About psychology of violence.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Psychology of Violence; which was created as one of several efforts to increase APA's focus on violence. In this editorial, the editor shares a few of the most common questions they have received and their answers, in the hopes this information might be useful to others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Repressed memories: Avoiding the obvious.

Sorting out the distinctions between reality and fantasy in terms of apparently recovered memories and reconstructions is at least as puzzling as sorting out current realities. In responding to C. B. Brenneis's (see records 2007-10660-001 and 2001-07368-001) challenge to the existence of the phenomena of repression and of recovered or reconstructed memories, the authors point out the data from the Recovered Memory Archive web site, the data from World War I and World War II battlefield neuroses, as well as the clinical observations of psychoanalysts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Contingency management for smoking cessation in adolescent smokers.

This pilot study evaluated the use of contingency management (CM) procedures in combination with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for smoking cessation in adolescents. Twenty-eight treatment-seeking adolescent smokers participated in a 1-month, school-based smoking cessation program and were randomly assigned to receive either CM with weekly CBT or CBT alone. In the CM+CBT group, biochemical verification of abstinence was obtained twice daily during the first 2 weeks, followed by daily appointments during the 3rd week and once every other day during the 4th week. Participants were monetarily reinforced for abstinence on an escalating magnitude schedule with a reset contingency. At the end of 1 week and 1 month of treatment, abstinence verified using quantitative urine cotinine levels was higher in participants in the CM+CBT group (1 week: 76.7%; 1 month: 53.0%) when compared with the CBT-alone group (1 week: 7.2%; 4 weeks: 0%). These preliminary results provide a strong initial signal supporting the utility of CM techniques for smoking cessation in adolescents and demonstrate the feasibility of implementing such a program in a school setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Hypermedia learning and prior knowledge: domain expertise vs. system expertise

Abstract Prior knowledge is often argued to be an important determinant in hypermedia learning, and may be thought of as including two important elements: domain expertise and system expertise. However, there has been a lack of research considering these issues together. In an attempt to address this shortcoming, this paper presents a study that examines how domain expertise and system expertise influence students' learning performance in, and perceptions of, a hypermedia system. The results indicate that participants with lower domain knowledge show a greater improvement in their learning performance than those with higher domain knowledge. Furthermore, those who enjoy using the Web more are likely to have positive perceptions of non-linear interaction. Discussions on how to accommodate the different needs of students with varying levels of prior knowledge are provided based on the results.     

Managing semantic content for the Web

By associating meaning with content, the Semantic Web will facilitate search, interoperability, and the composition of complex applications. The paper discusses the Semantic Content Organization and Retrieval Engine (SCORE, see vvww.voquette.com), which is based on research transferred from the University of Georgia's Large Scale Distributed Information Systems. SCORE belongs to a new generation of technologies for the emerging Semantic Web. It provides facilities to define ontological components that software agents can maintain. These agents use regular expression based rules in conjunction with various semantic techniques to extract ontology-driven metadata from structured and semistructured content. Automatic classification and information-extraction techniques augment these results and also let the system deal with unstructured text.     

Mechanism of suppression of cell-mediated immunity by measles virus

The mechanisms underlying the profound suppression of cell-mediated immunity (CMI) accompanying measles are unclear. Interleukin-12 (IL-12), derived principally from monocytes and macrophages, is critical for the generation of CMI. Measles virus (MV) infection of primary human monocytes specifically down-regulated IL-12 production. Cross-linking of CD46, a complement regulatory protein that is the cellular receptor for MV, with antibody or with the complement activation product C3b similarly inhibited monocyte IL-12 production, providing a plausible mechanism for MV-induced immunosuppression. CD46 provides a regulatory link between the complement system and cellular immune responses.     

The fatty acid composition of Hibiscus sabdariffa seed oil

Analysis of Hibiscus sabdariffa seed oil from different seed collections (or cultivars), representing different growing areas, showed differences in the fatty acid pattern, especially with respect to linoleic (30.1-37.45%) and epoxyoleic (trace to 5.3%). The results showed different values from those previously reported for the cyclopropenoid fatty acid, found to be malvalic acid (0.4-2.0%), responsible for the positive Halphen response of the oil. It is now also established that the oil contains dihydrosterculic acid (1.0-1.6%) which has been reported previously in other species of the genus Hibiscus. The results of the rest of fatty acids showed ranges for myristic 0.2-0.5%, palmitic 17.4-22.6%, stearic 3.9-5.2% and oleic acid 34.6-39.8%.     

A Computer-Aided Graphical Procedure for Scheduling Preventive Maintenance of Electric Power Generating Units

This article attempts to show how computer graphics can assist in computerized development of project-type schedules as exemplified by preventive maintenance scheduling in the electric power industry. The method is equally applicable to the scheduling of maintenance activities in general or, with modification, to devising shift schedules for personnel such as police, nurses, and toll collectors who must provide 24-hour service with changing demand levels. A hand procedure currently used by electric utilities for creating preventive maintenance shutdown schedules for generator units is first described. A mixed integer programming model of the problem is given which is computationally intractable for any realistic-size problems. The same problem using man-machine interaction via a graphics terminal to overcome the computational limitations of the mathematical formulation is then described and illustrated. A proposed extension to improve the speed of solution is also described.