Implementation and perceived benefits of an after-school soccer program designed to promote social and emotional learning: A multiple case study

Social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies such as self-awareness and relationship skills are predictors of academic success, overall well-being, and avoidance of problematic behaviors. Among school-aged children, research has demonstrated that well-implemented programs teach SEL competencies and life skills (e.g., leadership, responsible decision making) that can transfer to other settings. Similar claims have been made in the field of sport-based youth development (SBYD), however, the SEL framework has not been widely applied in sport programming. Implementation, student learning, and transfer of learning in SBYD programs designed to promote SEL require further exploration. Therefore, the current study examined the implementation and perceived benefits of an after-school soccer program designed to promote SEL. Participants were six coaches and 51 students from three different sites where this program is offered. A multiple case study design was used, integrating data from customized feedback surveys, interviews, systematic observation, and field notes. Results indicated the program reflects many SBYD best practices. Although implementation varied between sites, program culture and core values were consistent. Evidence indicated students learned and applied SEL lessons in the soccer program and that transfer beyond the program was promoted. Participants were most likely to report transfer to the school setting, therefore, future studies should examine this topic more directly. Other implications for research and program implementation are discussed

Weather, Timing, and Promotions in Minor League Baseball: An Examination of Attendance in the International League

Understanding the different factors that impact attendance at sporting events is a timely and relevant topic for researchers and practitioners alike. The present study examines the effects of different types of promotions, weather, and selected temporal elements on attendance in Minor League Baseball. Using data for teams participating in the International League during the 2010 season, results from a multiple regression analysis revealed that special events, promotional giveaways, and non-workdays have a positive impact on attendance; while suboptimal weather conditions have a negative impact. These findings contribute to our understanding of the factors that impact attendance in professional baseball and hold useful implications for future research and managerial practice

Using Fan Passion to Investigate Constraints to Student Attendance at College Football Games

Given the decline in average student attendance at college football games nationwide, it is important for marketers to understand the constraints inhibiting student attendance. The current study addresses this issue by testing for differences in constraints affecting student nonattendance decisions based on their passion for the home team. Data were collected from students not attending games on six college campuses during actual football games. A total of 33 potential constraints to attendance were assessed. Results indicated statistically significant differences among intrapersonal, event-specific, and marketing-related constraints. Regardless of passion level, prior commitments to school and work were among the most highly-rated constraints to attendance. For highly-passionate fans, beverage costs, poor team performance, and watching the game on television were also highly-rated constraints. Low-passion fans, however, were constrained by time commitment necessary to attend, as well as lack of interest in football

Functional network changes and cognitive control in schizophrenia

Cognitive control is a cognitive and neural mechanism that contributes to managing the complex demands of day-to-day life. Studies have suggested that functional impairments in cognitive control associated brain circuitry contribute to a broad range of higher cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. To examine this issue, we assessed functional connectivity networks in healthy adults and individuals with schizophrenia performing tasks from two distinct cognitive domains that varied in demands for cognitive control, the RiSE episodic memory task and DPX goal maintenance task. We characterized general and cognitive control-specific effects of schizophrenia on functional connectivity within an expanded frontal parietal network (FPN) and quantified network topology properties using graph analysis. Using the network based statistic (NBS), we observed greater network functional connectivity in cognitive control demanding conditions during both tasks in both groups in the FPN, and demonstrated cognitive control FPN specificity against a task independent auditory network. NBS analyses also revealed widespread connectivity deficits in schizophrenia patients across all tasks. Furthermore, quantitative changes in network topology associated with diagnostic status and task demand were observed. The present findings, in an analysis that was limited to correct trials only, ensuring that subjects are on task, provide critical insights into network connections crucial for cognitive control and the manner in which brain networks reorganize to support such control. Impairments in this mechanism are present in schizophrenia and these results highlight how cognitive control deficits contribute to the pathophysiology of this illness

Integrating Traffic Signal Performance Measures into Agency Business Processes

This report discusses uses of and requirements for performance measures in traffic signal systems facilitated by high-resolution controller event data. Uses of external travel time measurements are also discussed. The discussion is led by a high-level synthesis of the systems engineering concepts for traffic signal control, considering technical and non-technical aspects of the problem. This is followed by a presentation of the requirements for implementing data collection and processing of the data into signal performance measures. The remaining portion of the report uses an example-oriented approach to showing a variety of uses of performance measures for communication and detector system health, quality of local control (including capacity allocation, safety, pedestrian performance, preemption, and advanced control analysis), and quality of progression (including evaluation and optimization)

Geodemographic approaches to identifying U.S. furniture markets

Demand for household furniture is shaped by a multitude of dynamic forces, from the global economic situation to subtle changes in consumer preferences. Correspondingly, the academic disciplines employed to identify, analyze, and predict these forces range from macroeconomics to psychology, and include demography, sociology, geography, and several applied fields. The demographic characteristics of furniture consumers has been a particularly popular area of research, primarily because of the availability of secondary data from various public · agencies. Some of this research is reviewed in a subsequent section of this report

Double Lorentzian Atomic Prism

We present an atomic prism spectrometer that utilizes the steep linear dispersion between two strongly absorbing hyperfine resonances of rubidium. We resolve spectral lines 50 MHz apart and, utilizing a larger part of the available spectrum than only between the two resonances, we spatially separate collinear pump, signal, and idler beams resulting from a four-wave mixing process. Due to the high transparency possible between the resonances, these results have applications in the filtering of narrow-band entangled photons and interaction-free measurements