Psychological determinants of whole-body endurance performance

Background: No literature reviews have systematically identified and evaluated research on the psychological determinants of endurance performance, and sport psychology performance-enhancement guidelines for endurance sports are not founded on a systematic appraisal of endurance-specific research. Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify practical psychological interventions that improve endurance performance and to identify additional psychological factors that affect endurance performance. Additional objectives were to evaluate the research practices of included studies, to suggest theoretical and applied implications, and to guide future research. Methods: Electronic databases, forward-citation searches, and manual searches of reference lists were used to locate relevant studies. Peer-reviewed studies were included when they chose an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, a psychological manipulation, endurance performance as the dependent variable, and athletes or physically-active, healthy adults as participants. Results: Consistent support was found for using imagery, self-talk, and goal setting to improve endurance performance, but it is unclear whether learning multiple psychological skills is more beneficial than learning one psychological skill. The results also demonstrated that mental fatigue undermines endurance performance, and verbal encouragement and head-to-head competition can have a beneficial effect. Interventions that influenced perception of effort consistently affected endurance performance. Conclusions: Psychological skills training could benefit an endurance athlete. Researchers are encouraged to compare different practical psychological interventions, to examine the effects of these interventions for athletes in competition, and to include a placebo control condition or an alternative control treatment. Researchers are also encouraged to explore additional psychological factors that could have a negative effect on endurance performance. Future research should include psychological mediating variables and moderating variables. Implications for theoretical explanations of endurance performance and evidence-based practice are described

Influence of Calendar Period on the Association Between BMI and Coronary Heart Disease: A Meta-Analysis of 31 Cohorts

Objective: The association between obesity and coronary heart disease (CHD) may have changed over time, for example due to improved pharmacological treatment of CHD risk factors. This meta-analysis of 31 prospective cohort studies explores the influence of calendar period on CHD risk associated with body mass index (BMI). Design and Methods: The relative risks (RRs) of CHD for a five-BMI-unit increment and BMI categories were pooled by means of random effects models. Meta-regression analysis was used to examine the influence of calendar period (>1985 v 1985) in univariate and multivariate analyses (including mean population age as a covariate). Results: The age, sex, and smoking adjusted RR (95% confidence intervals) of CHD for a five-BMI-unit increment was 1.28(1.22:1.34). For underweight, overweight and obesity, the RRs (compared to normal weight) were 1.11(0.91:1.36), 1.31(1.22:1.41), and 1.78(1.55:2.04), respectively. The univariate analysis indicated 31% (95%CI: 56:0) lower RR of CHD associated with a five-BMI-unit increment and a 51% (95%CI: 78: 14)) lower RR associated with obesity in studies starting after 1985 (n ¼ 15 and 10, respectively) compared to studies starting in or before 1985 (n ¼ 16 and 10). However, in the multivariate analysis, only mean population age was independently associated with the RRs for a five-BMI-unit increment and obesity ( 29(95%CI: 55: 5)) and 31(95%CI: 66:3), respectively) per 10-year increment in mean age). Conclusion: This study provides no consistent evidence for a difference in the association between BMI and CHD by calendar period. The mean population age seems to be the most important factor that modifies the association between the risk of CHD and BMI, in which the RR decreases with increasing age

HIF1α drives chemokine factor pro-tumoral signaling pathways in acute myeloid leukemia

Approximately 80% of patients diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) die as a consequence of failure to eradicate the tumor from the bone marrow microenvironment. We have recently shown that stroma-derived interleukin-8 (IL-8) promotes AML growth and survival in the bone marrow in response to AML-derived macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). In the present study we show that high constitutive expression of MIF in AML blasts in the bone marrow is hypoxia-driven and, through knockdown of MIF, HIF1α and HIF2α, establish that hypoxia supports AML tumor proliferation through HIF1α signaling. In vivo targeting of leukemic cell HIF1α inhibits AML proliferation in the tumor microenvironment through transcriptional regulation of MIF, but inhibition of HIF2α had no measurable effect on AML blast survival. Functionally, targeted inhibition of MIF in vivo improves survival in models of AML. Here we present a mechanism linking HIF1α to a pro-tumoral chemokine factor signaling pathway and in doing so, we establish a potential strategy to target AML

School Effects on the Wellbeing of Children and Adolescents

Well-being is a multidimensional construct, with psychological, physical and social components. As theoretical basis to help understand this concept and how it relates to school, we propose the Self-Determination Theory, which contends that self-determined motivation and personality integration, growth and well-being are dependent on a healthy balance of three innate psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness and competence. Thus, current indicators involve school effects on children’s well-being, in many diverse modalities which have been explored. Some are described in this chapter, mainly: the importance of peer relationships; the benefits of friendship; the effects of schools in conjunction with some forms of family influence; the school climate in terms of safety and physical ecology; the relevance of the teacher input; the school goal structure and the implementation of cooperative learning. All these parameters have an influence in promoting optimal functioning among children and increasing their well-being by meeting the above mentioned needs. The empirical support for the importance of schools indicates significant small effects, which often translate into important real-life effects as it is admitted at present. The conclusion is that schools do make a difference in children’s peer relationships and well-being

Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants

BACKGROUND: One of the global targets for non-communicable diseases is to halt, by 2025, the rise in the age-standardised adult prevalence of diabetes at its 2010 levels. We aimed to estimate worldwide trends in diabetes, how likely it is for countries to achieve the global target, and how changes in prevalence, together with population growth and ageing, are affecting the number of adults with diabetes. METHODS: We pooled data from population-based studies that had collected data on diabetes through measurement of its biomarkers. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in diabetes prevalence—defined as fasting plasma glucose of 7·0 mmol/L or higher, or history of diagnosis with diabetes, or use of insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs—in 200 countries and territories in 21 regions, by sex and from 1980 to 2014. We also calculated the posterior probability of meeting the global diabetes target if post-2000 trends continue. FINDINGS: We used data from 751 studies including 4 372 000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4·3% (95% credible interval 2·4–7·0) in 1980 to 9·0% (7·2–11·1) in 2014 in men, and from 5·0% (2·9–7·9) to 7·9% (6·4–9·7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28·5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39·7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31·8% due to interaction of these two factors). Age-standardised adult diabetes prevalence in 2014 was lowest in northwestern Europe, and highest in Polynesia and Micronesia, at nearly 25%, followed by Melanesia and the Middle East and north Africa. Between 1980 and 2014 there was little change in age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adult women in continental western Europe, although crude prevalence rose because of ageing of the population. By contrast, age-standardised adult prevalence rose by 15 percentage points in men and women in Polynesia and Micronesia. In 2014, American Samoa had the highest national prevalence of diabetes (>30% in both sexes), with age-standardised adult prevalence also higher than 25% in some other islands in Polynesia and Micronesia. If post-2000 trends continue, the probability of meeting the global target of halting the rise in the prevalence of diabetes by 2025 at the 2010 level worldwide is lower than 1% for men and is 1% for women. Only nine countries for men and 29 countries for women, mostly in western Europe, have a 50% or higher probability of meeting the global target. INTERPRETATION: Since 1980, age-standardised diabetes prevalence in adults has increased, or at best remained unchanged, in every country. Together with population growth and ageing, this rise has led to a near quadrupling of the number of adults with diabetes worldwide. The burden of diabetes, both in terms of prevalence and number of adults affected, has increased faster in low-income and middle-income countries than in high-income countries. FUNDING: Wellcome Trust

Increasing physical activity in postpartum multiethnic women in Hawaii: results from a pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mothers of an infant are much less likely to exercise regularly compared to other women. This study tested the efficacy of a brief tailored intervention to increase physical activity (PA) in women 3–12 months after childbirth. The study used a pretest-posttest design. Sedentary women (n = 20) were recruited from a parenting organization. Half the participants were ethnic minorities, mean age was 33 ± 3.8, infants' mean age was 6.9 ± 2.4 months, 50% were primiparas, and mean body mass index was 23.6 ± 4.2.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The two-month intervention included telephone counseling, pedometers, referral to community PA resources, social support, email advice on PA/pedometer goals, and newsletters.</p> <p>The primary outcome of the study was minutes per week of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity measured by the Godin physical activity instrument.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All women (100%) returned for post-test measures; thus, paired t-tests were used for pre-post increase in minutes of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity and comparisons of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity increases among ethnic groups. At baseline participants' reported a mean of 3 ± 13.4 minutes per week moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity. At post-test this significantly increased to 85.5 ± 76.4 minutes per week of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity (p < .001, Cohen's d = 2.2; effect size r = 0.7). There were no differences in pre to post increases in minutes of moderate and vigorous leisure-time physical activity among races.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A telephone/email intervention tailored to meet the needs of postpartum women was effective in increasing physical activity levels. However, randomized trials comparing tailored telephone and email interventions to standard care and including long-term follow-up to determine maintenance of physical activity are warranted.</p

Complete Primate Skeleton from the Middle Eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and Paleobiology

