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The effect of carbohydrate ingestion on the experience of fatigue during prolonged exercise
Get PDFBackground: Muscle fatigue occurs during prolonged exercise as the body’s energy stocks in the form of muscle glycogen and blood glucose levels within the body become depleted. The sensation of fatigue can become so intense that the person must reduce his or her efforts, or even stop the exercise altogether. Studies have shown that the ingestion of carbohydrate solutions can delay this onset of fatigue. The ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates can improve performance and increases exercise capacity more than single transportable carbohydrates. Therefore, the ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates may decrease the experience of fatigue during a fixed workload. The purpose of the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study presented in this paper is to explore the effects of the ingestion of multiple transportable carbohydrates such as glucose with fructose, and glucose with sucrose, in decreasing the experience of fatigue as compared to an isoenergetic amount of glucose. Methods: Twelve healthy, trained male athletes cycled 180 minutes at 50% maximum power output while receiving a solution providing either 1.8 g/min of glucose (GLU), 1.2 g/min of glucose + 0.6 g/min of fructose (GLU+FRUC), 0.6 g/min glucose + 1.2 g/min sucrose (GLU+SUC) or water (WAT). The experience of fatigue was assessed with the Borg scale where subjects were asked to rate their perceived exertion every 30 minutes during exercise. Results: The results of this study cannot be published. Conclusion: Although the results cannot be published, some speculations can be made. RPE (ratings of perceived exertion) are expected to differ significantly between the four ingested solutions during the later stages of exercise. The expectation is that the RPE for those subjects ingesting multiple transportable carbohydrates will be lower than those ingesting glucose and water. The same should hold true for the single transportable carbohydrate versus water trials. In summary, when glucose and fructose or glucose and sucrose are ingested simultaneously at high rates during cycling exercise, the experience of fatigue is likely to be reduced in comparison to the ingestion of an isoenergetic amount of glucose
Galactooligosaccharides and substrate and energy metabolism, dietary intake and body composition
Get PDFAim: Obesity is associated with an altered composition of the gut microbiota. Prebiotics such as galactooligosaccharides (GOS) might modulate the gut microbiota composition beneficially and might have favorable metabolic effects in overweight and obese subjects. The aim of the study is to determine the effect of GOS on human substrate and energy metabolism, dietary intake and body composition in overweight and obese subjects. Methods: In a placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized, parallel study, the effects of GOS were investigated in overweight and obese subjects. Weight-stable men and post-menopausal women between 40 and 75 years were included. Before and after the 12-week intervention period human substrate and energy expenditure were measured by indirect calorimetry. Subjects reported their dietary intake before, in week 6 and after the intervention period by completing a three-day weighed food diary. Self-reported level of physical activity was assessed using the validated SQUASH questionnaire. Changes in body composition were measured using a Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. A two-factor mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the intervention and placebo group. All analyses were performed blinded. Results: This interim analysis was performed after the data of 25 subjects was available. The data was blinded while analyzing. To maintain confidentiality of the data, the results of this interim analysis were not published. Conclusion: Only a part of the whole subject population was included in this interim analysis. The analyses in the total study group are required to draw more definite conclusions on the metabolic effects of GOS and to outline the potential of GOS to favorably affect host metabolism of overweight and obese subjects
Localization and quantification of dystrophin in epileptic rats
