Brief, Aerobic-surge Exercises for Effective Weight Loss: a Randomized, Controlled Trial

Background: Obesity is a growing disease and a consistently effective protocol is needed to reduce this epidemic. The purpose of this study was to determine if a frequent, brief (2-minute) high intensity aerobic exercise (≥75% max HR) was effective in reducing subjects’ weight (BMI) and girth sizes. Methods: A randomized, controlled trial lasting 60 days was conducted at three sites and forty-six subjects completed this study (mean age 39 ± 8 and BMI 32 ±2). The Experimental group was shown how to make movements such as riding a stationary bicycle or lifting dumbbells into an ‘Aerobic-surge’ exercise at or above 75% of calculated maximum heart rate. Control subjects were simply told to “exercise more.” No dietary changes were made for either group. The dependent variables were changes in weight and ‘body summation’ of 10 girth measurements. A 2x2 ANOVA was used to calculate differences. A post-hoc analysis of changes in BMI was also calculated. Results: There was a significant difference between groups (P<0.0001). The mean change of the groups were as follows: Experimental (N=23) mean reductions = -18.lbs and -18.7” vs. Control (N=23) mean changes = +1.3.lbs and +1.3.” Conclusion: The repeated, brief (2-minute) aerobic-surge exercise protocol, performed 4.2 times/day was effective in reducing subjects’ weight and body circumferences. Isolated tests of body composition showed that change were primarily in body fat. This could be a tool in reducing the obesity epidemic. The Aerobic-surge exercise was effective without a dietary changes. Retrospectively Registered Trial: ISRCTN 17326333

KIC 8462852 - The Infrared Flux

We analyzed the warm Spitzer/IRAC data of KIC 8462852. We found no evidence of infrared excess at 3.6 micron and a small excess of 0.43 +/- 0.18 mJy at 4.5 micron, below the 3 sigma threshold necessary to claim a detection. The lack of strong infrared excess 2 years after the events responsible for the unusual light curve observed by Kepler, further disfavors the scenarios involving a catastrophic collision in a KIC 8462852 asteroid belt, a giant impact disrupting a planet in the system or a population of a dust-enshrouded planetesimals. The scenario invoking the fragmentation of a family of comets on a highly elliptical orbit is instead consistent with the lack of strong infrared excess found by our analysis.Comment: Published on The Astrophysical Journal Letter

The Influence of Psychotherapy and Depression on Platelet Imipramine and Paroxetine Binding

[3H]-Paroxetine and [3H]-imipramine are known to label with high affinity, a site which is associated with the serotonergic transporter in brain and platelets. [3H]-imipramine binding to platelet membranes appears to be a biological marker in depression, the Bmax of platelet imipramine binding being significantly decreased in untreated depressed patients by comparison with healthy volunteers. Psychotherapy is claimed to produce significant improvement in depressed subjects without the use of drugs. This study aimed to determine whether differences were apparent in binding values for [3H]-paroxetine and [3H]-imipramine binding in subjects suffering from mild depression compared to controls, and how these values changed as the subjects went through a period of psychotherapy. In addition, psychiatric state was assessed using the BDI, the MAACL and the GHQ-28. Binding levels were then correlated with the scores obtained from the self-administered questionnaires to determine the relationship between binding and psychological state. Similar data were also collected from a group of nurses, who it was predicted would be suffering from a higher level of depression than the general population and would remain untreated. The results from the psychotherapy group indicated that clients entering the study were significantly more depressed than controls (BDI P3H]-paroxetine binding to platelets did not appear to be affected by psychological state, at least in these patients. In the group of nurses, both binding measurements were significantly lower than controls at most time points throughout the study (P<0.05) indicating lower affect. However psychological questionnaires indicated less distress in the nurses group than the control group (particularly BDI and GHQ-28). This is discussed in terms of possible coping strategies employed by nurses. It was not possible to correlate the questionnaire scores with the results from the binding assays for clients, controls or nurses. There was no significant evidence of sex differences, either in binding parameters or questionnaire scores, and no evidence of seasonality of the binding levels. Proposals for future work are suggested

A care pathway approach to identifying factors that impact on diagnosis of heart disease in British Pakistani women

