Social Support From the Athletic Trainer and Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety at Return to Play

CONTEXT: Few empirical studies have examined social support from athletic trainers (ATs) and its buffering effect during injury recovery. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of social support received from ATs during injury recovery on reported symptoms of depression and anxiety at return to play among a cohort of collegiate athletes. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Two Big 10 Conference universities. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: A total of 594 injuries sustained by 387 collegiate athletes (397 injuries by 256 males, 197 injuries by 131 females) on 9 sports teams. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Data were collected during the 2007–2011 seasons. Social support was measured using the 6-item Social Support Questionnaire. Symptoms of depression were assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Anxiety was measured by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. We used generalized estimation equation regression models to examine the effect of the social support from ATs on the odds of symptoms of depression and anxiety at return to play. RESULTS: In 84.3% (n = 501) of injury events, injured athletes received social support from ATs during their recovery. Of these, 264 (53.1%) athletes reported being very satisfied with this social support. Whether or not athletes received social support from ATs during recovery did not affect the symptoms of depression or anxiety experienced at return to play. However, compared with athletes who were dissatisfied with the social support received from ATs, athletes who were very satisfied or satisfied with this social support were 87% (95% confidence interval = 0.06, 0.30) and 70% (95% confidence interval = 0.13, 0.70) less likely to report symptoms of depression at return to play, respectively. Similar results were observed for anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the buffering effect of social support from ATs and have important implications for successful recovery in both the physical and psychological aspects for injured athletes

Easy and Efficient Transformer : Scalable Inference Solution For large NLP model

Recently, large-scale transformer-based models have been proven to be effective over a variety of tasks across many domains. Nevertheless, putting them into production is very expensive, requiring comprehensive optimization techniques to reduce inference costs. This paper introduces a series of transformer inference optimization techniques that are both in algorithm level and hardware level. These techniques include a pre-padding decoding mechanism that improves token parallelism for text generation, and highly optimized kernels designed for very long input length and large hidden size. On this basis, we propose a transformer inference acceleration library -- Easy and Efficient Transformer (EET), which has a significant performance improvement over existing libraries. Compared to Faster Transformer v4.0's implementation for GPT-2 layer on A100, EET achieves a 1.5-4.5x state-of-art speedup varying with different context lengths. EET is available at https://github.com/NetEase-FuXi/EET. A demo video is available at https://youtu.be/22UPcNGcErg

Mental Health among Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdown: A Cross-Sectional Multi-Country Comparison

Despite the global impact of COVID-19, studies comparing the effects of COVID-19 on population mental health across countries are sparse. This study aimed to compare anxiety and depression symptoms during the COVID-19 lockdown among adults from 11 countries and to examine their associations with country-level COVID-19 factors and personal COVID-19 exposure. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adults (≥18 years) in 11 countries (Brazil, Bulgaria, China, India, Ireland, North Macedonia, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, United States). Mental health (anxiety, depression, resilient coping, hope) and other study data were collected between June-August 2020. Of the 13,263 participants, 62.8% were female and 51.7% were 18-34 years old. Participants living in Brazil had the highest anxiety and depression symptoms while participants living in Singapore had the lowest. Greater personal COVID-19 exposure was associated with increased anxiety and depression symptoms, but country-level COVID-19 factors were not. Higher levels of hope were associated with reduced anxiety and depression; higher levels of resilient coping were associated with reduced anxiety but not depression. Substantial variations exist in anxiety and depression symptoms across countries during the COVID-19 lockdown, with personal COVID-19 exposure being a significant risk factor. Strategies that mitigate COVID-19 exposure and enhance hope and resilience may reduce anxiety and depression during global emergencies

Physical activity among adults residing in 11 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

During the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, physical activity (PA) behaviors were altered worldwide due to public health measures such as "lockdown." This study described PA among adults residing in 11 countries during COVID-19 lockdown and examined factors associated with PA engagement. We conducted a cross-sectional anonymous survey among adults (≥18 years old) in 11 countries (Brazil, Bulgaria, China, India, Ireland, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, United States). Of 11,775 participants, 63.7% were female and 52.8% were 18-34 years old. More than 40% of participants were insufficiently active (43.9%) and reported a decrease in their PA during lockdown (44.8%). Statistically significant differences were observed in (1) proportions of participants being insufficiently active, (2) level of PA, and (3) decrease in PA across the 11 countries. More stringent governmental policy responses were associated with greater likelihood of being insufficiently active during lockdown (adjusted odds ratio = 1.22, 95% confidence interval = 1.03, 1.45). Higher depression or anxiety scores were associated with greater likelihood of decreased level of PA during lockdown. We found substantial reductions in PA levels during COVID-19 lockdown across countries. Country-specific PA promotion interventions are needed during this and similar global emergencies

History of co-occurring disorders and current mental health status among homeless veterans

