Effectiveness of a Pilates exercise intervention on perceived functional disability and pain associated with non-specific chronic low back pain

Non-specific low back pain (LBP) is a symptom of unknown cause affecting one third of the UK adult population. In 2013, the UK Government reported that back pain was the leading cause of long-term sickness and accounted for more than 15 million lost work days; with an estimated annual cost of £12.3 billion (NHS, 2015). Pilates based exercise is becoming increasingly incorporated to spinal rehabilitation, yet there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 6-week Pilates based exercise programme on perceived functional disability and pain associated with nonspecific chronic low back pai

Effectiveness of commercial versus homemade sports drinks on fluid balance and exercise capacity during high-intensity intermittent exercise

Commercial sports drinks are used widely by athletes involved in high-intensity intermittent (HII) exercise. However, little has been reported on their relative effectiveness compared to simple homemade drink formulations. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different sports drink formulations (commercial v homemade), water and no drink on fluid balance and exercise capacity during HII exercise. Twelve trained men (age: 27 ± 2.1 y) performed a 90-min HII running protocol designed to simulate activity experienced during a football match. The protocol was arranged in six 15-min stages where running speeds ranged between 55% and 120% of VO2max. The HII protocol included half-time and a run to fatigue post 90 min. Using a single-blind, randomized, cross-over design, participants ingested a preload of 5 mlkg-1 10 min before HII exercise and 3 mlkg-1 every 15 min of either Isostar® (ISO), a homemade sports drink (CHO), placebo (P) or no drink (ND). Blood lactate (Hla), blood glucose (Bgluc), heart rate (HR) and ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) were measured before, during (every 15 min) and after the 90-min HII protocol. Changes in plasma volume were measured at half-time and post 90 min. Sweat rate and fluid balance were calculated post each trial. Time to fatigue (TTF) was recorded at exhaustion. In the ND trial, TTF decreased by approximately 17%, 28% and 43% compared to P, CHO and ISO, respectively (p0.05). No differences were noted in HLa, RPE, PV or SR between the trials (p>0.05) but there were significant effects of time (p<0.05). Bgluc peaked at 30 minutes in ISO and CHO, but dropped by ~27% in ISO and by ~30% in CHO after half time. Absence of fluid ingestion surprisingly had no significant effect on altering plasma volume or decreasing sweat rate despite causing noticeable decreases in exercise capacity. The homemade drink improved exercise capacity in a similar manner to that of the commercial drink, but neither sports drink achieved superior hydration compared to water. Ingestion of exogenous carbohydrate through sports drink consumption caused an exercise-induced glycemic response when exercise was restarted after half-time. This decline in blood glucose after half-time appears to be marginally attenuated in P trial. A possible suggestion for team sports could be to drink water rather than sports drink prior to half-time period

The Effectiveness of a Leg-Kicking Training Program on Performance and Physiological Measures of Competitive Swimmers

This study investigated the adaptations in leg muscle metabolism of swimmers following a six-week, leg-kicking swimming training program Fifteen male competitive swimmers were randomly assigned to an experimental group (E; n=8) and a control group (C; n=7). E swimmers performed normal leg-kicking training three times per week, whereas C swimmers performed reduced leg-kicking training (20% and 4% of weekly training distance, respectively). Before and after the training program, all swimmers performed a 200 m leg-kicking and a 400 m full-stroke freestyle time trial and a dry-land exercise test during which peak oxygen uptake, oxygen uptake at 60 W and exercise intensity at ventilatory threshold were measured. After training, there were improvements in leg-kicking time in 200 m (s; −6.0 ± 2.0%, p = 0.044), oxygen uptake at 60 Watts (L·min−1; −20.4 ± 3.0%, p = 0.035) and exercise intensity at ventilatory threshold (Watts; +28.0 ± 5.0%, p = 0.023) in E swimmers, whereas time in 400 m and peak oxygen uptake remained unchanged (p > 0.05). There were no changes in any of the measures for C swimmers (P > 0.05). These results suggest that normal leg-kicking swimming training positively affects the conditioning of the legs, but does not improve aerobic power during the dry-land, leg-kicking exercise test or middle-distance, full-stroke, swimming performance

