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

The volume fraction of brain ventricles to total brain volume: a computed tomography stereological study

This study has been designed to estimate the volume fraction of the brain ventricles volume to total brain volume and to correlate them with gender and age in normal subjects. Cranial computed tomography (CT) images of 80 normally evaluated subjects (five female and five male for each decade) were selected from 1,073 CT examinations. The volumes of total brain, cerebral aqueduct, fourth, third, and lateral ventricles and their ratios were estimated using the Cavalieri method and volume fraction-stereological methods. The ratio of total brain ventricle volume to total brain volume was comparable between the two genders (p > 0.05, independent t test). Mean volume fraction of total ventricle volume to total brain volume was found to be 1.21% in the first and 3.37% in the last decades. Mean volume fraction was found to increase significantly with age (p < 0.01, r = 0.630, Pearson). In conclusion, the mean percentage of total ventricle volume within the total brain volume was found to be 2%. We demonstrated the volume fraction of total ventricle to total brain in normal subjects. Total ventricle volume to total brain volume fractions can be important tools in determining ventricle volumes, which denote variability in some diseases (Alzheimer, schizophrenia, neurodegenerative disorders, etc.) and can be estimated by stereological methods. (Folia Morphol 2010; 69, 4: 193-200

Acute Effects of Aerobic Exercise with Blood Flow Restriction on Pulse Wave Velocity in Females

PURPOSE: To investigate the acute effects of a 20-minute walk/run at 40% VO2 with and without blood flow restriction on pulse wave velocity (PWV). METHODS: Seventeen female subjects, between the ages of 18 and 40, signed informed consent and were familiarized with the study protocol, on the same day measurements were assessed: height, weight, body composition, and thigh circumference. Followed by each subject performing the Bruce Protocol on a treadmill. Subjects were asked to come back to the lab hydrated and 8 hours fasted on two different days (separated by at least 48 hours). After reaching hydration, participants were asked to lie down in the supine position for a minimum of 10 minutes and baseline hemodynamics and measurement of PWV using SphygmoCor® CPV Pulse Wave Analyzer. The sites tested were carotid to radial (C-R), carotid to femoral (C-F), and femoral to posterior tibial (F-PT). The randomized testing sessions consisted of two 20-minute walk/run sessions at 40% VO2 intensity with BFR cuffs inflated (BFR), and the BFR cuffs un-inflated (CON). Tightness of the cuffs was set at 55-60 mmHg for BFR, and the cuffs were placed snug enough that they don’t move during exercise for the CON session. The final cuff pressures were achieved by starting at 120 mmHg and increasing progressively by 20 mmHg with 10 s rest in between increments. Upon completion of exercise, post exercise PWV was assessed at immediately, 15, 25, and 45 minutes. RESULTS: No condition*time interaction or condition and time main effects were observed for C-R and C-F sites (p\u3e0.05). There were no significant condition*time interaction or time main effect for the F-PT site (p\u3e0.05), but a significant condition main effect was detected at the 15 minute mark post exercise following the BFR session (p\u3c.01). CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the BFR session resulted in an improved arterial compliance at the F-PT site. This may have been caused by the increased shear stress from blood pooling during the BFR session resulting in a greater release of nitric oxide therefore vasodilation in the lower body. There may be a practical application of using this combination of exercise and settings to help improve cardiovascular health. Since this was an acute study, future training studies should look at the chronic effects on pulse wave velocity using these settings

The variations and degenerative changes of sacroiliac joints in asymptomatic adults

Background: The sacroiliac joint has a structure in which the direction of the load relative to the articular surface is irrational, as the joint surface is not perpendicular to the trunk load axis; it is likely to incur more degenerative changes than other weight-bearing joints. Materials and methods: This retrospective study consisted of a total of 145 cases — 104 (71.7%) men and 41 (28.3%) women — who were referred to Gaziantep University Medical Faculty Radiology Department Polyclinic for pelvic computed tomography (CT) from 2013 to 2018. The mean age was 33.5 years (range: 18–60 years). Pelvis CT images were performed according to the exclusion criteria specified by the experienced orthopaedic surgeon. Patients were excluded from the study if they were younger than the age of 18, had a condition involving the sacroiliac joint, had an endocrine disorder, or had a history of a trauma affecting the pelvis CT examination. Results: In this current study, six types of anatomic variations were detected. Iliosacral complex variation has been determined as the most common type of variation. The incidence of variations of sacroiliac joint in all cases was 28.9%. Degenerative changes were seen in 5.5% of patients fewer than 30 years of age. When it comes to the patients whose age range is 30–60, the percentage of the degenerative changes is 12.4%. In patients who were 30 years and older, the prevalence of degenerative changes increased progressively with increasing age. Conclusions: In this study, it is thought that the knowledge of variations in normal population and degenerative changes will contribute to the better understanding of normal morphological structure of sacroiliac joint and to the anatomical literature. It’s seen that there is not a statistically significant relationship between degenerative changes and anatomical variations

