Stress and coping in wheelchair sport participants

Top level sport for people with a disability is becoming more competitive, creating an environment in which the rewards for success and the disappointments associated with failure are often great. These are factors which clearly have the potential to place extreme psychological demands on sport performers with a disability. However, few investigations have specifically examined how athletes with a disability respond in highly stressful sporting situations. This thesis, therefore, reports 3 separate studies to investigate stress and coping in wheelchair sport participants. Study 1 examined pre-competition temporal patterning of anxiety and self-confidence in 103 wheelchair sport participants at 3 time periods preceding competition (1 week, 2 hours and 30 minutes before). The findings suggested that wheelchair sport participants show a similar pre-competition anxiety response to non-disabled sport participants. However, there were some differences, particularly in the reduction in self-confidence immediately prior to competition. The purpose of Study 2, therefore, was to explore possible: reasons as to why self-confidence may decrease in wheelchair sport participants" immediately prior to competition. Specifically, Study 2 considered the influence of disability status (i.e., possessing and not possessing a disability) on appraisal of a specific important competitive event, and how appraisal may be influenced by various psychosocial factors. The sample comprised of 75 wheelchair and 44 able-bodied sport participants. The findings showed that wheelchair and able-bodied sport participants had similar psychosocial resources and appraisal patterns; however, different factors predicted an important competitive event as challenging. Study 3 explored this further by investigating, via in-depth qualitative interviews, the sources of stress and coping responses in 10 elite male wheelchair basketball players. Qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in combination to enable examination of stress source characteristics (degree of challenge, threat, harm, severity, control and frequency) and coping details (effectiveness and frequency). Whilst many of the findings were similar to those previously reported for elite able-bodied figure skaters, there were some differences. These differences appeared to relate to various disability factors and also the fact that the study was unique in examining team sport participants. Furthermore, the unique nature of the study obtaining information on stress source characteristics, and effectiveness and extent of use of coping strategies, proved to be extremely useful in gaining a more in-depth understanding of the complex stress-coping process. Finally, the findings from the three studies reported in this thesis enabled a model of stress and coping for wheelchair sport participants to be developed. In summary, the studies presented used a range of methodologies to enable an in-depth understanding of stress and coping in wheelchair sport, whilst simultaneously supporting and extending previous research in the sport domain

Environmental DNA sampling locations on the Sacramento River, CA.

<p>Environmental DNA sampling locations on the Sacramento River, CA.</p

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Systematic review of interventions to increase the delivery of preventive care by primary care nurses and allied health clinicians

The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias [65]. Table S2. Criteria for judging risk of bias in the ‘Risk of bias’ assessment tool [65]. (DOCX 53 kb

Additional file 1: of A systematic review and meta-analysis of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels in secondary school physical education lessons

A record of the search strategy used for each database. (DOCX 24 kb

Effects of morpholino injection on somite number in stage 24–28 embryos.

<p>Effects of morpholino injection on somite number in stage 24–28 embryos.</p

Circadian Genes, <i>xBmal1</i> and <i>xNocturnin</i>, Modulate the Timing and Differentiation of Somites in <i>Xenopus laevis</i>

<div><p>We have been investigating whether <i>xBmal1</i> and <i>xNocturnin</i> play a role in somitogenesis, a cyclic developmental process with an ultradian period. Previous work from our lab shows that circadian genes (<i>xPeriod</i>1, <i>xPeriod2</i>, <i>xBmal1</i>, and <i>xNocturnin</i>) are expressed in developing somites. Somites eventually form the vertebrae, muscles of the back, and dermis. In <i>Xenopus</i>, a pair of somites is formed about every 50 minutes from anterior to posterior. We were intrigued by the co-localization of circadian genes in an embryonic tissue known to be regulated by an ultradian clock. Cyclic expression of genes involved in <i>Notch</i> signaling has been implicated in the somite clock. Disruption of <i>Notch</i> signaling in humans has been linked to skeletal defects in the vertebral column. We found that both depletion (morpholino) and overexpression (mRNA) of xBMAL1 protein (bHLH transcription factor) or xNOCTURNIN protein (deadenylase) on one side of the developing embryo led to a significant decrease in somite number with respect to the untreated side (p<0.001). These manipulations also significantly affect expression of a somite clock component (<i>xESR9</i>; p<0.05). We observed opposing effects on somite size. Depletion of xBMAL1 or xNOCTURNIN caused a statistically significant decrease in somite area (quantified using NIH ImageJ; p<0.002), while overexpression of these proteins caused a significant dose dependent increase in somite area (p<0.02; p<0.001, respectively). We speculate that circadian genes may play two separate roles during somitogenesis. Depletion and overexpression of xBMAL1 and NOCTURNIN both decrease somite number and influence expression of a somite clock component, suggesting that these proteins may modulate the timing of the somite clock in the undifferentiated presomitic mesoderm. The dosage dependent effects on somite area suggest that xBMAL1 and xNOCTURNIN may also act during somite differentiation to promote myogenesis.</p></div

Depletion of xBMAL1 or xNOCTURNIN results in fewer somites on the injected side (asterisk).

