Modelflow estimates of cardiac output compared with Doppler ultrasound during acute changes in vascular resistance in women

We compared Modelflow (MF) estimates of cardiac stroke volume (SV) from the finger pressure-pulse waveform (Finometer®) with pulsed Doppler ultrasound (DU) of the ascending aorta during acute changes in total peripheral resistance (TPR) in the supine and head-up-tilt (HUT) postures. Twenty-four women were tested during intravenous infusion of 0.005 or 0.01 μg kg -1 min-1 isoprenaline, 10 or 50 ng kg-1 min-1 noradrenaline and 0.3 mg sublingual nitroglycerine. Responses to static hand-grip exercise (SHG), graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP, from -20 to -45 mmHg) and 45 deg HUT were evaluated on separate days. Bland-Altman analysis indicated that SVMF yielded lower estimates than SVDU during infusion of 0.01 μg kg-1 min -1 isoprenaline (SVMF 92.7 ± 15.5 versus SV DU 104.3 ± 22.9 ml, P = 0.03) and SHG (SVMF 78.8 ± 12.0 versus SVDU 106.1 ± 28.5 ml, P \u3c 0.01), while larger estimates were recorded with SVMF during -45 mmHg LBNP (SVMF 52.6 ± 10.7 versus SVDU 46.2 ± 14.5 ml, P = 0.04) and HUT (SVMF 59.3 ± 13.6 versus SVDU 45.2 ± 11.3 ml, P \u3c 0.01). Linear regression analysis revealed a relationship (r2 = 0.41, P \u3c 0.01) between the change in TPR from baseline and the between-methods discrepancy in SV measurements. This relationship held up under all of the experimental protocols (regression for fixed effects, P = 0.46). These results revealed a discrepancy in MF estimates of SV, in comparison with those measured by DU, during acute changes in TPR. © 2010 The Physiological Society

Faster femoral artery blood velocity kinetics at the onset of exercise following short-term training.

OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis that the adaptation to endurance exercise training included a faster increase in blood flow at the onset of exercise was tested in 12 healthy young men who endurance-trained (ET) 2 h/day, for 10 days at 65% VO2 peak on a cycle ergometer, and in 11 non-training control (C) subjects. METHODS: Blood flow was estimated from changes in femoral artery mean blood velocity (MBV) by pulsed Doppler. Beat-by-beat changes in cardiac output (CO) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were obtained by impedance cardiography and a Finapres finger cuff, respectively. MBV, MAP and CO were measured at rest and during 5 min of dynamic knee extension exercise. Both legs worked alternately with 2 s raising and lowering a weight (15% maximal voluntary contraction) followed by 2 s rest while the other leg raised and lowered the weight. RESULTS: In the ET group the time to 63% (T63%) of the approximately exponential increase in MBV following 10 days of training (8.6 +/- 1.2 s, mean +/- s.e.) was significantly faster than the Day 0 response (14.2 +/- 2.1 s, P \u3c 0.05). The T63% of femoral artery vascular conductance (VCfa) was also faster following 10 days of ET (9.4 +/- 0.9 s) versus Day 0 (16.0 +/- 2.5 s) (0.05). There was no change in the T63% of both MBV and VCfa for the C group. The kinetics of CO were not significantly affected by ET, but the amplitude of CO in the adaptive phase, and at steady state, were significantly greater (P \u3c 0.05) at Day 10 compared to Day 0 for the ET group with no change in the C group. CONCLUSIONS: These data supported the hypothesis that endurance training resulted in faster adaptation of blood flow to exercising muscle, and further showed that this response occurred early in the training program

Landslides on Ceres: Diversity and Geologic Context.

