An exploration of sports rehabilitators and athletic rehabilitation therapists' views on fear of re-injury following Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction.

Date of Acceptance: 08/12/2014 The article appears here in its accepted, peer-reviewed form, as it was provided by the submitting author. It has not been copyedited, proofed, or formatted by the publisherAim: The aim of the study was to gain a greater understanding of the views of sports rehabilitators and athletic rehabilitation therapists on recognition of fear of re-injury in clients following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR). Background: Research involving long term follow up of patients following successful ALCR rehabilitation has shown return to sport rates are not as good as would be expected despite many patients having normal functional knee scores. The psychological component, specifically fear of re-injury plays a critical role in determining patients returning to play, and is frequently underestimated. Little is known about the recognition and intervention from the therapists’ perspective.Peer reviewe

A Neural Model of Motion Processing and Visual Navigation by Cortical Area MST

Cells in the dorsal medial superior temporal cortex (MSTd) process optic flow generated by self-motion during visually-guided navigation. A neural model shows how interactions between well-known neural mechanisms (log polar cortical magnification, Gaussian motion-sensitive receptive fields, spatial pooling of motion-sensitive signals, and subtractive extraretinal eye movement signals) lead to emergent properties that quantitatively simulate neurophysiological data about MSTd cell properties and psychophysical data about human navigation. Model cells match MSTd neuron responses to optic flow stimuli placed in different parts of the visual field, including position invariance, tuning curves, preferred spiral directions, direction reversals, average response curves, and preferred locations for stimulus motion centers. The model shows how the preferred motion direction of the most active MSTd cells can explain human judgments of self-motion direction (heading), without using complex heading templates. The model explains when extraretinal eye movement signals are needed for accurate heading perception, and when retinal input is sufficient, and how heading judgments depend on scene layouts and rotation rates.Defense Research Projects Agency (N00014-92-J-4015); Office of Naval Research (N00014-92-J-1309, N00014-95-1-0409, N00014-95-1-0657, N00014-91-J-4100, N0014-94-I-0597); Air Force Office of Scientific Research (F49620-92-J-0334)

The self-practice of sport psychologists : Do they practice what they preach?

The maturation processes of applied sport psychologists have received little research attention despite trainees and practitioners having often reported experiencing challenging circumstances when working with clients. Within clinical psychology literature the self-practice of cognitive techniques, alongside self-reflection, has been advocated as a means of addressing such circumstances, and as a significant source of experiential learning. The present study sought to identify the possible types of, and purposes for, self-practice amongst twelve UK-based sport psychology practitioners. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews indicated all participants engaged in self-practice for reasons such as managing the self, enhancing understanding of intervention, and legitimising intervention. Some participants also described limitations to self-practice. Subsequently, three overriding themes emerged from analysis: a) the professional practise swamp, b) approaches to, and purposes for, self-practice, and, c) limitations of self-practice. It is concluded that self-practice may provide a means of better understanding self-as-person and self-as-practitioner, and the interplay between both, and is recommended as part of on-going practitioner maturationPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Evaluating the Productivity of Software Engineers in Enterprise Development

Managing and evaluating the work of software engineers creating complex products at large corporations is particularly challenging with no standardized system to recognize productivity. Cerner Corporation, a leading supplier of healthcare information technology solutions, gives managers substantial latitude in tracking productivity, yielding high variance. The research reported here involves an examination of relevant background literature and interviews of Cerner associates with multiple roles in the organization as well as the author's own background. By identifying the essential components of good software engineering and potential measurement systems, the research yields a design that the author will use to track the productivity of his direct report engineers in the next annual performance period. In it, the primary metric is the completion of story points, an Agile software development representation of the relative size and complexity of work to be done. Tracking the introduction of defects is an indicator of an engineer's code quality, although sufficient context must be captured. Finally, a peer feedback system helps ensure the manager recognizes performance from other perspectives

A Preliminary Investigation into the Use of Humor in Sport Psychology Practice

‘Creative efforts’, such as the use of humor,have been found to be beneficial to the nurse-patient, teacher-student , and psychologist-patient alliance. Potentially humoruse might benefit the working alliance in applied sport psychology, yet to datethere is limited research. Sportpsychology consultants (n = 55) completedan online survey that explored humor use within their practice. Statisticalanalyses revealed most participants used humor for adaptive purposes such as tofacilitate the working alliance, reinforce knowledge, and create healthylearning environments. Therefore, possible client change is likely to befacilitated by practitioners’ personal qualities and skills such as humor useand humor style. Recommendations are made for sport psychology practitioners inrelation to humor use and further research.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Velocity profile in confined elliptic fractures

The primary objective of this research is to determine the friction inside a smooth fracture and to incorporate the effect of friction on a fluid transient inside a tapered-elliptical-confined fracture. In order to do so, the non-uniform velocity profile in an elliptic fracture with laminar flow of both Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids was calculated. A transient flow computer program is presented using the method of characteristics, to show the frictional effects on acoustic damping. However for flow inside a hydraulic fracture, the 3D velocity profile is highly non-uniform, and the use of Vav creates an error as Vmax \u3e\u3e Vav. The variation in hydraulic diameter associated with an elliptic cross-section of a confined fracture as given by the Perkins/Kern mode16 is responsible for the large difference between Vmax and Vav. It is shown that for a smooth wall, elliptic fracture, with laminar Newtonian flow, V max = 2.66 Vav

It takes two: The experience of stress and associated impacts upon the coach-athlete relationship in elite athletics.

