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An improved understanding of psychosocial factors and their dynamic changes and interrelations is required to increase comprehension of the effects of exercise on weight loss. Women (N = 99) participating in a theory-based, community-administered obesity program focused on self-regulation of weight-loss behaviors were assessed. Analyses of a theory- and causal chain-driven sequential multiple mediation model affirmed the hypothesized path from moderate exercise[right arrow]decreased negative mood[right arrow]increased self-regulation[right arrow]increased self-efficacy[right arrow]improved weight-loss behaviors[right arrow]weight loss over 6 months. Alternate significant paths within the model reinforced an expected relationship between exercise-associated decrease in negative mood and increased self-regulation. Although completion/non-completion of the equivalent of 3 moderate bouts of exercise/week was significantly related to weight loss in bivariate analyses, it was no longer significant when the above mediators were sequentially entered. The mean observed loss of weight was -7.6%. Findings lent direction to more extensive and controlled research that could inform improvements in behavioral obesity treatments., Author(s): James J. Annesi [sup.1] [sup.2] [sup.3] , Sara M. Powell [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) Central Coast YMCA, , Monterey, CA, USA (2) grid.253562.5, 0000 0004 0385 7165, California State [...]

Outdoor Recreation (OR) provides the benefits of physical activity (PA) and traditional leisure placed in an outdoor environment. Motivation, self-efficacy, and autonomy can increase depending on the physical and social environment. This study explored the relationship between self-efficacy and autonomy on OR behaviors and identified barriers and supporters to OR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Survey information was collected from 995 U.S. adults (93.6% white, 64.0% female) regarding OR behaviors, changes in OR during COVID-19, and OR self-perceptions. Significant positive correlations existed between autonomy and self-efficacy (r = 0.138, p < 0.01), and self-efficacy and pre/post pandemic OR behaviors 2020 (r = 0.158, p < 0.01), (r = 0.129, p < 0.01) respectively. Qualitative data implied barriers and supporters to OR as: social, psychological health, and increased or changed OR/PA. Implications from this research are beneficial to OR and health professionals to promote overall physical and psychological well-being for OR participants.

The COVID-19 pandemic presents many concerns, including stress. Physical activity (PA) can help decrease stress. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress and PA levels of U.S. adults. Mixed-methods data were collected from adults (N = 464, 73.3% female, 87.5% white) examining levels of stress and PA, as well as changes in PA and various factors that impacted PA. A decrease in PA habits was reported by 55.3% during the lockdown period and by 48.6% currently when compared to pre-pandemic. Nearly half of participants (41.8%) met recommended PA guidelines, and experienced moderate levels of perceived stress. Significant differences in stress were found for those who indicated the pandemic altered current exercise compared to pre-pandemic (F(2,362) = 3.67, p = 0.026, [eta-squared] = 0.020), and among stress levels for those who met both, one, or neither cardio or muscular strength PA guidelines (F(2,456) = 4.97, p = .007, [eta-squared] = 0.021). Additionally, 225 participants provided open-ended responses; qualitative themes identified include change of exercise environment, increased or decreased frequency of PA, psychological changes, and change in PA intensity or type. During the pandemic, most respondents experienced changes in PA; decreases in PA were associated with loss of access to PA spaces during lockdown or psychological changes such as negative mood state or lack of motivation.

Research suggests that the position of a collegiate sport coach is a performance position. It has been documented that an immense amount of stress comes with coaching, and common stressors reported relate to team performance and work-life balance, however a gap in the literature exists in understanding the factors that cause stress when considering coaching as a high-stress profession. This study aimed to understand the job-related stressors experienced by NCAA Division I head and assistant coaches. Twenty-two participants, including 12 head and 10 assistant coaches at three mid-major NCAA Division I universities, participated in semi-structured interviews. Four main themes emerged: coaching responsibilities, performance expectations, uncontrollable situations in and out of competition, and coping strategies. Sources of stress reported by the majority of coaches related to feeling pressed for time and maintaining work-life balance, providing leadership and motivation to athletes, and producing successful outcomes of competitive seasons to maintain job security. Coping strategies were identified as methods to improve psychological and physical health as well as spending time with loved ones. This information may be used to develop psychological skills interventions to reduce the amount of stress experienced by both head and assistant coaches at the Division I collegiate level. Keywords: coaching; stress; coping strategies; collegiate athletics; NCAA Division I, The job of a collegiate National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) coach consists of recruiting athletes, monitoring team and athlete performance, providing leadership to athletes and coaching staff, [...]

Background: Obesity is a growing epidemic with non-surgical/non-pharmacological interventions having only nominal and transient effects on excess weight. Those persistent shortcomings are associated with minimal understandings of impacts of treatment-associated changes in psychological variables and their relationships. Women of lower incomes have high rates of obesity and might have increased difficulties accessing evidence-based programs. Methods: Women with obesity of lower- to lower-middle incomes participated in 6-month community-based treatments in the United States emphasizing either self-regulatory skills development (behavioral methods group: n = 63) or typical education in exercise and healthy dietary practices (education group: n = 48). Results: There were significant 6-month improvements in self-regulation, self-efficacy, mood, physical activity/exercise, dietary behaviors, and weight in both groups. All improvements were significantly greater in the behavioral group. Based on the incorporation of multiple behavioral theories, separate multiple regression models were fit for prediction of the weight-loss behavior changes. Stepwise entry of changes in self-regulation, self-efficacy, and mood each significantly contributed to the explained variance in physical activity/exercise change. Change in self-efficacy was most relevant in the prediction of change in dietary behaviors. Change in physical activity/exercise was significantly related to change in dietary behaviors; however, a regression analysis indicated that only physical activity/exercise change was a significant independent contributor to the overall accounted-for variance in lost weight. Conclusion: By incorporating key tenets of social cognitive theory, self-efficacy theory, self-regulation theory, coaction theory, and the mood-behavior model in an additive manner, suggestions and emphases for addressing psychological variables for improved weight-loss behaviors within scalable obesity treatments were advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Because obesity has not responded well to instructing affected adults in healthier eating behaviors and increased physical activity/exercise, enhanced research on psychosocial determinants of those behavioral changes is needed. Intervention foci on self-regulation have been suggested, but targeted research is required. Method: Women with obesity participated in community-based treatments that were either self-regulation-focused (self-regulation emphasis group; n = 52) or typical instruction-based (education [treatment-as-usual] group; n = 54). Results: There were overall significant increases in exercise-related self-regulation, physical activity/exercise, exercise-related self-efficacy, and eating-related self-regulation that were each significantly more pronounced in the self-regulation emphasis group. Increase in exercise-related self-regulation over 3 months predicted eating-related self-regulation over 6 months; however, sequential entry of changes in physical activity and exercise-related self-efficacy significantly mediated that relationship. However, only the path from changes in exercise-related self-regulation to exercise self-efficacy to eating-related self-regulation was significant. In a revised model where change in exercise self-efficacy was the sole mediator, treatment group did not significantly moderate the exercise self-regulation to eating self-regulation change relationship, but full mediation of that relationship occurred. Conclusion: Findings indicated salience for perceived ability/self-efficacy for physical activity, over actual physical activity progress, and its role in the transfer of self-regulatory skills from an exercise to eating context. Increased eating self-regulation significantly predicted weight loss over 6, 12, and 24 months. In the self-regulation emphasis group that translated to meaningful weight loss/weight-loss maintenance of greater than 5% of initial weight. Findings contributed to an increased understanding of psychosocial-change processes within obesity treatment research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusions So What? Obesity is an increasing worldwide health issue. In affluent English‐speaking countries, obesity ranges from ~28% (Australia) to ~42% (United States) of the adult population. Enabling weight loss beyond an initial 6 months is an unresolved challenge.Women with obesity participated in community‐based obesity treatments incorporating either cognitive‐behavioural methods emphasizing self‐regulatory skills development (n = 106) or typical information/education processes (n = 47). Psychosocial, behavioural, and weight changes were measured.Significant overall improvements in exercise‐related self‐regulation and self‐efficacy, mood, physical activity/exercise (PA/exercise), diet, and weight were found from baseline–month 6 (weight‐loss phase) and baseline–month 12, but not from months 6–12 (weight‐loss maintenance phase). Significantly greater improvements were found in the cognitive‐behavioural group. Within the weight‐loss phase, changes in both PA/exercise and diet significantly contributed to the explained variance in weight loss, whereas within the weight‐loss maintenance phase, only change in PA/exercise was a significant predictor. There was no significant relationship of weight loss across phases. Months 6–12 change in PA/exercise significantly mediated relationships of changes in self‐regulation→weight, mood→weight, and self‐efficacy→weight. Earlier scores and score changes in