What Motivates Highly Active Mothers? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

What Motivates Highly Active Mothers? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective Natalie McDaniel, SPT; Stephane Robert, SPT Mentor: Danny McMillian, PT, DSc, OCS Background: Physical inactivity is a major global health concern linked to high mortality rates. Extensive research demonstrates the role of physical activity (PA) in enhancing overall well-being, longevity, and disease prevention. Mothers living with children face significant challenges in pursuing PA. Purpose: This qualitative research uses Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to investigate experiences and beliefs influencing PA motivation and satisfaction in highly active mothers. Methods: (N=5). Participants completed the Motives for Physical Activities Measure - Revised (MPAM-R) and the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (BPNSFS) and participated in semi-structured interviews which were subsequently coded. Results: Based on coding frequency from the interviews, participants collectively expressed greater psychological satisfaction (32) than frustration (19). Coding further reveals the following motivational themes in order of magnitude: Competence (80), Fitness (49), Autonomy (46), Social/Relatedness (45), Interest (40), and Appearance (18). MPAM-R scores indicated high satisfaction across Fitness (6.36), Interest (6.17), Competence (5.97), Appearance (3.7), and Social (3.52). BPNSFS outcomes consistently favored psychological satisfaction over frustration in Autonomy (r=0.57), Relatedness (r=0.634), and Competence (r=0.63). Conclusion: Motivational factors influencing PA were most associated with competence, suggesting the importance in mastery of PA. The frequent expressions of psychological frustrations demonstrate this demographic’s ability and motivation to overcome these obstacles and maintain high levels of PA. Clinicians working with this population should be equipped to assist with inevitable challenges and provide mothers with the resources to overcome them

Corporate philanthropy, political influence, and health policy

Background The Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (FCTC) provides a basis for nation states to limit the political effects of tobacco industry philanthropy, yet progress in this area is limited. This paper aims to integrate the findings of previous studies on tobacco industry philanthropy with a new analysis of British American Tobacco's (BAT) record of charitable giving to develop a general model of corporate political philanthropy that can be used to facilitate implementation of the FCTC. Method Analysis of previously confidential industry documents, BAT social and stakeholder dialogue reports, and existing tobacco industry document studies on philanthropy. Results The analysis identified six broad ways in which tobacco companies have used philanthropy politically: developing constituencies to build support for policy positions and generate third party advocacy; weakening opposing political constituencies; facilitating access and building relationships with policymakers; creating direct leverage with policymakers by providing financial subsidies to specific projects; enhancing the donor's status as a source of credible information; and shaping the tobacco control agenda by shifting thinking on the importance of regulating the market environment for tobacco and the relative risks of smoking for population health. Contemporary BAT social and stakeholder reports contain numerous examples of charitable donations that are likely to be designed to shape the tobacco control agenda, secure access and build constituencies. Conclusions and Recommendations Tobacco companies' political use of charitable donations underlines the need for tobacco industry philanthropy to be restricted via full implementation of Articles 5.3 and 13 of the FCTC. The model of tobacco industry philanthropy developed in this study can be used by public health advocates to press for implementation of the FCTC and provides a basis for analysing the political effects of charitable giving in other industry sectors which have an impact on public health such as alcohol and food

Estimated maximal and current brain volume predict cognitive ability in old age

AbstractBrain tissue deterioration is a significant contributor to lower cognitive ability in later life; however, few studies have appropriate data to establish how much influence prior brain volume and prior cognitive performance have on this association. We investigated the associations between structural brain imaging biomarkers, including an estimate of maximal brain volume, and detailed measures of cognitive ability at age 73 years in a large (N = 620), generally healthy, community-dwelling population. Cognitive ability data were available from age 11 years. We found positive associations (r) between general cognitive ability and estimated brain volume in youth (male, 0.28; females, 0.12), and in measured brain volume in later life (males, 0.27; females, 0.26). Our findings show that cognitive ability in youth is a strong predictor of estimated prior and measured current brain volume in old age but that these effects were the same for both white and gray matter. As 1 of the largest studies of associations between brain volume and cognitive ability with normal aging, this work contributes to the wider understanding of how some early-life factors influence cognitive aging

