bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Computational Intelligent Algorithm for Surface Mine Layouts Optimization
Authors: Frimpong Samuel , Szymanski Jozef , Narsing Anthony
Published: June 2003

Optimized surface mine layouts are used to extract mineable reserves with minimum waste under economic geological, geotechnical, and property boundary constraints. Surface mine design and optimization algorithms are limited in dealing with the random field properties of these layouts, resulting in suboptimal results. Database changes also require complete rerun of these algorithms, resulting in long CPU times with no allowance for incorporating operating strategies. In this study, the authors develop a computational intelligent (CI) algorithm to solve these problems. The CI algorithm combines the stochastic models of ore reserves and commodity prices to generate economic block and target values. The error back-propagation algorithm is used to train feed-forward neural networks for block pattern recognition and partitioning based on the target values. The CI algorithm is used to optimize Section SBHP 860001 of a surface mine layout, and the results are compared with that from the 2-D Lerchs-Grossmann’s algorithm.
Gang Involvement and Membership among Homeless and Runaway Youth
Authors: Yoder Kevin A. , Whitbeck Les B. , Hoyt Dan R.
Published: June 2003

The present study documented the extent of gang involvement and gang membership in a sample of 602 homeless and runaway youth from four midwestern states. The study also compared gang members, gang-involved youth who were not members, and nongang youth on several dimensions including sociodemographic characteristics, family background, school experiences, street experiences and exposure, emotional problems, alcohol and drug use, and other delinquent and deviant behaviors. Findings indicated that a significant number of these youth were gang members (15.4% of the sample) or involved in gangs (32.2% of the sample). Youth gang members and gang-involved youth reported more family legal problems, had been suspended from school more, ran away at a younger age, used more alcohol and drugs, were exposed to more deviant peers, and attempted suicide more than did nongang youth. In addition, youth gang members reported less parental monitoring, more severe abuse, more street victimization, and more deviant subsistence strategies than did either gang-involved or noninvolved youth.
An Empirical Test of Butler's Resort Product Life Cycle: Forecasting Casino Winnings
Authors: Moss Steven E. , Ryan Chuck , Wagoner Charles B.
Published: June 2003

This article presents a product life cycle and forecasting methodology for both emerging and established casino markets. Gross gaming revenues and win per square foot per day were forecasted using classical time-series decomposition with polynomial regression. The model supports the position that casinos conform to Butler's S-shaped product life cycle for resorts, suggesting that the rapid increases in early-period gaming revenues will not continue without intervention to rejuvenate the industry.
The Significance of Festivals to Rural Economies: Estimating the Economic Impacts of Scottish Highland Games in North Carolina
Authors: Chhabra Deepak , Sills Erin , Cubbage Frederick W.
Published: June 2003

Festivals are often part of the economic development strategy of rural areas. This study estimates the economic impacts of visitor expenditures at two Scottish festivals in rural North Carolina, using tourist survey data and an input-output model. While local restaurants and lodging and festival vendors and sponsors benefit from substantial visitor expenditures, the multipliers are relatively small, and hence the total economic impact of the festivals represents only a small percentage of economic activity in the two regions considered. Lodging expenditures have the greatest impact on the region with a multiple-day festival, while expenditures on food and beverage have the greatest impact on the region with a single-day festival. The magnitude of the economic impact depends on characteristics of both the festival (number of days) and the local economy (other attractions and linkages).
Between Political Liberalism and Postnational Cosmopolitanism
Authors: Ingram David
Published: June 2003

It is well known that Rawls and Habermas propose different strategies for justifying and classifying human rights. The author argues that neither approach satisfies what he regards as threshold conditions of determinacy, rank ordering, and completeness that any enforceable system of human rights must possess. A related concern is that neither develops an adequate account of group rights, which the author argues fulfills subsidiary conditions for realizing human rights under specific conditions. This latter defect is especially serious in light of the different but equal roles that both subnational groups as well as supernational organizations play in bringing about a just global distribution of economic resources.
Effects of Discounting Cues and Gender on Apprehension
Authors: Berger Charles R.
Published: June 2003

Two experiments examined the hypothesis that quantitative depictions of improvement in threatening trends that were subsequently discounted would engender greater apprehension than undiscounted depictions of improving trends among men but not among women. Support for this interaction hypothesis was obtained in Experiment 1. When improvement in the threatening trends was depicted verbally, the interaction between discounting cues and gender was hypothesized to reverse. Experiment 2 found evidence supporting the predicted reversal of the interaction found in Experiment 1. These interaction effects are explained in terms of differential vigilance potentiated by quantitative and verbal depictions of threatening trends among women and men and gender differences in quantitative and verbal skills.
Shaping the Effects of Television on Adolescents' Body Image Disturbance
Authors: Nathanson Amy I. , Botta Renée A.
Published: June 2003

