Effect of moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise on blood pressure in young adults : the TEPHRA open, two-arm, parallel superiority randomized clinical trial

Background Exercise is advised for young adults with elevated blood pressure, but no trials have investigated efficacy at this age. We aimed to determine whether aerobic exercise, self-monitoring and motivational coaching lowers blood pressure in this group. Methods The study was a single-centre, open, two-arm, parallel superiority randomized clinical trial with open community-based recruitment of physically-inactive 18–35 year old adults with awake 24 h blood pressure 115/75mmHg-159/99 mmHg and BMI37 weeks) to the intervention group, who received 16-weeks aerobic exercise training (three aerobic training sessions per week of 60 min per session at 60–80% peak heart rate, physical activity self-monitoring with encouragement to do 10,000 steps per day and motivational coaching to maintain physical activity upon completion of the intervention. The control group were sign-posted to educational materials on hypertension and recommended lifestyle behaviours. Investigators performing statistical analyses were blinded to group allocation. The primary outcome was 24 h awake ambulatory blood pressure (systolic and diastolic) change from baseline to 16-weeks on an intention-to-treat basis. Clinicaltrials.gov registered on March 30, 2016 (NCT02723552). Findings Enrolment occurred between 30/06/2016-26/10/2018. Amongst the 203 randomized young adults (n = 102 in the intervention group; n = 101 in the control group), 178 (88%; n = 76 intervention group, n = 84 control group) completed 16-week follow-up and 160 (79%; n = 68 intervention group, n = 69 control group) completed 52-weeks follow-up. There were no group differences in awake systolic (0·0 mmHg [95%CI, -2·9 to 2·8]; P = 0·98) or awake diastolic ambulatory blood pressure (0·6 mmHg [95%CI, -1·4. to 2·6]; P = 0·58). Aerobic training increased peak oxygen uptake (2·8 ml/kg/min [95%CI, 1·6 to 4·0]) and peak wattage (14·2watts [95%CI, 7·6 to 20·9]) at 16-weeks. There were no intervention effects at 52-weeks follow-up. Intepretation These results do not support the exclusive use of moderate to high intensity aerobic exercise training for blood pressure control in young adults. Funding Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation, National Institute for Health Research, Oxford Biomedical Research Centre

Triple-resistant kochia [Kochia scoparia (L.) Schrad.] in Alberta

A randomized stratified survey was conducted in Alberta in 2017 to determine the distribution and abundance of multiple-resistant (acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibitor, glycine, synthetic auxin) kochia. All populations were ALS inhibitor-resistant, with glyphosate and dicamba resistance confirmed in 50 and 18% of populations, respectively. Ten percent of populations exhibited resistance to all three site-of-action herbicides.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Fluroxypyr-resistant kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A.J. Scott] confirmed in Alberta

Recent confirmation of dicamba-resistant kochia [Bassia scoparia (L.) A.J. Scott] in Alberta warrants investigation of resistance to other commonly used synthetic auxin herbicides like fluroxypyr. A randomized-stratified survey of 305 sites in Alberta was conducted in 2017 to determine the status of fluroxypyr-resistant kochia. Overall, 13% of the kochia populations were fluroxypyr-resistant. Only 4% of the populations were both fluroxypyr- and dicamba-resistant, indicating that different mechanisms may confer resistance to these herbicides. When combined with estimates of dicamba resistance, about 28% of kochia populations sampled in Alberta in 2017 were resistant to at least one synthetic auxin herbicide.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author