Abstract Background Homeless veterans are at high risk for co-occurring disorders (COD), defined as mental illnesses that include at least one alcohol or other drug use disorder and at least one non-drug related mental disorder. However, epidemiological studies examining the prevalence of COD and associated mental health status in this population are limited. The objectives of the study were: (1) to describe a history of diagnosed mental disorders among homeless veterans admitted to a transitional housing program, and (2) to examine the associations of the prior diagnosed COD and other mental disorders with current mental health status. Methods Study participants were male homeless veterans admitted to a transitional housing program from July 2015 to September 2017 in a large municipal area in Northeast Ohio, the United States. Cross-sectional, self-reported data from the admission assessment were included and analyzed. History of mental disorder diagnoses were aggregated into five categories for the purpose of this study: no mental disorders, only alcohol or other drug use disorder(s), one non-drug related mental disorder, two or more non-drug related mental disorders, and COD. Current mental status were measured as empowerment, mental component summary score (MCS) and physical component summary score (PCS) of health related quality of life (VR-12), and perceived overall well-being. Sample distribution of the five categories and their associations with current mental status were examined using Generalized Linear Model test. Results Of all participants, 76.7% had at least one prior diagnosed mental disorder, including 47.4% with any drug-related disorders. Over one-third (37.2%) reported having COD. Compared to those with no mental disorder history, those with COD scored significantly lower on MCS and empowerment scores; those with any prior diagnosed non-drug related mental disorders also scored significantly lower on MCS. No significant differences, however, were found in current mental health status between those with COD and those with mental disorders but not COD. Conclusions COD prevalence among homeless veterans was within the parameter of other literature reports. Veterans with COD compared to veterans with no history of mental disorders tended to have lower MCS and empowerment scores. Veterans with COD had the same mental health status as those with other mental disorders

Social Support and Post-Injury Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms among College-Student Athletes

Social support can positively influence both physical and psychological recovery from sport-related injury. However, few studies have examined the influence of the quantity, quality, and timing of social support on athletes’ psychological health following injury. This study examined the effects of changes in social support on post-injury depressive and anxiety symptoms among college-student athletes. We conducted a prospective cohort study among Division I college-student athletes. Participants completed surveys at baseline and at multiple time points post-injury until return to play (RTP). A total of 597 injuries sustained by 389 student athletes (n = 400 (67.0%) males; n = 238 (39.9%) football players; n = 281 (47.1%) freshman) were included. The overall amount of social support increased from baseline to 1-week post-injury (p < 0.05) and then remained unchanged until RTP. The overall satisfaction with the support received increased from baseline to 1-week post-injury (p < 0.05) but decreased (p < 0.05) from 1-week post-injury to RTP. Increases in satisfaction with the support received were associated with decreases in post-injury depressive (β = −0.404), p < 0.0001) and anxiety symptoms (β = −0.406), p < 0.0001). Interventions involving social support may help hasten college-student athletes’ psychological recovery from injury

Concentrations of osmotically related constituents in plasma and urine of finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis

AbstractBackgroundMost cetaceans inhabit the hyperosmotic marine environment with only a few species living in freshwater habitats. The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is the only freshwater subspecies of the genus. Our aim was to study whether the osmoregulation mechanism of the Yangtze finless porpoise is different from the marine subspecies, the East Asian finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri). We assayed and compared the concentrations of the constituents involved in osmoregulation in the blood and urine in the Yangtze finless porpoise and the East Asian finless porpoise. We also compared the corresponding urine constituents of the porpoises with existing data on fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).ResultsThe mean plasma osmolality of Yangtze finless porpoise was significantly lower than that of the marine subspecies (P?<?0.01). Similarly, the urine osmolality of Yangtze finless porpoise was also significantly lower than that of its marine counterpart (P?<?0.05). However, the urine sodium concentration of freshwater finless porpoise was significantly lower than that in the marine subspecies (P?<?0.01), even though their serum sodium has no significant difference. Moreover, the freshwater porpoise has significantly lower urine urea concentration but much higher serum urea than in the marine finless porpoise (P?<?0.05).ConclusionsThese results suggest that the freshwater finless porpoise does have different osmoregulatory mechanism from marine cetaceans. Conserving sodium by excreting urine with low ion levels may be an essential strategy to maintain the serum electrolyte balance for the freshwater subspecies that also appears to be more susceptible to hyponatremia

Rural&ndash;Urban Differences in Behavioral Outcomes among Adults with Lifetime History of Traumatic Brain Injury with Loss of Consciousness: 2016&ndash;2019 Ohio BRFSS

This study examined if the associations between lifetime history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with loss of consciousness (LOC) and unhealthy alcohol use or mental health problems differ by location of living (rural vs. urban). The lifetime history data of TBI with LOC, location of living, unhealthy alcohol use (binge drinking, heavy drinking), and mental health problems (depression diagnosis, number of poor mental health days) were sourced from the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Ohio Behavioral Risk Factory Surveillance Surveys, and the final sample included 16,941 respondents. We conducted multivariable logistic regressions to determine the odds ratios for each of the five outcomes between individuals living in rural vs. urban areas and between individuals with vs. without a lifetime history of TBI with LOC. No interaction between location of living and lifetime history of TBI with LOC was observed for any outcomes, indicating rurality did not modify these relationships. Living in a rural area was associated with decreased binge drinking or heavy drinking but not mental health outcomes. Lifetime history of TBI with LOC was associated with an increased risk of binge drinking, heavy drinking, depression diagnoses, and poor general mental health, regardless of location of living. Our findings support the need for TBI screenings as part of mental health intake evaluations and behavioral health screenings. Though rurality was not associated with mental health outcomes, rural areas may have limited access to quality mental health care. Therefore, future research should address access to mental health services following TBI among rural residents