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The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the concurrent validity of the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R) (Scheier et al., 1994) and Optimism/Pessimism Scale (OPS) (Dember et al., 1989) by administering each questionnaire to the same group of participants. The 154 participants (84 men and 70 women) were volunteer university students enrolled in physical activity classes at a southeastern university. The questionnaires were counterbalanced to reduce possible bias due to taking one questionnaire before taking the other. Due to recent suggestions concerning scoring mechanisms for the LOT-R (Dember et al., 1989; Hummer, Dember, Melton & Schefft, 1992; Lightsey, 1996; Marshall and Lang, 1990) the instrument was scored to produce a unidimensional score and two subscale scores. The analysis suggested that the LOTR and OPS may not be measuring similar constructs. The results revealed that the LOT-R may be measuring \"trait\" optimism and pessimism, while the OPS may be measuring \"state\" optimism and pessimism. It was also suggested that future research investigate racial differences on these constructs.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Studies have been conducted examining the lived experience of Christian athletes' use of prayer (Czech et al., 2004). However, no published research has sought to understand how a Christian coach may utilize prayer. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the lived experiences of collegiate Division I Christian head coaches' use of prayer within their profession. A humanistic framework--specifically, existential- phenomenology (centered on seeing the individual being interviewed as the expert on the matter at hand) (Dale, 1996)--was used to allow for an information-rich and detailed description of the coaches' experience. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: Relying on God's Guidance, Roles of Coaching, Prayer Types, and Subtle Influence. Implications from this study may benefit coaches, athletes, sport psychology consultants, and those who may encounter Christian prayer within sport by providing insight into how coaches may use prayer in these settings.

Weinberg and Gould (2003) have noted the effectiveness of preperformance routines. From anxiety reduction, to confidence training, to concentration enhancing, research has suggested that many athletes utilize preperformance routines as a cue for improving performance. Yet, little research was found which observed athletes' exact actions within preperformance routines. For example, does a basketball player observe the same preperformance routine before every free throw? This investigation observed the maintenance of preset behavioral protocols in basketball free throw shooting. More specifically, this investigation examined whether free throw shooting percentages were affected by following or deviating from a specific routine from one free throw to the next. The participants consisted of nine men and seven women from two varsity basketball teams competing at an NCAA Division I institution in a southeastern section of the United States basketball conference. Researchers, independent of each other, monitored and recorded performance routines for each free throw taken by any player on the teams using the Preperformance Observational Checklist (PPOC) designed specifically for this investigation. The results revealed those athletes who follow a preshot routine had a higher, but not statistically significant, free throw percentage (74%) than those who did not follow a preshot routine (68%). This finding is in agreement with Lobmeyer and Wasserman (1986) who found athletes who followed a preshot routine perform with greater accuracy at the free throw line than those who did not follow a routine.

This study investigated the relationship between female athletes and head coaches' perceived communication competence. Participants were members (female athletes, n=134 and head coaches, n = 13; men = 6, women = 7) of two NCAA Division I institutions in the southeastern United States. Perceptions of coaches and athletes were examined to determine if gender differences existed in the measured domains. Results indicated that coaches perceived themselves as communicatively competent, while athletes' perceptions were positive, but not as equivocal. There was a significant relationship (p<.05) between the sending and receiving domains of the Communicative Competence Questionnaire (Mange et al., 1981) and the positive and negative conflict domains of the Scale for Effective Communication in Sports Teams (Sullivan, 2000). The findings suggested that effective head coach communication is not based on gender, but on the perceived communicative competence of the individual. Significant correlations were also present for several dimensions of the ICCS and CCQ. Immediacy, social relaxation, empathy and expressiveness were the dimensions in which head coaches viewed themselves most competent.

An exploratory investigation of 25 basketball officials' perceptions of trait anxiety, and state anxiety before, during (half time), and after a basketball game was conducted. Twenty-five male high school and college basketball officials were administered a demographic questionnaire and basketball officiating-modified version of the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2 (CSAI-2; Marten, Vealey, & Burton, 1990).

Czech et al examine the relationships between optimism and pessimism and sport orientation in intercollegiate athletes from a southeastern university. Team sport athletes showed significantly higher win orientation levels than individual athletes.

Mutated HTT , resulting in mutant huntingtin, causes Huntington’s disease. A phase 1–2a trial of intrathecal delivery of an antisense oligonucleotide targeting HTT mRNA in 34 persons with Huntington’s disease showed a dose-dependent reduction of mutant huntingtin in cerebrospinal fluid and no serious adverse events in those who received the drug.

The different components of the mouthparts of hard ticks (Ixodidae) enable these parasites to penetrate host skin, secrete saliva, embed, and suck blood. Moreover, the tick's mouthparts represent a key route for saliva-assisted pathogen transmission as well as pathogen acquisition from blood meal during the tick feeding process. Much has been learned about the basic anatomy of the tick's mouthparts and in the broad outlines of how they function in previous studies. However, the precise mechanics of these functions are little understood. Here, we propose for the first time an animated model of the orchestration of the tick mouthparts and associated structures during blood meal acquisition and salivation. These two actions are known to alternate during tick engorgement. Specifically, our attention has been paid to the mechanism underlining the blood meal uptake into the pharynx through the mouth and how ticks prevent mixing the uptaken blood with secreted saliva. We animated function of muscles attached to the salivarium and their possible opening /closing of the salivarium, with a plausible explanation of the movement of saliva within the salivarium and massive outpouring of saliva.

The aim of this paper was to summarize the current knowledge on how physical methods can reduce or control internal P release from sediments in lakes and reservoirs. Particular emphasis is given to the role of internal phosphorus load in fueling cyanobacterial blooms which are predicted to increase in frequency and intensity in response to climate change and eutrophication. We present selective case studies (both successful and unsuccessful) to assess the applicability and efficiency of major physical approaches used for decades to reduce internal loading in different systems of various morphology. In particular, we concentrate on where and when (1) hypolimnetic aeration/oxygenation, (2) hypolimnetic withdrawal and (3) sediment dredging are likely to reduce cyanobacterial blooms and whether these methods have an adverse impact on other organisms. We conclude that each method has its strength and weakness depending on the system considered. Sufficient knowledge of all lake nutrient sources and their dynamics together with detailed lake and sediment characteristics is an essential prerequisite for choosing an appropriate control method. We also report that many experiences demonstrated that a combination of restoration methods is often more successful than a single method. © 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.