Physical Activity and Sleep Improvements in a Group of Equestrian Therapy Volunteers: A Pilot Study.

This study aims to assess whether participation as a supportive volunteer in equestrian therapy (ET) sessions influences participants' physiological health-related parameters, including physical activity and sleep. Physical activity, measured in steps, and hours of sleep were measured in 10 subjects who participated regularly as volunteers in ET sessions using a triaxial accelerometer which continuously recorded their activity for 30 days. On the one hand, the subjects showed higher physical activity levels on days when they volunteered in ET sessions versus the days they did not. A significant difference and large effect magnitude were found. On the other hand, on the days they attended ET, they slept an average of 30 minutes more, with significant differences and a moderate effect. Thus, participation as a volunteer in ET sessions seems to have a positive influence on physical activity and sleep time, so it should be recommended as an activity to promote healthy habits.

Equine-assisted therapeutic activities and their influence on the heart rate variability: A systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of equine-assisted therapeutic interventions on users' heart rate variability, using this said variability as an objective biological variable related to stress levels. METHOD: A systematic review has been carried out using the methodology suggested in the PRISMA declaration following systematic searches in academic databases. RESULTS: 432 registers were initially identified; however, in the screening and suitability process, nine papers were included in the review. With one exception, all of them reported that equine-assisted therapeutic activities had a favourable effect on users' heart rate variability as such activities favour a state of relaxation by activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The analysis of the quality of the evidence and the confirmation of the bias in the works indicate that these results must be considered with caution. DISCUSSION: Although these preliminary results are promising, more rigorous clinical trials are necessary to overcome the methodological limitations of the works.

Benefits of an experimental program of equestrian therapy for children with ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Equestrian therapy has been shown to be a useful instrument in the sphere of the emotional wellbeing and mental health of different population groups. AIMS: To empirically determine the effects of a program of equestrian therapy on quality of life and various psychosocial variables of a group of 14 pupils diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), aged from 7 to 14 years. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A quasi-experimental design, with a pre-test and a post-test, was implemented with an experimental group and a control group. The program consisted of 24 biweekly sessions, therefore lasting some 3 months. The data acquisition instruments used were: the "Behavior Assessment System for Children" (BASC) and an ad-hoc quality of life questionnaire. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: The results deriving from the teachers' responses and the different scales of the BASC showed no significant group differences, but for the experimental group there was an improvement in the indicator corresponding to interpersonal relationships in the quality-of-life questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: It would seem that it is currently possible to recommend this activity, for this target population, as a sporting activity that provides similar benefits to other physical activities, but which is still far from being able to be recognized as a therapeutic activity.

Combining microbial cultures for efficient production of electricity from butyrate in a microbial electrochemical cell.

Butyrate is an important product of anaerobic fermentation; however, it is not directly used by characterized strains of the highly efficient anode respiring bacteria (ARB) Geobacter sulfurreducens in microbial electrochemical cells. By combining a butyrate-oxidizing community with a Geobacter rich culture, we generated a microbial community which outperformed many naturally derived communities found in the literature for current production from butyrate and rivaled the highest performing natural cultures in terms of current density (∼ 11A/m(2)) and Coulombic efficiency (∼ 70%). Microbial community analyses support the shift in the microbial community from one lacking efficient ARB in the marine hydrothermal vent community to a community consisting of ∼ 80% Geobacter in the anode biofilm. This demonstrates the successful production and adaptation of a novel microbial culture for generating electrical current from butyrate with high current density and high Coulombic efficiency, by combining two mixed microbial cultures containing complementing biochemical pathways.

Correlation of biological activity and reactor performance in biofiltration of toluene with the fungus Paecilomyces variotii CBS115145.

A biofiltration system inoculated with the mold Paecilomyces variotii CBS115145 showed a toluene elimination capacity (EC) of around 250 g/m3 of biofilter/h, which was higher than the values usually reported for bacteria. P. variotii assimilated m- and p-cresols but not the o isomer. Initial toluene hydroxylation occurred both on the methyl group and through the p-cresol pathway. These results were corroborated by detecting benzyl alcohol, benzaldehyde, and p-cresol as volatile intermediates. In liquid cultures with toluene as a substrate, the activity of toluene oxygenase (TO) was 5.6 nmol of O2/min/mg of biomass, and that of benzyl alcohol dehydrogenase was 16.2 nmol of NADH/min/mg of protein. Toluene biodegradation determined from the TO activity in the biofilter depended on the biomass distribution and the substrate concentration. The specific enzymatic activity decreased from 6.3 to 1.9 nmol of O2/min/mg of biomass along the reactor. Good agreement was found between the EC calculated from the TO activity and the EC measured on the biofilter. The results were confirmed by short-time biofiltration experiments. Average EC measured in different biofiltration experiments and EC calculated from the TO activity showed a linear relation, suggesting that in the biofilters, EC was limited by biological reaction. As the enzymatic activities of P. variotii were similar to those reported for bacteria, the high performance of the fungal biofilters can possibly be explained by the increased transfer of the hydrophobic compounds, including oxygen, from the gas phase to the mycelia, overcoming the transfer problems associated with the flat bacterial biofilms.