Hematological Changes in Response to a Drastic Increase in Training Volume in Recreational Cyclists

Changes in blood volume contribute to improvement in oxygen utilization (VO2max) with chronic endurance exercise training. Although hematological changes resulting from long-term endurance training have been well documented, it has not been well established whether an increased volume of endurance training preferentially affects plasma volume or red blood cell volume. To answer this question, I studied seven female and four male recreational cyclists before and after exposure to drastic increases (632%) in training volume. Following the 10-week training period, the mean hematocrit (Hct) of the 11 subjects who completed the study significantly (p0.05) correlated with the change in self-reported weekly mileage (R = 0.13 and 0.16, respectively). Based on these findings, it appears that red blood cell volume expansion is a more significant contributor to improvement in VO2max

Compulsive talkers: Perceptions of over talkers within the workplace

Compulsive talkers have been the focus o f limited communication studies, and those that have been written addressed the need for defining and identifying those considered to be over communicators. To date, no recorded studies has investigated the potentially negative impact compulsive talkers could have on those that work with them. The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions and reactions of interactants with compulsive talkers in the workplace. Interviews with coworkers of compulsive talkers were conducted to determine their perceptions of these over talkers and their attributes. From these interviews, four distinct patterns emerged. Overall, compulsive talkers were perceived negatively by their coworkers, perceived to discuss a variety of topics, ignored most cues to end the conversation, and impacted the‘workplace negatively

Hematological changes in response to a drastic increase in training volume in recreational cyclists

Changes in blood volume contribute to improvement in VO2max with chronic endurance exercise training. Although hematological changes to chronic endurance training have been well documented, it has not been well established whether an increased volume of training in trained individuals preferentially affects plasma volume vs. red cell volume. To answer this question, we studied 8 female and 3 male recreational cyclists before and after exposure to drastic increases in training volume. Following the 10-week training period, mean Hct of the 10 subjects who completed the study significantly (p\u3c0.05) increased from 42.9% to 48.45%. Mean Hb also increased significantly (p\u3c0.05) from 14.6g/dL to 16.4 g/dL. The changes in Hct and Hb were not significantly (p\u3e0.05) correlated with the change in self-reported weekly mileage (R = 0.13 and 0.16 respectively). The major finding of this study is that both Hct and Hb increase substantially following large training volume increases in recreational cyclists. Furthermore, it appears that there are preferential increases in red blood cell volume compared to plasma volume expansion in this population

Effects of Service Learning on Student Retention and Success

Southwestern College (SWC) students who participated in service learning were significantly more likely to complete their English composition course and report greater agreement with statements about learning as it related to career and civic awareness. However, student success rates were not significantly different for service learni11g students

Aiming High for Virginia Colleges

Considerable discussion about higher education is likely to take place throughout 1999 from the current legislative session through December, when the report of the Governor\u27s Blue Ribbon Commission on Higher Education is anticipated. Because faculty teach, conduct research and provide service to all Virginians, we have a unique perspective on what will be needed to ensure the continuing excellence of higher education in Virginia. Toward that end, we offer the observations below on funding practices, simplifying bureaucratic procedures, improving research and scholarship, and governance in higher education. We believe positive change can make real differences in the quality of the services and programs we provide

Validation of the test need for cognition: a study in behavioral accounting

This study aimed to validate the Need for Cognition scale (NFC) in behavioral accounting. In addition, we sought to measure the possible correlations between the level of need for cognition and the existence of cognitive biases in decisions in accounting and financial information. Two validations were performed to carry out the process of full validation – criterion and construct. The analysis was done by the examination of a sample comprised by 128 graduation students. The statistical technique used for the validation of this test was a factorial analysis for it has the ability to determine the degree of influence of a particular variable in the explanation of a factor, and the processing logistic regression was used for the explanation of possible values as a function of known values or independent variables. The results of the construct of validity showed the legitimacy of the NFC as a unidimensional scale excluding three outputs of its original scale, since the criterion validity of the results confirmed the impact of the level of cognition in maximizing the occurrence of heuristics in managerial decisions

