The Effects of Forest Therapy on Immune Function

We conducted a systematic review of the effects of a forest therapy program on adults’ immune function. We used PICO-SD (participants, interventions, comparisons, outcomes, study design) to identify key items. The participants were adults over the age of 18 and the intervention was forest therapy. Our comparisons included studies that comparatively analyzed urban groups or groups that did not participate in forest therapy intervention. Cases without control groups were also included. Immunological outcome measures were included in measuring intervention outcomes. All experimental studies, such as randomized controlled trials (RCTs), non-equivalent control group designs (non-RCTs), and one-group pretest-posttest design were included in the study design. A total of 13 studies were included for comparison. Forest therapy programs were divided into lodging-type and session-type programs. The representative measures for evaluating the effects of immune function were the number of NK cells, the cytotoxic activity of NK cells, and cytotoxic effector molecules. Most studies reported improvement in these measures when comparing values after intervention with values before the forest therapy intervention. Therefore, forest therapy has been found to be effective in improving immune function. More RCT studies on the effects of forest therapy on immune function are necessary.

Differences in External Workload Demand between Session Types and Positions in Collegiate Men’s Ice Hockey

Background: Despite the importance of using a thorough understanding of competition demands to optimize preparatory strategies, there is a paucity of longitudinal workload data in ice hockey. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine differences in workload characteristics between training and matches, and assess differences between forwards and defensemen. Methods: All players from a NCAA Division I Men’s Ice Hockey Team wore Catapult S5 units for all on-ice activities for two consecutive seasons. Seven workload variables (Player Load, Skating Load, Explosive Efforts, High Skate Load, Player Load·min-1, Skating Load·min-1, and Average Stride Force·lb-1) were used to quantify training and match workload characteristics. Results: Compared to training, matches resulted in significantly higher Player Load (p<0.001), Total Skating Load (p<0.001), Explosive Efforts (p<0.001), High Force Strides (p<0.001), and Average Stride Force·lb-1 (p=0.001), but training resulted in higher Player Load·min-1 (p<0.001) and Skating Load·min-1 (p<0.001). Compared to defensemen, forwards accumulated higher values in all seven workload measures, across all session types (p<.001). Conclusion: Matches required higher values in measures of intensity and volume, but lower work rate compared to training. Training had unique emphases based on when it occurred relative to the next match. Regardless of session type, forwards consistently produced higher workloads across all variables.

Session Coalgebras: A Coalgebraic View on Session Types and Communication Protocols

Compositional methods are central to the development and verification of software systems. They allow breaking down large systems into smaller components, while enabling reasoning about the behaviour of the composed system. For concurrent and communicating systems, compositional techniques based on behavioural type systems have received much attention. By abstracting communication protocols as types, these type systems can statically check that programs interact with channels according to a certain protocol, whether the intended messages are exchanged in a certain order. In this paper, we put on our coalgebraic spectacles to investigate session types, a widely studied class of behavioural type systems. We provide a syntax-free description of session-based concurrency as states of coalgebras. As a result, we rediscover type equivalence, duality, and subtyping relations in terms of canonical coinductive presentations. In turn, this coinductive presentation makes it possible to elegantly derive a decidable type system with subtyping for $$\pi $$ π -calculus processes, in which the states of a coalgebra will serve as channel protocols. Going full circle, we exhibit a coalgebra structure on an existing session type system, and show that the relations and type system resulting from our coalgebraic perspective agree with the existing ones.

Characterization of Head Impact Exposure in Women’s Collegiate Soccer

Soccer players are regularly exposed to head impacts by intentionally heading the ball. Evidence suggests repetitive subconcussive head impacts may affect the brain, and females may be more vulnerable to brain injury than males. This study aimed to characterize head impact exposure among National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s soccer players using a previously validated mouthpiece-based sensor. Sixteen players were instrumented during 72 practices and 24 games. Head impact rate and rate of risk-weighted cumulative exposure were compared across session type and player position. Head kinematics were compared across session type, impact type, player position, impact location, and ball delivery method. Players experienced a mean (95% confidence interval) head impact rate of 0.468 (0.289 to 0.647) head impacts per hour, and exposure rates varied by session type and player position. Headers accounted for 89% of head impacts and were associated with higher linear accelerations and rotational accelerations than nonheader impacts. Headers in which the ball was delivered by a long kick had greater peak kinematics (all P < .001) than headers in which the ball was delivered by any other method. Results provide increased understanding of head impact frequency and magnitude in women’s collegiate soccer and may help inform efforts to prevent brain injury.

