Effects of activity-oriented physiotherapy with and without eye movement training on dynamic balance, functional mobility, and eye movements in patients with Parkinson's disease: An assessor-blinded randomised controlled pilot trial.

Objectives: To describe changes in balance, walking speed, functional mobility, and eye movements following an activity-oriented physiotherapy (AOPT) or its combination with eye movement training (AOPT-E) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). To explore the feasibility of a full-scale randomised controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: Using an assessor-blinded pilot RCT, 25 patients with PD were allocated to either AOPT or AOPT-E.

Sex-specific analysis of hiking accidents in the Austrian Alps: a follow-up from 2015 to 2021.

Background: Hiking is one of the most popular leisure sport activities practiced in the Alps during the summer season, but bears the risk of mountain emergencies, accidents, and fatalities. This paper provides an updated analysis of hiking accidents for the years 2015 to 2021 in the Austrian Alps, thereby outlining fatal and non-fatal accident characteristics.

Methods: For this retrospective analysis, mountain hiking accidents documented by the Austrian Alpine Police during a 7-year period were screened for potential exclusion criteria.

Repeated Short-Term Bouts of Hyperoxia Improve Aerobic Performance in Acute Hypoxia.

Faulhaber, M, Schneider, S, Rausch, LK, Dünnwald, T, Menz, V, Gatterer, H, Kennedy, MD, and Schobersberger, W. Repeated short-term bouts of hyperoxia improve aerobic performance in acute hypoxia. J Strength Cond Res 37(10): 2016-2022, 2023-This study aimed to test the effects of repeated short-term bouts of hyperoxia on maximal 5-minute cycling performance under acute hypoxic conditions (3,200 m).

Novel progestogenic androgens for male contraception: design, synthesis, and activity of C7 α-substituted testosterone†.

Male contraceptive development has included use of testosterone (T) with or without a progestin or the use of a single molecule such as progestogenic androgens (PA) for suppression of testicular T production. Expanding upon the vast amount of data accumulated from nortestosterone (NT), NT analogs, and their prodrugs, a new series of PA, the C7 methyl, and ethyl α-substituted T analogs 7α-Methyltestosterone (7α-MT) and 7α-Ethyltestosterone (7α-ET), respectively, were hypothesized and designed to have superior androgenic and progestogenic activities when compared with parent T. Results from androgen receptor and progesterone receptor competitive binding and transcriptional activation assays showed favorable activities for these T analogs.

The Effects of Exercise Therapy Moderated by Sex in Rehabilitation of COVID-19.

Standardized exercise therapy programs in pulmonary rehabilitation have been shown to improve physical performance and lung function parameters in post-acute COVID-19 patients. However, it has not been investigated if these positive effects are equally beneficial for both sexes. The purpose of this study was to analyze outcomes of a pulmonary rehabilitation program with respect to sex differences, in order to identify sex-specific pulmonary rehabilitation requirements.

Weight Loss and Fat Metabolism during Multi-Day High-Altitude Sojourns: A Hypothesis Based on Adipocyte Signaling.

Several publications and random observations have reported weight loss in high-altitude sojourners of both sexes. This could be a result of multiple adaptations, which hypoxia and mountaineering provoke on a cellular and organic level. Several publications have discussed the effect on appetite-regulating hormones to be one of the main contributing factors.

Expiratory Peak Flow and Minute Ventilation Are Significantly Increased at High Altitude versus Simulated Altitude in Normobaria.

Simulated altitude (normobaric hypoxia, NH) is used to study physiologic hypoxia responses of altitude. However, several publications show differences in physiological responses between NH and hypobaric conditions at altitude (hypobaric hypoxia, HH). The causality for these differences is controversially discussed.

Effects of Acute Hypoxia on Lactate Thresholds and High-Intensity Endurance Performance-A Pilot Study.

The present project compared acute hypoxia-induced changes in lactate thresholds (methods according to Mader, Dickhuth and Cheng) with changes in high-intensity endurance performance. Six healthy and well-trained volunteers conducted graded cycle ergometer tests in normoxia and in acute normobaric hypoxia (simulated altitude 3000 m) to determine power output at three lactate thresholds (P, P, P). Subsequently, participants performed two maximal 30-min cycling time trials in normoxia (test 1 for habituation) and one in normobaric hypoxia to determine mean power output (P).

Extreme sports performance for more than a week with severely fractured sleep.

Purpose: Severely fractured sleep is mostly portrayed negatively, but investigations in extreme sports show that humans can maintain performance with a minimum of sleep. With two cases of long-lasting extreme sports performances, we demonstrate that severely fragmented sleep does not necessarily lead to a deterioration of physical and cognitive performance.

Methods: We performed continuous polysomnography on a 34 year-old skier for 11 days and nights during a world record attempt in long-term downhill skiing and monitored a 32 year-old cyclist during the Race Across America for 8.

Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Responses During Graded Exercise in Normobaric and Hypobaric Hypoxia.

