Aortic Wave Reflection Following Maximal Exercise in Healthy Young Adults

Increased magnitude and early return of aortic wave reflection decrease coronary perfusion during diastole and augment systolic blood pressure (SBP). Exaggerated SBP in responses to maximal exercise is an indicator of future cardiovascular disease. Several studies investigated aortic wave reflection in response to maximal exercise. However, most of these studies did not provide a comprehensive assessment of wave reflection, including the forward and backward components of the pressure waves. The former are generated by ventricular contraction and the latter are the function of forward waves and waves reflected from the periphery. PURPOSE: This study was to investigate aortic wave reflection in response to maximal exercise using wave separation analysis. METHODS: Twenty-eight healthy young adults (17 male, age: 28±4 yrs, body mass index: 24.0±2.6 kg/m2; mean±SD) underwent maximal graded cycle ergometry tests. Aortic wave reflection was assessed at pre-exercise and immediately after the exercise (0-5 min). Using a cuff-based SphygmoCor device (XCEL, AtCor Medical), aortic SBP, pulse pressure (PP), and augmentation pressure (AP) were derived from the aortic pressure waveforms generated from the brachial pressure waveforms. Augmentation index (AIx), expressing AP as a percentage of PP, was then calculated. Aortic pressure waveforms were separated into forward (Pf) and backward pressure waves (Pb). Reflection magnitude (RM) was calculated as Pb divided by Pf × 100%. RESULTS: After exercise, aortic SBP and PP increased (P=0.021 and P=0.016 respectively), while AP (5±4 to 4±5 mmHg, P=0.017) and AIx decreased (13.2±9.9 to 9.5±12.0%, P=0.022). Both Pf (26±4 to 34±6 mmHg, P=0.002) and Pb (13±3 to 15±2 mmHg, P=0.015) increased, but RM was decreased following exercise (49.0±7.0 to 43.6±5.9 %, P=0.036). After exercise, aortic SBP was positively associated with Pf (B=0.57, P=0.002), but not Pb, AP, AIx, and RM (P≥0.2). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that in young healthy adults, increased SBP following maximal exercise may be primarily due to increased ventricular contraction. Although the magnitude of wave reflection increases following maximal exercise, this reflected wave may arrive relatively later within a cardiac cycle, which may benefit coronary perfusion instead of causing exaggerated SBP. This study helps extend our understanding of aortic hemodynamics during maximal exercise

Effectiveness of influenza vaccination in patients with end-stage renal disease receiving hemodialysis: a population-based study.

BackgroundLittle is known on the effectiveness of influenza vaccine in ESRD patients. This study compared the incidence of hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD) between cohorts with and without influenza vaccination.MethodsWe used the insurance claims data from 1998 to 2009 in Taiwan to determine the incidence of these events within one year after influenza vaccination in the vaccine (N = 831) and the non-vaccine (N = 3187) cohorts. The vaccine cohort to the non-vaccine cohort incidence rate ratio and hazard ratio (HR) of morbidities and mortality were measured.ResultsThe age-specific analysis showed that the elderly in the vaccine cohort had lower hospitalization rate (100.8 vs. 133.9 per 100 person-years), contributing to an overall HR of 0.81 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-0.90). The vaccine cohort also had an adjusted HR of 0.85 [95% CI 0.75-0.96] for heart disease. The corresponding incidence of pneumonia and influenza was 22.4 versus 17.2 per 100 person-years, but with an adjusted HR of 0.80 (95% CI 0.64-1.02). The vaccine cohort had lowered risks than the non-vaccine cohort for intensive care unit (ICU) admission (adjusted HR 0.20, 95% CI 0.12-0.33) and mortality (adjusted HR 0.50, 95% CI 0.41-0.60). The time-dependent Cox model revealed an overall adjusted HR for mortality of 0.30 (95% CI 0.26-0.35) after counting vaccination for multi-years.ConclusionsESRD patients with HD receiving the influenza vaccination could have reduced risks of pneumonia/influenza and other morbidities, ICU stay, hospitalization and death, particularly for the elderly

