Temporally robust spatial structure in ecosystems explained by local biodiversity regulation

The distribution in species' site occupancy is a fundamental pattern in spatial ecology. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms responsible for the shape of the distribution remain incompletely understood. Here, we simultaneously examining both spatial and temporal patterns of site occupancy in communities of macroinverterbrates, macrophytes and diatoms. We show that a simple patch dynamics model explains both the spatial structure and temporal dynamics in English rivers. The key mechanism responsible for the emergent spatial structure in the model are intrinsic regulation of biodiversity at the local scale which, when combined with inter-site dispersal and regional-scale invasion, drives local colonisation and extinction. Our analysis supports the notion that metacommunities exist in a kind of dynamic steady state arising from local ecological constraints and that this intrinsic regulation can drives the emergence of a wide variety of macroecological patterns.

Hampering Stromal Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment as a Therapeutic Strategy to Destem Cancer Stem Cells

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) within the tumor bulk play crucial roles in tumor initiation, recurrence and therapeutic resistance. In addition to intrinsic regulation, a growing body of evidence suggests that the phenotypes of CSCs are also regulated extrinsically by stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment (TME). Here, we discuss the current knowledge of the interplay between stromal cells and cancer cells with a special focus on how stromal cells drive the stemness of cancer cells and immune evasive mechanisms of CSCs. Knowledge gained from the interaction between CSCs and stromal cells will provide a mechanistic basis for the development of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancers.

Association of physical activity on exercise motivation and body mass index among university students

Background and Study Aim. Motivation as a psychological feature that arouses and energizes people to action towards physical activity and makes them sustain to a physically active behavior. Motivation leads to increased participation in physical activity. The objective of this study was to determine the association of physical activity to exercise motivation of university students at different levels of body mass index. Material and Methods. 140 undergraduate students Mean age 19±0.70 years randomly categorized into underweight <18.5 kg/m2 [n= 37: 26.4%]; normal-weight 18.5-24.9 kg/m2 [n= 31: 22.1%]; obese ≥30.00 kg/m2 [n=37: 26.4%] and obese class III ≥40.00 kg/m2 [n=35: 25%]. Exercise motivation measured through BREQ-2. Results. ANOVA revealed highly significant difference among BMI categories on intrinsic regulation (p=0.007<.05) and identified regulation (p=0.006<.05). Obese class III students differed on external regulation (p=0.003) and introjected regulations (p=0.011). The association of physical activity to exercise motivation revealed that students who engaged more time in physical activities had significantly higher scores on identified regulation (p < 0.05) and intrinsic regulation (p < 0.01). Conclusions. The results suggested that university students in all BMI categories were internally motivated. The normal weight students exhibited high intrinsic and identified regulation, which reflected as better autonomous motivation. Physical activity had strong association with intrinsic regulation and identified regulation. Obese class students exhibited higher degree of extrinsic motivation and amotivation. Students who engaged more time in physical activity had better intrinsic motivation.

An Examination of Sport Motivation, Motivational Climate, and Athlete Burnout within the Developmental Model of Sport Participation

Young adults’ retrospective recall of high school sport motivations, motivational climate, and burnout were compared based on whether they fit the “specializer” or “sampler” track within the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (DMSP, Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007). College students (N = 156) fitting these two DMSP tracks completed their recall of sport motivations (Sport Motivation Scale-II), motivational climate (Motivational Climate Scale for Youth Sports) and athlete burnout (Athlete Burnout Questionnaire). Separate one-way MANOVAs comparing samplers (n = 113) and specializers (n = 43) on these variables were not significant (p > .05). Multiple regression analyses showed amotivation and intrinsic regulation were significant positive and negative predictors (respectively) of burnout dimensions. Performance climate was predictive of exhaustion and sport devaluation, while mastery climate negatively predicted reduced sense of accomplishment. Although Self-Determination Theory was further supported in examining burnout, lack of differences across DMSP track suggests that samplers and specializers in non-elite, amateur youth sport settings do not differ in burnout.

