bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Methodology to Derive Radar Reflectivity–Liquid Equivalent Snow Rate Relations Using C-Band Radar and a 2D Video Disdrometer
Authors: Huang Gwo-Jong , Bringi V. N. , Cifelli Robert , Hudak David , Petersen W. A.
Published: July 2009

The objective of this work is to derive equivalent radar reflectivity factor–liquid equivalent snow rate (Ze–SR) power-law relations for snowfall using the C-band King City operational weather radar and a 2D video disdrometer (2DVD). The 2DVD provides two orthogonal views of each snow particle that falls through its 10 cm × 10 cm virtual sensor area. The “size” parameter used here for describing the size distribution is based on the “apparent” volume computed from the two images, and an equivolume spherical diameter Dapp is defined. The determination of fall speed is based on matching two images corresponding to the same particle as it falls through two light planes separated by a precalibrated separation distance. A new “rematching” algorithm was developed to improve the quality of the fall speed versus Dapp as compared with the original matching algorithm provided by the manufacturer.

The snow density is parameterized in the conventional power-law form , where α and β are assumed to be variable. To account for strong horizontal winds that tend to decrease the measured concentrations from the 2DVD, a third parameter γ is introduced. The methodology estimates the three parameters (α, β, and γ) by minimizing the difference between the radar-measured reflectivity and the equivalent reflectivity computed from the 2DVD in a least squares sense. The optimally determined values of α, β, and γ are used to estimate the SR and the coefficient and exponent of the Ze = a(SR)b relation. For validation, the accumulation from the SR is compared with the manually recorded accumulations from the double-fence international reference (DFIR) gauge. The data were collected during the Canadian Cloudsat Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) Validation Project (C3VP) conducted in Ontario, Canada, during the 2006/07 winter season. A total of seven snow days were analyzed and the accumulation intercomparisons gave a fractional standard deviation of 26% and normalized bias 2.1%. The range of the a and b values for the seven days appear reasonable and similar to conventional Ze–R relations.
A Total Lightning Trending Algorithm to Identify Severe Thunderstorms
Authors: Gatlin Patrick N. , Goodman Steven J.
Published: July 2009

An algorithm that provides an early indication of impending severe weather from observed trends in thunderstorm total lightning flash rates has been developed. The algorithm framework has been tested on 20 thunderstorms, including 1 nonsevere storm, which occurred over the course of six separate days during the spring months of 2002 and 2003. The identified surges in lightning rate (or jumps) are compared against 110 documented severe weather events produced by these thunderstorms as they moved across portions of northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. Lightning jumps precede 90% of these severe weather events, with as much as a 27-min advance notification of impending severe weather on the ground. However, 37% of lightning jumps are not followed by severe weather reports. Various configurations of the algorithm are tested, and the highest critical success index attained is 0.49. Results suggest that this lightning jump algorithm may be a useful operational diagnostic tool for severe thunderstorm potential.
Interpolation of Tidal Levels in the Coastal Zone for the Creation of a Hydrographic Datum
Authors: Turner J. F. , Iliffe J. C. , Ziebart M. K. , Wilson C. , Horsburgh K. J.
Published: July 2009

As part of the U.K. Hydrographic Office (UKHO)-sponsored Vertical Offshore Reference Frames (VORF) project, a high-resolution model of lowest astronomical tide (LAT) with respect to mean sea level has been developed for U.K.–Irish waters. In offshore areas the model relies on data from satellite altimetry, while in coastal areas data from a 3.5-km-resolution hydrodynamic tide-surge model and tide gauges have been included. To provide for a smooth surface and predict tidal levels in unobserved areas, the data have been merged and interpolated using the thin plate spline method, which has been appropriately tuned by an empirical prediction test whereby observed values at tide gauges were removed from the solution space and surrounding data used to predict its behavior. To allow for the complex coastal morphology, a sea distance function has been implemented within the data weighting, which is shown to significantly enhance the solution. The tuning process allows for independent validation giving a standard error of the resulting surface of 0.2 m for areas with no tidal observations.
Estimating Surface Divergence of Ocean Eddies Using Observed Trajectories from a Surface Drifting Buoy
Authors: Brassington Gary B.
Published: July 2009