Alcohol Use, Abuse, and Dependency in Shanghai

The use of alcohol for social and ceremonial occasions was recorded in Chinese history as early as 1760 B.C. during the Yin Dynasty (Ci-Hai Encyclopedia, 1979:936). The cultural tradition of ancient China placed alcoholic beverages at the center of social occasions, which presumably was the origin of the adage: Without wine, there is no li (or etiquette). Thus, the use of alcoholic beverages has always been accompanied by the concept of propriety and the discharging of one\u27s role obligations m social functions, rather than that of personal indulgence

Improving Performance of CIGS Solar Cells by Annealing ITO Thin Films Electrodes

Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films were grown on glass substrates by direct current (DC) reactive magnetron sputtering at room temperature. Annealing at the optimal temperature can considerably improve the composition, structure, optical properties, and electrical properties of the ITO film. An ITO sample with a favorable crystalline structure was obtained by annealing in fixed oxygen/argon ratio of 0.03 at 400°C for 30 min. The carrier concentration, mobility, resistivity, band gap, transmission in the visible-light region, and transmission in the near-IR regions of the ITO sample were -1.6E+20 cm−3, 2.7E+01 cm2/Vs, 1.4E-03 Ohm-cm, 3.2 eV, 89.1%, and 94.7%, respectively. Thus, annealing improved the average transmissions (400–1200 nm) of the ITO film by 16.36%. Moreover, annealing a copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) solar cell at 400°C for 30 min in air improved its efficiency by 18.75%. The characteristics of annealing ITO films importantly affect the structural, morphological, electrical, and optical properties of ITO films that are used in solar cells

Girdling improved berry coloration in summer but suppressed return growth in the following spring in 'Kyoho' grapevines cultivated in the subtropical double cropping system

Improving berry skin coloration is one of the major challenges in the tropical and subtropical viticulture. In this paper we aimed to document the effects of girdling at veraison on berry coloration and quality in grapevines on different rootstocks and we assessed the seasonal variations of girdling effects in the subtropical double cropping system. In the first experiment, gird-ling at veraison was tested in 'Kyoho' on 5C rootstocks. In the second experiment, own-rooted 'Kyoho', 5C or 1202C rootstocks were compared. Vines were trained to a horizontal overhead trellis with a single trunk and two short arms. One arm of each vine was girdled at veraison and the other arm served as the control. Girdling at veraison significantly improved skin color of berries from own-rooted vines or 5C rootstocks in the summer cropping cycle but was less effective in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling improved total soluble solids in own-rooted vines in the summer cropping cycle and in vines on 1202C in the winter cropping cycle. Girdling made in the winter cropping cycle did not completely heal until post-bloom in the following spring and reduced length of the fruiting shoot, number of leaves per shoot, and length of inflorescences of the next summer cropping cycle. We concluded that girdling at veraison is a good practice to improve berry color and quality for the summer cropping cycle but is not recommended for the winter cropping cycle

The Design and Implementation of the Defender Cloud on TWAREN Backbone

Defender Cloud is a cloud based backbone network defending system having full scope over the whole backbone network. Rather than detecting suspicious network activities on a local area network, it collects and integrates the flow data from all connecting members and all entrances of a backbone network. After analyzing by a proposed cloud based distributed processing model, the corresponding defensive reaction can be carried out in a global basis. Thus its protection can cover the whole network, even including member institutions without their own firewall. This paper illustrates the design, verification and future perspective of the Defender Cloud, with an emphasis on the distributed processing of the flow data

Alpha adrenergic modulation on effects of norepinephrine transporter inhibitor reboxetine in five-choice serial reaction time task

