Frontiers in Physiology最新文献

{"title":"Effects of acute caffeine ingestion on post-activation performance enhancement following individualized drop-jump conditioning in high-level male basketball players: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial.","authors":"Jinda Li, Mingrui Wang, Jiaxuan Sun, Chunlei Li, Junqi Wu, Adrián Rubio, Lun Chen, Zhengsheng Yang, Pengzhou Chen, Yuting Zhou, Mingze Li, Mingjia Li","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1950037","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1950037","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Post-activation performance enhancement (PAPE) is widely used as a pre-performance strategy to improve explosive performance. However, whether acute caffeine ingestion can further enhance PAPE following an individualized conditioning stimulus based on athletes' reactive strength profiles remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of acute caffeine ingestion on PAPE responses induced by a reactive strength index (RSI)-guided individualized drop-jump (DJ) protocol in high-level basketball players.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty-one male National Athlete Grade I basketball players (Tier 3: Highly Trained/National Level) completed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Participants performed two experimental conditions involving caffeine ingestion (3 mg·kg^-1 body mass) or placebo, combined with an RSI-guided individualized DJ conditioning protocol. Countermovement jump (CMJ) performance was assessed before and after conditioning at 15 s, 3 min, 6 min, 9 min, and 12 min. PAPE was defined as the change in CMJ height relative to the post-warm-up baseline.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Individualized DJ conditioning induced a significant time-dependent change in CMJ performance, demonstrating a transient PAPE response (time effect, p < 0.001). However, caffeine ingestion did not significantly modify the temporal profile of PAPE compared with placebo (condition × time interaction, p > 0.05). No significant differences were observed between conditions in peak CMJ height, peak enhancement magnitude, time to peak performance, or cumulative PAPE responses (all p > 0.05). Individual response analysis indicated substantial variability in caffeine-related changes, while sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of the temporal response pattern.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Acute caffeine ingestion at 3 mg·kg^-1 body mass did not provide additional ergogenic benefits beyond RSI-guided individualized DJ conditioning in high-level male basketball players. These findings suggest that individualized conditioning strategies may already optimize PAPE responses, with limited additional enhancement from acute caffeine supplementation under the investigated conditions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1950037"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13645686/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Explainable deep learning-based classification of Wolff-Parkinson-White electrocardiographic signals.","authors":"Alice Ragonesi, Stefania Fresca, Karli Gillette, Stefan Kurath-Koller, Gernot Plank, Elena Zappon","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1855555","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1855555","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome is a cardiac electrophysiology (EP) disorder caused by the presence of an accessory pathway (AP) that bypasses the atrioventricular node, faster ventricular activation rate, and provides a substrate for atrio-ventricular reentrant tachycardia (AVRT). Accurate localization of the AP is critical for planning and guiding catheter ablation procedures. While traditional diagnostic tree (DT) methods and more recent machine learning (ML) approaches have been proposed to predict AP location from surface electrocardiogram (ECG), they are often constrained by limited anatomical localization resolution, poor interpretability, and the use of small clinical datasets.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this preliminary patient-specific study, we present a Deep Learning (DL) model for the localization of single manifest APs across 24 cardiac regions, trained on a large, physiologically realistic database of synthetic ECGs generated using a personalized virtual heart model. We also integrate eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) methods, Guided Backpropagation, Grad-CAM, and Guided Grad-CAM, into the pipeline. This enables interpretation of DL decision-making and addresses one of the main barriers to clinical adoption: lack of transparency in ML predictions.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>On the considered single heart geometry, our model achieves a localization accuracy above 94% and an average F1 score over 93%. XAI outputs are physiologically validated against known depolarization patterns, and a novel index is introduced to identify the most informative ECG leads for AP localization.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Results highlight lead V2 as the most critical, followed by aVR, and aVL in the left ventricle (LV) and V1 in the right ventricle (RV). This work demonstrates the potential of combining cardiac digital twins with explainable DL to enable accurate, transparent, and noninvasive AP localization.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1855555"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642006/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of incubation temperature and <i>in ovo</i> supplementation of glucose and vitamin D₃ on eggshell temperature, embryonic mortality, hatchability, chick quality, and post-hatch performance in broiler chickens.","authors":"Maxwell Ansong Okai, Francis Kruenti, Yendouchamtchié Nadiedjoa, Clarice Temhoul Maa Maa, Ahmed Mijiyawa, Lijing Sun, Jumeng Yuan, Minghui Wang, Kokou Tona, Jacob Alhassan Hamidu, Benjamin Adjei-Mensah, Felix Kwame Amevor, Hai Lin","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1930808","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1930808","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Introduction: &lt;/strong&gt;Incubation temperature and embryonic nutrient availability are critical determinants of successful embryogenesis and early post-hatch performance in broilers. &lt;i&gt;In ovo&lt;/i&gt; feeding has emerged as an effective strategy to enhance embryonic nutrient supply. However, the efficiency of nutrient utilization by developing embryos may be dependent on the incubation conditions. Therefore, the present study investigated the interactive effects of incubation temperature and &lt;i&gt;in ovo&lt;/i&gt; supplementation of glucose or vitamin D&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; on eggshell temperature, hatchability, chick quality, and post-hatch growth performance of broilers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;A total of 1,200 fertile eggs obtained from 58-week-old Arbor Acres breeder hens (62 ± 1 g) were incubated in an automatic dual-system incubator (Senjie DZ 47-53) at three machine air temperatures (36.5°C, 37.0°C, or 37.5°C), with relative humidity maintained at 60%. The assigned thermal treatments commenced on embryonic day (ED) 1 and were maintained continuously through ED18, with eggs remaining at their respective incubation temperatures (36.5°C, 37.0°C, or 37.5°C) throughout this incubation period. Each temperature treatment consisted of 400 eggs with four replicates. After candling on ED10, eggs within each incubation temperature treatment were randomly allocated to one of three &lt;i&gt;in ovo&lt;/i&gt; treatments: a control group (eggs that were perforated but uninjected), a glucose injection group (5 mg/ml), or a vitamin D&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; injection group (25 mg/ml). Thus, each incubation temperature group was subdivided into the three &lt;i&gt;in ovo&lt;/i&gt; treatment groups on ED10, allowing the effects of incubation temperature, &lt;i&gt;in ovo&lt;/i&gt; treatment, and their interaction to be evaluated. Following completion of the thermal treatment on ED18, all eggs were transferred to the hatcher for completion of embryonic development and hatching. The eggshell temperature was monitored throughout the incubation period, and the embryonic mortality, hatchability, chick quality traits, and post-hatch growth performance were evaluated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;The results showed that the incubation temperature significantly influenced the eggshell temperature, with higher values recorded at 37.0°C and lower values at 36.5°C (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.05). However, &lt;i&gt;in ovo&lt;/i&gt; feeding also affected the eggshell temperature, which was generally lower in glucose-treated eggs and highest in vitamin D&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;-treated eggs (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.05). Hatchability increased with increasing incubation temperature, reaching the highest value at 37.5°C (81.92%). The greatest hatchability (89.86%) was observed in glucose-injected eggs incubated at 37.5°C. In addition, embryonic mortality was significantly higher in the control group, whereas the glucose group exhibited the lowest mortality compared with the vitamin D&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; and control groups (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, incubation at 37.5 C signif","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1930808"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642018/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127234","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Renal proteomic landscape of a patient with Fanconi renotubular syndrome carrying a novel GATM variant.","authors":"Fangyi Lu, Luying Yang, Shankui Qian, Chunjie Wang, Feng Feng, Fang Bai, Sha Wang, Li Zong, Ke Zhao, Xiangdong Yang","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1921122","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1921122","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Fanconi renotubular syndrome (FRTS) is a rare Mendelian disorder characterized by proximal tubular dysfunction. FRTS type 1 (FRTS1) has been associated with heterozygous variants in <i>GATM</i>, encoding mitochondrial glycine amidinotransferase. Although <i>GATM</i>-related mitochondrial abnormalities have been proposed to contribute to tubular injury, the molecular alterations in human kidney tissue remain incompletely understood.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Proteomic profiling was conducted on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded renal biopsy tissue obtained from a patient with FRTS carrying a novel heterozygous missense variant in <i>GATM</i> (NM_001482.3; exon 6: c.949C>T, p.Leu317Phe). Protein abundance was quantified by data-independent acquisition mass spectrometry. Proteins showing marked deviations from control specimens were identified using a Z-score-based approach. Subsequent analyses included Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment, gene set enrichment analysis, gene set variation analysis, and protein-protein interaction network analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Beyond the identification of a novel <i>GATM</i> variant, this study provides an exploratory proteomic characterization of renal tissue alterations in a patient with FRTS. Proteomic profiling identified three major groups of altered molecular signatures involving proteasome-related proteins, coat protein complex II-mediated vesicular trafficking-associated proteins, and cytoskeleton- and adhesion-related proteins.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study represents the first proteomic profiling of FRTS in its native tissue context. The identified proteomic alterations provide an exploratory framework for understanding renal tissue changes associated with FRTS and establish a resource for future validation studies.