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Most tools (93%) assessed communication skills using in-person role play exercises with standardized (61%) or real (32%) patients, but only 54% described the expertise of the raters who performed the evaluations. Overall, reporting of the psychometric properties of the assessment tools was poor -moderate (4.5 ± 1.3 out of 9). CONCLUSION Despite identifying several existing physician communication assessment tools, a high degree of heterogeneity between these tools, in terms of skills assessed and study quality, was observed and most have been poorly validated. Research is needed to rigorously develop and validate accessible, convenient, “user-friendly” easy to administer and score communication assessment tools.OBJECTIVE Becoming widowed is associated with an increased risk of early mortality. Drawing on theoretical literature related to social support and health, the present study evaluated whether the quantity of close relationships might differentially moderate the relationship between marital status (widowed vs. married) and mortality risk 10 years later. METHOD Data were obtained from the National Social Life Health and Aging Project (NSHAP). Vorinostat A diverse group of older adults (N= 2,347) were interviewed three times over 10 years. Information about close friends/family, marital status, and mortality were gathered. Logistic regression and moderation analyses were used to test whether the quantity of close relationships conditioned the risk of death for married and widowed adults 10 years later. RESULTS The quantity of close relationships moderated the association between marital status and mortality risk (B = -0.35, SE = .11, p = 0.002). Compared to their married counterparts, widowed older adults who had fewer than 4-6 close relationships had an increased risk of death 10 years later (B = -0.35, SE = .09, p less then .001); similarly, among people who reported few close relationships, widowed adults had an increased risk of death compared to their married counterparts (B = 0.54, SE = .15, p less then .001). These findings remained significant after accounting for demographics, health behaviors/chronic health conditions, and psychological distress. This effect is comparable to the increased mortality risk associated with smoking cigarettes. CONCLUSIONS Having fewer than 4-6 close relationships is associated with an increased mortality risk for widowed older adults.PURPOSE To determine whether the pattern of carbohydrate sports drink ingestion during prolonged sub-maximal running affects exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates and gastrointestinal (GI) comfort. METHODS Twelve well-trained male runners (27 ± 7 y, 67.9 ± 6.7 kg, V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak 68 ± 7 mL·kg·min) completed two exercise trials of 100 min steady state running at 70% V[Combining Dot Above]O2peak. In each of the trials, 1 L of a 10% dextrose solution, enriched with [U-C] glucose, was consumed as either 200 mL every 20 min (CHO-20) or 50 mL every 5 min (CHO-5). Expired breath and venous blood samples were collected at rest and every 20 min during exercise. Subjective scales of GI comfort were recorded at regular intervals. RESULTS Average exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates were 23% higher during exercise in CHO-20 (0.38 ± 0.11 vs. 0.31 ± 0.11 g·min; P=0.017). Peak exogenous carbohydrate oxidation was also higher in CHO-20 (0.68 ± 0.14 g·min vs. 0.61 ± 0.14 g·min; P=0.004). During exercise, total carbohydrate oxidation (CHO-20 2.15 ± 0.47; CHO-5 2.23 ± 0.45 g·min, P=0.412) and endogenous carbohydrate oxidation (CHO-20 1.78 ± 0.45; CHO-5 1.92 ± 0.40 g·min; P=0.148) were not different between trials. Average serum glucose (P=0.952) and insulin (P=0.373) concentrations were not different between trials. There were no differences in reported symptoms of GI comfort and stomach bloatedness (P>0.05), with only 3% of reported scores classed as severe (>5 out of 10). CONCLUSION Ingestion of a larger volume of carbohydrate solution at less frequent intervals during prolonged submaximal running increased exogenous carbohydrate oxidation rates. Neither drinking pattern resulted in increased markers of GI discomfort to a severe level.PURPOSE To quantify net glycogen utilisation in the vastus lateralis (VL) and gastrocnemius (G) of male (n=11) and female (n=10) recreationally active runners during three outdoor training sessions. METHODS After 2 days standardisation of carbohydrate (CHO) intakes (6 g.kg body mass per day), glycogen was assessed before and after 1) a 10-mile road run (10-mile) at lactate threshold, 2) 8 x 800 m track intervals (8 x 800 m) at velocity at V[Combining Dot Above]O2max and 3) 3 x 10 minute track intervals (3 x 10 min) at lactate turnpoint. RESULTS Resting glycogen concentration was lower in the G of females compared with males (P0.05). Net glycogen utilisation was greater in males than females in both VL (P=0.02) and G (P=0.07) during the 10-mile road run. With the exception of males during the 3 x 10 min protocol (P=0.28), greater absolute glycogen utilisation was observed in the G versus the VL muscle in both males and females and during all training protocols (all comparisons, P less then 0.05). CONCLUSION Data demonstrate 1) prolonged steady state running necessitates a greater glycogen requirement than shorter but higher intensity track running sessions, 2) females display evidence of reduced resting muscle glycogen concentration and net muscle glycogen utilisation when compared with males and 3), net glycogen utilisation is higher in the gastrocnemius muscle compared with the vastus lateralis.PURPOSE To screen for candidate hub genes associated with the effects of exercise on melanoma tumor tissues, and to review the potential signaling pathways involved in this process using bioinformatics analysis. METHODS The GSE62628 expression profile was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus database. This dataset contains 10 melanoma tumor tissues from two groups of exercise and non-exercise mice. The R software was utilized to identify differentially expressed genes between samples, and functional annotation and pathway analysis were performed. Results were visualized using Cytoscape software. RESULTS In total, 315 differentially expressed genes were obtained, including 294 upregulated and 21 downregulated genes. The functional analysis showed that these genes were mainly enriched in immune response, inflammatory response, and positive regulation of the ERK1/2 cascade in biological process functional groups. The top 10 candidate hub genes were C3, Kng1, C3ar1, Ptafr, Fgg, Alb, Pf4, Orm1, Aldh3b1 and Apob.