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Biomedical subjects

G Atkinson

Publications and source records attributed to G Atkinson.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

Lack of evidence that feedback from lifestyle alters the amplitude of the circadian pacemaker in humans.

Two groups of healthy subjects were studied indoors, first while living normally for 8 days (control section) and then for 18 x 27 h "days" (experimental section). This schedule forces the endogenous (body clock-driven) and exogenous (lifestyle-driven) components of circadian rhythms to run independently. Rectal temperature and wrist movement were measured throughout and used as markers of the amplitude of the circadian rhythm, with the rectal temperature also "purified" by means of the activity record to give information about the endogenous oscillator. Results showed that, during the experimental days, there were changes in the amplitude of the overt temperature rhythm and in the relative amounts of out-of-bed and in-bed activity, both of which indicated an interaction between endogenous and exogenous components of the rhythm. However, the amplitude and the amount of overlap were not significantly different on the control days (when endogenous and exogenous components remained synchronized) and those experimental days when endogenous and exogenous components were only transiently synchronized; also, the amplitudes of purified temperature rhythms did not change significantly during the experimental days in spite of changes in the relationship between the endogenous and exogenous components. Neither result offers support for the view that the exogenous rhythm alters the amplitude of oscillation of the endogenous circadian oscillator in humans.

Activity Cycles↗
PubMed1999

Purification of masked temperature data from humans: some preliminary observations on a comparison of the use of an activity diary, wrist actimetry, and heart rate monitoring.

Fourteen ambulatory subjects, varying in their amount of habitual physical activity, were studied for 24 h during a total of 25 "typical" days. Rectal temperature was recorded every 6 minutes, an activity diary was filled in every half hour, and wrist activity and heart rate were monitored every minute. Actimetry and heart rate data generally showed close parallelism with each other and with the masking effects on body temperature. Psychological stressors such as public speaking produced a greater effect on heart rate and body temperature than on wrist movement, while typing produced high values for wrist movement, but affected heart rate and temperature much less. When data for the circadian rhythm of body temperature were purified, the diary, actimetry, and measurement of heart rate were all useful in reducing masking effects, but the present evidence indicates that heart rate can be more successful than actimetry--as judged by the closeness of the purified data to a sinusoid. This superiority of heart rate monitoring over wrist activity as a method of purification might be because core temperature can be increased by stressor-induced thermogenesis, as well as by physical activity, and because wrist movement can, with some activities, give an inaccurate estimate of the factors that contribute to whole-body thermogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

The effect of activity on the waking temperature rhythm in humans.

Nine healthy female subjects were studied when exposed to the natural light-dark cycle, but living for 17 "days" on a 27h day (9h sleep, 18h wake). Since the circadian endogenous oscillator cannot entrain to this imposed period, forced desynchronization between the sleep/activity cycle and the endogenous circadian temperature rhythm took place. This enabled the effects of activity on core temperature to be assessed at different endogenous circadian phases and at different stages of the sleep/activity cycle. Rectal temperature was measured at 6-minute intervals, and the activity of the nondominant wrist was summed at 1-minute intervals. Each waking span was divided into overlapping 3h sections, and each section was submitted to linear regression analysis between the rectal temperatures and the total activity in the previous 30 minutes. From this analysis were obtained the gradient (of the change in rectal temperature produced by a unit change in activity) and the intercept (the rectal temperature predicted when activity was zero). The gradients were subjected to a two-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) (circadian phase/ time awake). There was no significant effect of time awake, but circadian phase was highly significant statistically. Post hoc tests (Newman-Keuls) indicated that gradients around the temperature peak were significantly less than those around its trough. The intercepts formed a sinusoid that, for the group, showed a mesor (+/-SE) of 36.97 (+/-0.12) and amplitude (95% confidence interval) of 0.22 degrees C (0.12 degrees C, 0.32 degrees C). We conclude that this is a further method for removing masking effects from circadian temperature rhythm data in order to assess its endogenous component, a method that can be used when subjects are able to live normally. We suggest also that the decreased effect of activity on temperature when the endogenous circadian rhythm and activity are at their peak will reduce the possibility of hyperthermia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Induction of potent antitumor natural killer cell activity by herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase and ganciclovir therapy in an orthotopic mouse model of prostate cancer.

