Perceived control and hedonic tone dynamics during performance in elite shooters

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the individuals' dynamics of perceived control and hedonic tone over time, with respect to the 4 performance states as conceptualized within the multiaction plan (MAP) model. We expected to find idiosyncratic and differentiated trends over time in the scores of perceived control and hedonic tone, typified by fluctuations among 2 optimal and 2 suboptimal types of processing during performance. Method: Ten elite-level shooters participated in the study. They were asked to identify the most relevant, idiosyncratic core component of their shooting action and perform 120 shots distanced 10 m from the target. Subjective accounts of perceived control and hedonic tone of the core component of action were assessed prior to and after each shot. We used a probabilistic approach to derive the 4 performance categories according to 2 × 2 interactions of perceived control and performance and hedonic tone and performance. Results: Logistic ordinal regression analysis enabled the identification of 4 idiosyncratic performance types for each athlete with respect to perceived control and hedonic tone intensity scores. Within- and between-individual differences in intensity bandwidth and probability levels were apparent across the 4 performance types. Changes among 4 types of processing were also observed during performance. Conclusion: Consistent with the MAP model conceptualization, the findings provided support for the different patterns of perceived control and hedonic tone intensity scores during performance. The results suggest applied arguments for using action- and emotion-centered strategies to help athletes in reaching and sustaining optimal performance states

Interpersonal emotion regulation in team sport: mechanisms and reasons to regulate teammates' emotions examined

The interpersonal dimension of emotion regulation in the field of sport has lately received a burgeoning interest. Nevertheless, how and why athletes regulate their teammates' emotions in competitive setting remains unclear. Across two studies within a team sport context, we uncovered athletes' mechanisms for, and reasons to regulate teammates' emotions during competition. In Study 1, we investigated how rugby (N = 22 males) players' emotions were self- and interpersonally regulated during games. Findings revealed the emergence of a continuum of self-involvement in the regulatory processes, wherein two forms of emotion regulation co-existed: self-regulation (total self-involvement) and interpersonal regulation, which included co-regulation (partial self-involvement; regulation with others) and extrinsic regulation (no self-involvement; regulation by/of others). In Study 2, we examined the motives that lead rugby (n = 30 males) players to use interpersonal extrinsic regulation strategies during games. Interview data indicated that players regulated teammates' emotions for altruistic reasons (to help a teammate), egoistic reasons (for one's own benefits), or both. Overall, our findings further knowledge to better understand interpersonal emotion regulation within competitive team sport contexts. From an applied perspective, findings highlight the role that both individual goals and ego involvement may play in optimising efficient interpersonal regulation during competition at team level

Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

In this study, we tested the matching ypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, GroupTreatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance

Evaluation des besoins et des activités. Problématique de leur localisation. Critères, méthodes et applications pour la révision des plans de secteur. Problématique pour la mise en oeuvre des zones d'aménagement différé

Rapport final de la subvention 2001, Cinquième Volum

Mathematical modeling of the metastatic process

Mathematical modeling in cancer has been growing in popularity and impact since its inception in 1932. The first theoretical mathematical modeling in cancer research was focused on understanding tumor growth laws and has grown to include the competition between healthy and normal tissue, carcinogenesis, therapy and metastasis. It is the latter topic, metastasis, on which we will focus this short review, specifically discussing various computational and mathematical models of different portions of the metastatic process, including: the emergence of the metastatic phenotype, the timing and size distribution of metastases, the factors that influence the dormancy of micrometastases and patterns of spread from a given primary tumor.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, Revie

Mental fortitude training: An evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success

Drawing on the body of knowledge in this area, this article presents an evidence-based approach to developing psychological resilience for sustained success. To this end, the narrative is divided into three main sections. The first section describes the construct of psychological resilience and explains what it is. The second section outlines and discusses a mental fortitude training™ program for aspiring performers. The third section provides recommendations for practitioners implementing this program. It is hoped that this article will facilitate a holistic and systematic approach to developing resilience for sustained success

The sport value framework - a new fundamental logic for analyses in sport management

Research question: Sports economic theory and management models have frequently been criticised for not sufficiently explaining phenomena in sport management. This article addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual framework that can be used to understand sport management problems and derive appropriate strategies. Research methods: The framework proposed in this conceptual article has been developed through a critical review of existing literature on sport management and theoretical considerations based on the service-dominant logic. Results and findings: The sport value framework (SVF) provides 10 foundational premises on value co-creation in sport management and suggests three levels for its analysis. The main contribution is a new and better theoretical basis for explaining phenomena in sport management compared with traditional sport economic thinking. Moreover, the SVF provides guidance in structuring research in sport management. Implications: The framework encourages researchers and practitioners to rethink their strategies by applying a different logic that captures the complexity of sport management. © 2014 © 2014 European Association for Sport Management

Transgenerational Stress Memory Is Not a General Response in Arabidopsis

Adverse conditions can trigger DNA damage as well as DNA repair responses in plants. A variety of stress factors are known to stimulate homologous recombination, the most accurate repair pathway, by increasing the concentration of necessary enzymatic components and the frequency of events. This effect has been reported to last into subsequent generations not exposed to the stress. To establish a basis for a genetic analysis of this transgenerational stress memory, a broad range of treatments was tested for quantitative effects on homologous recombination in the progeny. Several Arabidopsis lines, transgenic for well-established recombination traps, were exposed to 10 different physical and chemical stress treatments, and scored for the number of somatic homologous recombination (SHR) events in the treated generation as well as in the two subsequent generations that were not treated. These numbers were related to the expression level of genes involved in homologous recombination and repair. SHR was enhanced after the majority of treatments, confirming previous data and adding new effective stress types, especially interference with chromatin. Compounds that directly modify DNA stimulated SHR to values exceeding previously described induction rates, concomitant with an induction of genes involved in SHR. In spite of the significant stimulation in the stressed generations, the two subsequent non-treated generations only showed a low and stochastic increase in SHR that did not correlate with the degree of stimulation in the parental plants. Transcripts coding for SHR enzymes generally returned to pre-treatment levels in the progeny. Thus, transgenerational effects on SHR frequency are not a general response to abiotic stress in Arabidopsis and may require special conditions

Cancer recurrence times from a branching process model

As cancer advances, cells often spread from the primary tumor to other parts of the body and form metastases. This is the main cause of cancer related mortality. Here we investigate a conceptually simple model of metastasis formation where metastatic lesions are initiated at a rate which depends on the size of the primary tumor. The evolution of each metastasis is described as an independent branching process. We assume that the primary tumor is resected at a given size and study the earliest time at which any metastasis reaches a minimal detectable size. The parameters of our model are estimated independently for breast, colorectal, headneck, lung and prostate cancers. We use these estimates to compare predictions from our model with values reported in clinical literature. For some cancer types, we find a remarkably wide range of resection sizes such that metastases are very likely to be present, but none of them are detectable. Our model predicts that only very early resections can prevent recurrence, and that small delays in the time of surgery can significantly increase the recurrence probability.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, 4 table