Exploring the performance reserve: Effect of different magnitudes of power output deception on 4,000 m cycling time-trial performance

Purpose The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a magnitude of deception of 5% in power output would lead to a greater reduction in the amount of time taken for participants to complete a 4000 m cycling TT than a magnitude of deception of 2% in power output, which we have previously shown can lead to a small change in 4000 m cycling TT performance. Methods Ten trained male cyclists completed four, 4000 m cycling TTs. The first served as a habituation and the second as a baseline for future trials. During trials three and four participants raced against a pacer which was set, in a randomized order, at a mean power output equal to 2% (+2% TT) or 5% (+5% TT) higher than their baseline performance. However participants were misled into believing that the power output of the pacer was an accurate representation of their baseline performance on both occasions. Cardiorespiratory responses were recorded throughout each TT, and used to estimate energy contribution from aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Results Participants were able to finish the +2% TT in a significantly shorter duration than at baseline (p = 0.01), with the difference in performance likely attributable to a greater anaerobic contribution to total power output (p = 0.06). There was no difference in performance between the +5% TT and +2% TT or baseline trials. Conclusions Results suggest that a performance reserve is conserved, involving anaerobic energy contribution, which can be utilised given a belief that the exercise will be sustainable however there is an upper limit to how much deception can be tolerated. These findings have implications for performance enhancement in athletes and for our understanding of the nature of fatigue during high-intensity exercise

Quantum Point Contacts and Coherent Electron Focusing

I. Introduction II. Electrons at the Fermi level III. Conductance quantization of a quantum point contact IV. Optical analogue of the conductance quantization V. Classical electron focusing VI. Electron focusing as a transmission problem VII. Coherent electron focusing (Experiment, Skipping orbits and magnetic edge states, Mode-interference and coherent electron focusing) VIII. Other mode-interference phenomenaComment: #3 of a series of 4 legacy reviews on QPC'

Spatio-Temporal Transmission Patterns of Black-Band Disease in a Coral Community

Transmission mechanisms of black-band disease (BBD) in coral reefs are poorly understood, although this disease is considered to be one of the most widespread and destructive coral infectious diseases. The major objective of this study was to assess transmission mechanisms of BBD in the field based on the spatio-temporal patterns of the disease

Exhaled volatile organic compounds in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: cross sectional and nested short-term follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Non-invasive diagnostic strategies aimed at identifying biomarkers of lung cancer are of great interest for early cancer detection. The aim of this study was to set up a new method for identifying and quantifying volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled air of patients with non-small cells lung cancer (NSCLC), by comparing the levels with those obtained from healthy smokers and non-smokers, and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The VOC collection and analyses were repeated three weeks after the NSCLC patients underwent lung surgery. METHODS: The subjects' breath was collected in a Teflon(® )bulb that traps the last portion of single slow vital capacity. The 13 VOCs selected for this study were concentrated using a solid phase microextraction technique and subsequently analysed by means of gas cromatography/mass spectrometry. RESULTS: The levels of the selected VOCs ranged from 10(-12 )M for styrene to 10(-9 )M for isoprene. None of VOCs alone discriminated the study groups, and so it was not possible to identify one single chemical compound as a specific lung cancer biomarker. However, multinomial logistic regression analysis showed that VOC profile can correctly classify about 80 % of cases. Only isoprene and decane levels significantly decreased after surgery. CONCLUSION: As the combination of the 13 VOCs allowed the correct classification of the cases into groups, together with conventional diagnostic approaches, VOC analysis could be used as a complementary test for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. Its possible use in the follow-up of operated patients cannot be recommended on the basis of the results of our short-term nested study

Current therapy of granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis: the role of rituximab.

