An examination of newcomer integration processes in sport teams: A socialization perspective

In highly interdependent groups, the ability to swiftly and successfully integrate newcomers is an important component to maintaining functional team dynamics. The current dissertation explored how sport teams structure the nature and timing of events that newcomers are put through by implementing specific socialization tactics. In the first manuscript, a qualitative study was initiated to garner descriptive insights into the tactics that are used to socialize athletes into sport teams. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with coaches, veteran athletes, and newcomer athletes (i.e., individuals in their first year as a team member). Participant insights were thematically analyzed and compared to existing theoretical accounts of organizational socialization processes. Key processes involved establishing congruent role expectations between incoming athletes and group leaders. Further, socialization tactics balanced individually tailored role communication with efforts to foster social connections within the group. In the second manuscript, a questionnaire was developed to assess individuals’ perceptions of the socialization tactics used in their team. Across four studies, think aloud interviews (N = 8), an expert panel review (N = 6), two cross-sectional tests of the factor structure (Nstudy 2 = 197; Nstudy 3 = 460), and a two-wave correlational design (Nstudy 4= 194) were used to evaluate the construct validity and reliability of the Sport Team Socialization Tactics Questionnaire (STSTQ). Collectively, these efforts helped to identify a three dimensional model underlying the STSTQ, and provided preliminary evidence for its validity and reliability. This dissertation offers insight into the processes through which newcomers are integrated into team sport environments. Moreover, the STSTQ will augment future efforts to systematically examine the individual-level and group-level consequences associated with the socialization tactics implemented in sport teams

Improving the numerical stability of fast matrix multiplication

Fast algorithms for matrix multiplication, namely those that perform asymptotically fewer scalar operations than the classical algorithm, have been considered primarily of theoretical interest. Apart from Strassen's original algorithm, few fast algorithms have been efficiently implemented or used in practical applications. However, there exist many practical alternatives to Strassen's algorithm with varying performance and numerical properties. Fast algorithms are known to be numerically stable, but because their error bounds are slightly weaker than the classical algorithm, they are not used even in cases where they provide a performance benefit. We argue in this paper that the numerical sacrifice of fast algorithms, particularly for the typical use cases of practical algorithms, is not prohibitive, and we explore ways to improve the accuracy both theoretically and empirically. The numerical accuracy of fast matrix multiplication depends on properties of the algorithm and of the input matrices, and we consider both contributions independently. We generalize and tighten previous error analyses of fast algorithms and compare their properties. We discuss algorithmic techniques for improving the error guarantees from two perspectives: manipulating the algorithms, and reducing input anomalies by various forms of diagonal scaling. Finally, we benchmark performance and demonstrate our improved numerical accuracy

The Practitioner\u27s Corner: An exploration of municipal active living charter development and advocacy

Background: Numerous municipal active living-­‐related charters have been adopted to promote physical activity in Canada throughout the past decade. Despite this trend, there are few published critical examinations of the process through which charters are developed and used. Purpose: Thus, the purpose of this study was to establish greater understanding of active living charter development and advocacy. Methods: Semi-­‐structured interviews were conducted with eight primary contributors to different active living-­‐related charters across Ontario, Canada. Interview questions explored participants’ experiences developing and advocating for an active living charter. Interviews were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Results and Conclusions: Participants consistently described a process whereby an impetus triggered the development of a charter, which was subsequently adopted by regional or municipal council. Continued advocacy to develop awareness of the charter and to promote desired outcomes in the community was valued and the capacity of the working group as well as the local political context played pivotal roles in determining how the charter was implemented. Outcomes were, however, only objectively evaluated in one case that was described – evaluation being a process that many participants thought was omitted in regard to their own charter. This work provides practical guidance for health professionals developing regional active living charters as a component of broader advocacy efforts

Gossypoglossia: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Pragmatics of Dialogue

Even the smallest conversational turns can index macro-contexts of social inequality, racialization, and capital; fictional narrative, coordinating the particular and the global, seems well positioned to represent these scalar dynamics. But how exactly does the textual medium of the novel link the particularities of voice with the politics of race? Scholarship on this question has often turned either to the representation of vernacular speech (e.g., dialect) or to free indirect discourse, the latter as a “double-voiced” mode that linguistically concretizes Du Bois’s influential theory of black double consciousness. This essay draws an alternative approach from Du Bois’s fictional practice, highlighting the affinities between his use of dialogue in The Quest of the Silver Fleece (1911) and recent work in linguistic anthropology. In the turn-of-the-century US South represented in Quest, the functions of conversation are intricately connected with the production and exchange of cotton—otherwise known as gossypium hirsutum, giving the essay a key term, gossypoglossia, for describing these connections between a racialized global economy and particularized forms of talk. To attend to those forms is to locate theoretical resources in the very thing that critics, often dismissing Du Bois’s dialogue as unrealistic or discordant, have found least compelling about his fiction. For Du Bois, the essay argues, fictional dialogue is not only (nor primarily) a site for the realist representation of conversation, but also a speculative mode in which the unspoken metapragmatic contexts of the “color-line” can be rendered explicit, unfamiliar, and subject to contestation

Mapping the Traits Desired in Followers and Leaders onto Fundamental Dimensions of Social Evaluation

We applied the social evaluation framework to investigate the traits desired in an “ideal” follower, which were compared to the traits desired in an “ideal” leader. Across three studies and five samples, both differences and similarities in role-specific preferences mapped onto the Vertical-Horizontal dimensions of the social evaluation framework in ways that aligned with the demands of each role. Traits higher on the Horizontal-morality facet (e.g., cooperative, dutiful) and lower on the Vertical-assertiveness facet (e.g., confident, ambitious) differentiated ideal follower preferences from ideal leader preferences. Focusing on the traits most strongly desired in relation to each role, traits that supported social coordination and collective goal attainment (i.e., work ethic, cooperativeness) were prioritized in relation to ideal followers, whereas intelligence was prioritized for ideal leaders. Trustworthiness was equally valued across both roles. Moreover, we differentiated between necessary and luxury traits by adjusting the budget individuals could allocate towards the desired traits. Investments in necessary versus luxury traits further supported the social evaluation framework and highlighted the need to account for the facet-level distinctions within the Vertical (assertiveness, ability) and Horizontal (morality, friendliness) dimensions. Further, these findings were found to be robust across manipulations (e.g., the target’s gender and hierarchical level)

Prospectus, April 25, 2019

STUDENT WINS BOSTON MARATHON WHEELCHAIR DIVISION!, Humans of Parkland: Mo Belakhoua, The Notre Dame Fire: A Historical Tragedy, 5 fun things to do in the Spring!, Final Examinations-Spring semester, 2019, Krazy Noodle Massacre, No. 5 Cobras Earn Series Win Against No. 16 Heartlandhttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2019/1012/thumbnail.jp

Prospectus, April 25, 2019

STUDENT WINS BOSTON MARATHON WHEELCHAIR DIVISION!, Humans of Parkland: Mo Belakhoua, The Notre Dame Fire: A Historical Tragedy, 5 fun things to do in the Spring!, Final Examinations-Spring semester, 2019, Krazy Noodle Massacre, No. 5 Cobras Earn Series Win Against No. 16 Heartlandhttps://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2019/1012/thumbnail.jp

Immune recovery among HIV-infected patients in northwestern Tanzania after 2 years of anti-retroviral therapy use: a retrospective cohort study

 Background: The use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is associated with significant and sustained decrease in the viral RNA levels that allows the immune system to recover. The extent of this immune recovery depends on the baseline CD4 count. Evidence on the extent of immune recovery in patients with advanced HIV from resource limited settings is scarce. The objective of this study was to determine immune recovery in a cohort of HIV infected outpatients after using ART for a period of 2 years. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in an outpatient HIV clinic at Bugando Medical Centre in northwestern Tanzania. CD4+ T-cell counts for HIV-positive adults at the time of enrolment were measured and retrospectively followed up during ART eligibility screening process prior to initiation of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. We then compared the CD4+ T-cell counts at baseline and that during the enrolment. Results: A total of 238 patients files were screened for enrolment. Of the 238 patients, 171 (71.8%) fulfilled the criteria and were enrolled for the study. The lack of participation was due to death 17 (7.1%), lost to follow-up 32 (13.4%) and refusal 18 (9.5%). Of the 171 patients, the median CD4 count at the time of ART initiation was 153 cells/µl [Interquartile range (IQR): 78 – 199], 164 (95.9%) had increased their CD4 cells count, with 74.3% having an increase of more than 150 cells/µl. Only 8 (4.7%) patients had a decline of CD4 cell count. The median CD4 cells count after a 2-year follow up was significantly higher (396 [IQR: 295 – 567]) than at baseline (153 [IQR: 78 – 199]) cells/ul; p-value <0.0001). Conclusion: The CD4 cells count increased significantly after a follow up period of 2 years after ART use in this cohort. Early diagnosis and ART initiation could therefore improve outcomes in HIV-infected patients in resource limited settings.