Category Archives: Physiology

Physiology

Ross named chair of Department of Animal Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

AMES, Iowa Jason Ross has been named the new chair of the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University.

Ross, Lloyd L. Anderson Professor in Physiology, has been a faculty member in the department since 2008. In July of last year, he was named associate chair for industry engagement. He also serves as director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center. His department chair responsibilities will take effect Aug. 16, 2022.

It is terrific to have the leadership of Dr. Jason Ross going forward for the colleges Department of Animal Science. Jason will bring tremendous experience and familiarity with the department to the role of chair, said Daniel J. Robison, endowed deans chair of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He has an extraordinary record of accomplishment, deep experience in all mission areas, fullest devotion to the department, and has done outstanding work with food animal industries and stakeholders across the state. Hell provide great momentum as the department carries forward its tradition of excellence in every dimension.

Ross received his bachelors degree in animal science from Iowa State. He also has a masters degree in animal science and a doctoral degree in reproductive physiology with a minor in biochemistry from Oklahoma State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Iowa State, Ross served as a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Through his leadership efforts, Ross has helped the departments research program acquire more than $20 million in funding, $6 million of which was for projects where he served as the principal investigator. His research focuses on using biotechnology to improve reproductive efficiency in animals and developing strategies to control novel physiological mechanisms.

While serving as the departments associate chair, he has worked to promote the departments programming at the local and global levels through stakeholder relationships and external engagement for public and private partnerships. He has also engaged with animal agriculture industry members to gain insights for curricular needs and create internship programs for students.

Its an honor for me to be able to serve the animal science department at Iowa State University. The caliber of students, faculty, staff and stakeholders of this department are among the best, Ross said. I grew up in Iowa and the animal science department is where I began my career both as a student and as a faculty member, making this opportunity to serve Iowa State and the state of Iowa particularly meaningful.

Ross will take over chair duties from John Lawrence, who has been serving as the departments interim chair since January 2022.

I would also like to recognize the outstanding work of Dr. John Lawrence, Iowa States vice president for extension and outreach, while serving as interim chair of the department for these last months. He has truly served so very well, Robison said.

The Department of Animal Science offers programs that integrate science, practice and innovation to serve the immediate needs of animal industries. Students are prepared for careers in animal production, veterinary medicine and the diverse areas of animal business and industry. Many faculty in the department are internationally recognized, with expertise in breeding and genetics, genomics, nutrition, physiology, meat science and meat processing, animal well-being and management.

Excerpt from:
Ross named chair of Department of Animal Science | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Physiology

Dr. Heddwen Brooks Elected to APS Leadership Council – University of Arizona

Heddwen Brooks, PhD, professor of physiology in the University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson, has been elected as a councilor of the American Physiological Society (APS). Dr. Brooks is a renal physiologist who holds appointments as professor of biomedical engineering, medicine and pharmacology and is a member of the BIO5 Institute.

It is an honor to be elected as an APS councilor, Dr. Brooks said. I look forward to working with the executive council over the next three years to implement new ideas and programs to highlight the outstanding research from APS members across the world.

Dr. Brooks early research developed microarray technology to address in vivo signaling pathways involved in the hormonal regulation of renal function. Her current research is focused on the role of inflammation and sex differences in the onset of postmenopausal hypertension, metabolic syndrome and diabetic kidney disease, and identifying new therapies for polycystic kidney disease and lithium-induced nephropathy.

She has published numerous research articles and is the coauthor of the textbook Ganongs Review of Medical Physiology, now in its 26th edition. Dr. Brooks is the co-director of the new Bachelor of Science in Medicine undergraduate program in the College of Medicine Tucson and is past chair of the Physiological Sciences Graduate Interdisciplinary Program.

Dr. Brooks has served in many roles at APS, including chair of the Renal Section; Joint Program Committee representative for the Sex Differences Interest Group; and member of the Education Committee, Nominating Committee and Committee on Committees. Dr. Brooks has also worked with APS in professional development, serving as an instructor on their Scientific Writing and Ethics Workshop in Orlando, Florida, and she has taught a course with APS at Ribeiro Preto Medical School, Brazil. She is currently the editor-in-chief of the American Journal of Physiology - Renal Physiology, the first woman to hold that position.

APS is a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering education, scientific research and dissemination of information in the physiological sciences. Founded in 1887, the society has more than 10,000 members around the world who investigate the way that living organisms function, from the macro-level of how the environment affects humans down to the micro-level of how biomolecules affect tissue or organ function. APS is governed by an elected council consisting of a president, president-elect, past president and nine councilors.

Excerpt from:
Dr. Heddwen Brooks Elected to APS Leadership Council - University of Arizona

Physiology

For the Record, June 22, 2022 | UDaily – UDaily

For the Record provides information about recent professional activities and honors of University of Delaware faculty, staff, students and alumni.

