An external focus of attention, enhanced expectancies, and autonomy support (i.e., OPTIMAL factors) are key factors to optimise motor performance and uncover latent movement capabilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe lower respiratory infections for which effective treatment options remain limited. Herein, we employed a computational structure-based design strategy aimed at identifying potential targets for a new class of allosteric inhibitors. Our investigation led to the discovery of a previously undisclosed allosteric binding site within the RSV polymerase, the large (L) protein.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has two main surface glycoproteins, the attachment glycoprotein (G) and the fusion (F) protein, which together mediate viral entry. Attachment is mediated by the RSV-G protein, while the RSV-F protein makes specific contact with the cellular insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R). This interaction leads to IGF1R activation and initiates a signalling cascade that calls the co-receptor, nucleolin, from the nucleus to the cell surface, where it can trigger viral fusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was caused by the zoonotic betacoronavirus SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged due to adaptation in humans, shifting SARS-CoV-2 towards an endemic seasonal virus. We have termed this process 'virus domestication'.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalizations and a significant cause of paediatric and geriatric morbidity worldwide. Recently, we reported that insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) was a receptor for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in airway epithelial cells and that activation of IGF1R recruited the coreceptor, nucleolin (NCL), to the cell surface. Cilia and mucus that line the airways pose a significant barrier to viral and bacterial infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies have linked respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) antibody-mediated phagocytosis and complement deposition to severe RSV infection in humans. This study shows waning of these antibody functions in women of childbearing age in 2020-2021 during the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation measures, in absence of RSV circulation. These functions could be explored as correlates of protection against severe RSV disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRisk factors associated with depression in athletes include biological sex, physical pain, and history of sport-related concussion (SRC). Due to the well-documented benefits of sport and physical activity on mental health, athletes and non-athletes were recruited to assess any differences. Beyond this, athletes were also grouped by sport-type (contact/non-contact sports) due to the increased prevalence of pain and SRC in contact sports.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this Special Issue of , we showcase some of the fascinating and diverse virology being undertaken in Canada that was presented at the 4th Symposium of the Canadian Society for Virology 2022 [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol
December 2022
Myocardial pathologies resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infections are consistently rising with mounting case rates and reinfections; however, the precise global burden is largely unknown and will have an unprecedented impact. Understanding the mechanisms of COVID-19-mediated cardiac injury is essential toward the development of cardioprotective agents that are urgently needed. Assessing novel therapeutic strategies to tackle COVID-19 necessitates an animal model that recapitulates human disease.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of attentional focus and cognitive-load on motor performance, quiet-eye-duration, and pupil dilation. 18 participants completed a dart throwing task under four conditions, internal or external focus with high or low cognitive-load. Cognitive-load was created by a secondary tone detection task.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecent research has suggested that top-down executive function associated with the prefrontal cortex is key to the decision-making processes and pacing of endurance performance. A small but growing body of literature has investigated the neurological underpinnings of these processes by subjecting the prefrontal cortex to functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measurement during self-paced endurance task performance. Given that fNIRS measurement for these purposes is a relatively recent development, the principal aim of this review was to assess the methodological rigor and findings of this body of research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHealth jurisdictions have seen a near-disappearance of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) during the first year of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Over this corresponding period, we report a reduction in RSV antibody levels and live virus neutralization in sera from women of childbearing age and infants between May to June 2020 and February to June 2021, in British Columbia (BC), Canada. This supports that antibody immunity against RSV is relatively short-lived and that maintaining optimal antibody levels in infants requires repeated maternal viral exposure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated if basic need satisfaction and frustration mediated the associations between autonomy-supportive and controlling coaching behaviours and participants' development of eight different life skills in youth sport. British sports participants ( = 309, age = 14.71) completed measures assessing the study variables.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Cell Infect Microbiol
November 2021
Viruses are diverse pathogens that use host factors to enter cells and cause disease. Imaging the entry and replication phases of viruses and their interactions with host factors is key to fully understanding viral infections. This review will discuss how confocal microscopy and imaging flow cytometry are used to investigate virus entry and replication mechanisms in fixed and live cells.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study examined the effects of focus of attention (FOA) instructions on learning a dart throwing task, quiet eye duration (QED) and pupillary responses. Thirty-six novices (M age = 33.6, SD = 19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRSV infection of the lower respiratory tract in infants is the leading cause of pediatric hospitalizations and second to malaria in causing infant deaths worldwide. RSV also causes substantial morbidity in immunocompromised and elderly populations. The only available therapeutic is a prophylactic drug called Palivizumab that is a humanized monoclonal antibody, given to high-risk infants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcute cardiovascular exercise can enhance correct remembering but its impact upon false remembering is less clear. In two experiments, we investigated the effect of acute bouts of exercise on correct and false remembering using the Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) memory test. In Experiment 1, healthy adults completed quiet rest or moderate intensity cycling prior to the memory test.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe OPTIMAL theory of motor learning contends that an external focus of attention (EF), enhanced expectancies (EE), and autonomy support (AS) are key attentional and motivational variables that optimise motor performance. We examined how integrating an EF into EE and AS interventions would impact young adolescents' standing long jump performance and self-efficacy, perceived competence, task effort, task importance and positive affect. Forty-eight participants completed 3 jumps in a baseline, EF (focus on jumping towards the cone), EE-EF (positive social-comparative feedback/high success probability) and AS-EF (self-definition of success) conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAn amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPneumonia resulting from infection is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Pulmonary infection by the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a large burden on human health, for which there are few therapeutic options. RSV targets ciliated epithelial cells in the airways, but how viruses such as RSV interact with receptors on these cells is not understood.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe present study assessed the potential value of using pupillometry to explore skill level differences in the allocation of attention during planning and performance of a golf putt across three putting conditions of varying complexity. Although numerous studies have reported on skill level differences in performers' visual search behaviours, performance accuracy and quiet eye duration (QE) across a range of performance settings, few have provided an objective measure of the allocation of attention during task performance. Fourteen participants were assigned to two groups [low handicap (LHG) and high handicap (HHG)] completing ten putts in three conditions; right to left (RL), left to right (LR) and straight (ST) from 1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch has outlined how self-regulation is crucial to the decision-making processes and pacing of endurance performance. There is evidence to suggest that executive function is implicated in self-regulatory processes, as the two are conceptually similar and share common brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex. This review draws upon various research domains to argue that executive function underlies the top-down self-regulation of endurance tasks.
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