Motivation as a predictor of dental students’ affective and behavioral outcomes: Does the quality of motivation matter?

Since the motivation to study and engage in academic activities plays a key role in students’ learning experience and well-being, gaining a better understanding of dental students’ motivations can help educators implement interventions to support students’ optimal motivations. The aim of this study, grounded in self-determination theory, was to determine the predictive role of different types of motivation (autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation) in the affective and behavioral outcomes of dental students. Amotivation is the absence of drive to pursue an activity due to a failure to establish relationships between activity and behavior; controlled motivation involves behaving under external pressure or demands; and autonomous motivation is an internalized behavior with a full sense of volition, interest, choice, and self-determination. A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted in 2016, in which 924 students (90.2% response rate) from years one to six agreed to participate, granting permission to access their current GPAs and completing four self-reported questionnaires on academic motivation, study strategies, vitality, and self-esteem. The results showed that self-determined motivation (i.e., autonomous over controlled motivation) was positively associated with vitality, self-esteem, and deep study strategies and negatively associated with surface study strategies. The contrary results were found for amotivation. In the motivational model, deep study strategies showed a positive association with students’ academic performance. Contrary results were found for surface study strategies. This study extends understanding of the differentiation of motivation based on its quality types and suggests that being motivated does not necessarily lead to positive educational outcomes. Autonomous motivation, in contrast to controlled motivation and amotivation, should be supported to benefit students with regard to their approaches to learning and well-being since it can promote students’ vitality, self-esteem, deep over surface study strategies, and enhanced academic performance

Urban construct: visualising space in Townsville's built environment

Neil Binnie investigated space as lived experience in the urban landscape of Townsville. He discovered and visualised the evolving nature of space in a regional city through practice-based research. The results contributed to local arts and culture with an exhibition of contemporary art and supporting exegesis

An integrated charge amplifier for a pyroelectric sensor

This paper presents an integrated charge amplifier that measures a small charge. This charge is generated by a pyroelectric detector. The charge amplifier consists of a single-stage c-annon source configuration with a passive feedback network. The charge amplifier has a bandwidth of 700 kHz and an output noise voltage of 20 nV Hz 1/2 at 1 kHz. A 2×2 integrated pyroelectric sensor based on VDF/TrFE copolymer has been realized. The voltage response of this sensor-amplifier is reported

Motivational profiles and their relationships with basic psychological needs, academic performance, study strategies, self-esteem, and vitality in dental students in Chile

Purpose To determine dental students’ motivational profiles through a person-centred approach and to analyse the associations with the satisfaction of their basic psychological needs, study strategies, academic performance, self-esteem, and vitality. Methods A total of 924 students from the University of San Sebastian (Chile) participated in this cross-sectional cor¬relational study in spring 2016. Data were collected through 5 self-reported instruments, in addition to students’ academic performance. The Cronbach alpha, descriptive statistics, and correla¬tion scores were computed. A k-means cluster analysis with intrinsic and controlled motivation was conducted to identify different mo-tivational profiles. Subsequently, multivariate analysis of covariance controlling for the effects of gender and year of study was carried out to assess differences among the retained motivational profiles and learning variables. Results All instruments showed acceptable Cronbach alpha scores. A 4-cluster solution was retained for the motivational profile over a 3- or 5-cluster solution. Students’ motiva-tional profiles were characterized by different degrees of intrinsic and controlled motivation. The high intrinsic motivation groups showed higher perceptions of their basic psychological, a greater propensity for a deep rather than surface study strategy, better academic performance, and higher scores for self-esteem and vitality than the low intrinsic motivation groups, regardless of the degree of controlled motivation. Conclusion Students with a high intrinsic motivation profile, regardless of their controlled motivation scores, reported better learning characteristics. Therefore, special attention should be paid to students’ motivational profiles, as the quality of motivation might serve as a basis for interventions to support their academic success and well-being

Neogene fluvial landscape evolution in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert

Dating of extensive alluvial fan surfaces and fluvial features in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert, Chile, using cosmogenic nuclides provides unrivalled insights about the onset and variability of aridity. The predominantly hyperarid conditions help to preserve the traces of episodic climatic and/or slow tectonic change. Utilizing single clast exposure dating with cosmogenic 10Be and 21Ne, we determine the termination of episodes of enhanced fluvial erosion and deposition occurring at ~19, ~14, ~9.5 Ma; large scale fluvial modification of the landscape had ceased by ~2–3 Ma. The presence of clasts that record pre-Miocene exposure ages (~28 Ma and ~34 Ma) require stagnant landscape development during the Oligocene. Our data implies an early onset of (hyper-) aridity in the core region of the Atacama Desert, interrupted by wetter but probably still arid periods. The apparent conflict with interpretation that favour a later onset of (hyper-) aridity can be reconciled when the climatic gradients within the Atacama Desert are considered

