Gamification in sport apps: the determinants of users'' motivation

Purpose: Gamification is a tool with great potential to motivate individuals to increase their physical activity. That is why sport apps for mobile devices, such as Nike+ or Strava, have integrated game elements. There is, however, little evidence of gamification''s effectiveness in this field. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to analyze the impact of game elements included in gamified sports'' apps on the satisfaction of basic psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy and relatedness). Similarly, the research analyzes the impact of these needs on autonomous motivation. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve these goals, data were collected from users of gamified sport apps, using an online questionnaire. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Findings: The results showed that interaction in the app with achievement-related game elements satisfied the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness; social-related elements satisfied the need for relatedness; and immersion-related elements satisfied the needs for competence and autonomy. Similarly, satisfaction of the needs for autonomy and relatedness while using the app is crucial to experience autonomous motivation. Practical implications: The findings of this study provide guidelines for practitioners and app developers. Originality/value: Based on self-determination theory, the paper provides new insights into the relationship between game elements included in sport apps and individuals'' basic psychological needs and motivation

Flow and business simulation games: A typology of students

In the context of management training business simulation games are increasingly emerging as pedagogical tools for motivating and engaging players actively in the learning experience. Business simulation games provide opportunities for students to enter the flow state. However, few studies have applied flow theory in this specific context. Using data from a two-wave longitudinal study with a sample of 430 students who played a business simulation game, this research draws on the four-channel model of flow to identify subgroups of students based on their levels of skill and challenge and to analyse the evolution of their optimal experience of flow. In addition, it explores whether students in flow achieve higher learning outcomes; in particular, students’ perceived learning, satisfaction and skills development

Corrigendum: Museomics Unveil the Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Neglected Juan Fernandez Archipelago Megalachne and Podophorus Endemic Grasses and Their Connection With Relict Pampean-Ventanian Fescues

In the original article, there was amistake in Table 1, Figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B and 5, Supplementary Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C and 3, and Supplementary Tables 1 and 2A as published. The name and authorship of Festuca fontqueri St-Yves were misspelled as Festuca fontqueriana (St-Yves) Romo. In addition, the GenBank accession codes of ITS, trnLF and trnTL DNA sequences of Avena fatua, Oryza sativa, Poa alpina, Secale cereale and Triticum aestivum were wrong in Supplementary Table 1. The corrected Table 1, Figures 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B and 5 appear below and corrected Supplementary Figures 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A, 2B, 2C and 3, and Supplementary Tables 1 and 2A are published. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated. © 2021 Moreno-Aguilar, Arnelas, Sánchez-Rodríguez, Viruel and Catalán

Museomics Unveil the Phylogeny and Biogeography of the Neglected Juan Fernandez Archipelago Megalachne and Podophorus Endemic Grasses and Their Connection With Relict Pampean-Ventanian Fescues

Oceanic islands constitute natural laboratories to study plant speciation and biogeographic patterns of island endemics. Juan Fernandez is a southern Pacific archipelago consisting of three small oceanic islands located 600–700 km west of the Chilean coastline. Exposed to current cold seasonal oceanic climate, these 5.8–1 Ma old islands harbor a remarkable endemic flora. All known Fernandezian endemic grass species belong to two genera, Megalachne and Podophorus, of uncertain taxonomic adscription. Classical and modern classifications have placed them either in Bromeae (Bromus), Duthieinae, Aveneae/Poeae, or Loliinae (fine-leaved Festuca); however, none of them have clarified their evolutionary relationships with respect to their closest Festuca relatives. Megalachne includes four species, which are endemic to Masatierra (Robinson Crusoe island) (M. berteroniana and M. robinsoniana) and to Masafuera (Alejandro Selkirk island) (M. masafuerana and M. dantonii). The monotypic Podophorus bromoides is a rare endemic species to Masatierra which is only known from its type locality and is currently considered extinct. We have used museomic approaches to uncover the challenging evolutionary history of these endemic grasses and to infer the divergence and dispersal patterns from their ancestors. Genome skimming data were produced from herbarium samples of M. berteroniana and M. masafuerana, and the 164 years old type specimen of P. bromoides, as well as for a collection of 33 species representing the main broad- and fine-leaved Loliinae lineages. Paired-end reads were successfully mapped to plastomes and nuclear ribosomal cistrons of reference Festuca species and used to reconstruct phylogenetic trees. Filtered ITS and trnTLF sequences from these genomes were further combined with our large Loliinae data sets for accurate biogeographic reconstruction. Nuclear and plastome data recovered a strongly supported fine-leaved Fernandezian clade where Podophorus was resolved as sister to Megalachne. Bayesian divergence dating and dispersal-extinction-cladogenesis range evolution analyses estimated the split of the Fernandezian clade from its ancestral southern American Pampas-Ventanian Loliinae lineage in the Miocene-Pliocene transition, following a long distance dispersal from the continent to the uplifted volcanic palaeo-island of Santa Clara-Masatierra. Consecutive Pliocene-Pleistocene splits and a Masatierra-to-Masafuera dispersal paved the way for in situ speciation of Podophorus and Megalachne taxa

Production of the Superconducting Matching Quadrupoles for the LHC Insertions

The LHC insertions are equipped with individually powered superconducting quadrupole assemblies comprising several quadrupole magnets and orbit correctors, and range in length from 5.3 m to 11.3 m. Following the initial experience in the assembly of the pre-series cold masses, the production has advanced well and about half of the total of 82 units has been produced at CERN. In this paper we present the experience gained in steering the cold mass production, in particular with respect to the alignment requirements. We also report on the field quality and other measurements made for assuring the quality of the quadrupoles

Mouse cytotoxic T cell-derived granzyme B activates the mitochondrial cell death pathway in a bim-dependent fashion

