Traditional drug delivery methods like capsules, pills, liquids, intravenous needles and powders are often ineffective and may result in undesirable side effects. Transdermal delivery constitutes an important and effective route for new drug delivery. The patches can be placed anywhere on the body and can be worn for as little as 7 hours to as long as one week, depending on its therapeutic indication. The medicated adhesive patches are designed in such a way that they attach comfortably to the surface of the skin, which helps the patient use the patches for prolonged periods. In light of these reasons, the Saudi Arabia transdermal skin patches market, which was valued at US$44.96 mn in 2016 is expected to be worth US$67.41 mn by the end of 2025. The market is slated to register a CAGR of 4.7% between 2017 and 2025.

Transdermal patches offer several advantages as compared to conventional drug delivery methods like reduced side effects caused due use of oral tablets or pills. They increase the bioavailability of the drug as substance need not be digested first. This helps in keeping the substance chemically unchanged which enable direct access of the drug to the region of the body where it can take effect via the bloodstream. This helps in avoiding first-pass effect or the initial metabolism and filtration by the liver. Another advantage of transdermal patches is that they release the drug constantly and continuously for long durations, which means that the patient need not worry about taking pills several times a day.

The products available in the Saudi Arabia transdermal skin patches are drug in adhesive, matrix, reservoir, and vapor matrix. Of these, the matrix segment held a dominant share in the overall market and is expected to account for a share of 35.1% in terms of revenue by the end of 2025. This rise will be attributable to the shifting preference for matrix systems to make patches for volatile molecules under controlled release settings. The phenomenal growth of this segment will be attributable to the non-toxic and non-antagonistic characteristics of polymer matrix options, which are known to diffuse drug with controlled precision.

Transdermal Skin Patches Most Commonly Used for Pain Relief

By way of application, the Saudi Arabia transdermal skin patches market has been divided into pain relief, hormone replacement therapy, nicotine cessation, motion sickness, cardiovascular disorders, neurological disorders, and others. Accounting for the dominant share by the end of the forecast period, the pain relief segment will generate the highest revenue by 2025. This can be attributed to growing usage of local pain relief patches. Such patches provide safe and controlled drug release to affected area, rendering them the preferred choice among comorbid and cancer patients. The cardiovascular disorders segment will also hold a major share in the transdermal skin patches market in Saudi Arabia owing to the rising number of patients with cardiovascular disorders in the region. Hormone replacement therapy is observed to be a highly lucrative segment, analysts find.

Transdermal skin patches are mostly sold through distribution channels such as retail pharmacies, hospital pharmacies, and online pharmacies. In Saudi Arabia, hospital pharmacies take the lead as the most prominent distribution channel in terms of revenue thanks to rising government initiatives to improve the healthcare landscape in the region and rapidly increasing number of healthcare facilities. Retail pharmacies also hold a valuable share in the transdermal skin patches market, attributed to growing investments by pharmaceutical companies to set up more pharmacies in Saudi Arabia. The online pharmacies segment is gaining much traction despite being in a nascent stage.

The competition in the Saudi Arabia transdermal skin patches market is poised to intensify as companies operating in the market are make large investments in research and development of better and advanced products. Some of the key players shaping the trajectory of the overall market are Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Mylan, Luye Pharma, Purdue Pharma, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, and Mundipharma.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Transdermal Skin Patches Market: Overview

Transdermal skin patches are medicated patches that are attached to the skin which facilitates the transfer of drug from the patch into the patient’s body over a period of time. It is a viable alternative for patients who are averse to takings drugs via pills or injections. This report analyzes the current and future prospects of the transdermal skin patches market based on product type, application, distribution channel and geography.

The market report comprises an elaborated executive summary, which includes market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the market with respect to market segments based on product type, application, distribution channel and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influences the transdermal skin patches market in the current and future scenario. The report also provides value chain analysis of the market that describes the sequence of activities involved, from identification of the market need to their final reach to the end users. Furthermore, the report provides Porter’s five force analysis that studies five factors and their impact on the transdermal skin patches market.

The research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of transdermal skin patches used in hospital pharmacies, retail pharmacies, online pharmacies, etc. in the near future. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts with information collected from in-depth interviews and discussions with a number of key industry experts and opinion leaders.

Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, analyst presentation and various international and national databases. The report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Mn for product type, application, distribution channel and geography for the period 2017 to 2025. The revenue generated from product type was calculated by considering the adoption rate of transdermal skin patches in Saudi Arabia and also in other geographies, the number of product launched, average cost of products, trends in industry, and distribution channel trends, among others.

Market share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify the contribution of these players in the market in terms of percentage share. All these factors will help the market players to decide about the business strategies and plans to strengthen their positions in the Saudi Arabia market.

Key Players Mentioned in this Report are:

The report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major companies profiled in the transdermal skin patches market include Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Mylan, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Luye Pharma, Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, Purdue Pharma, and Mundipharma.


There was relief for Arsenal worshippers as their team took a decisive step towards a 17th consecutive season of Champions League qualification.

There was even a sense of euphoria, inspired by the polish of the passing combinations once Laurent Koscielny had opened the floodgates by poking in the opening goal. "Arsenal were too good," lamented Newcastle's under-siege manager Alan Pardew.

But there was also an underlying feeling at Emirates Stadium of what might have been.

Nine trophyless years and seasons that follow an eerily similar pattern have led to an almost permanent air of dissatisfaction in the red-and-white half of north London.

One of the many frustrations for supporters is the annual injury meltdown that robs the team of key players for months on end in the second half of the season.

Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil all missed large chunks of the campaign just when their star quality was most needed.

But even that gilded trio were not as badly missed as Aaron Ramsey, the club's undoubted player of the season despite missing three-and-bit months with a thigh injury.

Arsenal's recent revival has coincided with Ramsey returning to add much-needed dynamism, energy and power to a midfield that had been so one-paced in his absence.

The Welshman was in full flow against Newcastle, a team which has been marking time since the January sale of Yohann Cabaye sent it delving into summer holiday brochures.

A marathon runner in his youth, his stamina levels are outstanding and he commonly tops all the club's various fitness tests.

But he is far more than just a turf-devouring athlete. With his passing range, vision and ability to finish off as well as start moves, the 23-year-old has developed into the complete midfielder.

