Psychological determinants of whole-body endurance performance

Background: No literature reviews have systematically identified and evaluated research on the psychological determinants of endurance performance, and sport psychology performance-enhancement guidelines for endurance sports are not founded on a systematic appraisal of endurance-specific research. Objective: A systematic literature review was conducted to identify practical psychological interventions that improve endurance performance and to identify additional psychological factors that affect endurance performance. Additional objectives were to evaluate the research practices of included studies, to suggest theoretical and applied implications, and to guide future research. Methods: Electronic databases, forward-citation searches, and manual searches of reference lists were used to locate relevant studies. Peer-reviewed studies were included when they chose an experimental or quasi-experimental research design, a psychological manipulation, endurance performance as the dependent variable, and athletes or physically-active, healthy adults as participants. Results: Consistent support was found for using imagery, self-talk, and goal setting to improve endurance performance, but it is unclear whether learning multiple psychological skills is more beneficial than learning one psychological skill. The results also demonstrated that mental fatigue undermines endurance performance, and verbal encouragement and head-to-head competition can have a beneficial effect. Interventions that influenced perception of effort consistently affected endurance performance. Conclusions: Psychological skills training could benefit an endurance athlete. Researchers are encouraged to compare different practical psychological interventions, to examine the effects of these interventions for athletes in competition, and to include a placebo control condition or an alternative control treatment. Researchers are also encouraged to explore additional psychological factors that could have a negative effect on endurance performance. Future research should include psychological mediating variables and moderating variables. Implications for theoretical explanations of endurance performance and evidence-based practice are described

TRANSFORM (Multicenter Experience With Rapid Deployment Edwards INTUITY Valve System for Aortic Valve Replacement) US clinical trial: Performance of a rapid deployment aortic valve

Background: The TRANSFORM (Multicenter Experience With Rapid Deployment Edwards INTUITY Valve System for Aortic Valve Replacement) trial (NCT01700439) evaluated the performance of the INTUITY rapid deployment aortic valve replacement (RDAVR) system in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Methods: TRANSFORM was a prospective, nonrandomized, multicenter (n 1�4 29), single-arm trial. INTUITY is comprised of a cloth-covered balloon- expandable frame attached to a Carpentier-Edwards PERIMOUNT Magna Ease aortic valve. Primary and effectiveness endpoints were evaluated at 1 year. Results: Between 2012 and 2015, 839 patients underwent RDAVR. Mean age was 73.5 8.3 years. Full sternotomy (FS) was used in 59% and minimally invasive surgical incisions in 41%. Technical success rate was 95%. For isolated RDAVR, mean crossclamp and cardiopulmonary bypass times for FS were 49.3 26.9 minutes and 69.2 34.7 minutes, respectively, and for minimally invasive surgical 63.1 25.4 minutes and 84.6 33.5 minutes, respectively. These times were favorable compared with Society of Thoracic Surgeons data- base comparators for FS: 76.3 minutes and 104.2 minutes, respectively, and for minimally invasive surgical, 82.9 minutes and 111.4 minutes, respectively (P<.001). At 30 days, all-cause mortality was 0.8%; valve explant, 0.1%; throm- boembolism, 3.5%; and major bleeding, 1.3%. In patients with isolated aortic valve replacement, the rate of permanent pacemaker implantation was 11.9%. At 1 year, mean effective orifice area was 1.7 cm2; mean gradient, 10.3 mm Hg; and moderate and severe paravalvular leak, 1.2% and 0.4%, respectively

Predictors of applicant pool racial and ethnic diversity among physician assistant education programs: a national cross-sectional cohort study

Abstract Background Numerous studies have demonstrated that the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the US population benefits from access to healthcare providers from similarly diverse backgrounds. Physician assistant (PA) education programs have striven to increase the diversity of the profession, which is predominantly non-Hispanic white, by focusing on admitting students from historically excluded populations. However, strategies such as holistic admissions are predicated on the existence of racially and ethnically diverse applicant pools. While studies have examined correlates of matriculation into a medical education program, this study looks earlier in the pipeline and investigates whether applicant – not matriculant – pool diversity varies among PA programs with different characteristics. Methods Data were drawn from the 2017–2018 Central Application Service for PAs admissions cycle. Applications to programs with pre-professional tracks and applicants missing race/ethnicity data were excluded, resulting in data from 26,600 individuals who applied to 189 PA programs. We summarized the racial and ethnic diversity of each program’s applicant pools using: [1]the proportion of underrepresented minority (URM) students, [2]the proportion of students with backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (URiM), and [3]Simpson’s diversity index of a 7-category race/ethnicity combination. We used multiple regressions to model each diversity metric as a function of program characteristics including class size, accreditation status, type of institution, and other important features. Results Regardless of the demographic diversity metric examined, we found that applicant diversity was higher among provisionally accredited programs and those receiving more applications. We also identified trends suggesting that programs in more metropolitan areas were able to attract more diverse applicants. Programs that did not require the GRE were also able to attract more diverse applicants when considering the URM and SDI metrics, though results for URiM were not statistically significant. Conclusions Our findings provide insights into modifiable (e.g., GRE requirement) and non-modifiable (e.g., provisionally accredited) program characteristics that are associated with more demographically diverse applicant pools

A review of the major biological approaches to control the worldwide pest Tetranychus urticae (Acari: Tetranychidae) with special reference to natural pesticides

The two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticae Koch, is a phytophagous pest that can cause significant yield losses in many agricultural crops, including fruits, cotton, vegetables, and ornamentals. To date, 3877 host species have been reported around the world in both outdoor crops and greenhouses. In this paper, we present the common methods to control this pest including chemical and biological practices. While synthetic acaricides have been widely used to manage T. urticae, in recent years, interest in pesticides derived from plants has increased considerably as a result of environmental concerns and pest population resistance to conventional pesticides. Some botanical pesticides can be easily produced,are relatively efficient against pests, and with few exceptions, their mammalian toxicity and persistence in the environment is low. Thus, the use of plant extracts appears to be a promising alternative strategy for pest management. The present paper reviews studies on the biocidal activities of plant extracts, including essential oils, against T. urticae, a plant-feeding mite found worldwide and a serious agricultural and home garden pest