Intergenerational Family Relations in Luxembourg: Adult Children and their Ageing Parents in Migrant and Non-Migrant Families

Whereas most studies in the context of acculturation research have focused so far on family relations between first generation parents and their second generation children in adolescence, the present study draws its attention on immigrant families at later stages in the family life cycle. This study is part of the FNR-funded project on “Intergenerational Relations in the Light of Migration and Ageing – IRMA” in which a cross-cultural comparison of altogether N = 120 Portuguese and Luxembourgish triads of older parents and their adult children, both living in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, is envisaged. The aims of this project are, firstly to examine similarities and differences in family values, internalized norms and mutual expectations of older parents and their adult children in migrant and non-migrant families; secondly, to analyze in how far an acculturation gap respectively a generation gap might have an impact on the relationship quality between parents and their adult children; thirdly and related to this, to explore subjective well-being (SWB) of all involved family members. Results are discussed in the framework of an integrative model of intergenerational family relations in the light of migration and ageing

Henri Temianka Correspondence; (ferring)

This collection contains material pertaining to the life, career, and activities of Henri Temianka, violin virtuoso, conductor, music teacher, and author. Materials include correspondence, concert programs and flyers, music scores, photographs, and books.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/temianka_correspondence/3506/thumbnail.jp

Henri Temianka Correspondence; (ferring)

This collection contains material pertaining to the life, career, and activities of Henri Temianka, violin virtuoso, conductor, music teacher, and author. Materials include correspondence, concert programs and flyers, music scores, photographs, and books.https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/temianka_correspondence/3505/thumbnail.jp

Analysis of QA/QC Protocols and Value of Data to the Development of Reference Criteria in the Georgia Ecoregions Project

The concept of Measurements Quality Objectives (MQOs), in bioassessment programs is a useful tool in evaluating the consistency of data and limiting variability and potential sources of measurement error. Typical evaluations of data repeatability and/or data quality center on the use of a series of calculations that quantify variability between measures. These calculations provided some indication of not only the quality of the data collected, but also acted as a measure of how representative the biological data were to each ecoregion. The evaluation of the Quality Control data for this project provides a framework for data users and water resource managers to assess the reliability and inherent variability of the proposed biotic indices for the state of Georgia. In bioassessment programs, it is important to identify natural variability of reference and impaired sites, as well as the variability of the influences anthropogenic stressors. Calculations of variance within the biological parameters measured are necessary for identifying the effects of measurement errors and/or inherent differences between sampling sites in relation to the overall variance of a metric or index on an ecoregional and sub-ecoregional level. Considering the invertebrate data produced by the Georgia Ecoregions Project, the consistency of all metric categories having average precision measures above the prescribed MQOs for both raw metric values and standardized metric scores may demonstrate that the lotic systems across the state of Georgia naturally have high variability from year-to-year and spatially within catchments. This in turn may indicate that the established precision thresholds of the MQOs may not be indicative of the data quality for this specific project

Rules-based vs. principles-based accounting standards: Analyzing the impact of amending APB No. 18 to a principles-based standard

In the above analysis I considered the impact of amending APB No. 18 to a principles-based standard upon implementation, accounting objectives, and management manipulation. The analysis has uncovered both positive and negative aspects to a change in the accounting standards setting process. Implementation would be more costly and require more resources due to applying judgment instead of objective tests. Accounting objectives of comparability and reliability could arguably be improved assuming implementation is accurate. Principles-based accounting standards would not significantly improve consistency. Management structuring of transactions could be decreased assuming accurate implementation. The analysis has discovered that the potential success of principles-based accounting standards depends upon accurate judgment being used by auditors and management in analyzing transactions. I do not believe the potential benefits of principles-based accounting standards outweigh the extra resources necessary to ensure the use of accurate judgment and the doubt currently inherent in the assumption of accurate implementation

The Archaeology and Paleoecology of the Aubrey Clovis Site (41DN479) Denton County, Texas

