Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Parental Involvement and Family Motivational Climate as Perceived by Children: A Cross-cultural Study

EnglishThe culture of a country may influence parental involvement in a student’s learning, making it more or less adequate. To test this possibility, this study analyzes the cross-cultural validity of the learning-oriented Family Motivational Climate model (FMC) as an index of parental involvement in students’ academic job and the FMC questionnaire (FMC-Q), as a way of operationalizing it. A total of 583 Spanish and 448 Cuban students filled in the FMC-Q and the questionnaire of perceived motivational changes resulting from parental practices. Confirmatory, cross-validation, and multi-group factor analyses revealed that the model showed a good fit to the data, both in the Spanish and in the Cuban samples. Besides, FMC predicted the 74% of the variance of students’ motivational change. However, the results also revealed differences between the two samples in the FMC model set up, as Spanish and Cuban students did not put down the same significance to several indicators of the model. These facts imply the need to take cultural differences into account when designing interventions aimed at changing parental involvement practices. EnglishLa cultura de un pais puede influir en la participacion de los padres en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes, consiguiendo que sea mas o menos adecuada. Para poner a prueba esta posibilidad, este estudio analiza la validez transcultural del modelo de clima motivacional familiar (FMC), orientado al aprendizaje como indice de participacion de los padres en el trabajo academico de los estudiantes, y del cuestionario FMC (FMC-Q), como modo de operacionalizarlo. Un total de 583 estudiantes espanoles y 448 cubanos cumplimentaron el FMC-Q y el cuestionario de cambios motivacionales percibidos atribuidos a las practicas de los padres. Los analisis factoriales confirmatorios de validacion cruzada y multigrupo revelaron que el modelo mostro un buen ajuste en los datos, tanto en las muestras espanolas como en las cubanas. Ademas, el FMC predijo el 74% de la variacion en el cambio motivacional de los estudiantes. Sin embargo, los resultados tambien mostraron diferencias en la configuracion del modelo FMC en las dos muestras, ya que los estudiantes espanoles y cubanos no atribuyeron la misma importancia a varios indicadores del modelo. Estos hechos implican que hay que tener en cuenta las diferencias culturales al disenar intervenciones dirigidas a cambiar las practicas de participacion de los padres.
Differential antigen decay rates during digestion of molluscan prey by carabid predators

Carabid beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) were fed upon slugs (Mollusca: Pulmonata) in the laboratory, and their crop contents analysed for mollusc remains, using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with an anti‐Arion ater (L.) haemolymph antiserum. Crop weight loss and antigenic recognition of prey proteins were examined as separate variables in a series of validatory experiments. Two model predators, Abax parallelepipedus Piller and Mitterpacher and Pterostichus madidus F. , were fed upon two species of pest slugs, Deroceras reticulatum (Müller) and Arion hortensis Férussac. The fitting of regression equations to the transformed antigenic response data allowed the ‘half‐life’ and detection period to be calculated for each predator‐prey combination. Following a one hour feeding interval, the half‐life of the antigenic response to D. reticulatum remains was almost twice as long in P. madidus as that in A. parallelepipedus, and the detection period more than 2.5 times as long. However, covariant analysis showed that there was a significant difference between predator species in the rate at which detectability declined, but not in the rate of crop weight loss. When A. parallelepipedus was allowed to feed upon A. hortensis for eight hours, prey remains were still detectable at the end of the experiment, 13 days after feeding. Calibration of the differential rates of antigen decay and crop weight loss could potentially be used to calculate the size of the original meal, but only if prey species, and the time since feeding, can be determined. Potential solutions to these problems are discussed.
Internal Control, Manager’s Competency, Management Accounting Information Systems and Good Corporate Governance: Evidence from Rural Banks in Indonesia

This research was inspired by the rules of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Indonesia regarding the necessity for good corporate governance for rural banks (RB). So far, good corporate governance regulations have only been binding on commercial banks, but with the development and expansion of services and increased business volume of rural banks, the risk of rural banks has also increased, so this has encouraged the need for good corporate governance in rural banks. To achieve the application of good corporate governance, the quality of a management accounting information system (MAIS) is needed which is supported by the effectiveness of internal controls and manager’s competency. The method used is the explanatory survey method. The sample technique uses random sampling from the target population of the study—as many as 54 rural banks in the North Sumatra Province of Indonesia with a total sample of 45 rural banks. Respondents who are targeted are parties related to management accounting information systems, namely the board of directors or operational managers. Data obtained directly through research questionnaires were processed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) applications. This study found that the competencies of managers affect the quality of MAIS in rural banks, while the effectiveness of internal controls has no effect. This study also found that manager’s competency and the effectiveness of internal controls had an effect on the application of the principles of good corporate governance in rural banks if mediated by the quality of MAIS.
Characteristics of winter feeding aggregations of ruffed grouse in Alberta

