Evaluation of an exercise field test using heart rate monitors to assess cardiorespiratory fitness and heart rate recovery in an asymptomatic population.

PurposeMeasures of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and heart rate recovery (HRR) can improve risk stratification for cardiovascular disease, but these measurements are rarely made in asymptomatic individuals due to cost. An exercise field test (EFT) to assess CRF and HRR would be an inexpensive method for cardiovascular disease risk assessment in large populations. This study assessed 1) the predictive accuracy of a 12-minute run/walk EFT for estimating CRF ([Formula: see text]) and 2) the accuracy of HRR measured after an EFT using a heart rate monitor (HRM) in an asymptomatic population.MethodsFifty subjects (48% women) ages 18-45 years completed a symptom-limited exercise tolerance test (ETT) (Bruce protocol) and an EFT on separate days. During the ETT, [Formula: see text] was measured by a metabolic cart, and heart rate was measured continuously by a HRM and a metabolic cart.ResultsEFT distance and sex independently predicted[Formula: see text]. The average absolute difference between observed and predicted [Formula: see text] was 0.26 ± 3.27 ml·kg-1·min-1 for our model compared to 7.55 ± 3.64 ml·kg-1·min-1 for the Cooper model. HRM HRR data were equivalent to respective metabolic cart values during the ETT. HRR at 1 minute post-exercise during ETT compared to the EFT had a moderate correlation (r=0.75, p<0.001).ConclusionA more accurate model to estimate CRF from a 12-minute run/walk EFT was developed, and HRR can be measured using a HRM in an asymptomatic population outside of clinical settings

On the Cognition of States of Affairs

The theory of speech acts put forward by Adolf Reinach in his "The A Priori Foundations of the Civil Law" of 1913 rests on a systematic account of the ontological structures associated with various different sorts of language use. One of the most original features of Reinach's account lies in hIs demonstration of how the ontological structure of, say, an action of promising or of commanding, may be modified in different ways, yielding different sorts of non-standard instances of the corresponding speech act varieties. The present paper is an attempt to apply this idea of standard and modified instances of ontological structures to the realm of judgement and cognition, and thereby to develop a Reinachian theory of how intentionality is mediated through language in acts of thinking and speaking

Evaluation of a procedure to assess the adverse effects of illicit drugs.

The assessment procedure of new synthetic illicit drugs that are not documented in the UN treaty on psychotropic drugs was evaluated using a modified Electre model. Drugs were evaluated by an expert panel via the open Delphi approach, where the written score was discussed on 16 items, covering medical, health, legal, and criminalistic issues of the drugs. After this face-to-face discussion the drugs were scored again. Taking the assessment of ketamine as an example, it appeared that each expert used its own scale to score, and that policymakers do not score deviant from experts trained in the medical-biological field. Of the five drugs evaluated by the panel, p-methoxy-metamphetamine (PMMA), gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), and 4-methylthio-amphetamine (MTA) were assessed as more adverse than ketamine and psilocine and psilocybine-containing mushrooms. Whereas some experts slightly adjusted during the assessment procedure their opinion on ketamine and PMMA, the opinion on mushrooms was not affected by the discussion held between the two scoring rounds. All experts rank the five drugs in a similar way on the adverse effect scale i.e., concordance scale of the Electre model, indicating unanimity in the expert panel with respect to the risk classification of these abused drugs