Beyond a bigger brain:Multivariable structural brain imaging and intelligence

AbstractPeople with larger brains tend to score higher on tests of general intelligence (g). It is unclear, however, how much variance in intelligence other brain measurements would account for if included together with brain volume in a multivariable model. We examined a large sample of individuals in their seventies (n=672) who were administered a comprehensive cognitive test battery. Using structural equation modelling, we related six common magnetic resonance imaging-derived brain variables that represent normal and abnormal features—brain volume, cortical thickness, white matter structure, white matter hyperintensity load, iron deposits, and microbleeds—to g and to fluid intelligence. As expected, brain volume accounted for the largest portion of variance (~12%, depending on modelling choices). Adding the additional variables, especially cortical thickness (+~5%) and white matter hyperintensity load (+~2%), increased the predictive value of the model. Depending on modelling choices, all neuroimaging variables together accounted for 18–21% of the variance in intelligence. These results reveal which structural brain imaging measures relate to g over and above the largest contributor, total brain volume. They raise questions regarding which other neuroimaging measures might account for even more of the variance in intelligence

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Contraceptive practices in women with chronic medical conditions

Contraception in women with severe medical conditions is a potential measure to reduce maternal mortality. We sought to determine the contraceptive use in women with medical conditions at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) in Jamaica to determine if there is room for improvement in contraceptive use. Participants were identified from the medical out-patient departments and questionnaires administered. Two hundred and sixty females between 18 and 44 years with varied chronic medical conditions were included. Those included were systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), diabetes, hypertension (HTN), thyroid disease, cardiac and renal disease. The total current use of contraception was 58.4%, while 41.6% were not on contraceptives. The use of barrier methods and long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) was 71% and 10%, respectively. The current use of contraception in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) was 84% (p=.004) and in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 14% (p=.028). Fifty-eight (58, 24.2%) of the women were using two or more methods of contraception. There is a role for improving contraceptive use among women with medical conditions as they are at increased risk of pregnancy complications.IMPACT STATEMENT What is already known on this subject? Women with medical comorbidities significantly contribute to both direct and indirect causes of maternal mortality. Contraception may play an integral role in reducing the risk of dying in chronically ill women; however, the use of contraception in this group is often suboptimal. What the results of this study add? This study adds to the literature that in this high-risk group, there is an underuse of long-acting reversible contraceptives, which is ideal for this population. What the implications are of these findings for clinical practice or further research? The results will provide evidence that this high-risk group of women should be targeted and counselled regarding their risk of morbidity and mortality in pregnancy as well as contraception use while their condition is optimised. From this evidence, services may be put in place in institutions, especially in low-resource settings

Prospective memory or prospective attention: physiological and pharmacological support for an attentional model

Previous studies have reported that nicotine, a cholinergic agonist, could improve prospective memory (PM) - memory for a delayed intention - in healthy young adults. In the present study, we asked whether nicotine effects on PM performance were attributable to a drug-induced non-specific increase in arousal. Therefore, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared the effect of nicotine to the effect of an arousal manipulation on PM performance. All participants were non-smokers; half received 1 mg nicotine via a nasal spray and half received a matched placebo. Within these groups, half of the volunteers were exposed to hard anagrams and exhibited heightened tense arousal, while half of the volunteers were given easy anagrams and showed no change in arousal. These manipulations resulted in four conditions, placebo/low-arousal (n=12), placebo/high-arousal (n=10), nicotine/low-arousal (n=12), nicotine/high-arousal (n=13). All participants completed an ongoing lexical decision task while maintaining a PM intention (to make a separate, non-focal, response to certain items embedded within the ongoing task). When introduced separately, both nicotine and high tense arousal improved PM performance, but when combined, this improvement was eliminated. It is argued that both nicotine and high tense arousal increase attentional resources, specifically improving monitoring of the PM targets, but when combined they no longer produce beneficial effects. Additionally, given that nicotine exerted no effect on physiological or subjective measures of arousal, we conclude that the observed effects of nicotine and of arousal on PM performance are driven by different pharmacological mechanisms. © 2008 Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum

The diagnosis of major depression in patients with cancer: a comparative approach

Depressive symptoms not only impair quality of life in cancer patients but constitute an independent risk factor for increased mortality. In order to accurately and efficiently identify depression in cancer patients, the authors developed a biostatistical strategy to identify items of the 21-item, observer-rated Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (Ham-D) that would optimize the diagnosis of depression among cancer patients. Exhibiting a relatively high sensitivity and specificity, our most optimal diagnostic tool contained six Ham-D items (late insomnia, agitation, psychic anxiety, diurnal mood variation, depressed mood, and genital symptoms). This study may serve as a prototype to generate valid instruments accurate for the diagnosis of major depression in other populations of cancer patients