Can a weight management conditioning course help with armed forces recruitment?

British Armed Forces are facing the most significant recruitment crisis since 2010. An important contributing factor to the recruitment crisis is the rise in obesity of the UK population. At Army Training Centre Pirbright, a weight management programme (WMP) has been established for recruits who have failed their initial medical assessment (IMA). To determine the proportion of recruits who entered the WMP and passed basic and initial trade training, allowing entry into the British Army. Retrospective service evaluation of recruits entering WMP from inception in April 2015 to August 2018. Medical records were used to assess whether recruits completed initial training. 72.3% of recruits included in the WMP who would have previously failed their IMA because of a high body mass index (BMI) passed basic and initial trade training. This evaluation demonstrates potential for candidates otherwise excluded based on BMI. This WMP delivers structured nutritional support and encourages physical training. Once a BMI enters the accepted range, recruits could enter basic training. This WMP would deliver structured nutritional support and encourage physical training, with the aim of promoting healthy lifestyles. Neither the Royal Navy nor the Royal Air Force currently have a WMP. There is potential for WMPs to be introduced to all three services. UK Armed Forces face a recruitment crisis and need to be adaptable with a population where obesity is prevalent. At Pirbright 72.3% of candidates in the WMP passed basic and initial trade training.

The perivascular pathways for influx of cerebrospinal fluid are most efficient in the midbrain.

Although there are no conventional lymphatic vessels in the brain, fluid and solutes drain along basement membranes (BMs) of cerebral capillaries and arteries towards the subarachnoid space and cervical lymph nodes. Convective influx/glymphatic entry of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into the brain parenchyma occurs along the pial-glial BMs of arteries. This project tested the hypotheses that pial-glial BM of arteries are thicker in the midbrain, allowing more glymphatic entry of CSF. The in vivo MRI and PET images were obtained from a 4.2-year-old dog, whereas the post-mortem electron microscopy was performed in a 12-year-old dog. We demonstrated a significant increase in the thickness of the pial-glial BM in the midbrain compared with the same BM in different regions of the brain and an increase in the convective influx of fluid from the subarachnoid space. These results are highly significant for the intrathecal drug delivery into the brain, indicating that the midbrain is better equipped for convective influx/glymphatic entry of the CSF.