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis are anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated vasculitides (AAVs) that are prone to cycles of remission and relapse. The introduction of cytotoxic therapy has changed the prognosis for these diseases from typically fatal to manageable chronic illnesses with a relapsing course. Despite improvements in outcomes, recurrence of disease and drug-related toxicity continue to produce significant morbidity and mortality. Better understanding of the pathogenesis of AAV and the mechanism of action of cyclophosphamide has led to investigation of therapies that target B cells. Two randomized controlled trials have shown that rituximab is not inferior to cyclophosphamide for induction of remission in severe AAV, with no significant difference in the incidence of overall adverse events in rituximab- versus cyclophosphamide-treated patients. Data from ongoing clinical trials will determine the role of rituximab in the maintenance of remission

Rapid semi-automated quantitative multiplex tandem PCR (MT-PCR) assays for the differential diagnosis of influenza-like illness

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Influenza A, including avian influenza, is a major public health threat in developed and developing countries. Rapid and accurate detection is a key component of strategies to contain spread of infection, and the efficient diagnosis of influenza-like-illness is essential to protect health infrastructure in the event of a major influenza outbreak.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a multiplexed PCR (MT-PCR) assay for the simultaneous diagnosis of respiratory viruses causing influenza-like illness, including the specific recognition of influenza A haemagglutinin subtypes H1, H3, and H5. We tested several hundred clinical specimens in two diagnostic reference laboratories and compared the results with standard techniques.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The sensitivity and specificity of these assays was higher than individual assays based on direct antigen detection and standard PCR against a range of control templates and in several hundred clinical specimens. The MT-PCR assays provided differential diagnoses as well as potentially useful quantitation of virus in clinical samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MT-PCR is a potentially powerful tool for the differential diagnosis of influenza-like illness in the clinical diagnostic laboratory.</p

Strain-induced pseudomagnetic field and Landau levels in photonic structures

Magnetic effects at optical frequencies are notoriously weak. This is evidenced by the fact that the magnetic permeability of nearly all materials is unity in the optical frequency range, and that magneto-optical devices (such as Faraday isolators) must be large in order to allow for a sufficiently strong effect. In graphene, however, it has been shown that inhomogeneous strains can induce 'pseudomagnetic fields' that behave very similarly to real fields. Here, we show experimentally and theoretically that, by properly structuring a dielectric lattice, it is possible to induce a pseudomagnetic field at optical frequencies in a photonic lattice, where the propagation dynamics is equivalent to the evolution of an electronic wavepacket in graphene. To our knowledge, this is the first realization of a pseudomagnetic field in optics. The induced field gives rise to multiple photonic Landau levels (singularities in the density of states) separated by band gaps. We show experimentally and numerically that the gaps between these Landau levels give rise to transverse confinement of the optical modes. The use of strain allows for the exploration of magnetic effects in a non-resonant way that would be otherwise inaccessible in optics. Employing inhomogeneous strain to induce pseudomagnetism suggests the possibility that aperiodic photonic crystal structures can achieve greater field-enhancement and slow-light effects than periodic structures via the high density-of-states at Landau levels. Generalizing these concepts to other systems beyond optics, for example with matter waves in optical potentials, offers new intriguing physics that is fundamentally different from that in purely periodic structures.Comment: 24 pages including supplementary information section, 4 figure

International variation in ethics committee requirements: comparisons across five Westernised nations

BACKGROUND: Ethics committees typically apply the common principles of autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence and justice to research proposals but with variable weighting and interpretation. This paper reports a comparison of ethical requirements in an international cross-cultural study and discusses their implications. DISCUSSION: The study was run concurrently in New Zealand, UK, Israel, Canada and USA and involved testing hypotheses about believability of testimonies regarding alleged child sexual abuse. Ethics committee requirements to conduct this study ranged from nil in Israel to considerable amendments designed to minimise participant harm in New Zealand. Assessment of minimal risk is a complex and unreliable estimation further compounded by insufficient information on probabilities of particular individuals suffering harm. Estimating potential benefits/ risks ratio and protecting participants' autonomy similarly are not straightforward exercises. SUMMARY: Safeguarding moral/humane principles should be balanced with promotion of ethical research which does not impede research posing minimal risk to participants. In ensuring that ethical standards are met and research has scientific merit, ethics committees have obligations to participants (to meet their rights and protect them from harm); to society (to ensure good quality research is conducted); and to researchers (to treat their proposals with just consideration and respect). To facilitate meeting all these obligations, the preferable focus should be promotion of ethical research, rather than the prevention of unethical research, which inevitably results in the impediment of researchers from doing their work. How the ethical principles should be applied and balanced requires further consideration