bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Design of Software Tools for Meaningful Learning by Experience: Flexibility and Feedback
Authors: Jackson David F. , Edwards Billie Jean , Berger Carl F.
Published: May 2005

Experience in using commercially available software to teach students about principles of graphical data analysis suggests that several critical design modifications are advisable. In a quasi-experimental study, three different versions of an original graphing program were used by inner-city high school students solving scientific data analysis problems. A version incorporating “coaching” feedback into a highly flexible interface was found to be significantly superior to either an “open” version giving no extrinsic feedback or a “restrictive” one that disabled program options whose use was deemed inappropriate based on the data analysis context. As an illustration of one of the graph-based critical thinking skills developed by the students, results are presented as contrasting pairs of graphs in which one is designed to emphasize, and the other to downplay, the effects/of interface design, gender, and their interactions.
Smoking Behavior: How is it Related to Locus of Control, Death Anxiety, and Belief in Afterlife?
Authors: Berman Alan L.
Published: May 2005

Studies relating smoking behavior to personality and attitudinal measures have given inconsistent results. The present study investigated the degree of relationship between smoking behavior and four dependent measures of life, death, and afterlife beliefs. Results from a sample of 300 college-age Ss indicated that none of the hypothesized relationships reached statistical significance. A trend toward significance was found in the degree of relationship between smoking and an external locus of control belief, while education was the only demographic variable to show a significant relationship to smoking behavior. Implications were drawn to explain the ineffectiveness of anti-smoking campaigns in spite of the known hazards of smoking behavior.
Empirical Study on an Inpatient Psychogeriatric Unit: Biological Treatment in Patients with Depressive Illness
Authors: Meyers Barnett S. , Mei-Tal Varda
Published: May 2005

A study of 112 psychogeriatric admissions identified seventy patients sufficiently depressed to require biologic treatment. Twenty-four patients completed a primary treatment trial with TCA's and seventeen with ECT. ECT proved to be more effective, (81.4% versus 62.5%), even though overtly psychotic and medically unstable patients preferentially received this treatment. The ECT response rate is comparable to other reports of its efficacy in the treatment of delusional depression. A higher morbidity rate of 27 percent in the TCA-treated group was observed. The authors conclude that ECT is a highly beneficial treatment modality for the carefully selected elderly patient with major depressive illness. They found that a higher number of ECT treatments than expected were required in their psychogeriatric patients, but did not find a higher morbidity other than increased confusion with more treatments. Careful repeated assessment of response to treatment combined with readiness for assertiveness, in spite of the advanced age of the patient, seem to be indicated. Conversely, excessive hesitance when caring for the elderly patient may lead to a premature termination of treatment, causing the patient to remain in a chronic mentally compromised state.
Writing Assignments for a Graduate Course in Technical Writing
Authors: Samson Donald C.
Published: May 2005

Writing assignments for a graduate course in technical writing should develop students' technical backgrounds, their familiarity with reference materials, and their peer editing skills, as well as their writing skills. Also, the assignments should encourage students to write for publication. The three assignments described here—on a scientist, a topic in science, and a topic in technical communication—can help students achieve these objectives. Students write the first two articles for publication in general-audience newspapers or magazines, and the third for the same general audience or for a technical communication conference or journal.
Mercury Poisoning in Nicaragua a Case Study of the Export of Environmental and Occupational Health Hazards by a Multinational Corporation
Authors: Hassan Amin , Velasquez Eliana , Belmar Roberto , Coye Molly , Drucker Ernest , Landrigan Phillip J. , Michaels David , Sidel Kevin B.
Published: May 2005

Pennwalt Inc., a multinational chemical and pharmaceutical firm based in the United States, operates a chloralkali plant in Managua, Nicaragua. This plant utilizes elemental mercury in the production of chlorine and caustic soda for markets throughout Central America. The plant was recently found to be contaminating the waters of Lake Managua (on which the plant is located) with 2 to 4 tons of inorganic mercury effluent per year-over 40 tons in the 13-year history of the plant. Examination of the 152 workers employed in the plant showed that 56 (37 percent) were suffering symptoms and signs of mercury poisoning, including tremors (in 45), memory and attention deficits (in 45), and paresthesias (in 52). Levels of airborne mercury vapor in the plant were found to range as high as 600 μg/m3. (The airborne standard set by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is 100 μg/m3.) Workers in the plant had never been alerted to the hazards of mercury. The plant was found to be in deteriorated condition, with no recent investments in maintenance or modern safety equipment. It is reported that the parent corporation, Pennwalt, has been withdrawing capital from the operation (and from Nicaragua) since the fall of the Somoza regime.
Emotional Thinking in the Adult: Individual Differences in Mysticism and Globality-Differentiation
Authors: Mehrabian Albert , Stefl Catherine A. , Mullen Melissa
Published: May 2005

The present study explored emotional thinking in the adult using four related scales. A new Mysticism Scale assessed tendencies to use magical, esoteric, incomprehensible, and unfounded concepts and hypotheses. Two related scales (Paranormal Belief, Magical Ideation) correlated .88 and .74, respectively, with the Mysticism Scale. The Globality-Differentiation Scale assessed emotional, subjective, and centered thinking and related to unpleasant, arousable, and submissive characteristics, showing it to be the cognitive counterpart of Trait Anxiety or Neuroticism. The Globality/maladjustment relationship was confirmed by positive relationships of the Globality Scale with measures of Trait Anxiety, Depression, Panic, Somatization, and Drug Use. In comparison, the Mysticism Scale related only to Trait Arousability (a measure of positive and/or negative emotional sensitivity) and, along with the Paranormal Belief and Magical Ideation scales, was generally unrelated to measures of psychopathology.
Kaiser-Permanente: A Model American Health Maintenance Organization
Authors: Carnoy Judith , Koo Linda
Published: May 2005

The Kaiser-Permanente medical care program, a prepaid group practice that has been operating in California for over 30 years, is one of the most successful Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) in the United States. Kaiser's membership in California, Portland, Hawaii, Denver, and Cleveland exceeds 2.5 million.

The main success that HMOs can claim is cost reduction. Kaiser can provide a package of services at lower cost than identical services would cost in “mainstream” medicine. The way in which an HMO reduces cost is by lowering the use of services by its members. Kaiser members spend half as many days in the hospital as a similar population of Blue Cross/Blue Shield subscribers. But Kaiser also tends to lower the availability of services that are not presently performed in excess. Ambulatory care is not easily accessible-large numbers of patients complain of waiting several weeks for appointments, of receiving rushed impersonal treatment, and of being unable to find and keep a personal physician.

Thus Kaiser cost reduction goes hand-in-hand with a general inaccessibility of services. The reason for this is the working of the profit motive. Whether for-profit or technically “nonprofit,” private corporations have always committed themselves to maximizing their income, reducing their expenditures, and using the surplus for expansion. The profit incentive leads private HMOs to limit services by hiring an inadequate number of physicians and other personnel so that patients will be discouraged from seeking care. In this way, expenses go down and surplus goes up.

This is a revision of an article, “Kaiser Plan,” that appeared in the Health-PAC Bulletin, No. 55, pp. 1-18, November 1973.
The Effects of Misconceptions and Theoretical Beliefs on Data and Measurement Tools: A Reply
Authors: Sepehri Ardeshir , Chernomas Robert
Published: May 2005

The authors comment on Coyte's comparisons of health expenditure trends and provide some suggestions on how his two sets of contradictory results could be reconciled. The reconciliation of Coyte's results tends to support the claims made by the advocates of the Canadian health care system of its relative cost effectiveness. The authors conclude by providing a critique of Coyte's perspective of what properly constitutes a theoretical approach to health economics.
Fostering Social Ties Through A Volunteer Role: Implications For Older-Adults' Psychological Health
Authors: Rook Karen S. , Sorkin Dara H.
Published: May 2005

This study examined the effects on older adults' psychological health of participation in a volunteer role that afforded opportunities to form friendships with age peers and to express nurturance toward another person. Access to these important social provisions was expected, in turn, to contribute to greater self-esteem, less loneliness, and less depression. The study hypotheses were tested by comparing older adults who served as foster grandparents to a developmentally disabled child ( N = 52) with older adults in two comparison groups ( Ns = 69, 59). Three assessments were conducted over a two-year period. The analyses revealed that the foster grandparents exhibited a significant increase in the number of new ties formed, but participation in the Foster Grandparent Program was not associated with the expected gains in emotional health. Explanations for the limited findings and implications for future research are discussed.
Effects of a Computer-Augmented Learning Environment on Math Achievement for Students with Differing Cognitive Style
Authors: Macgregor S. Kim , Shapiro Jonathan Z. , Niemiec Richard
Published: May 2005

The relationship between cognitive style and success in a computer-augmented learning environment was investigated. Fifty-nine students enrolled in a developmental education course in algebra were assigned to one of two instructors and one of two treatment conditions (computer-augmented instruction or traditional instruction). Student cognitive style (field-independence-dependence) was determined by performance on the Group Embedded Figures Test. Significant variables identified from a stepwise regression included main effects for prior achievement, cognitive style, and instructor. In addition, a significant treatment by cognitive style interaction was found. Field-dependent students exhibited greater math achievement in a computer-augmented environment, whereas students with indiscriminate cognitive style demonstrated greater achievement in a traditional learning environment. The results supported the hypothesis that learning environments differentially effect students with dissimilar cognitive style characteristics.
Can Composers Express Emotions through Music?
Authors: Thompson William Forde , Robitaille Brent
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the possibility that musical composers can reliably convey distinct and definable emotional qualities through pitch, temporal and loudness information contained in a musical score. Five musical composers were provided with a list of six terms relating to emotional states. The terms were: joy, sorrow, excitement, dullness, anger and peace. Each composer was asked to compose short melodies embodying the emotional qualities described by the six terms. Fourteen listeners were played the melodies, and were asked to provide judgments relating to their emotional quality. Melodies were judged to embody the emotional quality intended to be conveyed. Unintended emotional qualities were judged to be present in melodies in varying degrees. The notion that emotional qualities can be effectively conveyed through music is discussed.
Gender Differences in Attributions about Suicide and Alcohol Use
Authors: Lewis Robin J. , Atkinson Jeffrey , Shovlin Joanne
Published: May 2005

This research examined attributions that female and male college students made about an individual who committed suicide. The gender of the victim and whether alcohol use was involved were systematically varied. Results indicated that female and male respondents see the issues involved in suicide differently. Female respondents appear to place more emphasis on contextual clues such as alcohol use and gender of the actor. In addition, both female and male respondents tended to associate alcohol use and suicide for male actors but not for female actors. These results are discussed in terms of stereotypes that may be held for females and males vis-a-vis emotional expression and alcohol use. The use of population base rates in attributions about suicide and alcohol use is also considered. Directions for future research are also presented.
The Analysis of Lithics from Four Markham Middleport Iroquoian Sites
Authors: Kapches Mima
Published: May 2005

The lithics from four Middleport Iroquoian sites in the Markham area, east of Toronto were analyzed. Thomson, Elliot, Robb and New were occupied between AD 1250 and AD 1400. The study of the lithic samples provided data on the developments of lithic technology within this culturally associated group of sites.
“I am Not the Subject of This Thought”: Understanding a Unique Relation of Special Ownership with the Help of David Woodruff Smith: Part II
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

What is the unique relation of special ownership, R, that exists between mental-occurrence instances and the one who is their subject, P? R is not a simple matter of P's mental-occurrence instances occurring in P's body and P's directly taking them to be P's own. The question about R is an ontological question, not a phenomenological question, but David Woodruff Smith's phenomenology is useful in providing a lead regarding what R is. The “species content” of a mental-occurrence instance, which includes sensuous or qualitative content, acquaints P with the large mental-physiological process of which the mental-occurrence instance is a product and part. P is constituted, ultimately, of such recurrent mental-physiological processes, which produce and include as a small part the mental-occurrence instances that Smith's phenomenology addresses. Under some conditions, these large processes produce and include “alienated” mental-occurrence instances. Although P stands to them, too, in the R relation, P has inner awareness of them as though P were someone else—not as though P were internally apprehending someone else's mental-occurrence instances. Also, knowing of their occurrence, P may separately judge them not to be P's experiences.
The “Beauty” of the “Beast”: Human Creativity and Probabilism
Authors: Mueller James W.
Published: May 2005

The role of probabilistic theory qua logical system that leads from a stated theoretical position and data to truth and knowledge is the focus of this essay. The traditional role of probability theory qua statistics as a number-crunching tool to cook data has been over-emphasized. Probabilism is offered as a dialectical alternative to emphasize the human, logical, and creative aspects of probability theory as it can be used by truth-seeking anthropologists of this and the next century.
Psychiatric Problems among Medical Admissions
Authors: Mayou Richard , Hawton Keith , Feldman Eleanor , Ardern Mark
Published: May 2005

The prevalence, nature, associations and outcome of psychiatric morbidity among four hundred and fifty severe general medical admissions are described. Affective disorder was diagnosed in 13 percent of men and 17 percent of women. It was associated with a history of previous psychiatric disorder and current social problems. Persistent affective disorder after discharge was associated with continuing medical and social problems. Alcohol problems were common in men, especially in those with social problems, and often went unrecognized by medical staff. Cognitive impairment was confined to the elderly and was associated with longer hospital stay and high mortality. Patients with emotional and cognitive disorder make considerable demands on medical, social and psychiatric services during and following admission. The implications for improved recognition and management of psychiatric morbidity in general medical patients are discussed.
Retaining Undergraduate Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology: A Survey of a Student Organization
Authors: Wasburn Mara H. , Miller Susan G.
Published: May 2005

