A Realist Evaluation of the Professional Development Program Thriving through Being with Professional Coaches and Support Staff of NCAA Women’s Basketball

Scholars have consistently identified a secure relational base as a key contextual enabler for thriving—success and well-being—in sport. In turn, person-centered theory is a viable, evidence-based framework for coaches and support staff to cultivate a secure relational base with their athletes. Drawing from this literature, the continuing professional development program Thriving Through Being was developed to improve professional coach and support staff knowledge, awareness, and skills related to person-centered theory concepts (unconditional positive regard, empathy, and authenticity). This program was implemented with professional coaches and support staffs from 17 NCAA Women’s Basketball programs. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the context, resource mechanisms (program inputs and outputs), reasoning mechanisms (participant perceptions and learning), and outcomes (self-reported self-regard, thriving at work, perceived stress, and way of being) using a realist evaluation design. Results revealed that a favorable context for engagement included participants’ perceived helpfulness of the program to their professional practice, perceived alignment between program concepts and professional needs and/or professional identity, and available time with access to opportunities to apply concepts. Key resource mechanisms included the placement of participants into communities of practice, an introductory workshop, six self-paced educational modules, and a synchronous closing discussion. Key reasoning mechanisms included perceptions that the program content was both relevant and enjoyable, and that program activities (i.e., reflection, application, and discussion) were useful. Participants also demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in scores on a post-program learning assessment compared to a pre-program assessment. Assessment of discussion board posts and synchronous discussions provided further evidence that participants who engaged in program activities met the program’s learning objectives related to understanding and demonstrating person-centered theory concepts. Key outcomes included an increase in self-reported unconditional positive self-regard that maintained at a follow-up assessment as well as higher levels of self-reported thriving during program participation. Results culminated into 10 context-mechanism-outcome configurations which are represented in a validated program logic model. Results provide new insight into the delivery continuing professional development in the context of NCAA WBB as well as the applicability of person-centered theory as a framework for coach-athlete and support staff-athlete relationships

A Qualitative Exploration of Unconditional Positive Regard and its Opposite Constructs in Coach-Athlete Relationships

Person-centered theory (Rogers, 1959) offers a framework for helping relationships (e.g. parent-child, teacher-student, counselor-client). From this theoretical lens, unconditional positive regard (UPR) is considered a key construct for nurturing growth processes and adaptive psychological development, while its opposite constructs – conditional regard, unconditional negative regard, and disregard – are suggested to undermine adaptive development. Researchers have demonstrated that the coach-athlete relationship may serve as a helping relationship (e.g. Jowett, 2007; Mageau & Vallerand, 2003), or that it could function as a controlling relationship (e.g. Bartholomew, Ntoumani, & Thogerson-Ntoumani, 2010). Scholars have also emphasized the need to draw from relational theories from other disciplines to deepen our understanding of the coach-athlete relationship (Pocswardowski, Barrot, & Jowett, 2006). Thus, the current study aimed to extend the theoretical constructs of UPR and its opposites to the coach-athlete relationship context by interviewing 11 retired elite-level figure skaters’ about their past relationships with coaches. Using Qualitative Content Analysis (Schreier, 2012) procedures, five dimensions were constructed: (1) descriptions of perceived components of UPR from a former coach, (2) descriptions of perceived opposites of UPR from a former coach, (3) perceived influence of coach regard (4) interaction of influence between coach regard and contextual conditions, and (5) coach regard and use of power. Participants who described the perception of UPR from former coaches reported that their coaches’ regard contributed to their confidence, passion for the sport, and persistence through challenges. Those who described perceptions of the opposites of UPR from former coaches reported that their coaches’ regard contributed to lowered confidence, decreased enjoyment in sport over time, and burnout

Need Fulfillment in Intercollegiate Student-Athletes’ Dual Roles: A Mixed-Methods, Person-Oriented Investigation

