Factors influencing participation in a randomized controlled resistance exercise intervention study in breast cancer patients during radiotherapy

Background: Over the past years knowledge about benefits of physical activity after cancer is evolving from randomized exercise intervention trials. However, it has been argued that results may be biased by selective participation. Therefore, we investigated factors influencing participation in a randomized exercise intervention trial for breast cancer patients. Methods: Non-metastatic breast cancer patients were systematically screened for a randomized exercise intervention trial on cancer-related fatigue. Participants and nonparticipants were compared concerning sociodemographic characteristics (age, marital status, living status, travel time to the training facility), clinical data (body-mass-index, tumor stage, tumor size and lymph node status, comorbidities, chemotherapy), fatigue, and physical activity. Reasons for participation or declination were recorded. Results 117 patients (52 participants, 65 nonparticipants) were evaluable for analysis. Multiple regression analyses revealed significantly higher odds to decline participation among patients with longer travel time (p = 0.0012), living alone (p = 0.039), with more comorbidities (0.031), previous chemotherapy (p = 0.0066), of age ≥ 70 years (p = 0.025), or being free of fatigue (p = 0.0007). No associations were found with BMI or physical activity. By far the most frequently reported reason for declination of participation was too long commuting time to the training facility. Conclusions: Willingness of breast cancer patients to participate in a randomized exercise intervention study differed by sociodemographic factors and health status. Neither current physical activity level nor BMI appeared to be selective for participation. Reduction of personal inconveniences and time effort, e.g. by decentralized training facilities or flexible training schedules, seem most promising for enhancing participation in exercise intervention trials. Trial registration: Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01468766 (October 2011)

Cholesterol promotes clustering of PI(4,5)P-2 driving unconventional secretion of FGF2

Peer reviewe

Systems Modeling to Improve the Hydro-Ecological Performance of Diked Wetlands

Water scarcity and invasive vegetation threaten arid-region wetlands and wetland managers seek ways to enhance wetland ecosystem services with limited water, labor, and financial resources. While prior systems modeling efforts have focused on water management to improve flow-based ecosystem and habitat objectives, here we consider water allocation and invasive vegetation management that jointly target the concurrent hydrologic and vegetation habitat needs of priority wetland bird species. We formulate a composite weighted usable area for wetlands (WU) objective function that represents the wetland surface area that provides suitable water level and vegetation cover conditions for priority bird species. Maximizing the WU is subject to constraints such as water balance, hydraulic infrastructure capacity, invasive vegetation growth and control, and a limited financial budget to control vegetation. We apply the model at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on the Great Salt Lake, Utah, compare model-recommended management actions to past Refuge water and vegetation control activities, and find that managers can almost double the area of suitable habitat by more dynamically managing water levels and managing invasive vegetation in August at the beginning of the window for control operations. Scenario and sensitivity analyses show the importance to jointly consider hydrology and vegetation system components rather than only the hydrological component

Cross-realm assessment of climate change impacts on species' abundance trends

Climate change, land-use change, pollution and exploitation are among the main drivers of species' population trends; however, their relative importance is much debated. We used a unique collection of over 1,000 local population time series in 22 communities across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms within central Europe to compare the impacts of long-term temperature change and other environmental drivers from 1980 onwards. To disentangle different drivers, we related species' population trends to species- and driver-specific attributes, such as temperature and habitat preference or pollution tolerance. We found a consistent impact of temperature change on the local abundances of terrestrial species. Populations of warm-dwelling species increased more than those of cold-dwelling species. In contrast, impacts of temperature change on aquatic species' abundances were variable. Effects of temperature preference were more consistent in terrestrial communities than effects of habitat preference, suggesting that the impacts of temperature change have become widespread for recent changes in abundance within many terrestrial communities of central Europe.Additionally, we appreciate the open access marine data provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. We thank the following scientists for taxonomic or technical advice: C. Brendel, T. Caprano, R. Claus, K. Desender, A. Flakus, P. R. Flakus, S. Fritz, E.-M. Gerstner, J.-P. Maelfait, E.-L. Neuschulz, S. Pauls, C. Printzen, I. Schmitt and H. Turin, and I. Bartomeus for comments on a previous version of the manuscript. R.A. was supported by the EUproject LIMNOTIP funded under the seventh European Commission Framework Programme (FP7) ERA-Net Scheme (Biodiversa, 01LC1207A) and the long-term ecological research program at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). R.W.B. was supported by the Scottish Government Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS) through Theme 3 of their Strategic Research Programme. S.D. acknowledges support of the German Research Foundation DFG (grant DO 1880/1-1). S.S. acknowledges the support from the FP7 project EU BON (grant no. 308454). S.K., I.Kü. and O.S. acknowledge funding thorough the Helmholtz Association’s Programme Oriented Funding, Topic ‘Land use, biodiversity, and ecosystem services: Sustaining human livelihoods’. O.S. also acknowledges the support from FP7 via the Integrated Project STEP (grant no. 244090). D.E.B. was funded by a Landes–Offensive zur Entwicklung Wissenschaftlich–ökonomischer Exzellenz (LOEWE) excellence initiative of the Hessian Ministry for Science and the Arts and the German Research Foundation (DFG: Grant no. BO 1221/23-1).Peer Reviewe

Atrial fibrillation genetic risk differentiates cardioembolic stroke from other stroke subtypes

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to assess whether genetic risk factors for atrial fibrillation can explain cardioembolic stroke risk.MethodsWe evaluated genetic correlations between a prior genetic study of AF and AF in the presence of cardioembolic stroke using genome-wide genotypes from the Stroke Genetics Network (N = 3,190 AF cases, 3,000 cardioembolic stroke cases, and 28,026 referents). We tested whether a previously-validated AF polygenic risk score (PRS) associated with cardioembolic and other stroke subtypes after accounting for AF clinical risk factors.ResultsWe observed strong correlation between previously reported genetic risk for AF, AF in the presence of stroke, and cardioembolic stroke (Pearson’s r=0.77 and 0.76, respectively, across SNPs with p &lt; 4.4 × 10−4 in the prior AF meta-analysis). An AF PRS, adjusted for clinical AF risk factors, was associated with cardioembolic stroke (odds ratio (OR) per standard deviation (sd) = 1.40, p = 1.45×10−48), explaining ∼20% of the heritable component of cardioembolic stroke risk. The AF PRS was also associated with stroke of undetermined cause (OR per sd = 1.07, p = 0.004), but no other primary stroke subtypes (all p &gt; 0.1).ConclusionsGenetic risk for AF is associated with cardioembolic stroke, independent of clinical risk factors. Studies are warranted to determine whether AF genetic risk can serve as a biomarker for strokes caused by AF.</jats:sec

Ganzkörpervibrationstraining, Nutzen versus Risiko im Leistungssport?

Ziel der vorliegenden Übersichtsarbeit ist, die Rolle des Ganzkörpervibrationstrainings in der Vorbereitung von Elite- und LeistungssportlerInnen im Vergleich zu spezifischen Interventionen zu betrachten und zu erheben, in welchen Sportarten es einen Beitrag leisten kann. Mögliche Risiken, die mit dieser Trainingsform einhergehen, sollen ebenfalls untersucht werden. Nach Abschluss der systematischen Recherche wurden 12 Studien für diesen Review ausgewählt und hinsichtlich der Auswirkung von akutem und chronischem Ganzkörpervibrationstraining auf unterschiedliche Parameter (Kraft, Schnellkraft, Gleichgewichtsfähigkeit, Flexibilität und Sprintzeit) bei Leistungs- und SpitzensportlerInnen, analysiert. Insgesamt wiesen sieben der zwölf Studien signifikant positive Auswirkungen von Vibrationstraining auf mindestens einen der untersuchten Parameter aus. Vier der zwölf Arbeiten zeigten gemischte Effekte, während eine Arbeit keine Auswirkungen des Vibrationstrainings auf primäre Studienendpunkte messen konnte. Obwohl die Interventionsprogramme gut und detailliert beschrieben waren, variierten die Trainingsprotokolle der einzelnen akuten und chronischen Studien zum Teil erheblich. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass AthletInnen während der Ganzkörpervibration individualisierte Trainingsreize sowie spezifische Übungen benötigen, um die gemessenen Leistungsparameter entsprechend zu verbessern. Entsprechend dem höheren Trainingsstatus dürften AthletInnen Trainingsprotokolle mit höheren Geräteeinstellungen, längeren Expositionszeiten, längeren Trainingsperioden sowie anspruchsvollen Körperpositionen bzw. Übungen benötigen um ihre Leistung weiter steigern zu können. Obwohl Vibrationstraining insgesamt eine sichere Trainingsmethode darstellt sollte bei Anwendung des Vibrationstraining im Leistungssport ein besonderes Augenmerk auf den Sicherheitsaspekt gelegt werden Um die langfristigen Effekte des Ganzkörpervibrationstraining im Leistungssport einschätzen zu können, wären weiter Studien, die sich mit den chronischen Auswirkungen beschäftigen wünschenswert. Außerdem wäre bei weiteren Forschungsarbeiten eine detailliertere Protokollierung der Trainingsregimes von Nutzen, um Trainingsempfehlungen und Trainingsprogramme für einzelne Sportarten im Elitesport abgeben zu können.The purpose of the present diploma thesis was to investigate the effects of whole body vibration (WBV) in the preparation of competitive and elite athletes in comparison to specific interventions and to determine whether it could enhance performance in different sports. Potential risks of WBV should also be documented. After the completion of the systematic literature review 12 studies were included in this review paper and analysed regarding the acute and chronic effects of WBV training on different parameters (strength, power, balance, flexibility and speed) in competitive and/or elite athletes. In total seven of the twelve studies revealed positive effects for at least one of the examined parameters. Four of the twelve studies showed mixed effects whereas one study could not measure any effects of vibration exercise. These results indicate that athletes need individualised trainings stimuli as well as specific exercises during WBV to enhance the measured performance parameters. According to their higher training status athletes need training protocols with higher device intensities, longer exposures, longer training periods as well as more demanding body postures and exercises to further enhance their abilities. Though, WBV represents a safe training method, special attention should be given to the safety aspects during application in competitive sports. To estimate the long-term effects of WBV in competitive sports further studies which examine the chronic effects are desirable. In addition, further research work should focus on a more detailed description of training protocols to provide training recommendations and training programmes for individual disciplines in elite sports

Optimizing spatial habitat suitability and timber revenue in long-term forest planning

Effective tools must be developed that include consideration of biodiversity in the traditional forest planning process. The objective of this study is to present a spatial habitat suitability model that could be included in the optimization of long-term forest planning where the problem can be solved with an exact solution method. This could be an advantage, since, e.g., many forest planning systems available today are designed for problems that could be solved with an exact solution method. The habitat model consists of two parts: suitability assessment of stand-wise conditions and spatial conditions. To investigate whether the model works in a realistic setting, we used a case study and applied the model to the habitat demands for Hazel Grouse (Bonasa bonasia L.). The results from the case study indicate that the model is effective for including spatial habitat consideration and that the model could be used for creating different degrees of the clustering of habitats. Further, the loss in net present value as a result of the spatial habitat demands was limited in the case study. We suggest that this modeling approach could be extended to other species with large area requirements and add to the existing tools for forest biodiversity assessment in forest management planning