bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Demographic Change and the European Union Labour Market
Authors: Lisiankova Katerina , Wright Robert E.
Published: October 2005

If current demographic trends continue, the combined population of the twenty-five countries that currently make up the European Union will age rapidly and decline in size in the coming decades. As the EU population ages and declines, so will its labour force, which will likely constrain the labour market and generate lower rates of economic growth. Data from the most recent round of United Nation population projections is used to illustrate the scale of these changes.
Stochastic Infinite Horizon Forecasts for US Social Security Finances
Authors: Lee Ronald , Anderson Michael
Published: October 2005

Even over a 75-year horizon, forecasts of PAYGO pension finances are misleadingly optimistic. Infinite horizon forecasts are necessary, but are they possible? We build on earlier stochastic forecasts of the US Social Security trust fund which model key demographic and economic variables as historical time series, and use the fitted models to generate Monte Carlo simulations of future fund performance. Using a 500-year stochastic projection, effectively infinite with discounting, we find a fund balance of −5.15 per cent of payroll, compared to the −3.5 per cent of the 2004 Trustees‘ Report, probably reflecting different mortality projections. Our 95 per cent probability bounds are −10.5 and −1.3 per cent. Such forecasts, which reflect only ‘routine’ uncertainty, have many problems but nonetheless seem worthwhile.
Immigrant Performance and Selective Immigration Policy: A European Perspective
Authors: Constant Amelie , Zimmermann Klaus F.
Published: October 2005

The European Union aims at a stronger participation by its population in work to foster growth and welfare. There are concerns about the attachment of immigrants to the labour force, and discussions about the necessary policy responses. Integrated labour and migration policies are needed. The employment chances of the low-skilled are limited. Whereas Europe could benefit from a substantive immigration policy that imposes selection criteria that are more in line with economic needs, the substantial immigration into the European Union follows largely non-economic motives. This paper discusses the economic rationale of a selective immigration policy and provides empirical evidence about the adverse effects of current selection mechanisms.
European Asylum Policy
Authors: Hatton Timothy J.
Published: October 2005

Policy towards asylum seekers has been a controversial topic for more than a decade. Rising numbers of asylum applications have been met with ever-tougher policies to deter them. Following a period of policy harmonisation, the EU has reached a crucial stage in the development of a new Common European Asylum System. This paper seeks to shed light on what form this should take. It summarises the development of policy to date and it argues that these policies have been too tough, even from the point of view of EU citizens. Using an economic framework, it examines scenarios with different degrees of policy harmonisation and integration among EU countries. Finally, it argues that there is an important role for enhanced burden-sharing arrangements.
Kuhnenstein: or, the Importance of Being Read
Authors: Fuller Steve
Published: October 2005

I respond to Rupert Read's highly critical review of my Kuhn vs Popper: The Struggle for the Soul Science. In contrast to my pro-Popper take on the debate, Read promotes a Wittgenstein-inflected Kuhn, whom I dub “Kuhnenstein.” Kuhnenstein is largely the figment of Read's—and others'—fertile philosophical imagination as channeled through scholastic philosophical practice. Contra Read, I argue that Kuhnenstein provides not only a poor basis for social epistemology but Kuhnenstein's prominence itself exemplifies a poor social epistemology for philosophy. Nevertheless, like Read, I wish to speak in favor of amateurism in philosophy; for me, the exemplar is the dialectical Popper rather than the gnomic and dogmatic Kuhnenstein.
Science and Culture
Authors: Sassower Raphael
Published: October 2005

Joseph Agassi's themes in this piece relate to the importance of science and technology in the modern world, the interaction between science and technology, the interrelation between science and culture, the political dimension of science in a democracy, the improvement on the Popperian project in the methodology of science (shifting gears to pluralistic critical rationalism), and the philosophical elements that inform science as well as being informed by science.
TQCA
Authors: Caren Neal , Panofsky Aaron
Published: October 2005

As originally developed by Charles Ragin in The Comparative Method (1987), qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) has been used extensively by comparative and historical sociologists as an effective tool for analyzing data sets of medium-N populations. Like many other methods, however, QCA is atemporal and obscures the sequential nature of paths of causation. QCA ignores the order of events by treating combinations of attributes as though they occur simultaneously rather than as unfolding over time. While preserving the essential strengths of QCA, the authors present a modification that is capable of capturing the temporal nature of causal interactions. This modification involves a hybrid of Boolean algebra and sequence analysis to create a parsimonious set of solutions. This technique is referred to as temporal qualitative comparative analysis, or TQCA.
Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of a Novel Extended‐Release Ciprofloxacin in Healthy Volunteers
Authors: Washington Carla B. , Hou S. Y. E. , Campanella Corinne , Hughes Nicki , Brown Steven , Berner Bret
Published: October 2005

