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Negative schizotypy is associated with impaired episodic but not semantic coding in a conditional learning task
Get PDFContext processing deficits associated with negative schizotypy may reflect variation in semantic or episodic declarative coding. Healthy volunteers (n = 166) were grouped on the basis of their introvertive anhedonia and unusual experiences scores on the Oxford and Liverpool Inventory of Feelings and Experiences (OLIFE). Discrimination learning was measured using a commodity-trading task that required participants to predict profit (+) and loss (−) outcomes. Two forms of a biconditional discrimination (AX+, BY+, AY−, BX−) were employed. With fixed locations (n = 84) A & B were presented on the left, X & Y were on the right, with variable locations (n = 82) A, B, X, & Y occurred randomly in left and right locations. Negative schizotypy reflected the expression of a cognitive phenotype that impaired episodic (configural) representation formation. People with many negative schizotypal traits will struggle to learn when their choices are guided by multiple stimuli in inconsistent locations
Comparison of Drop Jump and Tuck Jump Knee Joint Kinematics in Elite Male Youth Soccer Players: Implications for Injury Risk Screening
Get PDFContext:
Despite the popularity of jump-landing tasks being used to identify injury risk factors, minimal data currently exist examining differences in knee kinematics during commonly used bilateral jumping tasks. This is especially the case for rebounding-based protocols involving young athletes.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to compare the frontal plane projection angle (FPPA) during the drop vertical jump (DVJ) and tuck jump assessment (TJA) in a cohort of elite male youth soccer players of varying maturity status.
Methods:
A total of 57 male youth soccer players from an English championship soccer club participated in the study. Participants performed three trials of the DVJ and TJA, during which movement was recorded with two-dimensional video cameras. FPPA for both right (FPPA-r) and left (FPPA-l) legs, with values <180º indicative of medial knee displacement.
Results:
On a whole-group level, FPPA-r (172.7 ± 7.4 º versus 177.2 ± 11.7 º; p < 0.05; ES = 0.46) and FPPA-l (173.4 ± 7.3 º versus 179.2 ± 11.0 º; p < 0.05; ES = 0.62) was significantly greater for both limbs in the TJA compared to the DVJ; however, these differences were less consistent when grouped by maturity status. FPPA-r during the TJA was significantly and moderately greater in the circa-PHV group compared to the post-PHV cohorts (169.4 ± 6.4 º versus 175.3 ± 7.8 º; p < 0.05; ES = 0.49). Whole group data showed moderate relationships for FPPA-r and FPPA-l between the TJA and DVJ; however, stronger relationships were shown in circa and post-PHV players compared to the pre-PHV cohort.
Conclusions:
Considering that the TJA exposed players to a larger FPPA and was sensitive to between-group differences in FPPA-r, the TJA could be viewed as a more suitable screen for identifying FPPA in young male soccer players
Bruce Lee and the invention of Jeet Kune Do: The Theory of Martial Creation
Get PDFThis article argues that creativity in martial arts can be linked to moments of crisis. It does so on the basis of a comparative analysis of Bruce Lee’s martial artistry (specifically his creation of Jeet Kune Do) in relation to the earlier development of Bartitsu and the more recent example of Xilam. All three of these arts were founded by experienced practitioners who took personal and social crises as stimulus for creativity. Lee’s own crises can be understood as: (i) separation, in terms of his geographical distance from his wing chun kung fu school; (ii) fitness, in terms of his dissatisfaction with his physical condition following a now (in)famous duel, and (iii) injury, in terms of his later chronic back injury, which allowed for the technical, supplementary and philosophical basis for his personal way towards combative excellence and overall human development. On the basis of comparing these three cases, I propose a theory of martial creation, which I invite other martial arts scholars to test and explore further
The Consequences of Choking in Sport: A Constructive or Destructive Experience?
