The feasibility of implementing high-intensity interval training in cardiac rehabilitation settings: A retrospective analysis

Background: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Notwithstanding the well-known benefits of cardiac rehabilitation (CR), adherence to CR remains low, particularly in women. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has received specific attention as an emerging exercise-training paradigm that addresses frequently cited barriers to CR (i.e. lack of motivation/enjoyment and time, perceiving exercise regime as tiring/boring) and improves cardiovascular risk factors. Previous studies have examined the safety of HIIT in CR; there is little evidence on the feasibility of HIIT in CR. The aims of this study were to evaluate the feasibility of HIIT within a CR setting and examine the sex differences regarding the feasibility of such programming. Methods: Patients attended an on-site HIIT CR program (10-min warm-up, 25 min of interspersed high-intensity [HI - 4 min at 85–95% HRpeak] and lower intensity [LO - 3 min at 60–70% HRpeak] intervals, 10-min cool-down) twice weekly for 10 weeks. Heart rate (HR) and the Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale (6–20 points) were recorded at each session. Feasibility was assessed by: [1] attendance and compliance: the number of sessions attended and the compliance to the prescribed HI and LO HR ranges; [2] the patient experience: patients’ perceived effort, program difficulty, if the program was challenging and satisfying; and, [3] safety. Descriptive statistics were used to report the means and their variations. Mann-Whitney U tests and Chi-square analyses were performed to examine sex-differences. Results: A total of 151 patients (33% women, 57.5 ± 9.1 years) attended the HIIT program and completed 16 ± 5 classes with a low attrition rate (11.3%). Most patients met or exceeded the prescribed target HR for the HI (80%) and LO (84%) intervals, respectively. Patients reported a “somewhat hard” RPE for HI (14 ± 2 points) and “very light” for LO (10 ± 2 points) intervals. All patients were satisfied with the program and found it challenging. Most patients found HIIT to be difficult (7 ± 2 points, scale range 0–10 points), yet safe (97%). Three vasovagal episodes occurred and more women dropped-out of the program than men (p < 0.01). Conclusions: HIIT is a feasible, safe and well-received exercise paradigm in a CR setting

On Feedback Vertex Set: New Measure and New Structures

We present a new parameterized algorithm for the {feedback vertex set} problem ({\sc fvs}) on undirected graphs. We approach the problem by considering a variation of it, the {disjoint feedback vertex set} problem ({\sc disjoint-fvs}), which finds a feedback vertex set of size $k$ that has no overlap with a given feedback vertex set $F$ of the graph $G$. We develop an improved kernelization algorithm for {\sc disjoint-fvs} and show that {\sc disjoint-fvs} can be solved in polynomial time when all vertices in $G \setminus F$ have degrees upper bounded by three. We then propose a new branch-and-search process on {\sc disjoint-fvs}, and introduce a new branch-and-search measure. The process effectively reduces a given graph to a graph on which {\sc disjoint-fvs} becomes polynomial-time solvable, and the new measure more accurately evaluates the efficiency of the process. These algorithmic and combinatorial studies enable us to develop an $O^*(3.83^k)$-time parameterized algorithm for the general {\sc fvs} problem, improving all previous algorithms for the problem.Comment: Final version, to appear in Algorithmic

A translational approach for limb vascular delivery of the micro-dystrophin gene without high volume or high pressure for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive disorder with monogenic mutations setting the stage for successful gene therapy treatment. We have completed a study that directly deals with the following key issues that can be directly adapted to a gene therapy clinical trial using rAAV considering the following criteria: 1) A regional vascular delivery approach that will protect the patient from widespread dissemination of virus; 2) an approach to potentially facilitate safe passage of the virus for efficient skeletal muscle transduction; 3) the use of viral doses to accommodate current limitations imposed by vector production methods; 4) and at the same time, achieve a clinically meaningful outcome by transducing multiple muscles in the lower limb to prolong ambulation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The capacity of AAV1, AAV6 or AAV8 to cross the vascular endothelial barrier carrying a micro-dystrophin cDNA was compared under identical conditions with delivery through a catheter placed in the femoral artery of the mdx mouse. Transduction efficiency was assessed by immuno-staining using an antibody (Manex1a) that recognizes the N-terminus of micro-dystrophin. The degree of physiologic correction was assessed by measuring tetanic force and protection from eccentric contraction in the extensor digitorum longus muscle (EDL). The vascular delivery paradigm found successful in the mouse was carried to the non-human primate to test its potential translation to boys with DMD.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Regional vascular delivery resulted in transduction by rAAV8.micro-dystrophin reaching 94.5 ± 0.9 (1 month), 91.3 ± 3.1 (2 months), and 89.6 ± 1.6% (3 months). rAAV6.micro-dystrophin treated animals demonstrated 87.7 ± 6.8 (1 month), 78.9 ± 7.4 (2 months), and 81.2 ± 6.2% (3 months) transduction. In striking contrast, rAAV1 demonstrated very low transduction efficiency [0.9 ± 0.3 (1 month), 2.1 ± 0.8 (2 months), and 2.1 ± 0.7% (3 months)] by vascular delivery. Micro-dystrophin delivered by rAAV8 and rAAV6 through the femoral artery significantly improved tetanic force and protected against eccentric contraction. Mouse studies translated to the hindlimb of cynamologous macaques using a similar vascular delivery paradigm. rAAV8 carrying eGFP in doses proportional to the mouse (5 × 10¹²vg/kg in mouse vs 2 × 10¹²vg/kg in monkey) demonstrated widespread gene expression [medial gastrocnemius – 63.8 ± 4.9%, lateral gastrocnemius – 66.0 ± 4.5%, EDL – 80.2 ± 3.1%, soleus – 86.4 ± 1.9%, TA – 72.2 ± 4.0%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These studies demonstrate regional vascular gene delivery with AAV serotype(s) in mouse and non-human primate at doses, pressures and volumes applicable for clinical trials in children with DMD.</p