Recent presentations, appointments and honors include the following:

Alumnus Michael A. Silverman,emergency department chairman at Virginia Hospital Center as well asdirector of Emergency Medicine Associates Leadership Academy, served as a virtual guest presenter to a class in the Department of Kinesiology and Applied Physiology. Silverman, who has been a practicing physician for nearly 30 years, completed his residencyin emergency medicine at theJohn Hopkins University School of Medicine as chief resident and has authoredone bookand numerous textbook chapters during his career. For his presentation as part of the course titled Emergency Care of Sports Related Injuries and Illnesses, Silverman highlighted the COVID-19 pandemic experience and what healthcare providers need to be aware of going forward. Since 2020, Silverman has developed a large online following by creating posts to help viewers distinguish between truth versus fiction for the future implications of healthcare. "I was very grateful for Silverman topresent to our first year Master of Science Athletic Training students on his insight into the importance of interprofessional collaboration," said Jeff Schneider, senior instructor in kinesiology and applied physiology. "He discussed how important it is to be an advocate for your profession and the importance of being a lifelong learner. These points resonated with our students. It is always great to have an outstanding medical professional speak to our students, but it is even better when it is a UD alumnus."

Kimberley Isett,Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administrationassociate dean of research and director of theMaster of Public Health in health policy and managementprogram, andJessica E. Sowa, Biden School professor,now serve as editors in chief of Perspectives on Public Management and Governance (PPMG). PPMG is the premier theory journal in the public affairs space and a publication of the Public Management Research Association.Isett and Sowa bring a wealth of research and editorial experience to their new roles, and they look forward to helping to shape the future impact of public affairs research through their work at PPMG. Further details are availablehere.

Jane Case Lilly, assistant professor in theJoseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration, received the 2022 Teaching Award from the Honors College. This award recognizes Case Lilly's commitment to excellence in the classroom and support of her students. She has been involved with instruction in theleadershipmajor for more than 15 years and also teaches in thepublic policyandMPAprograms. She earned her Ph.D. in urban affairs and public policy from the Biden School in 2008.

To submit information for inclusion in For the Record, write to ocm@udel.edu and include For the Record in the subject line.

See the rest here:
For the Record, June 22, 2022 | UDaily - UDaily

Physiology

Increase in leptin levels in preeclampsia prompts cardiovascular cascade that puts mother and baby at risk – Jagwire Augusta

Before a baby is ever born, critical supply chain problems with nutrition and oxygen can result in premature birth or even death and increase the child and mothers lifelong risk of cardiovascular disease.

Scientists have found that a midgestation increase in the hormone leptin, which most of us associate with appetite suppression, produces problematic blood vessel dysfunction and restriction of the babys growth in preeclampsia that put mother and baby at risk.

Its known that about 20 weeks into a pregnancy, women with preeclampsia experience an increase in the production of leptin by the placenta but the consequences have been unknown.

Its kind of emerging as a marker of preeclampsia, says Dr. Jessica Faulkner, vascular physiologist in the Department of Physiology at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author of the study in the journal Hypertension.

Leptin, mostly produced by fat cells, is also produced by the temporary organ, the placenta, which enables the mom to supply her developing baby with nutrients and oxygen, Faulkner says. Leptin levels steadily increase in a healthy pregnancy, but specifically what leptin is doing even normally in this scenario is unclear. There is some evidence its a natural nutrient sensor in reproduction or maybe a way to enable new blood vessel growth and/or to stimulate growth hormone for usual development.

But in preeclamptic patients, leptin levels go up more than they should, Faulkner says.

The new research looking at the impact shows for the first time that the increase in leptin results in endothelial dysfunction in which blood vessels constrict, their ability to relax is impaired and the babys growth is restricted.

When the scientists inhibited the precursor for the powerful, natural blood vessel dilator nitric oxide, like what happens in hypertension, it pretty much replicates the effect of the midgestation leptin increase.

To make matters worse, the scientists also have evidence that leptin plays a role in increasing levels of the blood vessel constrictor endothelin 1.

Conversely when they deleted the receptor for aldosterone, in this case the mineralocorticoid receptors on the surface of the cells that line blood vessels, endothelial dysfunction didnt happen, says Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist in MCGs Vascular Biology Center and the papers senior author.

We think what is going on in preeclamptic patients is the placenta is not properly formed, Faulkner says. In the middle of gestation, fetal growth is not happening as it should. I think the placenta is compensating by increasing leptin production, potentially with the goal of helping spur more normal growth. But the results appear to be just the opposite.

It can hurt the babys development and increase the risk of long-term health problems for the baby and mother, she says.

While leptin has been associated with preeclampsia, this was the first study to show that when leptin goes up, it induces the unhealthy clinical characteristics of preeclampsia, Belin de Chantemele says.

When they infused leptin in pregnant mice to mimic the surge that happens in preeclampsia, they saw an unhealthy chain reaction with the adrenal gland making more of the steroid hormone aldosterone which could be increasing the production of endothelin 1, also by the placenta.

Their previous work has shown that outside of pregnancy, an infusion of leptin results in endothelial dysfunction. Belin de Chantemeles lab has pioneered work showing that fat-derived leptin directly prompts the adrenal glands to make more aldosterone which activates mineralocorticoid receptors found throughout the body, notably in the blood vessels in females, which is important to blood pressure levels. High aldosterone levels are an obesity hallmark and a leading cause of metabolic and cardiovascular problems.

That work made them hypothesize that the infusion of leptin that occurs midgestation in preeclampsia had a similar impact that deletion of the mineralocorticoid receptors lining blood vessels could resolve. They have connected similar physiological dots in young females in whom obesity often robs the early years of protection from cardiovascular disease that being female typically provides until menopause.

These same players likely are factors in what increases the mothers lifetime risk of cardiovascular problems, Faulkner says.

It means the system is dysregulated and that is basically when you develop disease, she says.

Their goals include better defining the pathways for increased blood pressure and other blood vessel dysfunction, pathways that can be targeted during pregnancy to prevent potentially devastating results for mother and baby, from what Faulkner characterizes as a two-hit condition.

Their findings to date indicate that effective therapies to better protect mother and baby could be existing drugs like eplerenone, a blood pressure medicine that binds to the mineralocorticoid receptor effectively reducing the effect of higher levels of aldosterone, the scientists say.

The problems likely start with the placenta, and potentially inadequate blood flow to the temporary organ early in its development and subsequent failure of the development of the big blood vessels that become the passageway for nutrients and oxygen from mother to baby.

Its known that in preeclampsia there are problems like decreased secretion of placental growth factor. The bottom lines appear to be that by midgestation, the placenta can no longer properly support the baby, which may be why it secretes leptin, possibly in an effort to spur its own growth and normal fetal development, but in reality it contributes to cardiovascular and fetal consequences, the scientists report, including raising the mothers blood pressure.

Preeclampsia rates unfortunately are rising, Faulkner says, both in the number of pregnant women affected and in how severely they are affected. According to an analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published in January of this year in the Journal of the American Heart Association, rates of hypertension that arise during pregnancy, including preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, have nearly doubled in both rural and urban areas in this country from 2007-19 and have been accelerating since 2014. Gestational hypertension is an increase in a pregnant womans blood midgestation but without associated signs of protein in the urine, a sign of kidney distress, or markers of placental dysfunction, as are found in preeclampsia.

Risk factors include carrying more than one fetus, chronic high blood pressure, type 1 or 2 diabetes, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders before pregnancy as well as use of in vitro fertilization. Increasing rates of preeclampsia are primarily attributed to obesity, which is a risk factor for many of these conditions and associated with high levels of both aldosterone and leptin, Faulkner says. Other times, women seem to develop the problem spontaneously.

Next steps in the research include better understanding how and why leptin goes up more than it should, Faulkner says.

The scientists are supported by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association.

Read the full study.

LikeLoveHahaWowSadAngry

See the article here:
Increase in leptin levels in preeclampsia prompts cardiovascular cascade that puts mother and baby at risk - Jagwire Augusta

Physiology

Small molecule transports iron in mice, human cells to treat some forms of anemia – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. A natural small molecule derived from a cypress tree can transport iron in live mice and human cells lacking the protein that normally does the job, easing a buildup of iron in the liver and restoring hemoglobin and red blood cell production, a new study found.

Stemming from a collaboration between researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the University of Modena in Italy, the study demonstrated that the small molecule hinokitiol potentially could function as a molecular prosthetic when the iron-transporting protein ferroportin is missing or defective, offering a potential treatment path for ferroportin disease and certain kinds of anemia.

This is a really striking demonstration in a whole animal model that an imperfect mimic of a missing protein can reestablish physiology, acting as a prosthesis on a molecular scale, said study co-leader Dr. Martin D. Burke, a professor of chemistry at Illinois and a member of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, as well as a medical doctor. The implications are really quite broad with respect to other diseases caused by loss of protein function.

Ferroportin is a protein that forms a channel for transporting iron in and out of cells. Ferroportin deficiency can be due to a genetic mutation or caused by inflammation or infection. Patients without the protein have an excess buildup of iron in the liver, spleen and bone marrow, particularly in a type of cell called a macrophage. Macrophages in the liver chew up old red blood cells and transport the iron in them for recycling into new red blood cells. However, without ferroportin, the iron builds up inside the cells and cant be recycled, Burke said.

Removing blood from the body, as is usually done for other diseases caused by iron buildup, is not an efficient treatment, since the buildup is localized and iron levels in blood are actually low, said study co-author Dr. Antonello Pietrangelo, a professor of medicine at Modena. Pietrangelo was the first to identify genetic ferroportin disease in patients as distinct from a more well-documented form of iron overload that causes iron to build up in blood serum.

Burkes group at Illinois detailed hinokitiols ability to shuttle iron across cell membranes and correct anemia in zebrafish in 2017, establishing it as a potential candidate for therapeutic application. In the new study, published in the journal PNAS, researchers studied hinokitiols action in live mice lacking the gene for ferroportin, as well as in macrophages from patients with ferroportin disease.

Michigan professor Young-Ah Seo co-led the study.

Photo courtesy of Young-Ah Seo

Edit embedded media in the Files Tab and re-insert as needed.

Michigan professor Young-Ah Seos research group, which studies genetic disorders of iron and manganese, provided proof-of-concept that hinokitiol could improve anemia in mice.

We saw that the mice treated with hinokitiol reduced iron accumulation in the liver and improved hemoglobin and red blood cell production, said Seo, a professor of nutritional biochemistry and a co-lead author of the study. These findings suggest that hinokitiol could deliver iron from the liver to red blood cells and thus improve hemoglobin in mice.

The researchers noted that although the iron distribution still fell short of normal in mice treated with hinokitiol, hemoglobin and red blood cell levels were improved to normal range. This indicates that the small molecule, while not a perfect replacement for ferroportin, could effectively address anemia, said Illinois graduate student Stella Ekaputri, the first author of the study.

In healthy organisms, there is a threshold of functionality. Our goal is to give a little bit of a boost so that the threshold is reached, Ekaputri said. Even though our small molecule is not perfect, homeostasis is recovered for hemoglobin. Just a little bit of boost is enough to overcome the bottlenecks that are created by the ferroportin deficiency.

The researchers dug deeper to understand the mechanisms of how hinokitiol bolstered iron transport and hemoglobin production in mice. They found that hinokitiol bound to iron within the macrophages where it had built up and ferried the iron out of the cells. Then, hinokitiol handed off the iron to another protein, transferrin, which inserted the iron back into the normal hemoglobin-production cycle, the researchers found.

The researchers verified that hinokitiol functioned the same way in human cells by studying its action in liver macrophages from human patients with ferroportin disease.

Modena professor Antonello Pietrangelo co-led the study.

Photo courtesy of Antonello Pietrangelo

Edit embedded media in the Files Tab and re-insert as needed.

Using our patients macrophages, we were able to show that hinokitiol can very efficiently remove free iron and also iron stores from macrophages of patients with different mutations, Pietrangelo said. This, combined with the data in mice that show the hinokitiol also is effective in vivo, opens a completely new avenue for the treatment of this disorder.

The researchers are working with the company Kinesid Therapeutics, founded by Burke, to facilitate further work toward clinical application for hinokitiol or its derivatives.

The National Institutes of Health supported this work.

Continue reading here:
Small molecule transports iron in mice, human cells to treat some forms of anemia - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Physiology

USask researchers awarded NSERC funding for future innovation in science, health and engineering – USask News

NSERC Discovery Grant recipients

The below list are the recipients of the 2022 Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants Discovery Grant amounts are awarded in instalments over a period of five years. Early career researchers were also eligible to receive a $12,500 supplement to kickstart their research program.

Julia BoughnerAnatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology College of MedicineThe Evo-Devo of Vertebrate Teeth & Jaws$280,000

Michelle CollinsAnatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology - College of MedicineExploring calcium signaling in the heart$185,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Peiqiang YuAnimal and Poultry Science College of Agriculture and BioresourcesIn-Depth Study of Feed Internal Molecular Structure and Nutrient Make-up within Cellular and Sub-cellular Dimensions Using Advanced Synchrotron Radiation Based Bioanalytical Techniques$217,360Kerry LavenderBiochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology - College of MedicineIFNa subtype-specific modulation of intrinsic, innate and adaptive immunity$140,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Anil Kumar Victoria AnsalemBiochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology - College of MedicineDiscovery and Characterization of Cellular Factors Modulating Type III Interferon Induction and Signaling$140,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Philip McLoughlinBiology College of Arts and ScienceHierarchical density dependence in large animal ecology and evolution$200,000Bishnu AcharyaChemical and Biological Engineering College of EngineeringValorization of agriculture and organic biomass to high value bioproducts$195,000Ramin AzargoharChemical and Biological Engineering - College of EngineeringSynthesis of advanced carbon materials from waste biomass and their applications in energy and electronic devices$130,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Oon-Doo BaikChemical and Biological Engineering - College of EngineeringWhy Radio frequency heating is more effective to deactivate and release non-nutritive components from pulses$140,000Timothy KellyChemistry - College of Arts and ScienceUpscaling organic and hybrid optoelectronics: synthesis, processing, and advanced characterization$310,000Christopher PhenixChemistry - College of Arts and ScienceExploring Fundamental Strategies For Imaging Hydrolytic Enzymes$180,000David SandersChemistry - College of Arts and ScienceUsing Structural Studies to Investigate the Relationships Between Enzymes and Ligands$170,000Christopher HawkesCivil, Geological and Environmental Engineering - College of EngineeringAssessing the technical aspects of spent nuclear fuel storage in deep horizontal boreholes$155,000Laura SmithCivil, Geological and Environmental Engineering - College of EngineeringDeveloping novel in situ methods to monitor and quantify groundwater storage changes in cold regions$135,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Ian McQuillanComputer Science - College of Arts and ScienceAlgorithms and Inference of Grammars and Natural Computing Models$205,000Cody PhillipsComputer Science - College of Arts and ScienceDeveloping Games and Tools to Overcome Procrastination$125,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Takuji TanakaFood and Bioproduct Sciences - College of Agriculture and BioresourcesDirected Evolution of Lactococcus lactis Xaa-Pro dipeptidase based on the rationales given through X-ray crystallographic studies$165,000Xulin GuoGeography & Planning College of Arts and ScienceIntegrating measures of grassland function using Remote Sensing$180,000Cherie WestbrookGeography & Planning - College of Arts and ScienceImpacts of Beaver Systems on Lateral and Downstream Hydrological Connectivity$255,000Ingrid PickeringGeological Sciences - College of Arts and ScienceChemistry of Selenium in Life and Interplay with Toxic Elements$310,000Alexander WeekesMathematics and Statistics - College of Arts and ScienceInteractions between representation theory, algebraic geometry, and physics$130,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Curtis WendlandtMathematics and Statistics - College of Arts and ScienceA rational approach to affine quantum algebras$130,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Donald BergstromMechanical Engineering - College of EngineeringImproved computational models for particle transport in turbulent wall-bounded flows$160,000James JohnstonMechanical Engineering - College of EngineeringDevelopment of Automated Techniques for Modelling Cartilage Morphology and Mechanics$230,000Amir Masoud GhezelbashPhysics and Engineering Physics - College of Arts and ScienceAspects of Black Holes in Modified Theories of Gravity: Holography, Weak Gravity Conjecture and Wedge Algebra$120,000Alexandre KoustovPhysics and Engineering Physics - College of Arts and ScienceStudy of the Earth's ionosphere with ground-based radars and Swarm satellites$140,000Andrei SmolyakovPhysics and Engineering Physics - College of Arts and ScienceEquilibrium, fluctuations, and transport in magnetically controlled plasmas$250,000Timothy SharbelPlant Sciences - College of Agriculture and BioresourcesFixing heterosis in Canola using apomixis$140,000Lorin EliasPsychology - College of Arts and ScienceSide Effects: How our lopsided brain influences everyday behaviour$140,000Adelaine LeungVeterinary Biomedical Sciences Western College of Veterinary MedicineNeural mechanisms integrating metabolism and reproductive behaviour in Drosophila melanogaster$160,000Suraj UnniappanVeterinary Biomedical Sciences - Western College of Veterinary MedicineHormonal Regulation of Feeding, Metabolism, Growth and Reproduction in Fish$325,000Arinjay BanerjeeVaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)Bats as a model to understand the evolution of coronavirus-host interactions$185,000Discovery Launch Supplement for Early Career Researchers recipient - $12,500Aaron WhiteVaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO)Transmission and biofilm formation by pathogenic Salmonella strains$160,000

Read more:
USask researchers awarded NSERC funding for future innovation in science, health and engineering - USask News

Physiology

Aging, Heart Studies on Station Ahead of Cygnus Reboost Test – NASA (.gov)

As the Moon sets below Earths horizon the atmosphere refracts, or bends, its light making it appear flatter in this photograph taken from the space station.

The seven-member Expedition 67 crew split its time with a variety of human research and lab maintenance tasks on Thursday. A U.S. resupply ship is also gearing up for a test of its ability to reboost the International Space Station this weekend before its departure next week.

NASA and its international partners continuously explore how living in space affects the human body. Numerous experiments investigate how space station crew members adapt to weightlessness during their months-long missions. Scientists on Earth gain insights into how the human physiology changes and inform ways to sustain crew health over the course of a long-term space mission.

NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren explored how living in space speeds up aging-like symptoms in humans today. He collected and stowed his blood and urine samples for the Phospho-Aging study that seeks to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the rapid loss of bone and muscle mass that takes place in microgravity. Results may inform countermeasures to keep astronauts healthier longer in space and improve the lives of aging citizens on Earth.

