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Training emotional recognition in a child with acquired brain injury: a single case study
No full textEmotional processing is affected by childhood brain injury. Ineffective emotional processing and poor understanding of social cues affect the development of social relationships leading to social isolation and a poorer quality of life in the long-term. Facial expression recognition is a non-verbal social cue that is used to interpret the thoughts and feelings of others. Children with brain injury have shown deficits identifying even basic emotions from facial expression, yet few intervention studies have explored how to develop facial expression recognition in children with brain injury. Enhancing the ability to recognize and interpret facial expressions for these children would have implications for their emotional processing and social-emotional behavior. In this paper we report on a short single case study intervention to increase facial expression recognition using the Facial Affect Recognition training (FAR) for a 10-year-old-child with brain injury. Following intervention, there was not only an increase in facial expression recognition but also changes in social-emotional behavior indicating some generalization to other contexts. The results suggest that rehabilitation of emotional processing difficulties may indeed be possible, and further intervention studies aimed at developing these skills in children with brain injury are warranted
A physical profile of novice and experienced professional motorcycle speedway riders
No full textBACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data relating to Professional Motorcycle Speedway riders physical characteristics despite its growing popularity.
METHODS: The participants were divided into two categories depending on their Calculated Match Average (CMA); high performers (CMA >5.0, n=16) and low performers (CMA < 4.9, n=16). Anthropometric data, isometric hand grip strength, isometric knee extension strength, dynamic stability of the upper and lower limbs and functional movement scores were measured to establish differences between high and low performing Professional Speedway riders.
RESULTS: High performing riders had significantly better functional movement screen composite scores than low performers (P=0.003) and hurdle step (P=0.002) and shoulder mobility movements (P=0.032). Significant hand grip and leg strength was observed in riders right limbs compared to their left (P=0.004 and P=0.000 respectively) and greater dynamic stability in their right leg than left (P=0.011). High performing riders had greater grip strength (right hand P=0.016 and left hand P=0.034) and knee extension strength in the right (P=0.036) legs than their low performing counterparts.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study provide a benchmark of physical characteristics of high and low performing riders, highlighting mobility, functional movement, dynamic stability and isometric strength as essential attributes of an elite rider
A comparison of different methods to analyse data collected during time-to-exhaustion tests
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Despite their widespread use in exercise physiology, time-to-exhaustion (TTE) tests present an often-overlooked challenge to researchers, which is how to computationally deal with between- and within-subject differences in exercise duration. We aimed to verify the best analysis method to overcome this problem.
Methods
Eleven cyclists performed an incremental test and three TTE tests differing in workload as preliminary tests. The TTEs were used to derive the individual power–duration relationship needed to set the workload (corresponding to an estimated TTE of 1200 s) for four identical experimental TTE tests. Within individuals, the four tests were subsequently rank ordered by performance. Physiological and psychological variables expected to change with performance were analysed using different methods, with the main aim being to compare the traditional “group isotime” method and a less-used “individual isotime” method.
Results
The four tests, ranked from the best to the worst, had a TTE of 1526 ± 332, 1425 ± 313, 1295 ± 325, and 1026 ± 265 s. Ratings of perceived exertion, minute ventilation, respiratory frequency, and affective valence were sensitive to changes in performance when their responses were analysed with the “individual isotime” method (P 0.144) but not when using the “group isotime” method, because the latter resulted in partial data loss.
Conclusions
The use of the “individual isotime” method is strongly encouraged to avoid the misinterpretation of the phenomenon under study. Important implications are not limited to constant-workload exercise, but extend to incremental exercise, which is another commonly used test of exercise tolerance
Mentoring functions and entrepreneur development in the early years of university
Get PDFAt a time of growing interest in graduate entrepreneurship, this study focuses on the role of mentoring in developing students’ entrepreneurial careers in the Early Years of University (EYU). An integrated conceptual framework is presented that combines mentoring functions and entrepreneurial development (entrepreneurial intentions and nascent behaviour). Data from 18 student mentees who expressed an interest in starting their own businesses, and who were mentored by alumni entrepreneurs of a British University were analysed. Findings support the applicability of our framework in addressing the multi�faceted nature of the mentoring functions, which include a range of knowledge development and socio-emotional functions such as entrepreneurial career development, specialist business knowledge, role�model presence and emotional support. The results contribute to
understanding mentoring functions and entrepreneurial development in the EYU. Implications for the design of entrepreneurial mentoring programmes and avenues for future research are discusse
Patients’ Conceptualizations of Responsibility for Healthcare: A Typology for Understanding Differing Attributions in the Context of Patient Safety
Get PDFThis study examines how patients conceptualize “responsibility” for their healthcare and make sense of the complex boundaries between patient and professional roles. Focusing on the specific case of patient safety, narrative methods were used to analyze semistructured interviews with 28 people recently discharged from hospital in England. We present a typology of attribution, which demonstrates that patients’ attributions of responsibility to staff and/or to patients are informed by two dimensions of responsibility: basis and contingency. The basis of responsibility is the reason for holding an individual or group responsible. The contingency of responsibility is the extent to which that attribution is contextually situated. The article contributes to knowledge about responsibility in complex organizational environments and offers a set of conceptual tools for exploring patients’ understanding of responsibility in such contexts. There are implications for addressing patient engagement in care, within and beyond the field of patient safety
The Perceptions and Rehabilitation Experience of Older People After Falling in the Hospital
No full textPurpose Falls are a major cause of disability and mortality due to injury. To reduce fall rates and improve health outcomes, it is important to design services based on patient experience and engagement. This study aimed to explore the experiences of older patients who fell during their hospital stay.
