aquatic mammals may have evolved for a non-respiratory function, namely the regulation of buoyancy at the water surface [Current Zoology 61（4）： 569-577, 2015].

Numerical simulation of micro-particle deposition in a realistic human upper respiratory tract model during transient breathing cycle

An more reliable human upper respiratory tract model that consisted of an oropharynx and four generations of asymmetric tracheo-bronchial （TB） airways has been constructed to investigate the micro-particle deposition pattern and mass distribution in five lobes under steady inspiratory condition in former work by Huang and Zhang （2011 ）. In the present work, transient airflow patterns and particle deposition during both inspiratory and expiratory processes were numerically simulated in the realistic human upper respiratory tract model with 14 cartilaginous rings （CRs） in the tracheal tube. The present model was validated under steady inspiratory flow rates by comparing current results with the theoretical models and pub- lished experimental data. The transient deposition fraction was found to strongly depend on breathing flow rate and particle diameter but slightly on turbulence intensity. Particles were mainly distributed in the high axial speed zones and traveled basically following the secondary flow. ＂Hot spots＂ of deposition were found in the lower portion of mouth cavity and posterior wall of pharynx/larynx during inspiration, but transferred to upper portion of mouth and interior wall of pharynx/larynx during expiration. The deposition fraction in the trachea during expiration was found to be much higher than that during inspiration because of the stronger secondary flow.