The Training and Tapering Practices of Highland Games Heavy Event Athletes.

Winwood, PW, Keogh, JW, Travis, SK, Grieve, I, and Pritchard, HJ. The training and tapering practices of Highland Games heavy event athletes. J Strength Cond Res 38(3): e116-e124, 2024-This study provides the first empirical evidence of how Highland Games heavy event athletes train and taper for Highland Games competitions.

Integrated genomic approaches to identification of candidate genes underlying metabolic and cardiovascular phenotypes in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is a widely used rodent model of hypertension and metabolic syndrome. Previously we identified thousands of cis-regulated expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) across multiple tissues using a panel of rat recombinant inbred (RI) strains derived from Brown Norway and SHR progenitors. These cis-eQTLs represent potential susceptibility loci underlying physiological and pathophysiological traits manifested in SHR.

Genome-wide co-expression analysis in multiple tissues.

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) represent genetic control points of gene expression, and can be categorized as cis- and trans-acting, reflecting local and distant regulation of gene expression respectively. Although there is evidence of co-regulation within clusters of trans-eQTLs, the extent of co-expression patterns and their relationship with the genotypes at eQTLs are not fully understood. We have mapped thousands of cis- and trans-eQTLs in four tissues (fat, kidney, adrenal and left ventricle) in a large panel of rat recombinant inbred (RI) strains.

Integrated genomic approaches implicate osteoglycin (Ogn) in the regulation of left ventricular mass.

Left ventricular mass (LVM) and cardiac gene expression are complex traits regulated by factors both intrinsic and extrinsic to the heart. To dissect the major determinants of LVM, we combined expression quantitative trait locus1 and quantitative trait transcript (QTT) analyses of the cardiac transcriptome in the rat. Using these methods and in vitro functional assays, we identified osteoglycin (Ogn) as a major candidate regulator of rat LVM, with increased Ogn protein expression associated with elevated LVM.

Grouping Gene Ontology terms to improve the assessment of gene set enrichment in microarray data.

Background: Gene Ontology (GO) terms are often used to assess the results of microarray experiments. The most common way to do this is to perform Fisher's exact tests to find GO terms which are over-represented amongst the genes declared to be differentially expressed in the analysis of the microarray experiment. However, due to the high degree of dependence between GO terms, statistical testing is conservative, and interpretation is difficult.

The effects of soil horizons and faunal excrement on bacterial distribution in an upland grassland soil.

The density and spatial location of bacteria were investigated within different horizons of an upland grassland soil before and after a liming treatment to increase the numbers of large soil fauna. Bacterial cells were located by image analysis of stained thin sections and densities calculated from these data. Excrement from macro- and meso-fauna was identified using micromorphology and the densities of bacteria on specific areas of excrement measured by image analysis.

Determination of rhizosphere 13C pulse signals in soil thin sections by laser ablation isotope ratio mass spectrometry.

In grassland ecosystems, soil animals act as key soil engineers and architects. The diversity of soil animals is also a regulator of ecosystem carbon flow. However, our understanding of the link between soil animals, carbon fluxes and soil physical organisation remains poor.