Issues in exercise, fitness, and subjective perceptions of fitness of physical education teachers.

Several issues arise on reading the paper by Netz and Raviv. Their role in interpretation of the data and stimulating questions for further study is mentioned.

Hyperphagia, weight gain and neonatal drug withdrawal.

Unlabelled: Hyperphagia, a classical feature of neonatal drug withdrawal, has been reported not to lead to excessive weight gain, but this is contrary to our clinical experience. The aim of this study was to determine whether infants with neonatal drug withdrawal suffered excessive weight gain because of hyperphagia and, if so, to determine the risk factors. The study population comprised 48 infants consecutively admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit, 11 of whom gained weight by more than 20 g kg(-1) d(-1) for at least 10 d (excessive weight gain).

The relationship between physical activity and self-image and problem behaviour among adolescents.

Background: Although there are a vast array of studies which have demonstrated the psychological and physical health benefits of regular aerobic exercise for adults, few studies have focussed on children and adolescents. The current study examined associations between the extent of participation in endurance sport, and self-report data on self-image, physical and psychological health and overall lifestyle in a large representative sample of German high-school students.

Method: Almost 1000 German adolescents (aged 14-18 years) were administered a comprehensive series of questionnaires aimed at assessing anxiety-depression, trait addiction, smoking and drinking behaviour, physical ill-health reports, and self-perception of self-image, parental acceptance and educational attainment.

Behavioural and histopathological analyses of ibuprofen treatment on the effect of aggregated Abeta(1-42) injections in the rat.

It has been suggested that inflammatory processes may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatments may provide protection against the onset of AD. In the current study male Wistar rats were trained in two-lever operant chambers under an alternating lever cyclic-ratio ratio (ALCR) schedule. When responding showed no trends, subjects were divided into groups.

Indomethacin modulates circulating cytokine responses to strenuous exercise in humans.

Physical stress is associated with circulating cytokinemia. However the mechanisms of cytokine regulation during such stress are not clearly defined. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including indomethacin, are widely used in countering the effects of excessive exercise, but their impact on circulating pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine production in healthy humans also remains unclear.

Assuring gender equity in recruitment standards for police officers.

Human Rights Tribunals require application of non-discriminatory fitness standards in the hiring, promotion, and retention of employees. This issue has become controversial for public safety officers such as police, where differences in average levels of absolute fitness between men and women cause a high proportion of female applicants to fail many entrance tests. The present review summarizes the impact on physical working capacity of commonly encountered gender differences in size, body composition, haemoglobin levels, and muscular strength.

Prediction of long-term prognosis in 12 169 men referred for cardiac rehabilitation.

Background: Predicting the risk of cardiac and all-cause death in patients with established coronary heart disease is important in counseling the individual and designing risk-stratified rehabilitation and secondary prevention programs. Cox proportional hazards and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were thus completed on initial assessment data obtained from patients referred to an outpatient cardiac rehabilitation center.

Methods And Results: A single-center prospective observational design took peak cardiorespiratory exercise test data for 12 169 male rehabilitation candidates aged 55.

Exercise under hot conditions: a major threat to the immune response?

It seems likely that the disturbances of immune response induced by prolonged competitive exercise are exacerbated if athletes also face the stress of hot environmental conditions. We have investigated this question by manipulating the exercise-induced increases of body temperature in a climatic chamber and by submersion of exercisers in a large water-bath. Hot conditions increase the stress of a given bout of exercise, as assessed by personal perceptions, objective (heart rate variability) measures of autonomic nerve balance, and the secretion of "stress" hormones, with a parallel increase in effects upon critical lymphocyte subsets.

Naive and memory T cell subsets are differentially mobilized during physical stress.

This study examined the naive and memory phenotypic profiles of CD4+ and CD8hi T cells that were mobilized to the peripheral circulation during a combination of aerobic exercise and heat stress, determining expression of the adhesion molecules CD62L and CD11a on the recruited cells. Twelve recreationally active males (age 27.1 +/- 5.

Ethics in exercise science research.

Ethical evaluation is a vital but sometimes neglected component of research policy in the exercise sciences. This article reviews some issues in human research, with particular reference to studies undertaken by the exercise scientist. The typical composition and functions of the research review committee are examined in the context of individual and institutional ethical norms.

Follow-up of participants in the Trois-Rivières Growth and Development Study: Examining their health-related fitness and risk factors as adults.

The purpose of the study was to examine the effect of daily physical education in primary school on some indices of fitness (PWC170/kg, handgrip strength, sit and reach flexibility, abdominal muscle endurance, and balance), cardiovascular health (lipid profile, waist-to-hip ratio), and anthropometry in the adult years. Four subsamples of participants in the Trois-Rivières Growth and Development Study were examined: experimental men (n = 32), experimental women (n = 36), control men (n = 30), and control women (n = 35), some 20 years after completion of primary school. During 6 years of primary school education, the experimental group received 5 h of physical education each week, whereas the control group received only the typical Provincial program of a single 40-min period per week.

