The Effect of Hamstring Contractions in the Activation of the Abdominal Muscles during a Standard Abdominal Crunch

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a hamstring contraction on the abdominal musculature during a standard crunch. Studies in the past have looked at abdominal and core strengthening, exercise equipment, and exercise techniques and their effect on abdominal electromyography (EMG). Few published studies have looked at the effect on the abdominals during a modified crunch, which is a hamstring contraction during a standard crunch. Methods: Participants (n=30) for this study were between the ages of 18 and 60 with no history of acute or chronic back pain or major abdominal surgery. EMG was used to record the activity of four muscle groups including the: upper rectus abdominus (URA), lower rectus abdominus (LRA), external obliques (EO), and the biceps femoris during a standard crunch and also during a modified crunch. Data analysis compared EMG output to each participant\u27s individual maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) for each muscle group analyzed. Results: There was a significant (p\u3c0.05) increase in the average mean difference in the LRA of + 26.89% and EO of +46.3% in EMG activity during the modified crunch. URA displayed an increase of +2.25%; however, it was not found to be statistically significant. Discussion: In this study there was an increase in abdominal EMG output for the modified crunch; however, other factors that need to be considered include: the effects of gender, age, previous abdominal training, influence of pathologies, and other musculature involvement

Seeing the forest through the trees: prioritising potentially functional interactions from Hi-C.

Eukaryotic genomes are highly organised within the nucleus of a cell, allowing widely dispersed regulatory elements such as enhancers to interact with gene promoters through physical contacts in three-dimensional space. Recent chromosome conformation capture methodologies such as Hi-C have enabled the analysis of interacting regions of the genome providing a valuable insight into the three-dimensional organisation of the chromatin in the nucleus, including chromosome compartmentalisation and gene expression. Complicating the analysis of Hi-C data, however, is the massive amount of identified interactions, many of which do not directly drive gene function, thus hindering the identification of potentially biologically functional 3D interactions. In this review, we collate and examine the downstream analysis of Hi-C data with particular focus on methods that prioritise potentially functional interactions. We classify three groups of approaches: structural-based discovery methods, e.g. A/B compartments and topologically associated domains, detection of statistically significant chromatin interactions, and the use of epigenomic data integration to narrow down useful interaction information. Careful use of these three approaches is crucial to successfully identifying potentially functional interactions within the genome.Ning Liu, Wai Yee Low, Hamid Alinejad, Rokny, Stephen Pederson, Timothy Sadlon, Simon Barry, and James Bree

After-School Based Obesity Prevention Interventions: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature

The purpose of this article was to review primary prevention interventions targeting childhood obesity implemented in the after school environment from 2006 and 2011. A total of 20 interventions were found from 25 studies. Children in the interventions ranged from kindergarten to middle schoolers, however a majority was in the 4th and 5th grades. Most of the interventions targeted both physical activity and dietary behaviors. Among those that focused on only one dimension, physical activity was targeted more than diet. The duration of the interventions greatly varied, but many were short-term or brief. Many interventions were also based on some behavioral theory, with social cognitive theory as the most widely used. Most of the interventions focused on short-term changes, and rarely did any perform a follow-up evaluation. A major limitation among after school interventions was an inadequate use of process evaluations. Overall, interventions resulted in modest changes in behaviors and behavioral antecedents, and results were mixed and generally unfavorable with regards to indicators of obesity. Recommendations for enhancing the effectiveness of after school based childhood obesity interventions are presented

Inhibition of activation induced CD154 on CD4+ CD25- cells: a valid surrogate for human Treg suppressor function

Natural Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are defined by stable expression of the cell surface proteins CD4 and CD25, low surface expression of CD127 and expression of the transcription factor FOXP3. The contribution of Treg to the prevention of autoimmunity and the maintenance of immune homoestasis is the subject of ongoing interest, as alterations in Treg numbers and function are implicated in a wide range of diseases. The in vitro benchmark for determining Treg function is suppression of proliferation of unmatched effector T cells in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) over a 3–6-day time period. As an alternative to this assay, we show that a 7-h CD154 expression assay is rapid, simple and provides a reliable readout of suppressor function. Using multiple Treg-like cell types including natural (n)Treg, inducible (i)Treg and Treg cell lines, we show that suppression of CD154 expression is a surrogate for suppression of proliferation. We propose this as a suitable alternative to the MLR assay, as it is rapid and may be more amenable to high-throughput screening, analysing large cohorts of clinical samples or assaying transiently suppressive populations. Keywords: regulatory T cells; functional assays; iTreg; nTregDanika Hill, Nicola Eastaff-Leung, Suzanne Bresatz-Atkins, Noel Warner, Joyce Ruitenberg, Dorren Krumbiegel, Steve Pederson, Natasha McInnes, Cheryl Y. Brown, Timothy Sadlon and Simon C. Barr

