bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Death in Birth: The Cultural Construction of Stillbirth, Neonatal Death, and Maternal Death among Hmong Women in Australia
Authors: Rice Pranee Liamputtong
Published: May 2005

This article is a detailed exploration of traditional Hmong explanations about death in birth. It is based on an ethnographic study with Hmong now living in Australia. The discussion encompasses stillbirth, neonatal death, and maternal death, as well as the ethnomedical knowledge and practices which pertain to death in birth. Stillbirth and neonatal death are perceived as non-significant events where no burial ceremony is needed. However, with a maternal death, a proper burial ritual must be performed to ensure that the soul of the dead person can be reborn again. The Hmong have several layers of explanations about the causes of death in birth. These include personal attribution, the nature of being, the soul, the supernatural beings, and the mandate of life. Most death in birth cannot be helped but in some situations it may be prevented. In this case a shaman and other traditional healers are consulted. The article finishes with discussions on the importance of life in birth and the value of children in Hmong culture.
A Review of the EEG Literature on Ganser's Syndrome
Authors: Cocores James A. , Schlesinger Louis B. , Gold Marks
Published: May 2005

Ganser's syndrome has been classified as a histrionic disorder, a psychotic illness, a dissociative disorder, a factitious disorder, and an organic illness. The possibility of an underlying organic component to Ganser's syndrome is often implicated. A case which includes CT scan and EEG tests is presented and the EEG data in patients with Ganser's syndrome are reviewed. The majority of EEG data was not suggestive of any specific organic illness.
Word Processing in the Technical Editing Class
Authors: Rude Carolyn D.
Published: May 2005

In a technical editing class, assignments based on the word processor teach editing skills, generate materials for editing, increase the students' awareness of the text as visual, give them experience with editing computer documentation, introduce them to readability programs and their use for the editor, and familiarize them with the electronic flow of text from author's draft to printed page. The word processor is thus integral in achieving the broad educational objectives of the course.
Concerning the Unity of Consciousness: Part II William James on Personal Conscious Unity
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

Everyone agrees on one thing about consciousness. It possesses some sort of unity. Theorists of consciousness do not always give the same account of what this property amounts to, or of that from which they believe unity derives. In the present article, the unity of consciousness is discussed with reference to authors who have given to it some, larger or smaller, quantity of theoretical attention. Four main kinds of conscious unity emerge from the discussion, though these are not all uncontroversial. William James's treatment of one of these—called here “personal conscious unity”–is addressed in the greatest detail; but there remains a great deal more that needs to be said about all four kinds of conscious unity. The article is published in two parts.
Euglycemia: A Psychological Study
Authors: Weiner Myron F. , Skipper F. Preston
Published: May 2005

A questionnaire study of 197 insulin-dependent diabetics which was supplemented by individual interviews with fourteen of the respondents suggests that few diabetics maintain tight control. Most maintain the level of control at which they are most physically or psychologically comfortable. However, tight control is feasible for the average diabetic. The main factors which impede tight control are difficulty coping with stresses of daily living, eating to satisfy emotional needs, discomfort at euglycemic levels, and fear of hypoglycemia. Re-regulation must therefore employ temporary reduction of life stress, some impediment to snacking, support through the discomfort of altering blood sugar level, and careful monitoring to avoid severe hypoglycemia. A specific type of hospital experience and/or involvement in an outpatient educational and treatment milieu are possible avenues to provide these necessary factors.
A Historical and Socioeconomic Analysis of Occupational Safety and Health in India
Authors: Vilanilam J. V.
Published: May 2005

Workers in poor countries of the so-called Third World are more likely to be affected by the dangers of high technology than their counterparts in wealthier countries. Owing to their lack of education, most workers in the “developing” world are unaware of the hazards of their occupations. Moreover, their general backwardness in sanitation and nutrition and climatic proneness of their geographic region to epidemics cause diseases contracted from the work environment to be aggravated. Occupational diseases are often misconstrued as diseases resulting from the general environment.

Since unemployment in underdeveloped countries is of a very high order, workers are prepared to accept any job, irrespective of the dangers involved. Labor is cheap and easily replaceable, so employers see no need for improving occupational safety and health. Labor unions are mostly controlled by full-time politicians who consider health a political issue, especially when their party controls the country's government. The seriousness of all these factors is heightened by the existing socioeconomic order in poor countries, in which national medievalism and multinational modernism play a crucial role.