A method is described that estimates the time evolution of surface divergence and other secondary circulation properties of an ocean eddy. The method is novel because it is applied to the observations of a single surface drifting buoy. Surface drifting buoys located on ocean eddies provide Lagrangian trajectories that orbit the local extremum in geopotential. At each instance, the position of the buoy lies on the boundary of a closed material surface over the eddy. Assuming, on an ocean eddy, that the material boundary points vary smoothly in time, a method is developed to estimate all points along this boundary. An ellipse is fitted to the approximated material boundary to provide a continuum of properties, including centroid, aspect ratio, orientation, and area. The time rate of change of these properties provides approximations to the eddy velocity, moment of inertia, secondary rotation, and surface divergence. Two surface drifting buoys deployed on an anticyclonic eddy in the East Australian Current are used to demonstrate the analysis method. The estimated surface divergence is compared and interpreted using the observed separation of the two drifting buoys and other independent observations.
A Method to Estimate Three-Dimensional Thermal Structure from Satellite Altimetry Data
Authors: Takano Akiko , Yamazaki Hidekatsu , Nagai Takeyoshi , Honda Osamu
Published: July 2009

A new empirical method to estimate mesoscale three-dimensional oceanic thermal structures from near-real-time satellite altimetry data is presented. The method uses a two-layer model with a novel set of empirical parameters for stratification. Empirical parameters, which are calculated from altimetry data and in situ temperature and salinity profiles obtained from globally distributed Argo floats, allowed for significant increases in the spatiotemporal mapping of mesoscale temperature distributions. The accuracy of the method was validated by comparing the estimated isothermal depths with in situ temperature data. Three case studies in different regions and seasons showed excellent agreement, with a strong linear correlation between the estimated and observed isothermal depths. The authors present the details of the method, discuss its limitations, and demonstrate the ecological relevance of the method for fisheries management by successfully predicting pelagic fish distributions.
Intercomparison of Spatial Forecast Verification Methods: Identifying Skillful Spatial Scales Using the Fractions Skill Score
Authors: Mittermaier Marion , Roberts Nigel
Published: July 2009

The fractions skill score (FSS) was one of the measures that formed part of the Intercomparison of Spatial Forecast Verification Methods project. The FSS was used to assess a common dataset that consisted of real and perturbed Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model precipitation forecasts, as well as geometric cases. These datasets are all based on the NCEP 240 grid, which translates to approximately 4-km resolution over the contiguous United States.

The geometric cases showed that the FSS can provide a truthful assessment of displacement errors and forecast skill. In addition, the FSS can be used to determine the scale at which an acceptable level of skill is reached and this usage is perhaps more helpful than interpreting the actual FSS value. This spatial-scale approach is becoming more popular for monitoring operational forecast performance.

The study also shows how the FSS responds to forecast bias. A more biased forecast always gives lower FSS values at large scales and usually at smaller scales. It is possible, however, for a more biased forecast to give a higher score at smaller scales, when additional rain overlaps the observed rain. However, given a sufficiently large sample of forecasts, a more biased forecast system will score lower. The use of percentile thresholds can remove the impacts of the bias.

When the proportion of the domain that is “wet” (the wet-area ratio) is small, subtle differences introduced through near-threshold misses can lead to large changes in FSS magnitude in individual cases (primarily because the bias is changed). Reliable statistics for small wet-area ratios require a larger sample of forecasts.

Care needs to be taken in the choice of verification domain. For high-resolution models, the domain should be large enough to encompass the length scale of the typical mesoscale forcing (e.g., upper-level troughs or squall lines). If the domain is too large, the wet-area ratios will always be small. If the domain is too small, fluctuations in the wet-area ratio can be large and larger spatial errors may be missed.

The FSS is a good measure of the spatial accuracy of precipitation forecasts. Different methods are needed to determine other patterns of behavior.
Back Pain as the Only Presenting Symptom of Intussusception: A Case Report
Authors: DeGoff William , Anderson Jane E. , Tina Chen
Published: July 2009

Intussusception can often be a difficult diagnosis as many children do not present with the typical findings of abdominal pain, vomiting, and hematochezia. The authors report the case of a young child who presented with back pain as the only symptom of intussusception. We encourage pediatricians to consider this diagnosis in any child with episodes of intermittent abdominal or back pain.
Origins and Consequences of Schools’ Organizational Culture for Student Achievement
Authors: Dumay Xavier
Published: July 2009

