Randomized controlled trial of the Physical Activity Leaders (PALs) program for adolescent boys from disadvantaged secondary schools.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of the Physical Activity Leaders (PALs) program. PALs is an obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent boys from disadvantaged schools.

Methods: The study was conducted in the Hunter Region, New South Wales (NSW), Australia from June to December 2009.

The role of propriospinal interneurons in recovery from spinal cord injury.

Over one hundred years ago, Sir Charles Sherrington described a population of spinal cord interneurons (INs) that connect multiple spinal cord segments and participate in complex or 'long' motor reflexes. These neurons were subsequently termed propriospinal neurons (PNs) and are known to play a crucial role in motor control and sensory processing. Recent work has shown that PNs may also be an important substrate for recovery from spinal cord injury (SCI) as they contribute to plastic reorganisation of spinal circuits.

The SHED-IT community trial study protocol: a randomised controlled trial of weight loss programs for overweight and obese men.

Background: Obesity is a major cause of preventable death in Australia with prevalence increasing at an alarming rate. Of particular concern is that approximately 68% of men are overweight/obese, yet are notoriously difficult to engage in weight loss programs, despite being more susceptible than women to adverse weight-related outcomes. There is a need to develop and evaluate obesity treatment programs that target and appeal to men.

Evaluation of a commercial web-based weight loss and weight loss maintenance program in overweight and obese adults: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Obesity rates in adults continue to rise and effective treatment programs with a broad reach are urgently required. This paper describes the study protocol for a web-based randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a commercially available program for overweight and obese adult males and females. The aim of this RCT was to determine and compare the efficacy of two web-based interventions for weight loss and maintenance of lost weight.

Voluntary exercise does not affect stress-induced tachycardia, but improves resistance to cardiac arrhythmias in rats.

1. It is currently unknown whether long-term voluntary exercise has enduring cardioprotective effects in animal models. 2.

The Nutrition and Enjoyable Activity for Teen Girls (NEAT girls) randomized controlled trial for adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools: rationale, study protocol, and baseline results.

Background: Child and adolescent obesity predisposes individuals to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of lifestyle diseases. Although there is some evidence to suggest that rates of pediatric obesity have leveled off in recent years, this has not been the case among youth from low socioeconomic backgrounds. The purpose of this paper is to report the rationale, study design and baseline findings of a school-based obesity prevention program for low-active adolescent girls from disadvantaged secondary schools.

Cytokine gene polymorphisms and risk for upper respiratory symptoms in highly-trained athletes.

Physiological and immunological factors contributing to risk for upper respiratory symptoms (URS) in athletic populations remain under investigation. Single nucleotide changes (polymorphisms) in cytokine genes and alterations in associated gene expression may influence risk for URS in some athletes. The aim of this study was to compare the frequency of cytokine gene polymorphisms in athletes with or without a history of frequent URS.

The 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' randomized controlled trial: efficacy of a healthy lifestyle program for overweight fathers and their children.

Objective: To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of the 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' (HDHK) program, which was designed to help overweight fathers lose weight and be a role model of positive health behaviors for their children.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Participants: A total of 53 overweight/obese men (mean (s.

Pacemaker currents in mouse locus coeruleus neurons.

We have characterized the currents that flow during the interspike interval in mouse locus coeruleus (LC) neurons, by application of depolarizing ramps and pulses, and compared our results with information available for rats. A tetrodotoxin (TTX)-sensitive current was the only inward conductance active during the interspike interval; no TTX-insensitive Na(+) or oscillatory currents were detected. Ca(2+)-free and Ba(2+)-containing solutions failed to demonstrate a Ca(2+) current during the interspike interval, although a Ca(2+) current was activated at membrane potentials positive to -40 mV.

Men participating in a weight-loss intervention are able to implement key dietary messages, but not those relating to vegetables or alcohol: the Self-Help, Exercise and Diet using Internet Technology (SHED-IT) study.

Objective: To describe dietary changes in men participating in an obesity intervention as part of the Self-Help, Exercise and Diet using Information Technology (SHED-IT) study.

Design: An assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial comparing Internet (n 34) v. information-only groups (n 31) with 6-month follow-up.

Attenuated glycine receptor function reduces excitability of mouse medial vestibular nucleus neurons.

Spontaneous activity in medial vestibular nucleus (MVN) neurons is modulated by synaptic inputs. These inputs are crucial for maintaining gaze and posture and contribute to vestibular compensation after lesions of peripheral vestibular organs. We investigated how chronically attenuated glycinergic input affects excitability of MVN neurons.

Early history of glycine receptor biology in Mammalian spinal cord circuits.

In this review we provide an overview of key in vivo experiments undertaken in the cat spinal cord in the 1950s and 1960s, and point out their contributions to our present understanding of glycine receptor (GlyR) function. Importantly, some of these discoveries were made well before an inhibitory receptor, or its agonist, was identified. These contributions include the universal acceptance of a chemical mode of synaptic transmission; that GlyRs are chloride channels; are involved in reciprocal and recurrent spinal inhibition; are selectively blocked by strychnine; and can be distinguished from the GABA(A) receptor by their insensitivity to bicuculline.

