The Fidget Factor and the obesity paradox. How small movements have big impact.

The hypothesis is that the Fidget Factor is the innate neurological pulse that propels humans and other species to move to support their health. Fidgets, previously thought to be spontaneous, are neurologically regulated and highly ordered (non-random). Modern societies being chair-based overwhelm Fidget Factor pulses and consequently inflict chair-based living for transportation, labor, and leisure.

Effects of Experimental Sleep Restriction on Energy Intake, Energy Expenditure, and Visceral Obesity.

Background: Although the consequences of sleep deficiency for obesity risk are increasingly apparent, experimental evidence is limited and there are no studies on body fat distribution.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of experimentally-induced sleep curtailment in the setting of free access to food on energy intake, energy expenditure, and regional body composition.

Methods: Twelve healthy, nonobese individuals (9 males, age range 19 to 39 years) completed a randomized, controlled, crossover, 21-day inpatient study comprising 4 days of acclimation, 14 days of experimental sleep restriction (4 hour sleep opportunity) or control sleep (9 hour sleep opportunity), and a 3-day recovery segment.

Walking Time Is Associated With Hippocampal Volume in Overweight and Obese Office Workers.

: To investigate the long-term effects on cognition and brain function after installing treadmill workstations in offices for 13 months. : Eighty healthy overweight or obese office workers aged 40-67 years were individually randomized to an intervention group, receiving a treadmill workstation and encouraging emails, or to a control group, continuing to work as usual. Effects on cognitive function, hippocampal volume, prefrontal cortex (PFC) thickness, and circulating brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) were analyzed.

Acceptability of Robotic-Assisted Exercise Coaching Among Diverse Youth: Pilot Study.

Background: Almost 80% of adolescents do not achieve 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day as recommended by current US national guidelines. There is a need to develop and promote interventions that increase physical activity among adolescents. With increased interest in digital technologies among adolescents, robotic-assisted platforms are a novel and engaging strategy to deliver physical activity interventions.

Effect of Inorganic Nitrite vs Placebo on Exercise Capacity Among Patients With Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: The INDIE-HFpEF Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: There are few effective treatments for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). Short-term administration of inorganic nitrite or nitrate preparations has been shown to enhance nitric oxide signaling, which may improve aerobic capacity in HFpEF.

Objective: To determine the effect of 4 weeks' administration of inhaled, nebulized inorganic nitrite on exercise capacity in HFpEF.

Treadmill workstations in office workers who are overweight or obese: a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Treadmill workstations that enable office workers to walk on a treadmill while working at their computers might increase physical activity in offices, but long-term effects are unknown. We therefore investigated whether treadmill workstations in offices increased daily walking time.

Methods: We did a randomised controlled trial of healthy office workers who were either overweight or obese.

Adult energy requirements predicted from doubly labeled water.

Background: Estimating energy requirements forms an integral part of developing diet and activity interventions. Current estimates often rely on a product of physical activity level (PAL) and a resting metabolic rate (RMR) prediction. PAL estimates, however, typically depend on subjective self-reported activity or a clinician's best guess.

Dynamic Quantification of Migrainous Thermal Facial Patterns - A Pilot Study.

This article documents thermophysiological patterns associated with migraine episodes, where the inner canthi and supraorbital temperatures drop significantly compared to normal conditions. These temperature drops are likely due to vasoconstriction of the ophthalmic arteries under the inner canthi and sympathetic activation of the eccrine glands in the supraorbital region, respectively. The thermal patterns were observed on eight migraine patients and meticulously quantified using advance computational methods, capable of delineating small anatomical structures in thermal imagery and tracking them automatically over time.

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes among respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-infected hematologic malignancy and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients receiving palivizumab.

Palivizumab has been used to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)-infected hematologic malignancy patients at our institution based on limited published data. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate clinical outcomes and mortality rates of RSV-infected hematologic malignancy patients from 2007 to 2016. A total of 67 patients (19 received palivizumab and 47 received supportive care) were identified.

Survey of potential receptivity to robotic-assisted exercise coaching in a diverse sample of smokers and nonsmokers.

A prior project found that an intensive (12 weeks, thrice weekly sessions) in-person, supervised, exercise coaching intervention was effective for smoking cessation among depressed women smokers. However, the sample was 90% White and of high socioeconomic status, and the intensity of the intervention limits its reach. One approach to intervention scalability is to deliver the supervised exercise coaching using a robotic human exercise trainer.

