Monitoring Changes of Cardio-Respiratory Parameters During 2000m Rowing Performance

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(2): 483-490, 2019. The purpose of this study was to characterize the kinetics of cardio-respiratory parameters of elite male rowers during 2000m rowing time trial. 16 lightweight category (LWC) and 11 open category (OC) elite male rowers attending National camp were included in the study. Pulmonary gas exchange and heart rate (HR) during 2000m rowing ergometer test was determined through breath-by-breath analysis, with a portable metabolic gas analyzer and HR monitor. Time to completion, HR, oxygen uptake (V̇O2), minute ventilation (V̇E) and respiratory exchange ratio (RER) were recorded at 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 2000m intervals. No significant (p\u3e0.05) difference was observed in the HR kinetics during 2000m rowing between the groups. However, split HR during the entire course was on the higher side in OC than LWC. Relative V̇O2 at 1000m (p\u3c0.01), 1500m (p\u3c0.05) and 2000m (p\u3c0.01) was significantly less in OC rowers compared to LWC. However, V̇E was significantly higher for the OC group at 1500m (p\u3c0.05) and 2000m (p\u3c0.01) whereas RER was only significantly higher at 2000m (p\u3c0.05). %change in absolute and relative V̇O2, V̇E and RER at each 500m interval showed no significant difference among the groups. OC rowers had taken significantly less time (p\u3c0.05) to complete first 500m, 500m to 1000m and last 500m distance than LWC rowers. This detailed insight of rower’s physiological responses can help coaches and support staff to determine the physiological working capacity of rowers at different levels, predicting performance and provided normative ranges for developing a representative physiological profile of elite Indian rowers

Chronic airway obstruction in post tubercular fibrosis cases:a serious lung function changes

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of death worldwide. About two thirds of patients develop impaired pulmonary function after completion of pulmonary tuberculosis treatment. But data is lacking to support this assertion. Objective of the study was to determine the frequency of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in post tubercular fibrosis patients in the hospital.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was done at Medinipore Medical College & Hospital in post tubercular fibrosis patients from August 2015 to July 2016. 72 patients who had post tubercular fibrosis were included for spirometry test. Those having a probability of re-activated TB, having history of current or previous smoking or occupational exposure, asthmatics and cases of interstitial lung disease and ischemic heart disease were excluded. Pre- and post-dilator FVC, FEV1 and FEV1/FVC were recorded in each case through simple spirometry.Results: There were 83.3% (n=72) males. Thirty eight (52.7%) were found to have an obstructive ventilatory defect of different degrees: severe/stage III in 63.1% (n=24), moderate/stage II in 21.5%% (n=8) and mild/stage I in 15.7 % (n=6). Ten (13.8) were found to have a restrictive pattern and 12 (16.6%) revealed a mixed obstructive and restrictive pattern. Only 12 patients (16.6%) had normal lung function. Among the 38 patients with obstruction in spirometry, 24 patients (63.2%) were under weight.Conclusions: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can occur as one of the chronic complications of pulmonary tuberculosis and the obstructive ventilatory defect appears more common especially in patients with low BMI

Utility of Ottawa ankle rules in excluding ankle fractures in Indian scenario

Background: Patients with acute ankle injuries form a major bulk in outdoor and emergency room, and many of them get radiographs done to rule out fractures. Ottawa ankle rules (OAR) may reduce the need for unnecessary radiographs by detecting fractures only with help of simple clinical findings.  We conducted this study to see the extent of usefulness of these rules in our day-to-day practice.Methods: Our study is observational in nature. A total of 107 patients who visited the clinic of the chief investigator between the time period from 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2020, fulfilling inclusion criteria and willing to participate, were enrolled. The patients were examined clinically, and the assessor recorded the findings on a previously prepared assessment form. Data analysis was done from the master chart.Results: Among the 107 patients, 46 patients were ‘suspicion positive’ by OAR. After the radiographic assessment, we found 11 fractures, all of which belonged to the ‘suspicion positive’ group. Statistical analysis showed that OAR had a sensitivity of 100% for ankle fractures, whereas specificity for the same was 63.54%. We found the positive predictive value to be 23.91% and negative predictive value to be 100%, positive likelihood ratio of 2.74, and negative likelihood ratio of 0.Conclusions: OAR is an easy and reliable tool to screen ankle fractures. In a country with as massive a health care burden as ours, it can reduce the number of unnecessary radiographs and thus reduce exposure, cost, and time of medical professionals

Physiological alterations of Salvinia natans L. exposed to aluminium stress and its interaction with polyamine