Elevated CO₂ does not increase eucalypt forest productivity on a low-phosphorus soil

Rising atmospheric CO2 stimulates photosynthesis and productivity of forests, offsetting CO2 emissions. Elevated CO2 experiments in temperate planted forests yielded ~23% increases in productivity over the initial years. Whether similar CO2 stimulation occurs in mature evergreen broadleaved forests on low-phosphorus (P) soils is unknown, largely due to lack of experimental evidence. This knowledge gap creates major uncertainties in future climate projections as a large part of the tropics is P-limited. Here,we increased atmospheric CO2 concentration in a mature broadleaved evergreen eucalypt forest for three years, in the first large-scale experiment on a P-limited site. We show that tree growth and other aboveground productivity components did not significantly increase in response to elevated CO2 in three years, despite a sustained 19% increase in leaf photosynthesis. Moreover, tree growth in ambient CO2 was strongly P-limited and increased by ~35% with added phosphorus. The findings suggest that P availability may potentially constrain CO2-enhanced productivity in P-limited forests; hence, future atmospheric CO2 trajectories may be higher than predicted by some models. As a result, coupled climate-carbon models should incorporate both nitrogen and phosphorus limitations to vegetation productivity in estimating future carbon sinks

Decompressive laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure versus percutaneous puncture with placement of abdominal catheter in patients with abdominal compartment syndrome during acute pancreatitis: background and design of multicenter, randomised, controlled study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Development of abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) has a strong impact on the course of disease. Number of patients with this complication increases during the years due more aggressive fluid resuscitation, much bigger proportion of patients who is treated conservatively or by minimal invasive approach, and efforts to delay open surgery. There have not been standard recommendations for a surgical or some other interventional treatment of patients who develop ACS during the SAP. The aim of DECOMPRESS study was to compare decompresive laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure and percutaneus puncture with placement of abdominal catheter in these patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred patients with ACS will be randomly allocated to two groups: I) decompresive laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure or II) percutaneus puncture with placement of abdominal catheter. Patients will be recruited from five hospitals in Belgrade during two years period. The primary endpoint is the mortality rate within hospitalization. Secondary endpoints are time interval between intervention and resolving of organ failure and multi organ dysfunction syndrome, incidence of infectious complications and duration of hospital and ICU stay. A total sample size of 100 patients was calculated to demonstrate that decompresive laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure can reduce mortality rate from 60% to 40% with 80% power at 5% alfa.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>DECOMPRESS study is designed to reveal a reduction in mortality and major morbidity by using decompresive laparotomy with temporary abdominal closure in comparison with percutaneus puncture with placement of abdominal catheter in patients with ACS during SAP.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NTC00793715</p

In vitro production of bovine embryos derived from individual donors in the Corral® dish

Background: Since the identity of the embryo is of outmost importance during commercial in vitro embryo production, bovine oocytes and embryos have to be cultured strictly per donor. Due to the rather low yield of oocytes collected after ovum pick-up (OPU) per individual cow, oocyte maturation and embryo culture take place in small groups, which is often associated with inferior embryo development. The objective of this study was to improve embryonic development in small donor groups by using the Corral (R) dish. This commercial dish is designed for human embryo production. It contains two central wells that are divided into quadrants by a semi-permeable wall. In human embryo culture, one embryo is placed per quadrant, allowing individual follow-up while embryos are exposed to a common medium. In our study, small groups of oocytes and subsequently embryos of different bovine donors were placed in the Corral (R) dish, each donor group in a separate quadrant. Results: In two experiments, the Corral (R) dish was evaluated during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) by grouping oocytes and embryos of individual bovine donors per quadrant. At day 7, a significantly higher blastocyst rate was noted in the Corral (R) dish used during IVM and IVC than when only used during IVM (12.9% +/- 2.10 versus 22.8% +/- 2.67) (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences in blastocyst yield were observed anymore between treatment groups at day 8 post insemination. Conclusions: In the present study, the Corral (R) dish was used for in vitro embryo production (IVP) in cattle; allowing to allocate oocytes and/or embryos per donor. As fresh embryo transfers on day 7 have higher pregnancy outcomes, the Corral (R) dish offers an added value for commercial OPU/IVP, since a higher blastocyst development at day 7 is obtained when the Corral (R) dish is used during IVM and IVC

