Is a Majority Enough? Psychological Well-being and Its Relation to Academic and Prosocial Motivation, Self-regulation and Achievement at school

This cross-sectional study analyzed psychological well-being at school using the Self-Determination theory as a theoretical frame-work. The study explored basic psychological needs fulfillment (BPNS), academic (SRQ-A), prosocial self-regulation (SRQ-P) and motivation, and their relationship with achievement in general, special and selective education (N=786, 444 boys, 345 girls, mean age 12 yrs 8 mths). Motivation starts behavior which becomes guided by self-regulation. The perceived locus of control (PLOC) affects how self-determined this behavior will be; in other words, to what extent it is autonomously regulated. In order learn and thus to be able to accept external goals, a student has to feel emotionally safe and have sufficient ego-flexibility—all of which builds on satisfied psychological needs. In this study those conditions were explored. In addition to traditional methods Self-organizing maps (SOM), was used in order to cluster the students according to their well-being, self-regulation, motivation and achievement scores. The main impacts of this research were: a presentation of the theory based alternative of studying psychological well-being at school and usage of both the variable and person-oriented approach. In this Finnish sample the results showed that the majority of students felt well, but the well-being varied by group. Overall about for 11–15% the basic needs were deprived depending on the educational group. Age and educational group were the most effective factors; gender was important in relation to prosocial identified behavior. Although the person-oriented SOM-approach, was in a large extent confirming what was no-ticed by using comparison of the variables: the SEN groups had lower levels of basic needs fulfillment and less autonomous self-regulation, interesting deviations of that rule appeared. Some of the SEL- and GEN-group members ended up in the more unfavorable SOM-clusters, and not all SEN-group members belonged to the poorest clusters (although not to the best either). This evidence refines the well-being and self-regulation picture, and may re-direct intervention plans, and turn our focus also on students who might otherwise remain unnoticed. On the other hand, these results imply simultaneously that in special education groups the average is not the whole truth. On the basis of theoretical and empirical considerations an intervention model was sug-gested. The aim of the model was to shift amotivation or external motivation in a more intrinsic direction. According to the theoretical and empirical evidence this can be achieved first by studying the self-concept a student has, and then trying to affect both inner and environmental factors—including a consideration of the basic psychological needs. Keywords: academic self-regulation, prosocial self-regulation, basic psychological needs, moti-vation, achievement

Milk casein-derived tripeptides : A special focus on blood pressure and vascular function

Increased consumption of low-fat milk products is inversely associated with the risk of hypertension. The beneficial effect of milk on blood pressure is attributed to high calcium and potassium content but also to specific peptide sequences, which are cleaved from milk protein during gastrointestinal digestion, fermentation of milk with proteolytic starter cultures or enzymatic hydrolysis. Milk products fermented with Lactobacillus helveticus contain casein-derived tripeptides isoleucine-proline-proline (Ile-Pro-Pro) and valine-proline-proline (Val-Pro-Pro), which have been shown to possess antihypertensive effects in humans and in experimental animals. The aim of the present series of studies was to investigate the effects of tripeptides Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro or fermented milk products containing them on vascular function and blood pressure and to elucidate the mechanisms behind them by using different experimental models of hypertension. Another aim was to characterize the acute effects of tripeptides on blood pressure and arterial stiffness in mildly hypertensive humans. Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro or fermented milk products containing them attenuated the development of hypertension in two experimental models of hypertension, spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and type 2 diabetic Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat fed with high-salt diet. Significant differences in systolic blood pressure (SBP) were seen after 8 weeks treatment with tripeptide-containing products compared to control product. Plant sterols did not enhance this effect. Two differently produced tripeptide powders produced a similar attenuating effect on SBP in SHR. In mildly hypertensive subjects, a single administration of tripeptide- and plant sterol-containing fermented milk product decreased both SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) over a period of 8 hours. Protective effect of tripeptides Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro and fermented milk products containing them on vascular function was demonstrated in in vitro studies and long-term experimental studies. The effect was shown to be endothelium-dependent and possibly involving endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF). In the clinical study, single administration of tripeptide-containing fermented milk product did not affect measures of arterial stiffness. Long-term treatment with fermented milk product containing Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro inhibited angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and decreased aldosterone levels thus showing beneficial effects on the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in SHR and GK. No changes in the components of RAS were observed by the single administration of the same product in mildly hypertensive subjects. Increased levels of cGMP, NOx and citrulline suggest increased nitric oxide (NO) production by the tripeptides. Taken together, Ile-Pro-Pro and Val-Pro-Pro -containing products attenuate the development of hypertension after long-term treatment in experimental models of hypertension and possess an acute antihypertensive effect in mildly hypertensive subjects. In addition, these tripeptides show endothelium-mediated beneficial effects on vascular function. Attenuation of blood pressure increase by the tripeptides in experimental animals involves RAS, but its role in the antihypertensive effect in humans remains to be elucidated.