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1921122"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13641987/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploratory multi-biofluid proteomic profiling of acute exercise responses in plasma, tear fluid, and nasal secretions.","authors":"Mingjie Sun, Jing Cao, Maodi Liang, Tiantian Liang, Huilin Yao, Qintong Fei, Qinghua Cui","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1864411","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1864411","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Exercise induces broad physiological adaptations through complex molecular regulation across multiple biological systems. While plasma-based proteomics has substantially advanced our understanding of exercise-associated molecular changes, the proteomic responses of mucosal biofluids, including tear fluid and nasal secretions, remain poorly characterized. A multi-biofluid proteomic approach may provide a more comprehensive characterization of molecular alterations associated with acute exercise.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Paired samples of plasma, tear fluid, and nasal secretions were collected from five young, healthy female participants before and after acute aerobic exercise and analyzed using data-independent acquisition (DIA) liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Proteomic profiles across the three biofluids were characterized, and joint mixed-effects modeling was performed to identify proteins exhibiting common or biofluid-specific exercise-associated responses. Functional enrichment analyses were conducted to characterize the functional categories associated with upregulated and downregulated proteins in each biofluid.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Highly abundant proteins shared across the three biofluids showed enrichment in immune-related processes, inflammatory responses, and protease regulation. Joint mixed-effects analysis identified proteins exhibiting common exercise-associated responses across biofluids, which were primarily enriched in translation-related proteins, including ribosomal proteins, as well as proteins showing biofluid-specific exercise-associated responses. Acute exercise induced differential proteomic alterations across the three biofluids, with differentially abundant proteins showing distinct functional enrichment patterns among the three biofluids.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study provides a multi-biofluid DIA proteomic characterization of acute exercise-associated molecular alterations. The findings demonstrate that exercise-induced proteomic changes differ across plasma, tear fluid, and nasal secretions, highlighting the value of integrating multiple biofluids to characterize molecular responses associated with exercise. These results provide a foundation for future studies involving larger cohorts and targeted validation.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1864411"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642130/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127182","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Association of a trunk endurance-strength composite with lower-extremity dynamic balance in physically active college students: relative roles of hip abductor strength and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance.","authors":"Han Han, Chen He, Fan Kaibin","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1861322","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1861322","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Objective: &lt;/strong&gt;To examine the association between a trunk endurance-strength composite and the Y-Balance Test Lower Quarter (YBT-LQ) composite score in physically active college students, and to determine whether this association remained independent after simultaneous adjustment for hip abductor strength and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;This cross-sectional study included 263 college students majoring in sport-related disciplines or maintaining longstanding exercise habits. The YBT-LQ composite score was the primary outcome, the trunk endurance-strength composite was the primary exposure, and hip abductor strength and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance were specified as key competing explanatory variables; these continuous variables were standardized before entry into the regression models. Correlation analyses and hierarchical regression models were used to assess independent associations after adjustment for sex, age, body mass index, training exposure, injury history, low back pain, and sport background. Bootstrap single-mediator models were then applied to examine potential statistical pathways.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Bivariate analyses showed that the trunk endurance-strength composite was moderately positively correlated with the YBT-LQ composite score (r = 0.39). Hip abductor strength (r = 0.64) and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance (r = 0.42) were also positively correlated with the YBT-LQ composite score, with hip abductor strength showing the strongest association. After adjustment for covariates, the trunk endurance-strength composite remained independently associated with the YBT-LQ composite score (β = 0.28, &lt;i&gt;p =&lt;/i&gt; 0.011). After further simultaneous inclusion of hip abductor strength and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance, model explanatory power increased from 0.281 to 0.587; hip abductor strength (β = 0.59, p &lt; 0.001) and weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance (β = 0.33, p &lt; 0.001) both remained significantly and positively associated with the outcome, whereas the effect of the trunk endurance-strength composite was attenuated and was no longer significant (β = 0.10, &lt;i&gt;p =&lt;/i&gt; 0.136). Path analysis showed that when hip abductor strength was specified as the mediator, the indirect effect was significant (0.169, 95% CI 0.077 to 0.270, &lt;i&gt;p &lt;&lt;/i&gt; 0.001), with a proportion mediated of 0.612, whereas the direct effect was not significant (&lt;i&gt;p =&lt;/i&gt; 0.112). When weight-bearing ankle dorsiflexion distance was specified as the statistical pathway variable, the indirect effect was not supported (0.017, 95% CI -0.050 to 0.080, &lt;i&gt;p =&lt;/i&gt; 0.566). No significant interactions were observed for sex or activity background (&lt;i&gt;p =&lt;/i&gt; 0.411 and 0.666).