Reliability and Validity of Ratings of Perceived Exertion in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: To test the reliability and validity of using the Borg rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale (ratings 6e20) in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Design: Nonrandomized repeated measures. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Volunteer sample (N=27) comprised of 16 PwMS (10 women) and 11 age-matched persons without multiple sclerosis (MS) (6 women). Clinical measures included symptomatic fatigue, depression, and MS functional capacity. Interventions: A submaximal cycling test was performed to estimate maximal capacity. Participants then pedaled for 2 minutes at 50% and 60% of predicted maximal oxygen consumption per unit time (V̇O2), and physiological measures and RPE were obtained (week 1: response protocol). One week later, participants replicated the prescribed V̇O2 using the RPE range from week 1 (week 2: reproduction protocol). V̇O2, heart rate, and respiratory quotient were measured continuously; RPE and workload were measured every minute; and blood lactate and mean arterial pressure were measured after exercise. Main Outcome Measures: RPE, workload, V̇O2, and heart rate from week 1 to week 2. Results: PwMS had greater fatigue (P2, and heart rate were similar between groups. Both groups had an intraclass correlation coefficient \u3e.86 for RPE, workload, and V̇O2. The intraclass correlation coefficient was comparatively lower for heart rate for both groups (MS group: .72, non-MS group: .83). RPE was highly correlated with V̇O2(rZ.691, P Conclusions: Results suggest that RPE can be reliably reproduced, is valid, and may be used in exercise prescription in mildly to moderately impaired PwMS during cycling exercise

Levels of Ca\u3csub\u3ev\u3c/sub\u3e1.2 L-Type Ca\u3csup\u3e2+\u3c/sup\u3e Channels Peak in the First Two Weeks in Rat Hippocampus Whereas Ca\u3csub\u3ev\u3c/sub\u3e1.3 Channels Steadily Increase through Development

Influx of calcium through voltage-dependent channels regulates processes throughout the nervous system. Specifically, influx through L-type channels plays a variety of roles in early neuronal development and is commonly modulated by G-protein-coupled receptors such as GABAB receptors. Of the four isoforms of L-type channels, only Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 are predominately expressed in the nervous system. Both isoforms are inhibited by the same pharmacological agents, so it has been difficult to determine the role of specific isoforms in physiological processes. In the present study, Western blot analysis and confocal microscopy were utilized to study developmental expression levels and patterns of Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 in the CA1 region of rat hippocampus. Steady-state expression of Cav1.2 predominated during the early neonatal period decreasing by day 12. Steady-state expression of Cav1.3 was low at birth and gradually rose to adult levels by postnatal day 15. In immunohistochemical studies, antibodies against Cav1.2 and Cav1.3 demonstrated the highest intensity of labeling in the proximal dendrites at all ages studied (P1–72). Immunohistochemical studies on one-week-old hippocampi demonstrated significantly more colocalization of GABAB receptors with Cav1.2 than with Cav1.3, suggesting that modulation of L-type calcium current in early development is mediated through Cav1.2 channels

Modeling and predicting the shape of the far-infrared to submillimeter emission in ultra-compact HII regions and cold clumps

Dust properties are very likely affected by the environment in which dust grains evolve. For instance, some analyses of cold clumps (7 K- 17 K) indicate that the aggregation process is favored in dense environments. However, studying warm (30 K-40 K) dust emission at long wavelength ($\lambda$$>$300 $\mu$m) has been limited because it is difficult to combine far infared-to-millimeter (FIR-to-mm) spectral coverage and high angular resolution for observations of warm dust grains. Using Herschel data from 70 to 500 $\mu$m, which are part of the Herschel infrared Galactic (Hi-GAL) survey combined with 1.1 mm data from the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey (BGPS), we compared emission in two types of environments: ultra-compact HII (UCHII) regions, and cold molecular clumps (denoted as cold clumps). With this comparison we tested dust emission models in the FIR-to-mm domain that reproduce emission in the diffuse medium, in these two environments (UCHII regions and cold clumps). We also investigated their ability to predict the dust emission in our Galaxy. We determined the emission spectra in twelve UCHII regions and twelve cold clumps, and derived the dust temperature (T) using the recent two-level system (TLS) model with three sets of parameters and the so-called T-$\beta$ (temperature-dust emissvity index) phenomenological models, with $\beta$ set to 1.5, 2 and 2.5. We tested the applicability of the TLS model in warm regions for the first time. This analysis indicates distinct trends in the dust emission between cold and warm environments that are visible through changes in the dust emissivity index. However, with the use of standard parameters, the TLS model is able to reproduce the spectral behavior observed in cold and warm regions, from the change of the dust temperature alone, whereas a T-$\beta$ model requires $\beta$ to be known.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 19 pages, 8 figures, 7 table

Gaseous Electronics

Contains reports on one research project.Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DA 36-039-AMC-03200(E

Extinction and Distance to Anomalous X-ray Pulsars from X-ray Scattering Halos

We analyze the X-ray scattering halos around three Galactic Anomalous X-ray Pulsars (AXPs) in order to constrain the distance and the optical extinction of each source. We obtain surface brightness distributions from EPIC-pn data obtained with XMM-Newton, compare the profiles of different sources, and fit them with a model based on the standard theory of X-ray scattering by dust grains, both for a uniform distribution of dust along the line of sight, and for dust distributions constrained by previous measurements. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that for all three sources, the uniform distribution reproduces the observed surface brightness as well as or better than the distributions that are informed by previous constraints. Nevertheless, the inferred total dust columns are robust, and serve to confirm that previous measurements based on interstellar edges in high-resolution X-ray spectra and on modelling of broad-band X-ray spectra were reliable. Specifically, we find Av ~= 4, 6, and 8 mag for 4U 0142+61, 1E 1048.1-5937, and 1RXS J170849.0-400910, respectively. For 1E 1048.1-5937, this is well in excess of the extinction expected towards a HI bubble along the line of sight, thus casting further doubt on the suggested association with the source.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure