Changes in Cartilage Biomarker Levels During a Transcontinental Multistage Footrace Over 4486 km

Cartilage turnover and load-induced tissue changes are frequently assessed by quantifying concentrations of cartilage biomarkers in serum. To date, information on the effects of ultramarathon running on articular cartilage is scarce.; Serum concentrations of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-3, MMP-9, COL2-3/4C long mono (C2C), procollagen type II C-terminal propeptide (CPII), and C2C:CPII will increase throughout a multistage ultramarathon.; Descriptive laboratory study.; Blood samples were collected from 36 runners (4 female; mean age, 49.0 ± 10.7 years; mean body mass index, 23.1 ± 2.3 kg/m2 [start] and 21.4 ± 1.9 kg/m2 [finish]) before (t0) and during (t1: 1002 km; t2: 2132 km; t3: 3234 km; t4: 4039 km) a 4486-km multistage ultramarathon. Serum COMP, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9, C2C, and CPII levels were assessed using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Linear mixed models were used to detect significant changes in serum biomarker levels over time with the time-varying covariates of body weight, running speed, and daily running time.; Serum concentrations of COMP, MMP-9, and MMP-3 changed significantly throughout the multistage ultramarathon. On average, concentrations increased during the first measurement interval (MI1: t1-t0) by 22.5% for COMP (95% CI, 0.29-0.71 ng/mL), 22.3% for MMP-3 (95% CI, 0.24-15.37 ng/mL), and 95.6% for MMP-9 (95% CI, 81.7-414.5 ng/mL) and remained stable throughout MI2, MI3, and MI4. Serum concentrations of MMP-1, C2C, CPII, and C2C:CPII did not change significantly throughout the multistage ultramarathon. Changes in MMP-3 were statistically associated with changes in COMP throughout the ultramarathon race (MMP-3: Wald Z = 3.476, P = .001).; Elevated COMP levels indicate increased COMP turnover in response to extreme running, and the association between load-induced changes in MMP-3 and changes in COMP suggests the possibility that MMP-3 may be involved in the degradation of COMP.; These results suggest that articular cartilage is able to adapt even to extreme physical activity, possibly explaining why the risk of degenerative joint disease is not elevated in the running population

Changes in Cartilage Biomarker Levels During a Transcontinental Multistage Footrace Over 4486 km

Cartilage turnover and load-induced tissue changes are frequently assessed by quantifying concentrations of cartilage biomarkers in serum. To date, information on the effects of ultramarathon running on articular cartilage is scarce.; Serum concentrations of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-3, MMP-9, COL2-3/4C long mono (C2C), procollagen type II C-terminal propeptide (CPII), and C2C:CPII will increase throughout a multistage ultramarathon.; Descriptive laboratory study.; Blood samples were collected from 36 runners (4 female; mean age, 49.0 ± 10.7 years; mean body mass index, 23.1 ± 2.3 kg/m2 [start] and 21.4 ± 1.9 kg/m2 [finish]) before (t0) and during (t1: 1002 km; t2: 2132 km; t3: 3234 km; t4: 4039 km) a 4486-km multistage ultramarathon. Serum COMP, MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9, C2C, and CPII levels were assessed using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Linear mixed models were used to detect significant changes in serum biomarker levels over time with the time-varying covariates of body weight, running speed, and daily running time.; Serum concentrations of COMP, MMP-9, and MMP-3 changed significantly throughout the multistage ultramarathon. On average, concentrations increased during the first measurement interval (MI1: t1-t0) by 22.5% for COMP (95% CI, 0.29-0.71 ng/mL), 22.3% for MMP-3 (95% CI, 0.24-15.37 ng/mL), and 95.6% for MMP-9 (95% CI, 81.7-414.5 ng/mL) and remained stable throughout MI2, MI3, and MI4. Serum concentrations of MMP-1, C2C, CPII, and C2C:CPII did not change significantly throughout the multistage ultramarathon. Changes in MMP-3 were statistically associated with changes in COMP throughout the ultramarathon race (MMP-3: Wald Z = 3.476, P = .001).; Elevated COMP levels indicate increased COMP turnover in response to extreme running, and the association between load-induced changes in MMP-3 and changes in COMP suggests the possibility that MMP-3 may be involved in the degradation of COMP.; These results suggest that articular cartilage is able to adapt even to extreme physical activity, possibly explaining why the risk of degenerative joint disease is not elevated in the running population