Landslides are among the most widespread geologic features on Ceres. Using data from Dawn's Framing Camera, landslides were previously classified based upon geomorphologic characteristics into one of three archetypal categories, Type 1(T1), Type 2 (T2), and Type 3 (T3). Due to their geologic context, variation in age, and physical characteristics, most landslides on Ceres are, however, intermediate in their morphology and physical properties between the archetypes of each landslide class. Here we describe the varied morphology of individual intermediate landslides, identify geologic controls that contribute to this variation, and provide first-order quantification of the physical properties of the continuum of Ceres's surface flows. These intermediate flows appear in varied settings and show a range of characteristics, including those found at contacts between craters, those having multiple trunks or lobes; showing characteristics of both T2 and T3 landslides; material slumping on crater rims; very small, ejecta-like flows; and those appearing inside of catenae. We suggest that while their morphologies can vary, the distribution and mechanical properties of intermediate landslides do not differ significantly from that of archetypal landslides, confirming a link between landslides and subsurface ice. We also find that most intermediate landslides are similar to Type 2 landslides and formed by shallow failure. Clusters of these features suggest ice enhancement near Juling, Kupalo and Urvara craters. Since the majority of Ceres's landslides fall in the intermediate landslide category, placing their attributes in context contributes to a better understanding of Ceres's shallow subsurface and the nature of ground ice

Foraging Alters Resilience/Vulnerability to Sleep Disruption and Starvation in Drosophila

Recent human studies suggest that genetic polymorphisms allow an individual to maintain optimal cognitive functioning during sleep deprivation. If such polymorphisms were not associated with additional costs, selective pressures would allow these alleles to spread through the population such that an evolutionary alternative to sleep would emerge. To determine whether there are indeed costs associated with resiliency to sleep loss, we challenged natural allelic variants of the foraging gene (for) with either sleep deprivation or starvation. Flies with high levels of Protein Kinase G (PKG) (forR) do not display deficits in short-term memory following 12 h of sleep deprivation. However, short-term memory is significantly disrupted when forR flies are starved overnight. In contrast, flies with low levels of PKG (fors, fors2) show substantial deficits in short-term memory following sleep deprivation but retain their ability to learn after 12 h of starvation. We found that forR phenotypes could be largely recapitulated in fors flies by selectively increasing the level of PKG in the α/ß lobes of the mushroom bodies, a structure known to regulate both sleep and memory. Together, these data indicate that whereas the expression of for may appear to provide resilience in one environmental context, it may confer an unexpected vulnerability in other situations. Understanding how these tradeoffs confer resilience or vulnerability to specific environmental challenges may provide additional clues as to why an evolutionary alternative to sleep has not emerged

Systemic lupus erythematosus and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, etiology and novel treatment strategies.

Diffuse alveolar hemorrhage is a severe respiratory complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. The illness develops over hours to a few days and is the systemic lupus erythematosus-associated syndrome with highest mortality. Although no specific symptoms have been identified, a number of features are associated with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, with a drop in blood hemoglobin the most prominent. Dyspnea, blood-stained sputum, diffuse infiltrates identified by chest imaging, elevated single breath-diffusing capacity for monoxide, thrombocytopenia and C3 hypocomplementemia are other commonly reported signs of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage. The etiology is not completely understood but many patients develop diffuse alveolar hemorrhage concomitant with lupus nephritis, suggesting immune complex-driven pathology. Biopsy studies have identified both cases with capillaritis and a bland non-inflammatory phenotype. An animal model of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage has indicated requirement of B lymphocytes and complement receptor-mediated apoptotic body phagocytosis by monocytes as part of the pathogenesis. This review will discuss considerations when diagnosing the condition and available therapies. Infections and other causes of hemorrhage have to be excluded as these require different treatment strategies. Methylprednisolone and cyclophosphamide remain the most commonly used therapies. Plasmapheresis and rituximab are other beneficial treatment options. A few studies have also considered intrapulmonary Factor VII therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation and mesenchymal stem cell therapy. There is an unmet need of better definition of diffuse alveolar hemorrhages etiology and pathology for development of improved treatment strategies

The Artification of Football: A Sociological Reconsideration of the ‘Beautiful Game'

