‘Baby Ban’ and ‘We are not the same’: Creative non-fiction dialogue exploring pregnancy and motherhood for a funded Paralympic and unfunded Olympic athlete

Elite athlete mothers are an under researched population. This is remiss given their increasing prevalence, sporting successes, and importance as role models that challenge dominant and traditional views of pregnancy and women in sport. Indeed, sporting organisations are gradually adopting policies to support elite athlete mothers. That said, elite sport is part of a complex social and economic environment that is likely to shapes support available to elite athlete mothers. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore the shared and different experiences of elite athlete mothers in and out of UK national funding programmes. Longitudinal semi-structured individual interviews with two elite athlete mothers, one Paralympian receiving funding and one Olympian not in receipt of funding, were conducted. Bengtsson’s 4-stage process was adopted to analyse data through the bioecological model. Data were merged and reorganised into two creative non-fiction dialogues; ‘Baby Ban’ and ‘We are not the same’. These reveal that national funding bodies’ pregnancy and motherhood guidelines, and funding policy were found to conflict, causing confusion and unsupportive experiences. Inconsistencies appeared in the exosystem guidelines and policy, and resulted in differences in communication, pressure, and support that prompted more positive interpersonal experiences for funded athletes than unfunded. Effective communication appeared as crucial for understanding athletes' needs and to foster a supportive environment, irrespective of funding status. This study was the first to apply a creative non-fiction approach and a bioecological lens to elite athlete mothers’ postpartum experiences and explore the inequalities between those who are funded and unfunded

Transforming, storing and consuming athletic experiences; a coach’s narrative of using a video app.

The analysis of sport performance in performance contexts has become synonymous with the use of a range of software applications and hardware e.g. heart rate monitors and gps systems. With the prevalence of technology in mind, a small but growing corpus of literature has begun to consider this phenomenon and its influence upon the coaching process. This study adds to this literature by detailing the autoethnographic experiences of a case study coach; Derek. A contextualised and richly described narrative account of Derek’s experience of using coaching applications is provided. Analysis of Derek’s narrative suggests that technology can be a useful means by which individuals make sense of their experience. Specifically, 1) technology can be a ‘ready-to-hand’ instrument that enhances the coaching process. Unfortunately, 2) technology may become the only and ‘calculative’ means by which individuals come to understand their performance. In such instances, it is important to note that 3) the videos we use to understand our performance are transformed and incomplete representations of lived athletic experiences. Thus, Derek’s story illustrates how technology can be both an enabler and barrier to athletes who wish to holistically understand their own lived experiences and engage in coach-athlete relationships. The accompanying analysis draws upon concepts from Heideggerian philosophy to add insight into the use of technology within the coaching process. In so doing, the study prompts coaches to critically view their coach-athlete relationships as situated in a wider world which contains, and can be mediated by, technology. In addition, Derek’s story (re)directs researchers and coaching practitioners interested in technology to a useful literature (philosophy of technology) which may further inform their understanding of coach-athlete relationships

Carefully supporting autonomy – learning coaching lessons and advancing theory from women’s netball in England.

Back to Netball (B2N) is an initiative that encourages women, whose engagement has lapsed, to return to regular Netball participation. This study explores what aspects of coaching practice within B2N are perceived to be effective. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 28 B2N participants and 6 coaches was undertaken. Analysis identified four pertinent themes; 1) participants personalising sporting experiences through choice, 2) coaches facilitating and / or directing participants to relevant opportunities, 3) critical considerations of autonomy; a need for balance, 4) caring as a coaching ethic. The subsequent discussion considers autonomy and care as two relevant theoretical explanations. Within the discussion, it is posited that autonomy supportive behaviours and caring relationships may be symbiotic features of successful coaching. A novel interdisciplinary theoretical contribution is therefore made by connecting Self Determination Theory with the burgeoning recognition of coaching as a caring practice

Back to Netball: Motivations for participation in a female focused Netball sport program.

Background: Back to Netball (B2N) is a UK female national sports program that has been found to engage large number of females in the sport netball. This study sought to understand the participant motives for engaging in this program. Methods: Qualitative methods were used following an initial quantitative survey, which was part of a wider project (outside of this manuscript). Survey participants comprised of 374 females aged 16-68. Participants completed an online survey to capture demographic data. Interviews were conducted with 28 participants either still engaged or no longer engaged in B2N. Analysis involved both inductive and deductive thematic analysis to explore participant perceptions of their coach. Results: Initial motives for engagement were focussed on physical health motives and social motives. The coach was also found to be important in providing opportunities for competence development. Therefore, competence development was found to be an important factor for engagement. Participant motivations moved from an extrinsic concern with losing weight to a more intrinsic foci including socialising opportunities and feelings of competence. Conclusions: As a team sport B2N stimulates social engagement, competence, and other motives. Coaching is also a key facilitator for engagement in B2N. This research has implications for future practitioners and policy makers aiming to engage women in sport and physical activity

