Aging and aerobic fitness affect the contribution of noradrenergic sympathetic nerves to the rapid cutaneous vasodilator response to local heating

Sedentary aging results in a diminished rapid cutaneous vasodilator response to local heating. We investigated whether this diminished response was due to altered contributions of noradrenergic sympathetic nerves; assessing 1) the age-related decline and, 2) the effect of aerobic fitness. We measured skin blood flow (SkBF)(laser-Doppler flowmetry) in young (24±1 yr) and older (64±1 yr) endurance-trained and sedentary men (n=7 per group) at baseline and during 35 min of local skin heating to 42 °C at three forearm sites: 1) untreated; 2) bretylium tosylate (BT), preventing neurotransmitter release from noradrenergic sympathetic nerves; and 3) yohimbine and propranolol (YP), antagonising α- and β-adrenergic receptors. SkBF was converted to cutaneous vascular conductance (CVC) (SkBF/mean arterial pressure) and normalized to maximal CVC (%CVCmax) achieved by skin heating to 44 °C. Pharmacological agents were administered using microdialysis. In the young trained, the rapid vasodilator response was reduced at the BT and YP sites (P0.05) but treatment with BT did (P>0.05). Neither BT nor YP treatments affected the rapid vasodilator response in the older sedentary group (P>0.05). These data suggest that the age-related reduction in the rapid vasodilator response is due to an impairment of sympathetic-dependent mechanisms, which can be partly attenuated with habitual aerobic exercise. Rapid vasodilation involves noradrenergic neurotransmitters in young trained men, and non-adrenergic sympathetic cotransmitters (e.g., neuropeptide Y) in young sedentary and older trained men, possibly as a compensatory mechanism. Finally, in older sedentary men, the rapid vasodilation appears not to involve the sympathetic system

Researching media reality: Using experience and theory to explain how media make our world

The key to research training in media studies is getting students to appreciate the power they hold, as key informants on what it has felt like to experience mediatization. This lesson plan provides a method to unlock this potential, by updating the familiar industries/texts/audiences convention. The process has three stages. First, students are sensitized to the significance of experience in research. Second, they are introduced to topics of causations and ethics. Finally, they experiment with research methods associated with five research scenes; media people, media places, media content (as defined in relation to paratextuality), media (big) data and media audiences. Students emerge with an understanding of the value of small scale qualitative approaches to the ‘big’ questions about media power that mediatization raises. Keywords: Mediatization. Media effects. Research Method. Autoethnography. Tourism. Policy. Paratextuality

Coupling online control and inhibitory systems in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Goal-directed reaching

For children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), the real-time coupling between frontal executive function and online motor control has not been explored despite reported deficits in each domain. The aim of the present study was to investigate how children with DCD enlist online control under task constraints that compel the need for inhibitory control. A total of 129 school children were sampled from mainstream primary schools. Forty-two children who metre search criteria for DCD were compared with 87 typically developing controls on a modified double-jump reaching task. Children within each skill group were divided into three age bands: younger (6–7years), mid-aged (8–9), and older (10–12). Online control was compared between groups as a function of trial type (non-jump, jump, anti-jump). Overall, results showed that while movement times were similar between skill groups under simple task constraints (non-jump), on perturbation (or jump) trials the DCD group were significantly slower than controls and corrected trajectories later. Critically, the DCD group was further disadvantaged by anti-jump trials where inhibitory control was required; however, this effect reduced with age. While coupling online control and executive systems is not well developed in younger and mid-aged children, there is evidence of age-appropriate coupling in older children. Longitudinal data are needed to clarify this intriguing finding. The theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed

A developmentally regulated chaperone complex for the endoplasmic reticulum of male haploid germ cells

Glycoprotein folding is mediated by lectin-like chaperones and protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Calnexin and the PDI homologue ERp57 work together to help fold nascent polypeptides with glycans located toward the N-terminus of a protein, whereas PDI and BiP may engage proteins that lack glycans or have sugars toward the C-terminus. In this study, we show that the PDI homologue PDILT is expressed exclusively in post-meiotic male germ cells, in contrast to the ubiquitous expression of many other PDI family members in the testis. PDILT is induced during puberty and represents the first example of a PDI family member under developmental control. We find that PDILT is not active as an oxido-reductase, but interacts with the model peptide -somatostatin and nonnative BPTI in vitro, indicative of chaperone activity. In vivo, PDILT forms a tissue-specific chaperone complex with the calnexin homologue calmegin. The identification of a redox-inactive chaperone partnership defines a new system of testis-specific protein folding with implications for male fertility

Dietary nitrate does not modify blood pressure and cardiac output at rest and during exercise in older adults : a randomised cross over study

Dietary nitrate (〖NO〗_3^-) supplementation has been associated with improved vascular and metabolic health. We conducted a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled RCT to investigate the effects of 7-day consumption of beetroot juice compared with placebo on 1) blood pressure (BP) measured in resting conditions and during exercise, 2) cardiac and peripheral vascular function and 3) biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress and endothelial integrity. Twenty non-smoking healthy participants aged 60-75y and BMI 20.0-29.9kg/m2 were recruited. Measurement were conducted before and after each 7-day intervention period. Consumption of 〖NO〗_3^- had no effect on resting systolic and diastolic BP. 〖NO〗_3^- consumption did not improve indexes of central and peripheral cardiac function responses during cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Dietary 〖NO〗_3^- supplementation did not modify biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress and endothelial integrity. This study do not support the short-term benefits of dietary 〖NO〗_3^- supplementation on physiological and biochemical markers of vascular health in older healthy adults. Trial Registration: ISRCTN1906495

The uses and functions of ageing celebrity war reporters

This article starts from the premise that recognition of professional authority and celebrity status depends on the embodiment and performance of field-specific dispositional practices: there’s no such thing as a natural, though we often talk about journalistic instinct as something someone simply has or doesn’t have. Next, we have little control over how we are perceived by peers and publics, and what we think are active positioning or subjectifying practices are in fact, after Bourdieu, revelations of already-determined delegation. The upshot is that two journalists can arrive at diametrically opposed judgements on the basis of observation of the same actions of a colleague, and as individuals we are blithely hypocritical in forming (or reciting) evaluations of the professional identity of celebrities. Nowhere is this starker than in the discourse of age-appropriate behaviour, which this paper addresses using the examples of ‘star’ war reporters John Simpson, Kate Adie and Martin Bell. A certain rough-around-the-edges irreverence is central to dispositional authenticity amongst war correspondents, and for ageing hacks this incorporates gendered attitudes to sex and alcohol as well as indifference to protocol. And yet perceived age-inappropriate sexual behaviour is also used to undermine professional integrity, and the paper ends by outlining the phenomenological context that makes possible this effortless switching between amoral and moralising recognition by peers and audiences alike

Evidence-Based Professional Development of Science Teachers in Two Countries

The focus of this collaborative research project of King?s College London, and the Weizmann Institute, Israel. project is on investigating the ways in which teachers can demonstrate accomplished teaching in a specific domain of science and on the teacher learning that is generated through continuing professional development programs (CPD) that lead towards such practice. The interest lies in what processes and inputs are required to help secondary school science teachers develop expertise in a specific aspect of science teaching. `It focuses on the design of the CPD programmes and examines the importance of an evidence-based approach through portfolioconstruction in which professional dialogue pathes the way for teacher learning. The set of papers highlight the need to set professional challenge while tailoring CPD to teachers? needs to create the environment in which teachers can advance and transform their practice. The cross-culture perspective added to the richness of the development and enabled the researchers to examine which aspects were fundamental to the design by considering similarities and differences between the domains

Factors influencing Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus territory site selection and breeding success

Capsule: Our findings regarding Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus territory site selection and breeding success in Ireland offer an opportunity for the development of initiatives and conservation actions aimed at enhancing the suitability of upland areas for breeding Hen Harriers and ensuring the long-term persistence of the species.Aims: To investigate landscape-scale associations between habitat composition and Hen Harrier territory site selection, and to explore the influence of habitat and climate on breeding success.Methods: We used multi-model inference from generalized linear models and Euclidean distance analyses to explore the influence of habitat, topographic, anthropogenic and climatic factors on Hen Harrier territory selection and breeding success in Ireland, based on data from national breeding surveys in 2010 and 2015.Results: Hen Harrier territories were associated with heath/shrub, bog and pre-thicket coniferous forests. Comparisons between territories and randomly generated pseudo-absences (upland and lowland) showed that breeding pairs preferentially select for these habitats. Breeding success was negatively influenced by rainfall early in the breeding season and by climatic instability, and was positively influenced by the presence of heath/shrub and bog.Conclusions: The results suggest that Hen Harrier breeding success is compromised by the synergistic effects of climate, landscape composition and management. Effective conservation of Hen Harriers in Ireland will therefore rely on landscape-scale initiatives

Dietary nitrate does not have an effect on physical activity outcomes in healthy older adults : a randomized, cross-over trial

Dietary nitrate (〖NO〗_3^-) ingestion appears to enhance exercise capacity and performance in young individuals whereas inconclusive findings have been reported in older people. We conducted a double-blind, cross-over randomized clinical trial in older normal weight and overweight healthy participants testing whether beetroot juice (a rich source of 〖NO〗_3^-) for one week may increase nitric oxide bioavailability via the non-enzymatic pathway and enhance 1) exercise capacity during an incremental exercise test, 2) physical capability and 3) free-living physical activity. Twenty non-smoking healthy participants aged 60-75y and BMI 20.0-29.9kg/m2 were included. Pre and post supplementation resting, sub-maximal, maximal and recovery gas exchanges were measured. Physical capability was measured by hand-grip strength (HGS), time-up-and-go (TUG), repeated-chair-rising-test (RCRT), and 10m walking speed (WLS). Free-living physical activity was assessed by triaxal accelerometry. Changes in urinary and plasma 〖NO〗_3^- concentrations were measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Nineteen participants (M/F=9/10) completed the study. Beetroot juice increased significantly both plasma and urinary 〖NO〗_3^- concentrations (p<0.001) compared to placebo. Beetroot juice did not influence resting, sub-maximal and maximal oxygen consumption during the incremental exercise test. In addition, measures of physical capability and physical activity levels measured in free-living conditions were not modified by beetroot juice ingestion. The positive effects of beetroot juice ingestion on exercise performance seen in young individuals were not replicated in healthy, older adults. Whether aging represents a modifier of the effects of dietary 〖NO〗_3^- on muscular performance is not known and mechanistic studies and larger trials are needed to test this hypothesis. Keywords: inorganic nitrate, nitric oxide, exercise, oxygen consumption, agin