‘Nothing but Trouble’: The Soviet Union's Push to ‘Democratise’ International Sports During the Cold War, 1959–1962

Analysing internal documents from recently accessible Soviet archives as well as International Olympic Committee (IOC) correspondence, this article explores how Soviet sports administrators sought to gain influence and authority in international sports in order to advance Soviet state goals during the Cold War. To counter the ‘reactionary’, ‘Anglo-American’ bloc they perceived in the IOC and International Federations (IFs), members of the Soviet All-Union Committee on Physical Culture and Sport sought to ‘democratise’ international sports organisations by transforming them into truly international bodies that included representatives from all regions of the world, especially those sympathetic to the Soviet Union. Because of the governing culture of the IOC and the personalities of many of its members, any stance taken on by Soviet members could not overtly challenge Olympic ideals. Couching their call to expand Olympism in the principles of international cooperation, democracy and the right for everyone to participate in sports, Soviet administrators could present themselves as dedicated promoters of sport and use their clout to further Soviet interests. Through their efforts to increase Soviet influence globally, Soviet administrators challenged the insularity of the IOC and IFs and helped to transform international sports and the Olympic Games into a truly global movement.     

Transfer of PREPaRE school crisis training: Moderating effects of trainee characteristics

The National Association of School Psychologists developed the PREPaRE School Crisis Prevention and Intervention Training Curriculum to help schools plan for and prevent school crises and to help mitigate the effects after a crisis occurs. In this study, 279 participants who attended the PREP aRE training between 1 and 24 months before the survey date completed measures assessing work environment, trainee characteristic, and training design variables as well as the transfer of PREP aRE-specific knowledge and skills. Utilizing structural equation modeling, unique effects of Work Environment and Trainee Characteristic variables on knowledge and skill transfer and the extent to which Trainee Characteristics moderate effects of the Work Environment were assessed. Results indicated a significant moderating effect such that trainees who were less motivated compared to those who were more motivated demonstrated greater transfer when they worked in more supportive, open, and rewarding environments. Overall, results from this study provide evidence to support addressing many individual and contextual variables to improve the transfer of PREP aRE-specific knowledge and skills. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Integration of programmable microfluidics and on-chip fluorescence detection for biosensing applications

We describe the integration of an actively controlled programmable microfluidic sample processor with on-chip optical fluorescence detection to create a single, hybrid sensor system. An array of lifting gate microvalves (automaton) is fabricated with soft lithography, which is reconfigurably joined to a liquid-core, anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) silicon chip fabricated with conventional microfabrication. In the automaton, various sample handling steps such as mixing, transporting, splitting, isolating, and storing are achieved rapidly and precisely to detect viral nucleic acid targets, while the optofluidic chip provides single particle detection sensitivity using integrated optics. Specifically, an assay for detection of viral nucleic acid targets is implemented. Labeled target nucleic acids are first captured and isolated on magnetic microbeads in the automaton, followed by optical detection of single beads on the ARROW chip. The combination of automated microfluidic sample preparation and highly sensitive optical detection opens possibilities for portable instruments for point-of-use analysis of minute, low concentration biological samples.     

Telecommunications

Leland L. Johnson's Expanding the Use of Commercial and Noncommercial Broadcast Programming on Cable Television Systems (Santa Monica, Calif.: Rand Corp publication R-1677-MF, January 1975—$5.00, paper).

Ben Parks' An Introduction to Telemedicine: Interactive Television for Delivery of Health Services (Alternate Media Center, New York University School of the Arts, 144 Bleecker St., New York, N.Y. 10012—free on reouest).

CATV Today A Discussion of Current Issues (School for Summer and Continuing Education, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.—apparently free on request)

Oliver Berliner's Color TV Studio Design and Operation: for CATVL School and Industry (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, 1975— $9.95).     

The use of signal properties for signal representation

An efficient procedure for signal representation, based on known signal properties, is presented. The representation minimizes the maximum of the ratio of the error and the signal norm, the per cent error. Signal classes are specified by normalized quadratic functionals. These results are contrasted with the theory of n-widths of signal classes, and several applications are developed.     

Amount,content and context of infant media exposure: a parental questionnaire and diary analysis

Recent research has indicated that there are long‐term consequences of early media exposure. This study examined the amount, content and context of television exposure across the infancy period in the USA. Parents of 308 infants aged 6–18 months completed questionnaires detailing parental attitudes regarding their children’s television use and 24‐hour television diaries to provide an accurate measurement of household television usage. Television exposure during infancy varied as a function of infant age, sibling status, socio‐economic status and parental attitudes toward television. Regression analyses indicated that parental attitudes were not associated with the amount of television exposure, but were associated with the content of television exposure. These findings indicate that television exposure changes rapidly across infancy and is associated with parental attitudes.     

A Cultural Comparison of Trust in eLearning Artifacts

A significant body of literature focuses on learning mediated by technology (eLearning). We conceptually develop and empirically test a model of trust antecedents with online undergraduate students. Contributing to the student eLearning success literature, we posit that eLearning students require the support of technologies and trust in those technologies to feel satisfied with their learning and perceive that they will have a positive learning outcome. This study considers the effect of culture by comparing the trust and satisfaction of American and Latin American students in eLearning technologies. By conducting this study in two countries that differ in terms of national culture power distance and individualism, we learned that culture directly and significantly impacts trust in learning technologies. Culture also significantly changes the strength of the relation between trust and satisfaction. Future research directions and implications for researchers and higher education instructors are discussed.     

Social Presence and Identity: Facebook in an English Language Classroom

While social media is widely used by youth around the world, research is only beginning to document how transnational students employ these technologies. This study investigated how English-learning adolescents in the United States use social media to engage in social, academic, and identity work. Data were collected during a four-day social media unit in a high school English as a Second Language class of mostly recently arrived East African youth. Data sources included Facebook posts, video recordings of class interactions, student presentations, and interviews. These data were analyzed through post-structuralist identity frames (e.g., Norton, 2010) and the social semiotic construct of modality (van Leeuwen, 2005). Analyses indicated that through the process of building social presence (SP), learners asserted identities, which were affirmed by classmates, and legitimated their contributions. This legitimation resulted in rich, interactive learning experiences in the group. This finding has implications for using social media in classes with transnational newcomers.     

Cognitive Determinants of Physically Assaultive Behaviour in the Dyadic Free Play of Disruptive Children

A functional analysis was performed on the physically assaultive behaviour emitted during the dyadic free‐play interactions recorded on videotape of ten inner‐city school‐age disruptive children withdrawn from regular school classes and placed in a therapeutic day program at a psychiatric facility. The study revealed that discriminative stimuli inherent within the social context of play exerted cognitive control over the initiation of physically assaultive behaviours; specifically, the gender of both initiator and recipient of assaults, the context (real vs. fantasy play), and peer familiarity affected the rate and duration of aggressive behaviour. Implications for understanding the behaviour of disruptive children are discussed.