Stephen Pack, Judith Naseby, Elizabeth Scholefield, ‘It takes two: The experience of stress and associated impacts upon the coach-athlete relationship in elite athletics’, paper presented at the Annual Conference of the BPS Division Sport and Exercise Psychology, Manchester, UK, 16-17 December, 2013.Objective: To explore elite athletics coaches’ experiences of stress and its potential impact on the coach-athlete relationship. Design: A qualitative research design was employed. – underpinned by which philosophical standpoint? In-depth interviews encouraged individuals to provide detailed information that resonated at a personal level and captured the subjective meaning of experiencing this implies phenomenology stress in contextual situations. A semi-structured interview guide provided flexibility that facilitated exploration of unique points raised by participants. Method: Six male, UK based, elite athletics coaches aged between 32 and 57 years (46.5 ± 11.8 years), with 7 to 30 years (15.5 ± 9.9 years) elite coaching experience were interviewed face-to-face. All responses were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Results: Data was analysed using inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis. 18 (?) themes emerged – is ‘emerge’ appropriate to deductive and inductive approaches? detailing a variety of competitive and organisational stressors experienced by coaches (e.g. pressure, expectation, conflict and coaching responsibilities), with most debilitative? stress reported during competition. Stress was described as having debilitating and facilitating affects on both the coaches’ and athletes’ performance. Coaches explained how they withdrew from their athletes and coaching responsibilities at times of stress, through changes in body language, and communication. In response, athletes were reported to over-compensate how? , which often resulted in poor performance outcomes. However, experiencing stress was also described to increase responsiveness and productivity of the elite coaches. E.g.? Conclusions: Understanding and responding appropriately to stress in elite sport is paramount.- is this last sentence your focus? Coaches must be aware of how the affects of stress impact the coach-athlete relationship and thus potentially performance. Stress and responses that are below the ‘radar’, and why...Non peer reviewe

The effect of long term physical training on the development of mental toughness in recreationally active participants

This study investigated the effect of long-term training on the development of mental toughness (MT). Thirty recreationally active participants (age: 33.53±6.83years; height: 177.41±7.11cm; weight: 78.40±11.94kg; maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max): 47.00±6.48 ml.kg-1.min-1) undertook 6-months of training prior to completing an iron-distance triathlon. Mental toughness questionnaires (MTQ48) were completed at 0,2,4,6 months of training and 1-month post-race. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed for each MTQ48 variable with consideration to faster v slower finishers. No significant differences (p>0.05) were found between fast and slow finishers on any of the MT criteria. There was an effect for time with overall mental toughness (OMT) improving from baseline-post race (cohens d = 0.52; p<0.01) and month 2-post race (d = 0.39; p<0.01), commitment improving from baseline-post race (d = 0.60; p<0.05) and confidence increasing from month 2 post-race (d = 0.39; p<0.05). MT was not associated with race time. The findings indicate that longitudinal training culminating with competitive experience may favourably impact MT

The effect of long term physical training in the development of mental toughness in recreationally active participants

This study investigated the effect of a long-term training program on the development of mental toughness (MT). Thirty (2 female and 28 male) recreationally active participants (age: 33.53±6.83years; height: 177.41±7.11cm; weight: 78.40±11.94kg; maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max): 47.00±6.48 ml.kg-1.min-1; mean±SD) undertook 6 months of training prior to completing a long-distance triathlon. Participants completed mental toughness questionnaires (MTQ48) at 0, 2, 4, and 6 months of training and 1-month post-race. Data analysis included repeated measures ANOVAs for each MTQ48 variable with consideration to faster and slower finishers. Faster and slower finishers demonstrated non-significant differences (p>0.05) on all MT criteria. There was an effect for time with overall mental toughness (OMT) improving from baseline-post race (cohens d = 0.52; p<0.01) and month 2 post race (d = 0.39; p<0.01), commitment improving from baseline-post race (d = 0.60; p<0.05) and confidence increasing from month 2 post race (d = 0.39; p<0.05). The findings indicate that long term training culminating with competitive experience favourably impacts MT

Faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) versus colonoscopy for surveillance after screening and polypectomy: a diagnostic accuracy and cost-effectiveness study.

OBJECTIVE: The English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (BCSP) recommends 3 yearly colonoscopy surveillance for patients at intermediate risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) postpolypectomy (those with three to four small adenomas or one ≥10 mm). We investigated whether faecal immunochemical tests (FITs) could reduce surveillance burden on patients and endoscopy services. DESIGN: Intermediate-risk patients (60-72 years) recommended 3 yearly surveillance were recruited within the BCSP (January 2012-December 2013). FITs were offered at 1, 2 and 3 years postpolypectomy. Invitees consenting and returning a year 1 FIT were included. Participants testing positive (haemoglobin ≥40 µg/g) at years one or two were offered colonoscopy early; all others were offered colonoscopy at 3 years. Diagnostic accuracy for CRC and advanced adenomas (AAs) was estimated considering multiple tests and thresholds. We calculated incremental costs per additional AA and CRC detected by colonoscopy versus FIT surveillance. RESULTS: 74% (5938/8009) of invitees were included in our study having participated at year 1. Of these, 97% returned FITs at years 2 and 3. Three-year cumulative positivity was 13% at the 40 µg/g haemoglobin threshold and 29% at 10 µg/g. 29 participants were diagnosed with CRC and 446 with AAs. Three-year programme sensitivities for CRC and AAs were, respectively, 59% and 33% at 40 µg/g, and 72% and 57% at 10 µg/g. Incremental costs per additional AA and CRC detected by colonoscopy versus FIT (40 µg/g) surveillance were £7354 and £180 778, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Replacing 3 yearly colonoscopy surveillance in intermediate-risk patients with annual FIT could reduce colonoscopies by 71%, significantly cut costs but could miss 30%-40% of CRCs and 40%-70% of AAs. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN18040196; Results