Muscle weakness and intolerance to exercise in mitochondrial myopathies

Muscle weakness and intolerance to exercise are two of the main features commonly shown by patients affected by mitochondrial myopathies. In order to obtain an objective and quantitative evaluation of muscle weakness and endurance, we studied an evaluation protocol devoted to the assessment of 1) muscle strength by the isokinetic ergometer and 2) the metabolic aspects of exercise by means of Maximal Oxygen Consumption and endurance by a Steady State Submaximal exercise evaluation. The protocol has been applied to the study of patients affected by mitochondrial diseases and proved to be a reliable method to quantitate the defect in the oxidation pathways, either before or during the therapeutic follow-up.     

Family Belongingness Attenuates Entrapment and Buffers Its Association with Suicidal Ideation in a Sample of Dutch Sexual Minority Emerging Adults

Sexual minority emerging adults are more likely to engage in suicidal ideation than their heterosexual counterparts. Experiences of homophobic violence are associated with suicidal ideation. Yet, the specific mechanisms linking homophobic violence to suicidal ideation remain unclear. Entrapment and social belongingness were tested to determine their relevance for understanding the link between homophobic violence and suicidal ideation. A sample of sexual minority Dutch emerging adults (N?=?675; ages 18–29, M?=?21.93 years, SD?=?3.20) were recruited through online platforms and flyers. Homophobic violence was expected to be positively associated with suicidal ideation and entrapment. The association between homophobic violence and suicidal ideation was expected to be indirectly linked through entrapment. We explored whether various sources of social belongingness moderated the path between entrapment and suicidal ideation and whether those sources of social belongingness moderated the indirect effect of homophobic violence on suicidal ideation through entrapment. Results showed that homophobic violence and entrapment were positively associated with suicidal ideation and that family belongingness was negatively associated with suicidal ideation. Homophobic violence and suicidal ideation were not indirectly linked through entrapment. The interaction effect between entrapment and family belongingness was significant, suggesting that, on average, the effect of entrapment on suicidal ideation decreased when family belongingness was high. These results suggest that family belongingness may reduce the association between entrapment and suicidal ideation while adjusting for homophonic violence. Reducing entrapment and improving family belongingness may be useful targets for programs aimed at preventing suicidal ideation among sexual minority emerging adults.

     

Near-field manipulation of spectroscopic selection rules on the nanoscale

In conventional spectroscopy, transitions between electronic levels are governed by the electric dipole selection rule because electric quadrupole, magnetic dipole, and coupled electric dipole-magnetic dipole transitions are forbidden in a far field. We demonstrated that by using nanostructured electromagnetic fields, the selection rules of absorption spectroscopy could be fundamentally manipulated. We also show that forbidden transitions between discrete quantum levels in a semiconductor nanorod structure are allowed within the near-field of a noble metal nanoparticle. Atomistic simulations analyzed by an effective mass model reveal the breakdown of the dipolar selection rules where quadrupole and octupole transitions are allowed. Our demonstration could be generalized to the use of nanostructured near-fields for enhancing light-matter interactions that are typically weak or forbidden.     

Quality of Life and Energy Expenditure in Transplant Recipient Football Players

Football (soccer) is a highly motivating leisure activity with important potential as a health-promoting activity also for transplant recipients. The aim of this study was to assess the “on the field” energy expenditure during football games and the quality of life of transplant recipients practicing football. Twenty-two recipients of kidney (n = 11), bone marrow (n = 7), liver (n = 3) or corneal (n = 1) transplantations had an overall mean age of 37 ± 9 years, body mass index of 23.5 ± 2.4 kg/m², and time after transplantation of 9.3 ± 6.4 years. They were compared with 25 healthy football players of mean age 41 ± 10 years and body mass index of 26.3 ± 3.9 kg/m². There were no significant differences between transplant recipients and controls regarding mean energy expenditure (393 ± 113 vs 392 ± 132 kcal/h) number of steps (3.978 ± 1.317 vs 3.933 ± 1.563) during, and capillary blood lactate concentrations (4.8 ± 0.9 vs 5.2 ± 1.3 mmol/L) after the matches. The SF-36 questionnaire administered before the matches showed transplant recipient players to score significantly worse in the scales of general (P < .05) and mental health (P < .01). This study indicated that transplant recipients involved in football matches attained a level of energy expenditure and a quality of life consistent with a healthy lifestyle. Football has the potential to be implemented as a permanent health-promoting activity also for transplant recipients.     

