bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Professional Portfolio as Heuristic Methodology
Authors: Luescher Andreas
Published: May 2005

The antecedents of literary autobiography as we know it today emerged during the 17th century against a backdrop of the rise of empirical science and inductive method. An arguably older form of autobiography—the portfolio—has, unlike the literary biography, languished on the periphery of academia during our time. While it should not be controversial to say that possession of an heuristic bent is one mark of a successful education (since learning how to think, that is learning how to be open, alert, engaged, is the fundamental mission of the student), the portfolio has been ignored in part because of its modern connotation as a ‘marketing’ tool but perhaps more significantly because as a heuristic methodology it is a threat to the centrality of the pedagogue. I argue that the portfolio deserves at very least a re-evaluation throughout academic (to say nothing of quotidian) life as an indispensable tool of the spirit of pedagogy. Like the autobiography, it is validated by the belief that gathering data or details about individual lives has to precede drawing general conclusions or seeing any overarching patterns.
Effects of Successmaker Computerized Curriculum on the Behavior of Disruptive Students
Authors: Aeby Victor G. , Powell Jack V. , Carpenter-Aeby Tracy
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the effects of the SuccessMaker computerized curriculum upon the psychosocial and academic outcomes of students identified as chronically disruptive. Ninety-four subjects, ages ten to seventeen, assigned to an Alternative Placement Program for a period of 90 to 180 days were included in the study. Results of a t-test analysis revealed a significant difference between pre-treatment and post-treatment outcomes of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Instrument applied to measure the psychosocial variable, self-esteem. The increase in student self-esteem can be explained by success in two areas comprising the SuccessMaker, “Readers Workshop” and “Reading Network.”
How Death Came to Mankind: Myths and Legends
Authors: Corcos Alain , Krupka Lawrence
Published: May 2005

An examination of anthropological data in the form of myths and legends from various less complex societies than our own, regarding the origin of death, reveals several major themes. In the forbidden fruit theme, disobedience to divine commandments results in the death of the offenders and their descendants. In the delayed or wrong message theme, God's message giving immortality to humanity is forgotten, garbled, or delayed by the messenger. In the molting theme, human beings never receive the property of shedding their skin as do some reptiles, thus losing immortality. In the moon theme, humans lose their ability to come back to life as does the new moon. Other themes on the origin of death focus on the banana, overpopulation, anger, greed and jealousy. In the various myths discussed, death is never discussed as a necessary natural condition for humankind. Nevertheless, for these primitive cultures, the myths account in a reasonable manner for death continuing on earth today.
Using Imagery as a Planning and Treatment Guide in Therapy
Authors: Brink Nicholas E.
Published: May 2005

Procedures and case studies of how imagery can provide a means to redefine the problem, an agenda for therapy, information for determining the appropriate interventions, a criteria for evaluating progress, and the appropriate time for termination are presented. Images are evoked using one of several imagery situations. These images may converge on the common dynamic pattern clarifying the problem, represent different aspects of the problem, or represent different problems, depending upon the hypnotic suggestion used in evoking the images. The emerging pattern(s) provide the agenda for therapy. Emotional energy in imagery work is used to determine the appropriate timing and content for the therapeutic interventions. Emotional release provides a means of evaluating progress. When each of the items on the agenda are resolved with an emotional release the time for termination is near at hand.
Computer Games: Increase Learning in an Interactive Multidisciplinary Environment
Authors: Betz Joseph A.
Published: May 2005

Our educational system is compartmentalized into various disciplines. Students learn to solve discipline specific problems rather than complex multidisciplinary problems. Commercially available computer games and simulators do not distinguish between academic disciplines. These games illustrate interactive whole systems, organize and integrate complex skills, and show how individual actions affect complex systems. Computer games and simulators enhance learning through visualization, experimentation, and creativity of play. Increased learning occurs by problem solving in a complex interactive multidisciplinary environment and by “seeing” causal relationships between individual actions and whole systems. The broader implications of using computer games in the classroom are for students to become more effective learners and thinkers enabling them to make connections across the curriculum. This article develops the ideas from the preliminary results of an ongoing experiment in a freshman engineering technology course at SUNY Farmingdale [1].1 The experiment measured an increase in learning using the computer game Sim City 2000.
Nature and Aesthetics: Oblivion and Invention in Technological Experiments
Authors: Imamichi Tomonobu
Published: May 2005

