Several factors influencing web-spinning activity in the common house spiderAchaearanea tepidariorum Koch

Web-spinning activity ofAchaearanea tepidarortum (Koch) was observed in relation to amount of prior feeding, hours of food deprivation, and the number of flies (Drosophila melanogaster) available in the animal’s environment. Web spinning was positively related to the number of flies consumed in a 24-h period prior to testing, but did not vary significantly between 24 and 72 h of food deprivation. The amount of available food in the environment was positively related to web-spinning activity during a 48-h test period.     

Ladder realizations of multivariable positive real functions

Necessary and sufficient conditions are obtained for the realization of an m-variable positive real function (PRF) as the impedence function of a resistively-terminated ladder network of m lossless two-ports connected in cascade. Each two-port is a single-variable lossless ladder with all of its transmission zeros either at the origin or at finity. Conditions are also obtained when each of the two-ports is a Fujisawa-type lowpass ladder.     

Structural aspects of controllability and observability—I. tensorial aggregation

The classical criteria for controllability and observability are given a tensorial formulation which is then extended into Boolean form directly related to a digraph interpretation of system structure. This is examined in detail with particular reference to group theoretic aspects, invariant properties under transformation, the term rank test and the existence of zero eigenvalues.Within this framework the structural design concepts of potential controllability and observability are presented in generalised terms.     

ACADEMIC SELF‐EFFICACY AMONG JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN GHANA: EVALUATING FACTOR STRUCTURE AND MEASUREMENT INVARIANCE ACROSS GENDER

Self‐efficacy is a universal construct, but few validated measures exist for researchers in developing countries to use in assessing youths’ perceptions of their ability to achieve academic success. This study examined the cross‐cultural suitability and psychometric properties of an academic self‐efficacy scale (ASES) adapted for the Ghanaian context. ASES construct validity was assessed with a sample of 4,289 Ghanaian junior high‐school students and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Invariance testing assessed the scale's measurement equivalence by gender and temporal stability of gender equivalence. The ASES is a valid, reliable one‐dimensional scale for assessing young Ghanaians’ perceptions of their academic capabilities, and it works equally well across genders. As adapted, ASES is a valid scale with utility for researchers examining predictors and effects of academic self‐efficacy. The ASES has important implications for decisions regarding investment in programs aimed at improving academic self‐efficacy of youth, both in sub‐Saharan Africa and the increasingly diverse American public schools.     

Compassion in the face of terror: a case study of recognizing suffering,co-creating hope,and developing trust in a would-be school shooting

Current theoretical conceptualizations of compassion say little about communicating compassion to people whose suffering is wrapped in a cloak of anger, threat, resistance, and fear. This article attends directly to this issue by examining the conversational particulars of compassion communicated by school bookkeeper Antoinette Tuff to would-be school shooter Michael Hill. The case serves as the basis for advancing propositions about communicating compassion to unwilling recipients and suggests the importance of careful conversational timing, face-enhancement strategies, convergence/mirroring techniques, co-creating hope, physical presence, and vulnerable self-disclosure. The case extends current conceptualizations of compassion and provides a vivid picture for enacting compassion when sufferers are angry, threatening, or resisting help.     

Competency-Based Talent Management: Three Perspectives in an Academic Library

ABSTRACT

This article describes how the University of Utah's J. Willard Marriott Library implemented a competency-based talent management system across the organization to address organizational, departmental, and individual needs. Success of the implementation was mixed. Designing human resources systems around core competencies made organizational values and goals concrete but proved unsustainable in the long-term. Using core competencies to shape departmental goals, coach staff and library faculty, and onboard new employees proved beneficial at the middle management level.     

Improving K-12 pedagogy via a Cloud designed for education

Cloud computing offers an opportunity to improve K-12 pedagogy with services tailored to teachers’ needs in individual classrooms. The Cloud can deliver services such as remote access to learning tools in a cost effective manner to school systems struggling with reductions in local and state funding. This article explores the distinct ways that a Cloud designed specifically for education can be applied to K-12 education's academic mission. It uses observations from a case study in North Carolina rural high schools using an educational Cloud called the Virtual Computing Lab to access dynamic geometry and algebra software.