North American Systems Research Articles

Concurrent and Predictive Validity of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire in a Sample of European Freshman Students

This study represents the first attempt to examine the validity of scores on the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) in a sample of European university students. Concurrent validity was established through significant correlations in the expected direction with alternative measures of student adjustment (academic motivation, loneliness, depression, and general adjustment to university). Further concurrent validity evidence for selected subscales was provided through moderate associations with students’engagement in social activities and their self-reported use of psychological services provided on campus. Findings regarding predictive validity, as assessed through correlations with student attrition and academic results, went in the expected direction but were somewhat less convincing. The latter results are explained in terms of differences between European and North American systems of higher education. With some reservations regarding the Academic Adjustment subscale, then, the SACQ seems to be a useful tool for research on university life among college students in Europe.

Concurrent and Predictive Validity of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire in a Sample of European Freshman Students

This study represents the first attempt to examine the validity of scores on the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) in a sample of European university students. Concurrent validity was established through significant correlations in the expected direction with alternative measures of student adjustment (academic motivation, loneliness, depression, and general adjustment to university). Further concurrent validity evidence for selected subscales was provided through moderate associations with students’engagement in social activities and their self-reported use of psychological services provided on campus. Findings regarding predictive validity, as assessed through correlations with student attrition and academic results, went in the expected direction but were somewhat less convincing. The latter results are explained in terms of differences between European and North American systems of higher education. With some reservations regarding the Academic Adjustment subscale, then, the SACQ seems to be a useful tool for research on university life among college students in Europe.

Spatial and Temporal Variability in Nutrients and Suspended Material Processing in the Fier d'Ars Bay (France)

A net material flux study in an estuarine mudflat along the French Atlantic coast, confirmed the general hypothesis already shown in European salt marshes. Despite its small area, the system was not as homogeneous as first thought. The upper part of the bay imported both dissolved and particulate matter, whereas the lower part exported dissolved and imported particulate matter. Tidal dynamics and water residence time were suspected of enhancing these differences. Particulate mineral import represented more than 70% of the total suspended sediment, with export of silicate, dissolved organic carbon and chlorophyll a. It is assumed that phytoplankton and microphytobenthos were exported from the bay in a degraded form. A wide synthesis was conducted integrating the tidal physical dynamics, with the geomorphology of the system, to explain material flux differences between the two sampling sites. Differences of particulate material transport between European and North American systems were verified. New hypotheses relative to the functional role of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos in coastal food chains in European salt marshes were also investigated. In contrast to American systems, mineral particulate import was prevalent in European ecosystems, enhancing growth of small-celled phytoplankton and microphytobenthos. These latter, were sorbed onto sedimenting mineral particles, thus limiting losses from estuaries and explaining the major particulate retention in these systems.

Comparing US and international power and control cable standards

Cables made to IEC and US standards, while having the same purpose, are of widely different designs. Cables made to one standard cannot be made to match the requirements of the other. The cable made to the US standards have been used in the US and throughout most of the world. The IEC standards have not been widely used in Europe where national and private industrial and utility standards have prevailed. IEC standards have been mainly used in countries where there have not been strong electrical codes. The European Union's adaptation of the IEC standards under the harmonized EN standards of CENELEC adds the force of law to the standards. This will promote a wider use of the IEC (CENELEC) standards on the European continent, although each country could still apply its national rules to the CENELEC standard. This is scheduled to change because all CENELEC European harmonized documents have already been withdrawn and replaced by European Norms. These are the same, word for word, in all European countries. CENELEC members are also members of the IEC and, therefore, do not operate a competitive policy with respect to the IEC. International harmonization of standards must be done at the IEC level. The addition of the CE mark to products meeting CENELEC is similar to the application of the UL mark to products meeting UL standards in the US Worldwide harmonization of standards looks to be a long process. North American and European electrical systems are based on different voltages or frequencies, different conductor sizes, and a different concept of what an electrical system should do.