National Council for Research on Women finds that much of the progress that women have made in science, engineering, and technology has stalled or eroded. As we enter the new millennium, there will be an increasing need for a scientifically and technologically literate workforce. A student organization, Women in Technology, was formed at Purdue University—West Lafayette in 1998 in response to data indicating that there had been no increase in the number of women enrolled in the University's School of Technology over the past five years. Such data were consistent with those produced by national studies indicating that the trend of increasing numbers of women enrolling in engineering, science, and technology programs in American colleges and universities, established in the preceding two decades, had ceased. The aim of Women in Technology was to attract more women to the School, and reduce the attrition rate of women already in the program by serving as a well-recognized, formal context in which they could receive mentoring and in which they could find stable social support to help them achieve their academic and career objectives. This article discusses an overview of the organization, the results of a survey of members' undergraduate classroom experiences, student-generated strategies for addressing the concerns revealed in the survey, and the implementation of those strategies.
Medical Drugs of Limited Commercial Interest: Profit Alone is a Bitter Pill
Authors: Asbury Carolyn H.
Published: May 2005

Medical drugs of limited commercial interest frequently are unavailable to the public even though their therapeutic efficacy is well established. At present, availability of a particular drug is unpredictable, and determined largely by pharmaceutical industry willingness to produce the drug potentially at no profit. Anticipated profitability also profoundly guides drug development decisions by industry. Federal efforts by both the executive and legislative branches to develop policy aimed at facilitating development and distribution of medical drugs of limited commercial interest have intensified. Thorough analysis of the problems and of proposed plans for their amelioration is necessary to effect a policy which takes into account the social, political, and scientific factors, as well as the profit motive.
Neocortical versus Whole-Brain Conceptions of Personal Death
Authors: Walton Douglas N.
Published: May 2005

Robert Veatch argues that the death of a person should be equated with the irreversible destruction of the cerebral cortex. This position is here questioned on grounds of tutiorism as well as on the basis of its philosophical assumptions. It is agrued that whole-brain death as an account of personal death is not open to these objections, and is a conception that can satisfy tutiorist standards of safety. The role of the EEG as an indicator of death is discussed.
Clinical Dilemmas Due to the Lack of Inpatient Mother-Baby Units
Authors: Wisner Katherine L. , Jennings Kay D. , Conley Barbara
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated the dramatic increase in the rates of new episodes of psychiatric illness in postpartum women. Mother-Baby joint admission inpatient units serve the needs of women with psychiatric illness related to childbearing in other countries. Such units have been rare experiments in the United States. This article explores the clinical dilemmas that clinicians who treat postpartum women face when mother-baby units are not available. Barriers to the implementation of these units are also discussed.

Methods:

A survey of mothers admitted to general adult units was performed to study their satisfaction with the experience. The authors also discuss their extensive clinical experience in the treatment of women with postpartum disorders and provide examples of the clinical dilemmas which occur because of mother-only admissions.

Results:

Clinical dilemmas were: separation from infants causes mothers to refuse admission, undermines breastfeeding, complicates the diagnostic evaluation, precludes participation of the infant in dyadic psychotherapy, produces longer lengths of hospital stay, and places the responsibility of caring for the baby on the spouse and extended family. Post-discharge readjustment to caring for the baby can contribute to maternal relapse.

Conclusions:

Although admission to Mother-Baby units offers significant advantages to mothers and families, firm data to support the cost-effectiveness of these units is not available and is a major barrier to implementation.
Self-Efficacy, Response Expectancy, and Temporal Context: Moderators of Pain Tolerance and Intensity
Authors: Ohlwein Angela L. , Stevens Michael J. , Catanzaro Salvatore J.
Published: May 2005

We compared self-efficacy and response expectancy models of acute pain to determine whether self-efficacy for intensity and response expectancy are related and make distinct contributions to pain tolerance and intensity. We also hypothesized that self-efficacy expectancies would interact with temporal context to moderate acute pain. Specifically, we predicted that belief in one's ability to endure pain would maximize tolerance in an open-interval condition, and that expectancies of being able to regulate pain would minimize intensity in a fixed-interval condition. One hundred and twenty subjects were randomly assigned to four expectancy-enhancement conditions (self-efficacy for tolerance, self-efficacy for intensity, response expectancy, control) and two temporal contexts (open interval or fixed interval) after baseline pain data were collected. Correlations and regression analyses revealed that response expectancy was more strongly related to pain tolerance and intensity than was self-efficacy. A repeated measures MANOVA did not yield an Expectancy x Temporal Context interaction. We discuss the clinical and methodological implications of these findings.
A Survey of Employment Interviewing Practices for Technical Writing Positions
Authors: McDowell Earl E.
Published: May 2005

This article focuses on recruiters' perceptions of technical writers in terms of what information should be included in cover letters and resumes, as well as the roles of interviewees and interviewers in the employment interview. The results reveal that 1) the interviewee should include information in the cover letter that is not in the resume, that 2) employment history and educational background are the most important parts of the resume, that 3) communication skills, credibility, maturity and work experience are the most important dimensions of the interviewee, and that 4) the interviewer should present an overview of the position, job description, and short-and-long range department goals. Other results are discussed in the article.
A Generalized Learner-Controlled Education System
Authors: Jelden David L. , Brown Bill R.
Published: May 2005

This paper explains the logic and basic components of the Learner-Controlled Education System (LCES). The system is generally applicable to all areas of educational content or fields of instruction. It is best described as a computer-based, multi-media instructional approach which emphasizes self-paced individualized learning.
DPT as an Adjunct in Brief Psychotherapy with Cancer Patients
Authors: Richards William A. , Rhead John C. , Grof Stanislav , Goodman Louis E. , Di Leo Francesco , Rush Lockwood
Published: May 2005

Thirty cancer patients suffering from psychological distress participated in a pilot project of individual psychotherapy that offered – over a four week period of time – approximately twelve hours of conventional verbal interaction and a single intensive drug-assisted therapy session that employed dipropyltryptamine (DPT), a short-acting psychedelic drug. The efficacy of the total therapeutic approach in enhancing the quality of life is indicated by the analysis of data from psychological tests and independent ratings completed before and after the treatment intervention. The relative merits of DPT in comparison with LSD and the need to pursue a controlled study are discussed.
The Politics of Welfare Privatization: The British Experience
Authors: Taylor-Gooby Peter
Published: May 2005

The 1980s Conservative government in Britain is committed to policies of welfare privatization for practical and ideological reasons-to facilitate tax cuts and to roll back the state. One problem this policy faces is that the most expensive and interventionist services are highly popular with voters from all parties. In this article, the author examines the extent to which recent privatization policies in welfare are influenced by conflict between the goals of achieving tax cuts and of maintaining electoral support, so that the outcome is a change in the form of state interventionism, rather than a rolling back of the welfare state. It also considers the impact of new policies designed to undermine the consensus across social groups and political parties of support for big-spending state services, which may facilitate reductions in the overall scope of welfare provision in future years.
The Automation of the Timetabling Process in Higher Education
Authors: Burke E. K. , Elliman D. G. , Weare R. F.
Published: May 2005

The task of creating a university timetable has always been a difficult one. In the United Kingdom, the recent growth in student numbers and the adoption of modular degree structures by many institutions has made the scheduling of university courses and exams an even bigger problem than it used to be. In this article we will discuss automatic timetable generation. We will consider the use of traditional methods such as graph coloring and of advanced modern methods such as the application of genetic algorithms.
Computer Mediated Telecommunications and Pre-College Education: A Retrospect
Authors: O'Shea Mark R. , Kimmel Howard , Novemsky Lisa F.
Published: May 2005

The appearance of applications software (word processing, spreadsheets, etc.) in elementary and secondary classrooms marked the beginning of the second generation of computer usage in these settings. One such use of these applications is computer mediated telecommunications which have become accessible to schools and school systems through the availability of low cost hardware (modems) and improved compatibility between telecommunications software and applications software now used in schools. A number of pilot projects have brought the promise of increased information sharing, collaborative learning, and a reduction of the isolation experienced by teachers and students through the use of electronic mail and electronic conferencing. Four of these projects are reviewed, focusing on their problems and successes. Suggestions for future applications of evolving computer mediated telecommunications technologies to elementary and secondary education are offered and questions for further study are suggested.
Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction
Authors: Bodie Joshua A. , Beeman William W. , Monga Manoj
Published: May 2005

Objective:

To educate healthcare professionals on the historical aspects, clinical diagnosis, and current treatment methods of psychogenic erectile dysfunction.

Method:

A topic review of current literature was performed. Chief sources included primarily mainstream journals in the fields of urology, psychiatry/psychology, impotence/erectile dysfunction, epidemiology, and internal medicine. MEDLINE and PsycINFO databases were utilized.

Data extraction:

Data from clinical studies, trials, and review articles concerned primarily with psychological aspects of the arousal (erectile function) phase of the male sexual response cycle were collected, analyzed, and summarized in this review article.

Results:

There has been a shift in how erectile dysfunction has been perceived and treated over the past 30 years. With the current focus now on the very prevalent organic causes of ED, psychological factors are increasingly overlooked, though they remain important to the treatment of the patient as a whole. This article provides a complete, concise review of the interplay between psychological components and erectile function, reviews the work-up and diagnosis of psychogenic ED, and discusses treatment methods.

Conclusions:

Erectile dysfunction is a prevalent problem that can affect, and can be affected by, psychosocial aspects of a man's life. Medical or pharmacological interventions are often appropriate to treat ED, but the psychosocial aspects should not be ignored. It has become easier for practitioners to put aside patients' psychosocial and interpersonal concerns regarding sexual health. Clinicians provide the best possible treatment if they recognize that erectile dysfunction is a complex, multifactorial disorder, and treat accordingly.
Getting Research Utilized: The Taichung Study Revisited
Authors: Sun T. H. , Cernada George P.
Published: May 2005

This case study describes how an action-oriented research program served as the base for national expansion of the Taiwan family planning program; what kind of organizational setup and approaches expedited getting research results utilized; and how the results were disseminated to other countries considering starting similar programs.
Death, Anxiety, and Depression in Kuwaiti Undergraduates
Authors: Abdel-Khalek Ahmed M.
Published: May 2005

The present investigation is a replication study on a Kuwaiti sample using the same psychometric instruments which have been previously administered to Egyptian and Lebanese college students. A Kuwaiti sample of undergraduates ( N 215) responded to the death anxiety scale (DAS), death depression scale (DDS), as well as the general anxiety (Trait; STAI-T) and general depression (BDI) scales. Administration of the scales was carried out in 1997–98. Alpha reliabilities were high. All of the intercorrelations ( r) between the four scales were statistically significant: DAS and DDS r .733, DAS and STAI-T r .412, DAS and BDI r .363, DDS and STAI-T .293, DDS and BDI r .273, and BDI and STAI-T r .739. All the correlations between the last mentioned four scales and gender were statistically significant, that is females attained high scores. Two orthogonal factors were extracted: general neurotic disorder and death distress. The main findings are congruent with previous results on US, Egyptian, and Lebanese participants.
On the Educational Uses of Computer-Generated Cartoon Faces
Authors: Pickover Clifford A.
Published: May 2005

Computer-drawn faces can be used as tools for exploring visualization in learning and for presenting multivariate data. Previous applications by the author in the parametric control of computer-generated facial features are discussed, as well as new research and potential future applications. Also presented is the “autocorrelation-face,” a graphics representation which is created from the mathematical analysis of voice input. Implications for its possible use as a learning aid for the deaf, and in waveform analysis in general, are discussed.
Assessing Retention: Six Steps and Four Paradigms
Authors: Borland Kenneth W.
Published: May 2005

To answer the question of how to fully assess retention programs when multiple paradigms expressing the purpose for retention exist on a campus, the author first presents some of the literature on assessment and the assessment of retention programs. He then presents a six-step conceptual model of assessment that is applicable to cross-cutting retention programs. The literature of retention is then used to support the presentation of four simultaneously present retention paradigms of what is valued and can be stated as desired retention purposes and outcomes on a given campus. The discussion of the assessment and retention literature leads to a framework for more fully, systemically assessing local retention programs at all levels of the academy.
The Neuropsychiatry of Multiple Sclerosis
Authors: Mendez Mario F.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This article examines the cognitive and psychiatric features of multiple sclerosis. MS can manifest as a neuropsychiatric disturbance even in the absence of physical disabilities.

Method:

Two MS patients with predominant behavioral symptoms are described, and the literature is reviewed.

Results:

The first patient had an interhemispheric disconnection syndrome, and the second patient had cognitive fatigue and depression. Other patients have slowed information processing speed, memory retrieval difficulty, frontal-executive dysfunction, and visuospatial difficulty.

Conclusions:

MS results in specific cognitive deficits and mood disorders. These two patients had organic mental disorders from cerebral demyelination particularly affecting the corpus callosum. Other patients have neuropsychiatric symptoms from extensive demyelination of prefrontal-subcortical circuits. Evaluation and management strategies are discussed.
Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) Mental Disorder and Self-Reported Symptoms in Outpatients with Complex Partial Seizures (CPS)
Authors: Perini Giulia I.
Published: May 2005

Fifteen outpatients with complex partial seizures (CPS) were investigated to assess the presence and severity of affective disorders, anxiety, and cognitive deficits. Forty percent of patients met the criteria for an affective disorder according to Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC). Patients scored significantly higher than controls on the Beck Depression Inventory ( p < 0.001), on the State and Trait Anxiety Inventory ( p < 0.01, p < 0.05), on the Symptom Questionnaire scales for anxiety ( p < 0.005), depression ( p < 0.01), and somatization ( p < 0.01). They also scored significantly lower than controls on the Mini-Mental State Examination for grading cognitive state ( p < 0.05). Epileptic patients with RDC diagnosis of depression reported significantly more symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization, and less sociability and trustfulness than epileptic patients without concurrent mental disorders. Implications of these results are discussed.
Reciprocal Determinism at the Stages of Behavior Change: An Integration of Community, Personal and Behavioral Perspectives
Authors: Baranowski Tom
Published: May 2005

Effective community health education requires theories which combine the perspectives of behavior change at the levels of the individual with those at the levels of the community. Within the framework of reciprocal determinism, a variety of theories and concepts are integrated to understand behavior change at levels of the individual and levels of the community. These concepts are applied at each step in the behavior change process, and categories of intervention are explained within the proposed framework. A variety of specific intervention procedures are generated from the framework for promoting behavior change at each level and stage of change. Such a comprehensive integrated framework holds promise of designing more effective health education programs.
Reliability, Validity, and Temporal Stability of the Geriatric Depression Scale in Hospitalized Elderly
Authors: Lyons John S. , Strain James J. , Hammer Jeffrey S. , Ackerman Allison D. , Fulop George
Published: May 2005

The reliability, validity, and temporal stability of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) were studied in sixty-nine elderly patients who had their brokenhipssurgically repaired, The GDS demonstrated internal consistency reliability and concurrent validity with the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. In addition, the GDS was stable across the hospital stay and thus appeared to be less influenced by the patients' acute health status.
Organized Labor, Public Health, and Tobacco Control Policy: A Dialogue toward Action
Authors: Barbeau Elizabeth , Yaus Kathleen , McLellan Deborah , Levenstein Charles , Youngstrom Richard , Siqueira Eduardo , Sorensen Glorian
Published: May 2005

An action-oriented conference, “Organized Labor, Public Health, and Tobacco Control Policy,” was held in September 2000 in Boston, Massachusetts. Labor union leaders, tobacco control and public health activists, researchers, and practitioners met for two days to: 1) learn about existing labor-based tobacco control initiatives; 2) educate one another about resources, barriers, and opportunities for labor-public health joint action on tobacco policy; 3) and identify where agendas overlap and form the basis for specific next steps in collaborative efforts in tobacco-related research, training, and advocacy. This report summarizes presentations and participant discussions to inform readers of the information exchanged and of the enthusiasm shared by conference participants—translated into a set of joint recommendations—for increased labor-based and joint labor-public health action to reduce the burden of tobacco on working people.
What Technical Writing Students Should Know about Typeface Personality
Authors: MacKiewicz Jo
Published: May 2005

Typeface personality impacts the rhetorical effect of students' documents, yet it receives little attention in textbooks. Technical writing students should stand the definition of “appropriate” in relation to typeface selection, the difference between type's functional and semantic properties, the difference between type family and personality, the effect of a typeface's history, and the contribution of a typeface's anatomy to its personality. Understanding these, students can make informed decisions about typeface appropriateness.
Teaching Psychosomatic Medicine to Medical Students, Residents and Postgraduate Fellows
Authors: Reichsman Franz
Published: May 2005

The teaching objectives of a psychosomatic program are discussed—in particular, to teach skills and methods of observation; to help students to acquire information about mind-body relationships in health and disease; to help future practitioners develop the capacity for clinical reasoning which includes psychological and social considerations; to effect modifications in attitudes and behavior towards patients and their families; and to present to students the model of a physician who has a major interest and considerable competence in two areas of medicine—the psychosocial and the physical-physiologic-biochemical. A description of the general organization of the liaison service is presented, and the specific aspect of teaching programs for medical students, medical interns and residents, psychiatric residents, and liaison fellows are outlined. Implications for the future of liaison teaching are mentioned.
Nuclear Power Risks: Challenge to the Credibility of Science
Authors: Welch Bruce L.
Published: May 2005

For a quarter of a century the Federal Government and the nuclear industry have deliberately deceived the American public about the risks of nuclear power. Facts have been systematically withheld, distorted, and obscured, and calculations have been deliberately biased in order to present nuclear power in an unrealistically favorable light.

Most persistent and flagrant have been: (a) attempts to “normalize” public perception of nuclear accident casualties with those of more familiar accidents by emphasizing only acute fatalities and ignoring or downplaying the major effects of nuclear accidents, namely, health impairment and death years delayed; and (b) the cloaking of the objectively undocumentable faith of the atomic energy establishment that a nuclear accident is extremely unlikely in a smokescreen of invalid, pseudo-quantitative statistical probabilities in order to convince the public that the chance of an accident is negligible. Prime examples of these abuses are found in the Rasmussen report on nuclear reactor safety and in its representation to the public.

The deceptive practices used in promoting nuclear power have seriously shaken public faith in government, technology, and science. The scientific community has a special responsibility to minimize such future political abuses of science. For those who were responsible for the deliberate breeches of public trust which resulted in this loss of faith, mere professional disdain will not suffice. They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Individual and Family Coping with Polycystic Kidney Disease: The Harvest of Denial
Authors: Manjoney Delia Mary , McKegney F. Patrick
Published: May 2005

