Characteristics of Unsuccessful Balance Reactive Responses to Lateral Loss of Balance in Older Adults.

Introduction: An effective reactive step response to an unexpected balance loss is an important factor that determines if a fall will happen. We investigated reactive step strategies and kinematics of unsuccessful balance recovery responses that ended with falls in older adults.

Methods: We compared the strategies and kinematics of reactive stepping after a lateral loss of balance, i.

The effects of daily dose of intense exercise on cardiac responses and atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a supraventricular tachyarrhythmia that is strongly associated with cardiovascular (CV) disease and sedentary lifestyles. Despite the benefits of exercise on overall health, AF incidence in high-level endurance athletes rivals that of CV disease patients, suggesting a J-shaped relationship with AF. To investigate the dependence of AF vulnerability on exercise, we varied daily swim durations (120, 180 or 240 min day ) in 7-week-old male CD1 mice.

Cardiomyocyte and endothelial cells play distinct roles in the tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-dependent atrial responses and increased atrial fibrillation vulnerability induced by endurance exercise training in mice.

Aims: Endurance exercise is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation (AF). We previously established that adverse atrial remodelling and AF susceptibility induced by intense exercise in mice require the mechanosensitive and pro-inflammatory cytokine tumour necrosis factor (TNF). The cellular and mechanistic basis for these TNF-mediated effects is unknown.

Dissecting the Roles of the Autonomic Nervous System and Physical Activity on Circadian Heart Rate Fluctuations in Mice.

Heart rate (HR) and blood pressure as well as adverse cardiovascular events show clear circadian patterns, which are linked to interdependent daily variations in physical activity and cardiac autonomic nerve system (ANS) activity. We set out to assess the relative contributions of the ANS (alone) and physical activity to circadian HR fluctuations. To do so, we measured HR (beats per minute, bpm) in mice that were either immobilized using isoflurane anesthesia or free-moving.