The Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale: Adaptation and Validation for Young Adolescents

Emotional self-efficacy (ESE) is an important aspect of emotional functioning, with current measures for children and adolescents focused on the measurement of self-beliefs in relation to the management of emotions. In the present study, we report the psychometric properties of the first adaptation of the Emotional Self-Efficacy Scale for youth (Youth-ESES) that measures additional aspects of ESE, such as perceiving and understanding emotions and helping others modulate their emotions. Participants were 192 young adolescents aged 11 to 13 years from a U.K. state school. They completed the Youth-ESES and measures of ability emotional intelligence (EI) and cognitive ability. Results support the same four-factor structure that has been previously documented using the adult version of the ESES, with the four subscales being largely independent from cognitive ability and only moderately related to ability EI. However, the four subscales were less differentiated in the present study compared with adult data previously published, suggesting that there is a strong general factor underlying young adolescents’ ESE scores. Overall, the results suggest that the adapted Youth-ESES can be reliably used with youth, and that confidence in how a young person feels about his or her emotional functioning remains distinct from emotional skill

BOLLOCKS!! Designing pervasive games that play with the social rules of built environments

We propose that pervasive games designed with mechanics that are specifically in opposition with, or disruptive of, social rules of the environment in which they are played, have unique potential to provide interesting, provocative experiences for players. We explore this concept through the design and evaluation of an experimental game prototype, Shhh!, inspired by the juvenile game Bollocks, and implemented on Android mobile devices, which challenges players to make loud noises in libraries. Six participants played the game before engaging in semi-structured interviews, explored through inductive thematic analysis. Results suggest that the game provoked in players a heightened awareness of social rules, as well as a complex social dilemma of whether or not to act. We conclude by presenting a model for designing games that play with the social, as well as physical, rules of the environments in which they are set

Experimental study of an improved root crop cleaner from admixtures

ArticleOne of the ways to raise the quality of sugar beet harvesting is the use of improved digging tools that are able to dig out root crops from the soil without any loss and considerable damage, as well as cleaners of the heap from admixtures. Perspective are the root crop harvesting machines, built according to the modular principle, where, depending on the state of the beet plantation, the composition of the cleaning tools, and the kinematic and technological modes of their operat ion are determined. To carry out experimental studies, experimental equipment was made which, under laboratory and field conditions, made it possible to obtain qualitative separation indicators of the heaps of sugar beet roots with wide variation in the ra nge of kinematic and design parameters of the improved cleaner. As the results of the laboratory and field experimental studies showed, in each of the two stages of cleaning the beet heap, a sufficiently high degree of removal of the soil admixtures and pl ant residues is ensured. Thus, at the first, preliminary stage of cleaning, the removal of admixtures amounted to 65.5 – 75.8%. After the second, basic stage of cleaning, the transported heap contained no more than 1.9% of admixtures. The results of the laboratory and field tests indicate that the proposed design of an improved sugar beet root cleaner from admixtures is prospective

Experimental study of the distribution of the heights of sugar beet root crowns above the soil surface

ArticleThe results of experimental studies and operational tests of the sugar beet harvesting process carried out recently reveal that the latest models of beet harvesters produced in Europe and America cause considerable loss of the sugar-bearing mass. The source of this loss is mainly the poor topping of the crowns of standing sugar beet roots, more specifically the excessively low point at which the tops are cut off, which results in the straight out loss of sugar-bearing mass. Thus, there is need to search for such engineering solutions that would avoid both the loss of sugar-bearing mass and the presence of residual haulm on the roots. The aim of this study was to reduce the loss of sugar-bearing mass in the process of topping sugar beet root crowns. The results of this research into the distribution of the heights that root crowns protrude above the soil surface have confirmed the hypothesis that it follows the normal distribution. Based on the results, it has been established that this distribution has the following statistical parameters: mean deviation a = 20–30 mm, mathematical expectation m = 40...60 mm. The laboratory unit developed for this work and the field studies performed with it have provided sufficient evidence to develop a new system to automatically adjust the topping height on state-of-the-art root crop harvesters

Research of Wheat Drying in a Microwave and Combined Filter-microwave Dryer

The aim of the conducted study is to determine kinetics of the complex effect of microwave energy supply and filter drying of the process of water release from the wheat layer. There is offered a combination of MW and filter drying. A special feature of this combination must be its more effectiveness and high speed of water elimination from surface layers of wet seeds and, as a result, the productivity increase of the drying way, decrease of specific energy consumption.There was determined the influence of the specific load of the material, radiator power on processes of microwave and filter-microwave drying of wheat seeds. There were compared microwave, filter-microwave and convective drying of seeds by parameters of specific energy consumption, drying speed.The specific energy consumption at microwave drying of seeds was 4 MJ/kg, at filter-microwave drying 3.8 MJ/kg that is lower than existent convective dryers. The speed of microwave drying changes from 0,5 to 3 %/min, filter-microwave – from 0.3 to 0.7 %/min. The speed is at the level of standard convective dryers.The conducted studies allow to recommend a new combined way of FMW drying of seeds with low energy consumption.Revealed features of heating and drying are possible to be used at developing industrial dryers.The base of experimental data is possible to be used for optimizing and determining effective conditions of MW and FMW drying

