Glutamatergic neurotransmission in the hypothalamus PVN on heart rate variability in exercise trained rats

The paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus (PVN) is a well known site of integration for autonomic and cardiovascular responses, and the glutamate neurotransmitter plays an important role. The aim of our study was to evaluate the cardiovascular parameters and autonomic modulation by means of spectral analysis after ionotropic glutamate receptor inhibition in the PVN in conscious sedentary (S) or swimming trained (ST) rats. After exercise training protocol, adult male Wistar rats, instrumented with guide cannulae to PVN and artery and vein catheters were submitted to mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) recording. At baseline, physical training induced a resting bradycardia (S: 379 +/- 3, ST: 349 +/- 2 bpm, P<0.05) and promoted adaptations in HRV characterized by an increase of HF in normalized values and a decrease of LF in absolute and normalized units compared with the sedentary group. Microinjection of kynurenic acid (KYNA) in the PVN of sedentary and trained rats promoted decreases in MAP and HR, but the decrease in HR was smaller in the trained animals (Delta HRS: -48 +/- 7, ST: -28 +/- 4 bpm, P<0.05). Furthermore, the differences in baseline parameters of pulse interval, found between sedentary and trained animals, disappeared after KYNA microinjection in the PVN. Our data suggest that the cardiovascular and autonomic adaptations to the heart induced by exercise training may involve glutamatergic mechanisms in the PVN. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Does long-term creatine supplementation impair kidney function in resistance-trained individuals consuming a high-protein diet?

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to determine the effects of creatine supplementation on kidney function in resistance-trained individuals ingesting a high-protein diet. Methods A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was performed. The participants were randomly allocated to receive either creatine (20 g/d for 5 d followed by 5 g/d throughout the trial) or placebo for 12 weeks. All of the participants were engaged in resistance training and consumed a high-protein diet (i.e., ≥ 1.2 g/Kg/d). Subjects were assessed at baseline (Pre) and after 12 weeks (Post). Glomerular filtration rate was measured by 51Cr-EDTA clearance. Additionally, blood samples and a 24-h urine collection were obtained for other kidney function assessments. Results No significant differences were observed for 51Cr-EDTA clearance throughout the trial (Creatine: Pre 101.42 ± 13.11, Post 108.78 ± 14.41 mL/min/1.73m2; Placebo: Pre 103.29 ± 17.64, Post 106.68 ± 16.05 mL/min/1.73m2; group x time interaction: F = 0.21, p = 0.64). Creatinine clearance, serum and urinary urea, electrolytes, proteinuria, and albuminuria remained virtually unchanged. Conclusions A 12-week creatine supplementation protocol did not affect kidney function in resistance-trained healthy individuals consuming a high-protein diet; thus reinforcing the safety of this dietary supplement. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01817673

Anaerobic energy provision does not limit Wingate exercise performance in endurance-trained cyclists

[EN] The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of severe acute hypoxia on exercise performance and metabolism during 30-s Wingate tests. Five endurance- (E) and five sprint- (S) trained track cyclists from the Spanish National Team performed 30-s Wingate tests in normoxia and hypoxia (inspired O(2) fraction = 0.10). Oxygen deficit was estimated from submaximal cycling economy tests by use of a nonlinear model. E cyclists showed higher maximal O(2) uptake than S (72 +/- 1 and 62 +/- 2 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1), P < 0.05). S cyclists achieved higher peak and mean power output, and 33% larger oxygen deficit than E (P < 0.05). During the Wingate test in normoxia, S relied more on anaerobic energy sources than E (P < 0.05); however, S showed a larger fatigue index in both conditions (P < 0.05). Compared with normoxia, hypoxia lowered O(2) uptake by 16% in E and S (P < 0.05). Peak power output, fatigue index, and exercise femoral vein blood lactate concentration were not altered by hypoxia in any group. Endurance cyclists, unlike S, maintained their mean power output in hypoxia by increasing their anaerobic energy production, as shown by 7% greater oxygen deficit and 11% higher postexercise lactate concentration. In conclusion, performance during 30-s Wingate tests in severe acute hypoxia is maintained or barely reduced owing to the enhancement of the anaerobic energy release. The effect of severe acute hypoxia on supramaximal exercise performance depends on training background.

Graph-Based Multi-Surface Segmentation of OCT Data Using Trained Hard and Soft Constraints

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a well-established image modality in ophthalmology and used daily in the clinic. Automatic evaluation of such datasets requires an accurate segmentation of the retinal cell layers. However, due to the naturally low signal to noise ratio and the resulting bad image quality, this task remains challenging. We propose an automatic graph-based multi-surface segmentation algorithm that internally uses soft constraints to add prior information from a learned model. This improves the accuracy of the segmentation and increase the robustness to noise. Furthermore, we show that the graph size can be greatly reduced by applying a smart segmentation scheme. This allows the segmentation to be computed in seconds instead of minutes, without deteriorating the segmentation accuracy, making it ideal for a clinical setup. An extensive evaluation on 20 OCT datasets of healthy eyes was performed and showed a mean unsigned segmentation error of 3.05 ±0.54 μm over all datasets when compared to the average observer, which is lower than the inter-observer variability. Similar performance was measured for the task of drusen segmentation, demonstrating the usefulness of using soft constraints as a tool to deal with pathologies.

Decision-Making Incapacity Among Nursing Home Residents: Results From the 1987 NMES Survey.

Recent legislative and regulatory developments have focused attention on older adults' capacity for involvement in health care decision-making. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (OBRA 87) focused attention on the rights of nursing home residents to be involved in health care decision-making to the fullest extent possible. This article uses data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES) to examine rates of incapacity for health care decision-making among nursing home residents. Elements of the Oklahoma statute were used to operationalize decision-making incapacity: disability or disorder, difficulty in decision-making or communicating decisions, and functional disability. Fifty-three percent of nursing home residents had a combination of either physical or mental impairment and an impairment in either self-care or money management. The discussion focuses on the policy and practice implications of significant rates of incapacity among nursing home residents.

The effect of increased lipid intake on hormonal responses during aerobic exercise in endurance-trained men

In view of the growing health problem associated with obesity, clarification of the regulation of energy homeostasis is important. Peripheral signals, such as ghrelin and leptin, have been shown to influence energy homeostasis. Nutrients and physical exercise, in turn, influence hormone levels. Data on the hormonal response to physical exercise (standardized negative energy balance) after high-fat (HF) or low-fat (LF) diet with identical carbohydrate intake are currently not available. The aim of the study was to investigate whether a short-term dietary intervention with HF and LF affects ghrelin and leptin levels and their modulators, GH, insulin and cortisol, before and during aerobic exercise. Eleven healthy, endurance-trained male athletes (W(max) 365 +/- 29 W) were investigated twice in a randomized crossover design following two types of diet: 1. LF - 0.5 g fat/kg body weight (BW) per day for 2.5 days; 2. HF - 0.5 g fat/kg BW per day for 1 day followed by 3.5 g fat/kg BW per day for 1.5 days. After a standardized carbohydrate snack in the morning, metabolites and hormones (GH, ghrelin, leptin, insulin and cortisol) were measured before and at regular intervals throughout a 3-h aerobic exercise test on a cycloergometer at 50% of W(max). Diet did not significantly affect GH and cortisol concentrations during exercise but resulted in a significant increase in ghrelin and decrease in leptin concentrations after LF compared with HF diet (area under the curve (AUC) ghrelin LF vs HF: P < 0.03; AUC leptin LF vs HF: P < 0.02, Wilcoxon rank test). These data suggest that acute negative energy balance induced by exercise elicits a hormonal response with opposite changes of ghrelin and leptin. In addition, the hormonal response is modulated by the preceding intake of fat.

Postexercise fat intake repletes intramyocellular lipids but no faster in trained than in sedentary subjects

The hypotheses that postexercise replenishment of intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) is enhanced by endurance training and that it depends on fat intake were tested. Trained and untrained subjects exercised on a treadmill for 2 h at 50% peak oxygen consumption, reducing IMCL by 26-22%. During recovery, they were fed 55% (high fat) or 15% (low fat) lipid energy diets. Muscle substrate stores were estimated by (1)H (IMCL)- and (13)C (glycogen)-magnetic resonance spectroscopy in tibialis anterior muscle before and after exercise. Resting IMCL content was 71% higher in trained than untrained subjects and correlated significantly with glycogen content. Both correlated positively with indexes of insulin sensitivity. After 30 h on the high-fat diet, IMCL concentration was 30-45% higher than preexercise, whereas it remained 5-17% lower on the low-fat diet. Training status had no significant influence on IMCL replenishment. Glycogen was restored within a day with both diets. We conclude that fat intake postexercise strongly promotes IMCL repletion independently of training status. Furthermore, replenishment of IMCL can be completed within a day when fat intake is sufficient.

Experience with the delegation of anaesthesia for disbudding and castration to trained and certified livestock owners

BACKGROUND: Anaesthesia is mandatory for disbudding and castrating calves and lambs of any age, in Switzerland. According to the "anaesthesia delegation model" (ADM), anaesthesia for disbudding calves <3 weeks of age and castrating calves and lambs <2 weeks of age may be administered by certified farmers. Experience with this unique model is not available. The aim was to evaluate the experience of the veterinary practitioners with the ADM. The response rate was 42%. The survey consisted of one questionnaire for each procedure. Procedure I was the delegation of anaesthesia for disbudding calves and procedures II and III were anaesthesia for castrating calves and lambs. RESULTS: Procedure I was performed with local anaesthesia in all farms of 51.8% of the veterinary practices, while this was only 39.3% and 7.6% for procedures II and III (p < 0.001). Anaesthesia for procedure I was administered technically correctly by farmers in at least 66% of the farms of 58.3% of the practitioners, while this was 45.4% and only 23.6% for procedures II and III (p < 0.001). The ADM was assessed as a moderate to very good model to reinforce the legal obligations for procedures I, II, or III by 74.8%, 76.5% and 62.0% of the veterinary practitioners (p < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: The delegation of anaesthesia to certified farmers may be a promising model to reinforce the obligation to provide local anaesthesia for disbudding and castrating calves, but to a lesser extent for castrating lambs.