Purpose: Most studies on the impact of school culture focus only on teachers’ average perceptions and neglect the possibility that a meaningful increment to the prediction of school effectiveness might be provided by the variance in teachers’ culture perceptions. The objectives of this article are to (a) better understand how teachers’ collective decision making and principal’s leadership are related to the schools’ culture homogeneity and (b) test the moderating role of the schools’ culture homogeneity on the relationship between four cultural scales and the schools’ mathematics achievement. Method: The sample of this study consisted of 2,595 students nested in 52 schools and 125 classes from the French-speaking community of Belgium. Students performed two mathematics achievement tests and answered a self-reported questionnaire on their backgrounds. All the teachers ( n = 817) of the 52 schools answered a self-reported questionnaire dealing with the principal’s leadership, school culture, and teacher collegiality. Hypotheses are tested using correlation, regression, and hierarchical regression analyses. Research Findings: First, it was found that culture homogeneity is positively associated with (a) the principal’s transformational leadership (TL) and (b) the teachers’ collective decision making relative to pedagogical aspects. Second, it was shown that the impact of TL on culture homogeneity is partially mediated by teachers’ collective decision making. Third, the analyses found no moderation effect of culture homogeneity on the relationship between cultural values and students’ achievement but did show partial evidence of such an effect in specific groups of schools (with low or high socioeconomic status composition). Implications: This study provides a deeper understanding of how social arrangements and leadership processes within schools contribute to the emergence of collective cultural values. But the results also shed light on the weak associations between cultural values and student achievement, even when considering an appropriate definition and conceptualization of the school culture.
Linking Professional, School, Demographic, and Motivational Factors to Desire for Principalship
Authors: Walker Allan , Kwan Paula
Published: July 2009

Purpose: This study attempts to link four groups of contextual factors to vice principals’ desire for principalship using regression analysis. Relevant items representing context are grouped under professional, school, demographic, and motivational factors. The findings aim to provide greater understanding of the desire, or lack thereof, of vice principals to become principals. Research Design: A questionnaire was sent to all secondary school vice principals in Hong Kong. Respondents were asked to indicate on a 4-point Likert-type scale their degree of involvement in a set of professional work dimensions and to rate their agreement with motivational items to describe their needs. They were also asked to provide information about their school and demographic background. Of the 803 questionnaires distributed, 331 were returned, giving a response rate of 41.2%. Findings: A number of professional, demographic, and motivational factors appeared to link to vice principals’ desire for principal positions. These included involvement in professional development in school, a personal desire to keep learning, the applicants’ age, and their predisposition to disregard relational factors. Conclusions: Vice principals who have a stronger desire for personal growth and who are more actively involved in professional development opportunities in their schools have a greater desire to become principals. On the other hand, vice principals who value harmonious working relationships are less inclined to apply for principalships. Further professional development is necessary to increase both the quality and the quantity of principal aspirants. This should recognize the power of ingrained beliefs and norms and be built around human resource issues.
Demands for UN and Non-UN Peacekeeping
Authors: Gaibulloev Khusrav , Sandler Todd , Shimizu Hirofumi
Published: July 2009

This article presents alternative estimates for the demand for UN and non-UN peacekeeping. Generally, three-way fixed-effects models, which account for the country, year, and conflict region, provide the best estimates. The demand for UN peacekeeping is primarily influenced by the contributions of other nations (i.e., spillins), with spillin elasticity not significantly different from 1. For non-UN peacekeeping, both spillins and country-specific interests in the conflict region influence contributions. These peacekeepers’ interests include trade and FDI concerns, along with proximity to the conflict. Peacekeeping missions appear partitioned: UN missions for global public benefits and non-UN missions for peacekeeper-specific benefits.
Investigating the Role of Two Types of Understanding in Relationship Well-Being: Understanding Is More Important Than Knowledge
Authors: Pollmann Monique M. H. , Finkenauer Catrin
Published: July 2009

Understanding is at the heart of intimate relationships. It is unclear, however, whether understanding—partners’ subjective feeling that they understand each other—or knowledge—partners’ accurate knowledge of each other—is more important for relationship well-being. The present article pits these two types of understanding against each other and investigates their effects on relationship well-being. In a prospective study among 199 newlywed couples, partners’ self-reported and perceived understanding and their knowledge in different domains were assessed. Understanding was independent of knowledge. Self-reported and perceived understanding predicted relationship well-being but neither type of knowledge did. Thus, subjectively feeling that one understands and is understood by one’s partner appears to be more important to relationship well-being than actually knowing and being known by one’s partner.
Fatherhood and Men’s Lives at Middle Age
Authors: Eggebeen David J. , Dew Jeffrey , Knoester Chris
Published: July 2009

This article uses data on 2,024 men who were followed through the third wave of the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the implications of fatherhood experiences for men’s involvement in altruistic social activities at middle age. We find that middle-aged men (ages 45-65) who at some point in their lives become fathers are significantly more likely to have altruistically oriented social relationships and be involved in service organizations compared with men who have never become fathers. Furthermore, it appears that the defining aspect of the effect of fatherhood is the level of engagement with children while they are growing up. Neither current residential status nor whether current nonresidence occurs because of nest leaving is found to distinguish men’s altruistic ties.
Reflections on Language and Social Psychology Research From ICLASP11, Tucson, Arizona
Authors: Pitts Margaret J. , Harwood Jake
Published: July 2009

