Investigation of the effect of nitrate and L-arginine intake on aerobic, anaerobic performance, balance, agility, and recovery in elite taekwondo athletes.

Background: Taekwondo is a complex martial art that requires speed, balance, agility, and endurance. This study aims to examine the effects of nitrate and L-arginine supplementation on acute aerobic and anaerobic performance, balance, agility, and recovery in elite taekwondo athletes.

Method: This study was conducted as a double-blind, randomized, crossover study with the participation of 15 experienced taekwondo athletes aged 19.

The effect of high-intensity intermittent and moderate-intensity continuous exercises on neurobiological markers and cognitive performance.

Background: The effects of exercise on cognitive functions and general brain health have been increasingly studied. Such studies conducted among athletes are very important to understanding the effects of different exercise methods on biochemical parameters and cognitive performance. The present study aimed to compare the neuroprotective effects of high-intensity interval exercise (HIIE) and moderate-intensity continuous exercise (MICE) based on biochemical parameters and cognitive performance in athletes.

Queen fecundity, worker entourage and cuticular chemistry in the ant .

Cooperative breeding entails conflicts over reproductive shares that may be settled in different ways. In ants, where several queens simultaneously reproduce in a colony, both queens and workers may influence the reproductive apportionment and offspring quality. Queens may vary in their intrinsic fecundity, which may influence the size of the worker entourage attending individual queens, and this may eventually dictate the reproductive output of a queen.

Relatedness modulates reproductive competition among queens in ant societies with multiple queens.

Reproductive sharing in animal groups with multiple breeders, insects and vertebrates alike, contains elements of both conflict and cooperation, and depends on both relatedness between co-breeders, as well as their internal and external conditions. We studied how queens of the ant adjust their reproductive efforts in response to experimental manipulations of the kin competition regime in their nest. Queens respond to the presence of competitors by increasing their egg laying efforts, but only if the competitors are highly fecund and distantly related.

Does Single or Combined Caffeine and Taurine Supplementation Improve Athletic and Cognitive Performance without Affecting Fatigue Level in Elite Boxers? A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study.

In previous studies, the effect of single or combined intake of caffeine (CAF) and taurine (TAU) on exercise performance was investigated. However, the potential synergistic effect on physical and cognitive performance after fatigue induced by anaerobic exercise is unknown. The effects of single and combination CAF and TAU supplementation on the Wingate test in elite male boxers and to evaluate balance, agility and cognitive performance after fatigue are being investigated for the first time in this study.

Serum BDNF and Selenium Levels in Elite Athletes Exposed to Blows.

: The study aimed to investigate the combined acute and long-term effects of exposure to blows and exercise on serum BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and selenium levels. : Serum BDNF and selenium levels were determined in 40 male elite athletes before and after vigorous exercise (training match) with a probability of exposure to blows and in 10 sedentary men subjected to exercise (Astrand running protocol). : Serum BDNF levels were found 11.

Double-blind, placebo-controlled evaluation of biorest liposomal alendronate in diabetic patients undergoing PCI: The BLADE-PCI trial.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an important predictor of neointimal hyperplasia (NIH) and adverse clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). LABR-312, a novel intravenous formulation of liposomal alendronate, has been shown in animal models to decrease NIH at vascular injury sites and around stent struts. The aim of the Biorest Liposomal Alendronate Administration for Diabetic Patients Undergoing Drug-Eluting Stent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention trial was to assess the safety, effectiveness, and dose response of LABR-312 administered intravenously at the time of PCI withDES in reducing NIH as measured by optical coherence tomography postprocedure in patients with DM.

Incidence and Predictors of Target Lesion Failure in Patients With Lesions in Small Vessels Undergoing PCI With Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents: Insights From the BIONICS Study.

Treatment of lesions in small coronary vessels is associated with an increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).We aimed to evaluate the outcomes of patients undergoing small-vessel PCI in the BIONICS trial and to identify predictors of stent failure. 1910 patients were randomized to treatment with the EluNIR™ ridaforolimus-eluting stent (RES) or Resolute™ zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES).

One-year outcomes of supersaturated oxygen therapy in acute anterior myocardial infarction: The IC-HOT study.

Background: Supersaturated oxygen (SSO ) has recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for administration after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI) in patients with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) based on its demonstration of infarct size reduction in the IC-HOT study.

Ridaforolimus eluting stent for the treatment of Japanese patients with coronary disease: 1 year outcomes of the JNIR study.

Background: Japanese patients have shown improved outcomes after treatment with drug eluting stents compared with Western patients. Outcomes with the ridaforolimus-eluting EluNIR stent in Japanese patients are unknown.

Methods And Results: This was a multi-center trial in Japanese patients undergoing PCI with the ridaforolimus eluting EluNIR stent.

Outcomes of Patients With Coronary Arterial Bifurcation Narrowings Undergoing Provisional 1-Stent Treatment (from the BIONICS Trial).

Treatment of bifurcation lesions is technically challenging and has been associated with an increased risk of adverse events. We sought to evaluate the clinical and angiographic outcomes of patients who underwent bifurcation lesion provisional treatment in the BioNIR Ridaforolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in Coronary Stenosis trial. A prospective, multicenter, 1:1 randomized trial was conducted to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ridaforolimus-eluting stents (RES) versus zotarolimus-eluting stents (ZES).

Randomized Comparison of Ridaforolimus-Eluting and Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stents: 2-Year Clinical Outcomes From the BIONICS and NIREUS Trials.

Objectives: This study sought to determine clinical outcomes between treatment groups over long-term follow-up.

Background: The safety and efficacy of a ridaforolimus-eluting stent (RES) was evaluated in the BIONICS (BioNIR Ridaforolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System in Coronary Stenosis) and NIREUS (BioNIR Ridaforolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System [BioNIR] European Angiography Study) trials, demonstrating noninferiority of RES in comparison with a zotarolimus-eluting stent (ZES) regarding 1-year target lesion failure (TLF) and 6-month angiographic late lumen loss, respectively.

Methods: Patient-level data from the BIONICS (N = 1,919) and NIREUS (N = 302) randomized trials were pooled, and outcomes in patients implanted with RES and ZES compared.

Outcomes Among Diabetic Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With Contemporary Drug-Eluting Stents: Analysis From the BIONICS Randomized Trial.

Objectives: The authors sought to investigate the impact of diabetes mellitus (DM) on outcomes following contemporary drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation in the BIONICS (BioNIR Ridaforolimus Eluting Coronary Stent System in Coronary Stenosis) trial.

Background: Patients with DM are at increased risk for adverse events following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods: A prospective, multicenter, 1:1 randomized trial was conducted to evaluate in a noninferiority design the safety and efficacy of ridaforolimus-eluting stents versus zotarolimus-eluting stents among 1,919 patients undergoing PCI.

Evaluation of intracoronary hyperoxemic oxygen therapy in acute anterior myocardial infarction: The IC-HOT study.

Background: In the randomized AMIHOT-II trial, supersaturated oxygen [SSO ] delivered into the left anterior descending (LAD) artery via an indwelling intracoronary infusion catheter following primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) significantly reduced infarct size in patients with anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) but resulted in a numerically higher incidence of safety events.

Objectives: The IC-HOT study evaluated the safety of SSO therapy selectively delivered to the left main coronary artery (LMCA) for 60 minutes after PCI in patients with anterior STEMI.

Methods: SSO therapy was administered to the LMCA after stent implantation in 100 patients with anterior STEMI and proximal or mid-LAD occlusion presenting within 6 hours of symptom onset.

Randomized Comparison of Ridaforolimus- and Zotarolimus-Eluting Coronary Stents in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: Primary Results From the BIONICS Trial (BioNIR Ridaforolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System in Coronary Stenosis).

Background: The safety and efficacy of a novel cobalt alloy-based coronary stent with a durable elastomeric polymer eluting the antiproliferative agent ridaforolimus for treatment of patients with coronary artery disease is undetermined.

Methods: A prospective, international 1:1 randomized trial was conducted to evaluate in a noninferiority design the relative safety and efficacy of ridaforolimus-eluting stents (RESs) and slow-release zotarolimus-eluting stents among 1919 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention at 76 centers. Inclusion criteria allowed enrollment of patients with recent myocardial infarction, total occlusions, bifurcations lesions, and other complex conditions.

Platelet Reactivity and Clinical Outcomes After Coronary Artery Implantation of Drug-Eluting Stents in Subjects With Peripheral Arterial Disease: Analysis From the ADAPT-DES Study (Assessment of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy With Drug-Eluting Stents).

Background: Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) have high rates of adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention and may additionally have heightened platelet reactivity. This study assessed the relationship between platelet reactivity and clinical outcomes after percutaneous coronary interventions among subjects with and without PAD.

Methods And Results: ADAPT-DES (Assessment of Dual Antiplatelet Therapy With Drug-Eluting Stents) was a prospective, multicenter registry of patients treated with coronary drug-eluting stents.

Optical coherence tomography compared with intravascular ultrasound and with angiography to guide coronary stent implantation (ILUMIEN III: OPTIMIZE PCI): a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is most commonly guided by angiography alone. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance has been shown to reduce major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) after PCI, principally by resulting in a larger postprocedure lumen than with angiographic guidance. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides higher resolution imaging than does IVUS, although findings from some studies suggest that it might lead to smaller luminal diameters after stent implantation.

SILEN-C3, a phase 2 randomized trial with faldaprevir plus pegylated interferon α-2a and ribavirin in treatment-naive hepatitis C virus genotype 1-infected patients.

Faldaprevir is an investigational hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3/4A protease inhibitor which, when administered for 24 weeks in combination with pegylated interferon α-2a and ribavirin (PegIFN/RBV) in treatment-naive patients in a prior study (SILEN-C1; M. S. Sulkowski et al.

The value of oviposition timing, queen presence and kinship in a social insect.

Reproductive cooperation confers benefits, but simultaneously creates conflicts among cooperators. Queens in multi-queen colonies of ants share a nest and its resources, but reproductive competition among queens often results in unequal reproduction. Two mutually non-exclusive factors may produce such inequality in reproduction: worker intervention or queen traits.

Assessing the impact of carryover effects on the variances of estimators of treatment differences in crossover designs.

Different models that include carryover effects have been studied in the optimal design literature. It has been suggested that the use of these models results in increased variances of estimated contrasts of the direct treatment effects, leading to inferior estimators in terms of precision. Under a number of models and selected designs, we present variance expressions for the pairwise differences of direct treatment effects and observe that adjusting for carryover effects need not affect the precision of estimators negatively.

Validity of the Papanicolaou Smear in the Diagnosis of Candida spp., Trichomonas vaginalis, and Bacterial Vaginosis.

Objective: To determine the validity of the Papanicolaou smear in the diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Candida spp.

Materials And Methods: We determined the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of Pap smears we performed in 824 symptomatic patients. We compared Pap smear diagnoses with those obtained by standard microscopic examination and Gram stain of the exudate.