620 research outputs found
The Relationships between Optimism and Pessimism and Burnout in Youth Soccer Players
Sport related burnout has become a concern for many athletes, coaches, and sport psychologists. Although burnout in sport is receiving more attention, the research still remains relatively limited (Capel, 1986; Dale & Weinberg, 1990; Fender, 1989; Gould, Udry, Tuffey, & Loehr, 1996). Dale and Weinberg (1990) indicated a need for future research concerning the identification of characteristics that may predispose athletes to burnout. No past research was found that investigated the relationship between optimism/pessimism and sport burnout. The primary purpose of this investigation was to examine the relationships between optimism and pessimism with burnout. A secondary purpose was to determine whether optimism, pessimism, and burnout differ between gender, race, age, aspects of soccer involvement, and participation in other sports. The Life Orientation Test-Revised (Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) and Burnout Inventory for Athletes (VanYperen, 1997) were completed by 100 youth athletes (42 boys, 58 girls) participating in premier/select (n_= 100) and high school (n = 55) soccer leagues, with 55 soccer players participating in both leagues. A Sport Questionnaire was also administered to obtain demographics information including gender, age, race, specific soccer involvement, and other sport participation. Results revealed statistically significant negative correlations between optimism and burnout (r = -.271, a \u3c .01) as well as between optimism and intent to quit (r = -.308, a \u3c .01). A significant positive correlation was found between age and burnout (r = .315, a \u3c .01). No significant correlation was discovered between pessimism and burnout. Results revealed that youth soccer players classified as optimistic exhibited less burnout and showed less intent to quit soccer within one year
Psychometric characteristics of the short form 36 health survey and functional assessment of chronic illness Therapy-Fatigue subscale for patients with ankylosing spondylitis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We evaluated the psychometric characteristics of the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey and the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT)-Fatigue subscale in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We analyzed clinical and patient-reported outcome (PRO) data collected during 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled periods of two randomized controlled trials comparing adalimumab and placebo for the treatment of active AS. The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index, and other clinical measures were collected during the clinical trial. We evaluated internal consistency/reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness to change for the SF-36 and FACIT-Fatigue.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The SF-36 (Cronbach alpha, 0.74-0.92) and FACIT-Fatigue (Cronbach alpha, 0.82-0.86) both had good internal consistency/reliability. At baseline, SF-36 and FACIT-Fatigue scores correlated significantly with Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life scores (r = -0.36 to -0.66 and r = -0.70, respectively; all p < 0.0001). SF-36 scores varied by indicators of clinical severity, with greater impairment observed for more severe degrees of clinical activity (all p < 0.0001). FACIT-Fatigue scores correlated significantly with SF-36 scores (r = 0.42 to 0.74; all p < 0.0001) and varied by clinical severity (p < 0.05 to p < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The SF-36 is a reliable, valid, and responsive measure of health-related quality of life and the FACIT-Fatigue is a brief and psychometrically sound measure of the effects of fatigue on patients with AS. These PROs may be useful in evaluating effectiveness of new treatments for AS.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00085644">NCT00085644</a> and <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00195819">NCT00195819</a></p
Development and validation of a patientāassessed gastroparesis symptom severity measure: the Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index
SummaryBackground : Patientābased symptom assessments are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of medical treatments for gastroparesis.Aim :āTo summarize the development and measurement qualities of the Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index (GCSI), a new measure of gastroparesisārelated symptoms.Methods : The GCSI was based on reviews of the medical literature, clinician interviews and patient focus groups. The measurement qualities (i.e. reliability, validity) of the GCSI were examined in 169 gastroparesis patients. Patients were recruited from seven clinical centres in the USA to participate in this observational study. Patients completed the GCSI, SFā36 Health Survey and disability day questions at a baseline visit and again after 8āweeks. Clinicians independently rated the severity of the patients' symptoms, and both clinicians and patients rated the change in gastroparesisārelated symptoms over the 8āweek study.Results: The GCSI consists of three subāscales: postāprandial fullness/early satiety, nausea/vomiting and bloating. The internal consistency reliability was 0.84 and the testāreātest reliability was 0.76 for the GCSI total score. Significant relationships were observed between the clinicianāassessed symptom severity and the GCSI total score, and significant associations were found between the GCSI scores and SFā36 physical and mental component summary scores and restricted activity and bed disability days. Patients with greater symptom severity, as rated by clinicians, reported greater symptom severity on the GCSI. The GCSI total scores were responsive to changes in overall gastroparesis symptoms as assessed by clinicians (Pā=ā0.0002) and patients (Pā=ā0.002).Conclusion: The findings of this study indicate that the GCSI is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring the symptom severity in patients with gastroparesis
Promising developments in neuropsychological approaches for the detection of preclinical Alzheimerās disease: a selective review
Recently published guidelines suggest that the most opportune time to treat individuals with Alzheimerās disease is during the preclinical phase of the disease. This is a phase when individuals are defined as clinically normal but exhibit evidence of amyloidosis, neurodegeneration and subtle cognitive/behavioral decline. While our standard cognitive tests are useful for detecting cognitive decline at the stage of mild cognitive impairment, they were not designed for detecting the subtle cognitive variations associated with this biomarker stage of preclinical Alzheimerās disease. However, neuropsychologists are attempting to meet this challenge by designing newer cognitive measures and questionnaires derived from translational efforts in neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience and clinical/experimental neuropsychology. This review is a selective summary of several novel, potentially promising, approaches that are being explored for detecting early cognitive evidence of preclinical Alzheimerās disease in presymptomatic individuals
Coherence and phase techniques applied to noise diagnosis in the NASA Ames 7 times 10-foot wind tunnel no. 1
Measurements have been made of coherence and phase spectra for the acoustic field in a subsonic wind tunnel. The data are interpreted in terms of simple analytical models for propagating and diffuse noise fields, including the presence of uncorrelated noise signals. It is found that low frequency noise propagates upstream and downstream from the fan, with the noise in the test section arriving in the upstream direction. High frequency sound is generated in the test section and propagates upstream and downstream. In the low frequency range, the ratio of diffuse to propagating energy is about eight for all locations in the test section, diffuser, and settling chamber; the value of the ratio increases with frequency
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Longitudinal Trajectories of the Cognitive Function Index in the A4 Study.
