The influence of a pre-exercise sports drink (PRX) on factors related to maximal aerobic performance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pre-exercise sports drinks (PRX) are commonly used as ergogenic aids in athletic competitions requiring aerobic power. However, in most cases, claims regarding their effectiveness have not been substantiated. In addition, the ingredients in PRX products must be deemed acceptable by the athletic governing bodies that regulate their use in training and competition. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a modified PRX formulation (known as EM·PACT™) from earlier investigations on factors related to maximal aerobic performance during a graded exercise test. The modification consisted of removing creatine to meet the compliance standards set forth by various athletic organizations that regulate the use of nutritional supplements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-nine male and female college students varying in levels of aerobic fitness participated in a randomized crossover administration of PRX (containing 14 g/serving of fructose, medium-chain triglycerides, and amino acids mixed with 8 oz. of water) and placebo (PL) 30 minutes prior to performing a treadmill test with approximately one week separation between the trials. VO₂max, maximal heart rate (HR), time to exhaustion (Time), and percentage estimated non-protein fat substrate utilization (FA) during two <it>a priori </it>submaximal stages of a graded exercise testing were evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The VO₂max mean value of the PRX trial was significantly greater than the PL trial (P < 0.01). The mean value for Time was also observed to be greater for the PRX trial compared to PL (P < 0.05). Additionally, percentage of FA during submaximal stages of the exercise test was greater for PRX trial in comparison to PL (P < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The modified PRX formulation utilized in this investigation supports the findings of the previous investigation and its efficacy for enhancing indices of aerobic performance (specifically VO₂max, Time, & FA) during graded exercise testing.</p

Comparison of the Neuroprotective and Anti-Inflammatory Effects of the Anthocyanin Metabolites, Protocatechuic Acid and 4-Hydroxybenzoic Acid

Anthocyanins are being increasingly investigated for their neuroprotective and antineuroinflammatory effects; however, the overall bioavailability of many anthocyanins is relatively low. In contrast, phenolic acids, metabolites of many polyphenols, including anthocyanins, have been shown to accumulate in tissue at higher concentrations than those of parent compounds, suggesting that these metabolites may be the bioactive components of anthocyanin-rich diets. We examined the neuroprotective capacity of two common phenolic acids, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (HBA) and protocatechuic acid (PCA), in primary cultures of cerebellar granule neurons. Both HBA and PCA are capable of mitigating oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide, which is thought to contribute to neuronal cell death in neurodegeneration. Under conditions of nitrosative stress, which occur during inflammation in the central nervous system, only PCA was neuroprotective, despite similar structural characteristics between HBA and PCA. Intriguingly, this trend was reversed under conditions of excitotoxicity, in which only HBA was neuroprotective. Lastly, we explored the anti-inflammatory activity of these compounds in microglial cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide. PCA was an effective anti-inflammatory agent, reducing nitric oxide production, while HBA had no effect. These data indicate that phenolic acids possess distinct neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory characteristics that could make them suitable for the treatment of neurodegeneration

Identifying nurses' rewards: a qualitative categorization study in Belgium

BACKGROUND: Rewards are important in attracting, motivating and retaining the most qualified employees, and nurses are no exception to this rule. This makes the establishment of an efficient reward system for nurses a true challenge for every hospital manager. A reward does not necessarily have a financial connotation: non-financial rewards may matter too, or may even be more important. Therefore, the present study examines nurses' reward perceptions, in order to identify potential reward options. METHODS: To answer the research question "What do nurses consider a reward and how can these rewards be categorized?", 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with nurses were conducted and analysed using discourse and content analyses. In addition, the respondents received a list of 34 rewards (derived from the literature) and were asked to indicate the extent to which they perceived each of them to be rewarding. RESULTS: Discourse analysis revealed three major reward categories: financial, non-financial and psychological, each containing different subcategories. In general, nurses more often mentioned financial rewards spontaneously in the interview, compared to non-financial and psychological rewards. The questionnaire results did not, however, indicate a significant difference in the rewarding potential of these three categories. Both the qualitative and quantitative data revealed that a number of psychological and non-financial rewards were important for nurses in addition to their monthly pay and other remunerations. In particular, appreciation for their work by others, compliments from others, presents from others and contact with patients were highly valued. Moreover, some demographical variables influenced the reward perceptions. Younger and less experienced nurses considered promotion possibilities as more rewarding than the older and more senior ones. The latter valued job security and working for a hospital with a good reputation higher than their younger and more junior colleagues. CONCLUSION: When trying to establish an efficient reward system for nurses, hospital managers should not concentrate on the financial reward possibilities alone. They also ought to consider non-financial and psychological rewards (in combination with financial rewards), since nurses value these as well and they may lead to a more personalized reward system

Providing social support for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority phd students in the biomedical sciences:a career coaching model

Improvement in the proportion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities (URMs) in academic positions has been unsatisfactory. Although this is a complex problem, one key issue is that graduate students often rely on research mentors for career-related support, the effectiveness of which can be variable. We present results from a novel academic career “coaching” intervention, one aim of which was to provide supplementary social support for PhD students, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds. Coaching was de­livered both within small groups and on an individual basis, with a diverse group of coach­es and students coming from many universities. Coaches were provided with additional diversity training. Ninety-six semistructured interviews with 33 URM students over 3 years were analyzed using a qualitative framework approach. For most of the URM PhD students, coaching provided social support in the form of emotional, informational, and appraisal support. Coaching groups provided a noncompetitive environment and “community of support” within which students were able to learn from one another’s experiences and discuss negative and stressful experiences related to their graduate school, lab, or career plans. This coached peer group model is capable of providing the social support that many URM students do not find at their home universities

A next-generation sequencing method for overcoming the multiple gene copy problem in polyploid phylogenetics, applied to Poa grasses

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Polyploidy is important from a phylogenetic perspective because of its immense past impact on evolution and its potential future impact on diversification, survival and adaptation, especially in plants. Molecular population genetics studies of polyploid organisms have been difficult because of problems in sequencing multiple-copy nuclear genes using Sanger sequencing. This paper describes a method for sequencing a barcoded mixture of targeted gene regions using next-generation sequencing methods to overcome these problems.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using 64 3-bp barcodes, we successfully sequenced three chloroplast and two nuclear gene regions (each of which contained two gene copies with up to two alleles per individual) in a total of 60 individuals across 11 species of Australian <it>Poa </it>grasses. This method had high replicability, a low sequencing error rate (after appropriate quality control) and a low rate of missing data. Eighty-eight percent of the 320 gene/individual combinations produced sequence reads, and >80% of individuals produced sufficient reads to detect all four possible nuclear alleles of the homeologous nuclear loci with 95% probability.</p> <p>We applied this method to a group of sympatric Australian alpine <it>Poa </it>species, which we discovered to share an allopolyploid ancestor with a group of American <it>Poa </it>species. All markers revealed extensive allele sharing among the Australian species and so we recommend that the current taxonomy be re-examined. We also detected hypermutation in the <it>trn</it>H-<it>psb</it>A marker, suggesting it should not be used as a land plant barcode region. Some markers indicated differentiation between Tasmanian and mainland samples. Significant positive spatial genetic structure was detected at <100 km with chloroplast but not nuclear markers, which may be a result of restricted seed flow and long-distance pollen flow in this wind-pollinated group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that 454 sequencing of barcoded amplicon mixtures can be used to reliably sample all alleles of homeologous loci in polyploid species and successfully investigate phylogenetic relationships among species, as well as to investigate phylogeographic hypotheses. This next-generation sequencing method is more affordable than and at least as reliable as bacterial cloning. It could be applied to any experiment involving sequencing of amplicon mixtures.</p

International consensus recommendations for the identification and treatment of tuberous sclerosis complex-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND).

BACKGROUND: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is associated with a wide range of physical manifestations for which international clinical recommendations for diagnosis and management have been established. TSC is, however, also associated with a wide range of TSC-Associated Neuropsychiatric Disorders (TAND) that are typically under-identified and under-treated yet associated with a profound burden of disease. The contemporary evidence base for the identification and treatment of TAND is much more limited and, to date, consensus recommendations for the diagnosis and management of TAND have also been limited and non-specific. METHODS: The TANDem project was launched with an international, interdisciplinary, and participatory consortium of 24 individuals, including TSC family representatives, from all World Health Organization (WHO) regions but one. One of the aims of the TANDem project was to generate consensus recommendations for the identification and treatment of TAND. At the time of this project, no internationally adopted standard methodology and methodological checklists existed for the generation of clinical practice recommendations. We therefore developed our own systematic procedure for evidence review and consensus-building to generate evidence-informed consensus recommendations of relevance to the global TSC community. RESULTS: At the heart of the consensus recommendations are ten core principles surrounded by cluster-specific recommendations for each of the seven natural TAND clusters identified in the literature (autism-like, dysregulated behavior, eat/sleep, mood/anxiety, neuropsychological, overactive/impulsive, and scholastic) and a set of wraparound psychosocial cluster recommendations. The overarching recommendation is to "screen" for TAND at least annually, to "act" using appropriate next steps for evaluation and treatment, and to "repeat" the process to ensure early identification and early intervention with the most appropriate biological, psychological, and social evidence-informed approaches to support individuals with TSC and their families. CONCLUSIONS: The consensus recommendations should provide a systematic framework to approach the identification and treatment of TAND for health, educational, social care teams and families who live with TSC. To ensure global dissemination and implementation of these recommendations, partnerships with the international TSC community will be important. One of these steps will include the generation of a "TAND toolkit" of "what to seek" and "what to do" when difficulties are identified in TAND clusters

FRP reinforcement in RC structures

fib Bulletin 40 deals mainly with the use of FRP bars as internal reinforcement for concrete structures. The background of the main physical and mechanical properties of FRP reinforcing bars is presented, with special emphasis on durability aspects. For each of the typical ultimate and serviceability limit states, the basic mechanical model is given, followed by different design models according to existing codes or design guidelines

An interaction map of circulating metabolites, immune gene networks, and their genetic regulation

Background: Immunometabolism plays a central role in many cardiometabolic diseases. However, a robust map of immune-related gene networks in circulating human cells, their interactions with metabolites, and their genetic control is still lacking. Here, we integrate blood transcriptomic, metabolomic, and genomic profiles from two population-based cohorts (total N = 2168), including a subset of individuals with matched multi-omic data at 7-year follow-up. Results: We identify topologically replicable gene networks enriched for diverse immune functions including cytotoxicity, viral response, B cell, platelet, neutrophil, and mast cell/basophil activity. These immune gene modules show complex patterns of association with 158 circulating metabolites, including lipoprotein subclasses, lipids, fatty acids, amino acids, small molecules, and CRP. Genome-wide scans for module expression quantitative trait loci (mQTLs) reveal five modules with mQTLs that have both cis and trans effects. The strongest mQTL is in ARHGEF3 (rs1354034) and affects a module enriched for platelet function, independent of platelet counts. Modules of mast cell/basophil and neutrophil function show temporally stable metabolite associations over 7-year follow-up, providing evidence that these modules and their constituent gene products may play central roles in metabolic inflammation. Furthermore, the strongest mQTL in ARHGEF3 also displays clear temporal stability, supporting widespread trans effects at this locus. Conclusions: This study provides a detailed map of natural variation at the blood immunometabolic interface and its genetic basis, and may facilitate subsequent studies to explain inter-individual variation in cardiometabolic disease.Peer reviewe

The research landscape of tuberous sclerosis complex-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND)-a comprehensive scoping review.

BACKGROUND: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC)-associated neuropsychiatric disorders (TAND) is an umbrella term for the behavioural, psychiatric, intellectual, academic, neuropsychological and psychosocial manifestations of TSC. Although TAND affects 90% of individuals with TSC during their lifetime, these manifestations are relatively under-assessed, under-treated and under-researched. We performed a comprehensive scoping review of all TAND research to date (a) to describe the existing TAND research landscape and (b) to identify knowledge gaps to guide future TAND research. METHODS: The study was conducted in accordance with stages outlined within the Arksey and O'Malley scoping review framework. Ten research questions relating to study characteristics, research design and research content of TAND levels and clusters were examined. RESULTS: Of the 2841 returned searches, 230 articles published between 1987 and 2020 were included (animal studies = 30, case studies = 47, cohort studies = 153), with more than half published since the term TAND was coined in 2012 (118/230; 51%). Cohort studies largely involved children and/or adolescents (63%) as opposed to older adults (16%). Studies were represented across 341 individual research sites from 45 countries, the majority from the USA (89/341; 26%) and the UK (50/341; 15%). Only 48 research sites (14%) were within low-middle income countries (LMICs). Animal studies and case studies were of relatively high/high quality, but cohort studies showed significant variability. Of the 153 cohort studies, only 16 (10%) included interventions. None of these were non-pharmacological, and only 13 employed remote methodologies (e.g. telephone interviews, online surveys). Of all TAND clusters, the autism spectrum disorder-like cluster was the most widely researched (138/230; 60%) and the scholastic cluster the least (53/200; 27%). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the recent increase in TAND research, studies that represent participants across the lifespan, LMIC research sites and non-pharmacological interventions were identified as future priorities. The quality of cohort studies requires improvement, to which the use of standardised direct behavioural assessments may contribute. In human studies, the academic level in particular warrants further investigation. Remote technologies could help to address many of the TAND knowledge gaps identified