Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by reductions in β-cell function and insulin secretion on the background of elevated insulin resistance. Aerobic exercise has been shown to improve β-cell function, despite a subset of T2D patients displaying "exercise resistance." Further investigations into the effectiveness of alternate forms of exercise on β-cell function in the T2D patient population are needed. We examined the effect of a novel, 6-wk CrossFit functional high-intensity training (F-HIT) intervention on β-cell function in 12 sedentary adults with clinically diagnosed T2D (54 ± 2 yr, 166 ± 16 mg/dl fasting glucose). Supervised training was completed 3 days/wk, comprising functional movements performed at a high intensity in a variety of 10- to 20-min sessions. All subjects completed an oral glucose tolerance test and anthropometric measures at baseline and following the intervention. The mean disposition index, a validated measure of β-cell function, was significantly increased (PRE: 8.4 ± 3.1, POST: 11.5 ± 3.5, = 0.02) after the intervention. Insulin processing inefficiency in the β-cell, expressed as the fasting proinsulin-to-insulin ratio, was also reduced (PRE: 2.40 ± 0.37, POST: 1.78 ± 0.30, = 0.04). Increased β-cell function during the early-phase response to glucose correlated significantly with reductions in abdominal body fat ( = 0.56, = 0.005) and fasting plasma alkaline phosphatase ( = 0.55, = 0.006). Mean total body-fat percentage decreased significantly (Δ: -1.17 0.30%, = 0.003), whereas lean body mass was preserved (Δ: +0.05 ± 0.68 kg, = 0.94). We conclude that F-HIT is an effective exercise strategy for improving β-cell function in adults with T2D.

Functional high-intensity training (F-HIT) is a novel fitness paradigm that integrates simultaneous aerobic and resistance training in sets of constantly varied movements, based on real-world situational exercises, performed at high-intensity in workouts that range from ∼8 to 20 min per session. We hypothesized that F-HIT would be an effective exercise mode for reducing insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes (T2D). We recruited 13 overweight/obese adults (5 males, 8 females; 53 ± 7 years; BMI 34.5 ± 3.6 kg m , means ± SD) with T2D to participate in a 6-week (3 days week ) supervised F-HIT programme. An oral glucose tolerance test was used to derive measures of insulin sensitivity. F-HIT significantly reduced fat mass (43.8 ± 83.8 vs. 41.6 ± 7.9 kg; P < 0.01), diastolic blood pressure (80.2 ± 7.1 vs. 74.5 ± 5.8; P < 0.01), blood lipids (triglyceride and VLDL, both P < 0.05) and metabolic syndrome z-score (6.4 ± 4.5 vs. -0.2 ± 5.2 AU; P < 0.001), and increased basal fat oxidation (0.08 ± 0.03 vs. 0.10 ± 0.04 g min ; P = 0.05), and high molecular mass adiponectin (214.4 ± 88.9 vs. 288.8 ± 127.4 ng mL ; P < 0.01). Importantly, F-HIT also increased insulin sensitivity (0.037 ± 0.010 vs. 0.042 ± 0.010 AU; P < 0.05). Increases in high molecular mass adiponectin and basal fat oxidation correlated with the change in insulin sensitivity (ρ, 0.75, P < 0.05 and ρ, 0.81, P < 0.01, respectively). Compliance with the training programme was >95% and no injuries or adverse events were reported. These data suggest that F-HIT may be an effective exercise mode for managing T2D. The increase in insulin sensitivity addresses a key defect in T2D and is consistent with improvements observed after more traditional aerobic exercise programmes in overweight/obese adults with T2D.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer screening guidelines for women aged ≥30 years allow for co-testing or primary cytology testing. Our objective was to determine the test characteristics and costs associated with Cytology, HPV and Co-testing screening strategies. MAIN METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of women undergoing cervical cancer screening with both cytology and HPV (Hybrid Capture 2) testing from 2004 to 2010 in an integrated health system. The electronic health record was used to identify women aged ≥30 years who had cotesting. Unsatisfactory or unavailable test results and incorrectly ordered tests were excluded. The main outcome was biopsy-proven cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 or higher (CIN3+). KEY RESULTS: The final cohort consisted of 99,549 women. Subjects were mostly white (78.4 %), married (70.7 %), never smokers (61.3 %) and with private insurance (86.1 %). Overall, 5121 (5.1 %) tested positive for HPV and 6115 (6.1 %) had cytology ≥ ASCUS; 1681 had both and underwent colposcopy and 310 (0.3 %) had CIN3+. Sensitivity for CIN3+ was 91.9 % for Primary Cytology, 99.4 % for Co-testing, and 94.8 % for Primary HPV; specificity was 97.3 % for Co-testing and Primary Cytology and 97.9 % for Primary HPV. Over a 3-year screening interval, Primary HPV detected more cases of CIN3+ and was less expensive than Primary Cytology. Co-testing detected 14 more cases of CIN3+ than Primary HPV, but required an additional 100,277 cytology tests and 566 colposcopies at an added cost of $2.38 million, or $170,096 per additional case detected. CONCLUSIONS: Primary HPV was more effective and less expensive than Primary Cytology. Primary HPV screening appears to represent a cost-effective alternative to Co-testing.

Recent thoracic artificial lung (TAL) prototypes have impedances lower than the natural lung. With these devices, proximal pulmonary artery to distal pulmonary artery (PA-PA) TAL attachment may be possible in patients without right ventricular dysfunction. This study examined the relationship between pulmonary system impedance and cardiac output (CO) to create TAL design constraints. A circuit with adjustable resistance and compliance (C) was attached in a PA-PA fashion with the pulmonary circulation of seven sheep with chronic pulmonary hypertension. The pulmonary system zeroth harmonic impedance modulus (Z0) was increased by 1, 2.5, and 4 mmHg/(L/min) above baseline. At each Z0, C was set to 0, 0.34, and 2.1 mL/mmHg. The change in pulmonary system zeroth and first harmonic impedance moduli (ΔZ0 and ΔZ1), the percent change in CO (%ΔCO), and the inlet and outlet anastomoses resistances were calculated for each situation. Results indicate that ΔZ0 (p < 0.001) but not ΔZ1 (p = 0.5) had a significant effect on %ΔCO and that %ΔCO = -7.45*ΔZ0 (R2 = 0.57). Inlet and outlet anastomoses resistances averaged 0.77±0.16 and 0.10±0.19 mmHg/(L/min), respectively, and the relationship between %ΔCO and TAL resistance, RT, in mmHg/(L/min) was determined to be %ΔCO = -(7.45f)*(RT + 0.87), in which f = the fraction of CO through the TAL. Thus, newer TAL designs can limit %ΔCO to less than 10% if f < 0.75.