Six weeks of conditioning exercise increases total, but not free testosterone in lifelong sedentary aging men

Introduction: Advancing age is associated with a gradual decline in circulating androgens, and the putative role of exercise training on systemic androgens remains to be adequately defined. Methods: The present investigation examined the impact of 6 weeks of supervised exercise training on resting levels of systemic hormones in a cohort of lifelong sedentary men [SED (n = 28), 62.5 ± 5.3 years], compared with a positive control group of age-matched lifelong exercisers [LE (n = 20), 60.4 ± 4.7 years, >30 years training history]. Blood hormones were sampled pre- and post-intervention from an antecubital forearm vein and analysed using electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. Cardiorespiratory fitness () was determined via indirect calorimetry during an incremental cycle test to volitional exhaustion. Results: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed a lack of significant change in any parameter amongst LE, whilst SED experienced a significant exercise-induced improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness and total testosterone (all p  0.05) amongst SED. Conclusions: Although resting levels of systemic total testosterone increased in response to 6 weeks of exercise training, increases in SHBG negated any potential relationship between calculated-free or bioavailable testosterone. These findings indicate that increases in bioavailable testosterone fraction are not required for cardiorespiratory fitness improvements in aging men

Enjoyed or bored?:A study into achievement emotions and the association with barriers to learning in MOOCs

MOOCs are accessible online personal development opportunities in which learners can expand their knowledge on many topics. Yet, the experience of barriers to learning often hinders learners from achieving their personal learning goals. Therefore, it is important to have insight into determinants that may influence the experience of (certain) barriers. This study investigated whether the emotional determinants enjoyment and boredom, which are known to impact learner achievement and motivation, affect the experience of (specific) barriers while learning in MOOCs. The results show that boredom did affect the experience of barriers related to technical and online related skills, social context and time, support and motivation, yet it did not affect the experience of barriers related to the design of the MOOC. Enjoyment was not correlated to any of the barriers. Furthermore, the same analysis comparing men to women again revealed that boredom did not significantly affect the experience of barriers related to the design of the MOOC, yet did significantly affect the experience of the other barriers. No, significant differences were found between males and females. These findings may serve as input for supporting learners in achieving their individual learning goals

A Right Atrial Hemangioma Mimicking Thrombus In A Patient With Atrial Arrhythmias

Cardiac hemangiomas are rare tumors, accounting for only 2.8% of all benign primary cardiac tumors and occur at any age. Clinical presentations vary depending on the tumor location (myocardial, endocardial or pericardial). In many cases, this may be an incidental finding. We report the case of a patient with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation who had a right atrial hemangioma detected with transesophageal echocardiography prior to having percutaneous pulmonary vein isolation performe

Biomarkers and Noncalcified Coronary Artery Plaque Progression in Older Men Treated With Testosterone.

ObjectiveRecent results from the Cardiovascular Trial of the Testosterone Trials showed that testosterone treatment of older men with low testosterone was associated with greater progression of noncalcified plaque (NCP). We evaluated the effect of anthropometric measures and cardiovascular biomarkers on plaque progression in individuals in the Testosterone Trial.MethodsThe Cardiovascular part of the trial included 170 men aged 65 years or older with low testosterone. Participants received testosterone gel or placebo gel for 12 months. The primary outcome was change in NCP volume from baseline to 12 months, as determined by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA). We assayed several markers of cardiovascular risk and analyzed each marker individually in a model as predictive variables and change in NCP as the dependent variable.ResultsOf 170 enrollees, 138 (73 testosterone, 65 placebo) completed the study and were available for the primary analysis. Of 10 markers evaluated, none showed a significant association with the change in NCP volume, but a significant interaction between treatment assignment and waist-hip ratio (WHR) (P = 0.0014) indicated that this variable impacted the testosterone effect on NCP volume. The statistical model indicated that for every 0.1 change in the WHR, the testosterone-induced 12-month change in NCP volume increased by 26.96 mm3 (95% confidence interval, 7.72-46.20).ConclusionAmong older men with low testosterone treated for 1 year, greater WHR was associated with greater NCP progression, as measured by CCTA. Other biomarkers and anthropometric measures did not show statistically significant association with plaque progression

Construction statistics review for Kenya

Construction is a strategic industry in the developing economies like Kenya. In order for construction to ably perform this role, there is need to provide information on its various economic aspects including raw materials, products, processes, finance, and labour. Construction statistics of Kenya have been evaluated in order to ascertain their adequacy in terms of scope, portrait, reliability and responsiveness in their coverage of the construction industry. Official statistics published in the annual Statistical Abstract were reviewed according to these adequacy criteria. The findings are that: the scope of construction statistics is narrowly defined making the statistical portrait of the sector to be incomplete; the statistics are also unreliable in terms of quality and unresponsive to economical challenges of inflation, structural adjustment policies and the decline of public sector's role in the construction industry. A participatory statistical governance framework is recommended in order to improve the scope of statistics and alleviate the attendant problems like incomplete portrait that come with the narrow scope

Investigation, treatment and monitoring of late-onset hypogonadism in males: ISA, ISSAM, EAU, EAA and ASA recommendations

SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Methylation at Global LINE-1 Repeats in Human Blood Are Affected by Gender but Not by Age or Natural Hormone Cycles

Previously, we reported on inter-individual and gender specific variations of LINE-1 methylation in healthy individuals. In this study, we investigated whether this variability could be influenced by age or sex hormones in humans. To this end, we studied LINE-1 methylation in vivo in blood-derived DNA from individuals aged 18 to 64 years and from young healthy females at various hormone levels during the menstrual cycle. Our results show that no significant association with age was observed. However, the previously reported increase of LINE-1 methylation in males was reconfirmed. In females, although no correlation between LINE-1 or Alu methylation and hormone levels was observed, a significant stable individual specific level of methylation was noted. In vitro results largely confirmed these findings, as neither estrogen nor dihydrotestosterone affected LINE-1 or Alu methylation in Hek293T, HUVEC, or MDA-kb2 cell lines. In contrast, a decrease in methylation was observed in estrogen-treated T47-Kbluc cell lines strongly expressing estrogen receptor. The very low expression of estrogen receptor in blood cells could explain the observed insensitivity of methylation at LINE-1 to natural hormonal variations in females. In conclusion, neither natural cycle of hormones nor age has a detectable effect on the LINE-1 methylation in peripheral blood cells, while gender remains an important factor

Michael Balint's word trail: The ‘Ocnophil’, the ‘Philobat’ and creative dyads

In this paper, I discuss how Michael Balint arrived at the concepts of ‘ocnophil’ and ‘philobat’, which refer to two kinds of object relations. I look at the correspondence between Balint and the classical scholar David Eichholz. The two crafted these words together in a passionate exchange of letters. By recognizing the importance of creative dyads in psychoanalysis, we gain more insight into the creation of psychoanalytic knowledge beyond the frame of individual authorship. I read the collaboration between Balint and Eichholz in its historical and theoretical context, particularly in relation to the Budapest School of psychoanalysis, where intellectual collaborations had an important place. The Budapest School was Michael Balint's first home, and it shaped his epistemic and psychoanalytic style. Balint constructed his psychoanalytic theories in a spirit of openness, maintaining a commitment to conversations between psychoanalysis and other disciplines