Objective: To compare different methods of assessing energy expenditure (EE) and physical activity (PA) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) under community-dwelling conditions. Methods: A reference standard encompassing the doubly labelled water (DLW) technique, heart rate monitoring (FLEX-HR), a multi-sensor armband (SenseWear Armband (SWA)), and two PA recall questionnaires were employed in 14 people with SCI to estimate EE and leisure-time PA. Results: Mean total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) assessed by DLW, FLEX-HR, and SWA were 9817 ± 2491 kJ/day, 8498 ± 1516 kJ/day, and 11414 ± 3242 kJ/day, respectively. Physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) quantified by DLW was 2841 ± 1626 kJ/day, 2935 ± 1732 kJ/day estimated from FLEX-HR, and 2773 ± 2966 kJ/day derived from SWA. After converting the PA recall questionnaire data to EE in kJ/day, PAEE for the Physical Activity Recall Assessment for People with Spinal Cord Injury (PARA-SCI) was 2339 ± 1171 kJ/day and for Physical Activity Scale for Individuals with Physical Disabilities (PASIPD) 749 ± 1026 kJ/day. DLW-quantified PAEE was moderately associated with PARA-SCI (R 2 = 0.62, P < 0.05), but not with the other estimates of PAEE (R 2 ranged between 0.13 and 0.30, P > 0.05). Conclusion: Our findings revealed that the PARA-SCI recall questionnaire was the best estimate of PAEE compared to the reference standard DLW approach. Although the between-method variability for SWA, FLEX-HR, and PASIPD-derived PAEE was small, there was a weak association between these methods and the criterion DLW technique. The best estimate of DLW-quantified TDEE was by FLEX-HR. SWA significantly overestimated TDEE in this population.

The functional electrical stimulation (FES) bicycle race was an event at the Cybathlon, held in Zurich October 2016. BerkelBike BV (The Netherlands) in collaboration with Imperial College London entered a spinal cord injury pilot who had tetraplegia to compete in this event. The BerkelBike Pro is a commercially available FES capable recumbent which is normally driven by the arm-and leg power. The arm cranking part was disabled. Now the tricycle must be driven using the pilots own lower limb muscles through stimulation in accordance with race rules. The bike used during the race was also adapted with a fixed gear for improved efficiency. The pilot who represented this team come second place overall in the event and attained the fastest race time of all pilots who utilised surface electrode FES. Steps can be taken to increase the race efficiency of the BerkelBikes and its FES capabilities even further.

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BackgroundObesity is commonly associated with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. The purpose of this study was to determinate the effect of a lower dose of fish oil supplementation on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile, and muscle metabolism in obese rats.MethodsMonosodium glutamate (MSG) (4 mg/g body weight) was injected in neonatal Wistar male rats. Three-month-old rats were divided in normal-weight control group (C), coconut fat-treated normal weight group (CO), fish oil-treated normal weight group (FO), obese control group (Ob), coconut fat-treated obese group (ObCO) and fish oil-treated obese group (ObFO). Obese insulin-resistant rats were supplemented with fish oil or coconut fat (1 g/kg/day) for 4 weeks. Insulin sensitivity, fasting blood biochemicals parameters, and skeletal muscle glucose metabolism were analyzed.ResultsObese animals (Ob) presented higher Index Lee and 2.5 fold epididymal and retroperitoneal adipose tissue than C. Insulin sensitivity test (Kitt) showed that fish oil supplementation was able to maintain insulin sensitivity of obese rats (ObFO) similar to C. There were no changes in glucose and HDL-cholesterol levels amongst groups. Yet, ObFO revealed lower levels of total cholesterol (TC; 30%) and triacylglycerol (TG; 33%) compared to Ob. Finally, since exposed to insulin, ObFO skeletal muscle revealed an increase of 10% in lactate production, 38% in glycogen synthesis and 39% in oxidation of glucose compared to Ob.ConclusionsLow dose of fish oil supplementation (1 g/kg/day) was able to reduce TC and TG levels, in addition to improved systemic and muscle insulin sensitivity. These results lend credence to the benefits of n-3 fatty acids upon the deleterious effects of insulin resistance mechanisms.