Support Services and the Division I Student-Athlete: Experiences, Needs, and Implications

This paper examined typical support service experiences of Division I football and men's basketball players. Specifically, the paper provided insight into the types ot support services generally received by Division I revenue-producing sport student-athletes, discussed perceptions of these services and the service providers, and offered opinions on how future student-athletes might be better served. The author interviewed 26 former athletes from football and men's basketbal who graduated from a particular institution about academic support, career support, support personnel, and mising links. They shared their thoughts on their advisors and tutors, location of support services, time of day to access support, whether or not study hall was effective, and other topics of interest (e.g., drug and alcohol awareness). Based on these findings, both long- and short-term recommendations for athletic personnel were proposed, including the need for more in-house career development programming for athletes

A Re-conceptualization of Student-Athlete Education: Utilizing Critical Theory to Eliminate Perceived Conflict

The purposes of this qualitativestudy were to examine how Division I football and basketball players were able to obtain a balanced, comprehensive college education, and to explore specific factors that enhanced the overall quality and symmetry of their experience. The participants in the study consisted of 26 former male letter-winning football (n=20) and basketball (n=6) players. Nineteen percent of the participants were African-American and 81% were Anglo-American. Approximately 30% of the men in the sample had played their respective sports at the professional level. Results of this study highlighted the inability of role theory to explain and manage issues related to student-athlete education, and suggested that critical theory may best explain how to secure a balanced, comprehensive education. Implications for personnel who provide personal support to student-athtetes were discussed

Literaturauswertung Lebenslanges Lernen und Literaturnachweis zur Literaturauswertung Lebenslanges Lernen:Anhang 3 und Anhang 4 zur Strategie für Lebenslanges Lernen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Diese Literaturauswertung wurde vom DIE im Auftrag des BMBF im Zeitraum September 2003 bis Juli 2004 im Zusammenhang mit der BLK-Veröffentlichung „Strategie für Lebenslanges Lernen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“ (http://www.blk-bonn.de/papers/heft115.pdf) der BLK Ad-hoc-AG vorgenommen. Sie stellt Literatur zum Lernen in unterschiedlichen Lebensphasen (Kinder, Jugendliche, junge Erwachsene, Erwachsene und Ältere) und zu Entwicklungsschwerpunkten lebenslangen Lernens (Einbeziehung informellen Lernens, Selbststeuerung, Kompetenzentwicklung, Vernetzung, Modularisierung, Lernberatung, Neue Lernkultur/Popularisierung des Lernens und chancengerechter Zugang) zusammen. Ergänzt wird die Darstellung durch Informationen zur Entwicklung lebenslangen Lernens im bildungspolitischen und erziehungswissenschaftlichen Diskurs und durch die Dokumentation bildungspolitischer Dokumente des Europarats, der OECD, der UNESCO, der Europäischen Union und der Weltbank. Zur Auswertung gehört ein 23-seitiger Literaturnachwei

The Relationship Between Athlete Perceptions of Coaching Leadership Behaviors and Athlete Grit

International Journal of Exercise Science 17(5): 12-23, 2023. Coach leadership style has long been positively correlated with athlete experiences such as motivation, health (i.e., burnout), and performance outcomes (i.e., enhanced execution time to complete tasks) (24). More recently, grit (18) has been positively correlated with athlete experiences such as engagement (39) and decreased burnout (32). Given the impact coaches have on their athletes and the positive psychological benefits of grit, it is reasonable to explore the intersections of coaching behaviors and grit. As such, the purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between athlete perceptions of coach leadership behaviors and athlete grit. Intercollegiate athletes completed measures of grit and the leadership behaviors of their coach. A significant positive relationship was observed between the grit perseverance subscale and the leadership behavior of training and instruction (r =.30, p \u3c .05). Additional analyses revealed that athletes’ perceptions of coach positive feedback significantly predicted their perseverance. Taken together, these findings suggest a link between positive coach feedback and athlete perseverance. Implications of these results for professional practice and future research are discussed

Maternal plasma DHA levels increase prior to 29 days post-LH surge in women undergoing frozen embryo transfer: a prospective, observational study of human pregnancy

Context: Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an important fatty acid required for neurological development but its importance during early fetal neurological organogenesis is unknown. Objective: To assess plasma fatty acid changes in early pregnancy in women undergoing natural cycle-frozen embryo transfer as a means of achieving accurately-timed periconceptual sampling. Design: Women undergoing frozen embryo transfer were recruited and serial fasting blood samples were taken pre-luteinising hormone (LH) surge, and at days 18, 29 and 45 post-LH surge and fatty acids were analysed using gas chromatography. Setting: Assisted Conception Unit, Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Scotland Main outcome measures: Plasma fatty acid concentrations, influence of twin pregnancies on DHA plasma concentration. Results: In pregnant women, there was a rapid, early increase in the maternal rate of change of plasma DHA concentration observed by 29 days post-LH surge (mean±SD, from 0.1±1.3 to 1.6±2.9 nmol DHA per mL plasma per day). This early pressure to increase plasma DHA concentration was further emphasised in twin pregnancies where the increase in DHA concentration over 45 days was two-fold higher than in singleton pregnancies (mean±SD increase, 74±39 nmol/mL versus 36±40 nmol/mL). An index of delta-6 desaturase activity increased 30% and positively correlated with the rate of change of DHA concentration between day 18 and 29-post LH surge (R-squared adjusted = 41%, P=0.0002). DHA was the only fatty acid with a continual accelerated increase in plasma concentration and a positive incremental area under the curve (mean±SD, 632±911 nmol/mL x day) over the first 45 days of gestation. Conclusions: An increase in maternal plasma DHA concentration is initiated in human pregnancy prior to neural tube closure which occurs at 28 days' gestation