Football is widely referred to as the ‘beautiful game’. This gives the impression that the sport can be aesthetically appreciated by its human observers. However, while many people might acknowledge that some of the physical movements made by top level football players exhibit grace, even beauty, this does not equate to football being accepted as a form of culture comparable to other areas of human activity described collectively as ‘the arts’. While this article takes an interest in philosophical inquiry into the aesthetic possibilities of football, it is primarily concerned with a sociological explanation as to how football has become ‘artified’. In doing so, the article draws upon the concept ‘artification’ as developed by Roberta Shapiro and Nathalie Heinich. The approach is not concerned with definitions of art according to aesthetic criteria or notions of appreciation, but with ‘how and under what circumstances art comes about’. This requires examining football in relation to discernible ‘constituent processes’ of artification. For reasons explained in the article, the contextual focus is on the artification of football in England. Artification is not a closed and finished matter. In that it can be said to have occurred, artification must be balanced against ‘de-artification’ in the form of potentially countervailing tendencies. Such consideration is taken up in the conclusion, via reflection upon the damaging impact of the excesses of commercial organisational control. Overall, artification is advocated as a sociological model that offers insight into the cultural significance of football in contemporary life

Sustainable Management of Water Resources

The Dawn spacecraft arrived at dwarf planet Ceres in spring 2015 and imaged its surface from four successively lower polar orbits at ground sampling dimensions between ∼1.3 km/px and ∼35 m/px. To understand the geological history of Ceres a mapping campaign was initiated to produce a set of 15 quadrangle-based geological maps using the highest-resolution Framing Camera imagery. Here we present the geological map of the Ac-10 Rongo Quadrangle, which is located at the equator encompassing the region from 22°N to 22°S and 288° to 360°E. The total relief within the quadrangle is 11.1 km with altitudes ranging from about −7.3 km to +3.8 km. We identified nine geological units based on surface morphology and surface textural characteristics. The dominant and most widespread unit is the cratered terrain (crt) representing ancient reworked crustal material. Its consistent formation age across the quadrangle is 1.8 Ga. Two edifices (unit th), Ahuna Mons and an unnamed tholus within Begbalel Crater, are interpreted to be of (cryo)volcanic origin. The southwest portion of the quadrangle is dominated by ejecta material (Ye) emplaced during the formation of the 260-km diameter Yalode impact basin at about 580 Ma. Rayed crater ejecta material (cr) is dominant in the eastern part of the quadrangle but also occurs in isolated patches up to a distance of 455 km from the 34 km diameter source crater Haulani. The remaining five geological units also represent impact crater materials: degraded rim (crdeg), bright crater (cb), hummocky floor (cfh), talus (ta), and crater (c) materials. Widespread Yalode and Haulani ejecta materials can potentially be utilised as stratigraphic markers. Therefore, it is essential to consistently map their full areal extent and to date their formations using impact crater statistics

"Aye, but it were wasted on thee": Cricket, British Asians, ethnic identities, and the 'magical recovery of community'

People in sport tend to possess rather jaded perceptions of its colour-blindness and thus, they are reluctant to confront the fact that, quite often racism is endemic. Yorkshire cricket in particular, has faced frequent accusations from minority ethnic communities of inveterate and institutionalised racism and territorial defensiveness. Drawing upon semi-structured interviews conducted with amateur white and British Asian cricketers, this paper examines the construction of regional identities in Yorkshire at a time when traditional myths and invented traditions of Yorkshire and 'Yorkshireness' are being deconstructed. This is conceptualised through a reading of John Clarke's 'magical recovery of community'. Although cricket has been multiracial for decades, I argue that some people's position as insiders is more straightforward than others. I present evidence to suggest that, regardless of being committed to Yorkshire and their 'Yorkshireness', white Yorkshire people may never fully accept British Asians as 'one of us'. Ideologically and practically, white Yorkshire people are engaged in constructing British Asians as anathema to Yorkshire culture. The paper concludes by advocating that, for sports cultures to be truly egalitarian, the ideology of sport itself has to change. True equality will only ever be achieved within a deracialised discourse that not only accepts difference, but embraces it