A cross-cultural re-evaluation of the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI) in five countries

Research into the detrimental effects of excessive exercise has been conceptualized in a number of similar ways, including ‘exercise addiction’ , ‘exercise dependence’ , ‘obligatory exercising’, ‘exercise abuse’, and ‘compulsive exercise’. Among the most currently used (and psychometrically valid and reliable) instruments is the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI). The present study aimed to further explore the psychometric properties of the EAI by combining the datasets of a number of surveys carried out in five different countries (Denmark, Hungary, Spain, UK, and US) that have used the EAI with a total sample size of 6,031 participants. A series of multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were carried out examining configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance. The CFAs using the combined dataset supported the configural invariance and metric invariance but not scalar invariance. Therefore, EAI factor scores from five countries are not comparable because the use or interpretation of the scale was different in the five nations. However, the covariates of exercise addiction can be studied from a cross-cultural perspective because of the metric invariance of the scale. Gender differences among exercisers in the interpretation of the scale also emerged. The implications of the results are discussed, and it is concluded that the study’s findings will facilitate a more robust and reliable use of the EAI in future research

Quantum State During and after O(4)O(4)-Symmetric Bubble Nucleation with Gravitaional Effects

We extend our previous analysis of the quantum state during and after $O(4)$-symmetric bubble nucleation to the case including gravitational effects. We find that there exists a simple relationship between the case with and without gravitational effects. In a special case of a conformally coupled scalar field which is massless except on the bubble wall, the state is found to be conformally equivalent to the case without gravity.Comment: 31 pages plain Tex file, uuencoded postscript figure file is available from [email protected] upon request, KUNS126

LandTrendr smoothed spectral profiles enhance woody encroachment monitoring

Secondary succession (SS) is one of the main consequences of the abandonment of agricultural and forestry practices in rural areas, causing -among other processes- woody encroachment on former pastures and croplands. In this study we model and monitor the spatial evolution of SS over semi-natural grassland communities in the mountain range of the Pyrenees in Spain, during the last 36 years (1984-2019). Independent variables for ‘annual-based’ and ‘period-based’ modeling were drawn from a suite of Surface Reflectance Landsat images, LandTrendr (LT)-algorithm-adjusted images and LT outputs. Support vector machine (SVM) classifiers were trained and tested using all possible variable combinations of all the aforementioned datasets. The best modeling strategy involved yearly time series of LT-adjusted Tasseled Cap Brightness (TCB) and Wetness (TCW) axes as predictors, attaining a F1-score of 0.85, a Matthew Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.67 and an AUC 0.83. Woodlands encroached above 480, 000 ha of grasslands and crops during the study period. A model using LT outputs for the whole period also denoted good performance (F1-score = 0.85, MCC = 0.75) and estimated a similar area of woodland expansion (~509, 000 ha), but this ‘period’ approach was unable to provide temporal information on the year or the encroachment dynamics. Our results suggest an overall proportion of 66% for the Pyrenees being affected by SS, with higher intensity in the west-central part, decreasing towards the eastern end. © 2021 The Author

Application of a behavioral objective evidence of evaluation of the influence of others in the performance in soccer