Appearance of Membrane Compromised, Viable But Not Culturable and Culturable Rhizobial Cells as a Consequence of Desiccation

For agricultural purposes, drought related stresses negatively affect the Rhizobiaceae in at least three ways. Firstly, rhizobial populations are affected by desertification of agricultural soils. Secondly, the quality of dry-base inocula, also called formula, is negatively affected by a drying step, and thirdly, rhizosphere bacteria protect crop-plants against drought. Although survival of cultivatable bacteria has been studied intensively in dry-base seed inocula and in-vitro, thus far research has only marginally addressed the bacterial cell, its cellular structures and physiology. Many questions remain regarding the sensing of and physiological response of rhizobia to desiccation. This review will focus on the three different fractions of cells after desiccation, the membrane compromised cells, the viable but not culturable cells and the culturable cells

FOXP3 and FOXP3-regulated microRNAs suppress SATB1 in breast cancer cells

The transcription factor FOXP3 has been identified as a tumour suppressor in the breast and prostate epithelia, but little is known about its specific mechanism of action. We have identified a feed-forward regulatory loop in which FOXP3 suppresses the expression of the oncogene SATB1. In particular, we demonstrate that SATB1 is not only a direct target of FOXP3 repression, but that FOXP3 also induces two miRs, miR-7 and miR-155, which specifically target the 3′-UTR of SATB1 to further regulate its expression. We conclude that FOXP3-regulated miRs form part of the mechanism by which FOXP3 prevents the transformation of the healthy breast epithelium to a cancerous phenotype. Approaches aimed at restoring FOXP3 function and the miRs it regulates could help provide new approaches to target breast cancer.N McInnes, TJ Sadlon, CY Brown, S Pederson, M Beyer, JL Schultze, S McColl, GJ Goodall and SC Barr

CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 attenuates microglial proliferation and neurodegeneration in P301S mice

Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are significant processes in Alzheimer’s disease pathology. Recent genome-wide association studies have highlighted multiple immune-related genes in association with Alzheimer’s disease, and experimental data have demonstrated microglial proliferation as a significant component of the neuropathology. In this study, we tested the efficacy of the selective CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 (JNJ-527) in the P301S mouse tauopathy model. We first demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects of JNJ-527 on microglia in the ME7 prion model, and its impact on the inflammatory profile, and provided potential CNS biomarkers for clinical investigation with the compound, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and efficacy assessment by TSPO autoradiography and CSF proteomics. Then, we showed for the first time that blockade of microglial proliferation and modification of microglial phenotype leads to an attenuation of tau-induced neurodegeneration and results in functional improvement in P301S mice. Overall, this work strongly supports the potential for inhibition of CSF1R as a target for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and other tau-mediated neurodegenerative diseases

Inflammatory biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease plasma

Introduction:Plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) diagnosis/stratification are a“Holy Grail” of AD research and intensively sought; however, there are no well-established plasmamarkers.Methods:A hypothesis-led plasma biomarker search was conducted in the context of internationalmulticenter studies. The discovery phase measured 53 inflammatory proteins in elderly control (CTL;259), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 199), and AD (262) subjects from AddNeuroMed.Results:Ten analytes showed significant intergroup differences. Logistic regression identified five(FB, FH, sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that, age/APOε4 adjusted, optimally differentiated AD andCTL (AUC: 0.79), and three (sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that optimally differentiated AD and MCI(AUC: 0.74). These models replicated in an independent cohort (EMIF; AUC 0.81 and 0.67). Twoanalytes (FB, FH) plus age predicted MCI progression to AD (AUC: 0.71).Discussion:Plasma markers of inflammation and complement dysregulation support diagnosis andoutcome prediction in AD and MCI. Further replication is needed before clinical translatio