Organ preconditioning： the past, current status, and related lung studies

Preconditioning （PC） has emerged as a powerful method for experimentally and clinically attenuating various types of organ injuries. In this paper related clinical and basic research issues on organ preconditioning issues were systemically reviewed. Since lung injuries, including ischemia-reperfusion and others, play important roles in many clinical results, including thromboembolism, trauma, thermal injury, hypovolemic and endotoxin shock, reimplantation response after organ transplantation, and many respiratory diseases in critical care. It is of interest to uncover methods, including the PCs, to protect the lung from the above injuries. However, related studies on pulmonary PC are relatively rare and still being developed, so we will review previous literature on experimental and clinical studies on pulmonary PC in the following paragraphs.     

The BASES Expert Statement on use of music in exercise

The use of music during exercise has become ubiquitous over the past two decades and is now supported by a burgeoning body of research detailing its effects and the contingencies surrounding its use. The purpose of this statement is to present a synopsis of the body of knowledge, with selected references, and to provide practical recommendations for exercise practitioners regarding music selection. Following the identification of methodological shortcomings in early studies, researchers have been guided by new conceptual frameworks, and have produced more consistent findings as a consequence. The use of music has been found to yield ergogenic effects in the exercise domain while also promoting psychological (e.g. enhanced affect) and psychophysical (reduced ratings of perceived exertion) benefits. There is a paucity of research examining the longitudinal effects of music on key outcome variables such as exercise adherence.     

Is there a common linkage among reading comprehension, visual attention, and magnocellular processing?

The authors examined the relationships between reading comprehension, visual attention, and magnocellular processing in 42 Grade 7 students. The goal was to quantify the sensitivity of visual attention and magnocellular visual processing as concomitants of poor reading comprehension in the absence of either vision therapy or cognitive intervention. Nineteen good readers (M = grade equivalent of 11.2) and 23 poor readers (M = grade equivalent of 3.5) were identified. Participants were tested for visual attention skills (Cognitive Assessment System: CAS) and magnocellular integrity (Coherent Motion Threshold: CM). Individual and combined correlations of dependent variables with reading were significant at the 0.01 level. When combined, the two tests (CAS + CM) accounted for 61% of the variance in reading comprehension. Logistic regression analysis measured sensitivity of the two diagnostic tests. Attention tests correctly classified 95.7% of poor readers, and coherent motion correctly classified 78.3% of poor readers. When the data were combined, 91.3% of poor readers were correctly classified. The research reinforces the notion that a common linkage exists between reading comprehension, visual attention, and magnocellular processing. Diagnostic test batteries for students who have been identified as reading disabled should include magnocellular and visual attention tests. Procedures to diagnose and ameliorate these disabilities are discussed.