The Safety of Body Wraps on Skin-to-Skin Care in the Neonatal Population: A Pilot Study.

Background: Despite well-established benefits of skin-to-skin care (SSC) for preterm infants and parents, standardized guidelines for implementation do not exist. Furthermore, the literature offers little evidence-based information to guide best practice.

Purpose: To discover whether SSC using a body wrap to hold preterm infants would increase the duration of SSC, decrease parental stress during SSC, and minimize adverse events to ensure that body wraps are safe and feasible.

A survey evaluation comparing pain curriculum taught in Australian exercise physiology degrees to graduate perceptions of their preparedness and competency to treat people with chronic pain.

Background And Aims: This cross-sectional study evaluated the nature of pain curriculum being taught in accredited exercise physiology degrees across Australian universities and its perceived usefulness for preparing exercise physiologists to treat people with chronic pain.

Materials & Methods: Universities and graduates were asked about the nature and sufficiency of pain curriculum taught, with particular emphasis on competencies for physical therapists as outlined by the International Association for the Study of Pain.

Results: Ten universities and 101 graduates responded.

The effectiveness and safety of isometric resistance training for adults with high blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

High blood pressure (BP) is a global health challenge. Isometric resistance training (IRT) has demonstrated antihypertensive effects, but safety data are not available, thereby limiting its recommendation for clinical use. We conducted a systematic review of randomized controlled trials comparing IRT to controls in adults with elevated BP (systolic ≥130 mmHg/diastolic ≥85 mmHg).

Resistance Training and High-intensity Interval Training Improve Cardiometabolic Health in High Risk Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-anaylsis.

Progressive resistance training (PRT) and high-intensity interval training (HIIT) improve cardiometabolic health in older adults. Whether combination PRT+HIIT (COMB) provides similar or additional benefit is less clear. This systematic review with meta-analysis of controlled trials examined effects of PRT, HIIT and COMB compared to non-exercise control in older adults with high cardiometabolic risk.

Aerobic fitness affects cortisol responses to concurrent challenges.

Purpose: Studies have demonstrated that a combination of mental and physical challenge can elicit exacerbated state anxiety, effort sense, and cortisol responses above that of a single stimulus. However, an analysis of the effects of aerobic fitness on the responses of cortisol to concurrent mental and physical stress between below average and above average fitness individuals has not been conducted. This study examined the effects of a combination of acute mental challenges and physical stress on psychological and cortisol responses between eight individuals of below average fitness (low fit (LF), VO2max = 36.