Design Five patients from two rehabilitation wards in the United Kingdom participated in this qualitative study.
Methods Semistructured interviews, incident reports, and medical records provided information about each fall. Thematic, discourse, and descriptive analysis were used to analyze data.
Findings The data demonstrated how a fall impacted patients’ experience of rehabilitation and resulted in changes to mobility, self-confidence, management of falls risk, avoidance of daily activities, and increased assistance from others.
Conclusions Falling in hospital can influence patients’ ability to reach their potential of an optimal level of functioning.
Clinical Relevance There is a need to place an equal and mutual understanding on the physical, psychological, and social impact of falling to reduce falls and improve functional outcomes
Effects of peri-mortem infection on the entomofauna of decomposing buried remains - a metadata analysis
Get PDFThe role of infectious disease as a cause of death is undeniable. The affect infectious disease may have on decomposition after death is less well established. Furthermore, virtually no information is available regarding the effects of burial conditions in such circumstances, despite that numerous clandestine burials occur each year. Although many aspects of post-mortem pathology are well understood and provide frequent insight in medicolegal investigation, where buried bodies are concerned, there is great variation in the decomposition processes, depending on extrinsic and intrinsic conditions.
Criminal burials and hurriedly dug clandestine graves are seldom deeper than 120 cm allowing access to certain invertebrates, excluding others that only develop in unburied bodies. Numerous studies have reported on such clandestine graves with a purpose to facilitate forensic investigation, but our knowledge of decomposition in deeper graves lags behind, despite several often-cited papers of over a century ago.
The poor level of detail in deep-grave knowledge is in part due to resource deficiencies and ethical considerations, but in part due to lack of thorough investigation of the data in papers of often cited prior work. To this end, a metadata analysis assessed a paper written by Dr. Murray Galt Motter in 1898, providing detail of 150 disinterment events with linked medical records from City of Washington cemeteries. This paper, written more than a hundred years ago, was largely descriptive and the detailed data provided in a summary table were never fully analysed. The paper is often quoted despite these obvious oversights. The present study revisits this work, applying a frequency statistical analysis conducted using categorical data and chi-squared analysis. This new analysis reveals patterns and relationships so long ‘locked-up’ within the body of the table and provides greater understanding of the effect of infectious disease on the abundance of species in the entomofauna associated with deeply buried remains.
The data confirm that the presence of adipocere (saponification) is detrimental to development of soil entomofauna ((X2 = 6·64, df = 1, p < 0·01)). Some species, in particular Proisotoma sepulcralis (Collembola), Eleusis pallida (Coleoptera) and Conicera tibialis (Diptera), were positively influenced by association with infectious disease cases (p < 0·01) while only Piophila casei (Diptera) demonstrated a negative association (p < 0·05).
Furthermore, the presence of peri-mortem infectious disease, while not necessarily a cause of death, influences post-mortem colonisation of the buried body by insects. The abundance of some species is enhanced, suggesting that bacterial burdens enhance decomposition in a manner favourable to insect feeding and hence abundance, by releasing compounds that the entomofauna feeds on
Chapter 15: Pursuing the next challenges: Directions for research on the psychology of endurance performance
Get PDFAthletes participating at all levels of endurance performance can relate to the impact of psychological factors. Whether it is motivation, self-belief, feeling nervous before a race, exercise-induced pain, sticking to a pacing strategy, or thoughts around what to focus on, there are a vast number of psychological factors which can affect endurance performance.
Bringing together experts in the field from around the world, this is the first text to provide a detailed overview of the psychology of endurance performance where there is a research and an applied focus looking at both main theoretical models as well as how interventions can support an athlete’s efficacy and well-being. The authors look at regulatory processes around pain, decision-making, self-belief, emotions, and meta-cognition, before examining a range of cognitive strategies, including the use of imagery, goals, self-talk, and mindfulness techniques. With a final section of the book outlining issues related to mental health that are relevant to endurance performance, the book shows that the future of research and application of psychological theory in endurance performance in sport is bright and thriving.
Aimed at researchers, students, coaches, and athletes themselves, this is essential reading for anyone wishing to better understand how our minds experience endurance in performance arenas, and what psychological techniques can be used to make us more efficient. (Abstract taken from the edited book
Nocturnal Activity Is Not Affected by a Long-Duration, Low-Intensity Single Exercise Bout
Get PDFThe aim of the current study was to examine whether prolonged low-intensity aerobic exercise could affect nocturnal activity in healthy individuals. Twenty-one healthy adults (24 ± 3.7 years; 9 females) were enrolled in this study. All participants participated in a 3-h low-intensity walking exercise protocol. Standard biochemical indices were assessed before the exercise protocol and at 72 h. Nocturnal activity and various indices of health were recorded for five consecutive days. The score of muscle pain peaked the night after the exercise protocol (p < 0.05) and returned to baseline two days after. No statistical differences were found in any of the parameters examined, including nocturnal activity. Prolonged low-intensity exercise does not affect nocturnal activity. The anecdotal reports suggesting that exercise or/and physical activity could worsen symptoms of motor restlessness during sleep in sleep disorders, such as restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements, are not supported by this study. However, these findings need to be verified in clinical populations, as well as by using protocols with different forms of exercise