Kofoedmcintosh3011

OBJECTIVES To estimate normal range of values for the contractility and relaxation parameters of inspiratory muscles and compare them by sex, age, nutritional status and level of physical activity in healthy children. WORKING HYPOTHESIS We hypothesized that healthy children present similar range of values for the contractility and relaxation parameters of inspiratory muscles. STUDY DESIGN Exploratory study conducted between 2017 and 2018. PATIENT-SUBJECT SELECTION Healthy children aged 6 to 11 years without history of respiratory, cardiac, cerebrovascular or neuromuscular disease as well as no nasal congestion, influenza or known septum deviation were included. METHODOLOGY Anthropometric, spirometry and respiratory muscle strength data were assessed. Maximum rate of pressure development (MRPD), maximum relaxation rate (MRR), time constant of decay curve (τ), contraction time (CT) and half-relaxation time (½ RT) were calculated from the nasal inspiratory pressure curve. RESULTS The sample was composed of 110 children (55 boys) with 1.045 as mean z-BMI-score. MRPD range of values was 8.09% to 10.86% rise/10 ms, MRR range of values was 8.09% to 10.86% fall/10 ms, τ range of values was 36.41 to 49.88 ms, CT range of values was 200 to 276 ms, ½ RT range of values was 117.5 to 148 ms and MRPD/MRR range of values was 0.71 to 1.04. The contractility and relaxation parameters did not present significant differences among children when compared by sex, age, nutritional status, or level of physical activity groups (P > .05). CONCLUSIONS The contractility and relaxation parameters present similar values among children and they are not influenced by age, sex, nutritional status or physical activity level. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Patients with neuromuscular disease (NMD) are often exposed to ionizing radiations which could be reduced if a noninvasive and reliable diagnostic method is identified. The major aim of this study was to compare the use of chest X-ray (CXR) with lung ultrasound (LUS) in pediatric patients with NMD, to identify pulmonary atelectasis (PA). MATERIALS AND METHODS A prospective study was conducted on children affected by NMD. In all patients who underwent CXR, a LUS was also performed and results compared for the assessment of PA. RESULTS Forty children affected by NMD were enrolled. Spinal muscular atrophy type 1 was the most common NMD, followed by spinal muscular atrophy type 2 and congenital myopathies. More than half of the subjects presented PA, more prevalent in the lung left lower lobes. LUS agreed with CXR results (negative or positive for atelectasis) in 31 patients (77.5%). In two patients, an agreement evaluation was not possible due to non-conclusive LUS. Conversely, LUS disagreed with CXR in seven patients, four of which were positive for atelectasis. If only complete agreement was considered, the statistical analysis between CXR and LUS showed LUS sensitivity of 57%, LUS specificity of 82%, positive predictive value 80%, negative predictive value 61%. CONCLUSIONS This study suggests that the use of LUS should be recommended to early identify PA and reduce frequent ionizing exposition of these fragile patients. Finally, our study also suggests that LUS can provide relevant information for clinicians and respiratory physiotherapists. Cediranib cost © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The microstructural features of the tissue of long bones subjected to different biomechanical stresses could be a helpful tool for a better understanding of locomotor behavior in extant and extinct mammals, including equids. However, few researches have attempted to describe the bone tissue of extinct horses. In our study, we analyze and compare the histomorphometric features of the bone tissue in extant modern horses, Equus caballus, and Equus namadicus, a Pleistocene Indian extinct wild horse. The number, position and size of the osteons and Haversian canals of the bone tissue, classifiable as dense Haversian tissue, were considered for the comparison. The results obtained highlight some differences between the analyzed species, Equus caballus having fewer and bigger osteons than Equus namadicus. The microstructural differences may depend on the different lifestyles and environmental conditions characterizing the two species. The results obtained suggest that comparing the biomechanical properties of extinct and modern horse species may provide indirect information on their paleoenvironment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Low-elevation species can migrate towards higher elevations to survive in a warming world. However, animals' responses to hypoxia when migrating to high elevations have rarely been addressed. To identify the response of low-elevation lizards to high-elevation hypoxia, we collected field body temperatures (Tfb ) and operative temperatures (Te ) of lizards (Eremias argus) from a low elevation population (1036 m) and a high elevation population (2036 m), and then determined adult thermal physiology, embryonic development, and hatchling phenotypes after acclimating low-elevation lizards and incubating their eggs in conditions mimicking the low-elevation oxygen condition (18.5% O2 ) and high-elevation oxygen (hypoxic) condition (16.5% O2 ). Our study revealed that Tfb and Te were higher for the low elevation population compared to the high elevation population. We also found adults from low elevation acclimated to hypoxia preferred lower body temperatures, but did not show changes in locomotor performance or growth. In addition, hypoxia did not affect embryonic development (hatching time and success) or hatchling phenotypes (body size and locomotor performance). These results suggest that adult lizards from low elevations can respond to hypoxia-induced stress when migrating to high elevations by behaviourally thermoregulating to lower body temperatures in order to sustain normal functions. Similarly, low-elevation embryos can develop normally (with unchanged hatching success and offspring phenotypes) under the high-elevation hypoxic condition. This study highlights that low-elevation populations of a species that inhabits a range of elevations can buffer the impact of high-elevation hypoxic conditions to some degree and thus attain similar fitness to the source population. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.