Insulin resistance, atherogenicity, and iron metabolism in multiple sclerosis with and without depression: Associations with inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers and uric acid.

Depression is accompanied by metabolic disorders in iron metabolism, lipoproteins, and insulin resistance. We measured plasma levels of ferritin, iron, lipids, insulin, and glucose and computed the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA2IR) and atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) in MS patients with and without depression and healthy controls. Explanatory variables were serum uric acid, interleukin (IL)-6, lipid hydroperoxides (CL-LOOH), albumin, and C-reactive protein (CRP). Depression was assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), neurological disability using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and disease progression using ∆EDSS over five years earlier. HOMA2IR and insulin were predicted by diagnosis (increased in MS), age and body mass index (BMI); AIP by diagnosis, sex, BMI, CRP, and uric acid; triglycerides by diagnosis (higher in MS without depression), age, BMI and uric acid; ferritin by diagnosis (higher in MS), sex, CRP, and albumin; and iron by albumin. The HADS score was significantly predicted by ∆EDSS, gastro-intestinal symptoms, iron (inverse), and age. MS is characterized by significantly increased insulin resistance, which is determined by increased insulin levels; and increased ferritin, a biomarker of inflammation. Depression in MS is not associated with increased insulin resistance and atherogenicity but with lowered iron.

Time-loss injuries versus non-time-loss injuries in the first team rugby league football: a pooled data analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the injury rates in first team rugby league in terms of those injuries that require missed playing time and those that do not. DESIGN: A pooled data analysis from 2 independent databases. SETTING: Rugby league match and training environment over several seasons from 1990 to 2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Injuries were reported as rates per 1000 hours of participation and as percentages with their associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 1707 match injuries were recorded. Of these injuries, 257 required players to miss the subsequent match. The remaining 1450 injuries did not require players to miss the next game. They represented 85% (95% CI, 83-87) of all injuries received and recorded. The ratio of non-time-loss (NTL) to time-loss (TL) injuries was 5.64 (95% CI, 4.96-6.42). There were 450 training injuries, of which 81 were TL injuries and 369 NTL injuries. The NTL training injury rate was 4.56 (95% CI, 3.58-5.79) times higher than TL injury rate. CONCLUSIONS: Non-time-loss injuries represent the largest proportion of injuries in rugby league. If NTL injuries are not recorded, the workload of practitioners is likely to be severely underestimated.

Injury rates in rugby league football: impact of change in playing season.

BACKGROUND: In 1996, the professional rugby league moved its playing season from the autumn and winter months to the spring and summer. PURPOSE: To determine whether the change in playing season altered the risk of player injury. STUDY DESIGN: Prospectively collected data comparing two cohorts. METHODS: Injuries incurred by all players in one club during match play were recorded over 9 seasons: 4 winter (138 games) and 5 summer (144 games). Each injury was classified according to site, type, player position, activity at the time of injury, and number of games missed as a result of injury. RESULTS: The total exposure time during this study was 4876 player-hours (winter, 2386, summer, 2490). The relative risk of injury doubled after the move from winter to summer. Winter rugby accounted for 72 injuries, and summer rugby, for 150 injuries. CONCLUSIONS: Risk of injury to players in a professional rugby league club greatly increased as a result of changing the playing calendar, possibly as a result of environmental factors. However, other factors, such as increased conditioning levels, which have been a direct consequence of players moving to full-time professionalism, may have increased injury potential.

A pooled data analysis of injury incidence in rugby league football.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to summarise the injury rates in professional rugby league football. METHODS: Previously published studies were identified from database searches of the literature from Medline, Sports Discus and Web of Science. A total of 18 articles, which reported the prospective injury data collection for at least one playing season in professional rugby league worldwide, were included. The definition of injury adopted required an injured player to miss the subsequent game through injury. Ten studies satisfied the injury definition criteria for inclusion. A review of articles and extraction of relevant data were carried out independently by two authors. RESULTS: A total of 517 injuries were reported during 12819 hours of exposure (753 games), which resulted in an overall injury rate of 40.3 injuries per 1000 hours [95% confidence interval (CI) 36.9 to 43.8]. Most injuries were to the lower half of the body (20.7 per 1000 hours, 95% CI 17.7 to 24), with the trunk receiving the least (6.7 per 1000 hours, 95% CI 5 to 8.6). CONCLUSIONS: Injury rates in professional rugby league are higher than in some other contact sports, probably because of the large number of physical collisions that take place. This pooled data analysis provides more accurate estimates of injury incidence in the game of professional rugby league football.

Torsional Splittings in the Band nu9 + nu4 - nu4 of Ethane.

Torsional splittings of the C2H6 hot band nu9 + nu4 - nu4 have been determined based on measurements taken with the Kitt Peak National Observatory Fourier transform spectrometer with .0025 cm-1 resolution. The measured splittings range from -.2347 cm-1 (the sign is relative to that of the observed splitting in the nu9 band of C2H6) to .0682 cm-1, with a standard deviation of the observed splittings of .0251 cm-1. The splittings can be explained as a result of xy Coriolis interaction of nu9 + nu4 with the excited torsional states taunu4, with the major effect arising from the "forbidden" interaction with the nearly degenerate state 5nu4final sigma = 2. The rms error of the predicted splittings is .00422 cm-1, if parameters determined from theory and previous work are used, and is .00217 cm-1, if small refinements to the parameters are made based on the measured splittings themselves. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.