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between several forms of parental mediation and adolescents' television processing, emotions while viewing, and body image disturbance. A survey of both parents and adolescents (at two stages) revealed that most traditional measures of parental mediation were not significantly related to any adolescent outcomes. However, measures that captured the extent to which parents discussed characters' appearance and body size were consistent predictors of the same outcomes. The data revealed that parental mediation of this incidental content—even if it criticized the television images—encouraged deep processing of the images and negative emotions, which in turn led to indicators of body image disturbance. The implications of these findings for research on both parental mediation and body image are discussed.
College Students' Lifestyles and Self-Protective Behaviors
Authors: Tewksbury Richard , Mustaine Elizabeth Ehrhardt
Published: June 2003

Routine activity theory has traditionally emphasized identifying victimization risks and suitable targets for crime. Assessments of the role of guardianship in criminal events are less emphasized. Explorations of who uses guardianship to attempt to reduce their chances for victimization have been developed only minimally, typically relying on demographics. This research goes further in assessing who uses self-protective strategies, considering lifestyles related to proximity to motivated offenders, the suitability of individuals as targets, and how these characteristics influence the use of self-protective devices. Results show the most influential lifestyle characteristics and behaviors on use of self-protective measures are exposure to potential offenders and neighborhood characteristics. Fear of crime, substance use, and individual demographics show only small relationships to guardianship.
Modernity, Public Administration, and the Disappearance of the American States
Authors: Johnson Kimberley S.
Published: June 2003

American states disappeared from the public administration research agenda during the Progressive Era. This article explores how this disappearance was related to the field's need to consolidate its claim of scientific knowledge and expertise. Progressive Era concerns over modernity and authority led to a misreading of state capacity. Two common state governance practices, courts-based administration and state boards and commissions, are evaluated. Results suggest that a reevaluation of this period of state governance can help public administration gain valuable insights about state governments and American political development during this critical period in American state development.
The Effects of a President's Party on Federal Senior Executive Employment
Authors: Kim Chon-Kyun
Published: June 2003

What is the influence of a president's party on the composition of the Senior Executive Service (SES) workforce? This article examines the relationship between a president's party and a group's representation in higher-level positions over the past 21 years. The author finds that Democratic presidents are likely to be related to female and minority representation in the SES, while size of the SES, bachelor's degrees, professional jobs, and population do not appear to be directly linked to representation of women and minorities in the senior executive positions. Additionally, the impact of the party control of the presidency on the SES employment is different in regards to race, ethnicity, or gender.
Deliberative Discourse between Citizens and Administrators
Authors: Alkadry Mohamad G.
Published: June 2003

This article examines the potential for discourse between citizens and front-line administrators—those who directly deal with citizens. Critics of technical rational organizations question the ability and willingness of administrators to act on citizen feedback. Therefore, the article explores theoretical arguments about organizational rationality and the effect of the “bureaucratic experience,” resulting from administrator-bureaucracy interaction, on administrator ability and willingness to be responsive to citizens. Data from a survey of 147 front-line administrators are analyzed using structural equation modeling.
“Racelessness” in a Canadian Context? Exploring the Link between Black Students' Identity, Achievement, and Mental Health
Authors: Smith Andrea , Lalonde Richard N.
Published: June 2003

The relationship between racial identity, academic achievement, and mental health for 107 Black Canadian university students was examined within Fordham's “racelessness” framework. Fordham posited that to achieve success, educational or professional, in a society where Blackness is devalued, Blacks adopt a strategy of racelessness—they downplay their Black identity, disengage from their culture of origin, and assimilate into the dominant culture. Racelessness, however, results in psychological difficulties. This study failed to find evidence of the adoption of a raceless strategy by students. In fact, racial identity did not appear to be directly related to academic achievement. Possessing a closer affinity to Blacks, however, appeared to be psychologically protective. In addition, mentally healthier students had a more positive academic orientation, which in turn was related to higher GPA. Taken together, these findings suggest an indirect relationship between racial identity and academic performance.
Youth and Parental Correlates of Externalizing Symptoms, Adaptive Functioning, and Academic Performance: An Exploratory Study in Preadolescent Blacks
Authors: Clark Rodney , Dogan Randolph R. , Akbar Nadir J.
Published: June 2003

The effects of youth and parenting factors on school functioning were assessed in a preadolescent sample of 70 Blacks. Attitudes about deviance and types of peer associations were reported by youth, and perceived achievement control and hostile control were provided by parents. Additional information about academic performance, adaptive functioning, and externalizing symptoms was recounted by teachers. Multiple regression analyses indicated that hostile control was positively related to delinquency symptoms and that achievement control was negatively associated with academic performance. These analyses also revealed that the modeling of negative behaviors by friends was positively related to aggression and delinquency symptoms and that perceptions of academic competence were positively associated with adaptive functioning and academic performance. Although replication of the current findings is clearly needed, the findings highlight the mutual influences of parental and youth factors to academic adjustments in Black youth.
Redlining and the Home Owners' Loan Corporation
Authors: Hillier Amy E.
Published: June 2003

This article analyzes the impact of the residential security maps created by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) during the 1930s on residential mortgages in Philadelphia. Researchers have consistently argued that HOLC caused redlining and disinvestment in U.S. cities by sharing its color-coded maps. Geographic information systems and spatial statistical models were used to analyze address-level mortgage data from Philadelphia to determine if areas with worse grades actually had less access to residential mortgage credit as a result. Findings indicate that the grades on HOLC's map do not explain differences in lending patterns with the exception of interest rates, which were higher in areas colored red. Archival material and journal articles from the 1930s also reveal that lenders were avoiding areas colored red before HOLC made its maps, that HOLC's maps were not widely distributed, and that lenders had other sources of information about real estate risk levels.
Fear Appeals Motivate Acceptance of Action Recommendations: Evidence for a Positive Bias in the Processing of Persuasive Messages
Authors: Das Enny H. H. J. , de Wit John B. F. , Stroebe Wolfgang
Published: June 2003

Three experiments are reported that tested the hypothesis that the use of fear appeals in health persuasion may lead to positively biased systematic processing of a subsequent action recommendation aimed at reducing the health threat and, consequently, to more persuasion, regardless of the quality of the arguments in the recommendation. The levels of participants' vulnerability to as well as the severity of a health risk were varied independently, followed by a manipulation of the quality of the arguments in the subsequent action recommendation. The dependent variables included measures of persuasion (attitude, intention, and action), negative affect, and cognitive responses. The results show that participants who felt vulnerable to the health threat were more persuaded, experienced more negative emotions, and had more favorable cognitive responses. Both negative emotions concerning one's vulnerability and positive thoughts concerning the recommendation mediated the effects of vulnerability on persuasion.
Computerized Adaptive Testing Using the Nearest-Neighbors Criterion
Authors: Cheng Philip E. , Liou Michelle
Published: June 2003

Item selection procedures designed for computerized adaptive testing need to accurately estimate every taker's trait level (θ) and, at the same time, effectively use all items in a bank. Empirical studies showed that classical item selection procedures based on maximizing Fisher or other related information yielded highly varied item exposure rates; with these procedures, some items were frequently used whereas others were rarely selected. In the literature, methods have been proposed for controlling exposure rates; they tend to affect the accuracy in θ estimates, however. A modified version of the maximum Fisher information (MFI) criterion, coined the nearest-neighbors (NN) criterion, is proposed in this study. The NN procedure improves to a moderate extent the undesirable item exposure rates associated with the MFI criterion and keeps sufficient precision in θ estimates. The NN criterion will be compared with a few other existing methods in an empirical study using the mean squared errors in θ estimates and plots of item exposure rates associated with different θ distributions. Index terms: computerized adaptive testing, density estimation, Fisher information, item exposure rates, item response theory, selection criteria, trait estimation.
Empirical Assessment of a Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale
Authors: Ardelt Monika
Published: June 2003

Although wisdom is thought to be a strong predictor for many attributes of aging well, the concept of wisdom still lacks a comprehensive, directly testable scale. Quantitative and qualitative interviews with a sample of 180 older adults (age 52-plus) were conducted to develop a three-dimensional wisdom scale (3D-WS) and to test its validity and reliability. Wisdom was operationalized and measured as a latent variable with cognitive, reflective, and affective effect indicators. Respondents completed a self-administered questionnaire, which included 114 items from existing scales and 18 newly developed items to assess the three dimensions of wisdom. The final version of the 3D-WS consists of 14 items for the cognitive, 12 for the reflective, and 13 for the affective component of wisdom. Results indicate that the 3D-WS can be considered a reliable and valid instrument and a promising measure of the latent variable wisdom in large, standardized surveys of older populations.
Eating Disorders in Adolescent Athletes
Authors: Patel Dilip R. , Greydanus Donald E. , Pratt Helen D. , Phillips Elaine L.
Published: June 2003

Adolescent athletes are especially vulnerable to developing disordered eating behaviors. Risk factors include participation in sports where weight and lean body type are important, high-intensity training, pressure from coaches, and training and dieting beginning at an early age. Medical complications associated with these unhealthy dietary and weight-control practices and eating disorders can be potentially dangerous. Prevention strategies include minimizing the importance of weight, increased sensitivity on the part of those working with athletes for issues around weight and dieting, and appropriate education on proper weight-control methods and nutrition. The long-term prognosis is not known.
The Supreme Court and Women's Rights: A New Challenge
Authors: Lens Vicki
Published: June 2003

