Verbal abuse and internalizing problems in early adolescence: negative attributional style as mediator

This study examined the contributions of verbal abuse to internalizing problems among 324 early adolescent students (aged 11-13 years) in Selangor, and the mediating role negative attributional style plays in this relationship. Students were selected using a cluster sampling method and responded to a self-administered questionnaire. Children.s Perception of Parental Verbal Aggression (CPPVA; Solomon & Serres, 1999), The Children.s Attributional Style Questionnaire (CASQ; Seligman et al., 1984) and Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC; Merrell & Walters, 1998) were used to measure the variables in this study. Data were analyzed using Baron and Kenny.s (1986) statistical framework for assessing the mediational effects. Findings suggest that negative attributional style partially mediates verbal abuse and internalizing problems. This study sheds light on how verbal abuse contributes to internalizing problems in Asian context. Implications for intervention and prevention work related to internalizing problems among early adolescent students are also discussed

Diversity and bioactivity of actinomycetes from Signy Island terrestrial soils, maritime Antarctic

The Antarctic represents a largely untapped source for isolation of new microorganisms with potential to produce bioactive natural products. Actinomycetes are of special interest among such microorganisms as they are known to produce a large number of natural products, many of which have clinical, pharmaceutical or agricultural applications. We isolated, characterized and classified actinomycetes from soil samples collected from different locations on Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, in the maritime Antarctic. A total of 95 putative actinomycete strains were isolated from eight soil samples using eight types of selective isolation media. The strains were dereplicated into 16 groups based on morphology and Amplified Ribosomal DNA Restriction Analysis (ARDRA) patterns. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences of representatives from each group showed that streptomycetes were the dominant actinomycetes isolated from these soils; however, there were also several strains belonging to diverse and rare genera in the class Actinobacteria, including Demetria, Glaciibacter, Kocuria, Marmoricola, Nakamurella and Tsukamurella. In addition, screening for antibacterial activity and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase genes showed that many of the actinomycete strains have the potential to produce antibacterial compounds

Production of Medium Chain Length Polyhydroxyalkanoates From Oleic Acid Using Pseudomonas Putida Pga1 by Fed Batch Culture

Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are a class of polymers currently receiving much attention because of theirpotential as renewable and biodegradable plastics. A wide variety of bacteria has been reported to produce PHAsincluding Pseudomonas strains. These strains are known as versatile medium chain length PHAs (PHAs-mcl) producersusing fatty acids as carbon source. Oleic acid was used to produce PHAs-mcl using Pseudomonas putida PGA 1 bycontinuous feeding of both nitrogen and carbon source, in a fed batch culture. During cell growth, PHAs alsoaccumulated, indicating that PHA production in this organism is growth associated. Residual cell increased until thenitrogen source was depleted. At the end of fermentation, final cell concentration, PHA content, and productivity were30.2 g/L, 44.8 % of cell dry weight, and 0.188 g/l/h, respectively

Is adhesion superficial? Silicon wafers as a model system to study van der Waals interactions

Adhesion is a key issue for researchers of various fields, it is therefore of uppermost importance to understand the parameters that are involved. Commonly, only surface parameters are employed to determine the adhesive forces between materials. Yet, van der Waals forces act not only between atoms in the vicinity of the surface, but also between atoms in the bulk material. In this review, we describe the principles of van der Waals interactions and outline experimental and theoretical studies investigating the influence of the subsurface material on adhesion. In addition, we present a collection of data indicating that silicon wafers with native oxide layers are a good model substrate to study van der Waals interactions with coated materials

Rare-earth-doped fluoride nanoparticles with engineered long luminescence lifetime for time-gated: In vivo optical imaging in the second biological window

Biomedicine is continuously demanding new luminescent materials to be used as optical probes for the acquisition of high resolution, high contrast and high penetration in vivo images. These materials, in combination with advanced techniques, could constitute the first step towards new diagnosis and therapy tools. In this work, we report on the synthesis of long lifetime rare-earth-doped fluoride nanoparticles by adopting different strategies: core/shell and dopant engineering. The here developed nanoparticles show intense infrared emission in the second biological window with a long luminescence lifetime close to 1 millisecond. These two properties make the here presented nanoparticles excellent candidates for time-gated infrared optical bioimaging. Indeed, their potential application as optical imaging contrast agents for autofluorescence-free in vivo small animal imaging has been demonstrated, allowing high contrast real-time tracking of gastrointestinal absorption of nanoparticles and transcranial imaging of intracerebrally injected nanoparticles in the murine brainThis work was supported in part by the grants from the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, China (HIT. BRETIV.201503 and AUGA5710052614) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51672061). We thank Dr Lina Wu at the Fourth Hospital of Harbin Medical University for her kind help with the MTT assay, and Dr Tymish Y. Ohulchanskyy at Shenzhen University for his kind help with the fluorescence lifetime measurement. The work was also supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (grant MAT2016-75362-C3-1-R). Jie Hu acknowledges the scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (No. 201506650003). Dirk H. Ortgies is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for a Juan de la Cierva scholarship (No. FJCI-2014-21101) and the Spanish Institute of Health (ISCIII) for a Sara Borell Fellowship (No. CD17/00210

Internationalizing higher education: A case study of a Midwest comprehensive university

The international component of higher education has faced significant challenges over the past two decades due to the effects of globalization. The realization that international interdependence is not an abstract theory but a reality has prompted institutions of higher education in the United States to internationalize their campuses. The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine how and to what extent a Midwest comprehensive university has developed its internationalization process Special focus was placed on understanding and drawing conclusions from the perceptions of administrators and faculty members regarding the importance of internationalizing a campus and the factors that either facilitate or hinder the process. The primary modes of data collection were individual interviews and document analysis. The participants included 32 upper-level administrators and faculty members. This study concluded with several aspects of the internationalizing higher education. They are: (a) internationalizing is a complex concept; (b) internationalizing needs to be a concerted effort; (c) internationalizing requires a multilevel approach; and (d) internationalizing the campus is an inevitable process

Women Entrepreneurship in South Africa: Understanding the role of Competencies in Business Success

Background and aim: Environmental factors alone cannot determine the success of small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) and female entrepreneurs; there is a need to closely examine the internal factors that also contribute to business success. This is necessary because, despite the considerable government support and support of bodies interested in promoting gender equality in all areas (business included), 20% of female-owned businesses still fail annually. Consequently, even though, according to a report from the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa, millions of Rands have been allocated to support female-owned SMMEs by way of government funding, training, grants and consultative support services, the failure rates of these female-owned businesses remain high. The main reason for this can be that over-dependence on these incentives often weakens rather than strengthens female entrepreneurs’ ability to manage their businesses and reduces their competitiveness by laying emphasis on external, contextual factors rather than internal, competence variables for success. Researchers in the past have suggested that focusing on the internal factors, especially the ‘people issues’ facing the entrepreneurs (in this case female entrepreneurs), may give the business a better chance of success. Design/methodology/approach: A ‘mixed-method’ approach, conducted in two parts, was adopted for this study and appropriate tools and techniques were used to collect and analyse the data drawn from a sample of female entrepreneurs in South Africa. The study applies culturally instantiated facets of the debate on gender entrepreneurship as part of a detailed and empirically sophisticated consideration of the status of female entrepreneurship within South Africa. The qualitative aspect utilised semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. The quantitative aspect utilised survey questionnaires developed from the findings of the qualitative study. Results: All participants agreed that entrepreneurial competencies are vital for business success. The study also makes a clear distinction between the traits approach and competencies approach in understanding business success. Arguably, the competency variable is viewed and appreciated differently by female entrepreneurs in South Africa. The findings also showed some cultural variations in the application of entrepreneurial competencies among the four dominant racial groups in South Africa. Conclusion: This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the competency variable in understanding the factors that influence business success in the context of South African female entrepreneurs. It provides a basis for an agenda for focus on training and development of the entrepreneurial competencies of female entrepreneurs in South Africa

Facilitating the Professional Growth of Teachers in Networked Learning Communities (NLC)

Networked learning among teachers is a powerful form of professional learning as such learning informs and helps them understand their work, their influence, and their effects on themselves, their peers and their students (Lieberman & Wood, 2003). In Singapore, one of our key professional development programmes is engaging teachers in networked learning communities or NLCs. We define NLCs as networks of teachers across schools learning from one another, with one another, and on behalf of others. Networked learning is the process where individuals from different schools come together in a network to engage in purposeful and sustained developmental activities, informed by the public knowledge base, utilising their own know-how and co-constructing knowledge together (Jackson & Temperley, 2007).One of our greatest challenges in championing NLCs is facilitating and ensuring the growth of the teachers involved. While there are numerous studies which recognise the values and purpose of NLC (e.g., Cousin & Deepwell, 2005; Day, Hadfield, & Kellow, 2002; Jopling, 2006; Katz & Earl, 2007; Lieberman, 2000), as well as studies suggesting principles and features to foster successful NLCs (e.g., Jackson & Temperley, 2007; Katz & Earl, 2010), there is a surprising lack of literature on models that operationalise networked learning. Our solution is to develop a networked learning model that guides facilitators of networked learning communities in the learning and growth of their members. In developing this model, we are informed by existing literature as well as our own research on factors of successful NLCs. We call our research-informed model SPAR© which is short for Seeding, Planning, Applying, Reviewing, Celebrating. Embedded within the SPAR© model are several established protocols and tools to guide NLC facilitators in facilitating purposeful and deep networked learning. While the model is designed and intended for teachers and teacher-educators, we believe the underlying processes will also be relevant to other non-teacher related networked learning communities. We hope to share our research-informed model with participants at NLC 2016.Participant OutcomesParticipants will:• understand the various principles of networked learning in the education context;• learn about a networked learning model developed and used by the Academy of Singapore Teachers in facilitating the growth of NLCs;• experience some tools and protocols embedded within the networked learning model; and• have meaningful conversations with professional learning leaders from the Academy of Singapore Teachers in facilitating NLCs