Antioxidant Supplementation Protects Elite Athlete Muscle Integrity During Submaximal Training.

Purpose: To determine (1) the effect of a 40-minute steady-state run on muscle membrane integrity of elite athletes as reflected by serum creatine kinase (CK), (2) whether antioxidant supplementation (AS) with vitamins E and C has a protective effect, and (3) if a minimal blood concentration of vitamin E or C is required for any such protection.

Methods: Fifteen elite-level endurance athletes (V˙O2max=71.5±1.

The effect of height on estimates of the change in BMI-based prevalence of childhood obesity.

Background/objectives: Body mass index (BMI, body mass/height) is biased toward height in children. Here we investigate how change in population height affected change in BMI-based estimates of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children.

Subjects/methods: Height, weight, and percent body fat (%BF) were measured at ages 8, 10, and 12 years (1855 sets of measures).

Woodlands and woody debris: Understanding structure and composition to inform restoration.

Simplification of stand structure of forests and woodlands through human-induced modification is a serious threat to biodiversity. Restoring lost habitat complexity and heterogeneity, such as woody debris, requires an understanding of the relationships between different elements that contribute to stand structure. In this study, we examine the structure and composition of a critically endangered box-gum grassy woodland in south-eastern Australia and relationships with woody debris loads.

Returning a lost process by reintroducing a locally extinct digging marsupial.

The eastern bettong (), a medium-sized digging marsupial, was reintroduced to a predator-free reserve after 100 years of absence from the Australian mainland. The bettong may have the potential to restore temperate woodlands degraded by a history of livestock grazing, by creating numerous small disturbances by digging. We investigated the digging capacity of the bettong and compared this to extant fauna, to answer the first key question of whether this species could be considered an ecosystem engineer, and ultimately if it has the capacity to restore lost ecological processes.

Tool-assisted rhythmic drumming in palm cockatoos shares key elements of human instrumental music.

All human societies have music with a rhythmic "beat," typically produced with percussive instruments such as drums. The set of capacities that allows humans to produce and perceive music appears to be deeply rooted in human biology, but an understanding of its evolutionary origins requires cross-taxa comparisons. We show that drumming by palm cockatoos () shares the key rudiments of human instrumental music, including manufacture of a sound tool, performance in a consistent context, regular beat production, repeated components, and individual styles.

Longitudinal patterns of change in eye-hand coordination in children aged 8-16 years.

Enhanced eye-hand coordination (EHC) is associated with greater participation in physical activity. No longitudinal studies have examined the change in throw-catch EHC from childhood to mid-adolescence. We investigated the development of EHC with an object control test from childhood to mid-adolescence in boys and girls.

The influence of sport club participation on physical activity, fitness and body fat during childhood and adolescence: The LOOK Longitudinal Study.

Objectives: To investigate the longitudinal effect of sport participation in physical activity, fitness and body fat changes during childhood and adolescence.

Design: Longitudinal study (134 boys, 155 girls) of Australian youth aged 8-16 years.

Methods: Physical activity was assessed by pedometers and accelerometers, fitness by the 20m shuttle-run, body fat by DEXA and club sport participation by questionnaire.

Nutritional correlates of koala persistence in a low-density population.

It is widely postulated that nutritional factors drive bottom-up, resource-based patterns in herbivore ecology and distribution. There is, however, much controversy over the roles of different plant constituents and how these influence individual herbivores and herbivore populations. The density of koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations varies widely and many attribute population trends to variation in the nutritional quality of the eucalypt leaves of their diet, but there is little evidence to support this hypothesis.

Geographical variation in body size and sexual size dimorphism in an Australian lizard, Boulenger's Skink (Morethia boulengeri).

Ecogeographical rules help explain spatial and temporal patterns in intraspecific body size. However, many of these rules, when applied to ectothermic organisms such as reptiles, are controversial and require further investigation. To explore factors that influence body size in reptiles, we performed a heuristic study to examine body size variation in an Australian lizard, Boulenger's Skink Morethia boulengeri from agricultural landscapes in southern New South Wales, south-eastern Australia.

The value of countryside elements in the conservation of a threatened arboreal marsupial Petaurus norfolcensis in agricultural landscapes of south-eastern Australia--the disproportional value of scattered trees.

Human activities, particularly agriculture, have transformed much of the world's terrestrial environment. Within these anthropogenic landscapes, a variety of relictual and semi-natural habitats exist, which we term countryside elements. The habitat value of countryside elements (hereafter termed 'elements') is increasingly recognised.

Sensitivity of blood lipids to changes in adiposity, exercise, and diet in children.

Purpose: This study aims to determine whether blood lipids in healthy preadolescent children are sensitive to normally occurring changes in percent body fat, physical activity (PA), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and macronutrient intake.

Methods: Repeated measurements of fasting serum LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides (TG); percent body fat (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry); PA (pedometers); CRF (multistage run); and carbohydrate, sugar, and fat intake (dietary recall and record) were carried out in 469 children (51% girls) age 8, 10, and 12 yr.

Results: Longitudinal relationships in boys showed that, for every one-unit increase in percent body fat, there was a 1.

Longitudinal patterns of physical activity in children aged 8 to 12 years: the LOOK study.

Background: Data on longitudinal monitoring of daily physical activity (PA) patterns in youth over successive years is scarce but may provide valuable information for intervention strategies aiming to promote PA.

Methods: Participants were 853 children (starting age ~8 years) recruited from 29 Australian elementary schools. Pedometers were worn for a 7-day period each year over 5 consecutive years to assess PA volume (steps per day) and accelerometers were worn concurrently in the final 2 years to assess PA volume (accelerometer counts (AC) per day), moderate and vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA) and sedentary time (SED).