mood and self‐efficacy significantly impacted the subsequent parallel relationships.Cognitive‐behavioural methods affect psychosocial changes leading to initial changes in diet, PA/exercise, and weight. Those changes then impact subsequent changes in PA/exercise—a primary malleable correlate of maintained weight loss.This research extended previous findings to better‐inform behavioural obesity‐treatment foci to address the pervasive public health problem of attaining and sustaining weight loss. Findings related to PA/exercise will help impact health‐promotion outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity in the United States has risen to 42 percent of its adult population and is similarly problematic in many other countries. Although the U.S. government has provided education on healthy eating and the need to exercise regularly, behavioral obesity treatments have largely failed to sustain reductions in weight. Self-regulation, and the incorporation of exercise for its psychological impacts on eating, has sometimes been targeted. While there has been sporadic investigation into the carry-over of exercise-related self-regulation to eating-related self-regulation, the present aim is to further inquiry in that area to inform future treatment content for improved effects. Women enrolled in community-based obesity treatments with either a self-regulation (n = 106) or education (n = 54) focus were assessed on changes in exercise- and eating-related self-regulation, negative mood, completed exercise, and weight. Improvements were significantly greater in the self-regulation-focused group. After controlling for initial change in eating-related self-regulation, change in that measure from Month 3 to 6 was significantly predicted by change in exercise-related self-regulation during the initial 3 treatment months. This suggested a carry-over effect. A stronger predictive relationship was associated with the self-regulation-focused treatment. In further analyses, paths from changes in exercise→negative mood→self-regulation of both exercise and eating were significant. Increase in eating-related self-regulation was significantly associated with weight loss over 6, 12, and 24 months. The self-regulation-focused group had stronger relationships, again. Findings suggested utility in targeting exercise-related self-regulation to impact later change in eating-related self-regulation, and the use of exercise-associated mood improvement to bolster participants' self-regulation capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intuitive eating (IE) principles present an evidence-based strategy for improving one's relationship with food while reducing the incidence of weight cycling and health risks associated with chronic dieting and weight regain. Offering online programming provides improved access to education while reducing barriers to programme enrollment but is also associated with high rates of attrition. Aim: To examine the process of programme implementation and identify barriers and facilitators of engagement for an online IE programme for employees at a large Midwestern university. Methods: The web-based programme Finding Peace with Food: An Intuitive Eating Approach consisted of an online community with discussion prompts, 10 weekly modules containing videos, activities, and counsellor interviews and was developed using recognized health behaviour theory and evidence-based practices. Participants were university employees (n = 20). Qualitative data were assessed using a phenomenological approach to discern the themes of barriers and facilitators of programme participation. Participation rates were assessed using descriptive statistics. Results: All participants were Caucasian, 85% were female, and their ages ranged from 26–64. The module-based structure was well received. The primary barriers to participation were time constraints, overwhelming amount of information, and aversion to Flipgrid platform use. The quality and usefulness of the programme information were identified as facilitators of participation. Conclusion: Program participation was influenced by the time frame available to complete the programme modules and participants' ease of use of platform applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outdoor education programs use experiential learning to positively impact intrinsic motivation and knowledge acquisition of program participants. However, few programs have done so with multi-age group populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an outdoor education experiential learning program on participant self-perceptions and intrinsic motivation for learning. Fourteen adults completed a six-day outdoor experiential learning course at Yellowstone National Park in May 2019. The experiences of these individuals were documented through focus group interviews, researcher observations, and photographs taken by both the researchers and participants. Four themes emerged from all sources of data, including respect, spiritualism, sense of connection, and learning. Overall, participants indicated this program positively impacted their levels of intrinsic motivation and increased knowledge of the outdoor world. The findings of this research support the combination of outdoor education and experiential learning programs in novel environments in the field of outdoor recreation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the intellectual foundations of the Zakon bozhyi, an allegorical poem produced by the Brotherhood of Saints Cyril and Methodius in the mid-nineteenth century. The work is most often understood as a product of Romanticism. This article argues that it is rather a product of synergistic Enlightenment and Romantic thought. It focuses on the depiction of religion in the Zakon and demonstrates that depiction's origin in the Enlightenment. The article argues that work demonstrates a societal view of religion. Further, it demonstrates that the ecumenical stance of the Zakon is founded in the necessity for national and international stability, rather than in personal conviction. It emphasizes the importance of culturally specific forms of the Enlightenment, and shows how the Zakon is a product of a particularly East Slavic presentation of the movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