Resting Metabolic Rate, Total Daily Energy Expenditure, and Metabolic Adaptation 6 Months and 24 Months After Bariatric Surgery.

Objective: Little is known about long-term metabolic (energy expenditure) adaptation after bariatric surgery.

Methods: Resting metabolic rate under basal conditions (RMR), total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), and body composition were measured in 25 participants in the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery-2.

Results: Six months after surgery, BMI (±SD) decreased (47 ± 6 kg/m to 37 ± 5 kg/m ), body fat went from 48% ± 6% to 40% ± 6% fat, and fat-free mass went from 67 ± 9 kg to 60 ± 9 kg.

Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating abatacept in patients with steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Steroid-refractory chronic graft-versus-host disease (SR-cGVHD) remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation. Innovative immunotherapeutic strategies are urgently needed for the treatment of SR-cGVHD. We conducted a phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and immune effects of abatacept, a novel immunomodulatory drug that acts as an inhibitor of T-cell activation via costimulatory blockade, in the treatment of SR-cGVHD.

Healthy Immigrant Families: Randomized Controlled Trial of a Family-Based Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention.

Purpose: To evaluate a healthy eating and physical activity intervention for immigrant families, derived through community-based participatory research.

Design: The Healthy Immigrant Families study was a randomized controlled trial with delayed intervention control group, with families as the randomization unit.

Setting: US Midwest city.

Resting sympathetic activity is associated with the sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a meal.

Individuals with high plasma norepinephrine (NE) levels at rest have a smaller reduction in resting energy expenditure (REE) following -adrenergic blockade. If this finding extends to the response to a meal, it could have important implications for the role of the sympathetic nervous system in energy balance and weight gain. We hypothesized high muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) would be associated with a low sympathetically mediated component of energy expenditure following a meal.

Accelerometer-Measured Daily Activity in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: Clinical Correlates and Association With Standard Heart Failure Severity Indices.

Background: Daily physical activity assessed by accelerometers represents a novel method to assess the impact of interventions on heart failure (HF) patients' functional status. We hypothesized that daily activity varies by patient characteristics and correlates with established measures of HF severity in HF with preserved ejection fraction.

Methods And Results: In this ancillary study of the NEAT-HFpEF trial (Nitrate's Effects on Activity Tolerance in HF With Preserved Ejection Fraction), average daily accelerometer units (ADAU) and hours active per day were assessed during a 14-day period before starting isosorbide mononitrate or placebo (n=110).

An Under-the-Table Leg-Movement Apparatus and Changes in Energy Expenditure.

Deskwork contributes substantially to sedentariness. Here, we evaluated an under-the-table apparatus that was designed to promote leg movement (fidgeting) while seated. Our hypothesis was that the under-the-table apparatus would increase energy expenditure.

Obesity and sexual abuse in American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Mainstream American culture frequently minimizes the prevalence and significance of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, this denial of extensive victimization of women is also present in many underserved populations. In June 2007, Amnesty International released its report on sexual abuse in indigenous women, which states that, "One in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives.

MUC1-mediated induction of myeloid-derived suppressor cells in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) play a critical role in promoting immune tolerance and disease growth. The mechanism by which tumor cells evoke the expansion of MDSCs in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has not been well described. We have demonstrated that patients with AML exhibit increased presence of MDSCs in their peripheral blood, in comparison with normal controls.

Individualized vaccination of AML patients in remission is associated with induction of antileukemia immunity and prolonged remissions.

We developed a personalized cancer vaccine in which patient-derived acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells are fused with autologous dendritic cells, generating a hybridoma that potently stimulates broad antitumor responses. We report results obtained from the first 17 AML patients, who achieved remission after chemotherapy and were then serially vaccinated to target minimal residual disease and prevent relapse. Vaccination was well tolerated and induced inflammatory responses at the site of administration, characterized by the dense infiltration of T cells.

Chair-based fidgeting and energy expenditure.

Introduction: Sedentariness is associated with chronic health conditions, impaired cognitive function and obesity. Work contributes significantly to sedentariness because many work tasks necessitate sitting. Few sustained solutions exist to reverse workplace sedentariness.