Towards A Typology Of Parental Behaviors, Attitudes, And Beliefs About School

The social and academic experiences of children and adolescents in school are a major concern for parents and their characteristics as protection or risk factors for their children’s adaptation has been extensively studied. However, few studies have dealt with the behaviors, attitudes and beliefs of parents about the schools their children are enrolled in. The aim of this study was to address that issue. A random sample of 1297 parents drawn from 8 large Canadian school boards took part in standardized individual interviews which yielded both quantitative and qualitative information on demographics, family structure, time management, attitudes, behaviors and beliefs about school, along with data on their children’s school achievement and overall adaptation. A dynamic grouping analysis was applied to salient variables which generated a four group typology of parents: collaborators, critics, overwhelmed, and ill-equipped. Results further indicated that only a very small number of participants did not value education, as opposed to earlier findings where they represented a significant proportion of parents. Practical implications of these results for school administrators, parents and educators will be discussed

A generic decision support model for analysing the sustainable integration of new products : an application to the forest value chain

By inspecting the industrial environment of a region, it is possible to distinguish the actors, the strategies employed regarding their product portfolio, their production-distribution network and how they improve their competitiveness using innovation. Inevitably, their actions affect the economic vectors of the region and create a distinctive network with particular characteristics. What is meant by economic vectors is all of the intangible synergies formed in a given region in regard to the strategic assets, commodities, and innovations used by the companies to generate value. When a company evaluates the possibility of introducing new products into a network, the assessment of their impact has to be conducted to ensure the best selection. Competition, synergies, and sustainability have to be taken into consideration to position the strategy of a company, where the product portfolio can be evaluated accordingly. Consequently, even though a good analysis can be conducted on a small network, it becomes almost infeasible at a regional scale to properly assess the introduction of new products into a complex network without a decision support tool. This situation results in hesitations as to which appropriate combination of products/technologies should be chosen, when to strategically implement them, and what would be the extent of their impact on the existing network. To help organizations with these challenges, the development of a strategic decision support tool to assess the impact of integrating new products into an existing network is brought forward. The generic tool allows a mathematical representation of a given network composed of manufacturing processes, bill of materials and distribution nodes. The model is applied to a realistic case study in the Mauricie region (Quebec) Canada, where the introduction of new products is evaluated for the forest value chain considering the concept of forest biorefinery. Accordingly, scenarios around the potential integration of four prospective processes (i.e. pressurized hot water extraction, fast pyrolysis, organosolv fractionation, and lignin recovery platform) are designed to evaluate the introduction of eight bioproducts. Kraft lignin and crude bio-oil are shown to have the best financial return in the Mauricie region

Survey on the delivery of public services in Chin, Kachin, Kayin, and Magwe, Myanmar : codebook

The document provides baseline survey questions for gathering information that will provide socioeconomic data towards evidence-based public policies in Myanmar

Effects of CO2 enrichment on photosynthesis, growth, and nitrogen metabolism of the seagrass Zostera noltii

Seagrass ecosystems are expected to benefit from the global increase in CO2 in the ocean because the photosynthetic rate of these plants may be C-i-limited at the current CO2 level. As well, it is expected that lower external pH will facilitate the nitrate uptake of seagrasses if nitrate is cotransported with H+ across the membrane as in terrestrial plants. Here, we investigate the effects of CO2 enrichment on both carbon and nitrogen metabolism of the seagrass Zostera noltii in a mesocosm experiment where plants were exposed for 5 months to two experimental CO2 concentrations (360 and 700 ppm). Both the maximum photosynthetic rate (Pm) and photosynthetic efficiency (alpha) were higher (1.3- and 4.1-fold, respectively) in plants exposed to CO2-enriched conditions. On the other hand, no significant effects of CO2 enrichment on leaf growth rates were observed, probably due to nitrogen limitation as revealed by the low nitrogen content of leaves. The leaf ammonium uptake rate and glutamine synthetase activity were not significantly affected by increased CO2 concentrations. On the other hand, the leaf nitrate uptake rate of plants exposed to CO2-enriched conditions was fourfold lower than the uptake of plants exposed to current CO2 level, suggesting that in the seagrass Z. noltii nitrate is not cotransported with H+ as in terrestrial plants. In contrast, the activity of nitrate reductase was threefold higher in plant leaves grown at high-CO2 concentrations. Our results suggest that the global effects of CO2 on seagrass production may be spatially heterogeneous and depend on the specific nitrogen availability of each system. Under a CO2 increase scenario, the natural levels of nutrients will probably become limiting for Z. noltii. This potential limitation becomes more relevant because the expected positive effect of CO2 increase on nitrate uptake rate was not confirmed.Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BD/21487/2005]; POCI; FSE; COST; EC; EUinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Astroparticle yield and transport from extragalactic jet terminal shocks

