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Purpose: The purpose of this research was to determine whether university students who participated in conceptually based physical education (CPE) would achieve greater positive improvements in their physical fitness level, compared to students in traditional activity- and skills-based physical education (ASPE). Method: This was a pilot study based on an experimental design consisting of 2 intervention groups of CPE (n = 27) and ASPE (n = 29) students who were required to participate in fitness preassessments and postassessments scheduled accordingly during the semester at a medium-sized Midwestern university in the United States. Results: Descriptive and paired samples t test analyses indicated that all students made physical fitness improvements; however, no significant between-group differences were found based on ANOVA analysis. Conclusion: Most of the students showed gains in physical fitness; as a result, students benefited from participating in both types of physical education courses. There is a need for physical education in colleges and universities, and whether in the form of CPE or ASPE, these courses will benefit all students. CPE courses will merely extend further opportunity for the cultivation of physical and health education, as well as potentially improve motivation, attitudes, and behaviors toward exercise during the semester of course enrollment and beyond.

Centrioles are microtubule-based, barrel-shaped structures that initiate the assembly of centrosomes and cilia. How centriole length is precisely set remains elusive. The microcephaly protein CPAP (also known as MCPH6) promotes procentriole growth, whereas the oral-facial-digital (OFD) syndrome protein OFD1 represses centriole elongation. Here we uncover a new subtype of OFD with severe microcephaly and cerebral malformations and identify distinct mutations in two affected families in the evolutionarily conserved C2CD3 gene. Concordant with the clinical overlap, C2CD3 colocalizes with OFD1 at the distal end of centrioles, and C2CD3 physically associates with OFD1. However, whereas OFD1 deletion leads to centriole hyperelongation, loss of C2CD3 results in short centrioles without subdistal and distal appendages. Because C2CD3 overexpression triggers centriole hyperelongation and OFD1 antagonizes this activity, we propose that C2CD3 directly promotes centriole elongation and that OFD1 acts as a negative regulator of C2CD3. Our results identify regulation of centriole length as an emerging pathogenic mechanism in ciliopathies.

Activating mutations in genes encoding phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT pathway components cause megalencephaly-polymicrogyria-polydactyly-hydrocephalus syndrome (MPPH, OMIM 603387). Here we report that individuals with MPPH lacking upstream PI3K-AKT pathway mutations carry de novo mutations in CCND2 (encoding cyclin D2) that are clustered around a residue that can be phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK-3β). Mutant CCND2 was resistant to proteasomal degradation in vitro compared to wild-type CCND2. The PI3K-AKT pathway modulates GSK-3β activity, and cells from individuals with PIK3CA, PIK3R2 or AKT3 mutations showed similar CCND2 accumulation. CCND2 was expressed at higher levels in brains of mouse embryos expressing activated AKT3. In utero electroporation of mutant CCND2 into embryonic mouse brains produced more proliferating transfected progenitors and a smaller fraction of progenitors exiting the cell cycle compared to cells electroporated with wild-type CCND2. These observations suggest that cyclin D2 stabilization, caused by CCND2 mutation or PI3K-AKT activation, is a unifying mechanism in PI3K-AKT-related megalencephaly syndromes.

Lower-body strength and power are commonly measured performance qualities across a number of sports. In recent years, more attention has been given to relationships, primarily between lower-body strength and linear speed performance. While still limited, evidence is in agreement that lower-body strength positively contributes to linear speed performance. However, what is less well understood is if there comes a point in an athlete's development, at which, further working on increasing maximal strength may not fully compliment additional gains in speed performance. Within this study, authors aimed to provide practitioners with lower-body strength and power thresholds that can discriminate between slow and fast performers, within a group of collegiate American football players. The sample was further divided into a high-body and low-body weight group, and authors hypothesized that by using logistic regression, supplemented with receiver operator curve analyses, optimal cut-off points (i.e., relative lower-body strength thresholds) that are able to significantly discriminate between slow and fast linear speed performers may be identified. Findings indicate that optimal cut-off scores differed between the groups of athletes, as well as the lower body strength and power tests. All models were able to significantly distinguish between slower and faster performers, and area under the curve values ranged from 0.695 to 0.903. Although thresholds will likely vary based on factors such as sex, training age, and sport, findings from this investigation may be used to benchmark athletes and to further individualize training aimed at improving linear speed performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although different strategies have been implemented to manage recovery-fatigue status in athletes, there is still a lack of consensus on which recovery protocols have the greatest impact and effectiveness when implemented with basketball players, including both physiological and psychological recovery methods. Thus, the purpose of this systematic review is to: (a) determine which recovery methods attain the greatest benefit in restoring the process of attenuating fatigue and (b) provide sports practitioners with guidelines on how some of the most effective recovery strategies can be used to optimize athletes' recovery and ultimately enhance their performance. Using the PRISMA guidelines, a total of 3931 research reports were obtained through four database searches (i.e., PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science), from which only 25 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The recovery protocols analyzed in this systematic review were: sleep, nutrition, hydration, ergogenic aids, cold-water immersion, compression garments, massage, acupuncture, tapering, mindfulness, and red-light irradiation. The results revealed that all recovery strategies are capable of attenuating fatigue and enhancing recovery in basketball players to a certain degree. However, an individualized approach should be promoted, where a combination of proactive recovery modalities appears to result in the most rapid rates of recovery and athletes' ability to maintain high-level performance. Recovery should be programmed as an integral component of training regimens. Also, cooperation and communication between coaches, players, and the rest of the team staff members are essential in minimizing the risk of non-functional overreaching or injury and optimizing basketball players' on-court performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study, grounded in the Achievement Goal Perspective Theory (AGPT) and a Caring framework, was to examine the extent that collegiate baseball players' perceptions of their team climate (i.e., caring, task-, and ego-involving climate) predict their mental well-being. Baseball players (N = 127) completed measures assessing perceptions of team climate (Perceived Motivational Climate in Sport Questionnaire, Caring Climate Scale) and mental well-being (World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index). Spearman correlation analysis revealed a positive relationship between the caring and task-involving climate scales, and mental well-being, respectively. In a full entry model linear regression, caring climate emerged as a positive predictor of mental well-being, explaining 25% of the variance of athletes' mental well-being scores. The findings suggest that encouraging coaches to foster a caring and task-involving climate might assist in enhancing collegiate athletes' mental well-being. Athletes perceiving a high caring and task-involving environment are more likely to experience improved mental well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying both external and internal training loads that athletes are exposed to during training sessions is often recommended to assess multifactorial sport-specific demands. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between a widely used subjective marker of internal load (rate of perceived exertion - RPE) and external load variables obtained from an innovative inertial measurement unit (IMU) device within a cohort of professional male basketball players. Twenty-one athletes competing in the firstand second-tier national basketball leagues in Europe wore an IMU device (i.e., VertTM) during their regular practice session and reported an RPE score (Borg CR-10 scale) immediately post-practice. The findings of this study reveal the presence of a strong significant relationship (r = 0.714) between Stress and RPE. However, weak non-significant relationships (r = 0.198-0.287) were observed between RPE and all jumprelated metrics (Jumps, Jumps 15+, Jumps 20+, Average Jump Height) as well as Active Minutes (r = 0.330), indicating that an increase in internal load is more dependent on the type of activity that players perform rather than the duration of the practice session. Overall, these findings may help sports scientists and strength and conditioning practitioners detect changes in training load throughout a competitive season in male basketball players and ultimately improve the acute and chronic training-adaptation monitoring process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]