bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Evaluation of a Peer-Led Drug Abuse Risk Reduction Project for Runaway/Homeless Youths
Authors: Fors Stuart W. , Jarvis Sara
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Drug Prevention in Youth risk reduction program that was implemented in shelters for runaway/homeless youths in the Southeastern United States. The program focuses on knowledge, attitudes and skills that can help this group of high risk young people minimize the serious negative consequences of drug abuse. An evaluation strategy was developed so comparisons could be made between peer-led, adult-led and non-intervention groups. Dependent samples t tests and least squares ANCOVAS were used to measure pretest-posttest differences both within and between groups. Results indicate that the peer-led groups were more successful than the other two groups, and that program effects were the most powerful with the youngest group of shelter clients. Process evaluation revealed important factors related to group leader training and group management. It is concluded that well-trained and motivated peer/near peer leaders have particularly valuable contributions to make with regard to drug abuse risk reduction for shelter clients.
Agency Coalitions for Targeted Service Delivery: Foiled Designs, Failed Development, but Final Delight
Authors: Baranowski Tom
Published: May 2005

In light of recent federal attempts at promoting agency coalitions for developing and coordinating health education-risk reduction programs, the earlier experience of one state in promoting such a coalition is reviewed. A review of the literature on human service organization structure (domain theory), interorganizational collaboration and professional conceptual styles, revealed four necessary but not sufficient guidelines for promoting agency coalitions. First, some source of adequate outside funding must be obtained. Second, the coalition should have an organizational structure which has committees in each of the three domains of organization. Third, the self-interests of the various competing agencies must be recognized and capitalized upon. Fourth, to the extent competing agencies are involved, the collaborative projects should be either short-term and structured (if high interdependence is required) or long-term noninteracting projects.
A Case of Factitious Aplastic Anemia
Authors: Bright Robert , Eisendrath Stuart , Damon Lloyd
Published: May 2005

Objective:

We report the case of factitiously induced aplastic anemia by the ingestion of busulfan, a bifunctional alkylating chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia. The medical consequences and financial costs of this illness are reported. The reader will gain an understanding of the relevant clues to the diagnosis of a factitious hematologic illness, the psychodynamic issues present in this case and the legal, ethical and countertransferential issues raised by the case.

Method:

A single case review including medical and billing records, patient and staff interviews and literature review.

Results:

The covert ingestion of busulfan by this patient resulted in life-threatening bone marrow suppression, bilateral aseptic hip necrosis, transfusion-dependent thrombocytopenia and a chronic pain syndrome. Her treatment was complicated by noncompliance with prescribed treatments and polymicrobial sepsis possibly secondary to the self-injection of feces into her central line. To date, the total cost of care for the treatment of this patient's medical complications secondary to her ingestion of busulfan exceeds $1,100,000.00.

Conclusions:

This case underscores the importance of the early recognition by the primary care physician of the possibility of a factitious etiology of hematologic abnormalities such as aplastic anemia due to the ingestion of bone marrow ablative medications. The index of suspicion is increased when the patient is a young health care provider, usually female, with atypical pancytopenia and an unusual disease course and response to treatment.
Understanding Statistical Significance: A Conceptual History
Authors: Little Joseph
Published: May 2005

Few concepts in the social sciences have wielded more discriminatory power over the status of knowledge claims than that of statistical significance. Currently operationalized as a = 0.05, statistical significance frequently separates publishable from nonpublishable research, renewable from nonrenewable grants, and, in the eyes of many, experimental success from failure. If literacy is envisioned as a sort of competence in a set of social and intellectual practices, then scientific literacy must encompass the realization that this cardinal arbiter of social scientific knowledge was not born out of an immanent logic of mathematics but socially constructed and reconstructed in response to sociohistoric conditions.
Lake Theo: Late Quaternary Paleoenvironmental Data and New Plainview (Paleoindian) Date
Authors: Johnson Eileen , Holliday Vance T. , Neck Raymond W.
Published: May 2005

Lake Theo (Briscoe County, Texas) is a well stratified archaeological site with Paleoindian (Folsom, Plainview) and Archaic occupations. It is located immediately east of the Southern High Plains (Llano Estacado). Preliminary field and laboratory investigations of site stratigraphy, soils, and microbiology were initiated in order to reconstruct late Quaternary paleoenvironments and date the Paleoindian occupations. The site contains a series of ten late Quaternary fluvial, and possible aeolian, deposits; and five soils (ranging from weakly to moderately well developed) formed therein. Radiocarbon ages of 9950 ± 110 years B.P. (SMU-866) and 9420 ± 85 years B.P. (SMU-856) were determined on humates from the bottom and top (respectively) of a thick, slowly aggrading, buried A horizon. The lower date is associated with a Plainview occupation and immediately overlies a Folsom occupation.

