I'll be there for you: The effects of exercise engagement on social support provision within undergraduate students' personal networks.

Objective: To use social network analysis to examine exercise participation relative to health and wellness support provision within students' networks. Participants: 513 undergraduates from a large private university completed online surveys. Methods: Multilevel modeling assessed exercise engagement at the individual and dyadic level and support provision from network members. Results: More support was perceived by first and second-year students and individuals who reported more exercise engagement. Significant others, roommates, siblings, female network members, and those who exercised often provided greater support. Greater support was reported when both the participant and their social tie were involved in the campus group-exercise program. Conclusion: This study suggests individual and dyadic-level exercise was related to undergraduates feeling more supported. Findings support campus group exercise programs as opportunities to create reciprocal supportive ties for college students. Future research could further explore ways exercise and social support, particularly in group settings, affect health and well-being.

Egocentric network composition and structure relative to violence victimization among a sample of college students.

ObjectiveTo use egocentric network analysis to understand how composition and structure of egonetworks relate to violence victimization among college students. Participants: 697 students from a large southeastern university completed online surveys. Methods: Hierarchical logistic regression analyses assessed the relationship between egocentric network variables and a history of violence victimization. Results: Being connected to others with a history of violence victimization increased a student's odds of indicating their own history of physical, emotional, and sexual violence victimization. Having less dense egonetworks was related to sexual violence victimization, while being connected to less people of the same gender was related to emotional violence victimization. Conclusion: The way college students' networks are composed and structured could help in understanding violence victimization in this population, and should be considered in prevention and reactionary efforts on campuses. These findings add to the current literature largely focused on individual-level risk factors related to violence.

Social networks, group exercise, and anxiety among college students.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between group exercise membership, social network characteristics, and general state anxiety in a sample of college students. Participants: 490 undergraduates from a private university in the southern US participated in the study. Methods: An egocentric network analysis was conducted to test whether demographic variables, leisure-time physical activity, group exercise membership, flourishing scores, and network variables were related to anxiety. Results: Regression analyses (R2 = .174, F = 7.650, p < .0001) suggest group exercise membership (ß = -.105, p = .034) and flourishing scores (ß = -.342, p < .0001) were related to lower anxiety scores, while being a racial/ethnic minority (ß = .094, p = .036), and having personal networks composed of more people who exercise often (ß = .100, p = .025), were related to higher anxiety scores in this sample. Conclusions: Findings suggest a connection between group exercise membership, activity habits of peers, and anxiety. Encouraging group exercise participation could be an effective way of combating anxiety for college students.

Come together, play, be active: Physical activity engagement of school-age children at Play Streets in four diverse rural communities in the U.S.

Across the U.S., Play Streets - temporary street closures creating safe places for play for a few hours- are being implemented in urban areas during summer. Play Streets have never been implemented or evaluated in rural communities but have the potential to address challenges residents face accessing safe physical activity opportunities in these areas. Community organizations in four diverse low-income rural communities (selected to represent African American, American Indian, Latino, or White, non-Hispanic populations) received mini-grants in 2017 to implement four, three-hour Play Streets during the summer focusing on school-aged children in elementary-to-middle school. Physical activity was measured using Digi-walker (Yamax-SW200) pedometers and the System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC/iSOPARC). Sixteen Play Streets were implemented in rural Maryland, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas communities during June-September 2017. A total of 370 children (mean age = 8.81 years [SD = 2.75]; 55.0% female) wore pedometers across all 16 Play Streets (µâ€¯= 23.13 [SD = 8.59] children/Play Street). School-aged children with complete data (n = 353) wore pedometers for an average of 92.97 min (SD = 60.12) and accrued a mean of 42.08 steps/min (SD = 17.27), with no significant differences between boys (µâ€¯= 43.82, SD = 15.76) and girls (µâ€¯= 40.66, SD = 18.34). iSOPARC observations revealed no significant differences in child activity by sex; however, male teens were more active than female teens. Most adults were sedentary during Play Streets according to pedometer and iSOPARC data. Children in diverse rural communities are physically active at Play Streets. Play Streets are a promising intervention for promoting active play among children that lack safe opportunities to be active.

Evaluation of apoptosis in peripheral blood lymphocytes of renal transplant patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of apoptosis and the expression of FasL and IL-2 genes in apoptotic peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) at different posttransplant periods. Three groups of patients were studied: group 1, kidney transplant recipients at least 1 year posttransplant (n = 17); group 2, kidney transplant recipients at least 5 years posttransplant (n = 15); and a control group composed of 7 healthy subjects. Apoptosis was detected by annexin flow cytometry and gene expression by reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions. The percentage of apoptotic cells was significantly higher in groups 1 (42 +/- 4%) and 2 (37 +/- 3%) than the controls (27 +/- 2%; P < .0001). Apoptotic cells in group 1 was significantly higher than in group 2 (P < .005). A significant difference in FasL expression was observed between groups 1 and 2 (P < .001) and the immunosuppressive regimen. These findings suggest that PBMC of kidney transplant recipients are more susceptible to activation-induced cell death and that the Fas-FasL pathway is involved in this process.

Anterior cervical interbody fusion with rhBMP-2 and tantalum in a goat model.

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Tricortical autogenous iliac crest has long served as the gold standard for arthrodesis after cervical discectomy. The added morbidity resulting from bone graft harvest may be eliminated by the use of a biocompatible synthetic bone graft substitute with osteoconductive abilities, and when used with an osteoinductive agent, such as recombinant bone morphogenic protein (rhBMP)-2, it may facilitate arthrodesis similar to autograft. PURPOSE: To determine by radiographic and histologic analysis whether tantalum with and without rhBMP-2 can facilitate bony ingrowth and arthrodesis in an animal model. STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Single-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion was performed using a tantalum bone graft substitute with and without rhBMP-2 in a previously established goat model for anterior cervical fusion. METHODS: Eight goats underwent single-level anterior cervical discectomy and stabilization with a porous tantalum implant. There were four goats in each experimental group. Group A underwent anterior cervical stabilization with tantalum alone, whereas in Group B rhBMP-2 was added to the tantalum implant. The goats were sacrificed at 12 weeks, and their cervical spines were removed for histologic and radiological analysis. RESULTS: Only one of four goats in Group A had any bony ingrowth into the tantalum. Three of four goats in Group B demonstrated bony ingrowth. The average extent of bony ingrowth at the perimeter of the tantalum in Group A was 2.5% compared with 12.5% in Group B. Similarly, the volume of bony ingrowth within the tantalum was 2.5% in Group A and 10% in Group B. The difference was not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The data in this pilot study suggest that tantalum may function as a synthetic osteoconductive bone graft substitute. The addition of rhBMP-2 may facilitate osteoinduction within a synthetic osteoconductive implant. The sample size in this study was too small for statistical significance. The present animal model as used in this study was inadequate for cervical arthrodesis where rigid implant fixation is desired.