A multigeneration family with polycystic kidney disease (PCKD) was studied by personal interviews of all affected and most suspected-affected adults. A clear pattern of denial was identified, which strongly influenced individuals' awareness of PCKD and individuals' taking actions appropriate to that awareness, as well as family cohesion and communication. Time lags—in fact, availability, awareness and action-taking had serious consequences in terms of continued genetic transmission, future “burden” to the family and society, and the psychological stability of individual family members. The potentially important roles of the family physician in this type of familial disease are discussed as: a source of information, a facilitator of awareness and appropriate action, and a counselor in assisting adaptation to this major life stress.
Educational Technology for Elementary and Middle Schools
Authors: Hoffman Ruth Irene
Published: May 2005

The Mathematics programs in elementary and middle schools are unchanged in the past fifty years. The content itself needs to be updated; teachers need to experience inservice programs for incorporating computers, models, and calculators into their classrooms. This article summarizes the work done in two projects funded by NSF.* The first revised the K-6 mathematics curriculum and also revised the computer “literacy” program. The second project was an institute for forty middle school teachers to incorporate computers, calculators, and models into their classroom teaching. The entire institute (sixty hours) was videotaped and every attendee was given an edited two hour version to use when they in turn conduct inservice programs in their districts.
The Psychiatrist as Teacher in Primary Care Residency Training: The First Year
Authors: Lazerson Alan M.
Published: May 2005

Increasing development of postgraduate primary care training programs to meet manpower needs is supported by flexibility in the Boards of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics to include experience in psychiatry; with this change, liaison psychiatrists will become progressively more involved and closely integrated into such training. This report outlines the first year experience of a psychiatrist in one innovative three year program in pediatrics and medicine, and describes some common problems and issues, along with teaching goals and some developing methodologies.

Although the number of trainees in this first year cohort is small, preliminary results reported by a feedback component of an independent evaluation team attached to the program suggest that the interns are receptive to the psychiatric input and that they consider the initial contribution by psychiatry to have as much usefulness to their training in primary care as the more traditional pediatric and medical components.
Early Colonial Health Developments in Mauritius
Authors: Parahoo Kader A.
Published: May 2005

The historical development of Mauritius and in particular the early developments in health care are crucial to an understanding of the contemporary health system. The introduction of major epidemic diseases through the movements of French soldiers to and from India and the immigration of indentured laborers from India account for the high mortality and morbidity rates in the 18th and 19th centuries and later. The colonial economy created and -fortified the dependence on a single cash crop and on imported food. It also contributed toward the impoverization of large sections of the Mauritian population. The colonial era is also responsible for initiating a three tier system of health care.
Opportunities and Limitations of Computer Algebra in Education
Authors: Nunes-Harwitt Arthur
Published: May 2005

Computer algebra systems are frequently used for research. In addition, some instructors have based entire advanced courses around these systems. One benefit is that they allow students to become familiar with the methods of calculus by individual experimentation. However, instructors have generally seen computer algebra systems as unsuitable for introductory algebra since the software is capable of doing all the math for the students. That barrier could be overcome if a suitable user interface were developed. Furthermore, embracing computer algebra could make for a completely different type of introductory course that shifts the focus from calculation to problem-solving. Computer algebra systems could also make life easier for math instructors as problem generators for tests and as automatic on-line graders, even of non-multiple choice problems. Computer algebra systems offer many new opportunities for math education.
An Examination of High School Students' Understanding of Learning in a Computer Applications Class
Authors: Bout Barbara , McNay Margaret
Published: May 2005

Students' voices have not been extensively heard in research in computer education. In this study, a secondary school teacher of computer applications (the first author) explores with her students their ideas and perceptions about learning in her class, asking them about how they learn best and what approaches and teaching strategies they find most conducive to learning. Analysis of qualitative data collected through use of questionnaires, interviews, and a focus group suggests that, given the opportunity, students can articulate a variety of ideas about their learning, engage in metacognitive activity, identify their strengths and difficulties in learning, and make suggestions about how to improve learning. Issues of cognitive load and the purposes and goals of instruction in computer applications are discussed. The findings inform not only the teaching and learning of computer applications courses, but teaching and learning more generally.
A Family Based Model of Hispanic Adolescent Substance Use
Authors: Brooks Audrey J. , Stuewig Jeff , Lecroy Craig Winston
Published: May 2005

While adolescent substance use has been the focus of extensive research over the last few decades, Hispanic adolescent substance use has received only limited attention. Studies exploring predictors of Hispanic adolescent substance use have failed to adequately explore the contribution of the family on substance use. The present study examined the relative influence of family, school and peer influences, perceived student substance use, family substance use, and acculturation on a sample of Mexican-American early adolescents using structural equations modeling. The findings varied for males and females. Family functioning and family use directly influenced substance use for males. Family functioning influenced school and peer variables, however, these were unrelated to use. For females, family use and student use directly influenced substance use. Family functioning influenced family use and school and peer attachments. School and peer attachment predicted perceived student use. These findings suggest that family functioning has a primary role in Hispanic adolescent substance use.