This report contains the results of interdisciplinary investigations of the Aubrey Clovis Site (41DN479}, located at Lake Ray Roberts, Denton County, Texas, and conducted by the Center for Environmental Archaeology, University of North Texas for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District. Exposed by construction of the artificial outlet channel for the reservoir, the site is a multi-cluster complex of archaeological features and artifact-fauna! concentrations buried 7-9 meters below the flood plain of the Elm Fork Trinity River. The Clovis-age materials are geologically situated on a paleo surface within a 14 m thick sequence of late Quaternary deposits, associated with spring, lacustrine, alluvial and colluvial sedimentary environments. A stratigraphically consistent set of 23 radiocarbon ages establishes a sound chronometric frame for these deposits between 1.6 Ka and 14.2 Ka. The Clovis occupations are directly dated by two radiocarbon ages of ca. 11,550 Ka determined on charcoal from a hearth. These ages are securely bracketed by stratigraphically and numerically consistent ages above and below, within the period of ca. 12,300 to 10,940 Ka. Paleoenvironmental reconstructions for the periods before, during and after Clovis occupations have been afforded by pollen, insects, mollusks, vertebrate faunas as well as sedimentary and geochemical data. In the early post-glacial period, the site environs was a cool grassland with moderate effective precipitation, that evolved towards significantly warmer and drier conditions prior to Clovis occupations. The environment ameliorated at about the time of occupations, but exhibited a maximum of Late Quaternary mammalian biodiversity. Clovis artifacts and faunas occur in multiple clusters, including ·camps 8 and F that contain ca. 9,800 lithic artifacts, over 4,000 fauna! remains and features including hearths, lithic concentrations and a pit considered to be a well. These concentrations were adjacent to a Clovis-age pond and river. Bison bones and associated artifacts indicate a butchering (and kill ?) locus on the pond shore opposite Camp 8 . Subsistence data from the camps indicate exploitation of a broad set of animals, ranging from mega-mammals (Bison and possibly Mammoth) down to small game, fish and birds. Lithic artifacts show procurement from a minimum of almost 200 km from the site, with materials dominated by Tecovas quartzite, white Novachert and Edwards chert, and including chalcedony, Alibates chert, and Morrison or Dakota sandstone. The assemblage is dominated by repair and maintenance debris associated with bifacial and unifacial tools. Latest stage manufacture is indicated for a biface(s), while all other activities were apparently performed with only resharpening/ repair of other stone tools. Detailed spatial patterning indicates quite well differentiated activities within and between these occupation clusters. Overall, the uniquely detailed record of Clovis occupations at Aubrey registers an adaptive strategy characterized by high mobility, broad exploitation of dispersed, variable resources, long-distance raw material procurement coupled with efficient blank and tool depletion, and a probable combination of functional flexibility and strong within group task differentiation and integratio

Knowing More than You Think. A study on misconceptions on the accumulation of atmospheric CO2, and what it means to understand accumulation

Despite global agreements to limit the effects of anthropogenic climate change, emissions of CO2 continue to rise as societies globally have yet to make the necessary readjustments to turn the trend. It has been suggested by some researchers of public climate science literacy that one reason for public complacency about climate change could be lacking understanding of the relationship between emissions, uptake, and total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Research has shown lay people have difficulties applying fundamental physical principles when performing tasks on CO2 accumulation by, for example, providing answers implying that the level of atmospheric CO2 can stabilise even while the rate of emissions of CO2 exceeds the rate of uptake. This type of misconception, failing to grasp the stock and flow (SF) nature of a dynamic system, has been termed stock and flow failure (SF failure). Several perspectives have been used by researchers to understand and suggest interventions to counteract SF failure, where one recently suggested perspective aims to elaborate what it means to "understand" SF dynamics. From this perspective, understanding accumulation of atmospheric CO2 involves several forms of knowledge, and to successfully perform different tasks demands different forms of knowledge. In order to further investigate using this perspective to explain the frequency of SF failure, a survey was conducted on engineering students (N=131) at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg. The survey was designed to quantitatively study to what extent people possess the knowledge of the concepts and procedures required to successfully perform tasks on accumulation of atmospheric CO2, but lack the demanded knowledge of when to apply these concepts and tools. Also, misconceptions regarding processes through which CO2 is removed from the atmosphere were investigated, as well as possible correlations between misconceptions concerning CO2 accumulation and opinion on emission reduction. The results of the study show that people perform differently on a variety of tasks considered to demand the same knowledge of concepts and procedures, which could be explained by difficulty of knowing when to apply these concepts and procedures varying across the range of tasks. This substantiates a suggestion made in previous research, that high rates of SF failure in the CO2 context could be heavily influenced by inability to invoke and apply the required knowledge, rather than simply not knowing. Also, novel results are presented showing major misconceptions concerning removal of CO2 from the atmosphere, where subjects heavily underestimate uptake of CO2 by the ocean, and believe notable amounts of CO2 leaves the atmosphere into space or decomposes. Further, no clear correlations between opinion on emission reduction and SF failure was found. Implications for practise and future research are discussed

