Assessing cardiorespiratory capacity in older adults with major depression and Alzheimer disease

ABSTRACT Objective To assess cardiorespiratory capacity through subjective and objective tests in older adults diagnosed with major depression (MDD), Alzheimer disease (AD) and healthy older adults. Methods Fifty seven subjects (72 ± 7.9 years) were divided into three groups: MDD (n = 20), AD (n = 17) and Healthy (n = 20). The subjects answered Hamilton Scale (HAM-D), Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire (VSAQ) and 2-minute Step test. Results MDD and AD showed lower scores than healthy group for Nomogram VSAQ (p < 0.001) and 2-minute Step (p = 0.009; p = 0.008, respectively). Adjusted for age and educational level, no differences among groups were observed for Step (MDD, p = 0.097; AD, p = 0.102). AD group did not present differences to healthy group for Step, when adjusting for MMSE (p = 0.261). Conclusions Despite the lower cardiorespiratory fitness of elderly patients with DM and DA have been found in both evaluations, the results should be viewed with caution, since the tests showed low correlation and different risk classifications of functional loss. In addition, age, level educational and cognitive performance are variables that can influence the performance objective evaluation.

Assessment of functional capacity through oxygen consumption in patients with asymptomatic probable heart disease

PURPOSE: To compare peak exercise oxygen consumption (VO2peak) of healthy individuals with asymptomatic individuals with probable heart disease. METHODS: Ninety-eight men were evaluated. They were divided into two groups: 1) 39 healthy individuals (group N) with an age range of 50±4.6 years; and 2) 59 asymptomatic individuals with signs of atherosclerotic and/or hypertensive heart disease (group C) with an age range of 51.9±10.4 years. In regard to age, height, body surface area, percentage of fat, lean body mass, and daily physical activity, both groups were statistically similar. Environmental conditions during the ergometric test were also controlled. RESULTS: Maximal aerobic power (watts), VO2peak, maximal heart rate, and maximal pulmonary ventilation were lower in group C (p<0.01) than in group N; weight, however, was lower in group N (p=0.031) than in group C. Differences in the respiratory gas exchange index, heart rate at rest, and the maximal double product of the two groups were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Signs of probable heart disease, even though asymptomatic, may reduce the functional capacity, perhaps due to the lower maximal cardiac output and/or muscle metabolic changes.

Caracterización genética de la cepa Sinorhizobium meliloti 3DOh13 y evaluación de la capacidad fijadora de nitrógeno en alfalfa. Genetic characterization of the strain Sinorhizobium meliloti 3DOh13 and assessment of the capacity to fix nitrogen in alfalfa.

La provincia de Córdoba participa con aproximadamente el 23 por ciento del área total sembrada anualmente con alfalfa en nuestro país y, en los últimos años, se ha incrementado levemente, en contraste con las provincias de Buenos Aires, Santa Fe y Entre Ríos, donde ha decrecido. La inoculación de este cultivo con cepas del género Sinorhizobium ha permitido mejorar su rendimiento en los suelos de la región semiárida. La utilización para la siembra de semillas preinoculadas con microorganismos de origen extranjero, cuya eficiencia y adaptación a las condiciones locales no siempre se conocen, y con escasa capacidad de competencia ante las cepas naturalizadas, trae como consecuencia un bajo establecimiento de la nodulación y por consiguiente una escasa reposición del nitrógeno removido del suelo. Aún cuando la inoculación está relativamente difundida, en la actualidad no se ha determinado la proporción relativa de nitrógeno fijado por las cepas introducidas respecto de las nativas o naturalizadas, ni la competencia que se genera en el suelo por la ocupación de los sitios potenciales para la formación de nódulos. Nuestra hipótesis de trabajo es: "la inoculación con cepas de Sinorhizobium meliloti debidamente caracterizadas y eficientes en la fijación del nitrógeno atmosférico mejorará el rendimiento de alfalfa en la región centro-sur de Córdoba". Los objetivos de este estudio son caracterizar fenotípica y genotípica el aislamiento Sinorhizobium meliloti 3DOh13 y evaluar su eficiencia simbiótica en el cultivo de alfalfa, mediante ensayos de infectividad, eficiencia y competencia con cepas nativas. La evaluación de la infectividad de la cepa comprende estudios de cinética de la nodulación, número total de nódulos y ubicación de los mismos en experiencias donde las plantas crecen en condiciones de invernáculo sobre un soporte de tierra:arena:perlita (2:1:1). Se realizarán ensayos de competitividad, coinoculando semillas con la cepa DOh13 y otras nativas, en bolsas plásticas con medio mineral en los que se desafiarán los distintos aislamientos. Se inoculan las plantas con sólo dos aislamientos y los nódulos de la raíz principal serán extraídos a fin de aislar los microorganismos ocupantes, los que serán diferenciados por marca de resistencia a antibioticos. La eficiencia en la fijación de nitrógeno será cuantificada por las técnicas de reducción del acetileno en el nódulo y, en caso de ser necesario, se usará el método de Kjeldahl (N total) para la raíz, tejido aéreo o planta entera. La caracterización genotípica de S. meliloti 3DOh13 incluirá métodos de fingerprint de ADN por técnicas de PCR y secuenciamiento del ADNr 16S. Esta investigación permitirá obtener información precisa sobre la respuesta de alfalfa a la inoculación con la cepa de referencia. El producto que se espera obtener es un nuevo inoculante, formulado con una cepa efectiva en la fijación de nitrógeno, debidamente caracterizada y con probada capacidad de adaptación a los suelos de la región

The design and development of heat extraction technologies for the utilisation of compost thermal energy

A composting Heat Extraction Unit (HEU) was designed to utilise waste heat from decaying organic matter for a variety of heating application The aim was to construct an insulated small scale, sealed, organic matter filled container. In this vessel a process fluid within embedded pipes would absorb thermal energy from the hot compost and transport it to an external heat exchanger. Experiments were conducted on the constituent parts and the final design comprised of a 2046 litre container insulated with polyurethane foam and kingspan with two arrays of qualpex piping embedded in the compost to extract heat. The thermal energy was used in horticultural trials by heating polytunnels using a radiator system during a winter/spring period. The compost derived energy was compared with conventional and renewable energy in the form of an electric fan heater and solar panel. The compost derived energy was able to raise polytunnel temperatures to 2-3°C above the control, with the solar panel contributing no thermal energy during the winter trial and the electric heater the most efficient maintaining temperature at its preset temperature of 10°C. Plants that were cultivated as performance indicators showed no significant difference in growth rates between the heat sources. A follow on experiment conducted using special growing mats for distributing compost thermal energy directly under the plants (Radish, Cabbage, Spinach and Lettuce) displayed more successful growth patterns than those in the control. The compost HEU was also used for more traditional space heating and hot water heating applications. A test space was successfully heated over two trials with varying insulation levels. Maximum internal temperature increases of 7°C and 13°C were recorded for building U-values of 1.6 and 0.53 W/m2K respectively using the HEU. The HEU successfully heated a 60 litre hot water cylinder for 32 days with maximum water temperature increases of 36.5°C recorded. Total energy recovered from the 435 Kg of compost within the HEU during the polytunnel growth trial was 76 kWh which is 3 kWh/day for the 25 days when the HEU was activated. With a mean coefficient of performance level of 6.8 calculated for the HEU the technology is energy efficient. Therefore the compost HEU developed here could be a useful renewable energy technology particularly for small scale rural dwellers and growers with access to significant quantities of organic matter

Nutritional composition, quality and spoilage capacity of orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus) from the North East Atlantic

