Oral health of elite athletes and impact on performance

Oral health is integral to general health, wellbeing and quality of life. Based upon the hypothesis that oral health might affect sport performance, the aim of this PhD was to investigate the association between oral health of elite athletes and self-reported performance impacts. Three studies were conducted: 1) a systematic review of self-reported outcome measures used to evaluate the impact of injury and illness on performance in sport, 2) a cross-sectional clinical and questionnaire-based study to investigate oral health and associated self-reported impacts, self-reported oral health behaviours, risks to oral health and opportunities for behaviour change in a representative sample of elite athletes 3) a repeated-measures study to determine the effectiveness of simple interventions, based on contemporary behaviour change theory, to improve oral health and reduce performance impacts in an opportunistic sample of elite athletes. Study 1 identified that the Oslo Trauma Research Centre (OSTRC) overuse injury questionnaire could be modified to measure the impact of oral health problems on performance in sport. The results from Study 2 confirmed that dental caries, erosion and periodontal diseases are common in elite athletes. Although severe impacts on performance in sport were infrequent, athletes reported psychosocial impacts more frequently. Athletes said they were willing to consider adopting enhanced oral hygiene behaviours to mitigate the risks to oral health from participation in sport. Study 3 demonstrated effectiveness through improvements in athlete knowledge, self-reported oral hygiene behaviours and performance impacts. This PhD thesis provides evidence of potential negative effects on performance in sport from oral health problems based on self-reported impacts. It also demonstrates that preventive interventions, based on contemporary behaviour change theory, appeared to have some success and therefore may reduce performance impacts in elite sport. A new model is proposed to guide effective implementation of interventions

Women of action : the new politics of black women in New York City, 1944-1972.

This dissertation documents a generation of black women who came to politics during the 1940s in New York City. Ada B. Jackson, Pauli Murray, Anna Arnold Hedgeman, Bessie Buchanan, Jeanne Noble and Shirley Chisholm among others, worked, studied and lived in Harlem and Brooklyn. They seized the political opportunities generated by World War II and its aftermath and pursued new ways to redress the entrenched systems of oppression that denied them full rights of citizenship and human dignity. These included not only grassroots activism, but also efforts to gain insider status in the administrative state; the use of the United Nations; and an unprecedented number of campaigns for elected office. Theirs was a new politics and they waged their struggles not just for themselves, but also for their communities and for the broader ideals of equality. When World War II began, grassroots activists operated outside the halls of formal political power. Yet they understood the necessity of engaging the state and frequently endeavored to wrest power from it: the power that made life more bearable, that made the streets safer, that kept the roofs over their heads. These activists and others in women\u27s clubs and civic organizations won favor in their communities and they increasingly pursued formal political positions. As the war drew to a close, a growing number of black women ran for elected office and sought political appointments. However, to attain political posts, they had to overcome the entrenched traditions of Tammany Hall\u27s machine and the gendered and racialized nature of New York City politics. Most were unsuccessful, but by 1954, a few succeed. By the 1960s, black women had made their way into national politics. They were appointed to presidential commissions, the administration and won congressional office. Dorothy Height, Pauli Murray, Jeanne Noble, and Congresswoman and presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm represent the advancements black women made into the state structure. This study illustrates the kinds of political changes women helped bring about, it underscores the boundaries of what was possible vis-à-vis the state, and it traces how race, gender and the structure of the state itself shape outcomes

Importance of collaboration and contextual factors in the development and implementation of social participation initiatives for older adults living in rural areas

Abstract : To encourage isolated and vulnerable older adults to accomplish meaningful social activities, occupational therapists and other healthcare workers must collaborate with community organisations and municipalities to develop and implement initiatives fostering social participation. In a rural Regional County Municipality in Quebec (Canada), four social participation initiatives were selected and implemented: 1) Benevolent Community, 2) urban transportation system, 3) creation of a website on social participation activities, and 4) social participation workshop. Little is known about contextual factors such as the structures and organisations, stakeholders, and physical environment that influence the development and implementation of such initiatives

UVA irradiation of human skin vasodilates arterial vasculature and lowers blood pressure independently of nitric oxide synthase

The incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease correlates with latitude and rises in winter. The molecular basis for this remains obscure. As nitric oxide (NO) metabolites are abundant in human skin we hypothesised that exposure to UVA may mobilise NO bioactivity into the circulation to exert beneficial cardiovascular effects independently of vitamin D. In 24 healthy volunteers irradiation of the skin with 2 Standard Erythemal Doses of UVA lowered BP, with concomitant decreases in circulating nitrate and rises in nitrite concentrations. Unexpectedly, acute dietary intervention aimed at modulating systemic nitrate availability had no effect on UV-induced hemodynamic changes, indicating that cardiovascular effects were not mediated via direct utilization of circulating nitrate. UVA irradiation of the forearm caused increased blood flow independently of NO-synthase activity, suggesting involvement of pre-formed cutaneous NO stores. Confocal fluorescence microscopy studies of human skin pre-labelled with the NO-imaging probe DAF2-DA revealed that UVA-induced NO release occurs in a NOS-independent, dose-dependent fashion, with the majority of the light-sensitive NO pool in the upper epidermis. Collectively, our data provide mechanistic insights into an important function of the skin in modulating systemic NO bioavailability which may account for the latitudinal and seasonal variations of BP and cardiovascular disease.Journal of Investigative Dermatology accepted article preview online, 20 January 2014