The present paper deals with the yield and transport of high-energy particle within extragalactic jet terminal shocks, also known as hotspots. We investigate in some details the cosmic ray, neutrinos and high-energy photons yield in hotspots of powerful FRII radio-galaxies by scanning all known spatial transport regimes, adiabatic and radiative losses as well as Fermi acceleration process. Since both electrons and cosmic rays are prone to the same type of acceleration, we derive analytical estimates of the maximal cosmic ray energy attainable in both toroidal and poloidal magnetic field dominated shock structures by using observational data on synchrotron emission coming from various hot-spots. One of our main conclusions is that the best hot-spot candidates for high energy astroparticle production is the extended ($L_{HS}\geq 1kpc$), strongly magnetized ($B> 0.1mG$) terminal shock displaying synchrotron emission cut-off lying at least in the optical band. We found only one object (3C273A) over the six objects in our sample being capable to produce cosmic rays up to $10^{20}$ eV. Secondly, we investigate the astroparticle spectra produced by two characteric hot-spots (Cygnus A and 3C273 A) by applying a multi-scale MHD-kinetic scheme, coupling MHD simulations to kinetic computations using stochastic differential equations. We show that 3C273 A, matching the previous properties, may produce protons up to $10^{20}$ eV in a Kolmogorov type turbulence by both computing electron and cosmic ray acceleration. We also calculate the high-energy neutrino and gamma-ray fluxes on Earth produced through p-$\gamma$ and p-p processes and compare them to the most sensitive astroparticle experiments.Comment: To be published in Astroparticle Physic

On Fermi acceleration and MHD-instabilities at ultra-relativistic magnetized shock waves

Fermi acceleration can take place at ultra-relativistic shock waves if the upstream or downstream magnetic field has been remodeled so that most of the magnetic power lies on short spatial scales. The relevant conditions under which Fermi acceleration become efficient in the presence of both a coherent and a short scale turbulent magnetic field are addressed. Within the MHD approximation, this paper then studies the amplification of a pre-existing magnetic field through the streaming of cosmic rays upstream of a relativistic shock wave. The magnetic field is assumed to be perpendicular in the shock front frame, as generally expected in the limit of large shock Lorentz factor. In the MHD regime, compressive instabilities seeded by the net cosmic-ray charge in the shock precursor (as seen in the shock front frame) develop on the shortest spatial scales but saturate at a moderate level deltaB/B ~ 1, which is not sufficient for Fermi acceleration. As we argue, it is possible that other instabilities outside the MHD range provide enough amplification to allow successful Fermi acceleration.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure; to appear in MNRAS (minor changes

(Mal)adaptive cognitions as predictors of statistics anxiety

A vast majority of social science students experience statistics anxiety in their statistics class, a course often perceived as the most difficult one of their academic paths. The present study examines the role of attitudes towards statistics, cognitive emotion regulation strategies, and satisfaction of psychological needs in the prediction of statistics anxiety as well as the contribution of gender onto statistics anxiety. Two hundred forty-two undergraduate social sciences students in Canada completed the study. Positive attitude towards statistics, fewer maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and satisfaction of psychological needs were related to less statistics anxiety; adaptive emotion regulation strategies, however, were not. Furthermore, women experienced more statistics anxiety than men. Results provide insight about individual differences that may impact experiences of statistics anxiety and overall learning in the context of a statistics course

Wafer-scale detachable monocrystalline Germanium nanomembranes for the growth of III-V materials and substrate reuse

Germanium (Ge) is increasingly used as a substrate for high-performance optoelectronic, photovoltaic, and electronic devices. These devices are usually grown on thick and rigid Ge substrates manufactured by classical wafering techniques. Nanomembranes (NMs) provide an alternative to this approach while offering wafer-scale lateral dimensions, weight reduction, limitation of waste, and cost effectiveness. Herein, we introduce the Porous germanium Efficient Epitaxial LayEr Release (PEELER) process, which consists of the fabrication of wafer-scale detachable monocrystalline Ge NMs on porous Ge (PGe) and substrate reuse. We demonstrate monocrystalline Ge NMs with surface roughness below 1 nm on top of nanoengineered void layer enabling layer detachment. Furthermore, these Ge NMs exhibit compatibility with the growth of III-V materials. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) characterization shows Ge NMs crystallinity and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD) reciprocal space mapping endorses high-quality GaAs layers. Finally, we demonstrate the chemical reconditioning process of the Ge substrate, allowing its reuse, to produce multiple free-standing NMs from a single parent wafer. The PEELER process significantly reduces the consumption of Ge during the fabrication process which paves the way for a new generation of low-cost flexible optoelectronics devices.Comment: 17 pages and 6 figures along with 3 figures in supporting informatio