Exchange rate between scientific currencies - An application to the landuse plan of natura 2000

Science is driven by research funds, research funds are associated with decision making, and decision making is attached to valuation. Therefore every scientific paradigm tend to devise its own valuation system. Ecconomists prefer cost benefit analysis where everything can be translated into money. Planners assume values to infinity which lines in a map difining restrictions and enforceable land uses. Ecologists design maps with values for biodiversity. Historians value things according to their age. And engineers enjoy the mathematical control over multicriteria analysis. Anyway, concerning spatial planinng, most of the time there is a line on a map, assumed by polititions and experts and more or less respected by stakeholders. Along this line the total value of alternative uses must be the same. And the total value assumes all the infomation values provided by economists, ecologists, planners, engineers and historians. Because a line has many points it is possible to estimate the exchange rate function between all these different scientific currencies and derive the total economic value of different land uses.

Perceptions of parenting practices and psychological variables of elite and sub-elite youth athletes

Drawing from the model of parental involvement in sport, the overall purpose was to examine the associations of perceptions of parenting practices (encouragement, reinforcement, instruction, and role modeling) and athletes’ psychological variables (self-efficacy, social self-efficacy, self-regulation, and intrinsic motivation) of elite and sub-elite youth athletes. Participants were elite (n = 210) and sub-elite (n = 635) athletes aged between 14 and 18 years (Mage = 16.58, SD = 1.33). Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that young elite athletes’ perceptions of sport-related parenting practices are associated with their psychological skills and performance level in sport. Specifically, in comparison with their sub-elite peers, perceptions of parental encouragement had a significantly different strong effect on intrinsic motivation. Moreover, perceptions of parental modeling revealed different effects on performance level, as well as on intrinsic motivation, and self-regulation. These perceptions of parenting practices may promote a positive learning environment, resulting in an increased likelihood of achieving a high level of sport performance in comparison with their sub-elite peers

Parental involvement in sport:psychometric development and empirical test of a theoretical model

The purposes of the present multistudy were to develop and provide initial construct validity for measures based on the model of parental involvement in sport (Study 1) and examine structural relationships among the constructs of the model (Study 2). In Study 1 (nparents = 342, nathletes = 223), a confirmatory factor analysis was used to verify the psychometric properties of the measures. Content and construct validity were evaluated, as well individual and composite reliability. Multi-group analysis with two independent samples provided evidence of factorial invariance. In Study 2 (nparents = 754, nathletes = 438), structural equation modeling analysis supported the hypothesised model in which athletes’ perceptions of parents’ behaviours mediated the relationship between parents’ reported behaviours and the athletes’ psychological variables conducive to their achievement in sport. The findings provide support for the parental involvement in sport model and demonstrate the role of perceptions of parents’ behaviours on young athletes’ cognitions in sport

Un ricordo di Filippo Càssola

Questa relazione raccoglie le parole con cui il prof. Serpa inaugurò l’edizione del 2006 della European Summer School of Classics. Le sue parole ricordano il prof. Filippo Cassola, che insegnò all’Università di Trieste, e celebrano la sua cortesia e sollecitudine, tanto quanto i suoi interessi letterari e gli specifici studi storici.This paper gathers together the words with which Professor Serpa inaugurated the 2006 edition of the European Summer School of Classics. His words commemorate Professor Filippo Cassola, who taught at the University of Trieste, celebrating his courtesy and solicitude, as well as his literary interests and his main sphere of activity, his historical studies