Reproducibility of measurement techniques used for creatine kinase, interleukin-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein determination over a 48 h period in males and females

To examine the reproducibility of three measurement techniques used to determine creatine kinase, interleukin-6 and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, 50 participants had blood samples taken on two occasions. Fingertip plasma samples were analysed using the Reflotron for CK determination. Venous blood samples collected into serum separator tubes were used for IL-6 and hs-CRP analyses. IL-6 was measured using an enzyme linked immune assay development kit. The hs-CRP was measured by an in-house ELISA method. Dependent t-tests showed no systematic bias between samples. The interdian CV was 20.0% for CK, 15.3% for IL-6 and 44.2% for hs-CRP. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.90 for CK, 0.98 for IL-6 and 0.70 for hs-CRP. The 95% limits of agreement were ?69.7 to 63.5 IU/L for CK, ?1.48 to 1.80?pg/ml for IL-6 and ?1.10 to 0.91??g/L for hs-CRP. The results demonstrate low absolute reproducibility, which may obscure a true experimental effect. ? 2018, ? 2018 Taylor & Francis.Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland, University of Western Sydney, Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Loughborough University, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, University of Hul

Pre-exercise alkalosis and acid-base recovery

The aim of this study was to observe the influence of pre-exercise sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO (3)) ingestion and varying recovery modes on acid-base recovery from a single bout of supramaximal exercise. Nine male subjects completed four separate, randomized cycle ergometer exercise trials to volitional fatigue at 120 % maximum power output, under the following conditions: 0.3 g . kg (-1) BW NaHCO (3) ingestion with passive recovery (BICARB P), 0.3 g . kg (-1) BW NaHCO (3) ingestion with active recovery (BICARB A), placebo ingestion with passive recovery (PLAC P) and placebo ingestion with active recovery (PLAC A). Capillary blood samples were obtained every minute for 15 min during recovery. Significant main effects for pH were observed for time (F = 42.1, p < 0.001), intervention (BICARB and PLAC) (F = 1117.3, p < 0.001) and recovery condition (F = 150.0, p < 0.001), as the BICARB condition reduced acid-base perturbation. Significant interaction effects were observed between conditions (BICARB and PLAC) for active and passive recovery modes (F = 29.1, p < 0.001) as the active recovery facilitated H+ removal better than the passive condition. Pre-exercise alkalosis attenuates blood acid-base perturbations from supramaximal exercise to exhaustion, regardless of whether the recovery mode is active or passive. These findings suggest that individuals may benefit from introducing a pre-exercise alkalotic condition while including passive recovery during high-intensity training protocols

Muscle-damaging exercise 48 h prior to a maximal incremental exercise treadmill test reduces time to exhaustion:is it time to reconsider our pretest procedures?

Pretest guidelines typically stipulate that no exercise should be performed 48 h prior to a maximal incremental exercise ðMIEÞ test. However, no study has specifically investigated if this timescale alters key outcome variables associated with MIE. Twenty apparently healthy males split into two equal groups performed MIE during three visits (visits 1 – MIEEXP1, 2 – MIEEXP2 and 4 – MIEEXP3). The experimental group only, performed muscle-damaging exercise during visit 3. From MIEEXP2 to MIEEXP3 average time to exhaustion (TTE) decreased by 45 s (9%) (p < 0.01), maximum blood lactate decreased by 1.2 mmol/L (11%) (p = 0.03), and perceived readiness decreased by 8 mm (18%) (p = 0.01). There were no changes in any MIE variables in the control group (p ≥ 0.37). Performing MIE 48 h following muscle-damaging exercise impairs specific, but not all, physiological outcome variables

Concept design of the LiteBIRD satellite for CMB B-mode polarization

LiteBIRD is a candidate for JAXA's strategic large mission to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization over the full sky at large angular scales. It is planned to be launched in the 2020s with an H3 launch vehicle for three years of observations at a Sun-Earth Lagrangian point (L2). The concept design has been studied by researchers from Japan, U.S., Canada and Europe during the ISAS Phase-A1. Large scale measurements of the CMB B-mode polarization are known as the best probe to detect primordial gravitational waves. The goal of LiteBIRD is to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio (r) with precision of r < 0:001. A 3-year full sky survey will be carried out with a low frequency (34 - 161 GHz) telescope (LFT) and a high frequency (89 - 448 GHz) telescope (HFT), which achieve a sensitivity of 2.5 \u3bcK-arcmin with an angular resolution 30 arcminutes around 100 GHz. The concept design of LiteBIRD system, payload module (PLM), cryo-structure, LFT and verification plan is described in this paper

LiteBIRD satellite: JAXA's new strategic L-class mission for all-sky surveys of cosmic microwave background polarization

LiteBIRD, the Lite (Light) satellite for the study of B-mode polarization and Inflation from cosmic background Radiation Detection, is a space mission for primordial cosmology and fundamental physics. JAXA selected LiteBIRD in May 2019 as a strategic large-class (L-class) mission, with its expected launch in the late 2020s using JAXA's H3 rocket. LiteBIRD plans to map the cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization over the full sky with unprecedented precision. Its main scientific objective is to carry out a definitive search for the signal from cosmic inflation, either making a discovery or ruling out well-motivated inflationary models. The measurements of LiteBIRD will also provide us with an insight into the quantum nature of gravity and other new physics beyond the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. To this end, LiteBIRD will perform full-sky surveys for three years at the Sun-Earth Lagrangian point L2 for 15 frequency bands between 34 and 448 GHz with three telescopes, to achieve a total sensitivity of 2.16 μK-arcmin with a typical angular resolution of 0.5° at 100 GHz. We provide an overview of the LiteBIRD project, including scientific objectives, mission requirements, top-level system requirements, operation concept, and expected scientific outcomes

Overview of the medium and high frequency telescopes of the LiteBIRD space mission

LiteBIRD is a JAXA-led Strategic Large-Class mission designed to search for the existence of the primordial gravitational waves produced during the inflationary phase of the Universe, through the measurements of their imprint onto the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). These measurements, requiring unprecedented sensitivity, will be performed over the full sky, at large angular scales, and over 15 frequency bands from 34 GHz to 448 GHz. The LiteBIRD instruments consist of three telescopes, namely the Low-, Medium-and High-Frequency Telescope (respectively LFT, MFT and HFT). We present in this paper an overview of the design of the Medium-Frequency Telescope (89{224 GHz) and the High-Frequency Telescope (166{448 GHz), the so-called MHFT, under European responsibility, which are two cryogenic refractive telescopes cooled down to 5 K. They include a continuous rotating half-wave plate as the first optical element, two high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lenses and more than three thousand transition-edge sensor (TES) detectors cooled to 100 mK. We provide an overview of the concept design and the remaining specific challenges that we have to face in order to achieve the scientific goals of LiteBIRD