A structural equation model of achievement emotions, coping strategies and engagement-burnout in undergraduate students: a possible underlying mechanism in facets of perfectionism

Achievement emotions that the university student experiences in the learning process can be significant in facilitating or interfering with learning. The present research looked for linear and predictive relations between university students¿ achievement emotions, coping strategies, and engagement-burnout, in three dierent learning situations (classroom, study time, and testing). Hypotheses were identified for a possible model that would analyze the two facets of perfectionism based on these relations. In the case of perfectionistic strivings, the test hypothesis was that positive emotions would predispose the use of problem-focused coping strategies and an emotional state of engagement; in the case of perfectionistic concerns, however, negative emotions would predispose the use of emotion-focused strategies and a state of burnout. A total of 654 university students participated in the study, using an online tool to complete validated questionnaires on the three study variables. All students provided informed consent and corresponding permissions. Given the ex-post facto linear design, the predictions could be verified for each situation by means of logistic regression analyses and Structural Equations Models (SEM). Empirical results lent support, in varying degree, to the proposed theoretical relations. The testing situation was of particular interest. We discuss implications for perfectionism research and for the practice of prevention, education and health care in the university setting

Facilitation of AMPA Receptor Synaptic Delivery as a Molecular Mechanism for Cognitive Enhancement

A small peptide from a neuronal cell adhesion molecule enhances synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus and results in improved cognitive performance in rats

Associations between eating speed, diet quality, adiposity, and cardiometabolic risk factors

Objective: To assess the associations between eating speed, adiposity, cardiometabolic risk factors, and diet quality in a cohort of Spanish preschool-children. Study design: A cross-sectional study in 1371 preschool age children (49% girls; mean age, 4.8 ± 1.0 years) from the Childhood Obesity Risk Assessment Longitudinal Study (CORALS) cohort was conducted. After exclusions, 956 participants were included in the analyses. The eating speed was estimated by summing the total minutes used in each of the 3 main meals and then categorized into slow, moderate, or fast. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were fitted to assess the β-coefficient, or OR and 95% CI, between eating speed and body mass index, waist circumference, fat mass index (FMI), blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and lipid profile. Results: Compared with participants in the slow-eating category, those in the fast-eating category had a higher prevalence risk of overweight/obesity (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.8-4.4; P < .01); larger waist circumference (β, 2.6 cm; 95% CI, 1.5-3.8 cm); and greater FMI (β, 0.3 kg/m2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.5 kg/m2), systolic blood pressure (β, 2.8 mmHg; 95% CI, 0.6-4.9 mmHg), and fasting plasma glucose levels (β, 2.7 mg/dL, 95% CI, 1.2-4.2 mg/dL) but lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet (β, −0.5 points; 95% CI, −0.9 to −0.1 points). Conclusions: Eating fast is associated with higher adiposity, certain cardiometabolic risk factors, and lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Further long-term and interventional studies are warranted to confirm these associations

Kinematic analysis of the daily activity of drinking from a glass in a population with cervical spinal cord injury

Background Three-dimensional kinematic analysis equipment is a valuable instrument for studying the execution of movement during functional activities of the upper limbs. The aim of this study was to analyze the kinematic differences in the execution of a daily activity such as drinking from a glass between two groups of patients with tetraplegia and a control group. Methods A total of 24 people were separated into three groups for analysis: 8 subjects with metameric level C6 tetraplegia, 8 subjects with metameric level C7 tetraplegia and 8 control subjects (CG). A set of active markers that emit infrared light were positioned on the upper limb. Two scanning units were used to record the sessions. The activity of drinking from a glass was broken down into a series of clearly identifiable phases to facilitate analysis. Movement times, velocities, and the joint angles of the shoulder, elbow and wrist in the three spatial planes were the variables analyzed. Results The most relevant differences between the three groups were in the wrist. Wrist palmar flexion during the back transport phase was greater in the patients with C6 and C7 tetraplegia than in the CG, whereas the highest wrist dorsal flexion values were in forward transport in the subjects with C6 or C7 tetraplegia, who required complete activation of the tenodesis effect to complete grasping. Conclusions A detailed description was made of the three-dimensional kinematic analysis of the task of drinking from a glass in healthy subjects and in two groups of patients with tetraplegia. This was a useful application of kinematic analysis of upper limb movement in a clinical setting. Better knowledge of the execution of this movement in each of these groups allows therapeutic recommendations to be specifically adapted to the functional deficit present. This information can be useful in designing wearable robots to compensate the performance of AVD, such as drinking, in people with cervical SCI

Neutral pathways and heat flux widths in vertical- and horizontal-target EDGE2D-EIRENE simulations of JET

This paper further analyses the EDGE2D-EIRENE simulations presented by Chankin et al (2017 Nucl. Mater. Energy 12 273), of L-mode JET plasmas in vertical-vertical (VV) and Vertical-horizontal (VH) divertor configurations. As expected, the simulated outer divertor ionisation source peaks near the separatrix in VV and radially further out in VH. We identify the reflections of recycled neutrals from lower divertor tiles as the primary mechanism by which ionisation is concentrated on the outer divertor separatrix in the VV configuration. These lower tile reflection pathways (of neutrals from the outer divertor, and to an even greater extent from the inner divertor) dominate the outer divertor separatrix ionisation. In contrast, the lower-tile-reflection pathways are much weaker in the VH simulation and its outer divertor ionisation is dominated by neutrals which do not reflect from any surfaces. Interestingly, these differences in neutral pathways give rise to strong differences in the heat flux density width λq at the outer divertor entrance: λq = 3.2 mm in VH compared to λq = 11.8 mm in VV. In VH, a narrow channel exists in the near scrape-off-layer (SOL) where the convected heat flux, driven by strong Er × B flow and thermoelectric current, dominates over the conducted heat flux. The width of this channel sets λq and is determined by the radial distance between the separatrix and the ionisation peak in the outer divertor

Investigation into the formation of the scrape-off layer density shoulder in JET ITER-like wall L-mode and H-mode plasmas

The low temperature boundary layer plasma (Scrape-Off-Layer or SOL) between the hot core and the surrounding vessel determines the level of power-loading, erosion and implantation of material surfaces, and thus the viability of tokamak-based fusion as an energy source. This study explores mechanisms affecting the formation of flattened density profiles, so-called ‘density shoulders’, in the low-field side (LFS) SOL, which modify ion and neutral fluxes to surfaces – and subsequent erosion. There is evidence against local enhancement of ionization inducing shoulder formation. We find that increases in SOL parallel resistivity, Λdiv (=[L||νei Ωi ]/cs Ωe), postulated to lead to shoulder growth through changes in SOL turbulence characteristics, correlates with increases in upstream SOL shoulder amplitude, As only under a subset of conditions (D2-fuelled L-mode density scans with outer strike point on the horizontal target). Λdiv fails to correlate with As for cases of N2 seeding or during sweeping of the strike point across the horizontal target. The limited correlation of Λdiv with As was also found for H-mode discharges. Thus, while Λdiv above a threshold of ~1 may be necessary for shoulder formation and/or growth, another shoulder mechanism is required. More significantly we find that in contrast to parallel resistivity, outer divertor recycling as quantified by the total outer divertor Balmer Dα emission, I-Dα, does scale with shoulder amplitude where Λdiv does and even where Λdiv fails. Divertor recycling could lead to SOL density shoulder formation through: a) reducing the parallel to the field flow (loss) of ions out of the SOL to the divertor; and b) changes in radial electric fields which lead to ExB poloidal flows as well as potentially affecting the SOL turbulence birth characteristics. Thus changes in divertor recycling may be the sole process in bringing about SOL density shoulders or in tandem with parallel resistivity

Observations and modelling of ion cyclotron emission observed in JET plasmas using a sub-harmonic arc detection system during ion cyclotron resonance heating

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