To Travel or to Compete? Motivations of Masters Swimmers

The underlying motivations behind participating in sports event such as a swim meet are complex and varied especially for adult participants. These motivations may be related to the thrill of the competition, or the excitement of traveling to a new pool or aquatic facility. Investigation of motivations behind participation can enable aquatic facility managers to create memorable experiences that boost participation and encourage repeat visitors that have social and economic benefits for the aquatic facility and event. We motivations of Masters swimmers using the Participant Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) modified for swimmers and the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) at the 2006 USMS Short Course Championships. Descriptive and multivariate statistics revealed that Masters swimmers participated primarily for competitive reasons with travel only as a secondary motivator. Participating to be with other members of their team was revealed as another important motivation

To Travel or to Compete: Motivations of Masters Swimmers

The underlying motivations behind participating in a sports event such as a swim meet are complex and varied especially for adult participants. These motivations may be related to the thrill of competition or excitement at traveling to a new pool or aquatic facility. Investigations of motivations behind participation can enable meet directors and aquatic facility managers to create more memorable experiences that boost participation and encourage repeat visitors who produce social and economic benefits for the aquatic facility and event. We measured motivations of Masters swimmers using the Participant Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) modified for swimmers and the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) at the 2006 US Masters Swimming Short Course Championships. Descriptive and multivariate statistics revealed that Masters swimmers participated primarily for competitive reasons with travel only as a secondary motivator. Participating to be with other members of their team was revealed as another important motivation

To Travel or to Compete: Motivations of Masters Swimmers

The underlying motivations behind participating in a sports event such as a swim meet are complex and varied especially for adult participants. These motivations may be related to the thrill of competition or excitement at traveling to a new pool or aquatic facility. Investigations of motivations behind participation can enable meet directors and aquatic facility managers to create more memorable experiences that boost participation and encourage repeat visitors who produce social and economic benefits for the aquatic facility and event. We measured motivations of Masters swimmers using the Participant Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ) modified for swimmers and the Travel Career Ladder (TCL) at the 2006 US Masters Swimming Short Course Championships. Descriptive and multivariate statistics revealed that Masters swimmers participated primarily for competitive reasons with travel only as a secondary motivator. Participating to be with other members of their team was revealed as another important motivation

Achieving Wellness through Tourism: Comparing International and U.S. Travelers

Health and wellness tourism has become an increasingly popular trend in recent years as many resorts and destinations now offer wellness activities and amenities. This study sought to investigate what might be significant predictors of achieving a high perceived wellness as a result of travel. The results revealed that for international travelers internal motivations of action related activities, the need to be with others, the size of their travel party and education were significant predictors. For domestic travelers, only their perceived physical wellness was a predictor or their overall wellness state. Future research could explore relationships between the domestic and international traveler

Juvenile Life Without Parole in Law and Practice: Chronicling the Rapid Change Underway

This Article provides a comprehensive examination of juvenile life without parole (\u27 LWOP ) both as a policy and in practice. Beginning in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution restricts the reach of JLWOP sentences, first prohibiting it for non-homicide offenses, then proscribing its mandatory application for any offense, and, in 2016, clarifying that it may only be imposed in the rare instance in which a juvenile\u27s homicide demonstrates his or her irreparable corruption. The legislative responses to these cases have been to either abandon or restrict JLWOP\u27s application. These legislative changes undo aspects of the rapid expansion of harsh juvenile sentencing policies enacted across the country starting in the early-1990s and represent a trend away from using JLWOP sentences. By analyzing JL WOP sentencing data from state departments of corrections, this Article includes three significant findings. First, among juveniles arrested for homicide, African American youth receive JLWOP sentences twice as often as their white counterparts. Second, a small number of counties are responsible for all JLWOP sentences nationally and in large disproportion to their population. Third, JLWOP sentencing dramatically increased during the same time period that states were enacting harsh juvenile sentencing laws-laws that are now falling out of favor. The Article offers potential reasons for these observations, but further study is required to fully explain the disparities in JLWOP sentencing practices. Such study is warranted because each observation raises substantial questions about the wisdom and constitutionality of JLWOP sentences, given the U.S. Supreme Court\u27s increased interest in restricting its application

Caged Birds and Those that Hear Their Songs: Effects of Race and Sex in South Carolina Parole Hearings

When most incarcerated persons go before the parole board, they hope that the decision whether to release them will be based on their institutional record; put differently, that the board will consider the use of opportunities available in prison, rehabilitation, and likelihood of success outside the carceral environment. However, numerous persons with excellent records and reentry plans are denied parole every year. Why? The actual variables that influence parole board decision making are often a mystery; parole rejections are left unexplained or opaque. Empirical research examining what drives parole outcomes is scarce, yet this research is necessary given the power the parole boards have in determining the actual amount of time served in prison. In this Article, we examined the influence of institutional variables (those related to a person’s behavior while incarcerated) and noninstitutional variables on parole hearing outcomes in South Carolina. We predicted that institutional variables, such as the conviction of additional crimes during incarceration, would predict parole outcomes, but we also predicted that noninstitutional variables which may cue characteristics such as dangerousness (e.g., the nature of the offense), regardless of relevance to a person’s rehabilitation, would also predict parole outcomes. We analyzed the outcomes of all (43,290) parole board hearings from 2006 to 2016 and examined the influence of variables such as a person’s race, biological sex, age at the time of the first offense, time served, conviction of another offense while incarcerated, sex offender status, and number of felonies. Our results confirmed our hypotheses: although institutional variables, such as being convicted of another crime while incarcerated, influenced parole outcomes, several noninstitutional variables, particularly those which may cue dangerousness, were also significant. The most alarming results were those concerning race and biological sex. The parole board was significantly less likely to grant parole to incarcerated men compared to women and to Black people compared to white people. Further, there was a significant interaction between sex and race such that Black men were least likely to be granted parole, whereas white women were the most likely to be granted parole. In addition to the above results, the number of convictions and the severity of the crimes a person was convicted of were associated with significantly lower likelihood of being granted parole. Additional research highlighting the specific roles that noninstitutional variables should play in parole hearings is warranted, if only to root out undesirable effects on a critical aspect of the criminal justice system

FREQUENCY AND USE OF ONLINE TRAVEL SITES WHEN PLANNING A LEISURE VACATION

The growth of online travel agencies has modified how consumers explore possible vacation choices by allowing greater access to the travel and tourism supply chain. This growth also empowers potential travelers to be more discerning when purchasing travel products and services by giving them the opportunity to align their preferences (i.e., price, value, amenity, etc.) with the multiple product offerings available to them via online travel retail sites. This research explores a visitor’s frequency of using online travel sites when planning a leisure vacation and if similarities exist in how frequently these sites are used in the planning process. It also examines if generational differences exist in utilizing these sites. The factor analysis showed that 10 types of online travel sites can be categorized into two factors, and the ANOVA indicated that site frequency usage differs by generation. These findings can be beneficial to both managers of online travel sites and direct suppliers of travel products

If It Walks Like Systematic Exclusion and Quacks Like Systematic Exclusion: Follow-Up on Removal of Women and African-Americans in Jury Selection in South Carolina Capital Cases, 1997-2014

This Article builds on an earlier study analyzing bases and rates of removal of women and African-American jurors in a set of South Carolina capital cases decided between 1997 and 2012. We examine and assess additional data from new perspectives in order to establish a more robust, statistically strengthened response to the original research question: whether, and if so, why, prospective women and African-American jurors were disproportionately removed in different stages of jury selection in a set of South Carolina capital cases. The study and the article it builds on add to decades of empirical research exploring the impacts (or lack thereof) of Batson and related jurisprudence on jury selection practices. The findings from the earlier study persisted with the stronger dataset in this study and are consistent with many previous studies’ findings indicating that capital jury selection procedures serve to systematically siphon off women and African-Americans through the death-qualification process and peremptory strikes. Key findings in the earlier study included that the prosecution struck 35% of strike-eligible black potential jurors, accounting for removing 15% of black venire members; that approximately 32% of black venire members were removed for opposition to the death penalty; and that the combined effects of these two stages prevented a total of 47% of black venire members from serving, compared to those stages preventing a combined 16% of the white venire pool from serving. Those findings have for the most part persisted with the stronger dataset here, with slight variations. Here, the prosecution struck 29% of strike-eligible black potential jurors (the average of a 33% strike rate for black men and 25% for black women), accounting for removing 13% of black venire members; approximately 24% of black venire members were removed for opposition to the death penalty; and the combined effects of these two stages prevented a total of 42% of black venire members from serving. This is compared to the prosecution striking 12.5% of strike-eligible white potential jurors, which equates to about 7% of the overall white venire pool; and 6.2% of white potential jurors being removed for anti-death views, with the two stages preventing, combined, an approximate 13% of white venire members from serving

Dissection of Binding between a Phosphorylated Tyrosine Hydroxylase Peptide and 14-3-3ζ: A Complex Story Elucidated by NMR

AbstractHuman tyrosine hydroxylase activity is regulated by phosphorylation of its N-terminus and by an interaction with the modulator 14-3-3 proteins. We investigated the binding of singly or doubly phosphorylated and thiophosphorylated peptides, comprising the first 50 amino acids of human tyrosine hydroxylase, isoform 1 (hTH1), that contain the critical interaction domain, to 14-3-3ζ, by 31P NMR. Single phosphorylation at S19 generates a high affinity 14-3-3ζ binding epitope, whereas singly S40-phosphorylated peptide interacts with 14-3-3ζ one order-of-magnitude weaker than the S19-phosphorylated peptide. Analysis of the binding data revealed that the 14-3-3ζ dimer and the S19- and S40-doubly phosphorylated peptide interact in multiple ways, with three major complexes formed: 1), a single peptide bound to a 14-3-3ζ dimer via the S19 phosphate with the S40 phosphate occupying the other binding site; 2), a single peptide bound to a 14-3-3ζ dimer via the S19 phosphorous with the S40 free in solution; or 3), a 14-3-3ζ dimer with two peptides bound via the S19 phosphorous to each binding site. Our system and data provide information as to the possible mechanisms by which 14-3-3 can engage binding partners that possess two phosphorylation sites on flexible tails. Whether these will be realized in any particular interacting pair will naturally depend on the details of each system