baluchi sheep is considered as the most common breed in iran, constituting about 30% of total sheep population, approximately 15 million heads. this research was designed to study the incidence of mutation in two loci of igf-i (exon 3) and adrb3 (intron) along with their association with body weight traits in baluchi sheep population. following dna extraction from 190 baluchi sheep, two pairs o...

OBJECTIVE To demonstrate criterion (concurrent and predictive) and construct validity of the Walking Index for Spinal Cord Injury (WISCI) scale and other walking measures in the Spinal Cord Injury Locomotor Trial (SCILT). DESIGN Prospective multicenter clinical trial of a walking intervention for patients with acute traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). PARTICIPANTS/ METHODS: Body weight-suppor...

BACKGROUND Five to ten million persons, are infected by HTLV-1 of which 3% will develop HTLV-1-associated myelopathy (HAM) a chronic, disabling inflammation of the spinal cord. Walking, a fundamental, complex, multi-functional task is demanding of multiple body systems. Restricted walking ability compromises activity and participation levels in people with HAM (pwHAM). Therapy aims to improve m...

BACKGROUND Early detection of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in connective tissue disease (CTD) is crucial to ensuring that patients receive timely treatment for this progressive disease. Exercise stress tests have been used to screen patients in an attempt to identify early-stage PH. Recent studies have described abnormal mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP)-cardiac output (Q) responses as havin...

The present study was carried out to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters of Red Chittagong Cattle (RCC) for growth traits. Means of birth weight (BW), three month weight (3MW), six month weight (6MW), weaning weight (WW), nine month weight (9MW) and yearling weight (YW) were 15.74, 31.48, 45.33, 57.00, 60.91 and 76.18 kg respectively. Sex significantly (p<0.001) differed BW of calves but...

BACKGROUND Researchers have recently advocated for the 2-minute walk (2MW) as an alternative for the 6-minute walk (6MW) to assess long distance ambulation in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). This recommendation has not been based on physiological considerations such as the rate of oxygen consumption (V·O2) over the 6MW range. OBJECTIVE This study examined the pattern of change in V·O2 o...

BACKGROUND Although peak oxygen consumption (peak VO(2)), 6-minute walk distance (6MW), and natriuretic peptides (BNP and NT-proBNP) are predictors of mortality in heart failure (HF) patients, it is not known whether therapy-induced changes in these measures can predict therapeutic effect on mortality. The objective of this analysis is to quantitatively assess the relationship between therapeut...

The accumulation of excess body weight may have important health and disease consequences for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). This study examined the effect of weight status on mobility using a comprehensive set of mobility outcomes including ambulatory performance (timed 25-foot walk, T25FW; 6-minute walk, 6MW; oxygen cost of walking, C(w); spatiotemporal parameters of gait; self-reporte...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of Vitamin D3 on physical performance in patients with HF. BACKGROUND HF is associated with functional decline and frailty. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with loss of muscle strength and poor outcomes in patients with HF. METHODS Sixty-four patients participated in a 6-month parallel design double blind RCT to test the hypothesis that oral vitamin D3...