The nutritional composition o f orange roughy (collected from the Northeast Atlantic near the Rockall Trough) was studied on a seasonal basis. In addition samples were aged and stability assessed. Protein levels (16.68-16.21% w/w) were found to be slightly higher than those recorded for the N ew Zealand species o f orange roughy and compared favourably with protein values for fish muscle in general. Statistically results show a significant seasonal variation with no variation from fish to fish or in the location within the fish. Lipid content (3.6-4.5% w/w) was found to be much lower than that recorded for New Zealand. As with protein statistically results show a significant seasonal variation and no variation from fish to fish or in the location within the fish. Moisture levels (77.3_79.6%w/w) compared favourably with values obtained from other studies. Again statistically results show a significant seasonal variation with no variation from fish to fish or within the fish. Iodine values (74.63-79.54) indicate the likely presence o f a high level o f mono unsaturated fatty acids. Statistically results show no significant seasonal variation and no sample variation or variation within fish. Thin layer chromatography o f the extracted fat showed the major type to be wax esters with a much lower amount o f triglycerides and smaller amounts of polar lipids, free sterols and free fatty acids. Total fatty acid composition was found to be very similar to that recorded from other studies and showed that most o f the oils extracted from the fish muscle contained a high percentage o f mono unsaturates namely 16:1,18:1, 20:1 and 22:1 (85.63 - 91.14% ) with 16:1 present in the smallest amounts and 18:1 the major one. The only saturated fatty M.Sc. in Biochemistry III Nutritional Composition, Quality and Spoilage Capacity of Specific Deep Sea Fish acids present in significant quantities were 14:0, 16:0 and 18:0, the total varied from a seasonal average high o f 4.05 % to an average low o f 2.27%. The polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic and arachidonic acid were present in small quantities varying in total from 0.89% to 1.50%. Docosapentaenoic acid (D P A ) was found only in trace quantities in spring, autumn and winter samples and undetected in summer. Levels o f Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA ) and Docosahexaenoic acid (D H A ) were also found in very low percentages and varied on a seasonal basis with average values ranging from 0.41% in summer to 1.03 % in autumn for EPA and from 1.44 % in summer to3.20 % in autumn for D H A . Again statistically results show a significant seasonal variation with no variation from fish to fish or location within the fish. Levels o f freshness were measured using the Thiobarbituric acid (T B A ), Total volatile base nitrogen (T V B -N ) and Trimethylamine (T M A ) techniques. The quality o f the fish upon arrival was excellent and well below legal/acceptable lim its.T V B -N values ranged from 6.88-8.91 mg/lOOg and T M A values from 4.82-6.46 mg/lOOg Values for T B A ranged from 0.18-0.35 mg Malonaldehyde/kg fish. The summer values were higher than the other seasons. Seasonal variation was significant for all methods with no variation from fish to fish or within the fish. Fish aged at +4°C in air did not exceed the T V B N lim it o f 35mg/100g until day 6 whereas the T V B N lim it was extended to 8 days for fish aged at +4°C in vacuum. However the T M A lim it o f 12mg/100g was reached on day 4 for fish stored at +4°C in air and on day 5 for vacuum packed samples stored at +4°C . Fish stored at -5°C in air and vacuum packed did not reach the T V B N lim it until day 61 but the T M A limit was reached on day 24 for fish stored at -5°C in air and was extended to 31 days for vacuum packed fish stored at-5°C. Prolonged storage at -18°C caused some deterioration o f the frozen fish muscle. Upon thawing the shelf life o f fish stored for 12 months was much shorter than that stored for 6 M.Sc. in Biochemistry IV Nutritional Composition, Quality and Spoilage Capacity of Specific Deep Sea Fish months. This in turn deteriorated faster than fresh fish held at refridgeration temperature in air. Orange roughy were found to be a good source of protein with moisture levels similar to that o f other fish. They were o f medium fat content but have a very poor content o f the essential omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. Orange roughy can be stored at -18°C but its subsequent refridgerated shelf life will be shorter than that o f unfrozen orange roughy stored at refridgeration temperature. Orange roughy are a very important part o f the ecosystem. Their composition is less nutritionally beneficial than more readily available fish for human consumption and therefore should not be fished at all

Functional Capacity of Patients with Pacemaker Due to Isolated Congenital Atrioventricular Block

Background:Isolated congenital atrioventricular block (CAVB) is a rare condition with multiple clinical outcomes. Ventricular remodeling can occur in approximately 10% of the patients after pacemaker (PM) implantation.Objectives:To assess the functional capacity of children and young adults with isolated CAVB and chronic pacing of the right ventricle (RV) and evaluate its correlation with predictors of ventricular remodeling.Methods:This cross-sectional study used a cohort of patients with isolated CAVB and RV pacing for over a year. The subjects underwent clinical and echocardiographic evaluation. Functional capacity was assessed using the six-minute walk test. Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used, considering a significance level of 5%.Results:A total of 61 individuals were evaluated between March 2010 and December 2013, of which 67.2% were women, aged between 7 and 41 years, who were using PMs for 13.5 ± 6.3 years. The percentage of ventricular pacing was 97.9 ± 4.1%, and the duration of the paced QRS complex was 153.7 ± 19.1 ms. Majority of the subjects (95.1%) were asymptomatic and did not use any medication. The mean distance walked was 546.9 ± 76.2 meters and was strongly correlated with the predicted distance (r = 0.907, p = 0.001) but not with risk factors for ventricular remodeling. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2014; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0)Conclusions:The functional capacity of isolated CAVB patients with chronic RV pacing was satisfactory but did not correlate with risk factors for ventricular remodeling.

