The Relationship Between Afrocentric Worldview and Marital Satisfaction in African-American Couples

Problem. It has been argued that many of the theories attempting to explain African-American culture derive from a Eurocentric framework, and thus paint a negative and pathological picture of the African-American family and community. What is needed is research examining African-American family life which holds Afrocentric culture and beliefs as its foundation. Consequently, this study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between Afrocentric cultural consciousness (Afrocentric worldview) and marital satisfaction of spouses of African descent. Method. This study used a correlational and ex post facto research design involving surveys to assess the relationship between the dependent variable (marital satisfaction) and the independent variable (Afrocentric cultural consciousness, or components thereof) in married couples of African descent. The research involved subjects answering 57 questions on two self-report questionnaires (15 on marital satisfaction and 42 onAfrocentric cultural consciousness) as well as some demographic information. The two instruments used were:the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT) and the African Self-Consciousness Scale (ASC). Results. No significant correlation was found between the two main variables; however, socioeconomic status, educational attainment, denominational affiliation, and the number of children a couple has all have an influence on marital satisfaction and/or Afrocentric cultural consciousness and or the relationship between these.Afrocentric cultural consciousness was more affected by these variables than marital satisfaction. Conclusions. Although no main effect was found in this study the results do suggest what may really be important to marital satisfaction is not the particular worldview that one holds as much as whether or not that particular worldview matches one\u27s spouse\u27s belief system

Future Planetary Instrument Capabilities Made Possible by Micro- and Nanotechnology

A number of new instrument capabilities are currently in maturation for future in situ use on planetary science missions. Moving beyond the impressive in situ instrumentation already operating in planetary environments beyond Earth will enable the next step in scientific discovery. The approach for developing beyond current instrumentation requires a careful assessment of science-driven capability advancement. To this end, two examples of instrument technology development efforts that are leading to new and important analytical capabilities for in situ planetary science will be discussed: (1) an instrument prototype enabling the interface between liquid separation techniques and laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry and (2) an addressable excitation source enabling miniaturized electron probe microanalysis for elemental mapping of light and heavy elements

Recent developments in protein–ligand affinity mass spectrometry

This review provides an overview of direct and indirect technologies to screen protein–ligand interactions with mass spectrometry. These technologies have as a key feature the selection or affinity purification of ligands in mixtures prior to detection. Specific fields of interest for these technologies are metabolic profiling of bioactive metabolites, natural extract screening, and the screening of libraries for bioactives, such as parallel synthesis libraries and small combichem libraries. The review addresses the principles of each of the methods discussed, with a focus on developments in recent years, and the applicability of the methods to lead generation and development in drug discovery

Influence of antioxidants in virgine olive oil on the formation of heterocyclic amines in fried beefburgers.

An association between the intake of heterocyclic amines (HAs) and the development of cancer has been observed in some epidemiological studies, while in other studies no such correlation has been found. HAs are mutagenic/carcinogenic compounds formed at low levels via the Maillard reaction and a free radical mechanism during cooking of animal tissue. The addition of pure antioxidants or foods containing antioxidants has previously been shown to decrease the amount of HAs formed during cooking. In this study, beefburgers were fried in six different oils: refined olive oil, virgin olive oil, virgin olive oil depleted of phenols, rapeseed oil, virgin olive oil with rosemary extract and refined olive oil with rosemary extract. The content of antioxidative compounds in the virgin olive oil and the rosemary extract was determined. The beefburgers were analysed with regards to 12 different HAs by solid phase extraction and HPLC analysis. MeIQx, 4,8-DiMeIQx, PhIP, Harman and Norharman were detected in all beefburgers fried in the different oils, but the relative amounts varied. Frying in virgin olive oil reduced the formation of HAs compared with refined olive oil. This effect is probably due to the content of phenols in the virgin olive oil. The HA-reducing effect of virgin olive oil decreased during storage, but the addition of rosemary extract may prevent this decrease

Model for Quality Evaluation and Improvement of Higher Distance Education based on Information Technology

The article describes a proposed model for assessing the quality of higher distance education based on the technologies of the Information and Communication. This model can be adopted by higher education institutions in order to ensure proper use of Information Technologies and Communication in teaching and learning processes, and strategic processes that support the distance education. This research will use models and success stories from other countries as a basis for generating a preliminary model. Furthermore, this research contains initial reports and results as to justify the contribution of it

Molecular Analyzer for Complex Refractory Organic-Rich Surfaces (MACROS)

The Molecular Analyzer for Complex Refractory Organic-rich Surfaces, MACROS, is a novel instrument package being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. MACROS enables the in situ characterization of a sample's composition by coupling two powerful techniques into one compact instrument package: (1) laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDMS) for broad detection of inorganic mineral composition and non-volatile organics, and (2) liquid-phase extraction methods to gently isolate the soluble organic and inorganic fraction of a planetary powder for enrichment and detailed analysis by liquid chromatographic separation coupled to LDMS. The LDMS is capable of positive and negative ion detection, precision mass selection, and fragment analysis. Two modes are included for LDMS: single laser LDMS as the broad survey mode and two step laser mass spectrometry (L2MS). The liquid-phase extraction will be done in a newly designed extraction module (EM) prototype, providing selectivity in the analysis of a complex sample. For the sample collection, a diamond drill front end will be used to collect rock/icy powder. With all these components and capabilities together, MACROS offers a versatile analytical instrument for a mission targeting an icy moon, carbonaceous asteroid, or comet, to fully characterize the surface composition and advance our understanding of the chemical inventory present on that body