Maternal mind-mindedness during infancy, general parenting sensitivity and observed child feeding behavior:a longitudinal study

Maternal mind-mindedness, or the tendency to view the child as a mental agent, has been shown to predict sensitive and responsive parenting behavior. As yet the role of mind-mindedness has not been explored in the context of feeding interactions. This study evaluates the relations between maternal mind-mindedness at 6 months of infant age and subsequently observed maternal sensitivity and feeding behaviors with children at age 1 year. Maternal mind-mindedness was greater in mothers who had breast-fed compared to formula-fed. Controlling for breast-feeding, mind-mindedness at 6 months was correlated with observations of more sensitive and positive feeding behaviors at 1 year of age. Mind-mindedness was also associated with greater general maternal sensitivity in play and this general parenting sensitivity mediated the effect of mind-mindedness on more sensitive and positive feeding behaviors. Interventions to promote maternal tendency to consider their child's mental states may encourage more adaptive parental feeding behaviors. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.

An analysis of penalty kicks in elite football post 1997

The penalty kick in football is a seemingly simplistic play; however, it has increased in complexity since 1997 when the rules changed allowing goalkeepers to move laterally along their goal line before the ball was kicked. Prior to 1997 goalkeepers were required to remain still until the ball was struck. The objective of this study was to determine the importance of the penalty kick in the modern game of football. A retrospective study of the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cup and the 2000, 2004 and 2008 European Championship tournaments was carried out, assessing the importance of the penalty kick in match play and shootouts and the effect of the time of the game on the shooter's success rate. This study demonstrated the conversion rate of penalties was 73% in shootouts and 68% in match play. Significantly more penalties were awarded late in the game: twice as many penalties in the second half than the first and close to four times as many in the fourth quarter vs. the first. Teams awarded penalty kicks during match play won 52%, drew 30% and lost 18% of the time; chances of winning increased to 61% if the penalty was scored, but decreased to 29% if missed. Teams participating in either the World Cup or European Championship final match had roughly a 50% chance of being involved in a penalty shootout during the tournament. Penalty shots and their outcome significantly impact match results in post 1997 football.

Angiotensin II directly induces muscle protein catabolism through the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway and may play a role in cancer cachexia

The ability of angiotensin I (Ang I) and II (Ang II) to induce directly protein degradation in skeletal muscle has been studied in murine myotubes. Angiotensin I stimulated protein degradation with a parabolic dose-response curve and with a maximal effect between 0.05 and 0.1 μM. The effect was attenuated by coincubation with the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor imidaprilat, suggesting that angiotensin I stimulated protein degradation through conversion to Ang II. Angiotensin II also stimulated protein breakdown with a similar dose-response curve, and with a maximal effect between 1 and 2.5 μM. Total protein degradation, induced by both Ang I and Ang II, was attenuated by the proteasome inhibitors lactacystin (5 μM) and MG132 (10 μM), suggesting that the effect was mediated through upregulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway. Both Ang I and Ang II stimulated an increased proteasome 'chymotrypsin-like' enzyme activity as well as an increase in protein expression of 20S proteasome α-subunits, the 19S subunits MSSI and p42, at the same concentrations as those inducing protein degradation. The effect of Ang I was attenuated by imidaprilat, confirming that it arose from conversion to Ang II. These results suggest that Ang II stimulates protein degradation in myotubes through induction of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Protein degradation induced by Ang II was inhibited by insulin-like growth factor and by the polyunsaturated fatty acid, eicosapentaenoic acid. These results suggest that Ang II has the potential to cause muscle atrophy through an increase in protein degradation. The highly lipophilic ACE inhibitor imidapril (Vitor™) (30 mg kg-1) attenuated the development of weight loss in mice bearing the MAC16 tumour, suggesting that Ang II may play a role in the development of cachexia in this model. © 2005 Cancer Research.

Africa's World Cup:critical reflections on play, patriotism, spectatorship, and space

Africas World Cup: Critical Reflections on Play, Patriotism, Spectatorship, and Space focuses on a remarkable month in the modern history of Africa and in the global history of football. Peter Alegi and Chris Bolsmann are well-known experts on South African football, and they have assembled an impressive team of local and international journalists, academics, and football experts to reflect on the 2010 World Cup and its broader significance, its meanings, complexities, and contradictions. The World Cups sounds, sights, and aesthetics are explored, along with questions of patriotism, nationalism, and spectatorship in Africa and around the world. Experts on urban design and communities write on how the presence of the World Cup worked to refashion urban spaces and negotiate the local struggles in the hosting cities. The volume is richly illustrated by authors photographs, and the essays in this volume feature chronicles of match day experiences; travelogues; ethnographies of fan cultures; analyses of print, broadcast, and electronic media coverage of the tournament; reflections on the World Cups private and public spaces; football exhibits in South African museums; and critiques of the World Cups processes of inclusion and exclusion, as well as its political and economic legacies. The volume concludes with a forum on the World Cup, including Thabo Dladla, Director of Soccer at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mohlomi Kekeletso Maubane, a well-known Soweto-based writer and a soccer researcher, and Rodney Reiners, former professional footballer and current chief soccer writer for the Cape Argus newspaper in Cape Town. This collection will appeal to students, scholars, journalists, and fans. Cover illustration: South African fan blowing his vuvuzela at South Africa vs. France, Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein, June 22, 2010. Photo by Chris Bolsmann.