External training load and the effects on training response following three different training sessions in young elite beach volleyball players

Purpose The interaction between external training load (ETL) and players internal response in beach volleyball is currently poor investigated. Using single parameters (e.g. jump volume) described in indoor settings is questionable due to specific load characteristics like sandy ground and reduced number of players. The aim of this work is to analyze ETL and the effects on training response in different beach volleyball training settings. Methods This study was conducted with 7 youth elite athletes (age: 18.9 ± 1.3 years, height: 185.2 ± 7 cm, body mass: 75.9 ± 10.4 kg, 2 males/5 females). Training sessions were classified into three categories with (A) high session jump volume (SJV) and lower proportions of other action types like diving, reception, defense actions and setting, (B) moderate SJV and (C) low SJV and higher proportions of other action types. Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness [DOMS], Creatinkinase [CK] and session rate of perceived exertion [s-RPE] were analyzed as training response markers. Results Mean pre to post differences in CMJ-Height were highest at sessions with high jump volume and less other actions (Session A) with no significant differences between (C) to (B) ( p = .128), (C) to (A) ( p = .237) and (B) to (A) ( p = .101). Response markers (DOMS, s-RPE, CK) showed increased values at session type C. Conclusions SJV does not seem to trigger training response with higher marker responsiveness during low frequency sessions. Changes in directions, diving or fast getting up might rather provoke fatigue during training.

Feasibility of Satter's How to Eat Method Using Two Delivery Modes to Improve Eating Competence Among Previous Dieters in a University Employee Wellness Program

Objectives For a subset of dieters, the pursuit of thinness may be harmful. In contrast, eating competence is associated with positive physical and mental health outcomes. This pilot intervention study evaluated changes in eating competence and disordered eating symptoms among previous dieters who participated in the How to Eat program using two delivery modes at a major midwestern university. Methods Participants were adult employees of the university who self-identified as previous dieters and voluntarily enrolled in How to Eat in either individual sessions or group classes (self-selected) over a nine-year period as part of employee health promotion offerings. How to Eat, offered weekly over 10 sessions, is grounded in the validated Eating Competence model, and measured by the ecSI 2.0™, which defines eating competence as comprised of 4 domains: 1) eating attitudes; 2) food acceptance; 3) food management/contextual skills; and 4) internal regulation of eating. A total score on the ecSI 2.0™ of at least 32 (of 48 total) indicates eating competence. Symptoms of eating disorders were evaluated with the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26). Two-factor ANOVA was used for analyses. Results A total of 160 employees participated in How to Eat. Those participating in individual sessions were significantly younger (M = 38.3 years) and attended a greater number of sessions (M = 9.3) than those participating in group classes (M = 48.1 years and M = 5.9 sessions). Adjusting for age and number of sessions, there was a significant interaction between intervention and session type for ecSI 2.0™ total scores [F(1, 149) = 21.424, P &lt; 0.001, ƞ2 = 0.126], all four subscale domain scores, and EAT-26 total scores [F(1, 149) = 14.035, P &lt; 0.001, ƞ2 = 0.086]. Improvements in scores were significantly greater for participants in the individual sessions than the group classes. Body weight was not significantly influenced by the intervention. Conclusions How to Eat is associated with improvements in measures of eating competence and symptoms of disordered eating among previous dieters, and these improvements are greater for those participating in individual sessions versus group classes in a university employee wellness setting. Further research is needed to evaluate the efficacy and additional health-related outcomes of the How to Eat method among diverse populations and other settings. Funding Sources None.

Abstract 163: Recognizing Sex Disparities Among Invited Speakers at the International Stroke Conference Motivates Change

Introduction: Females were significantly underrepresented as invited speakers at the International Stroke Conference (ISC) from 2014-2018. In 2019, there were increased efforts by the ISC program committee to recruit female speakers. Other efforts to increase female participation at the 2019 ISC included a session for women’s issues in stroke and a women’s luncheon. Methods: ISC invited speaker data were obtained (years 2014-2019) from the American Heart Association. Variables included sex, degree, race, speaker institution country, session type and category. Data were analyzed by Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test or logistic regression models. Results: From 2014-2018, females represented 28% of ISC invited speakers, and in 2019 the proportion of females rose to 47%. Females represented 38% of physician speakers in 2019 as compared to 18% from 2014-2018. For Black speakers, in 2019 females represented the majority (64%), increased from 2014-2018 (17%). For Hispanic speakers, females remained one of the lowest proportions, but with an increase from 12% to 39%. Females represented the highest and lowest proportion of speakers from South America (100%) and Africa (0%) and the largest in invited symposium (48%), similar to 2014-2018. The odds of being invited for debate as a female increased in 2019 (OR 0.67 vs 0.37, p=0.36), but this did not reach significance. Females represented the largest proportion of speakers in recovery and rehabilitation (52%) in 2019, similar to 2014-2018. Females had higher odds of being invited as a speaker in the acute, in-hospital care category (OR 0.83 vs 0.53, p=0.22), but this did not reach significance. Females were more often invited as speakers more than once in 2019 (OR 0.94 vs 0.61, p=0.29). Conclusions: There is potential to increase female participation at major scientific conferences through initiatives by the program committee. Identifying gender disparities at a major conference like the ISC may help to close the gender gap.