One-arm maximal strength training improves work economy and endurance capacity but not skeletal muscle blood flow

Maximal strength training with a focus on maximal mobilization of force in the concentric phase improves endurance performance that employs a large muscle mass. However, this has not been studied during work with a small muscle mass, which does not challenge convective oxygen supply. We therefore randomized 23 adult females with no arm-training history to either one-arm maximal strength training or a control group. The training group performed five sets of five repetitions of dynamic arm curls against a near-maximal load, 3 days a week for 8 weeks. This training increased maximal strength by 75% and improved rate of force development during both strength and endurance exercise, suggesting that each arm curl became more efficient. This coincided with a 17-18% reduction in oxygen cost at standardized submaximal workloads (work economy), and a 21% higher peak oxygen uptake and 30% higher peak load during maximal arm endurance exercise. Blood flow assessed by Doppler ultrasound in the axillary artery supplying the working biceps brachii and brachialis muscles could not explain the training-induced adaptations. These data suggest that maximal strength training improved work economy and endurance performance in the skeletal muscle, and that these effects are independent of convective oxygen supply

Investigation of mortalities associated with Salmonella spp. infection in wildlife on Tiritiri Matangi Island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand

CASE HISTORY: Salmonellosis was suspected as the cause of death in eight wild animals on Tiritiri Matangi Island, in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, between November and September 2011, including three hihi (Notiomystis cincta), a tuatara (Sphenodon punctatus), a masked lapwing (Vanellus miles novaehollandiae), and a saddleback (Philesturnus carunculatus). An outbreak investigation to identify the source and distribution of infection was undertaken over the summer of 2011–2012. CLINICAL AND LABORATORY FINDINGS: Surveillance of five species of forest bird (n=165) in December 2011 returned a single positive result for Salmonella spp. Environmental sampling of 35 key water sources and hihi supplementary feeding stations conducted in December 2011 and March 2012 returned isolates of S. enterica subspecies houtenae and S. enterica serovar Saintpaul from a stream, a dam and a supplementary feeding station. The same serotypes were identified in tissue samples collected from post mortem specimens of the affected birds, and their similarity was confirmed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. DIAGNOSIS: Mortality in wildlife associated with infection with S. enterica subspecies houtenae and S. enterica serovar Saintpaul. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This is the first detection of these Salmonella spp. from wild birds in New Zealand. Our study highlights how active surveillance in response to observed disease emergence (here mortalities) can provide important insight for risk assessment and management within populations of endangered species and inform risk assessment in translocation planning

A semiparametric model for between‐subject attributes: Applications to beta‐diversity of microbiome data

The human microbiome plays an important role in our health and identifying factors associated with microbiome composition provides insights into inherent disease mechanisms. By amplifying and sequencing the marker genes in high-throughput sequencing, with highly similar sequences binned together, we obtain Operational Taxonomic Units (OTU) profiles for each subject. Due to the high-dimensionality and non-normality features of the OTUs, the measure of diversity is introduced as a summarization at the microbial community level, including the distance-based Beta-diversity between individuals. Analyses of such between-subject attributes are not amenable to the predominant within-subject based statistical paradigm, such as t-tests and linear regression. In this paper, we propose a new approach to model Beta-diversity as a response within a regression setting by utilizing the functional response models (FRM), a class of semiparametric models for between- as well as within-subject attributes. The new approach not only addresses limitations of current methods for Beta-diversity with cross-sectional data, but also provides a premise for extending the approach to longitudinal and other clustered data in the future. The proposed approach is illustrated with both real and simulated data

Near-hanging as presenting to hospitals in Queensland: Recommendations for practice

Near-hanging is an increasing presentation to hospitals in Australasia. We reviewed the clinical management and outcome of these patients as they presented to public hospitals in Queensland. A retrospective clinical record audit was made at five public hospitals between 1991 and 2000. Of 161 patients enrolled, 82% were male, 8% were Indigenous and 10% had made a previous hanging attempt. Chronic medical illnesses were documented in 11% and previous psychiatric disorders in 42%. Of the 38 patients with a Glasgow Coma Scale score (GCS) of 3 on arrival at hospital, 32% returned to independent living and 63% died. Fifty two patients received CPR, of whom 46% had an independent functional outcome. Independent predictors of mortality were a GCS on hospital arrival of 3 (AOR 150, CI 95% 12.4-1818,