Basic recruit training: health risks and opportunities.

The present review examines the impact of basic recruit training on health and lifestyle. Many of those recruited begin training with a less than optimal lifestyle with respect to fitness, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, and exposure to sexually transmitted diseases. Thus, there is scope to enhance training programs that address fitness and lifestyle, minimizing potential losses in health and efficiency from upper respiratory infections, musculoskeletal injuries, cardiac catastrophes, mental disturbances, and adverse responses to extreme environments.

Changes in the quality of life: a major goal of cardiac rehabilitation.

Background: Quality of life (QOL) is a major goal in the context of preventive and therapeutic cardiology. In this article, quality of life concepts are reviewed, factors limiting QOL in cardiac disease are identified, methods of measurement are explored, and clinically significant changes are defined. The changes effected by cardiac rehabilitation are considered, together with their physiological and psychological correlates.

Physical activity assessment options within the context of the Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness, and Lifestyle Appraisal.

The Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness, and Lifestyle Appraisal (CPAFLA) is a standardized battery of tests that is commonly used to assess asymptomatic individuals. This paper reviews evidence concerning the reliability, validity, and utility of the procedure currently used to assess habitual physical activity in the CPAFLA and surveys available physical activity assessment options. Special considerations related to age, gender, ethnicity, seasonal variations, and within-week variance are discussed.

Sepsis and mechanisms of inflammatory response: is exercise a good model?

Objectives: The immune changes induced by a bout of prolonged and vigorous exercise have been suggested to be a useful experimental model of sepsis and the inflammatory response. Available literature was reviewed to evaluate this hypothesis.

Methods: Literature describing the immune response to various patterns of exercise was compared with data on the immune changes observed during sepsis and inflammation.

Changes in adiposity and body mass index from late childhood to adult life in the Trois-Rivières study.

This study explored tracking of the body mass index (BMI) in a representative subgroup of subjects (95 women and 96 men) who were involved in the Trois-Rivières Growth and Development Study by testing autocorrelations between data for 10, 11, and 12 years and corresponding values at 34 years of age. Tracking of skinfold measurements (subscapular, triceps, suprailiac, and abdominal, and their sum) over the same intervals (60 women and 52 men) was also evaluated. After the age of 12 years, subjects showed a similar development of absolute values, whether they were from the experimental or the control group.

Absolute versus relative intensity of physical activity in a dose-response context.

Purpose: To examine the importance of relative versus absolute intensities of physical activity in the context of population health.

Methods: A standard computer-search of the literature was supplemented by review of extensive personal files.

Results: Consensus reports (Category D Evidence) have commonly recommended moderate rather than hard physical activity in the context of population health.

Intracellular monocyte and serum cytokine expression is modulated by exhausting exercise and cold exposure.

This study tested the hypothesis that exercise elicits monocytic cytokine expression and that prolonged cold exposure modulates such responses. Nine men (age, 24.6 +/- 3.

Differential cell adhesion molecule expression and lymphocyte mobilisation during prolonged aerobic exercise.

This study was undertaken to determine the cell adhesion molecule profile of CD4+, CD8hi and CD56+ lymphocytes, which are mobilised to and from the peripheral blood during and after prolonged aerobic exercise. Ten healthy males (21-35 years old) were tested on two occasions, separated by at least 14 days. On the first occasion, subjects were examined in a rested state but did not exercise.

Epinephrine causes a reduction in lymph node cell output in sheep.

The lymphatic system has a critical role in the return of fluids, proteins, and cells to the circulatory system. However, the effects of stress, including exercise, on this system have not been adequately studied. We investigated the effect of a physiological dose (1 mg) of epinephrine (Epi) on lymph flow, cell concentration, and lymphocyte subsets in efferent subcutaneous lymph in sheep.

Chronic fatigue syndrome: an update.

The chronic fatigue syndrome is characterised by a fatigue that is disproportionate to the intensity of effort that is undertaken, has persisted for 6 months or longer, and has no obvious cause. Unless there has been a long period of patient- or physician-imposed inactivity, objective data may show little reduction in muscle strength or peak aerobic power, but the affected individual avoids heavy activity. The study of aetiology and treatment has been hampered by the low disease prevalence (probably <0.

The cytokine response to physical activity and training.

Cytokines are soluble glycoproteins that are produced by and mediate communication between and within immune and nonimmune cells, organs and organ systems throughout the body. Pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators constitute the inflammatory cytokines, which are modulated by various stimuli, including physical activity, trauma and infection. Physical activity affects local and systemic cytokine production at different levels, often exhibiting striking similarity to the cytokine response to trauma and infection.

A clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment of lactating cows with high somatic cell counts in their milk.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of treatment of lactating cows with high somatic cell counts in milk.

Design: Randomised clinical trial.

Methods: Single pooled quarter samples of milk were obtained from cows with somatic cell counts above 500,000 cells/mL on fifty farms.