Numerous Research Findings Research Articles

The Dragon’s shadow: an introduction to the special issue on ‘Chinese organized crime’

This paper provides an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organized Crime bringing forward numerous empirical research findings and theoretical accounts on Chinese organized crime in China and beyond.

The value of cell line validation

Cell line contamination and misidentification was first reported in HeLa cells in 1974 (1). However, the problem is still widespread: at least 15% of reported cell lines may be cross-contaminated or misidentified (2). As a result, numerous research findings have been invalidated, careers have been damaged, and millions of dollars have been wasted. Fortunately, the scientific community has been stepping up its efforts to address the problem. A statement about cell line validation is now a prerequisite for acceptance at all American Association for Cancer Research journals. Testing will also be considered in the review process for all National Institutes of Health grant proposals. Failure to address the issue is likely to lead to a rejection. In addition, many academic institutions require that their researchers validate their cell lines. Some researchers are reluctant to validate their cell lines because testing costs time and money. However, access to more efficient technologies has made validation easier: short tandem repeat (STR) testing, the most commonly recommended method for cell line validation, can be outsourced; this makes it a viable option for small laboratories. STR testing commonly involves 9 markers and a cut-off score of 0.8 (this score is a numerical code that can be compared with others in a database). In this issue of Neuro-Oncology, Bady et al (3) provide guidance for researchers who are validating their own cell lines. The authors performed a cell validation study of 39 commonly used glioma cell lines and found that a score of 0.8 was insufficient for reliably distinguishing cell line origins when using 9-marker profiles. The cell line scores were compared with those in the DSMZ database; 3 lines were found to be misidentified. However, a comparison of paired, randomly arranged profiles revealed a score of more than 0.8 for 1 pair and more than 0.7 for 8 pairs. When all markers were used, no pairs scored higher than 0.7. The authors concluded that a reference database with a limited number of duplicates and simulation procedures is useful for more accurately evaluating similarity values. Hopefully, more precise testing standards, such as those suggested by Bady et al (3), will further minimize the effects of contaminated and misidentified cell lines on the body of scientific knowledge. In furtherance of this goal, Neuro-Oncology may soon require a statement about cell line validation for all submitted papers: where and when the cells were obtained, whether they were authenticated, the testing procedures used, and when they were last authenticated. We understand that requiring this information may be a burden for our authors, but we believe that it is crucial to ensuring the scientific integrity of our journal and the field at large.

Children's play activities in a preschool institution as elements of children's

This paper contribute a brief overview of development of adult perception of child and children's culture, to be followed up on a story about its (in)dependency of the adult's culture, and generally, the culture in which they grow up. Since children's play activities are the most striking element of their culture, this paper will deal with their analysis with the aim of understanding how children maintain their own culture and the ways in which their culture is transformed into a real context. Theoretical considerations are supported by examples from the experience acquired by active observing children's play and play activities in preschool. The study was conducted in ten kindergartens in Kruševac, mainly in the time provided for free play activities, and included children were from different educational groups (younger, middle, senior and preschool), randomly selected. Segments of the questionnaire designed for OMEP Project (Protocol for the collection of traditional rule games) served as a guide in conversation with children and teachers. Analysis of children's games and play activities confirms numerous research findings that the existing culture of adult is, consciously or unconsciously, transferred from generation to generation in relation adult - to - child, but it is, mostly spontaneously and unconsciously, transferred, maintained and transformed in relation child - to- child. Studies of this type are considered to be relevant for better understanding of children themselves, their relationships and values that foster within their own culture, which all can imply changes in the preschool as a specific segment of the adults culture aimed for children.

Reliability Analysis of the Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES) In a Malaysian Context: A Preliminary Study

Numerous research findings have highlighted counseling self-efficacy, defined as the strength of perceived competencies in successfully performing the tasks and roles of a counselor, as one of the most important factors affecting counselors’ performance. This preliminary study incorporated item analysis and reliability analysis to determine the quality of the items, and reliability of the Counselor Activity Self-efficacy Scale (CASES) developed by Lent, Hill, and Hoffman (2003) in a Malaysian setting. It involved 30 final year students of Bachelor of Education (Guidance and Counseling) program in a public university in Malaysia. CASES is a self-administered instrument used to measure counseling students’ self-efficacy regarding their helping skills, management of counseling process, and coping with challenges of different counseling situations. Item analyses revealed that majority of the items of CASES are of high quality. The findings confirmed the overall internal reliability of the scale (alpha=.98). Specifically, subsections of the scale were highly reliable in measuring counseling self-efficacy of university students, helping skills (alpha=.93), management of counseling process (alpha=.95), coping with challenges of different counseling situations (alpha=.97). Implications of the findings for counselor education and areas for future research are discussed.