Adenovirus-mediated transduction of the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-tk) gene followed by ganciclovir is suspected to induce immune-mediated, systemic antitumor activities in the RM-1 mouse prostate cancer model (S. J. Hall et al., Int. J. Cancer, 70: 183-187, 1997). Although numerous investigators have also implied a role for the immune system in both local and systemic effects resulting from HSV-tk treatment, the candidate effector cell(s) mediating these activities are unknown. Fresh lymphocytes harvested from treated tumors (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) generated significant in vitro lytic activity against the parental cell line, RM-1, and an unrelated prostate cancer cell line. In vitro antibody and complement depletion of CD3+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells from tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes indicated that NK cells were the dominant mediator of the observed tumor cell lysis. Concurrently, no cytotoxic T-cell activity was ascertained within splenocytes of treated mice. In vivo depletion of NK cells resulted in a 20% reduction in growth suppression within the primary tumor and complete abrogation of the inhibition of preestablished lung metastases. Depletion of T cells had no effect on either response. Here, we identify the presence of NK cells within adenovirus/HSV-tk- and ganciclovir-treated tumors, which serve to mediate both local and systemic antitumor activities in this model, and lay the mechanistic groundwork for further improvements in this gene therapy strategy.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1998

Light of domestic intensity produces phase shifts of the circadian oscillator in humans.

Twelve subjects have been studied in a chamber that isolated them from external noise and lighting. After several control days, one group (n = 6) was subjected to 18 x 27-h 'days' and the other to 11 x 30-h 'days'. Sleep was in the dark, and awake times were spent in normal domestic lighting (150-500 lux). Rectal temperature and wrist actimetry were measured throughout, and the phase of the circadian oscillator was inferred from that of the temperature data, purified to remove direct effects of activity. During the experimental 'days' the rhythms showed a mean period of 24.4 h. A detailed examination of the phase shifts from one day to the next showed that small advances and delays were superimposed upon this drift. Moreover, the mean size and direction of these shifts depended upon the time of exposure to lighting relative to the temperature minimum, as would be predicted from a phase-response curve.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The effects of age upon some aspects of lifestyle and implications for studies on circadian rhythmicity.

BACKGROUND: Most studies on lifestyle changes in old age have been transverse. We have conducted a longitudinal study. SUBJECTS: 112 non-institutionalized subjects were studied in 1984 and again 10 years later (ages in 1984 ranged from 53-82 years). PROTOCOL: On each occasion subjects recorded in a diary their times of retiring and rising and of taking meals, during a 'typical week'. They also recorded whether they lived alone or with somebody. ANALYSIS: The diaries were scored to establish any effects of age or living alone on the timing and variability of their lifestyle. RESULTS: Age was associated with changes in the sleep/wake schedule and mealtimes and a decrease of daily variation in these variables. When these changes were compared in subjects living alone and with somebody, the increase in time spent in bed and the decreases in variability of times of rising and meals were more marked in subjects living with somebody. CONCLUSIONS: A deteriorating body clock contributes to some of these changes, but an increasingly inflexible lifestyle will offset some of the effects of this decline in circadian rhythmicity.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1998

The incremental cost of second and third ambulatory procedures.

The discount factor applied to payments for second and subsequent ambulatory procedures in a payment system based on ambulatory patient groups (APGs) is important in determining the financial incentives of the system and the adequacy of the payment rates. A 1995 empirical study of data from all ambulatory surgery cases done in acute general hospitals in Maryland suggests that the incremental charges associated with an APG when it is a second procedure APG are about 24% of the charges that are incurred when the APG is the only procedure APG in an encounter. For the third procedure APG, the percentage drops to 16%. This 24% factor is much lower than the discount factor generally used in APG payment systems. The article presents APG-adjusted charges by payer to show differences in resource use by payer. These results will be useful for organizations developing APG-based payment systems for ambulatory surgery or desiring to use APGs for benchmarking purposes.

Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
PubMed1998

Statistical methods for assessing measurement error (reliability) in variables relevant to sports medicine.

Minimal measurement error (reliability) during the collection of interval- and ratio-type data is critically important to sports medicine research. The main components of measurement error are systematic bias (e.g. general learning or fatigue effects on the tests) and random error due to biological or mechanical variation. Both error components should be meaningfully quantified for the sports physician to relate the described error to judgements regarding 'analytical goals' (the requirements of the measurement tool for effective practical use) rather than the statistical significance of any reliability indicators. Methods based on correlation coefficients and regression provide an indication of 'relative reliability'. Since these methods are highly influenced by the range of measured values, researchers should be cautious in: (i) concluding acceptable relative reliability even if a correlation is above 0.9; (ii) extrapolating the results of a test-retest correlation to a new sample of individuals involved in an experiment; and (iii) comparing test-retest correlations between different reliability studies. Methods used to describe 'absolute reliability' include the standard error of measurements (SEM), coefficient of variation (CV) and limits of agreement (LOA). These statistics are more appropriate for comparing reliability between different measurement tools in different studies. They can be used in multiple retest studies from ANOVA procedures, help predict the magnitude of a 'real' change in individual athletes and be employed to estimate statistical power for a repeated-measures experiment. These methods vary considerably in the way they are calculated and their use also assumes the presence (CV) or absence (SEM) of heteroscedasticity. Most methods of calculating SEM and CV represent approximately 68% of the error that is actually present in the repeated measurements for the 'average' individual in the sample. LOA represent the test-retest differences for 95% of a population. The associated Bland-Altman plot shows the measurement error schematically and helps to identify the presence of heteroscedasticity. If there is evidence of heteroscedasticity or non-normality, one should logarithmically transform the data and quote the bias and random error as ratios. This allows simple comparisons of reliability across different measurement tools. It is recommended that sports clinicians and researchers should cite and interpret a number of statistical methods for assessing reliability. We encourage the inclusion of the LOA method, especially the exploration of heteroscedasticity that is inherent in this analysis. We also stress the importance of relating the results of any reliability statistic to 'analytical goals' in sports medicine.

Bias↗
PubMed1998

Diurnal variation in tennis service.

With informed consent, 6 competitive tennis players performed alternate 15 "first" (emphasis-speed) serves and 15 "second" (emphasis-accuracy) serves at 09:00, 14:00 and 18:00 hours. Serve velocity was measured by the digitisation of video footage of each serve. The Hewitt Tennis Achievement Test was employed to measure the accuracy of serve. The amount of spin imparted on the ball was not measured. First serves were at all times of day faster than second serves. First serves were faster but least accurate at 18:00 hours, the time of day that body temperature and grip strength were highest. At 09:00 hours, first serves were just as accurate as second serves, even though velocity of first serves was higher. No effects for time of day were found for the speed and accuracy of second serves. These results indicate that time of day does affect the performance of tennis serves in a way that suggest a nonlinear relationship between velocity and accuracy.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The effect of one night's sleep deprivation on temperature, mood, and physical performance in subjects with different amounts of habitual physical activity.

Eleven healthy males were studied twice. On one occasion (control, C), they slept (night 1) and then underwent a battery of tests at 4 h intervals from 06:00 day 1 to 02:00 day 2; then, after a normal sleep (night 2), they were tested from 10:00 to 22:00 on day 2. On the second occasion (sleep deprivation, SD), the subjects remained awake during night 1. Each battery of tests consisted of measurements of tympanic membrane temperature, profile of mood states (POMS), muscle strength, self-chosen work rate (SCWR), perceived exertion, and heart rate (HR) while exercising on a stationary cycle ergometer. Subjects also kept a diary of their activities during the two days and answered a questionnaire about their habitual physical activity. Results showed a significant negative effect of sleep deprivation on most mood states on day 1, but no effect on the other variables. By day 2, mood had tended to recover, though muscle strength tended to be worse in both control and sleep-deprivation experiments. There was also a more general tendency for negative effects to be present at the end of day 1 (02:00) or at the beginning of day 2 (10:00). There was limited support for the view that subjects who were habitually more active showed less negative effects after sleep deprivation and responded less adversely to the poor sleep achieved on the university premises (night 2). These results stress the considerable interindividual variation in the responses to sleep loss and, therefore, the difficulty associated with giving general advice to individuals about work or training capability after sleep loss.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Jet-lag.