Mindfulness for irritable bowel syndrome: protocol development for a controlled clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a functional bowel disorder with symptoms of abdominal pain and disturbed defecation experienced by 10% of U.S. adults, results in significant disability, impaired quality of life, and health-care burden. Conventional medical care focusing on pharmacological approaches, diet, and lifestyle management has been partially effective in controlling symptoms. Behavioral treatments, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and hypnosis, are promising. This paper describes an on-going feasibility study to assess the efficacy of mindfulness training, a behavioral treatment involving directing and sustaining attention to present-moment experience, for the treatment of IBS.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>The study design involves randomization of adult women with IBS according to Rome II criteria, to either an eight-week mindfulness training group (based on a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction [MBSR] format) or a previously validated IBS social-support group as an attention-control condition. The primary hypothesis is that, compared to Support Group participants, those in the Mindfulness Program will demonstrate significant improvement in IBS symptoms as measured by the IBS Symptom Severity Scale <abbrgrp><abbr bid="B1">1</abbr></abbrgrp>.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>214 individuals have been screened for eligibility, of whom 148 were eligible for the study. Of those, 87 were enrolled, with 21 withdrawing after having given consent. 66 have completed or are in the process of completing the interventions. It is feasible to undertake a rigorous randomized clinical trial of mindfulness training for people with IBS, using a standardized MBSR protocol adapted for those experiencing IBS, compared to a control social-support group previously utilized in IBS studies.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT00680693</p

A 6-week, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, clinical safety study of lumiracoxib and rofecoxib in osteoarthritis patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lumiracoxib is a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) with a superior gastrointestinal (GI) safety profile as compared to traditional non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, ibuprofen and naproxen). This safety study compared the GI tolerability, the blood pressure (BP) profile and the incidence of oedema with lumiracoxib and rofecoxib in the treatment of OA. Rofecoxib was withdrawn worldwide due to an associated increased risk of CV events and lumiracoxib has been withdrawn from Australia, Canada, Europe and a few other countries following reports of suspected adverse liver reactions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This randomised, double-blind study enrolled 309 patients (aged greater than or equal to 50 years) with primary OA across 51 centres in Europe. Patients were randomly allocated to receive either lumiracoxib 400 mg od (four times the recommended dose in OA) (<it>n </it>= 154) or rofecoxib 25 mg od (<it>n </it>= 155). The study was conducted for 6 weeks and assessments were performed at Weeks 3 and 6. The primary safety measures were the incidence of predefined GI adverse events (AEs) and peripheral oedema. The secondary safety measures included effect of treatment on the mean sitting systolic and diastolic blood pressure (msSBP and msDBP). Tolerability of lumiracoxib 400 mg was assessed by the incidence of AEs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Lumiracoxib and rofecoxib displayed similar GI safety profiles with no statistically significant difference in predefined GI AEs between the two groups (43.5% <it>vs</it>. 37.4%, respectively). The incidence and severity of individual predefined GI AEs was comparable between the two groups. The incidence of peripheral oedema was low and identical in both the groups (<it>n </it>= 9, 5.8%). Only one patient in the lumiracoxib group and three patients in the rofecoxib group had a moderate or severe event. At Week 6 there was a significantly lower msSBP and msDBP in the lumiracoxib group compared to the rofecoxib group (<it>p </it>< 0.05). A similar percentage of patients in both groups showed an improvement in target joint pain and disease activity. The tolerability profile was similar in both the treatment groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Lumiracoxib 400 mg od (four times the recommended dose in OA) provided a comparable GI safety profile to rofecoxib 25 mg od (therapeutic dose). However, lumiracoxib was associated with a significantly better BP profile as compared to rofecoxib.</p> <p>Trial registration number -</p> <p>NCT00637949</p

A Global Characterization and Identification of Multifunctional Enzymes

Multi-functional enzymes are enzymes that perform multiple physiological functions. Characterization and identification of multi-functional enzymes are critical for communication and cooperation between different functions and pathways within a complex cellular system or between cells. In present study, we collected literature-reported 6,799 multi-functional enzymes and systematically characterized them in structural, functional, and evolutionary aspects. It was found that four physiochemical properties, that is, charge, polarizability, hydrophobicity, and solvent accessibility, are important for characterization of multi-functional enzymes. Accordingly, a combinational model of support vector machine and random forest model was constructed, based on which 6,956 potential novel multi-functional enzymes were successfully identified from the ENZYME database. Moreover, it was observed that multi-functional enzymes are non-evenly distributed in species, and that Bacteria have relatively more multi-functional enzymes than Archaebacteria and Eukaryota. Comparative analysis indicated that the multi-functional enzymes experienced a fluctuation of gene gain and loss during the evolution from S. cerevisiae to H. sapiens. Further pathway analyses indicated that a majority of multi-functional enzymes were well preserved in catalyzing several essential cellular processes, for example, metabolisms of carbohydrates, nucleotides, and amino acids. What’s more, a database of known multi-functional enzymes and a server for novel multi-functional enzyme prediction were also constructed for free access at http://bioinf.xmu.edu.cn/databases/MFEs/index.htm