The influence of physical fitness training on the manual material handling capability of women

This study examined the influence of a generalized physical fitness training program on manual material handling (MMH) capability. Thirteen healthy women trained for 14 weeks, performing progressive resistance training three days per week and running with interval training two days per week. Subjects attended 85 +/- 6% of the sessions. Compared to values obtained before training, subjects increased the maximum mass they could lift from floor to knuckle height by 19% (68-81 kg, p < 0.001) and from floor to chest height by 16% (49-57 kg, p < 0.001). They improved by 17% their ability to lift 15 kg as many times as possible in 10 min(167-195 lifts, p < 0.001), while perception of effort (measured with the Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion) did not change. Total body mass did not change, but body fat mass was reduced by 9% (18.8-17.2 kg, p = 0.036) and fat-free mass increased by 6% (48.2-51.0 kg, p < 0.001). A short-term physical fitness program, conducted about 1 h per day, five days per week, can substantially improve women's MMH capability and provide favorable changes in body composition (increased fat-free mass and decreased body fat.     

A trinucleotide deletion in the transthyretin gene (delta V 122) in a kindred with familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy

A 63-year-old white man of Ecuadorian origin had a subarachnoid hemorrhage at age 57 followed by numbness and paresthesia in his lower extremities. He subsequently developed sexual impotence, alternating constipation and diarrhea, urinary frequency, and difficulty in walking. Rectal biopsy revealed amyloid deposits immunohistochemically reactive with antitransthyretin antisera. Direct DNA sequencing of the transthyretin gene of the patient showed a trinucleotide deletion in exon 4. This deletion resulted in the loss of one of two valines at position 121 or 122. DNA analysis on 11 family members at risk revealed four mutant gene carriers. Plasma transthyretin levels in the mutant gene carriers measured by nephelometry were very low. Peptide sequence analysis revealed that most of plasma transthyretin was normal with only a small amount of variant protein. This is the first report of a DNA deletion in the transthyretin gene. We speculate that the loss of valine in the carboxyl terminal region of the transthyretin monomer alters stability of the tetrameric protein, which leads to rapid clearance from the plasma and amyloid deposition in the tissue.