Search

Due to the significant time commitments of practice, competition, and academics, few university studentathletes are offered comprehensive leadership development to hone skills essential to current and post-college success, skills such as teamwork, communication, critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and self-confidence. This preliminary study details the implementation of a leadership development program for student-athletes at a large university in the southeastern United States and examines the effectiveness of this initiative on academic and athletic outcomes. Our findings demonstrate that leadership development training, particularly when reinforced with team-specific leadership coaching, can produce significant positive benefits in student-athletes. In addition, the study also found the greatest gains amongst the women athletes, illustrating the importance of customized, gender-specific leadership development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose was to analyse the influence of O 2 pressure on the adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) on 3-tricalcium phosphate (3-TCP) scaffold. DPSC isolated from extracted third molars were seeded on 3-TCP and cultured under 3% or 21% O 2 pressure. Cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation over the biomaterial were evaluated at 7, 13, 18, and 23 days of culture. Cell adhesion was determined by light microscopy, proliferation by DNA quantification, and osteogenic differentiation by alkaline phosphatase activity analysis. All DPSC adhered to 3-TCP with both O 2 conditions. Cell proliferation values were higher at 3% O 2 in each time point from day 7. ALP activity was not detectable at 7 days. There was, however, an increase in ALP activity over time in both groups. At 13, 18, and 23 days of culture, higher ALP activity was recorded under 3% O 2 pressure. DPSC display capacity of adhering to 3-tricalcium phosphate under 3% or 21% O 2 pressure conditions. Cell proliferation on 3-tricalcium phosphate was significantly reduced under oxidative stress conditions, which is 21% O 2 , the most frequently used O 2 tension. 3-TCP can itself promote osteogenic differentiation of DPSC and is enhanced under 3% compared with 21% O 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]