In this short review we describe implications of age-related changes of protein and DNA oxidation as a public mechanism of biological aging.Oxidativelymodified protein andDNAhave been demonstrated to increasewith advancing age in rodents. Half-life of proteins is extended andDNArepair activity declines in old animals.Dietary restriction initiated late in life can shorten the half-life of protei…
Background: Anecdotally, parents often report that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who engage in regular physical activity (PA) experience positive behavioral changes. The purpose of this study was to examine this anecdotal relationship to provide preliminary evidence relevant to the potential benefits of PA on ADHD symptoms. Methods: Parents (n ¼ 68) of children…
Background: Although emerging evidence points to benefits from Tai Chi Chuan (TCC) in improving immune system function, its effects on cellular immune responses remain under-studied. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of TCC training on cellular immunity in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Methods: A 2-group randomized trial design in which post-surgical, non-small cel…
Background: Shoulder flexion requires an optimal length of the latissimus dorsi muscle in order to allow full lateral rotation of the humerus and upward scapular rotation. If shoulder flexion (in an externally rotated position) is restricted, this may predispose the individual to shoulder pathology. Sports such as swimming and canoeing have increased shoulder injuries and require high levels of…
Background: No studies have compared effectiveness of resistance training and Tai Ji exercise on relieving symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The purpose of the study was to evaluate effects of a 10-week Tai Ji and resistance training intervention on improving OA symptoms and mobility in seniors with knee OA. Methods: Thirty-one seniors (60e85 years) were randomly assigned to a Tai Ji progr…
Purpose: To investigate the link between peak oxygen uptake and regional body composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in Japanese subjects. Methods: A total of 93 men (42.2 12.3 years old) and 106 women (43.5 12.3 years old) were enrolled in this cross-sectional investigation study. Peak oxygen uptake was measured by the breath-by-breath method. Regional body composition i.e…
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the extent that a static stretching program could increase heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO2), and if the increases were sufficient to serve as a warm-up for aerobic activity. Methods: The HR and VO2 of 15 male and 16 female college students were measured after either 12 min of passive static stretching (SS), or 12 min pseudo-stretc…
Background: The majority of injuries reported in female basketball players are ankle sprains and mechanisms leading to injury have been debated. Investigations into muscular imbalances in barefoot versus shod conditions and their relationship with injury severity have not been performed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of wearing athletic shoes on muscular strength and …
Purpose: This study explored the relationship between mental toughness and college basketball performance, specifically examining possible moderating variables (gender and starting status). Methods: Male and female (n ¼ 197) college basketball players completed the Psychological Performance Inventory-Alternative (PPI-A), a measure of characteristics and skills consistent with mental toughness…
Background: Understanding leisure time physical inactivity is a priority in Westernized nations where participation rates are low. The present study sought to address this priority by examining whether the extraversion and emotional instability to leisure time exercise relationships were mediated through Elliot’s (1999) 2 2 achievement goals. Methods: Participants were 116 female and 97 ma…
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between children’s situational motivation and physical activity (PA) levels in a Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) program, and perceived PA enjoyment. Methods: A sample of 215 elementary children participated in a weekly 30-min DDR program. Children’s situational motivation toward DDR (intrinsic motivation, identified regulati…
Background: The influence of self-presentation concerns on the adolescent sport experience has received scant empirical attention. The purpose of this investigation was to prospectively examine the relationship among self-presentational concerns and pre-game affective states among middle and high school aged football players. Methods: American football players (n ¼ 112; mean age ¼ 15.57 year…
Background: The parent-to-child influences can be adaptive and contribute to the optimal psychological well-being and positive perception of the athlete. Contrary to the healthy parental involvement, a family can also have negative effects on an athlete development. The purpose of this study was to determine gender, father involvement, and mother involvement differences in the psychological pro…
We report an extremely rare case of both recurrent lateral patella dislocation and medial patellofemoral instability, following prior operations to correct patella maltracking. Manual translation of the patella revealed medial and lateral instability with a positive apprehension sign. 3-D computer modelling of kinematics based on MRI data demonstrated that the patella deviated laterally at full…
Clinical disorders often are characterized by a breakdown in dynamical processes that contribute to the control of upright standing. Disruption to a large number of physiological processes operating at different time scales can lead to alterations in postural center of pressure (CoP)fluctuations. Multiscale entropy (MSE) has been used to identify differences in fluctuations of postural CoP time…
Background: Interpersonal coordination is an essential aspect of daily life, and crucial to performance in cooperative and competitive team sports. While empirical research has investigated interpersonal coordination using a wide variety of analytical tools and frameworks, to date very few studies have employed multifractal techniques to study the nature of interpersonal coordination across mul…
Literate individuals possess knowledge and skill and can apply these to perform tasks in novel settings. Knowledge is at the heart of physical literacy and provides the foundation for knowing what to do and how and when to perform. In this paper I argue that physical literacy includes not only knowledge for performance but also the ability to apply knowledge and use knowledge for innovation. Sc…
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of landing on a combined inversion and plantarflexion surface on the ankle kinematics and electromyographic (EMG) activities of medial gastrocnemius (MG), peroneus longus (PL), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles. Methods: Twelve recreational athletes performed five drop landings from an overhead bar of 30 cm height on to three surfa…
Objectives: Heart rate variability (HRV) can be a simple, non-invasive method of gauging cardiac autonomic nervous system fluctuations across periodised training workloads and taper in elite athlete populations. The purpose of these three case studies was to examine daily cardiac autonomic variations in Paralympic athletes leading in to the Paralympic games. Methods: Three Paralympic gold medal…
Brain injuries in sports drew more and more public attentions in recent years. Brain injuries vary by name, type, and severity in the athletic setting. It should be noted, however, that these injuries are not isolated to only the athletic arena, as non-athletic mechanisms (e.g., motor vehicle accidents) are more common causes of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) among teenagers. Notwithstanding, a…
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese-translated Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (C-BREQ-2) among Chinese university students from the Mainland and Hong Kong of China. Methods: University students from the Mainland (n ¼ 191) and Hong Kong (n ¼ 194) of China participated in this study. Factorial validity,discriminant vali…
Background: Many studies examining individual-level correlates in youth utilize self-report rather than objective measures of physical activity (PA). This utilization of self-report may result in associations that are not present when examining objectively measured PA. The present study investigates the relationship between hypothesized correlates of PA with objectively and subjectively measure…
Background: It has been reported that strenuous exercise increases the number of bone marrow-derived progenitor cells such as CD34þ cells in the blood, but no previous studies have investigated the changes in circulating CD34þ cells following resistance exercise. This study tested the hypothesis that the number of CD34 þ cells in the blood would increase after eccentric exercise of the elbow…
Background: Among numerous health benefits, sports participation has been shown to reduce the risk of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. Schools represent an ideal environment for increasing sports participation, but it is unclear how access and choice influence participation and whether characteristics of the school sports program differentially influence boys’ and girls’ …
Background: Regular exercise is beneficial for adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD risk factors. Tai Ji Quan is popular among older adults and may offer additional exercise options. The present article aims to review the scientific literature published within the past decade on Tai Ji Quan as an exercise modality to prevent and manage CVD. Methods: An electronic literature search o…
Sport-related concussion is a common neurological injury that occurs in all levels of athletic participation. Concussions may actually go undiagnosed, as they do not always display outward signs and athletes may fail to report symptoms of concussion, either because they do not know the symptoms, or for fear of removal from play. Inappropriate management of concussion can lead to increased risk …
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are continuously generated during aerobic metabolism and at moderate level. They play a role in redox signaling, but in significant concentration they cause oxidative damage and neurodegeneration. Because of the enhanced sensitivity of brain to ROS, it is especially important to maintain the normal redox state in different types of neuron cells. In last decade it b…
Purpose: To assess the effects of trust in the coach on commitment to coach, willingness to cooperate, and perceived performance. Methods: Two hundred and fifteen members of competitive sports clubs responded to scales measuring coach characteristics of justice,benevolence, integrity, and competence; athlete’s trust in the coach; commitment to coach; willingness to cooperate; and perceived p…
Perceptions of tobacco are a relatively unexplored issue in disadvantaged populations in India and France. The objectives of this study included the following: obtain qualitative information on representations of tobacco use and cessation within two vulnerable populations; identify cultural factors that influence tobacco use and cessation; and acquire information for the development of effec…
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represent an increasing proportion of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Sustained advocacy, carried out by a skilled workforce, is an important strategy to realize the political will and implement the policy changes necessary to reduce the global burden of NCDs. Competencies for effective advocacy include a combination of scientific and technical…
Antibiotics were introduced for human therapy few decades ago and their utilization has produced the rapid evolution of bacterial pathogens towards resistance. Before this recent and fast evolution, antibiotics and their resistance genes have evolved for millions of years in environmental microorganisms. Recent results suggest that, besides serving for inhibiting the growth of competitors, ant…
Low-cost hybrid solar cells have made tremendous steps forward during the past decade owing to the implementation of extremely thin inorganic coatings as absorber layers, typically in combination with organic hole transporters. Using only extremely thin fi lms of these absorbers reduces the requirement of single crystalline high-quality materials and paves the way for low-cost solution processi…
Stimuli-responsive structural transformations are emerging as a scaffold to develop a charming class of smart materials. A EuL metal-organic framework (MOF) undergoes a reversible temperature-stimulated single-crystal to single-crystal transformation, showing a specifi c behavior of fast capture/release of free Eu 3+ in the channels at low and room temperatures. At room temperature, compound 1…
Organic carbonyl electrode materials of lithium batteries have shown multifunctional molecule design and high capacity, but have the problems of poor cycling and low rate performance due to their high solubility in traditional carbonate-based electrolytes and low conductivity. High-performance organic lithium batteries with modifi ed ether-based electrolyte (2 M LiN(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 in 1,3-dioxol…
Since its serendipitous discovery, [ 1,2 ] photoluminescent carbon nanoparticles (or carbon dots, CDs) have aroused intense interests and soon become a star material among a diversity of nanomaterials. [ 3 ] One of the most fascinating properties of CDs is their multicolor luminescence in the visible region. Compared to the widely used cadmium-based semiconductor quantum dots, the CDs are much …
Lactobacillus plantarum BM‐1 isolated from a traditionally fermented Chinese meat product was found to produce a novel bacteriocin that is active against a wide range of gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria. Production of the bacteriocin BM‐1 started early in the exponential phase and its maximum activity (5120 AU/mL) was recorded early during the stationary phase (16 hr). Bacter…
Brucellosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease that causes animal and human diseases. Although effective, the current Brucella vaccines (Rev.1 and M5‐90) have several drawbacks. The first involves residual virulence for animals and humans and the second is the inability to differentiate natural infection from that caused by vaccination. Therefore, Brucella melitensis 16M hfq mutant…
There is a paucity of animal models of pythiosis, a life‐threatening disease of humans and animals, the immunopathogenesis of which is poorly understood. A pythiosis model was developed by injecting Toll (Tl)‐deficient Drosophila melanogaster flies with Pythium insidiosum zoospores. The infected Tl mutant flies had significantly lower survival rates (73.7%) than did control flies. This s…
The pathogen Staphylococcus aureus causes a wide range of serious infections, necessitating urgent development of a vaccine against this organism. However, currently developed vaccines are relatively ineffective because of the limited antigenic component that is contained in the vaccine formulations. To develop an effective S. aureus candidate vaccine, overlapping PCR was used to add the tru…
Outbreaks of ARD associated with HAdV have been reported in military populations in many countries. Here, we report an ARD outbreak caused by HAdV‐7 in a military training camp in Shaanxi Province, China, from February to March of 2012. Epidemic data and samples from the patients were collected, and viral nucleotides from samples and viral isolations were detected and sequenced. IgG and I…
A mouse model of polymicrobial sepsis induced by cecal content injection (CCI) was developed with the aim of gaining a better understanding of the mechanism of sepsis. This model has a similar survival pattern to the conventional model with the added benefits of ability to vary the severity of sepsis and greater consistency. Administration of 1‐methyl‐D‐tryptophan (1‐MT) to inhibit i…
Children with renal diseases are typically treated with immunosuppressive drugs, which place them at high risk of reactivation of the BK virus (BKV). Currently, little is known about the impact of immunosuppressive drugs on the kinetics of urinary shedding of BKV and viral reactivation in pediatric patients with renal diseases. Urine samples were collected monthly for 1 year from 20 childre…
LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (LNMO) is a derivative of the commercialized spinel LiMn 2 O 4 with Ni 2+ and Mn 4+ occupying two octahedral sites of 4a and 16d, respectively aimed at suppressing the intrinsic defi ciencies such as the Jahn–Teller distortion of Mn 3+with the same theoretical capacity as LiMn 2 O 4 (148 mAh g –1 ). [ 1 ] In addition, since the working mechanism of LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 i…
A linked-acceptor type conjugated polymer is designed and sythesized based on 4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2- b :4,5- b′ ]dithiophene (BDTT) and linked-thieno[3,4- c ]pyrrole-4,6-dione (LTPD). This polymer uses alkyl-substituted thiophene as a bridge. The PBDTT-LTPD includes two TPD units in one repeating unit, which can enhance acceptor density in the polymer backbone and lo…
objective To assesses the safety and rationale of antibacterial fixed-dose combinations in the private sector in Latin America and determine the extent of their use. methods Analysis of FDCs was based on retail sales data for eight Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) between 1999 and 2009. FDCs were classified according to the pre-…
Hepatitis E is an emerging disease with a high incidence globally. Few data are available on hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Indonesia. To obtain molecular information on HEV infection in two regions of Indonesia with different customs and swine breeding conditions, serum samples from 137 swine farmworkers, 100 blood donors and 100 swine (27 fecal samples also obtained) in Yogyakarta (Cent…
Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the most common cause of bacterial, seafood‐related illness in the USA.Currently, there is a dearth of published reports regarding immunity to infection with this pathogen.Here, production of both pro‐ and anti‐inflammatory cytokines by V. parahaemolyticus‐infected RAW 264.7 murine macrophages was studied. It was determined that this infection results in incre…
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting holds great promise for sustainable energy by harvesting solar energy. In particular,hematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) has been extensively investigated as a photoanode for visible light-driven PEC water splitting due to its availability, stability, and suitable bandgap of 1.9–2.2 eV. [ 1–3 ] Fabricating hematite nanostructures provides an effective way to e…
Plant leaves represent a unique 2D/1D heterostructure for enhanced surface reaction and effi cient mass transport. Inspired by plant leaves, a 2D/1D CoO x heterostructure is developed that is composed of ultrathin CoO x nanosheets further assembled into a nanotube structure. This bio-inspired architecture allows a highly active Co 2+ electronic structure for an effi cient oxygen evolution reac…
Supercapacitors are intermediate devices between conventional batteries and dielectric capacitors that can be used in various electric systems. [ 1] The pseudo-capacitors have drawn great attentions because of their intrinsic properties of fast and reversible surface redox reactions that enable high charge storage capacities greater than double-layer supercapacitors. Besides, a main attraction …