Cytotoxic T cells (Tc) use perforin and granzyme B (gzmB) to kill virus-infected cells and cancer cells. Recent evidence suggests that human gzmB primarily induces apoptosis via the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway by either cleaving Bid or activating Bim leading to the activation of Bak/Bax and subsequent generation of active caspase-3. In contrast, mouse gzmB is thought to predominantly induce apoptosis by directly processing pro-caspase-3. However, in certain mouse cell types gzmB-mediated apoptosis mainly occurs via the mitochondrial pathway. To investigate whether Bim is involved under the latter conditions, we have now employed ex vivo virus-immune mouse Tc that selectively kill by using perforin and gzmB (gzmB+Tc) as effector cells and wild type as well as Bim- or Bak/Bax-deficient spontaneously (3T9) or virus-(SV40) transformed mouse embryonic fibroblast cells as targets. We show that gzmB+Tc-mediated apoptosis (phosphatidylserine translocation, mitochondrial depolarization, cytochrome c release, and caspase-3 activation) was severely reduced in 3T9 cells lacking either Bim or both Bak and Bax. This outcome was related to the ability of Tc cells to induce the degradation of Mcl-1 and Bcl-XL, the anti-apoptotic counterparts of Bim. In contrast, gzmB+Tc-mediated apoptosis was not affected in SV40-transformed mouse embryonic fibroblast cells lacking Bak/Bax. The data provide evidence that Bim participates in mouse gzmB+Tc-mediated apoptosis of certain targets by activating the mitochondrial pathway and suggest that the mode of cell death depends on the target cell. Our results suggest that the various molecular events leading to transformation and/or immortalization of cells have an impact on their relative resistance to the multiple gzmB+Tc-induced death pathways

Evolutionary dynamics of the repeatome explains contrasting differences in genome sizes and hybrid and polyploid origins of grass loliinae lineages

The repeatome is composed of diverse families of repetitive DNA that keep signatures on the historical events that shaped the evolution of their hosting species. The cold seasonal Loliinae subtribe includes worldwide distributed taxa, some of which are the most important forage and lawn species (fescues and ray-grasses). The Loliinae are prone to hybridization and polyploidization. It has been observed a striking two-fold difference in genome size between the broad-leaved (BL) and fine-leaved (FL) Loliinae diploids and a general trend of genome reduction of some high polyploids. We have used genome skimming data to uncover the composition, abundance, and potential phylogenetic signal of repetitive elements across 47 representatives of the main Loliinae lineages. Independent and comparative analyses of repetitive sequences and of 5S rDNA loci were performed for all taxa under study and for four evolutionary Loliinae groups Loliinae, Broad-leaved (BL), Fine-leaved (FL), and Schedonorus lineages]. Our data showed that the proportion of the genome covered by the repeatome in the Loliinae species was relatively high (average ~ 51.8%), ranging from high percentages in some diploids (68.7%) to low percentages in some high-polyploids (30.7%), and that changes in their genome sizes were likely caused by gains or losses in their repeat elements. Ty3-gypsy Retand and Ty1-copia Angela retrotransposons were the most frequent repeat families in the Loliinae although the relatively more conservative Angela repeats presented the highest correlation of repeat content with genome size variation and the highest phylogenetic signal of the whole repeatome. By contrast, Athila retrotransposons presented evidence of recent proliferations almost exclusively in the Lolium clade. The repeatome evolutionary networks showed an overall topological congruence with the nuclear 35S rDNA phylogeny and a geographic-based structure for some lineages. The evolution of the Loliinae repeatome suggests a plausible scenario of recurrent allopolyploidizations followed by diploidizations that generated the large genome sizes of BL diploids as well as large genomic rearrangements in highly hybridogenous lineages that caused massive repeatome and genome contractions in the Schedonorus and Aulaxyper polyploids. Our study has contributed to disentangling the impact of the repeatome dynamics on the genome diversification and evolution of the Loliinae grasses. Copyright © 2022 Moreno-Aguilar, Inda, Sánchez-Rodríguez, Arnelas and Catalán

Past climate changes facilitated homoploid speciation in three mountain spiny fescues (Festuca, Poaceae)

Apart from the overwhelming cases of allopolyploidization, the impact of speciation through homoploid hybridization is becoming more relevant than previously thought. Much less is known, however, about the impact of climate changes as a driven factor of speciation. To investigate these issues, we selected Festuca picoeuropeana, an hypothetical natural hybrid between the diploid species F. eskia and F. gautieri that occurs in two different mountain ranges (Cantabrian Mountains and Pyrenees) separated by more than 400 km. To unravel the outcomes of this mode of speciation and the impact of climate during speciation we used a multidisciplinary approach combining genome size and chromosome counts, data from an extensive nuclear genotypic analysis, plastid sequences and ecological niche models (ENM). Our results show that the same homoploid hybrid was originated independently in the two mountain ranges, being currently isolated from both parents and producing viable seeds. Parental species had the opportunity to contact as early as 21000 years ago although niche divergence occurs nowadays as result of a climate-driven shift. A high degree of niche divergence was observed between the hybrid and its parents and no recent introgression or backcrossed hybrids were detected, supporting the current presence of reproductive isolation barriers between these species

Features of the Extension of a Statistical Measure of Complexity to Continuous Systems

We discuss some aspects of the extension to continuous systems of a statistical measure of complexity introduced by Lopez-Ruiz, Mancini and Calbet (LMC) [Phys. Lett. A 209 (1995) 321]. In general, the extension of a magnitude from the discrete to the continuous case is not a trivial process and requires some choice. In the present study, several possibilities appear available. One of them is examined in detail. Some interesting properties desirable for any magnitude of complexity are discovered on this particular extension.Comment: 22 pages, 0 figure