Participatory co-creation of an adapted physical activity program for adults with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury

BackgroundResearch about using physical activity (PA) to improve health, quality of life, and participation after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) is receiving growing attention. However, best-practices for maintaining PA participation after TBI have yet to be defined. In this context, a team of researchers and stakeholders with a moderate-to-severe TBI (including program participants and peer mentors) participated in a co-creation process to optimize a 9-month, 3-phased, community-based, adapted PA program named TBI-Health.PurposeThe study aimed to provide a detailed account of the participation in and co-creation of a new TBI-Health Program to enhance sport and exercise participation for adults with moderate-to-severe TBI. Specifically, we carried out an in-depth exploration of the perceived experiences and outcomes of users over one cycle of the program to assist the co-creation process.MethodsAn interpretive case study approach was used to explore the experiences and outcomes of the participatory co-creation within and across phases of the TBI-Health program. A purposeful sample of fourteen adults with moderate-to-severe TBI (program participants n = 10; peer mentors n = 4) were involved in audio-recorded focus groups after each program phase. Reflexive thematic analyses within and across the phases identified three higher-order themes.ResultsProgram Participation included barriers, facilitators, sources of motivation and suggested modifications to optimize the program; Biopsychosocial Changes highlighted perceived physical, psychological, and social outcomes, by self and others, that resulted from program participation; PA Autonomy emphasized transitions in knowledge, sex- and gender-related beliefs, and abilities related to exercise and sport participation.ConclusionsStudy findings suggest the TBI-Health program can increase autonomy for and reduce barriers to PA for adults with moderate-to-severe TBI, which results in increased PA participation and important physical, psychological, and social benefits. More research is needed about the TBI-Health program with larger samples

Kinetic solvent effects on 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of benzonitrile oxide

The kinetics of 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of benzonitrile oxide with a series of N-substituted maleimides and with cyclopentene are reported for water, a wide range of organic solvents and binary solvent mixtures. The results indicate the importance of both solvent polarity and specific hydrogen-bond interactions in governing the rates of the reactions. The aforementioned reactions are examples for which these factors often counteract, leading to a complex dependence of rate constants on the nature of the solvent. For the reactions of N-ethylmaleimide and N-n-butylmaleimide with benzonitrile oxide, isobaric activation parameters have been determined in several organic solvents, water, and water–1-propanol mixtures. Interestingly, the activation parameters reveal significant differences in solvation in different solvents that are not clearly reflected in the rate constants. In highly aqueous mixtures, enforced hydrophobic interactions lead to an increase in rate constant, relative to organic solvents. However, the overall rate enhancement in water is modest, if present at all, because the solvent polarity diminishes the rate constant. This pattern contrasts with common Diels–Alder reactions, where polarity, hydrogen-bond donor capacity and enforced hydrophobic interactions work together, which can result in impressive rate accelerations in water.