Environmental sustainability of mega-sport events: A comparison of initiatives in developed and developing countries

Sustainability has been coined 'one of the most successful concepts in tourism and event studies that has experienced exponential growth since the mid-1980s‘ (Hall, 2010). Despite its emergence as a popular concept, sustainability is a complex issue that has been poorly understood by stakeholders, policy makers and organisers of mega-sport events. Lohman and Dredge (2012) have noted that even though humans are a fundamental part of the natural environment, leading policy makers such as the International Olympic Committee, have created policies that solely consider impacts to the physical environment (i.e. transportation and pollution) while ommiting other equally significant environmental impacts such as community displacement (Porter et al., 2009), use of facilities after the event (Hiller, 2006) and uneven distribution of benefits within the host community (Gaffney, 2010).This paper will review the issues surrounding environmental sustainability of mega-sports events such as the Summer and Winter Olympic Games and the World Cup. A historical account of movements to improve sustainability, such as the Olympic Charter (IOC, 2007), the International Standards Organisation (ISO, 2010) and the Sustainable Sourcing Code (LOCOG, 2012) will be presented amongst others. The paper will particularly focus on comparing sustainability policies and strategies between developed and developing countries where mega-sport events have been held or are to be held in the near future

The Effect of a Pilates Exercise Programme on Perceived Functional Disability and Pain Associated with Non-Specific Chronic Low Back Pain

Non-specific low back pain (LBP) is a symptom of unknown cause affecting one third of the UK adult population, accounting for more than 15 million lost work days and an estimated annual cost of £12.3 billion. Pilates based exercise is becoming increasingly incorporated in to spinal rehabilitation, yet there is limited evidence on the efficacy of the technique. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a 6-week Pilates based exercise programme on perceived functional disability, pain, local muscular endurance and lumbar range of motion in patients with non-specific chronic low back pain. Participants (n=13) with chronic non-specific LBP (>12-weeks) were recruited to a pre-post intervention trial. All participants were assigned to a 6-week control period. Subsequently, participants undertook one hour of a Pilates based exercise intervention twice per week for 6-weeks. Perceived functional disability and pain were assessed using the Oswestry functional disability questionnaire (ODQ) and visual analogue scale (VAS) respectively. Local muscular endurance (CE) and lumbar range of motion (LF) were assessed using the core endurance test and the fingertip to floor distance (FFD) respectively. Functional disability (ODQ), pain (VAS), local muscular endurance and lumbar flexion (FFD) improved after the intervention period (P0.05). The results of this pre-post intervention trial suggest that Pilates based exercise can be administered safely and is well tolerated by the majority of patients with nonspecific chronic LBP

Characterization of fiber optic distributed temperature sensors for tissue laser ablation

Fiber optics is the most promising technology for distributed temperature sensing. The paper investigates the characterization of probes based on single or multiplexed fiber Bragg gratings, specifically conceived to evaluate the temperature distribution in applications that imply large temperature gradients, such as in laser induced thermal treatments of solid tumors. A setup for the characterization of fiber Bragg grating sensors in non uniform temperature conditions is described and examples of applications in case that mimic actual working conditions are reported

Optical fibre long period grating spectral actuators utilizing ferrofluids as outclading overlayers

Results are presented on the spectral tuning of optical fibre long period gratings utilizing water and oil based ferrofluids as outclading overlayers, under static magnetic field stimulus. Two approaches are adopted for modifying the ambient refractive index at the position of the long period grating. In the first approach, a water based ferrofluid is controllably translated along the length of the grating via a magnetic field. Changes as high as 7.5nm and 6.5dB are monitored in the wavelength and strength, respectively, of the attenuation bands of the grating. The repeatable performance of this device for repetitive forward and backward translation verifies that no ferrofluidic residue is left on the fibre, due to silanization cladding functionalisation. In the second approach, the refractive index of an oil based ferrofluidic overlayer is modified through the magneto-optical effect. For an applied static magnetic field in the order of 400 Gauss the strength of the attenuation band of the grating is modified by more than 10% while its spectral position remains unaffected. Accordingly for the implementation of the last approach, the magnetically induced refractive index changes of ferrofluids of different solution concentrations are studied by employing diffraction efficiency measurements

