Intermittent fasting: eating by the clock for health and exercise performance

Intermittent fasting (IF) is an increasingly popular dietary practice, and its implementation is found throughout human civilisation in various cultural, spiritual and religious traditions. Emerging evidence has shown that the health benefits of IF stretch beyond calorie restriction and weight loss. These benefits include metabolic shifts in energy production, the optimisation of peripheral circadian clocks, and overall improvement in physiological markers of metabolic health. IF has been proposed to reduce systemic inflammation and have a role in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease. For the athlete, IF protocols offer a potential new frontier for maintaining performance in the fasted state. They may allow athletes to optimise training adaptions, while respecting individual cultural, religious, and/or spiritual preferences to fast and exercise. Below, we discuss the physiological impact of fasted exercise while highlighting areas for future work to improve our understanding and implementation of the practice for the benefit of both the active general community and sporting populations.

Pathogenicity of Phytophthora × alni Isolates Obtained from Symptomatic Trees, Soil and Water against Alder

Phytophthora alni complex (P. × alni, P. × multiformis, P. uniformis) are pathogens attacking alder seedlings and trees, causing significant losses in nurseries and natural tree stands. Decay of alder trees has been observed in Poland for over a dozen years. Overall, 25 Polish isolates of P. × alni obtained from symptomatic alder trunks, rhizosphere soil surrounding infected trees, and nearby natural streams were compared with isolates from symptomatic trunks obtained in France, Belgium and Hungary. Morphologic characterization of mycelium, vegetative and generative organs, temperature effect on mycelium growth, and their pathogenicity were studied. The mycelium growth rate of isolates from symptomatic plants was fastest on Carrot Agar (CA) medium, and from soil and water on Vegetable Agar (V8A) medium. The sizes of zoosporangia varied depending on their origin. The isolates that originated from the soil had the largest zoosporangia. The diameter of the oogonia and antheridia did not differ regardless of their origin. The results of pathogenicity tests of P. × alni isolates obtained from different sources showed that the soil isolates were the most aggressive in each test, followed by the isolates from the trunks and water. A simple test of leaf colonization can give an idea of the aggressiveness of the isolate towards the shoots and roots. No morphological or physiological markers of aggressiveness have been found.

An Evaluation of Speech-Based Recognition of Emotional and Physiological Markers of Stress

Life in modern societies is fast-paced and full of stress-inducing demands. The development of stress monitoring methods is a growing area of research due to the personal and economic advantages that timely detection provides. Studies have shown that speech-based features can be utilised to robustly predict several physiological markers of stress, including emotional state, continuous heart rate, and the stress hormone, cortisol. In this contribution, we extend previous works by the authors, utilising three German language corpora including more than 100 subjects undergoing a Trier Social Stress Test protocol. We present cross-corpus and transfer learning results which explore the efficacy of the speech signal to predict three physiological markers of stress—sequentially measured saliva-based cortisol, continuous heart rate as beats per minute (BPM), and continuous respiration. For this, we extract several features from audio as well as video and apply various machine learning architectures, including a temporal context-based Long Short-Term Memory Recurrent Neural Network (LSTM-RNN). For the task of predicting cortisol levels from speech, deep learning improves on results obtained by conventional support vector regression—yielding a Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) of 0.770 and 0.698 for cortisol measurements taken 10 and 20 min after the stress period for the two corpora applicable—showing that audio features alone are sufficient for predicting cortisol, with audiovisual fusion to an extent improving such results. We also obtain a Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 38 and 22 BPM for continuous heart rate prediction on the two corpora where this information is available, and a normalised RMSE (NRMSE) of 0.120 for respiration prediction (−10: 10). Both of these continuous physiological signals show to be highly effective markers of stress (based on cortisol grouping analysis), both when available as ground truth and when predicted using speech. This contribution opens up new avenues for future exploration of these signals as proxies for stress in naturalistic settings.

Giving Birth on a Beach Women's Experiences of Using Virtual Reality in Labour A Pragmatic Mixed Methods Approach

<p><b>Birth is a normal physiological process, and many women want a natural birth. However, there is worldwide concern over the increasing use of epidural analgesia and other pharmacological pain relief methods for women in labour. This tendency renders birth non-physiological by increasing the use of obstetric interventions with associated risks. Women use a range of non-pharmacological pain relief methods to reduce labour pain intensity, to help manage labour pain and to induce relaxation. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women using virtual reality (VR) as a non-pharmacological method of pain relief in labour and to determine whether there was an effect on labour pain intensity. Virtual reality has been shown to be an effective distraction technique in other acute pain settings and also reduces anxiety.</b></p> <p>This study used a pragmatic mixed method approach with a sequential exploratory design, combining in-depth antenatal and postnatal interviews with an intervention study in labour in a cross-over within-subjects trial. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.</p> <p>Twenty-six pregnant women were recruited to the study. Fourteen participants reported their pain and had their heart rate and blood pressure measured during active labour while using and not using VR. There were significantly lower reported pain scores (6.14 compared to 7.61, p =<.001) and maternal heart rate (79.86 beats per minute compared to 85.57, p = .033) and mean arterial pressure (88.78 mmHg compared to 92.61 mmHg, p = .022) were lower when using VR during active labour. These differences were all statistically significant. Findings from qualitative postnatal interviews indicated a positive response to the use of VR in labour. Several themes were identified in the data. The first theme, Impact of VR on Labour, described the impact of VR on labour in terms of distraction, relaxation, enjoyment and a positive birth experience. The second theme, Managing the Pain, describes how VR was used by the women to manage their labour pain using breathing techniques and gaining a sense of control. In the third theme, The Challenges and Surprises of Using VR in Labour, women’s narratives recounted the various challenges of using the VR technology. Despite these challenges, ninety-four percent of women reported that they would use VR in labour again and would recommend it to a pregnant friend.</p> <p>This study provides a unique and original contribution to the field of VR in labour and birth. It is consistent with other recent findings of reduced pain with the use of VR, and links decreased pain scales to heart rate and blood pressure, the physiological markers of pain. It also identifies VR as an acceptable and positive experience in the management of labour pain. Results from this study have the potential to inform design for future labour specific VR environments and expand its application in the field of biomedical technology.</p>

