The influence of injured athletes perceptions of social support from ATCs on athletes' beliefs about rehabilitation

This is the publisher's version, also found at http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=cc60431c-6281-4940-bc2d-85f4c9ff2060%40sessionmgr11&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=s3h&AN=24665314Objective: To determine whether athletes’ perceptions of social support from their certified athletic trainers (ATCs) were related to their beliefs about the rehabilitation process. Design: Division I athletes (N = 57) completed a survey including measures of social support and beliefs about rehabilitation. Participants: Division I college athletes (35 men, 22 women) who had sustained an injury that caused them to miss no less than 5 consecutive days. Measurements: The Social Support Survey (SSS) and the Sports Injury Rehabilitation Beliefs Survey (SIRBS). Results: Results revealed significant correlations between the SSS and the SIRBS scales only for athletes who had sustained severe injuries. Multiple-regression analyses revealed that the SSS scales were significant predictors of each of the SIRBS scales. Conclusions: Results suggest that when severely injured athletes perceive that their ATCs provide strong social support, they are more likely to believe in their rehabilitation programs. Key Words: psychology of injury, psychology of rehabilitatio

Zum Stand der Diskursforschung: Anmerkungen und Befunde zu Institutionalisierung, Problemen und Struktur eines transdisziplinären Feldes

Anlässlich des fünfjährigen Erscheinens der ZfD reflektiert dieser theoretische, methodologische Beitrag den Stand der Diskursforschung. Mittels einer quantitativen Inhaltsanalyse werden die Artikelbeiträge der ZfD als Repräsentation des deutschsprachigen Feldes der Diskursforschung untersucht. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist es, die Strukturen, Trends und Probleme in diesem interdisziplinären Feld zu charakterisieren

Genetic diversity in Cypripedium calceolus (Orchidaceae) with a focus on north-western Europe, as revealed by plastid DNA length polymorphisms

Background and Aims Cypripedium calceolus, although widespread in Eurasia, is rare in many countries in which it occurs. Population genetics studies with nuclear DNA markers on this species have been hampered by its large nuclear genome size. Plastid DNA markers are used here to gain an understanding of variation within and between populations and of biogeographical patterns. Methods Thirteen length-variable regions (microsatellites and insertions/deletions) were identified in non-coding plastid DNA. These and a previously identified complex microsatellite in the trnL-trnF intergenic spacer were used to identify plastid DNA haplotypes for European samples, with sampling focused on England, Denmark and Sweden. Key Results The 13 additional length-variable regions identified were two homopolymer (polyA) repeats in the rps16 intron and a homopolymer (polyA) repeat and ten indels in the accD-psa1 intergenic spacer. In accD-psa1, most of these were in an extremely AT-rich region, and it was not possible to design primers in the flanking regions; therefore, the whole intergenic spacer was sequenced. Together, these new regions and the trnL-trnF complex microsatellite allowed 23 haplotypes to be characterized. Many were found in only one or a few samples (probably due to low sampling density), but some commoner haplotypes were widespread. Most of the genetic variation was found within rather than between populations (83 vs. 18%, respectively). Two haplotypes occurred from the Spanish Pyrenees to Sweden. Conclusions Plastid DNA data can be used to gain an understanding of patterns of genetic variation and seed-mediated gene flow in orchids. Although these data are less information-rich than those for nuclear DNA, they present a useful option for studying species with large genomes. Here they support the hypothesis of long-distance seed dispersal often proposed for orchid

Reply to Swartz et al.: Challenges and opportunities for identifying forced labor using satellite-based fishing vessel monitoring

We appreciate Swartz et al. (1) for highlighting several key considerations for interpreting our results (2). While we discuss many of these in our paper, we are grateful to further highlight our work’s strengths, limitations, and future opportunities. A major challenge with understanding fisheries labor abuses is a lack of data. Automatic identification system (AIS) is only used by a subset of the global fishing fleet. However, AIS is valuable for monitoring certain types of fishing vessels, especially those that are large (∼52 to 85% carry AIS) (3) and those fishing on the high seas (∼80% carry AIS) (4). Mandating AIS and unique identifiers on fishing vessels and publishing vessel registries would facilitate more inclusive AIS-based analyses (5)

Leptin fails to blunt the lipopolysaccharide-induced activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in rats