This introductory essay outlines the rationale for this special issue. It reports on the background to the International Conferences on Language and Social Psychology (ICLASPs) and establishes the importance of a special issue representing the work from ICLASP11, held in Tucson, Arizona, in the summer of 2008. After describing the keynote presentations at the conference, specific articles making up the special issue are introduced. Finally, the future of the conferences is addressed with the announcement of the location for ICLASP12 (Brisbane, Australia).
Conflict-Initiating Factors in Intergenerational Relationships
Authors: Zhang Yan Bing , Lin Mei-Chen
Published: July 2009

This study examined American young adults’ written accounts of intergenerational communication with a focus on factors that initiate conflict. Analysis of the conflict scenarios in intergenerational relationships revealed seven types of initiating factors. Results also indicated that the type of relationship with older adults was associated with the frequency distribution of five of the seven initiating factors. Specifically, young adults perceived they were criticized and rebuffed by nonfamily elders more frequently than by family elders, whereas young people tended to disagree with and rebuff family elders more than nonfamily elders. Furthermore, young people reported more incidents of illegitimate demand from family elders than from nonfamily elders. Results are discussed with respect to intergenerational communication research and the communication predicament of aging model.
False Faces and Broken Lives: An Exploratory Study of the Interaction Behaviors Used by Male Sex Offenders in Relating to Victims
Authors: Campbell Anna Marie
Published: July 2009

This study examines the use of self-presentation strategies and manipulation by male sex offenders in grooming a victim for a sexual relationship. The study finds that male sex offenders use multiple categories of self-presentation strategies in their interactions with victims with the supplication strategy being present in a majority of reports of such interactions. Furthermore, the research reveals that the male sex offender uses manipulation to isolate and groom the victim for a sexual relationship in conjunction with coercive tactics to ensure the victim does not reveal the true nature of their relationship to other people. Findings are discussed in the context of luring communication theory and applications of the findings.
Convergence and Contact in Milwaukee: Evidence From Select African American and White Vowel Space Features
Authors: Purnell Thomas C.
Published: July 2009

Past sociophonetic research on African American speakers of the Inland North dialect of American English suggests that speakers in the region do not participate in vowel changes observed among White speakers. Speaker identity to a pan—African American dialect has been often implied as militating against participation in White sound changes.Yet most of these studies analyze vowels as static and single data points, although vowels are known to be articulatorily and perceptually dynamic. It is unclear, then, whether situations involving phonetic convergence co-occur with different vowel properties than previously reported. This study investigates vowel dynamics (raising of vowel qualities and elongation of diphthongs) to test accommodation by Black speakers in southeastern Wisconsin toward White speakers. Results reveal that Black—White contact—either synchronically in an interview or diachronically from historical employment and housing discrimination—influences vowel-quality position and diphthong elongation in vowel space.
Familial Transmission of Human Longevity Among the Oldest-Old in China
Authors: Danzhen You  , Danan Gu  , Zeng Yi
Published: July 2009

This paper investigates the relationship between longevity of parents and exceptional longevity (survival to age 80 or older) of offspring, using data from the first three waves of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. We apply the Fixed-Attributes Dynamics method and logistic regression models to the data. Results of both methods show that the familial transmission of longevity exists at very old ages, and the transmission is same-sex linked between parents and offspring; that is, there is a strong father-son resemblance of longevity and a strong mother-daughter resemblance of longevity, but a non-significant or weak association of longevity between father and daughter or between mother and son.
Responding to Community Needs Utilizing a Consultative Approach
Authors: Gutow Mindy R. , Rynkewitz Stefanie , Reicher Shira R.
Published: July 2009

The role of the school psychologist has evolved from serving as a gatekeeper for special education eligibility to that of a change agent within the school. This shift in professional focus positions school psychologists with the capacity to make an impact beyond the school setting. This article provides an example of how the consultative skills that school psychologists utilize daily within schools, may be applied to the community setting. A description of the collaborative consultation process will be presented as it was applied to a community agency working with Latino child witnesses of domestic violence. Modifications to the model are also discussed.
Head Trauma in Children, Part 2: Course and Discharge With Outcome
Authors: Kapapa Thomas , König Kathrin , Pfister Ulrike , Sasse Michael , Woischneck Dieter , Heissler Hans , Rickels Eckhard
Published: July 2009

