The effectiveness of heat preparation and alleviation strategies for cognitive performance: A systematic review

A range of occupational and performance contexts (e.g. military personnel operations, emergency services, sport) require the critical maintenance of cognitive performance in environmentally challenging environments. Several reviews exist which evaluate the effectiveness of heat preparation strategies to facilitate physical performance. To date, no review has explored the usefulness of heat preparation strategies for cognitive performance. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to evaluate a range of interventions for the maintenance of cognitive performance, during or following active or passive heat exposure. Studies to be included were assessed by two authors reviewing title, abstract, and full-text. Forty articles were identified which met the inclusion criteria. Interventions were categorised into chronic (i.e. acclimation/acclimatisation) and acute strategies (i.e. hydration, cooling, supplementation, psychological). The results indicate that medium-term consecutive heat acclimation may mitigate some cognitive deficits under heat stress, although heat acclimation effectiveness could be influenced by age. Further, pre-cooling appears the most effective cooling method for maintaining cognitive performance under heat stress, although results were somewhat ambiguous. The hydration literature showed that the most effective hydration strategies were those which individualised electrolyte fortified fluid volumes to match for sweat loss. Limited research exploring psychological interventions indicates that motivational self-talk could be facilitative for maintaining cognitive skills following exercise in hot conditions. These findings can be used to help inform strategies for maintaining critical cognitive and decision-making skills in hot environments

Data Segmentation in Electronic Health Information Exchange: Policy Considerations and Analysis

The issue of whether and, if so, to what extent patients should have control over the sharing or withholding of their health information represents one of the foremost policy challenges related to electronic health information exchange. It is widely acknowledged that patients\u27 health information should flow where and when it is needed to support the provision of appropriate and high-quality care. Equally significant, however, is the notion that patients want their needs and preferences to be considered in the determination of what information is shared with other parties, for what purposes, and under what conditions. Some patients may prefer to withhold or sequester certain elements of health information, often when it is deemed by them (or on their behalf) to be sensitive, whereas others may feel strongly that all of their health information should be shared under any circumstance. This discussion raises the issue of data segmentation, which we define for the purposes of this paper as the process of sequestering from capture, access or view certain data elements that are perceived by a legal entity, institution, organization, or individual as being undesirable to share. This whitepaper explores key components of data segmentation, circumstances for its use, associated benefits and challenges, various applied approaches, and the current legal environment shaping these endeavors

Effects of Simulated Altitude on Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Inspiratory Fitness

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(1): 128-136, 2017 Aerobic exercise at altitude has shown an increase in maximal oxygen uptake. Similar effects have been replicated by way of simulated altitude training, which have influenced various advances in the field of exercise science. Elevation Training Masks© (ETM) claim to stimulate cardiorespiratory fitness improvements similar to training at altitude, however, there is little research to support this claim. The purpose of this study was to research the effect that a hypoxia-inducing mask would have on cardiorespiratory fitness and pulmonary function through the use of a high intensity interval training (HIIT) running program. Seventeen subjects were randomized into either the control group, without the mask, or experimental group, with the mask, and participated in a 6-week HIIT protocol of 4 sessions per week. Each session included a warm up, followed by intervals of running at 80% of their heart rate reserve (HRR) for 90 seconds and followed by 3 minutes of active rest at 50-60% of HRR. A total of 6 intervals were completed per session. Within subjects, there was a significant increase in predicted VO2max (F(1,17)=7.376, P\u3c.05). However, there was no significant difference in predicted VO2max between the control and experimental groups (F(1, 17)=3.669, p= .075). Forced inspiratory vital capacity demonstrated no significant difference within subjects (F(1, 17)= .073, p \u3e .05), or between the two groups (F(1, 17)= 3.724, p= .073). Similar to the VO2max results, forced vital capacity demonstrated a significant increase within subjects (F(1, 17)=6.201, p\u3c.05), but there was no significant difference between the control and experimental groups (F(1,17)=3.562, p= .079). Although the between groups data was not significant, there was a greater increase in the experimental group wearing the ETM compared to the control group not wearing the mask for all 3 variables. Data suggest that HIIT training can be a viable method of improving VO2max and pulmonary function however, training masks such as the ETM may not lead to greater overall improvements

Neuroprotective efficacy of P7C3 compounds in primate hippocampus.