The best European locality for complete Eocene mammal skeletons is Grube Messel, near Darmstadt, Germany. Although the site was surrounded by a para-tropical rain forest in the Eocene, primates are remarkably rare there, and only eight fragmentary specimens were known until now. Messel has now yielded a full primate skeleton. The specimen has an unusual history: it was privately collected and sold in two parts, with only the lesser part previously known. The second part, which has just come to light, shows the skeleton to be the most complete primate known in the fossil record.We describe the morphology and investigate the paleobiology of the skeleton. The specimen is described as Darwinius masillae n.gen. n.sp. belonging to the Cercamoniinae. Because the skeleton is lightly crushed and bones cannot be handled individually, imaging studies are of particular importance. Skull radiography shows a host of teeth developing within the juvenile face. Investigation of growth and proportion suggest that the individual was a weaned and independent-feeding female that died in her first year of life, and might have attained a body weight of 650-900 g had she lived to adulthood. She was an agile, nail-bearing, generalized arboreal quadruped living above the floor of the Messel rain forest.Darwinius masillae represents the most complete fossil primate ever found, including both skeleton, soft body outline and contents of the digestive tract. Study of all these features allows a fairly complete reconstruction of life history, locomotion, and diet. Any future study of Eocene-Oligocene primates should benefit from information preserved in the Darwinius holotype. Of particular importance to phylogenetic studies, the absence of a toilet claw and a toothcomb demonstrates that Darwinius masillae is not simply a fossil lemur, but part of a larger group of primates, Adapoidea, representative of the early haplorhine diversification

Using neural networks and evolutionary information in decoy discrimination for protein tertiary structure prediction

Background: We present a novel method of protein fold decoy discrimination using machine learning, more specifically using neural networks. Here, decoy discrimination is represented as a machine learning problem, where neural networks are used to learn the native-like features of protein structures using a set of positive and negative training examples. A set of native protein structures provides the positive training examples, while negative training examples are simulated decoy structures obtained by reversing the sequences of native structures. Various features are extracted from the training dataset of positive and negative examples and used as inputs to the neural networks.Results: Results have shown that the best performing neural network is the one that uses input information comprising of PSI-BLAST [1] profiles of residue pairs, pairwise distance and the relative solvent accessibilities of the residues. This neural network is the best among all methods tested in discriminating the native structure from a set of decoys for all decoy datasets tested. Conclusion: This method is demonstrated to be viable, and furthermore evolutionary information is successfully used in the neural networks to improve decoy discrimination

Innovative gait robot for the repetitive practice of floor walking and stair climbing up and down in stroke patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Stair climbing up and down is an essential part of everyday's mobility. To enable wheelchair-dependent patients the repetitive practice of this task, a novel gait robot, G-EO-Systems (EO, Lat: I walk), based on the end-effector principle, has been designed. The trajectories of the foot plates are freely programmable enabling not only the practice of simulated floor walking but also stair climbing up and down. The article intended to compare lower limb muscle activation patterns of hemiparetic subjects during real floor walking and stairs climbing up, and during the corresponding simulated conditions on the machine, and secondly to demonstrate gait improvement on single case after training on the machine.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The muscle activation pattern of seven lower limb muscles of six hemiparetic patients during free and simulated walking on the floor and stair climbing was measured via dynamic electromyography. A non-ambulatory, sub-acute stroke patient additionally trained on the G-EO-Systems every workday for five weeks.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The muscle activation patterns were comparable during the real and simulated conditions, both on the floor and during stair climbing up. Minor differences, concerning the real and simulated floor walking conditions, were a delayed (prolonged) onset (duration) of the thigh muscle activation on the machine across all subjects. Concerning stair climbing conditions, the shank muscle activation was more phasic and timely correct in selected patients on the device. The severely affected subject regained walking and stair climbing ability.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The G-EO-Systems is an interesting new option in gait rehabilitation after stroke. The lower limb muscle activation patterns were comparable, a training thus feasible, and the positive case report warrants further clinical studies.</p

A phase II study of the bispecific antibody MDX-H210 (anti-HER2 × CD64) with GM-CSF in HER2+ advanced prostate cancer

The proto-oncogene HER2 presents a novel therapeutic target. We report results in 25 patients with HER2+ advanced prostate cancer treated with the bispecific antibody MDX-H210 15 μg m−2by intravenous infusion plus GM-CSF 5 μg kg−1day−1by subcutaneous injection for 4 days repeated weekly for 6 weeks. Patients with stable disease or better received further cycles of treatment until disease progression or study withdrawal. 1 patient received no treatment and 4 received less than 1 cycle and are included in the toxicity analysis only. Median duration of follow up was 105+ (range 21–188) days. Toxicity was generally NCI-CTG 0–2. There were 2 grade 4 adverse events (heart failure and dyspnoea) and 1 grade 3 event (allergic reaction) resulting in discontinuation of the study medication. There were 9 further grade 3 events not resulting in trial withdrawal. There were no treatment-related deaths. 7/20 (35%) evaluable patients had a >50% PSA response of median duration 128 (range 71–184+) days. 7/12 (58%) patients with evaluable pain had improvements in pain scores. The PSA relative velocity on therapy decreased in 15/18 (83%) assessable patients compared to pre-study. GM-CSF and MDX-H210 is active in hormone refractory prostate carcinoma with acceptable toxicity; further studies are warranted. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.co