Purpose – The authors examined the cardiac care pathway with the aim of identifying factors that impact on diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease in British Pakistani women. Design/methodology/approach – This is an exploratory qualitative study. In depth interviews and focus groups with an opportunistic sample of Pakistani women and a purposive sample of clinicians working at different points along the care pathway were conducted. The authors used a pathways to care approach to illustrate how their individual and cumulative effect may contribute to differential receipt of treatment, including revascularisation, and health inequalities. Findings – Four major issues were identified: complex life circumstances; ‘‘atypical’’ presentation and ymptomatology; problems related to investigative testing; and poor communication. Mapping these barriers onto the Pathways to Care Model provided valuable insight into their impact on patients’progression through the different stages of the care pathway. Research limitations/implications – Adopting a care pathway approach demonstrated how individual factors have an impact at several points along the care pathway. It indicated where further, more detailed enquiry is merited and where intervention studies might usefully be directed to improve care. Practical implications – Examining the whole care pathway identified areas of service improvement that merit a co-ordinated response. Originality/value – The framework provided by the Pathways to Care Model offered insight into the causes of the previously observed attenuation in women’s progress along the cardiac diagnosis and treatment pathway and is an important first step to addressing this health inequality in a holistic way. Keywords Health, Gender, Inequalities, Women, Ethnicity, United Kingdom, Ethnic minorities, Personal health Paper type Research paper </p

Extending the Affective Technology Acceptance Model to Human-Robot Interactions: A Multi-Method Perspective

The current study sought to extend the Affective Technology Acceptance (ATA) model to human-robot interactions. We tested the direct relationship between affect and technology acceptance of a security robot. Affect was measured using a multi-method approach, which included a self-report survey, as well as sentiment analysis, and response length of written responses. Results revealed that participants who experienced positive affect were more likely to accept technology. However, the significance and direction of the relationship between negative affect and technology acceptance was measurement dependent. Additionally, positive and negative sentiment words accounted for unique variance in technology acceptance, after controlling for self-reported affect. This study demonstrates that affect is an important contributing factor in human-robot interaction research, and using a multi-method approach allows for a richer, more complete understanding of how human feelings influence robot acceptance

Chronic hepatitis C and HIV treatment outcomes among women who initiate antiretroviral therapy

One in four persons living with HIV is coinfected with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV). Biological interaction between HIV and HCV, and behaviors such as decreased antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and drug use, may negatively impact HIV treatment outcomes among persons with HIV/HCV-coinfection. Yet, previous research assessing the effect of HCV on HIV treatment outcomes produced inconsistent results. Evidence regarding the effect of HCV on HIV treatment outcomes is also lacking among women. Therefore, we estimated the effect of chronic HCV on HIV suppression and the effects of chronic HCV and depression on AIDS diagnosis or death among women who initiated ART while enrolled in the Women’s Interagency HIV Study (WIHS). We estimated the effect of chronic HCV on HIV suppression by comparing the proportion of study visits with detectable HIV RNA between women with and without chronic HCV. Among 441 women who initiated ART in 2000 or after, 114 (26%) had chronic HCV. Overall, the risk of having a visit with detectable HIV RNA was similar among women with and without chronic HCV (risk ratio (RR) 1.19; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.72, 1.95)). However, six months after ART initiation, the proportion of visits with detectable HIV RNA among women with chronic HCV was 1.88 (95% CI 1.41, 2.51) times that among women without chronic HCV, at two years the ratio was 1.60 (95% CI 1.17, 2.19), and by six years there was no difference (RR 1.03; 95% CI 0.60, 1.79). When assessing the effects of chronic HCV and depression on AIDS diagnosis or death among 957 women who initiated ART between 1995 and 2015, 200 women (21%) had chronic HCV. The incidence rates of AIDS diagnosis or death were 7.12 and 3.80 per 100 person-years for women with and without chronic HCV, respectively. Compared to women without chronic HCV and depression, the hazard ratio (HR) for AIDS diagnosis or death was 2.19 (95% CI 1.56, 3.07) for HCV-uninfected women with depression, 1.65 (95% CI 0.90, 3.01) for HCV-infected women without depression, and 3.02 (95% CI 1.49, 6.15) for HCV-infected women with depression.Doctor of Philosoph