Two open‐label, randomized, 2‐way crossover studies (1 single‐dose and 1 steady‐state) were conducted in healthy volunteers to compare the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a novel extended‐release ciprofloxacin (ciprofloxacin ER; 500 mg once daily) and immediate‐release ciprofloxacin (ciprofloxacin IR; 250 mg twice daily). For both studies, mean ciprofloxacin maximum concentration (Cmax) values after once‐daily ciprofloxacin ER were significantly greater than those after the first daily dose of ciprofloxacin IR (P < .0001) but were lower than those after the second daily dose of ciprofloxacin IR (P < .05). The relative bioavailability of ciprofloxacin ER compared to ciprofloxacin IR was 93.8% in the single‐dose study and 97.7% in the steady‐state study. Mean urinary ciprofloxacin concentrations and excretion rates after either treatment were substantially greater than the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) for susceptible uropathogens in both studies. The area under the concentration‐time curve (AUC)/MIC, Cmax/MIC, amount excreted (Ae)/MIC, and Ae24/MIC ratios with ciprofloxacin ER were similar to or slightly greater than with ciprofloxacin IR for all susceptible organisms.
Meropenem and Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy: In Vitro Permeability of 2 Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy Membranes and Influence of Patient Renal Function on the Pharmacokinetics in Critically Ill Patients
Authors: Isla Arantxazu , Maynar Javier , Sánchez‐Izquierdo José Ángel , Gascón Alicia R. , Arzuaga Alazne , Corral Esther , Pedraz José Luis
Published: October 2005

The pharmacokinetics of meropenem were characterized in 20 patients with different degrees of renal function who underwent continuous renal replacement therapy. Previously, no differences were detected in vitro in the removal of meropenem by continuous venovenous hemofiltration or continuous venovenous hemodialysis or when AN69 or polysulfone membranes were compared. In patients, no significant differences in the sieving coefficient or the saturation coefficient with the renal function were found, and the mean sieving coefficient/saturation coefficient value (0.80 ± 0.12) was similar to the unbound fraction (0.79 ± 0.08). An increase in total clearance and a decrease in elimination half‐life were observed to the extent that the patient's creatinine clearance was higher. Likewise, the contribution of continuous renal replacement therapy to total clearance diminished in patients with less renal impairment. The results suggest that the renal function of the patient may influence meropenem pharmacokinetics during continuous renal replacement therapy. The lower trough plasma levels observed in nonrenal patients would not lead to adequate time during which serum drug concentrations are above the minimum inhibitory concentration values in many infections.
Drug Utilization in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: Monitoring Prescribing Trends and Establishing Prioritization of Pharmacotherapeutic Evaluation of Critically Ill Children
Authors: Zuppa Athena F. , Adamson Peter C. , Mondick John T. , Davis Lauren A. , Maka Deborah A. , Narayan Mahesh , Nicholson Charles , Patel Dimple , Collison Kathryn R. , Barrett Jeffrey S.
Published: October 2005

The primary objective of this study was to characterize the drug exposure for children hospitalized in the authors’ institution's pediatric intensive care unit for the year 2002. Secondary objectives included the examination of drug utilization differences among various age criteria and the suitability of the most prevalent resources for pediatric dosing guidance. Many of the most commonly prescribed agents in the pediatric intensive care unit fall into the broad categories of pain management/sedation and anti‐infectives. Based on the generally narrow windows afforded by each of these drug classes, it is obvious that more, well‐defined investigations in critically ill children are warranted. The existing dosing guidance for many of these agents is neither generalizable nor sufficient to accommodate the diversity in pediatric intensive care unit patients, and the current drug monographs fall short of any practical dosing information.
An Evaluation of the Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of the Histrelin Implant for the Palliative Treatment of Prostate Cancer
Authors: Dineen Martin K. , Tierney David S. , Kužma Petr , Pentikis Helen S.
Published: October 2005

Seventeen patients with advanced prostate cancer were studied to evaluate the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of a hydrogel implant designed to deliver histrelin at a constant rate (50 μg/d) for 1 year. Serum histrelin levels were collected during the 52‐week implantation period and after a second implant. Testosterone suppression was the primary pharmacodynamic endpoint, with treatment success defined as serum testosterone less than 50 ng/dL. The histrelin subdermal implant delivered constant histrelin levels, with mean serum histrelin of approximately 0.265 ng/mL over 52 weeks. At the end of 52 weeks, mean histrelin concentrations were 0.128 ± 0.0652 ng/mL. Patients achieved chemical castration (testosterone less than 50 ng/mL) by week 4. In patients who had the first implant removed and received a new implant at the end of the first 52 weeks, testosterone suppression was not interrupted. The hydrogel implant provided consistent delivery of histrelin over 1 year and effectively suppressed testosterone in men with prostate cancer.
Organizing for Information Retrieval in Transactive Memory Systems
Authors: Palazzolo Edward T.
Published: October 2005

