Effect of whey protein isolate on strength, body composition and muscle hypertrophy during resistance training

Purpose of Review: Sarcopenia (skeletal muscle wasting with aging) is thought to underlie a number of serious age-related health issues. While it may be seen as inevitable, decreasing this gradual loss of muscle is vital for healthy aging. Thus, it is imperative to investigate exercise and nutrition-based strategies designed to build a reservoir of muscle mass as early as possible. Recent Findings: Elderly individuals are still able to respond to both resistance training and the anabolic signals provided by protein ingestion, provided specific amino acids, such as leucine, are present. Whey proteins are a rich source of these essential amino acids and rapidly elevate plasma amino acids, thus providing the foundations for preservation of muscle mass. Several studies involving supplementation with whey protein have shown to be effective in augmenting the effects of resistance exercise, in particular when supplementation occurs in the hours surrounding the exercise training. Summary: While further work is required, particularly in elderly people, simple dietary and exercise strategies that may improve the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass will likely result in a decrease in the overall burden of a number of diseases and improve the quality of life as we age

Characterisation of host growth after infection with a broad-range freshwater cyanopodophage

Freshwater cyanophages are poorly characterised in comparison to their marine counterparts, however, the level of genetic diversity that exists in freshwater cyanophage communities is likely to exceed that found in marine environments, due to the habitat heterogeneity within freshwater systems. Many cyanophages are specialists, infecting a single host species or strain; however, some are less fastidious and infect a number of different host genotypes within the same species or even hosts from different genera. Few instances of host growth characterisation after infection by broad host-range phages have been described. Here we provide an initial characterisation of interactions between a cyanophage isolated from a freshwater fishing lake in the south of England and its hosts. Designated ΦMHI42, the phage is able to infect isolates from two genera of freshwater cyanobacteria, Planktothrix and Microcystis. Transmission Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy indicate that ΦMHI42 is a member of the Podoviridae, albeit with a larger than expected capsid. The kinetics of host growth after infection with ΦMHI42 differed across host genera, species and strains in a way that was not related to the growth rate of the uninfected host. To our knowledge, this is the first characterisation of the growth of cyanobacteria in the presence of a broad host-range freshwater cyanophage

A Refinement Calculus for Logic Programs

Existing refinement calculi provide frameworks for the stepwise development of imperative programs from specifications. This paper presents a refinement calculus for deriving logic programs. The calculus contains a wide-spectrum logic programming language, including executable constructs such as sequential conjunction, disjunction, and existential quantification, as well as specification constructs such as general predicates, assumptions and universal quantification. A declarative semantics is defined for this wide-spectrum language based on executions. Executions are partial functions from states to states, where a state is represented as a set of bindings. The semantics is used to define the meaning of programs and specifications, including parameters and recursion. To complete the calculus, a notion of correctness-preserving refinement over programs in the wide-spectrum language is defined and refinement laws for developing programs are introduced. The refinement calculus is illustrated using example derivations and prototype tool support is discussed.Comment: 36 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP

‘It’s been a long haul, a big haul, but we’ve made it’: hepatitis C virus treatment in post-transplant patients with virus recurrence: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

The lived experience of both interferon-based and new interferon-free treatments in patients with hepatitis C virus remains understudied. To explore their journey through hepatitis C virus treatment, we interviewed seven post-transplant patients with recurrent hepatitis C virus. Three themes were identified using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Participants reported an ongoing sense of ontological uncertainty characterized by lack of control over their condition and treatment. Furthermore, an apposition of scepticism and hope accompanying each stage of hepatitis C virus treatment was described. A staged approach to psychological intervention tailored to the needs of the patient and their associated ‘stage’ of hepatitis C virus treatment was recommended

Use of a Press-Fit Grip Sleeve for Cable-In-Conduit Superconductor Integration: Effects of Tensile and Fatigue Loading

Presently, one of the most promising sources for a future of abundant, low-emission, and efficient energy comes in the form of nuclear fusion. However, in order for it to become a reality, fusion technology must overcome the obstacle of plasma confinement. Utilizing the tokomak based design for magnetic plasma confinement; ITER is currently developing a fusion reactor to prove its commercial viability. The purpose of this research was to determine the feasibility of pulling toroidal field cable with a press-fit grip sleeve that utilizes friction to generate a gripping force. Such a design is being considered by ITER to integrate (join) 800 m long sections of superconducting cable and conduit for use in toroidal field plasma confinement coil construction. In order to see if friction alone had the potential to withstand the required pulling load, eight grip sleeve samples were subjected to monotonic tensile loading until failure (sleeve slippage) occurred. It was also important that the grip could withstand the variable loading that will likely occur during the pulling process due to friction between the cable and conduit. Therefore, a period of cyclic loading, prior to tensile loading, was incorporated into the testing regimen. Based on the results of each experiment, additional modifications were made until the sleeve’s gripping strength exceeded that of the weld joint used in the design, meaning the physical limitations of the grip sleeve had been reached. Once the design was optimized, additional samples were tested under identical conditions to establish repeatability. In addition, Finite Element Analysis was used to obtain better insight into the deformation behavior of the cable. Based on the findings of this research, it was determined that a 300 mm long press-fit sleeve with a 25.4mm long reinforcement grip ring is capable of supporting a 116 kN (26,000 lbf) to 126.5 kN (28,500 lbf) tensile load, with little to no adverse effects from fatigue testing. Since this value exceeds the 8,000 lbf load used by a Japanese team to perform this same task, it can be concluded that the press-fit grip design is capable of performing the required cable pull with a generous safety factor

Midwest China Oral History Interviews

Early Life: family background; education; accepted as missionary by Methodist Board of Missions. China Experiences: language school at Nanking University; work at Wuhu, Anhwei, as district superintendent and secretary; work toward an indigenous church; emphasis on the social gospel; bandit activity; responses to various Chinese political figures; response to extra-territoriality; living conditions in Wuhu; fundamentalist and liberal approaches to mission work; impact of denominationalism in China; Methodist expectations of Chinese Christians; lessons learned from mission endeavor; contributions of mission endeavor to Christianity in U.S.; response to People\u27s Republic of China; future of mission work in China; memorable personalities from China.https://digitalcommons.luthersem.edu/china_histories/1046/thumbnail.jp