Association Between Hemodynamic Profile, Physical Capacity and Quality of Life in Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: No studies have described and evaluated the association between hemodynamics, physical limitations and quality of life in patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) without concomitant cardiovascular or respiratory disease. Objective: To describe the hemodynamic profile, quality of life and physical capacity of patients with PH from groups I and IV and to study the association between these outcomes. Methods: Cross-sectional study of patients with PH from clinical groups I and IV and functional classes II and III undergoing the following assessments: hemodynamics, exercise tolerance and quality of life. Results: This study assessed 20 patients with a mean age of 46.8 ± 14.3 years. They had pulmonary capillary wedge pressure of 10.5 ± 3.7 mm Hg, 6-minute walk distance test (6MWDT) of 463 ± 78 m, oxygen consumption at peak exercise of 12.9 ± 4.3 mLO2.kg-1.min-1 and scores of quality of life domains < 60%. There were associations between cardiac index (CI) and ventilatory equivalent for CO2 (r=-0.59, p <0.01), IC and ventilatory equivalent for oxygen (r=-0.49, p<0.05), right atrial pressure (RAP) and 'general health perception' domain (r=-0.61, p<0.01), RAP and 6MWTD (r=-0.49, p<0.05), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and 'physical functioning' domain (r=-0.56, p<0.01), PVR and 6MWTD (r=-0.49, p<0.05) and PVR index and physical capacity (r=-0.51, p<0.01). Conclusion: Patients with PH from groups I and IV and functional classes II and III exhibit a reduction in physical capacity and in the physical and mental components of quality of life. The hemodynamic variables CI, diastolic pulmonary arterial pressure, RAP, PVR and PVR index are associated with exercise tolerance and quality of life domains.

Tacit collusion and capacity withholding in repeated uniform price auctions

This paper contributes to the study of tacit collusion by analyzing infinitely repeated multiunit uniform price auctions in a symmetric oligopoly with capacity constrained firms. Under both the Market Clearing and Maximum Accepted Price rules of determining the uniform price, we show that when each firm sets a price-quantity pair specifying the firm's minimum acceptable price and the maximum quantity the firm is willing to sell at this price, there exists a range of discount factors for which the monopoly outcome with equal sharing is sustainable in the uniform price auction, but not in the corresponding discriminatory auction. Moreover, capacity withholding may be necessary to sustain this out-come. We extend these results to the case where firms may set bids that are arbitrary step functions of price-quantity pairs with any finite number of price steps. Surprisingly, under the Maximum Accepted Price rule, firms need employ no more than two price steps to minimize the value of the discount factor

Forward induction and the excess capacity puzzle: An experimental investigation.

While the theoretical industrial organization literature has long argued that excess capacity can be used to deter entry into markets, there is little empirical evidence that incumbent firms effectively behave in this way. Bagwell and Ramey (1996) propose a game with a specific sequence of moves and partially-recoverable capacity costs in which forward induction provides a theoretical rationalization for firm behavior in the field. We conduct an experiment with a game inspired by their work. In our data the incumbent tends to keep the market, in contrast to what the forward induction argument of Bagwell and Ramey would suggest. The results indicate that players perceive that the first mover has an advantage without having to pre-commit capacity. In our game, evolution and learning do not drive out this perception. We back these claims with data analysis, a theoretical framework for dynamics, and simulation results.

Asymmetries in the capacity-inflation trade-off

This paper analyzes the joint dynamics of two key macroeconomic variables for the conduct of monetary policy: inflation and the aggregate capacity utilization rate. An econometric procedure useful for estimating dynamic rational expectation models with unobserved components is developed and applied in this context. The method combines the flexibility of the unobserved components approach, based on the Kalman recursion, with the power of the general method of moments estimation procedure. A 'hyb id' Phillips curve relating inflation to the capacity utilization gap and incorporating forward and backward looking components is estimated. The results show that such a relationship in non-linear: the slope of the Phillips curve depends significantly on the magnitude of the capacity gap. These findings provide support for studying the implications of asymmetricmonetary policy rules.

Endogenous capacity utilization and the asymmetric effects of monetary policy

This paper investigates the role of variable capacity utilization as a source of asymmetries in the relationship between monetary policy and economic activity within a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium framework. The source of the asymmetry is directly linked to the bottlenecks and stock-outs that emerge from the existence of capacity constraints in the real side of the economy. Money has real effects due to the presence of rigidities in households' portfolio decisions in the form of a Luces-Fuerst 'limited participation' constraint. The model features variable capacity utilization rates across firms due to demand uncertainty. A monopolistic competitive structure provides additional effects through optimal mark-up changes. The overall message of this paper for monetary policy is that the same actions may have different effects depending on the capacity utilization rate of the economy.