The training that the Saratoga International Theater Institute (SITI) perfected during its thirty years of existence is its most relevant heritage. SITI believed that training was a crucial part of a performer’s education and ethos. Its constitutive elements – Viewpoints and the Suzuki Method for actor training – are here put in a dialectical opposition that nurtures hybridization. This article investigates how, in fact, these two trainings intersect and also form new ‘languages’ (that is, systems of representation) whenever they are performed. A contextual analysis of SITI’s training as a foundation for making work and as a means for educating actors provides a clearer understanding of why and how SITI training is an instrument that facilitates and fosters cross-cultural collaboration.

Pregnant individuals who overeat are more likely to predispose their fetus to the development of metabolic disorders in adulthood. Physical training is a prevention and treatment interventional strategy that could treat these disorders, since it improves metabolism and body composition. This study assessed the protective effect of physical exercise against possible metabolic changes in generations F1 and F2, whose mothers were subjected to a high-sugar/high-fat (HS/HF) diet. Wistar rats belonging to generation F0 were distributed into four groups (n = 10): sedentary control (CSed), exercised control (CExe), sedentary HS/HF diet (DHSed) and exercised HS/HF diet (DHExe). From 21 to 120 days of age, maintained during pregnancy and lactation period, CSed/CExe animals received standard feed and DHSed/DHExe animals a HS/HF diet. Animals from the CExe/DHExe underwent physical training from 21 to 120 days of age. Male and female F1 and F2 received a normocaloric feed and did not perform any physical training, categorized into four groups (n = 10) according to the maternal group to which they belonged to. An increase in body weight, adiposity and glucose, and a change in lipid profile in F0 were observed, while exercise reduced the biochemical parameters comparing DHSed with DHExe. Maternal exercise had an effect on future generations, reducing adiposity, glucose and triglyceride concentrations, and preventing deleterious effects on glucose tolerance. Maternal overeating increased health risks both for mother and offspring, demonstrating that an HS/HF diet intake promotes metabolic alterations in the offspring. Importantly, the physical training performed by F0 proved to be protective against such effects.

People with epilepsy (PWE) are less physically active compared with the general population. Explanations include prejudice, overprotection, unawareness, stigma, fear of seizure induction and lack of knowledge of health professionals. At present, there is no consensus on the role of exercise in epilepsy. This paper reviews the current evidence surrounding the risks and benefits associated with physical activity (PA) in this group of patients. In the last decade, several publications indicate significant benefits in physiological and psychological health parameters, including mood and cognition, physical conditioning, social interaction, quality of life, as well as potential prevention of seizure presentation. Moreover, experimental studies suggest that PA provides mechanisms of neuronal protection, related to biochemical and structural changes including release of β-endorphins and steroids, which may exert an inhibitory effect on the occurrence of abnormal electrical activity. Epileptic discharges can decrease or disappear during exercise, which may translate into reduced seizure recurrence. In some patients, exercise may precipitate seizures. Available evidence suggests that PA should be encouraged in PWE in order to promote wellbeing and quality of life. There is a need for prospective randomized controlled studies that provide stronger clinical evidence before definitive recommendations can be made.

Objectives: Parkinson’s disease (PD) results in a range of non-motor deficits that can affect mood, cognition, and language, and many of these issues are unresponsive to pharmacological intervention. Aerobic exercise can improve mood and cognition in healthy older adults, although only a few studies have examined exercise effects on these domains in PD. The current study assesses the effects of aerobic exercise on aspects of cognition, mood, and language production in people with PD. Methods: This study compares the effects of aerobic exercise to stretch-balance training and a no-contact control group in participants with idiopathic PD. The aerobic and stretch-balance groups trained three times a week for 16 weeks, while controls continued normal activities. Outcome measures included disease severity, mood, cognition (speed of processing, memory, and executive function), and language production (picture descriptions). Cognition and language were assessed in single and dual task conditions. Results: Depressive symptoms increased only in the control group (p<.02). Executive function improved in the aerobic exercise group only in the single task (p=.007) and declined in controls in the dual task. Completeness of picture descriptions improved significantly more in the aerobic group than in the stretch-balance group (p<.02). Conclusions: Aerobic exercise is a viable intervention for PD that can be protective against increased depressive symptoms, and can improve several non-motor domains, including executive dysfunction and related aspects of language production. (JINS, 2016, 22, 878–889)

Evidence supports an important contribution of abdominal obesity and inflammation to the development of insulin resistance (IR) and CVD. Weight loss in obese individuals can reduce inflammation and, consequently, IR, but the role of training remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of body weight reduction with and without exercise over abdominal fat tissue (primary outcome) and IR. In this randomised clinical trial, forty-eight obese individuals (age 31·8 (sd 6·0) years, BMI 34·8 (sd 2·7) kg/m2) were randomised to either a diet-only group (DI) or a diet and exercise group (DI+EXE). Treatment was maintained until 5 % of the initial body weight was lost. At baseline and upon completion, the following parameters were analysed: biochemical parameters such as glycaemia and insulin for the determination of homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and abdominal computed tomography for the determination of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. A total of thirteen individuals dropped out before completing the weight-loss intervention and did not repeat the tests. In both the DI (n 18) and DI+EXE (n 17) groups, we observed significant and similar decreases of visceral adipose tissue (difference between means: 7·9 (95 % CI − 9·5, 25·2) cm2, P= 0·36), hs-CRP (difference between means: − 0·06 (95 % CI − 0·19, 0·03) mg/l, P= 0·39) and HOMA (difference between means: − 0·04 (95 % CI − 0·17, 0·08), P= 0·53). In the present study, 5 % weight loss reduced abdominal fat and IR in obese individuals and exercise did not add to the effect of weight loss on the outcome variables.

The proportion of older people becoming frail will increase with the expanding older population. Apart from poor health, frailty is associated with loss of strength and functional dependency. Building on previous work in this area, this review investigates the effectiveness, sustainability and adverse effects of exercise interventions on muscle strength and physical performance in frail older people. Randomized controlled trials reporting physical outcomes in frail older people were identified from seven electronic databases. Thirteen trials involving 1652 participants met the inclusion criteria. There was wide heterogeneity in degree of frailty, types of intervention, outcome measures and results. However, evidence from this review suggests that exercise and some physical activity programmes, particularly moderate intensity and multi-component programmes, are safe and can improve strength and function in the majority of frail older people except highly frail individuals with multiple co-morbidities. There was limited evidence on transferability of improvements into everyday life, and sustainability could not be determined.

The present controlled-training double-blind study (supplemented (S) group, n 7; placebo (P) group, n 10) was designed to investigate whether an antioxidant mixture (Se 150 μg, retinyl acetate mg, ascorbic acid 120 mg, α-tocopheryl succinate) would allow overloaded triathletes to avoid adaptation failure in the antioxidant system. Dietary intakes were recorded. The supplement of Se, and vitamins A and E provided 100 % of the French RDA. Four weeks of overloaded training (OT) followed 4 weeks of normal training (NT). After NT and OT, biological studies were conducted at rest and after a duathlon test (run 5 km, cycle 20 km, run 5 km). During the 4-week period of NT, blood levels of GSH levels increased in response to supplementation (P<0·05) and remained elevated during OT. Plasma glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly higher in the S group in all situations after NT and OT (P<0·01). The S group had increased erythrocyte Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase activity in response to OT (P<0·05). Supplementation significantly reduced (P<0·05) the magnitude in duathlon-induced creatine kinase isoenzyme MB mass increase, which tended to be higher with OT (P=0·09). We conclude that the antioxidant mixture helped to preserve the antioxidant system during an OT-induced stress in subjects with initially low antioxidant intakes. Effects of supplementation during NT and/or OT are shown mostly by the alleviated muscle damage. The effects of the antioxidant mixture were observed for doses that can be provided by a diversified and well-balanced diet. The maintenance of normal nutritional status with regard to the antioxidant intake (Se, vitamins C and E) plays a key role in antioxidant adaptive effects during NT and OT.