East Meets West in Shanghai：But Is There a Learning Society on the Road to Cathay？

Lifelong education was developed in Europe in the 1970's. A learning society arises when principles of adult education are properly deployed. Vertical integration concerns learning throughout the lifespan. Horizontal integration requires education to occur in informal and nonformal as well as familiar formal settings. Democratization demands the dismantling of barriers that impede access to education and involvement of learners in the design and management of their own education. Chinese citizens have always learned from a broad array (of not just educational settings). The initiative to build 61 "learning cities"demonstrates a genius for adapting western ideas. China has already transcended some limitations of European ideas about lifelong education. However, because of ageism, the obsession with formal education and need to navigate within the contours of the party-state, building a learning society faces special challenges. In China, as elsewhere, universities are not leading these initiatives. They need to become more flexible and open.     

Trends in school psychology as demonstrated by content analysis of school psychology textbooks

This investigation was undertaken to determine if there were general and specific trends within school psychology between the years 1960 and 1975 as reflected by both the content presented and the chaning amount of emphasis given to specific topics within school psychology texttooh. Content analysis was chosen as the method of analysis. Seventeen school psychology textbooks separated into three consecutive time periods of five years each, were used in the research. The data indicated that trends in publication emphasis were present. While the types of content presented remained relatively constant, the overall trend was toward decreasing publication of text type materials. Assessment had remained consistently the highest emphasized category of content, whereas clinical issues and personality have shown clear trends toward decreasing emphasis. Both special education and therapy issues maintained high and stable levels of emphasis. Neither consulting activities nor community activities demonstrated trends toward increasing emphasis. Ethics and legal issues were discussed in less than half the textbooks examined. Group assessment, curriculum development, sex education, teaching psychology, and group therapy received very little content emphasis. Behavior modification future trens, and remediation activities demonstrated clear trends toward increased emphasis, whereas areas of administration and organization, research issues, and working with special populations demonstrated clear trends toward decreasing emphasis.     

Measures of cardiac autonomic control in women with differing volumes of physical activity

In this study, we investigated heart rate variability in women who exercise regularly, but with differing volumes of physical activity. Forty women participated and were allocated to either a "high" or "moderate" activity group. Heart rate as R-R intervals was recorded during supine rest and analysed using time domain, frequency domain, and Poincaré plot techniques. All time domain and Poincaré analysis measures revealed significant differences in heart rate variability between the "high" and "moderate" activity groups. Frequency domain analysis also revealed a significant difference between the two groups in absolute measures of high-frequency and low-frequency power, but not between measures such as the low-frequency/high-frequency ratio, proposed to represent the sympathetic/parasympathetic balance of cardiac control. The results demonstrate that there is a significant difference in heart rate variability between women who engage in "high" compared with "moderate" volumes of physical activity, which may have implications for cardiac autonomic health.