Fairness in Water Quality: A Descriptive Approach

Muscle strength is important for firefighters work capacity. Laboratory tests used for measurements of muscle strength, however, are complicated, expensive and time consuming. The aims of the present study were to investigate correlations between physical capacity within commonly occurring and physically demanding firefighting work tasks and both laboratory and field tests in full time (N = 8) and part-time (N = 10) male firefighters and civilian men (N = 8) and women (N = 12), and also to give recommendations as to which field tests might be useful for evaluating firefighters' physical work capacity. Laboratory tests of isokinetic maximal (IM) and endurance (IE) muscle power and dynamic balance, field tests including maximal and endurance muscle performance, and simulated firefighting work tasks were performed. Correlations with work capacity were analyzed with Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (rs). The highest significant (p<0.01) correlations with laboratory and field tests were for Cutting: IE trunk extension (rs = 0.72) and maximal hand grip strength (rs = 0.67), for Stairs: IE shoulder flexion (rs = −0.81) and barbell shoulder press (rs = −0.77), for Pulling: IE shoulder extension (rs= −0.82) and bench press (rs = −0.85), for Demolition: IE knee extension (rs = 0.75) and bench press (rs = 0.83), for Rescue: IE shoulder flexion (rs = −0.83) and bench press (rs = −0.82), and for the Terrain work task: IE trunk flexion (rs = −0.58) and upright barbell row (rs = −0.70). In conclusion, field tests may be used instead of laboratory tests. Maximal hand grip strength, bench press, chin ups, dips, upright barbell row, standing broad jump, and barbell shoulder press were strongly correlated (rs≥0.7) with work capacity and are therefore recommended for evaluating firefighters work capacity

Effects of Different Types of Lower Body Resistance Exercise on Upper-body Strength in Men and Women, with Special Reference to Anabolic Hormones

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(3): 1052-1069, 2021. Resistance exercise has been shown to induce an acute hormonal response. The purpose of this study was to examine upper-body adaptations and the endocrine response to strength training in men and women when subjected to two different types of lower-body resistance training protocols. Nine males and eight females were assigned to either a Heavy Load (HL) (N = 10) or Mixed Load (ML) (N = 7) training routine three times per week for ten weeks. The HL-group executed low-volume, high-load resistance exercise for both lower and upper-body (4-6 reps at 80-90% of one repetition maximum (1-RM), three-minute inter-set rest). The ML-group performed the HL-protocol for the upper-body, but a high-volume, moderate-load protocol for the lower body (10-15 reps at 60-70% of 1-RM, one-minute inter-set rest). Volume load, 1-RM strength and hormonal measurements were analyzed by repeated-measures linear mixed models. Both groups increased their 1-RM in all assessments (p \u3c 0.01) with no significant difference between groups at any time. Growth hormone (GH), testosterone and bioavailable testosterone (T/SHBG) increased in both groups during a standardized exercise session (p \u3c 0.01) with ML having a greater increase in GH. The notion that acute elevations in anabolic hormones is important for muscle strength adaptation cannot be supported by the present study

Property and Empire: The Law of Imperialism in Johnson v. M’Intosh

Chief Justice\u27s Marshall\u27s opinion in Johnson v. M\u27Intosh, 21 U.S. (8 Wheat.)543 (1823) has long been a puzzle, both in its doctrinal structure and in long, strange dicta which are both triumphal and elegiac. In this Essay, I show that the opinion becomes newly intelligible when read in the context of the law and theory of colonialism, concerned, like the case itself, with the expropriation of continents and relations between dominant and subject peoples. I examine several instances where the seeming incoherence of the opinion instead shows its debt to imperial jurisprudence, which rested on a distinction between two bodies of law: one governing relations between civilized nations, the other relations between civilized governments and the imperfect sovereigns of other nations. I then show how Marshall\u27s long dicta reflect the then-prevalent view of the hsitorical progress of societies from hunter-gatherer to commercial orders, with each stage corresponding to a particular set of property institutions.This historical theory lent intelligibility to the legal distinctions between civilized and lesser or imperfect sovereigns by claiming that the latter occupied earlier stages of development and that civilized nations were legally permitted to overrride the property institutions of primitive societies in order to induce progress. The dicta, then, provide the frame for the reasoning of this case, just as the theory of historical progress framed the jurisprudence of colonialisn in general

Session A5: Dam Removal: Enhancing or Degrading Ecological Integrity?

Abstract: Removal of dams is increasingly being used to restore fragmented rivers and streams. The incentive is often to give migrating fish access to upstream spawning habitats, but dam removal may also bring other benefits, such as recovery of riparian vegetation and a more heterogeneous environment for aquatic invertebrates. Dam removal may also act as a disturbance on the system, releasing trapped sediments to downstream reaches. Depending on the amount of sediments in the former reservoir this disturbance may be transient or act over a longer time period. Whether dam removal is beneficial or not to the ecosystem may therefore depend on the type of organism. We have studied the effect of dam removal on riparian vegetation and benthic invertebrates in two Swedish streams over a period of 3 and 5 years respectively, and found that riparian vegetation generally benefitted from removal. Species richness increased, and species composition became more similar to a reference situation within a three year period. In contrast, benthic invertebrates seemed to be negatively affected by dam removal. While we saw no effects on community composition of benthic invertebrates, taxon richness decreased continuously over a five year period and total densities decreased initially but showed weak signs of recovery over the five year period. Our results also indicate that the response varies between invertebrate taxa

Protein differences between human trapezius and vastus lateralis muscles determined with a proteomic approach

Background: The trapezius muscle is a neck muscle that is susceptible to chronic pain conditions associated with repetitive tasks, commonly referred to as chronic work-related myalgia, hence making the trapezius a muscle of clinical interest. To provide a basis for further investigations of the proteomic traits of the trapezius muscle in disease, two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) was performed on the healthy trapezius using vastus lateralis as a reference. To obtain as much information as possible from the vast proteomic data set, both one-way ANOVA, with and without false discovery rate (FDR) correlation, and partial least square projection to latent structures with discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were combined to compare the outcome of the analysis. Results: The trapezius and vastus lateralis showed significant differences in metabolic, contractile and regulatory proteins, with different results depending on choice of statistical approach and pre-processing technique. Using the standard method, FDR correlated one-way ANOVA, 42 protein spots differed significantly in abundance between the two muscles. Complementary analysis using immunohistochemistry and western blot confirmed the results from the 2D-DIGE analysis. Conclusions: The proteomic approach used in the present study combining 2D-DIGE and multivariate modelling provided a more comprehensive comparison of the protein profiles of the human trapezius and vastus lateralis muscle, than previously possible to obtain with immunohistochemistry or SDS-PAGE alone. Although 2D-DIGE has inherent limitations it is particularly useful to comprehensively screen for important structural and metabolic proteins, and appears to be a promising tool for future studies of patients suffering from chronic work related myalgia or other muscle diseases

Интернет в жизни белорусских и норвежских студентов

Материалы X Международной научной конференции

Patients with allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma share the same pattern of eosinophil and neutrophil degranulation after allergen challenge

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Patients with allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma demonstrate comparable local and systemic eosinophil inflammation, and yet they present with different clinical pictures. Less is even known about the contribution of neutrophil inflammation in allergic diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the propensity and selectivity of granule release from primed systemic eosinophils and neutrophils in allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma after seasonal and experimental allergen exposure. We hypothesize that the dissimilar clinical manifestations are due to diverse eosinophil and neutrophil degranulation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nine birch pollen allergic patients with rhinitis, eight with asthma and four controls were studied during pollen season and after nasal and bronchial allergen challenge. Eosinophils and neutrophils were incubated in vitro with assay buffer and opsonized Sephadex particles for spontaneous and C3b-induced granule protein release. The released amount of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), eosinophil peroxidase (EPO) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) was measured by specific radioimmunoassay.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>C3b-induced degranulation resulted in increased release of ECP and MPO from primed blood eosinophils and neutrophils in both allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma during pollen season and after both nasal and bronchial challenge (p-values 0.008 to 0.043). After bronchial challenge, the ECP release was significantly higher in the rhinitic group compared to the asthmatic group [19.8 vs. 13.2%, (p = 0.010)]. The propensity for EPO release was weak in all challenge models but followed the same pattern in both allergic groups.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Systemically activated eosinophils and neutrophils have similar patterns of degranulation after allergen exposure in allergic rhinitis and allergic asthma. The released amount of ECP, EPO and MPO was similar in all allergen challenge models in both allergic groups. Our results indicate that other mechanisms than the magnitude of eosinophil and neutrophil inflammation or the degranulation pattern of the inflammatory cells determines whether or not an allergic patient develops asthma.</p

Immunological changes in human blood and skeletal muscle in response to physical exercise

