Is Poor Sleep Quality Associated With Greater Disability in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis?

Poor sleep is a serious burden for patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study is to assess whether the association between sleep quality and disability in MS patients is direct or mediated by depression, pain, and fatigue. We collected data from 152 patients with MS who filled out the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and one item of the Short Form-36 regarding pain. The relationship between poor sleep and disability was found to be indirect, mediated by depression (p &lt;0.05), pain (p &lt;0.001) and physical fatigue (p &lt;0.01). Treatment of sleep disturbances may have beneficial effects beyond improving sleep. It may reduce depression, pain, and physical fatigue, which in turn may lessen disability.</p

Strenuous Physical Training, Physical Fitness, Body Composition and Bacteroides to Prevotella Ratio in the Gut of Elderly Athletes

Regular physical activity seems to have a positive effect on the microbiota composition of the elderly, but little is known about the added possible benefits of strenuous endurance training. To gain insight into the physiology of the elderly and to identify biomarkers associated with endurance training, we combined different omics approaches. We aimed to investigate the gut microbiome, plasma composition, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and muscle strength of lifetime elderly endurance athletes (LA) age 63.5 (95% CI 61.4, 65.7), height 177.2 (95% CI 174.4, 180.1) cm, weight 77.8 (95% CI 75.1, 80.5) kg, VO2max 42.4 (95% CI 39.8, 45.0) ml.kg–1.min–1 (n = 13) and healthy controls age 64.9 (95% CI 62.1, 67.7), height 174.9 (95% CI 171.2, 178.6) cm, weight 83.4 (95% CI 77.1, 89.7) kg, VO2max 28.9 (95% CI 23.9, 33.9), ml.kg–1.min–1 (n = 9). Microbiome analysis was performed on collected stool samples further subjected to 16S rRNA gene analysis. NMR-spectroscopic analysis was applied to determine and compare selected blood plasma metabolites mostly linked to energy metabolism. The machine learning (ML) analysis discriminated subjects from the LA and CTRL groups using the joint predictors Bacteroides 1.8E + 00 (95% CI 1.1, 2.5)%, 3.8E + 00 (95% CI 2.7, 4.8)% (p = 0.002); Prevotella 1.3 (95% CI 0.28, 2.4)%, 0.1 (95% CI 0.07, 0.3)% (p = 0.02); Intestinimonas 1.3E-02 (95% CI 9.3E-03, 1.7E-02)%, 5.9E-03 (95% CI 3.9E-03, 7.9E-03)% (p = 0.002), Subdoligranulum 7.9E-02 (95% CI 2.5E-02, 1.3E-02)%, 3.2E-02 (95% CI 1.8E-02, 4.6E-02)% (p = 0.02); and the ratio of Bacteroides to Prevotella 133 (95% CI -86.2, 352), 732 (95% CI 385, 1079.3) (p = 0.03), leading to an ROC curve with AUC of 0.94. Further, random forest ML analysis identified VO2max, BMI, and the Bacteroides to Prevotella ratio as appropriate, joint predictors for discriminating between subjects from the LA and CTRL groups. Although lifelong endurance training does not bring any significant benefit regarding overall gut microbiota diversity, strenuous athletic training is associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness, lower body fat, and some favorable gut microbiota composition, all factors associated with slowing the rate of biological aging

PP/MMT nanocomposite: Mathematic modelling of layered nanofiller

The comparison of calculated data from proposed mathematic model and experimentally obtained data of PP/clay nanocomposites was done with the focus on the layered shape of MMT platelets. Based on the well-known Kerner's model and the Halpin-Tsai' equation with the use of some described presumption, the mathematic model for PP/clay nanocomposite was proposed. Data from the measurement of prepared PP/clay samples were taken and compared with the calculated ones from the proposed model. The good agreement was found. Copyright © 2012 Dagmar Merinska et al

Mercury Porosimetry of some Fillers for Rubber

Rtuťová porozimetrie byla použita k charakterizaci sazí, siliky a kaolinu jako plniv pro kaučukové směsi. Intruzní křivka zobrazující objem rtuti vlačené do pórů plniva byla rozdělena na tři části, které mohou charakterizovat tři různé vlastnosti plniv.Mercury porosimetry was used for charakterization of carbon blacks, silica and clay fillers for rubber compounds. No extrusion of mercury at decreasing pressure for carbon blacks could be explained by their agglomerate composition. Skeletal density from mercury porosimentry could depend on properties of primary filler particles

Mercury Porosimetry of Some Fillers for Rubber

Rtuťová porozimetrie byla použita k charakterizaci sazí, siliky a kaolinu jako plniv pro kaučukové směsi. Intruzní křivka zobrazující objem rtuti vlačené do pórů plniva byla rozdělena na tři části, které mohou charakterizovat tři různé vlastnosti plniv.Mercury porosimetry was used for characterization of carbon blacks, silica and clay fillers for rubber compounds. No extrusion of mercury at decreasing pressure for carbon blacks could be explained by their agglomerate composition. Skeletal density from mercury porosimetry could depend on properties of primary filler particles. Total volume of pores in intrusion curve was divided into three regions, which could characterize three different properties of fillers

The Effect of Nanofiber Based Filter Morphology on Bacteria Deactivation during Water Filtration

Procedures permitting to prepare homogeneous functionalized nanofibre structures based on polyurethanes modified by phthalocyanines (PCs) by employing a suitable combination of variables during the electrospinning process are presented. Compared are filtration and bacteria deactivation properties of open and planar nanostructures with PCs embedded into polyurethane chain by a covalent bond protecting the release of active organic compound during the filtration process. Finding that the morphology of functionalized nanofibre structures have an effect on bacterial growth was confirmed by microbiological and physico-chemical analyses, such as the inoculation in a nutrient agar culture medium and flow cytometry

Social participation and health-related quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis

Background: Social participation is an integral part of everyday life in society; however, evidence about its association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is lacking. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore whether social participation is associated with the Physical Component Summary of HRQoL (PCS) and Mental Component Summary of HRQoL (MCS) in people with MS, controlled for age, gender, disease severity and disease duration. Methods: The sample consisted of 116 consecutive people with MS (response rate: 75.8%; 72.4% women; mean age 40.3 +/- 9.8). People with MS completed the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) for measuring PCS and MCS and the Participation Scale, which measures the level of social participation. Disability was assessed using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The associations between social participation, PCS and MCS, were analyzed using linear regression that controlled for sociodemographic and clinical variables. Results: PCS was significantly associated with age, disease duration, EDSS and social participation. MCS did not show significant association with the studied variables. Overall, a multiple regression model explained 48% of the PCS variance, while the proportion of MCS variance explained was not significant. Conclusions: Social participation was significantly associated with PCS, suggesting a possibility for intervention in this domain. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

The mediating effect of coping on the association between fatigue and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

Fatigue, as one of the most frequent symptoms in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), has various adverse effects on the physical and mental health-related quality of life (PCS, MCS) of patients. The aim of this study was to explore whether coping mediates the relationship between fatigue and PCS and MCS. We collected data from 154 consecutive MS patients (76.0% women; mean age 40.0 +/- 9.9). Patients completed the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the multidimensional fatigue inventory (MFI-20) and the coping self-efficacy scale. The mediating effect of coping was analysed using linear regressions and the Sobel z-test. In PCS significant mediation was found in some of the fatigue dimensions (general, physical and reduced Motivation), while in MCS, it was significant in all dimensions. These results can be implemented into educational programmes for patients, their caregivers or physicians, and can also be helpful in the treatment process

Coping and its importance for quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyse whether problem-focused coping, coping focused on getting support and coping focused on stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts are associated with different levels of physical and mental quality of life (PCS, MCS), controlling for gender, age and disease severity among MS patients. Method: The sample consisted of 113 consecutive MS patients (response rate: 79.6%; 77.0% women; mean age 40.8 +/- 9.2). Patients completed the Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSE). Disability was assessed by Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). The associations between CSE and PCS and MCS were analysed using linear regression. Results: EDSS and age were significantly associated only with PCS. The regression model for problem-focused coping, coping focused on getting support and coping focused on stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts explained 29%, 24% and 35% of the variance in MCS, respectively. In PCS coping was not significant. Conclusions: Coping is significantly associated with MCS, but not with PCS. Stopping unpleasant emotions and thoughts seems to be the most important type of coping in MS patients. Thus, patients, their caregivers and their physicians should be educated about this type of coping and its positive association with MCS