“It’s just a lot they are asking from us”: College Athlete Experiences of Division III to Division II Reclassification

The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of college athletes who were directly impacted by their institution’s pursuit of gaining membership to a different NCAA division (i.e., divisional reclassification). More specifically, this study sought to understand specific changes that accompany the Division III to Division II transition, which include: 1) divisional philosophy, 2) financial aid, 3) level of competition, 4) athletically related activities, and 5) academic standards. Conceptually, this study was guided by the stress appraisal and coping process. The Brief COPE inventory of coping responses was applied as a framework from which to understand how college athletes coped with the financial, athletic, and academic changes to the college athlete experience. Research participants were Division III college athletes who reclassified with their athletic program to become Division II college athletes, and who participated in semi-structured interviews that allowed for rich descriptions of their experiences through the reclassification process to be captured. Findings suggest that reclassification was a relative stressor meaning that the process was perceived as stressful by some but not all the reclassifying college athletes interviewed. In coping with the relative stresses, college athletes demonstrated a greater tendency to engage in emotion-focused coping, which included the venting of emotional distress. More specialist support services are proposed to encourage more problem-focused coping responses among affected college athletes

Towards the modeling of mucus draining from human lung: role of airways deformation on air-mucus interaction

Chest physiotherapy is an empirical technique used to help secretions to get out of the lung whenever stagnation occurs. Although commonly used, little is known about the inner mechanisms of chest physiotherapy and controversies about its use are coming out regularly. Thus, a scientific validation of chest physiotherapy is needed to evaluate its effects on secretions. We setup a quasi-static numerical model of chest physiotherapy based on thorax and lung physiology and on their respective biophysics. We modeled the lung with an idealized deformable symmetric bifurcating tree. Bronchi and their inner fluids mechanics are assumed axisymmetric. Static data from the literature is used to build a model for the lung's mechanics. Secretions motion is the consequence of the shear constraints apply by the air flow. The input of the model is the pressure on the chest wall at each time, and the output is the bronchi geometry and air and secretions properties. In the limit of our model, we mimicked manual and mechanical chest physiotherapy techniques. We show that for secretions to move, air flow has to be high enough to overcome secretion resistance to motion. Moreover, the higher the pressure or the quicker it is applied, the higher is the air flow and thus the mobilization of secretions. However, pressures too high are efficient up to a point where airways compressions prevents air flow to increases any further. Generally, the first effects of manipulations is a decrease of the airway tree hydrodynamic resistance, thus improving ventilation even if secretions do not get out of the lungs. Also, some secretions might be pushed deeper into the lungs; this effect is stronger for high pressures and for mechanical chest physiotherapy. Finally, we propose and tested two adimensional numbers that depend on lung properties and that allow to measure the efficiency and comfort of a manipulation

INFORMATION CONTENT OF COYOTE BARKS HOWLS

The information content of coyote (Canis latrans) vocalizations is poorly understood, but has important implications for understanding coyote behavior. Coyotes probably use information present in barks or howls to recognize individuals, but the presence of individually-specific information has not bean demonstrated. We found that coyote barks and howls contained individually specific characteristics: discriminant analysis correctly classified barks of five coyotes 69% of the time and howls of six coyotes 83% of the time. We also investigated the stability of vocalization characteristics at multiple distances from the source. Recordings were played back and re-recorded at 10 m, 600m, and 1,000m. Vocalization features were measured at each distance and analyzed to determine whether characteristics were stable. Most howl characteristics did not change with distance, and regardless of the distance discriminant analysis was 81% accurate at assigning howls among six individuals. Bark characteristics, however, were less stable and it is unlikely that barks could be used for individual recognition over long distances. The disparate results for the two vocalization types suggest that howls and barks serve separate functions. Howls appear optimized to convey information (i.e. data), while barks seem more suitable for attracting attention and acoustic ranging

Coordination of glioblastoma cell motility by PKCι

Abstract Background Glioblastoma is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, in part because of its highly invasive nature. The tumor suppressor PTEN is frequently mutated in glioblastoma and is known to contribute to the invasive phenotype. However the downstream events that promote invasion are not fully understood. PTEN loss leads to activation of the atypical protein kinase C, PKCι. We have previously shown that PKCι is required for glioblastoma cell invasion, primarily by enhancing cell motility. Here we have used time-lapse videomicroscopy to more precisely define the role of PKCι in glioblastoma. Results Glioblastoma cells in which PKCι was either depleted by shRNA or inhibited pharmacologically were unable to coordinate the formation of a single leading edge lamellipod. Instead, some cells generated multiple small, short-lived protrusions while others generated a diffuse leading edge that formed around the entire circumference of the cell. Confocal microscopy showed that this behavior was associated with altered behavior of the cytoskeletal protein Lgl, which is known to be inactivated by PKCι phosphorylation. Lgl in control cells localized to the lamellipod leading edge and did not associate with its binding partner non-muscle myosin II, consistent with it being in an inactive state. In PKCι-depleted cells, Lgl was concentrated at multiple sites at the periphery of the cell and remained in association with non-muscle myosin II. Videomicroscopy also identified a novel role for PKCι in the cell cycle. Cells in which PKCι was either depleted by shRNA or inhibited pharmacologically entered mitosis normally, but showed marked delays in completing mitosis. Conclusions PKCι promotes glioblastoma motility by coordinating the formation of a single leading edge lamellipod and has a role in remodeling the cytoskeleton at the lamellipod leading edge, promoting the dissociation of Lgl from non-muscle myosin II. In addition PKCι is required for the transition of glioblastoma cells through mitosis. PKCι therefore has a role in both glioblastoma invasion and proliferation, two key aspects in the malignant nature of this disease

Social integration confers thermal benefits in a gregarious primate

1. Sociality has been shown to have adaptive value for gregarious species, with more socially integrated animals within groups experiencing higher reproductive success and longevity. The value of social integration is often suggested to derive from an improved ability to deal with social stress within a group; other potential stressors have received less attention. 2. We investigated the relationship between environmental temperature, an important non-social stressor, and social integration in wild female vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), using implanted data loggers to obtain direct measures of core body temperature. 3. Heterothermy (as measured by 24-h amplitude of body temperature) increased, and 24-h minima of body temperature decreased, as the 24-h minimum ambient temperature decreased. As winter progressed, monkeys became increasingly heterothermic and displayed lower 24-h minima of body temperature. 4. Monkeys with a greater number of social partners displayed a smaller 24-h amplitude (that is, were more homoeothermic) and higher 24-h minima of body temperature (that is, became less hypothermic), than did animals with fewer social partners. 5. Our findings demonstrate that social integration has a direct influence on thermoregulatory ability: individual animals that form and maintain more social relationships within their group experience improved thermal competence compared to those with fewer social relationships. 6. Given the likely energetic consequences of thermal benefits, our findings offer a viable physiological explanation that can help account for variations in fitness in relation to individual differences in social integration

Experimental loophole-free violation of a Bell inequality using entangled electron spins separated by 1.3 km

For more than 80 years, the counterintuitive predictions of quantum theory have stimulated debate about the nature of reality. In his seminal work, John Bell proved that no theory of nature that obeys locality and realism can reproduce all the predictions of quantum theory. Bell showed that in any local realist theory the correlations between distant measurements satisfy an inequality and, moreover, that this inequality can be violated according to quantum theory. This provided a recipe for experimental tests of the fundamental principles underlying the laws of nature. In the past decades, numerous ingenious Bell inequality tests have been reported. However, because of experimental limitations, all experiments to date required additional assumptions to obtain a contradiction with local realism, resulting in loopholes. Here we report on a Bell experiment that is free of any such additional assumption and thus directly tests the principles underlying Bell's inequality. We employ an event-ready scheme that enables the generation of high-fidelity entanglement between distant electron spins. Efficient spin readout avoids the fair sampling assumption (detection loophole), while the use of fast random basis selection and readout combined with a spatial separation of 1.3 km ensure the required locality conditions. We perform 245 trials testing the CHSH-Bell inequality $S \leq 2$ and find $S = 2.42 \pm 0.20$. A null hypothesis test yields a probability of $p = 0.039$ that a local-realist model for space-like separated sites produces data with a violation at least as large as observed, even when allowing for memory in the devices. This result rules out large classes of local realist theories, and paves the way for implementing device-independent quantum-secure communication and randomness certification.Comment: Raw data will be made available after publicatio

Keeping cool in the heat: behavioral thermoregulation and body temperature patterns in wild vervet monkeys

Objectives: Climate change is having a significant impact on biodiversity and increasing attention is therefore being devoted to identifying the behavioral strategies that a species uses to cope with climatic stress. We explore how wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) respond to heat stress, and how behavioral adaptations are used to regulate body temperature. Materials and methods: We implanted wild vervet monkeys with temperature-sensitive data loggers and related the body temperature rhythms of these animals to their use of thermoregulatory behaviors. Results: Environmental temperature had a positive effect on the mean, minima and maxima of daily body temperatures. Environmental temperature had a positive effect on the amount of time that vervet monkeys spent in the shade, and animals that spent more time in the shade had lower body temperature maxima. Drinking water did not have a proximate effect on body temperature, most likely a consequence of their regular access to drinking water. Body temperatures were observed to decrease after swimming events, but tended to return to pre-swim temperatures within 1 hr, suggesting a limited thermal benefit of this behavior. Conclusions: Our data support the view that vervet monkeys cope well in the heat, and use behavior as a means to aid thermoregulation. The ability of primates to be flexible in their use of thermoregulatory behaviors can contribute positively to their capacity to cope with environmental variability. However, given its broad effect on plant productivity and habitat loss, climate change is a major threat to species' biogeographical distribution and survival

Thermal consequences of increased pelt loft infer an additional utilitarian function for grooming: Thermal Benefits of Grooming

A strong case has been made that the primary function of grooming is hygienic. Nevertheless, its persistence in the absence of hygienic demand, and its obvious tactical importance to members of primate groups, underpins the view that grooming has become uncoupled from its utilitarian objectives and is now principally of social benefit. We identify improved thermoregulatory function as a previously unexplored benefit of grooming and so broaden our understanding of the utilitarian function of this behavior. Deriving the maximum thermal benefits from the pelt requires that it be kept clean and that the loft of the pelt is maintained (i.e., greater pelt depth), both of which can be achieved by grooming. In a series of wind-tunnel experiments, we measured the heat transfer characteristics of vervet monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) pelts in the presence and absence of backcombing, which we used as a proxy for grooming. Our data indicate that backcombed pelts have improved thermal performance, offering significantly better insulation than flattened pelts and, hence, better protection from the cold. Backcombed pelts also had significantly lower radiant heat loads compared to flattened pelts, providing improved protection from radiant heat. Such thermal benefits, therefore, furnish grooming with an additional practical value to which its social use is anchored. Given the link between thermoregulatory ability and energy expenditure, our findings suggest that grooming for thermal benefits may be an important explanatory variable in the relationship between levels of sociability and individual fitness

The sadism of the author or the masochism of the reader?

The symposium giving rise to this collection and the thriving of the B.S. Johnson Society both indicate that there is something exceptional going on with the literary and academic community’s relationship with this author, something we (collectively) still haven’t quite fathomed. In order to attempt to identify the source of Johnson’s fascination, I want to discuss the author-reader relationship as it comes into focus in his novels since, implicitly and explicitly, this is a recurring issue in academic studies of Johnson’s work (see White 2011)

Mundane objects in the city: Laundry practices and the making and remaking of public/private sociality and space in London and New York

The paper considers how shifting laundry practices and technologies associated with dirty washing have over time summoned different spaces, socialities and socio-spatial assemblages in the city, enrolling different actors and multiple publics and constituting different associations, networks and relations in its wake as it travels from the home and back again. It argues that rather than being an inert object of unpleasant matter, whose encounter with humans has been largely restricted to certain categories of person for its transformation to re-use, and thus passed unnoticed, the paper explores how laundry practices have figured in producing and reproducing gendered (and classed) relations of labour, and enacting multiple socio-spatial, and gendered, relations and assemblages in the city, which have largely gone unnoticed in accounts of everyday urban life