Trait and Ability Emotional Intelligence and Its Impact on Sports Performance of Athletes

Emotional intelligence (EI) is considered a determinant of sports performance. Two opposing perspectives have been discussed in the theoretical discourse on EI: EI as an ability versus EI as a trait, both widely differing in content and method of assessment. Previous applied sport psychology research is characterized by a heterogeneous use of different conceptualizations and measurements of EI. However, evidence for the superiority of an EI concept does not exist. This study directly compares the ability and trait EI concepts in the relationship with athletic performance. An online survey was conducted (response rate = 19%). Participants completed the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form, a list of questions about biographical information as well as information related to sports performance and sport participation. We used regression analyses and controlled type of sports to investigate how sports performance is influenced by EI. Trait EI positively predicted self-assessment of athletes’ performance (B = 1.02; p < 0.01) whereby ability EI did not predict any outcome of sports performance. The effect of trait EI was independent of the ability EI. Overall, the result indicates some evidence for the superiority of the trait EI in applied sports psychology.Peer Reviewe

Two Beer(s) or Not Two Beer(s): The eNose as an Instrument to Pacify the World.

BACKGROUND Science prizes that are not meant to be very serious, stand-up evenings, science slams or publications with a scientific twist: science comedy comes in very different forms. But all variants have one thing in common: humour. It can be used to hide the seriousness of life or, in this case, everyday scientific life for a brief moment. Moreover, serious social or ethical questions are also met. The GPP, a group of German, Austrian and Swiss Pediatric Pulmonologists (GPP) is a scientific society with regular annual meetings. Unsystematic observations and preliminary data suggest that beer consumption increased by some of the participants during this event. Recently, electronic nose (eNose) devices have been developed as a technology for disease screening using exhaled-breath analysis. Here we addressed the issue, if the eNose can be used to differentiate between real beer and fake beer. METHODS In this single-centre experimental study, 12 different "real beer" types and one "fake beer" were analyzed with regard to their emittance of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with the eNose as an electronic VOC-sensing technology. RESULTS Every single beer type can be identified by a characteristic VOC-smell print using the eNose. Distinct clusters exist for bottom- and top-fermented ales. Intriguingly, "Sylter Hopfen", which is marketed as a "champagne-beer" and tested as representative of a "fake beer", can be clearly differentiated from all other genuine beer types. CONCLUSION Our study provides the first objective data of beer flavor. In the long term perspective the eNose might help to overcome the agonizing controversy about beer flavors and, consequently, pacify the World. In the short run, however, our results give support to more targeted and reserved beer consumption during our annual meeting, especially since one specific beer shows a very similar pattern to indoor air. HINTERGRUND UND FRAGESTELLUNG Sogenannte Stand-up-Abende, Science Slams oder Publikationen wie in der «Christmas-Edition» des "British Medical Journals" haben eines gemeinsam: Humor. Humor kann dabei helfen, der Ernsthaftigkeit des Alltags - auch der des Wissenschaftlers - für einen kurzen Moment zu entfliehen. Die wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft Pädiatrische Pneumologie (GPP e. V.) ist eine Gruppe deutscher, österreichischer und schweizer Kinderpneumolog:innen, die sich regelmässig zu ihrer Jahrestagung treffen. Nicht-systematisch erhobene Daten und persönliche Beobachtungen deuten darauf hin, dass der Bierkonsum von einigen der Teilnehmer:innen während dieser Veranstaltung signifikant ansteigt. Vor kurzem wurde mit der «eNose» eine sogenannte «elektronische Nase» entwickelt, die als Screening-Instrument zur Atemgasanalyse eingesetzt werden kann. Hier haben wir die Frage gestellt, ob die eNose verwendet werden kann, um unterschiedliche Biersorten zu unterscheiden und echte Biere von sogenannten «Fake-Bieren» zu diskriminieren. METHODEN In dieser monozentrischen, experimentellen Studie wurden 12 verschiedene "echte Biersorten" und ein "Fake-Bier" hinsichtlich ihrer Emission flüchtiger organischer Verbindungen (VOCs) mit der eNose als elektronische VOC-Sensortechnologie analysiert. ERGEBNISSE Jede einzelne Biersorte lässt sich anhand eines charakteristischen, reproduzierbaren VOC-Profils mit der eNose identifizieren. Dabei clustern sogenannte unter- und obergärige Biere mit einem spezifischen Muster. "Sylter Hopfen", das als "Champagner-Bier" vermarktet und als «Fake-Bier» getestet wurde, unterscheidet sich in seinem VOC-Profil von allen anderen «echten» Biersorten. SCHLUSSFOLGERUNG Unsere Studie liefert die ersten objektiven Daten zu spezifischen VOC-Mustern von verschiedenen Biersorten. Langfristig könnte die eNose dabei helfen, die emotionale Kontroverse um Bieraromen zu überwinden und damit die Welt zu befrieden. Kurzfristig stützen unsere Ergebnisse die Empfehlung nach einem zurückhaltenden Bierkonsum während unserer Jahrestagung, zumal spezifischen VOC-Mustern einiger Biere ein sehr ähnliches Muster wie Raumluft zeigen

Lipopolysaccharide regulated protein expression is only partly impaired in monocytes from patients with type I diabetes

BACKGROUND: Monocytes play an important role in innate immunity and atherosclerosis. A disturbed secretion of cytokines in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated monocytes from type 1 diabetes (T1D) patients has been described and may contribute to the impaired inflammatory response in these individuals. In the present study the influence of LPS on five different proteins with a function in immunity and atherosclerosis was analyzed in monocytes from controls and T1D patients. METHODS: Monocytes were isolated from controls and T1D patients and the LPS-stimulated increase of IL-6, CXCL8, monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (CCL2, MCP-1) and superoxide dismutase (SOD 2), as well as the LPS-mediated decrease of apolipoprotein E (Apo E) in primary human monocytes from controls and T1D patients was determined. RESULTS: CCL2 and IL-6 secretion in response to LPS was found significantly reduced in monocytes from T1D patients when compared to controls whereas basal CCL2 release was similar in control and T1D cells. In contrast, CXCL8 and apolipoprotein E secretion and SOD 2 expression upon LPS stimulation is similar from T1D and control monocytes. CONCLUSION: These data indicate that LPS-mediated protein expression is only partly disturbed in monocytes from T1D patients. Reduced secretion of IL-6 and CCL2 in activated monocytes of these patients may contribute to an impaired inflammatory response and vascular disease

Pop-up cavities

Метою роботи є дослідження маловивченого на теперішній час процесу переміщення збережених у приповерхневому вуглепородному масиві Донбасу пустот від місця їхнього первинного розташування до земної поверхні.The object of this paper is research into the understudied for now process of cavities, preserved in the sub-surface coal-bearing strata in the Donets Basin, moving from the places of their original location towards the surface.Целью работы является исследование малоизученного в настоящее время процесса перемещения сохранившихся в приповерхностном углепородном массиве Донбасса пустот от мест их первоначального расположения к земной поверхности. Методика исследования. Проанализированы фактические случаи так называемого всплывания пустот в угледобывающей практике. Выполнен абстрактный расчёт поэтапного всплывания условно сохранившейся выработки (пустоты) в породном массиве различной прочности

Disorder Induced Stripes in d-Wave Superconductors

Stripe phases are observed experimentally in several copper-based high-Tc superconductors near 1/8 hole doping. However, the specific characteristics may vary depending on the degree of dopant disorder and the presence or absence of a low- temperature tetragonal phase. On the basis of a Hartree-Fock decoupling scheme for the t-J model we discuss the diverse behavior of stripe phases. In particular the effect of inhomogeneities is investigated in two distinctly different parameter regimes which are characterized by the strength of the interaction. We observe that small concen- trations of impurities or vortices pin the unidirectional density waves, and dopant disorder is capable to stabilize a stripe phase in parameter regimes where homogeneous phases are typically favored in clean systems. The momentum-space results exhibit universal features for all coexisting density-wave solutions, nearly unchanged even in strongly disordered systems. These coexisting solutions feature generically a full energy gap and a particle-hole asymmetry in the density of states.Comment: 28 pages, 8 figure

Einflussfaktoren in der standortverteilten Produktgenerationsentwicklung: Eine literaturbasierte Momentaufnahme

Beobachtungen der vergangenen Jahre zeigen, dass sich Unternehmen für die Entwicklung von Produkten zunehmend global verteilt aufstellen (Lindemann und Kern 2016). So bieten verteilt arbeitende Teams neben potenziellen Kostensenkungen und kürzeren Entwicklungszeiten auch die Möglichkeit, Synergieeffekte effektiv nutzen zu können. Insbesondere für die Entwicklung immer komplexer werdender Produkte, die an der Schnittstelle von Maschinenbau, Elektrotechnik oder Informatik entstehen, ist die überregionale Zusammenarbeit von Experten aus den verschiedenen Bereichen notwendig (Bavendiek et al. 2018a). Erst die Kooperation in verteilten Teams erlaubt es, das weltweit verteilte Know-How zu bündeln. Um den Produktentwicklungsprozess bedarfsgerecht zu unterstützen existiert eine Vielzahl von Methoden, die in den vergangenen Jahren einen immer größer werdenden Stellenwert in der Industrie erlangt haben. Trotz ihrer empirisch nachgewiesenen Vorteile für die Produktentwicklung (Graner & Behr 2012) lässt sich in der Praxis oftmals nur ein zögerlicher Methodeneinsatz beobachten (Gericke et al. 2016). Gerade in verteilten Entwicklungsprojekten stellt sich der Methodeneinsatz als Herausforderung dar, da viele Methoden für den Einsatz an einem Standort konzipiert und daher nur eingeschränkt für die spezifischen Anforderungen der verteilten Anwendung ausgelegt sind (Walter et al. 2016). Methoden können allerdings erst dann ihr volles Potential entfalten, wenn sie an die vorherrschende Entwicklungssituation angepasst werden. Allerdings fehlt zurzeit das Wissens um die entscheidenden Faktoren zur Beschreibung des Entwicklungskontextes in der standortverteilten Produktgenerationsentwicklung, was letztendlich dazu führt, dass Methoden zurzeit nicht bedarfs- und situationsgerecht an die entsprechende standortverteilte Entwicklungssituation angepasst werden können. Grundlegend hierfür ist zusätzlich ein allgemeingültiges Verständnis des Begriffs standortverteilte Produktgenerationsentwicklung. [... aus der Einleitung

Growing blood vessels in space : preparation studies of the SPHEROIDS project using related ground-based studies

Endothelial cells (ECs) grow as single layers on the bottom surface of cell culture flasks under normal (1g) culture conditions. In numerous experiments using simulated microgravity we noticed that the ECs formed three-dimensional, tube-like cell aggregates resembling the intima of small, rudimentary blood vessels. The SPHEROIDS project has now shown that similar processes occur in space. For the first time, we were able to observe scaffold-free growth of human ECs into multicellular spheroids and tubular structures during an experiment in real microgravity. With further investigation of the space samples we hope to understand endothelial 3D growth and to improve the in vitro engineering of biocompatible vessels which could be used in surgery

Microstructuring YbRh2Si2 for resistance and noise measurements down to ultra-low temperatures

We acknowledge funding by the German Research Foundation (DFG) via the TRR 288 (422213477, project A03, A10 and B02) and projects KR3831/4-1 and BR 4110/1-1. This work was supported by the EU H2020 European Microkelvin Platform EMP, Grant No. 824109.The discovery of superconductivity in the quantum critical Kondo-lattice system YbRh2Si2 at an extremely low temperature of 2 mK has inspired efforts to perform high-resolution electrical resistivity measurements down to this temperature range in highly conductive materials. Here we show that control over the sample geometry by microstructuring using focused-ion-beam techniques allows to reach ultra-low temperatures and increase signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) tenfold, without adverse effects to sample quality. In five experiments we show four-terminal sensing resistance and magnetoresistance measurements which exhibit sharp phase transitions at the Néel temperature, and Shubnikov–de-Haas (SdH) oscillations between 13 T and 18 T where we identified a new SdH frequency of 0.39 kT. The increased SNR allowed resistance fluctuation (noise) spectroscopy that would not be possible for bulk crystals, and confirmed intrinsic 1/f -type fluctuations. Under controlled strain, two thin microstructured samples exhibited a large increase of TN from 67 mK up to 188 mK while still showing clear signatures of the phase transition and SdH oscillations. Superconducting quantum interference device-based thermal noise spectroscopy measurements in a nuclear demagnetization refrigerator down to 0.95 mK, show a sharp superconducting transition at Tc=1.2 mK. These experiments demonstrate microstructuring as a powerful tool to investigate the resistance and the noise spectrum of highly conductive correlated metals over wide temperature ranges.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe