A brief body scan mindfulness practice has no positive effect on the recovery of heart rate variability and cognitive tasks in female professional basketball players

IntroductionIn this study, we examined the acute effects of a short video-based body scan mindfulness practice on the heart rate variability (HRV) and cognitive performance of professional female basketball players after the first half of a simulated basketball game.MethodsIn this crossover randomized controlled trial, nine professional athletes completed a physical loading protocol on two separate days. The protocol consisted of a 10-min Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test Level 1 in the first quarter, followed by a 10-min basketball game in the second quarter. Immediately afterward, they were asked to engage in a 10-min mindfulness practice or watch a 10-min nature-based documentary as a type of mental intervention. Their HRV, Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index 2 (NASA TLX-2), and Go/No-Go test scores were recorded immediately before and after the physical loading and after the mental intervention.ResultsThe physical demand, effort, and frustration level subscales of the NASA TLX-2 and the RPE scores were found to be significantly higher after the physical loading, and they returned to the baseline level after both types of mental intervention. The Go/No-Go test scores did not differ depending on the measurement time. All time- and frequency-domain heart rate variability parameters, except the low-to-high frequency ratio, were found to be significantly high immediately after the physical loading protocol. However, these parameters returned to their initial levels after both types of mental intervention.DiscussionCompleting the tests involved in the study protocol successfully induced physical fatigue, as evidenced by consistent measurement tools, but the one-time and short-term mindfulness practice had no additional benefits for the recovery of heart rate variability, cognitive tasks, or subjective assessment methods, such as RPE and NASA TLX-2, in basketball players with no previous experience of mindfulness practice

Trends in distance education research: A content analysis of journals 2009-2013

This study intends to explore the current trends in the field of distance education research during the period of 2009-2013. The trends were identified by an extensive review of seven peer reviewed scholarly journals: The American Journal of Distance Education (AJDE), Distance Education (DE), The European Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (EURODL), The Journal of Distance Education (JDE), The Journal of Online Learning and Technology (JOLT), Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and e-Learning (OL) and The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning (IRRODL). A total of 861 research articles was reviewed. Mainly content analysis was employed to be able to analyze the current research. Also, a social network analysis (SNA) was used to interpret the interrelationship between keywords indicated in these articles. Themes were developed and the content of the articles in the selected journals were coded according to categories derived from earlier studies. The results were interpreted using descriptive analysis (frequencies) and social network analysis. The reporting of the results were organized into the following categories: research areas, theoretical and conceptual frameworks, variables, methods, models, strategies, data collection and analysis methods, and the participants. The study also identified the most commonly used keywords, and the most frequently cited authors and studies in distance education. The findings obtained in this study may be useful in the exploration of potential research areas and identification of neglected areas in the field of distance education

Performance of the CMS High Granularity Calorimeter prototype to charged pion beams of 20−-300 GeV/c

The upgrade of the CMS experiment for the high luminosity operation of the LHC comprises the replacement of the current endcap calorimeter by a high granularity sampling calorimeter (HGCAL). The electromagnetic section of the HGCAL is based on silicon sensors interspersed between lead and copper (or copper tungsten) absorbers. The hadronic section uses layers of stainless steel as an absorbing medium and silicon sensors as an active medium in the regions of high radiation exposure, and scintillator tiles directly readout by silicon photomultipliers in the remaining regions. As part of the development of the detector and its readout electronic components, a section of a silicon-based HGCAL prototype detector along with a section of the CALICE AHCAL prototype was exposed to muons, electrons and charged pions in beam test experiments at the H2 beamline at the CERN SPS in October 2018. The AHCAL uses the same technology as foreseen for the HGCAL but with much finer longitudinal segmentation. The performance of the calorimeters in terms of energy response and resolution, longitudinal and transverse shower profiles is studied using negatively charged pions, and is compared to GEANT4 predictions. This is the first report summarizing results of hadronic showers measured by the HGCAL prototype using beam test data.Comment: To be submitted to JINS

THE EFFECTS OF STOCK OPTION COMPENSATION ONMANAGERIAL RISK TAKING BEHAVIOR AND FIRM FINANCIALPERFORMANCETHE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS FROM ADIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE

The aim of this study is to figure out whether managerial risk taking behaviourand firm financial performance is effected by stock option compensation.Inliterature stock optioncompensationismentionedasa meansto solve agencyproblems. It is analysed how stock option compensation aligns theshareholders’andmanagers’ interestsand its effects on firm financialperformance. Additionally, it isinvestigatedwhether this effecthas a link to theglobal financial crisis which hasobviously related to the managers’extreme riskseeking behaviourespecially in financial sector. Inthis study, 189 firms fromS P index are analysedutilizingthe panel dataanalysismethod between years1998-2009. Additionally, regression method is used to measureeach year. Thedata set is grouped as financial and non financial sector tobetterpresent theeffects of global financial crisis.According to the results of this study, stockoption compensation is positively related to investment magnitudes which aretaken as indicators of risk taking behavior.On the other hand, it is negativelyrelated to firm financial performance.According to the results of yearlycomparison, in financial sector the invesment magnitudes are bigger than the nonfinancial sector just two years before the financial crisis and net cash flow fromthe investing activities is significantly negative when compared with non financialsector.Therefore,it is aimed to findoutthe relation between the extreme riskseeking behaviorbefore the global financial crisisand the incentive compensationstructures