Examining the Coach Motivation Questionnaire in Fitness Professionals (CMQ-FP): Factor Structure, Invariance, and Predictive Analysis

Purpose: To date, most research on the assessment of motivation has been exerciser-focused and has not considered how fitness professionals’ motivations impact their behaviors toward exercisers during training sessions. The purpose of this study was to examine the factor structure of the Coach Motivation Questionnaire in a sample of fitness professionals (CMQ-FP) to ascertain its usefulness for this vocational grouping. Measurement invariance analysis was conducted between female and male fitness professionals, and predictive validity was tested considering need-supportive and need-thwarting behaviors as outcomes. Methods: Participants were 799 fitness professionals (female = 412) aged between 20 and 56 years (M = 28.71, SD = 3.24), who completed a multi-section survey assessing their motivation toward work and their interpersonal behaviors when engaging with exercisers. Results: The results of this research supported all three hypotheses. First, the hypothesized 6-factor measurement model showed acceptable fit to the data. Second, the factor structure of the CMQ-FP was invariant across gender (male and female fitness professionals). Third, fitness professionals’ (autonomous or controlled) motivation was a valid predictor of need-supportive or need-thwarting behaviors. Conclusion: This study supported the factor structure of the CMQ-FP, presenting as a valid measure of motivation in fitness professionals. Understanding fitness professionals’ perceptions of their coaching motivation can inform professional development activities to assist fitness professionals to increase understanding of what motivates these professionals and how they might be more need-supportive and less need-thwarting in their pedagogical behaviors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Brief communication:Conventional assumptions involving the speed of radar waves in snow introduce systematic underestimates to sea ice thickness and seasonal growth rate estimates

Pan-Arctic sea ice thickness has been monitored over recent decades by satellite radar altimeters such as CryoSat-2, which emits Ku-band radar waves that are assumed in publicly available sea ice thickness products to penetrate overlying snow and scatter from the ice–snow interface. Here we examine two expressions for the time delay caused by slower radar wave propagation through the snow layer and related assumptions concerning the time evolution of overlying snow density. Two conventional treatments introduce systematic underestimates of up to 15 cm into ice thickness estimates and up to 10 cm into thermodynamic growth rate estimates over multi-year ice in winter. Correcting these biases would impact a wide variety of model projections, calibrations, validations and reanalyses

Scaling of the Fano effect of the in-plane Fe-As phonon and the superconducting critical temperature in Ba1−x_{1-x}Kx_{x}Fe2_{2}As2_{2}

By means of infrared spectroscopy we determine the temperature-doping phase diagram of the Fano effect for the in-plane Fe-As stretching mode in Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. The Fano parameter $1/q^2$, which is a measure of the phonon coupling to the electronic particle-hole continuum, shows a remarkable sensitivity to the magnetic/structural orderings at low temperatures. More strikingly, at elevated temperatures in the paramagnetic/tetragonal state we find a linear correlation between $1/q^2$ and the superconducting critical temperature $T_c$. Based on theoretical calculations and symmetry considerations, we identify the relevant interband transitions that are coupled to the Fe-As mode. In particular, we show that a sizable $xy$ orbital component at the Fermi level is fundamental for the Fano effect and possibly also for the superconducting pairing.Comment: Supplemental materials are available upon reques

Test evaluation trials present different challenges for trial managers compared to Intervention trials

Introduction Test evaluation trials present different challenges for trial managers compared to intervention trials. There has been very little research on the management of test evaluation trials and how this impacts on trial success, in comparison with intervention trials. Evaluations of medical tests present specific challenges, because they are a pivot point bridging the complexities of pathways prompting testing with treatment decision-making. We systematically explored key differences in the trial design and management of test evaluation trials compared to intervention trials at the different stages of study design and delivery. We identified challenges in test evaluation trials that were more pronounced than in intervention trials, based on experience from 10 test evaluation trials. Methods We formed a focus group of 7 trial managers and a statistician who had been involved in the day-to-day management of both test evaluation trials and intervention trials. We used discussion and content analysis to group challenges from 10 trials into a structured thematic format. The trials covered a range of medical conditions, diagnostic tests, clinical pathways and conditions including chronic kidney disease, chronic pelvic pain, colitis, detrusor over-activity, group B streptococcal colonisation, tuberculosis and colorectal, lung, ovarian and thyroid cancers. Results We identified 10 common themes underlying challenges that are more pronounced in test evaluation compared to intervention trials. We illustrate these themes with examples from 10 trials, including with 31 specific challenges we experienced. The themes were ethics/governance; accessing patient populations; recruitment; patient preference; test processes, clinical pathways and samples storage; uncertainty of diagnostic results; verifying diagnosis (reference standard); follow-up; adverse effects; and diagnostic impact. Conclusion We present 10 common themes, including 31 challenges, in test evaluation trials that will be helpful to others designing and managing future test evaluation trials. Proactive identification of potential challenges at the design and planning stages of test evaluation trials will enable strategies to improve trial design and management that may be different from standard strategies used for intervention trials. Future work could extend this topic to include challenges for other trial stakeholders including participants, clinicians, statisticians and funders

Transition from an electron solid to the sequence of fractional quantum Hall states at very low Landau level filling factor

At low Landau level filling of a two-dimensional electron system, typically associated with the formation of an electron crystal, we observe local minima in Rxx at filling factors nu=2/11, 3/17, 3/19, 2/13, 1/7, 2/15, 2/17, and 1/9. Each of these developing fractional quantum Hall (FQHE) states appears only above a filling factor-specific temperature. This can be interpreted as the melting of an electron crystal and subsequent FQHE liquid formation. The observed sequence of FQHE states follow the series of composite fermion states emanating from nu=1/6 and nu=1/8

A radiating dyon solution

We give a non-static exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations (with null fluid), which is a non-static magnetic charge generalization to the Bonnor-Vaidya solution and describes the gravitational and electromagnetic fields of a nonrotating massive radiating dyon. In addition, using the energy-momentum pseudotensors of Einstein and Landau and Lifshitz we obtain the energy, momentum, and power output of the radiating dyon and find that both prescriptions give the same result.Comment: 9 pages, LaTe

Being a Self-Employed Older Woman: From Discrimination to Activism

This article presents an autobiographical account of an older woman’s lived experience of self-employment. Little is known about women who experience ongoing self-employment into their 50s and beyond. Shoshanna’s personal narrative describes her experiences and the challenges she has faced as she reflects upon her attempts to grow and sustain her business and the implications of ageism and gender inequality in laying a claim to entrepreneurship. The narrative proceeds to reflect on her activist work, as it is constructed through the creation of a social enterprise to support older people. Shoshanna’s narrative provides valuable insights into the intersection of age and gender in self-employment moving from discrimination to active support

The incidence of scarring on the dorsum of the hand

When undertaking image comparison of the hand between accused and perpetrator, it is not unusual for scars to be identified on the back of the hand. To investigate the occurrence of scarring in a discreet sample, a database of 238 individuals was examined, and the dorsum of the right and left hands was gridded for each individual. The position, size and type of scar were recorded within each grid. It was found that, in general, males exhibited a higher incidence of scarring than females. However, males were more likely to show scarring on their left hand whereas females were more likely to exhibit scarring on their right hand. Contrary to the literature, scarring was not most prevalent along the borders of the hand but occurred more frequently in association with the index and middle finger corridor regions. Surgical scars were rare as were large scars whereas linear scars smaller than 6 mm were the most frequently identified. Close to half of the sample did not exhibit scarring on one hand. The importance of understanding the pattern of scarring on the back of the hand is discussed in the light of forensic image comparison analysis