Advancing transactive memory (TM) theory, this research explores information retrieval between members of 12 preexisting organizational work teams. The teams examined are larger than the ad hoc groups studied in previousTM research. The central components are team members' (a) communication for topic-specific information retrieval, (b) perceptions of their own knowledge levels, and (c) perceptions of each others' knowledge levels. Social network analysis techniques were used to examine the communication ties between members at multiple levels. The emergent communication patterns were compared to theoretically expected patterns. The perceptions of self and others' expertise were used to understand the emergent patterns. The results show emergent communication patterns in these work teams only partially match the theoretical predictions and are highly related to members' perceptions of others' expertise. Self-reported expertise levels were not good indicators of the communication patterns. The results also reveal emergent structures counterintuitive to TM theory.
The Influence of Presumed Media Influence on Democratic Legitimacy
Authors: Tsfati Yariv , Cohen Jonathan
Published: October 2005

In this article, we examine the notion that perceptions of strong influence of biased media coverage may indirectly lead to an increased willingness to resort to violent protest. We test this idea on a sample of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip (N = 413), in the dramatic context of a Likud party vote on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to pull out from the Gaza Strip, which includes a proposed evacuation of the settlers from their homes. Findings show that perceptions of influence of biased media coverage of the settlements on Israeli public opinion were associated with perceptions of the negative image of the settlements in Israeli public opinion, which in turn had an impact on the justification of violent resistance to the likely evacuation. The perceived image of the settlements, resulting from presumed media influence, also affected settlers' political inefficacy and their thoughts about residential mobility.
Sources of Situational Variation in Ethnic Identity and Psychological Well-Being: A Palm Pilot Study of Chinese American Students
Authors: Yip Tiffany
Published: October 2005

Experience sampling reports collected randomly six times a day for 1 week examined the association between context, ethnic salience, psychological well-being, and stable ethnic centrality and ethnic private regard among Chinese American university students (N = 62). At the level of the situation, ethnic composition, family, and language were associated with higher ethnic salience. Stable ethnic centrality moderated the association between ethnic salience and family where higher centrality was related to stronger ethnic salience when students were with family. At the situation level, ethnic salience was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and increased positive mood. Stable ethnic private regard moderated this association where higher private regard was related to fewer depressive symptoms and higher levels of positive mood when ethnicity was salient.
Who I Am, Who We Are, and Why: Links Between Emotions and Causal Attributions for Self- and Group Discrepancies
Authors: Petrocelli John V. , Smith Eliot R.
Published: October 2005

Discrepancies between people's ought selves and their actual selves and their ideal selves and actual selves predict the emotions that individuals experience. The authors predicted that internal versus external causal attributions for self-discrepancies should moderate the relationship between self-discrepancies and emotions, resulting in more refined predictions for both agitationand dejection-related emotions and for two additional types of emotion, namely, anger-related and discontent-related emotions. Results of two studies generally supported the predictions that agitation-related emotions and dejection-related emotions were positively associated with actual-ought discrepancies and actual-ideal discrepancies, respectively, only when causal attributions for the discrepancies were internally based. Angerrelated emotions and emotions of discontent were positively associated with actual-ought and actual-ideal discrepancies, respectively, primarily when causal attributions were externally based. Study 2, which addressed group discrepancies and group-based emotions, generally replicated the findings when group identification was high, yielding a more complex model of the link between discrepancies and emotions.
The “Frozen in Time” Effect in Evaluations of the Dead
Authors: Eylon Dafna , Allison Scott T.
Published: October 2005

Two experiments tested the hypothesis that evaluations of the dead are more resistant to change than are evaluations of the living. In Experiment 1, perceivers formed an impression of a target person who performed either a moral or an immoral action and then either died or remained alive. Perceivers were later given new inconsistent information about the target's morality. The results revealed that perceivers’ original impressions of the target were significantly less likely to change in response to the inconsistent information when the target was believed to be dead than when she was believed to be alive. Experiment 2 replicated the effect in impressions of real-world targets. The implications of these findings for research on posthumous impression processes are discussed.
Miscommunications Surrounding Efforts to Reach Out Across Group Boundaries
Authors: Vorauer Jacquie D.
Published: October 2005

