Genetic variation and exercise-induced muscle damage: implications for athletic performance, injury and ageing.

Prolonged unaccustomed exercise involving muscle lengthening (eccentric) actions can result in ultrastructural muscle disruption, impaired excitation-contraction coupling, inflammation and muscle protein degradation. This process is associated with delayed onset muscle soreness and is referred to as exercise-induced muscle damage. Although a certain amount of muscle damage may be necessary for adaptation to occur, excessive damage or inadequate recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage can increase injury risk, particularly in older individuals, who experience more damage and require longer to recover from muscle damaging exercise than younger adults. Furthermore, it is apparent that inter-individual variation exists in the response to exercise-induced muscle damage, and there is evidence that genetic variability may play a key role. Although this area of research is in its infancy, certain gene variations, or polymorphisms have been associated with exercise-induced muscle damage (i.e. individuals with certain genotypes experience greater muscle damage, and require longer recovery, following strenuous exercise). These polymorphisms include ACTN3 (R577X, rs1815739), TNF (-308 G>A, rs1800629), IL6 (-174 G>C, rs1800795), and IGF2 (ApaI, 17200 G>A, rs680). Knowing how someone is likely to respond to a particular type of exercise could help coaches/practitioners individualise the exercise training of their athletes/patients, thus maximising recovery and adaptation, while reducing overload-associated injury risk. The purpose of this review is to provide a critical analysis of the literature concerning gene polymorphisms associated with exercise-induced muscle damage, both in young and older individuals, and to highlight the potential mechanisms underpinning these associations, thus providing a better understanding of exercise-induced muscle damage

Statistical physics of vaccination

Historically, infectious diseases caused considerable damage to human societies, and they continue to do so today. To help reduce their impact, mathematical models of disease transmission have been studied to help understand disease dynamics and inform prevention strategies. Vaccination–one of the most important preventive measures of modern times–is of great interest both theoretically and empirically. And in contrast to traditional approaches, recent research increasingly explores the pivotal implications of individual behavior and heterogeneous contact patterns in populations. Our report reviews the developmental arc of theoretical epidemiology with emphasis on vaccination, as it led from classical models assuming homogeneously mixing (mean-field) populations and ignoring human behavior, to recent models that account for behavioral feedback and/or population spatial/social structure. Many of the methods used originated in statistical physics, such as lattice and network models, and their associated analytical frameworks. Similarly, the feedback loop between vaccinating behavior and disease propagation forms a coupled nonlinear system with analogs in physics. We also review the new paradigm of digital epidemiology, wherein sources of digital data such as online social media are mined for high-resolution information on epidemiologically relevant individual behavior. Armed with the tools and concepts of statistical physics, and further assisted by new sources of digital data, models that capture nonlinear interactions between behavior and disease dynamics offer a novel way of modeling real-world phenomena, and can help improve health outcomes. We conclude the review by discussing open problems in the field and promising directions for future research

Agricultural Research Bulletins, Nos. 413-447

Volume 32, Bulletins 413-447. (413) What Does the Iowa Farmer Want from Radio Market News?; (414) Estimate of the Volume of Farm Dwelling Construction in Iowa; (415) Retail Lumber Establishment and Farm Dwelling Construction in Iowa; (416) Farm Rental Practices and Problems in the Midwest; (417) How Do Iowa Farmers Obtain and Use Market News?; (418) Incomplete Block Designs with Blocks of Two Plots; (419) Economic Efficiency in Pasture Production and Improvement in Southern Iowa; (420) Load Characteristics of Southeastern Iowa Farms Using Electric Ranges; (421) Objective Grade Specifications for Slaughter Barrow and Gilt Carcasses; (422) Comparison of Costs of Service and Self-Service Methods in Retail Meat Departments; (423) Costs, Returns and Capital Requirements for Soil-Conserving Farming on Rented Farms in Western Iowa; (424) Crop Response Surfaces and Economic Optima in Fertilizer Use; (425) Resource Returns and Productivity Coefficients in Selected Farming Areas of Iowa, Montana and Alabama; (426) Optimum Combinations of Competitive Crops at Particular Locations (Applications of Linear Programming: 1); (427) Application of Input-Output Analysis to a Simple Model Emphasizing Agriculture (A Study of the Interdependence of Agriculture and Other Sectors of the National Economy; (428) Farm Size Adjustments in Iowa and Cost Economies in Crop Production for Farms of Different Sizes; (429) Costs and Returns for Soil-Conserving Systems of Farming on Ida-Monona Soils in Iowa; (430) Population Change and Net Migration in the North Central States, 1940-1950; (431) Economic Instability and Choices Involving Income and Risk in Livestock and Poultry Production; (432) Relationships Between Lard Production Methods, Volumes of Production, Costs and Characteristics of Lard Produced in Selected Packing Plants; (433) Marginal Productivity of Resources and Imputation of Shares for Cash and Share Rented Farms; (434) Nutrition of 9-, 10-, and 11-Year-Old Public School Children in Iowa, Kansas and Ohio; (435) Optimum Allocation of Resources Between Pasture Improvement and Other Opportunities on Southern Iowa Farms; (436) Physical and Mathematical Theories of the Tile and Ditch Drainage and their Usefulness in Design; (437) Optimum Combinations of Livestock Enterprises and Management Practices on Farms Including Supplementary Dairy and Poultry Enterprises (An Application of Linear Programming); (438) Application of Expectation Models to Livestock and Crop Prices and Products; (439) Combinations of Rotations and Fertilization to Maximize Crop Profits on Farms in North-Central Iowa (An Application of Linear Programming); (440) Optimum Farm Plans for Beginning Farmers on Tama-Muscatine Soils; (441) Production Functions, Isoquants, Isoclines and Economic Optima in Corn Fertilization for Experiments with Two and Three Variable Nutrients; (442) Least-Cost Rations and Optimum Marketing Weights for Broilers; (443) Least-Cost Rations and Optimum Marketing Weights for Turkeys; (444) Milk Production Functions, Hay/Grain Substitution Rates and Economic Optima in Dairy Cow Rations; (445) Analysis of the Efficiencies of Alternative Farm Leasing Arrangements (An Application of Linear Programming); (446) Effects of the USDA Corn Storage Program on Corn Carryover Stocks and Corn Utilization; (447) Uncertainty, Expectations and Investment Decisions for a Sample of Central Iowa Farmers</p