Realising the Olympic dream: vision, support and challenge

The sporting arena is replete with examples and anecdotes of great inspirational coaches that have led teams to success, often in the face of adversity and against seemingly better opponents. The role of the coach in developing and motivating athletes has also been the focus of much research in sport psychology (e.g., Challaduria 1990; Smith & Smoll, 2007). Despite the ease with which one readily accepts that coaches can be inspirational, the sport coaching literature is somewhat devoid of research on inspirational coaches and the effects of such coaches on athletic success. The purpose of the current paper is to theoretically delineate the inspirational effects of coaches in sport. Given the relative paucity of inspiration-related research in sport we draw upon contemporary theories of leadership from organisational and military psychology (e.g., transformational and charismatic leadership theories). We propose a sport-specific model of leadership that centres around the vision, support, and challenge meta-cognitive model developed by Arthur and Hardy in military contexts. The model posits that �great� coaches inspire their athletes by: (a) creating an inspirational vision of the future; (b) providing the necessary support to achieve the vision; and (c) providing the challenge to achieve the vision. The underlying proposition is that the vision provides meaning and direction for followers� effort. That is, the vision serves as the beacon around which all the sweat, pain and sacrifice involved in achieving success at the highest level in sport is directed. At the heart of this model is the notion that athletes can achieve their dreams provided they are inspired to do so; this is because all other things being equal the person who is motivated to practice longer and train harder will ultimately be the best. The current paper will delineate the coach�s role in inspiring the athlete to train harder and longer

Development and Validation of a Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory

Three studies were conducted in order to develop and validate a mental toughness instrument for use in military training environments. Study 1 (n = 435) focused on item generation and testing the structural integrity of the Military Training Mental Toughness Inventory (MTMTI). The measure assessed ability to maintain optimal performance under pressure from a range of different stressors experienced by recruits during infantry basic training. Study 2 (n = 104) examined the concurrent validity, predictive validity, and test-retest reliability of the measure. Study 3 (n = 106) confirmed the predictive validity of the measure with a sample of more specialized infantry recruits. Overall, the military training mental toughness inventory demonstrated sound psychometric properties and structural validity. Furthermore, it was found to possess good test-retest reliability, concurrent validity, and predicted performance in two different training contexts with two separate samples

Synthesis of Pyridinium Amphiphiles Used for Transfection and Some Characteristics of Amphiphile/DNA Complex Formation

Pyridinium amphiphiles have found practical use for the delivery of DNA into cells. Starting from 4-methylpyridine, a general synthesis has been devised for the production of pyridinium amphiphiles which allows variation in both the hydrophobic part and in the headgroup area of the compounds. By means of differential scanning microcalorimetry, zeta potential, particle size measurements and cryo electron microscopy, some characteristics of the pyridinium amphiphile/ DNA complexes have been determined.

On the assessment of time-shift variations from backscattered ultrasound for large temperature changes in biological phantoms

This work reports the assessment of time-shifts (TS) from backscattered ultrasound (BSU) signals when large temperature variations (up to 15 degrees C) were induced in a gel-based phantom. The results showed that during cooling temperature is linear with TS at a rate of approximately 74 ns/degrees C. However during a complete heating/cooling cycle, the relation is highly non-linear. This can be explained by the fact that during cooling the temperature distribution is more uniform. Another problem to report is that TS is very sensitive to external movements

Canine ehrlichiosis in Egypt: sero-epidemiological survey

A total of 374 dogs, 252 from five military kennels and 122 privately owned, were tested for Ehrlichia canis antibody. Sera were tested at a 1:20 dilution by indirect fluorescent antibody with the use of E. canis cell-culture antigen slides. The overall prevalence of E. canis antibody was 33%. Antibody prevalence among military dogs (29 %) was significantly lower than among privately owned dogs (41 %; P < 0,05) . The E. canis seroprevalence among dogs infested with ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) was higher (44 %) than that among uninfested dogs (31 %; P = 0,08) . The seroprevalence among military dogs varied from 21-46% at the five kennels; lower prevalences were observed in kennels with higher sanitary and hygienic conditions. Age- and sex-related E. canis antibody prevalences were not significantly different among military and privately owned dogs, although adult and male privately owned dogs had the highest seroprevalences (45% and 44 %, respectively). Three dogs with epistaxis had E. canis antibody titres > 1:320. These data demonstrate the first laboratory evidence of E. canis infection among dogs in Egypt.The articles have been scanned in colour with a HP Scanjet 5590; 600dpi. Adobe Acrobat XI Pro was used to OCR the text and also for the merging and conversion to the final presentation PDF-format.Naval Medical Research and Development Command, NMC, NCR, Bethesda, MD.mn201