Comparison of dates and associated stratigraphic and pedologic data with other sediments and soils in the section indicates that during the past 12,000 years, most sedimentation was relatively rapid and sporadic with intervening periods of soil formation of varying lengths. Citrate soluble phosphorous analysis of the soils did not show notable evidence of intense human occupation at any time. Invertebrates recovered indicate a progressive, local extirpation of terrestrial gastropods since Folsom times. The progression is a result of decreased effective precipitation. The most marked stage of extirpation occurred during deposition of Unit 7 (9000 to 8000 B.P.).
Sexual and AIDS-Related Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviors of Adolescents in Sierra Leone, West Africa
Authors: Richter D. L. , Strack R. W. , Vincent M. L. , Barnes B. , Rao R.
Published: May 2005

A survey of 307 Sierra Leonean adolescents between the ages of thirteen and nineteen was assessed to determine their sexual and AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. Results indicate high sexual activity rates among the sampled group; 89 percent of the males and 68 percent of the females had engaged in sexual intercourse. The mean age at first sexual intercourse was found to be 14.4 years for males and 15.1 years for females. Sixty-five percent of the males and 35 percent of the females reported having three or more sexual partners over their lifetime. Other findings included high rates of STDs and HIV/AIDS, low reported condom use, low reported use of other birth control methods, and low knowledge scores concerning pregnancy prevention, HIV/AIDS and STDs. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Say Yes First: Follow up of a Five-Year Rural Drug Prevention Program
Authors: Zavela Kathleen J. , Battistich Victor , Gosselink Carol A. , Dean B. J.
Published: May 2005

Say Yes First—To Rural Youth and Family Alcohol/Drug Prevention (SYF) was a 5-year, federally-funded U.S.D.H.H.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) project that involved 859 children in the class of the year 2000. The children in four rural school districts were followed from Grade 4 to Grade 8 from 1991 to 1996. Initial results in a previous publication showed significant lower drug usage in this cohort than comparison students [1]. A follow-up of 120 SYF participants and 136 comparison students in high schools using the National Youth Survey (Follow Up Questionnaire) indicated lower usage of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs for the program students and lower lifetime prevalence of marijuana use for program vs. comparison students. SYF students had higher course grades, lower school absenteeism, more positive attitudes toward school, less trouble in school and less negative self-appraisal. Program students also reported greater participation in sports, more family communication and fewer disagreements or arguments with their parents.
The Problem of Synonymy: Bacon's Third Idol Expanded
Authors: Rathjens Dietrich
Published: May 2005

The essay proceeds from an unorthodox interpretation of Bacon's “Idols of the Market-place” to develop a general theory of synonymy. This popular concept is one of the fundamental ills in our thinking (and, therefore, speech and writing). The essay suggests that we abolish the notion of synonymy in praxis.
Transfer of Learning from a Computer Simulation as Compared to a Laboratory Activity
Authors: Kelly Paul R.
Published: May 2005

The use of computer simulations is discussed, especially in relation to science education. Issues of fidelity and transfer are briefly presented when a computer simulation is used instead of a laboratory activity. A computer program written by the author is described that simulates a typical mineral identification activity that would be performed in a high school earth science course. Student performance on the mineral identification portion of the New York State Regents Earth Science Exam was used to compare students who had been taught using the simulation and students who had used the laboratory based mineral activity. No difference was found in student performance between the two groups.
Prevalence of Medical Illness in Patients with Anxiety Disorders
Authors: Rogers Malcolm P. , White Kerrin , Warshaw Meredith G. , Yonkers Kimberly A. , Rodriguez-Villa Fernando , Chang Grace , Keller Martin B.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This investigation examines the prevalence and characteristics of medical illness in 711 patients enrolled in the Harvard/Brown Anxiety Disorders Research Program (HARP), a multi-center, longitudinal study of anxiety disorders.

Method:

Elligible subjects were those with present or past index anxiety disorders: panic disorder without agoraphobia, panic disorder with agoraphobia, agoraphobia without panic disorder, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder. They were assessed by trained raters using structured diagnostic interviews and the Medical History Form II.

Results:

Patients with panic disorder and co-morbid major depressive disorder had significantly higher rates of reported medical illness than anxiety disorder patients without depression. When the rates of medical illness for all subjects were compared with those from the Rand Health Insurance Experiment, we found the prevalence of several medical problems to be disproportionately increased.

Conclusions:

Although our results are preliminary, it appears that patients with panic disorder have more reported medical problems than the public at large, in particular, more ulcer disease, angina, and thyroid disease. Somatic complaints in patients with panic disorder, therefore, need to be carefully considered.
Generating Grounded Theory: Two Case Studies
Authors: Mullen Patricia Dolan
Published: May 2005

An inductive research method known as grounded theory is described as a means of building conceptual bridges between real-life situations and formal theory. The procedures are detailed and illustrated via two case studies. The first is a study of the social-psychological problem of cutting losses among heart patients through three stages of recovery. The process of extending the theory generated with the heart patients to other invisible physical impairments and across both visible and invisible chronic conditions is outlined. The second case study offers an example of a structurally-oriented theory, developed from participant observations of the processes of managing patients, staff, and neighbors for an “antipsychiatric” treatment facility for juvenile schizophrenics.
Commentary on Canadian Health Insurance: Lessons for the United States
Authors: Marmor Theodore R.
Published: May 2005

The Government Accounting Office's comparatively favorable report on Canada's National Health Insurance program (Medicare) prompted a firestorm of reaction: criticism from the health insurance industry primarily and praise from advocates of single-payer models of American reform particularly. Congressional hearings aired this controversy, and this article is a revised version of the author's testimony to the Government Operations Committee, June 18, 1991. The author examines the legitimacy of cross-national comparison as a general analytic tool and the lessons to be learned from North American health care comparisons in particular. In the final section he critically discusses two sets of myths about Canada's experience with universal health insurance: those regarding the desirability of the Canadian system itself and those questioning the transplantability (adaptability) of the model to the United States.
Suicidal Women and Their Relationships with Their Parents
Authors: Stephens B. Joyce
Published: May 2005

This study examines the families-of-origin of suicidal females, with particular focus on their parents. The data are drawn from fifty female suicide attempters and include life history materials, diaries and letters, interviews with therapists, and material from group counseling sessions. Five parental characteristics are identified and described-non-nurturing parents, absent parents, abusive parents, mentally ill parents, and alcoholic parents. These characteristics are described and examples presented. Their relationship to the individuals' suicidal behaviors is discussed.
A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study of Widowhood for African-American Women
Authors: Harrison Tracie , Kahn David L. , Hsu Mutsu
Published: May 2005

There is a dearth of bereavement and healthcare literature on the experience of widowhood for African-American women. This hermeneutic phenomenological study of 11 African-American widows used demographic questions, field notes, and in-depth interviews to understand their experience. The physical loss of the marital bond and the psychological growth toward increased independence was examined within the context of the widows' relationships with their deceased spouses, families, churches, and friends. Their experiences were contextualized within the meaning structure provided by their faith and interpreted based upon descriptions of their cultural and historical context. From the analysis, four themes emerged: Defining Needs and Relaxing Boundaries, Releasing the Sadness and Keeping Busy, Being Together, and Going on Alone.
The Use of the Subjunctive in Re-Membering Conversations with Those Who are Grieving
Authors: Hedtke Lorraine , Winslade John
Published: May 2005

The subjunctive voice is often disparaged as no longer of any use in the English language. Here it is argued to have a special place in the construction of possibility in therapeutic conversation with persons who are grieving. In particular, the subjunctive is illustrated in a case study of a re-membering conversation; that is, one in which relational and community membership is considered to live on in a narrative sense after biological death. The argument is that such conversations can produce more sustenance for people in a time of grief than the usual emphasis on confronting “reality” and accepting loss.
Middle Woodland Algonquian Expansion: A Refined Model
Authors: Fiedel Stuart J.
Published: May 2005

Glottochronological data suggest that there may have been two waves of Proto-Algonquian expansion, from a homeland north of Lake Ontario. Micmac may be a remnant outlier of the first wave, ca. 600–200 B.C. This initial expansion may be represented archaeologically by the widely distributed Early Point Peninsula culture group (or “Lake Forest Middle Woodland”). The second expansion seems to have occurred ca. A.D. 600, based on calculated divergence times for Eastern vs. Central Algonquian languages. The initial linguistic unity of the Eastern Algonquians may account for the existence of late Middle Woodland exchange networks that linked the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.
Parental Inducement of Emotional Intelligence
Authors: Martinez-Pons Manuel
Published: May 2005

One hundred and nine junior high school students were surveyed to assess their perception of their parent's influence on their emotional intelligence (EI) and their own EI; and their task orientation (TO), social functioning (SF), and depression symptomatology (DS). Path analysis disclosed a substantial effect of parental modeling, encouragement, facilitation, and rewarding on the students' emotional intelligence, and important effects of EI on TO, SF, and DS were found. The results were interpreted in the light of modern social cognitive theory and recommendations were made for further study.
Evaluation of Huntington II Project on Computer Simulation
Authors: Piel E. J.
Published: May 2005

This paper reports on the findings of an evaluation of the use of computer simulation packages in secondary schools. It focuses on the results of an attitude inventory of a larger study which was funded by the National Science Foundation. One of the significant findings is the detection of a positive shift in students' attitudes toward computer simulations.
Nestle and Breast vs. Bottle Feeding: Mainstream and Marxist Perspectives
Authors: Campbell Carolyn E.
Published: May 2005

The breast vs. bottle feeding issue has sparked a controversial debate. Mainstream analysis of the problem shows that arguments made by the business community, as represented by the Nestle Corporation, do not withstand examination of the evidence. For example, it cannot be substantiated that women begin formula feeding because they have entered the labor force. Mainstream studies of cost effectiveness further indicate that bottle feeding is a drain on the incomes of impoverished Third World families and nations. Marxist analysis gives a very different perspective. Nestle represents 19th century capitalist development and the Industrial Revolution, and 20th century imperialism, neocolonialism and monopoly capitalism. Its motive has been capital accumulation and expansion. To increase surplus value appropriation, capitalism must devalue the household (subsistence) economy in which women enjoyed considerable status. Women also produce the most fundamental commodity for capitalism—laborers; therefore, the biological connection must be masked and controlled for the benefit of capital. Thus, as the capitalist mode of production has developed, women have been removed from important roles in production and reproduction. Coupled with the ascendancy of science, expertism and public health imperialism, breast feeding in any market economy becomes nearly impossible. As women internalize the values of capitalist ideology, they elevate “man-made” marketed commodities over subsistence goods such as breast milk.
Team Building in the Classroom: Preparing Students for Their Organizational Future
Authors: Barker Randolph T. , Franzak Frank J.
Published: May 2005

Group class exercises have the potential to provide important lessons for students. However, in completing these exercises, business students may not be getting all of the benefits from group work that a team experience could provide. The challenge to business educators is to provide a meaningful team experience within the limitations presented by the class environment. This article describes organizational communication and marketing classes that applied team formation and team-building exercises to enrich the team experience and differentiate it from typical group work.
The Readability Controversy: A Technical Writing Review
Authors: Giles Timothy D.
Published: May 2005

The author reviews recent articles from the technical writing literature focusing on the controversy surrounding the appropriateness of readability formulas for technical writing, an issue of immediate concern for many writers and editors. While some authorities recommend readability formulas—if the writer recognizes the formulas as a tool limited by the variables manipulated—overwhelming argument from other experts suggests that the formulas should be ignored because they can mislead writers by lulling them into a false sense of security or into writing stilted prose to fit the formula. The author suggests that further research should be conducted to study empirically how readability as a concept might be used to aid the technical writer since readability formulas are shaping computerized editing programs.
Is Inequity Cumulative? The Relationship between Disadvantaged Group Membership and Students' Computing Experience, Knowledge, Attitudes and Intentions
Authors: Chambers S. M. , Clarke V. A.
Published: May 2005

The study used a pretest/posttest design to investigate the relationship between disadvantaged group membership and students' participation in computing activities. Disadvantage was defined by gender, school ability, SES level, and ethnic background. The sample of 951 students was drawn from four elementary and three secondary schools which were substantially increasing their computing resources. Following class computing experience there was a cumulative effect of membership of disadvantaged groups with the more disadvantaged students reporting significantly less participation in class computing activities and non-class computing activities, gaining lower computing knowledge scores and having less positive attitudes to computing. Thus, inequities were created rather than reduced. Class computing participation was positively related to prior participation in non-class computing activities, with those students with no prior non-class computing experience participating less in class computing activities. The results were interpreted as demonstrating a general cumulative effect of “disadvantage” which is based on differences in voluntary non-class computing experiences. Strategies for reducing these inequities are implicated.
Computer Presentational Features for Young Children's Preferential Selection and Recall of Information
Authors: Calvert Sandra L. , Watson J. Allen , Brinkley Vickie M. , Bordeaux Barbara
Published: May 2005

Preschool children's preferential selection and recall of words presented in a computer microworld was assessed as a function of action and sound. Forty preschoolers, equally distributed by sex, were randomly assigned to one of four versions of a microworld. Within each version, twenty-four sprite objects were randomly assigned properties of action and sound. The design was counterbalanced so that across the four versions, each sprite assumed all possible factorial combinations of action and sound. As expected, children preferentially selected and later recalled more words presented with action than words presented without action. Although children selected sounds, sounds interfered with children's recall of linguistic information. Results support an action superiority hypothesis and an auditory interference hypothesis. The practical application is to use action as an integral component of educational computer software designed for young children.
Computer Controlled Interactive Motion and Still Image Film Projection System for Vocational Education for the Deaf
Authors: Fox Raymond G.
Published: May 2005

