Time to perform 40-yard dash (40-yd) is a performance criterion in American football. Sprinting ability is strongly correlated with maximal values of horizontal power (PHmax), Force (FH0) and Velocity (VH0). While numerous methods for developing sprint speed exist, few studies have focused on the effects of periodizations on the sprinting mechanical variables in young talented American football players. this study aimed to compare the effects of block (BP) and undulating (UP) training periodization modalities on 40-yard dash performance. 27 players from the Young French League of American football (17.1 ± 0.9 y, 179.9 ± 5.5 cm, 81.1 ± 14.9 kg) were randomly assigned in either the BP (n = 15) or UP (n = 12) group. Anthropometric characteristics, 40-yd performance, maximal velocity (Vmax), PHmax, FH0 and VH0 were assessed before and after 10-wk intervention period. Training resulted in the 40-yd performance increase of 3.72% (p < 0.001) and significant changes in Vmax (+ = 6.13 ± 5.62%, p < 0.001) and VH0 values (+2.68 ± 4.14%, p = 0.004). BP intervention leaded higher improvements in time to perform 40-yd (4.45 ± 2.06 vs. 3.02 ± 1.93%, p < 0.001) and Vmax (7.30 ± 6.63% vs. 4.54 ± 4.10%, p = 0.002,) compared to UP. No periodization effect was found in changes of VH0 (BP: 3.42 ± 4.31% vs. UP: 1.48 ± 3.88, p = 0.214). Our results showed that BP and UP were effective to increase sprint performance. Despite a similar training load, the block periodization of training had better effects on 40-yd performance compared to undulating training periodization in this population of talented young American football players.

The Zika virus (ZIKV), an emerging orthoflavivirus, presents a significant public health threat due to its rapid dissemination and association with severe neurological complications. The urgent need for effective antiviral agents has driven research into novel bioactive compounds derived from unique natural sources. Microorganisms inhabiting extreme environments are particularly promising for such discoveries due to their potential to produce unique metabolites. In this study, we explored microorganisms from the underexplored French Polynesian microbial mats known as "Kopara" to identify new bioactive natural products. Using a molecular networking-based dereplication strategy, we investigated various culture and extraction techniques of the strain Nocardia otitidiscaviarum 20-S13, leading to the discovery of two novel glycoglycerolipids, otitiglycomycins A and B (1 and 2). Structure elucidation of these compounds was achieved through NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, and TDDFT-specific rotation prediction. We found that otitiglycomycin A (1), but not otitiglycomycin B (2), suppresses ZIKV infection at non cytotoxic concentrations without effects on cell viability. Time-of-drug addition assays along with virus inactivation and binding assays demonstrated that 1 neutralizes ZIKV infectivity by preventing the virus from attaching to the host cell membrane.

Musculoskeletal research should synergistically investigate bone and muscle to inform approaches for maintaining mobility and to avoid bone fractures. The relationship between sarcopenia and osteoporosis, integrated in the term ‘osteosarcopenia’, is underscored by the close association shown between these two conditions in many studies, whereby one entity emerges as a predictor of the other. In a recent workshop of Working Group (WG) 2 of the EU Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action ‘Genomics of MusculoSkeletal traits Translational Network’ (GEMSTONE) consortium (CA18139), muscle characterization was highlighted as being important, but currently under-recognized in the musculoskeletal field. Here, we summarize the opinions of the Consortium and research questions around translational and clinical musculoskeletal research, discussing muscle phenotyping in human experimental research and in two animal models: zebrafish and mouse.

BackgroundThe teams' collective playing strategy rather than the individual player attitudes could explain event outcome and risk of injuries.ObjectiveThe study aimed to examine the playing style of European teams and compare it to the USA.Method12 matches from the U19 European championship of American Football were analysed. We characterized each team by their running-passing activities ratio during the offensive phase: running (RUN), passing (PASS), or balanced (BAL).ResultsThe BAL style of play accurately described 75% of European teams (n = 6). The remaining two national teams adopted either the RUN or PASS style of play. This finding is similar to what was observed in NCAA Division IA. All RUN style teams had a higher percentage of rushing plays (80.7% ± 9.7%) compared to PASS (33.0% ± 14.7%) and BAL teams (46.0 ± 0.8%) (p < 0.05). The mean playing time for RUN and PASS teams was longer than the average duration of plays for BAL teams (p < 0.05). The mean duration of plays ranged from 5.3 ± 1.9 to 5.7 ± 2.1 s, with a significant style of play effect (p < 0.05). Rest duration for BAL teams (46.7 ± 44.1 s) was shorter than that of RUN (55.9 ± 34.7 s) and PASS (54.5 ± 32.9 s) teams (p < 0.05). Finally, the European top final team was the team that was able to shift their game style during the tournament and presented a low coefficient of variation in offensive plays per drive.ConclusionBased on the running-passing activities ratio, the video match analysis can provide a foundation for the strength and conditioning program for long-term athlete development and injury prevention.