Two studies examined the communication of friendship interest within versus across group boundaries in relatively intimate exchanges. The main hypothesis was that so long as reasonable levels of friendship interest were in place, individuals would be more apt to exaggerate the clarity of their overtures (i.e., to exhibit a signal amplification bias) in intergroup as compared to within-group interaction. In line with predictions, this pattern was evident for lower-prejudice individuals, who were equally interested in ingroup and outgroup members as potential friends, but not for higher-prejudice individuals, who were relatively disinterested in cross-group friendship and instead tended to underestimate the friendship interest they conveyed to outgroup members. In contrast with the implications of past research centering on trait impressions and impersonal exchanges, both of these effects appeared to be driven by heightened feelings of transparency in intergroup as compared to within-group interaction.
Democracy Justifies the Means: Political Group Structure Moderates the Perceived Legitimacy of Intergroup Aggression
Authors: Falomir-Pichastor Juan M. , Staerklé Christian , Depuiset Marie-Aude , Butera Fabrizio
Published: October 2005

The present research tested the hypothesis that the political structure of conflicting groups moderates perceived legitimacy of intergroup aggression. In two experiments, participants read scenarios of fictitious summer camps in which members of one group aggressed members of another group. The political structure of both the perpetrator and the victim groups was described as either egalitarian (defined with democratic decision-making procedures) or hierarchical (authoritarian decision-making procedures). Results of both experiments showed that aggressions perpetrated by members of egalitarian groups at the expense of members of hierarchical groups were evaluated as less illegitimate than aggressions committed in the three remaining conditions. This effect is discussed as a function of the higher social value attributed to democratic groups.
Moments in Time: Metacognition, Trust, and Outcomes in Dyadic Negotiations
Authors: Olekalns Mara , Smith Philip L.
Published: October 2005

This research tested the relationships between turning points, cognitive and affective trust, and negotiation outcomes. After completing a simulated negotiation, participants identified turning points from videotape. Turning points were then classified as substantive (interest, offer), characterization (positive, negative), or procedural (positive, negative). Prenegotiation affective trust predicted subsequent turning points, whereas prenegotiation cognitive trust did not, suggesting that different cues influence the two types of trust. Postnegotiation cognitive trust was increased by the occurrence of interest, positive characterization, and positive procedural turning points and decreased by negative characterization turning points. Affective trust was increased by positive procedural turning points. Finally, interest turning points resulted in higher joint outcomes, whereas negative characterization turning points resulted in lower joint outcomes. We conclude that there are two paths to building trust and increasing joint gain, one through insight and one through signaling good faith intentions.
The Effects of Meritocracy Beliefs on Women's Well-Being After First-Time Gender Discrimination
Authors: Foster Mindi D. , Tsarfati E. Micha
Published: October 2005

This study examined how meritocracy beliefs may buffer women from the negative psychological effects of an acute situation of gender discrimination. Although some research indirectly suggests that believing that meritocracy exists may increase wellbeing, group consciousness theories suggest that disbelieving that meritocracy exists will enhance psychological adjustment to gender discrimination. Women who reported little past experience with discrimination, and either believed or disbelieved that meritocracy exists, were exposed to either a laboratory situation of discrimination or a nondiscrimination failure (control) condition. Consistent with group consciousness theories, women experiencing discrimination reported greater well-being if they disbelieved that meritocracy exists than if they were believers. In contrast, women in the control condition reported greater wellbeing if they believed that meritocracy exists than if they were disbelievers. Implications for coping with discrimination are discussed.
Concentrating on Beauty: Sexual Selection and Sociospatial Memory
Authors: Becker D. Vaughn , Kenrick Douglas T. , Guerin Stephen , Maner Jon K.
Published: October 2005

In three experiments, location memory for faces was examined using a computer version of the matching game Concentration. Findings suggested that physical attractiveness led to more efficient matching for female faces but not for male faces. Study 3 revealed this interaction despite allowing participants to initially see, attend to, and match the attractive male faces in the first few turns. Analysis of matching errors suggested that, compared to other targets, attractive women were less confusable with one another. Results are discussed in terms of the different functions that attractiveness serves for men and women.
The Learning Evaluation
Authors: Edelenbos Jurian , van Buuren Arwin
Published: October 2005

In this article, the authors theoretically and empirically explore the concept of learning evaluation. They shed light on the positioning of the learning evaluation amid scholarly work one valuations. Moreover, they describe the learning evaluation in practice in the Netherlands by going into a specific project called the Stimulation Program on Citizen and Environment. The theoretical and empirical quest gives insights into the problems with and possibilities of the learning evaluation. They think that their experiences can help the further development of theory about learning evaluation as well as aid in the practice of such evaluations.
Planning to Coordinate and Coordinating the Plan
Authors: Berman Evan M. , Korosec Ronnie L.
Published: October 2005

The coordination of planning among local governments is an important strategy for addressing many challenges that go beyond geographical or political jurisdictions such as those related to transportation congestion, educational performance, public safety, and the environment. This study examines the use of planning coordination and factors associated with its use. Based on a national survey and in-depth interviews among jurisdictions with populations of more than 50,000, the study finds that about 40% of jurisdictions frequently use coordinated, comprehensive plans, most commonly in public safety, traffic congestion, transit planning, and economic development. Among respondents, 78.7% agree or strongly agree that coordination with other jurisdictions and organizations is important in solving complex community problems. The perceived effectiveness of other jurisdictions and the presence of a revitalized management work culture are important factors associated with the increased use of such planning.
Nonstandard Work Arrangements in the Public Sector
Authors: Mastracci Sharon H. , Thompson James R.
Published: October 2005

