A longitudinal examination of coach and peer motivational climates in youth sport: Implications for moral attitudes, well-being, and behavioral investment.

Embedded in achievement goal theory (Ames, 1992; Meece, Anderman & Anderman, 2006), this study examined how perceptions of coach and peer motivational climate in youth sport predicted moral attitudes, emotional well-being, and indices of behavioral investment in a sample of British adolescents competing in regional leagues. Adopting a longitudinal perspective, measures were taken at the middle and the end of a sport season, as well as at the beginning of the following season. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that perceptions of task-involving peer and coach climates were predictive of more adaptive outcomes compared to perceptions of ego-involving peer and coach climates. Predictive effects differed as a function of time and outcome variable under investigation. The results indicate the importance of considering peer influence in addition to coach influence when examining motivational climate in youth sport

Psychological Need Thwarting in the Sport Context: Assessing the Darker Side of Athletic Experience

Research in self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002) has shown that satisfac­tion of autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs in sport contexts is associated with enhanced engagement, performance, and well-being. This article outlines the initial development of a multidimensional measure designed to assess psychologi­cal need thwarting, an under-studied area of conceptual and practical importance. Study 1 generated a pool of items designed to tap the negative experiential state that occurs when athletes perceive their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness to be actively undermined. Study 2 tested the factorial structure of the questionnaire using confirmatory factor analysis. The supported model comprised 3 factors, which represented the hypothesized interrelated dimensions of need thwarting. The model was refined and cross-validated using an independent sample in Study 3. Overall, the psychological need thwarting scale (PNTS) demonstrated good content, factorial, and predictive validity, as well as internal consistency and invariance across gender, sport type, competitive level, and competitive experi­ence. The conceptualization of psychological need thwarting is discussed, and suggestions are made regarding the use of the PNTS in research pertaining to the darker side of sport participation

Self-determination theory and diminished functioning: the role of interpersonal control and psychological need thwarting

Drawing from self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci, 2002), three studies explored the social-environmental conditions that satisfy versus thwart psychological needs and, in turn, impact psychological functioning and well/ill-being. In cross-sectional Studies 1 and 2, structural equation modeling analyses supported latent factor models in which need satisfaction was predicted by athletes’ perceptions of autonomy support and need thwarting was better predicted by perceived coach control. Athletes’ perceptions of need satisfaction predicted positive outcomes associated with sport participation (vitality and positive affect) whereas perceptions of need thwarting more consistently predicted maladaptive outcomes (disordered eating, burnout, depression, negative affect, and physical symptoms). In addition, athletes’ perceptions of psychological need thwarting were significantly associated with perturbed physiological arousal (elevated levels of secretory immunoglobulin A) prior to training. The final study involved the completion of a diary and supported the relations observed in the cross-sectional studies at a daily level. These findings have important implications for the operationalization and measurement of interpersonal styles and psychological needs

Thomas-Fermi Approximation for a Condensate with Higher-order Interactions

We consider the ground state of a harmonically trapped Bose-Einstein condensate within the Gross-Pitaevskii theory including the effective-range corrections for a two-body zero-range potential. The resulting non-linear Schr\"odinger equation is solved analytically in the Thomas-Fermi approximation neglecting the kinetic energy term. We present results for the chemical potential and the condensate profiles, discuss boundary conditions, and compare to the usual Thomas-Fermi approach. We discuss several ways to increase the influence of effective-range corrections in experiment with magnetically tunable interactions. The level of tuning required could be inside experimental reach in the near future.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex4 format, 5 figure

Three-body recombination rates near a Feshbach resonance within a two-channel contact interaction model

We calculate the three-body recombination rate into a shallow dimer in a gas of cold bosonic atoms near a Feshbach resonance using a two-channel contact interaction model. The two-channel model naturally describes the variation of the scattering length through the Feshbach resonance and has a finite effective range. We confront the theory with the available experimental data and show that the two-channel model is able to quantitatively describe the existing data. The finite effective range leads to a reduction of the scaling factor between the recombination minima from the universal value of 22.7. The reduction is larger for larger effective ranges or, correspondingly, for narrower Feshbach resonances.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

N-body Efimov states of trapped bosons

We demonstrate the possibility of existence of meta-stable N-body Efimov states in trapped Bose systems with large scattering length. We calculate spectra of trapped systems of N=3,4,5,6, and 7 bosons using a stochastic variational method with a restricted correlated Gaussian basis. For each system the calculations reveal a series of Efimov states where the energy and the r.m.s. radius exhibit the characteristic exponential dependence upon the state number. We also estimate the contribution of these states to the recombination rate of Bose-Einstein condensates

One More Awareness Gap? The Behaviour–Impact Gap Problem

Preceding research has made hardly any attempt to measure the ecological impacts of pro-environmental behaviour in an objective way. Those impacts were rather supposed or calculated. The research described herein scrutinized the ecological impact reductions achieved through pro-environmental behaviour and raised the question how much of a reduction in carbon footprint can be achieved through voluntary action without actually affecting the socio-economic determinants of life. A survey was carried out in order to measure the difference between the ecological footprint of “green” and “brown” consumers. No significant difference was found between the ecological footprints of the two groups—suggesting that individual pro-environmental attitudes and behaviour do not always reduce the environmental impacts of consumption. This finding resulted in the formulation of a new proposition called the BIG (behaviour–impact gap) problem, which is an interesting addition to research in the field of environmental awareness gaps

Ca(2+ )binding to complement-type repeat domains 5 and 6 from the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein

BACKGROUND: The binding of ligands to clusters of complement-type repeat (CR)-domains in proteins of the low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) family is dependent on Ca(2+ )ions. One reason for this cation requirement was identified from the crystal structure data for a CR-domain from the prototypic LDLR, which showed the burial of a Ca(2+ )ion as a necessity for correct folding and stabilization of this protein module. Additional Ca(2+ )binding data to other CR-domains from both LDLR and the LDLR-related protein (LRP) have suggested the presence of a conserved Ca(2+ )cage within CR-domains from this family of receptors that function in endocytosis and signalling. RESULTS: We have previously described the binding of several ligands to a fragment comprising the fifth and the sixth CR-domain (CR56) from LRP, as well as qualitatively described the binding of Ca(2+ )ions to this CR-domain pair. In the present study we have applied the rate dialysis method to measure the affinity for Ca(2+), and show that CR56 binds 2 Ca(2+ )ions with an average affinity of K(D )= 10.6 microM, and there is no indication of additional Ca(2+ )binding sites within this receptor fragment. CONCLUSIONS: Both CR-domains of CR56 bind a single Ca(2+ )ion with an affinity of 10.6 microM within the range of affinities demonstrated for several other CR-domains

Resonant Five-body Recombination in an Ultracold Gas of Bosonic Atoms

We combine theory and experiment to investigate five-body recombination in an ultracold gas of atomic cesium at negative scattering length. A refined theoretical model, in combination with extensive laboratory tunability of the interatomic interactions, enables the five-body resonant recombination rate to be calculated and measured. The position of the new observed recombination feature agrees with a recent theoretical prediction and supports the prediction of a family of universal cluster states at negative $a$ that are tied to an Efimov trimer.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure