Somatosensory Perception of Running Shoe Mass may be influenced by Extended Wearing Time or Inclusion of a Personal Reference Shoe, Depending on Testing Method.

Consumers may purchase running shoes on the basis of their masses, yet little is known about shoe mass perceptual abilities. In this multi-part experiment, four groups of twenty-five young adult males (total = 100) were challenged to gauge the relative masses of five unfamiliar running shoes. The four groups differed by the length of time they were given to wear the shoes (up to 1 minute versus 5 minutes) and whether or not they were able to use their own personal running shoes as a reference.

Consensus Statement Immunonutrition and Exercise.

In this consensus statement on immunonutrition and exercise, a panel of knowledgeable contributors from across the globe provides a consensus of updated science, including the background, the aspects for which a consensus actually exists, the controversies and, when possible, suggested directions for future research.

Disease outbreaks as vehicles for exploring 'engaged citizen' themes through a course on the history of infectious diseases.

Infectious diseases are potential catalysts for exploring 'engaged citizen' or socioscientific themes given their interwoven economic, political, scientific and social dimensions. This article describes how an undergraduate course on the history of infectious diseases was modified to explore the impact of two 'engaged citizen' themes (poverty and technology), and to consider the ramifications of those themes on past, present and future infectious disease outbreaks. Four outbreaks were used as the foundation for the course: plague (1350s), puerperal fever (1840s), cholera (1850s) and syphilis (1930s).

Adapting an Infectious Diseases Course for "Engaged Citizen" Themes.

This article describes philosophies and perspectives underpinning scientific citizenship-focused curricular changes implemented into a pre-existing undergraduate infectious diseases course. Impetus for the curricular changes was a novel, campus-wide, multidisciplinary "Engaged Citizen" theme for the general education curriculum. The first half of the article describes the larger contexts from which the curricular changes were borne and the resulting instructional model.

Alkaloids and athlete immune function: caffeine, theophylline, gingerol, ephedrine, and their congeners.

Plant alkaloids are found in foods, beverages, and supplements consumed by athletes for daily nutrition, performance enhancement, and immune function improvement. This paper examined possible immunomodulatory roles of alkaloids in exercise contexts, with a focus on human studies. Four representative groups were scrutinized: (a) caffeine (guaranine, mateine); (b) theophylline and its isomers, theobromine and paraxanthine; (c) ginger alkaloids including gingerols and shogaol; and (d) ephedra alkaloids such as ephedrine and pseudoephedrine.