Walking and cycling to school provide a convenient opportunity to incorporate physical activity into an adolescent's daily routine. School proximity to residential homes has been identified as an important determinant of active commuting among children. The purpose of this study is to identify if distance is a barrier to active commuting among adolescents, and if there is a criterion distance above which adolescents choose not to walk or cycle.

Supervised preoperative muscle strengthening programmes (prehabilitation) can improve recovery after total joint arthroplasty but are considered resource intensive. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been shown to improve quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM) strength and clinical function in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (OA) however it has not been previously investigated as a prehabilitation modality.

Quadriceps femoris muscle (QFM) weakness is a feature of knee osteoarthritis (OA) and exercise programs that strengthen this muscle group can improve function, disability and pain. Traditional supervised resistance exercise is however resource intensive and dependent on good adherence which can be challenging to achieve in patients with significant knee OA. Because of the limitations of traditional exercise programs, interest has been shown in the use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) to strengthen the QFM. We conducted a single-blind, prospective randomized controlled study to compare the effects of home-based resistance training (RT) and NMES on patients with moderate to severe knee OA.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is highly effective as secondary prevention for cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Uptake of CR remains suboptimal (30% of eligible patients) and long-term adherence to a physically active (PA) lifestyle is even lower. Innovative strategies are needed to counteract this phenomenon. Objective: We developed the PATHway system (Physical Activity Towards Health) to provide a comprehensive, remotely monitored home-based CR program for CVD patients. The PATHway-I study aimed to investigate its feasibility and clinical efficacy during phase III CR. Methods: Participants were randomized on a 1:1 basis to the PATHway intervention group (PW) or usual care control group (UC) in a Single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled pilot trial. Outcomes were assessed at completion of phase II CR and six months follow-up. The primary outcome was PA (Actigraph GT9X link). Secondary outcomes included measures of physical fitness, modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, endothelial function, intima-media thickness of the common carotid artery and quality of life. System usability and patients' experiences were evaluated only in PW. A mixed-model ANOVA with Bonferroni adjustment was used to analyze between-group effects over time. Missing values were handled by means of an intention-to-treat analysis. Statistical significance was set at a two-sided alpha level of 0.05. Data are reported as mean ± SD. Results: A convenience sample of 120 CVD patients (61.4 ± 13.5 years, 22 women) was included. The PATHway system was deployed in the homes of 60 participants. System use decreased over time and system usability was average with a score of 65.7 ± 19.7 (range 5-100). Moderate to vigorous intensity PA increased in PW (PW: 127 ± 58 min to 141 ± 69 min, UC: 146 ± 66 min to 143 ± 71 min; p-interaction=0.039), while diastolic blood pressure (PW: 79 ± 11 to 79 ± 10 mmHg, UC: 78 ± 9 to 83 ± 10 mmHg; p-interaction=0.004) and cardiovascular risk score remained constant, but deteriorated in UC (PW: 15.9 ± 10.4 to 15.5 ± 10.5%, UC: 14.5 ± 9.7 to 15.7 ± 10.9%; p-interaction=0.004). Conclusions: This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of a technology-enabled, remotely monitored, home-based CR program. Although clinical effectiveness was demonstrated, several challenges were identified that could influence adoption of PATHway. Clinical Trial: This trial was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov: NCT02717806

Many of the metabolic effects of exercise are due to the most recent exercise session. With recent advances in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMRS), it is possible to gain insight about which lipoprotein particles are responsible for mediating exercise effects. Using a randomized cross-over design, very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) responses were evaluated in eight men on the morning after i) an inactive control trial (CON), ii) exercising vigorously on the prior evening for 100 min followed by fasting overnight to maintain an energy and carbohydrate deficit (EX-DEF), and iii) after the same exercise session followed by carbohydrate intake to restore muscle glycogen and carbohydrate balance (EX-BAL). The intermediate, low and high density lipoprotein particle concentrations did not differ between trials. Fasting triglyceride (TG) determined biochemically, and mean VLDL size were lower in EX-DEF but not in EX-BAL compared to CON, primarily due to a reduction in VLDL-TG in the 70–120 nm (large) particle range. In contrast, VLDL-TG was lower in both EX-DEF and EX-BAL compared to CON in the 43–55 nm (medium) particle range. VLDL-TG in smaller particles (29–43 nm) was unaffected by exercise. Because the majority of VLDL particles were in this smallest size range and resistant to change, total VLDL particle concentration was not different between any of these conditions. Skeletal muscle lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity was also not different across these 3 trials. However, in CON only, the inter-individual differences in LPL activity were inversely correlated with fasting TG, VLDL-TG, total, large and small VLDL particle concentration and VLDL size, indicating a regulatory role for LPL in the non-exercised state. These findings reveal a high level of differential regulation between different sized triglyceride-rich lipoproteins following exercise and feeding, in the absence of changes in LPL activity.

The objective of this study was to identify performance indicators which differentiated between winning and losing elite Gaelic football teams. Eighty three technical and tactical performance variables were measured in 13 teams during 26 league and championship games throughout 2014–2015. Univariate analysis of full-games revealed that winners achieved a significantly higher total score, number of scores, shots, points, points from play and goals, resulting in superior shot efficiency, average attack per score, and scores per 10 possessions. Winners gained significantly more turnovers and completed significantly less unsuccessful hand passes. Winners also performed significantly less kick outs, resulting in fewer successful kick outs and successful dead ball kick passes overall. A principal component analysis, conducted on 18 variables produced 4 components, which explained 81.9% of the variance. Both logistic regression (8.00, χ²(1) = 16.00, p < 0.001) and discriminant analysis (Ʌ = 0.53, χ²(1) = 13.77, p < 0.001) revealed that one component, defensive counterattacking, significantly contributed to outcome and differentiated winners from losers with a cross-validation accuracy of 87.5%. Coaches can use this information to organise their defensive system to generate opposition turnovers and also incorporate sufficient flexibility to facilitate effective transitions to exploit their own offensive counterattacking opportunities.