Effect of abdominal binding on respiratory mechanics during exercise in athletes with cervical spinal cord injury

West CR, Goosey-Tolfrey VL, Campbell IG, Romer LM. Effect of abdominal binding on respiratory mechanics during exercise in athletes with cervical spinal cord injury. J Appl Physiol 117: 36–45, 2014. First published May 22, 2014; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00218.2014.—We asked whether elastic binding of the abdomen influences respiratory mechanics during wheelchair propulsion in athletes with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). Eight Paralympic wheelchair rugby players with motor-complete SCI (C5-C7) performed submaximal and maximal incremental exercise tests on a treadmill, both with and without abdominal binding. Measurements included pulmonary function, pressure-derived indices of respiratory mechanics, operating lung volumes, tidal flow-volume data, gas exchange, blood lactate, and symptoms. Residual volume and functional residual capacity were reduced with binding (77 18 and 81 11% of unbound, P 0.05), vital capacity was increased (114 9%, P 0.05), whereas total lung capacity was relatively well preserved (99 5%). During exercise, binding introduced a passive increase in transdiaphragmatic pressure, due primarily to an increase in gastric pressure. Active pressures during inspiration were similar across conditions. A sudden, sustained rise in operating lung volumes was evident in the unbound condition, and these volumes were shifted downward with binding. Expiratory flow limitation did not occur in any subject and there was substantial reserve to increase flow and volume in both conditions. V ˙ O2 was elevated with binding during the final stages of exercise (8 –12%, P 0.05), whereas blood lactate concentration was reduced (16 –19%, P 0.05). V ˙ O2/heart rate slopes were less steep with binding (62 35 vs. 47 24 ml/beat, P 0.05). Ventilation, symptoms, and work rates were similar across conditions. The results suggest that abdominal binding shifts tidal breathing to lower lung volumes without influencing flow limitation, symptoms, or exercise tolerance. Changes in respiratory mechanics with binding may benefit O2 transport capacity by an improvement in central circulatory function.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Circulating endothelial cell-derived extracellular vesicles mediate the acute phase response and sickness behaviour associated with CNS inflammation.

Brain injury elicits a systemic acute-phase response (APR), which is responsible for co-ordinating the peripheral immunological response to injury. To date, the mechanisms responsible for signalling the presence of injury or disease to selectively activate responses in distant organs were unclear. Circulating endogenous extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increased after brain injury and have the potential to carry targeted injury signals around the body. Here, we examined the potential of EVs, isolated from rats after focal inflammatory brain lesions using IL-1β, to activate a systemic APR in recipient naïve rats, as well as the behavioural consequences of EV transfer. Focal brain lesions increased EV release, and, following isolation and transfer, the EVs were sequestered by the liver where they initiated an APR. Transfer of blood-borne EVs from brain-injured animals was also enough to suppress exploratory behaviours in recipient naïve animals. EVs derived from brain endothelial cell cultures treated with IL-1β also activated an APR and altered behaviour in recipient animals. These experiments reveal that inflammation-induced circulating EVs derived from endothelial cells are able to initiate the APR to brain injury and are sufficient to generate the associated sickness behaviours, and are the first demonstration that EVs are capable of modifying behavioural responses

Resource use data by patient report or hospital records: Do they agree?

Background: Economic evaluations alongside clinical trials are becoming increasingly common. Cost data are often collected through the use of postal questionnaires; however, the accuracy of this method is uncertain. We compared postal questionnaires with hospital records for collecting data on physiotherapy service use. Methods: As part of a randomised trial of orthopaedic medicine compared with orthopaedic surgery we collected physiotherapy use data on a group of patients from retrospective postal questionnaires and from hospital records. Results: 315 patients were referred for physiotherapy. Hospital data on attendances was available for 30% (n = 96), compared with 48% (n = 150) of patients completing questionnaire data (95% Cl for difference = 10% to 24%); 19% (n = 59) had data available from both sources. The two methods produced an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.54 (95% Cl 0.31 to 0.70). However, the two methods produced significantly different estimates of resource use with patient self report recalling a mean of 1.3 extra visits (95% Cl 0.4 to 2.2) compared with hospital records. Conclusions: Using questionnaires in this study produced data on a greater number of patients compared with examination of hospital records. However, the two data sources did differ in the quantity of physiotherapy used and this should be taken into account in any analysi

Non-invasive MRI biomarkers for the early assessment of iron overload in a humanized mouse model of β-thalassemia

β-thalassemia (βT) is a genetic blood disorder causing profound and life threatening anemia. Current clinical management of βT is a lifelong dependence on regular blood transfusions, a consequence of which is systemic iron overload leading to acute heart failure. Recent developments in gene and chelation therapy give hope of better prognosis for patients, but successful translation to clinical practice is hindered by the lack of thorough preclinical testing using representative animal models and clinically relevant quantitative biomarkers. Here we demonstrate a quantitative and non-invasive preclinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) platform for the assessment of βT in the γβ(0)/γβ(A) humanized mouse model of βT. Changes in the quantitative MRI relaxation times as well as severe splenomegaly were observed in the heart, liver and spleen in βT. These data showed high sensitivity to iron overload and a strong relationship between quantitative MRI relaxation times and hepatic iron content. Importantly these changes preceded the onset of iron overload cardiomyopathy, providing an early biomarker of disease progression. This work demonstrates that multiparametric MRI is a powerful tool for the assessment of preclinical βT, providing sensitive and quantitative monitoring of tissue iron sequestration and cardiac dysfunction- parameters essential for the preclinical development of new therapeutics

Temperate to tropical palaeoclimates on the northwest margin of Europe during the middle Cenozoic

Globally, the middle Cenozoic (Oligocene to early Miocene, ~33.9–15.97 Ma) was characterized by a warmer, wetter climate than present. Reconstructing the climate of this stratigraphic interval helps us to better understand the implications of present and future anthropogenically-driven climate change in an Earth system with an established Antarctic ice mass and comparable pCO2 levels (400–700 ppm). Relative to mainland Europe, little palaeoclimate work has been done on the British Isles for this time interval. Compiled middle Cenozoic palynology records from across the British Isles were used to quantitatively reconstruct palaeoclimate, which was then used to define K\uf6ppen-Geiger signatures for each palynomorph assemblage. These reconstructions were used to show the presence of a temperate, dry-winter and hot-summer (Cwa) K\uf6ppen-Geiger climate type before 31.8 Ma, which was possibly a short-lived event driven by precessional (~26 k.y.) forcing. We attribute reconstructions with dry-winter K\uf6ppen-Geiger classifications to combined eccentricity-obliquity-precession (~405 k.y.) forcing, after the Eocene-Oligocene Transition. Declines in Mean Annual Temperature, in Chattian sections, are associated with the Svalbardella-2 and 3 North Sea cooling events. The late Oligocene warming event is shown to have produced tropical rainforest (Af) K\uf6ppen-Geiger classification types in the British Isles. Following early Miocene glaciation, a temperate, no-dry-season, warm-summer (Cfb) signature was reconstructed. We suggest the present-day climate of the northwest margin of Europe is comparable to the early Miocene palaeoclimate. Under increased pCO2 concentrations, based on projected twenty-first century anthropogenic warming scenarios, there is potential for wetter summers becoming more prevalent within the next century

Mucolipidosis II: correlation between radiological features and histopathology of the bones.