Copyright @ 2013 The authors. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.Obesity is a risk factor for sepsis morbidity and mortality, whereas the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis plays a protective role in the body's defence against sepsis. Sepsis induces a profound systemic immune response and cytokines serve as excellent markers for sepsis as they act as mediators of the immune response. Evidence suggests that the adipokine leptin may play a pathogenic role in sepsis. Mouse endotoxaemic models present with elevated leptin levels and exogenously added leptin increased mortality whereas human septic patients have elevated circulating levels of the soluble leptin receptor (Ob-Re). Evidence suggests that leptin can inhibit the regulation of the HPA axis. Thus, leptin may suppress the HPA axis, impairing its protective role in sepsis.We hypothesised that leptin would attenuate the HPA axis response to sepsis.We investigated the direct effects of an i.p. injection of 2 mg/kg leptin on the HPA axis response to intraperitoneally injected 25 μg/kg lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the male Wistar rat. We found that LPS potently activated the HPA axis, as shown by significantly increased plasma stress hormones, ACTH and corticosterone, and increased plasma interleukin 1β (IL1β) levels, 2 h after administration. Pre-treatment with leptin, 2 h before LPS administration, did not influence the HPA axis response to LPS. In turn, LPS did not affect plasma leptin levels. Our findings suggest that leptin does not influence HPA function or IL1b secretion in a rat model of LPS-induced sepsis, and thus that leptin is unlikely to be involved in the acute-phase endocrine response to bacterial infection in rats.The section is funded by grants from the MRC, BBSRC, NIHR and an Integrative Mammalian Biology (IMB) Capacity Building Award, and by a FP7-HEALTH-2009-241592 EuroCHIP grant and is supported by the NIHR Imperial Biomedical Research Centre Funding Scheme. This work is supported by a BBSRC Doctoral Training-Strategic Skills Award grant (BB/F017340/1)

Natural images from the birthplace of the human eye

Here we introduce a database of calibrated natural images publicly available through an easy-to-use web interface. Using a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera, we acquired about 5000 six-megapixel images of Okavango Delta of Botswana, a tropical savanna habitat similar to where the human eye is thought to have evolved. Some sequences of images were captured unsystematically while following a baboon troop, while others were designed to vary a single parameter such as aperture, object distance, time of day or position on the horizon. Images are available in the raw RGB format and in grayscale. Images are also available in units relevant to the physiology of human cone photoreceptors, where pixel values represent the expected number of photoisomerizations per second for cones sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths. This database is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial Unported license to facilitate research in computer vision, psychophysics of perception, and visual neuroscience.Comment: Submitted to PLoS ON

Actin depletion initiates events leading to granule secretion at the immunological synapse.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) use polarized secretion to rapidly destroy virally infected and tumor cells. To understand the temporal relationships between key events leading to secretion, we used high-resolution 4D imaging. CTLs approached targets with actin-rich projections at the leading edge, creating an initially actin-enriched contact with rearward-flowing actin. Within 1 min, cortical actin reduced across the synapse, T cell receptors (TCRs) clustered centrally to form the central supramolecular activation cluster (cSMAC), and centrosome polarization began. Granules clustered around the moving centrosome within 2.5 min and reached the synapse after 6 min. TCR-bearing intracellular vesicles were delivered to the cSMAC as the centrosome docked. We found that the centrosome and granules were delivered to an area of membrane with reduced cortical actin density and phospholipid PIP2. These data resolve the temporal order of events during synapse maturation in 4D and reveal a critical role for actin depletion in regulating secretion.Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust through Principal Research Fellowships (075880 and 103930) to G.M.G. and a Strategic Award (100140) to the Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (CIMR). A.T.R. is an NIH-OxCam scholar supported by funding to J.L.-S. from the Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.This is the final version. It was first published by Elsevier at http://www.cell.com/immunity/abstract/S1074-7613%2815%2900173-9

Recent Asian origin of chytrid fungi causing global amphibian declines

Globalized infectious diseases are causing species declines worldwide, but their source often remains elusive. We used whole-genome sequencing to solve the spatiotemporal origins of the most devastating panzootic to date, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a proximate driver of global amphibian declines. We traced the source of B. dendrobatidis to the Korean peninsula, where one lineage, BdASIA-1, exhibits the genetic hallmarks of an ancestral population that seeded the panzootic. We date the emergence of this pathogen to the early 20th century, coinciding with the global expansion of commercial trade in amphibians, and we show that intercontinental transmission is ongoing. Our findings point to East Asia as a geographic hotspot for B. dendrobatidis biodiversity and the original source of these lineages that now parasitize amphibians worldwide