The ACTN3 R577X polymorphism (rs1815739) is a strong candidate to influence elite athletic performance. Yet, controversy exists in the literature owing to between-studies differences in the ethnic background and sample size of the cohorts, the latter being usually low, which makes comparisons difficult. In this case:control genetic study we determined the association between elite athletic status and the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism within three cohorts of European Caucasian men, i.e. Spanish, Polish and Russian [633 cases (278 elite endurance and 355 power athletes), and 808 non-athletic controls]. The odds ratio (OR) of a power athlete harbouring the XX versus the RR genotype compared with sedentary controls was 0.54 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.34–0.48; P = 0.006]. We also observed that the OR of an endurance athlete having the XX versus the RR genotype compared with power athletes was 1.88 (95%CI: 1.07–3.31; P = 0.028). In endurance athletes, the OR of a “world-class” competitor having the XX genotype versus the RR+RX genotype was 3.74 (95%CI: 1.08–12.94; P = 0.038) compared with those of a lower (“national”) competition level. No association (P>0.1) was noted between the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism and competition level (world-class versus national-level) in power athletes. Our data provide comprehensive support for the influence of the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism on elite athletic performance.

No abstract

a b s t r a c tObjectives: To determine the association between the ␣-actinin-3 (ACTN3) R577X polymorphism and elite team-sport athletic status in three cohorts of European team-sport athletes. Design: We compared the genotype and allele frequencies of the ACTN3 R577X (rs1815739) polymorphisms between team-sport athletes (n = 205), endurance athletes (n = 305), sprint/power athletes (n = 378), and non-athletic controls (n = 568) from Poland, Russia and Spain; all participants were unrelated European men. Methods: Genomic DNA was extracted from either buccal epithelium or peripheral blood using a standard protocol. Genotyping was performed using several methods, and the results were replicated following recent recommendations for genotype-phenotype association studies. Results: Genotype distributions of all control and athletic groups met Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (all p > 0.05). Team-sport athletes were less likely to have the 577RR genotype compared to the 577XX genotype than sprint/power athletes [odds ratio: 0.58, 95% confidence interval: 0.34-0.39, p = 0.045]. However, the ACTN3 R577X polymorphism was not associated with team-sports athletic status, compared to endurance athletes and non-athletic controls. Furthermore, no association was observed for any of the genotypes with respect to the level of competition (elite vs. national level). Conclusions: The ACTN3 R577X polymorphism was not associated with team-sport athletic status, compared to endurance athletes and non-athletic controls, and the observation that the 577RR genotype is overrepresented in power/sprint athletes compared with team-sport athletes needs to be confirmed in future studies.

A detailed chemical and structural characterization of the 2H-MoS 2 prepared by chemical vapor-phase method is presented. The nanosized MoS 2 (five to eight layers and the lateral planes area from 17 to 55 nm) was confirmed by atomic force microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Here the main attention was given to active edge sites and vacancy defects in the nanosized MoS 2 .To settle the problem, we pioneered the application of an effective combination of adequate techniques such as highresolution differential dissolution, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy with different excitation energies, and IR spectroscopy coupled to thermal gravimetric analysis. The results indicate that the sulfur vacancies at the topmost surface layers are created by the incongruent MoS 2 evaporation in vacuum at a temperature above 1000 K and the active chemically undercoordinated Mo atoms on the (110) plane react with residual oxygen to produce the surface-oxidized layers reconstructed relative to the perfect MoS 2 lattice. The structure of the surface-oxidized layers on the MoS 2 particles is presented by Mo with a varying number of nearest neighboring oxygen atoms. The sulfate species are anchored to the active sites of the (013) planes. The thickness of the surface coating was found to vary as a function of the sintering temperature, and the conditions to control composition and thickness of the altered top layers are given.