Eight weeks of high-intensity interval training versus stretching do not change the psychoneuroendocrine response to a social stress test in emotionally impulsive humans.

PURPOSE: Research supports physical activity as a method to heighten stress resistance and resilience through positive metabolic alterations mostly affecting the neuroendocrine system. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been proposed as a highly effective time-saving method to induce those changes. However, existing literature relies heavily on cross-sectional analyses, with few randomised controlled trials highlighting the necessity for more exercise interventions. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of HIIT versus an active control group on the stress response to an acute psychosocial stressor in emotionally impulsive humans (suggested as being strong stress responders). METHODS: The study protocol was registered online (DRKS00016589) before data collection. Sedentary, emotionally impulsive adults (30.69 ± 8.20 y) were recruited for a supervised intervention of 8 weeks and randomly allocated to either a HIIT (n = 25) or a stretching group (n = 19, acting as active controls). Participants were submitted to a test battery, including saliva samples, questionnaires (self-efficacy- and perceived stress-related), visual analogue scales (physical exercise- and stress-related), and resting electroencephalography and electrocardiography assessing their reaction to an acute psychological stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) before and after the exercise intervention. RESULTS: HIIT increased aerobic fitness in all participants, whereas stretching did not. Participants from the HIIT group reported perceiving exercising more intensively than those from the active control group (ƞp2 = 0.108, p = 0.038). No further group differences were detected. Both interventions largely increased levels of joy post-TSST (ƞp2 = 0.209, p = 0.003) whilst decreasing tension (ƞp2 = 0.262, p < 0.001) and worries (ƞp2 = 0.113, p = 0.037). Finally, both interventions largely increased perceived levels of general self-efficacy (ƞp2 = 0.120, p = 0.029). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that 8 weeks of HIIT does not change the psychoneuroendocrine response to an acute psychological stress test compared to an active control group in emotionally impulsive humans. Further replications of supervised exercise studies highly powered with active and passive controls are warranted.

The effect of slow-paced breathing on stress management in adolescents with intellectual disability.

BACKGROUND: Intellectual disabilities often create a state of chronic stress for both the person concerned and their significant others (family, caregivers). The development of stress management methods is therefore important for the reduction of stress in persons with intellectual disability. The aim of this experiment was to investigate the effect of slow-paced breathing on stress symptoms experienced by adolescents with intellectual disabilities during a cognitive task under time pressure. METHOD: Fourteen adolescents with intellectual disabilities (Mage  = 17.39 years, range 15-19 years) took part in two laboratory sessions - a slow-paced breathing session (experimental condition) and an audiobook session (control condition) - the order of which was counterbalanced across participants. Vagal tone was measured through heart rate variability to index stress management. RESULTS: No difference in vagal tone was observed at baseline between experimental and control conditions. Compared with the control condition, vagal tone was significantly higher during the experimental condition. CONCLUSIONS: The slow-paced breathing task enhanced stress management to a greater extent than did listening to an audiobook. Slow-paced breathing seems to be an easy to learn stress management technique that appears as an effective auxiliary method of lowering stress in adolescents with intellectual disabilities.

Emotional intelligence in sport and exercise: A systematic review.

This review targets emotional intelligence (EI) in sport and physical activity. We systematically review the available literature and offer a sound theoretical integration of differing EI perspectives (the tripartite model of EI) before considering applied practice in the form of EI training. Our review identified 36 studies assessing EI in an athletic or physical activity context. EI has most often been conceptualized as a trait. In the context of sport performance, we found that EI relates to emotions, physiological stress responses, successful psychological skill usage, and more successful athletic performance. In the context of physical activity, we found that trait EI relates to physical activity levels and positive attitudes toward physical activity. There was a shortage of research into the EI of coaches, officials, and spectators, non-adult samples, and longitudinal and experimental methods. The tripartite model proposes that EI operates on three levels - knowledge, ability, and trait - and predicts an interplay between the different levels of EI. We present this framework as a promising alternative to trait and ability EI conceptualizations that can guide applied research and professional practice. Further research into EI training, measurement validation and cultural diversity is recommended.

The impact of soccer-specific psychophysiological stress on inhibition and cognitive flexibility in elite youth players.