To minimize the secondary brain damage, we analyzed the effect of cerebral perfusion pressure—orientated management and tried to find factors of clinical management and biochemical findings that influence clinical, cognitive, and psychosocial outcome. Management at intensive care unit was standardized. A standardized (short form 36 health survey) and nonstandardized split questionnaire explored long-term outcome. Glutamic-oxaloacetic-transaminase, creatine kinase MB or glucose are markers for bad outcome (P < .05). Patients with cerebral perfusion pressure values below the recommended standard for just a single occurrence had significantly worse outcome (P = .0132). Mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, and heart rate alone do not correlate with outcome. At least 1 occurrence of mean arterial pressure and central venous pressure below the lower limits resulted in a poor outcome (P = .035). Cerebral perfusion pressure—guided therapy seems to prevent further brain damage and results in outcome scores that are comparable to those children with head trauma exhibiting symptoms of mild brain edema.
Pediatric High-Grade Gliomas and Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas
Authors: Fangusaro Jason
Published: July 2009

Pediatric high-grade gliomas represent approximately 10% of all pediatric brain tumors. Similar to adult high-grade gliomas, they behave very aggressively, and these children have a very poor prognosis despite a variety of therapies that include chemotherapy and radiotherapy. In this review, we present an overview of both pediatric high-grade gliomas and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas with a focus on their epidemiology, etiology, presentation, prognostic factors, biology, treatment modalities, outcomes, and future research directions.
Heteronormativity and Homonormativity as Practical and Moral Resources
Authors: Rosenfeld Dana
Published: July 2009

Studies of heteronormativity have emphasized its normative content and repressive functions, but few have considered the strategic use of heteronormative and homonormative precepts to shape sexual selves, public identities, and social relations. Adopting an interactionist approach, this article analyzes interviews with homosexual elders to uncover their use of heteronormative premises (specifically, the presumption of heterosexuality, and the gender binary) to pass as heterosexual. Informants also used homonormative precepts, grounded in a postwar, pre-gay liberation assimilationist homosexual politics they adopted in their early years and maintained in later life, to justify passing and to frame their understanding and evaluation of past and present homosexual practices. Viewed through a homonormative lens, heteronormativity provided the tools for personal survival in a hostile society and for the collective production of a respectable homosexual culture. Informants’ strategic use of heteronormativity can help explain heteronormativity’s survival despite the incoherence and fragility of its content.
Incorporating Customer Lifetime Value Into Marketing Simulation Games
Authors: Cannon Hugh M. , Cannon James N. , Schwaiger Manfred
Published: July 2009

Notwithstanding the emerging prominence of customer lifetime value (CLV) and customer equity (CE) in the marketing literature during the past decade, virtually nothing has been done to address these concepts in the literature on simulation and gaming. This article addresses the failing, discussing the nature of CLV and CE and demonstrating how they might be incorporated into marketing simulations.
Using Narratives to Understand Older People’s Decision-Making Processes
Authors: Tetley Josephine , Grant Gordon , Davies Susan
Published: July 2009

Despite the availability of health and social care services designed to support people in their own homes, older people often underuse or refuse these services. It is now acknowledged that this phenomenon contributes to older people being admitted to hospital and long-term care in circumstances that could be avoided. To understand how the uptake of supportive and preventative services can be improved, the first author, supervised by the second and third authors, developed a constructivist inquiry to explore what factors enhance or bar service use. This article describes how narratives were used not only to help identify decision- and choice-making influences, but also as a way of enhancing the hermeneutic processes associated with constructivism.
Television Viewing and Symptoms of Inattention and Hyperactivity Across Time
Authors: Stevens Tara , Barnard-Brak Lucy , Yen To
Published: July 2009

The importance of well-specified research questions in the evaluation of early predictors of later inattention and hyperactivity is examined. In an analysis of a nationally representative sample of 2,717 children aged 4 to 10, latent growth trajectories for television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity are determined and the relationship of the two constructs examined. Analyses reveal a logistic latent growth model as the best description of the trajectory of television viewing across time, whereas a quadratic trend represents the best portrayal of the trajectory for symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity. Results do not support the presence of a meaningful relationship between television viewing and inattention and hyperactivity, which is inconsistent with previous findings from the same data set. The importance of the nature of well-specified research questions and the need to use contemporary longitudinal evaluation techniques to avoid misleading conclusions based on limited analyses and results are discussed.
Contributing Factors to South Korean Early Childhood Educators' Strategies for Addressing Children's Challenging Behaviors
Authors: Yeon Ha Kim  , Stormont Melissa , Espinosa Linda
Published: July 2009

