Middle and elementary school students’ changes in self-determined motivation in a basketball unit taught using the Tactical Games Model

Studies examining student motivation levels suggest that this is a significant factor in students’ engagement in physical education and may be positively affected when teachers employ alternative pedagogical models such as game-centered approaches (GCAs). The aim of this study was to investigate changes in self-determined motivation of students as they participated in a GCA-basketball unit taught using the Tactical Games Model (TGM). Participants were 173 students (84 girls), 79 middle school (45 girls) and 94 (39 girls) elementary school students from four seventh and five fourth/fifth grade co-educational classes. Two teachers taught 32 (middle) and 33 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Need satisfaction and self-determined motivation data were collected using a previously validated instrument, while lesson context and teacher behavior data were recorded using systematic observation instruments. Repeated measures MANOVAs were employed to examine pre-posttest differences. Results revealed a significant main effect for time in need satisfaction for both middle (relatedness increased) and elementary school students (autonomy decreased) and a significant main effect in self-determined motivation for middle school students only (introjected regulation, external regulation, and amotivation all increased). Approximately 48%/42% (middle/elementary) of lesson time was game play, 22%/22% skill practice, 17%/17% management, and 13%/19% knowledge. The primary teacher behaviors used were instruction, management, specific observation, corrective feedback and modelling. Results indicate that it is important for future research to pay greater attention to the contextual factors associated with the application of the TGM, such as the students’ previous exposure to TGM lessons, and the teachers’ training and experience in utilizing the TGM. Indeed, results of the present study demonstrate that a longer-term commitment to the TGM is necessary to reduce controlling teacher behaviors, which will lead to positive changes in students’ need satisfaction and self-determined motivation. Future research is therefore needed to embrace this challenge to provide an increased evidence-base for GCAs such as the TGM

Gender and school-level differences in students' moderate and vigorous physical activity levels when taught basketball through the tactical games model

The Tactical Games Model (TGM) prefaces the cognitive components of physical education (PE), which has implications for physical activity (PA) accumulation. PA recommendations suggest students reach 50% moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, this criterion does not indicate the contribution from vigorous physical activity (VPA). Consequently, this study investigated: a) the effects of TGM delivery on MVPA/VPA and, b) gender/school level differences. Participants were 78 seventh and 96 fourth/fifth grade coeducational PE students from two different schools. Two teachers taught 24 (middle) and 30 (elementary) level one TGM basketball lessons. Students wore Actigraph GT3× triaxial accelerometers. Data were analyzed using four one-way ANOVAs. Middle school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (34.04/22.37%) than girls (25.14/15.47%). Elementary school boys had significantly higher MVPA/VPA (29.73/18.33%) than girls (23.03/14.33%). While TGM lessons provide a context where students can accumulate VPA consistent with national PA recommendations, teachers need to modify lesson activities to enable equitable PA participation

Bosonization of fermions coupled to topologically massive gravity

We establish a duality between massive fermions coupled to topologically massive gravity (TGM) in $d=3$ space-time dimensions and a purely gravity theory which also will turn out to be a TGM theory but with different parameters: the original graviton mass in the TGM theory coupled to fermions picks-up a contribution from fermion bosonization. We obtain explicit bosonization rules for the fermionic currents and for the energy-momentum-tensor showing that the identifications do not depend explicitly on the parameters of the theory. These results are the gravitational analog of the results for $2+1$ Abelian and non-Abelian bosonization in flat space-time.Comment: 8 page

Patterns of Total Gaseous Mercury Variation Prior to and After Brownfield Remediation in Syracuse, NY

Although mercury toxicity has been recognized for centuries, the atmospheric cycle of this element is still not fully understood. In order to obtain a better perspective of the dynamics of atmospheric mercury in urban areas, total gaseous mercury (TGM) was measured at a brownfield site at the Center of Excellence (CoE) in Syracuse NY from 2011 to 2016. The brownfield was removed on May 2015, and a parking lot was installed. For this study, I had a series of objectives including: (1) to understand vertical and temporal variations in TGM concentration; (2) investigate the influence of meteorological factors on TGM concentrations and variations; (3) evaluate the effect of brownfield removal and site restoration on TGM concentrations and variations; (4) compare TGM variation at this site with other monitoring sites in New York State to confirm hypothesis made in this study. Continuous TGM measurements were made at two different heights (1.8 m and 42.7 m) at the COE. To interpret TGM variations, meteorological data collected by SUNY-ESF were also used in this analysis. In addition, mercury flux measurements from the land surface was conducted at this site on June 2015. Prior to brownfield remediation, the overall average TGM concentrations were 1.6±0.58 ng/m3 and 1.4±0.40 ng/m3 at ground and upper level, respectively. TGM tended to have higher concentrations during night and in the morning, and was positively correlated with air temperature, solar radiation, but negatively correlated with wind speed. After brownfield remediation, TGM concentrations immediately decreased by 32% and 22% at the ground and upper level, respectively and likely to have higher concentrations during nighttime and lower concentrations in the daylight. Relations of TGM concentrations with temperature, solar radiation and wind speed were completely eliminated after brownfield remediation. These results suggest that TGM concentrations at this site were strongly controlled by local mercury evasion prior to brownfield removal, with evasion rate increasing due to higher air temperature and stronger solar radiation. TGM derived from mercury evasion from the site were diluted by horizontal mixing from winds and vertical mixing associated with movement of the PBL

Tradhisi Gumbregan Mahesa ing Desa Banyubiru Kecamatan Widodaren Kabupaten Ngawi (Tintingan Folklor)

Tradisi Gumbregan Mahesa diadhakake ana ing Kedhung gawe aduse kebo iki minangka wujud folklor setengah lisan sing ana ing Desa Banyubiru, Kecamatan Widodaren, kabupaten Ngawi. Tradhisi Gembregan Mahesa bisa disingkat TGM iki minangka tradhisi kang isih diuri-uri dening para masyakarat ing sakiwa tengene. TGM iki minangka pralambang ngenani wujud pangucap syukur asil panen lan wujud syukur amarga kebo-kebo isih diparangi sehat. Tradisi iki isih ngrembaka wiwit mbiyen nganti saiki lan dilakokake setaun pisan Banjur ing undheran panlitene yaiku (1) Kepriye mula bukane TGM ing desa Banyubiru, (2) Kepriye tata laku adhicara TGM ing Desa Banyubiru, (3) Apa wae ubarampen kang ana ing adhicara TGM ing Desa Banyubiru (4) apa makna saka TGM ing Desa Banyubiru Kecamatan Widodaren Kabupaten Ngawi, (5) Apa fungsi saka TGM ing Desa Banyubiru, (6) Kepriye upaya ngenani pelestarian TGM ing Desa Banyubiru. kabeh iku mau minangka wujud saka TGM sing nggunakake tinthingan Folklor setengah lisan Panliten ing kene bisa menehi gambaran ngenani anane TGM ing Desa Banyubiru Kecamatan Widodaren Kabupaten Ngawi kanthi tintingan folklor lan kanggo ndudhah perangan ngenani TGM kang dadi kabudayan Jawa, nambahi bab kawruh kanggone saperangan panliten lan liyane sing ngenani bab tradhisi Jawa sing mligine Upacara TGM ing desaBanyubiru Kabupaten Ngawi, Nglestarekake tradhisi Jawa mligine Upacara TGM ing Desa Banyubiru. Supaya bisa mecahake apa sing dadi undhran panliten iki, kudu ngunakake konsep dan teori kang trep lan mathuk. Ngenani panliten iki kalebu panliten jinis folklor. Banjar nggunakake metodhe panliten deskriptif kualitatif. ana ing njero sumber dhata iki jinise ana loro yaiku sumber dhata primer dan sumber dhata sekunder. Ngenani asile panliten iki ngandharake wujud panliten ana tata lakune yaiku: Musyawarah desa, Ngresiki desa, nyiapake piranti lan ubarampen, masak bebarengan, menehake panganan rakan, nyenthelake kupat lepet, slametan, nglumpukake kebo, arak-arakan tumpeng, kebo digiring kanggo mulih Tembung-tembung wigati: wujud pangucap syukur, Tradhisi Gumbrega

Two years of measurements of atmospheric total gaseous mercury (TGM) at a remote site in Mt. Changbai area, Northeastern China

