Occupational knowledge in college students: Examining relations to career certainty, career decision-making self-efficacy, and interest congruence

Several career decision-making models describe an ongoing career decision evaluation process in which career decisions are constantly being re-assessed as individuals gain occupational information and self-awareness. However, the relation between career decision certainty and knowledge of one\u27s chosen career has not yet been adequately examined; in part due to the difficult nature of assessing the latter construct in large samples. The present study objectively measured occupational knowledge in 316 college students; specifically regarding the career each student had reportedly been considering. Objective occupational knowledge of participants\u27 chosen careers significantly related to interest congruence only, and neither variable significantly contributed to variance in career certainty. Results indicated career decision-making self-efficacy partially drives participation in career exploration activities and perceived occupational knowledge, and all three variables in turn contributed to the prediction of career certainty through direct and/or indirect effects. This study was the first to objectively assess college students\u27 knowledge of the careers they were actively pursuing, and the first to examine that construct along with other important career decision-making variables. Implications and future research directions are discussed

Drosophila Chitinase 2 is expressed in chitin producing organs for cuticle formation.

The architecture of the outer body wall cuticle is fundamental to protect arthropods against invading pathogens and numerous other harmful stresses. Such robust cuticles are formed by parallel running chitin microfibrils. Molting and also local wounding leads to dynamic assembly and disassembly of the chitin-matrix throughout development. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms that organize proper chitin-matrix formation are poorly known. Recently we identified a key region for cuticle thickening at the apical cell surface, the cuticle assembly zone, where Obstructor-A (Obst-A) coordinates the formation of the chitin-matrix. Obst-A binds chitin and the deacetylase Serpentine (Serp) in a core complex, which is required for chitin-matrix maturation and preservation. Here we present evidence that Chitinase 2 (Cht2) could be essential for this molecular machinery. We show that Cht2 is expressed in the chitin-matrix of epidermis, trachea, and the digestive system. There, Cht2 is enriched at the apical cell surface and the dense chitin-matrix. We further show that in Cht2 knockdown larvae the assembly zone is rudimentary, preventing normal cuticle formation and pore canal organization. As sequence similarities of Cht2 and the core complex proteins indicate evolutionarily conserved molecular mechanisms, our findings suggest that Cht2 is involved in chitin formation also in other insects

Parental Autonomy Support and Career Well-Being: Mediating Effects of Perceived Academic Competence and Volitional Autonomy

Self-determination theory (SDT) was used to explain the relation of parental autonomy support for making their own decisions and career well-being (i.e., more academic major satisfaction and less subjective career distress). Perceived academic competence and perceived volitional autonomy were posited to mediate the relation of mother’s and father’s autonomy support and career well-being in 113 university students. Perceived academic competence mediated the relation of father’s support and both indicators of career well-being. Perceived volitional autonomy mediated the relation of mother’s support and both indicators of career well-being. A bootstrap procedure yielded significant mediation effects of mother’s and father’s autonomy support on career well-being. Results are discussed in terms of SDT and career well-being

Evapotranspiration of Rewetted and Drained Fen Soils With Grass – Long Term Lysimeter Studies

In the context of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to combat climate change, rewetting of peatlands is of particular importance. High groundwater levels covering organic matter in the soil prevent its oxidation to CO2. The amount of water needed to allow the rewetting of peatlands can be determined in lysimeter studies. The evapotranspiration in fens depends essentially on the groundwater table, the vegetation (transpirational active biomass) and the saturation deficit of the atmosphere. After rewetting, these factors can lead to an evapotranspiration of 1000 l m-2 a-1 and even 2000 l m-2 a-1 in dry years depending on the vegetation. In a long term experiment over 20 years, the lysimeters planted with Phragmites australis showed the highest evapotranspiration rates, followed by those covered with Carex species. Evaluation of these results for a large, flooded, rewetted fen area in the Havelländisches Luch in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany, with Phragmites confirmed the high values of evapotranspiration measured at the groundwater lysimeter station of ZALF in Paulinenau

Nutrient Balances of Rewetted Fens – Groundwater Lysimeter Results

With the raising of groundwater levels to protect fens and the climate, there may be a risk of nutrients, such as nitrogen or potassium, leaching into the groundwater. Great amounts of nutrients, which are accumulated largely by peat forming plants like Phragmites australis and Carex spec., are conveyed into rewetted fens through high amounts of introduced water. Nitrogen leaching into the groundwater is very low even at the beginning of flooding and there is no sudden, pronounced leaching. Only a portion of potassium is taken up by plants whereas the rest might be found in the groundwater. Increasing nutrient inputs must be expected as soon as more contaminated water is added contributing to the regeneration of groundwater and increasing the pollution with nutrients at once

Baseline and triangulation geometry in a standard plenoptic camera

In this paper, we demonstrate light field triangulation to determine depth distances and baselines in a plenoptic camera. The advancement of micro lenses and image sensors enabled plenoptic cameras to capture a scene from different viewpoints with sufficient spatial resolution. While object distances can be inferred from disparities in a stereo viewpoint pair using triangulation, this concept remains ambiguous when applied in case of plenoptic cameras. We present a geometrical light field model allowing the triangulation to be applied to a plenoptic camera in order to predict object distances or to specify baselines as desired. It is shown that distance estimates from our novel method match those of real objects placed in front of the camera. Additional benchmark tests with an optical design software further validate the model’s accuracy with deviations of less than 0:33 % for several main lens types and focus settings. A variety of applications in the automotive and robotics field can benefit from this estimation model

Formation and properties of a discrete family of dissipative solitons in a nonlinear optical system

In dieser Arbeit werden dissipative räumliche Solitonen mit experimentellen und theoretischen Methoden untersucht. Die Strukturen werden als lokalisierte Polarisationszustände in der transversalen Feldverteilung eines Laserstrahls beobachtet, der ein optisch nichtlineares System durchläuft. Im Gegensatz zu bisherigen experimentellen Beobachtungen dissipativer Solitonen wird eine Sequenz von Solitonen höherer Ordnung beobachtet, die sich in ihrer inneren Struktur unterscheiden. Ein Schwerpunkt der Arbeit liegt in der Identifikation und Charakterisierung der Mechanismen, die zur Bildung der Solitonen beitragen. Es zeigt sich, dass die Stabilitätseigenschaften der Solitonen eng mit der Dynamik von Schaltfronten verknüpft sind, die zwei stabile räumlich ausgedehnte Zustände des Systems verbinden. Der Existenzbereich der einzelnen Strukturen wird hinsichtlich der wichtigsten Parameter experimentell und numerisch untersucht. In this work, spatial dissipative solitons are analyzed by means of experimental and theoretical methods. The structures are observed as localized polarization states in the transverse field distribution of a laser beam which passes through an optically nonlinear system. In contrast to previous experimental observations of dissipative solitons, a sequence of higher-order solitons which differ in their inner structure is observed. A main part of this work is devoted to the identification and characterization of the mechanisms that lead to the formation of stable solitons. It turns out that the stability properties of the solitons are closely linked with the dynamics of switching fronts that connect two stable spatially extended states of the system. The region of existence of the individual solitons is experimentally and numerically determined with respect to the most important parameters