Editorial

Computers can be very helpful to us by performing tasks on our behalf. For example, they are very good at performing calculations, storing information and producing visualisations of objects that do not yet exist as a made artifact. Increasingly, however, a different role is being found for the computer. It is the role of a catalyst, or a stimulant, to our own creative thinking. In such cases the computer is not primarily performing a task for us and generating an answer within itself, rather it is helping us to generate answers within ourselves. The computer helps us think creatively. This role for the computer can be illustrated in the context of computer support to creative design. In order to design computer systems that support the creative process, it is important to understand that process well enough to predict what might help, rather than hinder. Given such research, we may begin to define the characteristics of what the computer must do in order to augment creative thinking. The paper explores a particular application of intelligent user interfaces – the augmentation of creative thought in artists.     

Insiders’ Adaptations to Security-Based Demands in the Workplace: An Examination of Security Behavioral Complexity

Information Systems Frontiers - The protection of organizational information and information systems (IS) is a socio-technical issue and requires insiders take on a more proactive set of security...     

Social Cognitive Predictors of Academic Interests and Goals in Engineering: Utility for Women and Students at Historically Black Universities.

This study examined the utility of social cognitive career theory (SCCT; R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) in predicting engineering interests and major choice goals among women and men and among students at historically Black and predominantly White universities. Participants (487 students in introductory engineering courses at 3 universities) completed measures of academic interests, goals, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and environmental supports and barriers in relation to engineering majors. Findings indicated that the SCCT-based model of interest and choice goals produced good fit to the data across gender and university type. Implications for future research on SCCT's choice hypotheses, and particularly for the role of environmental supports and barriers in the choice of science and engineering fields, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Microbead-based immunoassay for simultaneous detection of Shiga toxins and isolation of Escherichia coli O157 in foods

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a significant foodborne pathogen with great economic consequences. There has been an increased food safety concern with this organism since outbreaks of human illnesses caused by this pathogen were first reported in 1982. Therefore, developing a reliable, sensitive, and rapid assay capable of detecting E. coli O157 and the main toxins produced by STEC (i.e., Shiga toxins 1 [Stx(1)] and 2 [Stx(2)]) will directly benefit regulatory agencies by minimizing analysis time. Here, we use Luminex technology to detect multiple analytes in a single 50-ml sample. Using commercially available monoclonal antibodies coupled to carboxylated magnetic microbeads, we developed an immunoassay capable of simultaneously serotyping E. coli O157 and detecting Stx(1) and/or Stx(2). The specificity and sensitivity of this immunoassay was tested against a collection of 34 E. coli isolates belonging to various O serogroups phenotypically different for Stx. The results were compared with microplate sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and no cross-reactivity was observed for any of the monoclonal antibodies used. An increased sensitivity up to 1,000 times was observed in the microbead-based immunoassay when compared with the microplate sandwich ELISA. The results indicate that Luminex technology has the potential to simultaneously detect multiple targets without loss of specificity and/or sensitivity. A blind experiment was conducted with 48 samples of ground beef, lettuce, and milk spiked with ≤2 CFU/g E. coli. All the samples were correctly identified, with no false positives or false negatives. This microbead-based immunoassay could be extended to simultaneously detect additional foodborne pathogens and their toxic markers.     

Differences in modified contemporary comparison sire evaluations from first and later lactations by breed

Sire evaluations from three sets of daughter records, first records only (first), later records after firsts (later), and all records (all) by Modified Contemporary Comparison procedures were used to examine differences in first and later lactation evaluations by breed. January 1984 evaluations for milk for 767 Ayrshires, 3,175 Guernsey, 29,498 Holstein, 3,530 Jersey, and 984 Brown Swiss bulls with 10 or more daughters in each set were used. Average differences between evaluations (later minus first) were 36, 0, 6, 35, and 35 kg milk for Ayrshire, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss bulls. Standard deviations of the difference were 114, 94, 142, 91, and 134 kg, showing considerable sire-to-sire variation in difference. Correlations between evaluations based on first and later records were .84 to .86 for all breeds except .92 for Jerseys. Percent of first lactations culled was correlated .20, .18, .16, .16, and .19 with difference for Ayrshire, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey, and Brown Swiss, indicating that culling produced larger differences between evaluations for first and later lactations in favor of later evaluations. Prediction of sire evaluation from later records was enhanced by knowledge of sire's age in addition to first evaluation for Guernsey, Holstein and Jersey sires. In these breeds, for a constant first evaluation, and percent culled in first lactation, younger bulls had higher evaluations from later records. This study showed important differences between evaluations from first and later records for all breeds.     

The professional psychologist as evaluator.

Based on the assumption that the role of the psychologist in performing program evaluation is to provide feedback on system functioning, a program evaluation system is presented for use in the field setting and in the classroom. Feedback is provided by 6 different procedures: general effectiveness, means-end analysis, internal validity, goal-outcome congruence, external validity, and construct validity. Suggestions are given for the presentation of evaluation results and for training the professional psychologist as evaluator. (3 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)