This article examines the conservative activism of the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Rehnquist. Suggestions are made on how advocates, including social workers and their professional organizations, can advance the cause of social justice for women, given the current parameters of the Supreme Court. Strategies include shifting attention to other arenas, including federal and state legislatures and state courts; diluting the effects of the Court by delegitimating its decisions; and influencing the future composition of the Court.
African American Women at Midlife: The Relationship between Spirituality and Life Satisfaction
Authors: Starks Saundra H. , Hughey Aaron W.
Published: June 2003

In this study, 147 African American women from six states were asked to complete the Adult Life Satisfaction Scale and the Black Women's Spirituality/Religiosity Measure (BWSRM), and in-depth interviews were conducted with 6 African American women. Although no significant difference was found among the ratings of life satisfaction and spirituality with respect to age or educational level, the women reported higher levels of religiosity than spirituality, which correlated significantly with life satisfaction. An analysis of a subscale of the BWSRM, however, found that the women reported significantly higher levels of spirituality than of religiosity. A moderate correlation was found between age and religiosity, and spirituality was found to be a critical variable that contributed to the life satisfaction of African American women at midlife regardless of age, income, or education.
Redemption or Rehabilitation? Charitable Choice and Criminal Justice
Authors: Kennedy Sheila Suess
Published: June 2003

Partnerships between government and religious social service providers have long been a feature of government social service provision. Most such partnerships present relatively few constitutional problems. In the criminal justice arena, however, Charitable Choice raises thorny issues, because many drug rehabilitation programs and prison ministries are more than “faith based”—they are faith-infused. This article considers challenges faced by public administrators working in these sensitive areas.
Effects of Interactions among Community Agencies on Legal System Responses to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault in Stop-Funded Communities
Authors: Zweig Janine M. , Burt Martha R.
Published: June 2003

The STOP Violence Against Women Formula Grants Program is a federal funding stream that promotes institutionalized system change in communities, such that women victims of violent crime can encounter a supportive and effective response from the criminal and civil justice systems and from victim service (VS) programs. This analysis assesses the degree to which receipt of STOP funding for nonprofit VS programs and state-level STOP program support for collaboration has led to greater community interaction and legal system outcomes. It also examines whether types of interaction among community agencies are related to post-STOP legal system responses to victims. Changed interactions among nonprofit VS programs, law enforcement, and prosecution staff members seem to lead to changes in the legal system's approach to handling domestic violence and sexual assault cases. They also assist communities in meeting the needs of victims.
Pride and Prejudice in Prague: Understanding Early Policy Error and Belated Reform in the Czech Economic Transition
Authors: Horowitz Shale , Petráš Martin
Published: June 2003

Failed banking sector policies and weak regulatory policies are the keys to the collapse of the Czech economic “miracle.” Why were these policy errors made? Why has it taken so long to correct them? We examine the roles of economic interest groups, political institutions, technocratic economic ideology, and political leadership. Initially, economic interest group support provided broad liberal constraints on economic policy making. Within this context, neither political institutions nor technocratic economic ideology prevented political leaders from making the key early policy errors. A change in technocratic ideology made eventual error correction difficult to avoid. But stable economic interest group support and institutional divisions made it possible for responsible leaders to delay the corrections.
Getting Physical
Authors: De Welde Kristine
Published: June 2003

This article presents ethnographic research on a women's self-defense course and proposes that socially available gender narratives of white femininity are potentially disempowering and victimizing to women. Changes in self-narratives as a result of the course reflect a more powerful self that challenges dominant discourses. The process illustrated in this article consists of reframing victimization, liberating the self, and enabling the body in a transformation of gender and self-narratives that affirm “femininity” while subverting its defining ideologies. What results is a physical agency within which narratives about femininity are reinterpreted and reembodied as powerful instead of vulnerable.
Explaining the “Brain Drain” from Older Industrial Cities: The Pittsburgh Region
Authors: Hansen Susan B. , Ban Carolyn , Huggins Leonard
Published: June 2003

In an effort to understand why so many college graduates are leaving western Pennsylvania, recent college graduates from three Pittsburgh-area universities were surveyed about their career and location decisions. The results indicated some increase in those staying between 1994 and 1999. A logistic regression analysis showed that an improving economy, low housing costs, and ample opportunities for continuing education were the major reasons. However, the region is still losing disproportionate numbers of minorities and graduates in high-tech fields and is attracting few immigrants. The major competition was from neighboring states rather than the Sun Belt. Low salaries and lack of advancement opportunities, especially for women, minorities, and two-career couples, were the primary reasons. The results suggest several policy recommendations to help retain recent area graduates and to attract more highly skilled workers to the region.
Contracting In: How a Business Intermediary Sought to Create Supplier Networks and Jobs in the Inner City
Authors: Weber Rachel , Schnell Susanne
Published: June 2003