Antisocial behaviour genesis from the social information processing perspective

Quite numerous research findings show that social information processing underlies different forms of prosocial and antisocial behaviour. Although most of data come from research of children of different age, interest in social information processing and behaviour in later periods of life markedly grows. More and more authors turn to the question of adult social information processing and antisocial behaviour, considering it as a promising field for criminal behaviour forecast and correction. Two aims ofthis paper are: 1) to describe the main developmental features of social information processing from early childhood to late adolescence and early adulthood; 2) to make assumptions on the connections between social information processing and the antisocial (criminal) behaviour of adults. In this article, we review findings of more than two last decades as it is the most intense period for the development of knowledge in this field. Analysis of the literature shows that patterns of social information processing of people with tendencies to prosocial and antisocial behaviour already differ in groups of children. These differences become more vivid in groups of adolescents as they tend to use antisocial thinking strategies more often and in more steps of information processing than younger children. We suppose that adults have similar but even more clear and vivid patterns of specific social information processing and behaviour than adolescents.Social knowledge of adults is more complex, abstract and differentiated to specific social situations in comparison with people of younger age. Moreover, their information processing is more rapid and complex as well as more tendentious and rigid. Automation of information processing might suspend the learning process and be a source of information processing mistakes in new social situations. We assume that adults, in comparison with children, must have a rather stable and effectively working social information processing directly linked to specific forms of prosocial or antisocial behaviour. We hypothesize that because of a longer antisocial (criminal) experience, some specific features of social knowledge and information processing might appear. Therefore, researches of social information processing that underlie specific forms of antisocial (criminal) behaviour seem to be most informative and useful in this field. Moreover, it is still very little known about the role of emotions in antisocial behaviour genesis. There is some eloquent data on their important impact on social information processing underlying antisocial behaviour, but we suppose that this impact might differ in particular stages of development.

The mandibular complex

Die Wahrheit mag uns zu allem moglichen fuhren Brecht: Leben des Galilei The mandible can be called the orthodontist's complex. A complex often defies reason and this is true of many orthodontists' views on this bone. Voluminous literature exists about the lower jaw but one issue, namely the mandibular amenability to our mechanotherapy, is still the subject of great debate, dividing the orthodontic world into two opposite camps, in spite of the fact that the evidence for the solution has been there for a long time in the numerous clinical observations and research findings. The mandible is also complex from the biological viewpoint since it consists of several relatively independent structural and functional parts. As regards its adaptability, especially where intermaxillary relationships are concerned, the key region is perhaps the evolutionary newcomer, the ramus-condyle region. It is the purpose of this presentation to review some of the most recent findings related to the condyle and the ramus in the hope that every clarification of the complex mandible will reduce the mandibular complex of the orthodontists. Let us first consider the condylar cartilage. How does the condylar cartilage grow? It is commonly accepted to-day that the condylar cartilage, unlike the so-called growth cartilages proper, grows appositionally, not interstitially and that the mitotic cells are not cartilage cells, as in the growth cartilages, but undifferentiated mesenchymal cells (Fig. 1). Figure 1 The top of the condyle of a 30-day-old rat. The mitotic cells form a dense band underneath the fibrous covering layer, then follow the chondrocytes, which soon become hypertrophic; in the lower edge of the view the erosion front. H & E, original magnification ×133. These cells are apparently multipotential, as are similar cells elsewhere. Specifically, they can become either chondrogenic or osteogenic, depending on environmental stimuli (Meikle, 1973). This makes it …

Residual Performance of FRP-Retrofitted RC Columns after Being Subjected to Cyclic Loading Damage

Numerous recent research findings evidenced the success of retrofitting existing RC columns using fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) jacketing. However, little is known about the residual performance of FRP-retrofitted RC columns following limited seismic damage. In this paper, the residual performance of FRP-retrofitted columns damaged after simulated seismic loading is studied. Eight model columns with a shear aspect ratio of 5.0 were tested first under cyclic lateral force and a constant axial load equal to 20% of the column gross axial load capacity. The main parameters considered were the type of FRP jacket and peak drift ratio where the lateral loading was interrupted. Glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) were both used for retrofitting. Five of the model columns were subjected to long-term axial loading after being subjected to limited damage by lateral cyclic loading. From the results of long-term loading test, it was found that FRP-retrofitted columns had much smaller creep deformation than the counterpart as-built model. The deformation of retrofitted columns under long-term axial loading depended on the previous damage intensity and the modulus of elasticity of FRP. The effective creep Poisson’s ratios of the retrofitted columns were much smaller than the as-built column but identical for GFRP and CFRP retrofitted columns. Under the testing conditions of this study, the long-term axial deformation of retrofitted columns tends to be sufficiently stable, despite the simulated earthquake damage.

Population as an element of regionalization of Serbia

Population as an element of regionalization of Serbia

Psycho-oncology: a coming of age

Every once in a while there is a mini renaissance in an area of medicine. The flowering of research that has taken place world-wide in the field of psycho-oncology in the last decade is one such example. This deepening interest in all the different psychological aspects of cancer, with the prevention of psychiatric morbidity and the development of a healthy adaptation being the main outcome aims, has led to hundreds of publications in recent years, along with the launching of two high-quality journals, the Journal of Psychosocial Oncology and the Journal of Psycho-Oncology. There have been numerous robust research findings proving the efficacy of psychosocial interventions in cancer patients on a range of outcome measures (Stein et al, 1993; Fawzy et al, 1995). The search for conclusive evidence of the positive effects of psychological therapy on disease progression and hence survival rates has also developed, becoming a holy grail for researchers in mind/body medicine, and has been brought tantalisingly within reach by a number of well-controlled trials (Spiegel et al, 1989; Richardson et al, 1990; Fawzy et al, 1993; Ratcliffe et al, 1995).

Psychosocial Disturbances in Young People: Challenges for Prevention

Ed Michael Rutter Cambridge University Press, pounds sterling30, pp 403 ISBN 0 521 46187 1 Psychosocial Disturbances in Young People presents strong evidence that criminal activity, suicidal behaviour, substance abuse, depression, and eating disorders have all increased in frequency since the second world war. All the more surprising as this coincides with a steady improvement in physical health and better living conditions. The book focuses first on understanding adolescence and its associated problem behaviours. There are numerous interesting research findings. For example, delinquency is the only problem behaviour that peaks in adolescence and then declines—affecting 60% of 15 year olds and then declining to 40% of 20 year olds. …

Strategic Alliances in Purchasing: Transportation Is the Vital Link

The past few years have seen a definite trend for purchasing organizations to form “partnerships” or “strategic alliances” with a few preferred suppliers. The literature in the field has reinforced this concept by providing numerous examples and research findings investigating these emerging long‐term, cooperative buyer‐supplier relationships. However, the role of the transportation providers serving as the critical linkage between a firm and its suppliers has received little attention. Recent research efforts have shown that “logistics alliances” are gaining in popularity, producing similar potential benefits to those realized in buyer‐supplier partnerships.This article explores the transportation provider's role in buyer‐supplier partnerships and identifies the contributions that such firms have made in attaining the long‐term success of these alliances. The results of a recent CAPS (Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies) study are also presented to show the increased involvement that purchasing managers have in making inbound transportation decisions.

Relationship between perceived control in leisure and life satisfaction: A study of non-institutionalized older persons

Numerous research findings suggest that the presence or absence of control has profound effects on people's emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. Empirical verification of the usefulness and practicality of perceived control in leisure research has been minimal. An exploratory study was designed to (a) establish a baseline measurement of the degree of perceived control in the leisure lives of a sample of non-institutionalized older persons, and (b) to relate the measure to life satisfaction. The results indicated that the sample population, taken from a senior citizen volunteer organization, exhibited relatively high levels of perceived leisure control. Perceived leisure control correlated positively with life satisfaction. The results are consistent with current literature which identifies perceived control as being an important causal force in life satisfaction and other psychological health indices. The importance of enhancing perceived leisure control for older persons is emphasized, and spec...

Meta-Analysis of 143 Adolescent Drug Prevention Programs: Quantitative Outcome Results of Program Participants Compared to a Control or Comparison Group

Presented is a meta-analysis of the outcome results for 143 adolescent drug prevention programs to identify the most effective program modalities for reducing teenage drug use. Glass' et al. (1981) meta-analysis techniques provided a systematic approach for the accumulation, quantification and integration of the numerous research findings. Five major modalities were identified and their effect sizes computed for five distinctly different outcomes: Knowledge, Attitudes, Use, Skills and Behavior measures. The magnitude of the effect size was found dependent on the outcome measure employed and the rigor of the experimental design. These factors were controlled for through use of a standard regression analysis. Peer Programs were found to show a definite superiority for the magnitude of the effect size obtained on all outcome measures. On the ultimate criteria of drug use, Peer Programs were significantly different than the combined results of all the remaining programs (p < .0005). Peer Programs maintained high effect size for alcohol, soft drugs and hard drugs, as well as for cigarette use. Recommendations are made concerning the effectiveness of the underlying theoretical assumption for the different program modalities. Future programming implications are discussed as Peer Programs were identified as effective for the average school-based adolescent population, but the Alternatives programs were shown to be highly successful for the “at risk” adolescents such as drug abusers, juvenile delinquents or students having school problems.

THE SELECTION INTERVIEW— A RE‐EVALUATION OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH1

SummaryOver the last few years, the selection interview has been subjected to a great deal of criticism. Most of this criticism has stressed a general lack of evidence concerning the interview's reliability and validity. The present paper, while agreeing for the most part with prior criticism, attempts to take three further steps. First, the present limited knowledge is explained in terms of (a) a lack of comparability between studies and (b)an overdependence on research results from other areas. Second, in spite of these shortcomings, there are numerous research findings which have received support from more than one study. These findings are summarized and discussed. Finally, a starting point for basic research on the selection interview which may lead to more profitable research in the future is presented.