Disentangling within-person changes and individual differences among fundamental need satisfaction, attainment of acquisitive desires, and psychological health

We explored within-person and individual difference associations among basic psychological need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), attainment of acquisitive desires (wealth and popularity) and indicators of well- and ill-being. Participants were 198 undergraduates (51% male) who completed an inventory multiple times over a university semester. Analyses revealed that increased satisfaction of all the needs and desires beyond participants’ normal levels, with the exception of relatedness, were associated with greater psychological welfare. Nonetheless, individual differences in well-being were only predicted by psychological need satisfaction, and not by the attainment of acquisitive desires. Hence, the realization of acquisitive desires may elicit within-person increases in psychological welfare; however, satisfying innate needs may be a better bet for long term psychological health

Change in physical self-perceptions across the transition to secondary school: relationships with perceived teacher-emphasised achievement goals in physical education

Objectives: This study aimed to examine the effects of change in perceived teacher achievement goal emphasis in physical education (PE) on physical self-perceptions and self-esteem across the transition to secondary school. Design & Methods: A longitudinal design was adopted with three time points, one at the end of primary school and two during the first year of secondary school. Participants (N = 491) were cross-classified by primary (N = 42) and secondary (N = 46) PE class in order to examine the association between perceived class-level teacher-emphasised goals and within-class student goals with self-beliefs. Results: Personal approach goals and class perceptions of teacher mastery approach goal promotion were all positively associated with ratings of co-ordination, sport competence, flexibility, and endurance in primary school. More favourable perceptions of coordination, sport competence, strength, flexibility, and endurance during the first year of secondary school were predicted by an increase in performance approach goal emphasis, whereas ratings of sport competence and flexibility were negatively associated with an increase in mastery approach goal emphasis. Conclusions: Although not entirely consonant with theoretical predictions, current findings suggest that teacher-emphasised performance approach goals in PE can promote development of several physical self-perceptions in the initial year of secondary school

Antecedents of perceived coach autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors: coach psychological need satisfaction and well-being

Within the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) framework, research has considered the consequences of coaches’ autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors on various athlete outcomes (e.g., motivation and performance). The antecedents of such behaviors, however, have received little attention. Coaches (N = 443) from a variety of sports and competitive levels completed a self-report questionnaire to assess their psychological need satisfaction, well-being and perceived interpersonal behaviors toward their athletes. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that coaches’ competence and autonomy need satisfaction positively predicted their levels of psychological well-being, as indexed by positive affect and subjective vitality. In turn, coaches’ psychological well-being positively predicted their perceived autonomy support toward their athletes, and negatively predicted their perceived controlling behaviors. Overall, the results highlight the importance of coaching contexts that facilitate coaches’ psychological need satisfaction and well-being, thereby increasing the likelihood of adaptive coach interpersonal behavior toward athletes

Antecedents of perceived coach interpersonal behaviors: the coaching environment and coach psychological well- and ill-being

Embedded in the self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000) framework, we obtained self-report data from 418 paid and voluntary coaches from a variety of sports and competitive levels with the aim of exploring potential antecedents of coaches’ perceived autonomy supportive and controlling behaviors. Controlling for socially desirable responses, structural equation modeling revealed that greater job security and opportunities for professional development, and lower work–life conflict were associated with psychological need satisfaction, which, in turn, was related to an adaptive process of psychological well-being and perceived autonomy support toward athletes. In contrast, higher work–life conflict and fewer opportunities for development were associated with a distinct maladaptive process of thwarted psychological needs, psychological ill-being, and perceived controlling interpersonal behavior. The results highlight how the coaching context may impact upon coaches’ psychological health and their interpersonal behavior toward athletes. Moreover, evidence is provided for the independence of adaptive and maladaptive processes within the self-determination theory paradigm

Symmetry Breaking of Counter-Propagating Light in a Nonlinear Resonator

Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a concept of fundamental importance in many areas of physics, underpinning such diverse phenomena as ferromagnetism, superconductivity, superfluidity and the Higgs mechanism. Here we demonstrate nonreciprocity and spontaneous symmetry breaking between counter-propagating light in dielectric microresonators. The symmetry breaking corresponds to a resonance frequency splitting that allows only one of two counter-propagating (but otherwise identical) states of light to circulate in the resonator. Equivalently, this effect can be seen as the collapse of standing waves and transition to travelling waves within the resonator. We present theoretical calculations to show that the symmetry breaking is induced by Kerr-nonlinearity-mediated interaction between the counter-propagating light. Our findings pave the way for a variety of applications including optically controllable circulators and isolators, all-optical switching, nonlinear-enhanced rotation sensing, optical flip-flops for photonic memories as well as exceptionally sensitive power and refractive index sensors

Implementing an Autonomy-Supportive Intervention to Develop Mental Toughness in Adolescent Rowers

It was hypothesized that autonomy-supportive coaching behaviors, psychological needs satisfaction, and mental toughness would increase, and controlling coaching behaviors and psychological needs thwarting would decrease following a coach-directed autonomy-supportive intervention. Data related to these hypotheses were collected with coaches (N = 18) and adolescent rowers (N = 61) prior to and following an 8-week intervention, and 8 weeks following the intervention. Coaches were interviewed following data collection about their involvement in the intervention. Results did not support the hypotheses. Qualitative analyses revealed that autonomy-supportive behaviors might not have been adopted due to contextual pressures on the coaches

Managing hedgerows for nocturnal wildlife:Do bats and their insect prey benefit from targeted agri-environment schemes?

1. Mitigating the detrimental impacts of intensive farming on biodiversity requires the implementation of cost-effective conservation actions. Targeted agri-environment-schemes (AESs) to enhance populations of threatened species inhabiting farmland have been proposed for this purpose, yet their effectiveness for nocturnal wildlife remains unknown. 2. We assessed whether hedgerow management prescribed by targeted AESs to improve habitat conditions for the greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) in England may positively influence the species, the entire bat assemblage and the insect prey of bats. We specifically investigated the responses of bats (occurrence, activity, and species richness) and insects (biomass, abundance, and diversity) to time since last trimming (from 1 up to 10 years). We explored the mechanisms underlying the effects of AES via changes in trimming regime on bats. Moreover, we investigated the effects of landscape context on bats as we expected that highly mobile species would benefit further from landscape-scale management. 3. Bat species richness significantly increased with time since last trimming. Three bat taxa of major conservation concern in Western Europe substantially benefited from the targeted prescription, namely R. ferrumequinum, R. hipposideros and Plecotus spp. Insect-family richness and dipteran abundance were also significantly greater at hedgerows that were untrimmed for at least three years. The activity of more common bat species (i.e. pipistrelle bats) was not influenced by time since last trimming. 4. Changes in trimming regime strongly affected hedgerow height which directly and indirectly (by increasing prey abundance) influenced bat occurrence, activity and species richness along hedgerows. 5. The activity of highly mobile bat species was mainly associated with a range of landscape attributes. The amount of semi-natural grassland within 0.5 km of the sampling sites positively influenced R. ferrumequinum while the presence of urban areas negatively affected light-sensitive bat species. 6. Synthesis and applications. The implementation of targeted agri-environment-schemes can include effective measures to enhance bats and their insect prey in farmland. Although we highlight the success of current prescriptions on hedgerow management, we suggest that their effectiveness can easily be optimized by encouraging farmers to keep hedgerows untrimmed for longer periods (>3 up to 10 years). We also highlight that a multi-scale management approach is required to successfully promote bats in farmland

Establishing key components of yoga interventions for musculoskeletal conditions: a Delphi survey

Background: Evidence suggests yoga is a safe and effective intervention for the management of physical and psychosocial symptoms associated with musculoskeletal conditions. However, heterogeneity in the components and reporting of clinical yoga trials impedes both the generalization of study results and the replication of study protocols. The aim of this Delphi survey was to address these issues of heterogeneity, by developing a list of recommendations of key components for the design and reporting of yoga interventions for musculoskeletal conditions. Methods: Recognised experts involved in the design, conduct, and teaching of yoga for musculoskeletal conditions were identified from a systematic review, and invited to contribute to the Delphi survey. Forty-one of the 58 experts contacted, representing six countries, agreed to participate. A three-round Delphi was conducted via electronic surveys. Round 1 presented an open-ended question, allowing panellists to individually identify components they considered key to the design and reporting of yoga interventions for musculoskeletal conditions. Thematic analysis of Round 1 identified items for quantitative rating in Round 2; items not reaching consensus were forwarded to Round 3 for re-rating.Results: Thirty-six panellists (36/41; 88%) completed the three rounds of the Delphi survey. Panellists provided 348 comments to the Round 1 question. These comments were reduced to 49 items, grouped under five themes, for rating in subsequent rounds. A priori group consensus of ≥80% was reached on 28 items related to five themes concerning defining the yoga intervention, types of yoga practices to include in an intervention, delivery of the yoga protocol, domains of outcome measures, and reporting of yoga interventions for musculoskeletal conditions. Additionally, a priori consensus of ≥50% was reached on five items relating to minimum values for intervention parameters. Conclusions: Expert consensus has provided a non-prescriptive reference list for the design and reporting of yoga interventions for musculoskeletal conditions. It is anticipated future research incorporating the Delphi guidelines will facilitate high quality international research in this field, increase homogeneity of intervention components and parameters, and enhance the comparison and reproducibility of research into the use of yoga for the management of musculoskeletal conditions

Collisional and thermal ionization of sodium Rydberg atoms I. Experiment for nS and nD atoms with n=8-20

Collisional and thermal ionization of sodium nS and nD Rydberg atoms with n=8-20 has been studied. The experiments were performed using a two-step pulsed laser excitation in an effusive atomic beam at atom density of about 2 10^{10} cm^{-3}. Molecular and atomic ions from associative, Penning, and thermal ionization processes were detected. It has been found that the atomic ions were created mainly due to photoionization of Rydberg atoms by photons of blackbody radiation at the ambient temperature of 300K. Blackbody ionization rates and effective lifetimes of Rydberg states of interest were determined. The molecular ions were found to be from associative ionization in Na(nL)+Na(3S) collisions. Rate constants of associative ionization have been measured using an original method based on relative measurements of Na_{2}^{+} and Na^{+} ion signals.Comment: 23 pages, 10 figure