Towards an educational Superlnterface

Abstract  It is presumed that recent technological innovations, combined with three more established (educational) technologies, could cause a drastic change in university education, if adequate organizational conditions could be created. Such conditions are needed to structure, channel and manage an as yet undreamed of flow of information. Closely related to the metaphor of the 'Info Highway', an educational 'Superlnterface' is described. Based upon networked computer platforms, such a human-computer-human interface is to support large scale telestudy (and teleworking). The Superlnterface is to be designed or is to evolve in such a way that reliable and valid organizational foundations for university education can be established. As the organizational foundation is so paramount, the authors would like to see serious research into the modelling of Superlnterface structures, resources, and dynamics. Indications of some such research issues are presented.     

Understanding chronic poverty in urban areas

The problem of chronic poverty in urban areas has been given little attention despite an increasing interest in poverty and some recognition of the growing significance of urban populations. This paper reviews the literature to bring together what we know about the nature and scale of chronic poverty in urban areas. It begins with a consideration of the definition of chronic urban poverty and related issues of poverty measurement. The section also reports on some recent assessments of the scale and scope of urban poverty. Following sections report on the different nature of such poverty in specific kinds of urban settlements (small towns, urban peripheries and the inner city) and social groups that appear to be particularly vulnerable. The paper concludes by drawing out some of the factors that appear to be of significance in understanding the causes of chronic poverty in urban areas.     

Psychological assessment of interpersonal victimization effects in adults and children.

Because clinical awareness of victimization effects is a relatively recent phenomenon, the field is only now developing assessment methodologies relevant to victims of interpersonal violence. This article reviews current information on the psychological assessment of children and adults with victimization histories, both in terms of general psychological tests such as the MMPI, Rorschach, and Child Behavior Checklist, and trauma-specific measures such as the Trauma Symptom Inventory, Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children, and Child Sexual Behavior Inventory. In addition, issues associated with overlapping traumas, symptom underreporting and overreporting, measurement distortion and misidentification effects, and psychometric quality are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Research using intentional deception: Ethical issues revisited.

Reviews ethical issues concerning the use of intentional deception in research with human participants 10 yrs after the publication of the American Psychological Association's (1973) guidelines on the conduct of research with human Ss. Intentional deception is defined. The present status of guidelines concerning intentional deception and the incidence and extremity of deception being used are reviewed, leading to the conclusion that the former has not decreased the latter. The present author's position proscribing intentionally deceptive research is grounded in rule-utilitarian meta-ethics. Three ethical rules proscribing intentional deception in the research setting are presented. The costs to Ss, the profession, and society are reviewed, and arguments are presented against the scientific benefits claimed for deceptive instructions. In this context, the scientific problems with social psychological experimentation are discussed. Recommendations for research strategies in lieu of deception paradigms and for appropriate debriefing are offered. (50 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reliability and validity of the Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI): Evidence from a longitudinal cross-informant investigation.

Psychometric properties of the Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) were examined using data collected from adolescents and their parents in the Fullerton Longitudinal Study. Results revealed acceptable internal consistency for most scales and moderate to high 1-year stability for all scales. Both parents' PCRI scores correlated with their views of family climate. Cross-informant concordance was pervasive and strong between mothers' PCRI scores and adolescents' perceptions of the parent-child relationship and family climate; however, convergence was not evident between fathers' and adolescents' reports. Additionally, poor performance was observed for the Autonomy scale. In conjunction with other research on parent-adolescent relationships, concerns are raised regarding the utility of scales to contrast mother-adolescent with father-adolescent relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Volatile compounds of experimental liver pâté from pigs fed conjugated linoleic acid in combination with monounsaturated fatty acids

BACKGROUND: Feeding conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to pigs leads to CLA‐enriched meat products, which are of current interest owing to the potential health properties of CLA. However, dietary CLA increases the ratio of saturated to monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) in pig tissues. Combining CLA with high MUFA levels in pig diets may counteract this effect. Owing to the modification of fatty acid composition, variation in the volatile profile of derived meat products might be expected. The aim of the present work was to study the volatile profile, and its change during storage, of experimental liver pâté manufactured from pigs fed different levels of CLA and MUFA. RESULTS: Regardless of the CLA or MUFA level, 98 compounds were identified. Lower area units were observed for most branched aldehydes, ketones and alcohols and some furans, sulfur compounds and nitrogen compounds with increasing CLA and MUFA contents. Levels of nonanal, propan‐2‐one, dodecane, 2‐pentylfuran and ethylbenzene were higher in CLA pâtes. The effect of experimental diets on the change in volatiles during storage was not significant. CONCLUSION: Supplementation of pig diets with CLA isomers in combination with low or high MUFA levels seems to have a significant effect on the volatile profile of pork liver pâté. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Fatty acid positional specificity in phospholipids of L1210 leukemia and normal mouse lymphocytes

The positional distribution of fatty acids in the choline and ethanolamine phosphoglycerides of the L1210 murine leukemia cells was determined and compared to that of normal mouse lymphocytes. The major phospholipids of both cell types had appreciable degrees of positional specificity as evident from the higher percentage of saturated fatty acids in position 1 and of polyunsaturated fatty acids in position 2. The L1210 cells had less arachidonate and more linoleate in position 2 of choline and ethanolamine phosphoglycerides as compared to the normal lymphocytes. However, there were similar proportions of saturated, monoenoic and polyenoic fatty acids in positions 1 and 2 of the phospholipids of the L1210 leukemia cells and the lymphocytes. These data demonstrate that fatty acid positional specificity is retained in the major phospholipids of this rapidly growing tumor.     

Two issues concerning tonal hierarchies: Comment on Castellano, Bharucha, and Krumhansl.

Comments on a paper by M. Castellano et al (see record 1985-16424-001) on tonal hierarchies in North Indian music. Issues related to the cognitive utility of such hierarchies and the cues used by listeners in making the key attributions on which such hierarchies are based are examined. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)