BACKGROUND: The Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic Alzheimers Disease (A4) Study failed to show a treatment benefit with solanezumab, but the longitudinal consequences of elevated amyloid were observed in study participants with objective decline on the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) and subjective decline on the combined Cognitive Function Index (participant + study partner CFI), during the trial period. OBJECTIVES: We sought to expand on previous findings by comparing longitudinal patterns of participant and study partner CFI separately and their associations with the PACC stratified by baseline amyloid tertile over the course of the A4 Study. DESIGN: Cognitively unimpaired older adult participants and their study partners were independently administered the CFI at screen prior to amyloid PET disclosure and then at 3 subsequent visits (week 48, week 168, week 240) of the study. PACC collected at visits concurrent with CFI administration were also examined longitudinally. SETTING: The A4 Study was conducted at 67 sites in Australia, Canada, Japan, and the United States. PARTICIPANTS: 1,147 participants with elevated amyloid based on florbetapir PET were enrolled in the A4 Study and included in these analyses. 583 were on placebo and 564 were treated with solanezumab. MEASUREMENTS: The PACC was used to assess objective cognitive performance and the CFI was used to assess change in everyday cognitive functioning by the participant and their study partner independently. Amyloid level was characterized by Centiloid tertiles (<46.1 CL, 46.1 to 77.2 CL, >77.2 CL). Participants were aware of their elevated amyloid status, but not their CL tertile, or specific level of amyloid. Longitudinal correlations between participant and study partner CFI and PACC were examined at all visits where assessments were available. The impact of baseline amyloid tertile on CFI and PACC associations was also examined. RESULTS: Both participant and study partner CFI increased over the duration of the study indicating worsening cognitive functioning. Results did not differ by treatment group. The association between higher CFI and worse PACC for both for participant and study partner became progressively stronger over the course of the study. PACC had a significantly higher correlation with study partner CFI than with participant CFI by week 168. The stronger correlations between study partner CFI and PACC were driven by those in the highest amyloid tertile. CONCLUSION: Both participant and study partner report captured subtle changes in everyday cognitive functioning for participants with biomarker confirmed and disclosed preclinical AD. Moreover, study partner report was most highly aligned with cognitive decline, particularly among those with the highest amyloid load
Tackling an intractable problem: can greater taxon sampling help resolve relationships within the Stenopelmatoidea (Orthoptera: Ensifera)?
The relationships among and within the families that comprise the orthopteran superfamily Stenopelmatoidea (suborder Ensifera) remain poorly understood. We developed a phylogenetic hypothesis based on Bayesian analysis of two nuclear ribosomal and one mitochondrial gene for 118 individuals (84 de novo and 34 from GenBank). These included Gryllacrididae from North, Central, and South America, South Africa and Madagascar, Australia and Papua New Guinea; Stenopelmatidae from North and Central America and South Africa; Anostostomatidae from North and Central America, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa; members of the Australian endemic Cooloola (three species); and a representative of Lezina from the Middle East. We also included representatives of all other major ensiferan families: Prophalangopsidae, Rhaphidophoridae, Schizodactylidae, Tettigoniidae, Gryllidae, Gryllotalpidae and Myrmecophilidae and representatives of the suborder Caelifera as outgroups. Bayesian analyses of concatenated sequence data supported a clade of Stenopelmatoidea inclusive of all analyzed members of Gryllacrididae, Stenopelmatidae, Anostostomatidae, Lezina and Cooloola. We found Gryllacrididae worldwide to be monophyletic, while we did not recover a monophyletic Stenopelmatidae nor Anostostomatidae. Australian Cooloola clustered in a clade composed of Australian, New Zealand, and some (but not all) North American Anostostomatidae. Lezina was included in a clade of New World Anostostomatidae. Finally, we compiled and compared karyotypes and sound production characteristics for each supported group. Chromosome number, centromere position, drumming, and stridulation differed among some groups, but also show variation within groups. This preliminary trait information may contribute toward future studies of trait evolution. Despite greater taxon sampling within Stenopelmatoidea than previous efforts, some relationships among the families examined continue to remain elusive
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Cognitive status impacts age-related changes in attention to novel and target events in normal adults.
In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between the cognitive status of normal adults and age-related changes in attention to novel and target events. Old, middle-age, and young subjects, divided into cognitively high and cognitively average performing groups, viewed repetitive standard stimuli, infrequent target stimuli, and unique novel visual stimuli. Subjects controlled viewing duration by a button press that led to the onset of the next stimulus. They also responded to targets by pressing a foot pedal. The amount of time spent looking at different kinds of stimuli served as a measure of visual attention and exploratory activity. Cognitively high performers spent more time viewing novel stimuli than cognitively average performers. The magnitude of the difference between cognitively high and cognitively average performing groups was largest among old subjects. Cognitively average performers had slower and less accurate responses to targets than cognitively high performers. The results provide strong evidence that the link between engagement by novelty and higher cognitive performance increases with age. Moreover, the results support the notion of there being different patterns of normal cognitive aging and the need to identify the factors that influence them
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