Clarifying the Link Between the Blood Lactate Concentration and Cardiovascular Risk.

The blood lactate value at rest (Lac) is linked to cardiovascular outcomes. It is unclear whether this association holds true in younger, healthy subjects, especially as the pathophysiological connection between Lac and cardiometabolic disease is not well understood. The aim of this study is clarifying the link between Lac and cardiovascular risk, and to study explanatory factors for the variance of Lac concerning metabolism and physical activity in a population of healthy patient-athletes.

Do patients with low back pain remember physiotherapists' advice? A mixed-methods study on patient-therapist communication.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to determine if the advice physiotherapists think they provide to patients with low back pain (LBP) is what the patients remember and take away from the clinical encounter. The secondary aim was to determine which factors may influence the retention of this advice.

Methods: The first component of the study used questionnaires completed by patients and therapists after the initial visit.

Comprehensive lifestyle intervention soy protein-based meal regimen in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Background: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) has become one of the leading causes of liver disease in the western world. In obese patients weight reduction is recommended. Up to now there are no specific guidelines for weight loss in order to reduce hepatic fat content.

Mask-based approach to phasing of single-particle diffraction data. II. Likelihood-based selection criteria.

A new type of mask-selection criterion is suggested for mask-based phasing. In this phasing approach, a large number of connected molecular masks are randomly generated. Structure-factor phases corresponding to a trial mask are accepted as an admissible solution of the phase problem if the mask satisfies some specified selection rules that are key to success.

Clinical and histologic outcome in a dog surviving massive hepatic necrosis.

This report describes the clinical and histologic recovery of a 2-year-old mixed-breed dog presented with hypovolemic shock, markedly increased serum alanine amino transferase activity, and hemoabdomen. Emergency exploratory surgery revealed a friable liver with multiple capsule hemorrhages necessitating removal of the left lateral lobe. Histologic evaluation showed acute massive hepatic necrosis with centrilobular and midzonal distribution.

Applying the Optimized CO Rebreathing Method for Measuring Blood Volumes and Hemoglobin Mass in Heart Failure Patients.

Determination of blood volume, red cell volume, and plasma volume contributes to the understanding of the pathophysiology in heart failure, especially concerning anemia and volume load. The optimized carbon monoxide (CO)-rebreathing method (oCORM) is used to determine these parameters and hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) in exercise physiology. The applicability of oCORM to determine the intravascular volumes and Hbmass in heart failure patients is currently undetermined because assumptions concerning CO kinetics with oCORM rely on healthy subjects with a normal ejection fraction.

Analysis of the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate pathway in experimental liver cirrhosis suggests phosphodiesterase-5 as potential target to treat portal hypertension.

Aim: To investigate the potential effect of inhibitors of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) for therapy of portal hypertension in liver cirrhosis.

Methods: In the rat model of thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis the nitric oxide-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (NO-cGMP) pathway was investigated. Expression and localization of PDE-5, the enzyme that converts vasodilating cGMP into inactive 5'-GMP, was in the focus of the study.

Signaling ammonium across membranes through an ammonium sensor histidine kinase.

Sensing and uptake of external ammonium is essential for anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria, and is typically the domain of the ubiquitous Amt/Rh ammonium transporters. Here, we report on the structure and function of an ammonium sensor/transducer from the anammox bacterium "Candidatus Kuenenia stuttgartiensis" that combines a membrane-integral ammonium transporter domain with a fused histidine kinase. It contains a high-affinity ammonium binding site not present in assimilatory Amt proteins.

Phase-contrast MR flow imaging: A tool to determine hepatic hemodynamics in rats with a healthy, fibrotic, or cirrhotic liver.

Purpose: To test a magnetic resonance (MR) scanning protocol as a noninvasive tool to determine hepatic hemodynamics and to assess the degree of liver fibrosis in an animal model of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-four male Wistar rats were studied. Thirty-nine received thioacetamide (TAA) in their drinking water for either 12 or 16 weeks.

Introduction of digital speech recognition in a specialised outpatient department: a case study.

Background: Speech recognition software might increase productivity in clinical documentation. However, low user satisfaction with speech recognition software has been observed. In this case study, an approach for implementing a speech recognition software package at a university-based outpatient department is presented.

Mask-based approach to phasing of single-particle diffraction data.

A Monte Carlo-type approach for low- and medium-resolution phasing of single-particle diffraction data is suggested. Firstly, the single-particle phase problem is substituted with the phase problem for an imaginary crystal. A unit cell of this crystal contains a single isolated particle surrounded by a large volume of bulk solvent.

Collagen peptide supplementation in combination with resistance training improves body composition and increases muscle strength in elderly sarcopenic men: a randomised controlled trial.

Protein supplementation in combination with resistance training may increase muscle mass and muscle strength in elderly subjects. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of post-exercise protein supplementation with collagen peptides v. placebo on muscle mass and muscle function following resistance training in elderly subjects with sarcopenia.

Value of MRI and MRS fat measurements to complement conventional screening methods for childhood obesity.

Purpose: To evaluate a protocol combining abdominal fat-water magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and liver single voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for studies of childhood obesity.

Materials And Methods: Six obese male children and five age-matched normal-weight controls underwent abdominal fat-water Dixon MRI based on a gradient echo sequence with multiple echo times and single voxel liver MRS at a field strength of 3T. The MRI/MRS data were compared with data previously acquired from an obese adult cohort and with anthropometric and blood parameters that are typically acquired for screening in childhood obesity.

Use of plasma renin activity to monitor mineralocorticoid treatment in dogs with primary hypoadrenocorticism: desoxycorticosterone versus fludrocortisone.