Get PDFAim: In Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) populations, a higher prevalence of epilepsy has been found compared with control groups. We hypothesized that epilepsy/seizures causes loss of dystrophin in the brain. Our aim was to localize dystrophin in cerebellum and hippocampus and to develop a reliable method for quantification of dystrophin. Methods: Male adult Spraque-Dawley rats were used in a amygdala kindled model (N=24). Cerebellar and hippocampal tissue were stained immunohistochemically with anti-dystrophin, anti-calbindin, anti-GFAP and Hoechst. Anti-NeuN was only applied in hippocampal tissue. Under fluorescent microscope, pictures were taken for quantification in ImageJ. Results: Glia cells and Purkinje cells colocalized with dystrophin, however, hippocampal neuronal cells did not show a colocalization with dystrophin. Statistical analysis of the quantification of dystrophin around the Purkinje neuron, showed a high intra-observer correlation (Mean grey value: Pearson correlation (r=1,000, P<0,0001) and ICC (r=1,000, P<0,0001); Intensity density: Pearson correlation (r=0,986, P<0,000) and ICC (r=0,984, P<0,0001)). Conclusion: Dystrophin is ubiquitously expressed in the cerebellum and hippocampus, but the exact distribution of the dystrophin isoforms in these areas are not clear yet. We have developed a reliable quantification method of dystrophin around the cerebellar Purkinje cells, but not for glia cells and hippocampal neurons. Future studies should therefore not only be aimed at the distribution of the dystrophin isoforms, but also at the quantification of glia cells and hippocampal neurons
Burned-out surgeons – a review of risk factors and intervention types
Get PDFIn today’s working society, burnout is a frequently mentioned subject. Burnout rates are especially high in the intensive care environment, particularly in surgeons. In this paper the problem of burnout in surgeons is discussed, with special focus on different interventions that should be considered in preventing burnout. Firstly, there are individual directed interventions, focusing on the individual, but not on the context he or she is in. Secondly, interventions aimed at the individual and organizational interface, referring to the individual in the context of his or her work environment. Thirdly, some organization directed interventions exist, focusing solely on the organization, leaving out the individual. The results of this review demonstrate that individual directed and organization directed interventions have each their respecting shortcomings, and therefore a combination of both strategies seems to be the best alternative to prevent burnout. Furthermore, choosing the best intervention depends on the factors lying behind the development of burnout in surgeons, which can be situational, or personal. To find a definitive answer for the search of the best intervention, more research in this area is necessary
Do different cultural values affect the excess return of sin stocks?
Get PDFSeveral studies have demonstrated that sin stocks have different characteristics in comparison with other stocks. However, previous research that examines sin stocks has generally assumed that countries are similar in their stance towards sin stocks or that other nations are similar to the US and have some degree of disapproval of sin stocks. This study introduces a new model and shows that sin stocks are treated differently between countries depending on its culture and religion. The question that is answered throughout this study is: “What is the relationship between different cultural values of countries as measured by Hofstede and the excess return of sin stocks?” When regressing the excess returns against the dimensions of Hofstede, the dimensions masculinity versus femininity and indulgence versus restraint have negative coefficients that are significant at a 5% level. This implies that when nations are considered more masculine they are more likely to invest in sin stocks. On the contrary, their feminine counterparts are more likely to refrain from investing in sin stocks. When a country scores high on indulgence it is more likely to invest in sin stocks, whereas countries that score high on restraint are more likely to refrain from investing in sin stocks. The results are similar when using the three-factor model; consequently the interpretation of the results remains the same. When controlling for religion, only masculinity versus femininity remains significant. The model seems robust; it can handle variability and remain effective.
