Changes in Mindfulness, Well-Being, and Sleep Quality in College Students Through Taijiquan Courses: A Cohort Control Study

Objectives: This study sought to determine whether participants in taijiquan classes would report increases in mindfulness greater than that of a comparison group, and whether changes in mindfulness were associated with improvements in mood, perceived stress, self-regulatory self-efficacy, and sleep quality. Design: The study design was quasi-experimental with repeated measures. Settings/location: The study was set in a midsized public university. Subjects: Students aged 18–48 years old enrolled in 15-week courses of either taijiquan (n = 76) or special recreation (control group, n = 132). Intervention: Chen-style taijiquan classes were offered 2 times per week for 50 minutes each time. Outcome measures: Self-report of mindfulness (Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire), mood (Four Dimensional Mood Scale), perceived stress (Perceived Stress Scale), self-regulatory self-efficacy (Self-regulatory Self-Efficacy Scale), and sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index). Results: Increases in total mindfulness scores occurred only in the taijiquan group, not in the control group. All well-being variables showed a pattern of improvement in the taijiquan group, with either stability or decline over time in the control group. Increases in mindfulness were significantly correlated with improvements on all wellbeing measures and with sleep quality. Conclusions: Relative to a recreation control group, taijiquan classes for college students are associated with increased mindfulness and improved sleep quality, mood, and perceived stress, but not self-regulatory selfefficacy. Randomized control design studies are needed to substantiate the causal role of taijiquan exercise in the development of mindfulness and associated improvements in well-being

Effects of Muscular Fatigue on Endurance Athletes During a Backyard Ultra Race: A Pilot Study

Neuromuscular fatigue is a complex phenomenon that occurs during long-duration exercise. A backyard ultra-race requires participants to intermittently run laps (\u3c1hour) for distances that ultimately surpass ultramarathon mileage. Quantifying physiological fatigue during ultramarathon races is difficult due to duration, pace, and terrain; however, vertical jump via force plate analysis is an effective field-based method to quantify neuromuscular fatigue, and may be used to further predict individual race longevity. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to measure muscular fatigue utilizing force plate analysis during a back-yard ultra-marathon. METHODS: Twelve participants were recruited from sign-up participation in a local backyard ultramarathon race. Each participant performed maximal effort countermovement jumps on the force plate. Participants were instructed to place hands on hips and perform a maximal effort jump two times with two to three seconds rest between. Jumps were collected at baseline and immediately following completion of each 4.167-mile race loop. Participants completed the race course loops until volitional fatigue or until they could no longer maintain a loop in 60 minutes (failure). Participants who completed a total of four laps were included in the analysis for vertical jump height (VJ) and braking rate of force development (BRFD). A repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to determine differences in fatigue from baseline to each subsequent lap. Furthermore, data was separated by sex in order to identify any sex-related differences in fatigue. Alpha level was set at 0.05. RESULTS: Eight female (age= 27.6±14.15y; height=161±7cm; weight= 63.22±9.73kg) and four male (age=36.25±10.2y; height= 174.63±5.64cm; weight= 71.21±5.6kg) volunteer runners were included in this analysis. ANOVA (sex x time) revealed no statistically significant interactions for BRFD and VJ. There were no significant main effects observed in BRFD; however, there was a time main effect for VJ (p\u3c0.05). Across the entire sample population, statistical significance was observed in VJ between the second and fourth time point (p\u3c0.05). Though there were no interactions between sex, female VJ between the second and fourth timepoint reached statistical significance (p\u3c0.05). CONCLUSION: VJ measured via force plate analysis may be a viable option to quantify rates of muscular fatigue during an ultramarathon race. Other extracted variables such as BRFD may not be reliable tools due to the lack of skill in participants. Although current literature provides evidence of sex related differences in fatigue rates, there were no significant findings for sex. Limitations include the sample size and possible variability in training status for some novice runners. Further exploration into the sport of ultra-running is warranted to determine if sex-related differences in fatigue within this population

Developing Mindfulness in College Students through Movement Based Courses: Effects on Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy, Mood, Stress, and Sleep Quality

Objective—This study examined whether mindfulness increased through participation in movement based courses and whether changes in self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, and perceived stress mediated the relationship between increased mindfulness and better sleep. Participants—166 college students enrolled in the 2007-2008 academic year in 15 week classes in Pilates, Taiji quan, or GYROKINESIS®. Methods—At beginning, middle, and end of the semester, participants completed measures of mindfulness, self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, perceived stress and sleep quality. Results—Total mindfulness scores and mindfulness subscales increased overall. Greater changes in mindfulness were directly related to better sleep quality at the end of the semester after adjusting for sleep disturbance at the beginning. Tired Mood, Negative Arousal, Relaxed Mood, and Perceived Stress mediated the effect of increased mindfulness on improved sleep. Conclusions—Movement based courses can increase mindfulness. Increased mindfulness accounts for changes in mood and perceived stress that explain, in part, improved sleep quality

Development of a novel startle response task in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), an X-linked childhood-onset muscular dystrophy caused by loss of the protein dystrophin, can be associated with neurodevelopmental, emotional and behavioural problems. A DMD mouse model also displays a neuropsychiatric phenotype, including increased startle responses to threat which normalise when dystrophin is restored in the brain. We hypothesised that startle responses may also be increased in humans with DMD, which would have potential translational therapeutic implications. To investigate this, we first designed a novel discrimination fear-conditioning task and tested it in six healthy volunteers, followed by male DMD (n = 11) and Control (n = 9) participants aged 7–12 years. The aims of this methodological task development study were to: i) confirm the task efficacy; ii) optimise data processing procedures; iii) determine the most appropriate outcome measures. In the task, two neutral visual stimuli were presented: one ‘safe’ cue presented alone; one ‘threat’ cue paired with a threat stimulus (aversive noise) to enable conditioning of physiological startle responses (skin conductance response, SCR, and heart rate). Outcomes were the unconditioned physiological startle responses to the initial threat, and retention of conditioned responses in the absence of the threat stimulus. We present the protocol development and optimisation of data processing methods based on empirical data. We found that the task was effective in producing significantly higher physiological startle SCR in reinforced ‘threat’ trials compared to ‘safe’ trials (P < .001). Different data extraction methods were compared and optimised, and the optimal sampling window was derived empirically. SCR amplitude was the most effective physiological outcome measure when compared to SCR area and change in heart rate, with the best profile on data processing, the least variance, successful conditioned response retention (P = .01) and reliability assessment in test-retest analysis (rho = .86). The definition of this novel outcome will allow us to study this response in a DMD population

Effect of Pilates and Taiji Quan Training on Self-Efficacy, Sleep Quality, Mood, and Physical Performance of College Students

Methods of exercise such as Pilates and taiji quan, which have been shown to have beneficial effects on physical and mental characteristics, have been studied more often in samples of older participants. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects of a semester of either Pilates or taiji quan training on perceived self efficacy, sleep quality and mood, as well as strength and balance in college-age individuals. Self-efficacy was found to be improved in the Pilates and taiji quan groups and there was a trend towards improvement in sleep quality. Mood was found to be improved significantly in the Pilates group while the taiji group showed a trend towards improvement. There were no changes or group differences in the strength or balance measures. Pilates and taiji quan are effective exercise modes to improve mental parameters in college-age individuals

Pilates, Mindfulness and Somatic Education

The Pilates Method is a form of somatic education with the potential to cultivate mindfulness – a mental quality associated with overall well-being. However, controlled studies are needed to determine whether changes in mindfulness are specific to the Pilates Method or also result from other forms of exercise. This quasi-experimental study compared Pilates Method mat classes and recreational exercise classes on measures of mindfulness and well-being at the beginning, middle and end of a 15 week semester. Total mindfulness scores increased overall for the Pilates Method group but not for the exercise control group, and these increases were directly related to end of semester ratings of self-regulatory self-efficacy, perceived stress and mood. Findings suggest that the Pilates Method specifically enhances mindfulness, and these increases are associated with other measures of wellness. The changes in mindfulness identified in this study support the role of the Pilates Method in the mental well-being of its practitioners and its potential to support dancers’ overall well-being

Continuous low-dose antibiotic prophylaxis for adults with repeated urinary tract infections (AnTIC): a randomised, open-label trial

Funder: UK National Institute for Health Research. Open Access funded by Department of Health UK Acknowledgments We thank all the participants for their commitment to the study, Sheila Wallace for updating the systematic review, members of the Trial Steering Committee and members of the Data Monitoring Committee for their valuable guidance. We thank the National Health Service organisations, principal investigators and local research staff who hosted and ran the study at site. We thank the Health Technology Assessment Programme of the UK NIHR for funding the study (no. 11/72/01). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR, or the UK Government Department of Health. A full report of the study30 has been published by the NIHR Library.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Continuous low-dose antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent urinary tract infection in adults who perform clean intermittent self-catheterisation: the AnTIC RCT

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Developing Mindfulness In College Students Through Movement-Based Courses: Effects On Self-Regulatory Self-Efficacy, Mood, Stress, And Sleep Quality

Objective: This study examined whether mindfulness increased through participation in movement-based courses and whether changes in self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, and perceived stress mediated the relationship between increased mindfulness and better sleep. Participants: 166 college students enrolled in the 2007–2008 academic year in 15 week classes in Pilates, Taiji quan, or GYROKINESIS. Methods: At beginning, middle, and end of the semester, participants completed measures of mindfulness, self-regulatory self-efficacy, mood, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Results: Total mindfulness scores and mindfulness subscales increased overall. Greater changes in mindfulness were directly related to better sleep quality at the end of the semester after adjusting for sleep disturbance at the beginning. Tiredness, Negative Arousal, Relaxation, and Perceived Stress mediated the effect of increased mindfulness on improved sleep. Conclusions: Movement-based courses can increase mindfulness. Increased mindfulness accounts for changes in mood and perceived stress, which explain, in part, improved sleep quality

Infrared Spectra of Cooling Flow Galaxies

We have taken K-band spectra covering 7 cooling flow clusters. The spectra show many of the 1-0S transitions of molecular Hydrogen, as well as some of the higher vibrational transitions, and some lines of ionized Hydrogen. The line ratios allow us to conclude that the rotational states of the first excited vibrational state are in approximate LTE, so that densities above 10^5/ cm^3 are likely, but there is evidence that the higher vibrational states are not in LTE. The lack of pressure balance between the molecular gas and the ionized components emphasizes the need for dynamic models of the gas. The ratios of the ionized to molecular lines are relatively constant but lower than from starburst regions, indicating that alternative heating mechanisms are necessary.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure