Adopting a holistic focus of attention promotes adherence and improves performance in college track and field athletes.

Research on novices suggests that an external focus improves performance over an internal focus. For experienced performers the results on attentional focus have been mixed. Recently Becker, Georges, and Aiken (2019) suggested that a holistic focus may be a useful substitute when an external focus is not appropriate. The purpose of this study was to investigate attentional focus within track and field athletes performing an underhand shot throw. 18 female athletes performed an underhand shot throw (4 kg) under three focus conditions: internal, external, and holistic. Participants also rated their adherence to each attentional focus manipulation. Repeated-measures ANOVAs with Sidak post-hoc were used to analyze both underhand shot throw distance and focus adherence. A significant main effect for condition was observed for distance (F = 6.14, p = .005). A holistic threw farther than an internal focus (p < .001) with no difference between internal and external (p = .380), or holistic and external foci (p = .312). For adherence, a significant main effect for condition was observed (F = 4.56, p = .018) with holistic focus adhering to the cue significantly more than internal focus (p < .019). The results of this study are in line with research that found a benefit for a holistic focus with novice performers (Becker et al., 2019). Mullen and Hardy (2010) also found a benefit for the golf putt, basketball shot, and long jump with skilled performers adopting a focus on the global or holistic aspect of the skill.

[Approaches to lower occurrence of chronic bronchitis in railway workers subjected to occupational risk of respiratory diseases].

The article deals with analysis of peculiarities in morbidity and social importance of chronic bronchitis as a leading nosologic entity among railway workers whose work is associated with constant exposure to risk factors of respiratory diseases. The authors compare clinical efficiency of various schemes concerning treatment of chronic bronchitis and the relapses prevention.

[Identification of risk factors for respiratory diseases in adolescents from an industrial city].

The prevalence of respiratory disease and the spread of risk factors were studied in adolescents living in Saratov. Respiratory diseases held the lead among other classes of diseases in young people; these diseases were more prevalent in adolescents than in children and adults. Examination of their outpatient cards revealed defects in the management of pulmonological patients. Screening could identify the most important risk factors of respiratory diseases (such as poor housing and living conditions, smoking, and recurrent acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI)) and make up three groups of patients: 1) those at risk for respiratory diseases and frequently ARVI; 2) those with acute respiratory diseases; and 3) those with chronic respiratory diseases.

[Training of experts in family medicine]. / Podgotovka spetsialistov po semeinoi meditsine.

Issues related with training of pre-graduate and postgraduate general physicians (family doctors) and of nurses with higher education in the field of family medicine at the chair of polyclinic therapy are under discussion in the paper. The authors believe that the quality of training of experts in the field of family medicine is to a great extent predetermined by the efficiency of rendering the primary medical-and-social care to population.

[A program of combined intensive therapy in critical ischemia of the lower extremities]. / Programma kompleksnoi intensivnoi terapii kriticheskoi ishemii nizhnikh konechnostei.

Ultraviolet irradiation (UVI) of the blood, adsorption methods of detoxication, hyperbaric oxygenation (HBO), and antioxidant therapy are pathogenetic and etiotropic methods of treatment in multiple-modality conservative therapy of patients with ischemia of the lower limbs. The EKROMI UVI method is rapid and no less effective then the traditional exposure of the blood after Knott. Enterosorption (ES) may replace hemosorption (HS) in lower limb ischemia with good effect; noteworthy that it is a safer method of detoxication. Addition of antihypoxants and antioxidants (AO) to therapeutic complexes administered before HBO improved the efficacy of this procedure. Use of the UVI-HS(ES)-AO-HBO-HS(ES)-UVI scheme for intensive care for obliterating diseases of the arteries levels the shortcomings of each of the methods of the complex and potentiates the efficacy of each of them.