Science is universal. Concerning the idea of science, there is no local characteristics and temporal speciality. Nevertheless, science is made by human individual existence, which is historically limited. Science is, therefore, structured as a process of ascent from the individual experience as special to the scientific dimension as universal. Science is a paradoxical synthese of individual speciality and unpersonal universality.
Drug Education and the College Athlete: Evaluation of a Decision-Making Model
Authors: Tricker Raymond , Connolly Declan
Published: May 2005

In general there is a lack of information describing the components and structure of drug education and prevention programs (DEPP) for college student athletes. While concern about the prevalence of drug abuse among college student athletes has increased, a relative lack of clarity remains regarding what elements of drug education prevention programs have been successful or unsuccessful in this setting. In an effort to address this issue at Oregon State University a two-credit ten-week DEPP was implemented as a requirement for all collegiate athletes. This article describes the evaluation of this program. Altogether 635 student athletes from three National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division One universities provided data in this two-year evaluation project. Participants were student athletes from Oregon State University (OSU), a Mid-Western University (MWU), and another Pacific North-Western University (PNWU). Pre- and post-test data were collected regarding knowledge about drugs, attitudes toward drug use, drug use, and decision-making factors. Students at OSU and MWU were enrolled in a structured DEPP, and the third group from PNWU was used as a control and did not receive regular instruction. The baseline data taken before the drug education course indicated that athletes at OSU, MWU, and PNWU were no different in their knowledge of drugs, attitudes toward drugs, or perception of the value of drug education in preventing drug abuse among student athletes. However, the data at the end of the ten-week course revealed many significant improvements among OSU and MWU students athletes, in knowledge, attitude related to performance enhancing drugs and recreational drugs, and perceptions of drug education. At the end of the course 88 percent of the participating OSU athletes agreed that drug education can be effective in preventing drug abuse among student athletes.
The Role and Rationale of Technical Editors
Authors: Cederborg Gibson A.
Published: May 2005

Technical editors are a unique group that fit neither the pure literary nor the pure technical mold. They must interface these two opposite-polarity disciplines, which is a formidable task. The talent to accomplish this task is required for a qualified editor. Knowledge of background traits and aptitudes, which can be discerned by analyzing the modus operandi of practicing editors, can be valuable in identifying and using technical editors for optimum effectivity in the organization.
Ancient Egyptian Medical Texts: A Rhetorical Analysis of Two of the Oldest Papyri
Authors: Lipson Carol S.
Published: May 2005

The Edwin Smith Surgery Manual and the Ebers Manual are two of the oldest technical texts available for analysis; both illustrate the complex rhetorical dynamics characteristic of ancient Egypt. In both, the contents present or encourage substantive reformulation of medical practice and thinking within a strongly conservative, authoritarian culture. In both, we can see how ancient Egyptian rhetorical forms allowed for challenges to tradition, while simultaneously adhering to the value placed on tradition.
Antidepressants Not Effective in Headache Associated with Minor Closed Head Injury
Authors: Saran Avtar
Published: May 2005

The author compared the response to amitriptyline in headache associated with depression between twelve patients having primary depression (control group) and ten patients with depression after minor closed head injury. In the primary depression group, there was significant reduction in headache and improvement in depression. The minor closed head injury group did not show significant reduction in headache or improvement in depression. The latter group, upon further treatment with phenelzine also showed no reduction in headache or improvement in depression. Results of this study question the earlier reports of the usefulness of amitriptyline in chronic muscle contraction headache and depression associated with minor closed head injury.
WTO Confidential: The Case of Asbestos
Authors: Castleman Barry
Published: May 2005

The World Trade Organization (WTO), created in 1995, adjudicates “trade disputes” between member nations in cases with great human rights, cultural, environmental, and public health significance. Throughout the process of dispute resolution and even after a case is concluded, very little of what happens is made accessible to the public. However, it is one thing to criticize the WTO for its lack of transparency from outside the process, and another to critically examine what was withheld from disclosure and what dangers that presents. This is the inside story from a scientific adviser to one of the parties in a WTO case, analyzing what happened from a public health point of view. This analysis concludes that the public health justification of banning asbestos was accepted in the end by the economists at the WTO, despite the WTO's bias in favoring the party (Canada) making the free trade challenge (to public health legislation, in this case) in numerous stages of the process, despite the WTO's utter lack of expertise in science, medicine, engineering, and public health, and despite important erroneous statements made to the WTO under the cover of confidentiality. Despite its result, this case illustrates that the WTO's threat to national sovereignty could never withstand the light of day, that the people of the world would reject this dangerous free trade fundamentalism if the limitations and dangers of the process were open for all to see.
Effects of Methylphenidate in HIV-Related Depression: A Comparative Trial with Desipramine
Authors: Fernandez Francisco , Levy Joel K. , Samley H. Russell , Pirozzolo Francis J. , Lachar David , Crowley John , Adams Stephen , Ross Becky , Ruiz Pedro
Published: May 2005

This report is a randomized, double-blind, comparative trial of desipramine with the psychomotor stimulant methylphenidate. Twenty HIV antibody-positive patients with depressive symptoms were randomly assigned to either drug. After individual dose titration, the mean daily dose of desipramine was 150 mg. and methylphenidate 30 mg. daily. The differences in responses between desipramine and methylphenidate were not statistically significant on various measures of depression. The antidepressant effect of methylphenidate did not occur any faster than that of desipramine. Both significantly reduced depressive and anxious symptomatology over the blinded portion of the treatments. Thus, methylphenidate relieves depressive symptomatology with efficacy similar to that of desipramine, offering an alternative to patients who are unable to tolerate standard tricyclic antidepressant therapy. The dopaminergic effects of methylphenidate are likely to mediate its antidepressant effects.
Health Practice at the Technologic/Folk Interface: Witchcraft as a Culture-Specific Diagnosis
Authors: Weimer Sanford R. , Mintz Norbett L.
Published: May 2005

“Witchcraft illness” is a widespread belief among many people, even after acculturation to technological concepts of illness etiology. Two cases are presented to show that such beliefs can complicate physical or psychological dysfunctions, or themselves can be the primary origin of physical or psychological dysfunctions. In both instances, witchcraft beliefs take on a dynamic of their own and must be resolved both in terms of the patient's culture as well as the clinician's treatment plan. Considering such phenomena from the vantage point of family systems provides useful insights into etiology as well as amelioration. The latter requires engaging all parties in the health care system—clinician, patient, family, and indigenous health caretakers.
Interactive Two-Way Television vs. In-Person Teaching
Authors: Johnson Glenn Ross , O'Connor Michael , Rossing Robert
Published: May 2005

Are there differences in students' achievement scores and attitudes when the pupils are taught by two different modes: interactive two-way television and live expository teaching?

Thirteen graduate students were enrolled in a university off-campus course: five were instructors at a community college, five worked in a hospital or Veterans Administration facility, and three were instructors at a university. A repeated measures design was used in collecting achievement and attitude data on six class sessions (three in-person expository and three interactive television). Analysis of variance was used with test scores as the dependent variable while the mode of instruction (in-person vs. two-way television), instructional strategy (expository, film, role play/simulation), and content of lesson (eight different sessions) were used as the independent variables. There were no negative student attitudes when the class was taught either in-person or by interactive two-way television. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences when test scores were used as the dependent variable.
Traditional or Digital Photojournalism Education? A Survey of Four-Year Photo Programs and Small Dailies' Photo Needs
Authors: Santana Maria Cristina
Published: May 2005

This article is based on a national survey of schools with a four-year, photography program under a Communication Department, and of national daily newspapers with a circulation under 50,000. The researcher was interested in defining the knowledge needed by a graduate from a photo program to find employment at a small daily newspaper. Department chairs or sequence heads of each college program were asked to fill out the same survey given to the photo editors of the dailies selected. The questions ranged from photo equipment to instruction in digital and word processing software. The results showed both colleges and newspapers are embracing the new technology of computer enhanced instruction. Dailies rated the use of negative or slide scanners as most important, while colleges rated the use of computer software for photography most important. Another result of the survey is that both groups place little significance on medium and large format photography and photography assignments such as food or fashion illustration. Educators rated having a journalism background ninth in importance. This result is interesting when one considers that more than 85 percent of photography programs belong to Journalism Departments. This article explores possible curriculum changes to a Photojournalism/Visual Communication program.
Munchausen's Syndrome with Hematuria and Sepsis: An Unusual Case
Authors: Lazarus Arthur , Kozinn Wesley P.
Published: May 2005

An unusual case of Munchausen's syndrome is described in which a former microbiology technician was suspected of inoculating himself with contaminated material to produce sepsis and ingesting warfarin in the form of rat poison to cause hematuria. This combination of factitious disorders has rarely been reported. Other unusual features included a nonemergent presentation through the hospital emergency room and a clinical profile not typical of previously published cases.
Distress, Stress and Solidarity in Palliative Care
Authors: De Montigny Johanne
Published: May 2005

What does the stoic, silent expression of the terminal cancer patient signify? Clinical observation suggests that this emotional silence is often a physical energy-saving device, essential for survival to the very last breath. Caregivers and survivors may also experience a variety of contradictory and inexpressible emotions in silence. The role of the psychologist on the palliative care unit is to be there for the terminally-ill, as well as for the family/friends, both during the dying and bereavement, and for the caregiver team. This article focuses on the work of decoding ordinary words which for a good number of patients hide a painful past. It also stresses the necessity to remain open to the unexpected and to allow and trust the other to live what happens since there is a constant and unconscious effort to fill the void.
Change, Organization, and Achievement: Teachers' Concerns in Implementing a Computer Learning Environment
Authors: Cumming Alister
Published: May 2005

The viewpoints of two experienced teachers implementing a novel computer program in their grade five and six classes were documented through biweekly debriefing interviews over the period of one school year. The teachers proved to be fundamentally concerned with three issues: learning to accommodate changes required by this innovation; organizing new, efficient classroom routines around the computers; and seeking indications of students' achievements through their uses of the computers. These three considerations appeared integral to the teachers' senses that they were effectively implementing the computer learning environment in their classrooms.
Comments on Health Indicators: Methodological Perspectives
Authors: Bice Thomas W.
Published: May 2005

This paper discusses several basic conceptual and methodological problems in the development and use of health indicators. We observe that two tendencies of the health indicators movement may deter progress toward producing information useful in decision making, namely, the quest for elegant mathematical formulations of health status indexes and the tendency to conceptualize “health” in terms of expansive definitions. To improve the utility of such information, it is suggested that health indicators should measure variables specified by a social system model and should be scaled according to units that are relevant to decision-making criteria.
Advertisements for Medicines in Leading Medical Journals in 18 Countries: A 12-Month Survey of Information Content and Standards
Authors: Herxheimer Andrew , Lundborg Cecilia Stålsby , Westerholm Barbro
Published: May 2005

The information content of 6,710 advertisements for medicines in medical journals was surveyed to provide a baseline for monitoring the effect of WHO's Ethical Criteria for Medicinal Drug Promotion. The advertisements (ads) appeared during 12 months (1987–1988) in 23 leading national medical journals in 18 countries. Local participants, mostly doctors or pharmacists, examined them. The presence or absence in each ad of important information was noted. In most ads the generic name appeared in smaller type than the brand name. Indications were mentioned more often than the negative effects of medicines. The ads gave less pharmacological than medical information. However, important warnings and precautions were missing in half, and side effects and contraindications in about 40 percent. Prices tended to be given only in countries where a social security system pays for the medicines. The information content of ads in the developing countries differed surprisingly little from that in the industrialized countries. Almost all the ads (96 percent) included one or more pictures; 58 percent of these were considered irrelevant. The authors believe it is a mistake to regard ads as trivial. If they are not considered seriously they will influence the use of medicines as they are intended to do, but read critically they can provide useful information.
Building the Brontës: Rationale, Problems and Solutions for a Scholarly Hypertext
Authors: Friesen Peter
Published: May 2005

The Brontës: A Hypertext Edition is a work in progress, an attempt to provide students and scholars with cross-referenced editions, annotations, nineteenth-century critical accounts, and contextual links to the sources for the 1100-odd quotations and allusions within the novels. Bringing together over 100MB of texts and illustrations, the hypertext is designed to be a scholarly critical edition, stressing the interdependence of literary works, noting textual variations, and thoroughly documenting the genesis and foundations of Brontë criticism. Using the Brontë hypertext as an illustration, this article makes note of a few limitations in print editions that a hypertext edition might readily address. In the article's deliberations over theoretical concerns which must accompany a large-scale electronic edition, the need for a range of tagging options is stressed, the limitations of HTML are noted, and alternate hypertext systems are examined.
Secondary Amenorrhea: Two Kinds of Psychogenic Disorder—A Case Report
Authors: Schoenfeld Helen , Amir Varda , Lichtenberg Pesach , Gaulayev B.
Published: May 2005

A brief review of the limited sources in the literature on secondary amenorrhea indicates that this symptom may, in many cases, be psychogenic in origin. The disorder in such instances is often short term, spontaneously reversible, and occurs as a reaction to stress or a traumatic event. Most of these women are basically healthy, psychologically speaking. In some cases, however, this menstrual disturbance may continue for months or longer. In such instances, one may expect to find a neurotic conflict related to feminine identity as the cause. The therapeutic approach in these two alternative forms of secondary psychogenic amenorrhea (SPA) will differ; hence, it is essential that the gynecologist and psychiatrist distinguish between them. A case illustration is presented, describing in detail the treatment of a women with longstanding SPA which resolved with dynamically-oriented psychotherapy.
Some Observations on the Health Services in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Sidel V. W.
Published: May 2005