Exploring the mechanisms of physical activity and dietary behavior change in the program x intervention for adolescents.

Purpose: The objective of this investigation was to examine the mechanisms of physical activity and dietary behavior change in the Program X intervention.

Methods: Program X involved a clustered randomized controlled design with six schools (N=124 participants, mean age=14.1+/-0.

12-month outcomes and process evaluation of the SHED-IT RCT: an internet-based weight loss program targeting men.

This article reports the 12-month follow-up results and process evaluation of the SHED-IT (Self-Help, Exercise, and Diet using Information Technology) trial, an Internet-based weight loss program exclusively for men. Sixty-five overweight/obese male staff and students at the University of Newcastle (Callaghan, Australia) (mean (s.d.

Effects of a preseason intervention on anthropometric characteristics of semiprofessional rugby league players.

A player's physique and body composition can substantially influence performance in a rugby league; however, there is limited evidence about the impact of training on the anthropometric profile of rugby league players. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a preseason training program on the anthropometric characteristics of semiprofessional players. Fifty-seven semiprofessional rugby league players (29 backs and 28 forwards) completed a range of anthropometric tests including stature, body mass, girths, breadths, lengths, and 9 skinfold sites at the beginning (late October) and end (mid February) of a 14-week preseason.

Ketamine anesthesia helps preserve neuronal viability.

The dissociative anesthetic ketamine that acts as an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist has been reported to improve neurological damage after experimental ischemic challenges. Here we show that deep anesthesia with ketamine before euthanasia by decapitation improves the quality of neonatal mouse neuronal brain slice preparations. Specifically we found that neurons of the locus coeruleus (LC) and hypoglossal motor neurons had significantly higher input resistances, and LC neurons that generally are difficult to voltage control, could be more reliably voltage clamped compared to control neurons.

Cervix stimulation evokes predominantly subthreshold synaptic responses in mouse thoracolumbar and lumbosacral superficial dorsal horn neurons.

Introduction: Sensory input from the female reproductive tract (FRT) plays a pivotal role in coordinating reproductive reflexes. Additionally, a number of disorders, especially chronic pelvic pain, may be due to disturbances in sensory processing of signals from the FRT.

Aims: Our aim was to record synaptic responses in neurons from lumbar and sacral spinal cord segments during mechanical stimulation of the cervix.

Influence of chronic dietary carbohydrate supplementation on plasma cytokine responses to exercise.

This study examined the influence of 28 days of dietary carbohydrate (CHO) supplementation on plasma cytokine responses to cycle ergometry. Sixteen highly trained male cyclists and triathletes (age: 30.6+/-5.

Influence of posture and body type on the experience of exercise-related transient abdominal pain.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of posture and body type on the experience of exercise-related transient abdominal pain (ETAP). Postural and somatotype assessments were performed on 104 active males and 55 active females aged 18.6+/-0.

Exercise adherence and intervention effects of two school-based resistance training programs for adolescents.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of two school-based RT programs to improve muscular fitness and body composition in adolescents.

Methods: The study was conducted in Australia from July 2008 to June 2009. Participants [n=108, mean age (SD)=15.

Dietary antioxidant restriction affects the inflammatory response in athletes.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of dietary antioxidant restriction on plasma concentrations of carotenoids and inflammatory markers at rest and in response to exercise in endurance-trained males. Seventeen males performed two exercise trials 2 weeks apart. Participants followed their habitual antioxidant diet (H-AO) before the first exercise test, then a restricted antioxidant diet (R-AO) for 2 weeks before the second exercise test.

Exploring the mechanisms of weight loss in the SHED-IT intervention for overweight men: a mediation analysis.

Background: Statistical mediation analysis can be used to improve the design of obesity prevention and treatment programs by identifying the possible mechanisms through which an intervention achieved its effects. The aim of this study was to identify mediators of weight loss in an Internet-based weight-loss program specifically designed for overweight men.

Methods: The Self-Help, Exercise and Diet using Information Technology (SHED-IT) program was a 3-month randomized controlled trial (Internet-based intervention group vs information only control group) that was implemented in 2007 with baseline and 6-month follow-up assessment of weight, physical activity and dietary behaviors.

Different forms of glycine- and GABA(A)-receptor mediated inhibitory synaptic transmission in mouse superficial and deep dorsal horn neurons.

Background: Neurons in superficial (SDH) and deep (DDH) laminae of the spinal cord dorsal horn receive sensory information from skin, muscle, joints and viscera. In both regions, glycine- (GlyR) and GABAA-receptors (GABAARs) contribute to fast synaptic inhibition. For rat, several types of GABAAR coexist in the two regions and each receptor type provides different contributions to inhibitory tone.

An increase in glycinergic quantal amplitude and frequency during early vestibular compensation in mouse.

The process of vestibular compensation includes both behavioral and neuronal recovery after unilateral loss of peripheral vestibular organs. The mechanisms that underlie this process are poorly understood. Previous research has shown the presence of both gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABA(A)) and glycine receptors in the medial vestibular nuclei (MVN).