Over the past hundred years, a number of scientific investigators claim to have adduced experimental evidence for “psi” phenomena – that is, the apparent ability to receive information shielded from the senses (ESP) and to influence systems outside the sphere of motor activity (PK). A report of one series of highly significant psi experiments and the objections of critics are discussed in some depth. It is concluded that the possibility of sensory cues, machine bias, cheating by subjects, and experimenter error or incompetence cannot reasonably account for the significant results. In addition, less detailed reviews of the experimental results in several broad areas of psi research indicate that psi results are statistically replicable and that significant patterns exist across a large body of experimental data. For example, a wide range of research seems to converge on the idea that, because ESP “information” seems to behave like a weak signal that has to compete for the information-processing resources of the organism, a reduction of ongoing sensorimotor activity may facilitate ESP detection. Such a meaningful convergence of results suggests that psi phenomena may represent a unitary, coherent process whose nature and compatibility with current physical theory have yet to be determined. The theoretical implications and potential practical applications of psi could be significant, irrespective of the small magnitude of psi effects in laboratory settings.

Studies of in-service training demonstrate repeatedly the difficulty of transferring training to the routine work of the staff. One of the likely explanations for this difficulty is the recurring absence of an educational and organizational needs assessment to guide the training. Such assessments can play a critical role in defining management support, goal setting, the selection of the trainee group and in analysing the readiness of staff in an organization for a training intervention. The present study summarizes and extends prior research in the field of mental health by conducting a comprehensive educational and organizational needs analysis. Six assessment methods were administered to N = 72 staff and 20 clients in a psychiatric hospital, including questionnaires, interviews, direct observations and an audit. The study design was based on a series of naturalistic, cross sectional comparisons between four wards. Significant differences were obtained between the four participating wards, which served to define training needs and to validate the needs assessment procedure. Implications are drawn for needs assessment within a more systematic approach to staff training.

Sequences in certain mRNAs program the ribosome to undergo a noncanonical translation event, translational frameshifting, translational hopping, or termination readthrough. These sequences are termed recoding sites, because they cause the ribosome to change temporarily its coding rules. Cis and trans-acting factors sensitively modulate the efficiency of recoding events. In an attempt to quantitate the effect of these factors we have developed a dual-reporter vector using the lacZ and luc genes to directly measure recoding efficiency. We were able to confirm the effect of several factors that modulate frameshift or readthrough efficiency at a variety of sites. Surprisingly, we were not able to confirm that the complex of factors termed the surveillance complex regulates translational frameshifting. This complex regulates degradation of nonsense codon-containing mRNAs and we confirm that it also affects the efficiency of nonsense suppression. Our data suggest that the surveillance complex is not a general regulator of translational accuracy, but that its role is closely tied to the translational termination and initiation processes.