A severe problem exists for the public non-residential school systems in delivery of vocational instruction of the deaf, and management for vocational education of the deaf. The problem arises from the unique requirement of the deaf to have instruction delivered visually; lack of sufficient resource personnel in vocational education who are skilled in manual communication; and lack of vocational materials of instruction which were specifically developed to accommodate to the condition of deafness. This paper describes a micro-processor controlled instruction delivery system now being developed to better provide delivery of vocational materials of instruction to the deaf, which incorporates film cassette, frame or sequence addressable, color motion or still visuals under computer program control for local or remote delivery. It also describes an authoring capability for development and validation of vocational materials of instruction, together with an algorithmic basis for instruction module design. Finally, it describes a program which could result in early and extensive use of these materials by schools for the deaf and special education departments serving non-residential deaf and hearing impaired students.
Authoring Systems: Some Instructional Implications
Authors: MacKnight Carol B. , Balagopalan Santosh
Published: May 2005

The strengths and weaknesses of our four authoring systems are described in terms of their power, ease of use, and productivity. Productivity aids for graphics and logic, tern plating functions, lesson testing, including menu and icon structures are discussed.
A Study of Seven Southeastern Glyph Caves
Authors: Faulkner Charles H.
Published: May 2005

The ceremonial use of caves by prehistoric Indians in the Southeast was firmly established by the discovery and study of Mud Glyph Cave in Tennessee which contained hundreds of drawings including several Southern Cult motifs. This study of seven additional petroglyph and mud glyph caves in the Southeast has confirmed Mississippian religious activities in certain caves and suggests that, although at least one of these caves may have been the setting for ceremonial art as early as the Late Archaic period, caves during this earlier period appear to have been primarily explored and used for mineral extraction. While the meaning of the later Mississippian glyphs will continue to elude us until more decorated caverns are found, the discovery of Southern Cult motifs in caves dating as early as A.D. 1000–1300 in remote areas of the Southeast suggests an early dispersal of this art and association with underground ceremonialism.
Rethinking the Microworld Idea
Authors: Hoyles Celia , Noss Richard , Adamson Ross
Published: May 2005

In this article we reflect on the meaning and evolution of the microworld idea. We point out a crucial distinction between user manipulation and modification at three distinct but mutually dependent levels—the interface, superstructural, and platform levels. We exploit a case study of two 8-year-old girls playing and rebuilding a simple video game, to argue for the importance of ease of interplay between these levels. We reflect on the ways in which newly-created alternatives to textual forms of representation are redefining the utility and power of microworlds, and offering advantages (as well as disadvantages) for mathematical learning in the sense of understanding inference and mechanism—how things work and why.
Moral Reasoning and Consistency of Belief and Behavior: Decisions about Substance Abuse
Authors: Abide Marcia M. , Richards Herbert C. , Ramsay Shula G.
Published: May 2005

In view of implications of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, two hypotheses were considered in two independent studies: a) individuals who consider the use of potentially harmful substances to be morally wrong will be less likely to use such substances than peers who view such activities as a personal choice; and b) compared to those who are less mature, more mature moral reasoners display more consistency between their expressed beliefs about the morality of drug use and their reports of actual drug use. Two samples of college students, 29 men and 59 women in Study 1 and 46 men and 100 women in Study 2, served as participants. All completed questionnaires about their use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs and their beliefs about the morality of using these substances. Participants in Study 2 also responded to the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to assess their level of moral thinking. Results from Study 1 supported hypothesis (a). Findings from Study 2 supported hypotheses (a) and (b).
Value Dilemmas and Public Health: A Psychologist's Perspective
Authors: Smith M. Brewster
Published: May 2005

We are gathered in memory of our valued colleague Andie Knutson, and I feel particularly honored to have been chosen to speak on this occasion. Andie was a few years older than I, but our lives shared many links. We both had had Social Science Research Council Demobilization Awards following World War II experience, and we had both been involved in the early days of public opinion research. After the war, Andie took his Ph.D. at Princeton with Hadley Cantril, whose holistic and phenomenological orientation in psychology was much influenced by his own doctoral mentor, Gordon Allport, who was also mine. (Our common intellectual heritage made me find Andie's research concerns especially congenial.) After directing research and evaluation and behavioral studies in the U.S. Public Health Service with distinction, Andie came to Berkeley in 1957 (just two years before me) to initiate the program in behavioral sciences in the School of Public Health. He joined the Institute of Human Development as Research Associate at the same time that I did. In 1970, a couple of years after I had left Berkeley, he served the Institute as Acting Director.
The Politics of Women's Health: Setting a Global Agenda
Authors: Doyal Lesley
Published: May 2005

The last decade has been marked by a rapid growth in the women's health movement around the world. There has been a marked shift in activities away from the developed countries, as campaigns increase in intensity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The practice of women's health politics has also become increasingly international with sustained and effective collaboration across the north-south divide. Both the goals of these campaigns and their methods vary with the circumstances of the women involved. But despite this diversity, common themes can be identified: reproductive self-determination; affordable, effective, and humane medical care; satisfaction of basic needs; a safe workplace; and freedom from violence.
The Technical Communicator's Role in Bridging the Gap between Arab and American Business Environments
Authors: Lundgren Larae D.
Published: May 2005

Communication between the West and the Middle East has at times been tenuous, disjointed, and ineffective. Due to the ever-increasing global market, it has become essential that American technical communicators cross these geographic, cultural, and language barriers to bridge this historical communication gap. Business with Saudi Arabia particularly has prompted American technical communicators to delve into all cultural and language dynamics of an Arab audience. In essence, the technical communicator must comprehend the impact of Islamic doctrine on the Arab business person; identify the philosophical, religious, historical, and social dynamics of the English/Arab communication process; recognize the fundamental differences between the English language and the Arabic language; and, after assessing the Arab audience and language level, implement the most effective communication strategies for effective communication with a high-context society such as Saudi Arabia.
Parental Influence on Adolescent Sexual Initiation Practices in Ibadan, Nigeria
Authors: Amoran O. E. , Onadeko M. O. , Adeniyi J. D.
Published: May 2005

This community-based study was carried out to determine parental role on adolescents' sexual initiation practice in Ibadan, Nigeria. A random sample of 274 adolescents was selected from the community. Information on socio-demographic characteristics and sexual behaviors were collected using a structured close-ended self-administered questionnaire. A total of 40.5% of the adolescents in the sample were sexually experienced. Early exposure to sex education by mothers was found to encourage early sexual initiation ( p < 0.001). Significantly more adolescents (43.2%) who sought sexual information from their peers were sexually experienced compared with 25.2%, 14.4%, and 17.1% of those who sought information from parents, teachers, and other sources such as media, religious centers, etc., respectively ( p = 0.004). Mothers were more involved in sexuality communication with these adolescents than fathers (40.9% vs. 16.8%). The higher the level of education of the parents, the less likely the adolescents were sexually initiated ( p = 0.004). Furthermore, polygamous family background and loss of one or more parents were found to be associated with early sexual initiation practice ( p = 0.008 and 0.009, respectively). The study shows an increased sexual initiation with parental illiteracy, polygamy, and parental deaths among adolescents in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Race/Ethnicity and Socioeconomic Status: Measurement and Methodological Issues
Authors: Williams David R.
Published: May 2005

This article considers the ways in which race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) relate to each other and combine to affect racial variations in health status. The author reviews a number of methodological issues concerning the assessment of race in the United States that importantly affect the quality of the available data on racial differences in health. These issues include the discrepancy between self-identification and observer-reported race, changing racial classification categories and racial identification, the difficulties in categorizing persons of mixed racial parentage, and census undercount. In discussing the complex interactions between race and SES, the author first describes the relationship between race and SES and assesses the role of SES in accounting for racial differences in health, then shows how the failure of SES to completely account for racial variations in health status emphasizes the need for health researchers to give more systematic attention to the unique factors linked to race that affect health. These factors include racism, migration, acculturation, and the comprehensive assessment of SES.
Race, Poverty and Survival in Multiple Myeloma
Authors: Savage David , Lindenbaum John , Van Ryzin John , Struening Elmer , Garrett T.J.
Published: May 2005

To identify possible interracial differences in the behavior of multiple myeloma, we reviewed the records of 52 black myeloma patients at Harlem Hospital Center (HHC) and 46 black and 46 white controls at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (CPMC). In addition to clinical variables such as tumor burden, azotemia and hypoalbuminemia, we examined the effect of poverty on prognosis using socio-economic indices from the United States census block group data of each patient. The median survival of CPMC black and white patients was comparable (34 and 29 months, respectively) whereas that of the HHC group was 12 months (Breslow test, p < 0.0001). Overcrowding and hypoalbuminemia were the most significant prognostic factors by multivariate regression analysis on all 144 patients ( p = 0.001); for HHC patients, overcrowding was the single significant variable affecting survival ( p = 0.004). By all socio-economic indices, HHC patients were more impoverished than CPMC patients ( p < 0.001); they also presented with more advanced disease. Race is not a significant prognostic factor in myeloma whereas the effect of socio-economic status on survival appears to equal that of previously described clinical features.
Literary vs. Technical Writing: Substitutes vs. Standards for Reality
Authors: Manning Alan D.
Published: May 2005

This article proposes a means of characterizing the difference between technical and literary writing, involving a theory of representation in which these distinct writing types are comparable to distinct types of visual representation. Any difference is only intelligible relative to a background of similarlity, but recent discussions of technical writing emphasize its similarity to literature and ignore significant differences. Distinct types of line drawings replicate the literary/technical contrast in a visual medium. This arises from two factors: 1) the way in which the drawing/text is perceived by the viewer/reader, as a substitute or as a standard; and 2) the predominant type of detail in the drawing/text, iterative or contrastive. Literature is most effective if perceived as a substitute for reality, predominated by iterative detail. Technical writing is most effective if perceived as a standard for evaluating reality, predominated by contrastive detail.
Evaluation of Learning, Performance, and Productivity
Authors: Maher P. D.
Published: May 2005

This presentation informally explores some of the requirements for understanding evaluation goals and techniques in designing learning systems. It attempts to further clarify what is meant by the term or title of “applied learning technologist.” The theme is approached in layman's terms, concentrating on the need for validating both the “learning” requirements and the corresponding “learning system” design. Suggested contents of a curricula for an “applied learning technologist” certificate program are discussed. The results of a survey questionnaire distributed at the presentation are summarized at the end of the paper (see Appendix).
The Relationships of Death Anxiety and Death Depression to Religion and Civilian War-Related Experiences in Iranians
Authors: Roshdieh Simin , Templer Donald I. , Cannon W. Gary , Canfield Merle
Published: May 2005

Of eleven hundred seventy-six Iranian college students, those who were more exposed to war-related traumatic events and those who were less religious had higher death anxiety and death depression. The specific variables that contributed the most variance to both death anxiety and death depression were weaker religious belief, female gender, injury to friends or relatives, death of friends or relatives, not believing in life after death, and maintaining that the most important aspect of religion is life after death. Theoretical and clinical implications were discussed. The greater death anxiety of female Iranians adds to the inference that death anxiety is greater in females, which seems to be a worldwide phenomena.
Psychiatric and Biochemical Correlates of Respiratory Decompensation in a Terminal and Non-Terminal Chronic Pulmonary Disease Patient
Authors: Dudley Donald L. , Rowlett David , Masuda Minoru , Martin C. J.
Published: May 2005

A psychiatric and biochemical study was undertaken at the request of two patients who were thought to be terminally ill by the medical staff. One patient accepted dying and expired from her disease. The other patient wished to continue living and did not die. The dying patient exhibited abnormally high levels of catecholamine excretion which were not associated with verbal reports of anxiety or discomfort and did not seem upset or uncomfortable to the physician and nurses caring for her. The patient who lived had relatively low levels of catecholamine excretion and was anxious, irritable and uncomfortable. The behavior of these two patients differed during the period of acute respiratory failure. The dying patient had given up and felt that she was engaging in goal-directed activity which she would or could not shut off. The patient who lived was frightened of dying and felt that she would overcome her current difficulties and that she was not ready or willing to die. The major cardiovascular differences were those of a significantly lower blood pressure and higher heart rate in the patient who died.
A Different Method of Preparing Scientific and Technical Material
Authors: Payne Buryl
Published: May 2005

The author suggests that scientific and technical material be written at five successive levels of abstraction rather than the two normally employed (the full report and the abstract). Of these five levels, only the higher three would normally be published. The two lowest levels, comprising an author's extensional, first-person statement, and a complete, formal report, would be printed separately and mailed to readers at their request. Such a system would be more efficient than the present method of writing and publishing and have other advantages for both authors and readers.
Evaluating Educational Technology: The Old Shoe
Authors: Christopher G. Ronald
Published: May 2005

Anandam and Kelly present the case for evaluation of two technologies in education-Television and Computer-based instruction [1]. Overlooked in their article was the role of the telephone as an educational technology. This article addresses the effectiveness, extensiveness, and endurance of the telephone as an educational technology delivery method. Initial concern is for effectiveness which if proven leads to extensiveness and possible endurance. The future of the telephone as an independent or complimentary technology appears secure.
When Students and Media Center Work Together
Authors: Boylan Richard F. , Sanford Clarke
Published: May 2005

Media centers have a continual need for self-instruction programs which assist patrons in the operation and use of a variety of equipment. Students involved in media production classes need projects that simulate “real life” situations as closely as possible. Having a client with specific needs — a client who can be demanding with regard to project evaluation, and who can also pay students who produce usable programs — is an ideal way to simulate that “real life” environment.