Background: Measurement of plasma renin activity (PRA) is the gold standard for monitoring mineralocorticoid treatment in humans with primary hypoadrenocorticism (PH).

Objectives: To compare PRA in dogs with newly diagnosed PH, dogs with diseases mimicking PH, and healthy dogs, and evaluate measurement of PRA to monitor therapeutic effects in dogs with PH treated with different mineralocorticoids.

Animals: Eleven dogs with newly diagnosed PH (group 1), 10 dogs with diseases mimicking PH (group 2), 21 healthy dogs (group 3), 17 dogs with treated PH (group 4).

Evaluation of aldosterone concentrations in dogs with hypoadrenocorticism.

Background: Some dogs with primary hypoadrenocorticism (HA) have normal sodium and potassium concentrations, a phenomenon called atypical Addison's disease. The assumption that the zona glomerulosa and aldosterone secretion in these dogs are normal seems widely accepted; however, aldosterone measurements are missing in most published cases.

Objectives: To measure aldosterone in dogs with HA with and without electrolyte abnormalities and to determine the time point of aldosterone peak concentrations during ACTH stimulation.

Variability and reproducibility of carotid structural and functional parameters assessed with transcutaneous ultrasound - results from the SAPALDIA Cohort Study.

Objective: Carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) and local stiffness are vascular biomarkers of atherosclerotic burden. We investigated the variability and reproducibility of clinically relevant structural (CIMT, lumen diameter) and functional parameters (strain, distensibility, compliance, β-stiffness index, Peterson's elastic modulus and Young's elastic modulus) measured in B-mode ultrasound sequences of the common carotid artery in the second follow up of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases In Adults (SAPALDIA3).

Methods: Ultrasound sequential images were examined twice over a 1 cm segment across at least one heart cycle in 165 SAPALDIA3 participants.

Flow cytometric assessment of erythrocyte shape through analysis of FSC histograms: use of kurtosis and implications for longitudinal evaluation.

Sphericity of erythrocytes can be estimated from analysis of FSC signal distribution in flow cytometry. Previously, Pearson's coefficient of dissymmetry (PCD) and spherical index (SphI) were applied to determine erythrocyte sphericity from the FSC histogram. The aim of the present study is to illustrate the application of kurtosis as an indicator of erythrocyte sphericity in flow cytometry in a broad range of FSC distributions.

A soy-based supplement alters energy metabolism but not the exercise-induced stress response.

Objective: To determine the changes in endurance capacity as well as in metabolic, hormonal and inflammatory markers induced by endurance training combined with a soy,protein based supplement.

Design: Randomized controlled study consisting of moderate endurance training without (GO) or with (G1) a soy protein based supplement.

Subjects: Two groups of 15 subjects (10 males and 5 females in each group): healthy sports students aged 23.

[Milbemycinoxime intoxication in a Miniature Australian Shepherd dog].

A 3-year-old female intact Miniature Australian Shepherd presented with convulsive status epilepticus after milbemycinoxime administration in the recommended dosage. In addition to continuous intravenous antiepileptic therapy the dog had to be ventilated for 36 hours due to aspiration pneumonia. After extubation control of intermittent tonic-clonic seizures required a constant-rate-infusion of propofol for another 96 hours, before it could be discontinued on day 5.

Low-resolution structure determination of Na(+)-translocating NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase from Vibrio cholerae by ab initio phasing and electron microscopy.

A low-resolution structure of the Na(+)-translocating NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase from the human pathogen Vibrio cholerae was determined by ab initio phasing and independently confirmed by electron microscopy. This multi-subunit membrane-protein complex (molecular weight 210 kDa) generates an Na(+) gradient that is essential for substrate uptake, motility, pathogenicity and efflux of antibiotics. The obtained 16 Å resolution electron density-map revealed an asymmetric particle with a central region of low electron density and a putative detergent region, and allowed the identification of the transmembrane regions of the complex.

Reticulocytes in athletes: Longitudinal aspects and the influence of long- and short-term exercise.

Reticulocytes (Ret) are a key variable in the emerging concept of the athlete's biological passport and the longitudinal monitoring of biological parameters in the field of anti-doping. In this context, knowledge on the variability of Ret in athletes and the influence of exercise is necessary. The aim of the present study was to evaluate longitudinal variation in Ret and the influence of short- and long-term exercise.

Relations between haemoglobin mass, cardiac dimensions and aerobic capacity in endurance trained cyclists.

Aim: Chronic endurance exercise triggers increased cardiac dimensions, blood volumes and haemoglobin mass (Hb mass). Cardiac output and Hb mass are considered as independent contributors to aerobic performance. Therefore, increased Hb mass could counterbalance for a relative deficiency in cardiac adaptation.

Frequency of secondary dyslipidemia in obese children.

Objective: This paper reports the frequency, type, and degree of dyslipidemia in obese children before therapeutic intervention. The relationships between lipid values and weight status, as well as lipid values and physical fitness, of these children were also investigated.

Design And Methods: The initial examination of the Freiburg Intervention Trial for Obese Children (FITOC) measured the values of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in 546 obese children aged 7-12 (body mass index [BMI] > 97th percentile), and compared these values with those of the age- and sex-specific reference group in the Lipid Research Clinics Population Studies Data Book (LRC).

Lipid profiles of persons with paraplegia and tetraplegia: sex differences.

Background/objective: To examine the lipoprotein profiles of men and women with paraplegia and tetraplegia. Impairment of the sympathetic nervous system (dependent on the level of injury) and the extent of physical capacity and activity were correlated with the lipid profile in men with spinal cord injury (SCI). Sex-related differences of the lipoprotein profiles could be found in nondisabled and premenopausal women with SCI mainly because of the different effects of sexual hormones.