The 2023 Soccer Prediction Challenge invited the machine learning community to develop innovative methods to predict the outcomes of 736 future soccer matches. The Challenge included two tasks. Task 1 was to forecast the exact match score, i.e., the number of goals scored by each team. Task 2 was to predict the match outcome as probability vector over the three possible result categories: victory of the home team, draw, and victory of the away team. Here, we present a new data- and knowledge-driven framework for building machine learning models from readily available data to predict soccer match outcomes. A key component of this framework is an innovative approach to modeling interdependent time series data of competing entities. Using this framework, we developed various predictive models based on k-nearest neighbors, artificial neural networks, naive Bayes, and ordinal forests, which we applied to the two tasks of the 2023 Soccer Prediction Challenge. Among all submissions to the Challenge, our machine learning models based on k-nearest neighbors and neural networks achieved top performances. Our main insights from the Challenge are that relatively simple learning algorithms perform remarkably well compared to more complex algorithms, and that the key to successful predictions lies in how well soccer domain knowledge can be incorporated in the modeling process.

Spirobistetrodecamycins A and B (1 and 2), tetrodecamycin-derived vinyl cyclobutane dimers, are herein reported for the first time. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and ECD calculations. As a way to provide a rationale for the spontaneous formation of these dimers, the irradiation of tetrodecamycin has been carried out leading to the production of regioisomeric [2 + 2] head-to-head 1 and head-to-tail 2. These two compounds showed no antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Micrococcus luteus, and Bacillus subtilis.

Diabetes complications can be related to the long duration of the disease or chronic hyperglycemia. The follow-up of diabetic patients is based on the control of chronic hyperglycemia, although this correction, if obtained rapidly in people living with severe chronic hyperglycemia, can paradoxically interfere with the disease or even induce complications. We reviewed the literature describing the impact of the rapid and intense treatment of hyperglycemia on diabetic complications. The literature review showed that worsening complications occurred significantly in diabetic microangiopathy with the onset of specific neuropathy induced by the correction of diabetes. The results for macroangiopathy were somewhat mixed with the intensive and rapid correction of chronic hyperglycemia having a neutral impact on stroke and myocardial infarction but a significant increase in cardiovascular mortality. The management of diabetes has now entered a new era with new therapeutic molecules, such as gliflozin for patients living with type 2 diabetes, or hybrid insulin delivery systems for patients with insulin-treated diabetes. Our manuscript provides evidence in support of these personalized and progressive algorithms for the control of chronic hyperglycemia.

BACKGROUNDThe correction and control of chronic hyperglycemia are the management goals of patients living with diabetes. Chronic hyperglycemia is the main factor inducing diabetes-related complications. However, in certain situations, the rapid and intense correction of chronic hyperglycemia can paradoxically favor the onset of microvascular complications.CASE SUMMARYIn this case report, we describe the case of a 25-year-old woman living with type 1 diabetes since the age of 9 years. Her diabetes was chronic and unstable but without complications. During an unplanned pregnancy, her diabetes was intensely managed with the rapid correction of her hyperglycemia. However, over the following 2 years, she developed numerous degenerative microvascular complications: Charcot neuroarthropathy with multiple joint involvement, severe proliferative diabetic retinopathy, gastroparesis, bladder voiding disorders, and end-stage renal failure requiring hemodialysis.CONCLUSIONIn the literature to date, the occurrence of multiple microvascular complications following the rapid correction of chronic hyperglycemia has been rarely described in the same individual.

Many studies have clearly established that chronic psychosocial stress may sustainably worsen glycemic control in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DMM), thus promoting diabetes complications. Chronic psychosocial stress may be due to: i) the long-term accumulation of stressful life events that require readjustment on the part of the individual (loosing friends, changing schools), and/or ii) exposure to severe chronic stressors (persistent difficulties and adversities of life). Whatever the reason, many studies have clearly established a positive correlation between chronic psychosocial stress and HbA1c levels. However, a small fraction of patients is minimally affected or not affected at all by chronic psychosocial stress. Conversely, positive life events can substantially improve glycemic control. Recent evidence suggests the existence of subpopulations that differ in personality traits, neurohormonal regulatory responses, and food intake behavior (increased or decreased). Better characterization of the clinical and neurohormonal differences between these subpopulations may help develop personalized treatment strategies in the future. In the near future, psychotherapeutic support and automated insulin delivery (AID) could alleviate chronic stress, prevent worsening glycemic control, and ease the burden of diabetes.

