The Effect of L-citrulline and Watermelon Juice on Anaerobic and Aerobic Exercise Performance

1Gadomski, S., 1Cutrufello, P., 2Zavorsky G., & 1Demkosky, C., 1University of Scranton, Scranton, PA, 2University of Louisville, Louisville, KY Citrulline has been proposed as an ergogenic aid because of its role in both ammonia detoxification and nitric oxide production. Watermelon juice has garnered recent media attention due to its citrulline concentration, yet no study has examined watermelon juice and exercise performance. Purpose: Determine the effects of a practical, single, pre-exercise dose of L-citrulline or watermelon juice on maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), time to exhaustion (TE), the total maximum number of repetitions completed over 5 sets (REPS), and flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD). Methods: A randomized within-subjects study design was used to examine the effects of L-citrulline and watermelon juice supplementation among twenty-two college-aged subjects (11 females; 11 males). Each subject participated in three trials where supplementation included either an 8% sucrose drink containing a 6g dose of L-citrulline, 24 oz. of watermelon juice (̴1.3 g citrulline), or an 8% sucrose placebo drink. Supplementation was administered 1 or 2 h prior to exercise testing in order to investigate a timing effect. VO2max was assessed using an incremental treadmill protocol while the total number of repetitions completed over 5 sets (30 sec rest) was determined at 80% repetition maximum on a machine bench press. FMD was examined prior to supplementation and immediately before exercise testing using ultrasound. Results: Supplementation failed to have an effect on VO2max, TTE, REPS, or FMD. There was also no interaction observed relative to gender or supplement timing (p \u3e 0.05). Conclusion: A single dose of L-citrulline or watermelon juice as a pre-exercise supplement appears to be ineffective in improving aerobic or anaerobic exercise performance. Research funded by an internal research grant from The University of Scranton (840690

Evaluation of Muscle Imbalances and the Presence of Upper- and Lower-Crossed Syndromes among Powerlifters

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Maternal cocaine administration in mice alters DNA methylation and gene expression in hippocampal neurons of neonatal and prepubertal offspring

Previous studies documented significant behavioral changes in the offspring of cocaine-exposed mothers. We now explore the hypothesis that maternal cocaine exposure could alter the fetal epigenetic machinery sufficiently to cause lasting neurochemical and functional changes in the offspring. Pregnant CD1 mice were administered either saline or 20 mg/kg cocaine twice daily on gestational days 8-19. Male pups from each of ten litters of the cocaine and control groups were analyzed at 3 (P3) or 30 (P30) days postnatum. Global DNA methylation, methylated DNA immunoprecipitation followed by CGI(2) microarray profiling and bisulfite sequencing, as well as quantitative real-time RT-PCR gene expression analysis, were evaluated in hippocampal pyramidal neurons excised by laser capture microdissection. Following maternal cocaine exposure, global DNA methylation was significantly decreased at P3 and increased at P30. Among the 492 CGIs whose methylation was significantly altered by cocaine at P3, 34% were hypermethylated while 66% were hypomethylated. Several of these CGIs contained promoter regions for genes implicated in crucial cellular functions. Endogenous expression of selected genes linked to the abnormally methylated CGIs was correspondingly decreased or increased by as much as 4-19-fold. By P30, some of the cocaine-associated effects at P3 endured, reversed to opposite directions, or disappeared. Further, additional sets of abnormally methylated targets emerged at P30 that were not observed at P3. Taken together, these observations indicate that maternal cocaine exposure during the second and third trimesters of gestation could produce potentially profound structural and functional modifications in the epigenomic programs of neonatal and prepubertal mice

The Effects of Self-Selected Music on Exercise Performance

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Arming Agents or Assailants? A Principal-Agent Approach to Examining US Military Aid and Repression

The United States provides billions of dollars each year in military assistance to foreign nations, yet we know very little about how aid affects recipients. This dissertation considers the impact of military aid on repression. I use a principal-agent framework to examine the strategic interaction between the United States and recipient country and evaluate the conditions under which an agent "works" or "shirks" on human rights policy. The principal-agent theory of military assistance reveals that the extent of U.S. oversight of aid, preference similarities between the principal and agent, the expected costs of being caught and punished for shirking, and the potential payoff to shirking affect the likelihood of repression. I argue that critical explanatory power comes from disaggregating U.S. military aid programs: material aid increases the power of the recipient armed forces and is subject to less U.S. oversight compared to education and targeted funding programs. I test my theory using a quantitative analysis of U.S. military aid to 180 foreign countries from 1991-2011 and two outcome variables, government one-sided violence and scaled physical integrity rights. The results indicate that education and targeted funding reduce the likelihood of one-sided violence. On average, I find that material aid is associated with an increased likelihood of physical integrity abuse in recipient countries. In addition, material aid to full democracies is associated with a lower likelihood of repression, while countries with oil exports are more likely to repress. This study improves upon previous research by theoretically and empirically disaggregating military aid from foreign aid writ large as well as augmenting our understanding of state repression. The project reveals that material aid may undermine other U.S. efforts to promote stability and democratization and that there are opportunities for policy changes to improve U.S. oversight of material assistance

Citrulline malate supplementation does not improve German Volume Training performance or reduce muscle soreness in moderately trained males and females

Background Use of supplements to aid performance is common practice amongst recreationally active individuals, including those without a sufficient evidence base. This investigation sought to assess whether acute supplementation with 8 g of citrulline malate (CM) (1.11: 1 ratio) would improve anaerobic performance. Methods A randomised double blind placebo control trial was employed, using a counterbalanced design. We recruited recreationally active men and women to take part in an isokinetic chair protocol, based on German Volume Training (GVT) whereby participants attempted to perform 10 sets of 10 repetitions against a force representing 70% of their peak concentric force. Results The number of repetitions achieved over the course of the GVT was 94.0 ± 7.9 and 90.9 ± 13.9 for placebo and CM respectively. There was no significant difference between the placebo and CM treatment for number of repetitions (P = 0.33), isometric (P = 0.60), concentric (P = 0.38), or eccentric (P = 0.65) peak force following the GVT. Total muscle soreness was significantly higher in the CM compared to the placebo treatment following the GVT protocol over 72 h (P = 0.01); although this was not accompanied by a greater workload/number of repetitions in the CM group. Conclusions We conclude that an acute dose of CM does not significantly affect anaerobic performance using an isokinetic chair in recreational active participants. Practical implications include precaution in recommending CM supplementation. Coaches and athletes should be aware of the disparity between the chemical analyses of the products reviewed in the present investigation versus the manufacturers’ claims

Clinical spectum of tuberculous optic neuropathy

Purpose Tuberculous optic neuropathy may follow infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis or administration of the bacille Calmette–Guerin. However, this condition is not well described in the ophthalmic literature. Methods Ophthalmologists, identified through professional electronic networks or previous publications, collected standardized clinical data relating to 62 eyes of 49 patients who they had managed with tuberculous optic neuropathy. Results Tuberculous optic neuropathy was most commonly manifested as papillitis (51.6 %), neuroretinitis (14.5 %), and optic nerve tubercle (11.3 %). Uveitis was an additional ocular morbidity in 88.7 % of eyes. In 36.7 % of patients, extraocular tuberculosis was present. The majority of patients (69.4 %) had resided in and/or traveled to an endemic area. Although initial visual acuity was 20/50 or worse in 62.9 % of 62 eyes, 76.7 % of 60 eyes followed for a median of 12 months achieved visual acuities of 20/40 or better. Visual field defects were reported for 46.8 % of eyes, but these defects recovered in 63.2 % of 19 eyes with follow-up. Conclusion Visual recovery from tuberculous optic neuropathy is common, if the diagnosis is recognized and appropriate treatment is instituted. A tuberculous etiology should be considered when evaluating optic neuropathy in persons from endemic areas.Research to Prevent Blindness (unrestricted grant to Casey Eye Institute) provided partial support for this work

Clinical vignette: Leaching liver lesions: a case of invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscess syndrome

Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscesses are becoming more prevalent in the United States and have the ability to spread to several sites via septic embolization. 8-15% of patients have infections at other anatomical sites which is considered invasive K. pneumoniae liver abscess syndrome (IKPLAS). An otherwise healthy 42-year-old Vietnamese man who immigrated to the United States six years prior presented to the emergency department with a nine-day history of back pain. The patient reported his pain worsened acutely just prior to presentation when lifting a heavy object. He also described numbness of the left leg. At presentation, the patient was septic. Because of this, a MRI of the lumbar spine was obtained which demonstrated multiple paraspinal and gluteal region abscesses. A chest CT demonstrated a 2cm right hepatic lobe hypoattenuating lesion suggestive of an abscess as well as multiple pulmonary nodules with peripheral and upper lobe predominance. Blood cultures drawn prior to initiation of antibiotics grew out Klebsiella pneumoniae. Given the patients ethnic background and the organism isolated, the liver lesion was suspected as the primary abscess, with hematogenous dissemination to the lungs, paraspinal and gluteal regions, this being consistent with IKPLAS. The patient underwent drainage of the piriformis muscle abscess which also yielded K. pneumoniae. When cultures returned positive for K. pneumoniae, the antibiotic regimen was narrowed to ceftriaxone based on organism susceptibility. Despite appropriate antibiotic therapy, he went on to develop further abscesses as well osteomyelitis of the L1 and L2 vertebrae. He underwent subsequent abscess drainage after which the patient defervesced and his back pain improved. The patient was eventually discharged on ceftriaxone 2gm every 12 hours and received a total of eight weeks of antibiotics. Invasive Klebsiella pneumoniae liver abscesses syndrome (IKPLAS) is a rare clinical disease entity defined as a liver abscess and disseminated Klebsiella infection. It is often seen in patients of Asian descent and is increasing in prevalence within the United States. IKPLAS is associated with a high degree of morbidity and mortality. It should be considered in septic patients who are found to have liver abscesses and are of Asian descent.\u2

Soft-templated NiO–CeO2 mixed oxides for biogas upgrading by direct CO2 methanation

The catalytic performance in the direct CO2 methanation of a model biogas is investigated on NiO-CeO2 nanostructured mixed oxides synthesized by the soft-template procedure with different Ni/Ce molar ratios. The samples are thoroughly characterized by means of ICP-AES, XRD, TEM and HR-TEM, N2 physisorption at -196 °C, and H2-TPR. They result to be constituted of CeO2 rounded nanocrystals and of polycrystalline needle-like NiO particles. After a H2-treatment at 400 C for 1 h, the surface basic properties and the metal surface area are also assessed using CO2 adsorption microcalorimetry and H2-pulse chemisorption measurements, respectively. At increasing Ni content the Ni0 surface area increases, while the opposite occurs for the number of basic sites. Using a CO2/CH4/H2 feed, at 11,000 cm3 h-1 gcat-1, CO2 conversions in the 83-89 mol% range and methane selectivities >99.5 mol% are reached at 275 °C and atmospheric pressure, highlighting the very good performances of the investigated catalysts