Se presenta el desarrollo de una prueba objetiva basada en el uso de un dinamómetro manual para analizar la influencia que ejerce la presencia de otras personas significativas, como el entrenador o los compañeros, en jugadores de fútbol infantil, cadete y juvenil de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. Su aplicación permite superar las limitaciones presentadas por las pruebas de autoinforme tradicionales, analizando la validez convergente que tienen los resultados obtenidos con los encontrados en la escala de “Influencia de la evaluación del rendimiento” del cuestionario de características psicológicas relacionadas con el rendimiento deportivo factorizado CPRD-f (Olmedilla, García y Martínez, 2006). Los resultados obtenidos muestran la utilidad del empleo de una técnica objetiva como la planteada en el análisis de la influencia que tienen los otros en el rendimiento individualAn objective test, by using a hand dynamometer is presented in order to analyze the influence of significant people as the coach or the team mates in grip strength performance of young soccer players. Through this objective test was possible to overcome the methodological limitations presented by the traditional self-reported measures. The convergent validity between the dynamometer test results and the values obtained from the “Influence of performance evaluation scale” of the Psychological Characteristics related to Sport Performance factored Questionnaire CPRD-f (Olmedilla, García y Martínez, 2006) was also analyzed. The results showed the usefulness of an objective test as the hand dynamometer to analyze the influential role of significant people on individual performanceApresentamos o desenvolvimento de uma prova objetiva baseada no uso de um dinamômetro manual para analisar a influencia que exerce a presença de outras pessoas significativas, como o treinador ou os companheiros nos jogadores de futebol infantis, cadetes e juniores da Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. Sua aplicação permite superar as limitações apresentadas pelas provas auto-informes tradicionais, analisando a validez convergente que tem os resultados obtidos com os encontrados na escala de “influencia da avaliação do rendimento” do questionário de características psicológicas relacionadas com o rendimento esportivo fatorizado CPRD-f (Olmedilla, García y Martínez, 2006). Os resultados obtido mostram a utilidade da aplicação técnica objetiva como a proposta na analises da influencia que tem os outros no rendimento individualEsta investigación ha sido parcialmente financiada gracias al proyecto de I+D+I MICINN PSI2011-2700

Dataset of three-dimensional traces of roads

Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ applies to the metadata files associated with this article.We present a dataset consisting of three-dimensional traces, captured by Global Navigation Satellite System techniques with three-dimensional coordinates. It offers 138 traces (69 going and 69 returning), in addition to the actual mean axis of the road determined by precise surveying techniques to be used as ground truth for research activities. These data may serve as a test bed for research on data mining applications related to Global Navigation Satellite System multitraces, particularly the development and testing of algorithms intended for mining mean axis data from road multitraces. The data are suitable for the statistical analysis of both single-trace and multitrace datasets (e.g., outliers and biases).The work was supported by the National Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain under Grant No. BIA2011-23271. The authors also acknowledge the Regional Government of Andalusia (Spain) for the financial support offered since 1997 to their research group (Ingeniería Cartográfica) under code PAIDE-TEP-164. The University of Jaén contributed the funds for the open publication of this work

Hispanic ethnicity and survival in pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (all) patients in Florida

Introduction: Pediatric cancer mortality rates have drastically declined according to analyzed population-based surveillance data; however, incidences of most childhood cancers continue to rise. Recent studies have indicated an association between ethnicity/race and cancer survival. Florida's ethnically/racially diverse population and surging pediatric cancer incidence characterize the state as an ideal setting to study the association between ethnicity/race and pediatric cancer survival. Objective: To determine whether or not an association exists between Hispanic ethnicity and cancer survival in a Floridian population of pediatric patients with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Methods: We will use data from participants 18 years or younger of Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS). Cox-proportional hazard regression was used to assess independent association between Hispanic ethnicity and time to death (time interval from diagnose of ALL to the last patient contact, as recorded in the database). Survival status (death or alive) was assessed at the date of last contact. Those who are alive at last contact were then censored. Results: In the unadjusted model, ethnicity was not associated with risk of death (HR= 0.87, 95% CI=0.73 - 1.04). After adjustment for sex, race, age at diagnosis, insurance status, geographic area, and immunophenotype) the results showed again no association between Hispanic ethnicity and survival (HR = 1.19, 95% CI=0.82 - 1.72). Conclusions: We found no evidence for differences in survival based on ethnic status. Potential difference in racial-survival disparities in pediatric ALL within various geographic regions might depend on Hispanic ancestries or cancer type. Further research on the topic is still deemed necessary as to clarify the nature of the association between ethnicity and cancer survival

Aplicaciones aritméticas usando lógica programable

Digital Signal Processing (DSP) has become a cheap, usual and standard tool, with applications in almost every area of electronics. DSP offers big advantages over classic analog processing, like high precision, bounded processing noise, etc., and in DSP algorithms addition, substraction, and multiplication are essential operators.\nThis paper describes basic arithmetics circuits designed by using Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs), and shows how bit-serial processing solutions can afford high computing performance with low resources usage