A Novel Mutation in the Upstream Open Reading Frame of the CDKN1B Gene Causes a MEN4 Phenotype

PubMed ID: 23555276This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

The Amidase Domain of Lipoamidase Specifically Inactivates Lipoylated Proteins In Vivo

BACKGROUND:In the 1950s, Reed and coworkers discovered an enzyme activity in Streptococcus faecalis (Enterococcus faecalis) extracts that inactivated the Escherichia. coli and E. faecalis pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes through cleavage of the lipoamide bond. The enzyme that caused this lipoamidase activity remained unidentified until Jiang and Cronan discovered the gene encoding lipoamidase (Lpa) through the screening of an expression library. Subsequent cloning and characterization of the recombinant enzyme revealed that lipoamidase is an 80 kDa protein composed of an amidase domain containing a classic Ser-Ser-Lys catalytic triad and a carboxy-terminal domain of unknown function. Here, we show that the amidase domain can be used as an in vivo probe which specifically inactivates lipoylated enzymes. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We evaluated whether Lpa could function as an inducible probe of alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase inactivation using E. coli as a model system. Lpa expression resulted in cleavage of lipoic acid from the three lipoylated proteins expressed in E. coli, but did not result in cleavage of biotin from the sole biotinylated protein, the biotin carboxyl carrier protein. When expressed in lipoylation deficient E. coli, Lpa is not toxic, indicating that Lpa does not interfere with any other critical metabolic pathways. When truncated to the amidase domain, Lpa retained lipoamidase activity without acquiring biotinidase activity, indicating that the carboxy-terminal domain is not essential for substrate recognition or function. Substitution of any of the three catalytic triad amino acids with alanine produced inactive Lpa proteins. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The enzyme lipoamidase is active against a broad range of lipoylated proteins in vivo, but does not affect the growth of lipoylation deficient E. coli. Lpa can be truncated to 60% of its original size with only a partial loss of activity, resulting in a smaller probe that can be used to study the effects of alpha-ketoacid dehydrogenase inactivation in vivo

Designation processes and semantic substitutions used by european portuguese children in a vocabulary test

This research study focus on the designation processes and semantic substitutions of each word on the vocabulary sub-task from the language test for children – ABFW, standardized in Brazil and adapted to European Portuguese, as well as the comparison of the results obtained in the two countries, to analyze the relevance of their extensibility to the Portuguese population. Methods: The test was applied to 150 children from 5 to 6 years old, of typical development. The test consists of 9 conceptual categories. Each category consists of different words, which were always assessed in the same sequential order. Results: The sample of this study showed a lower performance only in clothes, places and food semantic categories. All the other categories have outperformed the standard. The categories of vocabulary with higher percentage in the right designation of the words were colors and shapes, animals and toys and music instruments. The categories with a higher percentage of substitution processes, from the reference results, were: food and locations. The most recurrent substitution processes were the co-hyponym, words that designate semantic attributes, valorization of the visual stimulus, hypernym and parasynonyms Conclusion: Given the homogeneity of the results of this study with the results obtained with other studies in Brazil, this test reveal potentiality as an instrument for vocabulary assessment in Portugal.Objetivo: Este estudo teve por objetivo a análise e quantificação dos processos de designação e substituição semântica apresentados na prova do vocabulário do Teste de Linguagem Infantil ABFW, padronizado no Brasil e adaptado para Português Europeu (PE), assim como a comparação dos resultados obtidos nos dois países, de forma a analisar a pertinência da sua extensibilidade à população portuguesa. Métodos: A prova foi aplicada a 150 crianças de 5 e 6 anos de idade, de desenvolvimento típico, na Região Norte de Portugal. A prova é constituída por nove categorias conceituais e cada categoria formada por diferentes vocábulos, que foram avaliados sempre pela mesma ordem sequencial. Resultados: A amostra mostrou desempenho inferior, em relação à norma, apenas nas categorias semânticas vestuário, locais e alimentos. Todas as outras categorias revelaram desempenho superior. As categorias do vocabulário que apresentaram maior percentagem de respostas corretas foram: animais, formas e cores e brinquedos e instrumentos musicais. As categorias que apresentaram percentagem superior de processos de substituição, em relação à norma, foram alimentos e locais. Os processos de substituição mais utilizados foram: substituição por co-hipônimo, vocábulos que designam atributos semânticos, valorização do estímulo visual, hiperônimos e parassinônimos. Conclusão: Dada a homogeneidade dos resultados deste estudo com os resultados obtidos em outros estudos no Brasil, esta prova revela potencialidades como instrumento de avaliação do vocabulário em Portugal.This work is funded by CIEd – Research Centre on Education, projects UID/CED/1661/2013 and UID/CED/1661/2016, Institute of Education, University of Minho, through national funds of FCT/MCTESPT.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio