Prefrontal cortex haemodynamics and affective responses during exercise: a multi-channel near infrared spectroscopy study

The dose-response effects of the intensity of exercise upon the potential regulation (through top-down processes) of affective (pleasure-displeasure) responses in the prefrontal cortex during an incremental exercise protocol have not been explored. This study examined the functional capacity of the prefrontal cortex (reflected by haemodynamics using near infrared spectroscopy) and affective responses during exercise at different intensities. Participants completed an incremental cycling exercise test to exhaustion. Changes (Δ) in oxygenation (O2Hb), deoxygenation (HHb), blood volume (tHb) and haemoglobin difference (HbDiff) were measured from bilateral dorsal and ventral prefrontal areas. Affective responses were measured every minute during exercise. Data were extracted at intensities standardised to: below ventilatory threshold, at ventilatory threshold, respiratory compensation point and the end of exercise. During exercise at intensities from ventilatory threshold to respiratory compensation point, ΔO2Hb, ΔHbDiff and ΔtHb were greater in mostly ventral than dorsal regions. From the respiratory compensation point to the end of exercise, ΔO2Hb remained stable and ΔHbDiff declined in dorsal regions. As the intensity increased above the ventilatory threshold, inverse associations between affective responses and oxygenation in (a) all regions of the left hemisphere and (b) lateral (dorsal and ventral) regions followed by the midline (ventral) region in the right hemisphere were observed. Differential activation patterns occur within the prefrontal cortex and are associated with affective responses during cycling exercise

Radiocarbon Evidence for Contrasting Soil Carbon Dynamics in a Andisol and Non-Andisol Pasture Soil Comparison

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Effort Perception

Research addressing children's perceptions of exercise effort (their ‘perceived exertion’) has appeared steadily in the scientific literature over the last 30 years. Accepting that the established Borg adult rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale was not appropriate for children, investigators set about developing child-specific scales which employed numbers, words and/or images that were more familiar and understandable. Numerous studies have examined the validity and reliability of such scales as the CERT, PCERT and OMNI amongst children aged 5 to 16, across different modes of exercise (cycling, running, stepping, resistance exercise), protocols (intermittent vs. continuous, incremental vs. non-incremental) and paradigms (estimation vs. production). Such laboratory-based research has enabled the general conclusion that children can, especially with practice, use effort perception scales to differentiate between exercise intensity levels, and to self-regulate their exercise output to match various levels indicated on them. However, inconsistencies in the methodological approaches adopted diminish the certainty of some of the interpretations made by researchers. In addition, though often mentioned, the would-be application of effort perception in physical education and activity/health promotion contexts has been relatively ignored. Accordingly, the scope for research in this applied domain is now considerable

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Misperception: No evidence to dismiss RPE as regulator of moderate-intensity exercise

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000748.Dear Editor-in-Chief, Shaykevich et al. (7) demonstrate the efficacy of auditory feedback anchored at 75% of age-predicted HRmax to regulate intensity (claimed as ‘‘moderate’’) during several 20-min bouts of cycling. Their technical approach is novel, but 76% HRmax is the upper limit of moderate intensity, so given the large error in age-predicted HRmax, it is unlikely that their exercise bandwidth was ‘‘moderate’’ for all participants. This is not our major concern, but it reveals one among other inaccuracies: the most serious include training, interpretation, and inferences relating to the RPE

CLUES Spatial DSS: From Farm-Scale Leaching Models to Regional Decision Support

Land-use in New Zealand poses risks to water quality in streams and lakes, yet there have previously been few tools used in New Zealand to predict the effects of land-use change at catchment to national scale. The CLUES spatial decision support system has been developed recently to assist with the assessment of land-use change on water quality, farm economics, and employment. The system incorporates a number of existing models from several research providers, ranging from models of leaching at the farm scale to national regression-based models. An early application of the model is the identification of catchments where the receiving surface waterbodies are at risk from nitrate sources. Several extensions of the system are underway to improve the usefulness for local decision-making. These include making the spatial resolution of land-use finer, adding mitigation and land management options, and increasing the number of environmental measures provided by the model, and linking these measures to a values framework. This will improve the utility of the model for integrated catchment management