Prevention of downhill walking-induced muscle damage by non-damaging downhill walking

Purpose: Mountain trekking involves level, uphill, and downhill walking (DW). Prolonged DW induces damage to leg muscles, reducing force generating ability and muscle coordination. These increase risks for more serious injuries and accidents in mountain trekking, thus a strategy to minimize muscle damage is warranted. It has been shown that low-intensity eccentric contractions confer protective effect on muscle damage induced by high-intensity eccentric contractions. This study tested the hypothesis that 5-min non-damaging DW would attenuate muscle damage induced by 40-min DW, but 5-min level walking (LW) would not. Methods: Untrained young men were allocated (n = 12/group) to either a control or one of the two preconditioning groups (PRE-DW or PRE-LW). The PRE-DW and PRE-LW groups performed 5-min DW (-28%) and 5-min LW, respectively, at 5 km/h with a load of 10% body mass, 1 week before 40-min DW (-28%, 5 km/h, 10% load). The control group performed 40-min DW only. Maximal knee extension strength, plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity, and muscle soreness (0±100 mm visual analogue scale) were measured before and 24 h after 5-min DW and 5-min LW, and before and 24, 48, and 72 h after 40-min DW. Results: No significant changes in any variables were evident after 5-min DWand 5-min LW. After 40- min DW, the control and PRE-LW groups showed significant (PP Conclusions: The results supported the hypothesis and suggest that performing small volume of downhill walking is crucial in preparation for trekking

Global Thrombosis Test - a possible monitoring system for the effects and safety of dabigatran

© Otsui et al. 2015BACKGROUND: Dabigatran is an alternative to warfarin (WF) for the thromboprophylaxis of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). The advantage of dabigatran over WF is that monitoring is not required; however, a method to monitor the effect and the safety of dabigatran is not currently available. The Global Thrombosis Test (GTT) is a novel method to assess both clot formation and lysis activities under physiological conditions. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether treatment with dabigatran might affect shear-induced thrombi (occlusion time [OT], sec) by the GTT, and to investigate the possibility that the GTT could be useful as a monitoring system for dabigatran. PATIENTS/METHODS: The study population consisted of 50 volunteers and 43 NVAF patients on WF therapy, who were subsequently switched to dabigatran. Using the GTT, the thrombotic status was assessed one day before and 1 month after switching anticoagulation from WF to dabigatran. RESULTS: The OT was 524.9 ± 17.0 sec in volunteers whereas that of NVAF patients on WF therapy was 581.7 ± 26.3 sec. The switch from WF to dabigatran significantly prolonged OT (784.5 ± 19.3 sec). One patient on WF therapy and 12 patients on dabigatran therapy were shown to have OT > 900 sec. CONCLUSION: The GTT could be used to assess the risk of dabigatran-related bleeding complications.Peer reviewe

60 GHz Wireless Signal Transmitting Gate Driver for IGBT

This paper shows the very first demonstration result of wireless IGBT gate drive using with 60 GHz wireless module with sufficient “real-time” control with 100 ns-level time delay with small fluctuation of the delay.2015 IEEE 27th International Symposium on Power Semiconductor Devices & IC\u27s (ISPSD 2015), May 10-14, 2015, Hong Kong, Chin