International sport federations’ commercialisation : a qualitative comparative analysis

Research question: This study examines the conditions and configurations that particularly influence International Federations’ (IFs) commercialisation. Research method: Crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (csQCA) is used to determine the conditions that are related to an IFs’ commercialisation. Sixteen interviews were conducted in six Olympic IFs and one international sport umbrella organisation. Results and findings: The findings reveal a variety of high and low commercialisation configurations. Specialisation is a key condition in both high and low commercialisation, and social media engagement is central in high commercialisation. Strategic planning and low accountability have low degrees of overlap with high commercialisation outcomes. With 13 out of 22 IFs achieving high levels of commercialisation, the findings demonstrate that IFs are increasingly developing business-like behaviours. Implications: The findings highlight the importance of specialisation and social media engagement to achieve high commercialisation. However, when IFs assume a monetisation agenda, there are associated risks such as stakeholder legitimacy, mission drift, goal vagueness and adherence to good governance principles

Shotgun metagenome data of a defined mock community using Oxford Nanopore, PacBio and Illumina technologies.

Metagenomic sequence data from defined mock communities is crucial for the assessment of sequencing platform performance and downstream analyses, including assembly, binning and taxonomic assignment. We report a comparison of shotgun metagenome sequencing and assembly metrics of a defined microbial mock community using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION, PacBio and Illumina sequencing platforms. Our synthetic microbial community BMock12 consists of 12 bacterial strains with genome sizes spanning 3.2-7.2 Mbp, 40-73% GC content, and 1.5-7.3% repeats. Size selection of both PacBio and ONT sequencing libraries prior to sequencing was essential to yield comparable relative abundances of organisms among all sequencing technologies. While the Illumina-based metagenome assembly yielded good coverage with few misassemblies, contiguity was greatly improved by both, Illumina + ONT and Illumina + PacBio hybrid assemblies but increased misassemblies, most notably in genomes with high sequence similarity to each other. Our resulting datasets allow evaluation and benchmarking of bioinformatics software on Illumina, PacBio and ONT platforms in parallel

Evaluating the effects of an exercise program (Staying UpRight) for older adults in long-term care on rates of falls: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Falls are two to four times more frequent amongst older adults living in long-term care (LTC) than community-dwelling older adults and have deleterious consequences. It is hypothesised that a progressive exercise program targeting balance and strength will reduce fall rates when compared to a seated exercise program and do so cost effectively. Methods/design: This is a single blind, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial with blinded assessment of outcome and intention-to-treat analysis. LTC residents (age ≥ 65 years) will be recruited from LTC facilities in New Zealand. Participants (n = 528 total, with a 1:1 allocation ratio) will be randomly assigned to either a novel exercise program (Staying UpRight), comprising strength and balance exercises designed specifically for LTC and acceptable to people with dementia (intervention group), or a seated exercise program (control group). The intervention and control group classes will be delivered for 1 h twice weekly over 1 year. The primary outcome is rate of falls (per 1000 person years) within the intervention period. Secondary outcomes will be risk of falling (the proportion of fallers per group), fall rate relative to activity exposure, hospitalisation for fall-related injury, change in gait variability, volume and patterns of ambulatory activity and change in physical performance assessed at baseline and after 6 and 12 months. Cost-effectiveness will be examined using intervention and health service costs. The trial commenced recruitment on 30 November 2018. Discussion: This study evaluates the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a progressive strength and balance exercise program for aged care residents to reduce falls. The outcomes will aid development of evidenced-based exercise programmes for this vulnerable population. Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12618001827224. Registered on 9 November 2018. Universal trial number U1111-1217-7148

Drivers of and Barriers to Professionalization in International Sport Federations

In a changing and complex environment, international sport federations (IFs) have to face new challenges. These challenges can trigger or hinder IFs’ professionalization processes. While researchers have examined organizational change and professionalization of national sport federations (NFs) and clubs, studies on IFs are rare. Considering professionalization as an important element of IFs’ change processes in recent years, the study attempts to fill this gap. The conceptual framework is based on the concepts and dynamics of organizational change, the influence of isomorphic pressures and the operationalization of a multi-level framework. Data from six case studies was analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis. Findings reveal multiple causes of IFs’ professionalization. Three particular findings are discussed: professionalization as a dynamic process with phases of acceleration that vary depending on IFs’ size; IFs’ becoming increasingly business-like through isomorphic changes; and five causes of particular relevance to IFs’ current professionalization process

Broad-Spectrum Drugs Against Viral Agents

Development of antivirals has focused primarily on vaccines and on treatments for specific viral agents. Although effective, these approaches may be limited in situations where the etiologic agent is unknown or when the target virus has undergone mutation, recombination or reassortment. Augmentation of the innate immune response may be an effective alternative for disease amelioration. Nonspecific, broad-spectrum immune responses can be induced by double-stranded (ds)RNAs such as poly (ICLC), or oligonucleotides (ODNs) containing unmethylated deocycytidyl-deoxyguanosinyl (CpG) motifs. These may offer protection against various bacterial and viral pathogens regardless of their genetic makeup, zoonotic origin or drug resistance

Critical Assessment of Metagenome Interpretation:A benchmark of metagenomics software

International audienceIn metagenome analysis, computational methods for assembly, taxonomic profilingand binning are key components facilitating downstream biological datainterpretation. However, a lack of consensus about benchmarking datasets andevaluation metrics complicates proper performance assessment. The CriticalAssessment of Metagenome Interpretation (CAMI) challenge has engaged the globaldeveloper community to benchmark their programs on datasets of unprecedentedcomplexity and realism. Benchmark metagenomes were generated from newlysequenced ~700 microorganisms and ~600 novel viruses and plasmids, includinggenomes with varying degrees of relatedness to each other and to publicly availableones and representing common experimental setups. Across all datasets, assemblyand genome binning programs performed well for species represented by individualgenomes, while performance was substantially affected by the presence of relatedstrains. Taxonomic profiling and binning programs were proficient at high taxonomicranks, with a notable performance decrease below the family level. Parametersettings substantially impacted performances, underscoring the importance ofprogram reproducibility. While highlighting current challenges in computationalmetagenomics, the CAMI results provide a roadmap for software selection to answerspecific research questions

Co-productive agility and four collaborative pathways to sustainability transformations

Co-production, the collaborative weaving of research and practice by diverse societal actors, is argued to play an important role in sustainability transformations. Yet, there is still poor understanding of how to navigate the tensions that emerge in these processes. Through analyzing 32 initiatives worldwide that co-produced knowledge and action to foster sustainable social-ecological relations, we conceptualize ‘co-productive agility’ as an emergent feature vital for turning tensions into transformations. Co-productive agility refers to the willingness and ability of diverse actors to iteratively engage in reflexive dialogues to grow shared ideas and actions that would not have been possible from the outset. It relies on embedding knowledge production within processes of change to constantly recognize, reposition, and navigate tensions and opportunities. Co-productive agility opens up multiple pathways to transformation through: (1) elevating marginalized agendas in ways that maintain their integrity and broaden struggles for justice; (2) questioning dominant agendas by engaging with power in ways that challenge assumptions, (3) navigating conflicting agendas to actively transform interlinked paradigms, practices, and structures; (4) exploring diverse agendas to foster learning and mutual respect for a plurality of perspectives. We explore six process considerations that vary by these four pathways and provide a framework to enable agility in sustainability transformations. We argue that research and practice spend too much time closing down debate over different agendas for change – thereby avoiding, suppressing, or polarizing tensions, and call for more efforts to facilitate better interactions among different agendas