The RANKL-GLYC study aims to explore the impact of the rapid correction of chronic hyperglycemia on the receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B ligand (RANKL) and its antagonist osteoprotegerin (OPG). RANKL and OPG are considered the main factors in the pathophysiology of Charcot neuroarthropathy, a devastating complication of the joints that remains poorly understood. The study began recruiting patients in September 2021 and ends in June 2022; the final study results are scheduled for January 2023.

Abstract Three known compounds were isolated from Virgaria nigra CF-231658; 2,7-dihydroxy naphthalene (1), virgaricin B (2) and virgaricin (3). The isolated compounds was obtained from liquid-state and agar-supported fermentation using Amberlite XAD-16 solid-phase extraction during the cultivation step. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRMS spectroscopic analyses. The isolated compounds were examined for their ability to inhibit elastase using normal human diploid fibroblasts. Compound 2 displayed the most potent activity with 76.7 ± 2.12% inhibition of the enzyme activity at 5 μM concentration. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Preoperative peak oxygen uptake (V.O2peak) and ventilatory efficiency (V.E/V.CO2slope) are related to the vital prognosis after cardiac transplantation (HTx). The objective of our study was to evaluate the effects of exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (ECR) program on the preoperative exercise capacity of a HTx candidate. A male patient, aged 50–55 years, with chronic heart failure was placed on the HTx list and performed 12 weeks of intensive ECR (5 sessions-a-week). Our results showed that the cardiac index continuously increased between the onset and the end of ECR (1.40 vs. 2.53 L.min–1.m2). The first 20 sessions of ECR induced a V.O2peak increase (15.0 vs. 19.3 ml.min–1.kg–1, corresponding to 42.0 and 53.0% of its maximal predicted values, respectively). The peak V.O2 plateaued between the 20th and the 40th ECR session (19.3 vs. 19.4 ml.min–1.kg–1) then progressively increased until the 60th ECR session to reach 25.7 ml.min–1.kg–1, i.e., 71.0% of the maximal predicted values. The slope of V.E/V.CO2 showed a biphasic response during the ECR program, with an increase between the onset and the 20th ECR session (58.02 vs. 70.48) and a decrease between the 20th and the 40th ECR session (70.48 vs. 40.94) to reach its minimal value at the 60th ECR session (31.97). After the first 40 sessions of the ECR program, the Seattle Heart Failure Model score predicted median survival time was estimated at 7.2 years. In conclusion, the improvement in exercise capacity and cardiorespiratory function following the ECR helped delay the heart transplant surgery in our patient awaiting heart transplantation.

Solid-phase extraction embedded dialysis (SPEED technology) is an innovative procedure developed to physically separate in-situ, during the cultivation, the mycelium of filament forming microorganisms, such as actinomycetes and fungi, and the XAD-16 resin used to trap the secreted specialized metabolites. SPEED consists of an external nylon cloth and an internal dialysis tube containing the XAD resin. The dialysis barrier selects the molecular weight of the trapped compounds, and prevents the aggregation of biomass or macromolecules on the XAD beads. The external nylon promotes the formation of a microbial biofilm, making SPEED a biofilm supported cultivation process. SPEED technology was applied to the marine Streptomyces albidoflavus 19-S21, isolated from a core of a submerged Kopara sampled at 20 m from the border of a saltwater pond. The chemical space of this strain was investigated effectively using a dereplication strategy based on molecular networking and in-depth chemical analysis. The results highlight the impact of culture support on the molecular profile of Streptomyces albidoflavus 19-S21 secondary metabolites.

Cells have developed a highly integrated system responsible for proteome stability, namely the proteostasis network (PN). As loss of proteostasis is a hallmark of aging and age-related diseases, the activation of PN modules can likely extend healthspan. Here, we present data on the bioactivity of an extract (SA223-S2BM) purified from the strain Salinispora arenicola TM223-S2 that was isolated from the soft coral Scleronephthya lewinsohni; this coral was collected at a depth of 65 m from the mesophotic Red Sea ecosystem EAPC (south Eilat, Israel). Treatment of human cells with SA223-S2BM activated proteostatic modules, decreased oxidative load, and conferred protection against oxidative and genotoxic stress. Furthermore, SA223-S2BM enhanced proteasome and lysosomal-cathepsins activities in Drosophila flies and exhibited skin protective effects as evidenced by effective inhibition of the skin aging-related enzymes, elastase and tyrosinase. We suggest that the SA223-S2BM extract constitutes a likely promising source for prioritizing molecules with anti-aging properties.