Astronauts Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) and Jessica Watkins of NASA worked throughout Thursday on station upkeep activities. Cristoforetti replaced centrifuge components inside the BioLab, a research facility that studies the effects of space and radiation on single celled and multi-cellular organisms. Watkins rearranged computer hardware and installed new science computer software in the Destiny laboratory module.

NASA astronaut Bob Hines, along with Lindgren, trained on a computer to remain proficient in SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicle operations. Hines also joined Watkins continuing to film and narrate station operations for downlinking to train astronauts scheduled on future missions.

Cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Sergey Korsakov attached sensors to themselves today monitoring their cardiac activity. Artemyev then activated Earth observation gear while Korsakov unpacked Russian cargo and worked on hatch sealing mechanisms. Flight Engineer Denis Matveev configured radiation detectors and measured the radiation environment aboard the orbiting lab.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have given the go for Cygnus to try another reboost attempt on Saturday that would lead to Cygnus potentially departing the station on Tuesday, June 28. The reboost is designed to provide Cygnus with an enhanced capability for station operations as a standard service for NASA.

Learn more about station activities by following thespace station blog,@space_stationand@ISS_Researchon Twitter, as well as theISS FacebookandISS Instagramaccounts.

Get weekly video highlights at:http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here:www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Read more from the original source:
Aging, Heart Studies on Station Ahead of Cygnus Reboost Test - NASA (.gov)

Physiology

Identifying Your Body’s Weaknesses in the Saddle: A Clinic with Mary Wanless – Eventing Nation

They say you should never meet your idols and while I have been to a Paul McCartney concert, meeting Mary Wanless was about as amazing as a rock concert. In May I attended a Mary Wanless Clinic. I have had her books on my shelf since before I can remember; in fact, Ride With Your Mind is one of the first horse book that I ever read. The moment I discovered I could audit her clinic literally right up the road, I immediately jumped on the opportunity.

It was an incredibly hot day in May one of those days where the breeze almost felt hotter than the ambient air. I pulled into the other side of Loch Moy Farms (who knew they had an indoor over there) and walked into an arena not knowing my mind was about to be rocked.

I am not going to lie when I say I had high expectations for this clinic. I had read cover-to-cover many books before but none of them had it me as hard as The New Anatomy of Rider Connection. This book came out at a time when I was deeply immersed in anatomy trains and the importance of facia through my yoga teacher training. When I saw that Mary Wanless had applied the anatomy trains not only to the rider but to the horse I was hooked. I have read this book at least three times and every time I pick it up, I am learning something new.

If you are a total nerd for anatomy and physiology like me, this book is for you. However, if you are just looking to ride better, this book is also for you. That was one of the things that amazed me about Marys teaching style: she could meet the rider at the level they are at.

Whether that was a young girl just taking her first canter steps or a professional dressage rider, Marys knowledge of the riders body could talk circles around me, and I consider myself pretty well versed in the body (I have a four year degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science, have been a personal trainer for close to ten years and spent the last two years working for a physical therapy practice). That said I have dedicated my life to learning about the body, and it excites me when I find somebody who is truly a master of their craft.

AND she signed the book!

I missed the first day of the clinic because I had to work (damn mortgages). If I could go back in time, I would have rearranged to be there all three days, preferably with a horse but that was not meant to be at this time. I walked into the second day thinking I have read this book I can catch on and I did but I would have loved to see the transformation in the riders way of going across all three days.

The biggest take away and what I am bringing back to you is the kneel exercise she taught on the second days lecture portion. This is a great way to determine if you are relying more heavily on your Superficial Back Line or your Superficial Front Line these lines are the fascia trains that make up everyones body.

So what is fascia? According to Google, Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve fiber and muscle in place. The tissue does more than provide internal structure; fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin. It has been said that if you were to take everything else out of the body and only leave the fascia you would still be able to recognize the person in front of you. It was thought for many years in western medicine that fascia was mostly inert. But how could something so pervasive be useless? The simple is answer is: it is not!

If you havent heard of this, read the book! If you have heard of it, good! This should interest you READ THE BOOK. There is a reason its a book and not a blog post. The concepts simply can not be boiled down into a cliff notes version.

This exercise is quite hard on the knees, so I do not recommend this for those that struggle with knee pain. I also do not recommend doing it to muscle failure, but rather use it as a fact-finding mission.

1: Start by kneeling on even ground.

2. Place your hands on your stomach and you back just above your pelvis with your palms flat.

3. Engage through your core keep you tail bone tucked under.4. Lift up by leading with your belt buckle, so that your hips are over top of your knees.

The goal of this exercise is to keep even pressure on your hands and not round your back or arch your back as you go through the range of motion. If you do round or arch your back, this is telling:

If you tend to round your back, you are stronger on your superficialfrontline.

If your tendency is to arch your back to come up, youre more tight in you superficial back line.

