Development and initial validation of the Performance Perfectionism Scale for Sport (PPS-S)

Valid and reliable instruments are required to appropriately study perfectionism. With this in mind, three studies are presented that describe the development and initial validation of a new instrument designed to measure multidimensional performance perfectionism for use in sport (Performance Perfectionism Scale–Sport [PPS-S]). The instrument is based on Hewitt and Flett’s (1991) model of perfectionism and includes self-oriented, socially prescribed, and other-oriented performance perfectionism. These dimensions encapsulate the features of Hewitt and Flett’s dimensions but are focused on athletic performance rather than life generally. The three studies outline item generation and refinement, exploratory, confirmatory, and exploratory-confirmatory examination of factor structure, and initial assessment of construct validity in multiple samples of adolescent and young adult athletes. Findings suggest that the PPS-S is likely to be a reliable and valid measure of performance perfectionism in youth sport. As validation continues, we expect the instrument to have wider applicability for use in adults and other performance contexts (e.g., education and work)

Multidimensional Perfectionism in Sport : A Meta-Analytical Review

© 2018 American Psychological Association. The current study provides an updated and meta-analytical review of research examining multidimensional perfectionism in sport. In doing so, studies that report the relationships between perfectionistic strivings, perfectionistic concerns and a range of motivation, emotion/well-being, and performance criterion variables are examined. A literature search yielded 52 studies and 697 effect sizes for 29 criterion variables. Random effects models revealed that perfectionistic strivings displayed small-tomedium relationships with a mix of maladaptive and adaptive motivation and emotion/ well-being, and a small-to-medium relationship with better performance. By contrast, perfectionistic concerns displayed a small-to-medium relationship with maladaptive motivation and emotion/well-being and were unrelated to performance. After controlling for the relationship between the two dimensions of perfectionism, the relationships displayed by residual perfectionistic strivings were indicative of it being less problematic, and the relationships displayed by residual perfectionistic concerns were indicative of it being more problematic than their unresidualized counterparts. There was also some preliminary evidence that some of the relationships were moderated by gender, age, sport type, and instrument. The findings suggest that perfectionistic concerns are clearly maladaptive for athletes, whereas perfectionistic strivings are complex and ambiguous

Molecular Model of Dynamic Social Network Based on E-mail communication

In this work we consider an application of physically inspired sociodynamical model to the modelling of the evolution of email-based social network. Contrary to the standard approach of sociodynamics, which assumes expressing of system dynamics with heuristically defined simple rules, we postulate the inference of these rules from the real data and their application within a dynamic molecular model. We present how to embed the n-dimensional social space in Euclidean one. Then, inspired by the Lennard-Jones potential, we define a data-driven social potential function and apply the resultant force to a real e-mail communication network in a course of a molecular simulation, with network nodes taking on the role of interacting particles. We discuss all steps of the modelling process, from data preparation, through embedding and the molecular simulation itself, to transformation from the embedding space back to a graph structure. The conclusions, drawn from examining the resultant networks in stable, minimum-energy states, emphasize the role of the embedding process projecting the non–metric social graph into the Euclidean space, the significance of the unavoidable loss of information connected with this procedure and the resultant preservation of global rather than local properties of the initial network. We also argue applicability of our method to some classes of problems, while also signalling the areas which require further research in order to expand this applicability domain

What Can We Conclude from Death Registration? Improved Methods for Evaluating Completeness

Julie Rajaratnam and colleagues evaluate the performance of a suite of demographic methods that estimate the fraction of deaths registered and counted by civil registration systems, and identify three variants that generally perform the best

Evolution of Thick Walls in Curved Spacetimes

We generalize our previous thick shell formalism to incorporate any codimension-1 thick wall with a peculiar velocity and proper thickness bounded by arbitrary spacetimes. Within this new formulation we obtain the equation of motion of a spherically symmetric dust thick shell immersed in vacuum as well as in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figur

Boosting BCG with recombinant modified vaccinia ankara expressing antigen 85A: Different boosting intervals and implications for efficacy trials

