Stevens, CJ, Bennett, KJM, Sculley, DV, Callister, R, Taylor, L, and Dascombe, BJ. A comparison of mixed-method cooling interventions on preloaded running performance in the heat. J Strength Cond Res ...31(3): 620-629, 2017-The purpose of this investigation was to assess the effect of combining practical methods to cool the body on endurance running performance and physiology in the heat. Eleven trained male runners completed 4 randomized, preloaded running time trials (20 minutes at 70% VCombining Dot AboveO2max and a 3 km time trial) on a nonmotorized treadmill in the heat (33° C). Trials consisted of precooling by combined cold-water immersion and ice slurry ingestion (PRE), midcooling by combined facial water spray and menthol mouth rinse (MID), a combination of all methods (ALL), and control (CON). Performance time was significantly faster in MID (13.7 ± 1.2 minutes; p < 0.01) and ALL (13.7 ± 1.4 minutes; p = 0.04) but not PRE (13.9 ± 1.4 minutes; p = 0.24) when compared with CON (14.2 ± 1.2 minutes). Precooling significantly reduced rectal temperature (initially by 0.5 ± 0.2° C), mean skin temperature, heart rate and sweat rate, and increased iEMG activity, whereas midcooling significantly increased expired air volume and respiratory exchange ratio compared with control. Significant decreases in forehead temperature, thermal sensation, and postexercise blood prolactin concentration were observed in all conditions compared with control. Performance was improved with midcooling, whereas precooling had little or no influence. Midcooling may have improved performance through an attenuated inhibitory psychophysiological and endocrine response to the heat.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intramammary treatment with ceftiofur hydrochloride of nonsevere, clinical coliform mastitis. One hundred four cases on 5 farms met the ...enrollment criteria for the study. Escherichia coli was the most common coliform species identified in milk samples from cows with mild to moderate clinical mastitis, followed by Klebsiella spp. and Enterobacter spp. At enrollment, a milk sample from the affected quarter was taken and used for on-farm culture or submitted to the laboratory. For cows in the treatment group, treatment was initiated with ceftiofur hydrochloride via intramammary infusion at 24-h intervals for 5 d according to label standards. Cows in the control group did not receive treatment. Culture results were available on the day after enrollment and only cows with coliform mastitis continued in the treatment and untreated control groups. Bacteriological cure was defined based on 2 posttreatment milk samples. Molecular typing was used for final definition of bacteriological cure. Treatment of nonsevere clinical gram-negative mastitis with ceftiofur hydrochloride resulted in a significant increase in bacteriological cure compared with nontreated controls in animals infected with E. coli or Klebsiella spp. Treated animals clinically improved significantly more compared with control cows. No significant differences were observed between treated and control animals in milk production or linear score before or after clinical mastitis. Treated animals left the study less frequently compared with control animals.
The antiplatelet drug clopidogrel is a new thienopyridine derivative whose mechanism of action and chemical structure are similar to those of ticlopidine. The estimated incidence of ...ticlopidine-associated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is 1 per 1600 to 5000 patients treated, whereas no clopidogrel-associated cases were observed among 20,000 closely monitored patients treated in phase 3 clinical trials and cohort studies. Because of the association between ticlopidine use and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura and other adverse effects, clopidogrel has largely replaced ticlopidine in clinical practice. More than 3 million patients have received clopidogrel. We report the clinical and laboratory findings in 11 patients in whom thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura developed during or soon after treatment with clopidogrel.
The 11 patients were identified by active surveillance by the medical directors of blood banks (3 patients), hematologists (6), and the manufacturer of clopidogrel (2).
Ten of the 11 patients received clopidogrel for 14 days or less before the onset of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Although 10 of the 11 patients had a response to plasma exchange, 2 required 20 or more exchanges before clinical improvement occurred, and 2 had relapses while not receiving clopidogrel. One patient died despite undergoing plasma exchange soon after diagnosis.
Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura can occur after the initiation of clopidogrel therapy, often within the first two weeks of treatment. Physicians should be aware of the possibility of this syndrome when initiating clopidogrel treatment.
Manipulations of voice pitch have been shown to alter attractiveness ratings, but whether preferences extend to very low or very high voice pitch is unknown. Here, we manipulated voice pitch in ...averaged men's and women's voices by 2 Hz intervals to create a range of male and female voices speaking monopthong vowel sounds and spanning a range of frequencies from normal to very low and very high pitch. With these voices, we used the method of constant stimuli to measure preferences for voice. Nineteen university students (ages: 20-25) participated in three experiments. On average, men preferred high-pitched women's voices to low-pitched women's voices across all frequencies tested. On average, women preferred men's voices lowered in pitch, but did not prefer very low men's voices. The results of this study may reflect selection pressures for men's and women's voices, and shed light on a perceptual link between voice pitch and vocal attractiveness.
The objectives of this study were to evaluate the methodological quality of rigorous neuropathic pain assessment tools in applicable clinical studies, and determine the performance of screening tools ...for identifying neuropathic pain in patients with cancer.
Systematic literature search identified studies reporting use of Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs (LANSS), Douleur Neuropathique en 4 (DN4) or painDETECT (PDQ) in cancer patients with a clinical diagnosis of neuropathic or not neuropathic pain. Individual patient data were requested to examine descriptor item profiles.
Six studies recruited a total of 2301 cancer patients of which 1564 (68%) reported pain. Overall accuracy of screening tools ranged from 73 to 94%. There was variation in description and rigour of clinical assessment, particularly related to the rigour of clinical judgement of pain as the reference standard. Individual data from 1351 patients showed large variation in the selection of neuropathic pain descriptor items by cancer patients with neuropathic pain. LANSS and DN4 items characterized a significantly different neuropathic pain symptom profile from non-neuropathic pain in both tumour- and treatment-related cancer pain aetiologies.
We identified concordance between the clinician diagnosis and screening tool outcomes for LANSS, DN4 and PDQ in patients with cancer pain. Shortcomings in relation to standardized clinician assessment are likely to account for variation in screening tool sensitivity, which should include the use of the neuropathic pain grading system. Further research is needed to standardize and improve clinical assessment in patients with cancer pain. Until the standardization of clinical diagnosis for neuropathic cancer pain has been validated, screening tools offer a practical approach to identify potential cases of neuropathic cancer pain.
In humans, mutations in D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2HG) dehydrogenase (D2HGDH) result in D-2HG accumulation, delayed development, seizures, and ataxia. While the mechanisms of 2HG-associated diseases ...have been studied extensively, the endogenous metabolism of D-2HG remains unclear in any organism. Here, we find that, in Caenorhabditis elegans, D-2HG is produced in the propionate shunt, which is transcriptionally activated when flux through the canonical, vitamin B12-dependent propionate breakdown pathway is perturbed. Loss of the D2HGDH ortholog, dhgd-1, results in embryonic lethality, mitochondrial defects, and the up-regulation of ketone body metabolism genes. Viability can be rescued by RNAi of hphd-1, which encodes the enzyme that produces D-2HG or by supplementing either vitamin B12 or the ketone bodies 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) and acetoacetate (AA). Altogether, our findings support a model in which C. elegans relies on ketone bodies for energy when vitamin B12 levels are low and in which a loss of dhgd-1 causes lethality by limiting ketone body production.
Since the launch of Ecology Letters in 1998, the field of Pollination Ecology has changed considerably in its focus. In this review, we discuss the major discoveries across the past two decades. We ...quantitatively synthesise the frequency by which different concepts and topics appeared in the peer‐reviewed literature, as well as the connections between these topics. We then look forward to identify pressing research frontiers and opportunities for additional integration in the future. We find that there has been a shift towards viewing plant–pollinator interactions as networks and towards understanding how global drivers influence the plants, pollinators and the ecosystem service of pollination. Future frontiers include moving towards a macroecological view of plant–pollinator interactions, understanding how ecological intensification and urbanisation will influence pollination, considering other interactions, such as plant–microbe–pollinator networks, and understanding the causes and consequences of extinctions. Pollination Ecology is poised to advance our basic understanding of the ecological and evolutionary factors that shape plant–animal interactions and to create applied knowledge that informs conservation decision making.
A diagnosis of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) requires a count of over 5000 circulating CLL-phenotype cells per cubic millimeter. Asymptomatic persons with fewer CLL-phenotype cells have ...monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis (MBL). The goal of this study was to investigate the relation between MBL and CLL.
We investigated 1520 subjects who were 62 to 80 years of age with a normal blood count and 2228 subjects with lymphocytosis (>4000 lymphocytes per cubic millimeter) for the presence of MBL, using flow cytometry. Monoclonal B cells were further characterized by means of cytogenetic and molecular analyses. A representative cohort of 185 subjects with CLL-phenotype MBL and lymphocytosis were monitored for a median of 6.7 years (range, 0.2 to 11.8).
Monoclonal CLL-phenotype B cells were detected in 5.1% of subjects (78 of 1520) with a normal blood count and 13.9% (309 of 2228) with lymphocytosis. CLL-phenotype MBL had a frequency of 13q14 deletion and trisomy 12 similar to that of CLL and showed a skewed repertoire of the immunoglobulin heavy variable group (IGHV) genes. Among 185 subjects presenting with lymphocytosis, progressive lymphocytosis occurred in 51 (28%), progressive CLL developed in 28 (15%), and chemotherapy was required in 13 (7%). The absolute B-cell count was the only independent prognostic factor associated with progressive lymphocytosis. During follow-up over a median of 6.7 years, 34% of subjects (62 of 185) died, but only 4 of these deaths were due to CLL. Age above 68 years and hemoglobin level below 12.5 g per deciliter were the only independent prognostic factors for death.
The CLL-phenotype cells found in the general population and in subjects with lymphocytosis have features in common with CLL cells. CLL requiring treatment develops in subjects with CLL-phenotype MBL and with lymphocytosis at the rate of 1.1% per year.
The current study explored the association between talent pool size and relative age effects in Football Australia's talent pathway. It also compared relative age effects between male and female ...players. Participants were 54,207 youth football players (females: n = 12,527, age-range = 14.0-15.9; males: n = 41,680, age-range = 13.0-14.9) eligible for the National Youth Championships. We developed linear regression models to examine the association between the member federation size and the probability of a player being born earlier in the year. We also analysed selection probabilities based on birth quartile and year half across three layers. Overall, talent pool size was associated with a higher probability of selecting a player born in the first half of the year over the second. More specifically, an increase of 760 players led to a 1% higher selection probability for those born in the first six months of a chronological age group. In addition, there were more occurrences of relative age effects in the male than the female sample. Future studies should focus on the impact of the talent pool size on relative age effects at each major talent identification/selection stage of a talent pathway.
We describe how strong resonant interactions in multimode optomechanical systems can be used to induce controlled nonlinear couplings between single photons and phonons. Combined with linear mapping ...schemes between photons and phonons, these techniques provide a universal building block for various classical and quantum information processing applications. Our approach is especially suited for nano-optomechanical devices, where strong optomechanical interactions on a single photon level are within experimental reach.
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