WBV training is as efficient as a fitness program to increase isometric and explosive knee extension strength and muscle mass of the upper leg in community-dwelling older men. These findings suggest that WBV training has potential to prevent or reverse the age-related loss in skeletal muscle mass, referred to as sarcopenia.

The bony pelvis of adult humans exhibits marked sexual dimorphism, which is traditionally interpreted in the framework of the "obstetrical dilemma" hypothesis: Giving birth to large-brained/ large-bodied babies requires a wide pelvis, whereas efficient bipedal locomotion requires a narrow pelvis. This hypothesis has been challenged recently on biomechanical, metabolic, and biocultural grounds, so that it remains unclear which factors are responsible for sex-specific differences in adult pelvic morphology. Here we address this issue from a developmental perspective. We use methods of biomedical imaging and geometric morphometrics to analyze changes in pelvic morphology from late fetal stages to adulthood in a knownage/known-sex forensic/clinical sample. Results show that, until puberty, female and male pelves exhibit only moderate sexual dimorphism and follow largely similar developmental trajectories. With the onset of puberty, however, the female trajectory diverges substantially from the common course, resulting in rapid expansion of obstetrically relevant pelvic dimensions up to the age of 25-30 y. From 40 y onward females resume a mode of pelvic development similar to males, resulting in significant reduction of obstetric dimensions. This complex developmental trajectory is likely linked to the pubertal rise and premenopausal fall of estradiol levels and results in the obstetrically most adequate pelvic morphology during the time of maximum female fertility. The evidence that hormones mediate female pelvic development and morphology supports the view that solutions of the obstetrical dilemma depend not only on selection and adaptation but also on developmental plasticity as a response to ecological/nutritional factors during a female's lifetime.pelvis | development | evolution | obstetrical dilemma | sex steroids

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The best radiation dose vs image quality was found for the i-CAT.

BackgroundThe increasing age of coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and the occurrence of sarcopenia in the elderly population accompanied by 'fear of moving' and hospitalization in these patients often results in a substantial loss of skeletal muscle mass and muscle strength. Cardiac rehabilitation can improve exercise tolerance and muscle strength in CAD patients but less data describe eventual morphological muscular changes possibly by more difficult access to imaging techniques. Therefore the aim of this study is to assess and quantify the reliability and validity of an easy applicable method, the ultrasound (US) technique, to measure the diameter of rectus femoris muscle in comparison to the muscle dimensions measured with CT scans.Methods45 older CAD patients without cardiac event during the last 9 months were included in this study. 25 patients were tested twice with ultrasound with a two day interval to assess test-retest reliability and 20 patients were tested twice (once with US and once with CT) on the same day to assess the validity of the US technique compared to CT as the gold standard. Isometric and isokinetic muscle testing was performed to test potential zero-order correlations between muscle diameter, muscle volume and muscle force.ResultsAn intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.97 ((95%CL: 0.92 - 0.99) was found for the test-retest reliability of US and the ICC computed between US and CT was 0.92 (95%CL: 0.81 - 0.97). The absolute difference between both techniques was 0.01 ± 0.12 cm (p = 0.66) resulting in a typical percentage error of 4.4%. Significant zero-order correlations were found between local muscle volume and muscle diameter assessed with CT (r = 0.67, p = 0.001) and assessed with US (r = 0.49, p < 0.05). Muscle strength parameters were also significantly correlated with muscle diameter assessed with both techniques (range r = 0.45-r = 0.61, p < 0.05).ConclusionsUltrasound imaging can be used as a valid and reliable measurement tool to assess the rectus femoris muscle diameter in older CAD patients.

Introduction Autophagy is well known as one of the biogenic responses against various stresses, which possesses the benefi cial roles for survival, but little is known about the dynamics and its signifi cance during the septic condition. We hypothesized that autophagy is induced during the septic condition, and contributes to protect from tissue damage which subsequently leads to organ dysfunction. We confi rm whether the autophagic process is accelerated or sustained in an acute phase of sepsis and we also determine its physiological role. Methods Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP) in mice. We examined the kinetics of autophagosome and auto lysosome formation which may explain the status of autophagy by western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. To investigate a precise role of autophagy in CLP-induced sepsis, chloroquine, an autophagy inhibitor, was administered to the CLP-operated mice, and blood chemistry, pathology of the liver and survival were evaluated. Results Autophagy demonstrated by the ratio of LC3-II/LC3-I was induced over the time course up to 24 hours after CLP. The ratio was particularly increased in the liver, heart and spleen. Autophagosome formation became maximal at 6 hours and declined by 24 hours after CLP. Autolysosome formation as evaluated by both fusion of GFP-LC3 dots with LAMP1 immunohistochemistry and electron microscopy was also increased after the procedure. Furthermore, inhibition of autophagy by chloroquine during the CLP procedure resulted in elevation of serum AST levels, and signifi cantly increased mortality in mice. Conclusion Autophagy was induced in several organs over the time course of the CLP sepsis model and then the process was gradually completed to degradation of the components. Our data suggest autophagy plays a protective role in organ dysfunction in sepsis. P2Reversible depressive eff ect of TNFα on a model of isolated perfused rat heart BV Nguyen Introduction Acute myocardial depression in septic shock is common [1]. Myocardial depression is mediated by circulating depressant substances, which until now have been incompletely characterized [2].The aim of our study was to observe the eff ects of TNFα on the model of perfused rat heart. Methods After profound anesthesia with pentothal, the Wistar rats were killed by exsanguination. After sternotomy, the heart was taken and connected to the Langendorf column. The apex of the heart was hooked to a strength sensor. Biopac student laboratory software was used to record and analyse heart contractions. Contractions were recorded every 5 minutes during periods of 20 minutes. Control measurements were fi rst recorded. We measured four parameters: heart rate, contraction force, speeds of contraction and relaxation for control, during TNFα (20 ng/ml) exposure and after removal of TNFα. We express the variations of parameters as percentage of the control ± SEM. A paired t test was used to compare heart rate, contraction amplitude, speeds of contraction and relaxation with TNFα and ...

GCA-patients with increased FDG uptake in the aorta may be more prone to develop thoracic aortic dilatation than GCA patients without this sign of aortic involvement.

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