Regular physical activity reduces falls, hip fractures, and all-cause mortality, but physical activity levels are low in older age groups.
To evaluate two exercise programmes promoting physical ...activity among older people.
Pragmatic three-arm, parallel-design cluster randomised controlled trial involving 1256 people aged ≥65 years (of 20 507 invited) recruited from 43 general practices in London, Nottingham, and Derby.
Practices were randomised to the class-based Falls Management Exercise programme (FaME), the home-based Otago Exercise Program (OEP), or usual care. The primary outcome was the proportion reaching the recommended physical activity target 12 months post-intervention. Secondary outcomes included falls, quality of life, balance confidence, and costs.
In total, 49% of FaME participants reached the physical activity target compared with 38% for usual care (adjusted odds ratio 1.78, 95% confidence interval CI =1.11 to 2.87, P = 0.02). Differences between FaME and usual care persisted 24 months after intervention. There was no significant difference comparing those in the OEP (43% reaching target at 12 months) and usual-care arms. Participants in the FaME arm added around 15 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day to their baseline level; this group also had a significantly lower rate of falls (incident rate ratio 0.74, 95% CI = 0.55 to 0.99, P = 0.042). Balance confidence was significantly improved in both intervention arms. The mean cost per extra person achieving the physical activity target was £1740. Attrition and rates of adverse reactions were similar.
The FaME programme increases self-reported physical activity for at least 12 months post-intervention and reduces falls in people aged ≥65 years, but uptake is low. There was no statistically significant difference in reaching the target, or in falls, between the OEP and usual-care arms.
Ice streams that flow into Ross Ice Shelf are underlain by water-saturated sediments, a dynamic hydrological system, and subglacial lakes that intermittently discharge water downstream across ...grounding zones of West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS). A 2.06 m composite sediment profile was recently recovered from Mercer Subglacial Lake, a 15 m deep water cavity beneath a 1087 m thick portion of the Mercer Ice Stream. We examined microbial abundances, used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to assess community structures, and characterized extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) associated with distinct lithologic units in the sediments. Bacterial and archaeal communities in the surficial sediments are more abundant and diverse, with significantly different compositions from those found deeper in the sediment column. The most abundant taxa are related to chemolithoautotrophs capable of oxidizing reduced nitrogen, sulfur, and iron compounds with oxygen, nitrate, or iron. Concentrations of dissolved methane and total organic carbon together with water content in the sediments are the strongest predictors of taxon and community composition. δ¹³C values for EPS (-25 to -30‰) are consistent with the primary source of carbon for biosynthesis originating from legacy marine organic matter. Comparison of communities to those in lake sediments under an adjacent ice stream (Whillans Subglacial Lake) and near its grounding zone provide seminal evidence for a subglacial metacommunity that is biogeochemically and evolutionarily linked through ice sheet dynamics and the transport of microbes, water, and sediments beneath WAIS.
This manuscript includes findings from field and numerical modeling investigations designed to quantify the degree and rates of biogenic hydrocarbon chemical processing within and above a mixed ...deciduous forest in the southeastern United States. The study site was under the influences of nitrogen oxide and hydrocarbon emissions from suburban automobile traffic. The most common ambient biogenic hydrocarbons measured within and above the forest included isoprene, α-pinene, and d-limonene. Isoprene was the most abundantly produced biogenic hydrocarbon, with maximum isoprene flux densities reaching 50 nmol m^sup -2^ s^sup -1^. Isoprene and its reaction products (methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein) comprised over 75% of the measured hydrocarbon mass. Substantial nitrate (NO^sub 3^) and hydroxyl (HO) radical formation occurred within the forest canopy, with maximum NO^sub 3^ and HO levels approaching 1 part per trillion on a volume basis (pptv) and 0.05 pptv, respectively. These NO^sub 3^ and HO levels, combined with within-canopy ozone (O^sub 3^) mixing ratios of 60 parts per billion (ppbv), reacted with biogenic hydrocarbons and produced substantial amounts (0.6 ppbv) of peroxy radicals. The main conclusion from this investigation is that forested ecosystems capable of high rates (>50 nmol m^sup -2^ s^sup -1^) of biogenic hydrocarbon emissions, and in the vicinity of modest rates of nitrogen oxide emissions from suburban automobile traffic, can support a unique and active photochemistry within the forest canopy. In these areas it may not be valid to use biogenic emissions estimated from measurements made at the foliage level for regional-scale air quality modeling because the underlying processes are nonlinear. Regional-scale air quality models should include chemical preprocessing of biogenic hydrocarbons before they are emitted to the full regional modeling grid in order to accurately represent the photochemical production of pollutants on the wider scale.PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
Tick and mosquito repellent essential oil extracted from Lindera melissifolia, a representative of the USDA’s endangered plant species located in Southeastern United States. Display omitted
► ...Utilization of products from endangered or threatened plants can support their conservation. ► The essential oil of Lindera melissifolia repelled ticks in a dose dependent manner. ► Fractional freezing enabled the enrichment of tick repellent components in the essential oil. ► NMR and MS analysis of repellent fractions identified four potentially new tick repellent leads.
The number of endangered plant species in the U.S. is significant, yet studies aimed towards utilizing these plants are limited. Ticks and mosquitoes are vectors of significant pathogenic diseases of humans. Repellents are critical means of personal protection against biting arthropods and disease transmission. The essential oil and solvent extracts from Lindera melissifolia (Walt.) Blume (Lauraceae) (pondberry) drupes were gathered and analyzed by GC and GC–MS. The essential oil obtained from this endangered plant showed a significant dose dependent repellency of ticks and a moderate mosquito repellent effect while the subsequent hexanes extract was completely ineffective. Fractional freezing enriched the tick repellent components of the essential oil. Several known tick repellent components were recognized by the GC–MS comparison of the resulting fractions and β-caryophyllene, α-humulene, germacrene D and β-elemene warrant evaluations for tick repellency. Identifying pondberry as a potential renewable source for a broad spectrum repellent supports efforts to conserve similar U.S. endangered or threatened plant species.
Herein we report the discovery of a cystine-crosslinked peptide from Porifera along with high-quality spatial details accompanied by the description of its unique effect on neuronal calcium influx.
...Asteropsin A (ASPA) was isolated from the marine sponge Asteropus sp., and its structure was independently determined using X-ray crystallography (0.87Å) and solution NMR spectroscopy.
An N-terminal pyroglutamate modification, uncommon cis proline conformations, and absence of basic residues helped distinguish ASPA from other cystine-crosslinked knot peptides. ASPA enhanced Ca2+ influx in murine cerebrocortical neuron cells following the addition of the Na+ channel activator veratridine but did not modify the oscillation frequency or amplitude of neuronal Ca2+ currents alone. Allosterism at neurotoxin site 2 was not observed, suggesting an alternative to the known Na+ channel interaction.
Together with a distinct biological activity, the origin of ASPA suggests a new subclass of cystine-rich knot peptides associated with Porifera.
The discovery of ASPA represents a distinctive addition to an emerging subclass of cystine-crosslinked knot peptides from Porifera.
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► Considerable yield of unusual cystine knot from sponge. ► Enhanced Ca2+ influx during veratridine-induced Na+ channel activation. ► Uncommon X-ray crystal and NMR solution structure for bioactive knot peptide. ► Peptide sequence, structure and bioactivity suggest new peptide subclass from sponges.
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