IMPACT OF MUSIC AS MOTIVATION TO PERFORM EXERCISES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS – A SURVEY

The current study aimed to examine the association between music and motivation to do exercise among university students in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The demographics data, use of music during exercise, preferred type of music, and criteria to select music were assessed by a validated self-administered questionnaire. The motivation towards exercises was evaluated using the Behavioural Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire (BREQ-3) while the level of physical activity was assessed by Godin-Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ). The demographics information, use of music during exercise, preferred type of music, and criteria to choose music were tabulated using descriptive statistics. A point-biserial correlation was used to analyze the relationship between music and motivation to do exercise while chi-square was utilized to determine the association between the use of music during exercise and physical activity level. The results of the current study showed that 80.3% of the participants listen to music during exercise. Energetic and rhythmic was the preferred type of music for exercise. Tempo/ speed/ bpm was the most popular factor to be considered during the exercise. Most of the participants prefer to listen to an individual music player during exercise rather than an open audio system.. Listening to music during exercise shown significant correlation with a motivation (p=0.006), external regulation (p=0.014), identified regulation (p=0.006), integrated regulation (p=0.002) and intrinsic regulation (p=0.015). There was a significant association between the use of music during exercise and physical activity level (p=0.003) in this study. Future research that involves the type of exercise performed with the music is encouraged to explore the significance of music as a motivational tool in exercise.

Motivation for Physical Activity in University Students and Its Relation with Gender, Amount of Activities, and Sport Satisfaction

Background: Motivation can be considered a critical factor in encouraging and maintaining physical activity. Despite the many health benefits offered by physical activity, a significant percentage of university students do not meet recommendations. University years are a critical time for promoting and maintaining an active lifestyle. This study aimed to analyze motivations for engaging in physical activity among university students and their relationship with gender, amount of sports activity, and satisfaction with sports activity. Methods: The sample consisted of 1099 Vizcaya university students (45.3% men and 54.7% women), aged between 18 and 29 years old (M = 20.4; SD = 1.7 years). Sports motivation, the number of weekly hours of physical activity, and the level of satisfaction with sports were analyzed. (3) Results: Significant differences were found in intrinsic (d = 0.36, p = 0.000) and external regulation (d = 0.19, p = 0.002), men having a higher motivation level compared to women in these dimensions, but not in participants’ level of satisfaction. The effect of gender on the amount of physical activity was mainly direct, but motivation was significantly mediating. In addition, there was not a significant effect of gender on level of satisfaction, but analyzing its limited effect in the sample, the mediation of intrinsic regulation was significant. (4) Conclusions: To understand the variance of the amount of physical activity and satisfaction in university students, the direct effect of gender must be considered as well as the mediating role of some dimensions of motivation.

The effect of basic psychological needs satisfaction on intrinsic regulation is moderated by hedonic and eudaimonic motives: a longitudinal investigation among youth athletes in Japan

The current study was conducted to examine the interactive effects of basic psychological needs satisfaction (BPNS), hedonic and eudaimonic motives on intrinsic regulation. To assess the causal relationship, two-wave time-lagged data collection was employed. A total of 159 youth athletes in Japan participated in online surveys twice (three-month time lag between two data points). The results indicated that the effect of BPNS on intrinsic regulation was moderated by hedonic and eudaimonic motives. Interestingly, BPNS negatively affected intrinsic regulation among youth athletes with low hedonic motives. This negative impact was further augmented when the level of eudaimonic motives was higher. Conversely, BPNS positively influenced intrinsic regulation among youth athletes with high hedonic motives. This positive impact of BPNS was more prominent when eudaimonic motives were lower. Overall, the findings suggest that when intrinsic regulation is the central concern, youth athletes should focus more on seeking enjoyment while putting self-development aside to maximize the positive impact of BPNS.

