1,720,966 research outputs found
Effects of a supervised exercise training in the management of women with gestational diabetes: preliminary results from a randomized controlled trial
Full text linkBackground. Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is becoming increasingly common and it is associated with a number of metabolic and cardiovascular alterations. To date, only a few, small randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have investigated the effects of aerobic exercise training on maternal glyco-metabolic control and perinatal outcomes in women with GDM. Therefore, it remains still unclear whether these vascular and metabolic alterations may be reversed by regular exercise. In this study we aimed at investigating the effects of low-intensity aerobic exercise on the glycometabolic and cardiovascular outcomes in women with GDM. Subjects and Methods. 20 women with GDM were recruited in the GDM-FIT Study, a RCT (Clinicaltrials.gov ID: NCT03067662) to be randomly assigned between 18th-28th gestational week to structured aerobic exercise intervention (n=10) or standard care (n=10). Women in the control group received diet and physical exercise recommendations. Women in the intervention group received standard diet counseling and performed 40 minutes low intensity aerobic exercise three times per week at 30% heart rate reserve. Both groups underwent structured medical interview and psychological assessment in two separate occasions, at study entry and between 35th-37th gestational week, together with clinical and anthropometric measures. Weekly energy and carotid-to-femoral (CF) and radial (CR) pulse wave velocity (PWV) were also measured. Blood samples were stored for the determination of circulating pro-inflammatory metabolites and miRNA. In addition, a continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system was applied to measure capillary blood glucose levels at 5-min timed intervals over 5 days at 32th-34th gestational week. Glucose variability measures and time spent in hypo- or hyperglycemia were also calculated. Results. Age, body-mass index (BMI) and HbA1c were similar between the two groups at study entry (standard care vs. exercise group, mean±SE): age (years) 34.5±1.4 vs. 34.3±0.9, BMI (kg/m2) 29.8±1.9 vs. 30±0.8, HbA1c (mmol/mol) 35±1.42 vs. 33.8±0.8, as well as in terms of CR-PWV (m/sec; 7.49±0.66 vs. 9.5±1.1) and CF-PWV (m/sec; 5.57±0.83 vs. 5.56±0.96). The metabolic parameters were similar between groups at 35th-37th gestational week. However, 4 women in the intervention group vs. 8 in the control group required insulin to reach the glycemic targets for pregnancy. Compared to the control group, women assigned to the exercise intervention showed a significant increase in weekly energy expenditure and a reduction in delta CR-PWV (1.4±0.74 vs. -2.2±1.4 m/sec). As compared to the corresponding non-exercise day, the CGM readings in the exercise group showed a significant decline of glucose levels during physical activity sessions, particularly after 30 minutes of exercise (P<0.05) up to 180 min after completion of exercise (P<0.005). With regard to the nocturnal and 24-h mean blood glucose levels, as well as time spent in hypo-/hyperglycemia and 24-h glucose variability, no significant differences were observed between the exercise vs. non-exercise days. Notably, as compared to the standard care arm, significantly lower 24-h mean blood glucose levels were observed during exercise days in the intervention group (P<0.05). Conclusions. These preliminary data indicate that a structured program of low-intensity aerobic exercise may have favorable effects on blood glucose and arterial stiffness in women with gestational diabetes
Is cardiorespiratory fitness impaired in PCOS women? A review of the literature
No full textPolycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common and heterogeneous endocrine disorder, affecting 8-12% of reproductive-aged women. Insulin resistance and body fat excess are common features in these subjects. Increased physical activity and diet modifications are the first recommended approach in the management of these women, at least in overweight/obese subjects. Evaluation of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is important in assessing exercise performance and in monitoring the effects of physical exercise interventions. Several studies have shown that CRF may be impaired in metabolic and endocrine disorders. However, there are little data on this issue in PCOS women. The aim of this narrative review is to critically evaluate whether aerobic capacity is altered in PCOS women, focusing on maximal oxygen uptake
Efficacy of a Short-term Psychoeducational Intervention for Persistent Nonorganic Insomnia in Severely Mentally ill Patients. A pilot study.
No full textInsomnia in psychiatric patients is frequently underestimated in clinical practice. Usually drugs are prescribed for the treatment of this disorder but non-pharmacological intervention can be successfully used. The present study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of a two-session psychoeducational intervention in improving persistent non-organic insomnia and reducing the administration of PRN therapy in severely mentally ill patients. A pre-post study was performed on 36 psychiatric patients admitted to a residential psychiatric unit. The Nocturnal Sleep Onset Scale (NSOS) and Daytime Sleepiness Scale (DSS), the sleep onset latency, the time awake after sleep onset and the numbers of awakenings were gathered 2 weeks before the intervention (T0), immediately prior the intervention (T1), 2 weeks after the last session of the intervention (T2) and a 3-month follow-up (T3). The total number of administrations of PRN therapy from T0 to T1 and from T1 to T2 were also examined. A significant reduction was shown on the NSOS, the sleep onset latency and in the time awake after sleep onset from T1 to T2 and from T1 to T3, while no significant difference was found between T0 and T1. A significant decrease on the mean number of administrations of PRN therapy was also found between 15 days before the intervention (T0-T1) and 15 days after intervention (T1-T2). The initial results of this study seems to suggest the possible efficacy of a short-term psychoeducational intervention on improving persistent non-organic insomnia in severely mentally ill patients. Further control studies are necessary to confirm these findings
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Metabolic Effects of Exercise
No full textExercise has a powerful action on metabolism, and adaptation of the body to changes induced by exercise is fundamental to be able to provide the energy required for muscle contraction and physiological functions of vital tissues. Depending on the intensity and duration of exercise, different mechanisms are called on to make energy available, and under homeostatic control, this is guaranteed by rapid and coordinated changes in the secretion of several hormones. Molecular mechanisms controlling muscle function and fiber phenotype are related to the specific mode of muscle activation. We can distinguish between two fundamental types of physical activity, endurance exercise and strength exercise, although there is a continuum between these exercise modalities. Besides the acute changes induced by a single exercise session, regular exercise may induce chronic adaptations, improving exercise capacity and affecting energy metabolism. Notably, although acute metabolic effects of exercise are mostly due to insulin-independent effects, exercise training may improve muscle insulin sensitivity and is considered a key tool in the prevention and treatment of metabolic disorders. This chapter focuses on the biochemistry of energy supply to the exercising muscle, on molecular mechanisms involved and on the physiology of energy metabolism during exercise in healthy subjects and patients with insulin resistance and/or diabetes
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Factors associated with antipsychotic dosing in psychiatric inpatients: A prospective study
No full textThe persistent use of doses in excess of recommended levels is associated with increased risks of adverse reactions without evidence of additional benefits. Such treatment modality was evaluated in hospitalized psychiatric patients. During a 6-year recruitment period, a consecutive series of psychiatric inpatients receiving antipsychotic therapy were included. At admission, sociodemographic and clinical data, including antipsychotic drug use, were collected, and the 18-item version of the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale was administered. At discharge, data on antipsychotic drug therapy were collected. Prescribed daily doses were converted into multiples of the defined daily doses. Using a cut-off score of a prescribed daily dose/defined daily dose as a ratio of more than 1.5 both at admission and at discharge assessments, a total of 62 (15.4%) patients persistently received high antipsychotic dose. With less stringent criteria (prescribed daily dose/defined daily dose as a ratio of more than 2), however, only 4.4% of the entire sample was persistently exposed to high antipsychotic doses. Bootstrapped linear regression analysis revealed that positive symptoms were positively associated with high antipsychotic dose, whereas negative symptoms were negatively associated with high antipsychotic dose. Antipsychotic polypharmacy at admission was the strongest predictor of persistently receiving antipsychotic doses in excess of recommended levels. This study showed that the use of high antipsychotic dosing is not an occasional event. Clinicians should consider that concurrent prescribing of two or more antipsychotic agents increases the probability of administering excessive dosing in the long-term
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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