Associations Between Heart Rate Variability and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clustering of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) – two major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive measure of cardiac autonomic regulation that predicts mortality and morbidity. Additionally, HRV is reduced in CVD, T2D and MetS. As such, HRV has potential to be a novel cardiometabolic risk factor to be included in clinical risk assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to examine the relationships between MetS and HRV. A systematic review of cross-sectional studies examining relationships between HRV and MetS was completed to consolidate existing evidence and to guide future studies. This was followed by a cross-sectional investigation of time and frequency domain and nonlinear HRV in a population with MetS risk factors to determine which MetS risk factors were associated with HRV parameters. A pilot study was then conducted to study the feasibility of conducting a mobile health (mHealth) and exercise intervention in a rural population, which was followed by a 24-week randomized clinical trial to examine the effects of the interactive mHealth exercise intervention compared to standard of care exercise in participants with MetS risk factors. Overall, HRV was reduced in women with MetS compared to those without, though there were no differences in men. Waist circumference and lipid profiles were most commonly related to HRV parameters when studied cross-sectionally. The changes in waist circumference and fasting plasma glucose were associated with the change in HRV parameters when studied longitudinally. Following the intervention period, waist circumference and blood pressure were improved with no other changes in MetS risk factors. HRV parameters indicative of vagal activity were reduced over the intervention period, but there were no changes in other HRV parameters. There were no differences in changes between the intervention and control groups. In conclusion, MetS and HRV are associated in women but not men. However, there were no clear associations between MetS and HRV to suggest that HRV would be a valuable clinical risk factor

Salinity effects on biodegradation of Reactive Black 5 for one stage and two stages sequential anaerobic aerobic biological processes employing different anaerobic sludge

In this study the effect of NaCl, normally found in dye bath wastewaters employing reactive azo dyes, on the performance of sequential anaerobic-aerobic processes for treatment of Reactive Black 5 (RB5) containing media, with concentration in the range 100-500mgL-1, was investigated. Three possible scenarios of the sequential anaerobic-aerobic process, namely two stage process and one stage processes employing either anaerobic or activated sludge, were considered. The results showed a statistically significant enhancement of the anaerobic decolourisation efficiency as a result of the addition of 30gL-1 NaCl to the RB5 containing media for two stage processes and one stage processes employing anaerobic sludge. NaCl at 30gL-1 concentration also inhibited aerobic colour formation during two stage processes whereas it prevented aerobic decolourisation during one stage processes. HPLC and UV Vis analysis indicated that during anaerobic phase/stage the majority of azo bonds in RB5 molecules cleave whereas the hydrophobicity/MW of the resulting dye reduction metabolites decreases. The same analysis revealed partial mineralisation of RB5 reduction metabolites under aerobic conditions. The results of the present work also showed that the effect of salt on anaerobic decolourisation efficiency, TVFA and methane production was dependent on the exposure history of anaerobic sludge

Public Health Guidelines for Physical Activity: Is There an App for That? A Review of Android and Apple App Stores

BACKGROUND: Physical activity participation is an important behavior for modifying lifestyle-related disease risk. Mobile health apps for chronic disease management and prevention are being developed at a rapid rate. However, it is unclear whether these apps are evidence-based. Current public health recommendations for physical activity participation for adults highlight the importance of engaging in 150 minutes weekly of purposeful exercise, and muscle strengthening activities on at least 2 days of the week. OBJECTIVE: The aims of the present review were to (1) identify available evidence-based physical activity apps, and (2) identify technological features that could be leveraged to improve health outcomes. METHODS: iTunes and Google Play mobile app stores were searched using keyword and category searching during a single day (February 18, 2014) for physical activity apps available in English. The description pages of eligible apps were reviewed by 4 independent reviewers for evidence-based content, technological, and descriptive features. An a priori subset of apps was downloaded for further review (n=6 affiliated with a non-commercial agency; n=10 top rated; n=10 random selection), and developers were contacted for information regarding evidence-informed content. RESULTS: The initial search yielded 2400 apps, of which 379 apps (n=206 iTunes; n=173 Google Play) were eligible. Primary results demonstrated no apps (n=0) adhering to evidence-based guidelines for aerobic physical activity, and 7 out of 379 implementing evidence-based guidelines for resistance training physical activity. Technological features of apps included social networking (n=207), pairing with a peripheral health device (n=61), and measuring additional health parameters (n=139). Secondary results revealed 1 app that referenced physical activity guidelines (150 minutes/weekly of exercise), and demonstrated that apps were based on various physical activity reports (n=4) or personal expertise (n=2). CONCLUSIONS: The present study demonstrated a shortage of evidence-based physical activity apps. This gap underscores the need for development of evidence-informed mobile apps. Results highlight the opportunity to develop evidence-informed mobile apps that can be used clinically to enhance health outcomes