Adults Can Be Trained to Acquire Synesthetic Experiences

Synesthesia is a condition where presentation of one perceptual class consistently evokes additional experiences in different perceptual categories. Synesthesia is widely considered a congenital condition, although an alternative view is that it is underpinned by repeated exposure to combined perceptual features at key developmental stages. Here we explore the potential for repeated associative learning to shape and engender synesthetic experiences. Non-synesthetic adult participants engaged in an extensive training regime that involved adaptive memory and reading tasks, designed to reinforce 13 specific letter-color associations. Following training, subjects exhibited a range of standard behavioral and physiological markers for grapheme-color synesthesia; crucially, most also described perceiving color experiences for achromatic letters, inside and outside the lab, where such experiences are usually considered the hallmark of genuine synesthetes. Collectively our results are consistent with developmental accounts of synesthesia and illuminate a previously unsuspected potential for new learning to shape perceptual experience, even in adulthood.

Houston police officer attitudes towards the mentally ill: CIT trained and non-CIT trained

The purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of police officer attitudes towards the mentally ill and what impact that might have on their behavior. Focused on the effects of Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training on Houston police officers, this research wanted to determine if CIT training decreases attitudes of authoritarianism and increases attitudes of self-efficacy in dealing with the mentally ill—other factors assessed were age, years of service, ethnicity, and gender. Results confirmed that CIT training had an effect on an officer's attitudes with CIT officers being less authoritarian and having more self-efficacy with respect to dealing with the mentally ill as compared to non-CIT officers. Because of these results, this study could offer support in tailoring training programs to have successful officer-mentally ill person interactions. ^

THE USE OF ARM CIRCUMFERENCE FOR SIMPLIFIED SCREENING FOR MALNUTRITION BY MINIMALLY TRAINED HEALTH WORKERS

Because of its simplicity and low cost, arm circumference (AC) is being used increasingly in screening for protein energy malnutrition among pre-school children in many parts of the developing world, especially where minimally trained health workers are employed. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) To determine the relationship of the AC measure with weight for age and weight for height in the detection of malnutrition among pre-school children in a Guatemalan Indian village. (2) To determine the performance of minimally trained promoters under field conditions in measuring AC, weight and height. (3) To describe the practical aspects of taking AC measures versus weight, age and height.^ The study was conducted in San Pablo La Laguna, one of four villages situated on the shores of Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, in which a program of simplified medical care was implemented by the Institute for Nutrition for Central America and Panama (INCAP). Weight, height, AC and age data were collected for 144 chronically malnourished children. The measurements obtained by the trained investigator under the controlled conditions of the health post were correlated against one another and AC was found to have a correlation with weight for age of 0.7127 and with weight for height of 0.7911, both well within the 0.65 to 0.80 range reported in the literature. False positive and false negative analysis showed that AC was more sensitive when compared with weight for height than with weight for age. This was fortunate since, especially in areas with widespread chronic malnutrition, weight for height detects those acute cases in immediate danger of complicating illness or death. Moreover, most of the cases identified as malnourished by AC, but not by weight for height (false positives), were either young or very stunted which made their selection by AC better than weight for height. The large number of cases detected by weight for age, but not by AC (false negative rate--40%) were, however, mostly beyond the critical age period and had normal weight for heights.^ The performance of AC, weight for height and weight for age under field conditions in the hands of minimally trained health workers was also analyzed by correlating these measurements against the same criterion measurements taken under ideally controlled conditions of the health post. AC had the highest correlation with itself indicating that it deteriorated the least in the move to the field. Moreover, there was a high correlation between AC in the field and criterion weight for height (0.7509); this correlation was almost as high as that for field weight for height versus the same measure in the health post (0.7588). The implication is that field errors are so great for the compounded weight for height variable that, in the field, AC is about as good a predictor of the ideal weight for height measure.^ Minimally trained health workers made more errors than the investigator as exemplified by their lower intra-observer correlation coefficients. They consistently measured larger than the investigator for all measures. Also there was a great deal of variability between these minimally trained workers indicating that careful training and followup is necessary for the success of the AC measure.^ AC has many practical advantages compared to the other anthropometric tools. It does not require age data, which are often unreliable in these settings, and does not require sophisticated subtraction and two dimensional table-handling skills that weight for age and weight for height require. The measure is also more easily applied with less disturbance to the child and the community. The AC tape is cheap and not easily damaged or jarred out of calibration while being transported in rugged settings, as is often the case with weight scales. Moreover, it can be kept in a health worker's pocket at all times for continual use in a widespread range of settings. ^

Administration of misoprostol by trained traditional birth attendants to prevent postpartum haemorrhage in homebirths in Pakistan: a randomised placebo-controlled trial

Gynuity