Cohesion, team mental models, and collective efficacy: Towards an integrated framework of team dynamics in sport

A nomological network on team dynamics in sports consisting of a multi-framework perspective is introduced and tested. The aim was to explore the interrelationship among cohesion, team mental models (TMM), collective-efficacy (CE), and perceived performance potential (PPP). Three hundred and forty college-aged soccer players representing 17 different teams (8 female and 9 male) participated in the study. They responded to surveys on team cohesion, TMM, CE and PPP. Results are congruent with the theoretical conceptualization of a parsimonious view of team dynamics in sports. Specifically, cohesion was found to be an exogenous variable predicting both TMM and CE beliefs. TMM and CE were correlated and predicted PPP, which in turn accounted for 59% of the variance of objective performance scores as measured by teams’ season record. From a theoretical standpoint, findings resulted in a parsimonious view of team dynamics, which may represent an initial step towards clarifying the epistemological roots and nomological network of various team-level properties. From an applied standpoint, results suggest that team expertise starts with the establishment of team cohesion. Following the establishment of cohesiveness, teammates are able to advance team-related schemas and a collective sense of confidence. Limitations and key directions for future research are outlined

The role of self-regulation in predicting sleep hygiene in university students

University students have poor sleep hygiene, leading to poorer health. Facets of self-regulation such as planning, behavioural inhibition, cognitive flexibility and working memory were explored in relation to three sleep hygiene behaviours: Avoiding stress or anxiety before bed, avoiding going to bed hungry or thirsty, and making the bedroom restful. One hundred and thirty-seven participants took part in an Internet-based survey over two time points separated by a period of two weeks. Only cognitive flexibility and behavioural inhibition correlated with sleep hygiene. Cognitive flexibility significantly predicted an aspect of sleep hygiene after controlling for past behaviour. However, when past behaviour was controlled for, behavioural inhibition no longer predicted sleep hygiene. Thus, cognitive flexibility may play a role in explaining sleep hygiene; however, behavioural inhibition does not appear as important as previously assumed. Further research could build on this study to determine whether cognitive flexibility can be experimentally improved

Development and exploratory cluster-randomised opportunistic trial of a theory-based intervention to enhance physical activity among adolescents

Peer reviewedPostprin

Simulation of Young's moduli for hexagonal ZnO [0 0 0 1]-oriented nanowires: first principles and molecular mechanical calculations

The authors thank A Gulans, B Polyakov and S Vlassov for stimulating discussions. This study has been supported by the ERA.Net RUS Plus project No. 237 Watersplit. AB, RE and SL acknowledge the financial support by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 17-03-00130-a) and the assistance of the Saint Petersburg State University Computer Center in the accomplishment of high-performance computations.Morphologically reproducible wurtzite-structured zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs) can be synthesized by different methods. Since ZnO NWs have been found to possess piezoelectricity, a comprehensive study of their mechanical properties, e.g. deformations caused by external compression or stretching, is one of the actual tasks of this paper. We have calculated wurtzite-structured [0 0 0 1]-oriented ZnO NWs whose diameters have been varied within 1–5 nm and 1–20 nm ranges when using either ab initio (hybrid DFT-LCAO) or force-field (molecular mechanical) methods, respectively (the minimum diameter dNW of experimentally synthesized NWs has been estimated on average to be ~20 nm). When using both chosen calculation approaches, the values of Young's moduli determined for the mentioned ranges of NW diameters have been found to be qualitatively compatible (168–169 GPa for 5 nm NW thickness), whereas results of molecular mechanical simulations on YNW for 20 nm-thick NWs (160–162 GPa) have been qualitatively comparable with those experimentally measured along the [0 0 0 1] direction of NW loading. In all the cases, a gradual increase of the NW diameter has resulted in an asymptotic decrease of Young's modulus consequently approaching that (Yb) of wurtzite-structured ZnO bulk along its [0 0 0 1] axis. The novelty of this study is that we combine the computation methods of quantum chemistry and molecular mechanics, while the majority of previous studies with the same aim have focused on the application of different classical molecular dynamical methods.ERA.Net RUS Plus project No. 237 Watersplit; Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Grant No. 17-03-00130-a); Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia as the Center of Excellence has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme H2020-WIDESPREAD-01-2016-2017-TeamingPhase2 under grant agreement No. 739508, project CAMART

Defining and assessing enterprise capability in schools

This paper describes the development of an instrument for assessing enterprise capability in schools. The approach to assessing enterprise capability builds on previous work by including three dimensions: self-efficacy, aspirations and knowledge and awareness. We find significant but weak associations between these three constructs suggesting that that, whilst they can be considered as providing a coherent description of enterprise capability they can also be regarded as distinct dimensions. The instrument also distinguishes between aspiration towards not-for-profit and for-profit enterprise and also between self-efficacy towards two broad enterprise capabilities: (i) project planning and (ii) working with people and information and two specific, market related capabilities: (iii) market risk and (iv) price and profit. We found only modest associations between students’ sense of enterpriser self-efficacy and their enterprise knowledge and awareness