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Background: Growth hormone is widely abused by athletes, frequently with androgenic steroids. Its effects on performance are unclear. Objective: To determine the effect of growth hormone alone or with testosterone on body composition and measures of performance. Design: Randomized, placebo-controlled, blinded study of 8 weeks of treatment followed by a 6-week washout period. Randomization was computer-generated with concealed allocation. (Australian-New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry registration number: ACTRN012605000508673) Setting: Clinical research facility in Sydney, Australia. Participants: 96 recreationally trained athletes (63 men and 33 women) with a mean age of 27.9 years (SD, 5.7). Intervention: Men were randomly assigned to receive placebo, growth hormone (2 mg/d subcutaneously), testosterone (250 mg/wk intramuscularly), or combined treatments. Women were randomly assigned to receive either placebo or growth hormone (2 mg/d). Measurements: Body composition variables (fat mass, lean body mass, extracellular water mass, and body cell mass) and physical performance variables (endurance [maximum oxygen consumption], strength [dead lift], power [jump height], and sprint capacity [Wingate value]). Results: Body cell mass was correlated with all measures of performance at baseline. Growth hormone significantly reduced fat mass, increased lean body mass through an increase in extracellular water, and increased body cell mass in men when coadministered with testosterone. Growth hormone significantly increased sprint capacity, by 0.71 kJ (95% CI, 0.1 to 1.3 kJ; relative increase, 3.9% [CI, 0.0% to 7.7%]) in men and women combined and by 1.7 kJ (CI, 0.5 to 3.0 kJ; relative increase, 8.3% [CI, 3.0% to 13.6%]) when coadministered with testosterone to men; other performance measures did not significantly change. The increase in sprint capacity was not maintained 6 weeks after discontinuation of the drug. Limitations: Growth hormone dosage may have been lower than that used covertly by competitive athletes. The athletic significance of the observed improvements in sprint capacity is unclear, and the study was too small to draw conclusions about safety. Conclusion: Growth hormone supplementation influenced body composition and increased sprint capacity when administered alone and in combination with testosterone. Primary Funding Source: The World Anti-Doping Agency.

Abstract The National Weather Service (NWS) forecast offices in Alabama have worked closely together to provide the newest technological advances to some of our most important customers, the emergency management [...]

The purpose of this study is to explore expectations in information technology skills for organizations in Vietnam, a developing country in South East Asia. Previous research in Vietnam has mainly focused on information technology adoption; this study offers an insight into the demands of information technology skills in Vietnam. A theoretical framework consisting of five domains of expertise is used to examine the nature and structure of information technology profession in Vietnam. Results from the study show that there is an anticipated increase in demand for information technology professionals who possess deep skills in a broad scope of roles and experience both in information technology and other business domains. Technical skills in the technology infrastructure and services domain in combination with strong communication and problem solving qualities are highly valued by Vietnamese employers., Author(s): Sim Kim Lau, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia, Graham Kenneth Winley, Assumption University, Bangkok, Thailand, Nelson K. Y. Leung, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, Australia, Nicole Tsang, Everich Resources [...]

I read Wayne Austerman's 'The Fight at Pinta Trail Crossing' (December 2009) with interest, for in 1984 I researched the battle site with a view to obtaining a historical marker. [...]

The apparently contradictory combination of aggressive self-assertion and stoic self-possession in much of Wyatt's poetry is explained by his efforts to retain the values of 'trouth' in the midst of a society whose controversial practices challenge his conviction. While his courtly love poems show the dialogic faith of rhetorical practice, his anticourtly complaints display an anti-rhetorical plainness that combines the emphatic assertion of 'plain' expression and the emotional withdrawal of a 'plain' heart. But because his plainness is itself partly rhetorical, Wyatt is caught attempting to balance the demands of a private realm of conviction and certain knowledge with a public domain where persuasion and performance rule.

In your Editor's Note 'A Drumbeat of Fear' (April issue), you observe Bush's use of an odd phrase, 'We thought oceans would protect us.' Bizarre and erroneous, indeed. Your response [...]

GARY CARTWRIGHT GOES TO GREAT lengths to show Jack Jackson's deep roots in the counterculture of the sixties [Gary Cartwright's Texas: "Lines in the Sand," March 2003]. Indeed, to the […]