Differences in Neuromuscular Adaptations After Two Weeks of Conventional vs Blood Flow Restriction Resistance Training

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to determine the neuromuscular changes in the rectus femoris (RF) muscle as measured by electromyography (EMG) following short-term resistance training with and without blood flow restriction (BFR). METHODS: 12 males (age = 27.4 ± 6.3 years; height = 171 ± 7 cm; weight = 79.8 ± 13.2 kg) performed six sessions of lower body unilateral resistance training using a leg extension machine. The leg on which BFR was applied was determined through randomization leg dominance Each training session consisted of unilateral knee extensions with and without blood flow restriction. Electromyography data was recorded for each participant during two isometric maximum voluntary contractions (MVC) and two isokinetic knee extension tests (180°/s and 60°/s) using a Biodex System 4 Pro™. EMG was recorded from the RF during these tests. Resistance training consisted of six non-consecutive sessions of knee extension exercises performed in a time frame of two weeks. For the BFR group, subjects trained for a total of four sets (30, 15, 15, 15) at an intensity of 20% 1RM. The contralateral limb was trained with two sets of 11 repetitions at an intensity of 70% 1RM without BFR. The volume of exercises was similar for both conditions. RESULTS: No condition*time interactions or condition and time main effects were observed for root mean square (RMS), mean RMS, yMax, and median frequency (MDF) in both MVC and isokinetic 180°/s and 60°/s (p\u3e0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Both training conditions resulted in insignificant changes and there was no significant difference found between time points. It could be concluded that this was not enough time or stimulus to note major differences across modalities in relation to neuromuscular adaptations of the RF as measured by EMG. Further studies should investigate the effects of higher volume load on neuromuscular adaptations

Towards quantum 3d imaging devices

We review the advancement of the research toward the design and implementation of quantum plenoptic cameras, radically novel 3D imaging devices that exploit both momentum–position entanglement and photon–number correlations to provide the typical refocusing and ultra-fast, scanning-free, 3D imaging capability of plenoptic devices, along with dramatically enhanced performances, unattainable in standard plenoptic cameras: diffraction-limited resolution, large depth of focus, and ultra-low noise. To further increase the volumetric resolution beyond the Rayleigh diffraction limit, and achieve the quantum limit, we are also developing dedicated protocols based on quantum Fisher information. However, for the quantum advantages of the proposed devices to be effective and appealing to end-users, two main challenges need to be tackled. First, due to the large number of frames required for correlation measurements to provide an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio, quantum plenoptic imaging (QPI) would require, if implemented with commercially available high-resolution cameras, acquisition times ranging from tens of seconds to a few minutes. Second, the elaboration of this large amount of data, in order to retrieve 3D images or refocusing 2D images, requires high-performance and time-consuming computation. To address these challenges, we are developing high-resolution single-photon avalanche photodiode (SPAD) arrays and high-performance low-level programming of ultra-fast electronics, combined with compressive sensing and quantum tomography algorithms, with the aim to reduce both the acquisition and the elaboration time by two orders of magnitude. Routes toward exploitation of the QPI devices will also be discussed

Survey of childhood empyema in Asia: Implications for detecting the unmeasured burden of culture-negative bacterial disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Parapneumonic empyema continues to be a disease of significant morbidity and mortality among children despite recent advances in medical management. To date, only a limited number of studies have assessed the burden of empyema in Asia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We surveyed medical records of four representative large pediatric hospitals in China, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam using <it>ICD</it>-10 diagnostic codes to identify children <16 years of age hospitalized with empyema or pleural effusion from 1995 to 2005. We also accessed microbiology records of cultured empyema and pleural effusion specimens to describe the trends in the epidemiology and microbiology of empyema.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the study period, we identified 1,379 children diagnosed with empyema or pleural effusion (China, n = 461; Korea, n = 134; Taiwan, n = 119; Vietnam, n = 665). Diagnoses of pleural effusion (n = 1,074) were 3.5 times more common than of empyema (n = 305), although the relative proportions of empyema and pleural effusion noted in hospital records varied widely between the four sites, most likely because of marked differences in coding practices. Although pleural effusions were reported more often than empyema, children with empyema were more likely to have a cultured pathogen. In addition, we found that median age and gender distribution of children with these conditions were similar across the four countries. Among 1,379 empyema and pleural effusion specimens, 401 (29%) were culture positive. <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(n = 126) was the most common organism isolated, followed by <it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>(n = 83), <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa </it>(n = 37) and <it>Klebsiella </it>(n = 35) and <it>Acinetobacter </it>species (n = 34).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The age and gender distribution of empyema and pleural effusion in children in these countries are similar to the US and Western Europe. <it>S. pneumoniae </it>was the second leading bacterial cause of empyema and pleural effusion among Asian children. The high proportion of culture-negative specimens among patients with pleural effusion or empyema suggests that culture may not be a sufficiently sensitive diagnostic method to determine etiology in the majority of cases. Future prospective studies in different countries would benefit from standardized case definitions and coding practices for empyema. In addition, more sensitive diagnostic methods would improve detection of pathogens and could result in better prevention, treatment and outcomes of this severe disease.</p