Clinical Manifestations.

Background: Hearing loss is highly prevalent and can have significant consequences for older adults aging with cognitive impairment. However, few older adults use hearing aids and disparities in care exist by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic position. To understand the intersection of hearing loss and cognitive impairment with the ultimate goal of developing an affordable, accessible hearing care intervention responsive to the needs of end-users, a series of semi-structured interviews was conducted.

Volatile biomarkers in the breath of women with breast cancer.

We sought biomarkers of breast cancer in the breath because the disease is accompanied by increased oxidative stress and induction of cytochrome P450 enzymes, both of which generate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are excreted in breath. We analyzed breath VOCs in 54 women with biopsy-proven breast cancer and 204 cancer-free controls, using gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. Chromatograms were converted into a series of data points by segmenting them into 900 time slices (8 s duration, 4 s overlap) and determining their alveolar gradients (abundance in breath minus abundance in ambient room air).

Effects of partial immobilization after eccentric exercise on recovery from muscle damage.

Context: Short-term strict immobilization of the arm using a cast enhances recovery of muscle function after eccentric exercise.

Objective: To determine if placing one arm in a sling ("light" immobilization) for 4 days after eccentric exercise of the elbow flexor muscles would reduce muscle soreness and enhance recovery compared with the exercised but not immobilized contralateral arm.

Design: Subjects performed 10 sets of 6 maximal isokinetic (90 degrees x s(-1)) eccentric actions of the elbow flexors of each arm on a Cybex dynamometer, separated by 2 weeks.