The effects of motivational climate interventions on psychobiosocial states in high school physical education

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of task- and ego-involving climate manipulations on students’ climate perception and psychobiosocial (PBS) states in a physical education setting. Method: Two subsamples of female students (N = 108, 14-15 years of age) participated for 12 lessons on either a task- or an ego-involving climate intervention as grounded in the TARGET model. Results: At the end of the treatment, the participants of the ego-involved group reported lower scores in perceived task-involving climate and higher scores in perceived ego-involving climate than their peers in the task-involved group. Lower scores in pleasant/functional PBS states and higher scores in unpleasant/dysfunctional PBS states were also observed in the ego-involved group as a consequence of the intervention. Conclusion(s): Findings suggested that teacher’s induced achievement motivational climates can influence students’ perceptions and prompt PBS states consistent with the motivational atmosphere

Long Non-Coding RNAs Modulate Sj\uf6gren's Syndrome Associated Gene Expression and Are Involved in the Pathogenesis of the Disease

Primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSjS) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting exocrine glands; its pathogenesis is still unclear. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are thought to play a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and a comprehensive analysis of lncRNAs expression in pSjS is still lacking. To this aim, the expression of more than 540,000 human transcripts, including those ascribed to more than 50,000 lncRNAs is profiled at the same time, in a cohort of 16 peripheral blood mononuclear cells PBMCs samples (eight pSjS and eight healthy subjects). A complex network analysis is carried out on the global set of molecular interactions among modulated genes and lncRNAs, leading to the identification of reliable lncRNA-miRNA-gene functional interactions. Taking this approach, a few lncRNAs are identified as targeting highly connected genes in the pSjS transcriptome, since they have a major impact on gene modulation in the disease. Such genes are involved in biological processes and molecular pathways crucial in the pathogenesis of pSjS, including immune response, B cell development and function, inflammation, apoptosis, type I and gamma interferon, epithelial cell adhesion and polarization. The identification of deregulated lncRNAs that modulate genes involved in the typical features of the disease provides insight in disease pathogenesis and opens avenues for the design of novel therapeutic strategies

Measurement of grapevine canopy leaf area by using an ultrasonic-based method.

Aim: Measurement of leaf area in grapevine has always been a critical point in researches focused on irrigation management, training systems, source-sink interrelationships and efficiency of spray application to canopies. In this work, we propose the use of ultrasonic sensors as a fast and accurate tool for the estimation of large portions of leaf canopy area. Methods and results: Through outputs of ultrasonic sensors installed on a tractor moving along vineyard rows, we calculated an ultrasonic-based leaf density index that we correlated with three measurements or estimates of canopy area: I) direct measurement of the area of a canopy portion (LAØ), assessed by summing the areas of all the leaves, where each single-leaf area was assessed by regressing the leaf diameter (the maximum width perpendicular to the main rip) against the related leaf area calculated on the basis of a relation between the leaf diameter and the leaf area, previously assessed through an area meter on a 20-leaf sample; II) the point quadrat output (LApq); and III) the canopy leaf area index (LAI) obtained through LAI-2000 (Li-Cor) technology. The measurements were assessed on six cultivars in three replicate rows (8-12 plants per cultivar per row) in a vineyard trained to a vertical trellis system. Conclusion: When we correlated the three independent control parameters with each other, we obtained highly significant correlations between LApq and LAØ, but less significant correlations between these two and LAI-2000 outputs. Also, the correlations between ultrasonic outputsoutputs and LAØ and LApq were significant, with R2 ranging between 0.84 and 0.85. On the contrary, no significant correlation was found between ultrasonic outputs and LAI-2000 outputs. These results were obtained by averaging all the values belonging to each replicated cultivar (10.5 m along the row, i.e., twelve contiguous vines); on the contrary, when the analysis was done over a shorter distance (3.5 m, i.e., four contiguous vines), the reliability of the ultrasonic-based method decreased. Significance and impact of the study: These results point to the ultrasonic technology as a powerful tool to estimate large-scale leaf canopy area, with potential applications in precision farming. At the moment, however, the limitation of this approach is the requirement of reference values for leaf area (e.g., assessed by point quadrat) to obtain absolute and not only relative outputs. With this application we can quantify, in a few hours, the canopy of a whole vineyard, in order to analyze different vegetation zones or to follow canopy development