Giving Birth on a Beach Women's Experiences of Using Virtual Reality in Labour A Pragmatic Mixed Methods Approach

<p><b>Birth is a normal physiological process, and many women want a natural birth. However, there is worldwide concern over the increasing use of epidural analgesia and other pharmacological pain relief methods for women in labour. This tendency renders birth non-physiological by increasing the use of obstetric interventions with associated risks. Women use a range of non-pharmacological pain relief methods to reduce labour pain intensity, to help manage labour pain and to induce relaxation. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of women using virtual reality (VR) as a non-pharmacological method of pain relief in labour and to determine whether there was an effect on labour pain intensity. Virtual reality has been shown to be an effective distraction technique in other acute pain settings and also reduces anxiety.</b></p> <p>This study used a pragmatic mixed method approach with a sequential exploratory design, combining in-depth antenatal and postnatal interviews with an intervention study in labour in a cross-over within-subjects trial. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data.</p> <p>Twenty-six pregnant women were recruited to the study. Fourteen participants reported their pain and had their heart rate and blood pressure measured during active labour while using and not using VR. There were significantly lower reported pain scores (6.14 compared to 7.61, p =<.001) and maternal heart rate (79.86 beats per minute compared to 85.57, p = .033) and mean arterial pressure (88.78 mmHg compared to 92.61 mmHg, p = .022) were lower when using VR during active labour. These differences were all statistically significant. Findings from qualitative postnatal interviews indicated a positive response to the use of VR in labour. Several themes were identified in the data. The first theme, Impact of VR on Labour, described the impact of VR on labour in terms of distraction, relaxation, enjoyment and a positive birth experience. The second theme, Managing the Pain, describes how VR was used by the women to manage their labour pain using breathing techniques and gaining a sense of control. In the third theme, The Challenges and Surprises of Using VR in Labour, women’s narratives recounted the various challenges of using the VR technology. Despite these challenges, ninety-four percent of women reported that they would use VR in labour again and would recommend it to a pregnant friend.</p> <p>This study provides a unique and original contribution to the field of VR in labour and birth. It is consistent with other recent findings of reduced pain with the use of VR, and links decreased pain scales to heart rate and blood pressure, the physiological markers of pain. It also identifies VR as an acceptable and positive experience in the management of labour pain. Results from this study have the potential to inform design for future labour specific VR environments and expand its application in the field of biomedical technology.</p>

Cortical and autonomic responses during staged Taoist meditation: Two distinct meditation strategies

Meditation is a consciousness state associated with specific physiological and neural correlates. Numerous investigations of these correlates reported controversial results which prevented a consistent depiction of the underlying neurophysiological processes. Here we investigated the dynamics of multiple neurophysiological indicators during a staged meditation session. We measured the physiological changes at rest and during the guided Taoist meditation in experienced meditators and naive subjects. We recorded EEG, respiration, galvanic skin response, and photoplethysmography. All subjects followed the same instructions split into 16 stages. In the experienced meditators group we identified two subgroups with different physiological markers dynamics. One subgroup showed several signs of general relaxation evident from the changes in heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and EEG rhythmic activity. The other subgroup exhibited mind concentration patterns primarily noticeable in the EEG recordings while no autonomic responses occurred. The duration and type of previous meditation experience or any baseline indicators we measured did not explain the segregation of the meditators into these two groups. These results suggest that two distinct meditation strategies could be used by experienced meditators, which partly explains the inconsistent results reported in the earlier studies evaluating meditation effects. Our findings are also relevant to the development of the high-end biofeedback systems.

Molecular Resiliency and Aging

Resilience is described as the ability to respond to acute forms of stress and recover to normal homeostasis. There is growing evidence that biology of resilience is entwined with the biology of aging. With increasing age, resilience decreases and is a likely contributor to increased morbidity, frailty and susceptibility to death with age. Conversely, increased resilience across numerous physiological markers of function is associated with longevity and healthy aging. The variation in resilience in populations suggests biological and molecular regulatory mechanisms that might provide insight into interventions to improve resilience, healthy aging and longevity. In this session, speakers will provide insight regarding short-term assays of resilience in animal models that prove useful both in delineating these biological mechanisms as well as inform on potential translational models to better understand biological resilience in human populations. The sessions focus is on defining these assays and discussion of the biological relevance each resilience assay in terms of the regulation of aging. The goals of these studies range from identifying potential predictors of individual lifespan within markers of functional resilience to leveraging geroscience to define whether markers of resilience can be modified through interventions to the aging process. Moreover, better understanding of the biology of resilience could assist in defining novel interventions that improve resilience and thereby enhance longevity.