The Influence of Protocol on the Assessment of Economy of Movement

It is suggested that only data below gas exchange threshold (GET) should be used in regressions to calculate economy of movement. The purpose of this study was to compare the accuracy of the prediction from sub-GET only data (incrementalsub) and the sub & supra GET data (incrementalfull) with a fixed work rate (WR) at an intensity typical of endurance performance. Twelve physically active male participants volunteered of age 29 ± 9 years, height 1.81 ± 0.07 m and body mass 81.4 ± 10 kg. The participants completed four separate tests each on a separate day. Initially performing a maximal ramp test (20 W.min-1) to volitional exhaustion at approximately 12 min. The other three tests included an incrementalsub and incrementalfull and a fixed WR and were counterbalanced for potential order and carryover effects. All tests were carried out on an electronically braked cycle ergometer and the cadence maintained at approximately of 80 rev.min-1. The data from the maximal test was used to determine peak power, the highest V̇O² over a 15 s sequential period (V̇O²peak) and GET. The incrementalsub method consisted of five stages six min in duration with equal transitions from 50 W to 95% GET. The incrementalfull method consisted of five stages six min in duration with equal transitions from 50 W to 85% Δ. The data collection period was set at 4-6 min for these tests. The criterion fixed WR consisted of ten min duration at a WR of 75% Δ and had two data collection periods set at 4-6 and 8-10 min. The data collection period of 8-10 min was used in all further analysis; as at the 4-6 min data collection period steady state had not been attained. A linear regression was conducted on the mean oxygen uptake (V̇O²) kinetic response at each data collection stage of the five WRs in the two predictive tests and the calculation of V̇O² requirement at 75% Δ performed. These two calculated and the measured V̇O² values of economy of movement at 75% Δ were then entered into repeated measures ANOVA to identify differences in the oxygen uptake (L.min-1). The ANOVA showed a significant effect of the method on V̇O² at 75% ∆ (p < 0.001). Post hoc analysis showed that both the incrementalsub and the incrementalfull underestimated the V̇O² requirement in the fixed WR (2.90 ± 0.40 L.min-1 (p<0.001) and 3.21 ± 0.47 L.min-1 (p=0.012) vs. 3.43 ± 0.45 L.min-1). Furthermore, the incrementalsub was significantly lower than the V̇O² estimated from the incrementalfull (p=0.037). Economy of movement should not be estimated using sub-GET data points only as this significantly underestimated the measured V̇O² requirement. The use of regressions from incremental tests that use a full range of WR data will reduce this error but still underestimate the measured V̇O² requirement. The impact of incremental designs on V̇O² kinetics requires further investigation to fully understand this effect

Comparison of faecal collection methods and diet acclimation times for the measurement of digestibility coefficients in barramundi (Lates calcarifer)

This study aimed to investigate the effects of two faecal collection methods (stripping and settlement) on the apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) of dry matter, protein and energy of three different diets fed to barramundi. In a second experiment, the effect of acclimation time (i.e. number of days fed the diet) on the calculation of ADCs was also investigated. Each tank of fish was fed one of three diets for 12 days. Faeces were collected by both stripping and settlement, although only settlement was used prior to day seven of the acclimation period. Faeces were collected using the settlement method at regular intervals from day 1 to day 12. Comparisons between faecal collection methods were only made based on faecal material collected over a similar acclimation period. The collection of faeces by stripping produced more conservative ADCs, which were also more consistent than those obtained using the settlement technique. The calculated ADCs typically fluctuated for the first 3 days of collection before the variability diminished. Barramundi should be acclimated to diets for a minimum of 4 days before collection of faecal material, and collection by stripping is recommended to obtain the most reliable digestibility data

Evaluation of an Emotional Support Service for the Visually Impaired

Purpose. To evaluate the impact of a facilitated peer group emotional support service on visual quality of life (VQoL). Methods. Consecutive participants in an emotional support service delivered to groups of up to 6 and facilitated by trained counsellors were recruited (n=29). The VCM1 instrument was administered to participants at the start of the service, at the end of the service, and 6 months after completion of the service. Results. For the group as a whole, VQoL significantly improved between the beginning of the service and the end (F(1, 23) =16.43, p=.000), but was no better than at the start six months later (F(1,23)=3.60, p=.07). However, those with poorer initial VQoL showed significantly greater improvements after six months (1.74±2.21 logits) than those with higher initial VQoL (-0.12±0.71 logits) (t(23)=2.89, p=.008). The effect size of the intervention for those with poor initial VQoL was 1.10 at the end of service, and 0.92 after six months. The items which became and remained easier were feeling lonely or isolated due to eyesight, feeling sad or low due to eyesight, and feeling worried about general safety outside the home. Conclusions. This facilitated peer group emotional support service significantly improves VQoL as assessed with the VCM1 over at least 6 months for those with poorer initial VQoL. Different interventions may be needed for those with initially good VQoL, and to improve other aspects of quality of life not influenced by the service

A renal colic fast track pathway to improve waiting times and outcomes for patients presenting to the emergency department

Introduction: Renal colic is commonly encountered in the emergency department (ED). We validated a fast track renal colic (FTRC) initiative to decrease patient waiting times and streamline patient flow. Method: The FTRC pathway was devised according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence clinical summary criteria for the management of patients with suspected renal colic. ED triage nurses use the pathway to identify patients with likely renal colic suitable for fast track to analgesia, investigation and management. Investigations, diagnosis and patient demographics were recorded for 1157 consecutive patients coded as renal colic at a single-center ED over 12 months. Results: Three hundred and two patients were suitable for the FTRC pathway (26.1%), while 855 were seen by the ED clinicians prior to onward referral. Also, 83.9% of patients underwent computed tomography scan. In the FTRC group, 57.3% of patients had radiologically confirmed calculi versus 53.8% in the non-FTRC group (p=0.31). Alternative diagnoses among FTRC patients (2.6%) included ovarian pathology (n=1), diverticulitis (n=2) and incidental renal cell carcinoma (n=2), while 26.1% had no identifiable pathology. No immediately life-threatening diagnoses were identified on imaging. Computed tomography scans performed in the non-FTRC group identified two ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms and alternative diagnoses (2.57%) including ovarian pathology (n=7), cholecystitis (n=2), incidental renal cell carcinoma (n=3) and inflammatory bowel disease (n=1); 31.2% identified no pathology. Time in ED and time to radiologist-reported imaging were lower for the FTRC group versus non-FTRC group (p<0.0001). Conclusion: The FTRC pathway is a safe and efficacious method of reducing diagnostic delay and improving patient flow in the ED

Rehabilitation needs and activity limitations of adults with a visual impairment entering a low vision rehabilitation service in England

Purpose- To evaluate outcome measures of the Participation and Activity Inventory (PAI) in a sample of adults with acquired visual impairment entering vision rehabilitation. Both Priority Scores, indicating level of rehabilitative need, and Person Measures, indicating goal difficulty, were considered. Methods- Participants were newly registered adults with visual impairment within Leicestershire, United Kingdom. The importance and difficulty of 48 goals of the PAI were assessed, as were demographic factors, clinical visual function (visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, reading function) and psychosocial function (adjustment to visual loss, depression, anxiety and fear of falling). Priority scores were calculated as the product of importance and difficulty of each goal. All questionnaires were Rasch analysed, and person and item measures of perceived difficulty with goals were derived. Results- Sixty people (mean age ± S.D. = 75.8 ± 13.8 years) took part. PAI goals with greatest rehabilitative need were reading (6.82 ± 2.91), mobility outdoors (6.55 ± 3.92), mobility indoors within an unfamiliar environment (5.52 ± 3.93) and writing (5.27 ± 3.02). Greater rehabilitative need was associated with younger age (β = −0.46, p < 0.001), and with higher depressive symptomatology (β = 0.35, p < 0.01; model R2 34%). Goals with greatest difficulty were mending clothing (−1.95 ± 0.35 logits) and hobbies and crafts (−1.32 ± 0.23 logits). Greater difficulty was associated with higher depressive symptomatology (β = 0.39, p < 0.001), lower visual acuity (β = 0.42, p < 0.001) and lower adjustment of visual loss (β = 0.31, p < 0.01; model R2 53%). Conclusions- Key rehabilitation needs for adults at entry to services require both optical and non-optical interventions. As rehabilitative need was not associated with the level of visual impairment, eyecare professionals should not wait until the end of medical treatment before referral for support. Similarly, rehabilitative need was associated with younger age, indicating the importance to refer younger people with sight loss at an early stage. The use of structured assessment, such as the PAI, ensures goals that have an impact upon quality of life are specifically identified. Depression screening on entry to rehabilitation is relevant as it predicts both perceived difficulty and rehabilitative need