Twelve cases of Mucolipidosis II (I-cell disease) with a wide range of severity of skeletal involvement were studied. Pathological findings in two cases provided helpful information in understanding the radiographic features of dysostosis multiplex. Inhibition of the growth plate cartilage calcification and rickets-like lesions were observed in the metaphyses. Enhanced subperiosteal remodelling and paratrabecular fibrosis were also evident in the diaphyses. High levels of parathormone were found in one case. This finding supports the hypothesis that bone lesions may be secondary, at least in part, to damage in such viscera as the kidney and/or the liver and that they are mediated by vitamin D and parathormone

Seagrass can mitigate negative ocean acidification effects on calcifying algae

The ultimate effect that ocean acidification (OA) and warming will have on the physiology of calcifying algae is still largely uncertain. Responses depend on the complex interactions between seawater chemistry, global/local stressors and species-specific physiologies. There is a significant gap regarding the effect that metabolic interactions between coexisting species may have on local seawater chemistry and the concurrent effect of OA. Here, we manipulated CO2 and temperature to evaluate the physiological responses of two common photoautotrophs from shallow tropical marine coastal ecosystems in Brazil: the calcifying alga Halimeda cuneata, and the seagrass Halodule wrightii. We tested whether or not seagrass presence can influence the calcification rate of a widespread and abundant species of Halimeda under OA and warming. Our results demonstrate that under elevated CO2, the high photosynthetic rates of H. wrightii contribute to raise H. cuneata calcification more than two-fold and thus we suggest that H. cuneata populations coexisting with H. wrightii may have a higher resilience to OA conditions. This conclusion supports the more general hypothesis that, in coastal and shallow reef environments, the metabolic interactions between calcifying and non-calcifying organisms are instrumental in providing refuge against OA effects and increasing the resilience of the more OA-susceptible species.E.B. would like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoas de Nível Superior (CAPES) for Masters funding. Funding for this project came from the Synergism grant (CNPq 407365/2013-3). We extend our thanks to the Brazil-based Projeto Coral Vivo and its sponsor PetroBras Ambiental for providing the Marine Mesocosm structure and experimental assistance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Is the Shroud of Turin in Relation to the Old Jerusalem Historical Earthquake?

Phillips and Hedges suggested, in the scientific magazine Nature (1989), that neutron radiation could be liable of a wrong radiocarbon dating, while proton radiation could be responsible of the Shroud body image formation. On the other hand, no plausible physical reason has been proposed so far to explain the radiation source origin, and its effects on the linen fibres. However, some recent studies, carried out by the first author and his Team at the Laboratory of Fracture Mechanics of the Politecnico di Torino, found that it is possible to generate neutron emissions from very brittle rock specimens in compression through piezonuclear fission reactions. Analogously, neutron flux increments, in correspondence to seismic activity, should be a result of the same reactions. A group of Russian scientists measured a neutron flux exceeding the background level by three orders of magnitude in correspondence to rather appreciable earthquakes (4th degree in Richter Scale). The authors consider the possibility that neutron emissions by earthquakes could have induced the image formation on Shroud linen fibres, trough thermal neutron capture by Nitrogen nuclei, and provided a wrong radiocarbon dating due to an increment in C(14,6)content. Let us consider that, although the calculated integral flux of 10^13 neutrons per square centimetre is 10 times greater than the cancer therapy dose, nevertheless it is100 times smaller than the lethal dose.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Visual ecology of aphids – a critical review on the role of colours in host finding

We review the rich literature on behavioural responses of aphids (Hemiptera: Aphididae) to stimuli of different colours. Only in one species there are adequate physiological data on spectral sensitivity to explain behaviour crisply in mechanistic terms. Because of the great interest in aphid responses to coloured targets from an evolutionary, ecological and applied perspective, there is a substantial need to expand these studies to more species of aphids, and to quantify spectral properties of stimuli rigorously. We show that aphid responses to colours, at least for some species, are likely based on a specific colour opponency mechanism, with positive input from the green domain of the spectrum and negative input from the blue and/or UV region. We further demonstrate that the usual yellow preference of aphids encountered in field experiments is not a true colour preference but involves additional brightness effects. We discuss the implications for agriculture and sensory ecology, with special respect to the recent debate on autumn leaf colouration. We illustrate that recent evolutionary theories concerning aphid–tree interactions imply far-reaching assumptions on aphid responses to colours that are not likely to hold. Finally we also discuss the implications for developing and optimising strategies of aphid control and monitoring