Ecological analysis of college women’s physical activity and health-related quality of life

ABSTRACT

Despite significant health benefits of regular physical activity, over 60 percent of college women do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines to promote their health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), a comprehensive construct including physical and psychosocial health functioning. The major purpose of this study was to examine the influences of individual (e.g., self-efficacy, enjoyment), social (e.g., family and friend support), and physical environmental factors (e.g., crime safety) on college women’s physical activity and HRQoL. Participants were 235 (Mean age = 21.0 years) college women from a public research university located in the southwest region of the United States. They completed validated surveys assessing their perceptions of physical activity, HRQoL, and social ecological factors during the spring semester of 2012. The findings of three multiple linear regressions, entering individual factors first, followed by social and physical environmental factors, revealed that self-efficacy and crime safety were significantly related to physical activity. For HRQoL-physical functioning, significant factors were self-efficacy, enjoyment, and crime safety. Enjoyment was the only factor related to HRQoL-psychosocial functioning. These findings indicated that physical activity professionals need to foster safe environments, enhance self-efficacy, and provide enjoyable activities to promote college women’s physical activity and HRQoL.     

Temperature rise produced by various visible light generators through dentinal barriers

This study evaluated and compared the heat generated by seven brands of light-curing units by measuring the temperature elevation from the ambient temperature through the use of a digital thermocouple-thermometer with a needle probe placed at three locations in the dentin. The results of this study indicated a wide range of differences in temperature rise among the tested light-curing units. In all three locations of probe placement, the Translux unit produced the least temperature elevation.     

The involvement of central noradrenergic systems and corticotropin-releasing factor in defensive-withdrawal behavior in rats

The role of the central noradrenergic systems and corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) in modulating defensive withdrawal behavior was studied in rats. The apparatus consisted of a small chamber set on one side of a one-meter open field, into which the rat was placed to start the test. When rats were unfamiliar with the apparatus, they displayed species typical defensive withdrawal behavior with long latencies to emerge from and a high proportion of time spent in the small chamber. Intraperitoneal administration of clonidine (0.03 mg/kg), l-propranolol (2.5 micrograms/kg), prazosin (0.1 mg/kg) or chlordiazepoxide (CDP, 5 mg/kg) each significantly decreased the latency to emerge from and the mean time spent in the small chamber (MTIC) and increased the number of chamber entries. When rats were familiar with the apparatus, prior restraint for 20 min significantly increased the latency and MTIC, and decreased the number of chamber entries and rears, but did not alter locomotor activity. Prazosin, clonidine, CDP, l-propranolol and the CRF-antagonist, alpha-helical CRF9-41 (25 micrograms i.c.v.), reversed the restraint-induced increase in the latency and MTIC. CRF (10-100 ng i.c.v.) dose-dependently induced defensive withdrawal behavior in rats familiar with the apparatus; the minimum statistically significant dose was 50 ng. dl-Propranolol (5 mg/kg) and CDP blocked the CRF-induced changes in the latency to emerge and the MTIC; whereas clonidine and prazosin significantly reduced the latency, but had no statistically significant effects on the MTIC. Phenylephrine (25-200 ng i.c.v.) dose-dependently induced defensive withdrawal behavior. This effect of phenylephrine (200 ng) was significantly antagonized by prazosin or alpha-helical CRF9-41 (25 or 50 mg i.c.v.), but not by CDP. Our results suggest that the hyperactivity of the central noradrenergic systems caused by exposure to the novel environment may stimulate the release of CRF, which through some unknown mechanism induces defensive withdrawal behavior in rats. Activation of beta adrenergic receptors may also induce defensive withdrawal.     

Horizontal violence among nurses in the operating room

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MANY NURSES report that sabotage is a common event in the OR, and the level of sabotage present in the OR may have an effect on overall job satisfaction among perioperative nurses.

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THIS STUDY looked at the relationship between the presence of sabotage in the OR and job satisfaction levels reported by a group of perioperative nurses in New Jersey.

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STUDY RESULTS found that although sabotage is reported as common in the OR, the presence of sabotage is not significantly associated with reported job satisfaction. AORN J 78 (December 2003) 977-988.

     

Persecutory delusions and psychological well-being

Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology - Persecutory delusions are one of the key problems seen in psychotic conditions. The aim of the study was to assess for the first time the levels of...     

A Critical Role for Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein in Diabetes-Related Impairment of Angiogenesis

Impaired angiogenesis in ischemic tissue is a hallmark of diabetes. Thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is an exquisitely glucose-sensitive gene that is overexpressed in diabetes. As TXNIP modulates the activity of the key angiogenic cytokine vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), we hypothesized that hyperglycemia-induced dysregulation of TXNIP may play a role in the pathogenesis of impaired angiogenesis in diabetes. In the current study, we report that high glucose–mediated overexpression of TXNIP induces a widespread impairment in endothelial cell (EC) function and survival by reducing VEGF production and sensitivity to VEGF action, findings that are rescued by silencing TXNIP with small interfering RNA. High glucose–induced EC dysfunction was recapitulated in normal glucose conditions by overexpressing either TXNIP or a TXNIP C247S mutant unable to bind thioredoxin, suggesting that TXNIP effects are largely independent of thioredoxin activity. In streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice, TXNIP knockdown to nondiabetic levels rescued diabetes-related impairment of angiogenesis, arteriogenesis, blood flow, and functional recovery in an ischemic hindlimb. These findings were associated with in vivo restoration of VEGF production to nondiabetic levels. These data implicate a critical role for TXNIP in diabetes-related impairment of ischemia-mediated angiogenesis and identify TXNIP as a potential therapeutic target for the vascular complications of diabetes.