Relationship of VO2 Peak, Body Fat Percentage, and Power Output Measured During Repeated Bouts of a Wingate Protocol

The principle of specificity would indicate that being aerobically trained would not necessarily enhance performance in events relying principally on oxygen-independent metabolic pathways (i.e. “anaerobic” exercise). Body fatness may be associated with aerobic and anaerobic performance. VO2 Peak was determined with a graded cycle ergometry and, in a separate session 4 consecutive Wingate power tests (3 min recovery) in 31 males. Pearson correlations were calculated for VO2 Peak and Body Fat Percentage with Peak Power, Mean Power, Minimum Power, Fatigue Index, Peak Heart Rate, and Recovery Heart Rate. No significant correlations were found for VO2 Peak or Body Fat Percentage with Peak Power on any bout (p\u3e0.05). Significant correlations were found for VO2 Peak and Body Fat Percentage with Mean Power, Minimum Power, and Fatigue Index. Significant correlations were found for VO2 Peak with delta values of power performance and heart rates (peak and 3 min recovery). Results indicate that VO2 Peak is associated with repeated anaerobic performance, possibly due to greater capacity to recover between bouts. Body Fat Percentage was correlated with measures of power performance (strongest relationships existing in the earlier bouts), but is not strongly correlated with either the heart rate response to power performance or the change in performance over successive bouts

Dealing with False Memories in Children and Adults: Recommendations for the Legal Arena

Children are often viewed as poor eyewitnesses. Fact-finders, lawyers, and researchers assume that children are exceptionally prone to accept external suggestive (leading) questions and to create false memories. Is this assumption justified? This review will show it is not. First, studies on spontaneous false memories— elicited without any suggestive pressure—reveal that children are less likely than adults to produce them. Second, under certain circumstances, children are even less prone to accept external suggestions than adults. This counterintuitive finding happens when false suggestions contain information that is associatively related but in actuality not experienced by children or adults. Using empirically-based interview protocols can maximize the retrieval of accurate memories in children and adults. Furthermore, expert witnesses should use alternative scenarios in order to better evaluate whether statements by children or adults are based on truth or fiction

Development of a decision aid to inform patients' and families' renal replacement therapy selection decisions.

BACKGROUND: Few educational resources have been developed to inform patients' renal replacement therapy (RRT) selection decisions. Patients progressing toward end stage renal disease (ESRD) must decide among multiple treatment options with varying characteristics. Complex information about treatments must be adequately conveyed to patients with different educational backgrounds and informational needs. Decisions about treatment options also require family input, as families often participate in patients' treatment and support patients' decisions. We describe the development, design, and preliminary evaluation of an informational, evidence-based, and patient-and family-centered decision aid for patients with ESRD and varying levels of health literacy, health numeracy, and cognitive function. METHODS: We designed a decision aid comprising a complementary video and informational handbook. We based our development process on data previously obtained from qualitative focus groups and systematic literature reviews. We simultaneously developed the video and handbook in "stages." For the video, stages included (1) directed interviews with culturally appropriate patients and families and preliminary script development, (2) video production, and (3) screening the video with patients and their families. For the handbook, stages comprised (1) preliminary content design, (2) a mixed-methods pilot study among diverse patients to assess comprehension of handbook material, and (3) screening the handbook with patients and their families. RESULTS: The video and handbook both addressed potential benefits and trade-offs of treatment selections. The 50-minute video consisted of demographically diverse patients and their families describing their positive and negative experiences with selecting a treatment option. The video also incorporated health professionals' testimonials regarding various considerations that might influence patients' and families' treatment selections. The handbook was comprised of written words, pictures of patients and health care providers, and diagrams describing the findings and quality of scientific studies comparing treatments. The handbook text was written at a 4th to 6th grade reading level. Pilot study results demonstrated that a majority of patients could understand information presented in the handbook. Patient and families screening the nearly completed video and handbook reviewed the materials favorably. CONCLUSIONS: This rigorously designed decision aid may help patients and families make informed decisions about their treatment options for RRT that are well aligned with their values

The providing resources to enhance African American patients' readiness to make decisions about kidney disease (PREPARED) study: protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Living related kidney transplantation (LRT) is underutilized, particularly among African Americans. The effectiveness of informational and financial interventions to enhance informed decision-making among African Americans with end stage renal disease (ESRD) and improve rates of LRT is unknown. METHODS/DESIGN: We report the protocol of the Providing Resources to Enhance African American Patients' Readiness to Make Decisions about Kidney Disease (PREPARED) Study, a two-phase study utilizing qualitative and quantitative research methods to design and test the effectiveness of informational (focused on shared decision-making) and financial interventions to overcome barriers to pursuit of LRT among African American patients and their families. Study Phase I involved the evidence-based development of informational materials as well as a financial intervention to enhance African American patients' and families' proficiency in shared decision-making regarding LRT. In Study Phase 2, we are currently conducting a randomized controlled trial in which patients with new-onset ESRD receive 1) usual dialysis care by their nephrologists, 2) the informational intervention (educational video and handbook), or 3) the informational intervention in addition to the option of participating in a live kidney donor financial assistance program. The primary outcome of the randomized controlled trial will include patients' self-reported rates of consideration of LRT (including family discussions of LRT, patient-physician discussions of LRT, and identification of a LRT donor). DISCUSSION: Results from the PREPARED study will provide needed evidence on ways to enhance the decision to pursue LRT among African American patients with ESRD

Effect of substrate thermal resistance on space-domain microchannel

In recent years, Fluorescent Melting Curve Analysis (FMCA) has become an almost ubiquitous feature of commercial quantitative PCR (qPCR) thermal cyclers. Here a micro-fluidic device is presented capable of performing FMCA within a microchannel. The device consists of modular thermally conductive blocks which can sandwich a microfluidic substrate. Opposing ends of the blocks are held at differing temperatures and a linear thermal gradient is generated along the microfluidic channel. Fluorescent measurements taken from a sample as it passes along the micro-fluidic channel permits fluorescent melting curves to be generated. In this study we measure DNA melting temperature from two plasmid fragments. The effects of flow velocity and ramp-rate are investigated, and measured melting curves are compared to those acquired from a commercially available PCR thermocycler

Social Avatars and Future Boxing Identities

In 2020, video footage of Franchón Crews-Dezurn’s weave being forcibly removed from her head during a championship boxing match went viral on social media. A month later Deontay Wilder became an internet meme on account of the excuse he gave (the weight of his ring walk costume) for his first professional loss. In response to the incidents, Crews-Dezurn reclaimed ownership of the viral moment, patenting the hashtag associated with the clip and building a merchandising and branding campaign focused on challenging gendered narratives about Black female bodies and hair. A month after his incident, Wilder collaborated with AFROPOLiTAiN magazine in a photoshoot depicting him as an African king. We apply a reading of social avatars and futurism to these case studies. We argue perceptions of social avatars, as they pertain to both boxers, queer the hegemonic readings of their gendered and racial bodies.</p

Social Worker or Cop? Measuring the Supervision Styles of Probation & Parole Officers in Kentucky and Missouri

This study surveyed probation and parole officers in Missouri and Kentucky to determine their supervision styles along a “casework to surveillance” continuum. These self-ratings were correlated with officer self-reports of how they spend their time on the job engaged in various casework or surveillance activities. Additionally, volunteering officers were interviewed to provide clarification on their perceptions regarding the distinctions between a casework approach and a surveillance approach. Results indicate that officers spend more of their time engaged in casework activities, but perceive themselves as more surveillance oriented. Style varied significantly by sex of officer, with female officers spending significantly more time than male officers engaged in casework activities. Caseload size and type were related to style, as well. Interviews indicated that officers believe a surveillance style as necessary for community protection, but recognize the need for a balanced approach. This study has provided a way to quantify supervision styles and can be used to conduct future investigations about the impact of supervision style on client outcomes (i.e., successful reintegration or recidivism)

Mechanisms of neuroimmune gene induction in alcoholism

RationaleAlcoholism is a primary, chronic relapsing disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry. It is characterized by an individual’s continued drinking despite negative consequences related to alcohol use, which is exemplified by alcohol use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress. Chronic alcohol consumption increases the expression of innate immune signaling molecules (ISMs) in the brain that alter cognitive processes and promote alcohol drinking.ObjectivesUnraveling the mechanisms of alcohol-induced neuroimmune gene induction is complicated by positive loops of multiple cytokines and other signaling molecules that converge on nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells and activator protein-1 leading to induction of additional neuroimmune signaling molecules that amplify and expand the expression of ISMs.ResultsStudies from our laboratory employing reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to assess mRNA, immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis to assess protein expression, and others suggest that ethanol increases brain neuroimmune gene and protein expression through two distinct mechanisms involving (1) systemic induction of innate immune molecules that are transported from blood to the brain and (2) the direct release of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) from neurons in the brain. Released HMGB1 signals through multiple receptors, particularly Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4, that potentiate cytokine receptor responses leading to a hyperexcitable state that disrupts neuronal networks and increases excitotoxic neuronal death. Innate immune gene activation in brain is persistent, consistent with the chronic relapsing disease that is alcoholism. Expression of HMGB1, TLRs, and other ISMs is increased several-fold in the human orbital frontal cortex, and expression of these molecules is highly correlated with each other as well as lifetime alcohol consumption and age of drinking onset.ConclusionsThe persistent and cumulative nature of alcohol on HMGB1 and TLR gene induction support their involvement in alcohol-induced long-term changes in brain function and neurodegeneration

Supervision Styles in Probation and Parole: An Analysis of Activities

Supervision of offenders in the community remains a critical component of the correctional processes in the United States. With almost six million offenders under correctional supervision in the community, there has been relatively little attention and few resources devoted to the style and quality of supervision received by these offenders. As a result of the lack of research regarding the style of probation and parole supervision, there is a need to identify and quantify styles of casework and surveillance supervision. This article describes a research project that identifies the key functions of parole and probation officers, reports self- and peer-rating on a casework to surveillance continuum, and establishes an instrument that can be used to create baseline information regarding how probation and parole officers spend their time, and whether the functions officers perform are casework, surveillance, or a balance of the two