The role of motivation and physical activity in a weight loss program

Every year thousands of overweight and obese people in the United States join weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers in an effort to become healthier and feel more attractive. Weight Watchers has increased its program focus on physical activity as a critical part of weight loss. Initiating a consistent physical activity routine, however, is generally one of the last behavior changes made by program members, despite its proven role in weight loss maintenance. Using self-determination theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to examine how perceptions of fulfillment of three psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy, and relatedness), affected the motivation and physical activity patterns of five female Lifetime members of Weight Watchers, with the goal of exploring ways to facilitate motivation for physical activity in weight loss programs. The level of self-regulated motivation was also examined. Participants completed a Psychological Need Satisfaction in Exercise Questionnaire, kept written exercise logs, and participated in an in depth interview. Perceived need satisfaction for competence and autonomy facilitated participation in physical activity, but perceived relatedness was a key to overall psychological need satisfaction. Family, mind/body connections, and structure emerged as factors that served to enhance or constrain need satisfaction, and ultimately as either catalysts promoting need satisfaction or barriers to activity. Four participants mentioned guilt, an introjected externally-regulated motivation, as one motive for engaging in activity, but all five mentioned better health as a more internally-regulated motivation for their activity behaviors. Only one participant made comments that could be classified as indicative of intrinsic motivation for physical activity. The findings suggest that for weight loss programs to help their members lose weight, and keep it off, participation in physical activity should be introduced in a way that motivates the members to incorporate it into their daily routines. Stressing improved health and fitness as a valued outcome of regular participation in physical activity and encouraging individuals to identify ways to satisfy the psychological need of relatedness through family support and structure are strategies that emerged in this study as having the potential to facilitate long term behavior change

How the Villanelle\u27s Form Got Fixed.

This work debunks the myth of the villanelle as a fixed poetic form dating back to the sixteenth century or earlier and replaces it with a new-historical account of how a semi-improvisatory musico-poetic genre, the choral-dance lyric, was translated across ruptures in lyric technology between oral, manuscript, and print cultures. The fixity of the villanelle\u27s written form is shown to be not a matter of long-standing heritage or tradition, but the result of deliberate actions taken by one eighteenth- and one nineteenth-century individual who inserted less-than-truthful passages into otherwise authoritative prosodic treatises. Chapter 1 identifies the literary sources responsible for the construction of a false villanelle history and tradition and discusses how belief in such a tradition influences and empowers both poets and critics. Beginning with medieval verse forms, Chapter 2 discusses the musical and poetic features that distinguish semi-improvised choral-dance lyrics from text-based vocal lyrics, with particular attention to the role of women in the generation and transmission of choral-dance lyrics. The third chapter describes the musical and poetic styles of the sixteenth-century Italian musical villanella, representing a conscious imitation by courtly composers of semi-improvised refrain songs from the oral tradition; it also contrasts the villanella with the more literary madrigal. In Chapter 4, all known poetic villanelles and allusions to the villanelle are examined for evidence of a poetic or fixed poetic form in sixteenth-century France. The fifth chapter examines the influence of the musical villanella upon sixteenth-century English poets, particularly Philip Sidney. Chapter 6 traces the step-by-step process by which the villanelle\u27s poetic form came to be fixed between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. In conclusion, Chapter 7 examines the paradox by which a genuine hundred-fifty-year-old fixed-form villanelle tradition that is still generating exciting poems has come to be erected upon the foundations of a false five-hundred-year-old one, and demonstrates how twentieth-century villanelles that are said to rebel against traditional villanelle constraints are actually consistent with the villanelle\u27s semi-improvised, multiform origins

NASA Light-Emitting Diodes for the Prevention of Oral Mucositis in Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of prophylactic near-infrared light therapy from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in pediatric bone marrow transplant (BMT) recipients. Background Data: Oral mucositis (OM) is a frequent side effect of chemotherapy that leads to increased morbidity. Near-infrared light has been shown to produce biostimulatory effects in tissues, and previous results using nearinfrared lasers have shown improvement in OM indices. However, LEDs may hold greater potential for clinical applications. Materials and Methods: We recruited 32 consecutive pediatric patients undergoing myeloablative therapy in preparation for BMT. Patients were examined by two of three pediatric dentists trained in assessing the Schubert oral mucositis index (OMI) for left and right buccal and lateral tongue mucosal surfaces, while the patients were asked to rate their current left and right mouth pain, left and right xerostomia, and throat pain. LED therapy consisted of daily treatment at a fluence of 4 J/cm2 using a 670-nm LED array held to the left extraoral epithelium starting on the day of transplant, with a concurrent sham treatment on the right. Patients were assessed before BMT and every 2–3 days through posttransplant day 14. Outcomes included the percentage of patients with ulcerative oral mucositis (UOM) compared to historical epidemiological controls, the comparison of left and right buccal pain to throat pain, and the comparison between sides of the buccal and lateral tongue OMI and buccal pain. Results: The incidence of UOM was 53%, compared to an expected rate of 70–90%. There was also a 48% and 39% reduction of treated left and right buccal pain, respectively, compared to untreated throat pain at about posttransplant day 7 (p \u3c 0.05). There were no significant differences between sides in OMI or pain. Conclusion: Although more studies are needed, LED therapy appears useful in the prevention of OM in pediatric BMT patients

