Effect of Exercise in Preventing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Racially Diverse Overweight Pregnant Women

Title: Effect of Exercise in Preventing Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Racially Diverse Overweight Pregnant Women Authors: Barry Francis1, Ami Eho1, Bre McDonald1, Sadaf Dabeer, Ph.D.2, Juliana Meireles, Ph.D.2, Katherine H. Ingram, Ph.D.(mentor)2 Institution: 1Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2Department of Exercise Science and Sport Management, Kennesaw State University Introduction: With the increase in unhealthy lifestyles in the Western world, obesity and other chronic diseases plague our current society. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) remains a major complication affecting 7-10% of pregnancies. The fetus is affected by GDM which increases chances of having diabetes in their lifetime. Racial and ethnic minority populations especially American Indians and African Americans are at a higher risk of GDM. Some studies postulated that this might be due to the prevalence of obesity in these groups. Exercise has been shown to lower the risk for GDM in overweight pregnant women. Studies reviewed the necessity of exercise pre-pregnancy and during pregnancy, but the correct amount of exercise to see these effects in racially- diverse women remains to be determined. Purpose: The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review which evaluates the specific exercise volume required to prevent GDM in women of different races who are also overweight. Methods: PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Kennesaw State University library system will be searched to identify systematic reviews and randomized trials published until 2021. Key terms to be utilized include: pregnancy, GDM, at-risk, obesity, race, and exercise/physical activity. Using these terms but omitting “obesity,” the number of sources available on PubMed narrowed to 21 sources. Of these 21 sources, based on the criteria deemed necessary for the review, different races represented, at-risk women with GDM, and the volume of exercise deemed necessary, only five of those 21 articles matched the necessary guidelines. When key terms overweight, pregnant women, exercise, GDM were entered along with the Boolean operators with terms AND, OR in PubMed, excluding the focus on diet, 78 results were obtained. With the filters of English for language and human for species checked, 10 were deemed fit. Including the five sources from the search focusing on race and the 10 sources found from an obesity focus, 15 total sources were collected. Conclusion: The findings from this study will provide more information about specific exercise volume that should be recommended as part of prenatal care to pregnant women based on their racial differences in order to decrease the prevalence of GDM in these groups

Agreeability of ActiGraph and activPal 4™ Measures of Vigorous Activity

Key Words: Accelerometry, activPal 4™, ActiGraph, RPE, HR Introduction: Wearable technologies are consistently used in research to track physical activity and study how it can improve overall health. ActiGraph and activPal are research-grade accelerometers that track activity levels of all intensities in humans. ActivPal has recently improved its technology to measure vigorous activity more accurately to be consistent with the gold standard Actigraph measures. The purpose of this study is to test the agreeability between the vigorous activity measures of the ActiGraph and activPal 4™ devices. Methods: Regular exercisers are being recruited from the KSU Department of Exercise Science and Sports Management to participate. They are fitted with one activPal 4™ on the thigh which will be compared with two ActiGraphs: one worn on the waist and the other worn on the right wrist for three days. Participants record their exercise sessions in an activity diary. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and heart rate are also recorded to determine exercise intensity. Exercise is considered vigorous if RPE is 5 or more and if the heart rate is 76% of age-predicted heart rate max or higher. Statistics will include paired t-tests to determine the differences between the means, correlations to determine strength of agreement, and Bland Altman plots for inter-device agreement. Results: Data collection is currently underway, and findings will be presented at the KSU Symposium for Student Scholars. Conclusions: This study will determine the level of agreeability between the ActiGraph and activPal 4™ measures during vigorous activity. It will provide information about whether ActivPal 4 is acceptable to use for measuring vigorous activity in humans

Infrastructure transformation as a socio-technical process - Implications for the governance of energy distribution networks in the UK

This paper seeks to uncover and examine the complex set of governance challenges associated with transforming energy distribution networks, which play a key enabling role in a low carbon energy transition. We argue that, although the importance of such infrastructure networks to sustainability and low carbon transitions in the energy, water and mobility sectors is clear, there is relatively little understanding of the social and institutional dimension of these systems and appropriate governance strategies for their transformation. This may be because the prevalent model of infrastructure governance in the energy and other sectors has prioritised short term time horizons and static efficiencies. In this paper we draw on the social shaping of technology literature to develop a broader understanding of infrastructure change as a dynamic socio-technical process. The empirical focus of the paper is on the development of more flexible and sustainable energy distribution systems as key enablers for the UK's low carbon transition. Focusing on electricity and heat networks we identify a range of governance challenges along different phases of the 'infrastructure lifecycle', and we draw lessons for the development of governance frameworks for the transformation of energy infrastructure more generally

Submission to the Justice Committee on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Bill 2021

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Does Greater Mental Effort during Exercise Enhance Strength Adaptations in Older Women?

Background: Strength training is well known to slow down sarcopenia, the age-related loss of muscle strength. However, the prevalence of strength training is low, primarily in older women. Elastic band (EB) training offers a more accessible alternative, and it is possible a unique cognitive approach could enhance strength adaptations following training. The purpose of this study was to determine if heightened mental effort during EB training increases strength more than EB training alone. Methods: As part of an ongoing study, four older women (65-79 yrs.) with no prior training were randomized into a control (CON; n=2), EB training (EB; n=1), and EB training with high mental effort (EB+ME; n=1). Muscle strengthening exercises were carried out with elastic bands 3 days/week for 6 weeks. EB performed the exercises with generic, conventional instructions, while EB+ME did the same exercises but were instructed to “imagine their muscle contracting maximally”. Before and after the intervention period, strength was determined using a handgrip dynamometer. Percent change was calculated for each individual and group averages were compared. Results: EB demonstrated a 30.3% increase in strength, whereas EB+ME exhibited a 15.83% increase. CON demonstrated a 1.61% decrease in strength. Conclusions: While our sample size is far too small for gross interpretation, our preliminary findings suggest EB training increased handgrip strength, but greater mental effort did not appear to provide added benefit. More formal analysis will be performed in the future when we have a larger sample size. If our finding holds true, it is possible the lack of mental effort towards the handgrip muscles specifically, since this muscle group was not trained, could be a contributing factor. Nonetheless, the increase in handgrip strength with EB training is noteworthy