Effect of the 90-second ‘Gear’ exercise programme on cardiometabolic risk factors in persons with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease

Background: High-intensity interval training has recently gained popularity at improving cardiometabolic health. However, a close investigation of high-intensity interval training reveals that the exercise duration is similar to moderate-intensity continuous exercise.Objective: To compare the effect of the time-efficient ‘Gear’ exercise programmes to traditional exercise on cardiometabolic risk factors in persons with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease. Methods: The study implemented a six-week, randomised controlled trial. The variables were low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, total cholesterol, glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), blood pressure and body composition. Forty-eight participants completed the study. Participants were randomly assigned to either the ‘Gear’ exercise programme repeated at different times during the day (GEP-DT): cycled for 90 seconds, repeated three times/day, for three days/week (n = 12); ‘Gear’ exercise programme at one point in time (GEP-OT): cycled for 90 seconds followed by 4 minutes and 30 seconds rest, repeated three times at one point in time, for three days/week (n = 14); 30 minutes of moderate-intensity continuous cycling repeated three days/week at 55-69% HRmax (n = 11); and the controls, who were encouraged not to exercise (n = 11). A demonstration of the ‘Gear’ exercise programme can be viewed on the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAbkRg9ex94 Results: The 90-second GEP-DT intervention reduced HbA1c post six-weeks of training (MD = ­0.1±0.4, % Δ = -1.3%, d = ˗0.70). The GEP-OT group decreased blood triglycerides with a large effect size (MD = ­0.6±1.3, % Δ = ˗31.9%, d = ˗0.83). Conclusion: The novel 90-second ‘Gear’ exercise programme moderately reduced HbA1c and the 18-minute GEP-OT lowered blood triglycerides. ‘Gear’ exercise programmes will encourage future research in persons with non-communicable diseases, and it should be considered as a public health initiative to promote exercise in clinical, home and work environments

Changes in cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular health in the workplace: a case study

Background: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is an independent predictor of cardiovascular (CV) and all-cause mortality, contributing a higher proportion of CV risk compared to other traditionally recognised risk factors. However, CRF is not included in usual workplace wellness protocols and, as such, employers are not aware of the importance of this factor. Aim: The aim of this case study was to explore the effect of a 12-week exercise intervention programme on CRF, CV health and medical health claims in a male participant who was employed by a corporate company with existing chronic diseases. Findings: Health outcome measures improved after the 12-week exercise intervention programme. CRF showed the greatest improvement and medical health claims were lowered during the three-month post-intervention period. Implications: CRF should be included as a health outcome measure in worksite wellness programmes and monitored

Exercise intervention for post-acute COVID-19 syndrome – do FITT-VP principles apply? A case study

The lack of standardisation of reporting exercise interventions hampers the development of best practice guidelines for long COVID patients. This case study on the effect of an exercise intervention in a long COVID patient applied the Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template (CERT) for reporting interventions. FITT-VP exercise prescription principles for long COVID rehabilitation are also suggested. A 58-year-old male, previously hospitalised for 14 days in the ward for the intensive care for the management of severe COVID-19 infection, joined an exercise rehabilitation programme. A medical history, anthropometric, biochemical, lung function, blood pressure, cardiorespiratory fitness and strength measures were all assessed before and after the eight week exercise intervention programme. Positive changes were found in all lung function test measures. Cardiorespiratory fitness, endurance capacity and muscle strength improved. However, the greatest improvements occurred in functional status, fatigue, dyspnoea and the state of depression levels. This case study suggested that in the absence of other instruments, the FITTVP principles may be used for long COVID patients, and CERT for reporting interventions, but these should be further researched

‘I’m doing it for myself’: Using a smartphone-based exercise service during the COVID-19 lockdown in the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Background: Sufficient physical activity (PA) lowers poor health outcomes, with data showing these protective effects in populations under varying levels of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic. The advent of online PA programmes has created novel opportunities to offset the deleterious effects of inactivity. However, data are limited and the readiness and acceptance of such technology is unknown. These authors nevertheless noted an opportunity to investigate this approach based on promising emerging data at the time of the hard lockdown in South Africa. Objective: This exploratory study investigated the engagement and perceptions of a smartphone application to promote health and fitness in a sample of employees at a South African university. Methods: Employed members of staff (n=15) of the University of the Witwatersrand were recruited through email invitation during the hard Level 5 COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. Individualised home-based PA programmes were prescribed through a mobile application for a period of eight weeks. Researchers qualified in Biokinetics provided online supervision of the exercise sessions during the intervention. Participants were asked to complete a self-reported questionnaire about their use of the application. Thematic analysis was used to understand these responses. Results: Lack of motivation was perceived to have a negative effect on participation in the online PA programme. Only one participant reported using the mobile application consistently during the study period, while half of the participants reported having trouble with the usage of the application. The participants frequently mentioned the need for technical support and further engagement from the clinicians supervising the PA programme to ensure use and progression. Staff identified issues with connectivity and already having too many phone applications (apps) amongst the reasons for the technical difficulties. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the challenges and potential for the uptake of online PA interventions during COVID-19 and, despite its small sample size, the data provide important lessons learned that will be used as information in further investigations