High-resolution temporal profiling of transcripts during Arabidopsis leaf senescence reveals a distinct chronology of processes and regulation

Leaf senescence is an essential developmental process that impacts dramatically on crop yields and involves altered regulation of thousands of genes and many metabolic and signaling pathways, resulting in major changes in the leaf. The regulation of senescence is complex, and although senescence regulatory genes have been characterized, there is little information on how these function in the global control of the process. We used microarray analysis to obtain a highresolution time-course profile of gene expression during development of a single leaf over a 3-week period to senescence. A complex experimental design approach and a combination of methods were used to extract high-quality replicated data and to identify differentially expressed genes. The multiple time points enable the use of highly informative clustering to reveal distinct time points at which signaling and metabolic pathways change. Analysis of motif enrichment, as well as comparison of transcription factor (TF) families showing altered expression over the time course, identify clear groups of TFs active at different stages of leaf development and senescence. These data enable connection of metabolic processes, signaling pathways, and specific TF activity, which will underpin the development of network models to elucidate the process of senescence

Functional visual fields: relationship of visual field areas to self-reported function

Purpose: The aim of this study is to relate areas of the visual field to functional difficulties to inform the development of a binocular visual field assessment that can reflect the functional consequences of visual field loss. Methods: Fifty-two participants with peripheral visual field loss undertook binocular assessment of visual fields using the 30-2 and 60-4 SITA Fast programs on the Humphrey Field Analyser, and mean thresholds were derived. Binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity and near reading performance were also determined. Self-reported overall and mobility function were assessed using the Dutch ICF Activity Inventory. Results: Greater visual field loss (0–60°) was associated with worse self-reported function both overall (R2 = 0.50; p < 0.0001), and for mobility (R2 = 0.64; p < 0.0001). Central (0–30°) and peripheral (30–60°) visual field areas were similarly related to mobility function (R2 = 0.61, p < 0.0001 and R2 = 0.63, p < 0.0001 respectively), although the peripheral (30–60°) visual field was the best predictor of mobility self-reported function in multiple regression analyses. Superior and inferior visual field areas related similarly to mobility function (R2 = 0.56, p < 0.0001 and R2 = 0.67, p < 0.0001 respectively). The inferior field was found to be the best predictor of mobility function in multiple regression analysis. Conclusion: Mean threshold of the binocular visual field to 60° eccentricity is a good predictor of self-reported function overall, and particularly of mobility function. Both the central (0–30°) and peripheral (30–60°) mean threshold are good predictors of self-reported function, but the peripheral (30–0°) field is a slightly better predictor of mobility function, and should not be ignored when considering functional consequences of field loss. The inferior visual field is a slightly stronger predictor of perceived overall and mobility function than the superior field

Visual and health outcomes, measured with the activity inventory and the EQ‐5D, in visual impairment

