What American Psychological Association Leaders Have to Say About Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

What do American Psychological Association (APA) leaders have to say about the new journal Psychology of Religion and Spirituality? A survey was sent to 204 current APA council representatives and divisional residents, yielding 63 completed questionnaires (31% response rate). Respondents generally affirmed the importance of religion and spirituality as topics of inquiry in psychology. Although not highly religious themselves, respondents recognize religion and spirituality as important aspects of human diversity. In considering the new journal, current APA leaders who responded to the survey are particularly interested in articles relating religion and spirituality to health and coping and articles considering cross-cultural and interfaith issues

Water allocation in the Klamath Reclamation Project, 2001 : an assessment of natural resource, economic, social, and institutional issues with a focus on the Upper Klamath Basin

Published May 2002. Reviewed August 2013. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Are short-term variations in solar oscillation frequencies the signature of a second solar dynamo?

In addition to the well-known 11-year solar cycle, the Sun's magnetic activity also shows significant variation on shorter time scales, e.g. between one and two years. We observe a quasi-biennial (2-year) signal in the solar p-mode oscillation frequencies, which are sensitive probes of the solar interior. The signal is visible in Sun-as-a-star data observed by different instruments and here we describe the results obtained using BiSON, GOLF, and VIRGO data. Our results imply that the 2-year signal is susceptible to the influence of the main 11-year solar cycle. However, the source of the signal appears to be separate from that of the 11-year cycle. We speculate as to whether it might be the signature of a second dynamo, located in the region of near-surface rotational shear.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, proceedings for SOHO-24/GONG 2010 conference, to be published in JPC

Differing patterns of selection and geospatial genetic diversity within two leading Plasmodium vivax candidate vaccine antigens

Although Plasmodium vivax is a leading cause of malaria around the world, only a handful of vivax antigens are being studied for vaccine development. Here, we investigated genetic signatures of selection and geospatial genetic diversity of two leading vivax vaccine antigens--Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 1 (pvmsp-1) and Plasmodium vivax circumsporozoite protein (pvcsp). Using scalable next-generation sequencing, we deep-sequenced amplicons of the 42 kDa region of pvmsp-1 (n = 44) and the complete gene of pvcsp (n = 47) from Cambodian isolates. These sequences were then compared with global parasite populations obtained from GenBank. Using a combination of statistical and phylogenetic methods to assess for selection and population structure, we found strong evidence of balancing selection in the 42 kDa region of pvmsp-1, which varied significantly over the length of the gene, consistent with immune-mediated selection. In pvcsp, the highly variable central repeat region also showed patterns consistent with immune selection, which were lacking outside the repeat. The patterns of selection seen in both genes differed from their P. falciparum orthologs. In addition, we found that, similar to merozoite antigens from P. falciparum malaria, genetic diversity of pvmsp-1 sequences showed no geographic clustering, while the non-merozoite antigen, pvcsp, showed strong geographic clustering. These findings suggest that while immune selection may act on both vivax vaccine candidate antigens, the geographic distribution of genetic variability differs greatly between these two genes. The selective forces driving this diversification could lead to antigen escape and vaccine failure. Better understanding the geographic distribution of genetic variability in vaccine candidate antigens will be key to designing and implementing efficacious vaccines

Readership of News about Politics in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, 1950-1960

The management of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune, since World War II. has commissioned yearly studies of the newspapers\u27 readers to learn how much attention was paid to the newspapers\u27 content. An exploratory study was conducted of the data from the surveys made between 1950 and 1960 to measure the general levels of attention paid to news about politics, and to examine the variation of attention over time. Readers\u27 preferences among several kinds of political news content were also noted

Psychology\u27s proactive approach to conscience clause court cases and legislation

Since 2010, psychology leaders in education and training associated with doctoral programs in professional psychology have been monitoring court cases and state-level legislation that assert students\u27 rights to religious freedom during professional training. Such court cases and legislative actions put at risk educators\u27 ability to ensure the competence of graduates to effectively serve a diverse public. In response to these legal challenges, the APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) appointed an 11-member Virtual Working Group on Restrictions Affecting Diversity Training in Graduate Education to develop a thoughtful, proactive position. Through ongoing discussions that occurred over 18 months, members of the Working Group developed an enhanced understanding of the intersection of graduate students\u27 First Amendment Rights with professional psychology\u27s commitment to graduate competent psychologists who have the capacity to serve a wide and diverse clientele. The Working Group identified five core tenets that informed their development of resources to support educators and trainers of professional psychology graduate programs. This article provides a brief history of the court cases and legislativeinitiatives, articulates the core tenets, describes the products developed by the Working Group and approved by the APA BEA, and ends with a brief description of dissemination and implementation activities and plans for next steps