Little is known about the long-term persistence of positive effects induced by a physical conditioning programme in cystic fibrosis. Therefore, this study determined the effects of a 6-month conditioning programme on peak oxygen uptake (primary outcome) and other markers of fitness, physical activity, anthropometry, lung function and quality of life (secondary outcomes), 18 and 24 months after the programme was initiated.Patients with cystic fibrosis aged 12-40 yrs were randomly assigned to an intervention (n523) and a control (n515) group. The intervention group consented to add 3 h of sports per week for o6 months to their previous activities. Controls were asked to maintain their level of activity for 12 months. Patients were seen at baseline and after 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months.There was no significant difference between groups at baseline. The intervention induced positive effects on peak oxygen uptake (difference in changes from baseline to the 18-and 24-month assessments between groups: 3.72¡1. ; p,0.05), forced vital capacity (6.06¡2.87% predicted; p,0.05) and perceived health (9.89¡4.72; p,0.05).A home-based partially supervised physical conditioning programme can improve physical fitness, lung function and perceived health long after the intervention has ended.

The perception-action model proposes that vision-for-perception and vision-for-action are based on anatomically distinct and functionally independent streams within the visual cortex. This idea can account for diverse experimental findings, and has been hugely influential over the past two decades. The model itself comprises a set of core contrasts between the functional properties of the two visual streams. We critically review the evidence for these contrasts, arguing that each of them has either been refuted or found limited empirical support. We suggest that the perception-action model captures some broad patterns of functional localization, but that the specializations of the two streams are relative, not absolute. The ubiquity and extent of inter-stream interactions suggest that we should reject the idea that the ventral and dorsal streams are functionally independent processing pathways.

The high efficacy of the standard treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) with imatinib has prompted the need for accurate methods to monitor response at levels below the landmark of complete cytogenetic remission. Quantification of BCR-ABL transcripts has proven to be the most sensitive method available, and has shown prognostic impact with regard to progression-free survival. Until recently, variations in methods used to quantify BCR-ABL made it difficult to compare results between laboratories. An international program is now underway to harmonize the reporting of results according to an international scale (IS). In this review, we consider the background to the IS and the progress that has been made to date, with a particular focus on ongoing harmonization efforts in Europe. We provide recommendations for the propagation of the IS by national or regional laboratory networks.