A longitudinal investigation of bidirectional and time-dependent interrelationships between testosterone and training motivation in an elite rugby environment

In sport, testosterone has been positioned as a substrate for motivation with both directional and time dependencies. However, evidence is scarce when considering the complexities of competitive sport and no work has explicitly modeled these dependencies. To address these gaps, we investigated the bidirectional and time-dependent interrelationships between testosterone and training motivation in an elite rugby environment. Thirty-six male athletes were monitored across training weeks before and after eight international rugby matches. Pre-breakfast measures of salivary testosterone and training motivation (1–10 rating) were taken on training, competition, and recovery days (up to 40 tests). Using a continuous-time (CT) model, within-person estimates of autoregressive effects (persistence) and cross-lagged effects (relationships) were derived. A stronger, more persistent temporal association was identified for testosterone than for motivation. Cross-lagged effects verified that training motivation was positively related to testosterone at latter time points (p < 0.001). Discrete-time analyses revealed a non-linear association; increasing in strength from a zero-time lag to peak after 2.83 days (standardized effect = 0.25), before dissipation over longer lagged intervals. The testosterone relationship with ensuing training motivation was also positive, but non-significant. Match effects also appeared (p < 0.001) with a predicted decline in training motivation, but a rise in testosterone, at match onset. In summary, a positive association emerged between within-person fluctuations in self-appraised motivation to train and testosterone concentration in an elite rugby environment. The lagged, non-linear nature of this relationship and match predictions on both outcomes support, and extend, theoretical models linking testosterone and competitive behaviors

Technology And Online Education: Models For Change

This paper contends that technology changes advance online education.  A number of mobile computing and transformative technologies will be examined and incorporated into a descriptive study.  The object of the study will be to design innovative mobile awareness models seeking to understand technology changes for mobile devices and how they can be used for online learning.  These models will take information from technology vicissitudes, online education systems, along with mobile device literature, and build a picture of past, current, and future trends for online learning.  The application of such an approach should lead to a better definition of mobile awareness requirements and greater online visibility relative to selection of the appropriate model criteria and requirements.  The models will identify online problem definitions, hardware and software advancements, analysis mobile objectives, and the selection of evaluation criteria and requirements to design online mobile awareness.  By using technology vicissitudes, online education systems, and mobile device variables that are found in the literature, models can be designed to achieve awareness for online learning and changing technologies.  These futuristic models can help to identify the appropriate techniques and methods to be used in facilitating the overall effort in future mobile devices for online learning.  Hopefully, seamless technology integration and borderless networks for mobile awareness will motivate and benefit all future online teaching and learning groups

Are Measured Differences Between the Formants of Men, Women and Children Due to F0 Differences?

Formant measurements show sex and age differences in the formant patterns of a single vowel category. Comparisons of the formant frequency values of men, women and children indicate low, middle and high values, respectively (Chiba & Kajiyama 1941, Potter & Steinberg 1950, Peterson & Barney 1952). The differences are found for all vowel categories, and they have generally been interpreted as a consequence of different vocal tract siz