Oral Health among Young Adults and the Middle-aged in Iran

The aim of the present study was to assess oral health and treatment needs among adult Iranians according to socio-demographic status, smoking, and oral hygiene, and to investigate the relationships between these determinants and oral health. Data for 4448 young adult (aged 18) and 8301 middle-aged (aged 35 to 44) Iranians were collected in 2002 as part of a national survey using the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for sampling and clinical diagnoses, across 28 provinces by 33 calibrated examiners. Gender, age, place of residence, and level of education served as socio-demographic information, smoking as behavioural and modified plaque index (PI) as the biological risk indicator for oral hygiene. Number of teeth, decayed teeth (DT), filled teeth (FT), decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT), community periodontal index (CPI), and prosthodontic rehabilitation served as outcome variables of oral health. Mean number of DMFT was 4.3 (Standard deviation (SD) = 3.7) in young adults and 11.0 (SD = 6.4) among middle-aged individuals. Among young adults the D-component (DT = 70%), and among middle-aged individuals the M-component (60%) dominated in the DMFT index. Among young adults, visible plaque was found in nearly all subjects. Maximum (max) PI was associated with higher mean number of DT, and higher periodontal treatment needs. A healthy periodontium was a rare condition, with 8% of young adults and 1% of middle-aged individuals having a max CPI = 0. The majority of the CPI findings among young adults consisted of calculus (48%) and deepened periodontal pockets (21%). Respective values for middle-aged individuals were 40% and 53%. Having a deep pocket (max CPI = 4) was more likely among young adults with a low level of education (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.7, 95% Confidence interval (CI) = 1.9–4.0) than it was among well-educated individuals. Among middle-aged individuals, having calculus or a periodontal pocket was more likely in men (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.6–2.0) and in illiterate subjects (OR = 6.3, 95% CI = 5.1–7.8) than it was for their counterparts. Among young adults, having 28 teeth was more (p < 0.05) prevalent among men (72% vs. 68% for women), urban residents (71% vs. 67% for rural residents), and those with a high level of education (73% vs. 60% for those with a low level). Among middle-aged individuals, having a functional dentition was associated with younger age (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.7−2.5) and higher level of education (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.6−2.1). Of middle-aged individuals, 2% of 35- to 39-year-olds and 5% of those aged 40 to 44 were edentulous. Among the dentate subjects (n = 7,925), prosthodontic rehabilitation was more prevalent (p < 0.001) among women, urban residents, and those with a high level of education than it was among their counterparts. Among those having 1 to 19 teeth, a removable denture was the most common type of prosthodontic rehabilitation. Middle-aged individuals lacking a functional dentition were more likely (OR = 6.0, 95% CI = 4.8−7.6) to have prosthodontic rehabilitation than were those having a functional dentition. In total, 81% of all reported being non-smokers, and 32% of men and 5% of women were current smokers. Heavy smokers were the most likely to have deepened periodontal pockets (max CPI ≥ 3, OR = 2.9, 95% CI = 1.8−4.7) and to have less than 20 teeth (OR = 2.3, 95% CI = 1.5−3.6). The findings indicate impaired oral health status in adult Iranians, particularly those of low socio-economic status and educational level. The high prevalence of dental plaque and calculus and considerable unmet treatment needs call for a preventive population strategy with special emphasis on the improvement of oral self-care and smoking cessation to tackle the underlying risk factors for oral diseases in the Iranian adult population.

