The present study examined the degree to which gambling behaviors and gambling-relevant cognitive distortions could be predicted by personality factors, gender, and familial history of substance use and gambling problems in a large sample of college students (N = 581). Results indicate that parental gambling problems and, especially for males, a propensity to experience negative emotions predicted time spent gambling and gambling problems. Negative emotionality, along with parental substance use problems, impulsivity, and being male predicted gambling-related cognitive distortions. The differing pattern for impulsivity with respect to behaviors and beliefs might be explained by the low accessibility of gambling venues for the student population. We compare the present findings with past studies examining gambling behaviors in adult populations.
Sport psychology has its roots in ancient Asian and Greek cultures (Mahoney, 1989). Indeed, Socrates spoke of the psychology of sport of the ancient Greeks and the proper training of athletes (Lavallee, Kremer, Moran, & Williams, 2004). In modern times, sport psychology first took a foothold in the sport and exercise sciences and can be traced back
OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to investigate if circulating microRNAs (miR-NAs) in human follicular fluid (FF) could be used as helpful biomarkers for predicting IVF/ICSI outcomes. DESIGN: In this prospective study, a pool of FF was retrieved for each patient during IVF/ICSI procedure. A total of 91 FF samples from women with normal ovarian reserve (n¼91) were collected at oocyte retrieval day. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For each patient, all follicles were aspirated and all FF samples were pooled. MicroRNAs were extracted from each FF pool and quantified by RT-qPCR, using TaqMan technology. The expressions of miR-320a, let-7b and miR-29a were analyzed in FF and related to IVF/ICSI outcomes. RESULTS: FF pools related to low number of mature oocytes (%2) contained significant lower miR-320a expression levels than those related to high number of mature oocytes (>2), respectively (p¼0.03). Moreover, significant high let-7b levels were found in FF pools related to embryo cohorts with a high total blastomere number/total embryo number ratio at day 3 (>8, ie accelerated development) than in those with normal developmental kinetics (ratio between 6 and 8) (p¼0.02). Interestingly, we found a significant and negative correlation between FF let-7b expression levels and blastulation rate (r¼-0.33, p¼0.003). The Receiving Operator Curve (ROC) analysis indicated that the performance of FF let-7b in predicting the expanded blastocyst development was 0.67 (0.54-0.79), with 70% sensitivity and 64.3% specificity (p¼0.02). In addition, the area under the ROC curve (AUC), evaluating the potential of FF miR-29a in predicting clinical pregnancy outcome reached 0.68 [0.55-0.79] with a high sensitivity of 83.3% and a specificity of 53.5% (p¼0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that circulating miRNAs constitute non-invasive powerful tools in IVF process to predict embryo development and clinical pregnancy outcomes, in order to promote personalized IVF strategy.
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