Međugeneracijska solidarnost u odrasloj dobi: uloga obiteljskih normi u međugeneracijskoj potpori i ambivalentnosti

Starting from Bengtson\u27s solidarity paradigm, we will investigate the role of internalized family norms in intergenerational support as well as experienced ambivalence from the adult child perspective. We assume that internalized family norms are an important determinant of relationship regulation as they have an impact both on the selection of specific behavior as well as on its evaluation. As a consequence, own and others\u27 behavior should be most positively evaluated if it is in line with internalized norms and values. In contrast, if intergenerational solidarity and support exchange do not converge with internalized norms and expectations, ambivalence might be experienced. These assumptions are examined in a sample of N = 131 middle-aged adults living in Luxembourg and Germany. Findings showed that normative aspects of intergenerational solidarity were less important compared to affective aspects when predicting support exchange between adult children and their parents; however, family values had a moderating role in the relation between support exchange and ambivalence. Results are discussed with respect to the centrality of values in implicitly and explicitly guiding support behavior within families.Polazeći od Bengtsonove paradigme solidarnosti, istražit ćemo ulogu usvojenih obiteljskih normi u međugeneracijskoj potpori te iskustvo ambivalentnosti iz perspektive odrasloga djeteta. Pretpostavljamo da su usvojene obiteljske norme važna odrednica regulacije odnosa, jer utječu i na odabir specifičnoga ponašanja i na njegovu procjenu. Slijedom toga, vlastito ponašanje, kao i ponašanje drugih, trebalo bi najpozitivnije ocijeniti ako je u skladu s usvojenim normama i vrijednostima. Nasuprot tomu, ako međugeneracijska solidarnost i razmjena potpore nisu usklađeni s usvojenim normama i očekivanjima, može se iskusiti ambivalentnost. Ove pretpostavke ispituju se na uzorku od N = 131 odrasle osobe srednjih godina koje žive u Luksemburgu i Njemačkoj i koje su opisale svoj odnos prema majkama i očevima. Rezultati pokazuju da su normativni aspekti međugeneracijske solidarnosti bili manje važni u usporedbi s afektivnim aspektima u predviđanju razmjene potpore između odrasle djece i njihovih roditelja. Međutim, obiteljske vrijednosti imale su posredničku ulogu između razmjene potpore i ambivalentnosti. Rezultati su izloženi s obzirom na centralnost vrijednosti koje implicitno i eksplicitno usmjeravaju pružanje potpore unutar obitelji

Characterization of aluminum oxide tunnel barriers by combining transport measurements and transmission electron microscopy imaging

We present two approaches for studying the uniformity of a tunnel barrier. The first approach is based on measuring single-electron and two-electron tunneling in a hybrid single-electron transistor. Our measurements indicate that the effective area of a conduction channel is about one order of magnitude larger than predicted by theoretical calculations. With the second method, transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate that variations in the barrier thickness are a plausible explanation for the larger effective area and an enhancement of higher order tunneling processes.Peer reviewe