Cardiorespiratory fitness and aerobic performance adaptations to a 4-week sprint interval training in young healthy untrained females

Purpose: The aim of this study was to test the effects of sprint interval training (SIT) on cardiorespiratory fitness and aerobic performance measures in young females.Methods: Eight healthy, untrained females (age 21 ± 1 years; height 165 ± 5 cm; body mass 63 ± 6 kg) completed cycling peak oxygen uptake ( V˙O2V˙O2  peak), 10-km cycling time trial (TT) and critical power (CP) tests pre- and post-SIT. SIT protocol included 4 × 30-s “all-out” cycling efforts against 7 % body mass interspersed with 4 min of active recovery performed twice per week for 4 weeks (eight sessions in total).Results: There was no significant difference in  V˙O2V˙O2  peak following SIT compared to the control period (control period: 31.7 ± 3.0 ml kg−1 min−1; post-SIT: 30.9 ± 4.5 ml kg−1 min−1; p > 0.05), but SIT significantly improved time to exhaustion (TTE) (control period: 710 ± 101 s; post-SIT: 798 ± 127 s; p = 0.00), 10-km cycling TT (control period: 1055 ± 129 s; post-SIT: 997 ± 110 s; p = 0.004) and CP (control period: 1.8 ± 0.3 W kg−1; post-SIT: 2.3 ± 0.6 W kg−1; p = 0.01).Conclusions: These results demonstrate that young untrained females are responsive to SIT as measured by TTE, 10-km cycling TT and CP tests. However, eight sessions of SIT over 4 weeks are not enough to provide sufficient training stimulus to increase  V˙O2V˙O2  peak

Caravan second homes: an empirical study of consumer behaviour towards a depreciating property asset

Merged with duplicate record (10026.1/257) on 03.01.2017 by CS (TIS)This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected]) to discuss options.This research draws upon a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaire data to investigate the role static caravans play within second home consumerism. Fundamentally it seeks to explain why people buy such a fast depreciating property asset. Results suggest how irrespective of their income two thirds of such consumers show a passionate loyalty towards their static caravan and have little regard for alternative forms of retreat they could afford. Clearly there are significant reasons beyond price which explain such investment. At their broadest static caravans proved to be desirable for reasons of escape, salvation, control, enhancement and opportunity but a number of further concepts began to emerge which extend current understanding of second homes. Within the caravan, space and time were found to hold greater value, and by virtue of their compactness life was considered to be organized, tidier, simplified and as a consequence more enjoyable than that at the principal home. Many of the alluring features which were inherent in their design were discovered to create an environment in which living was perceived to be miniaturised, adventuresome and a fairytale. Remarkably the lack of space and permanence were not perceived to be shortcomings but attributes, providing further forms of freedom and connection with nature. Purchases were seen to be driven as much by an attachment with the space static caravans provided, and memories of previous occasions enjoyed in them, as any desire for location. Through utilising chi-square tests with both factor and cluster analysis the research has been able to identify four types of consumer and the effects of eight statistically significant variables upon their profiles and behaviour. The character traits of purchasers were found to be particularly high in levels of agreeableness, and their perpetual yo-yoing between the caravan and home proved to be so regular, and the community they engendered so familiar, touristic characteristics were little evident. Indeed this research questions whether such consumption can continue to be considered touristic, and provides a fresh insight into understanding the need for a second home. Regardless of environment what purchasers yearned was a leisurely existence at home without any sense of guilt. What static caravans were found to provide was permissible behaviour; a utility within which `at leisure' could be transacted. For the first time this research quantifies the ownership of static caravan second homes and draws together a number of findings to explain the success they enjoy, to finally offer some resolve to the repeated calls for such study

Australian co-operation with the national agricultural research project - Project Completion Report 1990

This Project Completion Report (PCR) has been written to meet the project monitoring requirements of AIDAB. Because the ACNARP Project was part of a larger joint WB/IFAD project known as the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP), a summary of ACNARP and its progress and achievements, cannot be divorced from NARP. The report should therefore be read within the context that ACNARP alone has not been responsible for all the developments and achievements listed. Achievements in relation to some of the project objectives have been the result of Thai inputs, often with advice from ACNARP, rather than being able to be attributed solely to ACNARP. There were also some objectives and components of the larger WB/IFAD NARP Project, for which there were no corresponding specific ACNARP inputs

Survival, quality of life and health resource use following hospitalisation for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

PhD ThesisBackground Hospital admissions with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are common and associated with high mortality rates, frequent readmission and worse quality of life. An ability to identify patients at risk of subsequent poor outcome is lacking and the longitudinal change in quality of life following discharge is uncertain. Methods The study consisted of two parts: 1) Clinical data were collected on 920 consecutive patients hospitalised with exacerbations. The ability of a novel modification of the traditional MRC dyspnoea scale (the extended MRC dyspnoea scale, eMRCD) to identify patients at risk of poor outcome was assessed. Independent predictors of important clinical outcomes were recorded and clinical prediction tools derived. 2) A subgroup of 183 patients underwent longitudinal assessment of quality of life following hospital discharge and predictors of quality of life decline were identified. Results The study population was similar to that reported in UK national audits. 96 (10.4%) patients died in-hospital and 37.3% were readmitted to hospital, or died without being readmitted, within 90-days of discharge. The eMRCD was a better predictor of outcome than the traditional scale and, compared to all clinical variables, was the single strongest predictor of mortality and readmission Strong independent predictors of many important clinical outcomes were identified and, notably, the DECAF (dyspnoea, eosinopenia, consolidation, acidaemia, atrial fibrillation) predictive tool was derived and shown to be an excellent, and internally valid, mortality predictor (area under ROC curve = 0.858). Most patients who survived to discharge reported an improvement in respiratory symptoms and quality of life during follow-up. We defined a subgroup of patients who experienced poor post-discharge quality of life and identified robust, simple-to- measure predictors of poor quality of life. Conclusions Important patient outcomes can be accurately predicted in this population. Application of our results may reduce morbidity and mortality in this common and frequently fatal condition by improving clinical decision making regarding appropriate level of care, location of care and resource allocation

Combining chemotherapy with immunotherapy to treat mesothelioma: an investigation into the role of CD4+ T cells in a murine model

Cytotoxic chemotherapy remains the mainstay of treatment for patients with cancer, however immunotherapy is starting to emerge as an additional modality of treatment. Evidence suggests that chemotherapy can synergise with immunotherapy to improve responses. Although CD8 T cells have been regarded as the main anti-tumour effector cell, the role of CD4 T cells in orchestrating CD8 and other anti-tumour responses is increasingly recognised. However, the CD4 T cell population contains effector and suppressive subsets with diverse and opposing functions. This thesis describes the establishment of a murine mesothelioma model with which to study the effects of different CD4 subsets on anti-tumour immune responses, and investigate their capacity to provide cognate help to tumour antigen specific CD8 T cells. Haemagluttin (HA) specific CD4 T cells from transgenic mice were polarised in vitro into Th1, Th2, Th17 and Treg subsets and adoptively transferred alongside HA specific CD8 T cells into mice bearing HA expressing tumours derived from a mesothelioma cell line. The effects of the different CD4 subtypes on tumour growth and their capacity to provide ‘help’ to CD8 T cells was investigated in a prophylactic treatment model and in the context of treatment with gemcitabine chemotherapy. Results showed that survival and behaviour of in vitro differentiated CD4 subtypes after adoptive transfer was highly variable and that only Th1s displayed anti-tumour activity when injected prophylactically, prior to tumour inoculation. Cytotoxic chemotherapy did not provide a favourable environment for adoptive transfer of in vitro differentiated CD4 cells. No antitumour activity was seen against established tumours, which may have been due to overriding tumour induced immunosuppressive mechanisms. Successful treatment of established tumours that had been treated with chemotherapy required both the provision of HA specific CD8 cells and the prior removal of an established, endogenous regulatory CD4 T cell population