No abstract

A portable electrical impedance spectroscopy device was developed to monitor the bioimpedance resistive component of bovine meat by injecting a sinusoidal current of 1 mA at 65 kHz. Both right and left longissimus dorsi muscles were trimmed from 4 slaughtered cows. The left muscle portions were frozen to −18 °C for 7 days while the right ones were meantime maintained at 5 °C. Mean value of impedance per length (Ω/cm) of frozen and thawed left samples was 31% lower than that of right non-frozen one (P = 0.0001). It was concluded that the device is reliable for monitoring the maturation of beef meat in situ with the possibility of revealing undeclared freeze-thaw cycles.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to test if previous ingestion of compounds containing resveratrol or hydroxytyrosol, followed by an exhausting hand grip exercise, could induce an acute post-exercise increase in brachial blood flow. Six healthy subjects (three males and three females, 35 ± 7 years), 60 minutes after ingestion of a capsule containing 200 mg of resveratrol or 30 ml of extra virgin olive oil enriched with tyrosol, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol, performed a hand grip exercise equal to half of their maximum strength until they were no longer able to express the same force (2-day interval between tests). The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical evaluations. Brachial artery blood flow (Fba) and both blood velocity (Vba) and artery diameter (Dba) were assessed immediately after exercise cessation by means of colour Doppler ultrasound. After ingestion of the oil mixture the post-exercise value of Fba median was 2.4 times higher than that after ingestion of the resveratrol compound (P = 0.03), and also the Vba median concerning the hydroxytyrosol was 1.9 times higher than that of the resveratrol (P = 0.03). Both functional foods did not lead to a significant difference in the Dba medians. These results indicate that hydroxytyrosol, but not resveratrol, may be an effective adjuvant of recreational or agonistic, long-lasting sports performances, thanks to the powerful blood flow increment which can be obtained as soon as one hour from its oral intake.

We utilized the training impulses method to numerically quantify the volume of physical exercise to be prescribed to postmenopausal obese women in such a way of obtain the best possible improvement of their health-related quality of life. Nine women (57±4 years, 89±2 kg, 157±9 cm) carried out 3-months of exercise training (3 session/week each lasting 80 min) under the supervision of skilled operators which indirectly calculated the volume of physical exercise by assessing heart rate values while patient exercised and making sure that the workload corresponded to 50-60% of their maximum oxygen uptake. Before and after training anthropometric, functional and biomechanical variables were assessed. After training patients shoved statistically signifi cant (P<0.05) reduction in body mass (-2%) and body mass index (-4%), waist circumference (-4%), total (-6%) and LDL (-26%) serum cholesterol and glycaemia (-8%), diastolic arterial blood pressure (-14%), and oxygen cost (-14%) at the maximum workload during incremental cardiopulmonary test, the sway area from unipedal stance (right leg) of 20 s on a pressure platform (-49%), while increased both free fat body mass percentage (+3%) and space covered during the six minute walk test (+11%). It was concluded that, when an exercise protocol is carried out by postmenopausal obese women and the volume of exercise is instrumentally controlled by experienced operators, it could result in an effective benefi t on the quality of life of these patients since they ameliorate some critical anthropometric and functional parameters.