Purpose: Generic instruments to assess health utilities can be used to express the burden of health problems in widely used indexes. That is in contrast with what can be obtained with condition-specific instruments, outcomes are very specific and difficult to compare across conditions. The purpose of this study was to assess health and visual outcomes and its determinants in patients with visual impairment (VI) using the EQ-5D-3L and the Activity Inventory (AI). Methods: Participants were recruited in different hospitals during the PCVIPstudy. A total of 134 patients with acuity 0.30 logMAR or less in the better eye were interviewed. The AI includes 46 goals split between three objectives: social functioning, recreation and daily living, and was used to measure visual ability. The EQ-5D consists of five questions covering one domain each and was used to provide a measure of health states. Responses to each domain were combined to produce a single individual index. Results: The AI and the EQ-5D-3L showed enough discriminatory power between VI levels (p < 0.001), and their results were strongly correlated r(134) = 0.825, (p < 0.001). Explanatory factors for visual ability were level of VI in better eye, age and gender, R2 = 0.43, (p < 0.001). Explanatory factors for the EQ-5D-3L were level of VI in the better eye, comorbidities and gender, R2 = 0.36, (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our results showed that the EQ-5D-3L is useful when characterizing the burden of VI and to compute, when necessary, quality-adjusted-lifeyears (QALY) changes due to VI. However, it is important to consider that the EQ-5D-3L uses a coarse response scale, assesses a limited spectrum of domains and is influenced by comorbidities. This might limit its responsiveness to small changes in visual ability.In this study, we investigated factors affecting visual and health outcomes measured by EQ-5D and the Activity Inventory in patients with visual impairment. This study was supported by FCT (COM-PETE/QREN) grant reference PTDC/DPT-EPI/0412/2012 in the context of the Prevalence and Costs of Visual Impairment in Portugal: PCVIP-study. Authors report on behalf of the Portuguese visual impairment study group (PORVIS-group): Amandio Rocha-Sousa, MD, PhD, Ophthalmologist; Marta Silva, MD, ophthalmology resident; Sara Perestrelo, MD, ophthalmology resident; Joao Tavares-Ferreira, MD, Ophthalmologist; Ana Marta Oliveira, research coordinator; Department of Organs of Senses, Faculty of Medicine University of Porto and/or Department of Ophthalmology, Centro Hospitalar de Sao Joao and/or Unidade de Investigacao do CHSJ - Centro de Epidemiologia Hospitalar. Cristina Freitas, MD Ophthalmologist; Keissy Sousa, MD Ophthalmologist; Ricardo Leite, MD, ophthalmology resident; Jose Ferreira Mendes, MD, ophthalmology resident; Andreia Braga Soares, MD, ophthalmology resident; Rui Carneiro Freitas, MD, ophthalmology resident; Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital de Braga. Pedro Reimao, MD, Ophthalmologist; Marco Vieira, MD, Ophthalmologist; Joel Monteiro, MD, cardiology resident; Department of Ophthalmology, Centro Hospitalar de Alto Ave, Guimaraes. Natacha Moreno, MD, Ophthalmologist; Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Sta Maria Maior, Barcelos. Gary Rubin, PhD (project adviser); UCL-Institute of Ophthalmology, London, UK. We would like to acknowledge Hospital de Braga/Ophthalmology Department and Clinical and Academic Centre and Centro Hospitalar do Alto Ave for their help at selecting and recruiting participants for this study and an anonymous reviewer for providing advice about the manuscript. Part of this work has been presented in ARVO2015 annual meeting, Denver, Colorado, and also accepted for presentation in the Public Health Conference, Milan, October 2015.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The First Illumina-Based De Novo Transcriptome Sequencing and Analysis of Safflower Flowers

BACKGROUND: The safflower, Carthamus tinctorius L., is a worldwide oil crop, and its flowers, which have a high flavonoid content, are an important medicinal resource against cardiovascular disease in traditional medicine. Because the safflower has a large and complex genome, the development of its genomic resources has been delayed. Second-generation Illumina sequencing is now an efficient route for generating an enormous volume of sequences that can represent a large number of genes and their expression levels. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To investigate the genes and pathways that might control flavonoids and other secondary metabolites in the safflower, we used Illumina sequencing to perform a de novo assembly of the safflower tubular flower tissue transcriptome. We obtained a total of 4.69 Gb in clean nucleotides comprising 52,119,104 clean sequencing reads, 195,320 contigs, and 120,778 unigenes. Based on similarity searches with known proteins, we annotated 70,342 of the unigenes (about 58% of the identified unigenes) with cut-off E-values of 10(-5). In total, 21,943 of the safflower unigenes were found to have COG classifications, and BLAST2GO assigned 26,332 of the unigenes to 1,754 GO term annotations. In addition, we assigned 30,203 of the unigenes to 121 KEGG pathways. When we focused on genes identified as contributing to flavonoid biosynthesis and the biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, which are important pathways that control flower and seed quality, respectively, we found that these genes were fairly well conserved in the safflower genome compared to those of other plants. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study provides abundant genomic data for Carthamus tinctorius L. and offers comprehensive sequence resources for studying the safflower. We believe that these transcriptome datasets will serve as an important public information platform to accelerate studies of the safflower genome, and may help us define the mechanisms of flower tissue-specific and secondary metabolism in this non-model plant