When blue is larger than red: colors influence numerical cognition in synesthesia

In synesthesia, certain stimuli ("inducers") may give rise to perceptual experience in additional modalities not normally associated with them ("concurrent"). For example, color-grapheme synesthetes automatically perceive achromatic numbers as colored (e.g., 7 is turquoise). Although synesthetes know when a given color matches the one evoked by a certain number, colors do not automatically give rise to any sort of number experience. The behavioral consequences of synesthesia have been documented using Stroop-like paradigms, usually using color judgments. Owing to the unidirectional nature of the synesthetic experience, little has been done to obtain performance measures that could indicate whether bidirectional cross-activation occurs in synesthesia. Here it is shown that colors do implicitly evoke numerical magnitudes in color-grapheme synesthetes, but not in nonsynesthetic participants. It is proposed that bidirectional coactivation of brain areas is responsible for the links between color and magnitude processing in color-grapheme synesthesia and that unidirectional models of synesthesia might have to be revised.     

Levels of depression and satisfaction with life as indicators of health services consumption

Objective: To evaluate the correlation between depression, satisfaction with life, and primary healthcare services consumption.

Methods: A random sample of primary healthcare clinic patients agreed to complete self-report questionnaires on demographics and physical activity, the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Satisfaction with Life Scale and the Visual Analog Scale for Happiness. Treating physicians completed the Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) for each patient. The relationships among psychometric, medical, the number of visits to health maintenance organization (HMO)-physicians during the previous year was assessed.

Results: Positive correlation was found between visits to HMO-physicians and depression severity, as assessed by GDS (p?=?.049), and between visits/year and illness severity, as measured by CIRS (p?p?=?.005). Physical activity correlated inversely with depression severity (p?=?.014). Gender and income had no impact on frequency of visits to HMO-physicians, depression, or satisfaction with life.

Conclusions: The results indicate that there is a correlation between depression and healthcare service consumption, as represented by number of HMO-physician visits and medication use. Thus, early detection of depression, using tools such as GDS, and early initiation of antidepressive treatment may help to lower the burden on the health system.     

Immune suppression while awaiting surgery and following it: dissociations between plasma cytokine levels, their induced production, and NK cell cytotoxicity

Surgery may render patients susceptible to life-threatening complications, including infections and later metastases. Suppression of cell mediated immunity (CMI) and perturbations in the cytokine network were implicated in these outcomes. The current study assessed the effects of various surgeries on a wide array of immune indices, and compared patients' pre-operative immune status to that of control subjects. A total of 81 subjects (controls, moderate and major surgeries) provided up to five daily blood samples. Whole blood procedures were conducted within hours of blood withdrawal, assessing NK cell number and cytotoxicity, and plasma cytokine levels and induced production (IFNgamma, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12). Our findings indicate that surgery reduced NK cell numbers/ml blood, and independently suppressed NK activity per NK cell and per ml blood. Among other perturbations in the cytokine network, pro-CMI cytokine production (IL-12 and IFNgamma) was reduced by surgery. Surprisingly, plasma levels of IFNgamma and IL-6 increased following surgery, while their in vitro induced production showed opposite effects. Patients awaiting surgery exhibited impaired IL-12 induced production and NK activity/ml, and reduced IFNgamma plasma levels. No significant associations were found between NK cytotoxicity and Th1 cytokines, although these indices showed high correlations with other variables. Overall, our findings indicate that patients exhibit impaired immune functions even before operation, which seem to contribute to the evident post-operative immune suppression. In the peri-operative context, induced cytokine production and plasma cytokines levels reflect different processes. Last, we suggest that peri-operative suppression of NK activity is mediated by neuroendocrine responses rather than Th1 cytokines.