Get PDFThrough an empirical phenomenological methodology, the study examined the short- and long-term consequences of choking in sport. Eleven intermediate golfers (10 male, 1 female; age 23–50 years, M = 34.6, SD = 8.9) with handicaps of 6–18 (M = 10.91, SD = 3.98) completed phenomenological interviews that explored the perceived psychological impact of their choking episode(s). While the reported short-term consequences were negative (i.e., collapse in performance standards, limited attention/emotional control, and negative affect), most participants thought the long-term impact of choking was constructive, for it encouraged adversity-related growth. However, a small number of golfers identified the long-term consequences as highly destructive, including a loss of self-confidence, withdrawal from the sport, and, in 1 case, lowered self-worth. The findings of the study extend the choking literature by informing strategies that can be used to encourage constructive, rather than destructive, consequences from any choking episode that athletes may experience
Deprescribing of Medicines in Care Homes - A Five-Year Evaluation of Primary Care Pharmacist Practices
Get PDF(1) Background: This project evaluates the outcomes of a novel pharmacy-led model of deprescribing unnecessary medications for care home patients. A feasibility study was conducted in 2015 to explore exposure to inappropriate polypharmacy in patients residing in care homes over a one-year timescale. The aim of this study was to present the results of this ongoing service evaluation over a five-year period. (2) Methods: Data collection and risk assessment tools developed during the feasibility study were used to measure the prevalence, nature, and impact of deprescribing interventions by primary care pharmacists over a five-year period. A random sample of approximately 5% of safety interventions were screened twice yearly by the pharmacist leads as part of standard practice. (3) Results: Over a period of five years there were 23,955 interventions (mean 2.3 per patient) reported from the 10,405 patient reviews undertaken. Deprescribing accounted for 53% of total estimated financial drug savings, equating to £431,493; and 16.1% of all interventions were related to safety. (4) Conclusions: Medication reviews in care homes, undertaken by primary care pharmacists who are linked to GP practices, generate a wide range of interventions commonly involving deprescribing, which contributes significantly to the continuous optimisation of the prescribing and monitoring of medicines
‘It's a whole cultural shift’: Understanding Learning in Cultural Commissioning from a Qualitative Process Evaluation
Get PDFThis qualitative process evaluation investigated learning from stakeholders (patient representatives, art managers/artists, clinicians and commissioners) involved in a co-produced cultural commissioning grant scheme. The scheme was devised as a mechanism to foster learning between, and within, stakeholder groups and to embed co-production in decision-making in clinical commissioning. The evaluation included respondents (n=36) from four stakeholder groups in three sequential stages. Findings identified themes centred on outcomes, learning, co-production, and cultural and political change, specifically that stakeholder roles need to be clearly defined and understood and that co-production takes a significant time commitment. Co-production in innovative projects is both complex and challenging. However, despite this, involving stakeholders has benefits for service design and the clinical commissioning process
Organizational learning, authentic leadership and individual-level resistance to change: a study of Egyptian academics
Get PDFPurpose – This paper focuses on academics in three private foreign universities located in Cairo (Egypt) to explore the effect of organizational learning on individual-level resistance to change with and without the mediation of authentic leadership.Design/ methodology/ approach – A total of 960 academics were contacted and all of them received a set of questionnaires. After four follow ups, a total of 576 responses were collected with a response rate of 60.00 percent. The author used the chi-square test to determine the association between organizational learning and authentic leadership. Multiple regressions were employed to show how much variation in individual-level resistance to change can be explained by organizational learning and authentic leadership.Findings – The findings highlight a statistical association between organizational learning and authentic leadership. Moreover, another statistical association is explored between authentic leadership and individual-level resistance to change. Furthermore, the statistical analysis proved that having an authentic leadership in the workplace fosters the effect of organizational learning in alleviating individual’s resistance to change.Research limitations/ implications – Data was collected only from academics and did not include rectors and/or heads of academic departments, the matter that may lead to an inflation of statistical relationships. Future research could use a double source method. Moreover, focusing only on private foreign universities working in Egypt diminishes the author’s potential for generalizing his results.Practical implications – The author recommends establishing a unit for knowledge management inside every university. The function of this unit includes but is not limited to examining prospective socio-political, cultural and economic changes/challenges in the surrounding environment and preparing the possible scenarios for dealing with them. This in turn should comprise involvement and learning opportunities for academics work in these universities. The suggested units should also organize monthly meetings between academics and representatives from different Egyptian sectors such as NGOs personnel, CEOs of private and public companies, environmentalists and politicians to address what change those actors seek universities to undertake to guide academics to fulfil their expectations.Originality/ value – This paper contributes by filling a gap in HR management and organization literature in the higher education sector, in which empirical studies on the relationship between organizational learning, authentic leadership and resistance to change have been limited until now
Infidelity-Revealing Snapchat Messages Arouse Different Levels of Jealousy Depending on Sex, Type of Message and Identity of the Opposite Sex Rival
Get PDFResearch highlighting sex-differentiated jealousy resulting from imagined scenarios has now been reaffirmed when the infidelity-revealing message is discovered on a social media platform. Participants in the current study were presented with both sexually and emotionally charged infidelity-revealing scenarios featuring a same-sex sibling, a friend and a stranger in the format of a ‘Snapchat’ message. Men indicated significantly higher jealousy to sexual as opposed to emotional messages with the reverse pattern evident in women. Sex differences were also evident in the extent of jealousy elicited by ‘third-party’ identity. Women were significantly more jealous when the imagined infidelity occurred between their sister compared to both a best friend and a stranger with males showing significantly lower jealousy directed towards their brother compared to a stranger. These findings are supportive not only of a parental investment (PI) interpretation of sex differences in jealousy but also an interpretation consistent with aspects of inclusive fitness theory
Daily Deals in the Mediterranean Region: A Data Analytics Approach
Get PDFDaily Deal (DD) websites have established themselves as an inventory distribution channel for hotels, yet they remain a largely underexplored topic in tourism. This paper seeks to provide insights into the nature of high-end DD websites through data analysis of individual offers’ attributes, obtained by direct observation of three main hotel-focused DD websites and one review website. The preliminary analysis of the data reveals that specialised DDs are a marketplace for quality hotels that can be considered as a semi-permanent form of a distribution channel. The outcomes challenge the currently established literature by offering a novel perspective and a more in-depth understanding of DDs and their use by the hoteliers as a marketing tool and inventory distribution channel
A qualitative study of e-cigarette emergence and the potential for renormalisation of smoking in UK youth
Get PDFBackground:
Growth of e-cigarette use among smokers has raised concerns over uptake by non-smokers, particularly young people. Legislative changes aimed in part at reducing youth exposure to e-cigarettes include the EU Tobacco Products Directive (TPD). A core justification for such measures is the belief that e-cigarettes can lead to tobacco smoking through mechanisms of renormalisation including: mimicking and normalizing the act of smoking; increasing product acceptability via marketing; nicotine exposure. These mechanisms are here explored in relation to findings from qualitative research.
Methods:
This paper reports results from twenty-one group interviews with 14–15 year olds in Wales, England and Scotland, conducted as part of an ongoing evaluation of the impact of the TPD on youth smoking and e-cigarette use. Interviews were conducted around the end of the transitional period for TPD implementation, and explored perceptions of e-cigarettes and tobacco, as well as similarities and differences between them.
Results:
Young people differentiated between tobacco and e-cigarettes, rejecting the term e-cigarette in favour of alternatives such as ‘vapes’. Experimental or occasional use was common and generally approved of where occurring within social activity with peers. However, regular use outside of this context was widely disapproved of, unless for the purpose of stopping smoking. Increased prevalence of e-cigarettes did not challenge strongly negative views of smoking or reduce perceived harms caused by it, with disapproval of smoking remaining high. Nicotine use was variable, with flavour a stronger driver for choice of e-liquid, and interest more generally.
Conclusion:
The extent to which participants differentiated between vaping and smoking, including styles and reasons for use in adults and young people; absence of marketing awareness; and continued strong disapproval of smoking provides limited support for some of the potential mechanisms through which e-cigarettes may renormalise smoking. However caution over nicotine exposure is still necessary