Three-month vs. one-year detraining effects after multicomponent exercise program in hypertensive older women

Background: Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in older women. Physical exercise training programs promote beneficial effects for health and quality of life. However, exercise interruption periods may be detrimental for the hemodynamic and lipidic profiles of hypertensive older women with dyslipidemia. Methods: Nineteen hypertensive older women with dyslipidemia (exercise group: 67.5 ± 5.4 years, 1.53 ± 3.42 m, 71.84 ± 7.45 kg) performed a supervised multicomponent exercise training program (METP) during nine months, followed by a one-year detraining period (DT), while fourteen hypertensive older women (control group: 66.4 ± 5.2 years, 1.56 ± 3.10 m, 69.38 ± 5.24 kg) with dyslipidemia kept their continued daily routine without exercise. For both groups, hemodynamic and lipidic profiles and functional capacities (FCs) were assessed four times: before and after the METP and after 3 and 12 months of DT (no exercise was carried out). Results: The METP improved hemodynamic and lipidic profiles (p < 0.05), while three months of DT decreased all (p < 0.05) parameters, with the exception of diastolic blood pressure (DBP). One year of DT significantly (p < 0.01) decreased systolic blood pressure (7.85%), DBP (2.29%), resting heart rate (7.95%), blood glucose (19.14%), total cholesterol (10.27%), triglycerides (6.92%) and FC—agility (4.24%), lower- (−12.75%) and upper-body strength (−12.17%), cardiorespiratory capacity (−4.81%) and lower- (−16.16%) and upper-body flexibility (−11.11%). Conclusion: Nine months of the exercise program significantly improved the hemodynamic and lipid profiles as well as the functional capacities of hypertensive older women with dyslipidemia. Although a detraining period is detrimental to these benefits, it seems that the first three months are more prominent in these alterations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Use of ergogenic aids among Brazilian athletes: a cross-sectional study exploring competitive level, sex and sports

Was investigated ergogenic aids (EAs) used by Brazilian athletes and their association with performance, sex, sports classification, and modality. It identified the main purposes of EAs and their prescription.Methods239 athletes of 15 modalities, ranging from regional to international level, answered a survey online.ResultsHighly competitive athletes consumed nutritional and mechanical aids more (OR = 1.96 CI 95% [1.28–2.9]; OR = 1.79 CI 95% [1.29–2.47]), while the use of psychological EAs decreased [OR = 1.66 95% CI (1.18–2.94); p = 0.001]. Male athletes [OR = 1.44 CI 95% (1.11–2.88)] and individual sports practitioners [OR = 1.78 CI 95% (1.02–3.11)] used nutritional aids more. Triathlon athletes had higher nutritional EA use, while soccer athletes had lower. Combat sports athletes had higher pharmacological EA use.ConclusionAthletes use nutritional and pharmacological aids more to improve performance and gain lean body mass. Mechanical aids were used for recovery and psychological aids for motivation. Self-prescription is common, especially for pharmacological aids

Can exercise help regulate blood pressure and improve functional capacity of older women with hypertension against the deleterious effects of physical inactivity?

: Background: Sedentarism and inactivity are risk factors for the development of hyperten sion. Thus, the prevention of the natural process of biological and physiological aging of older women through physical exercise results in higher benefits in preventing cardiovascular diseases and can be a key factor for its treatment. Multicomponent exercise (METP) is a training method that may help older women with hypertension by improving their quality of life and their response to treatment. Methods: Twenty-eight older Caucasian women with hypertension (66.7 ± 5.3 years, 1.59 ± 0.11 m) performed a supervised METP program of nine months followed by three months of detraining (DT), and seventeen older women (68.2 ± 4.7 years, 1.57 ± 0.16 cm) with hypertension maintained their daily routine, without exercise. Blood pressure (BP), resting heart rate, and functional capacity (FC) were evaluated at the beginning and at the end of the program, and after three months of DT. Results: The ME program improved (p < 0.05) systolic BP (−5.37%), diastolic BP (−5.67%), resting heart rate (−7.8%), agility (9.8%), lower body strength (27.8%), upper body strength (10.0%), and cardiorespiratory capacity (8.6%). BP and FC deteriorated after the DT period (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Nine months of multicomponent exercise were sufficient to improve functional capacity and promote benefits in blood pressure, although was not sufficient to allow BP to reach the normal values of older women. The three month DT period without exercise caused the reversal of BP improvements but maintained the functional capacity of older women.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data