Ergogenic effect of pre-exercise chicken broth ingestion on a high-intensity cycling time-trial

Background: chicken meat extract is a popular functional food in Asia. It is rich in the bioactive compounds carnosine and anserine, two histidine-containing dipeptides (HCD). Studies suggest that acute pre-exercise ingestion of chicken extracts has important applications towards exercise performance and fatigue control, but the evidence is equivocal. This study aimed to evaluate the ergogenic potential of the pre-exercise ingestion of a homemade chicken broth (CB) vs a placebo soup on a short-lasting, high-intensity cycling exercise. Methods: fourteen men participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover intervention study. Subjects ingested either CB, thereby receiving 46.4 mg/kg body weight of HCD, or a placebo soup (similar in taste without HCD) 40 min before an 8 min cycling time trial (TT) was performed. Venous blood samples were collected at arrival (fasted), before exercise and at 5 min recovery. Plasma HCD were measured with UPLC-MS/MS and glutathione (in red blood cells) was measured through HPLC. Capillary blood samples were collected at different timepoints before and after exercise. Results: a significant improvement (p = 0.033; 5.2%) of the 8 min TT mean power was observed after CB supplementation compared to placebo. Post-exercise plasma carnosine (p <  0.05) and anserine (p <  0.001) was significantly increased after CB supplementation and not following placebo. No significant effect of CB supplementation was observed either on blood glutathione levels, nor on capillary blood analysis. Conclusions: oral CB supplementation improved the 8 min TT performance albeit it did not affect the acid-base balance or oxidative status parameters. Further research should unravel the potential role and mechanisms of HCD, present in CB, in this ergogenic approach

Challenging assumptions of the enlargement literature : the impact of the EU on human and minority rights in Macedonia

This article argues that from the very start of the transition process in Macedonia, a fusion of concerns about security and democratisation locked local nationalist elites and international organisations intoa political dynamic that prioritised security over democratisation. This dynamic resulted in little progress in the implementation of human and minority rights until 2009, despite heavy EU involvement in Macedonia after the internal warfare of 2001. The effects of this informally institutionalised relationship have been overlooked by scholarship on EU enlargement towards Eastern Europe, which has made generalisations based on assumptions relevant to the democratisation of countries in Eastern Europe, but not the Western Balkans

Ergogenic effect of pre-exercise chicken broth ingestion on a high-intensity cycling time-trial

Background: chicken meat extract is a popular functional food in Asia. It is rich in the bioactive compounds carnosine and anserine, two histidine-containing dipeptides (HCD). Studies suggest that acute pre-exercise ingestion of chicken extracts has important applications towards exercise performance and fatigue control, but the evidence is equivocal. This study aimed to evaluate the ergogenic potential of the pre-exercise ingestion of a homemade chicken broth (CB) vs a placebo soup on a short-lasting, high-intensity cycling exercise. Methods: fourteen men participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover intervention study. Subjects ingested either CB, thereby receiving 46.4 mg/kg body weight of HCD, or a placebo soup (similar in taste without HCD) 40 min before an 8 min cycling time trial (TT) was performed. Venous blood samples were collected at arrival (fasted), before exercise and at 5 min recovery. Plasma HCD were measured with UPLC-MS/MS and glutathione (in red blood cells) was measured through HPLC. Capillary blood samples were collected at different timepoints before and after exercise. Results: a significant improvement (p = 0.033; 5.2%) of the 8 min TT mean power was observed after CB supplementation compared to placebo. Post-exercise plasma carnosine (p < 0.05) and anserine (p < 0.001) was significantly increased after CB supplementation and not following placebo. No significant effect of CB supplementation was observed either on blood glutathione levels, nor on capillary blood analysis. Conclusions: oral CB supplementation improved the 8 min TT performance albeit it did not affect the acid-base balance or oxidative status parameters. Further research should unravel the potential role and mechanisms of HCD, present in CB, in this ergogenic approach

The effect of cumulative endurance exercise on leptin and adiponectin and their role as markers to monitor training load

Leptin and adiponectin play an essential role in energy metabolism. Leptin has also been proposed as a marker for monitoring training load. So far, no studies have investigated the variability of these hormones in athletes and how they are regulated during cumulative exercises This study monitored leptin and adiponectin in 15 endurance athletes twice daily in the days before, during and after a 9-day simulated cycling stage race. Adiponectin significantly increased during the race (p=0.001) and recovery periods (p=0.002) when compared to the baseline, while leptin decreased significantly during the race (p<0.0001) and returned to baseline levels during the recovery period. lntra-individual variability was substantially lower than inter-individual variability for both hormones (leptin 34.1 vs. 53.5%, adiponectin 19% vs. 37.2%). With regards to exercise, this study demonstrated that with sufficient, sustained energy expenditure, leptin concentrations can decrease within the first 24 hours. Under the investigated conditions there also appears to be an optimal leptin concentration which ensures stable energy homeostasis, as there was no significant decrease over the subsequent race days. ln healthy endurance athletes the recovery of leptin takes 48-72 hours and may even show a supercompensation- like effect. For adiponectin, significant increases were observed within 5 days of commencing racing, with these elevated values failing to return to baseline levels after 3 days of recovery. Additionally, when using leptin and adiponectin to monitor training loads, establishing individual threshold values improves their sensitivity

Влияние сердечно-легочной реанимации с поддержкой диспетчером скорой медицинской помощи на восстановление эффективного кровообращения и краткосрочную выживаемость

The Aim: analysis of the influence of dispatcher assistance during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) of patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in achieving return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), better survival at the scene, survival to discharge, and 30-day survival.Materials and methods. This study includes epidemiological data on OHCA collected by the study protocol of the European Resuscitation Council's EuReCa_ONE study during the period October 1, 2014 — December 31, 2019. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics v26 and GraphPad Prism v8 software packages.Results. This study included 288 patients with OHCA where CPR was provided by bystander. Dispatcher-assisted CPR (DA-CPR) occurred in 56.9% of those patients and ROSC was achieved in 31.3% of cases. Forty-four patients were hospitalized and 16 of those survived until discharge. There was no influence of dispatcher assistance on ROSC, although it resulted in slightly greater risk of the absence of ROSC (OR=1.063). Higher mortality rate to discharge occurred in DA-CPR group (P=0.013). No statistical significance was observed between DA-CPR and non-DA-CPR groups in terms of death at the scene, and 30-day survival. Dispatcher assistance during the initial CPR in hospitalized OHCA patients was a significant predictor of death outcome during hospitalization (P=0.017, OR=5.500).Conclusions. There is no significant association between the presence/absence of dispatcher assistance and ROSC or 30-day survival rate. In contrast, DA-CPR was non-significantly associated with slightly higher odds for the absence of ROSC. DA-CPR was also associated with lower survival-to-discharge rates in hospitalized OHCA patients. The study findings are the base/ground which highlights the need of implementation of existing and development of new guidelines regarding high-quality professional training of EMS dispatchers as well as basic life support education of general population.Цель: анализ влияния помощи диспетчера во время сердечно-легочной реанимации (СЛР) пациентов с внебольничной остановкой сердца (ВБОС) на восстановление эффективного кровообращения (ВЭК), улучшение выживаемости на месте произошедшей остановки кровообращения, выживаемость до выписки и выживаемость в течение 30 дней.Материалы и методы. Данное исследование включило эпидемиологические данные по ВБОС, собранные в соответствии с протоколом исследования Европейского совета по реанимации EuReCa_ONE в период с 1 октября 2014 года по 31 декабря 2019 года. Статистический анализ проводили с использованием программных пакетов SPSS Statistics v26 и GraphPad Prism v8.Результаты. В исследование включили 288 пациентов с ВБОС, у которых сердечно-легочная реанимация была проведена случайным очевидцем. СЛР с помощью диспетчера (СЛРПД) была проведена у 56,9% пациентов, а ВЭК было достигнуто в 31,3% случаев. Сорок четыре пациента были госпитализированы, и 16 из них были живы к моменту выписки. Помощь диспетчера не повлияла на ВЭК, хотя и привела к несколько большему риску отсутствия ВЭК (OR=1,063). Более высокую смертность в период до выписки наблюдали в группе СЛРПД (p=0,013). Различия между группами СЛРПД и СЛР без ПД по смертности на месте остановки кровообращения и 30-дневной выживаемости были незначимы. Помощь диспетчера во время базовых реанимационных мероприятий у госпитализированных впоследствии пациентов с ВБОС оказалась значимым предиктором смертельного исхода в течении периода госпитализации (p=0,017, ОШ 5,500).Заключение. Связь между наличием/отсутствием помощи диспетчера и ВЭК или 30-дневной выживаемостью отсутствует. СЛРПД незначимо ассоциируется с более высокими шансами на отсутствие восстановления кровообращения. СЛРПД также была связана с более низкими показателями выживаемости до выписки у госпитализированных пациентов с ВБОС. Результаты исследования являются основанием для внедрения существующих и разработки новых рекомендаций по высококачественной профессиональной подготовке диспетчеров СМП, а также по обучению населения оказанию базовых реанимационных мероприятий.