Pysical exercise is essential for maintaining normal function of skeletal muscle. Muscle tissue also has a remarkable capacity for adaptation to changes in physical demand. In fact, without stimulation from physical activity, muscle tissue will atrophy. The mechanisms responsible for increases or decreases in muscle function are to a large extent not known. According to current opinions, one consequence of physical exercise can be muscle cell damage and inflammation. The inflammatory process is suggested to be one mechanism for muscle adaptation to exercise. Direct evidences for exercise-induced muscle inflammation in humans are weak. Nevertheless, the immune system seems to be of great importance for muscle adaptation. The capacity of the muscle tissue to adapt is largely due to the existence of satellite cells and local growth factors, but the exact molecular mechanism has not been discovered. An interaction between known and yet undiscovered factors are most likely involved m the adaptation process. Physical exercise will also change the number, activation and function of circulating leukocytes. Some of these changes are mediated via adhesion molecules, cytokines, growth factors and hormones. The purpose of this thesis was to Investigate interactions between immunological variables in human blood and skeletal muscle, in conjunction with physical exercise. The main hypothesis was that after physical exercise, circulating leukocytes will migrate to the affected muscle tissue as part of the inflammatory response. Upon completion of the damage-repair-adaptation process they will disappear from the muscle via migration or apoptosis. The magnitude of the inflammatory response should be intensity dependent. A majority of the subjects who participated in the studies were healthy males. Three different modes of eccentric exercise were used as a model to induce muscle inflammation and m one study immunological changes in the blood of soccer players during training and competition were investigated. Blood and muscle samples were taken before and at various time points after exercise. Immunohistochemical analyses of muscle sections, and blood analyses by flow cytometry, were the main tools used to assess immunological variables. The main findings were: 1) Exercise- induced muscle inflammation could not be observed in human skeletal muscle 2) The muscle biopsies induced significant skeletal muscle inflammation 3) HGF and its receptor c-Met, which are important for satellite cell activation, were expressed only in Type 1 skeletal muscle fibers. It is concluded that the measured immune response to physical exercise is highly individual and depends on exercise mode and duration as well as which variables are analyzed, A significant inflammation in muscle tissue is not a likely result of physical exercise and delayed onset muscle soreness is not caused by muscle or epimysium inflammation. Furthermore, the inflammatory reaction in skeletal muscle is not depressed after strenuous eccentric physical exercise, indicating persisting normal immune function. The observed immunological events m blood and skeletal muscle in relation to physical exercise suggest a complex communication system between the two compartments. Finally, based on the observed effects of physical exercise on healthy muscle one may conclude, that physical exercise should not be precluded from the treatment of patients with inflammatory muscle diseases due to fear of increased muscle inflammation as exercise by itself does not seem to cause an inflammation in muscle tissue

Maximal Lactate Steady State and Lactate Thresholds in the Cross-Country Skiing Sub-Technique Double Poling

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(2): 57-68, 2019. The response of blood lactate concentration (BLC) to exercise is a commonly used approach to set training intensities and to determine the anaerobic threshold, which are important in evaluation of endurance exercise performance. The maximal lactate steady state (MLSS) is defined as the highest workload or BLC that can be maintained without continual lactate accumulation over time. The aim of this study was to investigate MLSS in the cross-country skiing sub-technique double poling and to assess the validity of a fixed blood lactate threshold (OBLAand the 45° tangent of the lactate curve). Eight well-trained cross-country skiers (age = 27.6±8.8 years [mean±SD], body mass = 73.9±6.2 kg, height = 179.3±7.0 cm) performed an incremental test to determine OBLA and Individual Anaerobic Threshold (IAnT) and several constant workload tests of 30 min to determine the MLSS. Lactate concentration at MLSS in double poling was 6.7±1.3 mmol·L-1 which was significantly higher compared to OBLA(p\u3c0.001) and IAnT (p\u3c0.01). Despite significant correlations in velocities between MLSS-IAnT and MLSS-OBLA(r=0.95/0.95, p\u3c0.001), significant (p\u3c0.01) differences between MLSS (21.4±2.8 km·h-1) versus IAnT (20.6±3.6 km·h-1) and OBLA(19.9±3.0 km·h-1) was observed. It was concluded that both OBLA and IAnT underestimate MLSS in double poling. A fixed value of 7 mmol·L-1 would be more appropriate in lactate testing of cross-country skiers using the double poling technique, yet dissuaded because of intra-individual variations. Direct determination of MLSS is the recommended approach for useful exercise thresholds, important for training interventions in elite cross-country skiers