Search

UK university undergraduate programs are compared by independent subject-specific rankings (Complete, Guardian, and Times), based on data from the National Student Survey, Higher Education Statistics Agency, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, Research Excellence Framework, and the universities. The sports and exercise science program at the University of Glasgow has steadily risen to currently rank as the top UK program. This investigation aimed to identify the underlying factors that explain this. Therefore, we obtained underlying scores for entry standard, student satisfaction, research foundation, graduate prospects, staff-to-student ratio, expenditure/student, continuation, program support to students, and teaching quality from the ranking providers for years 2010-2024, and statistically modeled which factors significantly affected the rankings. We found that entry standards and graduate prospects strongly correlated significantly with ranking results. Principal component analysis indicated that a model of graduate prospects and entry standards explained 66.2% of the variance in ranking results. Multiple linear regression with all underlying factors included in the model indicated they explained 78% ( R 2  = 0.78) of the total variance, while stepwise elimination of insignificant factors identified graduate prospects as the sole factor that significantly affected outcome by explaining 71% ( R 2  = 0.71) of the variance. Therefore, the primary predictor of ranking success in UK university league tables for sports science is graduates' professional success (graduate prospects). NEW & NOTEWORTHY University rankings are used by applicants and stakeholders to judge programs, including undergraduate studies. In the rankings, undergraduate UK programs are compared and contrasted against each other based on how they score for criteria that affect student life and future prospects. Here, we determined the relative influence of those criteria and found that graduate prospects, how students professionally benefit from their study after graduation, is the factor that matters most for the ranking results.

Abnormal respiratory muscle function is thought to contribute to breathlessness and exercise intolerance in heart failure but little is known about possible alterations in the function of such muscle. We have measured tetanic force and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in isolated, arterially perfused hemidiaphragm preparations from a rabbit coronary artery ligation model of heart failure. Increasing stimulation frequency (10-100 Hz) caused a progressive increase of force and [Ca(2+)](i) in control preparations, whereas force and [Ca(2+)](i) only increased between 10 and 25 Hz stimulation (decreasing at higher frequencies) in preparations from ligated animals. Cyclopiazonic acid produced a dose-dependent shift in the relationship between stimulation frequency and [Ca(2+)](i) in control preparations that was similar to the shift observed in the diaphragm of coronary-ligated animals. These data indicate that the in vitro contractile characteristics of the diaphragm are significantly altered in our model and that altered [Ca(2+)](i) regulation contributes to the reduced diaphragm strength observed in heart failure.

Cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca(2+)-loading ability was assessed in a coronary artery ligation model of heart failure. Heart failure was produced in New Zealand White rabbits by ligation of the left marginal coronary artery. Sham-operated animals were used as controls. After hemodynamic and echocardiographic assessment 8 wk after coronary ligation, a free-running trabecula was isolated from the left or right ventricle, mounted for isometric tension measurement, and permeabilized with the chemical skinning agent saponin, leaving the SR functionally intact. The SR was Ca2+ loaded by exposure of the preparation to a mock intracellular solution with a Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]) of 150-300 nM. The amplitude of the caffeine-induced contracture was used as a measure of Ca2+ loaded by the SR. The same preparation was then treated with Triton X-100 to disrupt all cell membranes, and Ca2+ sensitivity {expressed as [Ca2+] required to produce 50% of maximal activation (pCa50)} of isometric tension production and maximum Ca2+ activated force (Cmax) were measured. Ligated animals demonstrated enhanced SR Ca(2+)-loading ability that correlated with the degree of left ventricular dysfunction. Enhanced SR Ca2+ loading was associated with evidence of SR Ca2+ overload revealed as spontaneous tension oscillations. Cmax and pCa50 were not significantly different from controls. Increased SR Ca(2+)-loading ability may predispose the SR to Ca2+ overload and could contribute to both contractile dysfunction and arrhythmogenesis in heart failure.