The Viability of a Monetary Union in South America: Insights from Generalised Purchasing Power Parity Theory
Get PDFSouth America has seen increased interest in interregional economic and political cooperation over the last decades. Inspired by the European Union, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) became the official body of regional integration in South America in 2008. Plans for a regional currency within the UNASUR have returned to the political agenda following a prolonged period of silence on the topic amid turbulences in the Eurozone. Spanning the period 1979-2012, this paper analyses the viability of a monetary union between nine UNASUR members from a generalised purchasing power parity (G-PPP) perspective. It finds evidence for a unique cointegrating relationship between the countries’ monthly real exchange rates when the period of the Latin American debt crisis is omitted. The analysis provides support for monetary integration in that it shows the region to be economically interlinked. Nevertheless, adjustments to macroeconomic shocks appear asymmetric suggesting further economic integration is necessary for a monetary union to be viable
I Spy with my little eye - Full Copy
No full text"Scientia potentia est" – knowledge is power. Many people seem to read this phrase, attributed to Francis Bacon, as a mission statement. If knowledge is power, then it is easy to understand why people demand more transparency and why at the same time surveillance increases. Transparency and surveillance are means to acquire knowledge and information. For centuries, governments have been surveilling their people to ensure that they behave according to their wishes. Similarly, the people are demanding more transparency with regard to the activities of their governments in order to hold their governments accountable for their actions. However, it needs to be understood that the argument that transparency only empowers people and automatically leads to societal betterment is amounting to mere oversimplification. Potential shifts in power relations depend on the sort of power, as well as on its direction and magnitude. Therefore, power in this joint volume needs to be understood as a very flexible term with many contingent forms. Each form of power and of power relations needs to be seen in the individual and divergent context of each contribution
Introduction
Get PDF"Scientia potentia est" – knowledge is power. Many people seem to read this phrase, attributed to Francis Bacon, as a mission statement. If knowledge is power, then it is easy to understand why people demand more transparency and why at the same time surveillance increases. Transparency and surveillance are means to acquire knowledge and information. For centuries, governments have been surveilling their people to ensure that they behave according to their wishes
Transparency in care: how can public quality reporting help to empower patients?
Get PDFThe central question in this study is whether enhanced transparency allows an increase in the specific knowledge of one particular group and thereby boosts its power. The new knowledge examined in this case study is the access to public quality reporting (PQR) data by Dutch patients confronted with difficult care choices. PQR describes the practice whereby the information that hospitals collect for their internal quality reporting, is made public.I would like to highlight that the process of making this information public can be regarded as a form of "transparency inward", another central theme of this volume. In my case the inward transparency consists of providing patients with new insights into the quite complex and therefore often in-transparent institution hospital. For a long time hospitals have been collecting data on the quality of their care in order to monitor the performance of their departments (Faber et al., 2009). After the 2001 "landmark report" from the American Institute of Medicine (IOM) policy-makers all over the world wished to increase the transparency of health care systems for patients (Kurtzman & Jennings, 2008, p.349), so that patients could judge the quality of care in hospitals. This led to the creation of multiple PQR initiatives. However, as patients were reluctant to use them, they remained rather unsuccessful (Faber et al., 2009).Starting from the observation that PQR incentives have proven so unsuccessful, the main question of this contribution is how (elective surgery) patients can be encouraged to use public reporting systems to take informed hospital choices. Elective surgery in the medical realm means that the undertaken medical intervention is not performed in a state of emergency and is planned in advance. This project utilizes "targeted transparency" as a lens to review the functioning of PQR systems in a single case study. I pay particular attention to the challenges patients in the Netherlands face when deciding on a hospital to undergo elective surgery. Understanding the current shortcomings is essential before discussing why more targeted transparency is necessary to empower patients to make active care choices. My main research question, therefore, can also be worded differently: which issues make patients reluctant to use public quality reporting data when choosing a hospital for elective surgery? These issues are apparently not a negligible factor, since patients though valuing the provision of PQR data, frequently refrain from using it. Scholars refer to this as the choice-choosing paradox
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Potential gateway to pathological gambling
Get PDFObjective: The aim of this review was to analyse the relationship between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and pathological gambling, and to identify the biological, psychological and social predictor variables.Methods: Literature was searched from PsycINFO and PubMed in reference to individuals with a history of ADHD symptoms and current gambling problems. In total, ten studies were included in the review.Results: The results suggest a strong correlation with hyperactive-impulsive subtype of ADHD and internalising disorders in the development of pathological gambling. Futhermore, persistent ADHD was found to increase gambling behaviour severity.Conclusion: There is preliminary evidence that ADHD could lead to a specific profile of gambling behaviour; however, more research is required on neurobiological variables before a causal relationship can be concluded.Social significance: To improve early intervention and prevent negative consequences of gambling