High-intensity interval exercise induces greater acute changes in sleep, appetite-related hormones, and free-living energy intake than does moderate-intensity continuous exercise

© 2019, Canadian Science Publishing. All rights reserved. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) on sleep characteristics, appetite-related hormones, and eating behaviour. Eleven overweight, inactive men completed 2 consecutive nights of sleep assessments to determine baseline (BASE) sleep stages and arousals recorded by polysomnography (PSG). On separate afternoons (1400–1600 h), participants completed a 30-min exercise bout: either (i) MICE (60% peak oxygen consumption) or (ii) HIIE (60 s of work at 100% peak oxygen consumption: 240 s of rest at 50% peak oxygen consumption), in a randomised order. Measures included appetite-related hormones (acylated ghrelin, leptin, and peptide tyrosine tyrosine) and glucose before exercise, 30 min after exercise, and the next morning after exercise; PSG sleep stages; and actigraphy (sleep quantity and quality); in addition, self-reported sleep and food diaries were recorded until 48 h after exercise. There were no between-trial differences for time in bed (p = 0.19) or total sleep time (p = 0.99). After HIIE, stage N3 sleep was greater (21% ± 7%) compared with BASE (18% ± 7%; p = 0.02). In addition, the number of arousals during rapid eye movement sleep were lower after HIIE (7 ± 5) compared with BASE (11 ± 7; p = 0.05). Wake after sleep onset was lower following MICE (41 min) compared with BASE (56 min; p = 0.02). Acylated ghrelin was lower and glucose was higher at 30 min after HIIE when compared with MICE (p ≤ 0.05). There were no significant differences between conditions in terms of total energy intake (p ≥ 0.05). HIIE appears to be more beneficial than MICE for improving sleep quality and inducing favourable transient changes in appetite-related hormones in overweight, inactive men. However, energy intake was not altered regardless of exercise intensity

Evening high-intensity interval exercise does not disrupt sleep or alter energy intake despite changes in acylated ghrelin in middle-aged men

© 2019 The Authors. Experimental Physiology © 2019 The Physiological Society New Findings: What is the central question of this study? What are the interactions between sleep and appetite following early evening high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE)? What is the main finding and its importance? HIIE can be performed in the early evening without subsequent sleep disruptions and may favourably alter appetite-related hormone concentrations. Nonetheless, perceived appetite and energy intake do not change with acute HIIE regardless of time of day. Abstract: Despite exercise benefits for sleep and appetite, due to increased time restraints, many adults remain inactive. Methods to improve exercise compliance include preferential time-of-day or engaging in short-duration, high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE). Hence, this study aimed to compare effects of HIIE time-of-day on sleep and appetite. Eleven inactive men undertook sleep monitoring to determine baseline (BASE) sleep stages and exclude sleep disorders. On separate days, participants completed 30 min HIIE (60 s work at 100% (Formula presented.), 240 s rest at 50% (Formula presented.)) in (1) the morning (MORN; 06.00–07.00 h), (2) the afternoon (AFT; 14.00–16.00 h) and (3) the early evening (EVEN: 19.00–20.00 h). Measures included appetite-related hormones (acylated ghrelin, leptin, peptide tyrosine tyrosine) and glucose pre-exercise, 30 min post-exercise and the next morning; overnight polysomnography (PSG; sleep stages); and actigraphy, self-reported sleep and food diaries for 48 h post-exercise. There were no between-trial differences for total sleep time (P = 0.46). Greater stage N3 sleep was recorded for MORN (23 ± 7%) compared to BASE (18 ± 7%; P = 0.02); however, no between-trial differences existed (P > 0.05). Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was lower and non-REM sleep was higher for EVEN compared to BASE (P ≤ 0.05). At 30 min post-exercise, ghrelin was higher for AFT compared to MORN and EVEN (P = 0.01), while glucose was higher for MORN compared to AFT and EVEN (P ≤ 0.02). No between-trial differences were observed for perceived appetite (P ≥ 0.21) or energy intake (P = 0.57). Early evening HIIE can be performed without subsequent sleep disruptions and reduces acylated ghrelin. However, perceived appetite and energy intake appear to be unaffected by HIIE time of day

A comparison of beliefs about exercise during pregnancy between Chinese and Australian pregnant women

Background: Despite the well-established benefits of exercise during pregnancy, many women remain inactive. This may be related, in part, to women's beliefs about exercise in pregnancy, which are likely influenced by cultural background. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to compare attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control toward exercise, together with current levels of exercise participation between Chinese and Australian women during pregnancy. A second aim was to determine the extent to which these factors predict intention to exercise within a Theory of Planned Behaviour framework. Methods: Pregnant women (22 ± 2 weeks of gestation) living in China (n = 240) and Australia (n = 215) completed a questionnaire designed to assess a) maternal beliefs regarding the importance of exercise in relation to other health behaviours, b) attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions toward exercise, and c) current levels of physical activity. One-way analyses of variance were used to compare the demographics, maternal beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, intentions to exercise, and current physical activity levels between the Chinese and Australian samples. Structural equation modelling was used to determine which factors predicted intention to exercise in the two samples. Results: Australian women reported higher levels of current exercise and intentions to exercise in the next four weeks of pregnancy compared with Chinese women. These observations were associated with higher instrumental attitudes, ratings of subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control toward exercise in the Australian women. Instrumental attitudes and perceived behavioural control predicted intention to exercise in the Australian women, while perceived behavioural control was the only predictor of intentions to exercise in the Chinese sample. Conclusions: Beliefs, attitudes, barriers and intentions towards exercise during pregnancy differ between cultures. Understanding these differences may assist in the design of exercise interventions to maximise exercise adherence and lifelong physical activity patterns

Ruthenium(II) Tris-Pyrazolylmethane Complexes in Transfer Hydrogenation Reactions

While ruthenium(II) arene complexes have been widely investigated for their potential in catalytic transfer hydrogenation, studies on homologous compounds replacing the arene ligand with the six-electron donor tris(1-pyrazolyl)methane (tpm) are almost absent in the literature. The reactions of [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)2]Cl, 1, with a series of nitrogen ligands (L) proceeded with selective PPh3 mono-substitution, affording the novel complexes [RuCl(κ3-tpm)(PPh3)(L)]Cl (L=NCMe, 2; NCPh, 3; imidazole, 4) in almost quantitative yields. Products 2–4 were fully characterized by IR and multinuclear NMR spectroscopy, moreover the molecular structure of 4 was ascertained by single crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 2–4 were evaluated as catalytic precursors in the transfer hydrogenation of a series of ketones with isopropanol as the hydrogen source, and 2 exhibited the highest activity. Extensive NMR experiments and DFT calculations allowed to elucidate the mechanism of the transfer hydrogenation process, suggesting the crucial role played by the tpm ligand, reversibly switching from tri- to bidentate coordination during the catalytic cycle

Frontotemporal dementia: insights into the biological underpinnings of disease through gene co-expression network analysis

BACKGROUND: In frontotemporal dementia (FTD) there is a critical lack in the understanding of biological and molecular mechanisms involved in disease pathogenesis. The heterogeneous genetic features associated with FTD suggest that multiple disease-mechanisms are likely to contribute to the development of this neurodegenerative condition. We here present a systems biology approach with the scope of i) shedding light on the biological processes potentially implicated in the pathogenesis of FTD and ii) identifying novel potential risk factors for FTD. We performed a gene co-expression network analysis of microarray expression data from 101 individuals without neurodegenerative diseases to explore regional-specific co-expression patterns in the frontal and temporal cortices for 12 genes (MAPT, GRN, CHMP2B, CTSC, HLA-DRA, TMEM106B, C9orf72, VCP, UBQLN2, OPTN, TARDBP and FUS) associated with FTD and we then carried out gene set enrichment and pathway analyses, and investigated known protein-protein interactors (PPIs) of FTD-genes products. RESULTS: Gene co-expression networks revealed that several FTD-genes (such as MAPT and GRN, CTSC and HLA-DRA, TMEM106B, and C9orf72, VCP, UBQLN2 and OPTN) were clustering in modules of relevance in the frontal and temporal cortices. Functional annotation and pathway analyses of such modules indicated enrichment for: i) DNA metabolism, i.e. transcription regulation, DNA protection and chromatin remodelling (MAPT and GRN modules); ii) immune and lysosomal processes (CTSC and HLA-DRA modules), and; iii) protein meta/catabolism (C9orf72, VCP, UBQLN2 and OPTN, and TMEM106B modules). PPI analysis supported the results of the functional annotation and pathway analyses. CONCLUSIONS: This work further characterizes known FTD-genes and elaborates on their biological relevance to disease: not only do we indicate likely impacted regional-specific biological processes driven by FTD-genes containing modules, but also do we suggest novel potential risk factors among the FTD-genes interactors as targets for further mechanistic characterization in hypothesis driven cell biology work

Phase appearance or disappearance in two-phase flows

This paper is devoted to the treatment of specific numerical problems which appear when phase appearance or disappearance occurs in models of two-phase flows. Such models have crucial importance in many industrial areas such as nuclear power plant safety studies. In this paper, two outstanding problems are identified: first, the loss of hyperbolicity of the system when a phase appears or disappears and second, the lack of positivity of standard shock capturing schemes such as the Roe scheme. After an asymptotic study of the model, this paper proposes accurate and robust numerical methods adapted to the simulation of phase appearance or disappearance. Polynomial solvers are developed to avoid the use of eigenvectors which are needed in usual shock capturing schemes, and a method based on an adaptive numerical diffusion is designed to treat the positivity problems. An alternate method, based on the use of the hyperbolic tangent function instead of a polynomial, is also considered. Numerical results are presented which demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed solutions

Role of endothelin-1 system in the luteolytic process of pseudopregnant rabbits

The aim of this study was to better understand the role of the endothelin-1 (ET-1) system in the process of controlling the corpora lutea (CL) life span in rabbits. ET-1 (10 mug iv) administration at d 9 and 12 of pseudopregnancy induced a functional luteolysis within 24 h of injection, but it was ineffective at both d 4 and 6. Pretreatments with Bosentan, a dual ETA/ETB receptor antagonist, or cyclooxygenase ( COX) inhibitor blocked the luteolytic action of ET-1 but not that induced by prostaglandin F-2alpha (PGF(2alpha)). In CL cultured in vitro, ET-1 increased (P less than or equal to 0.01) both PGF(2alpha) production and luteal nitric oxide synthase activity but decreased (P less than or equal to 0.01) progesterone release. Addition of ETA receptor antagonist BQ123 or COX inhibitor blocked the ET-1 luteolytic effects. Positive staining for ET-1 receptors was localized in ovarian blood vessels, granulosa cells of large follicles, and luteal cells. Immunoblot analysis of ET-1 receptor protein revealed a strong band of approximately 48 kDa in d-9 CL. Up to d 6 of pseudopregnancy, ET-1 mRNA abundance in CL was poorly expressed but then increased (P less than or equal to 0.01) at d 9 and 13. ETA-receptor transcript increased (P less than or equal to 0.01) at d 6, remained at the same level up to d 13, and then declined to the lowest (P less than or equal to 0.01) levels at d 22. ETB-receptor mRNA increased (P less than or equal to 0.01) throughout the late-luteal stage from d 13 up to d 18. Our data suggest that the luteolytic action of ET-1 may be a result of PGF(2alpha) synthesis from both luteal and accessory cells, via the COX pathways

Gold nanoparticles approach to detect chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronic acid urothelial coating

This study investigated the location of hyaluronic acid (HA)-and chondroitin sulphate (CS)-coated gold nanoparticles in rabbit bladder and evaluated gene expression of CD44, RHAMM and ICAM-1 receptors involved in HA and CS transport into the cell. Gold nanoparticles were synthesised by reduction of gold salts with HA or CS to form HA-AuNPs and CS-AuNPs. Bladder samples were incubated with CS-AuNPs and HA-AuNPs or without glycosaminoglycans. Transmission electron microscopy, optic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the location of the synthesised AuNPs. Real-time PCR was used to analyse expression of urothelial cell receptors CD44, RHAMM, ICAM-1, after ex vivo administration of CS-AuNPs and HA-AuNPs. We showed that HA-AuNPs and CS-AuNPs were located in the cytoplasm and tight junctions of urothelial umbrella cells; this appearance was absent in untreated bladders. There were no significant differences in gene expression levels for CD44, RHAMM and ICAM-1 receptors in treated versus control bladder tissues. In conclusion, we clearly showed the presence of exogenous GAGs in the bladder surface and the tight junctions between umbrella cells, which is important in the regeneration pathway of the urothelium. The GAGs-AuNPs offer a promising approach to understanding the biophysical properties and imaging of urothelial tissue