If your tendency is to round your back, you are strong on your superficial front line. This means your tendency would be to be to get into more of a crouched position in the saddle.

If your tendency is to arch your back to come up, youre more tight in you superficial back line. This means that you will more likely lean back in the saddle and get into more on a water skiing position. Continue to work on this exercise until you can keep even pressure on your stomach and back.

Want more Rider Physiology? Read Horse Nations review of The New Anatomy of Rider Connection here.

Read the rest here:
Identifying Your Body's Weaknesses in the Saddle: A Clinic with Mary Wanless - Eventing Nation

Physiology

Study: For good health, don’t stay up later than 2 hours on days off | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis –

Going to bed at least two hours later on days off and getting up that much later disturbs the weekday body cycle and is detrimental to overall good health, a study in Japan found.

We found that maintaining a regular sleep cycle and not staying up more than two hours later on days off prevents people from feeling dozy on weekdays, said Kazuhiro Yagita, a professor of environmental physiology at Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine who headed the team with Yuh Sasawaki, an assistant professor in the same field.

They announced the finding on June 8. It was also publishedin the German academic magazine Journal of Sleep Research at (https://doi.org/10.1111/JSR.13661).

Yagita said people who wanted to stay up a bit later on days off should restrict the time difference to under two hours. The study also looked at larger time gaps with weekday sleep patterns to gauge the impact on healthto determinethe ideal time people should call it a night.

With that in mind, the team sent questionnaires to 13 high schools in northern and southern areas of Kyoto Prefecture. The researchers based their findings on answers from 756 students.

The study asked the respondents what time they turn in, how long they sleep, when they have meals and whether they feel drowsy during the day. The students were required to keep records over an eight-day period straddling a weekend.

Comparing the results with international sleep quality standards, the team found that students with poor sleep patterns accounted for more than half of the respondents. More than one-third felt so drowsy during the the daytime that they dozed off in classes at times.

To gain a better grasp of the situation, theteam looked at what they referred to as social jet lag. This refers tothe difference of the middle point between when to call it a night and when to waken on weekends compared with weekdays.

It becamestatistically obvious that a social jet lag of two hours or longer is associated with extremely lowered sleep quality and strong daytime drowsiness among students.

Whereas social jet lag was already known to affect the quality of sleep, no studies had been carried out over how large a gap will have a significant impact, according to the team.

Originally posted here:
Study: For good health, don't stay up later than 2 hours on days off | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis -

Physiology

Dr Christopher Thompson Discusses Innovative Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity – AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

Christopher Thompson, MD, MSc, FASGE, FACG, AGAF, FJGES, director of endoscopy and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham & Womens Hospital, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discusses duodenal jejunal bypass liner treatment and future innovations in gastroenterology.

Christopher Thompson, MD, MSc, FASGE, FACG, AGAF, FJGES, director of endoscopy and codirector of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham & Womens Hospital, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School,discusses findings on treatment with duodenal jejunal bypass liner for patients experiencing type 2 diabetes and obesity. This interview took place during the recent annual meeting, Digestive Disease Week.

In this first part of a 2-part interview, Thompson discusses a study involving duodenal jejunal bypass liner (DJBL). This interview is edited lightly for clarity.

AJMC: When treating patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity who were being treated with insulin, what are some patient experiences you saw firsthand?

Thompson: I'm a gastroenterologist and an endoscopist, so I spend most of my time doing procedures. I do remember taking care of patients with diabetes when I was a resident. I know that once they get on insulin, they start to have a decline in their health; insulin causes weight gain and causes all sorts of other problemsit's not well tolerated. So, I guess I would say this is kind of a unique niche for gastroenterologists to care for obesity. There's a growing number of us but since I've really started caring for obesity, I started to see these diabetic patients again, and nothing seemed to have improved. I mean, it was so many years ago, 20 years ago, when I was a residentactually more than that probablytaking care of patients with diabetes and it seemed like it was very similar. There's more oral antidiabetic medications available now, but still, once they go on insulin, they don't seem to do very well. So, it's definitely time for a change, and whatever technology we can have to help these patients I think would be very welcomed.

AJMC: Can you first explain how the duodenal jejunal bypass liner (DJBL) works, and what makes it different from other treatments for patients with T2D and obesity trying to achieve similar results (such as bariatric surgery)? Why is this new method needed?

