Aims/hypothesis
The aim of this study was to investigate whether small doses of intense exercise before each main meal (‘exercise snacks’) would result in better blood glucose control than a single ...bout of prolonged, continuous, moderate-intensity exercise in individuals with insulin resistance.
Methods
Nine individuals completed three exercise interventions in randomised order. Measures were recorded across 3 days with exercise performed on the middle day, as either: (1) traditional continuous exercise (CONT), comprising 30 min moderate-intensity (60% of maximal heart rate HR
max
) incline walking before dinner; (2) exercise snacking (ES), consisting of 6 × 1 min intense (90% HR
max
) incline walking intervals 30 min before each meal; or (3) composite exercise snacking (CES), encompassing 6 × 1 min intervals alternating between walking and resistance-based exercise, 30 min before meals. Meal timing and composition were controlled within participants for exercise interventions.
Results
ES attenuated mean 3 h postprandial glucose concentration following breakfast (by 1.4 ± 1.5 mmol/l,
p
= 0.02) but not lunch (0.4 ± 1.0 mmol/l,
p
= 0.22), and was more effective than CONT following dinner (0.7 ± 1.5 mmol/l below CONT;
p
= 0.04). ES also reduced 24 h mean glucose concentration by 0.7 ± 0.6 mmol/l (
p
= 0.01) and this reduction persisted for the subsequent 24 h (lower by 0.6 ± 0.4 mmol/l vs CONT, relative to their baselines;
p
= 0.01). CES was just as effective as ES (
p
> 0.05 for all glycaemic variables) at improving glycaemic control.
Conclusions/interpretation
Dosing exercise as brief, intense ‘exercise snacks’ before main meals is a time-efficient and effective approach to improve glycaemic control in individuals with insulin resistance.
Vaccination is an important preventive health measure to protect against symptomatic and severe COVID-19. Impaired immunity secondary to an underlying malignancy or recent receipt of antineoplastic ...systemic therapies can result in less robust antibody titers following vaccination and possible risk of breakthrough infection. As clinical trials evaluating COVID-19 vaccines largely excluded patients with a history of cancer and those on active immunosuppression (including chemotherapy), limited evidence is available to inform the clinical efficacy of COVID-19 vaccination across the spectrum of patients with cancer.
We describe the clinical features of patients with cancer who developed symptomatic COVID-19 following vaccination and compare weighted outcomes with those of contemporary unvaccinated patients, after adjustment for confounders, using data from the multi-institutional COVID-19 and Cancer Consortium (CCC19).
Patients with cancer who develop COVID-19 following vaccination have substantial comorbidities and can present with severe and even lethal infection. Patients harboring hematologic malignancies are over-represented among vaccinated patients with cancer who develop symptomatic COVID-19.
Vaccination against COVID-19 remains an essential strategy in protecting vulnerable populations, including patients with cancer. Patients with cancer who develop breakthrough infection despite full vaccination, however, remain at risk of severe outcomes. A multilayered public health mitigation approach that includes vaccination of close contacts, boosters, social distancing, and mask-wearing should be continued for the foreseeable future.
•Patients with cancer who develop breakthrough COVID-19 following full vaccination remain susceptible to severe outcomes.•Hematologic malignancies are over-represented among vaccinated patients with cancer who develop breakthrough COVID-19.•Vaccination of close contacts, masking, boosters, and social distancing are needed to protect patients with cancer.
The reliability of power in tests of physical performance affects the precision of assessment of athletes, patients, clients and study participants. In this meta-analytic review we identify the most ...reliable measures of power and the factors affecting reliability. Our measures of reliability were the typical (standard) error of measurement expressed as a coefficient of variation (CV) and the percent change in the mean between trials. We meta-analysed these measures for power or work from 101 studies of healthy adults. Measures and tests with the smallest CV in exercise of a given duration include field tests of sprint running (approximately 0.9%), peak power in an incremental test on a treadmill or cycle ergometer (approximately 0.9%), equivalent mean power in a constant-power test lasting 1 minute to 3 hours on a treadmill or cycle ergometer (0.9 to 2.0%), lactate-threshold power (approximately 1.5%), and jump height or distance (approximately 2.0%). The CV for mean power on isokinetic ergometers was relatively large (> 4%). CV were larger for nonathletes versus athletes (1.3 x), female versus male nonathletes (1.4 x), shorter (approximately 1-second) and longer (approximately 1-hour) versus 1-minute tests (< or = 1.6 x), and respiratory- versus ergometer-based measures of power (1.4 to 1.6 x). There was no clear-cut effect of time between trials. The importance of a practice trial was evident in studies with > 2 trials: the CV between the first 2 trials was 1.3 times the CV between subsequent trials; performance also improved by 1.2% between the first 2 trials but by only 0.2% between subsequent trials. These findings should help exercise practitioners and researchers select or design good measures and protocols for tests of physical performance.
Description of the NIF Laser Spaeth, M. L.; Manes, K. R.; Kalantar, D. H. ...
Fusion science and technology,
02/2016, Letnik:
69, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The possibility of imploding small capsules to produce mini-fusion explosions was explored soon after the first thermonuclear explosions in the early 1950s. Various technologies have been pursued to ...achieve the focused power and energy required for laboratory-scale fusion. Each technology has its own challenges. For example, electron and ion beams can deliver the large amounts of energy but must contend with Coulomb repulsion forces that make focusing these beams a daunting challenge. The demonstration of the first laser in 1960 provided a new option. Energy from laser beams can be focused and deposited within a small volume; the challenge became whether a practical laser system can be constructed that delivers the power and energy required while meeting all other demands for achieving a high-density, symmetric implosion. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) is the laser designed and built to meet the challenges for study of high-energy-density physics and inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions. This paper describes the architecture, systems, and subsystems of NIF. It describes how they partner with each other to meet these new, complex demands and describes how laser science and technology were woven together to bring NIF into reality.
Hyperacute rejection of porcine organs by old world primate recipients is mediated through preformed antibodies against galactosyl-α-1,3-galactose (Galα-1,3-Gal) epitopes expressed on the pig cell ...surface. Previously, we generated inbred miniature swine with a null allele of the α-1,3-galactosyltransferase locus (GGTA1) by nuclear transfer (NT) with gene-targeted fibroblasts. To expedite the generation of GGTA1 null pigs, we selected spontaneous null mutant cells from fibroblast cultures of heterozygous animals for use in another round of NT. An unexpectedly high rate of spontaneous loss of GGTA1 function was observed, with the vast majority of null cells resulting from loss of the WT allele. Healthy piglets, hemizygous and homozygous for the gene-targeted allele, were produced by NT by using fibroblasts that had undergone deletional and crossover/gene conversion events, respectively. Aside from loss of Galα-1,3-Gal epitopes, there were no obvious phenotypic differences between these null piglets and WT piglets from the same inbred lines. In fact, congenital abnormalities observed in the heterozygous NT animals did not reappear in the serially produced null animals.
For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, ...an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin “burn propagation” into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While “scientific breakeven” (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this work reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion.
A growing number of apps to support good mental health and well-being are available on digital platforms. However, very few studies have examined older adults' attitudes toward the use of these apps, ...despite increasing uptake of digital technologies by this demographic.
This study sought to explore older adults' perspectives on technology to support good mental health.
A total of 15 older adults aged 50 years or older, in two groups, participated in sessions to explore the use of digital technologies to support mental health. Interactive activities were designed to capture participants' immediate reactions to apps and websites designed to support mental health and to explore their experiences of using technology for these purposes in their own lives. Template analysis was used to analyze transcripts of the group discussions.
Older adults were motivated to turn to technology to improve mood through mechanisms of distraction, normalization, and facilitated expression of mental states, while aiming to reduce burden on others. Perceived barriers to use included fear of consequences and the impact of low mood on readiness to engage with technology, as well as a lack of prior knowledge applicable to digital technologies. Participants were aware of websites available to support mental health, but awareness alone did not motivate use.
Older adults are motivated to use digital technologies to improve their mental health, but barriers remain that developers need to address for this population to access them.
The white light during M dwarf flares has long been known to exhibit the broadband shape of a
T
≈10 000 K blackbody, and the white light in solar-flares is thought to arise primarily from hydrogen ...recombination. Yet, a current lack of broad-wavelength coverage solar flare spectra in the optical/near-UV region prohibits a direct comparison of the continuum properties to determine if they are indeed so different. New spectroscopic observations of a secondary flare during the decay of a megaflare on the dM4.5e star YZ CMi have revealed multiple components in the white-light continuum of stellar flares, including both a blackbody-like spectrum and a hydrogen-recombination spectrum. One of the most surprising findings is that these two components are anti-correlated in their temporal evolution. We combine initial phenomenological modeling of the continuum components with spectra from radiative hydrodynamic models to show that continuum veiling causes the measured anti-correlation. This modeling allows us to use the components’ inferred properties to predict how a similar spatially resolved, multiple-component, white-light continuum might appear using analogies to several solar-flare phenomena. We also compare the properties of the optical stellar flare white light to Ellerman bombs on the Sun.
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