28 research outputs found
Defining appropriateness in coach-athlete sexual relationships: The voice of coaches
The sporting culture, with omnipotent coaches, fierce competition for recognition and funding, and âwin at all costâ ethos, creates an environment conducive to sexual exploitation of athletes. Recent increased public awareness and the development of child protection policies in sport have led to the questioning of previously accepted coach-athlete relationships. This study is an exploratory investigation into male swimming coachesâ perceptions of appropriateness of coach-athlete sexual relationships. Sexual relationships with athletes under the age of 16 were unanimously considered totally inappropriate. With regard to sexual relationships with athletes above the age of consent for heterosexual sex, opinions ranged from âtotally inappropriateâ to âitâs a question of civil liberties.â These results are discussed in relation to how coaches have adapted their own behaviours in the face of public scrutiny but are still reluctant to restrict the rights of their fellow coaches
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Hepcidin-mediated hypoferremia disrupts immune responses to vaccination and infection
Background: How specific nutrients influence adaptive immunity is of
broad interest. Iron deficiency is the most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide and imparts a significant burden of global disease;
however, its effects on immunity remain unclear.
Methods: We used a hepcidin mimetic and several genetic models to
examine the effect of low iron availability on T cells in vitro and on immune responses to vaccines and viral infection in mice. We examined
humoral immunity in human patients with raised hepcidin and low
serum iron caused by mutant TMPRSS6. We tested the effect of iron
supplementation on vaccination-induced humoral immunity in piglets,
a natural model of iron deficiency.
Findings: We show that low serum iron (hypoferremia), caused by
increased hepcidin, severely impairs effector and memory responses
to immunizations. The intensified metabolism of activated lymphocytes
requires the support of enhanced iron acquisition, which is facilitated by
IRP1/2 and TFRC. Accordingly, providing extra iron improved the
response to vaccination in hypoferremic mice and piglets, while
conversely, hypoferremic humans with chronically increased hepcidin
have reduced concentrations of antibodies specific for certain pathogens. Imposing hypoferremia blunted the T cell, B cell, and neutralizing
antibody responses to influenza virus infection in mice, allowing the virus to persist and exacerbating lung inflammation and morbidity.
Conclusions: Hypoferremia, a well-conserved physiological innate
response to infection, can counteract the development of adaptive immunity. This nutrient trade-off is relevant for understanding and
improving immune responses to infections and vaccines in the globally
common contexts of iron deficiency and inflammatory disorders
Massive and persistent anterograde amnesia in the absence of detectable brain damage: Anterograde psychogenic amnesia or gross reduction in sustained effort?
Kessler J, Markowitsch HJ, Huber M, Kalbe E, WeberLuxenburger G, Kock P. Massive and persistent anterograde amnesia in the absence of detectable brain damage: Anterograde psychogenic amnesia or gross reduction in sustained effort? JOURNAL OF CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGY. 1997;19(4):604-614.The case of a young patient with severe and persistent anterograde amnesia of no known cause is reported. Anterograde amnesia arose within a 1-month period and has persisted for more than 1 year. Although a wide variety of neurological and neuroradiological assessments were completed (EEG, evoked potential recordings, Doppler sonography, MRI, PET), no evidence of brain damage was detected. Neuropsychologically, the patient was of high intelligence, had average to above-average short-term memory, and normal retrograde memory abilities, but severe and persistent anterograde amnesia in both verbal and nonverbal domains. Furthermore, he demonstrated grossly reduced long-term concentration. It is likely that a complex chain of interacting variables can produce a syndrome that appears phenomenologically as anterograde amnesia without organically measurable correlates