While researchers and practitioners attribute an essential role to executive functions (EFs) for soccer performance, the usefulness of respective diagnostics and the predictive value remain unclear. One limitation restricting the translation and relevance of study results to improve actual game performance is the insufficient consideration of competitive conditions. Thus, this study aimed to conduct soccer-specific cognitive diagnostics under a soccer-specific psychophysiological stress condition, mimicing the demands of a competitive game. A total of 92 (Mage = 15.17, SDage = 1.45) youth elite players performed tests for inhibition (flanker task) or cognitive flexibility (number-letter task) with a soccer-specific motor response (i.e., pass into goals). After a pre-test in a neutral condition, players were randomly assigned to a neutral (moderate soccer-specific exercise) or a stress condition (physical stress and competitive instructions and filming for psychological stress). Objective (i.e., cortisol, heart rate variability) and subjective stress-related measures (i.e., SAM, VAS) were assessed six times throughout experimental procedure. Analyses revealed significant interaction effects between time and condition for all objective and subjective variables indicating a successful experimental stress induction. For cognitive performance, results revealed significant main effects of time, but no significant interaction effects between time and condition. However, descriptive statistics suggested improved performance under stress, with decreased flanker effect and switch costs. Additionally, response time variability in the flanker task significantly decreased in the stress condition. These findings offer insights into individual stress perception and processing under game-related psychophysiological demands, expanding previous research on situational EF alterations that also hold relevance for applied practitioners.

Effects of voluntary slow breathing on heart rate and heart rate variability: A systematic review and a meta-analysis.

Voluntary slow breathing (VSB) is used as a prevention technique to support physical and mental health, given it is suggested to influence the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). However, to date, no comprehensive quantitative review exists to support or refute this claim. We address this through a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of VSB on heart rate variability (HRV). Specifically, we focus on HRV parameters indexing PNS activity regulating cardiac functioning, referred to as vagally-mediated (vm)HRV: (1) during the breathing session (i.e., DURING), (2) immediately after one training session (i.e., IM-AFTER1), as well as (3) after a multi-session intervention (i.e., AFTER-INT). From the 1842 selected abstracts, 223 studies were suitable for inclusion (172 DURING, 16 IM-AFTER1, and 49 AFTER-INT). Results indicate increases in vmHRV with VSB, DURING, IM-AFTER1, and AFTER-INT. Given the involvement of the PNS in a large range of health-related outcomes and conditions, VSB exercises could be advised as a low-tech and low-cost technique to use in prevention and adjunct treatment purposes, with few adverse effects expected.

[Expectation of patients and caregivers about patient education for immune thrombocytopenia]. / Attentes en éducation thérapeutique des patients atteints de purpura thrombopénique immunologique et des soignants.

INTRODUCTION: Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) durably affects quality of life in patients. Patient education aims at improving their self-care and psychosocial skills, allowing them be more autonomous, to prevent avoidable complications, and to maintain or improve quality of life. The aim of this study was to assess patients' and caregivers' expectations regarding patient education in ITP. METHOD: ITP Patients and caregivers were asked about topics that should be addressed in a patient education program through a digital anonymous survey. Their responses were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. A double-blind keyword attribution of the answers was carried out by two physicians and then faced until consensus was found. RESULTS: Thirty-eight ITP patients were included: 68% were less than 50 years old and 84% had chronic ITP. On the other hand, twenty-five caregivers were included. Caregivers raised more topics related to the cognitive domain than patients. The psychoaffective and motivational topics tended to be more represented in patients' responses. Only 53% of topics were mentioned by both patients and caregivers. CONCLUSION: These discrepancies emphasize the differences between patients and caregivers' expectations regarding a patient education program in ITP, and thus the relevance of patient-caregiver co-construction of such programs.

Detection of Mollicutes in bioreactor samples by real-time transcription-mediated amplification.

AIM: Contamination by Mollicutes is a significant challenge for research laboratories and biopharmaceutical industry. It leads to alteration of results or production quality as well as loss of time, materials and revenue. These organisms can czoriginate from mammalian, avian, insect, plant or fish cells. Culture-based methods may require 28 days to detect Mollicutes. Traditional microbiology could advantageously be replaced by nucleic acid testing for earlier detection. METHODS AND RESULTS: A membrane filtration-based concentration of the Mollicutes has been coupled to real-time transcription-mediated amplification (real-time TMA) to demonstrate these advantages. The eight species required by European Pharmacopoeia have been tested and were detected with sensitivity below 100 CFU per 20-ml sample. Co-culture experiments, in which Mollicutes are grown with CHO-S (suspension) or HEK 293 (adherent) cells, were also performed to respectively mimic a bioreactor or flask contamination. Despite the fact that Mollicutes can attach to or invade mammalian cells, they were consistently detected over multiple days. CONCLUSIONS: the sample preparation and amplification method used in this study increases sensitivity and reduces time-to-result for detection of Mollicutes. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: the described system allows real-time monitoring for microbial contamination of cell-based processes and products for the biopharmaceutical industry.

Isolation of lumenal proteins from spinach thylakoid membranes by triton X-114 phase partitioning.

The proteins present in the thylakoid lumen of higher plant chloroplasts have not been rigorously examined. In this communication we present a simple and rapid procedure for the isolation of the soluble proteins and extrinsic membrane proteins present in the thylakoid lumen from spinach. Our procedure involves extensive washing of the thylakoid membranes followed by Triton X-114 phase partitioning. When analyzed by one-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), we obtain results which are very similar to those obtained by Kieselbach et al. using more classical methods [T. Kieselbach, A. Hagman, B. Andersson, W.P. Schroder, J. Biol. Chem. 273 (1998) 6710-6716]. About 25 major proteins are observed upon Coomassie blue staining. Upon two-dimensional isoelectric focusing-sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE and either Coomassie blue or silver staining, however, numerous other protein components are resolved. Our findings indicate that the total number of proteins (soluble and extrinsic membrane) present in the lumen may exceed 150.

Developments in the treatment of nail psoriasis, melanonychia striata, and onychomycosis. A review of the literature.

Nail psoriasis, melanonychia striata, and onychomycosis are relatively common nail disorders that have generated much research into their pathophysiology and treatment. The authors hope this discussion of the recent therapeutic developments for treating these disorders will not only inform but will also inspire further investigation so that therapeutic advances may continue.

Osteomielitis fúngica en niños quemados / Fungal osteomyelitis in burned children

Introducción: En pacientes pediátricos quemados la osteomielitis fúngica es una complicación infrecuente que conduce a una significativa morbilidad. La información en la literatura está limitada a unos escasos reportes de casos. Objetivo: Describir las características clínicas, epidemiológicas y de evolución de niños quemados con osteomielitis fúngica. Métodos: Se llevo a cabo un estudio retrospectivo y descriptivo de pacientes mayores de 1 mes y menores de 18 años quemados con osteomielitis fúngica internados en el hospital Juan P. Garrahan, un hospital terciario en Buenos Aires, Argentina. Resultados: entre enero del 2007 y enero del 2017, de 600 niños quemados, 9 pacientes presentaron diagnóstico confirmado de osteomielitis fúngica. La mediana de edad fue de 42.5 meses (RIC, 27-118 meses) y la mediana de superficie quemada fue de 33.5% (RIC, 18.5-58%). La osteomielitis fue diagnosticada con una mediana de 30 días luego de la quemadura. Las localizaciones más frecuentes de osteomielitis fueron los miembros superiores y a nivel de calota. Los microorganismos aislados a partir del cultivo de hueso fueron: Fusarium spp. en tres pacientes, Mucor spp. en un paciente; Trichosporon asahii en un paciente; Cándida albicans en dos pacientes y Candida parapsilosis en dos pacientes. En dos casos la infección fúngica fue asociada con aislamientos bacteriano concomitante. Todos los pacientes presentaron hallazgos histopatológicos compatibles con osteomielitis. La mediana de tiempo de tratamiento fue de 44.5 días (RIC, 34.5- 65.5 días). Seis pacientes (67%) presentaron secuela motora. Conclusión: La osteomielitis fúngica fue infrecuente Candida spp. y Fusarium spp. fueron los hongos más comúnmente identificados. La secuela funcional fue frecuente (AU)

Introduction: In pediatric burn patients fungal osteomyelitis is a rare complication that leads to significant morbidity. Data in the literature are limited to sporadic case reports. Objective: To describe the clinical and epidemiological features and outcome in burned children with fungal osteomyelitis. Methods: A retrospective descriptive study was conducted in burn patients older than 1 month and younger than 18 years admitted to Hospital Juan P. Garrahan, a tertiary hospital in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Results: Between January 2007 and January 2017, of 600 burned children, nine had a confirmed diagnosis of fungal osteomyelitis. Median age was 42.5 months (IQR, 27-118 months) and median burn surface was 33.5% (IQR, 18.5-58%). Osteomyelitis was diagnosed at a median of 30 days after the burn. The most common location of osteomyelitis were the upper limbs and skull. The microorganisms isolated form bone cultures were Fusarium spp. in three patients, Mucor spp. in one patient; Trichosporon asahii in one patient; Candida albicans in two patients; and Candida parapsilosis in two patients. In two cases the funal infection was associated with concomitant bacterial isolation. In all patients, the histopathological findings were compatible with osteomyelitis. Median duration of treatment was 44.5 days (IQR, 34.5-65.5 days). Six patients (67%) had motor sequelae. Conclusion: Fungal osteomyelitis is a rare disease. Candida spp. and Fusarium spp. were most frequently identified fungi. Functional sequelae were common (AU)