Nonstandard work arrangements (NSWAs) are those other than full-time, permanent positions (e.g., seasonal, part-time, on-call, temporary agencywork) and those that involve individuals whose services are acquired via a contractual arrangement with another organization. Recent interest in NSWAs derives from several sources, including the Contingent Work Supplements to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Surveys, which were conducted between 1995 and 2001 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Attention to alternative work arrangements has also been brought by worker rights and legal communities. Moreover, NSWAs are also important in the context of family-friendly workplace policies. Although increasing awareness of these types of working arrangements exists because of the growing body of literature on private sector employers, relatively little is known about this phenomenon in the public sector. This study examines current sources of data on contingent work arrangements and NSWAs in public sector workplaces.
How Internal Stakeholders View Partnership
Authors: Masters Marick F. , Albright Robert R.
Published: October 2005

In 1993, the Clinton-Gore administration launched a comprehensive effort to reinvent the federal government. Labor-management partnership glued the various pieces of the reinvention blueprint together. The perceptions of two sets of pivotal stakeholders in the partnership effort mandated by Executive Order 12,871, partnership council representatives and the surrounding federal workforce, are examined. Council representatives viewed partnership as achieving some process effectiveness, which correlates with perceptions of the labor relations climate and partnership impacts. Although a sizable percentage of the federal workforce appeared largely unaware of partnership activities, many perceived a positive impact on labor-management relations. Significant differences existed between union and management council representatives. These findings have implications for the future of federal-sector labor-management cooperation, particularly in light of recent policy developments in the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense. Without a partnership mandate, such relations may revert to their more adversarial past.
A New Class of Starch-Based Hydrogels Incorporating Acrylamide and Vinyl Pyrrolidone: Effects of Reaction Variables on Water Sorption Behavior
Authors: Zhang Li-Ming , Wang Guang-Hai , Lu Hong-Wei , Yang Chuan , Yan Li
Published: October 2005

A new class of starch-based hydrogels incorporating acrylamide (AM) and vinyl pyrrolidone (VP) were prepared by ceric ammonium nitrate initiated polymerization in the presence of N, N -methylene bisacrylamide (MBA). The swelling and diffusion characteristics in water were studied with respect to the effects of reaction variables such as the type and amount of starch, the amounts of AM and VP, as well as MBA concentration. It was found that these reaction variables affected the swelling ratio of the hydrogels and the kinetics parameters of the water sorption process. The water transport mechanism in the swelling starch-based hydrogels was non-Fickian diffusion.
Bone in Growth in bFGF Versus BMP Combined with bFGF Saturated PLA-PEG-PLA: Experiment in Surgically Created Rabbit Mandibular Defects
Authors: Hou Guangyu , Adriane Kamulegeya , Feng Pan Ke
Published: October 2005

A triblock polymer of LPLA and PEG 1000 and 3400 at 3% and 9% was formed by ring opening under nitrogen atmosphere at 120°C and then, in one group, bFGF was added, while in the other both bFGF and BMP were added, leaving one group as a control. Gross, radiographic, histological and scanning electronic microscope observations were done. With the help of motic images advanced 3.0 new bone formed, calculated as a percentage of total selected area and, using SAS6.12, results were analyzed. Statistical analysis between groups showed that, at 2 weeks, the PLA-PEG-PLA + bFGF + BMP group had the highest amount of new bone formation, as a percentage of new bone over total surface area, at 48% followed by the PLA-PEG-PLA + bFGF group at 39%, then the PLA-PEG-PLA=BMP group at 29%. The PLA-PEGPLA group trailed in at 18% (statistical significance, p <0.05=0.0001). After 4 weeks, the experimental groups B and D had almost equal new bone formation (62% and 64% respectively), but still significantly different from the control group and BMP2 group, with 43% and 38% respectively ( p <0.05=0.0001). After 8 weeks, there was no difference in the amount of bone regeneration ( p >0.05=0.87).