Mycobacterial infection of intraparenchymal bronchogenic cysts

Bronchogenic cysts (BCs) may rarely cause some interesting and unusual complications. Although infection is a common complication of BCs, there are only two patients with BC infected with mycobacterium in English literature. Two intraparencymal BCs infected with mycobacterium are presented here as unusual complications. Cystectomy was performed for the cysts. They were given antituberculosis treatment. No complication or recurrences were detected in follow up period. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Effects of Dynamic and Isometric Vibration Exercises on Hemodynamics, Flexibility, and Stress Hormone Levels

PURPOSE: To investigate the acute effects of lower body dynamic (DYN) vs isometric (ISO) exercises on systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), flexibility using the sit and reach, and cortisol (COR) and amylase (AMY) levels measured pre and post exercise with different variations of frequency and amplitude on a power plate in pre-hypertensive females. METHODS: Nine females (age: 23.8 ± 5.1 yrs) performed the ISO and DYN control sessions with the power plate off and ISO and DYN exercises with a combination of low frequency/high amplitude (LF/HA) and high frequency/low amplitude (HF/LA). A 5-min warm-up at 3.0 mph on the treadmill occurred before testing. DYN exercises were performed from standing position to 120° for squat, 90° for lunge, and 90° for squat for a total of four sets for one-min with metronome set at 40 bpm. ISO exercises were performed at the knee angles mentioned previously. Subjects had a 30 sec rest in-between sets. Blood pressure (BP) and HR were recorded using an automated BP cuff pre, post, post 15-min, and post 30-min. Flexibility was recorded after the warm-up and post testing. The passive drool collection method was used to collect saliva to observe the changes in COR and AMY for a total of 1mL for each session before the warm up and post-exercise. Vials were then placed in the freezer to await analysis. RESULTS: There was a significant condition*time interaction (

Capacitance-conductance characteristics of Au/Ti/Al2O3/n-GaAs structures with very thin Al2O3 interfacial layer

High-k Al2O3 with metallic oxide thickness of about 3 nmon n-type GaAs substrate has been deposited by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. Thus, it has been formed the Au-Ti/Al2O3/n-GaAs MIS structures. It has been seen that the MIS structure exhibits excellent capacitance-voltage (C-V) and current-voltage (I-V) properties at 300 K. The saturation current of the forward bias and reverse bias I-V characteristics was the same value. An ideality factor value of 1.10 has been obtained from the forward bias I-V characteristics. The C-Vcharacteristics of the structure have shown almost no hysteresis from +3 Vto -10 Vwith frequency as a parameter. The reverse biasC-V curves have exhibited a behavior without frequency dispersion and almost hysteresis at each frequency from 10 kHz to 1000 kHz. © 2015 IOP Publishing Ltd

A systematic review of nutrition-based practices in prevention of hypertension among healthy youth

The aim of this systematic review was to analyze the results of observational and interventional research/studies on nutrition-based practices in the prevention of hypertension among healthy youth. The MEDLINE/PubMed database was searched using the key words, "hypertension," "nutrition/diet," "prevention" and "youth." Inclusion criteria were: 1) sample with a majority of adolescents, defined as 10-24 years of age, or findings for adolescents reported separately from other age groups; 2) primary research reports; 3) studies with normotensive participants; and 4) studies that focused on preventing hypertension/lowering blood pressure through at least one nutritional practice. Results of the analysis indicated that increased consumption of unsaturated fats, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dietary products, decreased consumption of dietary sodium and beverages containing caffeine, and breastfeeding were found to have preventive effects against high blood pressure in later years of life. The effects of training given during youth to encourage a healthy lifestyle and behavior changes based on diet and physical activity were also noted.publisher versio

Oxygen and Phosphorus Coordination Around Iron in Crystalline Ferric Ferrous Pyrophosphate and Iron-phosphate Glasses with UO₂ or Na₂O

Fe K-edge x-ray absorption fine-structure (XAFS) measurements were performed on glass samples of (Fe3O4)0.3(P2O5)0.7 with various amounts of Na2O or UO2. Near-edge and extended-XAFS regions are studied and comparisons are made to several reference compounds. We find that iron in the base glass is ~25% divalent and that the Fe2+ coordination is predominantly octahedral, while Fe3+ sites are roughly split between tetrahedral and octahedral coordinations. Also, we measure roughly one FeñOñP link per iron. Substitution of Na2O or UO2 up to 15 mo1% primarily affects the first FeñO shell. The results are compared to data from the related material Fe3(P2O7)2