A prospective investigation of appraisals as mediators of the link between interparental conflict and child adjustment

This longitudinal study tested the role of children's appraisals of threat and self-blame as mediators of the association between interparental conflict and child adjustment in a sample of 298 Welsh children ages 11 to 12 years. Exposure to higher levels of interparental conflict at Time 1 predicted greater perceived threat and self-blame at Time 2, after accounting for the effects of Time 1 adjustment and appraisals on later appraisals. Perceived threat in turn was associated with increased internalizing problems at Tune 2, and self-blame was associated with higher externalizing problems. The pattern of results was largely consistent for child and parent reports of conflict and for boys and girls, though some gender differences were found in associations between appraisals and adjustment.     

Popular Music

Donald M. Marquis' In Search of Buddy Bolden, First Man of Jazz (Baton Rouge, La.: Louisiana State University Press, 1978—$9.95)

David A. Jasen and Trebar Jay Tichenor's Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History (New York: Seabury Press, 1978—$14.95)

Arnold Shaw's Honkers and Shouters: The Golden Years of Rhythm and Blues (New York: Macmillan, 1978—$19.95/9.95)

Robert Stephen Spitz's The Making of Superstars: Artists and Executives of the Rock Music World (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1978—$8.95)

Vivian Claire's Judy Collins, and Linda Ronstadt (New York: Quick Fox (33 West 60th St.), 1978—$3.95, each, paper)

Edward Greenfield, Robert Layton, and Ivan March's The Penguin Stereo Record Guide (New York: Penguin Books, 1977—$8.95, paper)     

How are UK Academics Engaging the Public with their Research? A Cross‐Disciplinary Perspective

This paper takes a cross‐disciplinary perspective in examining the views and practices of public engagement with research by UK academics. Using a mixed method approach consisting of a survey questionnaire and interviews, the paper identifies the range of audience groups that can potentially be engaged with by academics, and shows that some audiences are more relevant to particular disciplinary groups than others. The paper also identifies the various public engagement activities undertaken by academics and finds that some academics are using creative ways of engaging the public, such as using the services of public relations firms to help in disseminating their research in traditional media outlets, and also by using social media. Essentially, the study reveals that some academics feel the pressure of engaging particular audiences at the expense of those that are relevant to them and that, academics in the main, are opposed to the notion of mandating public engagement as part of appraisal systems.     

Learning for and realising curriculum aspirations through schools as learning organisations

How can schools as learning organisations support the realisation of a new curriculum's aspirations? This article describes four common and interrelated challenges—depth, spread, reach, and pace—associated with enacting a new curriculum. It then argues that curriculum capital represented by schools and practitioners that address these challenges and meet associated learning demands—commitment, knowledge, understanding and capability—is essential to ensure that curriculum aspirations are realised. We propose that schools that are learning organisations create the kinds of conditions necessary for responding to the challenges and learning demands. In such schools the considerable individual, collaborative and collective learning needed at many levels is recognised. We highlight how each of the four challenges might be addressed by seven dimensions and four transversals of schools as learning organisations, while recognising that task will be more feasible in systems that are also learning and providing supportive conditions.     

Measuring Success in Outsourced Cataloging: A Data-Driven Investigation

This article investigates the error rates in shelf-ready cataloged monographs from Ingram Coutts Information Services that were received at The University of Western Ontario. Using quality control reports from a period of two years, over 500 cataloging errors were entered into a database organized by frequency, severity, and other factors. With this information, we analyzed the frequency of errors and their root causes. We found that overall error rates are low, and the quality of shelf-ready cataloging has improved since first implementing the outsourcing program.     

Synergy and Tension between Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment: International Trends

The synergy, or lack thereof, between large-scale and classroom assessment has been fiercely debated in both academic and policy spheres for decades around the world. This paper seeks to explicate how different countries are utilizing large-scale testing and test results at the classroom level. Through country profiles, this paper analyzes contemporary developments on the tensions and synergies between large-scale assessment and classroom teaching, learning, and assessment observed across seven international jurisdictions: United States, Canada, Australia, England, Germany, Finland, and Singapore. The paper concludes with an analysis of international trends leading to a synthesis of root causes contributing to the current limited uptake of large-scale assessment results at classroom levels.     

High-throughput size-based rare cell enrichment using microscale vortices

Cell isolation in designated regions or from heterogeneous samples is often required for many microfluidic cell-based assays. However, current techniques have either limited throughput or are incapable of viable off-chip collection. We present an innovative approach, allowing high-throughput and label-free cell isolation and enrichment from heterogeneous solution using cell size as a biomarker. The approach utilizes the irreversible migration of particles into microscale vortices, developed in parallel expansion-contraction trapping reservoirs, as the cell isolation mechanism. We empirically determined the critical particle∕cell diameter D(crt) and the operational flow rate above which trapping of cells∕particles in microvortices is initiated. Using this approach we successfully separated larger cancer cells spiked in blood from the smaller blood cells with processing rates as high as 7.5×10(6) cells∕s. Viable long-term culture was established using cells collected off-chip, suggesting that the proposed technique would be useful for clinical and research applications in which in vitro culture is often desired. The presented technology improves on current technology by enriching cells based on size without clogging mechanical filters, employing only a simple single-layered microfluidic device and processing cell solutions at the ml∕min scale.     

Effects of optimal pacing strategies for 400-, 800-, and 1500-m races on the VO2 response

The aim of this study was to compare the evolution of oxygen uptake (VO2) in specifically trained runners during running tests based on the 400-, 800-, and 1500-m pacing strategies adopted by elite runners to optimize performance. Final velocity decreased significantly for all three distances, with the slowest velocity in the last 100 m expressed relative to the peak velocity observed in the 400 m (77%), 800 m (88%), and 1500 m (96%). Relative to the previously determined VO2max values, the respective VO 2peak corresponded to 94% (400 m) and 100% (800 and 1500 m). In the last 100 m, a decrease in VO2 was observed in all participants for the 400-m (15.6 ± 6.5%) and 800-m races (9.9 ± 6.3%), whereas a non-systematic decrease (3.6 ± 7.6%) was noted for the 1500 m. The amplitude of this decrease was correlated with the reduction in tidal volume recorded during the last 100 m of each distance (r = 0.85, P < 0.0001) and with maximal blood lactate concentrations after the three races (r = 0.55, P < 0.005). The present data demonstrate that the 800 m is similar to the 400 m in terms of decreases in velocity and VO2.