Effectiveness of Distance Technology in Promoting Physical Activity in Cardiovascular Disease Rehabilitation: Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial, A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity is beneficial for cardiovascular rehabilitation. Digitalization suggests using technology in the promotion of physical activity and lifestyle changes. The effectiveness of distance technology interventions has previously been found to be similar to that of conventional treatment, but the added value of the technology has not been frequently studied. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this pilot study was to investigate whether additional distance technology intervention is more effective in promoting physical activity than non-technology-based treatment in 12 months of cardiac rehabilitation. METHODS: The cardiovascular disease rehabilitation intervention consisted of three 5-day inpatient periods in a rehabilitation center and two 6-month self-exercise periods at home in between. Participants were recruited from among cardiac patients who attended the rehabilitation program and were cluster-randomized into unblinded groups: conventional rehabilitation control clusters (n=3) and similar rehabilitation with additional distance technology experimental group clusters (n=3). Experimental groups used Fitbit Charge HR for self-monitoring, and they set goals and reported their activity using Movendos mCoach, through which they received monthly automated and in-person feedback. Physical activity outcomes for all participants were measured using the Fitbit Zip accelerometer and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. RESULTS: During the first 6 months, the experimental group (n=29) engaged in light physical activity more often than the control group (n=30; mean difference [MD] 324.2 minutes per week, 95% CI 77.4 to 571.0; P=.01). There were no group differences in the duration of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MD 12.6 minutes per week, 95% CI -90.5 to 115.7; P=.82) or steps per day (MD 1084.0, 95% CI -585.0 to 2752.9; P=.20). During the following 6 months, no differences between the groups were observed in light physical activity (MD -87.9 minutes per week, 95% CI -379.2 to 203.3; P=.54), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MD 70.9 minutes per week, 95% CI -75.7 to 217.6; P=.33), or steps per day (MD 867.1, 95% CI -2099.6 to 3833.9; P=.55). CONCLUSIONS: The use of additional distance technology increased the duration of light physical activity at the beginning of cardiac rehabilitation (for the first 6 months), but statistically significant differences were not observed between the two groups for moderate or vigorous physical activity or steps per day for both 6-month self-exercise periods. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN61225589; https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN61225589.

Flies in the north: locomotor behavior and clock neuron organization of Drosophila montana.

The circadian clock plays an important role in adaptation in time and space by synchronizing changes in physiological, developmental, and behavioral traits of organisms with daily and seasonal changes in their environment. We have studied some features of the circadian activity and clock organization in a northern Drosophila species, Drosophila montana, at both the phenotypic and the neuronal levels. In the first part of the study, we monitored the entrained and free-running locomotor activity rhythms of females in different light-dark and temperature regimes. These studies showed that D. montana flies completely lack the morning activity component typical to more southern Drosophila species in an entrained environment and that they are able to maintain their free-running locomotor activity rhythm better in constant light than in constant darkness. In the second part of the study, we traced the expression of the PDF neuropeptide and the CRY protein in the neurons of the brain in D. montana adults and found differences in the number and location of PDF- and CRY-expressing neurons compared with those described in Drosophila melanogaster. These differences could account, at least in part, for the lack of morning activity and the reduced circadian rhythmicity of D. montana flies in constant darkness, both of which are likely to be adaptive features during the long and dark winters occurring in nature.

The radial artery is larger than the ulnar.

BACKGROUND: The radial artery is presently widely used as a bypass graft for coronary artery reconstruction. However, the traditional opinion that the ulnar artery is the larger forearm artery has been questioned. METHODS: The internal diameters of the radial and ulnar arteries were measured at the wrist in postmortem angiograms of 24 cadavers. Differences in mean values of variables between ulnar and radial arteries were analyzed using the Wilcoxon test. RESULTS: The mean diameter of the radial artery was 28% larger than that of the ulnar artery in the right arm (p < 0.001) and 26% larger in the left arm (p < 0.001). In the right arm the radial artery was dominant in 20 of 24 cadavers (83%), the ulnar artery in 3 of 24 (13%), and the arteries were equal in 1 of 24 (4%). In the left arm the figures were 17 of 24 cadavers (71%), 3 of 24 (13%), and 4 of 24 (17%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In view of the present investigation the radial artery should be considered the larger forearm artery of the hand in most patients.