Had a thigh injury, that troubled him even before it forced him off against West Ham on Boxing Day, not sidelined him for so long, he could have provided the only genuine challenge to Luis Suarez for PFA player of the year.

It is to Arsene Wenger's credit that he stuck by Ramsey during the dark times, not least the player's troubled return from a year-long ankle layoff that had such severe mental repercussions.

Once the scapegoat, now he is a darling of the fans and one of the first names on the teamsheet. Even academy graduate and Arsenal golden boy Jack Wilshere has to step aside for his fellow Brit, who was always regarded by those behind the scenes at London Colney as the better all-around player.

Moreover, Ozil looks twice the player when he is able to feed passes into the path of Ramsey and Walcott.

While appreciating Ramsey's excellence in the four matches since his return, there will also be regrets from fans that a seemingly innocuous injury robbed him of nearly half a season. Two serious setbacks kept him out for more than two months longer than initially expected.

Until Arsenal updates its 20th century injury prevention methods and brings them in line with leading sports clubs around the globe, the team will continue to suffer.


7 Mobile Trends for 2014 (and How to Profit From Them – with Case Studies!)

I was very pleased that our last “7 tips” article dating back to 2012 received so much readership and media attention, and how “on the money” these predictions have been in 2012 and 2013. Of course, this puts tremendous pressure of a repeat performance on this article, as we attempt to predict the key developments and trends for 2014-2016.

The importance of mobile to your company’s digital strategy cannot be overstated… But where to focus your energies? The answer will of course depend solely on the nature of your business and your goals for the coming years. That said, here are 7 trends we see emerging in many of our clients’ businesses, from financial and banking services to ecommerce and social media:

#7: Lean will Mean Business

All of the successful companies reaping billions from their mobile apps (Amazon, eBay, YouTube to name a few) realize that mobile is but a small piece of a larger game. Customers may begin the shopping “trip” on the mobile phone during the morning commute, then do a bit more research on the website on their office laptop during lunch, before finally pulling the “buy” trigger while on their tablet app later that evening. Mobile-savvy companies realize that the mobile experience, while complimentary to the web, is nonetheless something that cannot be simply copied to the smaller device. In fact,

mobile has certain unique strengths that make it imperative to design the interaction from the “ground up”: instead of “dumbing down”, the key workflows need to be “mobilized”.

One great example of a cross-platform experience is WebEx, and we are proud to have helped the leader in online meetings to take the experience to the next level by bringing immersive video conferencing to all the major platforms: mobile, tablet and desktop (see WebEx and 7 more Case Studies here). Note that each device’s UI is unique — together with uber-awesome WebEx designers and product managers, we worked on designs that bring out the best of every platform, while creating a recognizable coherent branded experience across the board. Which simply means, if you use WebEx on the desktop, you don’t have to think too hard to move to mobile or tablet: despite the difference in screen sizes and form factors, the controls are consistent and system behavior is intuitive. And we did it in just a few short months.

How did we pull this off? The answer is the age-old UX wisdom of obsessively focusing on the customer, using Lean, Agile prototyping and RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) as the core of the design process. As Jakob Nielsen so eloquently stated:

“There are no secrets of usability any more than there are secrets of astronomy. If you point your telescope at Saturn, you will see that it has rings.” (ref)

As our appetite for cross–platform (and particularly mobile) experiences grows and becomes more sophisticated in 2014-2015, Lean Agile approaches to design, centered squarely on user testing as the core of the process will be essential for understanding the complex interplay of various factors that help your customer experience unfold across multiple devices.

The age of the Persona is passing — the new digital experience design approaches based on understanding the Context of the customer engagement and developing the optimal service scenarios should now be the primary focus of your research and development.

A two-prong approach of scenario-based storyboarding to help your teams understand the larger picture of how people engage with your product or service, coupled with Lean contextual testing of paper-based mobile prototypes integrated into the Agile software development process will be the key to success.

I have perfected the Lean mobile design approach, having worked through dozens of client projects and taught 1000’s of people around the world in 40+ university-accredited classes, workshops and industry presentations. Here’s one such example from my 2013 Agile Mobile Design workshop at MobX Berlin:

Having had long, multi-faceted experience with the Lean mobile design methodology, I (as many UXers before me!) am happy to report that it works exceedingly well. This method is fast, reliable and cheap — it just works.

Based on popular demand from many workshop attendees, I’m currently writing my book #4 with a working title: “Lean Mobile UX Design: Common Sense Approach to Getting Awesome Apps to the Market Quickly” — due out sometime in 2014. (No pressure now, but if you, the gentle reader, would like to be one of the early reviewers, please sign up for a Free Android Design course based on my 3rd book: Android Design Patterns: Interaction Design Solutions for Developers (Wiley 2013) by clicking here or filling out the form at the end of this article.)

Incorporating even a small amount of Lean UX design methodology into your own work in 2014 will help you understand your customers’ goals and context better, innovate with confidence, and create excellent mobile apps.

#6: You Will be Assimilated

Don’t worry about Windows phone and throw away your Blackberry (sorry Canadians). While the competition in the US has Android and Apple running neck and neck, the picture for the test of the world outside the Silicon Valley is quite different. Despite the fact that I love all 6 of the Apple devices my family owns (I especially love the battery life), world-wide OS contest is officially over (for now):

Yes, the recent China Apple deal will help Apple, but it cannot stem the tide of the more open, device-independent Android OS. There are many good reasons behind Android’s surge in popularity. Android 4.x is a mature, grown up OS and it’s ready for (your) business. And it looks fantastic: striking the right balance between no-nonsense pure digital artifacts, scalable navigation and branding, as exemplified by these screenshots from Bank Simple:

If you want 1 take-away from this article, this is it: the success of your digital strategy depends on taking Android 4.x seriously.

Which brings us to one of the many challenges presented by Android: that of fragmentation.

#5: Tablets Will Rule

Like a fragmentation grenade in a ball-bearing factory, the number of different Android devices and form factors has simply exploded in the past 2 years. The most recent count reported in 2012 tallied in at 3,997 devices, which means that at the very least, you have to be able to design for 3,997 Androids (plus the 4 Apple device form-factors: iPhone 5, iPhone 4, iPad and iPad mini).

No matter the OS, designing for different form-factors continues to be challenging.

The design is especially challenging for tablets for two reasons. First, because the tablet patterns beyond the simple Split View and Fragments are simply not as well established, and second, because tablets of any OS, despite their appearance, are simply not “large phones”.

Tablets are held and manipulated very differently, resulting in very different ergonomics, as compared with the common right-handed grip commonly seen with full-size mobile phones:

The “hot zone” for controls for tablets lies along the edges of the device close to the top of the screen, but does not cross the middle. That’s because most people hold larger, heavier and more expensive tablets like the 9-inch iPad and Galaxy Tab 10 with a secure, 2-handed grip, frequently also resting the bottom of the device on the lap or the tabletop. This means that the control scheme that both Google and Apple keep insisting on — namely, bars on the top and bottom of the device, are actually rather difficult to reach while holding the device in the most common grip.

The worst offender is Apple, which even in the new iOS7, stubbornly clings to putting the iPad tab bar on the bottom of the screen, where it’s difficult to see and even harder to reach:

Android is not perfect either: although the Android action bar scheme is supposed to scale well for all sizes and device types, it works best for mid-size, 7-inch tablets and often breaks down on the larger 9 and 10+ inch devices. In my 3rd book, Android Design Patterns: Interaction Design Solutions for Developers (Wiley 2013), I use a pure ergonomic approach to identify 5 key device types that allow you to design excellent UIs for a wide variety of devices.

But to come back to tablets — what’s is the best design approach?

For a truly natural feel, and a flowing, effortless experience, I highly recommend considering custom side navigation, like the one featured by Twitter’s iPad app:

and Saba (Saba is our client, and we’ve been proud to work with them on some amazing new mobile and tablet designs and enterprise data visualizations in 2013):

For larger tablets, side navigation fits the ergonomics of the device far better than the traditional top and bottom navs, because the typical dual side grip ends up perfectly aligned with the app controls. This control placement also works reasonably well for the new touch-capable Windows tablet-laptop convertibles (which are a whole other beast outside the scope of this article.) My prediction is that you are going to see a lot more side navigation for tablets in 2014 and also that once again, tablet UIs are going to be the defining differentiation factor for many companies. Which brings us to our next tip:

If you want to stand out in the marketplace, create a smashing tablet experience.

We are proud to have been Intuit’s design partner in creating state of the art tablet interfaces for some of their key financial tablet apps for iOS7 and Android 4.x (currently under NDA).

#4: You will Muddle Through Flatland

It’s true — you no longer need to hit your customers over the head with skeuomorphic design, and “real life” buttons, faux-realistic textures, drop shadows, and real object behaviors, which scream, “Tap here!” Flat design is here to stay, completely embraced (at least for a moment) by all major mobile operating systems. Unfortunately, as saying goes “nothing is more complicated than simplicity”. This adage never rang truer than on the subject of flat design.

Although the flat UI appears to be very simple, subtle clues that work for Apple and Android native apps often get the rest of design world in loads of trouble. In particular, this has to do with concept of “affordances” (that is the extent to which a given interface component communicates how to interact with it). The problem is that:

when the call to action is minimized in the flat design schemes of iOS and Android, everything on the screen becomes a touch target, or even more complicated — a gesture target.

For example, in this iOS7 weather app, the huge temperature display can be tapped to drill down for more information, but even less obvious, the entire screen can be pinched (a hidden gesture!) to get to a list of locations:

Pinching is a hidden gesture, a delighter — and although it is difficult to discover initially, once learned, it is spectacularly “intuitive” and “sharable”.

Unfortunately, unless a friend or a commercial shows how to use a certain feature, the flat design’s lack of affordance leads to almost universal confusion as the customers attempt to make the best of the app by learning as they go (known in the UX industry as “muddle through”, which is about as much fun as it sounds). Expect more cognitive friction of this type in 2014, as the world adjusts to learning how to operate on flatland.

How can you create apps that are easy to use yet provide a hidden garden of delights? At the core of the design process,

the product team needs to understand first-hand the goals and use-cases in context, with a real-life sized object prototype (such as a pack of sticky notes) used to probe the specific steps and types of gestures that the customer is likely to want to perform in order to accomplish their task.

Then the team needs to build the product accordingly, to support those gestures with functionality that meets the customer expectations and contributes to the overall experience. I already mentioned Lean Mobile Design methodology above — I think it’s “exactly what the doctor ordered” as a fast, inexpensive way to understand customer goals and test out various strategies, while helping you to accurately model tactical specifics of the interaction in the given workflow. In my next book, I will lay out the entire methodology — stay tuned by signing up for my free Android course below, attending one of my upcoming workshops, or scheduling a custom training workshop for your product team.

#3: You Will Type Less

I predict that:

the highest app growth in 2014 is going to come in the form of apps for getting the data in and out of the mobile devices gracefully.

While QR Codes are in decline, the NFC technology is just getting its second wind. Apple’s own proprietary connectivity tech, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) iBeacon will put a damper on the NFC growth, but will not stop it, as NFC is the preferred way for Android devices to communicate with the physical objects and location in the outside world. I predict that the battle between BLE and NFC will play out in 2014-2016.

Most likely the two “Internet of Things” technologies will eventually end up complementing each other — NFC is cheap enough to put in every physical object, while BLE, although more expensive, has a much longer range.

Other technologies to undergo evolutionary change will be anything to do with scanning real-world objects using the on-board camera. Take for example the USAA Bank’s auto-scan — the evolution of the photo deposit, which allows customers to scan the check automatically, using a completely touch-free experience:

We are proud to have partnered with USAA Bank in 2013 to help make what many people consider the world’s best banking experience even better (see this and 7 more Case Studies). Not surprisingly, leading financial technology providers, such as Mitek are quickly following suit with their own auto-scan systems.

I predict that 2014-2016 will be the years in which the image scanning explodes, allowing everyone with a smartphone to scan and recognize all kinds of physical objects, from documents, to products, to landmarks, to peoples’ faces.

In addition to using the on-board camera,

facilitating voice input will be a priority in 2014-2016, as more and more apps integrate with Siri and the Google Voice Assistant technology for everything from data entry to secure authentication. Likewise, getting the information read out to you will be just as crucial, as car integration and multi-tasking will be gaining even more importance in the coming year.

I predict that we will also see voice input being used as an accelerator in tablets and on the desktop as a shortcut to jump across multiple tedious steps of a frequently performed task. Look for Android voice and facial recognition on cheaper universal hardware to complement Apple’s much more expensive thumb scan. My Cross-Channel Touch UX Design Framework, should be particularly helpful in understanding how your current experience measures up and where to move it next.

#2: You Will (Multi) Touch More

Recent redesign of Youtube busted the long-standing idea of a “simple tap”, while at the same time proving just how difficult it is to port a design between platforms. Observe how a simple detail — having the hardware back button, makes navigating back to search results on Android easy with a single tap:

— yet because the hardware back button is missing in the iOS version of YouTube app, the same simple, frequently used action of navigating back to search results is made ridiculously difficult to accomplish in the iOS version, requiring everyone to go through the “picture-in-picture” feature, which requires two complex swipe gestures!

Personally, I’d really like to see a quick fix for the iOS version, adding a simple back button, without taking away the “picture-in-picture” capability accessed through multi-touch. The resulting fix can look like the wireframe I made below:

Had the YouTube designers used the Lean sticky notes methodology to test the design before building their app, it would have been easy to include this elementary fix from the beginning, avoiding any “black marks” against this otherwise exceptional app.

Despite these challenges, YouTube redesign is a notably successful, and I predict other companies will follow with complex gesture and multi-touch use frameworks that will find particularly spectacular implementations on tablets. This “Golden Age of Multi-Touch”, has long been predicted by both myself and Josh Clark (Twitter: @globalmoxy). Josh’s long-standing favorite — a 5-finger pinch gesture, is now Apple’s own official alternative to the home button on the iPad (try it!).

The next 2-3 years, will see the rise of complex tablet gestures such as two- and three-finger taps, complex swipes, as well as pan and zoom gestures with virtual reality overlays that will allow you to literally “play” your app like a musical instrument, so no two experiences will be alike.

But what is the best way to communicate these wonderful additions to our interfaces — especially given the flat design of the modern touch OS?

If you want your customers to succeed with your gestures and multi-touch, in addition to the Lean design methodology I described above, you will have to take the time create a well thought-out Welcome experience — but heed well the lesson of Clippy! As Alan Cooper said in About Face: “do not stop proceedings with idiocy”.

The complex and interesting interactions you designed need to be introduced gradually using a Watermark (also called Coachmark) design pattern.

I describe Watermark in detail in Chapter 5 in my Android Design Patterns book (you can see some screenshots here). This way you will ensure people will find these hidden gems and get full use and satisfaction from your app.

#1: You May Compete to be Featured (or Not)

With the recent overhaul of both iOS and Android operating systems, the pressure is on once again in the race to become Featured in the App/Play Store.

Recently Amazon.com was one of the companies that undertook the iOS6 –> iOS7 conversion. Unfortunately, while the new iOS7 app adheres to the Apple standard, the customer experience has not gained much in the conversion process:

Will a simple conversion like that be enough to get your app featured by Apple or Google?

Not bloody likely.

Big winners in the Featured war go beyond “simply” redesigning for iOS7 or Android 4.x. Instead, successful companies

Take the time to go beyond skin-deep redesign for both Apple and Android OS upgrades, using the OS upgrade as an excuse to overhaul their information architecture and key workflows with modern design patterns and graphics, as we have helped Intuit do with TaxCaster iOS7 conversion. We are delighted to have helped Intuit get their shiny new TaxCaster app featured by Apple as their iOS7 app of choice in the Financial category (see TaxCaster and 7 other case studies here).

In your redesign you too should consider modern design patterns such as the Drawer:

and Wizard Flow with Form (see Chapter 12, Mobile Banking in Android Design Patterns book — you can get a quick preview in my Essential Patterns for Mobile Banking article on Smashing Magazine):

I should mention that you are likely to have easier time porting your existing apps from iOS6 to the new translucent flat look of iOS7 than from Android 2.x to Android 4.x.

Which means, that

At the moment, Featured status is slightly easier to achieve for Android apps, as fewer of the big boys have undertaken the Android app conversion and the competition is still light.

But don’t wait too long: the window is closing fast.

Once the big companies come to terms with and recognize that Android 4.x is here to stay and upgrade their apps to the latest 4.x version, the window will once again be closed until the next big OS upgrade.

I predict that 2014 will be the year of Android 4.x — in fact our company pipeline is already at near capacity with projects of many of our Fortune 500 clients doing just that.

On the other hand,

we also see some of our clients bypassing the featured app battle altogether, and instead concentrating on creating what we call “Equal Opportunity Offender” apps. In other words, apps that carefully cultivate a specific branded look and feel that is neither pure iOS nor pure Android, but instead offers a consistent, customized experience that is nether iOS nor Android.

Apps like Flipboard, Yelp and Facebook, to name but a few.

Some clients do this for the purposes of unique branding, others to help push out rapid content upgrades or scale to multiple devices and save money on development costs by incorporating responsive HTML 5 features for some, or all areas of their app. Although not implemented using native code, these pages run reasonably well and can scale for most device form factors.

While each approach is very different, they are valid for meeting different business and UX goals. Which one should you pick? With 3 books, 40+ presentations, over 50 articles, and many successful design projects, we are the mobile experts. We know no size fits all, and we would be glad to help you select the digital strategy that works, while meeting your goals and budget.


Rugby Premier League

Professional Rugby League () is the premier rugby union competition in Russia. The Professional League was re-formed in 2005 after the previous Superleague. The Superleague, in turn, was active from 1992 to 2004 and succeeded the Soviet Championship.

In the 2014-2015 season, Russia was represented by Enisei-STM in the Challenge Cup after defeating Romanian outfit CSM Baia Mare 63-32 on aggregate, with great success, being the only team from the newly found European Rugby Continental Shield to defeat two teams from Tier One nations, Brive and Newcastle Falcons respectively. But that did not stop there, for the 2015-2016 season of Challenge Cup Enisei-STM qualified into the competition by passing Rovigo quite comfortably 70-5 on aggregate, only for them to then defeat Worcester Warriors and Newport Gwent Dragons 19-12 and 38-18 respectively. Eventually Enisei-STM earned their right to play once more due to their qualification in the Challenge Cup while rivals Krasny Yar won the league and also participated in the European Rugby Continental Shield, where they defeated a fierce Timișoara Saracens 39-35 on aggregate in the play-offs after their success in their qualifying pool. This performance would make it a full Russian final between the two teams of Krasnoyarsk on the 13th of May 2017 at Murrayfield Complex in Edinburgh. The final score was 36-8 to the Enisei-STM side who then lost all their games this time receiving close shaves against Newport Gwent Dragons 21-28 at home and to Bordeaux with the score 36-27 away . Unfortunately for the one of the Russian sides, they 2018-2019 season in Europe was going to end per-maturely as Krasny Yar drawed with Enisei-STM in the play-offs and lost 74-38 on aggregate and the victors also defeated Heidelberger RK on the 12th of May 2018 at Campos Deportivos de Fadura, Biscay 24-20. The German side later got disqualified from the Challenge Cup and got replaced by Timișoara Saracens.  The 2018-2019 season in the Challenge Cup was not quite as expected for Enisei-STM as they lost yet again all their matches yet by a big difference in the score. Enisei-STM have once more qualified for the European competition after barely defeating Timișoara Saracens 58-52 on aggregate and lost 20-18 away in a match where they were 18-0 up.

Each club plays each opponent twice; four points are awarded for a win, two for a draw, and no points are given for a defeat. A similar points system is used by most of the club competitions. The top four clubs proceed to the play-offs (first introduced in 2006). not needed

History

The founding of the league coincided with a period of rapid change for Russian rugby, and the format has differed nearly every season since 2005 a year after the Russian Superleague was re-formed.

In 2007, Yug-Krasnodar were admitted to the competition, increasing the league's size to eight teams. For 2008 several lower division clubs were admitted, with a total of 14 teams split into three conferences based on geography. Many of elevated clubs were semiprofessional or even amateur in nature, which lead a lack of competitive balance. The average attendance that season was 4285.

2010 saw another change of format. Gone was the East-West divide, culminating in the formation of a 'Super Group'. VVA Monino, Krasny Yar, Yenisey-STM, Slava Moscow, RC Novokuznetsk and Imperia-Dynamo are joined by Fili Moscow and Spartak GM in a straight home-and-away league format. The Rugby Union of Russia were reluctant to make any changes in 2011, a World Cup year.

Current Teams

Geographic Locations

Information

League Honour Board

Progress of the clubs

References

External links
Official website
Information rugby portal
Russian rugby statistics

Category:Sports leagues established in 2005
Category:2005 establishments in Russia
Category:National rugby union premier leagues
Russia
rugby union


WASHINGTON — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week to a seasonally adjusted 377,000, up from a nearly four-year low the previous week. But the longer-term trend is pointing to a healthier job market.

Applications have trended down over the past few months. The four week average has declined to 377,500. When applications fall consistently below 375,000, it tends to signal that hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.

Some economists say the figures suggest further job gains ahead.

The nation has added at least 100,000 jobs for six straight months. And the unemployment rate has declined to 8.5 percent, its lowest in almost three years.

Separately, orders for long-lasting manufactured goods rose as companies spent more on computers, machinery and other equipment. The Commerce Department said Thursday that durable goods orders rose 3 percent last month.

Stock market futures rose after the durable goods report.

“There is more horsepower to this economy than most believe,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands. “The stars are aligned right for a meaningful economic recovery.”

The number of first-time unemployment applications rose 21,000 last week, the Labor Department said. Applications had plummeted two weeks ago to their lowest level since April 2008.

The average has fallen about 9 percent since Oct. 1.

Unemployment applications have been particularly volatile this month because employers have cut temporary workers hired for the holidays. The department adjusts for seasonal trends. But doing so accurately can be difficult.

But underneath all the volatility, applications have leveled off in recent weeks.

Steven Wood, an economist at Insight Economics, said the longer-term trend suggests that the January jobs report, to be released next week, will show a “solid gain” in hiring.

“The labor market is improving, albeit slowly,” Wood said in a note to clients.

Economists forecast that the nation will gain about 160,000 jobs a month in 2012, according to a survey of economists by the Associated Press. That’s up from an average of about 135,000 last year.

A better outlook for job growth has coincided with other signs of improvement in the economy. Factory output jumped in December, and consumer confidence and spending have risen. Even the battered housing market has shown some signs of slight improvement.

Still, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday that it expects growth to remain modest this year. And it forecasts only gradual declines the unemployment rate.

The Fed predicts the unemployment rate could fall as low as 8.2 percent by the end of 2012. The economy will likely expand about 2.5 percent this year.

The job market has a long way to go before it fully recovers from the damage of the Great Recession, which wiped out 8.7 million jobs. More than 13 million people remain unemployed. Millions more have given up looking for work and so are no longer counted as unemployed.

Growth could slow this year. Europe is almost certain to fall into recession because of its financial troubles. And wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. That makes it harder for consumers to spend more, potentially limiting growth.


1. Introduction {#sec1-nutrients-09-00834}
===============

Skeletal muscle is a highly plastic tissue that adapts muscle mass and strength in response to exercise stimuli such as resistance training. In contrast, muscle mass and strength are decreased with denervation, disuse and aging \[[@B1-nutrients-09-00834],[@B2-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Skeletal muscle characteristics are also influenced by steroid hormones including glucocorticoids, androgens and estrogens \[[@B3-nutrients-09-00834],[@B4-nutrients-09-00834]\].

In women, estrogens have crucial roles in an extensive range of physiological functions in various types of tissues throughout the body including bone, skeletal muscle, and white-adipose tissues \[[@B5-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Studies showed that estrogens maintain muscle strength and promote activation of muscle stem cells, called satellite cells \[[@B6-nutrients-09-00834],[@B7-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Our previous study also reported that reduced level of estrogens resulted in a decrease in myofiber-sizes and grip strength in ovariectomized (OVX) young female mice \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Furthermore, proliferation and differentiation abilities in satellite cells were impaired and indeed muscle regeneration was significantly compromised in OVX mice \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\].

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is commonly used in postmenopausal women to relive symptoms of menopause. Although muscle mass and strength decline in postmenopausal women, beneficial effects of HRT were shown to preserve muscle contractile function \[[@B7-nutrients-09-00834],[@B9-nutrients-09-00834],[@B10-nutrients-09-00834]\]. The muscle atrophy-related genes such as MAFbx, MuRF-1 and myostatin were downregulated in muscle from postmenopausal women using HRT, which may contribute to maintain muscle function \[[@B11-nutrients-09-00834]\]. These data indicated that reducing estrogen levels causes muscle weakness, and HRT can be efficient for maintaining muscle and satellite cell functions in postmenopausal women. However, findings from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Postmenopausal Hormone Therapy Trials and other studies indicate that an extended use of HRT for postmenopausal women leads to an increase in the risks of breast cancer and deep-vein thrombosis \[[@B12-nutrients-09-00834],[@B13-nutrients-09-00834]\].