In the present Investigation Salvinia natans L exposed to increasing concentration of Al stress and its interaction with polyamine was discussed. Among the physiological attributes Glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase activities were up regulated against control. At transcript level glutathione peroxidase was also shown by over-expressed manner to support the lyses of peroxide. However, the application of Put had minimized these activities with same way to establish the role of polyamine under metal stress. In secondary metabolites synthetic pathway phenyl alanine ammonia lyase recorded a steady increase although the concentration of Al. Not only a single fraction of polyamine was responsible under Al stress but also pool of conjugated polyamine was up regulated. In oxidation of polyamine the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO) was more under metal stress to induce accumulation H2O2. In compensation for cellular depletion of reduced glutathione, dihydro ascorbate reductase activity was up regulated in plant under stress. At cellular level plants were distinctly marked with variations in heat shock proteins and established as a possible biomarker for Al toxicity. The study possibly established the affectivity in bio-monitoring of Al in field condition with exercise cellular responses of Salvinia plants

Life Events as Risk Factors for Myocardial Infarction: A Pilot Case-control Study in Kolkata, India

This case-control study was conducted in the Cardiology Department of Medical College, Kolkata, India, during 2000-2001, to explore the link between stressful life events and subsequent myocardial infarction (MI). One hundred consecutive confirmed MI patients were selected as a case group. One hundred age-, sex- and income-matched controls were selected from visitors other than relatives who attended these patients. The subjects were interviewed and asked to rate 61 life events with a number between 0 and 20. They also noted which of these they had experienced in the last one year. The main exposure variables included life events as per E.S. Paykel, smoking, alcohol consumption, chewing of tobacco, marital status, literacy, employment, and monthly per-capita income. The results showed that an MI patient was likely to experience 4.16 stressful life events, which were twice as much as the control group (2.24). The total stress score was the highest for serious personal illness followed by illness of family members and unemployment for the MI patients. For the controls, conflict between husband and wife, death of friends, and personal illness had the highest total stress score. The mean stress score for the MI patients was 35.5 compared to 17.35 among the controls. The MI subjects were more likely to have experienced stressful life events than the controls

The BCL2A1 gene as a pre–T cell receptor–induced regulator of thymocyte survival

The pre–T cell receptor (TCR) is expressed early during T cell development and imposes a tight selection for differentiating T cell progenitors. Pre-TCR–expressing cells are selected to survive and differentiate further, whereas pre-TCR− cells are “negatively” selected to die. The mechanisms of pre-TCR–mediated survival are poorly understood. Here, we describe the induction of the antiapoptotic gene BCL2A1 (A1) as a potential mechanism regulating inhibition of pre–T cell death. We characterize in detail the signaling pathway involved in A1 induction and show that A1 expression can induce pre–T cell survival by inhibiting activation of caspase-3. Moreover, we show that in vitro “knockdown” of A1 expression can compromise survival even in the presence of a functional pre-TCR. Finally, we suggest that pre-TCR–induced A1 overexpression can contribute to T cell leukemia in both mice and humans

RAG-mediated DNA double-strand breaks activate a cell type-specific checkpoint to inhibit pre-B cell receptor signals

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) activate a canonical DNA damage response, including highly conserved cell cycle checkpoint pathways that prevent cells with DSBs from progressing through the cell cycle. In developing B cells, pre–B cell receptor (pre–BCR) signals initiate immunoglobulin light (Igl) chain gene assembly, leading to RAG-mediated DNA DSBs. The pre–BCR also promotes cell cycle entry, which could cause aberrant DSB repair and genome instability in pre–B cells. Here, we show that RAG DSBs inhibit pre–BCR signals through the ATM- and NF-κB2–dependent induction of SPIC, a hematopoietic-specific transcriptional repressor. SPIC inhibits expression of the SYK tyrosine kinase and BLNK adaptor, resulting in suppression of pre–BCR signaling. This regulatory circuit prevents the pre–BCR from inducing additional Igl chain gene rearrangements and driving pre–B cells with RAG DSBs into cycle. We propose that pre–B cells toggle between pre–BCR signals and a RAG DSB-dependent checkpoint to maintain genome stability while iteratively assembling Igl chain genes

1000 spider silkomes: linking sequences to silk physical properties

Spider silks are among the toughest known materials and thus provide models for renewable, biodegradable, and sustainable biopolymers. However, the entirety of their diversity still remains elusive, and silks that exceed the performance limits of industrial fibers are constantly being found. We obtained transcriptome assemblies from 1098 species of spiders to comprehensively catalog silk gene sequences and measured the mechanical, thermal, structural, and hydration properties of the dragline silks of 446 species. The combination of these silk protein genotype-phenotype data revealed essential contributions of multicomponent structures with major ampullate spidroin 1 to 3 paralogs in high-performance dragline silks and numerous amino acid motifs contributing to each of the measured properties. We hope that our global sampling, comprehensive testing, integrated analysis, and open data will provide a solid starting point for future biomaterial designs