Postactivation performance enhancement (PAPE) of sprint acceleration performance

Postactivation performance enhancement (PAPE) is a principle that an acute bout of high-intensity voluntary exercise is followed by an enhancement in strength, speed or power production. This study intended to show a direct correlation between intensity, specificity and the outcome of a maximal task of sprint accelerations compared to a previously defined weighted plyometric intervention. In a randomised controlled, double-blind trial, professional footballers undertook 20 m maximal sprint accelerations at a baseline and at 2 and 6 min post-intervention after 1 of 3 interventions; 2 repetitions of 20 m sprint accelerations (S), 3 × 10 alternative leg weighted bounding (P) and control (C). Relative to the baseline there was a significant improvement for S over 10 and 20 m at 2 min of 0.12m.s−1 and 0.11m.s−1 and 6 min of 0.11m.s−1 and 0.12m.s−1. Relative to the baseline P also had a significant improvement over 10 and 20 m at 2 min 0.09m.s−1 and 0.09m.s−1 and 6 min of 0.11m.s−1 and 0.09m.s−1. There was a significant improvement in C between 2 and 6 min post-intervention at 10 and 20 m of 0.06m.s−1 and 0.08m.s−1. This finding suggests a maximal sprint acceleration may enhance the outcome of a subsequent maximal sprint acceleration at 2 min, but the latter results could not be directly attributed to the interventions as previous testing is likely to have influenced these outcomes

An effective approach to the use of 3D scanning technology which shortens the development time of 3D models

This work explores some new alternative methodologies (algorithms, software, techniques) to shorten the development time of 3D models. It shows how high-resolution 3D models acquired by software or scanning can be analyzed in a common format for practical use as imports into a game or other 3D virtual applications. A software application was developed to facilitate the portability of 3D data between the Mephisto 3D Scanner and 3D Studio Max. An application for loading a 3D polygon mesh from a file has been developed as a case study to explain the methodology

Long-term treatment of cancer-prone germline PTEN mutant mice with low-dose rapamycin extends lifespan and delays tumour development

PTEN is one of the most commonly inactivated tumour suppressor genes in sporadic cancer. Germline heterozygous PTEN gene alterations also underlie PTEN hamartoma tumour syndrome (PHTS), a rare human cancer-predisposition condition. A key feature of systemic PTEN deregulation is the inability to adequately dampen PI3-kinase (PI3K)/mTORC1 signalling. PI3K/mTORC1 pathway inhibitors such as rapamycin are therefore expected to neutralise the impact of PTEN loss, rendering this a more druggable context compared with those of other tumour suppressor pathways such as loss of TP53. However, this has not been explored in cancer prevention in a model of germline cancer predisposition, such as PHTS. Clinical trials of short-term treatment with rapamycin have recently been initiated for PHTS, focusing on cognition and colon polyposis. Here, we administered a low dose of rapamycin from the age of 6 weeks onwards to mice with heterozygous germline Pten loss, a mouse model that recapitulates most characteristics of human PHTS. Rapamycin was well tolerated and led to a highly significant improvement of survival in both male and female mice. This was accompanied by a delay in, but not full blockade of, the development of a range of proliferative lesions, including gastro-intestinal and thyroid tumours and endometrial hyperplasia, with no impact on mammary and prostate tumours, and no effect on brain overgrowth. Our data indicate that rapamycin may have cancer prevention potential in human PHTS. This might also be the case for sporadic cancers in which genetic PI3K pathway activation is an early event in tumour development, such as endometrial cancer and some breast cancers. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a long-term treatment of a germline cancer predisposition model with a PI3K/mTOR pathway inhibitor. © 2022 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

The written representation of the youth language (slang) in comic books

Cette thèse s’intéresse à la représentation écrite du « parler jeune » dans la bande dessinée. La représentation de la langue des jeunes dans la bande dessinée est intéressante pour diverses raisons : D’un point de vue sociétal, elle touche à la langue des adolescents qui depuis quelques années attire l’attention des sociolinguistes et du grand public. D’un point de vue linguistique, le « parler jeune » est représenté dans la bande dessinée qui est une forme d’expression très prisée en France, en comparaison avec le français standard et la norme de la langue française. Les résultats trouvés dans la recherche originale sont très importants en ce qui concerne le passage de l’oral à l’écrit. La recherche s’est faite sur le plan phonique en étudiant la manière dont la prosodie et l’intonation sont interprétées à l’écrit ; sur le plan lexical en examinant les mots du corpus ; sur le plan morphologique en analysant la formation des mots du corpus ; sur le plan syntaxique où le besoin d’être bref est présent mais aussi quelle richesse apporte l’utilisation des interjections et des onomatopées dans la bande dessinée.This thesis deals the written representation of the youth language (slang) in comic books. The representation of the language of the young people in the comic books is interesting for various reasons: from a societal point of view, it relates with the language of the teenagers which for a few years has drawn the attention of the sociolinguists and the general public. From a linguistic point of view, youth language is represented in the comic books that are a form of expression very widespread in France, in comparison with standard French and the standard of French language. The results found in original research are very important with regard to the passage of the oral examination to the writing. Research was done at the phonic level by studying the way in which the prosody and the intonation are interpreted in written at the lexical level by examining the words of the corpus; on the morphological level by analyzing the formation of the words of the corpus; at the syntactic level where the need to be brief is present but also which wealth brings the use of the interjections and the onomatopoeias in the comic book