Family Functioning And Child Well-Being Amongst Urban Malay Single Mother Families Influence Of Risk And Protective Factors.

A large and growing number of Malaysian families with children are headed by single mothers. Past research has found that single mother families and their children experience more difficulties in the context of family life and well-being than two parent families. This study was designed to determine the contribution of risk and protective factors in predicting urban Malay single mothers' family functioning and child well-being. In addition, this study examined the moderating role of protective factors (risk x protective factor interaction) on the relationships between risk factors and family functioning and child well-being. Multiple factors in several domains (individual, family and extra familial) were identified as risk and protective factors. The risk factors were economic strain, depression, work stress and neighborhood problems. While, the protective factors were self-esteem, coping competence, parenting behavior and social support. Family functioning was composed of two subdimensions; cohesion and adaptability while child well-being consisted of three subdimensions, self-regulation, cognitive competence and self-worth. Findings from this study are based on the data collected from 158 urban Malay single mothers who had at least one child between the ages of six to twelve years. The most critical finding was the evidence to support the moderating role of protective factors on the relationships between risk factors and family functioning and child well-being. Overall, the risk and protective factors considered in this study explained between 17-35% of the variance in single mother's family functioning outcomes and 13-21% of the variance in child well-being outcomes. The findings imply that economic strain is the single most important risk factor affecting child well-being. Protective factors account for substantial variance in family functioning; they account for more unique variance (28%) than the risk factor measures (3%). There was evidence that the presence of protective factors was likely to reduce the impact of risk factors. Parenting behavior provided the best protective barrier between risk factors and family functioning. Findings also suggest that urban Malay single mothers with higher levels of protective factors are more likely to have better family functioning and child-well-being outcomes. In addition, results indicate that urban Malay single mother families that have balanced family functioning are more likely to have children with higher levels of child-well-being. The risk factor index (RFI) was found to be significantly related with all the child well-being outcomes but none of the family functioning outcomes. However, the protective factor index (PFI) was significantly related with both the outcomes. These results highlight the role of protective factors in promoting better family hnctioning and child well-being and the extent to which protective factors buffer risk factors that might compromise outcomes. Consideration should be given to both risk and protective factors in the design of interventions aimed at strengthening family functioning and enhancing child well-being in urban Malay single mother families

Effects of Individual Differences and Exposure to the National Population And Family Development Board's Parenting Module On Parenting Outcomes

The general purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the National Population and Family Development Board's (NPFDB) parenting module among parents by examining the effects of individual differences (expressed readiness for parenting change and perceptions of parenting self-efficacy) and exposure to the module on parenting outcomes [parenting knowledge, attitudes, practices, and skills (parenting KAPS)]. The Pre-test-Post-test Control Group Design was used for evaluating the parenting module. The 80 respondents were randomly assigned to the experimental and control group. Results of the study showed that parenting KAPS improved significantly from before to after exposure for the experimental group. Generally, it was found that the participants had high perceptions of the module structure, usefulness and relevance of contents to their needs. Results suggested that individual differences was significantly correlated with parenting knowledge (r=0.56, p<0.05) and parenting attitudes (r= 0.46, p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between individual differences and parenting practices and skills. Results obtained suggested that exposure to the module was significantly and positively correlated with parenting knowledge (r=0.57, p<0.05), parenting attitudes (r=0.56, p<0.05), parenting practices (r=0.34, p<0.05) and parenting skills (r=0.26, p<0.05). There was a significant relationship (r=0.32, p<0.05) between individual differences and general perceptions of the module. )'he participants' exposure to the parenting module and individual differences was found to have a direct effect on their parenting KAP. However, for parenting skills there was no evidence to conclude that exposure to the module and individual differences explained the variation in parenting skills. The study concluded that the parenting module was effective in changing the parenting KAPS of parents

Influences on the effectiveness of the National Population and Family Development Board's parenting module

The general purpose of this study was to determine the influences on the effectiveness of the National Population and Family Development Board's ( PFDB) parenting module among parents by examining the effects of individual differences (expressed readiness for parenting change and perceptions of parenting self-efficacy) and exposure to the module on parenting knowledge, attitudes, practices, and skills (KAPS) and perceptions of the module. The Pre-testPost-test Control Group Design was used for evaluating the parenting module. A total of 80 respondents were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups. Results of the study showed that parenting KAPS improved significantly for the experimental group after exposure to the module. Generally, it was found that the participants had high perceptions of the module structure and its usefulness. Results also showed that individual differences was significantly related to parenting knowledge (1'=0.56, p<0.05) and parenting attitudes (1'= 0.46, p<0.05). However, there was no significant correlation between individual differences and parenting practices and skills. Results obtained suggested that exposure to the module was significantly and positively correlated with parenting knowledge (r=0.57, p<0.05), parenting attitudes (r=0.56, p<0.05), parenting practices (r=0.34, p<0.05) and parenting skills (r=0.26, p<0.05). The participants' exposure to the parenting module and individual differences were found to have direct effect on their parenting KAP. The study however, found no evidence to conclude that exposure to the module and individual differences had an effect on the parenting skills of the participants. Nevertheless, on the whole the study concluded that the parenting module was effective in changing the parenting KAPS of parents

Diagnosing faults in autonomous robot plan execution

A major requirement for an autonomous robot is the capability to diagnose faults during plan execution in an uncertain environment. Many diagnostic researches concentrate only on hardware failures within an autonomous robot. Taking a different approach, the implementation of a Telerobot Diagnostic System that addresses, in addition to the hardware failures, failures caused by unexpected event changes in the environment or failures due to plan errors, is described. One feature of the system is the utilization of task-plan knowledge and context information to deduce fault symptoms. This forward deduction provides valuable information on past activities and the current expectations of a robotic event, both of which can guide the plan-execution inference process. The inference process adopts a model-based technique to recreate the plan-execution process and to confirm fault-source hypotheses. This technique allows the system to diagnose multiple faults due to either unexpected plan failures or hardware errors. This research initiates a major effort to investigate relationships between hardware faults and plan errors, relationships which were not addressed in the past. The results of this research will provide a clear understanding of how to generate a better task planner for an autonomous robot and how to recover the robot from faults in a critical environment

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROSCOPY STUDIES ON ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF DRIED LEAVES OF CATHARANTHUS ROSEUS

Objective: Phytochemical screening of the ethanolic extract of Catharanthus roseus disclosed the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, quinines, flavonoids, and proteins. In the present research work, we have identified and confirmed the structures of the constituents present by means of a hyphenated technique of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) from the extract.Method: Shade-dried leaves of C. roseus were powdered and extracted by means of Soxhlet extraction using ethanol as a solvent. Crude extract obtained was utilized for GC-MS.Results: A total of 15 components were identified, some of which were n-hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester, Vitamin E, 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid,2- [(trimethylsilyl)oxy]-1-[{(trimethylsilyl)oxy}methyl]ethyl ester, phytol, 3-epivindolinine, and oleic acid.Conclusion: GC-MS studies helped us to assess the phytochemical constituents based on retention time, molecular formula, molecular weight and the corroboration of MS libraries. In future, C. roseus leaves may be subjected to diverse types of extraction methodologies, and a number of various elucidated phytoconstituents can be studied for their ethnopharmacological significance and applicability citing literature

Towards a better understanding of the operative mechanisms underlying impurity-free disordering of GaAs: Effect of stress

The effect of stress on defect creation and diffusion during impurity-free disordering of SiOₓ-capped n-GaAs epitaxial layers has been investigated using deep level transient spectroscopy. The oxygen content in the SiOₓ layer and the nature of the stress that it imposes on the GaAs layer were varied by changing the nitrous oxideflow rate, N, during plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition of the capping layer. The peak intensity of defects S1 and S4 increased with the increasing nitrous oxideflow rate to exhibit a maximum in the range 80 sccm350 sccm. On the other hand, the peak intensity of S2* increased linearly with N. We have explained the maximum in the intensity of defects S1 and S4 for 80 sccm<N<200 sccm to be due to a corresponding maximum in the compressive stress which is experienced by the capped GaAs layer during annealing. Although the creation of S2*, which we have proposed to be a complex involving the galliumvacancy(VGa), is enhanced with the increasing compressive stress, it also becomes efficiently converted into the arsenic-antisite, AsGa. The compound effect of these opposing mechanisms results in a linear dependence of the peak intensity of S2* on N. This study is to the best of our knowledge the first to provide the evidence for the stress-dependent anti-correlation between VGa- and AsGa-related defects in GaAs. We have also narrowed the origin of S1 to complexes involving arsenic interstitials, Asi, and/or AsGa.P. N. K. Deenapanray and H. H. Tan gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Research Council

Atomic relocation processes in impurity-free disordered p-GaAs epilayers studied by deep level transient spectroscopy

We have used capacitance–voltage and deep level transient spectroscopy techniques to study the relocation of impurities, such as Zn and Cu, in impurity-free disordered (IFD) p-type GaAs. A four-fold increase in the doping concentration is observed after annealing at 925 °C. Two electrically active defects HA (EV+0.39 eV) and HB2 (EV+0.54 eV), which we have attributed to Cu- and Asi/AsGa-related levels, respectively, are observed in the disordered p-GaAs layers. The injection of galliumvacancies causes segregation of Zndopant atoms and Cu towards the surface of IFD samples. The atomic relocation process is critically assessed in terms of the application of IFD to the band gap engineering of doped GaAs-based heterostructures.Two of the authors ~P.N.K.D. and H.H.T.! acknowledge the financial support of the Australian Research Counci