Thompson: The DJBL is quite unique in that it uses the body's physiology and an understanding of the physiology to treat type 2 diabetes. What it's doing is sheltering the duodenum from seeing any food, and it's also preventing the mixing of food with bile or pancreatic juices. Well, I could start by saying the DJBL is a 60-centimeter-long sheath, like a sleeve, is anchored in the duodenal bulb and extends all the way to just about the jejunum. What it does is it shelters the duodenal from contact with food or chyme, and it prevents the mixing of that food or chyme with bile and/or pancreatic juices. So, it is getting this undigested food and bile to the distal small bowel in a state where it has a pretty dramatic effect on incretin-producing cellswe thinksuch as L-cells, so that we're exploiting the cells production of GLP-1 and probably other substances that then have some beneficial effects on type 2 diabetes. They're known to increase insulin production and decrease glucagon, and cross the blood-brain barrier as a neurotransmitter and signal that the patient may be full, also slows gastric emptying. These substances, these gut hormones, have several beneficial effects.

AJMC: Can you summarize your research and findings into the utilization of the DJBL for this patient group?

Thompson: This was an FDA [approved] clinical trial, and they had some predefined end points. It was a randomized, sham-controlled trial with 2-to-1 randomization, so patients would be randomized. For every 2 patients, they got the procedure, 1 would get a sham procedure. The patients were blinded, as were the investigators that were following them. The predefined end points were both related to safety as well as efficacy. The efficacy end point involved hemoglobin A1C (A1C), and they wanted to see a changean improvementin A1C of at least .4% above the sham. Then, the safety end point was that they wanted the rate of serious adverse event-related device removal to be less than 15%.

So, the study did meet both of those end points, those primary end points. the treatment group was 1.1% drop in A1C. The sham was .3%. Clearly, it was well above that .4% margin, as an efficacy end point. The safety end point, I think it was just above 9% removals due to SAEs [serious adverse event-related device removal] and that's well below the 15%. So, it did meet both of those end points. However, what did also occur in this study was that the hepatic abscess rate was unexpectedly higher than they thought. This was not something they anticipated. All the patients did well, all hepatic abscesses resolved with antibiotics and some cases some percutaneous drainage. But that was just something that caught them off guard, so the company stopped the trial due to that.1

AJMC: Is there another study taking place as a result of these findings?

Thompson: Theres another registry trial run by a Dr Bob Ryder out of England. He's an endocrinologist. He has over 1000 patients in that and the hepatic abscess rate is only 1.1%, I believe. That's a lower rate than we were seeing in our study, but it has much more patients. It turns out that in our protocol, the PPI [proton pump inhibitor], we had maximum-dose PPIs; we were using very high-dose PPIs, and the rest of these patients the registry, they weren't. It makes sense that PPIs are certainlytheyre an independent risk factor for hepatic acid formation, and very high doses in diabetic population certainly could be the cause.

We started another trial. Now, we do not have the patients on PPIs. Were using H2-receptor antagonists, and they're doing really quite well.2 We've not seen any recurrence of hepatic abscesses so far. We've also instituted some measures to make sure that we would catch anything early as well. The patients have Wifi-enabled thermometers, and they take their temperatures every day, and they get monthly ultrasounds to look at the liver. We've not seen any further hepatic abscesses since we stopped PPIs, so we're cautiously optimistic

AJMC: How did this study ensure a diverse population? How do the findings reflect the needs of patients in various demographics?

Thompson: It is an FDA [approved] clinical trial, so they have in therekind of baked into itthey make sure you have a certain amount of diversity. What you try to do is find centers that are in different locations that would make sure to pull in a nice, wide, diverse population. We did, I think, have quite good diversity. Over 50% were womenof the patientsand we had a good breakdown from underrepresented minority status as well.

AJMC: What are the long-term implications of DJBLs? This study had a 12-month follow-up; are there any implications for a longer follow-up?

Thompson: Some other folks have looked at this. Oursyou knowthe analysis was done at 12 months because the sham patients were then offered an open-label placement of the device. That's really all you could do as far as the analysis goes, but other studies have looked at it more longitudinally. It seems like the results you see during the treatment period persist well after device removal, and it's not clear exactly why that's happening. It might be due to some kind of remodeling of the duodenal mucosa. There are other companies are looking at just ablating the mucosa, and they're getting good anti-diabetic effects as well. So, it might be that the duodenum itself changes over time, and that's what leads to the durability of the results.

AJMC: What other lifestyle changes do patients with DJBLs need to make?

Thompson: I think lifestyle is hugely important in achievement of obesity and diabetes, and keep in mind this population was a population of patients with obesity and diabetes, so it wasn't thin type 2 diabetics, which is a different population. No one had type 1 diabetes. Additionally, no one in this study was on insulin. Thats probably another important point to make, that these were people that you were trying to prevent them from going on insulin, right? It's not to say that it might not help get people off insulin, but I think that just the focus of the trial was to have a uniform population in a sense, and give it enough power and be able to understand the results. We had limited to people that were kind of poorly controlled diabetics, so their A1C had to be above 7.5% to 10%, somewhere in that range, and kind of maximal therapy, if you would, just short of insulin. We were trying to kind of look at that population specifically.

References

More:
Dr Christopher Thompson Discusses Innovative Treatment for Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network