B Results: b Ninety-eight of 124 total patients initially received peripheral norepinephrine infusions, most of which required vasopressors for distributive or mixed shock. B Introduction: b Vasoactive agents like norepinephrine have been historically administered via central venous catheters (CVCs) due to the perceived risk of local tissue injury with peripheral infusion. [Extracted from the article]

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a Dependoparvovirus with a ssDNA ~4.7 kb genome in a ~25 nm icosahedral capsid structure. AAV genomes encode nine known functional proteins from two open reading frames between two inverted terminal repeats (ITRs). In recombinant AAV vectors for gene therapy use, the AAV genome is replaced with a transgene of interest flanked by ITRs and subsequently packaged within an AAV capsid made up of three viral structural proteins (VP1, VP2, and VP3) in an approximate 1:1:10 ratio, respectively. The AAV capsid, particularly VP3, has traditionally been ascribed to capsid-cellular receptor binding. However, AAV9 VP1/VP2 exhibits a capsid-promoter interaction that can alter neuronal cellular tropism in the rat and non-human primate central nervous system. This capsid-promoter interaction is altered by AAV9EU (AAV9 with six glutamates inserted at aa139) which exhibits a significant reduction in nuclear transgene DNA, a decrease in neuronal transduction, and a reduction in vivo relative transgene mRNA levels. AAV9EU has six amino acid insertions in VP1, VP2, and MAAP (membrane-associated accessory protein), but no combination of VP with MAAP recapitulated the AAV9EU in vivo phenotype. Surprisingly, AAV9 produced in the absence of MAAP9 exhibits an increase in relative transgene levels. While co-infusing two AAV9 vectors, differing only in transgene and MAAP9 presence during production, exhibit a significantly increased in vivo transgene fluorescence intensity by fivefold of both transgenes. Together, an MAAP9-related activity acts both in cis and in trans to increase AAV9 transgene mRNA levels and AAV9 transgene protein levels in vivo ., Importance: Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are used extensively in clinical gene therapy for treating a range of tissues and pathologies in humans. In particular, AAV9 occupies a prominent position in central nervous system (CNS) gene therapy given its central role in ongoing clinical trials and an FDA-approved therapeutic. Despite its widespread use, recent studies have identified unique roles for the AAV capsid in in vivo transgene expression; for example, interior-facing capsid residues of AAV VP1 and VP2 modulate cellular transgene expression in vivo . The following experiments identified that the AAV9 MAAP protein exerts a significant influence on in vivo transgene expression. This finding could further explain how AAV can remain latent after infection in vivo . Together, these studies provide novel functional insights that highlight the importance of further understanding basic AAV biology., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Introduction: Encounters for preoperative assessments are common within primary care offices, so it is imperative that family medicine residents learn how to perform preoperative evaluations. We assessed family medicine residents' knowledge of preoperative evaluation in preparation for surgery by providing a pre- and post-test alongside a didactic seminar., Methods: A didactic seminar on preoperative evaluations was presented at a family medicine resident didactics session by two senior anesthesiology residents. A 16-question, multiple choice test was used as both a pre-test and post-test to assess family medicine residents' knowledge., Results: A total of 31 participants took the pre-test (residents = 24; medical students = 7), and 30 participants took the post-test (residents = 23; medical students = 7). Mean scores and standard deviations were calculated for both tests with an average score of 37.50% ± 10.58% and 45.42% ± 11.12% on the pre- and post-test, respectively. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test, residents showed a significant improvement in test scores following the didactic presentation (p = 0.041), while overall results (residents and medical students) also reported a significant difference (p = 0.004)., Conclusions: Our results demonstrated that educating family medicine residents and medical students on preoperative evaluation showed significant, quantifiable gains in knowledge following a brief didactic presentation. Given the current gap between guidelines and practice, our results emphasize the need for a formal medical school and residency-based curriculum related to preoperative patient evaluation., (© 2023 The University of Kansas Medical Center.)