Misconceptions about Aerobic and Anaerobic Energy Expenditure

The measurement of gas exchange has played an invaluable role in metabolic interpretation. The uptake of 1 liter of oxygen is often converted into an energy expenditure estimate of 21.1 kilojoules (e.g., 1 L O2 = 21.1 kJ or ~5 kcal). This article demonstrates both the importance of such a conversion and the potential for misinterpretation. Oxygen uptake during heavy and severe exercise will also be discussed

The Hordaland Women's Cohort: A prospective cohort study of incontinence, other urinary tract symptoms and related health issues in middle-aged women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent symptom in middle-aged women, but data on incidence is limited and rarely reported. In order to analyze incidence, remission, or development patterns of severity and types of UI, we have established a 15-year prospective cohort (1997–2012).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Cohort is based on the national collection of health data gathered from county studies (CONOR). Hordaland Health Study (HUSK) is one of them from Hordaland County. Each of the county studies may have local sub-studies and our Cohort is one of them. The Cohort included women aged 40–45 in order to have a broad approach to women's health including UI and other lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). A onefifth random sampling from HUSK was used to create the Cohort in 1997–1999. For the necessary sample size a preliminary power calculation, based on a 70% response rate at inclusion and 5% annual attrition rates was used. The Cohort is planned to collect data through questionnaires every second year for the 15-year period from 1997–2012.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The Cohort represents a relatively large random sample (N = 2,230) of about 15% of the total population of women born between 1953–57 in the county of Hordaland. Our data shows that the cohort population is very similar to the source population. The baseline demographic, social and medical characteristics of the Cohort are compared with the rest of women in HUSK (N = 7,746) and there were no significant differences between them except for the level of education (P = 0.001) and yearly income (P = 0.018), which were higher in the Cohort population. Urological characteristics of participants from the Cohort (N = 1,920) were also compared with the other participants (N = 3,400). There were no significant statistical differences except for somewhat more urinary continence (P = 0.04), more stress incontinence (P = 0.048) and smaller amount of leakage (P = 0.015) in the Cohort. In conclusion, the Cohort ispopulation-based, with little selection bias, and thus is a rather unique study forinvestigating UI and LUTS in comparison with many other projects with similar purposes.</p

How important is the context of an adolescent's first alcoholic drink? Evidence that parental provision may reduce later heavy episodic drinking

Objective: This study examined the extent to which a retrospective measure of parental provision of the first alcoholic beverage was related to current heavy episodic drinking and current responsible drinking practices. Sample: 608 14- to 17-year-olds from the 2007 Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey. Measures: Source of first alcoholic beverage (friends/parents/others), source of current alcohol, age of onset of alcohol use, current responsible drinking practices, and proportion of current friends who drink. Results: Binary logistic and multiple regression procedures revealed that parental provision of an adolescent's first alcoholic beverage predicted lower current heavy episodic drinking, and responsible drinking mediated this association. Discussion: The results suggested that for adolescents who become alcohol users, parental provision of the first drink may reduce subsequent alcohol-related risks compared to introduction to alcohol by friends and other sources. Alcohol-related risks remain significant for adolescents who consume alcohol, independent of who is the provider. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Molecular preservation by extraction and fixation, mPREF: a method for small molecule biomarker analysis and histology on exactly the same tissue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Histopathology is the standard method for cancer diagnosis and grading to assess aggressiveness in clinical biopsies. Molecular biomarkers have also been described that are associated with cancer aggressiveness, however, the portion of tissue analyzed is often processed in a manner that is destructive to the tissue. We present here a new method for performing analysis of small molecule biomarkers and histology in exactly the same biopsy tissue.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prostate needle biopsies were taken from surgical prostatectomy specimens and first fixed, each in a separate vial, in 2.5 ml of 80% methanol:water. The biopsies were fixed for 24 hrs at room temperature and then removed and post-processed using a non-formalin-based fixative (UMFIX), embedded, and analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining. The retained alcohol pre-fixative was analyzed for small molecule biomarkers by mass spectrometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>H&E analysis was successful following the pre-fixation in 80% methanol. The presence or absence of tumor could be readily determined for all 96 biopsies analyzed. A subset of biopsy sections was analyzed by IHC, and cancerous and non-cancerous regions could be readily visualized by PIN4 staining. To demonstrate the suitability for analysis of small molecule biomarkers, 28 of the alcohol extracts were analyzed using a mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platform. All extracts tested yielded successful metabolite profiles. 260 named biochemical compounds were detected in the alcohol extracts. A comparison of the relative levels of compounds in cancer containing <it>vs</it>. non-cancer containing biopsies showed differences for 83 of the compounds. A comparison of the results with prior published reports showed good agreement between the current method and prior reported biomarker discovery methods that involve tissue destructive methods.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Molecular Preservation by Extraction and Fixation (mPREF) method allows for the analysis of small molecule biomarkers from exactly the same tissue that is processed for histopathology.</p

Influence of soil water content and atmospheric conditions on leaf water potential in cv. "Touriga Nacional" deep-rooted vineyards

Abstract In this study, the influence of soil and atmosphere conditions on noon and basal leaf water potential of vines ‘‘Touriga Nacional’’ in the Da˜o region submitted to different irrigation treatments is analysed. Both indicators showed to be dependent on environmental conditions at the time of measurement. Leaf water potential at noon of fully watered plants was linearly related with atmospheric conditions, with values registered when vapour pressure deficit (VPD) was higher than approximately 3 kPa being no different from the values registered in stressed plants. Therefore, this indicator cannot be reliably used to distinguish different plant water stress levels when atmospheric conditions induce high evaporative demands. The basal leaf water potential (wb) was also influenced by VPD at the time of measurement for all soil water conditions. In well irrigated plants, it was even possible to establish a baseline that can therefore be used to identify nonwater stressed conditions (wb (MPa) = -0.062–0.0972 VPD (kPa), r2 = 0.78). A good correlation was found between soil humidity and wb. However, more than the average value of the whole thickness of soil monitored, the wb values were dependent on the distribution of soil humidity, with the plants responding to the presence of wet layers

Feasibility of familial PSA screening: psychosocial issues and screening adherence

This study examined factors that predict psychological morbidity and screening adherence in first-degree relatives (FDRs) taking part in a familial PSA screening study. Prostate cancer patients (index cases – ICs) who gave consent for their FDRs to be contacted for a familial PSA screening study to contact their FDRs were also asked permission to invite these FDRs into a linked psychosocial study. Participants were assessed on measures of psychological morbidity (including the General Health Questionnaire; Cancer Worry Scale; Health Anxiety Questionnaire; Impact of Events Scale); and perceived benefits and barriers, knowledge; perceived risk/susceptibility; family history; and socio-demographics. Of 255 ICs, 155 (61%) consented to their FDRs being contacted. Of 207 FDRs approached, 128 (62%) consented and completed questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that health anxiety, perceived risk and subjective stress predicted higher cancer worry (P=0.05). Measures of psychological morbidity did not predict screening adherence. Only past screening behaviour reliably predicted adherence to familial screening (P=0.05). First-degree relatives entering the linked familial PSA screening programme do not, in general, have high levels of psychological morbidity. However, a small number of men exhibited psychological distress