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The initial technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) model was theorised on seven clearly identified factors. However, many studies have failed to empirically identify these seven factors, and elements influencing TPACK level, such as national context, gender, and age, remain unclear. The study is focused on teacher educators' TPACK as one of the most important elements in schoolteacher training. The main goals were to test the validity of the initial TPACK seven-factor model in a cross-national analysis context and to identify factors influencing the TPACK perception. The sample was composed of 574 teacher educators coming from a total of eight schools of educational institutions from six countries. A 26-item questionnaire, based on a four-point Likert scale, investigated the seven factors of the TPACK model as independent scales. It was administered online and anonymously. A confirmatory factor analysis using the robust maximum likelihood method and Kruskal-Wallis chi-squared tests were performed. The study showed four major results: 1) a relative stability of the seven-factor model structure across countries; 2) the relative differences of university teachers' TPACK perceptions across six countries in Europe and Asia; 3) the dependence of age and TPACK factors; and 4) an independence of gender/academic level and TPACK.

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Education research trends are related to the style of types or their directions conditioned by social demand or the specificity of cultural changes at a given time and place (Potyrala, 2020). Accordingly, educational tendencies are of certain regularities with outlines in the development of ideas related to education and upbringing showing perspectives that can be predicted by describing models, planning research on future processes, as well as taking preventive measures. Before the turn of the century, the education research was delving on the evolution of traditional face-to-face education towards digital education with the advancement of the technologies in developing 21st century students coming from the alpha, Y and Z generations. Trilling and Fadel (2009) foresaw the 21st century student need learning traditionally school subjects with contemporary content themes to be combined with the 21st century skills.

Communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in plant roots improve host plant growth. In this study, AMF communities in the roots of the sago palm (Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) were investigated in mineral soil (MS) and shallow peat soil (SPS) in Sarawak, Malaysia. MS exhibited lower moisture content (MS, 38.1; SPS, 79.8%), higher pH (H2O) (MS, 4.6; SPS, 4.1), higher soil bulk density (MS, 1.03; SPS, 0.20 g cm−3), and higher nitrogen content (MS, 16.9; SPS, 2.7 kg m−3) than SPS at the same soil depth, while the phosphorus (P) content (Bray II) (MS, 1.6; SPS, 1.9 g P2O5 m−3) was similar. The AMF colonization rate was significantly lower in SPS (39.2 ± 12.5%) than in MS (73.2 ± 4.6%). The higher number of AMF operational taxonomic units (OTUs) was detected by amplicon sequencing of the partial small-subunit rRNA gene (MS, 78; SPS, 50). A neighbor-joining tree of obtained OTUs revealed that they belonged to Acaulosporaceae, Ambisporaceae, Claroideoglomeraceae, Gigasporaceae, and Glomeraceae. The lower abundance and diversity of AMF in SPS are possibly caused by abiotic factors, including soil physicochemical properties. Glomus and Acaulospora species detected in SPS might have strong tolerance against acidity and high soil moisture content.

Soil samples from 18 Aphanomyces infested fields were tested by the disease severity index (DSI) method and by direct counting of oospores. There was a curvilinear relationship (r = 0.97***) between DSI and the number of oospores in soil. This was confirmed when a known number of oospores produced in culture were added to non-infested soil. Both assays were suitable techniques for quantifying the inoculum density of Aphanomyces euteiches in soil. The methods could also accurately assess the changes in a population of the pathogen when subjected to experimental soil treatments especially in soil with low DSI values. The Most Probable Number method of estimating inoculum density was less satisfactory.