Effect of Mouth Rinsing and Ingestion of Carbohydrate Solutions on Mood and Perceptual Responses During Exercise

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether mouth rinsing or ingesting carbohydrate (CHO) solutions impact on perceptual responses during exercise. Methods: Nine moderately trained male cyclists underwent a 90-min glycogen-reducing exercise, and consumed a low CHO meal, prior to completing an overnight fast. A 1-h cycle time trial was performed the following morning. Four trials, each separated by 7days, were conducted in a randomized, counterbalanced study design: 15% CHO mouth rinse (CHOR), 7.5% CHO ingestion (CHOI), placebo mouth rinse (PLAR) and placebo ingestion (PLAI). Solution volumes (1.5ml·g-1 ingestion trials and 0.33ml·kg-1 rinsing trials) were provided after every 12.5% of completed exercise. Perceptual scales were used to assess affective valence (feeling scale, FS), arousal (felt arousal scale, FAS), exertion (ratings of perceived exertion, RPE) and mood (profile of mood states, POMS) before, during and immediately after exercise. Results: There was no difference in RPE (CHOI, 14.0±9; CHOR, 14.2±.7; PLAI, 14.6±1.8; PLAR, 14.6±2.0; P=0.35), FS (CHOI, 0.0±1.7; CHOR, -0.2±1.5; PLAI, -0.8±1.4; PLAR, -0.8±1.6; P0.15), or FAS (CHOI, 3.6±1.1; CHOR, 3.5±1.0; PLAI, 3.4±1.4; PLAR, 3.3±1.3; P=725) scores between trials. While overall POMS score did not appear to differ between trials, the 'vigour' subscale indicated that CHOI may facilitate the maintenance of 'vigour' scores over time, in comparison to the steady decline witnessed in other trials (P=0.04). There was no difference in time trial performance between trials (CHOI, 65.3±4.8min; CHOR, 68.4±3.9min; PLAI, 68.7±5.3min; PLAR, 68.3±5.2min; P=0.21) but power output was higher in CHOI (231.0±33.2 W) relative to other trials (221-223.6 W; Plt0.01). Conclusions: In a CHO-reduced state, mouth rinsing with a CHO solution did not impact on perceptual responses during high-intensity exercise in trained cyclists and triathletes. On the other hand CHO ingestion improved perceived ratings of vigour and increased power output during exercise

Utilisation of an operative difficulty grading scale for laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background A reliable system for grading operative difficulty of laparoscopic cholecystectomy would standardise description of findings and reporting of outcomes. The aim of this study was to validate a difficulty grading system (Nassar scale), testing its applicability and consistency in two large prospective datasets. Methods Patient and disease-related variables and 30-day outcomes were identified in two prospective cholecystectomy databases: the multi-centre prospective cohort of 8820 patients from the recent CholeS Study and the single-surgeon series containing 4089 patients. Operative data and patient outcomes were correlated with Nassar operative difficultly scale, using Kendall’s tau for dichotomous variables, or Jonckheere–Terpstra tests for continuous variables. A ROC curve analysis was performed, to quantify the predictive accuracy of the scale for each outcome, with continuous outcomes dichotomised, prior to analysis. Results A higher operative difficulty grade was consistently associated with worse outcomes for the patients in both the reference and CholeS cohorts. The median length of stay increased from 0 to 4 days, and the 30-day complication rate from 7.6 to 24.4% as the difficulty grade increased from 1 to 4/5 (both p < 0.001). In the CholeS cohort, a higher difficulty grade was found to be most strongly associated with conversion to open and 30-day mortality (AUROC = 0.903, 0.822, respectively). On multivariable analysis, the Nassar operative difficultly scale was found to be a significant independent predictor of operative duration, conversion to open surgery, 30-day complications and 30-day reintervention (all p < 0.001). Conclusion We have shown that an operative difficulty scale can standardise the description of operative findings by multiple grades of surgeons to facilitate audit, training assessment and research. It provides a tool for reporting operative findings, disease severity and technical difficulty and can be utilised in future research to reliably compare outcomes according to case mix and intra-operative difficulty

Characterisation of proteins in excretory/secretory products collected from salmon lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis

Background  The salmon louse, Lepeophtheirus salmonis, is an ectoparasitic copepod which feeds on the mucus, skin and blood of salmonid fish species. The parasite can persist on the surface of the fish without any effective control being exerted by the host immune system. Other ectoparasitic invertebrates produce compounds in their saliva, excretions and/or secretions which modulate the host immune responses allowing them to remain on or in the host during development. Similarly, compounds are produced in secretions of L. salmonis which are thought to be responsible for immunomodulation of the host responses as well as other aspects of crucial host-parasite interactions.  Methods  In this study we have identified and characterised the proteins in the excretory/secretory (E/S) products of L. salmonis using LC-ESI-MS/MS.  Results  In total 187 individual proteins were identified in the E/S collected from adult lice and pre-adult sea lice. Fifty-three proteins, including 13 serine-type endopeptidases, 1 peroxidase and 5 vitellogenin-like proteins were common to both adult and pre-adult E/S products. One hundred and seven proteins were identified in the adult E/S but not in the pre-adult E/S and these included serine and cysteine-type endopeptidases, vitellogenins, sphingomyelinase and calreticulin. A total of 27 proteins were identified in pre-adult E/S products but not in adult E/S.  Conclusions  The assigned functions of these E/S products and the potential roles they play in host-parasite interaction is discussed

Effects of the Higashi-Nihon Earthquake: Posttraumatic Stress, Psychological Changes, and Cortisol Levels of Survivors

On March 11, 2011, the Pacific side of Japan’s northeast was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. For years, many researchers have been working on ways of examining the psychological effects of earthquakes on survivors in disaster areas who have experienced aftershocks, catastrophic fires, and other damage caused by the earthquake. The goal of this study is to examine scores on psychological measures and salivary cortisol level in these individuals both before and three months after the earthquake. The participants had been measured for these variables before the earthquake. After the earthquake, we carried out PTSD screening using CAPS for participants for another experiment, and then again conducted the aforementioned tests. We collected saliva samples from all survivors. Our results show that social relationship scores on the WHO-QOL26, negative mood scores of the WHO-SUBI, total GHQ score, POMS confusion scores, and CMI emotional status score after the earthquake showed scores indicating significantly decreased compared to before the earthquake. On the other hand, salivary cortisol levels after the earthquake was significantly increased compared to before the earthquake. Moreover, the result of a multiple regression analysis found that negative mood score on the WHO-SUBI and social relationship score on the WHO-QOL26 were significantly related to salivary cortisol levels. Our results thus demonstrate that several psychological stress induced by the earthquake was associated with an increase in salivary cortisol levels. These results show similar findings to previous study. We anticipate that this study will provide a better understanding of posttraumatic responses in the early stages of adaptation to the trauma and expand effective prevention strategies and countermeasures for PTSD

The relation between neuromechanical parameters and Ashworth score in stroke patients

Quantifying increased joint resistance into its contributing factors i.e. stiffness and viscosity ("hypertonia") and stretch reflexes ("hyperreflexia") is important in stroke rehabilitation. Existing clinical tests, such as the Ashworth Score, do not permit discrimination between underlying tissue and reflexive (neural) properties. We propose an instrumented identification paradigm for early and tailor made interventions.BioMechanical EngineeringMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin

Risk Behaviors for Reproductive Tract Infection in Women Who Have Sex with Women in Beijing, China

OBJECTIVES: To assess risk behaviors for reproductive tract infections (RTI) including sexually transmitted infections (STI) among women who have sex with women (WSW) in Beijing, China. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of women recruited from venues and internet outreach analyzed using interviews. RESULTS: We recruited 224 WSW, among whom were 37 couples. The average age of participants was 25.6 years. Sex with men in the past year was reported by 10.7% of participants. During the past year, 34.3% (77/224) had had >1 sexual partner and 72.4% (162/224) had ever had >1 sexual partner. Condom use in the last sex with a man was reported by 54.2% (13/24) of women; 12.5% (3/24) reported never having used a condom with a man in the past year. In the past year, 13.4% (30/224) reported using sex toys with their female partners; of these, 43.3% (13/30) reported consistent condom use with the sex toys and 36.7% (11/30) had shared sex toys. Among participants 65.2% (120/184) reported that their "G-spot" had been stimulated during sex, 49.2% (59/120) of whom reported bleeding during or after sex. Only 12.5% (8/64) of those never reporting "G spot" stimulation reported bleeding during or after sex (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: WSW in Beijing engaged in high-risk sexual behaviors that may carry a substantial risk of being infected with STI/RTI. To implement STI/RTI prevention and intervention among women, women-women sexual behavior should be considered when doing research and intervention programs