Predicting Invasive Plants: Prospects for a General Screening System Based on Current Regional Models

Screening systems for predicting invasive plants have been independently developed for the non-indigenous floras of North America, the South African fynbos, and Australia. To evaluate the performance of these screening systems outside the regions for which they were developed, we tested them for the non-indigenous flora of the Hawaiian Islands. When known invasive plant species in the Hawaiian Islands were evaluated using the North American and Australian systems, 82% and 93% of the species were predicted to be invasive, respectively, and the remainder were classified as requiring further study. The South African fynbos system correctly predicted only 60% of the invasive species in the Hawaiian Islands. All three screening systems correctly classified a majority of the non-invaders as non-invasive. The Australian system has several advantages over the other systems, including the highest level of correct identification of invaders (>90%), ability to evaluate non-woody plants, and ability to evaluate a species even when the answers to some questions are unknown. Nevertheless, with the Australian system, a large fraction of species known not to be invasive were recommended for further study before importing, so there remains room for improvement in identifying non-invasive species. Based on our results for the Hawaiian Islands and a previous evaluation in New Zealand, the Australian system appears to be a promising template for building a globally applicable system for screening out invasive plant introductions.

Lizards, Snakes, and Amphisbaenians from the Quaternary Sand Dunes of the Middle Rio Sao Francisco, Bahia, Brazil

Lizards, Snakes, and Amphisbaenians from the Quaternary Sand Dunes of the Middle Rio Sao Francisco, Bahia, Brazil

Signaling traffic volume generated by mobile and personal communications

The authors develop a framework for evaluating the signaling load in a wireless network. Using bounds and approximations, we find that the key parameter to estimate is the number of location updates between two calls. The results are dependent upon the choice of protocols, but are independent of the traffic parameters relating user calling behavior and mobility. We use the framework to draw general conclusions about signaling load, as well as to compare the signaling loads for the European and North American systems and demonstrate the impact of architectural tradeoffs. We also describe the message flows for the major contributors to the signaling load that are defined in the GSM system.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Is Britain a Western European Country? A Multivariate Analysis of Western Higher Education Systems

AbstractUsing data collected by the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD), a multivariate analysis of 13 measures for 16 countries is carried out with the aim of identifying similarities and differences between national systems of higher education. The results support the view that the North American systems of higher education are distinctive in terms of their high participation rates. They suggest that there are significant variations within Europe, particularly in terms of demographic structures, participation and expenditure rates. Three possible sub‐groups are identified, focused on (i) Austria, Ireland, Italy and Spain; (ii) Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom; and (iii) Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Japan, the only Asian country included in the analysis, appears to be more similar to Finland than any other country.

The politics and economics of computer-aided careers guidance systems

Abstract The impact of computer-aided careers guidance systems is strongly influenced not only by technical and professional issues but also by political and economic ones. The development of the main North American systems, and of the UK PROSPECT system, is examined. The roles of government, of the private sector, and of guidance professionals, in relation to the future of such systems are discussed, particularly in relation to guidance in Europe.

The Politics and Economics of Computer-Aided Careers Guidance Systems

Abstract The impact of computer-aided careers guidance systems is strongly influenced not only by technical and professional issues but also by political and economic ones. The development of the main North American systems, and of the UK PROSPECT system, is examined. The roles of government, of the private sector, and of guidance professionals, in relation to the future of such systems are discussed, particularly in relation to guidance in Europe.

Divergent evolution and resulting characteristics among the world's distribution systems

The factors which have affected evolution of the world's distribution systems, and their divergence, with implications for application in lesser developed countries are discussed. The advantages of the North American and European style systems, while recognizing that neither is intrinsically superior, are described. The need for recognition of legitimate variances in distribution systems and their associated equipment when developing relevant standards is discussed.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Tolerance of Marine Invertebrate Herbivores to Brown Algal Phlorotannins in Temperate Australasia

Estes and Steinberg hypothesized that the intensity of sublittoral marine plant—herbivore interactions among different temperate regions has differed over the past 5—10 million yr, due to differences in the influence of diving mammals that prey on marine herbivores. They argued that because diving predators have not occurred in temperate Australasia, densities of sublittoral herbivores have been historically higher there than in comparable North American systems. This has resulted in marine algae and herbivores in temperate Australasia having strong selective effects on each other. Estes and Steinberg predicted that one result of these strong interactions would be that invertebrate herbivores in temperate Australasia should have evolved greater tolerance to brown algal phlorotannins (polyphenolic compounds that are the dominant secondary metabolites in temperate brown seaweeds) than similar herbivores in North America. We tested this prediction for five invertebrate herbivores in temperate Australasia. Most work was done on three herbivores from New South Wales, Australia, the sea urchins (echinoids) Tripneustes gratilla and Centrostephanus rodgersii, and the gastropod (snail) Turbo undulata. Additional experiments were done using Evechinus chloroticus (urchin) and Cookia sulcata (gastropod) from New Zealand. Both the short—term effects of phlorotannins on feeding behavior, and the longer term effects of phlorotannins on the growth or mortality of herbivores were assessed by (a) feeding the herbivores an array of algal species that varied in their phenolic content, and (b) extracting mixed fractions of phlorotannins from the algae and using these extracts to experimentally manipulate the phlorotannin content of palatable agar disks. The phenolic content of algae used in feeding experiments in Australia was sampled seasonally for 3 yr, and the algae were divided into two groups. These included a phenolic—rich group of five species with a mean phenolic content = 7.02% dry mass (range of species means 6.6—7.2%), and a phenolic—poor group of four species with a mean of 2.69% (range of means = 2.2—3.1%). In strong contrast to earlier results from North America, no Australian herbivore consistently preferred phenolic—poor species over those rich in phenolics. Algal phenolic levels also were not correlated with feeding preferences of the New Zealand herbivores. The Australian herbivores were generally not deterred by the addition of extracted phlorotannins to agar disks at concentrations of 5 mg/mL (13.5% dry mass) in the disks. However, some extracts deterred some herbivores, indicating that the effects of phlorotannins on the herbivores are variable. The effects of phlorotannins at higher concentrations (8 mg/mL or 18.5% dry mass) were equivocal. Deterrence was increased in some instances, but elevated concentrations of phlorotannins from Carpophyllum maschalocarpum enhanced feeding by Tripneustes gratilla. Algal phenolic levels were not correlated with the growth of juvenile Tripneustes gratilla raised on a variety of algal diets for 7 mo in the field. Conversion efficiencies of algal biomass to urchin biomass by these echinoids also did not covary with algal phenolic content. Growth of T. gratilla on agar diets for 7 mo was not affected by the addition of phlorotannins extracted from Sargassum vestitum to the agar at a concentration of 5 mg/mL. Growth of the gastropod Turbo undulata over 9.5 mo on selected algal diets was fastest for one measure growth for snails fed a diet of the phenolic—poor Sargassum linearifolium, but algal phenolic levels were not correlated with growth of T. undulata for two other measures of growth. Moreover, conversion efficiencies of Turbo undulata did not vary with diet, indicating that any differences in growth among different diets were due to differences in consumption rather than some physiological effect. This last conclusion was supported in an experiment where T. undulata was grown on agar diets. Growth of the snails was not affected by the addition of phlorotannins from Sargassum vestitum or Ecklonia radiata to agar diets, and in this experiment the amount of different agar diets consumed did not differ. These results do not support proposals that algal phlorotannins function as generally effective "digestibility reducers" against marine invertebrate herbivores. The pattern of geographical variation in the production of phenolics by brown algae, and the responses of marine herbivores to these compounds, are also not easily explained by current theoretical models such as those based on plant apparency or resource availability. A number of the algae studied here also contained smaller nonpolar secondary metabolites such as terpenes or lactones. In general, these algae were the least palatable to the herbivores, and the herbivores grew most slowly when fed monospecific diets of algae rich in nonpolar secondary compounds. The one nonpolar compound that was tested experimentally, the terpine geranylacetone extracted from Cystophora moniliformis, significantly deterred feeding by Tripneustes gratilla. We suggest that nonpolar compounds will generally have stronger effects against Australasian herbivores than do phlorotannins.

Practicing in France What Americans Have Preached: The Response of French Judges to Juveniles

Despite a downturn in delinquency in North America, juvenile justice systems and the public act as if there has been an increase in delinquency. Calls for “get-tough” policies are common and the system is responding accordingly. The recent Canadian Young Offenders Act also reflects this theme. However, most criminologists argue for keeping juveniles in normal community settings, and France may have accomplished what these scholars have been recommending since World War II. Relatively few youths are placed in closed custody. When a juvenile is being helped, the notion of punishment is set aside. For example, if a juvenile leaves a group home it is not an offense. Incarceration is not used when a youth fails to obey administrative rules. This paternalistic system pays minimal attention to due process, but it may avoid the negative aspects of North American systems while providing services that are utilized more effectively.

The Holocene sedimentary regime in the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge region

The Holocene (10,000 yr B.P.) Mid-Atlantic Ridge sedimentary regime between 45°N and 65°N has been investigated by examination of sediments from 70 cores. Smectite, chlorite and quartz, 87Sr/ 86Sr isotopes and REE have been used as conservative tracers to provide source identification and to calculate accumulation rates. The entire Holocene sedimentary regime in this part of the Atlantic can be attributed to particle fluxes from two sources: the Icelandic and North American systems. Two main transport mechanisms are identified: (1) Particles derived from the Icelandic system have been transported southwards, as far as 45°N, by bottom currents. (2) Material coming from North America is mainly transported by the aeolian regime. At 45°N, the windborn accumulation rate is estimated to be 0.5 g cm −2 kyr −1, which is identical to the accumulation rate of bottom-advected material from Iceland. Finally, a diagnostic model for the North Atlantic sedimentary regime is proposed.

The Semi-Diurnal Tide at the Equinoxes: MF Radar Observations for 1978–1982 at Saskatoon (52°N, 107°W)

Abstract Observations of the semi-diurnal atmospheric tide have been made on a continuous daily basis since September 1978 by a medium frequency (MF) radar. The monthly mean zonal winds and tidal amplitudes and phases (70–110 km), are shown here for each month of the autumn and spring equinoxes (1981–82), and compared with previous years. A very regular and dramatic tidal pattern emerges, with March and November being winter-like, and the remaining four months being more summer-like. Wavelengths for the latter are 60–95 km, intermediate between winter (∼45 km) and summer (∼180 km) values. The less systematic and extended observations from other North American and European radar systems are consistent with these results when they are treated on a monthly rather than a seasonal basis. The equinoctial spectral model of Walterscheid and DeVore (1981), which uses improved heating rates and realistic mean winds and temperatures, is compared with the new observations. The model is quite successful in producing w...

Comparison of North American and International Squash Scoring Systems—Analytical Results

(1979). Comparison of North American and International Squash Scoring Systems—Analytical Results. Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance: Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 723-728.

Comparison of North American and International Squash Scoring Systems—A Computer Simulation

(1977). Comparison of North American and International Squash Scoring Systems—A Computer Simulation. Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation: Vol. 48, No. 1, pp. 248-251.

The Development of the British System of Malt Analysis in Relation to Continental and North American Systems

The Development of the British System of Malt Analysis in Relation to Continental and North American Systems

Education in Quebec

The educational system of Quebec is one of the distinctive features of the province. In its origins, its philosophy, and its legal and academic organization, it differs in striking fashion from the other North American systems. In no other province, of course, does one find the same differences of race, religion, and language: 82 per cent of the population is French-speaking, 88 per cent is Roman Catholic; the remainder is made up of English-speaking and Protestant elements. This demographic duality is reflected in the school system, the majority of the population having created educational institutions in conformity with its ideals, while leaving the minority entirely free to do the same.

Organisation of an Ordinary Life Office Using Punched Card Machines Including a Small-Scale Electronic Computer

SynopsisThe object of the paper is to examine the organisation of an average ordinary life office with a view to the introduction of a small-scale electronic computer operating from punched cards. For purposes of illustration and comparison a model office with 100,000 assurance policies in force operating under certain conditions has been assumed.The general approach employed is:(a) To examine the office system in current use,(b) To consider what improvements may be made in the present system using normal punched card equipment where suitable, and,(c) To discuss what further re-organisation would be required to make use of a computer and what advantages might be expected.The paper is divided into three parts. Part I contains some brief remarks on North American experience and systems suggested for use there. In Part II, methods of maintaining policy records and the possibility of consolidation are discussed. Part III deals with the various services required from policy records, such as valuation and premium collection, and explores the practicability of using a consolidated policy record.In the concluding remarks an attempt is made to assess the economics of using a small computer.Included in the appendices is a brief description of a small-scale computer together with specimen card forms and a programme for carrying out a valuation.