Self-efficacy latent growth trajectories' longitudinal links with achievement and interest: Both baseline and growth rate are important for interest outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Self-efficacy beliefs have well established theoretical and empirical linkages to persistence and achievement. Budding theoretical and recent empirical research has worked to connect self-efficacy to interest. Building on research in these areas, burgeoning research has begun to examine the relative role of intercept and slope of self-efficacy for these learning outcomes. AIMS: This study builds on and extends previous research by testing the longitudinal implications of self-efficacy beliefs' latent growth for knowledge and interest gains. METHODS: These aims were addressed by testing a fully forward, latent SEM, which included a latent growth curve (self-efficacy beliefs' for a course of study) framed by pre-post standardized tests and measures of individual interest in the domain. This research was undertaken in the motivationally challenging context of a compulsory foreign language university programme in western Japan. First- and second-year students from 10 faculties participated (n =1,184) across a single semester, resulting in seven separate data points. RESULT: The SEM confirms the important longitudinal roles of self-efficacy beliefs' intercept within achievement, and both intercept and slope within future interest. Findings support and extend recent latent curve analysis with similar variables, lending further support to the critical role played by self-efficacy beliefs' within the development not only of knowledge but also of individual interest as a learning outcome.

Crystal structures of multidrug efflux pump MexB bound with high-molecular-mass compounds.

RND-type multidrug efflux pumps have two voluminous multisite drug-binding pockets named the proximal and distal binding pocket. High- and low-molecular-mass drugs bind to these proximal and distal pocket, respectively. Here, we report the crystal structures of MexB of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bound with high-molecular-mass compounds. Contrary to the expectations, lauryl maltose neopentyl glycol (LMNG, MW 1,005), which is a surfactant larger than the proximal pocket-binding drugs, was found to bind to the distal pocket: one of the two hydrophobic alkyl chains was inserted into the hydrophobic pit, which is the binding site of the efflux pump inhibitor ABI-PP. LMNG is a substrate of the MexAB-OprM system and competitively inhibits the export of other substrates by this system. However, LMNG does not inhibit the export of other substrates by the inhibitor-binding-pit mutant F178W, which retains the export activity of LMNG. The crystal structure of this mutant suggested that the alkyl chain of LMNG could no longer be inserted into the pit because of steric hindrance. We also determined the crystal structure of MexB containing the high-molecular-mass compound neopentyl glycol derivative C7NG (MW 1,028), the binding site of which overlapped with LMNG in the distal pocket, indicating that whether a substrate binds to the distal or proximal pockets is controlled not only by its molecular weight but also by its individual molecular characteristic.

Understanding Students' Instrumental Goals, Motivation Deficits and Achievement: Through the Lens of a Latent Profile Analysis.

Building on the future oriented and regulated nature of instrumental goals, Lens and colleagues developed a 2 (proximal-distal) x 2 (internal-external) motivational framework. The current study aimed to test this framework from a person-centred perspective, while equally taking into account students' lack of motivation as to extend the empirical and theoretical borders of the model. Latent Profile Analyses were used to test the viability of two to five motivational profiles among Japanese second-year students (N = 781). A solution with three latent subgroups fitted the sample best, explaining 6% to 62% of the variance in the measured variables. The profiles were labelled "low future oriented motivational profile", "average motivated profile", and "highly motivated profile". The highly motivated subgroup reported the most adaptive pattern of motivation and highest levels of deep level learning, while few differences were found for surface learning and GPA. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

The adaptation and validation of the CEQ and the R-SPQ-2F to the Japanese tertiary environment.

BACKGROUND: Student learning theory (SLT) has established associations between students' approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment. SLT may provide a useful framework for researching student learning within the Japanese tertiary sector. AIMS: The study aims to explore and validate the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and the Revised Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) in the Japanese four-year tertiary context. SAMPLE: Mixed-major students from one Japanese four-year tertiary institution voluntarily completed the CEQ (n= 370). A separate group of students completed the CEQ and R-SPQ-2F (n= 269). Methods. CEQ data from the first sample were analysed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). CEQ and R-SPQ-2F data from the second sample were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). RESULTS: EFA of the CEQ resulted in four factors: Good Teaching (GT), Generic Skills (GS), Appropriate Workload (AW), and Appropriate Assessment (AA). CFA confirmed these factors with the second sample. CFA of the R-SPQ-2F resulted in an item parcel-based, two-factor model. Correlations between some CEQ and R-SPQ-2F constructs were consistent with previous results. However, other findings from this research suggest that SLT constructs may be constituted differently in the Japanese context. CONCLUSIONS: This study represents an initial investigation of key SLT constructs in the Japanese context. Results suggest some SLT constructs are meaningful in this context, but further scale development may be desirable before more advanced modeling is employed.