Soy products including soymilk exert preferable effects on reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis, cholesterol levels, and UV radiation-induced skin inflammation \[[@B14-nutrients-09-00834],[@B15-nutrients-09-00834],[@B16-nutrients-09-00834],[@B17-nutrients-09-00834],[@B18-nutrients-09-00834],[@B19-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Soymilk contains enriched plant proteins, essential amino acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Soymilk also contains a high amount of isoflavones that resemble endogenous estrogens in structure and have estrogenic function by binding to estrogen receptor (ER). We therefore hypothesized that soymilk could have favorable effects on muscle in an estrogen-insufficient condition in females. Here we investigated whether prolonged soymilk intake improves skeletal muscle and satellite cell functions in OVX female mice.

2. Materials and Methods {#sec2-nutrients-09-00834}
========================

2.1. Animals {#sec2dot1-nutrients-09-00834}
------------

The Experimental Animal Care and Use Committee of the Nagasaki University approved animal experimentation. Six-week-old female C57BL/6 mice (Charles River Laboratories, Kanagawa, Japan) were ovariectomized (OVX) under anesthesia. Sham-operated mice were used as a sham-control. One week following the surgery, mice were randomly divided into two groups: one was given the conventional food (control), while the other was given the conventional food replaced by dried soymilk composed of 5% total protein (11.05% of total calorie was replaced by soymilk, termed herein low-soymilk (Low-SM)) ([Table S1](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}), for 24 weeks. To further examine the effect of a low amount of soymilk-containing diet on OVX mice, mice were divided into two groups: one was given the conventional food (control) and the other was given the conventional food replaced by dried soymilk composed of 10% total protein (22.7% of total calorie was replaced by soymilk, termed herein high-soymilk (High-SM)) ([Table S2](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}), for 12 weeks. The nutritional compositions of dried soymilk were shown in [Tables S3 and S4](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}.

2.2. Grip Test {#sec2dot2-nutrients-09-00834}
--------------

Maximal limb muscle force was measured by a Grip Strength Meter (Columbus Instruments, Columbus, OH, USA). Three sets of ten successive measurements were performed to assess limb grip strength. The maximum values in three sets of experiments were used for data analysis.

2.3. Isolation and Culture of Myofibers {#sec2dot3-nutrients-09-00834}
---------------------------------------

Satellite cells in their niche on myofibers were isolated from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle digested by type I collagenase (Worthington Biochemical Corp., Lakewood, NJ, USA) as described previously \[[@B20-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Isolated myofibres were then cultured in mitogen-rich medium Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% horse serum, 0.5% chicken embryo extract, and 1% penicillin-streptomycin) at 37 °C with 5% CO~2~ for 3 days.

2.4. Immunostaining {#sec2dot4-nutrients-09-00834}
-------------------

For immunocytochemistry, satellite cells associated with myofibers were fixed in 2% paraformaldehyde for 10 min at room temperature. Samples were then incubated with primary antibodies at 4 °C overnight following blocking/permeabilization with phosphate-buffered saline containing 0.3% Triton X-100 (Wako Pure Chemical Industries Ltd., Osaka, Japan) and 5% goat serum for 20 min at room temperature. For immunohistochemistry, muscle tissues were isolated from the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle, immediately frozen in 2-methylbutane cooled in liquid nitrogen, and stored at −80 °C. Frozen cross-sections of the TA muscle were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde and blocked with a DAKO blocking reagent (DAKO Japan, Kyoto, Japan), and incubated with primary antibodies at 4 °C overnight. Immunostained samples were visualized using appropriate species-specific Alexa Fluor 488 or 568 fluorescence-conjugated secondary antibodies (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Tokyo, Japan). Samples were viewed on an all-in-one fluorescence microscope (Keyence, Osaka, Japan) or an Olympus IX83 microscope (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). Images were optimized globally and assembled into figures using Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 (Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, USA).

2.5. Statistical Analysis {#sec2dot5-nutrients-09-00834}
-------------------------

Significant differences were determined using the Student *t*-test. A *p*-value of less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. All data are the means ± SEM.

3. Results {#sec3-nutrients-09-00834}
==========

3.1. Muscle Strength and Fiber Sizes Were Unchanged by Prolonged Intake of a Low Amount of Soymilk in OVX Female Mice {#sec3dot1-nutrients-09-00834}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the previous study, we showed that estrogen insufficiency resulted in a decrease in muscle force generation and induced muscle atrophy in a time-dependent manner \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Here we examined the effect of soymilk on skeletal muscle in a low estrogen state. C57BL/6 female mice were ovariectmised (OVX) at 6 weeks of age, and then divided into two groups: one received conventional food (control) and the other received dried soymilk composed of 5% total protein (Low-SM) ([Supplementary Materials Table S1](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}) for 24 weeks ([Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}A). We found no significant differences in food intake ([Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}B), body weight ([Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}C) and grip strength ([Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}D) between the control and Low-SM groups. We further confirmed that both muscle wet weight ([Figure 2](#nutrients-09-00834-f002){ref-type="fig"}A) and cross-sectional area (CSA) ([Figure 2](#nutrients-09-00834-f002){ref-type="fig"}B,C) of TA muscle were unchanged in the Low-SM group compared with those of the control.

3.2. Muscle Weakness Was Improved by Prolonged Intake of a High Amount of Soymilk in OVX Mice {#sec3dot2-nutrients-09-00834}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Given that Low-SM did not influence muscle strength and fiber-sizes in OVX mice, we next tested whether a higher amount of soymilk-containing diet could prevent the estrogen insufficiency-induced muscle weakness. According to the experimental model shown in [Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}, C57BL/6 female mice were ovariectmised at 6 weeks of age, and then divided into two groups: one received control conventional food (control) and the other received dried soymilk composed 10% of total protein (High-SM) ([Supplementary Materials Table S2](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}) for 12 weeks ([Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}A). Food intake ([Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}B) and body weight ([Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}C) were unchanged between groups. We found that grip strength was significantly increased in the High-SM group compared with the control ([Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}D).

We next determined whether myofiber-sizes were recovered in OVX mice fed with High-SM. Despite no change in muscle wet weight ([Figure 4](#nutrients-09-00834-f004){ref-type="fig"}A), the CSA of TA muscle was significantly increased in the High-SM group compared with the control ([Figure 4](#nutrients-09-00834-f004){ref-type="fig"}B). However, we failed to demonstrate the favorable effect of High-SM on grip strength in sham-operated female mice ([Figure S1](#app1-nutrients-09-00834){ref-type="app"}), indicating that the beneficial effect of soymilk on muscle function is limited to the female mice with a low estrogen state. Thus, our results suggested that prolonged intake of a high amount of soymilk alleviates muscle weakness in estrogen-insufficient mice.

3.3. Soymilk Reserves Muscle Stem Cell Function in OVX Mice {#sec3dot3-nutrients-09-00834}
-----------------------------------------------------------

Muscle satellite cells play a crucial role in providing myonuclei for muscle repair and regeneration in adult muscle \[[@B21-nutrients-09-00834],[@B22-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Our previous study revealed that prolonged estrogen-insufficient state affected satellite cell function and muscle regeneration in OVX female mice \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. In the current study, we tested if High-SM could improve satellite cell function as well as muscle strength and myofiber-sizes in OVX mice.

Satellite cells are normally quiescent but are activated following muscle injury. Activated satellite cells proliferate and differentiate to provide new myonuclei. Satellite cells retained in their niche on myofibers were isolated from the extensor degitorum longus (EDL) muscles. Satellite cells associated with myofibers were then cultured in mitogen-rich medium for 3 days ([Figure 5](#nutrients-09-00834-f005){ref-type="fig"}A). It is important to note that, in our culture condition, the mitogen-rich medium contains estrogens \[[@B23-nutrients-09-00834]\] and thus similarly influences the satellite cells isolated from OVX mice. Co-immunostaining for the transcription factors Pax7 and MyoD, which mark nearly all the satellite cell-populations in the states of activation/proliferation (Pax7+MyoD+), differentiation (Pax7-MyoD+) and self-renewal (Pax7+MyoD-)\[[@B24-nutrients-09-00834],[@B25-nutrients-09-00834]\]. There was no alteration in the number of Pax7^+^ quiescent satellite cells per freshly isolated myofiber between the control and High-SM groups (data not shown), whereas cultured myofibers showed that the total number of satellite cells (Pax7^+^ and/or MyoD^+^) ([Figure 5](#nutrients-09-00834-f005){ref-type="fig"}B) and Myogenin+ differentiating cells ([Figure 5](#nutrients-09-00834-f005){ref-type="fig"}C) per myofiber were significantly increased in High-SM group. Indeed, these data indicated that prolonged intake of a high amount of soymilk recovered the abilities in proliferation and differentiation in satellite cells in OVX mice.

4. Discussion {#sec4-nutrients-09-00834}
=============

Although there is increasing interest in exploring the effects of HRT on muscle mass and strength, HRT for postmenopausal women may be associated with serious risks of coronary heart disease and breast cancer \[[@B12-nutrients-09-00834],[@B13-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Soy isoflavones are a promising alternative for HRT in postmenopausal women. Our previous study revealed that estrogen insufficiency resulted in muscle atrophy and reduced muscle force generation in young OVX female mice \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Here we demonstrated that the decrease in myofiber-sizes and force generation in OVX mice could be improved with prolonged soymilk intake. Our results also showed that a low amount of soymilk-containing diet was insufficient to ameliorate muscle weakness in OVX mice, suggesting that a certain amount of soymilk was needed to preserve muscle function in our mouse model.

Accumulating evidence indicates the importance of estrogens on muscle repair and regeneration after injury. Treatment with 17beta-estradiol promotes activation and proliferation of satellite cells and stimulates muscle growth and regeneration \[[@B11-nutrients-09-00834],[@B26-nutrients-09-00834],[@B27-nutrients-09-00834],[@B28-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Our previous study also demonstrated that population expansion was markedly impaired in satellite cells in their niche on myofibers isolated from OVX mice ex vivo \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Indeed, the intrinsic function of satellite cells is declined by estrogen insufficiency in female mice. In the current study, we showed that soymilk diet mitigated dysfunction of satellite cells in a low estrogen state. These findings suggest that dysfunctions in both muscle and its resident stem cells in OVX mice could be improved by prolonged soymilk intake.

Isoflavone aglycones including daidzein and genistein can be metabolized by the gut microflora to produce equol, an estrogenic metabolite from daidzein \[[@B29-nutrients-09-00834],[@B30-nutrients-09-00834],[@B31-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Equol is structurally similar to the 17beta-estradiol, and mimics the action of estrogens through binding to estrogen receptors. Although there is a significant interindividual difference in humans, most animals including mice retain the ability to produce equol when fed soy products \[[@B32-nutrients-09-00834]\]. In this study, we did not assess the levels of equol in the blood of mice and what ingredients in soymilk ameliorated OVX-induced muscle weakness. Studies reported that soymilk contains the soybean trypsin inhibitor and the Bowman--Birk protease inhibitor \[[@B33-nutrients-09-00834],[@B34-nutrients-09-00834]\]. These protease inhibitors suppress the protease-activated receptor 2 cleavage, influence cytoskeletal and cell surface organization, and reduce keratinocyte phagocytosis, resulting in an induction of skin depigmentation \[[@B35-nutrients-09-00834]\]. The Bowman--Birk protease inhibitor has an anti-inflammatory effect \[[@B36-nutrients-09-00834]\] and is also known to act as an anti-carcinogenic factor \[[@B37-nutrients-09-00834]\]. Considering these aspects, isoflavone-independent mechanisms might be involved in the preferable effect of soymilk on muscle function in OVX mice.

Our ovariectomy model displayed a significantly atrophic uterus and increased body weight, which partially mimicked a postmenopausal state \[[@B8-nutrients-09-00834]\]. In the current study, although uterine wet weight was slightly increased by soymilk intake in OVX mice, its improvement efficiency was far less compared with 17beta-estradiol-treated OVX mice (data not shown). Indeed, it is unlikely that soymilk alone is an alternative agent for recovery of reproductive function in a state of estrogen-insufficiency. Our findings also showed that soymilk diet did not upregulate grip strength in the sham-operated female mice. Thus, prolonged soymilk intake can prevent muscle weakness in a low estrogen state but it does not seem to gain muscle strength in healthy young female mice. According to our calculations, the amount of High-SM in our mouse model (30 g body weight) would be equivalent to approximately 800 mL of soymilk (10% soybean solid content) intake a day for humans (60 kg body weight).