A developmental outlook on the role of cognition and emotions in youth volleyball and artistic gymnastics

Developmental and cognitive psychology recently started to take an interest in the sports domain, exploring the role of either cognitive functions or emotions in youth sport. However, to the extent that cognition and emotions are inextricably linked, studying them jointly from a developmental perspective could inform on their interplay in determining performance in different sports. This research examined the role of general cognitive abilities, attentional style, and emotions (controlling for age and experience), in predicting performance in youth volleyball and artistic gymnastics. A total of 218 female participants, of which 114 volleyball players and 104 artistic gymnasts (11-17 years old) were administered two measures of working memory and six measures of executive functions (namely inhibition, updating, and shifting). They also completed an attentional style and an emotion-related questionnaire. For each volleyball player, an individual performance index based on every gesture performed during the games and controlled for the team performance was computed. As a measure of gymnasts' performance, scores in 2017-2018 competitions were used. Regression analysis showed that the main predictor of the volleyball players' performance (R-2 = 0.23) was a working memory-updating factor (ss = 0.45, p = 0.001), together with experience (ss = 0.29, p = 0.030) and high-arousal unpleasant emotions (ss = 0.30, p = 0.029), which positively predicted performance. Experience (ss = 0.30, p = 0.011), age (ss = -0.036, p = 0.005) and high-arousal unpleasant emotions (ss = -0.27, p = 0.030) were the predictors of gymnasts' performance (R-2 = 0.25). These results represent a first step in understanding if and how youth female athletes of open- and closed-skills sports rely on different psychological abilities. This line of research could offer insight to practitioners regarding which psychological abilities could be more relevant to train depending on the type of sport

Lactobacilli extracellular vesicles: potential postbiotics to support the vaginal microbiota homeostasis

Background: Lactobacillus species dominate the vaginal microflora performing a first-line defense against vaginal infections. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by lactobacilli are considered mediators of their beneficial effects affecting cellular communication, homeostasis, microbial balance, and host immune system pathways. Up to now, very little is known about the role played by Lactobacillus EVs in the vaginal microenvironment, and mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. Results: Here, we hypothesized that EVs can mediate lactobacilli beneficial effects to the host by modulating the vaginal microbiota colonization. We recovered and characterized EVs produced by two vaginal strains, namely Lactobacillus crispatus BC5 and Lactobacillus gasseri BC12. EVs were isolated by ultracentrifugation and physically characterized by Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis (NTA) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). EVs protein and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) content was also evaluated. We explored the role of EVs on bacterial adhesion and colonization, using a cervical cell line (HeLa) as an in vitro model. Specifically, we evaluated the effect of EVs on the adhesion of both vaginal beneficial lactobacilli and opportunistic pathogens (i.e., Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, and Enterococcus faecalis). We demonstrated that EVs from L. crispatus BC5 and L. gasseri BC12 significantly enhanced the cellular adhesion of all tested lactobacilli, reaching the maximum stimulation effect on strains belonging to L. crispatus species (335% and 269% of average adhesion, respectively). At the same time, EVs reduced the adhesion of all tested pathogens, being EVs from L. gasseri BC12 the most efficient. Conclusions: Our observations suggest for the first time that EVs released by symbiotic Lactobacillus strains favor healthy vaginal homeostasis by supporting the colonization of beneficial species and preventing pathogens attachment. This study reinforces the concept of EVs as valid postbiotics and opens the perspective of developing postbiotics from vaginal strains to maintain microbiota homeostasis and promote women’s health