Cardiac performance, biomarkers and gene expression studies in previously sedentary men participating in half-marathon training

BACKGROUND: The mechanisms through which exercise reduces cardiovascular disease are not fully understood. We used echocardiograms, cardiac biomarkers and gene expression to investigate cardiovascular effects associated with exercise training. METHODS: Nineteen sedentary men (22-37 years) completed a 17-week half-marathon training program. Serial measurements of resting heart rate, blood pressure, maximum oxygen consumption, lipids, C-reactive protein, cardiac troponin T, echocardiograms and blood for gene expression were obtained from baseline to peak training. Controls included 22 sedentary men who did not exercise. RESULTS: Among the training group, VO2 max increased from 37.1 to 42.0 ml/kg/min (p \u3c 0.001). Significant changes were seen in left ventricular wall thickness and mass, stroke volume, resting heart rate and blood pressure (p \u3c 0.001). The control group demonstrated no significant changes. Expression profiling in the training group identified 10 significantly over-expressed and 53 significantly under-expressed loci involved in inflammatory pathways. Dividing the training group into high and low responders based on percent change in VO2 max identified loci that differentiated these two groups at baseline and after training. CONCLUSION: Intensive exercise training leads to significant increase in cardiac and hemodynamic performance, and significant changes in expression of genes involved in immune and inflammatory response.

Patterns and universals of mate poaching across 53 nations : the effects of sex, culture, and personality on romantically attracting another person’s partner

As part of the International Sexuality Description Project, 16,954 participants from 53 nations were administered an anonymous survey about experiences with romantic attraction. Mate poaching--romantically attracting someone who is already in a relationship--was most common in Southern Europe, South America, Western Europe, and Eastern Europe and was relatively infrequent in Africa, South/Southeast Asia, and East Asia. Evolutionary and social-role hypotheses received empirical support. Men were more likely than women to report having made and succumbed to short-term poaching across all regions, but differences between men and women were often smaller in more gender-egalitarian regions. People who try to steal another's mate possess similar personality traits across all regions, as do those who frequently receive and succumb to the poaching attempts by others. The authors conclude that human mate-poaching experiences are universally linked to sex, culture, and the robust influence of personal dispositions.peer-reviewe

Are men universally more dismissing than women? Gender differences in romantic attachment across 62 cultural regions

The authors thank Susan Sprecher (USA), Del Paulhus (Canada), Glenn D. Wilson (England), Qazi Rahman (England), Alois Angleitner (Germany), Angelika Hofhansl (Austria), Tamio Imagawa (Japan), Minoru Wada (Japan), Junichi Taniguchi (Japan), and Yuji Kanemasa (Japan) for helping with data collection and contributing significantly to the samples used in this study.Gender differences in the dismissing form of adult romantic attachment were investigated as part of the International Sexuality Description Project—a survey study of 17,804 people from 62 cultural regions. Contrary to research findings previously reported in Western cultures, we found that men were not significantly more dismissing than women across all cultural regions. Gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment were evident in most cultures, but were typically only small to moderate in magnitude. Looking across cultures, the degree of gender differentiation in dismissing romantic attachment was predictably associated with sociocultural indicators. Generally, these associations supported evolutionary theories of romantic attachment, with smaller gender differences evident in cultures with high–stress and high–fertility reproductive environments. Social role theories of human sexuality received less support in that more progressive sex–role ideologies and national gender equity indexes were not cross–culturally linked as expected to smaller gender differences in dismissing romantic attachment.peer-reviewe

Emerging Applications of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine to Sports Injuries

BACKGROUND: The treatment of sports-related musculoskeletal injuries with stem cells has become more publicized because of recent reports of high-profile athletes undergoing stem cell procedures. There has been increased interest in defining the parameters of safety and efficacy and the indications for potential use of stem cells in clinical practice. PURPOSE: To review the role of regenerative medicine in the treatment of sports-related injuries. STUDY DESIGN: Review. METHOD: Relevant studies were identified through a PubMed search combining the terms stem cells and cartilage, ligament, tendon, muscle, and bone from January 2000 to August 2013. Studies and works cited in these studies were also reviewed. RESULTS: Treatment of sports-related injuries with stem cells shows potential for clinical efficacy from the data available from basic science and animal studies. CONCLUSION: Cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine offer safe and potentially efficacious treatment for sports-related musculoskeletal injuries. Basic science and preclinical studies that support the possibility of enhanced recovery from sports injuries using cell-based therapies are accumulating; however, more clinical evidence is necessary to define the indications and parameters for their use. Accordingly, exposing patients to cell-based therapies could confer an unacceptable risk profile with minimal or no benefit. Continued clinical testing with animal models and clinical trials is necessary to determine the relative risks and benefits as well as the indications and methodology of treatment

Professional and Amateur Pitchers’ Perspective on the Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury Risk

Background: Medial ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) injury is increasingly prevalent in professional baseball pitchers, and significant research has been devoted to understanding the risk factors and prevention strategies associated with it. To date, no study has investigated what the players themselves believe causes and prevents the injury. Purpose: To evaluate the opinions of UCL injuries among pitchers, including professional athletes. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 214 baseball pitchers (45 high school/college, 169 Major League Baseball [MLB]/Minor League Baseball) completed a 52-item questionnaire designed to evaluate their opinions on the cause of UCL injuries, injury prevention, and Tommy John surgery. Overall, 51 of the 214 pitchers had previously experienced a UCL injury. The frequency of the selection of each answer option was measured. Additionally, chi-square tests were used to compare (1) responses between professional and nonprofessional pitchers and (2) responses between pitchers with and without a previous UCL injury. Results: Only 45% of pitchers thought that UCL injuries are avoidable in MLB. Additionally, 55% of pitchers with a UCL injury had a history of elbow injuries as an adolescent/child, compared with 18% in the uninjured group ( P < .0001). Also, 72% of all surveyed pitchers agreed that fatigue over the course of a season increases the risk of UCL injuries, and the majority of pitchers agreed that inadequate rest from throwing both during the off-season (61%) and the season (59%) increases the risk of UCL injuries. Moreover, 59% of pitchers believed that a 6-man starting rotation would decrease the incidence of UCL injuries. Professional and nonprofessional pitchers significantly differed ( P = .005) in the type of pitch most prone to causing UCL injuries. Conclusion: Pitchers with a previous childhood elbow injury had a significantly higher incidence of UCL injuries during their adult career, suggesting possible predisposition to UCL injury and warranting further research. Fatigue and inadequate rest were of greatest concern among all pitchers for an increased risk of UCL injuries. Understanding and acknowledging the opinions that players have regarding UCL injuries are important to improve UCL education, prevention, and treatment

Regional Differential Genetic Response of Human Articular Cartilage to Impact Injury

OBJECTIVE: Normal physiological movement creates different weightbearing zones within a human knee: the medial condyle bearing the highest and the trochlea bearing the lowest weight. Adaptation to different physiological loading conditions results in different tissue and cellular properties within a knee. The objective of this study was to use microarray analysis to examine gene expression differences among three anatomical regions of human knee articular cartilage at baseline and following induction of an acute impact injury. DESIGN: Cartilage explants were harvested from 7 cadaveric knees (12 plugs per knee). A drop tower was utilized to introduce injury. Plugs were examined 24 hours after impact for gene expression using microarray. The primary analysis is the comparison of baseline versus impacted samples within each region separately. In addition, pairwise comparisons among the three regions were performed at baseline and after impact. False discovery rate (FDR) was used to evaluate significance of differential gene expression. RESULTS: In the comparison of before and after injury, the trochlear had 130 differentially expressed genes (FDR ≤ 0.05) while the condyles had none. In the comparison among regions, smaller sets of differentially expressed genes (n ≤ 21) were found, with trochlea being more different than the condyles. Most of more frequently expressed genes in trochlea are developmental genes. CONCLUSIONS: Within the experimental setup of this study, only the trochlea was displaying an acute genetic response on injury. Our data demonstrated the regional-specific response to injury in human articular cartilage

Elbow Arthroscopy for Treatment of Valgus Extension Overload

Valgus extension overload syndrome (VEO) is the result of supraphysiologic stresses placed across the posterior elbow during pitching. Following failure of nonoperative measures, surgical options consist of arthroscopic or limited incision posteromedial decompression. Although technically challenging, arthroscopic treatment offers many advantages over open treatment, including improved joint visualization, decreased soft-tissue dissection, decreased postoperative pain, and quicker rehabilitation. Arthroscopic treatment of VEO consists of soft tissue and bony debridement, loose body removal, and osteophyte resection. This technique report details the steps of arthroscopic treatment of VEO in a patient with a subluxating ulnar nerve