5. Conclusions {#sec5-nutrients-09-00834}
==============

In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that soymilk exerts a favorable effect on muscle weakness in OVX mice. Therefore, soymilk may be applicable to effective and inexpensive natural foods and alternative for HRT, for musculoskeletal care and management in female athletes with menstrual dysfunction as well as post-menopausal woman. However, it remains unclear how prolonged soymilk intake ameliorated muscle and satellite cell functions. Further studies are needed to identify soymilk-derived factor(s) responsible for improving the OVX-induced muscle weakness.

The authors thank Yumiko Takemoto for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research KAKENHI and the Takeda Science Foundation.

The following are available online at [www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/8/834/s1](www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/8/834/s1), Table S1: Ingredient of Low-SM, Table S2: Ingredient of High-SM, Table S3: Composition of powdered soymilk (Low-SM), Table S4: Composition of powdered soymilk (High-SM), Figure S1: Effect of High-SM on muscle strength in sham-operated mice.

######

Click here for additional data file.

Y.K. designed and performed the experiments, analyzed the data, and wrote the manuscript; S.O. and S.E. designed and performed the experiments; Y.O. designed and performed the experiments, analyzed and interpreted the data, assembled the input data, and wrote the main manuscript. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The authors S.O. and S.E. are employees of Marusanai Co., Ltd.

![Effect of Low-SM intake on grip strength in OVX mice. (**A**) Six-week-old female C57BL/6 mice were ovariectomized (OVX) and fed with low-soymilk (Low-SM) for 24 weeks, started from 1 week after ovariectomy. Muscle strength was measured by a grip strength meter. Food intake (**B**), body weight (**C**), muscle strength (**D**) were shown (control, *n* = 9; soymilk, *n* = 10 mice). Data represent the mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant.](nutrients-09-00834-g001){#nutrients-09-00834-f001}

![Effect of Low-SM intake on muscle in OVX mice. OVX mice were fed with Low-SM for 24 weeks as shown in [Figure 1](#nutrients-09-00834-f001){ref-type="fig"}. (**A**) Muscle weight of TA was measured at 24 weeks followed by the start of soymilk intake. (**B**) Representative images of immunohistochemistry for laminin. (**C**) Cross-sectional area (CSA) of TA muscle (at least 1200 myofibers per mouse were counted). (Control, *n* = 5; soymilk, *n* = 5 mice). Data represent the mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant. An asterisk denotes a significant difference from control (**\*** *p* \< 0.05). Scale bar, 100 μm.](nutrients-09-00834-g002){#nutrients-09-00834-f002}

![Effect of High-SM intake on grip strength in OVX mice. (**A**) OVX mice were fed with high soymilk (High-SM) for 12 weeks. Muscle strength was measured by a grip strength meter at 12 weeks followed by the start of soymilk intake. Food intake (**B**), body weight (**C**), muscle strength (**D**) were shown (control, *n* = 7; soymilk, *n* = 8 mice). Data represent the mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant. An asterisk denotes a significant difference from control (**\*** *p* \< 0.05).](nutrients-09-00834-g003){#nutrients-09-00834-f003}

![Effect of High-SM intake on muscle in OVX mice. OVX mice were fed with High-SM as shown in [Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}. (**A**) Muscle weight of TA was measured at 12 weeks followed by the start of soymilk intake. (**B**) Representative images of immunohistochemistry for laminin. CSA of TA muscle was shown (control, *n* = 6; soymilk, *n* = 6 mice). Data represent the mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant. An asterisk denotes a significant difference from control (**\*** *p* \< 0.05). Scale bar, 100 μm.](nutrients-09-00834-g004){#nutrients-09-00834-f004}

![Effect of High-SM intake on satellite cell function in OVX mice. (**A**) OVX mice were fed with High-SM as shown in [Figure 3](#nutrients-09-00834-f003){ref-type="fig"}. Satellite cells retained in their niche on myofibers were isolated from the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle in OVX mice, cultured in mitogen-rich medium for 72 h, and co-immunostained for Pax7 and MyoD. Number of Pax7^+^ and/or MyoD^+^ (**B**) or Myogenin^+^ (**C**) nuclei per myofibre was quantified. (more than 20 myofibers per mouse were counted; control, *n* = 5; soymilk, *n* = 4 mice). Data represent the mean ± SEM. n.s., not significant. An asterisk denotes a significant difference from control (**\*** *p* \< 0.05).](nutrients-09-00834-g005){#nutrients-09-00834-f005}


Parse Error: Illegal Construction


Focus groups with pregnant smokers: barriers to cessation, attitudes to nicotine patch use and perceptions of cessation counselling by care providers.
Focus group methodology was used to determine the barriers to smoking cessation for pregnant women prior to the commencement of a randomised controlled smoking cessation trial (RCT), using nicotine patches in the treatment arm. Attitudes to the use of nicotine patches and perceptions of care provider counselling were also explored. Women were identified by researcher interview in the antenatal clinics as current smokers or recent 'quitters' and recruited to one of three focus groups. A number of barriers to achieving smoking cessation were identified. Pregnancy-specific barriers included scepticism about smoking-related harms. Other barriers, such as addiction to nicotine and the smoking behaviour of others, particularly partners, are generic. The latter is magnified in pregnancy by the heightened complexities of familial relationships. Potential use of patches was acceptable to most women, although some high-risk patients expressed doubts about safety and believed continued smoking was preferable. Women recounted that care providers differed in approaches to smoking cessation. Reporting 'cutting down' generally avoided further inquiries about smoking. The knowledge gained of pregnant women's perspectives enhanced the researchers' understanding in these areas. These insights have been incorporated into staff training initiatives, have guided the planning of the RCT, and have continued to inform its conduct.


Olivia Wilde: I Am Honored to Fight for Children's Rights!

About this photo set:
Olivia Wilde stays green while taking her pet pooch Paco to CageFree K-9 Camp day care center on Friday (December 20) in Los Angeles. The day before, the 29-year-old… Read More Here