The study examined the effects of a norepinephrine transporter (NET) inhibitor reboxetine (RBX) on an attentional performance test. Adult SD rats trained with five-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT) were administered with RBX (0, 3.0 and 10 mg/kg) in the testing day. Alpha-1 adrenergic receptor antagonist PRA and alpha-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist RX821002 were used to clarify the RBX effect. Results revealed that rat received RBX at 10 mg/kg had an increase in the percentage of the correct response and decreases in the numbers of premature response. Alpha-1 adrenergic receptor antagonist Prazosin (PRA) at 0.1 mg/kg reversed the RBX augmented correct responding rate. However, alpha-2 adrenergic receptor antagonist RX821002 at 0.05 and 0.1 mg/kg dose dependently reversed the RBX reduced impulsive responding. Our results suggested that RBX as a norepinephrine transporter inhibitor can be beneficial in both attentional accuracy and response control and alpha-1 and alpha-2 adrenergic receptors might be involved differently

THE EFFECTS Of VOLLEYBALL ATTACKING ON SCORE POINTS: A CASE STUDY OF 2014 TVL IN TAIWAN

Volleyball is a sport in which team tactical and players' attacking skills determine to score points. Therefore, an effective team tactical is achieved by main spikers' and middle blockers' skills. To name but a few, delayed spike, open spike and back-row spike are main spikers' skills, yet quick spike, and individual time difference attack are associated with middle blockers'. Under this aspect, a case study of male teams of Taiwan Top Volleyball League (TVL) was yield out, which aimed at exploring the effects of team tactical and players attacking skills on score points. The results indicated that the attacking point ratio of main spikers and middle blockers in the champion team was higher than others. This was because the middle blockers gave cover to main spikers as attacking. By doing so, it promoted point ratio to main spikers. Furthermore, it found that to strengthen main spikers and middle blockers' skills would increase team's attacking point ratio

Effects of Lower Limb Cycling Training on Different Components of Force and Fatigue in Individuals With Parkinson’s Disease

The strength of lower extremity is important for individuals to maintain balance and ambulation functions. The previous studies showed that individuals with Parkinson’s disease suffered from fatigue and strength loss of central origin. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lower extremities’ cycling training on different components of force and fatigue in individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Twenty-four individuals (13 males, 11 females, mean age: 60.58 ± 8.21 years) diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease were randomized into training and control groups. The maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) force, voluntary activation level (VA), and twitch force of knee extensors were measured using a custom-made system with surface electrical stimulation. The general, central, and peripheral fatigue indexes (GFI, CFI, and PFI) were calculated after a fatiguing cycling protocol. Subjects received 8 weeks of low resistance cycling training (training group) or self-stretching (control group) programs. Results showed that MVC, VA, and twitch force improved (p \u3c 0.05) only in the training group. Compared to the baseline, central fatigue significantly improved in the training group, whereas peripheral fatigue showed no significant difference in two groups. The cycling training was beneficial for individuals with Parkinson’s disease not only in muscle strengthening but also in central fatigue alleviation. Further in-depth investigation is required to confirm the effect of training and its mechanism on central fatigue

Mott-Kondo Insulator Behavior in the Iron Oxychalcogenides

We perform a combined experimental-theoretical study of the Fe-oxychalcogenides (FeO\emph{Ch}) series La$_{2}$O$_{2}$Fe$_{2}$O\emph{M}$_{2}$ (\emph{M}=S, Se), which is the latest among the Fe-based materials with the potential \ to show unconventional high-T$_{c}$ superconductivity (HTSC). A combination of incoherent Hubbard features in X-ray absorption (XAS) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra, as well as resitivity data, reveal that the parent FeO\emph{Ch} are correlation-driven insulators. To uncover microscopics underlying these findings, we perform local density approximation-plus-dynamical mean field theory (LDA+DMFT) calculations that unravel a Mott-Kondo insulating state. Based upon good agreement between theory and a range of data, we propose that FeO\emph{Ch} may constitute a new, ideal testing ground to explore HTSC arising from a strange metal proximate to a novel selective-Mott quantum criticality