TRANSVERSE PLANE HEAD-TRUNK COORDINATION DURING ANTICIPATED AND UNANTICIPATED SIDESTEPPING TASKS

The purpose of this study was to examine head control during anticipated and unanticipated sidestepping tasks. Twelve collegiate male soccer players performed seven anticipated and seven unanticipated sidestepping tasks. Head and trunk orientation and coordination were assessed during the preparatory and stance phases of the change of direction stride. The head and trunk were less oriented toward the new travel direction with reduced planning time. During the change of direction stride, participants aligned the head with the new travel direction but the trunk lagged behind to a greater extent during the preparatory phase when planning time was reduced. No differences in head and trunk coordination patterns were reported during the stance phase. These different head and trunk orientation and coordination patterns may impact perceptual awareness and potential for injury

COORDINATION VARIABILITY IN OVERGROUND RUNNING AND WALKING AT PREFERRED AND FIXED SPEEDS

Coordination variability (CoordV) is impacted by the type and speed of locomotion, however, the appropriate number of trials required for stable outputs during overground locomotion is yet to be determined. The purpose of this study was to analyse the CoordV of lower limb segment and joint couplings to determine the number of trials needed for a stable mean during running and walking at preferred and fixed speeds. Three-dimensional lower-limb kinematics were captured for recreational runners (n = 10) performing 20 trials of each condition. Using a modified vector coding technique, segment and joint couplings were derived, from which, CoordV was calculated using circular statistics. The number of trials required to achieve a mean within 100±10% of a 20 stride mean was determined for each individual. The study findings indicate the need for between 8 and 9 trials to produce a stable mean and contribute to reliable biomechanical outputs

WHOLE-BODY CONTROL STRATEGIES DURING ANTICIPATED AND UNANTICIPATED SIDESTEP MANOEUVRES PERFORMED BY FEMALES AND MALES

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of sex and planning time on spatial and temporal-level whole-body centre of mass (CoM) mechanics during the performance of the sidestep manoeuvre. Nine female and nine male collegiate team sport athletes completed seven anticipated and seven unanticipated sidestepping trials, during which three-dimensional CoM data were recorded. In addition to having a lower vertical CoM position during the preparatory phase (p \u3c 0.05), female athletes were found to have lower anterior-posterior velocity, but greater vertical velocity during the stance phase in comparison with their male counterparts (p \u3c 0.05). The findings provide evidence that female and male athletes utilise different whole-body dynamic control strategies to perform both anticipated and unanticipated sidestep manoeuvres

The HIV care continuum among resident and non-resident populations found in venues in East Africa cross-border areas

Introduction: HIV care and treatment in cross-border areas in East Africa face challenges perhaps not seen to the same extent in other geographic areas, particularly for mobile and migrant populations. Here, we estimate the proportion of people with HIV found in these cross-border areas in each stage of the HIV care and treatment cascade, including the proportion who knows their status, the proportion on treatment and the proportion virally suppressed. Methods: Participants (n = 11,410) working or socializing in public places in selected East Africa cross border areas were recruited between June 2016 and February 2017 using the Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts method and administered a behavioural survey and rapid HIV test. This approach was designed to recruit a stratified random sample of people found in public spaces or venues in each cross border area. For participants testing positive for HIV, viral load was measured from dried blood spots. The proportion in each step of the cascade was estimated using inverse probability weights to account for the sampling design and informative HIV test refusals. Estimates are reported separately for residents of the cross border areas and non-residents found in those areas. Results: Overall, 43% of participants with HIV found in cross-border areas knew their status, 87% of those participants were on antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 80% of participants on ART were virally suppressed. About 20% of people with HIV found in cross border areas were sampled outside their subdistrict or subcounty of residence. While both resident and non-resident individuals who knew their status were likely to be on ART (85% and 96% respectively), people on ART recruited outside their area of residence were less likely to be suppressed (64% suppressed; 95% CI: 43, 81) compared to residents (84% suppressed; 95% CI: 75, 93). Conclusions: People living in or travelling through cross-border areas may face barriers in learning their HIV status. Moreover, while non-residents were more likely to be on treatment than residents, they were less likely to be suppressed, suggesting gaps in continuity of care for people in East Africa travelling outside their area of residence despite timely initiation of treatment

Serum magnesium and calcium levels in relation to ischemic stroke : Mendelian randomization study

ObjectiveTo determine whether serum magnesium and calcium concentrations are causally associated with ischemic stroke or any of its subtypes using the mendelian randomization approach.MethodsAnalyses were conducted using summary statistics data for 13 single-nucleotide polymorphisms robustly associated with serum magnesium (n = 6) or serum calcium (n = 7) concentrations. The corresponding data for ischemic stroke were obtained from the MEGASTROKE consortium (34,217 cases and 404,630 noncases).ResultsIn standard mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratios for each 0.1 mmol/L (about 1 SD) increase in genetically predicted serum magnesium concentrations were 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69-0.89; p = 1.3 7 10-4) for all ischemic stroke, 0.63 (95% CI 0.50-0.80; p = 1.6 7 10-4) for cardioembolic stroke, and 0.60 (95% CI 0.44-0.82; p = 0.001) for large artery stroke; there was no association with small vessel stroke (odds ratio 0.90, 95% CI 0.67-1.20; p = 0.46). Only the association with cardioembolic stroke was robust in sensitivity analyses. There was no association of genetically predicted serum calcium concentrations with all ischemic stroke (per 0.5 mg/dL [about 1 SD] increase in serum calcium: odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.88-1.21) or with any subtype.ConclusionsThis study found that genetically higher serum magnesium concentrations are associated with a reduced risk of cardioembolic stroke but found no significant association of genetically higher serum calcium concentrations with any ischemic stroke subtype

Hypoxic Pulmonary Vasoconstriction in Humans:Tale or Myth

Hypoxic Pulmonary vasoconstriction (HPV) describes the physiological adaptive process of lungs to preserves systemic oxygenation. It has clinical implications in the development of pulmonary hypertension which impacts on outcomes of patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery. This review examines both acute and chronic hypoxic vasoconstriction focusing on the distinct clinical implications and highlights the role of calcium and mitochondria in acute versus the role of reactive oxygen species and Rho GTPases in chronic HPV. Furthermore it identifies gaps of knowledge and need for further research in humans to clearly define this phenomenon and the underlying mechanism

Genetic insights into resting heart rate and its role in cardiovascular disease.

Resting heart rate is associated with cardiovascular diseases and mortality in observational and Mendelian randomization studies. The aims of this study are to extend the number of resting heart rate associated genetic variants and to obtain further insights in resting heart rate biology and its clinical consequences. A genome-wide meta-analysis of 100 studies in up to 835,465 individuals reveals 493 independent genetic variants in 352 loci, including 68 genetic variants outside previously identified resting heart rate associated loci. We prioritize 670 genes and in silico annotations point to their enrichment in cardiomyocytes and provide insights in their ECG signature. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that higher genetically predicted resting heart rate increases risk of dilated cardiomyopathy, but decreases risk of developing atrial fibrillation, ischemic stroke, and cardio-embolic stroke. We do not find evidence for a linear or non-linear genetic association between resting heart rate and all-cause mortality in contrast to our previous Mendelian randomization study. Systematic alteration of key differences between the current and previous Mendelian randomization study indicates that the most likely cause of the discrepancy between these studies arises from false positive findings in previous one-sample MR analyses caused by weak-instrument bias at lower P-value thresholds. The results extend our understanding of resting heart rate biology and give additional insights in its role in cardiovascular disease development