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) was continuously monitored at a remote site (CBS) in Mt. Changbai area, Northeastern China from 24 October 2008 to 31 October 2010. The overall mean TGM concentration was 1.60±0.51 ng m<sup>−3</sup>, which is lower than those reported from remote sites in Eastern, Southwestern, and Western China, indicating a relatively lower regional anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emission intensity in Northeastern China. Measurements at a site in the vicinity (~1.2 km) of CBS station from August 2005 to July 2006 showed a significantly higher mean TGM concentration of 3.58±1.78 ng m<sup>−3</sup>. The divergent result was partially attributed to fluctuations in the relatively frequencies of surface winds during the two study periods and moreover an effect of local emission sources. The temporal variation of TGM at CBS was influenced by regional sources as well as long-range transported Hg. Regional sources frequently contributing to episodical high TGM concentrations were pin-pointed as a large iron mining district in Northern North Korea and two large power plants and urban areas to the southwest of the sampling site. Source areas in Beijing, Tianjin, southern Liaoning, Hebei, northwestern Shanxi, and northwestern Shandong were found to contribute to elevated TGM observations at CBS via long-range transport. Diurnal pattern of TGM at CBS was mainly controlled by regional sources, likely as well as intrusion of air masses from the free troposphere during summer season. There are no consistent seasonal pattern of TGM at CBS, and the monthly TGM variations showed links with the patterns of regional air movements and long-range transport

Molecular mechanism regulating myosin and cardiac functions by ELC

The essential myosin light chain (ELC) is involved in modulation of force generation of myosin motors and cardiac contraction, while its mechanism of action remains elusive. We hypothesized that ELC could modulate myosin stiffness which subsequently determines its force production and cardiac contraction. We therefore generated heterologous transgenic mouse (TgM) strains with cardiomyocyte-specific expression of ELC with human ventricular ELC (hVLC-1; TgM(hVLC-1)) or E56G-mutated hVLC-1 (hVLC-1(E56G); TgM(E56G)). hVLC-1 or hVLC-1(E56G) expression in TgM was around 39% and 41%, respectively of total VLC-1. Laser trap and in vitro motility assays showed that stiffness and actin sliding velocity of myosin with hVLC-1 prepared from TgM(hVLC-1) (1.67pN/nm and 2.3{my}m/s, respectively) were significantly higher than myosin with hVLC-1(E56G) prepared from TgM(E56G) (1.25pN/nm and 1.7{my}m/s, respectively) or myosin with mouse VLC-1 (mVLC-1) prepared from C57/BL6 (1.41 pN/nm and 1.5+-0.03 {my}m/s, respectively). Maximal left ventricular pressure development of isolated perfused hearts in vitro prepared from TgM(hVLC-1) (80.0mmHg) were significantly higher than hearts from TgM(E56G) (66.2mmHg) or C57/BL6 (59.3+-3.9 mmHg). These findings show that ELCs decreased myosin stiffness, in vitro motility, and thereby cardiac functions in the order hVLC-1 > hVLC-1(E56G) ≈ mVLC-1. They also suggest a molecular pathomechanism of cardiomyopathies caused by hVLC-1 mutations

The parasite cytokine mimic <i>Hp</i>-TGM potently replicates the regulatory effects of TGF-β on murine CD4+ T cells

Transforming growth factor‐beta (TGF‐β) family proteins mediate many vital biological functions in growth, development and regulation of the immune system. TGF‐β itself controls immune homeostasis and inflammation, including conversion of naïve CD4+ T cells into Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the presence of IL‐2 and T cell receptor ligands. The helminth parasite Heligmosomoides polygyrus exploits this pathway through a structurally novel TGF‐β mimic (Hp‐TGM), which binds to mammalian TGF‐β receptors and induces Tregs. Here, we performed detailed comparisons of Hp‐TGM with mammalian TGF‐β. Compared to TGF‐β, Hp‐TGM induced greater numbers of Foxp3+ Tregs (iTregs), with more intense Foxp3 expression. Both ligands upregulated Treg functional markers CD73, CD103 and PD‐L1, but Hp‐TGM induced significantly higher CD39 expression than did TGF‐β. Interestingly, in contrast to canonical TGF‐β signalling through Smad2/3, Hp‐TGM stimulation was slower and more sustained. Gene expression profiles induced by TGF‐β and Hp‐TGM were remarkably similar, and both types of iTregs suppressed T cell responses in vitro and EAE‐driven inflammation in vivo. In vitro, both types of iTregs were equally stable under inflammatory conditions, but Hp‐TGM‐induced iTregs were more stable in vivo during DSS‐induced colitis, with greater retention of Foxp3 expression and lower conversion to a ROR‐γt+ phenotype. Altogether, results from this study suggest that the parasite cytokine mimic, Hp‐TGM, may deliver a qualitatively different signal to CD4+ T cells with downstream consequences for the long‐term stability of iTregs. These data highlight the potential of Hp‐TGM as a new modulator of T cell responses in vitro and in vivo