Within the groups, the control group exhibited steady incremental new bone formation at 2, 4 and 8 weeks, starting out at 18%, followed by 42% and lastly 65%. Interestingly this phenomenon also applied to group C (BMP2 group) but not to the B group (bFGF group). The differences at the respective consecutive time of examination were statistically significant ( p <0.05=0.0001). However, in both experimental groups B and D there was statistically significant difference between new bone formed at 2 weeks compared to that at 4 weeks, but thereafter the increment was negligible.
Preparation of Polyelectrolyte-Containing Nanofibers by Electrospinning in the Presence of a Non-Ionogenic Water-Soluble Polymer
Authors: Mincheva R. , Manolova N. , Paneva D. , Rashkov I.
Published: October 2005

The first successful preparation of nanofibers of a polyampholyte (N-carboxyethylchitosan) by electrospinning was achieved by adding a non-ionogenic water-soluble polymer to the spinning solution. Using this approach, other polyelectrolytes, poly(2-acryloylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic acid) (PAMPS), and copolymers of 2-acryloylamido-2-methylpropane-sulphonic acid (AMPS) and acrylic acid [P(AMPS- co-AA)] were also electrospun into nanofibers. The non-ionogenic water-soluble polymers were polyacrylamide (PAAm) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The average diameters of the electrospun nanofibers were in the range 50-260nm. The average diameter of the nanofibers significantly decreased with increasing polyelectrolyte content. The electrospun nanofibers were crosslinked by heat treatment at 100, 120 or 150°C for the N-carboxyethylchitosan/PAAm pair and at 90°C in the case of P(AMPS- co-AA)/PVA. The presence of an ionizable low-molecular-weight compound (7-iodo-8-hydroxyquinoline-5-sulphonic acid, SQ) led to a more than two-fold decrease in the diameter of the nanofibers and to the appearance of defects. The SQ-containing nanofibers showed antimicrobial activity against pathogenic microorganisms.
Criminal History and Assaults on Intimate Partners by Mexican American and Non-Mexican White College Students
Authors: Ramirez Ignacio Luis
Published: October 2005

This study analyzed a sample of 348college students to examine the role that criminal history and Mexican ethnicity play in predicting intimate partner violence. Respondents who committed crimes in the past (before the age of 15) had a higher probability of severely physically assaulting a partner than those respondents who had committed crime later in life (after the age of 15). A history of property crime was found to be a better predictor of severe partner assault than a history of violent crime. The results support a generalist perspective on crime, which states that most individuals typically do not commit one type of crime solely but commit a variety of different crimes (property and violent). This study also found differences between Mexican American and non-Mexican White students in reference to minor assaults on a partner.
Exploring the Impact of Study Abroad on Students’ Intercultural Communication Skills: Adaptability and Sensitivity
Authors: Williams Tracy Rundstrom
Published: October 2005

This study answers a need for outcome assessment in study abroad by exploring the intercultural communication skills of study abroad and on campus students. Through a pretest and posttest of two specific skills, intercultural adaptability and intercultural sensitivity, study abroad students were compared to students who stay on campus to measure their change (if any) during the course of the semester. Using the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory and the Intercultural Sensitivity Index, the two student groups individually assessed their strengths and weaknesses through a self-reported inventory at the beginning and end of the fall 2002 academic semester. Results confirmed the hypothesis that students who study abroad exhibit a greater change in intercultural communication skills after their semester abroad than students who stay on campus. Results also indicated that exposure to various cultures was the greatest predictor of intercultural communication skills.
Learning Outcomes of International Mobility at Two Dutch Institutions of Higher Education
Authors: Stronkhorst Robert
Published: October 2005

For more than 20 years, the benefits of international mobility for students have been taken for granted. Now, policy makers and educators have started to realize that internationalization and globalization do not magically happen by sending ever higher numbers of students abroad. The quality of international mobility has taken center stage of the debate. This article presents the findings of an evaluation study concerning the effects of international mobility activities in terms of advancements in specific competencies. The results indicate that periods of 3-4 months of study or work abroad are too short to achieve much progress in these competencies for many of the students. Other factors that strongly influence the effectiveness of international student mobility appeared to be student motivation and institutional support. Recom-mendations are put forward to enhance the potential of international mobility in equipping human resources for an ever more internationally oriented labor market in culturally diverse societies.
Classroom Participation by International Students: The Case of Turkish Graduate Students
Authors: Tatar Sibel
Published: October 2005

This article explores four Turkish students’perceptions of participation in graduate courses at a U.S. university. Data were collected during one academic semester through in-depth interviews, a focus group interview, classroom observations, and collection of relevant documents. The findings suggest that the participants’ classroom participation experiences were influenced by multiple factors, the major ones being educational factors (e.g., cultural background), environmental factors (e.g., discussion topic), and influence of classroom dynamics (e.g., peer dominance in discussion). These factors, moreover, were intricately interrelated in ways that led to different classroom environments that may be described using a continuum from the most anxiety provoking to the most facilitative.
The Impact of Role Assignment on Knowledge Construction in Asynchronous Discussion Groups
Authors: Schellens Tammy , Van Keer Hilde , Valcke Martin
Published: October 2005

The present research studied the effect of learning in asynchronous discussion groups on students' levels of knowledge construction. Multilevel analyses were applied to uncover the influence of student, group, and task variables on the one hand and the specific effect of the assignment of roles to group members on other hand. Results indicate that students'attitudes toward the learning environment and their engagement in the discussion group are significant predictors. As to the effect of role assignment, no significant overall difference in students' mean levels of knowledge construction between the role and no role condition was observed. However, additional analyses revealed that (a) the distribution patterns of the levels of knowledge construction differed as students in the role condition more often reached the highest level, and (b) assigning students the role of summarizer resulted in significantly higher levels of knowledge construction.
Peritraumatic Responses and Their Relationship to Perceptions of Threat in Female Crime Victims
Authors: Kaysen Debra , Morris Miranda K. , Rizvi Shireen L. , Resick Patricia A.
Published: October 2005

Peritraumatic responses, aside from dissociation, have been understudied in acute trauma populations. Participants were 172 female rape, 68 assault, and 80 robbery victims recruited through formal reporting agencies and assessed 1 month after the crime. Despite substantial overlap across crimes, rape victims reported more emotional responses reflecting fear, detachment, shame, and more nonactive behavioral responses. Regression analysis examining the prediction of perceived threat by peritraumatic responses and crime variables indicated that increased duration of crimes; decreased calmness; increased fear; numbing; use of begging, pleading, and crying; and attempts to reason with the perpetrator(s) were all significantly associated with increased appraisal of threat.
Community Policing: The Middle Manager’s Perspective
Authors: Vito Gennaro F. , Walsh William F. , Kunselman Julie
Published: October 2005

Community policing has evolved as the new organizational orthodoxy of policing. Volumes have been written on the subject by academics and research scholars. However, the voices of those who are charged with the reorganization of their departments and the implementation of community policing have been relatively silent. This article presents data drawn from the content analysis of the written views of community policing held by a select sample of middle managers from across the country. The respondents were attending the administrative officers course at the Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville. During the course of their studies, they read current anthologies on community policing research. These findings identify and discuss a number of problems that they have encountered in the implementation of community policing. As such, they represent a practitioner’s assessment of community policing.
Factors Affecting the Decision of Police Recruits to “Drop Out” of Police Work
Authors: Haarr Robin N.
Published: October 2005

This study explores why police recruits “drop out” of police work within the first 16 months of their policing careers, including those reasons that maybe salient for women and racial/ethnic minorities and the usefulness of cognitive dissonance theory as an explanation for the “voluntary resignation” of police recruits in the early stages of police training and service. The sample of 113 “dropouts” was obtained as part of a longitudinal study of a panel sample of 446 police recruits who were followed through basic training, field training, and a 1-year probationary period. Data obtained via telephone interviews with 34 dropouts revealed that recruits dropped out of police work for three reasons: self-initiated resignation and academy-initiated and department-initiated termination. Recruits who self-initiated resignation experienced a conflict between the version of policing embodied in their ideal and the reality of policing in practice. For female officers, gender discrimination was woven into their resignation decision.
Do Racial Minority Applicants Have a Better Chance to Be Recruited in Predominately White Neighborhoods? An Empirical Study
Authors: Ho Taiping
Published: October 2005

For decades, police departments across the nation have made notable progress in aggressively recruiting racial minority officers and female officers. The main controversy is primarily centered on the adverse impact of recruitrelated testing, such as psychological tests, on racial minority applicants. This study examines racial disparity in the police selection process by analyzing the effect of race on police department recruitment decisions. Results show that the applicant’s race is not correlated with the department recruitment decision. This study also finds that racial minority applicants are less likely to be recommended by psychologists on the basis of psychological testing and assessment. Interestingly, a psychologist’s recommendation does not have any significant impact on police recruitment decisions among the non-White group. Most importantly, this study finds that racial minority applicants in the police selection process have no apparent preferential privilege in a predominately White community.
Policing Styles and Organizational Priorities: Retesting Wilson’s Theory of Local Political Culture
Authors: Zhao Jihong “Solomon” , Hassell Kimberly D.
Published: October 2005

In Varieties of Police Behavior, a classic study of police organizational behavior published more than 30 years ago, James Q. Wilson discovered three distinctive styles of policing: the legalistic, the watchman, and the service styles. Police agencies with a legalistic orientation focused strictly on law enforcement activities, whereas those with a service style focused on providing needed services to residents and business owners. Furthermore, Wilson identified local political culture as the major determinant of variation in policing styles. Varieties of Police Behavior has become a classic work in police scholarship, described in almost all police textbooks, influencing a generation of students of policing. Citation analyses, additionally, have shown that it is one of the most frequently cited works in policing yet remains one of the least tested empirical studies. This study retests the validity of Wilson’s findings in today’s policing environment with the goal of furthering theoretical formation in police research. Based on recent data from a sample of large municipal American police agencies, we find little support for Wilson’s theory of local political culture in contemporary police practice.
Job Satisfaction, Burnout, and Perception of Unfair Treatment: The Relationship Between Race and Police Work
Authors: Dowler Kenneth
Published: October 2005