A synoptic overview of scientific methods applied in bone and associated research fields across species has yet to be published. Experts from the EU Cost Action GEMSTONE (“GEnomics of MusculoSkeletal Traits translational Network”) Working Group 2 present an overview of the routine techniques as well as clinical and research approaches employed to characterize bone phenotypes in humans and selected animal models (mice and zebrafish) of health and disease. The goal is consolidation of knowledge and a map for future research. This expert paper provides a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art technologies to investigate bone properties in humans and animals – including their strengths and weaknesses. New research methodologies are outlined and future strategies are discussed to combine phenotypic with rapidly developing –omics data in order to advance musculoskeletal research and move towards “personalised medicine”.

Nowadays, there is a huge interest in natural products obtained from marine organisms that can promote human health.The aim of the present study is to evaluate for the first time, the in vitro effects of marine Aspergillus puulaauensis TM124-S4 extract against oxidative stress in human fibroblasts, and its potential as a cosmetic ingredient. The strain was isolated from the Mediterranean Sea star, Echinaster sepositus, and identified according to ITS molecular sequence homology as a member of Aspergillus section versicolores.To gain insight on the bioactivity underpinning the effects of TM124-S4 extract on oxidative stress, we examined a panel of a hundred genes as well as cell viability. Initially, Aspergillus puulaauensis TM124-S4 promoted cell viability.The change in gene transcripts revealed that Aspergillus puulaauensis TM124-S4 extracts exhibited skin protection properties by mediating cell proliferation (EPS8, GDF15, CASP7, VEGFA), antioxidant response (CAT, SOD1, TXN, GPX1), skin hydration (CD44, CRABP2, SERPINE) and DNA repair (PCNA, P21). The extract also modulated the expression of genes involved in skin pigmentation and aging (TYR, FOXO3).These findings indicate that Aspergillus puulaauensis TM124-S4 extract possesses significant in-vitro skin protection activity against induced oxidative stress.Furthermore, new insights are provided into the beneficial role of fungal bioactive compounds in skin related research.

Abstract Background Each year, 23 million people get ill from unsafe food in Europe. Food safety refers to the absence or safe acceptable levels of hazards in food that may harm the health of consumers. The Public Health Unit of Baixo Vouga Primary Healthcare Cluster (Aveiro region) developed a programme to identify hazards and promote implementation of corrective measures in community canteens that serve children and elderly. It has three fields of action: qualitative evaluation of the installation and operating conditions, based on the legislation; microbiological surveillance of food and utensils; training of food handlers and managers. This study aims to describe the results of such programme in 2018 and 2019. Methods This cross-sectional study used data from qualitative evaluation and microbiological results for a descriptive analysis. Additionally, an assess of the compliance of the critical points was performed to identify the main barriers in achieving the proposed targets. Results From a total of 420 registered canteens, 211 and 294 were evaluated in 2018 and 2019, respectively. For these years, only 87 (41.2%) and 124 (33.3%) fully complied with all critical points. The main problems were the lack of non-manual activation system in wash basins and faucets and inadequately instructed food handlers about required hygiene measures. Microbiological surveillance results of 371 and 393 samples had a proportion of satisfactory or acceptable results of: 93.5% and 91.3% for the main dish; 56.1% and 46.6% for the salads and 82.4% and 79.8% for the utensils. Coliform bacteria were the most common agent. Conclusions The compliances with critical points were low, accounting for the fact they are legislation-based. The microbiological results were worst for the salads' samples. Deviations give us hints of what should be reinforced. Education of the food handlers and consulting with companies to improve procedures and equipment could be of great use. Key messages Community canteens’ compliances with legislated criteria were low. This programme is useful in identifying vulnerabilities and may lead to the implementation of corrective measures.

The strain Aspergillus chevalieri TM2-S6 was isolated from the sponge Axinella and identified according to internal transcribed spacer (ITS) molecular sequence homology with Aspergillus species from the section Restricti. The strain was cultivated 9 days on potato dextrose broth (PDB), and the medium evaluated as antioxidant on primary normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDF). The cultivation broth was submitted to sterile filtration, lyophilized and used without any further processing to give the Aspergillus chevalieri TM2-S6 cultivation broth ingredient named ACBB. ACCB contains two main compounds: tetrahydroauroglaucin and flavoglaucin. Under oxidative stress, ACCB showed a significant promotion of cell viability. To elucidate the mechanism of action, the impact on a panel of hundreds of genes involved in fibroblast physiology was evaluated. Thus, ACCB stimulates cell proliferation (VEGFA, TGFB3), antioxidant response (GPX1, SOD1, NRF2), and extracellular matrix organization (COL1A1, COL3A1, CD44, MMP14). ACCD also reduced aging (SIRT1, SIRT2, FOXO3). These findings indicate that Aspergillus chevalieri TM2-S6 cultivation broth exhibits significant in vitro skin protection of human fibroblasts under oxidative stress, making it a potential cosmetic ingredient.