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In recent years, the value of sports and other physical activities has increased considerably and the role of the coaches of sportsmen is essential in providing trainings to sportsmen to help them achieve their objectives and improve their performance. The purpose of this study is to understand the passion of sports coaches for their China with the aim of knowing which type of passions yield good performance among sportsmen. For this reason, the study seeks to study the Coaches' work passion in which harmonious and obsessive work passion was included, and to see its impact on performance of the sportsmen with mediating role of psychological empowerment. To achieve the objectives of this study, quantitative study was carried out in which questionnaires were filled out by respondents including coaches, trainers and sportsmen. After analyzing the questionnaires, it was revealed that there is significant and positive impact of harmonious work passion on the performance of the sportsmen, while in the case of obsessive work passion, the results showed that there is significant and a negative relation of obsessive work passion with the performance of sportsmen. This study contains both theoretical and practical insights that can help stakeholders in the sports sector determine how desired results (in terms of performance) can be obtained from the coaches' work passion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous prognostic factor models for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) have not included erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). We designed the present study to evaluate the prognostic value of ESR for mRCC patients treated with sorafenib. Sorafenib was given to 83 patients with clear cell mRCC. Serum ESR was tested before treatment and every 4 weeks after first administration of sorafenib. Oncological evaluation was carried out every 8 weeks. Analyzed factors included age, sex, performance status, method of nephrectomy, number of metastatic organs, anemia, lactate dehydrogenase, corrected calcium, albumin, baseline ESR level and ESR kinetics status. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses on progression-free survival (PFS) were carried out. Baseline ESR levels ranged from 3 to 154 mm/h, and 43 (41.0%) patients had an ESR level higher than 40 mm/h. Median PFS was 10.0 months (95% CI 7.6-12.4 months). Dividing the cohort into three groups according to ESR kinetics status, median PFS was 27 months in the decreased ESR group, 12 months in the stable ESR group and 6 months in the increased ESR group. Performance status, time from diagnoses to sorafenib treatment, number of metastatic organs and ESR kinetics were independent predictors for PFS in multivariable Cox regression model analysis, with an area under the curve of 0.865 in a binary logistic regression model of 12-month PFS probability. ESR kinetics can be useful to monitor the treatment response and to predict PFS for mRCC patients treated with sorafenib as second-line therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shi G, Ye D-W, Yao X, Zhang S, Dai B, Zhang H, Shen Y, Zhu Y, Zhu Y, Xiao W, Ma C. Extramammary Paget’s diseases in men from the Shanghai area: its association with PSA level increase. APMIS 2010; 118: 777–81. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of prostate cancer in patients with extramammary Paget’s disease (EMPD). All cases of EMPD diagnosed between 1992 and 2007 in Shanghai Cancer Hospital were collected and analyzed for the incidence of prostate cancer. The median follow-up was 78 months. In total, 38 cases of invasive and 10 cases of in situ EMPD had been registered. A second malignancy was found in 28.9% (11/38) of patients with invasive EMPD and in 30% (3/10) of patients with in situ EMPD. Patients had an increased risk of developing a second cancer compared with the general population (standardized incidence ratio: 1.7; 95% confidence interval 1.2–2.4). Sixteen patients had serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level above 4 ng/mL; five developed prostate cancer, three of them with PSA levels beyond 100 ng/mL. The incidence of prostate cancer is 10.4% in this patient group. Patients with EMPD were more likely to have prostate cancer than the general population. Although the prognosis of EMPD is fairly good, a thorough search for a second tumor is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the expression of KIT in clear cell renal cell carcinomas, and to reveal the relationships between KIT status and clinicopathological features and survival of clear cell renal cell carcinomas. The expression of KIT was tested immunohistochemically in 119 specimens of clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Their correlations to clinicopathological parameters were compared and discussed. Kaplan–Meier method was used to determine the survival between KIT-positive and KIT-negative patients. Multivariate analysis was performed using the Cox-regression model for overall survival. A total of 13 out of 119 cases of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (10.9%) were demonstrated consistent overexpression of KIT. There was statistical significance in the correlation between KIT expression and tumor size ( P < 0.01), pathological stage ( P < 0.01), tumor grade ( P < 0.01) and P53 (0.01 < P < 0.05). On multivariate analysis, positive KIT expression presented an independent predictive factor for decreased overall survival (hazard ratio 17.26, P = 0.005). The estimated mean survival time was 25.6 months for KIT-positive patients and 56.9 months for KIT negative patients, P < 0.001. The expression of KIT was significantly associated with tumor size, pathological stage, tumor grade and P53 in clear cell renal cell carcinomas. The expression of KIT is an important survival predicting factor for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]