On the age and extent of the Serra da Peneda glaciation, NW Portugal

10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022.Geomorphological vestiges in the mountains of NW Portugal testify a low altitude, sheltered, and precipitation-driven glaciation. These vestiges have already been characterised in several works, with emphasis on mapping and delimitation of the extent of glaciation, especially in the Serra do Gerês. In Serra da Peneda, the glacial reconstitution is not so comprehensive. Previous works have identified erosional and accumulation landforms, as well as various types of tills. However, the maximum extent of glaciation still raises some doubts and the spatial discontinuity of vestiges could suggest different episodes of glaciation. To detail the extent of the glaciation in the Serra da Peneda, an identification of glacial and periglacial landforms and deposits was performed, based on field surveys, aerial photography analysis, and LiDAR imagery processing and interpretation. Moreover, 10Be cosmogenic nuclide dating of moraine granite boulders exposure age was carried out in the Alto Vez valley, the area where the main glacial vestiges occur. Samples were collected from the uppermost erratic boulders of Senhora da Guia, at 1000 m asl., pointing to a Last Glaciation Maximum (LGM) age whereas the moraine boulders of the valley floor, at 900 m asl. indicate a Younger Dryas age. These are the first glacial dating results for this region and are in contrast to others previously published for exposure ages of glaciated surfaces in the Serra do Gerês, which raises the possibility that different Pleistocene glaciations may be represented in the mountains of NW Portugal. To reconstitute the history of glaciations in the region, similar dating in other moraines of the Peneda and Gerês mountains is in progress

Measurement of the ΔS=-ΔQ Amplitude from K_(e3)^0 Decay

We have measured the time distribution of the π^+e^-ν and π^-e^+ν modes from initial K^0's in a spark-chamber experiment performed at the Bevatron. From 1079 events between 0.2 and 7 K_S^0 lifetime, we find ReX=-0.069±0.036, ImX=+0.108_(-0.074)^(+0.092). This result is consistent with X=0 (relative probability = 0.25), but more than 4 standard deviations from the existing world average, +0.14 -0.13i

Treatment of interictal epileptiform discharges can improve behavior in children with behavioral problems and epilepsy

Objectives: It is generally agreed that children should be treated for epilepsy only if they have clinical seizures. The aim of this study was to examine whether suppressing interictal discharges can affect behavior in children with epilepsy.// Study design: In a double-blinded, placebo-controlled, crossover study, 61 children with well-controlled or mild epilepsy were randomly assigned to add-on therapy with either lamotrigine followed by placebo or placebo followed by lamotrigine. Ambulatory electroencephalographic recordings and behavioral scales were performed during baseline and at the end of placebo and drug phases. The primary hypothesis to be tested was that behavioral scales would improve specifically in patients with a reduction of electroencephalographic discharges during active drug treatment.// Results: Global rating of behavior significantly improved only in patients who showed a significant reduction in either frequency (P < .05) or duration of discharges (P < .05) during active treatment but not in patients with without a significant change in discharge rate. This improvement was mainly seen in patients with partial epilepsy (P < .005).// Conclusions: Our data suggest that suppressing interictal discharges can improve behavior in children with epilepsy and behavioral problems, particularly partial epilepsy. Focal discharges may be involved in the underlying mechanisms of behavioral problems in epilepsy

Angular asymmetries in the reactions pp \to d\pi^+\eta and pn \to d\pi^0\eta and a_0-f_0 mixing

The reactions pp\to d\pi^+\eta and pn\to d\pi^0\eta are of special interest for investigating the a_0(980) (J^P=0^+) resonance in the process NN \to da_0 \to d\pi\eta. We study some aspects of those reactions within a general formalism and also in a concrete phenomenological model. In particular, it is shown that the presence of nonresonant (i.e. without excitation of the a_0 resonance) contributions to these reactions yields nonvanishing values for specific polarization observables, i.e. to effects like those generated by a_0-f_0 mixing. An experimental determination of these observables for the reaction pp\to d\pi^+\eta would provide concrete information on the magnitude of those nonresonant contributions to \pi\eta production. We discuss also the possibility of extracting information about a_0-f_0 mixing from the reaction pn \to d\pi^0\eta with polarized proton beam.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure

Evidence for multiple Plio-Pleistocene lake episodes in the hyperarid Atacama Desert

Cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating of ancient shoreline terraces of the Quillagua-Llamara Soledad Lake in the central Atacama Desert of northern Chile provides new insights in the paleohydrology of the driest desert on Earth. The lake developed in a paleo-endorheic drainage system in the Central Depression prior to draining into the Pacific due to incision of the Río Loa canyon. The durations of lake stages were sufficiently long to form wave-erosion induced shoreline terraces on the wind-exposed slopes of former islands. Successively younger shoreline levels are preserved over an elevation range of 250 m due to progressive uplift of the islands coeval with the lake stages. Cosmogenic 10Be- and 21Ne-derived exposure ages of the shorelines reveals that the hyperarid conditions in the Río Loa catchment were interspersed by several pluvial stages during the Pliocene and Pleistocene, which generated a large and persistent lake in the Quillagua-Llamara basin. The exposure ages of the final lake stage provide the maximum age for the incision of the Río Loa canyon (274 ± 74 ka) and the subsequent breaching of the Coastal Cordillera