Early childhood educators should be prepared to intervene when children demonstrate challenging behaviors. Researchers have reported many factors that may influence teachers' behavior management strategies. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among specific program, teacher, and child factors and teachers' strategies for addressing young children's challenging behaviors. The second purpose of this study was to determine if the factors identified by researchers with young children and their teachers in the United States extends to teachers and young children in South Korea. The participants in this study included a sample of 236 preschool and child care center teachers serving children in South Korea. To measure teachers' reported strategies for addressing challenging behaviors, we developed the Teacher Strategy Questionnaire (TSQ). Findings from this study indicated that program, teacher, and child factors contributed to teachers' strategies for addressing challenging behaviors. Specifically, teachers' beliefs regarding developmentally appropriate practices, center level support, and severity of children's challenging behaviors were associated with reported strategies for addressing problem behaviors.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
Authors: Durkin Elizabeth M. , Deutsch Anne , Heinemann Allen W.
Published: July 2009

When Medicare implemented a prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) in 2002, a lack of organizational research on IRFs hampered the ability to predict how providers would modify their behavior in response to the PPS. This study consists of 36 key informant interviews that examined the experiences of nine IRFs in the lead-up to and aftermath of the IRF-PPS. Drawing on earlier work by Oliver, the authors develop a taxonomy of the new organizational practices that IRFs adopted in response to the changing payment system. A model of key organizational and environmental characteristics that predict the adoption of these practices based on an IRF’s willingness and/or capacity to comply with institutional pressure is then proposed. The proposed model can also be applied to other regulatory changes affecting IRFs.
Development, Implementation, and Public Reporting of the HCAHPS Survey
Authors: Giordano Laura A. , Elliott Marc N. , Goldstein Elizabeth , Lehrman William G. , Spencer Patrice A.
Published: July 2009

The authors describe the history and development of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (also known as HCAHPS) and its associated protocols. The randomized mode experiment, vendor training, and “dry runs” that set the stage for initial public reporting are described. The rapid linkage of HCAHPS data to annual payment updates (“pay for reporting”) is noted, which in turn led to the participation of approximately 3,900 general acute care hospitals (about 90% of all such United States hospitals). The authors highlight the opportunities afforded by this publicly reported data on hospital inpatients’ experiences and perceptions of care. These data, reported on www.hospitalcompare.hhs. gov, facilitate the national comparison of patients’ perspectives of hospital care and can be used alone or in conjunction with other clinical and outcome measures. Potential benefits include increased transparency, improved consumer decision making, and increased incentives for the delivery of high-quality health care.
Characteristics of Hospitals Demonstrating Superior Performance in Patient Experience and Clinical Process Measures of Care
Authors: Lehrman William G. , Elliott Marc N. , Goldstein Elizabeth , Beckett Megan K. , Klein David J. , Giordano Laura A.
Published: July 2009

Prior research suggests hospital quality of care is multidimensional. In this study, the authors jointly examine patient experience of care and clinical care measures from 2,583 hospitals based on inpatients discharged in 2006 and 2007. The authors use multinomial logistic regression to identify key characteristics of hospitals that perform in the top quartile on both, either, and neither dimension of quality. Top performers on both quality measures tend to be small (<100 beds), large (>200 beds) and rural, located in the New England or West North Central Census divisions, and nonprofit. Top performers in patient experience only are most often small and rural, located in the East South Central division, and government owned. Top performers in clinical care only are most often medium to large and urban, located in the West North Central division, and non—government owned. These findings provide an overview of how these dimensions of quality vary across hospitals.
Growing Up
Authors: Dillow Celia
Published: July 2009

This article describes a struggle and a journey. It shows a struggle between the need to be scholarly and the desire to be evocative; it travels carefully along a path toward less certainty. The article discusses how the author, as a doctoral student, was aware of the need to address her innate resistance to use theory and how she struggled to assimilate this into her research project and text. The author says the journey toward this understanding was akin to a growth spurt—sometimes painful and always surprising. Here, the author uses a narrative style to explore approaches to theory, knowledge, and representation and to show this struggle in the context of her research into lived experience. The author records the way how she constructed her own theoretical framework and show the dawning realization that decisions about approach and method are indeed theoretically informed and supported. Finally, the article discusses how the author faced her theories about theories and discovered that the journey is important and that certainty is an elusive destination.
Early adopters: Playing new literacies and pretending new technologies in print-centric classrooms
Authors: Wohlwend Karen E.
Published: July 2009

In this article, semiotic analysis of children's practices and designs with video game conventions considers how children use play and drawing as spatializing literacies that make room to import imagined technologies and user identities. Microanalysis of video data of classroom interactions collected during a three year ethnographic study of children's literacy play in kindergarten and primary classrooms reveals how the leading edge of technology use in print-centric classrooms is pretended into being by five-, six-, and seven-year-old `early adopters' — a marketing term for first wave consumers who avidly buy and explore newly-released technology products.`Early adopters' signals two simultaneous identities for young technology users: (1) as developing learners of new literacies and technologies; and, (2) as curious explorers who willingly play with new media. Children transformed paper and pencil resources into artifacts for enacting cell phone conversations and animating video games, using new technologies and the collaborative nature of new literacies to perform literate identities and to strengthen the cohesiveness of play groups.
Multimodality, literacy and texts: Developing a discourse
Authors: Bearne Eve
Published: July 2009

This article argues for the development of a framework through which to describe children's multimodal texts. Such a shared discourse should be capable of including different modes and media and the ways in which children integrate and combine them for their own meaning-making purposes. It should also acknowledge that multimodal texts are not always or only screen-based. In addition, it is argued that current definitions of literacy do not readily answer to the variety of semiotic resources deployed in the design of multimodal texts. In revisiting the author's previous tentative thoughts about `the rhetoric of design' the article develops this theme further through offering a possible framework and using this to analyse three different types of multimodal texts created by seven-year-old children. The framework is, however, a `work in progress', which it is hoped, will open up debate.
Interactions, intersections and improvisations: Studying the multimodal texts and classroom talk of six- to seven-year-olds
Authors: Pahl Kate
Published: July 2009

This article examines the relationship between children's talk in the classroom and their multimodal texts. The article uses an analytic framework derived from Bourdieu's concept of habitus to examine how 6—7-year-old children's regular ways of being and doing can be found in their multimodal texts together with their talk (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990). The concept of pedagogic habitus is used to make sense of the teacher's regular ways of being and doing within the classroom (Grenfell, 1996). Improvisations upon these ways of being and doing were considered with reference to data collected over two years. In this article, the term `multimodal text' refers to panorama boxes created from shoe boxes to represent an environment such as the ocean or a jungle. The article concludes that it is important to pay attention to the interrelationship between the talk and the boxes to make sense of children's multimodal texts. The concept of improvisations upon the habitus provides an important context for this understanding.
`If she's left with books she'll just eat them': Considering inclusive multimodal literacy practices
Authors: Flewitt Rosie , Nind Melanie , Payler Jane
Published: July 2009

This article reports on aspects of a small-scale study conducted in the south of England that explored the learning experiences of three four-year-old children with identified special educational needs, who attended a combination of early education settings — one `more special' and one `more inclusive' (Nind et al., 2007). The article reflects on the concept of inclusive literacy, and proposes that a model of literacy as social practice can provide an enabling framework for understanding how young children with learning difficulties interpret and use a range of shared sign systems. Drawing on an ethnographic, video case study of one girl, Mandy,1 the article gives an overview of her observed literacy experiences at home and in the two educational settings she attended, and then focuses on the collaborative, multimodal nature of the literacy events and practices she encountered. Detailed multimodal analysis of a selected literacy event highlights the salience of embodied action and the shapes of inclusive learning spaces, and points to the importance of valuing individuals' idiosyncratic and multimodal meaning-making. The article concludes with discussion of how opportunities for literacy learning can be generated effectively in an inclusive learning environment for young children with learning difficulties. The study was funded by Rix Thompson Rothenberg Foundation (RTR).
Chinese Host Country Nationals' Willingness to Support Expatriates
Authors: Varma Arup , Pichler Shaun , Budhwar Pawan , Biswas Soumendu
Published: July 2009

The willingness of host country nationals (HCNs) to provide support to the expatriate has received a lot of attention in the literature on international assignments. Surprisingly, though, the number of empirical studies examining this relationship is extremely limited. This study examines the role of HCNs' collectivistic orientation, interpersonal affect, and guanxi in relation to their willingness to support expatriates. Using data from 212 HCNs in China, it is found that HCNs' perceived relationship quality with the expatriate has a significant impact on their willingness to provide assistance, both role information and social support, to expatriates. Further, it is found that relationship quality is related to perceived cultural similarity. The results reinforce the importance of paying attention to the perceptions and reactions of HCNs towards expatriates. Implications of the findings are discussed, and suggestions are offered for future research.
Ecological Limits to Globalization of Managerial Situations
Authors: Van de Vliert Evert , Einarsen Ståle , Euwema Martin C. , Janssen Onne
Published: July 2009

The fast-growing global village may not be without cultural boundaries. Globalization as the evolvement of a syndrome of universally endorsed cultural values and practices may have its limits because climate-based demands and wealth-based resources in concert shape unique local cultures. This article reviews results of theory-based research that tested this innovative hypothesis for globalization of the managerially relevant decisions and actions of recruitment, handling work motives, conforming to leadership ideals, and shaping organizational structures and strategies. Recently published secondary analyses of large cross-national/cross-sectional data sets indeed support the presumption that there are climato-economic limits to globalization of managerial situations. Globaphobes and globaphiles may thus have too unrealistic nightmares and daydreams about the sameness of cultures around the globe in times to come.
Modeling National Identities and Cultural Change
Authors: Tipton Frank B.
Published: July 2009