SRB Environment Evaluation and Analysis. Volume 3: ASRB Plume Induced Environments

Contract NAS8-37891 was expanded in late 1989 to initiate analysis of Shuttle plume induced environments as a result of the substitution of the Advanced Solid Rocket Booster (ASRB) for the Redesigned Solid Rocket Booster (RSRB). To support this analysis, REMTECH became involved in subscale and full-scale solid rocket motor test programs which further expanded the scope of work. Later contract modifications included additional tasks to produce initial design cycle environments and to specify development flight instrumentation. Volume 3 of the final report describes these analyses and contains a summary of reports resulting from various studies

Two substrate-targeting sites in the Yersinia protein tyrosine phosphatase co-operate to promote bacterial virulence

YopH is a protein tyrosine phosphatase and an essential virulence determinant of the pathogenic bacterium Yersinia. Yersinia delivers YopH into infected host cells using a type III secretion mechanism. YopH dephosphorylates several focal adhesion proteins including p130Cas in human epithelial cells, resulting in disruption of focal adhesions and cell detachment from the extracellular matrix. How the C-terminal protein tyrosine phosphatase domain of YopH targets specific substrates such as p130Cas in the complex milieu of the host cell has not been fully elucidated. An N-terminal non-catalytic domain of YopH binds p130Cas in a phosphotyrosine-dependent manner and functions as a novel substrate-targeting site. The structure of the YopH protein tyrosine phosphatase domain bound to a model phosphopeptide substrate was solved and the resulting structure revealed a second substrate-targeting site (‘site 2’) within the catalytic domain. Site 2 binds to p130Cas in a phosphotyrosine-dependent manner, and co-operates with the N-terminal domain (‘site 1’) to promote efficient recognition of p130Cas by YopH in epithelial cells. The identification of two substrate-targeting sites in YopH that co-operate to promote epithelial cell detachment and bacterial virulence reinforces the importance of protein–protein interactions for determining protein tyrosine phosphatase specificity in vivo , and highlights the sophisticated nature of microbial pathogenicity factors.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73103/1/j.1365-2958.2005.04477.x.pd

Circus-specific extension of the International Olympic Committee consensus statement: Methods for recording and reporting of epidemiological data on injury and illness in sport 2020

Indepth knowledge of injury and illness epidemiology in circus arts is lacking. Comparing results across studies is difficult due to inconsistent methods and definitions. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) consensus group proposed a standard method for recording and reporting epidemiological data on injuries and illnesses in sports and stated that sport-specific extension statements are needed to capture the context of each sport. This is the circus-specific extension to be used with the IOC consensus statement. International circus arts researchers in injury and illness epidemiology and performing arts medicine formed a consensus working group. Consensus statement development included a review of literature, creation of an initial draft by the working group, feedback from external reviewers, integration of feedback into the second draft and a consensus on the final document. This consensus statement contains circus-specific information on (1) injury definitions and characteristics; (2) measures of severity and exposure, with recommendations for calculating the incidence and prevalence; (3) a healthcare practitioner report form; (4) a self-report form capturing health complaints with training and performance exposure; and (5) a demographic, health history and circus experience intake questionnaire. This guideline facilitates comparing results across studies and enables combining data sets on injuries in circus arts. This guideline informs circus-specific injury prevention, rehabilitation, and risk management to improve the performance and health of circus artists