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;In physically active college students, YBT-LQ composite performance was more directly and consistently associated with hip abductor strength and weight-beari","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1861322"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642706/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sleep-timing irregularity moderates the within-participant association between training load and next-morning heart rate variability in university sport participants: a 28-day study.","authors":"Xiangyu Wang, Yongwei Wang","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1966561","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1966561","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Heart rate variability (HRV) describes beat-to-beat variation in cardiac intervals; the root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD) is a time-domain index of short-term cardiac vagal modulation. We examined whether nightly deviation from habitual sleep midpoint moderated the association between prior-day internal training load and next-morning natural-log-transformed RMSSD (lnRMSSD), and whether analogous interactions were present for resting heart rate, wellness strain, and countermovement-jump (CMJ) height.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>University students engaged in regular sport training completed 28 days of habitual monitoring. Internal load was session duration multiplied by session rating of perceived exertion. Wrist actigraphy and sleep diaries estimated sleep midpoint, and 5-min morning RR recordings yielded lnRMSSD. Mixed models separated within- and between-participant components and tested within-participant load (per 100 arbitrary units [AU]) × absolute midpoint deviation (per 30 min).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis included 1,232 mornings from 54 participants (57.4% female; age 21.0 ± 1.7 years). At each participant's mean midpoint deviation, greater-than-usual load was associated with lower next-morning lnRMSSD (β = -0.0089, 95% CI -0.0127 to -0.0051; p < 0.001). At mean load, greater-than-usual midpoint deviation was also associated with lower lnRMSSD (β = -0.0156, 95% CI -0.0268 to -0.0045; p = 0.006). The interaction was negative (β = -0.0101, 95% CI -0.0153 to -0.0048; p < 0.001). Thus, the inverse within-participant association between load and lnRMSSD strengthened as sleep-timing irregularity increased. No load-by-midpoint interaction was detected for resting heart rate, wellness strain, or CMJ height after false discovery rate adjustment. The primary interaction persisted after adjustment for prior-morning lnRMSSD (β = -0.0096, 95% CI -0.0147 to -0.0046; p < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The within-participant association between training load and next-morning cardiac vagal modulation was moderated by sleep-timing irregularity. These field-based associations do not establish a sleep mechanism, causal recovery effect, or decision threshold.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1966561"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642005/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effects of mental fatigue on lower-limb explosive power and anaerobic capacity: a systematic review and meta-analysis.","authors":"Ning Wang, Zhengxiang Chen, Kewei Zhao","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1916804","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1916804","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Mental fatigue may impair high-intensity exercise performance, but its effects on lower-limb explosive power and anaerobic capacity remain inconsistent. This study aimed to systematically evaluate and quantitatively synthesize the effects of mental fatigue on these two performance domains.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and CNKI were searched for randomized controlled trials and randomized crossover trials. Standardized mean differences were calculated using Hedges' g, and pooled effects were estimated using a random-effects model. Risk-of-bias assessment, sensitivity analyses, and subgroup analyses were also conducted.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 17 studies involving 302 participants were included. Mental fatigue significantly reduced lower-limb explosive power, although the effect size was small and heterogeneity was low (SMD = -0.16, 95% CI [-0.28, -0.03], p = 0.014). Mental fatigue also significantly impaired anaerobic capacity (SMD = -0.29, 95% CI [-0.52, -0.06], p = 0.013). No statistically significant between-subgroup differences were observed for athletic level, mental-fatigue induction duration, or sport specificity of the performance test.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Mental fatigue appears to impair both lower-limb explosive power and anaerobic capacity, although the anaerobic-capacity estimate should be interpreted cautiously because of imprecision and lower certainty of evidence. Cognitive load management should therefore be considered in training design and pre-competition preparation.</p><p><strong>Systematic review registration: </strong>https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42025116370, identifier CRD42025116370.