California State University at Bakersfield merged these two needs. Beginning multimedia students' first assignment was to develop programs for instructing their classmates on how to use audiovisual equipment. The media center director agreed to buy projects that met his standards and fit the center's needs. This cooperative venture between communication classes and the media center served several instructional goals, and afforded many mutual benefits. Students learned valuable lessons in project design, audience analysis, media production, and marketing. The media center provided the faculty instructional support, a motivating context for students to work, and assistance in evaluation. And, by developing self-instruction programs, the students and faculty provided an expanded resource that directly benefited the Media Center's customers.
Rhetoric and the Engineering Approach: Three Axioms
Authors: Mathes J. C.
Published: May 2005

His knowledge of rhetorical principles enables the English teacher to criticize the content as well as the form of a technical report because the report is a verbal model of an object, process, or product. This relationship between content and rhetoric means that the English teacher can base his evaluation of the written work of science and engineering students on these three axioms: Axiom I. Poor rhetoric signals poor technical knowledge. Axiom II. Poor rhetoric manifests unscientific thinking. Axiom III. Poor rhetoric demonstrates a lack of concern for engineering values.
Sex and Marital Status Differences in Death Anxiety
Authors: Cole Michael A.
Published: May 2005

Previous research in death anxiety has suggested that marital roles, and especially the male's role as the family provider, influence the sex differences in death attitudes. This study investigated the effect of marital roles by comparing sex differences in death anxiety scores of married persons with and without children, and of single persons. In addition, twenty demographic covariates were investigated to observe their possible effect on death anxiety. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that marital status was not significantly related to death anxiety. However, single males were found to have significantly higher death anxiety than single females. Whether a family member or friend had died in the last year, education, race, age, and religious preference were also significantly related.
New and Improved Techniques of Medical Communications
Authors: Montague J. F.
Published: May 2005

Medical communications have particpated in the recent development and expansion of the broad field of communications. There are two distinct areas of interest in the field of medical communications—namely, that of academic writing, tailored to the needs of the medical profession and more recently the needs of public health and the other technical medical writing—geared to the needs of the pharmaceutical and medical advertising professions. Both areas have special needs and special techniques for solving these needs. One recent innovation in medical writing has been that of health books written in interview fashion for the general public. Some typographical aids to readers are also suggested in this paper.
Communicating Style Rules to Editors of International Standards: An Analysis of ISO TC 184/SC4 Style Documents
Authors: Warren Thomas L.
Published: May 2005

Committees within international standards organizations write standards. Prior to approval, these standards must pass through several reviews for technical accuracy and stylistic appropriateness. The style considerations are based on documents published by both the umbrella organization (International Organization for Standarization, or ISO) and the various committees and subcommittees within it. Because authors and editors who use these documents frequently do not have English as a first language, the documents must explain unambiguously just how committees should prepare their documents. This study looks at a sample of those instructional documents using Restricted and Elaborated Code and metadiscourse analysis to determine how easily users can read and understand the material. The findings suggest that the documents do not send a clear message to authors and editors and can be stylistically hard to understand. Consequently, the approved standards themselves are hard to read and interpret.
Computer Experience, Self-Concept and Problem-Solving: The Effects of Logo on Children's Ideas of Themselves as Learners
Authors: Burns Barbara , Hagerman Alison
Published: May 2005

The effects of LOGO programming experiences on children's ideas of themselves as learners were examined. Two measures of children's ideas about themselves as learners, the Intellectual Achievement Responsibility (IAR) Scale and performance on an attention task after noncontingent success and failure feedback, were employed with third-grade children before and after four and a half months of LOGO computer programming experiences. The selection of these measures was based on previous work by Carol Dweck and her colleagues on achievement motivation. The control group received computer programming experience, which in contrast to LOGO, did not emphasize the decomposition of complex problems or the recognition of errors as a natural part of problem-solving. As predicted, the children who received LOGO experience showed significant increases on the IAR scale (i.e., increases in internal locus-of-control) and a differential pattern of responding after noncontingent success feedback as compared to the control group. No differences existed between the two groups on noncontingent failure feedback. Results support our proposal that particular qualities of LOGO can increase incremental or mastery-oriented thinking in young children.