There is a critical need for translating basic science discoveries into new therapeutics for patients suffering from difficult to treat neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions. Previously, a target-agnostic in vivo screen in mice identified P7C3 aminopropyl carbazole as capable of enhancing the net magnitude of postnatal neurogenesis by protecting young neurons from death. Subsequently, neuroprotective efficacy of P7C3 compounds in a broad spectrum of preclinical rodent models has also been observed. An important next step in translating this work to patients is to determine whether P7C3 compounds exhibit similar efficacy in primates. Adult male rhesus monkeys received daily oral P7C3-A20 or vehicle for 38 weeks. During weeks 2-11, monkeys received weekly injection of 5'-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to label newborn cells, the majority of which would normally die over the following 27 weeks. BrdU+ cells were quantified using unbiased stereology. Separately in mice, the proneurogenic efficacy of P7C3-A20 was compared to that of NSI-189, a proneurogenic drug currently in clinical trials for patients with major depression. Orally-administered P7C3-A20 provided sustained plasma exposure, was well-tolerated, and elevated the survival of hippocampal BrdU+ cells in nonhuman primates without adverse central or peripheral tissue effects. In mice, NSI-189 was shown to be pro-proliferative, and P7C3-A20 elevated the net magnitude of hippocampal neurogenesis to a greater degree than NSI-189 through its distinct mechanism of promoting neuronal survival. This pilot study provides evidence that P7C3-A20 safely protects neurons in nonhuman primates, suggesting that the neuroprotective efficacy of P7C3 compounds is likely to translate to humans as well

Everything You Need to Know about Grants: Beginning, Middle and End

“Everything You Need to Know about Grants: Beginning, Middle and End” was a 90-minute session presented at the Society of California Archivists Annual General Meeting in Berkeley, CA, on April 13, 2013. As a part of the archival community, many of us know that grants are an excellent way to reduce backlogs or accomplish projects we don\u27t have the resources to tackle. However, what many of us may not know is how much work goes into successfully implementing and completing a grant. The purpose of this session was to assemble a group of individuals who have been involved in various aspects of the grant application and implementation process to share their expertise with the archival community. The session utilized a question and answer format with a moderator asking pre-arranged questions. This article provides excerpts from the panelists’ responses

Novel DNA methylation profiles associated with key gene regulation and transcription pathways in blood and placenta of growth-restricted neonates

BB/H012494/1/ Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Counci

Environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and p,p\u27-DDE and sperm sex-chromosome disomy

Background: Chromosomal abnormalities contribute substantially to reproductive problems, but the role of environmental risk factors has received little attention. Objectives: We evaluated the association of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE) exposures with sperm sex-chromosome disomy. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 192 men from subfertile couples. We used multiprobe fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for chromosomes X, Y, and 18 to determine XX, YY, XY, and total sex-chromosome disomy in sperm nuclei. Serum was analyzed for concentrations of 57 PCB congeners and p,p´-DDE. Poisson regression models were used to calculate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for disomy by exposure quartiles, controlling for demographic characteristics and semen parameters. Results: The median percent disomy was 0.3 for XX and YY, 0.9 for XY, and 1.6 for total sex-chromosome disomy. We observed a significant trend of increasing IRRs for increasing quartiles of p,p´-DDE in XX, XY, and total sex-chromosome disomy, and a significant trend of increasing IRRs for increasing quartiles of PCBs for XY and total sex-chromosome disomy; however, there was a significant inverse association for XX disomy. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that exposure to p,p´-DDE may be associated with increased rates of XX, XY, and total sex-chromosome disomy, whereas exposure to PCBs may be associated with increased rates of YY, XY, and total sex-chromosome disomy. In addition, we observed an inverse association between increased exposure to PCBs and XX disomy. Further work is needed to confirm these findings

HST/STIS Ultraviolet Imaging of Polar Aurora on Ganymede

We report new observations of the spectrum of Ganymede in the spectral range 1160 - 1720 A made with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on HST on 1998 October 30. The observations were undertaken to locate the regions of the atomic oxygen emissions at 1304 and 1356 A, previously observed with the GHRS on HST, that Hall et al. (1998) claimed indicated the presence of polar aurorae on Ganymede. The use of the 2" wide STIS slit, slightly wider than the disk diameter of Ganymede, produced objective spectra with images of the two oxygen emissions clearly separated. The OI emissions appear in both hemispheres, at latitudes above 40 degrees, in accordance with recent Galileo magnetometer data that indicate the presence of an intrinsic magnetic field such that Jovian magnetic field lines are linked to the surface of Ganymede only at high latitudes. Both the brightness and relative north-south intensity of the emissions varied considerably over the four contiguous orbits (5.5 hours) of observation, presumably due to the changing Jovian plasma environment at Ganymede. However, the observed longitudinal non-uniformity in the emission brightness at high latitudes, particularly in the southern hemisphere, and the lack of pronounced limb brightening near the poles are difficult to understand with current models. In addition to observed solar HI Lyman-alpha reflected from the disk, extended Lyman-alpha emission resonantly scattered from a hydrogen exosphere is detected out to beyond two Ganymede radii from the limb, and its brightness is consistent with the Galileo UVS measurements of Barth et al. (1997).Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ, June 1, 200