In the past two decades, cultural diversity within police forces has increased. However, there is little research conducted on the impact of race on police officer attitudes toward police work. This study employed the multivariate technique of logistic regression to determine predictors of job satisfaction, burnout, and perception of unfair treatment. The findings indicate that African American police officers are more likely to feel criticized, more likely to believe they are perceived as militant, and less likely to feel negative or depressed about work.
Researching online populations: the use of online focus groups for social research
Authors: Stewart Kate , Williams Matthew
Published: October 2005

The survivability of ‘traditional’ methods within computer-mediated settings is dependent upon their capacity to be utilized and adapted to the technology that mediates human interaction online. This article addresses the established focus group method and evaluates its success in online applications, using as examples two quite different research projects. The first, drawn from research into the employment experiences of inflammatory bowel disease sufferers exemplifies the use of asynchronous online focus groups, identifying key practical issues such as online moderation and the analysis of digital data. In contrast the second study, into deviance within online communities, provides an example of how synchronous forms of online focus groups, held within 3D graphical environments, create further challenges for the researcher, highlighting unique ethical considerations of conducting fieldwork in cyberspace. The article draws together the authors’ experiences of applying the method to offer insights into the viability and practicability of online focus groups.
Multiple methods in qualitative research with children: more insight or just more?
Authors: Darbyshire Philip , MacDougall Colin , Schiller Wendy
Published: October 2005

This article explores the research implications of using multi-methods within a broad qualitative approach by drawing on the experience of conducting two childhood obesity-focused qualitative studies of Australian children’s perceptions and experiences of place, space and physical activity. Children described and depicted their physical activities and experiences: in focus group interviews, by mapping their local, social and recreational spaces and by photographing their meaningful places, spaces and activities using a Photovoice approach. The authors describe, reflect on and critique their chosen research approach, discussing the value, utility and pitfalls associated with using multiple methods with children. The article concludes that using multiple methods in researching children’s experiences is a valuable approach that does not merely duplicate data but also offers complementary insights and understandings that may be difficult to access through reliance on a single method of data collection.
Fifty years of the critical incident technique: 1954-2004 and beyond
Authors: Butterfield Lee D. , Borgen William A. , Amundson Norman E. , Maglio Asa-Sophia T.
Published: October 2005

It has now been 50 years since Flanagan (1954) published his classic article on the critical incident technique (CIT) - a qualitative research method that is still widely used today. This article reviews the origin and evolution of the CIT during the past 50 years, discusses CIT’s place within the qualitative research tradition, examines the robustness of the method, and offers some recommendations for using the CIT as we look forward to its next 50 years of use. The focus of this article is primarily on the use of the CIT in counselling psychology, although other disciplines are touched upon.
Working with images in daily life and police practice: an assessment of the documentary tradition
Authors: Ball Mike
Published: October 2005

There is a growing body of literature within the humanities and social sciences that is directly critical of the documentary tradition’s treatment and use of still and moving images as realistic data. The documentary tradition claims that it is possible to visually document social scenes with cameras. Postmodernism, poststructuralism, critical theory and related traditions argue that still and moving images amount to representations, their critique of realism. As instruments, cameras are open to a variety of uses ranging from the scientific to the artistic in orientation. Such uses of cameras comprise representational work. Following Garfinkel, this article suggests that the documentary method of sense making is employed in numerous practical situations.

This article commences with an overview of the documentary tradition and then offers a brief case study of certain of these principles in operation within the practical work of the police and road users on public highways. Public highways and traffic flows along them are visually available social arrangements. Within police work that involves the regulation and management of traffic flows, stored images of vehicles can serve as documentary evidence of traffic violations. In this particular context and more generally on the highways, road users treat objects such as road signs and related items of roadside furniture, including cameras and road markings, as documents of some, for all practical purposes, real states of affairs. Road users make sense of the stream of visual information encountered as an ongoing practical accomplishment.
Work-family matters in the workplace: the use of focus groups in a study of a UK social services department
Authors: Brannen Julia , Pattman Rob
Published: October 2005

The article shows how talk and the expression of feelings about work-family matters in the workplace are generated within the research encounter and how they are shaped by the characteristics of the focus group. First, it outlines the study. Second, it discusses the conditions under which the focus group method was implemented in practice, thereby pointing to the limitations as well as the strengths of its application within an organizational case study. Third, it shows how focus groups are sites in which participants forge relations with one another. In particular it argues that participants can set discussion agendas and/or can act as accomplices in the sense that they are complicit in negotiating implicit understandings with one another which may drive the direction and/or tone of the discussion.