Near infrared spectroscopy as a rapid non-invasive tool for agricultural and industrial process management with special reference to avocado and sandalwood industries

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can play a vital role as a cost effective, rapid, non-invasive, reproducible diagnostic tool for many environmental management, agricultural and industrial waste water monitoring applications. In this paper we highlight the ability of NIRS technology to be used as a diagnostic tool in agricultural and environmental applications through the successful assessment of Fourier Transform NIRS to predict α santalol in sandalwood chip samples, and maturity of ‘Hass’ avocado fruit based on dry matter content. Presented at the Third International Conference on Challenges in Environmental Science & Engineering, CESE-2010. 26 September – 1 October 2010, The Sebel, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

Dental health and school-based health education among 15-year-olds in Tehran, Iran

The aim of the present study was to assess dental health and its determinants among 15-year-olds in Tehran, Iran and to evaluate the impact of a school-based educational intervention on their oral cleanliness and gingival health. The total sample comprised 506 students. Data collection was performed through a clinical dental examination and a self-administered structured questionnaire. This questionnaire covered the student s background information, socio-economic status, self-perceived dental health, tooth-brushing, and smoking. The clinical dental examination covered caries experience, gingival status, dental plaque status, and orthodontic treatment needs. Participation was voluntary, and all students responded to the questionnaire. Only three students refused the clinical dental examination. The intervention was based on exposing students to dental health education through a leaflet and a videotape designed for the present study. The outcome examinations took place 12 weeks after the baseline among the three groups of the intervention trial (leaflet, videotape, and control). High participation rates at the baseline and scanty drop-outs (7%) in the intervention speak for reliability of the results. Mean value of the DMFT (D=decayed, M=missing, and F=filled teeth) index of the 15-year-olds was 2.1, which comprised DT=0.9, MT=0.2, and FT=1.0 with no gender differences. Dental plaque existed on at least one index tooth of all students, and healthy periodontium (Community Periodontal Index=0) was found in less than 10% of students. Need for caries treatment existed in 40% of students, for scaling in 24%, for oral hygiene instructions in all, and for orthodontic treatment in 26%. Students with the highest level of parents education had fewer dental caries (36% vs. 48%) and less dental plaque (77% vs. 88%). Of all students, 78% assessed their dental health as good or better. Even more of those with their DMFT=0 (73% vs. 27%) and DT=0 (68% vs. 32%) assessed their dental health as good or better. Smokers comprised 5% of the boys and 2% of the girls. Smoking was common among students of less-educated parents (6% vs. 3%). Of all students, 26% reported twice-daily tooth-brushing; girls (38% vs. 15%) and those of higher socio-economic background (33% vs. 17%) did so more frequently. The best predictors for a good level of oral cleanliness were female gender or twice-daily tooth-brushing. The present study demonstrated that a school-based educational intervention can be effective in the short term in improving the oral cleanliness and gingival health of adolescents. At least 50% reduction in numbers of teeth with dental plaque compared to baseline was achieved by 58% of the students in the leaflet group, by 37% in the videotape group, and by 10% of the controls. Corresponding figures for gingival bleeding were 72%, 64%, and 30%. For improving the oral cleanliness and gingival health of adolescents in countries such as Iran with a developing oral health system, school-based educational intervention should be established with focus on oral self-care and oral health education messages. Emphasizing the immediate gains from good oral hygiene, such as fresh breath, clean teeth, and attractive appearance should be key aspects for motivating these adolescents to learn and maintain good dental health, whilst in planning school-based dental health intervention, special attention should be given to boys and those with lower socio-economic status. Author s address: Reza Yazdani, Department of Oral Public Health, Institute of Dentistry, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 41, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland. E-mail: reza.yazdani@helsinki.fi

International Journal of Music Business Research. Special Issue on the Australasian Music Economy

The music business is one of the most international of all the cultural industries. Music, industry practices, and people travel easily across country borders and the major music companies are dominating national music markets across the globe. However, at the same time the music industries in different countries are very idiosyncratic. Music is an ingrained part of a country’s history, its culture and heritage. One aspect of this idiosyncrasy is related to how creatives, audiences and music organizations are affected by and is able to take advantage of the ongoing digitization of society.

African mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) plantations in Australia - status, needs and progress

The Australian African mahogany estate comprises over 12,000 ha of industrial plantations, farm-forestry plots and trials, virtually all derived from Africa-sourced wild seed. However, the better trees have given high-value products such as veneers, high-grade boards and award-winning furniture. Collaborative conservation and improvement by the Northern Territory (NT) and Queensland governments since 2000 realised seed orchards, hedge gardens and genetic tests revealing promising clones and families. Private sector R&D since the mid 2000s includes silvicultural-management and wood studies, participatory testing of government material and establishing over 90 African provenances and many single-tree seedlots in multisite provenance and family trials. Recent, mainly public sector research included a 5-agency project of 2009-12 resulting in advanced propagation technologies and greater knowledge of biology, wood properties and processing. Operational priority in the short term should focus on developing seed production areas and ‘rolling front’ clonal seed orchards. R&D priorities should include: developing and implementing a collaborative improvement strategy based on pooled resources; developing non-destructive evaluation of select-tree wood properties, micropropagation (including field testing of material from this source) to ‘industry ready’ and a select-tree index; optimising seed production in orchards; advancing controlled pollination techniques; and maximising benefits from the progeny, clone and provenance trials. Australia leads the world in improvement and ex situ conservation of African mahogany based on the governments’ 13-year program and more recent industry inputs such that accumulated genetic resources total over 120 provenances and many families from 15 of the 19 African countries of its range. Having built valuable genetic resources, expertise, technologies and knowledge, the species is almost ‘industry ready’. The industry will benefit if it exploits the comparative advantage these assets provide. However the status of much of the diverse germplasm introduced since the mid 2000s is uncertain due to changes in ownership. Further, recent reductions of government investment in forestry R&D will be detrimental unless the industry fills the funding gaps. Expansion and sustainability of the embryonic industry must capitalise on past and current R&D, while initiating and sustaining critical new work through all-stakeholder collaboration.

Automatic Lameness Detection in a Milking Robot : Instrumentation, measurement software, algorithms for data analysis and a neural network model

The aim of this thesis is to develop a fully automatic lameness detection system that operates in a milking robot. The instrumentation, measurement software, algorithms for data analysis and a neural network model for lameness detection were developed. Automatic milking has become a common practice in dairy husbandry, and in the year 2006 about 4000 farms worldwide used over 6000 milking robots. There is a worldwide movement with the objective of fully automating every process from feeding to milking. Increase in automation is a consequence of increasing farm sizes, the demand for more efficient production and the growth of labour costs. As the level of automation increases, the time that the cattle keeper uses for monitoring animals often decreases. This has created a need for systems for automatically monitoring the health of farm animals. The popularity of milking robots also offers a new and unique possibility to monitor animals in a single confined space up to four times daily. Lameness is a crucial welfare issue in the modern dairy industry. Limb disorders cause serious welfare, health and economic problems especially in loose housing of cattle. Lameness causes losses in milk production and leads to early culling of animals. These costs could be reduced with early identification and treatment. At present, only a few methods for automatically detecting lameness have been developed, and the most common methods used for lameness detection and assessment are various visual locomotion scoring systems. The problem with locomotion scoring is that it needs experience to be conducted properly, it is labour intensive as an on-farm method and the results are subjective. A four balance system for measuring the leg load distribution of dairy cows during milking in order to detect lameness was developed and set up in the University of Helsinki Research farm Suitia. The leg weights of 73 cows were successfully recorded during almost 10,000 robotic milkings over a period of 5 months. The cows were locomotion scored weekly, and the lame cows were inspected clinically for hoof lesions. Unsuccessful measurements, caused by cows standing outside the balances, were removed from the data with a special algorithm, and the mean leg loads and the number of kicks during milking was calculated. In order to develop an expert system to automatically detect lameness cases, a model was needed. A probabilistic neural network (PNN) classifier model was chosen for the task. The data was divided in two parts and 5,074 measurements from 37 cows were used to train the model. The operation of the model was evaluated for its ability to detect lameness in the validating dataset, which had 4,868 measurements from 36 cows. The model was able to classify 96% of the measurements correctly as sound or lame cows, and 100% of the lameness cases in the validation data were identified. The number of measurements causing false alarms was 1.1%. The developed model has the potential to be used for on-farm decision support and can be used in a real-time lameness monitoring system.

Work, aging, and retirement in Australia: Introduction to the special issue

Australia has an aging population and workforce, and policy makers and organizations increasingly encourage older workers to remain on the job longer and even beyond traditional retirement age. After a brief review of important demographic and political developments, we introduce the 8 articles included in this special issue on work, aging, and retirement in Australia. The articles include an overview of the Australian retirement income system, 6 articles reporting quantitative analyses of cross-sectional and longitudinal data provided by large samples of Australian workers and retirees, and a qualitative study which analyzes interviews with human resource managers. Overall, the articles demonstrate that research on work, aging, and retirement in Australia is flourishing, sophisticated, and diverse both in terms of content and methodologies. We close with a brief review of topics and research questions related to work, aging, and retirement that remain to be addressed in the Australian context in future research.

Intensity, productivity and efficiency in agriculture in Finland and implications for N and P fertiliser management

The purpose of this study was to evaluate intensity, productivity and efficiency in agriculture in Finland and show implications for N and P fertiliser management. Environmental concerns relating to agricultural production have been and still are focused on arguments about policies that affect agriculture. These policies constrain production while demand for agricultural products such as food, fibre and energy continuously increase. Therefore the importance of increasing productivity is a great challenge to agriculture. Over the last decades producers have experienced several large changes in the production environment such as the policy reform when Finland joined the EU 1995. Other and market changes occurred with the further EU enlargement with neighbouring countries in 2005 and with the decoupling of supports over the 2006-2007 period. Decreasing prices a decreased number of farmers and decreased profitability in agricultural production have resulted from these changes and constraints and of technological development. It is known that the accession to the EU 1995 would herald changes in agriculture. Especially of interest was how the sudden changes in prices of commodities on especially those of cereals, decreased by 60%, would influence agricultural production. The knowledge of properties of the production function increased in importance as a consequence of price changes. A research on the economic instruments to regulate productions was carried out and combined with earlier studies in paper V. In paper I the objective was to compare two different technologies, the conventional farming and the organic farming, determine differences in productivity and technical efficiency. In addition input specific or environmental efficiencies were analysed. The heterogeneity of agricultural soils and its implications were analysed in article II. In study III the determinants of technical inefficiency were analysed. The aspects and possible effects of the instability in policies due to a partial decoupling of production factors and products were studied in paper IV. Consequently connection between technical efficiency based on the turnover and the sales return was analysed in this study. Simple economic instruments such as fertiliser taxes have a direct effect on fertiliser consumption and indirectly increase the value of organic fertilisers. However, fertiliser taxes, do not fully address the N and P management problems adequately and are therefore not suitable for nutrient management improvements in general. Productivity of organic farms is lower on average than conventional farms and the difference increases when looking at selling returns only. The organic sector needs more research and development on productivity. Livestock density in organic farming increases productivity, however, there is an upper limit to livestock densities on organic farms and therefore nutrient on organic farms are also limited. Soil factors affects phosphorous and nitrogen efficiency. Soils like sand and silt have lower input specific overall efficiency for nutrients N and P. Special attention is needed for the management on these soils. Clay soils and soils with moderate clay content have higher efficiency. Soil heterogeneity is cause for an unavoidable inefficiency in agriculture.

Response: Special communication: Letters to the Editor-in-Chief [Vigorous exercise in clinical practice: balancing risks and benefits]

The effects of different exercise intensities on health have been investigated in several studies in recent years, in which some authors showed greater benefits for vigorous exercise (6) while others did not find any differences (8). An important issue regarding these conflicting results could be the fact that only a few of the studies controlled the effects of different exercise intensities for the overall volume of physical activity, making the evaluation of the available data difficult.

A unified approach to the solution of plane problems of Magneto-elasticity with special reference to a hole in a thin infinite conducting plate

Under certain specific assumption it has been observed that the basic equations of magneto-elasticity in the case of plane deformation lead to a biharmonic equation, as in the case of the classical plane theory of elasticity. The method of solving boundary value problems has been properly modified and a unified approach in solving such problems has been suggested with special reference to problems relating thin infinite plates with a hole. Closed form expressions have been obtained for the stresses due to a uniform magnetic field present in the plane of deformation of a thin infinite conducting plate with a circular hole, the plate being deformed by a tension acting parallel to the direction of the magnetic field.

Thermodynamic implication of the special relativistic postulate

Abstract is not available.