Tuning the magnetic ground state of a novel tetranuclear Nickel(II) molecular complex by high magnetic fields

Electron spin resonance and magnetization data in magnetic fields up to 55 T of a novel multicenter paramagnetic molecular complex [L_2Ni_4(N_3)(O_2C Ada)_4](Cl O_4) are reported. In this compound, four Ni centers each having a spin S = 1 are coupled in a single molecule via bridging ligands (including a \mu_4-azide) which provide paths for magnetic exchange. Analysis of the frequency and temperature dependence of the ESR signals yields the relevant parameters of the spin Hamiltonian, in particular the single ion anisotropy gap and the g factor, which enables the calculation of the complex energy spectrum of the spin states in a magnetic field. The experimental results give compelling evidence for tuning the ground state of the molecule by magnetic field from a nonmagnetic state at small fields to a magnetic one in strong fields owing to the spin level crossing at a field of ~25 T.Comment: revised version, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Tactical Athletes: An Integrated Approach to Understanding and Enhancing the Health and Performance of Firefighters-in-Training

International Journal of Exercise Science 8(4): 341-357, 2015. In an effort to reduce the rates of firefighter fatality, injury, and workplace stress, there has been a call for research to advance knowledge of firefighting performance and injury prevention. Physical and psychological variables important to firefighter health and performance have been identified, yet the interrelated nature of these variables has been overlooked. Given the overlap between the physical and psychological demands of firefighting and sport, and given that an integrated framework has been used in the sport domain to guide athlete health and performance research and practice, firefighter organizations could benefit from adopting a sport-based, integrated model of firefighter training and performance management. Guided by the Meyer Athlete Performance Management Model (MAPM), the purposes of the current study were to: (a) describe the physical and psychological characteristics of firefighters-in-training (i.e., cadets and recruits), and (b) explore relationships between the physical and psychological variables associated with health and performance. Firefighters-in-training employed by a Midwestern area fire department in the United States (N = 34) completed a battery of physical and psychological assessments at the department’s Fire and Safety Academy building. Results of the current study revealed significant correlations between several of the physical and psychological characteristics of firefighters-in-training. These results, along with the multidimensional data set that was also established in the current study, provide preliminary evidence for the use of a sport-based integrated performance model such as the MAPM to guide training and performance research in firefighter populations

METAREP: JCVI metagenomics reports—an open source tool for high-performance comparative metagenomics

Summary: JCVI Metagenomics Reports (METAREP) is a Web 2.0 application designed to help scientists analyze and compare annotated metagenomics datasets. It utilizes Solr/Lucene, a high-performance scalable search engine, to quickly query large data collections. Furthermore, users can use its SQL-like query syntax to filter and refine datasets. METAREP provides graphical summaries for top taxonomic and functional classifications as well as a GO, NCBI Taxonomy and KEGG Pathway Browser. Users can compare absolute and relative counts of multiple datasets at various functional and taxonomic levels. Advanced comparative features comprise statistical tests as well as multidimensional scaling, heatmap and hierarchical clustering plots. Summaries can be exported as tab-delimited files, publication quality plots in PDF format. A data management layer allows collaborative data analysis and result sharing

The MURALES survey. IV. Searching for nuclear outflows in 3C radio galaxies at z < 0.3 with MUSE observations

We analyze VLT/MUSE observations of 37 radio galaxies from the Third Cambridge catalogue (3C) with redshift $<$0.3 searching for nuclear outflows of ionized gas. These observations are part of the MURALES project (a MUse RAdio Loud Emission line Snapshot survey), whose main goal is to explore the feedback process in the most powerful radio-loud AGN. We applied a nonparametric analysis to the [O~III] $\lambda$5007 emission line, whose asymmetries and high-velocity wings reveal signatures of outflows. We find evidence of nuclear outflows in 21 sources, with velocities between $\sim$400 - 1000 km s$^{-1}$, outflowing masses of $\sim 10^5-10^7$ M$_\odot$, and a kinetic energy in the range $\sim 10^{53} - 10^{56}$ erg. In addition, evidence for extended outflows is found in the 2D gas velocity maps of 13 sources of the subclasses of high-excitation (HEG) and broad-line (BLO) radio galaxies, with sizes between 0.4 and 20 kpc. We estimate a mass outflow rate in the range 0.4 - 30 M$_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ and an energy deposition rate of ${\dot E}_{kin} \sim 10^{42}-10^{45}$ erg s$^{-1}$. Comparing the jet power, the nuclear luminosity of the active galactic nucleus, and the outflow kinetic energy rate, we find that outflows of HEGs and BLOs are likely radiatively powered, while jets likely only play a dominant role in galaxies with low excitation. The low loading factors we measured suggest that these outflows are driven by momentum and not by energy. Based on the gas masses, velocities, and energetics involved, we conclude that the observed ionized outflows have a limited effect on the gas content or the star formation in the host. In order to obtain a complete view of the feedback process, observations exploring the complex multiphase structure of outflows are required.Comment: 40 pages; accepted for publication on A&A