Reductions in muscular strength three months and six months following bariatric surgery are proportional to absolute weight loss

Prior studies in patients following bariatric surgery have demonstrated an associated reduction in lean muscle mass concomitant with total weight loss. Less described are any changes of skeletal muscular strength following bariatric surgery and if changes in strength are propmiional to total weight loss. Purpose: To describe changes in upper and lower body strength following weight loss surgery. Methods: Seven subjects (age (yr) = 48 ±13; weight (kg)= 137.4 ± 5.4; BMI (kg/m2 ) =50 ±5) who underwent laparoscopic bariatric surgery at Henry Ford Hospital (6 Roux-en-Y bypass and 1 vetiical sleeve) were assessed. Within 30 days prior to surgery upper and lower body strength were assessed, respectively, by performing a one repetition max test on an isotonic chest press (CP) machine (Cybex) and a single-leg knee extension (KE) using an isokinetic dynamometer (Biodex). Strength tests were repeated three months following surgery. AN OVA tests were used to compare differences in strength between baseline, three months, and six months. Results: At three months there was a 20% weight loss (p \u3c 0.001), and 25% reduction ofBMI (p \u3c 0.001). Overall strength was reduced at three months. The absolute decrease in strength was significant only for peak torque at 120° · sec·1 • All other strength measures trended towards significance. However, when body weight was controlled for, relative strength for all tests were no different before and after bariatric surgery. Conclusion: This preliminary data shows reductions in absolute strength following weight loss surgery, are related to total weight loss. Future studies should examine if these changes persist beyond three months post surgery as well as if a post-operative strength-training program can minimize this impact

Barriers to Membership in a Professional Organization for Advanced Practice Nurses

Professional organizations offer nurses services and resources for professional growth throughout their careers; yet, membership has declined over the past 10 years. Accordingly, this study was to understand the barriers in membership and identify positive changes that will increase membership and retain members. A quantitative descriptive design was employed within a convenience sample of 150 advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) who were past or nonmembers of a professional organization. Exchange theory was applied and the Professional Association Membership Questionnaire (PAMQ) was administered to assess the barriers to APRNs participating in a specific professional organization. Statistical analysis included mean scores for each of the PAMQ\u27s 34 questions with groupings by benefits and barriers using a 7-point Likert-type scale. Study results indicated 71% (n = 106) of 150 participants ranked continuing education as the most important benefit when considering joining a professional organization. Although prior literature frequently reported cost as a barrier to membership in professional organizations, fewer than 50% (n = 56) of participants in this study ranked cost as a barrier to membership. Professional organizations can bring about positive social change by providing accessible continuing education to membership. To do so will improve the quality of nursing services through evidence-based practice, education, and leadership. Membership in a professional organization allows the nurse to maintain current awareness of health care changes and policies. Significant membership is necessary in order for the organization to have a major impact in the profession

Strong wind shear events and improved numerical prediction of the wind turbine rotor layer in an Iowa tall tower network

Day-ahead bids of wind farm power production depend greatly on the accuracy of wind speed forecasts. Forecasts can be improved by expanding knowledge of the wind characteristics across the wind turbine rotor layer (40 - 120 m) and examining wind direction forecasts, as errors in these forecasts can lead to missed effects of wind turbine wakes. Several high shear events with a change in wind speed of up to 15 m s-1 and changes in wind direction up to 30° between 50 and 200 m were observed across an Iowa tall tower network. The strength of these events could lead to damage of wind turbine components and therefore are important to forecast accurately. A six member Weather Research and Forecasting ensemble forecast was developed to evaluate the ability of the model to forecast wind speed, wind direction, wind shear, and stability at several levels across the rotor layer. Four bias correction methods were tested for each parameter to determine the best forecast method. After correction, wind speed forecasts were improved by up to 19%

Return to the Forgotten Ultraluminous X-Ray Source: A Broadband NICER+NuSTAR Study of NGC 4190 ULX-1

© 2024 The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/We observed the nearby and relatively understudied ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) NGC 4190 ULX-1 jointly with Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) and NuSTAR to investigate its broadband spectrum, timing properties, and spectral variation over time. We found NGC 4190 ULX-1 to have a hard spectrum characterized by two thermal components (with temperatures ∼0.25 and ∼1.6 keV) and a high-energy excess typical of the ULX population although the spectrum turns over at an unusually low energy. While no pulsations were detected (with pulsed fraction 3σ upper limits of 16% for NICER and 35% for NuSTAR), the source shows significant stochastic variability, and the covariance spectrum indicates the presence of a high-energy cutoff power-law component, potentially indicative of an accretion column. Additionally, when fitting archival XMM-Newton data with a similar model, we find that the luminosity–temperature evolution of the hot thermal component follows the behavior of a super-Eddington slim disk though the expected spectral broadening for such a disk is not seen, suggesting that the inner accretion disk may be truncated by a magnetic field. Therefore, despite the lack of detected pulsations, there is tantalizing evidence for NGC 4190 ULX-1 being a candidate neutron star accretor although further broadband observations will be required to confirm this behavior.Peer reviewe

Community Based Rehabilitation Programs for Resettled Muslim Women Refugees

According to the 2021 report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced because of violence, wars, or persecution and over 26.4 million are currently living with refugee status. Displacement and resettlement trauma are associated with chronic disease onset and poor cognitive, physical, and mental health outcomes for refugee populations. To mitigate some of the deleterious effects of resettlement trauma, we propose a community-based rehabilitation program (CBRP) framework that is culturally sensitive, trauma-informed and focused on the vulnerabilities of women. The purpose of this novel CBRP framework is to address health inequities among a vulnerable refugee population through program development, with a focus on: (1) active participation of the refugee community throughout all levels of program planning; (2) intersectional, gender-focused analysis of power and privilege within the community and host country aimed at reducing barriers and improving access to quality CBRP programs for women; (3) trauma-informed, team-oriented, resilience programming to improve cognitive, physical, and mental health outcomes and prevent chronic disease. This paper will also discuss the need for gender transformative interventions to address specific health inequities related to CBRP feasibility and access, cultural and social influences, acceptability, and related laws and policies. Key Words: Refugee Health, Muslim Women, Community-based Rehabilitation Programs, Physical Activit

The effect of artificial selection on phenotypic plasticity in maize

Remarkable productivity has been achieved in crop species through artificial selection and adaptation to modern agronomic practices. Whether intensive selection has changed the ability of improved cultivars to maintain high productivity across variable environments is unknown. Understanding the genetic control of phenotypic plasticity and genotype by environment (G × E) interaction will enhance crop performance predictions across diverse environments. Here we use data generated from the Genomes to Fields (G2F) Maize G × E project to assess the effect of selection on G × E variation and characterize polymorphisms associated with plasticity. Genomic regions putatively selected during modern temperate maize breeding explain less variability for yield G × E than unselected regions, indicating that improvement by breeding may have reduced G × E of modern temperate cultivars. Trends in genomic position of variants associated with stability reveal fewer genic associations and enrichment of variants 0–5000 base pairs upstream of genes, hypothetically due to control of plasticity by short-range regulatory elements

Maize Genomes to Fields: 2014 and 2015 field season genotype, phenotype, environment, and inbred ear image datasets

Objectives: Crop improvement relies on analysis of phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data. Given large, well-integrated, multi-year datasets, diverse queries can be made: Which lines perform best in hot, dry environments? Which alleles of specific genes are required for optimal performance in each environment? Such datasets also can be leveraged to predict cultivar performance, even in uncharacterized environments. The maize Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative is a multi-institutional organization of scientists working to generate and analyze such datasets from existing, publicly available inbred lines and hybrids. G2F’s genotype by environment project has released 2014 and 2015 datasets to the public, with 2016 and 2017 collected and soon to be made available. Data description: Datasets include DNA sequences; traditional phenotype descriptions, as well as detailed ear, cob, and kernel phenotypes quantified by image analysis; weather station measurements; and soil characterizations by site. Data are released as comma separated value spreadsheets accompanied by extensive README text descriptions. For genotypic and phenotypic data, both raw data and a version with outliers removed are reported. For weather data, two versions are reported: a full dataset calibrated against nearby National Weather Service sites and a second calibrated set with outliers and apparent artifacts removed

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder