“What is,Becomes What is Right”: A Conceptual Framework of Newcomer Legitimacy for Online Discussion Communities

Online community newcomers can face challenges in community participation, acceptance and fostering member relationships. Consequently, a crucial behavioral strategy for community acceptance identified by previous research is legitimacy. However, current conceptions lack classification and structure, and have a narrow focus. A broader scope for investigating legitimacy is needed for improved theoretical and practical application. This research expands on newcomer legitimacy by classifying newcomer behavior in 4 parenting and cycling discussion communities using directed content analysis. The analysis developed a newcomer legitimacy conceptual framework with categories including geographical, contextual, cultural, testimonial, lurking and external legitimacy. This research offers a valuable contribution by classifying existing theory, developing new theory, and providing a conceptual framework to guide future studies of newcomer behavior.     

Spiritual issues in counseling: Clients' beliefs and preferences.

The current study assessed psychotherapy clients' beliefs about the appropriateness of discussing religious and spiritual concerns in counseling, clients' preferences for such discussion, and identified explanatory variables for these beliefs and preferences. These variables were assessed using the Client Attitudes toward Spirituality in Therapy survey; the Index of Spiritual Experiences (J. D. Kass, R. Friedman, J. Leserman, P. C. Zuttermeister, & H. Benson, 1991); the Expectations About Counseling-Brief Form (H. E. A. Tinsley, 1982); the Religious scale of the Counseling Appropriateness Check List (R. Warman, 1960); the Socially Desirable Response Set-5 Scale (R. D. Hays, T. Hayashi, & A. L. Stewart, 1989); and the Religion Section of the Mooney Problem Check List-Adult Form (L. V. Gordon & R. L. Mooney, 1950). Clients believed religious concerns were appropriate for discussion in counseling and had a preference for discussing spiritual and religious issues in counseling. Spiritual experience was the most potent variable for explaining preferences for discussing spiritual issues. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Attempted decomposition of age-related influences on two tests of reasoning.

Two studies were designed to determine which of several hypothesized components were primarily responsible for the age-related effects on matrix reasoning (Study 1) and analytical reasoning (Study 2). In neither case were the analyses successful because the variables selected to assess the hypothesized components failed to exhibit discriminant validity and also had little unique age-related influences. These results, along with the results of other analyses, suggest that large proportions of the age-related effects on different cognitive variables are shared and are not independent of one another. Implications of these findings for the interpretation of age-related influences on measures of cognitive functioning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Nano Li4Ti5O12–LiMn2O4 batteries with high power capability and improved cycle-life

We report the effects of electrode thickness, cathode particle size and morphology, cathode carbon coating matching ratio and laminate structure on the electrochemical characteristics of nanosized Li₄Ti₅O₁₂–LiMn₂O₄ batteries. We show that a correct adjustment of these parameters resulted in significant improvements in power capability and cycle-life of such devices, making them competitive, low-cost and safe battery chemistry for next generation Li-ion batteries. In addition, Li₄Ti₅O₁₂ reversible specific capacity beyond three Li-ions intercalation is reported.     

Electronic case management in New South Wales, Australia

In the last five years there has been a concerted movement towards electronic case management (“ECM”) to enhance the efficiency of legal proceedings in New South Wales. This paper provides a detailed overview of the relevant developments, from legislative reform by the NSW Government, to the making of appropriate instruments, rules and practice notes.     

Comparison between current and future environmental satellite imagers on cloud classification using MODIS

Future Satellite Imagers are expected to improve current ones on environmental and meteorological applications. In this study, an automatic classification scheme using radiance measurements with a clustering method is applied in an attempt to compare the capability on cloud classification by different sensors: AVHRR/3, the current GOES-12 Imager, SEVIRI, VIIRS, and ABI. The MODIS cloud mask is used as the initial classification. The results are analyzed with the help of true color and RGB composite images as well as other information about surface and cloud types. Results indicate that the future sensors (ABI and VIIRS) provide much better overall cloud classification capabilities than their corresponding current sensors (the current GOES-12 Imager and AVHRR/3) from the two chosen demonstration cases. However, for a specific class, it is not always true that more spectral bands result in better classification. In order to optimally use the spectral information, it is necessary to determine which bands are more sensitive for a specific class. Spatial resolution and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of satellite sensors can significantly affect the classification. The 2.13 μm band could be useful for thin low cloud detection and the 3.7 μm band is useful for fresh snow detection.     

Transference and countertransference in the lawyer-client relationship: Psychoanalysis applied in estate planning.

Transference and countertransference forces in the lawyer-client relationship can interfere with the successful completion of the legal work the client retained the lawyer to perform. In such instances, a working knowledge of the concepts of transference and countertransference can aid lawyers in recognizing and managing these forces when they threaten to be disruptive. In more complex cases, a consultation with a psychoanalyst can be highly beneficial to the lawyer in understanding and working with the transferences and countertransferences at play. Two cases from an estate planning law practice are presented to illustrate transference-countertransference dynamics in the lawyer-client relationship as well as how psychoanalytic education and consultation can help lawyers avoid enactments that lead to stalemates and failures in legal practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Structural and chemical changes of thermally treated bone apatite

The thermal behaviour of the animal by-product meat and bone meal (MBM) has been investigated in order to assess how it is affected structurally and chemically by incineration. Initially composed of intergrown collagen and hydroxyapatite (HAP), combustion of the organic component is complete by 650 °C, with most mass loss (50–55%) occurring by 500 °C. No original proteins were detected in samples heated at 400 °C or above. Combustion of collagen is accompanied by an increase in HAP mean crystallite size at temperatures greater than 400 °C, from 10 nm to a constant value of 120 nm at 800 °C or more. Newly formed crystalline phases appear beyond 400 °C, and include β-tricalcium phosphate, NaCaPO₄, halite (NaCl) and sylvite (KCl). Crystallite thickness as judged by small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) increases from 2 nm (25–400 °C) to 8–9 nm very rapidly at 550 °C, and then gradually increases to approximately 10 nm. The original texture of HAP within a collagen matrix is progressively lost, producing a porous HAP dominated solid at 700 °C, and a very low porosity sintered HAP product at 900 °C.     

Correlates of Within-Person (Across-Occasion) Variability in Reaction Time.

A total of 420 adults between 18 and 91 years of age carried palm pilot (Palm M100; PalmOne, Milpitas, CA) devices and performed several reaction time trials when prompted at random times during the day. On the average, within-person variability in median reaction time from one occasion to the next was nearly the same magnitude as the between-persons variability in across-occasion mean reaction time. Analyses controlling the variation in one variable when examining relations involving the other variable suggested that an individual's mean reaction time is a more powerful predictor of relations with age and with the level of various cognitive abilities than his or her across-occasion SD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is There Anything Special About the Aging of Source Memory?

A battery of cognitive tests designed to measure the constructs of episodic memory, perceptual speed, fluid ability, executive functioning, and vocabulary was administered to 330 adults between the ages of 18 and 89. Each participant also performed 4 different tasks designed to assess source memory. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the validity of a source-memory construct and to explore the relation of the source-memory construct to age and to the other cognitive variables. The variance common to the source-memory variables was strongly related to other cognitive abilities, suggesting that source memory may not have discriminant validity, and there were only small unique age-related effects on the source-memory construct after the influence of other abilities was considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)