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Circadian Rhythm↗
PubMed1997

Chronobiology and meal times: internal and external factors.

Although homeostatic mechanisms remain of utmost importance, rhythmic changes are present also. The main ones have a period of 24 h (circadian) or about 2-3 h (ultradian). Circadian rhythms are derived from a body clock, found in the base of the brain, and from the pattern of our sleep-wake cycle, including activity and meal times. These rhythms promote the regular changes between an active wake period and a recuperative sleep period. Ultradian rhythms are also widespread and reflect external (lifestyle) and internal factors. The internal factors include biochemical need and some sort of oscillator; but details of how many oscillators, and exactly where they are, remain to be established. Food intake, appetite, digestion and metabolism have been shown to illustrate these principles. Moreover, these principles become important when special circumstances exist as far as meal times are concerned; the particular difficulties of night workers is a good example.

Chronobiology Phenomena↗
PubMed1997

Travel fatigue and jet-lag.

Travel across multiple time zones is a common feature of the lifestyle of contemporary international sport competitors. This entails a disruption of the body's circadian timing mechanisms. Symptoms of 'jet-lag' persist until circadian rhythms re-tune into local time. Exercise performance may be impaired during the period of adjustment to the new time zone. Behavioural and pharmacological strategies are available to help accelerate the resynchronization of circadian rhythms. It is recommended that sports administrators should consider the consequences of jet-lag and the time needed to overcome it when planning the international itineraries of travelling athletes.

Aircraft↗
PubMed1997

Assessing agreement between measurements recorded on a ratio scale in sports medicine and sports science.

OBJECTIVE: The consensus of opinion suggests that when assessing measurement agreement, the most appropriate statistic to report is the "95% limits of agreement". The precise form that this interval takes depends on whether a positive relation exists between the differences in measurement methods (errors) and the size of the measurements--that is, heteroscedastic errors. If a positive and significant relation exists, the recommended procedure is to report "the ratio limits of agreement" using log transformed measurements. This study assessed the prevalence of heteroscedastic errors when investigating measurement agreement of variables recorded on a ratio scale in sports medicine and sports science. METHODS: Measurement agreement (or repeatability) was assessed in 13 studies (providing 23 examples) conducted in the Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University over the past five years. RESULTS: The correlation between the absolute differences and the mean was positive in all 23 examples (median r = 0.37), eight being significant (P < 0.05). In 21 of 23 examples analysed, the correlation was greater than the equivalent correlation using log transformed measurements (median r = 0.01). Based on a simple meta-analysis, the assumption that no relation exists between the measurement differences and the size of measurement must be rejected (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: When assessing measurement agreement of variables recorded on a ratio scale in sports medicine and sports science, this study (23 examples) provides strong evidence that heteroscedastic errors are the norm. If the correlation between the absolute measurement differences and the means is positive (but not necessarily significant) and greater than the equivalent correlation using log transformed measurements, the authors recommend reporting the "ratio limits of agreement".

Epidemiologic Methods↗
PubMed1997

Aging, rhythms of physical performance, and adjustment to changes in the sleep-activity cycle.

OBJECTIVES: Shiftwork causes disturbances of the normal sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm. There is concern that aging workers have more problems than younger counterparts when the human body clock is disrupted. This review considers issues relating to aging, the circadian body clock, and adjustment to altered sleep-wake schedules. METHODS: Reports on effects of aging on the human body clock were reviewed. Research concerned with adjustment to circadian phase shifts (as occurs in night work) was considered. RESULTS: With aging there is an increased tendency towards morningness which is linked with difficulties in sleeping. The peak time and amplitude of normal circadian rhythms are altered. Tolerance of shiftwork can be linked with social factors as well as adaptation of the body clock. CONCLUSIONS: People habituated to night work seem to have developed mechanisms which allow them to cope with disruptions to lifestyle and the endogenous body clock. Elderly people are more suited to phase advances, as occur in morning workshifts, than to phase delays such as nocturnal work.

Adult↗