NASA Light Emitting Diode Medical Applications from Deep Space to Deep Sea

This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center-SBIR Program. LED-technology developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space shows promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. We present the results of LED-treatment of cells grown in culture and the effects of LEDs on patients’ chronic and acute wounds. LED-technology is also biologically optimal for photodynamic therapy of cancer and we discuss our successes using LEDs in conjunction with light-activated chemotherapeutic drugs

Effect of NASA Light-emitting Diode Irradiation on Wound Healing

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and near-infrared light therapy on wound healing. Background Data: Light-emitting diodes (LED), originally developed for NASA plant growth experiments in space show promise for delivering light deep into tissues of the body to promote wound healing and human tissue growth. In this paper, we review and present our new data of LED treatment on cells grown in culture, on ischemic and diabetic wounds in rat models, and on acute and chronic wounds in humans. Materials and Methods: In vitro and in vivo (animal and human) studies utilized a variety of LED wavelength, power intensity, and energy density parameters to begin to identify conditions for each biological tissue that are optimal for biostimulation. Results: LED produced in vitro increases of cell growth of 140–200% in mouse-derived fibroblasts, rat-derived osteoblasts, and rat-derived skeletal muscle cells, and increases in growth of 155–171% of normal human epithelial cells. Wound size decreased up to 36% in conjunction with HBO in ischemic rat models. LED produced improvement of greater than 40% in musculoskeletal training injuries in Navy SEAL team members, and decreased wound healing time in crew members aboard a U.S. Naval submarine. LED produced a 47% reduction in pain of children suffering from oral mucositis. Conclusion: We believe that the use of NASA LED for light therapy alone, and in conjunction with hyperbaric oxygen, will greatly enhance the natural wound healing process, and more quickly return the patient to a preinjury/ illness level of activity. This work is supported and managed through the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center–SBIR Program

OnabotulinumtoxinA for Treatment of Moderate to Severe Crow's Feet Lines: A Review

Lateral canthal lines or crow's feet lines (CFL) may be treated with onabotulinumtoxinA. We identified several key concepts important to understanding the use of onabotulinumtoxinA for treatment of moderate-to-severe CFL. To contextualize and integrate data on the recommended dose and injection patterns of onabotulinumtoxinA for treatment of CFL, we summarized data from pivotal clinical studies in the development of onabotulinumtoxinA for treatment of CFL. Data from key studies of onabotulinumtoxinA for CFL are presented. The efficacy and safety of onabotulinumtoxinA treatment of moderate-to-severe CFL were evaluated in 2 randomized, controlled phase 3 studies comprising 1362 patients. The 24U total dose of onabotulinumtoxinA used in these studies was based on a phase 2 dose-ranging trial. Two injection patterns were available to investigators; each involved 3 injection sites per side in the lateral orbicularis oculi muscle. A cross-sectional analysis of photographs from the phase 3 trials provided detailed information on the frequency of 4 distinct CFL patterns. In the primary efficacy analysis for each phase 3 trial, CFL responder rates were significantly greater with onabotulinumtoxinA vs placebo at day 30 ( P < .001). Eyelid edema (1%) was the only adverse event reported in ≥1% of patients receiving onabotulinumtoxinA, occurring more frequently with onabotulinumtoxinA than with placebo. The studies showed that onabotulinumtoxinA is effective and generally well-tolerated for CFL treatment. Additionally, 2 different injection patterns allow physicians to tailor treatment based on a patient's CFL pattern

The effect of human simulation on student outcomes

Poster presented at the American Nursing Informatics Association and Capital Area Roundtable on Informatics in Nursing Collaborative Conference

MHC class I chain-related protein A shedding in chronic HIV-1 infection is associated with profound NK cell dysfunction

Natural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in host defense against viral infections. However chronic HIV-1 infection is associated with an accumulation of dysfunctional NK cells, that poorly control viral replication. The underlying mechanisms for this NK cell mediated dysfunction are not understood. Certain tumors evade NK cell mediated detection by dampening NK cell activity through the downregulation of NKG2D, via the release of soluble NKG2D-ligands, resulting in a potent suppression of NK cell function. Here we show that chronic HIV-1 infection is associated with a specific defect in NKG2D-mediated NK cell activation, due to reduced expression and transcription of NKG2D. Reduced NKG2D expression was associated with elevated levels of the soluble form of the NKG2D-ligand, MICA, in patient sera, likely released by HIV+CD4+ T cells. Thus, like tumors, HIV-1 may indirectly suppress NK cell recognition of HIV-1-infected CD4+ T cells by enhancing NKG2D-ligand secretion into the serum resulting in a profound impairment of NK cell function