<p>Results of injection of 1 ng of either control, <i>xBmal1</i>, or <i>xNocturnin</i> MO are shown. Panel A shows the percent of embryos with equal, less, or more somites on the injected side when compared to the uninjected side. Embryos were also analyzed for effects on the posterior striping pattern of <i>xESR9</i> (B). The percent of embryos with equal, less, or more <i>xESR9</i> stripes on the injected side when compared to the uninjected side is indicated on the vertical axis while the type of MO is shown on the horizontal axis. All pictures shown in panels C-N are displayed with anterior to the left. Panels C, G, and K display the uninjected side for each treatment. Panels D, H, and L display the injected side for control MO, <i>xBmal1</i>MO, and <i>xNocturnin</i>MO, respectively. Panels E, I, and M show a dorsal view of each embryo for somite staining while panels F,J, and N show a dorsal view of <i>xESR9</i> expression. Black arrowheads in F show normal <i>xESR9</i> expression in the posterior. Arrowheads in J show an example where no stripes are visible but the posterior border was different between injected and uninjected sides of the embryo. The embryo in panel N experienced slight exogastrulation, but somite expression and <i>xESR9</i> expression were evaluated. White arrowheads show an example of decreased expression of <i>xESR9</i> in the eye on the side injected with <i>xNocturnin</i> MO.</p

Reduction in xBMAL1 and xNOCTURNIN protein by morpholino injection.

<p>Both cells of a two celled embryos were injected with 1 ng Control Morpholino (Ctrl; 2 ng total), 1 ng or 500 pg of xBmal1 MO (Bmal1; 2 ng and 1 ng total) and 1 ng of <i>xNocturnin</i> MO (Noc; 2 ng total). Significant reduction of xBMAL1 protein (69Kd) was observed with injection of 2 ng or 1 ng <i>xBmal1</i> MO compared to control MO injection (0.11 and 0.26 relative to control MO injected protein levels). An approximate 50% reduction of NOCTURNIN (43Kd, indicated) protein was observed when embryos were injected with a total of 1 ng <i>xNocturnin</i> MO (0.49 relative to control MO injected protein levels). The Nocturnin antibody also recognizes a larger (62Kd) band which likely represents a postranslationally modified form of xNOCTURNIN <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0108266#pone.0108266-Green2" target="_blank">[28]</a>. Alpha tubulin (100Kd) was used as a loading control for each lane.</p

Overexpression of xBMAL1 or xNOCTURNIN results in fewer somites on the injected side (asterisk).

<p>Panel A shows the percent of embryos with equal, less, or more somites on the injected side when compared to the uninjected side. The concentration and type of RNA injected is shown on the horizontal axis. Embryos were also analyzed for effects on the posterior striping pattern of <i>xESR9</i> (B). The percent of embryos with equal, less, or more <i>xESR9</i> stripes on the injected side when compared to the uninjected side is indicated on the vertical axis while the concentration and type of RNA is shown on the horizontal axis. All pictures shown in panels C-O are displayed with anterior to the left and dorsal up. Panels C, G, K display the uninjected side for each treatment. Panels D, H, and L display the injected side. Panels E, I, and M show a dorsal view of each embryo for somite staining while panels F, J, and O show a dorsal view of <i>xESR9</i> expression. A GFP RNA injected embryo (500 pg) is shown in panels C, D, E, and F. <i>xBmal1</i> RNA injected embryos (500 pg) are shown in panels G, H, I, and J. <i>xNocturnin</i> RNA (500 pg) injected embryos is shown in panels K, L, M, and O. Black arrowheads show an example where the posterior <i>xESR9</i> stripes were aligned (F) or not aligned (J, O) between the injected and uninjected sides.</p

Effect of RNA injection on somite number in stage 24–28 embryos.

<p>Effect of RNA injection on somite number in stage 24–28 embryos.</p