Case Study: A Jaw-Protruding Dental Splint Improves Running Physiology and Kinematics.

Wearing an intraoral jaw-protruding splint could enhance respiratory function in clinical settings and eventually exercise performance. PURPOSE: The authors studied the acute effect of wearing a lower-jaw-forwarding splint at different protruding percentages (30% and 50%) across a wide range of running exercise intensities. METHODS: A case study was undertaken with a highly trained and experienced 27-year-old female triathlete. She performed the same incremental intermittent treadmill running protocol on 3 occasions wearing 3 different intraoral devices (30% and 50% maximum range and a control device) to assess running physiological and kinematic variables. RESULTS: Both the 30% and 50% protruding splints decreased oxygen uptake and carbon dioxide production (by 4%-12% and 1%-10%, respectively) and increased ventilation and respiratory frequency (by 7%-12% and 5%-16%, respectively) along the studied running intensities. Exercise energy expenditure (approximately 1%-14%) and cost (7.8, 7.4, and 8.0 J·kg-1·m-1 for 30%, 50%, and placebo devices, respectively) were also decreased when using the jaw-protruding splints. The triathlete's lower limbs' running pattern changed by wearing the forwarding splints, decreasing the contact time and stride length by approximately 4% and increasing the stride rate by approximately 4%. CONCLUSIONS: Wearing a jaw-protruding splint can have a positive biophysical effect on running-performance-related parameters.

Distinct Imprinting Signatures and Biased Differentiation of Human Androgenetic and Parthenogenetic Embryonic Stem Cells.

Genomic imprinting is an epigenetic mechanism that results in parent-of-origin monoallelic expression of specific genes, which precludes uniparental development and underlies various diseases. Here, we explored molecular and developmental aspects of imprinting in humans by generating exclusively paternal human androgenetic embryonic stem cells (aESCs) and comparing them with exclusively maternal parthenogenetic ESCs (pESCs) and bi-parental ESCs, establishing a pluripotent cell system of distinct parental backgrounds. Analyzing the transcriptomes and methylomes of human aESCs, pESCs, and bi-parental ESCs enabled the characterization of regulatory relations at known imprinted regions and uncovered imprinted gene candidates within and outside known imprinted regions. Investigating the consequences of uniparental differentiation, we showed the known paternal-genome preference for placental contribution, revealed a similar bias toward liver differentiation, and implicated the involvement of the imprinted gene IGF2 in this process. Our results demonstrate the utility of parent-specific human ESCs for dissecting the role of imprinting in human development and disease.

Infertility and ART after transplantation.

Organ transplantation (OT) has improved the long-term survival of patients facing specific organ failure and has refocused management to a chronic condition, with emphasis on enhancing life quality, including respecting a patient's autonomy to have children. Transplant patients are often faced with subfertility, frequently a consequence of gonadotoxic medical therapy. For some patients, successful OT management, reproductive conservation measures and the use of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) may help preserve fertility. There is a growing literature on the use of ART in these patients. The main objective of ART in OT recipients is attaining a healthy pregnancy, while minimizing potential complications that would jeopardize both the maternal health status and offspring. The purpose of this article is to address the distinctive medical, ethical and psychosocial concerns surrounding the fertility management of OT recipients.