Individuals competing in varsity intercollegiate sport are tasked with managing the dual roles of athletes and students. The purpose of current study was to simultaneously explore student-athletes’ perceived satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness in sport and academics. A mixed-methods, person-oriented design was utilized. Quantitative data was collected with a sample of N = 238 student-athletes from various varsity intercollegiate sports. For sport, four clusters were revealed: ‘Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderately Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderate Relatedness,’ and ‘High Need Satisfaction.’ For academics, four clusters were revealed: ‘Low Need Satisfaction,’ ‘Moderate Relatedness,’ ‘Moderate Autonomy and Competence,’ and ‘High Need Satisfaction.’ Reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with a sub-sample of n = 12 student-athletes representing all clusters revealed four themes: (a) global factors sensitized student-athletes to the experience of basic psychological needs, (b) contextual factors determined fluctuations in student-athletes’ need fulfillment, (c) student-athletes perceived interaction effects in the satisfaction of the three basic psychological needs within the same domain, and (d) student-athletes’ sport participation had a cross-contextual influence on their need fulfillment in academics. Findings provide an understanding of student-athletes’ perceived basic psychological needs across the achievement domains of academics and sport

Exercise and Hospitalized Leukemia Patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if patients in a structured, monitored walking program experienced less symptom distress than patients receiving the usual standard of care during induction chemotherapy

Cost-effectiveness of total neoadjuvant therapy with short-course radiotherapy for resectable locally advanced rectal cancer

Importance: Short-course radiotherapy and total neoadjuvant therapy (SCRT-TNT) followed by total mesorectal excision (TME) has emerged as a new treatment paradigm for patients with locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma. However, the economic implication of this treatment strategy has not been compared with that of conventional long-course chemoradiotherapy (LCCRT) followed by TME with adjuvant chemotherapy. Objective: To perform a cost-effectiveness analysis of SCRT-TNT vs LCCRT in conjunction with TME for patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. Design, Setting, and Participants: A decision analytical model with a 5-year time horizon was constructed for patients with biopsy-proven, newly diagnosed, primary locally advanced rectal adenocarcinoma treated with SCRT-TNT or LCCRT. Markov modeling was used to model disease progression and patient survival after treatment in 3-month cycles. Data on probabilities and utilities were extracted from the literature. Costs were evaluated from the Medicare payer\u27s perspective in 2020 US dollars. Sensitivity analyses were performed for key variables. Data were collected from October 3, 2020, to January 20, 2021, and analyzed from November 15, 2020, to April 25, 2021. Exposures: Two treatment strategies, SCRT-TNT vs LCCRT with adjuvant chemotherapy, were compared. Main Outcomes and Measures: Cost-effectiveness was evaluated using the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and net monetary benefits. Effectiveness was defined as quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). Both costs and QALYs were discounted at 3% annually. Willingness-to-pay threshold was set at $50 000/QALY. Results: During the 5-year horizon, the total cost was$41 355 and QALYs were 2.21 for SCRT-TNT; for LCCRT, the total cost was $54 827 and QALYs were 2.12, resulting in a negative incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (-$141 256.77). The net monetary benefit was $69 300 for SCRT-TNT and$51 060 for LCCRT. Sensitivity analyses using willingness to pay at $100 000/QALY and$150 000/QALY demonstrated the same conclusion. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that SCRT-TNT followed by TME incurs lower cost and improved QALYs compared with conventional LCCRT followed by TME and adjuvant chemotherapy. These data offer further rationale to support SCRT-TNT as a novel cost-saving treatment paradigm in the management of locally advanced rectal cancer

Engineering Genetic Predisposition in Human Neuroepithelial Stem Cells Recapitulates Medulloblastoma Tumorigenesis.

Human neural stem cell cultures provide progenitor cells that are potential cells of origin for brain cancers. However, the extent to which genetic predisposition to tumor formation can be faithfully captured in stem cell lines is uncertain. Here, we evaluated neuroepithelial stem (NES) cells, representative of cerebellar progenitors. We transduced NES cells with MYCN, observing medulloblastoma upon orthotopic implantation in mice. Significantly, transcriptomes and patterns of DNA methylation from xenograft tumors were globally more representative of human medulloblastoma compared to a MYCN-driven genetically engineered mouse model. Orthotopic transplantation of NES cells generated from Gorlin syndrome patients, who are predisposed to medulloblastoma due to germline-mutated PTCH1, also generated medulloblastoma. We engineered candidate cooperating mutations in Gorlin NES cells, with mutation of DDX3X or loss of GSE1 both accelerating tumorigenesis. These findings demonstrate that human NES cells provide a potent experimental resource for dissecting genetic causation in medulloblastoma

The Human Phenotype Ontology in 2024: phenotypes around the world.

The Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is a widely used resource that comprehensively organizes and defines the phenotypic features of human disease, enabling computational inference and supporting genomic and phenotypic analyses through semantic similarity and machine learning algorithms. The HPO has widespread applications in clinical diagnostics and translational research, including genomic diagnostics, gene-disease discovery, and cohort analytics. In recent years, groups around the world have developed translations of the HPO from English to other languages, and the HPO browser has been internationalized, allowing users to view HPO term labels and in many cases synonyms and definitions in ten languages in addition to English. Since our last report, a total of 2239 new HPO terms and 49235 new HPO annotations were developed, many in collaboration with external groups in the fields of psychiatry, arthrogryposis, immunology and cardiology. The Medical Action Ontology (MAxO) is a new effort to model treatments and other measures taken for clinical management. Finally, the HPO consortium is contributing to efforts to integrate the HPO and the GA4GH Phenopacket Schema into electronic health records (EHRs) with the goal of more standardized and computable integration of rare disease data in EHRs

Case Reports1. A Late Presentation of Loeys-Dietz Syndrome: Beware of TGFβ Receptor Mutations in Benign Joint Hypermobility

Background: Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) and dissections are not uncommon causes of sudden death in young adults. Loeys-Dietz syndrome (LDS) is a rare, recently described, autosomal dominant, connective tissue disease characterized by aggressive arterial aneurysms, resulting from mutations in the transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) receptor genes TGFBR1 and TGFBR2. Mean age at death is 26.1 years, most often due to aortic dissection. We report an unusually late presentation of LDS, diagnosed following elective surgery in a female with a long history of joint hypermobility. Methods: A 51-year-old Caucasian lady complained of chest pain and headache following a dural leak from spinal anaesthesia for an elective ankle arthroscopy. CT scan and echocardiography demonstrated a dilated aortic root and significant aortic regurgitation. MRA demonstrated aortic tortuosity, an infrarenal aortic aneurysm and aneurysms in the left renal and right internal mammary arteries. She underwent aortic root repair and aortic valve replacement. She had a background of long-standing joint pains secondary to hypermobility, easy bruising, unusual fracture susceptibility and mild bronchiectasis. She had one healthy child age 32, after which she suffered a uterine prolapse. Examination revealed mild Marfanoid features. Uvula, skin and ophthalmological examination was normal. Results: Fibrillin-1 testing for Marfan syndrome (MFS) was negative. Detection of a c.1270G > C (p.Gly424Arg) TGFBR2 mutation confirmed the diagnosis of LDS. Losartan was started for vascular protection. Conclusions: LDS is a severe inherited vasculopathy that usually presents in childhood. It is characterized by aortic root dilatation and ascending aneurysms. There is a higher risk of aortic dissection compared with MFS. Clinical features overlap with MFS and Ehlers Danlos syndrome Type IV, but differentiating dysmorphogenic features include ocular hypertelorism, bifid uvula and cleft palate. Echocardiography and MRA or CT scanning from head to pelvis is recommended to establish the extent of vascular involvement. Management involves early surgical intervention, including early valve-sparing aortic root replacement, genetic counselling and close monitoring in pregnancy. Despite being caused by loss of function mutations in either TGFβ receptor, paradoxical activation of TGFβ signalling is seen, suggesting that TGFβ antagonism may confer disease modifying effects similar to those observed in MFS. TGFβ antagonism can be achieved with angiotensin antagonists, such as Losartan, which is able to delay aortic aneurysm development in preclinical models and in patients with MFS. Our case emphasizes the importance of timely recognition of vasculopathy syndromes in patients with hypermobility and the need for early surgical intervention. It also highlights their heterogeneity and the potential for late presentation. Disclosures: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes

Tracking the Campus Carbon Footprint : Fulfilling the American Colleges And Universities Presidents Climate Commitment (Acupcc) at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire

Color poster with text, charts, and graphs.Since signing the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment in 2007, the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire has completed five biennial Greenhouse Gas Emission (GGE) inventories. Students enrolled in an Honors course completed all inventories. By presenting both current and historic data, we report measured emissions by sector, and highlight areas where additional efforts are needed. This presentation concludes with recommendations to inform the development of a Campus Climate Action Plan.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program