Strengthening of Parenthood; Developing a Life Skills Questionnaire for Dutch Parents (LSQ-P)

AbstractLife skills of parents have a positive effect on the wellbeing of parents and development of children. Currently, no reliable instrument is available to measure these skills. This study was set up to develop a questionnaire for assessing parents’ life skills. The questionnaire was developed for professionals who are working with parents and for building behavioral interventions enhancing the wellbeing of parents. A pilot research using a translation of the Life Skills Scale (Erawan, 2010) was conducted. Construct validity and reliability by means of confirmatory factor analysis of nine scales were examined in a sample of 133 Dutch parents and reliability of the scales in terms of Cronbach's alpha was examined. Evidence for construct validity of the scales was found. Reliability coefficients were satisfactory for the scales Critical thinking, Social responsibility, Interpersonal relationships, Decision making, Self-awareness, and Creative thinking. Reliability coefficients were good for Empathy and Self-esteem. The LSQ-P can be used in social work practice as an assessment tool to measure strengths and weaknesses regarding life skills of parents. More attention for developing life skills of parents is necessary in order to increase their wellbeing. Implications for health promotion among parents are discussed. Suggestions for further research and development of the scales are outlined

The chemical composition and nutritive value of Australian pulses

Grain legumes are the harvested seed of leguminous crops, typically peas, beans and their close relatives within the Fabaceae. Another term for many of these crops is pulses. In Australia, generally grain legumes are referred to as pulses. The term pulse is derived from the Latin puls meaning that the seed or grain can be made into a thick soup or pottage. The term pulse is most commonly associated with the food legumes whereas grain legumes are mostly associated with the feed industry. The terms are interchangeable, but with few exceptions (notably chickpeas, lentils and mung beans), the majority of the crops are used for animal feed. Both soybeans and peanuts are leguminous plants; however they are traditionally regarded as oilseed crops, and will not be discussed here.https://researchlibrary.agric.wa.gov.au/books/1020/thumbnail.jp

An FTIR spectrometer for remote measurements of atmospheric composition

The JPL IV interferometer, and infrared Michelson interferometer, was built specifically for recording high resolution solar absorption spectra from remote ground-based sites, aircraft and from stratospheric balloons. The instrument is double-passed, with one fixed and one moving corner reflector, allowing up to 200-cm of optical path difference (corresponding to an unapodised spectral resolution of 0.003/cm). The carriage which holds the moving reflector is driven by a flexible nut riding on a lead screw. This arrangement, together with the double-passed optical scheme, makes the instrument resistant to the effects of mechanical distortion and shock. The spectral range of the instrument is covered by two liquid nitrogen-cooled detectors: an InSb photodiode is used for the shorter wavelengths (1.85 to 5.5 microns, 1,800 to 5,500/cm) and a HgCdTe photoconductor for the range (5.5 to 15 microns, 650 to 1,800/cm). For a single spectrum of 0.01/cm resolution, which requires a scan time of 105 seconds, the signal/noise ratio is typically 800:1 over the entire wavelength range

Poison sedge can kill stock

POISON SEDGE was first suspected of being toxic to livestock in Western Australia nearly 80 years ago. Sudden deaths of sheep grazing areas on which poison sedge grew have been reported from many regions from Geraldton to Scott River. This article reports a case of poisoning in the field, and the experimental reproduction of poison sedge toxicity in pen-fed sheep

Implications of nonlinearity for spherically symmetric accretion

We subject the steady solutions of a spherically symmetric accretion flow to a time-dependent radial perturbation. The equation of the perturbation includes nonlinearity up to any arbitrary order, and bears a form that is very similar to the metric equation of an analogue acoustic black hole. Casting the perturbation as a standing wave on subsonic solutions, and maintaining nonlinearity in it up to the second order, we get the time-dependence of the perturbation in the form of a Li\'enard system. A dynamical systems analysis of the Li\'enard system reveals a saddle point in real time, with the implication that instabilities will develop in the accreting system when the perturbation is extended into the nonlinear regime. The instability of initial subsonic states also adversely affects the temporal evolution of the flow towards a final and stable transonic state.Comment: 14 pages, ReVTeX. Substantially revised with respect to the previous version. Three figures and a new section (Sec. VI) adde

A Toy Model for Blandford-Znajek Mechanism

A toy model for the Blandford-Znajek mechanism is investigated: a Kerr black hole with a toroidal electric current residing in a thin disk around the black hole. The toroidal electric current generates a poloidal magnetic field threading the black hole and disk. Due to the interaction of the magnetic field with remote charged particles, the rotation of the black hole and disk induces an electromotive force, which can power an astrophysical load at remote distance. The power of the black hole and disk is calculated. It is found that, for a wide range of parameters specifying the rotation of the black hole and the distribution of the electric current in the disk, the power of the disk exceeds the power of the black hole. The torque provided by the black hole and disk is also calculated. The torque of the disk is comparable to the torque of the black hole. As the disk loses its angular momentum, the mass of the disk gradually drifts towards the black hole and gets accreted. Ultimately the power comes from the gravitational binding energy between the disk and the black hole, as in the standard theory of accretion disk, instead of the rotational energy of the black hole. This suggests that the Blandford-Znajek mechanism may be less efficient in extracting energy from a rotating black hole with a thin disk. The limitations of our simple model and possible improvements deserved for future work are also discussed.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review

Perturbations on steady spherical accretion in Schwarzschild geometry

The stationary background flow in the spherically symmetric infall of a compressible fluid, coupled to the space-time defined by the static Schwarzschild metric, has been subjected to linearized perturbations. The perturbative procedure is based on the continuity condition and it shows that the coupling of the flow with the geometry of space-time brings about greater stability for the flow, to the extent that the amplitude of the perturbation, treated as a standing wave, decays in time, as opposed to the amplitude remaining constant in the Newtonian limit. In qualitative terms this situation simulates the effect of a dissipative mechanism in the classical Bondi accretion flow, defined in the Newtonian construct of space and time. As a result of this approach it becomes impossible to define an acoustic metric for a conserved spherically symmetric flow, described within the framework of Schwarzschild geometry. In keeping with this view, the perturbation, considered separately as a high-frequency travelling wave, also has its amplitude reduced.Comment: 8 pages, no figur

Processing and grain quality to meet market demands

Considerable resources have been directed towards improving the nutritional quality of cool season food legumes with respect to protein content and amino acid pattern and to reducing the content of antinutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitors and haemaglutinins. Less attention has been paid to the processing and grain quality factors that affect the utilisation of these legumes. Two important market considerations are the dhal yield and consumer acceptance of the product. These are influenced by the size, shape, colour and, chemical composition of the grain, by storage conditions and any pre-treatment before use. The cooking time, texture, water absorption and dispersibility of solids are determinants of quality of these legumes as food. Under adverse storage conditions, the legumes can develop hard-to-cook defects, depending on genotype and cultural practices. Nutritional quality needs to be considered in terms of protein digestibility, antinutritional factors, availability of carbohydrates and content of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron, copper and zinc. Available technologies such as roasting, steaming, germination, fermentation, and extrusion cooking, and protein isolation/concentration play a role in determining the product quality. These topics are reviewed and future research needs are suggested in the pape