Canonical PRC1 controls sequence-independent propagation of Polycomb-mediated gene silencing

Polycomb group (PcG) proteins play critical roles in the epigenetic inheritance of cell fate. The Polycomb Repressive Complexes PRC1 and PRC2 catalyse distinct chromatin modifications to enforce gene silencing, but how transcriptional repression is propagated through mitotic cell divisions remains a key unresolved question. Using reversible tethering of PcG proteins to ectopic sites in mouse embryonic stem cells, here we show that PRC1 can trigger transcriptional repression and Polycomb-dependent chromatin modifications. We find that canonical PRC1 (cPRC1), but not variant PRC1, maintains gene silencing through cell division upon reversal of tethering. Propagation of gene repression is sustained by cis-acting histone modifications, PRC2-mediated H3K27me3 and cPRC1-mediated H2AK119ub1, promoting a sequence-independent feedback mechanism for PcG protein recruitment. Thus, the distinct PRC1 complexes present in vertebrates can differentially regulate epigenetic maintenance of gene silencing, potentially enabling dynamic heritable responses to complex stimuli. Our findings reveal how PcG repression is potentially inherited in vertebrates

Auxetic cardiac patches with tunable mechanical and conductive properties toward treating myocardial infarction

An auxetic conductive cardiac patch (AuxCP) for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI) is introduced. The auxetic design gives the patch a negative Poisson's ratio, providing it with the ability to conform to the demanding mechanics of the heart. The conductivity allows the patch to interface with electroresponsive tissues such as the heart. Excimer laser microablation is used to micropattern a re-entrant honeycomb (bow-tie) design into a chitosan-polyaniline composite. It is shown that the bow-tie design can produce patches with a wide range in mechanical strength and anisotropy, which can be tuned to match native heart tissue. Further, the auxetic patches are conductive and cytocompatible with murine neonatal cardiomyocytes in vitro. Ex vivo studies demonstrate that the auxetic patches have no detrimental effect on the electrophysiology of both healthy and MI rat hearts and conform better to native heart movements than unpatterned patches of the same material. Finally, the AuxCP applied in a rat MI model results in no detrimental effect on cardiac function and negligible fibrotic response after two weeks in vivo. This approach represents a versatile and robust platform for cardiac biomaterial design and could therefore lead to a promising treatment for MI

Sigma-term physics in the perturbative chiral quark model

We apply the perturbative chiral quark model (PCQM) at one loop to analyse meson-baryon sigma-terms. Analytic expressions for these quantities are obtained in terms of fundamental parameters of low-energy pion-nucleon physics (weak pion decay constant, axial nucleon coupling, strong pion-nucleon form factor) and of only one model parameter (radius of the nucleonic three-quark core). Our result for the piN sigma term of about 45 MeV is in good agreement with the value deduced by Gasser, Leutwyler and Sainio using dispersion-relation techniques and exploiting the chiral symmetry constraints.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX-file, 2 Figure

Baryon masses in a chiral expansion with meson-baryon form factors

The chiral expansion of the one-loop corrections to baryon masses is examined in a generic meson-cloud model with meson-baryon form factors. For pion loops, the expansion is rapidly convergent and at fourth order in $m_\pi$ accurately reproduces the full integral. In contrast, the expansion is found to converge very slowly for kaon loops, raising questions about the usefulness of chiral expansions for kaon-baryon physics. Despite the importance of high-order terms, relations like that of Gell-Mann and Okubo are well satisfied by the baryon masses calculated with the full integral. The pion cloud cloud makes a significant contribution to the $\pi N$ sigma commutator, while kaon cloud gives a very small strangeness content in the nucleon.Comment: 20 pages (RevTeX), 2 figures (attached