Objectives. To investigate the safety and immunogenicity of boosting BCG with modified vaccinia Ankara expressing antigen 85A (MVA85A), shortly after BCG vaccination, and to compare this first with the immunogenicity of BCG vaccination alone and second with a previous clinical trial where MVA85A was administered more than 10 years after BCG vaccination. Design. There are two clinical trials reported here: a Phase I observational trial with MVA85A; and a Phase IV observational trial with BCG. These clinical trials were all conducted in the UK in healthy, HIV negative, BCG naı¨ve adults. Subjects were vaccinated with BCG alone; or BCG and then subsequently boosted with MVA85A four weeks later (short interval). The outcome measures, safety and immunogenicity, were monitored for six months. The immunogenicity results from this short interval BCG prime–MVA85A boost trial were compared first with the BCG alone trial and second with a previous clinical trial where MVA85A vaccination was administered many years after vaccination with BCG. Results. MVA85A was safe and highly immunogenic when administered to subjects who had recently received BCG vaccination. When the short interval trial data presented here were compared with the previous long interval trial data, there were no significant differences in the magnitude of immune responses generated when MVA85A was administered shortly after, or many years after BCG vaccination. Conclusions. The clinical trial data presented here provides further evidence of the ability of MVA85A to boost BCG primed immune responses. This boosting potential is not influenced by the time interval between prior BCG vaccination and boosting with MVA85A. These findings have important implications for the design of efficacy trials with MVA85A. Boosting BCG induced anti-mycobacterial immunity in either infancy or adolescence are both potential applications for this vaccine, given the immunological data presented here. Trial Registration. ClinicalTrials.Oxford University was the sponsor for all the clinical trials reported here

A ‘quiet revolution’? The impact of Training Schools on initial teacher training partnerships

This paper discusses the impact on initial teacher training of a new policy initiative in England: the introduction of Training Schools. First, the Training School project is set in context by exploring the evolution of a partnership approach to initial teacher training in England. Ways in which Training Schools represent a break with established practice are considered together with their implications for the dominant mode of partnership led by higher education institutions (HEIs). The capacity of Training Schools to achieve their own policy objectives is examined, especially their efficacy as a strategy for managing innovation and the dissemination of innovation. The paper ends by focusing on a particular Training School project which has adopted an unusual approach to its work and enquires whether this alternative approach could offer a more profitable way forward. During the course of the paper, five different models of partnership are considered: collaborative, complementary, HEI-led, school-led and partnership within a partnership

Colouration in amphibians as a reflection of nutritional status : the case of tree frogs in Costa Rica

Colouration has been considered a cue for mating success in many species; ornaments in males often are related to carotenoid mobilization towards feathers and/or skin and can signal general health and nutrition status. However, there are several factors that can also link with status, such as physiological blood parameters and body condition, but there is not substantial evidence which supports the existence of these relationships and interactions in anurans. This study evaluated how body score and blood values interact with colouration in free-range Agalychnis callidryas and Agalychnis annae males. We found significant associations between body condition and plasmatic proteins and haematocrit, as well as between body condition and colour values from the chromaticity diagram. We also demonstrated that there is a significant relation between the glucose and plasmatic protein values that were reflected in the ventral colours of the animals, and haematocrit inversely affected most of those colour values. Significant differences were found between species as well as between populations of A. callidryas, suggesting that despite colour variation, there are also biochemical differences within animals from the same species located in different regions. These data provide information on underlying factors for colouration of male tree frogs in nature, provide insights about the dynamics of several nutrients in the amphibian model and how this could affect the reproductive output of the animals

Assimilation of healthy and indulgent impressions from labelling influences fullness but not intake or sensory experience

Background: Recent evidence suggests that products believed to be healthy may be over-consumed relative to believed indulgent or highly caloric products. The extent to which these effects relate to expectations from labelling, oral experience or assimilation of expectations is unclear. Over two experiments, we tested the hypotheses that healthy and indulgent information could be assimilated by oral experience of beverages and influence sensory evaluation, expected satiety, satiation and subsequent appetite. Additionally, we explored how expectation-experience congruency influenced these factors. Results: Results supported some assimilation of healthiness and indulgent ratings—study 1 showed that indulgent ratings enhanced by the indulgent label persisted post-tasting, and this resulted in increased fullness ratings. In study 2, congruency of healthy labels and oral experience promoted enhanced healthiness ratings. These healthiness and indulgent beliefs did not influence sensory analysis or intake—these were dictated by the products themselves. Healthy labels, but not experience, were associated with decreased expected satiety. Conclusions: Overall labels generated expectations, and some assimilation where there were congruencies between expectation and experience, but oral experience tended to override initial expectations to determine ultimate sensory evaluations and intake. Familiarity with the sensory properties of the test beverages may have resulted in the use of prior knowledge, rather than the label information, to guide evaluations and behaviour