Agreement Study Between the ParvoMedics TrueOne 2400 and Vacu-Med Vista MINI-CPX Metabolic Measurement System

Aerobic capacity (VO2 MAX) predicts both athletic performance and health status. Many tools are available to assess VO2 MAX ranging in both cost and accuracy. Understanding limitations of less expensive tools, likely found in settings such as health clinics or sports performance facilities, will help practitioners in developing accurate exercise prescriptions for their respective populations. To evaluate agreement lower cost VO2 MAX assessment tool (Vacu-Med Vista MINI-CPX) to the industry “gold standard” (ParvoMedics TrueOne 2400). Thirty-one participants (22.5 ± 3.5 years; BMI 24.9 ± 2.3; 51% female) completed two sessions of maximal VO2 MAX assessment using the Bruce Protocol graded treadmill exercise test. The first session of assessment utilized the “gold-standard” unit (TrueOne 2400, ParvoMedics, Inc., Murray, UT). 24-48 hours later the second unit (Vista Mini-CPX, Vacu-Med, Inc., Ventura, CA) was used to assess VO2 MAX again. A Bland-Altman analyses was used to evaluate both potential bias and agreement for between the two assessment tools. The CPX unit sig­nificantly overestimated VO2 MAX compared to the TrueOne (Bias = 10.67 ± 5.87 ml/kg/min, LoA = -0.83, 22.18; t = 1.96, p \u3c .001). However, the CPX unit demonstrates good reliability as 93.5% (29/31 participants) of values fell within the 95% LoA. Further, values above 46.5 ml/kg/min tend to be greater than the mean bias while those below tend to be lower than the mean bias (r = .605, F = 16.80, p \u3c .001). The CPX unit demon­strates good reliability yet a significant overestimation of aerobic capacity

ORNL/IAT ARMATURE DIAGNOSTICS DEMONSTRATION TEST REPORT: PART TWO: BENCH DEMONSTRATION

The purpose of the present effort was to demonstrate 'on the fly' temperature measurement of railgun armatures on a bench top railgun. The effort builds on the previous test that utilized a portable unit with armature speeds ranging from 50 to 90 m/s. The tests described here involved higher speeds, ranging from 300 to 500 m/s. The method to accomplish the measurement involves pulsed laser illumination of a phosphor-coated armature. The duration of the ensuing fluorescence indicates temperature. The measured temperatures, obtained both inside the muzzle and outside in free flight, ranged between 80 to 110 C. The required pulsed fluorescence was made possible by successfully sensing the position of the armature while traveling within the laser illumination and fluorescence sensing fields-of-view. A high-speed camera also captured images of the moving armatures after exiting the railgun. These images sometimes included the fluorescing region of the phosphor coating

Acute Responses in Agonists of uEGF to Moderate-Intensity and High-Intensity Interval Exercise in Mid-Spectrum CKD

Urine epidermal growth factor (uEGF) is a novel biomarker utilized in assessing renal health in various renal diseases, specifically chronic kidney disease (CKD). uEGF promotes multiple intracellular pathways, stimulating renal cell growth, survival, and replication. uEGF production is activated by multiple agonists that bind to the uEGF receptor. Aerobic exercise initiates the upregulation of several of these agonists to increase the production of uEGF. Depending on the mode and intensity of aerobic exercise, uEGF agonists may activate differently in CKD populations. PURPOSE: To determine the influence of an acute bout of steady-state exercise (SSE) and high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) on concentrations of uEGF agonists (serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AGTR-1), and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1)) in mid-spectrum CKD. METHODS: Twenty participants (n = 6 men; n = 14 women; age 62.0 + 9.9 yr; weight 80.9 + 16.2 kg; body fat 37.3 + 8.5% of weight; VO2max 19.4 + 4.7 ml/kg/min) completed 30 min of SSE at 65% VO2reserve or HIIE by treadmill walking (90% and 20% of VO2reserve in 3:2 min ratio) in a randomized crossover design. Both exercise conditions averaged ~ 65% VO2reserve. Blood and urine samples were obtained under standardized conditions just before, 1hr, and 24hrs after exercise. uEGF (ng/mL), serum IGF-1 (ng/mL), AGTR-1 (ng/mL), and TGF-β1 (pg/mL) responses were analyzed using 2 (condition) by 3 (sample point) repeated measures ANOVAs and Pearson Correlations. RESULTS: Serum IGF-1 and AGTR-1 increased 1hr and 24hr post-exercise in both exercise conditions; however, statistical significance was not achieved (p = 0.28 and p = 0.09). Similarly, serum TGF-β1 decreased at 24hrs in both exercise conditions but statistically remained unaltered (p = 0.42). IGF-1 was significantly correlated to uEGF in both conditions at all three-time points (p = 0.03), while AGTR-1 was significantly correlated to uEGF at 1hr in HIIE. uEGF findings were previously reported in ACSM abstract (DOI: 10.1249/01.mss.0000560710.72569.11). CONCLUSION: Agonists of uEGF remained unaltered following an acute bout of SSE and HIIE in mid-spectrum CKD. Further research is needed to understand better uEGF response activation to aerobic exercise in mid-spectrum CKD

Different degrees of malnutrition and immunological alterations according to the aetiology of cirrhosis: a prospective and sequential study

OBJECTIVES: In this work we investigated how immunological dysfunction and malnutrition interact in alcoholic and viral aetiologies of cirrhosis. METHODS: To investigate the matter, 77 cirrhotic patients divided in three aetiologies [Alcohol, HCV and Alcohol + HCV) and 32 controls were prospectivelly and sequentially studied. Parameters of humoral immunity (Components 3 and 4 of seric complement and immunoglobulins A M, G and E) and of cellular immunity (total leukocytes and lymphocytes in peripheral blood, T lymphocytes subpopulations, CD4+ and CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ ratio and intradermic tests of delayed hypersensitivity), as well as nutrititional parameters: anthropometric measures, serum albumin and transferrin were evaluated. RESULTS: Multiple statistical comparisons showed that IgM was higher in HCV group; IgG was significantly elevated in both HCV and Alcohol + HCV, whereas for the Alcohol group, IgE was found at higher titles. The analysis of T- lymphocytes subpopulations showed no aetiologic differences, but intradermic tests of delayed hypersensitivity did show greater frequency of anergy in the Alcohol group. For anthropometric parameters, the Alcohol +HCV group displayed the lowest triceps skinfold whereas creatinine – height index evaluation was more preserved in the HCV group. Body mass index, arm muscle area and arm fat area showed that differently from alcohol group, the HCV group was similar to control. CONCLUSION: Significant differences were found among the main aetiologies of cirrhosis concerning immunological alterations and nutritional status: better nutrition and worse immunology for HCV and vice-versa for alcohol

Planck Intermediate Results II: Comparison of Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements from Planck and from the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager for 11 galaxy clusters

A comparison is presented of Sunyaev-Zeldovich measurements for 11 galaxy clusters as obtained by Planck and by the ground-based interferometer, the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager. Assuming a universal spherically-symmetric Generalised Navarro, Frenk & White (GNFW) model for the cluster gas pressure profile, we jointly constrain the integrated Compton-Y parameter (Y_500) and the scale radius (theta_500) of each cluster. Our resulting constraints in the Y_500-theta_500 2D parameter space derived from the two instruments overlap significantly for eight of the clusters, although, overall, there is a tendency for AMI to find the Sunyaev-Zeldovich signal to be smaller in angular size and fainter than Planck. Significant discrepancies exist for the three remaining clusters in the sample, namely A1413, A1914, and the newly-discovered Planck cluster PLCKESZ G139.59+24.18. The robustness of the analysis of both the Planck and AMI data is demonstrated through the use of detailed simulations, which also discount confusion from residual point (radio) sources and from diffuse astrophysical foregrounds as possible explanations for the discrepancies found. For a subset of our cluster sample, we have investigated the dependence of our results on the assumed pressure profile by repeating the analysis adopting the best-fitting GNFW profile shape which best matches X-ray observations. Adopting the best-fitting profile shape from the X-ray data does not, in general, resolve the discrepancies found in this subset of five clusters. Though based on a small sample, our results suggest that the adopted GNFW model may not be sufficiently flexible to describe clusters universally.Comment: update to metadata author list onl

Lipocalin-7 Is a Matricellular Regulator of Angiogenesis

Matricellular proteins are extracellular regulators of cellular adhesion, signaling and performing a variety of physiological behaviors such as proliferation, migration and differentiation. Within vascular microenvironments, matricellular proteins exert both positive and negative regulatory cues to vascular endothelium. The relative balance of these matricellular cues is believed to be critical for vascular homeostasis, angiogenesis activation or angiogenesis resolution. However, our knowledge of matricellular proteins within vascular microenvironments and the mechanisms by which these proteins impact vascular function remain largely undefined. The matricellular protein lipocalin-7 (LCN7) is found throughout vascular microenvironments, and circumstantial evidence suggests that LCN7 may be an important regulator of angiogenesis. Therefore, we hypothesized that LCN7 may be an important regulator of vascular function.To test this hypothesis, we examined the effect of LCN7 overexpression, recombinant protein and gene knockdown in a series of in vitro and in vivo models of angiogenesis. We found that overexpression of LCN7 in MB114 and SVEC murine endothelial cell lines or administration of highly purified recombinant LCN7 protein increased endothelial cell invasion. Similarly, LCN7 increased angiogenic sprouting from quiescent endothelial cell monolayers and ex vivo aortic rings. Moreover, LCN7 increased endothelial cell sensitivity to TGF-β but did not affect sensitivity to other pro-angiogenic growth factors including bFGF and VEGF. Finally, morpholino based knockdown of LCN7 in zebrafish embryos specifically inhibited angiogenic sprouting but did not affect vasculogenesis within injected embryos.No functional analysis has previously been performed to elucidate the function of LCN7 in vascular or other cellular processes. Collectively, our results show for the first time that LCN7 is an important pro-angiogenic matricellular protein of vascular microenvironments