Electrocardiographic Screening in National Collegiate Athletic Association Athletes.

The most effective protocol for cardiovascular screening of competitive athletes remains highly controversial. This study was a prospective, multicenter trial of cardiovascular screening at 35 National Collegiate Athletic Association institutions. Screening included a standardized history and physical examination (PE) as recommended by the American Heart Association and a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) at rest. Centralized electrocardiographic interpretation was provided using the Seattle criteria. Athletes with screening abnormalities underwent additional evaluation directed by the host institution medical team. Primary outcomes included the proportion of total and false-positive screens; the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value of history, PE, and ECG; and the prevalence of serious cardiovascular disorders associated with severe morbidity or sudden cardiac death. From August 2012 to June 2014, 5,258 athletes from 17 intercollegiate sports were screened: 55% men (mean age 20.1 years), 73% Caucasian, 16% African-American, and 11% other/mixed race. At least 1 positive cardiac symptom or family history response was reported by 1,750 athletes (33.3%). PE was abnormal in 108 athletes (2.1%), and electrocardiographic abnormalities were present in 192 athletes (3.7%). Thirteen athletes (0.25%) were identified with serious cardiac conditions including hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (1), large atrial septal defect with right ventricular dilation (1), and ventricular pre-excitation (11). The false-positive rate for history was 33.3%, PE 2.0%, and ECG 3.4%. The sensitivity/specificity/positive predictive value for history was 15.4%/66.9%/0.1%, PE 7.7%/98.2%/0.9%, and ECG 100%/96.6%/6.8%. In conclusion, electrocardiographic screening in National Collegiate Athletic Association athletes has a low false-positive rate and provides superior accuracy compared with a standardized history and PE to detect athletes with potentially dangerous cardiovascular conditions.

Efficient ethanol production from brown macroalgae sugars by a synthetic yeast platform.

The increasing demands placed on natural resources for fuel and food production require that we explore the use of efficient, sustainable feedstocks such as brown macroalgae. The full potential of brown macroalgae as feedstocks for commercial-scale fuel ethanol production, however, requires extensive re-engineering of the alginate and mannitol catabolic pathways in the standard industrial microbe Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we present the discovery of an alginate monomer (4-deoxy-L-erythro-5-hexoseulose uronate, or DEHU) transporter from the alginolytic eukaryote Asteromyces cruciatus. The genomic integration and overexpression of the gene encoding this transporter, together with the necessary bacterial alginate and deregulated native mannitol catabolism genes, conferred the ability of an S. cerevisiae strain to efficiently metabolize DEHU and mannitol. When this platform was further adapted to grow on mannitol and DEHU under anaerobic conditions, it was capable of ethanol fermentation from mannitol and DEHU, achieving titres of 4.6% (v/v) (36.2 g l(-1)) and yields up to 83% of the maximum theoretical yield from consumed sugars. These results show that all major sugars in brown macroalgae can be used as feedstocks for biofuels and value-added renewable chemicals in a manner that is comparable to traditional arable-land-based feedstocks.