Erwartungsbildung über den Wahlausgang und ihr Einfluss auf die Wahlentscheidung

Erwartungen über den Wahlausgang haben einen festen Platz sowohl in Rational-Choice-Theorien des Wählerverhaltens als auch in stärker sozialpsychologisch orientierten Ansätzen. Die Bildung von Erwartungen und ihr Einfluss auf die Wahlentscheidung ist dabei jedoch ein noch relativ unerforschtes Gebiet. In diesem Beitrag werden anhand von Wahlstudien für Belgien, Österreich und Deutschland verschiedene Fragen der Erwartungsbildung und ihrer Auswirkungen untersucht. Zunächst wird die Qualität der Gesamterwartungen analysiert und verschiedene Faktoren identifiziert, die einen systematischen Einfluss auf die Erwartungsbildung haben. Im zweiten Schritt wenden wir uns den Einzelerwartungen über verschiedene Parteien und Koalitionen zu und finden eine moderate Verzerrung zugunsten der präferierten Parteien und Koalitionen. Dabei kann gezeigt werden, dass der Effekt des Wunschdenkens mit dem politischen Wissen und dem Bildungsgrad abnimmt. Schließlich werden in einem letzten Schritt zwei unterschiedliche Logiken für die Auswirkungen von Erwartungen getestet, das rationale Kalkül des koalitionsstrategischen Wählens zur Vermeidung der Stimmenvergeudung sowie der sozialpsychologisch begründete Bandwagon-Effekt. Das Ausmaß an politischem Wissen scheint dabei eine zentrale vermittelnde Variable zwischen den beiden Logiken zu sein

A small erythropoietin derived non-hematopoietic peptide reduces cardiac inflammation, attenuates age associated declines in heart function and prolongs healthspan

BackgroundAging is associated with increased levels of reactive oxygen species and inflammation that disrupt proteostasis and mitochondrial function and leads to organism-wide frailty later in life. ARA290 (cibinetide), an 11-aa non-hematopoietic peptide sequence within the cardioprotective domain of erythropoietin, mediates tissue protection by reducing inflammation and fibrosis. Age-associated cardiac inflammation is linked to structural and functional changes in the heart, including mitochondrial dysfunction, impaired proteostasis, hypertrophic cardiac remodeling, and contractile dysfunction. Can ARA290 ameliorate these age-associated cardiac changes and the severity of frailty in advanced age?MethodsWe conducted an integrated longitudinal (n = 48) and cross-sectional (n = 144) 15 months randomized controlled trial in which 18-month-old Fischer 344 x Brown Norway rats were randomly assigned to either receive chronic ARA290 treatment or saline. Serial echocardiography, tail blood pressure and body weight were evaluated repeatedly at 4-month intervals. A frailty index was calculated at the final timepoint (33 months of age). Tissues were harvested at 4-month intervals to define inflammatory markers and left ventricular tissue remodeling. Mitochondrial and myocardial cell health was assessed in isolated left ventricular myocytes. Kaplan–Meier survival curves were established. Mixed ANOVA tests and linear mixed regression analysis were employed to determine the effects of age, treatment, and age-treatment interactions.ResultsChronic ARA290 treatment mitigated age-related increases in the cardiac non-myocyte to myocyte ratio, infiltrating leukocytes and monocytes, pro-inflammatory cytokines, total NF-κB, and p-NF-κB. Additionally, ARA290 treatment enhanced cardiomyocyte autophagy flux and reduced cellular accumulation of lipofuscin. The cardiomyocyte mitochondrial permeability transition pore response to oxidant stress was desensitized following chronic ARA290 treatment. Concurrently, ARA290 significantly blunted the age-associated elevation in blood pressure and preserved the LV ejection fraction. Finally, ARA290 preserved body weight and significantly reduced other markers of organism-wide frailty at the end of life.ConclusionAdministration of ARA290 reduces cell and tissue inflammation, mitigates structural and functional changes within the cardiovascular system leading to amelioration of frailty and preserved healthspan

Dissonance-Based Interventions for the Prevention of Eating Disorders: Using Persuasion Principles to Promote Health

The limited efficacy of prior eating disorder (ED) prevention programs led to the development of dissonance-based interventions (DBI) that utilize dissonance-based persuasion principles from social psychology. Although DBIs have been used to change other attitudes and behaviors, only recently have they been applied to ED prevention. This article reviews the theoretical rationale and empirical support for this type of prevention program. Relative to assessment-only controls, DBIs have produced greater reductions in ED risk factors, ED symptoms, future risk for onset of threshold or subthreshold EDs, future risk for obesity onset, and mental health utilization, with some effects persisting through 3-year follow-up. DBIs have also produced significantly stronger effects than alternative interventions for many of these outcomes, though these effects typically fade more quickly. A meta-analysis indicated that the average effects for DBIs were significantly stronger than those for non-DBI ED prevention programs that have been evaluated. DBIs have produced effects when delivered to high-risk samples and unselected samples, as well as in efficacy and effectiveness trials conducted by six independent labs, suggesting that the effects are robust and that DBIs should be considered for the prevention of other problems, such as smoking, substance abuse, HIV, and diabetes care