What Acoustic Studies Tell Us About Vowels in Developing and Disordered Speech

Purpose Literature was reviewed on the development of vowels in children's speech and on vowel disorders in children and adults, with an emphasis on studies using acoustic methods. Method Searches were conducted with PubMed/MEDLINE, Google Scholar, CINAHL, HighWire Press, and legacy sources in retrieved articles. The primary search items included, but were not limited to, vowels, vowel development, vowel disorders, vowel formants, vowel therapy, vowel inherent spectral change, speech rhythm, and prosody. Results/Discussion The main conclusions reached in this review are that vowels are (a) important to speech intelligibility; (b) intrinsically dynamic; (c) refined in both perceptual and productive aspects beyond the age typically given for their phonetic mastery; (d) produced to compensate for articulatory and auditory perturbations; (e) influenced by language and dialect even in early childhood; (f) affected by a variety of speech, language, and hearing disorders in children and adults; (g) inadequately assessed by standardized articulation tests; and (h) characterized by at least three factors—articulatory configuration, extrinsic and intrinsic regulation of duration, and role in speech rhythm and prosody. Also discussed are stages in typical vowel ontogeny, acoustic characterization of rhotic vowels, a sensory-motor perspective on vowel production, and implications for clinical assessment of vowels.

A natural single-guide RNA repurposes Cas9 to autoregulate CRISPR-Cas expression

SUMMARYCRISPR-Cas systems provide their prokaryotic hosts with acquired immunity against viruses and other foreign genetic elements, but how these systems are regulated to prevent auto-immunity is poorly understood. In type II CRISPR-Cas systems, a transactivating CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA) scaffold functions together with a CRISPR RNA (crRNA) guide to program Cas9 for the recognition and cleavage of foreign DNA targets. Here, we show that a long-form tracrRNA performs an unexpected second function by folding into a natural single guide that directs Cas9 to transcriptionally repress its own promoter. Further, we demonstrate that Pcas9 serves as a critical regulatory node; de-repression causes a dramatic induction of Cas genes, crRNAs and tracrRNAs resulting in a 3,000-fold increase in immunization rates against unrecognized viruses. Heightened immunity comes at the cost of increased auto-immune toxicity, demonstrating the critical importance of the controller. Using a bioinformatic analysis, we provide evidence that tracrRNA-mediated autoregulation is widespread in type II CRISPR-Cas systems. Collectively, we unveil a new paradigm for the intrinsic regulation of CRISPR-Cas systems by natural single guides, which may facilitate the frequent horizontal transfer of these systems into new hosts that have not yet evolved their own regulatory strategies.

Goal Orientation, Motivation, and Competitive Anxiety in Players of Domestic Cricket in Pakistan

The present research was conducted to examine the relationship between goal orientation, motivation, and competitive anxiety in players of domestic cricket in Pakistan. The sample comprised of 105 male domestic cricketers aged between 18 to 35 years (M = 20.02, SD = 2.75). Correlational research design and purposive sampling strategy was used to draw sample from different cricket clubs and academies in Lahore and the permission to collect data was taken from the authorities of Pakistan Cricket Board. Task and Ego Orientation in Sport Questionnaire (Duda & Nicholls, 1992), Sport Motivation Scale-II (Pelletier, Rocchi, Vallerand, Deci, & Ryan, 2013), Sport Anxiety Scale-2 (Smith, Smoll, Cumming, & Grossbard, 2006), Beliefs About the Causes of Sport Success Questionnaire (Duda & Nicholls, 1992) and Multidimensional Inventory of Perfectionism in Sport (Stober, Otto, & Stoll, 2006) were administered to the participants. Pearson product moment correlation revealed that ego orientation was positively correlated with external regulation, whereas task orientation was positively correlated with intrinsic regulation. Also, intrinsic regulation was negatively correlated with competitive anxiety. Regression analysis revealed that intrinsic regulation was a negative predictor of competitive anxiety and somatic anxiety after controlling the effects of perfectionism and beliefs about success.