This article evaluates a unique economic development program that sought to help small suppliers in high-poverty neighborhoods increase their sales and create jobs for local residents. The Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago introduced these firms to the large corporate customers that constitute its membership. After 2 years, member corporations had signed about $6.6 million in new contracts with the small firms, but few jobs had materialized. Analysis reveals that customers were going through a period of significant retrenchment: reducing their supply base, consolidating their purchasing departments, and using advanced technologies to create a smaller yet more dispersed pool of “preferred” vendors. Moreover, small suppliers were unwilling to make necessary capital investments without assurances from their customers that they would survive the supply chain consolidation. Such trends were not conducive to the establishment of procurement relationships, and the excess capacity of the suppliers diminished the job creation impact of additional sales.
“I'm Not the One They're Sticking the Needle Into”
Authors: Markens Susan , Browner C. H. , Preloran H. Mabel
Published: June 2003

Despite the growing routinization of prenatal diagnosis, little research has examined men's roles in this reproductive arena or these technologies' possibilities for reinforcing or transforming gender roles and relations. The authors analyze male partners' participation in the amniocentesis decisions of Mexican-origin women at high risk for problems, drawing on interviews with 157 women and 120 of their male partners. The primary aim is to explore whether the normalization of prenatal testing poses a threat to women's autonomy in this decision arena. The findings challenge critics of new reproductive and genetic technologies who assume that these technologies inherently represent male attempts to control women's bodies and the processes of reproduction. In contrast, the authors find many couples try to balance their desire to share equally in parenting responsibilities while maintaining the woman's ultimate control over her body and decisions associated with it.
An Inventory of Learning at a Distance in Economics
Authors: Coates Dennis , Humphreys Brad R.
Published: June 2003

This article examines the variety of institutions offering economics courses via the Internet in the fall 2000 semester and the methods of instruction used in those courses. Both 2- and 4-year colleges offer courses via the Internet and in about equal numbers. Research universities lag behind teaching institutions in web course offerings. Most institutions teaching economics via the Internet are located in metropolitan areas with 250,000 inhabitants or more, and very few courses are offered by institutions in the plains states. Streaming audio and video are relatively uncommon, used in less than 20% of the courses, but 76% involved what the instructor considered to be active learning techniques. There is no statistically significant correlation between use of active learning techniques and use of streamed video or audio.
Web Surveys as Part of a Mixed-Mode Strategy for Populations that cannot be Contacted by E-Mail
Authors: Schonlau Matthias , Asch Beth J. , Du Can
Published: June 2003

Potential respondents to web surveys are usually contacted by e-mail. For general target populations, e-mail addresses are usually not available. This study explores whether a sequential mixed-mode web/mail strategy can be used for such a population to encourage respondents to choose the web mode. In the authors' sequential mixed-mode web/mail survey, respondents were first encouraged to reply by web and in a follow-up were also offered mail questionnaires. Even though the target population (high school students) is presumed to be relatively computer savvy, the authors find that almost two thirds of the respondents nonetheless prefer responding by mail. In the first stage (when respondents can only reply on the web), phone reminders increase the number of web responses. In the second stage (when respondents may choose between responding by mail or by web), mail incentives increase the number of mail responses but do not affect the number of web responses.
An Evaluation of the Semiautomatic Login Procedure to Control Web Survey Access
Authors: Heerwegh Dirk , Loosveldt Geert
Published: June 2003

It is common practice to limit web survey access to individuals in the sample through the use of access codes such as personal identification numbers, user names, and passwords. Different technically equivalent methods exist to control survey access. However, these methods are not necessarily methodologically equivalent. In this study, an experimental design was set up to evaluate the effect of three login procedures: a manual, a semiautomatic, and an automatic login procedure. It was found that the automatic login produced the lowest data quality, whereas the manual and semiautomatic login produced data of a higher and comparable level of quality. Nevertheless, the manual and the semiautomatic login procedures differ from each other in certain respects. The study concludes that the semiautomatic login is a useful alternative to control web survey access.
Origins, Founding, and Activities of the Space Nursing Society
Authors: Plush Linda M.
Published: June 2003

This article presents the events that have led to the establishment of the Space Nursing Society (SNS) through a brief discussion of the history of nursing leading up to its involvement in the US space program, the contributions of the nursing profession to the US space program, and current activities of SNS members. In addition, this article will touch on the collaborative relationship between the nursing and pharmacy professions.
Alcohol, Aging, and Cognitive Performance:
Authors: Bond Gail E. , Burr Robert , Rice Madeline Murguia , McCurry Susan M. , Graves Amy Borenstein , Teri Linda , Bowen James D. , McCormick Wayne C. , Larson Eric B.
Published: June 2003

Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between alcohol consumption and cognitive performance in two culturally diverse community-based populations. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was used including Japanese Americans ( n = 1,836) and Caucasians ( n = 2,581) aged 65 and older. Cognitive performance was measured using the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) (0 to 100 point scale) and reaction time. Results: Multivariate analysis revealed significant cultural and gender differences with cognitive performance. Compared to abstainers, Caucasian drinkers scored higher than Japanese American drinkers on the CASI (adjusted means = 93.4 versus 91.6). In contrast, Japanese American drinkers scored faster than Caucasian drinkers on choice reaction time (adjusted means = 505 versus 579 milli-seconds). Discussion: Results showed that current drinking was associated with better cognition in both the Caucasian and Japanese American groups. Longitudinal studies are needed to support the possible protective effects of alcohol on cognition and explore whether culture may modify this apparent benefit.
Career Assessment with Intellectually Gifted Students
Authors: Kerr Barbara , Sodano Sandro
Published: June 2003

Career counseling with the intellectually gifted poses unique challenges to counselors. Development of competent practices with this population requires the career counselor to be aware of several issues specific to the intellectually gifted in general, along with specific issues that may differentially affect gifted males, females, and minorities. Traditional career counseling is insufficient to meet the needs of this population. Therefore, the article reviews trends and improvements to counseling the intellectually gifted, controversies, and multicultural issues and suggests an expanded role for career counselors of the intellectually gifted.
Culture and Status-Related Behavior: Japanese and American Perceptions of Interaction in Asymmetric Dyads
Authors: Kowner Rotem , Wiseman Richard
Published: June 2003

In examining the pattern of status-related behavior in the United States and Japan, the authors compared perceptions of verbal and nonverbal behaviors of lower and higher status people in asymmetric dyadic interaction using 105 behavioral scales. A similar gap was found between perceptions of behavior of lower and higher status people in both cultures, suggesting that this status-related behavior follows a fundamental pattern probably common across cultures. Nevertheless, culture appears to affect the magnitude at which status-related behavior is manifested. In Japan, a hierarchical, collectivist, tight, and high-context culture, the authors found perceptions of greater differences in the behavior of lower and higher status people than in the United States, a more egalitarian, individualist, and low-context culture. The sources and implications of this general pattern of status-related behavior and its cross-cultural differences are discussed.
Cooperation and Commune Longevity: A Test of the Costly Signaling Theory of Religion
Authors: Sosis Richard , Bressler Eric R.
Published: June 2003

The costly signaling theory of religion posits that religious rituals and taboos can promote intragroup cooperation, which is argued to be the primary adaptive benefit of religion. To test this theory, the authors collected historical data on the constraints and ritual requirements that eighty-three 19th-century U.S. communes imposed on their members. All communes must solve the collective action problem of cooperative labor to survive; thus, they are an ideal population to assess the impact of ritual and taboo on intragroup cooperation. The authors evaluated whether communes that imposed costlier requirements survived longer than less demanding communes and whether costly requirements and religiosity interact to promote cooperation. The results support aspects of the costly signaling theory of religion and reveal new avenues for its development. The authors discuss some of the shortcomings of the theory and explore ways to expand the theory that incorporate additional features of ritual and religious belief.
Commendations: Listening to the Silent Side of a Family Intervention
Authors: Limacher Lori Houger , Wright Lorraine M.
Published: June 2003

A therapeutic conversation of one family's experience in a traumatic house fire provides a springboard for discussion and illustrates the complexities of the family intervention known as a commendation. This intervention is one of the micromoves described in the Illness Beliefs Model. Commendations are discussed within a strengths-and-resource discourse and defined and contrasted with similar therapeutic interventions, and questions are raised and extended about the nature of these practices. The authors suggest that exclusively attending to the verbal aspect of commendations may obscure equally meaningful ways that this intervention is actualized in therapeutic relationships.
Selecting Family Measurements
Authors: Ganong Lawrence H.
Published: June 2003

Many of the persistent problems in family measurement are due to inappropriate applications of theory, fuzzy conceptualizations of constructs, poor decisions regarding units of measurement, and disconnections between what researchers want to measure and how they operationalize their variables of interest. This article contains a series of tasks for family researchers to follow in planning their investigations that will help them avoid fundamental family measurement problems.
Corruption, Optimal Taxation, and Growth
Authors: Barreto Raul A. , Alm James
Published: June 2003

How does the presence of corruption affect the optimal mix between consumption and income taxation? In this article, the authors examine this issue using a simple neoclassical growth model, with a self-seeking and corrupt public sector. They find that the optimal tax mix in a corrupt economy is one that relies more heavily on consumption taxes than on income taxes, relative to an economy without corruption. Their model also allows them to investigate the effect of corruption on the optimal (or welfare-maximizing) size of government, and their results indicate that the optimal size of government balances the wishes of the corrupt public sector for a larger government, and so greater opportunities for corruption, with those in the private sector who prefer a smaller government. Not surprisingly, the optimal size of government is smaller in an economy with corruption than in one without corruption.
The Collective Impacts of a Bundle of Travel Determinants on Repeat Visitation
Authors: Rittichainuwat Bongkosh Ngamsom , Qu Hailin , Leong Jerrold K.
Published: June 2003

This study aims to assess collective impacts of a bundle of travel determinants, which include destination image, travel satisfaction, travel motivation, and travel inhibitors, on repeat visitation to a travel destination such as a country, a city, and/or a tourist attraction. The target population of the study was the international tourists who were in departure at the Bangkok International Airport to 13 inbound markets. The result indicated that the bundle of travel determinants on repeat visitation was composed of social and environmental problems; good value food and accommodation; novelty seeking; good value of food, shopping, and a variety of things to do; and travel barrier. The finding shows that travel satisfaction dimensions do not have any impact on the likelihood of revisiting when being considered simultaneously with other travel determinants. The notion that satisfaction affects customers' future buying behaviors is not empirically confirmed in this study.
Learning for Performance in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: McHargue Susan K.
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Few empirical studies have examined the relationship between learning organization dimensions and nonprofit performance. This study was conducted to understand this relationship and how it impacts nonprofit organizations' ability to become nonprofit learning organizations. The results offer guidance to human resource developers and managers who desire to integrate learning organization concepts into nonprofit organizations.
Innovation and Organizational Learning Culture in the Malaysian Public Sector
Authors: Maria Rebecca Fatima Sta.
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. Learning culture is seen as a prerequisite for successful organizational change and innovation. Also, the individual is seen as the factor that differentiates profound innovation implementation from “busy work.” This study in the Malaysian public sector found that although the learning culture of the organization has more to do with whether the innovation will be used than what the individual feels about it, ultimately it is the individual organizational context that makes the difference in this relationship.
Assessing Tacit Knowledge Transfer and Dimensions of a Learning Environment in Colombian Businesses
Authors: Hernandez Miguel
Published: June 2003

The problem and the solution. The growing interest developed around transfer of tacit knowledge and its effect on performance has not been matched by an equivalent effort to provide empirical evidence supporting these hypotheses This study of eight firms in Bogotá, Colombia focuses on the process of within-firm transfer of tacit knowledge and the seven dimensions of the learning organization as determinants of performance.
Distinguishing the Trees from the Forest: Applying Cluster Analysis to Thematic Qualitative Data
Authors: Guest Greg , McLellan Eleanor
Published: June 2003

Qualitative data analysis requires organizing and synthesizing often large quantities of text. In many cases, this analysis entails negotiating the interplay between raw data, semantic themes or codes, and the overarching conceptual framework. In this article, the authors use a case study, which examines HIV vaccine efficacy trial participants' discourse, to demonstrate how cluster analysis can be used to aid in the analysis of large qualitative data sets. After briefly reviewing the systematic approaches to qualitative analysis and describing the project background, the authors present an example of how a hierarchical cluster technique can be incorporated into a multistage thematic analysis.
Market Size, Pay, and Performance
Authors: Burger John D. , Walters Stephen J. K.
Published: June 2003

The authors construct a general model of fan behavior and team revenues to study compensation and competitive balance issues in professional sports. Baseball data from 1995 to 1999 support the model's prediction that market size and expected team performance interact to positively and significantly affect the marginal value of extra wins. Ceteris paribus, baseball teams in the largest markets will value a given player six times more than those in the smallest. Within each market, achieving contending status can raise a player's value sixfold. Based on these findings, simple revenue sharing should depress player salaries but may not enhance competitive balance.
Got Technology? How it can—and can't—Make a Difference in the Nursing Shortage
Authors: Simpson Roy L.
Published: June 2003

With a nursing shortage of unprecedented proportions looming ahead of us, information technology (IT) is increasingly being touted as the silver bullet. Whereas IT can indeed make a difference in many critical areas, there are some things it simply cannot do. This article examines what IT can do to ameliorate the effects of the nursing shortage—detailing foundational areas in which IT can play a role and emerging technologies that can help further the practice of nursing—and what IT cannot do, from exploring its potential threats to delineating its inadequacies.
A Local Response to a National Issue: Creating a Regional Nursing Workforce Center
Authors: Anderson Lisa , Girod Aimee , Brzytwa Ellen
Published: June 2003

Establishing the importance of having and nurturing appropriate resources for the nursing profession on the local level, the members of the Northeast Ohio Nursing Initiative (NEONI) have been working diligently to define their mission and goals and obtain funding. NEONI recognized the supply and demand for nursing in Northeast Ohio and works at the local level to attract and educate persons in nursing using innovative techniques.
Supreme Court Update
Authors: Mech Ann
Published: June 2003

The 2002-2003 term of the U.S. Supreme Court promises another series of cases involving disputes related to managed care and health insurance benefits. As in its previous term, the Court is faced with another case testing the applicability of state insurance laws to health insurance plans falling under the jurisdiction of the federal Employee Retirement and Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974.
Palynological and AVHRR observations of modern vegetational gradients in eastern North America
Authors: Williams John W. , Jackson Stephen T.
Published: June 2003

Both fossil pollen records and satellite-based instruments are remote sensors of Earth's vegetation with complementary properties. Satellites supply spatially continuous and highly resolved images for the past several decades, whereas pollen records include local and regional signals of vegetation composition, spanning millennia. Together, pollen and satellite-based observations measure vegetation change across a broad range of temporal scales. Here, we compare pollen percentages of needleleaved and broadleaved plant taxa to AVHRR estimates of percent tree cover, for two regions in eastern North America with well-defined physiognomic gradients. The linear fit between the pollen percentages and percent tree cover is strongest for search window half-widths of 25–75 km and unweighted or inverse-distance weightings, consistent with previous taxon-based studies of regional pollen source area and transport. Variance not explained by the linear model arises primarily from differential properties of the AVHRR and pollen sensors, particularly site-specific variability in the pollen data and intertaxonomic differences in pollen representation. These sources of variance can be minimized by regionally smoothing the pollen data and multivariate analogue approaches. A strong fit between observed tree-cover percentages and best-analogue estimates (r2 = 0.70 to 0.78) suggests that analogue-based methods can be applied to infer past tree-cover proportions from fossil pollen records. Linking pollen and AVHRR observations in this manner effectively extrapolates satellite-derived variables beyond the few decades of direct observation, enabling study of longer-term variations in land cover and impacts upon climate and the terrestrial carbon cycle.
Palaeoflood records for the Red River, Manitoba, Canada, derived from anatomical tree-ring signatures
Authors: George Scott St. , Nielsen Erik
Published: June 2003

Palaeoflood records for the Red River in southern Manitoba, Canada, were derived from anatomical tree-ring signatures in Quercus macrocarpa (Michx) collected at 16 living-tree sites, several historical buildings and archaeological sites, and subfossil logs buried in river alluvium. Prolonged inundation of trees during spring and early summer induces the development of anatomical anomalies (flood rings) that provide a proxy record of extreme floods. Flood-signature records for the Lower Red River basin (LRB) extend from ad 1999 to 1648 and suggest that the Red River flood of 1826 was the largest during the last 352 years. The tree-ring record identifies five of the largest seven floods in the LRB during the last 200 years and documents extreme floods in 1747, 1762, 1826, 1852, 1950, 1979 and 1997. The Upper Red River basin tree-ring flood record extends from ad 1997 to 1448 and contains flood rings for 1510, 1538, 1658, 1682, 1726, 1727, 1741, 1747 and 1762. Factors influencing the formation of flood rings, and hence efficacy of flood-ring records, include flood timing, age and availability of trees, and variations in response along the stem. Evidence from the LRB indicates intervals of increased flood frequency during the mid-1700s, the mid-1800s, and the second half of the twentieth century, and intervals without extreme flooding in 1648–1746, 1763–1825 and 1862–1949. The tree-ring evidence supports the premise that high Red River flows are non-stationary and that past climatic and landscape changes may have influenced local flood risks.
A simple and effective methodology for sampling modern pollen rain in tropical environments
Authors: Gosling William D. , Mayle Francis E. , Killeen Timothy J. , Siles Marcelo , Sanchez Lupita , Boreham Steve
Published: June 2003

To gain a better insight into the nature of palaeovegetation change in tropical ecosystems, more information needs to be gleaned from the limited number of fossil pollen records that exist. To achieve this, a detailed understanding of modern tropical ecosystems and the pollen they produce is required. To facilitate this, a practicable and effective mechanism for sampling modern pollen rain from the tropics is required. This paper presents a modified field methodology based upon three years of trapping experience in Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivia, and improved laboratory preparation methodologies. We demonstrate here a simple and very effective way to sample modern pollen rain in tropical environments using a funnel trap mounted on a stake containing cotton fibre as the trapping medium.