Marine oil dietary supplementation reduces delayed onset muscle soreness after a 30 km run.

Objective: Runners are prone to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) during long distance training. This especially holds for unaccustomed training volumes at moderate to high intensities. We investigated the effects of a marine oil complex, PCSO-524®, derived from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel (formulated as Lyprinol® and Omega XL®) on DOMS after a 30 km training run.

Physical education and blood lipid concentrations in children: the LOOK randomized cluster trial.

Background And Objectives: Elevated blood lipids during childhood are predictive of dyslipidemia in adults. Although obese and inactive children have elevated values, any potentially protective role of elementary school physical education is unknown. Our objective was to determine the effect of a modern elementary school physical education (PE) program on the blood lipid concentrations in community-based children.

Physical education can improve insulin resistance: the LOOK randomized cluster trial.

Purpose: As impaired glucose metabolism may arise progressively during childhood, we sought to determine whether the introduction of specialist-taught school physical education (PE) based on sound educational principles could improve insulin resistance (IR) in elementary school children.

Methods: In this 4-yr cluster-randomized intervention study, participants were 367 boys and 341 girls (mean age = 8.1 yr, SD = 0.

Determinants of childhood adiposity: evidence from the Australian LOOK study.

Background: To contribute to the current debate as to the relative influences of dietary intake and physical activity on the development of adiposity in community-based children.

Methods: Participants were 734 boys and girls measured at age 8, 10 and 12 years for percent body fat (dual emission x-ray absorptiometry), physical activity (pedometers, accelerometers); and dietary intake (1 and 2-day records), with assessments of pubertal development and socioeconomic status.

Results: Cross-sectional relationships revealed that boys and girls with higher percent body fat were less physically active, both in terms of steps per day and moderate and vigorous physical activity (both sexes p<0.

Effects of changes in adiposity and physical activity on preadolescent insulin resistance: the Australian LOOK longitudinal study.

Background: In a previous longitudinal analysis of our cohort as 8 to 10 year-olds, insulin resistance (IR) increased with age, but was not modified by changes in percent body fat (%BF), and was only responsive to changes in physical activity (PA) in boys. We aimed to determine whether these responses persisted as the children approached adolescence.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 256 boys and 278 girls were assessed at ages 8, 10 and 12 years for fasting blood glucose and insulin, %BF (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry); PA (7-day pedometers), fitness (multistage run); and pubertal development (Tanner stage).

Schools with fitter children achieve better literacy and numeracy results: evidence of a school cultural effect.

Relationships of academic achievement (government tests) with physical fitness (multistage run), physical activity (pedometers) and percent body fat (dual emission X-ray absorptiometry) were examined at both the aggregate school level and the individual child level using data collected from 757 children in 29 elementary schools. Statistical adjustments included gender, grade and socioeconomic status. Between-school relationships of the academic scores with fitness and physical activity were strong and positive, with some evidence of (negative) relationships with percent body fat.

Physical education, obesity, and academic achievement: a 2-year longitudinal investigation of Australian elementary school children.

Objectives: We determined whether physical education (PE) taught by specialists contributed to academic development and prevention of obesity in elementary school children.

Methods: Our 2-year longitudinal study involved 620 boys and girls initially in grade 3 in Australia, all receiving 150 minutes per week of PE. One group (specialist-taught PE; n = 312) included 90 minutes per week of PE from visiting specialists; the other (common-practice PE; n = 308) received all PE from generalist classroom teachers.

Day-dependent step-count patterns and their persistence over 3 years in 8-10-year-old children: the LOOK project.

Background: Physical activity in children is known to be generally lower at weekends but whether systematic day-to-day differences exist throughout the week is unclear.

Aim: To determine if weekly patterns of pedometer-assessed physical activity (PPA) exist in elementary school-aged Australian boys and girls and whether they persist over 3 years.

Subjects And Methods: Seven-day pedometer measurements were recorded from 389 boys and 387 girls of initial age 8.

Contrasting longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between insulin resistance and percentage of body fat, fitness, and physical activity in children-the LOOK study.

Background: Knowledge of individual changes in insulin resistance (IR) and longitudinal relationships of IR with lifestyle-associated factors are of important practical significance, but little longitudinal data exist in asymptomatic children. We aimed to determine (a) changes in the homeostatic model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) over a 2-yr period and (b) comparisons of longitudinal and cross-sectional relationships between HOMA-IR and lifestyle-related risk factors.

Methods: Our subjects, 241 boys and 257 girls, were assessed at age 8.

Testing hypotheses associated with bird responses to wildfire.

Disturbance is a key ecological process influencing the distribution and abundance of many elements of the earth's biota. Predicting the response of biota to disturbance is therefore important, but it nevertheless remains difficult to make accurate forecasts of response. We tested predictions from disturbance-related theories and concepts in 10 vegetation types at Booderee National Park (southeastern Australia) using a retrospective study of bird responses to fire history (over 35 years) on 110 sites and a prospective study following a single wildfire event in 2003 at 59 of these sites.

Reformulation of BMI and percent body fat to remove the height bias in 8-year-olds.

BMI and percent body fat (%BF) are both related to height (Ht) in prepubertal children, so may misrepresent childhood adiposity, especially in tall or short children. We sought to construct replacement functions for BMI and %BF that are independent of Ht. Fat mass (FM) was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, together with Ht and body mass (BM) in 746 healthy boys and girls aged 8 years (0.

Discordance of international adiposity classifications in Australian boys and girls - the LOOK study.

Background: Various charts based on body mass index (BMI) and per cent body fat (%BF) are used to classify childhood body composition but outcomes may vary.

Aim: The study investigated variation in incidences of childhood obesity as depicted by four classification charts.

Subjects And Methods: BMI and DXA-derived %BF were assessed in 741 children.