The study investigated submaximal exercise responses during an acute exposure to normobaric hypoxia (NH) versus hypobaric hypoxia (HH) focusing on different exercise intensities. Eight recreationally trained male subjects (age 23 ± 3 years) performed submaximal cycling exercise at three different intensity levels (100, 150, and 200 W) in NH (simulated altitude 3150 m) and HH (terrestrial high altitude, 3150 m) in a cross-over study design. Cardiorespiratory parameter, blood lactate concentration, and ratings of perceived exertion were determined at each intensity level.

Periodic breathing in healthy young adults in normobaric hypoxia equivalent to 3500 m, 4500 m, and 5500 m altitude.

Purpose: The occurrence of periodic breathing (PB) at high altitude during sleep and the quality of sleep are individually different and influenced by multiple factors including sex. Although poor sleep quality at high altitude might not be directly linked to oxygen desaturations, the PB upsurge at high altitude leads to significant oscillations in oxygen saturation.

Methods: Thirty-three students were recruited.

Adiponectin, Leptin and Visfatin in Hypoxia and its Effect for Weight Loss in Obesity.

Hypoxia induces leptin gene expression in human adipocytes via hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF-α/β). Under ambient moderate hypoxia, leptin in adipocytes is elevated for at least 14 days. Leptin is supposedly involved in the reduced food intake, increased utilization of fatty acids for energy production and possible weight loss observed at high altitudes.

The Linkage between Breast Cancer, Hypoxia, and Adipose Tissue.

Objective: The development of breast cancer cells is linked to hypoxia. The hypoxia-induced factor HIF-1α influences metastasis through neovascularization. Hypoxia seems to decrease the responsiveness to hormonal treatment due to loss of estrogen receptors (ERs).

Endurance Training in Normobaric Hypoxia Imposes Less Physical Stress for Geriatric Rehabilitation.

Evidence suggests that training in hypoxia can be very effective even while requiring less physical effort. We therefore aimed to measure the effect of endurance training under hypoxic conditions on pulmonary and cardiovascular parameters in an elderly population undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. Forty patients over age 65 years with multiple co-morbid conditions were recruited during a 3-week stay in a geriatric rehabilitation center.

SpO and Heart Rate During a Real Hike at Altitude Are Significantly Different than at Its Simulation in Normobaric Hypoxia.

Exposures to simulated altitude (normobaric hypoxia, NH) are frequently used in preparation for mountaineering activities at real altitude (hypobaric hypoxia, HH). However, physiological responses to exercise in NH and HH may differ. Unfortunately clinically useful information on such differences is largely lacking.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate: toxicity, toxicokinetics, and toxicogenomics analysis after 13 weeks of oral administration in mice.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is a prodrug of tenofovir that exhibits activity against HIV and hepatitis B. The goals of this study were to evaluate the molecular mechanism of TDF-induced toxicity in mice after 13 weeks of daily oral administration (50-1000 mg/kg) by correlating transcriptional changes with plasma drug levels and traditional toxicology end points. Plasma levels and systemic exposure of tenofovir increased less than dose proportionally and were similar on days 1 and 91.

Preclinical pharmacokinetic, toxicological and biomarker evaluation of SR16157, a novel dual-acting steroid sulfatase inhibitor and selective estrogen receptor modulator.

Purpose: SR16157 is a novel dual-acting inhibitor of estrogen action that irreversibly inhibits the estrogen biosynthetic enzyme steroid sulfatase (STS) and releases the selective estrogen receptor modulator SR16137, which blocks the estrogen receptor. SR16157 is a promising agent for the endocrine therapy of breast cancer. We conducted preclinical in vivo toxicity evaluations to determine the maximum-tolerated dose (MTD), target organ(s) of toxicity, reversibility, dose-limiting toxicity, no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL), and toxicokinetics (TK) and to investigate a potential biomarker for use in SR16157 clinical trials.

Development of a new generation of 4-aminoquinoline antimalarial compounds using predictive pharmacokinetic and toxicology models.

Among the known antimalarial drugs, chloroquine (CQ) and other 4-aminoquinolines have shown high potency and good bioavailability. Yet complications associated with drug resistance necessitate the discovery of effective new antimalarial agents. ADMET prediction studies were employed to evaluate a library of new molecules based on the 4-aminoquinolone-related structure of CQ.

Evaluation of chemopreventive agents for genotoxic activity.

We conducted genetic toxicity evaluations of 11 candidate chemopreventive agents with the potential for inhibiting carcinogenesis in humans at increased risk of cancer. The compounds were evaluated for bacterial mutagenesis in the Salmonella-E. coli assay, for mammalian mutagenesis in mouse lymphoma cells, for chromosome aberrations in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells, and for micronucleus induction in mouse bone marrow.

Gene expression profiling of mouse host response to Listeria monocytogenes infection.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate gene expression profiles in the liver and blood for prediction of infection severity from Listeria monocytogenes (LM). Mice were injected with medium broth (control) or a nonlethal or lethal dose of LM and sacrificed 6 h later. Gene expression changes were determined using Affymetrix MGU74Av2 GeneChips and confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis.