Effect of a high and low dose of caffeine on human lymphocyte activation in response to antigen stimulation

This study investigated the effect of caffeine on antigen-stimulated lymphocyte activation. Six males rested for 3.5 h after ingesting 0 (PLA), 2, or 6 (6CAF) mg·kg−1 body mass of caffeine. The number of antigen-stimulated NK CD69+ cells increased in 6CAF at 1 h compared with PLA (P = 0.021). Caffeine did not influence the number of antigen-stimulated CD69+ T cells or the geometric mean fluorescence intensity expression of CD69 on antigen-stimulated lymphocytes, suggesting caffeine has little effect on antigen-stimulated lymphocyte activation

Forming engineers' sociocultural competence: Engineering ethics at Tomsk polytechnic university

The aim of the present research is to discuss Tomsk Polytechnic University in respect of forming engineers' sociocultural competence and teaching engineering ethics. Today international standards of training engineers cover efficient communication skills, ability to understand societal and environment context, professional and ethical responsibility. This article deals with the problem of contradiction between the need to form engineers' sociocultural competence in Russian higher education institutions in order to meet the requirements of international accreditation organizations and the real capabilities of existing engineering curricula. We have described ethics teaching experience of TPU, studied the engineering master programs of TPU to see how the planned results are achieved. We have also given our recommendations to alter the structure of TPU educational curricula, which can also be applied in other higher education institutions

Project management practices in engineering university

The article presents the analysis of usage of project management methodology in Tomsk Polytechnic University, in particular the experience with the course Project management which started 15 years ago. The article presents the discussion around advantages of project management methodology for engineering education and administration of the university in general and the problems impeding extensive implementation of this methodology in teaching, research and management in the university

Housing First Feasibility Study for the Liverpool City Region : Final Report

This study was commissioned by Crisis, with funding from the (UK Government) Department for Communities and Local Government and the Housing First Europe Hub. It was conducted by a consortium led by Imogen Blood & Associates and including Housing & Support Partnership, HGO Consultancy, and the Centre for Housing Policy (University of York). The study aimed to test the feasibility of implementing Housing First at scale within the Liverpool City Region (LCR) by using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative data from LCR to develop, evaluate and propose a model for implementing Housing First at scale within the region; assessing the financial and commissioning implications of making the transition to this model; and, understanding the local and national policy changes needed to support this model

The relationships between expressed emotion, cortisol, and EEG alpha asymmetry

Families can express high criticism, hostility and emotional over-involvement towards a person with or at risk of mental health problems. Perceiving such high expressed emotion (EE) can be a major psychological stressor for individuals, especially those at risk of mental health problems. To reveal the biological mechanisms underlying the effect of EE on health, this study investigated physiological response (salivary cortisol, frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA)) to verbal criticism and their relationship to anxiety and perceived EE. Using a repeated-measures design, healthy participants attended three testing sessions on non-consecutive days. On each day, participants listened to one of three types of auditory stimuli, namely criticism, neutral or praise, and Electroencephalography (EEG) and salivary cortisol were measured. Results showed a reduction in cortisol following criticism but there was no significant change in FAA. Post-criticism cortisol concentration negatively correlated with perceived EE after controlling for baseline mood. Our findings suggest that salivary cortisol change responds to criticism in non-clinical populations might be largely driven by individual differences in the perception of criticism (e.g., arousal and relevance). Criticisms expressed by audio comments may not be explicitly perceived as an acute emotional stressor, and thus, physiological change responds to criticisms could be minimum

"‘It’s like going to the regular class but without being there’: A qualitative analysis of older people’s experiences of exercise in the home during Covid-19 Lockdown in England."

It is expected that the Covid-19 lockdown will have increased physical inactivity with negative impacts for older people, who are at greater risk of health complications from the virus. This paper draws on customer evaluation questionnaire of a Pilates class aimed at people aged over 50 years old, which transitioned from a studio setting to online classes via Zoom at the start of the lockdown in England. The paper aims to (i) evaluate the shift of exercise services to online and (ii) examine how engagement with online services has influenced people’s reaction to Covid-19 and unprecedented confinement to their homes. Our analysis shows that experiences of exercise in the home are dependent on prior exercise engagement, particularly a sense of progress and competency in exercise movements, trust in the instructor and socio-economic privileges that enable participants to love and appreciate their homes. This paper argues that online classes have had positive impact on participants’ ability to cope with lockdown: routine, structure and being seen by others all proved important well-being aspects

Observing weight stigma in the editing of UK factual welfare programming

Media representations of fat and weight play a central role in the circulation of weight stigma. However, the production practices involved have received little attention. This paper focuses on the editing techniques deployed in a UK reality television documentary series, On Benefits. Our analysis of cutaway shots suggests a quantitative and qualitative difference between an episode featuring “‘obese”’ people claiming welfare, compared to the rest in our sample. We examine the cutaways to show how weight stigma intersects with welfare stigma on the grounds of self-control. We conclude that images of bodies, food, and medical aides mobilize weight stigma to overdetermine welfare claimants as underserving while casting suspicion about the purpose of State welfare in the UK

The effect of dietary nitrate supplementation on physiology and performance in trained cyclists

Purpose: To determine the effect of dietary nitrate (NO₃⁻) supplementation on physiology and performance in well-trained cyclists following six to eight-days of NO₃⁻ supplementation. Methods: Eight competitive male cyclists (mean ± SD; age = 26 ± 8 y; body mass = 76.7 ± 6.9 kg; VO2peak = 63 ± 4 ml.kg⁻¹.min⁻¹) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover-design study in which participants ingested 70 ml beetroot juice containing ~4 mmol NO₃⁻ (NIT) or a NO₃⁻ depleted placebo (PLA) , each for 8-days. Replicating pre-treatment measures, participants undertook an incremental ramp assessment to determine VO₂peak, first (VT₁), and second (VT₂) ventilatory thresholds on day 6 (NIT6 and PLA6), moderate-intensity cycling economy on day 7 (NIT7 and PLA7), and a 4-km time-trial on day 8 (NIT8 and PLA8). Results: Relative to PLA, 6 days of NIT supplementation produced unclear effects for VO2peak (mean ±95%CL: 1.8 ±5.5%) and VT1 (3.7 ±12.3%) and trivial effects for both VT2 (-1.0 ±3.0%) and exercise economy on day 7 (-1.0 ±1.6%). However, effects for time-trial performance time (0.7 ±0.9%), and power (2.4 ±2.5%), on day 8 were likely beneficial. Conclusions: Despite mostly unclear outcomes for standard physiological determinants of performance, 8-days of NO₃⁻ supplementation resulted in likely beneficial improvements to 4-km time-trial performance in well trained male endurance cyclists

Keeping Athletes Healthy at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games: Considerations and Illness Prevention Strategies

Keeping athletes healthy will be important for optimal athletic performance at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games. Athletes will be exposed to several stressors during the preparatory and competition phases of the Summer Games that have the potential to depress immunity and increase illness risk. This mini-review provides an overview on effective and practical stressor-specific illness prevention strategies that can be implemented to maintain and protect the health of Olympic and Paralympic athletes