Winter feeding aggregations of ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) were studied near Roch- ester, Alberta. The annual onset of budding by grouse in fall commenced with the first snow cover. During two winters, aggregation size increased through mid-January, after which there was a significant linear decrease averaging nearly 50 percent by early April. The decrease in group size after mid-January was probably effected chiefly by fragmentation resulting from increasing intragroup strife. Sex and age structure of aggregations was not significantly different from that expected by random combinations. Ruffed grouse fed in male aspen (Populus tremuloides) or in willow (Salix spp.) for an average of 16 minutes during morning, usually leaving at sunrise. Feeding began in evening about 52 minutes after sunset, and lasted an average of 24 minutes. The mean age of 100 male aspen utilized by grouse near Rochester was 36 years. Tree densities at 12 feeding sites were significantly higher than those at systematic-grid stations, drumming logs, and kill sites within aspen stands at Rochester. Buds and twigs of aspen and willow comprised about 80 percent (by volume) of crop contents of 148 grouse shot while budding. Nutrient analyses of male aspen buds indicated that ruffed grouse ingested those buds having the highest protein and potassium contents. Willow buds from grouse crops contained more protein (14.0 percent) than aspen buds from two other groups of crops (12.9 and 11.7 percent).
Preliminary assessment of the performance of soil‐grown wasabi (Wasabia japonica (Miq.) Matsum.) in New Zealand conditions

Abstract Wasabi (Wasabia japonica (Miq.) Matsum. ) is a new crop to New Zealand, and nothing is known of its yield potential, growing time, or the husbandry requirements to achieve that potential. As part of an initial assessment, a wasabi crop was grown for 24 months from May 1995 in a shade house at Lincoln to determine how the yield components developed overtime. The crop was sampled monthly from September 1995 to May 1997. Plant numbers decreased from 11 to 7/m2 over the time of the trial, mainly as a result of disease. Leaf area indices increased rapidly during the spring to reach full cover in summer and autumn. Stems appeared in December 1995, and increased to 4/plant by November 1996, and then trebled in number over the next three summer months. Much of this increase was the result of the growth of secondary or tertiary stems from buds on the main stems. The high value main stems weighed c. 30–40 g 8 months after planting, and c. 70 g 18 months after planting. By March 1997, only 4 of the 25 stems/m2 were over 60 g each i.e., large enough for the Japanese high quality fresh market, and two of these were over 100 g. Up to 5 kg/m2 of fresh material were produced in the first year after planting and 6 kg/m2 in the second year, and most of this was in the petioles. The crop was hand weeded 9 times and 15 fungicide, seven insecticide, and five slug and snail bait applications were made over the 2 years of this study.
Selecting Appropriate Cases When Tracing Causal Mechanisms

The last decade has witnessed resurgence in the interest in studying the causal mechanisms linking causes and effects. This article games through the methodological consequences that adopting a systems understanding of mechanisms has for what types of cases we should select when using in-depth case study methods like process tracing. The article proceeds in three steps. We first expose the assumptions that underpin the study of causal mechanisms as systems that have methodological implications for case selection. In particular, we take as our point of departure the case-based position, where: causation is viewed in deterministic and asymmetric terms, the focus is ensuring causal homogeneity in case-based research to enable cross-case inferences to be made, and finally where mechanisms are understood as more than just intervening variables but instead a system of interacting parts that transfers causal forces from causes to outcomes. We then develop a set of case selection guidelines that are in methodological alignment with these underlying assumptions. We then develop guidelines for research where the mechanism is the primary focus, contending that only typical cases where both X, Y, and the requisite contextual conditions are present should be selected. We compare our guidelines with the existing, finding that practices like selecting most/least-likely cases are not compatible with the underlying assumptions of tracing mechanisms. We then present guidelines for deviant cases, focusing on tracing mechanisms until they breakdown as a tool to shed light on omitted contextual and/or causal conditions.
REVEALING GENETIC MARKERS IN GELIDIUM VAGUM (RHODOPHYTA) THROUGH THE RANDOM AMPLIFIED POLYMORPHIC DNA (RAPD) TECHNIQUE 1

The recently developed random amplified polymorphic DNA technique was evaluated as a method for characterizing isolates of the agarophyte Gelidium vagum Okamura. Reaction conditions for single primer polymerase chain reaction were optimized to obtain a high degree of reproducibility of the amplified bands generated from purified G. vagum DNA. A total of 165 primers, including both (A + T)‐ and (G + C)‐rich sequences, was screened for DNA amplification using template DNA from a single Gelidium isolate. None of the 45 (A + T)‐rich primers was positive (i.e. band‐producing). Of the (G + C)‐rich primers, 47 were positive, generating a total of 322 prominent amplification products for DNA from 13 different G. vagum isolates. Polymorphic DNA loci were detected by 37 of the primers. Unweighted pair‐group arithmetic average cluster analysis (UPGMA) of these loci was used to group the G. vagum isolates and thereby determine which were most similar. G. latifolium, used as an out‐group for the UPGMA analysis, showed a high degree of dissimilarity.
Individual system of self-monitoring of the daily motor activity of athletes

Background: The implementation of daily and weekly self-control of individual motor activity, consisting of various speed modes, is not a systematically studied issue. The aim of the study was to develop an individually-differentiated system of self-monitoring of daily physical activity of athletes to increase their motor regime and prove its effectiveness by increasing the level of physical development and health of participants in the experiment. Study participants: Thirty-two subjects from 18 to 25 years of age, engaged for 12 weeks at the Sports Club “Progress”(Glazov, Russia). Interventions: self-monitoring by the participants of this research on a ranking system for diverse types of physical exercises by their correlation to one ordinary step or author's motor unit. Main outcome measures: the author’s self-monitoring system contributes to lowering the body mass index of athletes and developing their endurance. However, its implementation is effective in increasing the level of physical health only among athletes, stably, systematically and without significant deviations in the level of weekly physical activity performing physical activity. The results of the study. the implementation of daily monitoring of motor activity of young people in various motor modes stimulates respondents to increase their motor daily, weekly and monthly activity. Findings. The author’s recommendations for the implementation of continuous self-monitoring will provide feedback to the user of the programme, increase motivation for setting individual goals of amateur athletes and strategies for their further achievement.
Cocconeis crozetensis, a new monoraphid diatom from subantarctic freshwater and moss habitats

Ultrastructural observations of one previously misidentified freshwater species of a Cocconeis (Bacillariophyceae) from the Crozet Archipelago, Indian Sector of the Southern Ocean, are presented. Cocconeis crozetensis sp. nov. possesses small valves (apical axis: 10–13 μm; transapical axis: 6.7–8.4 μm). The main frustule features that distinguish the proposed new species are: (1) the sternum valve (SV) areolae with an external vola and the internal vela, (2) the submarginal area of the raphe-sternum valve, and (3) the morphology of valvocopula and fimbriae of the SV. Possible morphological relationships with several other small Cocconeis, such as C. neodiminuta, C. neothumensis, C. placentula var. pseudolineata and C. pseudothumensis, as well as its morphological similarities with placentuloid Cocconeis are discussed. Reliable identification of C. crozetensis sp. nov. under light microscopy can prove difficult for less-experienced diatomologists and ecologists, and the use of electron microscopy proves to be unavoidable for its correct identification.
Life history relationships between the bopyrid isopod Probopyrus pandalicola and one of its freshwater shrimp hosts Palaemonetes paludosus.

Abstract: Data are provided on the reproduction, attachment, postlarva! development and population structure of the parasitic isopod, Probopyrus pandalicola, on its shrimp host, Palaemonetes paludosus, collected monthly for 2 years from a site in the Wakulla River and a tributary, McBride's Slough, Wakulla Co., Florida. Ovigerous P. pandalicola occurred from January to October, whereas ovigerous hosts occurred only from January to September. Brood size, which ranged from 350-11,850 young, increased exponentially with length of the female, and was independent of host sex. Mean brood size and length of ovigerous P. pandalicola increased from late winter to a peak in March. There was a second smaller peak in June with a subsequent decline to low levels for the remainder of the breeding season. Cryptoniscus larvae occurred on shrimp 9-39 mm long from April-October. Growth of body width in relation to body length in male and female isopods was positively allometric. The length of female and male parasites was positively correlated with the length of the host and female parasite, respectively. Host and parasite longevity was ca. 1 year. Death of the parasite rarely preceded host death. These data are compared with that for other epicaridean isopods.
Off balance: Systematizing deformations of liberal democracy

The project of liberal democracy is inherently marked by tensions between its liberal and democratic pillar. This means that liberal democracy needs to constantly strive for a balance between conflicting principles. If it does not contain these centrifugal forces, liberal democracies risk becoming subverted from within due to one principle clearly dominating the other. In this article, we start from the idea of liberal democracy depending on balance to systematically assess multiple endogenous challenges to democracy. We identify four types of deformations and show how they are qualitatively distinct phenomena, yet systematically relate to each other. We furthermore discuss what the co-existence of several such deformations means for the notion of liberal democracy understood as a state of balance. In sum, the proposed framework adds to existing research by providing a systematizing and theoretically grounded assessment of ongoing subversive tendencies in liberal democracy.
MXenes atomic layer stacking phase transitions and their chemical activity consequences

