Exercise Training in Rats Impairs the Replenishment of White Adipose Tissue after Partial Lipectomy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of exercise training on the metabolism of rats following the partial removal of fat pads. Three-month-old male Wistar rats were subjected to the partial removal (L) of retroperitoneal white adipose tissue (RET) and epididymal white adipose tissue (EPI), or a sham operation (Sh). Seven days after surgery, both sets of rats were subdivided into exercised (LE or ShE) (swimming 90 min/day, 5 days/week, 6 weeks) and sedentary (LS or ShS) groups. Partial removal of the fat pads increased the lipogenesis rates in both the RET and EPI and decreased the weight and lypolysis rate of the EPI, while the RET weight was not significantly affected by lipectomy. In both lipectomized and sham-operated groups, exercise training caused a reduction in carcass lipid content, food intake, RET and EPI weights, and RET lipogenesis rate. On the other hand, the exercise training increased the percentage of diet-derived lipid accumulation in both tissues, either in sham and lipectomized rats. These results confirmed that regrowth is not uniform and depends on the particular fat pad that is excised. They also demonstrated that exercise training following the partial removal of fat pads modified adipose tissue metabolism, impaired the replenishment of adipose tissue, and decrease body adiposity.

Gaining by Giving? Peer Research into Service User and Carer Perceptions of Inclusivity in Higher Education

Service users and carers (SUAC) have made significant contributions to professional training in social work courses in Higher Education (HE) over the past decade in the UK. Such participation has been championed by government, academics and SUAC groups from a range of theoretical and political perspectives. Most research into the effectiveness of SUAC involvement at HE has come from the perspectives of academics and very little SUAC-led research exists. This qualitative peer research was led by two members of the University of Worcester’s SUAC group. Findings were that SUAC perceived their involvement brought benefits to students, staff, the University and the local community. Significant personal benefits such as finding a new support network, increased self-development and greater confidence to manage their own care were identified in ways that suggested that the benefits that can flow from SUAC involvement at HE are perhaps more far-reaching than previously recognised. Barriers to inclusion were less than previously reported in the literature and the humanising effects of SUAC involvement are presented as a partial antidote to an increasingly marketised HE culture.