This article examines cultural change in the triad regions, Japan, the United States, and Western Europe. In doing so it attempts to respond to calls to incorporate contextual and temporal factors in the analysis of national culture and their implications for the management of international operations. A four-stage model of development is proposed, derived in dialogue with conceptualizations from anthropology and sociology and with the specialist literature on nationalism. Created by narrow elites over the 19th century, the national cultures of the triad became arenas of violent confrontation in the early twentieth century, and then fragmented into a postmodern diversity in the generation following the Second World War. These tensions reflect broader processes of development that have transformed culture, especially the global forces of rising incomes, rising educational levels, and expansion of the public sphere. In the triad regions these processes have led through a series of stages to a world where individuals choose their own culture. The model therefore predicts in broad outline the likely course of development in emerging nations. The concluding section outlines some possible directions of development and implications for researchers and practitioners.
Is National Culture Still Relevant to Management in a Global Context?
Authors: Chevrier Sylvie
Published: July 2009

For over 20 years researchers have urged international managers to take culture into account. Focussing on culture raises the problem of using relevant units of analysis. This article advocates that national cultures should be considered even in the global economic context. First, analysis on the national scale makes sense when it is grounded in a political approach to culture. Second, the relevance of the national level is illustrated by the case of Switzerland. If at first sight, Switzerland is a country with multiple internal cultures and borders, a closer analysis shows that the Swiss people share a common political culture based upon attachment to local communities and institutions, to government through consensus and to conflict solving by resorting to arbitration and pragmatism. In the Swiss case, the article shows that management practices are embedded in national political cultures. Validity of the national political culture approach beyond the Swiss case is examined and implications for managers working in cross-cultural environments are discussed.
Emotional Intelligence
Authors: Sharma Sudeep , Deller Jürgen , Biswal Ramakrishna , Mandal Manas K.
Published: July 2009

This study empirically examines the construct of emotional Intelligence (EI) cross-culturally. Participants ( N = 200) from Germany ( N = 100) and India ( N = 100) completed the Emotional Intelligence Scale, NEO-Five Factor Personality Inventory (Form-S) and Hofstede's Value Survey (Module 94). The major objectives of the study were to examine cross-culturally (a) the factor structure of EI, and (b) the construct of EI as distinct from personality. Results revealed different factor structures for these two cultures, and the construct of EI failed to correlate with the dimensions of personality. Implications of the findings for leadership in a specific culture as well as across different cultures are discussed.
The mannose-binding lectin pathway is a significant contributor to reperfusion injury in the type 2 diabetic heart
Authors: La Bonte Laura R. , Dokken Betsy , Davis-Gorman Grace , Stahl Gregory L. , McDonagh Paul F.
Published: July 2009

The severity of ischaemic heart disease is markedly enhanced in type 2 diabetes.We recently reported that complement activation exacerbates I/R injury in the type 2 diabetic heart.The purpose of this study was to isolate and examine MBL pathway activation following I/R injury in the diabetic heart. ZLC and ZDF rats underwent 30 minutes of left coronary artery occlusion followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion.Two different groups of ZDF rats were treated with either FUT-175, a broad complement inhibitor, or P2D5, a monoclonal antibody raised against rat MBL-A. ZDF rats treated with FUT175 and P2D5 had significantly decreased myocardial infarct size, C3 deposition and neutrophil accumulation compared with untreated ZDF controls.Taken together, these findings indicate that the MBL pathway plays a key role in the severity of complement-mediated I/R injury in the type 2 diabetic heart.
Metabolic syndrome, endothelial function and lifestyle modification
Authors: Aizawa Kunihiko , Shoemaker J. Kevin , Overend Tom J. , Petrella Robert J.
Published: July 2009

We evaluated (1) endothelial function (FMD, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) cross-sectionally in subjects with (MS+) and without (MS-) metabolic syndrome who were at increased risk for cardiovascular disease due to either HNBP and/or IGR, and (2) examined in a subgroup of subjects the effects of 24-week lifestyle modification on endothelial function. MS components, FMD by Doppler ultrasound, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 by fasting blood samples were assessed. All of the endothelial functions were similar between MS— and MS+.Although waist circumference, blood pressure, and fasting glucose showed improvements, endothelial function remained unchanged following the intervention. The results showed that in our subject population, MS does not reduce endothelial function, and our 24-week lifestyle modification programme did not result in an improvement in endothelial function in MS+ despite the improvements in some MS components.