Course satisfaction and occupational ego-identity among undergraduates

Three-hundred and eighty final year Undergraduates were classified into one of four occupational ego-identity (OEI) positions using the Student Progress Questionnaire (SPQ1). Evidence of the validity of the OEI classifications was found in that their distribution by Faculty was as predicted from previous research. Male students in the four OEI positions were shown to vary in levels of course satisfaction in directions indicated by Waterman and Waterman (1970). Equivalent results were not found for the female group. It is suggested that course satisfaction is a dubious criterion of course quality, in that such ratings may be biased by students' characteristics. The results also suggest that Erikson's theory of adolescence may be biased towards a masculine psychology. A view of course satisfaction involving the parallel processes of identity resolution and identification is proposed. This view is seen to be consistent with current research in the area of job satisfaction.     

Evaluation practices for college students with LD

To examine current practices in the use of psychoeducational evaluations for service delivery, we surveyed 91 service providers to college students with learning disabilities. The three purposes of the survey were to determine (a) whether service delivery decisions are based on information from psychoeducational evaluations, (b) which sections of the psychoeducational report are most useful in making service delivery decisions, and (c) the respondents' satisfaction with the tests and measurements for service delivery. The findings supported the common belief that data from psychoeducational evaluations serve as the primary basis for both eligibility and specific accommodation determinations. Respondents reported that all sections of the psychoeducational evaluation written report were useful, with the least useful section being test scores and the most useful being the summary of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. However, the section used most often for service delivery decisions was the professional's recommendations.     

Information-analytical support of priority fields in science and technology: Branch and differentiated approaches

This paper considers the urgent problems of information-analytical support of Russian scientific technological and innovation policy, as well as modern tasks of information-analytical support of the innovation activities of scientific and educational organizations, and proposes methodical approaches that have potential for improving the Russian system of patent searches and analytics. It is shown to be expedient to build complex information-retrieval systems with maximum access to relevant arrays of branch information and multi-service analytical components, which make it possible to implement the differentiated approach to consumers and a diversity of scenarios of scientific information activities, which are particular to different groups of consumers.     

Decay of softwood in archaeological wooden artifacts

Hardwoods and softwoods were used side by side throughout Egyptian history, and importing softwoods that had an attractive color and texture was common. Over the decades, artifacts based on hardwoods and softwoods underwent deterioration phenomena, sometimes reaching either a level of brittleness or turning into a wood powder that may easily crumble. These levels of decay/degradation are often difficult to handle in terms of conservation treatments. To study or identify the reasons for decay has always been a point of interest for conservation purposes, but to assess decay and choose an appropriate treatment according to the state of preservation for the sake of keeping an artifact intact has become a subject of major importance. It is difficult at times to understand the deterioration process, because hardwoods and softwoods are different in structure, properties, and chemical composition. For this preliminary study, decayed samples from three commonly used softwood types, cypress (Cupressus sp.), cedar (Cedrus sp.), and pine (Pinus sp.), were identified and chosen. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of the samples indicated the degree of decay. Decayed and non-aged samples of the same wood type were analyzed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and all the major carbohydrate and lignin bands were recorded. The strong hydrogen bonded (O–H) stretching absorption associated with water linked by hydrogen bonds to the –OH groups of cellulose and hemicelluloses in all decayed samples increased with decay. The brown powdery, fragile samples that had been evidently affected by microbial decay had a higher amount of lignin. The lignin/carbohydrate ratio was calculated and results compared. The increase of either lignin percentage or extractives in some of the samples had caused a darkening of color in both cypress and cedar samples, but the pine sample did not have the same texture and appearance. In cases where the lignin percentage decreased the samples had changed to a slightly lighter color. FTIR results explained the decay phenomena observed in SEM micrographs and helped assess wood decay and also confirmed results that had been previously obtained while applying traditional chemical analysis on wood.