The influence of 6 weeks of maximal eccentric plantarflexor training on muscle-tendon mechanics

Resistance training can influence muscle-tendon properties including strength, flexibility, stretch tolerance and muscle-tendon stiffness; however the specific influence of eccentric-only training is unknown. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to examine the effects of a 6-week maximal eccentric resistance training programme on isometric plantarflexor moment (MVC), dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM), stretch tolerance (peak passive moment), muscle and tendon stiffness and running economy. Thirteen recreationally active men (age = 20.0 ± 0.9 yr, mass = 75.9 ± 8.5 kg, height = 1.8 ± 0.1 m) volunteered for the study after giving written informed consent; ethical approval was granted from the University of Northampton. Training was performed twice weekly for six weeks and consisted of 5 sets of 12 repetitions of 3-s maximal eccentric contractions at 10°•s-1 from 20° plantarflexion to 10° dorsiflexion. Maximal isometric plantarflexor moment, dorsiflexion ROM, stretch tolerance, and muscle, tendon and muscle-tendon unit (MTU) stiffness were measured using isokinetic dynamometry, real-time ultrasound and 3D motion analyses before and after the training. Running economy (VO2) was determined at a running speed equating to 70%VO2max using online gas analysis. Repeated measures t-tests were used to determine significant differences between pre- and post-training data, significance accepted at p0.05). Analysis of ultrasound data revealed a significant decrease in muscle stiffness (20.6%; p0.05). While the training-induced increase in plantarflexor strength was expected, the substantial increases in ROM, stretch tolerance and tendon stiffness, and the reduction in passive muscle stiffness, were important and novel findings. Interestingly, when measured during passive stretch, MTU stiffness remained unchanged while tendon stiffness increased and muscle stiffness decreased. These disparate findings have clear implications for testing methodologies, and indicate that imaging techniques must be utilised in order to examine the effects of interventions on specific tissues. As the training clearly enhanced the capacity of the muscle to tolerate both tissue loading and deformation, which are commonly associated with muscle strain injury, these data have clear implications for both muscular performance and injury risk

Duramycin-induced calcium release in cancer cells

Introduction: Duramycin through binding with phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) has shown potential to be an effective anti-tumour agent. However its mode of action in relation to tumour cells is not fully understood. Methods: PE expression on the surface of a panel of cancer cell lines was analysed using duramycin and subsequent antibody labelling then analysed by flow cytometry. Cell viability was also assessed via flow cytometry using annexin V and propidium iodide (PI). Calcium ion (Ca²⁺) release by tumour cells in response to duramycin was determined by spectrofluorometry following incubation with Fluo-3, AM. Confocal microscopy was performed on the cancer cell line AsPC-1 to assess real time cell response to duramycin treatment. Results: Duramycin was able to detect cell surface PE expression on all 15 cancer cell lines screened, which was shown to be duramycin concentration dependent. However higher concentrations induced necrotic cell death. Duramycin induced calcium ion (Ca²⁺) release from the cancer cell lines also in a concentration and time dependent manner. Confocal microscopy showed an influx of PI into the cells over time and induced morphological changes. Conclusion: Duramycin induces Ca²⁺ release from cancer cell lines in a time and concentration dependent relationship

Associations between religiosity and sexuality in a representative sample of Australian adults

Many studies have examined the influence on sexual attitudes and behavior of religious belief (i.e., religious denomination) or religiosity (e.g., attendance at services, subjective importance of religion). However, few studies have examined the combined effects of religion and religiosity on sexual attitudes and behavior. This study examined such effects in a representative sample of 19,307 Australians aged 16–59 years (response rate, 73.1%). The study compared members of four religious groups (Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, Muslim) and two levels of frequency of attendance at religious service (less than monthly, at least monthly). Religious participants were compared to their non-religious peers in analyses adjusted for potential confounding by demographic variables. The outcomes were five sexual behaviors and five corresponding measures of sexual attitudes. The study revealed inconsistent patterns of association between religion/religiosity and a range of sexual behaviors and attitudes. In general, greater attendance at religious services was associated with more conservative patterns of behavior and attitudes. However, religious people who attended services infrequently were more similar to their non-religious peers than their more religious peers. The results of this study highlight the importance of considering not only religion or religiosity, but the intersection between these two variables

Broadening Responsibilities: Consideration Of The Potential To Broaden The Role Of Uniformed Fire Service Employees

What is this report about? This report, commissioned by the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services (NJC), aims to identify what impact, if any, firefighters can have on the delivery of emergency medical response and wider community health interventions in the UK. What are the overall conclusions? Appropriately trained and equipped firefighters co-responding1 to targeted, specific time critical medical events, such as cardiac arrest, can improve patient survival rates. The data also indicate that there is support from fire service staff – and a potential need from members of the public, particularly the elderly, isolated or vulnerable – to expand ‘wider work’. This includes winter warmth assessments, Safe and Well checks, community defibrillator training and client referrals when staff believe someone may have dementia, are vulnerable or even, for example, have substance dependencies such as an alcohol addiction. However, there is currently insufficient data to estimate the net benefit of this work

Interpreting the Ionization Sequence in Star-Forming Galaxy Emission-Line Spectra

High ionization star forming (SF) galaxies are easily identified with strong emission line techniques such as the BPT diagram, and form an obvious ionization sequence on such diagrams. We use a locally optimally emitting cloud model to fit emission line ratios that constrain the excitation mechanism, spectral energy distribution, abundances and physical conditions along the star-formation ionization sequence. Our analysis takes advantage of the identification of a sample of pure star-forming galaxies, to define the ionization sequence, via mean field independent component analysis. Previous work has suggested that the major parameter controlling the ionization level in SF galaxies is the metallicity. Here we show that the observed SF- sequence could alternatively be interpreted primarily as a sequence in the distribution of the ionizing flux incident on gas spread throughout a galaxy. Metallicity variations remain necessary to model the SF-sequence, however, our best models indicate that galaxies with the highest and lowest observed ionization levels (outside the range -0.37 < log [O III]/H\b{eta} < -0.09) require the variation of an additional physical parameter other than metallicity, which we determine to be the distribution of ionizing flux in the galaxy.Comment: 41 pages, 17 figures, 9 tables, accepted to MNRA

The Effects of COVID-19 on Counselor-in-Training Resilience: A Case Study

Contemporary literature in counseling suggests that resilience is a protective factor in preventing burnout among counselors and counselors-in-training. The strategies that counseling students have historically relied on to learn resilient habits have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the implications for students are still unknown. This qualitative case study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on 17 counselors-in-training, their adjustments through a resilience lens, and students’ perspectives on the response of their program in support of pandemic-related challenges. Findings of the current study pinpoint specific causes of counseling students’ psychological distress, as well as the social and academic ramifications. Findings also highlight coping strategies that may increase resilience among counselors-in-training. Implications and recommendations for counseling programs are included

Leaky slope waves and sea level: unusual consequences of the beta-effect along western boundaries with bottom topography and dissipation

Coastal Trapped Waves (CTWs) carry the ocean’s response to changes in forcing along boundaries, and are important mechanisms in the context of coastal sea level and the meridional overturning circulation. Motivated by the western boundary response to high latitude and open ocean variability, we investigate how the latitude dependence of the Coriolis parameter (β-effect), bottom topography, and bottom friction, modify the evolution of western boundary CTWs and sea level using a linear, barotropic model. For annual and longer period waves, the boundary response is characterized by modified Shelf Waves and a new class of leaky Slope Waves that propagate alongshore, typically at an order slower than Shelf Waves, and radiate short Rossby waves into the interior. Energy is not only transmitted equatorward along the slope, but also eastward into the interior, leading to the dissipation of energy locally and offshore. The β-effect and friction result in Shelf and Slope Waves that decay alongshore in the direction of the equator, decreasing the extent to which high latitude variability affects lower latitudes, and increasing the penetration of open ocean variability onto the shelf - narrower continental shelves and larger friction coefficients increase this penetration. The theory is compared against observations of sea level along the North American east coast and qualitatively reproduces the southward displacement and amplitude attenuation of coastal sea level relative to the open ocean. The implications are that the β-effect, topography, and friction are important in determining where along the coast sea level variability hot spots occur

Idealised modelling of offshore-forced sea level hot spots and boundary waves along the North American East Coast

Hot spots of sea level variability along the North American East Coast have been shown to shift in latitude repeatedly over the past 95 years and connections with a number of forcing phenomena, including the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), have been suggested. Using a barotropic 1/12° NEMO model of the North American East Coast (to represent the upper ocean and a homogeneous shelf), we investigate the coastal sea level response to remote sea surface height (SSH) variability along the upper continental slope. Hilbert transform Complex EOF analysis is used to investigate the responses to interannual changes in the strength of the mean winds and an idealised NAO. Variability in the mean winds produces in-phase coastal sea level variability along the entire coastline and is driven by a SSH anomaly in the subpolar gyre. Variability due to the NAO forcing is in phase along the coast south of Cape Hatteras. Interannual coastal sea level variability at a given latitude is found to be driven by off-shore SSH anomalies originating many degrees of latitude (100s km) further north, and linear barotropic trapped wave theory is used to explain the mechanism. A comparison of the results from an analytical model with those from the numerical model is used to suggest that the boundary wave mechanism is also relevant for understanding the coastal response to interior sea level change over longer time periods. Nonlinear effects are found not to significantly modify the character of the linear solution