Clinical effect of a single pulsed dye laser treatment of fresh surgical scars: randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Pulsed dye laser has been used to decrease erythema and telangiectasia associated with scars, including surgical scars. There is limited evidence indicating improved surgical scar appearance if pulsed dye laser treatments are commenced immediately at the time of suture removal. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a single one-pass pulsed dye laser treatment at the time of suture removal can improve the appearance of surgical scars. METHODS: Randomized controlled trial enrolling 20 patients (complete data for 17 patients) at two geographic sites, with blinded ratings of pre- and post-treatment photographs obtained at various time points. Included patients underwent elliptical excision for atypical nevi of the trunk and/or extremities, with at least one resulting scar of at least 5 cm in length or two scars of at least 2.5 cm in length. For each patient, each scar or half-scar (if a larger scar was used) was randomized to treatment or control groups. Treatment scars received a single one-pass treatment with a 595 nm pulsed dye laser (Vbeam, Candela Corporation, Wayland, MA, USA) at the time of suture removal (ie, 2 weeks after excision) at the following parameters: 7 J/cm2 fluence, 7 mm spot size, 1.5-millisecond pulse duration, and 30-millisecond spray, 20-millisecond delay of dynamic cooling. The treatment area included 1 cm on either side of the scar, and the round laser spots were overlapped 10%. Control scars were not treated with laser. RESULTS: Immediate purpura was induced from the laser treatment Six weeks after laser treatment, no significant difference was found in the clinical appearance of surgical scars treated with a single pulsed dye laser treatment on suture removal day versus those surgical scars not treated with laser. Parameters on which no significant difference was found included visibility of incision, erythema, hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, induration, and atrophy. Both sets of scars improved over time. CONCLUSIONS: A single pulsed dye laser treatment at the time of suture removal does not appear to have a beneficial effect on clinical scar appearance. The point of minimal benefit for such laser treatments may lie somewhere between one and three treatments.

Skills needed for promotion in the nursing profession.

OBJECTIVE: This research was designed to identify skills (interpersonal versus technical) important to promotion within the nursing profession. Also studied was the difference between actual and perceived importance of the skills. BACKGROUND: For many technical and academic professions, career advancement is attained through promotions. These promotions often take one further away from the front line; thus, the technical skills so important in one's early career become less important. Interpersonal skills, on the other hand, increase in importance when one is supervising other professionals. Though research has described this phenomenon, it is not known exactly where the shift in importance occurs or what the precise nature of the shift may be. Further research in this area is particularly important to management development programs in technical, scientific professions. METHODS: A policy-capturing approach was used to identify the skills important to managerial advancement in the nursing profession. Two hundred nineteen nurse administrators from a large Southeastern United States hospital rated hypothetical candidates for managerial positions. At the lowest-level management position studied, a greater number of technical skills significantly influenced promotion decisions than at middle management. Significant differences were found between decision-makers' perceptions of skill importance and the skills' actual importance to promotion decisions. RESULTS: The present research indicate that a greater number of technical skills are important for promotion to CN3 than for promotion to ANM. The results also suggest decision-makers are not always 100% accurate in their insight regarding the specific factors influencing their personnel decisions.

Acquired dermal melanocytosis: appearance during pregnancy.

We report the first case of acquired dermal melanocytosis (ADM) appearing during pregnancy. A 23-year-old Hispanic woman presented to the Dermatology Clinic of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center during the second trimester of pregnancy with a nonpalpable blue-gray patch with interspersed discrete brown macules on the right lower extremity. It had appeared during the first trimester of pregnancy. Cutaneous biopsy specimens revealed dermal melanocytes. A review of all reported cases of this rare dermatosis in the international literature is presented.

Reduction in injection pain with botulinum toxin type B further diluted using saline with preservative: a double-blind, randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Injection with botulinum A exotoxin reconstituted with preserved saline has been shown to be less uncomfortable than injection with the same toxin reconstituted with preservative-free saline. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine whether injection with botulinum toxin type B is similarly less painful when preservative-containing saline is used to further dilute the product. METHODS: We conducted a double-blind, randomized controlled trial. A total of 15 consecutive adult patients presenting for treatment of upper face dynamic lines received treatment to one side (left or right) of the face with toxin type B further diluted with preservative-containing saline, and to the other side with toxin type B further diluted with preservative-free saline. RESULTS: Of 15 patients, 13 (87%) reported less pain in the halves of their faces treated with the preservative-containing saline (P =.0006). Pain on the preservative-containing side was on average 32% less among patients as a whole, and 39% less among patients noting some reduction. The 95% confidence interval for pain reduction associated with preservative-containing injection was -46.9% to -16.1%. Neither investigators nor patients observed any difference in clinical efficacy between the 2 treatment sides. CONCLUSIONS: Use of preservative-containing saline to further dilute botulinum toxin type B can significantly decrease patient discomfort on injection.