The observations on health services presented in this paper were made by the author during a one—month visit to the People's Republic of China in September—October 1971 as the guest of the Chinese Medical Association. The first part of the paper describes the following general principles on which current health services in China appear to be based: emphasis on care in the rural areas; integration of traditional Chinese medicine with western medicine; expanded use of community members in health services; decentralization; educational and status changes for health workers; and an ethic of service and cooperation rather than professional satisfaction and competition. The second part describes current practices in the organization of health services, in hospitals, and in maternal and child care. The overall conclusion is that the Chinese have made incredible progress over the past 22 years and have many lessons for other countries.
Tools for Drug and Alcohol Education: Using Decision Worksheets in Personal Problem Solving
Authors: Knight Kevin , Dansereau Donald F.
Published: May 2005

Previous research has indicated that poor decisions with regard to drugs (including alcohol) and other issues involving personal risks often stem from poor decision-making strategies. This study examines the use of decision worksheets in training individuals to employ better decision-making strategies. Forty-two students enrolled at Texas Christian University participated in a two-session, four-hour study. An experimental group and a control group were asked to read decision-making scenarios related to alcohol usage. Participants were then requested to rate a given list of possible alternatives, and to write a persuasive essay defending their ratings. The experimental group was given the same written scenario with a decision worksheet related to the scenario as a supplement. The essays were scored on several dimensions by two raters. Multivariate analyses indicated that the experimental group had higher mean scores than the control group on measures of “overall goodness,” intensity, and inclusion of elements of feasibility, costs, and benefits. In addition to decision worksheets appearing to be a promising approach to training decision-making skills related to alcohol, persuasive essays appear to have promise in evaluating and extending the usage of decision worksheets.
The Nature, Classification, and Generic Structure of Proposals
Authors: Freed Richard C. , Roberts David D.
Published: May 2005

A study of forty current business/technical/professional writing textbooks suggests that little disciplinary agreement exists about what proposals are and how they differ from some kinds of reports; how the various types of proposals should be classified; and what structural features characterize the genre. Though many texts blur the distinction between proposals and internal recommendation reports, the two are never the same. The textbooks present a bewildering array of classification systems, often failing to distinguish between situation and function. A function-based system could divide all proposals into two categories-analytic (research proposals, R&D proposals, and consulting proposals) and service/product, with bids representing a special case. The lack of disciplinary agreement also makes it difficult for textbook users to internalize a generic structure that will serve for all proposal-writing tasks. Such a structure would include the following: situation, objectives, methods, qualifications, costs, and benefits. The major advantages of such a generic structure are its slots, which make it like a schema; its event sequence, which makes it like a script; and its ability to help writers and teachers understand the relationship among the macropropositions that exist explicitly or implicitly in all proposals.
The Corriveau-Kelly Death Anxiety Scale
Authors: Kelly Michelle Nadeau , Corriveau Donald P.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to develop a more reliable and sensitive death anxiety scale. In the first study, Templer's Death Anxiety Scale and a newly-developed scale, the Corriveau-Kelly Death Anxiety Scale, were administered to 108 psychology students at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Test-retest reliability coefficients for Templer's scale and the new instrument were .85 and .95 respectively while internal consistency coefficients for Templer's scale and the new scale were .73 and .95 respectively. In the second study, both death anxiety scales were administered to twenty-six hospice volunteers before and after training. Whereas Templer's scale was not able to detect a statistically significant change ( t = 1.9, p > .05), the new instrument showed a significant decrease in death anxiety after training ( t = 2.6, p = .01). The results of both studies suggest that the new scale appears to be more reliable and more sensitive to experimental outcomes than Templer's scale.
Assessment of Assistive Computer Technology Needs in Students with Learning Disabilities
Authors: Blocher Charles C. , Abwender David A.
Published: May 2005

There is an increasing reliance on assistive computer technology (ACT) for children with learning disabilities (e.g., dyslexia), although no formal system exists for prescribing the most appropriate technological assistance. It appears that many professionals responsible for technology assessments use an informal, subjective, intuitive, or trial and error methodology based on previous experience to prescribe assistive computer technologies for students. The Learning Disabilities Technical Assessment (LDTA) is an objective assessment tool designed to assist practitioners in selecting the most appropriate ACT (e.g., peripheral devices, instructional programs) for each individual. A pilot investigation of the LDTA with seventeen students is described. Although most students completed the assessment without difficulty, their experiences indicate that the LDTA can be improved by reprogramming to increase the speed of item presentation, increase the difficulty level of certain items, and revise the “interests” section to yield more theoretically relevant information.
Deterrent Effect of the Death Penalty: An Extended Time Series Analysis
Authors: Bailey William C.
Published: May 2005

Prompted by a number of important recent Supreme Court decisions, the last few years have witnessed a renewed research interest in the deterrent effect of the death penalty for murder. There has been an attempt by sociologists and economists, to overcome the shortcomings of the classic investigations in this area [1–6]. Recent studies, however, are not without some important limitations [7–10]. The possible implications of one of these limitations–the level of aggregation used in these studies–is discussed in this paper, and an alternative type of analysis is presented in examining the deterrence hypothesis of an inverse relationship between states' levels of execution and homicide rates. Contrary to the hypothesis, a series of multiple regression analyses, utilizing different models of the execution rate-homicide rate relationship fails to provide general support for the deterrence argument. Analysis shows a few select sociodemographic factors (income, education, unemployment, urban population, race) to be better predictors of states' homicide rates than use of the death penalty. Some policy implications of these findings are discussed, as well as limitations of the analysis.
The Disposition of Aids Imagery inNew York Times'Obituaries
Authors: Alali A. Odasuo
Published: May 2005

Analysis of 100 AIDS death obituaries published in the New York Times indicates that the imageries in these obituaries reflect much about the American society: about attitudes toward homosexuality, attitudes toward AIDS, and our understanding of the linkages between sexual practices and AIDS. Overall, the analysis suggests that the construction of AIDS obituaries in the New York Times may be manifestations of the American sociopolitical structure and a consequence of the bias and prejudice about homosexuality which appears to facilitate the rapid convergence of public fear and attitudes about AIDS.
A Condom Skill Scale: Assessing Condom Skills among Female Drug Users
Authors: Farris Coreen A. , Fenaughty Andrea M. , Lindemann Dana F.
Published: May 2005

Use of latex condoms is a primary form of sexual risk reduction, and consequently many intervention programs have focused efforts on increasing condom use among high-risk populations. Use alone, however, will not fully protect the individual if condoms are not used correctly. The objective of this study was to describe the development and properties of a scale measuring demonstrated condom use skill using a sample of 261 drug-using women. Guttman's coefficient of reproducibility and Jackson's Plus Percentage Ratio (PPR) were used to determine the scalability of the Condom Skill Scale (CSS). Analysis of scale scores revealed high levels of condom skill among the population, although there was reduced performance for three items. Preliminary analysis suggests that the CSS is a potentially valid and reliable instrument, and may have application as a tool assessing condom skill level.
Older Adults' Preferences for Informal, Formal, and Mixed Support for Future Care Needs: A Comparison of Germany and the United States
Authors: Pinquart Martin , Sörensen Silvia
Published: May 2005

Based on the complementary model of support use, we investigated older adults' preferences for short-term and long-term future care needs in a U.S. and a German sample (65+ years). A greater preference for the exclusive use of informal support and for mixed support (a combination of informal and formal support) was found with regard to short-term care needs whereas a greater preference for the exclusive use of formal support was reported for long-term care needs. German seniors were more likely than U.S. seniors to report a preference for informal support. U.S. seniors, however, were more likely than German seniors to prefer mixed support. Being male, and having more contact with relatives predicted stronger preferences for informal and mixed support. In addition, age, the number of adult children, previous receipt of support, education, and income were associated with preferences for future support.
Imagination, Absorption and Subjective Time Estimation
Authors: Glicksohn Joseph , Mourad Boaz , Pavell Eyal
Published: May 2005

We report an exploratory study that investigated the interaction of trait and task in determining duration judgment. High and low absorption subjects (determined by median split along the Absorption Scale) viewed a series of paired slides, and were required to relate to each pair in one of two tasks: A metaphor-production task, and a story-production one. These tasks were carried out for an objective interval of fifteen minutes, following which the subject was required to verbally estimate this duration, retrospectively. In addition, from the individual protocols we measured the average time till response and the average time of response. A significant interaction between absorption and task was obtained for the latter two variables. In addition, a main effect for task was found for the duration estimation. These and other results are assessed in terms of both a cognitive-timer model for time estimation and a contextualistic approach to temporal processing.
The Effectiveness of Internally-Generated Feedback with an Instructional Expert System
Authors: Grabinger R. Scott , Pollock Joellyn
Published: May 2005

An expert system was developed and included as a feedback stimulus component of an instructional unit that taught the production of graphics instructional materials. The expert system was used to help students generate their own feedback about the quality of their production projects. Implementation of the expert system raised questions about its effects on processing activities and learning. To investigate these questions, a total of forty-three students were assigned to either an internal (provided by expert system) or external (provided by an instructor) feedback condition. Internally-generated feedback, stimulated by the expert system, proved as effective as externally provided feedback in the learning of the production tasks and improved both the learning and application of evaluation criteria in a complex evaluation task. The internal feedback group were also more creative in their evaluations. Students who used the expert system held positive opinions about its use.
A Qualitative Analysis of Scaffolding Use in a Resource-Based Learning Environment Involving the World Wide Web
Authors: Greene Barbara A. , Land Susan M.
Published: May 2005

A qualitative analysis of eighteen college students using different types of scaffolding (instructional supports) while working on a World Wide Web (WWW) project was conducted. Four different support mechanisms were examined: a) WWW resources; b) procedural guidelines for the instructional activity; c) student-student interactions; and d) instructor-student interactions. Three major findings related to use of the WWW as a resource-based learning environment are discussed: a) the utility of scaffolds and WWW resources seem dependent on the ability of learners to readily grasp how the scaffold or resource could help them; b) learners' preconceptions and search strategies were difficult to alter, despite ongoing evidence that searching was not leading to project clarification; and c) social scaffolding based on face to face dialogue with instructors and peers was critical to helping learners manage the complexity of the open-ended project. Implications related to the role of instructional scaffolding in encouraging shared meaning and learning with WWW resources are considered.
On the Rationality of Fear of Death
Authors: Walton Douglas
Published: May 2005

This article discusses the bearing of some arguments on the rationality of death fear on the hypothesis of the secular conception of death, namely, that death entails complete extinction of consciousness. Variants of three arguments are evaluated: (1) If the dead experience nothing, and only the (broadly) painful is fearful, then death should not be feared; (2) Being deprived of something we desire is fearful, thus death, as a deprivation, might be rationally feared; (3) It is not rational to fear non-premature death because lifespan longer than the normal is not desirable for the rational person.
Ethics of Death and Dying: Historical Perspective
Authors: Gruman Gerald J.
Published: May 2005

The ethical dilemmas surrounding dying and death today can be understood more adequately when placed in an historical perspective. The methodology of intellectual history is employed to examine the sequence of cultural stages from prehistory to the contemporary scene, using the concept of the death system (Kastenbaum) as an organizing formulation. It is suggested in conclusion that a modern version of the meliorist ethos can lend support to the on-going modes of biomedical research and the application of the activist therapeutic principle in medical practice. Humanity has labored and suffered too much to abandon hope at this time and either submerge the personality of the individual or turn to a nihilistic “death worship” (Borkenau).
A “Relationship as Complicated as it Deserves”: Thomas Mann and Psychoanalysis
Authors: Rabkin Leslie Y.
Published: May 2005

Thomas Mann's engagement with psychoanalysis and Freud is an interesting sidebar in the story of the interrelationship of artistic creativity and analysis. In his struggle to assimilate and accommodate to psychoanalysis as he understood it, Mann raises the threat of the reductionism of the analytic enterprise to the artist. Mann and Freud, in their correspondence and personal contacts, engaged in a temperate, but serious agonistic contest focusing on Freud's concern that his work be seen as science not philosophy, and that psychoanalysis was a de novo creation, and Mann's interest in situating Freud in the line of his Romantic heroes, such as Goethe, Schoepenhauer, and Nietzsche. Their agon was also colored by the barbarous cultural context of Europe in the 1930s.
Karoshi—Death from Overwork: Occupational Health Consequences of Japanese Production Management
Authors: Nishiyama Katsuo , Johnson Jeffrey V.
Published: May 2005

There is considerable international interest in Japanese production management (JPM), known in the West as “lean production.” Advocates of this new form of management argue that it improves both economic productivity and health. In Japan, however, the relationship between JPM and sudden death due to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease has been an important topic of debate since the 1970s. Japanese have named these types of deaths karoshi, which means “death from overwork.” In North America and Western Europe a number of studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between high job strain (high production demands and low levels of control and social support) and cardiovascular disease. This article reviews the elements of JPM and examines their potential health consequences. The authors present an overview of karoshi, discuss its possible connections to specific ideological and organizational characteristics of JPM, and suggest the job strain mechanism as a possible pathway between karoshi and JPM. They conclude by discussing the need for comparative research that examines the health effects of work organization and management methods cross-culturally.
Effects of Narrative Structure and Emotional Content on Cognitive and Evaluative Responses to Film and Text
Authors: Roberts Daniel S. L. , Cowen Paul S. , Macdonald Brenda E.
Published: May 2005

One hundred and twenty subjects were randomly assigned to six groups and asked to recall emotional, important, and secondary information presented in either the film or text adaptation of the same story of which three versions varied in their adherence to or deviation from a conventional narrative grammar. Recall differed significantly according to story structure and medium. In general, negative emotions and secondary information were better recalled. Recall of important information was only superior when versions were linear. There were interactions between story structure and the emotional valence of information as well as between structure and the importance of information recalled. Comprehension and impressions of the main protagonists also depended upon narrative structure. Subjects had significantly more favorable impressions of the victimized female protagonist than of her male opponent only when the story structure was linear. Deviations from linearity had significantly different effects depending upon the category of aesthetic judgment. Evaluations of the protagonists and of the film or text were explained in terms of a two factor model of emotions and the entertainment value of suspense.
Bibliography of Articles on the History of Technical Writing
Authors: Brockmann R. John
Published: May 2005

This collection of thirty-six articles exposes the problem and the promise of historical research in technical writing. The central problem is that historical research in technical writing has too often been focused only on celebrated authors or scientists as technical writers. The central promise contained in some very recent essays is that historical research in technical communications is beginning to consider the slow evolution of technical communication taking place across a broad spectrum of both celebrated and uncelebrated writers. This historical approach, though more difficult to carry out, is immensely more accurate and meaningful.
Literacy: Mirror of Society
Authors: De Bakey Lois
Published: May 2005

Functional illiteracy among students and graduates today is a grave concern of parents, educators, employers, and others. Literacy is a function of society, and among the most powerful of its social determinants are family and home, peer groups, the school, and the mass media. The social ferment in America during the past few decades, the recent predilection for oral communication, and the propagation of mass language have all had an impact on verbal proficiency. So have the reduced exposure to good books, the fewer opportunities of the young to hear and participate in conversations with adults, and the general laxity in social behavior, in moral values, and in linguistic and academic standards. So long as literacy is de-emphasized, devalued, and uncompensated, young people will have little incentive to learn to master the arts of speaking, reasoning, reading, and writing. Any improvement in the state of literacy will therefore await its restoration to a position of respect and reward. The fate of our nation, bound up as it is with the state of literacy, will depend on whether we effect that restoration.
Natural Death and the Noble Savage
Authors: Walter Tony
Published: May 2005

The belief that dying and grieving are natural processes is widely held in modern palliative and bereavement care. The article examines four assumptions often made in this connection: 1) that most primitive cultures deal with death in an accepting way, 2) that this way is different from our own, 3) that it is a good and noble way, and 4) that traditional societies see death as natural. These assumptions are not clearly supported by evidence; they draw their plausibility from the myth of the noble savage. Humane approaches to dying and grieving today should be grounded not in mythical notions of the natural, but in the on-going project to develop ways of dying and grieving appropriate to our own time and place.
Hypermedia Navigation Profiles: Cognitive Characteristics and Information Processing Strategies
Authors: Macgregor S. Kim
Published: May 2005

This study provides insights about how learning with hypermedia is mediated by system design and learner cognition. Videotaped observations were made of seventh and eleventh grade students using a commercially produced instructional hypermedia system. Analysis revealed differences among students in the paths taken, the type of nodes visited, the amount of time spent at each node, and think-aloud verbalizations. Three profiles of hypermedia navigation emerged from the data with each style characterized by a distinct set of information processing strategies. Analysis of the characteristics of the learners revealed that the students within each profile group had similar levels of prior knowledge, need for cognition, and self-efficacy. Student-generated concept maps appeared to be influenced by both the organization of knowledge within the system and navigation performance. Implications related to the design and use of hypermedia systems are considered.
Globalization and Global Health
Authors: Berlinguer Giovanni
Published: May 2005

Along with the positive or negative consequences of the globalization of health, we can consider global health as a goal, responding to human rights and to common interests. History tells us that after the “microbial unification” of the world, which began in 1492, over three centuries elapsed before the recognition of common risks and attempts to cope with them in a cross-boundary effort. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the struggle against epidemics united countries, world health became a common goal, and considerable results were achieved. However, in recent decades the notion of health as a cornerstone of economic development has been replaced by the idea that public health and health services are an obstacle to the wealth of nations. Meanwhile, new common threats are growing: among them, the exacerbation of old infections and emergence of new ones, the impact of environmental changes, drug traffic on a world scale, and destructive and self-destructive violence. New and stronger empirical motives relate the interests of peoples to universal rights and to global health. The author concludes with some proposals for policies.