Personality and Psychological Factors as Predictors of Disordered Eating Among Female Collegiate Athletes

This article examined the relationship of perfectionism, psychological well-being (self-esteem and optimism), reasons for exercising and appearance orientation to eating disorder classification among 204 female collegiate athletes. Multivariate analyses showed that only self-esteem, exercising to improve appearance and be more attractive, and appearance orientation differentiated significantly between the symptomatic/eating disordered athletes and those who were asymptomatic. No differences existed between the two groups of athletes on perfectionism, optimism, or exercising for fitness/health. For athletes, self-esteem, appearance orientation and exercising to be attractive and improve appearance were most important for understanding their level of disordered eating.     

Prevalence of Disordered Eating and Pathogenic Weight Control Behaviors Among Male Collegiate Athletes

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of disordered eating and pathogenic weight control behaviors in male collegiate athletes. Male collegiate athletes (N?=?732) from the across the U.S. completed questionnaires online. Results suggested that (a) most eating disturbances occur at the subclinical level, (b) exercising and dieting were the most commonly used weight control practices, and (c) athletes who participate in weight class sports are more likely to be classified as symptomatic and engage in pathogenic eating and weight control behaviors compared to endurance sport or ball game athletes. Implications for professionals working with athletes and recommendations for future research are discussed.     

Maximum likelihood estimation of influenza vaccine effectiveness against transmission from the household and from the community

Influenza vaccination is recommended as the best way to protect against influenza infection and illness. Due to seasonal changes in influenza virus types and subtypes, a new vaccine must be produced, and vaccine effectiveness (VE) must be estimated, annually. Since 2010, influenza vaccination has been recommended universally in the United States, making randomized clinical trials unethical. Recent studies have used a monitored household cohort study design to determine separate VE estimates against influenza transmission from the household and community. We developed a probability model and accompanying maximum likelihood procedure to estimate vaccine‐related protection against transmission of influenza from the household and the community. Using agent‐based stochastic simulations, we validated that we can obtain maximum likelihood estimates of transmission parameters and VE close to their true values. Sensitivity analyses to examine the effect of deviations from our assumptions were conducted. We used our method to estimate transmission parameters and VE from data from a monitored household study in Michigan during the 2012‐2013 influenza season and were able to detect a significant protective effect of influenza vaccination against community‐acquired transmission.     

Immediate functional loading of single-tooth TiO2 grit-blasted implant restoration. A controlled prospective study in a porcine model. Part II: Histology and histomorphometry

Background: Evidently, there is a fast‐moving shift from delayed to immediate implant loading. The hypothesis to be tested was that bone reactions adjacent to single TiO₂‐microthreaded implants exposed to immediate masticatory loading for 10 weeks after placement would modulate osseointegration. Materials and Methods: Cylindrical‐ and tapered‐designed implants (Astra Tech AB, Mölndal, Sweden) replaced first and third mandibular premolars respectively in 12 pigs. The animals were allocated into two groups based on soft and hard diet feeding. Each animal received, at random positions, four different masticatory loading conditions: implant with either (1) a cover screw only, (2) a healing abutment, (3) an implant with a crown without occlusal contact, or (4) an implant with a crown in contact with the antagonistic teeth. Results: Histomorphometry showed that there were no statistically significant differences in bone‐implant contact (BIC), bone mass inside/outside of the threads and soft tissue ingrowth ratio for all the implants at 10 weeks after placement irrespective of masticatory loading condition. Bone loss showed a trend of progressive increase for implants with a healing abutment toward implants with occlusal contact. Conclusions: The results of this study rejected the hypothesis and could be explained by the fact that grit‐blasted acid‐etched implants were already placed in dense bone.     

Treated blood pressure, rather than pretreatment, predicts survival in hypertensive patients. A report from the DHSS Hypertension Care Computing Project (DHCCP)

A group of hypertensive patients (n = 2855) with an untreated diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mmHg were followed in the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) Hypertension Care Computing Project (DHCCP) for periods of up to 10 years. During this period 191 of these patients died. Survival was assessed in relation to pretreatment blood pressure levels and blood pressure achieved during treatment. The blood pressure during treatment was a useful predictor of mortality, but the pretreatment pressure was not. After adjusting for age, mortality was particularly related to the height of the systolic and diastolic blood pressure during the second and third years of treatment. In men, age-standardized 5-year mortality was greater than 10% in those with a first year treated systolic pressure greater than 150 mmHg or a diastolic pressure greater than 95 mmHg. In women, age standardized 5-year mortality was greater than 5% with the same levels of treated blood pressure. The longest survival occurred with the lowest bands of treated pressure, i.e. systolic pressure less than 140 and diastolic pressure less than 90 mmHg; the 5-year mortality being less than 7% in men and less than 3% in women. Treated systolic and diastolic pressures were useful in predicting death from ischaemic heart disease (IHD).