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal nitrides and carbides (MXenes), containing a few atomic layers only, are novel materials which have become a hub of research in many applied technological fields, ranging from catalysis, to environmental scrubber materials, up to batteries. MXenes are obtained by removing the A element from precursor MAX phases, and it is for this reason that it is often assumed that the resulting 2D material displays the MAX atomic layer stacking —an ABC sequence with trigonal (D3d) symmetry. By means of density functional theory calculations, including dispersion, this work thoroughly explores the stability of alternative ABA stacking, with D3h hexagonal symmetry, for a total of 54 MXene materials with M2X, M3X2, and M4X3 stoichiometries (M=Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, or W; and X=C or N), revealing that for clean MXenes, the ABA stacking is fostered i) by the number of d electrons in M, ii) when X=N rather than X=C, and iii) when the surface is terminated by oxygen adatoms. The results suggest that stacking phase transitions are likely to take place under working operando conditions, surmounting affordable layer sliding energy barriers, in accordance to the experimentally observed layer distortions in Mo2N. Finally, we tackled the adsorptive and catalytic capabilities implications of such layer phase transition by considering N2 adsorption, dissociation, and hydrogenation on selected ABC and ABA stacked MXenes. Results highlight changes in adsorption energies of up to ~1 eV, and in N2 dissociation energy barriers of up to ~0.3 eV, which can critically change the reaction step rate constant by three to four orders of magnitude for working temperatures in the 400-700 K range. Consequently, it is mandatory to carefully determine the atomic structure of MXenes and to use models with the most stable stacking when inspecting their chemical or physical properties.
Estimating Leaf Water Content by Reflectance Measurements1

Regression equations expressing reflectance of incidentlight from the upper (adaxial) surface of single leaves as a function of their relative turgidity and water content were developed. Reflectance at the 1.45- and 1.93-µ water absorption bands was significantly related (p = 0.01) to the leaf relative turgidity or water content. However, because of variations in internal leaf structure associated with the availability of water during leaf development, the ability to predict the leaf water status from reflectance easurements was poor. With cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) the greatest change in reflectance occurs when the relative turgidity is below 70% and the leaves are visibly wilted. Within the relative turgidity range, 70 to 80%, reflectance changes are small and may not be definable for predictive purposes because of variation among leaves of field-grown cotton caused by age differences and osmotic stresses.
Four new European Achnanthidium species (Bacillariophyceae)

Four new Achnanthidium species belonging to the species complex around A. minutissimum (Kutz.) Czarn. are described from different localities in Europe. Achnanthidium hoffmannii Van de VijVer, eCtor, a. Mertens et jarlMan nov. spec. was found in several oligotrophic, circumneutral rivers in Sweden. The species is characterized by the presence of irregular, slit-like areolae near the valve margin, clearly visible in LM. Achnanthidium acerosum Van de VijVer, lange-Bert. et jarlMan nov. spec. , a narrow, linearlanceolate species with protracted, narrowly capitate apices, is likewise described from Sweden, but only found in one oligotrophic river in southern Sweden. Achnanthidium ertzii Van de VijVer et lange-Bert. nov. spec. was observed in a moss vegetation in a Laurisilva forest on the Portuguese island of Madeira. The species has an elongate, linear-elliptical valve outline with clearly capitate apices. The last species, A. tepidaricola Van de VijVer et M. de Haan nov. spec. , found in a greenhouse of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium, has almost parallel margins and broadly rounded, protracted, capitate apices. All four species are sufficiently different from similar existing species.
Potential land availability for energy crops production in Europe

The European Union (EU) has set quite an ambitious goal for biofuels contribution to the makeup of the renewable energy mix in the next decades. While substantial efforts have been made to develop the technologies for the transformation of biomass into biofuels, it is still uncertain to what extent the EU will be able to generate the biomass needed to meet its targets without compromising domestic food security. Using a bottom‐up approach, this review addresses one of the key elements: the potential availability of land for non‐food crops in the EU. The assessment is based on a land allocation model, which calculates surplus land that would be available for non‐food crops after satisfying food and feed demands. Projections of future agriculture productivity and changes in population are the most important parameters of the modeling applied for two future scenarios established for the years 2020 and 2030. The total area potentially available for non‐food crops in the EU‐27 (excluding Cyprus and Malta) is estimated to be 13.2 million ha in the current situation, with fallow land the largest contributor. In scenarios 2020 and 2030, additional land would be released from food and fodder crops, resulting in total land potential of 20.5 million ha in 2020 and 26.2 million ha in 2030. Results presented on a regional basis indicate potential locations for biomass transformation plants in terms of feedstock production. A set of non‐food crops can be recommended for the diverse climate and agronomic conditions of the entire EU area. © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd