The Effect of CardioWaves Interval Training on Resting Blood Pressure, Resting Heart Rate, and Mind-Body Wellness

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(1): 89-100, 2016. An experimental study to examine the effects of CardioWaves interval training (CWIT) and continuous training (CT) on resting blood pressure, resting heart rate, and mind-body wellness. Fifty-two normotensive (blood pressure \u3c120/80 mmHg), pre-hypertensive (120–139/80–89 mmHg), and hypertensive (\u3e140/90 mmHg) participants were randomly assigned and equally divided between the CWIT and CT groups. Both groups participated in the assigned exercise protocol 30 minutes per day, four days per week for eight weeks. Resting blood pressure, resting heart rate, and mind-body wellness were measured pre- and post-intervention. A total of 47 participants (15 females and 32 males) were included in the analysis. The CWIT group had a non-significant trend of reduced systolic blood pressure (SBP) and increased diastolic blood pressure (DBP) while the CT group had a statistically significant decrease in awake SBP (p = 0.01) and total SBP (p = 0.01) and a non-significant decrease in DBP. With both groups combined, the female participants had a statistically significant decrease in awake SBP (p = 0.002), asleep SBP (p = 0.01), total SBP (p = 0.003), awake DBP (p = 0.02), and total DBP (p = 0.05). The male participants had an increase in SBP and DBP with total DBP showing a statistically significant increase (p = 0.05). Neither group had a consistent change in resting heart rate. Both groups showed improved mind-body wellness. CWIT and CT reduced resting blood pressure, with CT having a greater effect. Resting heart rate did not change in either group. Additionally, both CWIT and CT improved mind-body wellness

A scalable system to measure contrail formation on a per-flight basis

Persistent contrails make up a large fraction of aviation's contribution to global warming. We describe a scalable, automated detection and matching (ADM) system to determine from satellite data whether a flight has made a persistent contrail. The ADM system compares flight segments to contrails detected by a computer vision algorithm running on images from the GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager. We develop a 'flight matching' algorithm and use it to label each flight segment as a 'match' or 'non-match'. We perform this analysis on 1.6 million flight segments. The result is an analysis of which flights make persistent contrails several orders of magnitude larger than any previous work. We assess the agreement between our labels and available prediction models based on weather forecasts. Shifting air traffic to avoid regions of contrail formation has been proposed as a possible mitigation with the potential for very low cost/ton-CO2e. Our findings suggest that imperfections in these prediction models increase this cost/ton by about an order of magnitude. Contrail avoidance is a cost-effective climate change mitigation even with this factor taken into account, but our results quantify the need for more accurate contrail prediction methods and establish a benchmark for future development.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

IFITM proteins drive type 2 T helper cell differentiation and exacerbate allergic airway inflammation

T cells differentiated more efficiently to Th1, whereas Th2 differentiation was inhibited. Ifitm-family-deficient mice, but not Ifitm3-deficient mice, were less susceptible than WT to induction of allergic airways disease, with a weaker Th2 response and less severe disease and lower Il4 but higher Ifng expression and IL-27 secretion. Thus, the Ifitm family is important in adaptive immunity, influencing Th1/Th2 polarization, and Th2 immunopathology

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Establishment of road space categories according to childrens' safety risks

Ziel des Forschungsprojekts ist es, vorliegende Verkehrsraumkategorien, insbesondere das 4-Kategoriensystem (Arnold, Hohenadel, 1983), zu prüfen und weiterzuentwickeln, vor allem ist zu prüfen, inwieweit diese Kategorien, die weitgehend auf Plausibiltätsüberlegungen hinsichtlich der Gefährdungswahrscheinlichkeit von Kindern im Alter von 3-14 Jahren in verschiedenen Verkehrsräumen beruhen, Verkehrs- und Gefährdungsverhältnisse adäquat widerspiegeln. Grundlage der Untersuchung ist - eine Literaturanalyse und - eine Unfallerhebung von Kinderunfällen in Hannover. Die Literaturanalyse konzentriert sich auf - die Darstellung vorliegender Ansätze und - die Identifizierung von Kenngrößen zur Verkehrsraumkategorisierung. Die Ergebnisse der Unfallauswertung liefern zusätzlich Anhaltspunkte und Kriterien zur qualitativen Überprüfung der Verkehrsraumkategorien. Die Untersuchung kommt zu dem Ergebnis, dass es sinnvoll ist, ein zweistufiges Kategoriensystem einzuführen, das sich an den Zielgruppen des Verkehrsraum-Konzepts orientiert: - den Laien (Eltern, Lehrer, Erzieher, Kinder); - den Fachleuten (Verkehrssicherheitsbeauftragte, Moderatoren, Polizei). Auf der 1. Stufe (Zielgruppe: Laien) werden nur zwei Grobkategorien (1/2 und 3/4) unterschieden. Diese Kategorien sind für Laien klar voneinander unterscheidbar. Auf der 2. Stufe werden diese Verkehrsraumkategorien anhand zusätzlicher Kenngrößen (Alter des Kindes, siedlungsstrukturelles Umfeld, Variabilität der Verkehrsstruktur) weiter differenziert (Zielgruppe: Fachleute). Abschließend werden Anregungen für die Verkehrssicherheitsarbeit gegeben.The objective of the research project is the checking and further development of the presently defined road space categories, the four-category system in particular (Arnold, Hohenadel, 1983). The extent to which these categories, based primarily on plausibility considerations concerning the probability of risks to children in the age group 3-14 years in various road areas, adequately reflect traffic conditions and hazards needs to be checked in particular. The study is based on - an analysis of the literature, and - a survey of child accidents in Hanover. The analysis of the relevant literature concentrates on - the representation of the approaches used, and - the identification of characteristics for the categorisation of road areas. The study resulted in the finding that an introduction of a twostep system of categories would be a meaningful procedure, oriented towards the following road space concept target groups: - laymen (parents, teachers, educators, children) - specialists (road safety officers, moderators, police). The first step (target group: laymen) distinguishes between two rough categories (1/2 and 3/4), clearly distinguishable by laymen. The second step gives a further differentiation (target group: specialists) based on additional characteristics (age of child, environment resulting from the settlement structure, variability of traffic structure). The report concludes with suggestions for future traffic safety efforts