A conditional process model of the effect of mindfulness on 800m personal best times through pain catastrophizing

This is an Author's Original Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Sports Sciences on 25 September 2015 available online at http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/02640414.2015.1093648The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between mindfulness and 800m PB times through pain catastrophizing and to see whether the magnitude and direction of the relationship depended on gender. One hundred and nine participants reported their gender, completed measures of mindfulness (MAAS) and pain catastrophizing (PCS) and reported personal best 800m times that were standardized based on current world records. Results revealed moderate sized relationships between the predictor variables and standardized 800m PB. The size of these relationships reduced after we controlled for gender. The follow-up, conditional process analysis, revealed significant direct and indirect effects that confirmed that pain catastrophizing partially mediated the relationship between mindfulness and 800m PB and gender moderated the indirect paths. The indirect path between mindfulness and pain catastrophizing was consistent with existing literature. However, the path between pain catastrophizing and standardized 800m PB was positive for females and negative for males. The different direction of the relationship could suggest that pain catastrophizing could be performance enhancing for females.British Miler’s Club - Frank Horwill Research Scholarship Schem

Perceived Exercise Benefits and Barriers of Non-Exercising Female University Students in the United Kingdom

Many individuals do not engage in sufficient physical activity due to low perceived benefits and high perceived barriers to exercise. Given the increasing incidence of obesity and obesity related health disorders, this topic requires further exploration. We used the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale to assess perceived benefit and barrier intensities to exercise in 200 non-exercising female university students (mean age 19.3 years, SD = 1.06) in the UK. Although our participants were selected because they self reported themselves to be non-exercising, however they reported significantly higher perceived benefits from exercise than perceived barriers to exercise [t(199) = 6.18, p < 0.001], and their perceived benefit/barrier ratio was 1.33. The greatest perceived benefit from exercise was physical performance followed by the benefits of psychological outlook, preventive health, life enhancement, and then social interaction. Physical performance was rated significantly higher than all other benefits. Psychological outlook and preventive health were not rated significantly different, although both were significantly higher than life enhancement and social interaction. Life enhancement was also rated significantly higher than social interaction. The greatest perceived barrier to exercise was physical exertion, which was rated significantly higher than time expenditure, exercise milieu, and family discouragement barriers. Implications from this investigation for the design of physical activity programmes include the importance, for females, of a perception of high benefit/barrier ratio that could be conducive to participation in exercise. Applied interventions need to assist female students to ‘disengage’ from or overcome any perceived ‘unpleasantness’ of physical exertion during physical activity (decrease their perceived barriers), and to further highlight the multiple health and other benefits of regular exercising (increase their perceived benefits)

Fish and Zooplankton Distributions in a Seasonally Hypoxic Fjord

Hypoxia has been identified as a major threat to marine ecosystem health in the world’s coastal waters including Puget Sound. This study is evaluating the potential effects of hypoxia on fish and zooplankton distributions in Hood Canal, WA, using multifrequency acoustics and net sampling. Field surveys were conducted monthly from June to October in 2012 and 2013 to characterize pre-, during, and post-hypoxia nekton distributions at four sites along the Canal. Using the repeated samplings and high-resolution survey data, we are examining how seasonal and inter-annual difference in the timing and intensity of hypoxia affects distributions of predators (primarily Pacific herring and Pacific hake) and prey (primarily copepods and euphausiids). Depth of the zooplankton backscatter layer changed seasonally with hypoxia intensity. Toward late-summer, the daytime zooplankton layer was closer to the surface, increasing the vertical separation between zooplankton and fish. In spite of low oxygen levels in late-summer, fish remained in low-oxygen regions of Hood Canal. This suggests a decrease in energy flow toward higher trophic level during hypoxia

A Hybrid Sequencing Approach Completes the Genome Sequence of Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200

Thermoanaerobacter ethanolicus JW 200 has been identified as a potential sustainable biofuel producer due to its ability to readily ferment carbohydrates to ethanol. A hybrid sequencing approach, combining Oxford Nanopore and Illumina DNA sequence reads, was applied to produce a single contiguous genome sequence of 2,911,280 bp

Mouse models of hepatocellular carcinoma

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major and steadily increasing global health challenge as the most common primary liver malignancy and leading cause of death in cirrhotic patients. The only hope for curative treatment or significant increase in life expectancy is early detection. Once patients have progressed towards end-stage HCC, effective treatment options are extremely limited on the background of a very high degree of heterogeneity in clinical presentation and outcome. Experimental chronic liver injury and cancer have been used extensively to mimic the human disease. In particular, mouse studies have advanced the field due to the ability to easily manipulate the mouse genome and transcriptome for mechanistic evaluations. In addition, they offer the opportunity to screen new therapeutic strategies cost effectively and in quick high-throughput, large-scale formats. The most commonly used mouse models in HCC research can be categorized as chemotoxic, diet-induced, and genetically engineered models. It is important to note that no particular model mimics all features of a given HCC etiology or histological subtype, and each model poses advantages and disadvantages that need to be carefully considered

Cellular plasticity in liver regeneration - spotlight on cholangiocytes

The liver\u27s remarkable capacity to self‐repair and regenerate following tissue injury has been recognized since the ancient Greek myth of Prometheus. However, the diverse potential sources of this regenerative capacity have been an area of hot debate, and only recently have studies started to unravel the actual degree of hepatic cell plasticity. Deng et al. established through lineage tracing experiments using a double‐fluorescent reporter system that biliary epithelial cells significantly contributed to hepatocyte regeneration in two murine chronic liver injury models. Furthermore, during the cholangiocyte‐to‐hepatocyte conversion, biphenotypic cells were identified in both mouse models and human cirrhotic livers. Following analysis of liver progenitor cell markers and mature cholangiocytes, the authors concluded that cholangiocytes directly lineage‐converted to hepatocytes without a progenitor cell intermediate and suggested these biphenotypic cells as potential cellular sources for future therapeutic transplantation strategies