Bioresorbable optical fiber Bragg gratings

We demonstrate, for the first time, an inscription and wet dissolution study of Bragg gratings in a bioresorbable calcium-phosphate glass optical fiber. Bragg gratings, with average refractive index changes of 5.8 × 10^−4, were inscribed using 193 nm excimer laser radiation. Results on the dissolution of the irradiated fiber in simulated physiological conditions are presented after immersing a tilted Bragg grating in a phosphate buffered saline solution for 56 h; selective chemical etching effects are also reported. The investigations performed pave the way toward the use of such phosphate glass fiber Bragg gratings for the development of soluble photonic sensing probes for the efficient in vivo monitoring of vital mechanical or chemical parameters

Laboratory-based ergometry for swimmers: a narrative review

INTRODUCTION: First widely available dry-land training machines for swimmers were introduced about 40 years ago. They were designed so that swimmers could perform resistance exercise whilst more-closely replicating the movements of swimming, than when using other gymnasium-based resistance training machines. This narrative review categorises and summarises what has been shown by the studies that have utilised laboratory-based ergometry for swimmers. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect and Scopus (1970-2018) and relevant publications were included. Publications were grouped into 4 main areas of research: (i) physiological responses to exercise, (ii) functional evaluation of swimmers, (iii) monitoring of training, and (iv) muscular work output of swimmers. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Significant differences were showed between swim bench exercise and real swimming, especially in regard to the muscles involved. The difficulties of accurate reproduction of the movements and coordinated dynamic actions of swimming have not been overcome. Nevertheless, the literature shows that the use of these devices has provided a valuablecontribution to swimming physiology, while overcoming difficulties presented by attempting to make physiological measurements in the water. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of its limitations, laboratory-based ergometry has allowed a valuable contribution to the understanding of the physiology, effects of training and efficiency of swimming

2D characterization of near-surface V P/V S: surface-wave dispersion inversion versus refraction tomography

International audienceThe joint study of pressure (P-) and shear (S-) wave velocities (Vp and Vs ), as well as their ratio (Vp /Vs), has been used for many years at large scales but remains marginal in near-surface applications. For these applications, and are generally retrieved with seismic refraction tomography combining P and SH (shear-horizontal) waves, thus requiring two separate acquisitions. Surface-wave prospecting methods are proposed here as an alternative to SH-wave tomography in order to retrieve pseudo-2D Vs sections from typical P-wave shot gathers and assess the applicability of combined P-wave refraction tomography and surface-wave dispersion analysis to estimate Vp/Vs ratio. We carried out a simultaneous P- and surface-wave survey on a well-characterized granite-micaschists contact at Ploemeur hydrological observatory (France), supplemented with an SH-wave acquisition along the same line in order to compare Vs results obtained from SH-wave refraction tomography and surface-wave profiling. Travel-time tomography was performed with P- and SH- wave first arrivals observed along the line to retrieve Vtomo p and Vtomo s models. Windowing and stacking techniques were then used to extract evenly spaced dispersion data from P-wave shot gathers along the line. Successive 1D Monte Carlo inversions of these dispersion data were performed using fixed Vp values extracted from Vtomo p the model and no lateral constraints between two adjacent 1D inversions. The resulting 1D Vsw s models were then assembled to create a pseudo-2D Vsw s section, which appears to be correctly matching the general features observed on the section. If the pseudo-section is characterized by strong velocity incertainties in the deepest layers, it provides a more detailed description of the lateral variations in the shallow layers. Theoretical dispersion curves were also computed along the line with both and models. While the dispersion curves computed from models provide results consistent with the coherent maxima observed on dispersion images, dispersion curves computed from models are generally not fitting the observed propagation modes at low frequency. Surface-wave analysis could therefore improve models both in terms of reliability and ability to describe lateral variations. Finally, we were able to compute / sections from both and models. The two sections present similar features, but the section obtained from shows a higher lateral resolution and is consistent with the features observed on electrical resistivity tomography, thus validating our approach for retrieving Vp/Vs ratio from combined P-wave tomography and surface-wave profiling