The K-theoretic Farrell-Jones Conjecture for hyperbolic groups

We prove the K-theoretic Farrell-Jones Conjecture for hyperbolic groups with (twisted) coefficients in any associative ring with unit.Comment: 33 pages; final version; to appear in Invent. Mat

Lutetium-177-PSMA therapy for prostate cancer patients—a brief overview of the literature

Radioligand therapy with lutetium-177 prostate specific membrane antigen ([177Lu]Lu-PSMA) represents a promising treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients. In this paper, we aim to summarize the current knowledge derived from the literature as well as the authors’ experiences on [177Lu]Lu-PSMA therapy. Various systematic reviews, mostly including small retrospective studies, summarized efficacy and oncological outcomes of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA therapy. Any therapy-related prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response was reported in the majority of the patients (68–75%); >50% PSA decline was demonstrated in 34.5–51% of the patients. Incidence of side effects was low and in most patients, hematological toxicity remained limited to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) grade 1–2. Also, favorable efficacy was shown with regard to tumor response on imaging, pain symptoms and quality of life. In the near future, results of the awaited pivotal prospective studies (NCT03511664, NCT03392428) will define efficacy of [177Lu]Lu-PSMA therapy and its oncological value for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients

Life path analysis: scaling indicates priming effects of social and habitat factors on dispersal distances

1. Movements of many animals along a life-path can be separated into repetitive ones within home ranges and transitions between home ranges. We sought relationships of social and environmental factors with initiation and distance of transition movements in 114 buzzards Buteo buteo that were marked as nestlings with long-life radio tags. 2. Ex-natal dispersal movements of 51 buzzards in autumn were longer than for 30 later in their first year and than 35 extra-natal movements between home ranges after leaving nest areas. In the second and third springs, distances moved from winter focal points by birds that paired were the same or less than for unpaired birds. No post-nuptial movement exceeded 2 km. 3. Initiation of early ex-natal dispersal was enhanced by presence of many sibs, but also by lack of worm-rich loam soils. Distances travelled were greatest for birds from small broods and with relatively little short grass-feeding habitat near the nest. Later movements were generally enhanced by the absence of loam soils and short grassland, especially with abundance of other buzzards and probable poor feeding habitats (heathland, long grass). 4. Buzzards tended to persist in their first autumn where arable land was abundant, but subsequently showed a strong tendency to move from this habitat. 5. Factors that acted most strongly in ½-km buffers round nests, or round subsequent focal points, usually promoted movement compared with factors acting at a larger scale. Strong relationships between movement distances and environmental characteristics in ½-km buffers, especially during early ex-natal dispersal, suggested that buzzards became primed by these factors to travel far. 6. Movements were also farthest for buzzards that had already moved far from their natal nests, perhaps reflecting genetic predisposition, long-term priming or poor habitat beyond the study area

Basic kinetic wealth-exchange models: common features and open problems

We review the basic kinetic wealth-exchange models of Angle [J. Angle, Social Forces 65 (1986) 293; J. Math. Sociol. 26 (2002) 217], Bennati [E. Bennati, Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali 35 (1988) 735], Chakraborti and Chakrabarti [A. Chakraborti, B. K. Chakrabarti, Eur. Phys. J. B 17 (2000) 167], and of Dragulescu and Yakovenko [A. Dragulescu, V. M. Yakovenko, Eur. Phys. J. B 17 (2000) 723]. Analytical fitting forms for the equilibrium wealth distributions are proposed. The influence of heterogeneity is investigated, the appearance of the fat tail in the wealth distribution and the relaxation to equilibrium are discussed. A unified reformulation of the models considered is suggested.Comment: Updated version; 9 pages, 5 figures, 2 table