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1916804"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642776/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perceived workload and heart rate variability in elite military pilots recovering from operational maintenance and air demonstration flights.","authors":"Wilian de Jesus Santana, Gilberto Pivetta Pires, Diego Santiago, Edson Koury do Nascimento, Paulo Farinatti, Carlos Eduardo Rosa da Silva, Aylton Figueira Junior","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1919969","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1919969","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Military pilots are exposed to high psychophysiological demands arising from Q9 environmental, operational, and cognitive factors. Heart rate variability (HRV) has been widely used as a non-invasive marker of autonomic modulation, whereas the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) allows the assessment of perceived workload. However, few studies have simultaneously investigated these parameters in aerial demonstration pilots.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To compare autonomic responses assessed by HRV and perceived workload in pilots from the Brazilian Air Force Aerial Demonstration Squadron during recovery following operational maintenance (OM) and aerial demonstration (AD) flights.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Nine elite military pilots (32 ± 3 years) performed two flights with an average duration of 50 minutes: an OM flight, characterized by lower operational complexity, and an AD flight, characterized by higher operational complexity and involving seven aircraft performing synchronized aerobatic maneuvers. HRV was recorded using the Equivital® system and analyzed with Kubios® software, including SDNN, RMSSD, LF, HF, and LF/HF during an immediate post-flight recovery segment. After each flight, perceived workload was assessed using the NASA-TLX. Comparisons between conditions were performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>AD flights showed higher scores for temporal demand (+29%; p = 0.01) and effort (+28%; p = 0.03), as well as percentage increases in the other NASA-TLX dimensions. Most HRV indices remained stable between conditions (p > 0.05). The only significant difference was observed for maximum heart rate, which was 9% lower in the post-flight comparison between OM and AD conditions (p = 0.01).</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Exploratory correlation analyses revealed sparse and largely non-significant associations between HRV indices and NASA-TLX dimensions, with only a few nominal associations involving temporal demand and the spectral HF component.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Aerial demonstration flights were associated with higher perceived workload scores, particularly in the temporal demand and effort dimensions. However, no statistically significant differences were detected for most HRV indices assessed during the immediate post-flight recovery period. These findings suggest relative stability of autonomic responses in highly experienced military pilots, even in the presence of increased perceived workload.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1919969"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642664/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135838","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sperm TLR2/1 activation modulates the paternal RNA cargo and enhances bovine embryonic development.","authors":"Alireza Mansouri, Ihshan Akthar, Taiyo Hashimoto, Kazuya Kusama, Kazuhiko Imakawa, Masayuki Shimada, Akio Miyamoto","doi":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1906057","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fphys.2026.1906057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>In vitro</i> fertilization (IVF) and <i>in vitro</i> embryo production (IVP) are crucial technologies for accelerating genetic gain in cattle. However, IVP efficiency remains suboptimal, as <i>in vitro</i>-derived embryos frequently exhibit reduced developmental competence compared to their <i>in vivo</i> counterparts. Previous studies indicate that activation of the sperm Toll-like receptor 2/1 (TLR2/1) complex <i>via</i> Pam3CSK4 (PAM3) enhances sperm-oocyte interactions and improves cleavage and blastocyst rates; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain unexplored. In this study, frozen-thawed active sperm from three high-fertility Holstein bulls were allocated to control or PAM3-treated groups before IVF. Both sperm and the resulting day 7 blastocysts were subjected to RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to investigate whether TLR2/1 activation modulates the paternal RNA cargo and if these alterations persist in the embryonic transcriptome. PAM3 treatment significantly improved developmental outcomes, specifically cleavage and blastocyst rates, although the magnitude of the effect varied among bulls. Transcriptomic analysis revealed distinct bull-specific RNA profiles and demonstrated that PAM3 treatment induced selective remodeling of sperm transcript abundance, involving both coding and non-coding RNA fractions. Conversely, day 7 embryos derived from PAM3-treated sperm did not exhibit global transcriptomic divergence from controls. This suggests that the molecular consequences of sperm TLR2/1 activation may be restricted to earlier developmental stages or regulated through specific pathways rather than broad transcriptomic remodeling at the blastocyst stage. In conclusion, these findings suggest that TLR2/1 signaling modulates paternal RNA cargo, potentially contributing to improved fertilization and bovine IVP efficiency by facilitating sperm penetration of the oocyte.</p>","PeriodicalId":12477,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Physiology","volume":"17 ","pages":"1906057"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3,"publicationDate":"2026-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13642134/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149127185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}