In order to understand the prevailing socioeconomic order, one has to analyze the social structures of poor countries in the context of today's world economic structure. India is taken as an example of a “developing” country where all the above-mentioned factors and many others are in operation: backwardness of the worker; poor nutrition; lack of concern for public health; proneness to epidemics; an indifference on the part of employers, politicians, and unions toward occupational health; high unemployment; control of the local economy by multinational corporations; and control of the mass media by feudalistic vested interests. This article attempts to analyze the occupational health and safety issue in India from a historical perspective, and stresses the vital need of structural changes in various fields so that workers can have a safe and healthy working environment.
Terministic Screens: A Burkean Reading of the Experimental Article
Authors: Coney Mary B.
Published: May 2005

This article tests the value of Kenneth Burke's methodology of placing screens before seemingly unproblematic objects to reveal their complex and often contradictory natures. The scientific article reporting experimental results is explored through three such “terministic screens”—the sermon, the playscript, and the blueprint. The result tells as much about Burke as a thinker as it does about the ways of thinking about the experimental article.
Integrating Self-Rated Health and Social Involvement for the Examination of Mortality among Older Persons
Authors: Rakowski William , Wilcox Victoria
Published: May 2005

Self-rated health status and social network variables have each been shown to independently predict mortality among older persons. However, the potential effect of these two variables when combined into a single index has not been studied. Therefore, this investigation integrated ratings of global health status and reports of social involvements into a single, combined variable. This variable was then used to predict mortality over three time periods (1984–1986, 1984–1988, 1984–1990). Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study of Aging, and were based on 6053 self-respondents aged seventy and older at baseline in 1984. Multiple logistic regression analysis, using several health status and demographic controls, showed that the combined variable produced substantial effects on mortality, particularly for the 1984–86 and 1984–88 follow-up time periods. Results suggested that integrating these two constructs may be a helpful step in research on the psychosocial epidemiology of aging.
The Effect of Image Vividness on Reality Monitoring
Authors: Kunzendorf Robert G.
Published: May 2005

In this experimental study of “reality monintoring” as in an earlier study by Johnson, Raye, Wang, and Taylor, each of thirty-six pictures was visually perceived two, five, or eight times and was visually imaged two, five, or eight times. When subjects in these studies were asked to estimate how many times each picture had actually been perceived, their frequency estimates were higher not only for pictures that had been perceived more often, but also for pictures that had been imaged more often. Such misremembered imaging in the experiment by Johnson, et al., was significantly more pronounced in subjects with better visual memory. In contrast, the misremembrance of frequent images in the current experiment was significantly less pronounced in subjects with more vivid imagery. The implications of these findings for immediate “reality testing” and memorial “reality monitoring”, as described by Kunzendorf and Johnson respectively, are discussed.
Does Social Policy Matter? Poverty Cycles in Oecd Countries
Authors: Kangas Olli , Palme Joakim
Published: May 2005

Traditionally, poverty was linked to an individual's family phase. This article examines to what extent poverty cycles are still apparent in OECD countries. By combining data on social policy programs and data on income distribution, the authors compare trends between nations. The main question is, how successful have various sociopolitical solutions been in eliminating poverty? Here the focus is on family policy and pensions. Improvements in social policies have impacts on poverty cycles in all countries. In most countries poverty among the elderly has declined, and the young have replaced the old as the lowest income group. In many countries the poverty cycles have flattened out, and life phase is no longer as important as it used to be. Some differences between nations remain, however. High poverty rates among families continue to be an Anglo-American problem, and improvements in this area have been only marginal. Social policy provisions are important for explaining both cross-national variation in poverty and changes over time. The impact is clearest among pensioners. Family-related poverty is lowest in countries that have combined cash benefits with public child-care services that facilitate parents' participation in the labor market.
On-Line Item Banking in Health Sciences Education
Authors: Brenner Lisa P.
Published: May 2005

A movement in Health Science Education to establish discipline-based consortia for test item banking is discussed along with perceived advantages of such sharing. The GRIPE, CATS, MBQB and MAERS/CMT consortia are described with an emphasis on the MAFRS/CMT computer evaluation system. Item banking issues of access v.s. control, quality v.s. size, cooperation v.s. independence, and costs v.s. convenience are explored.
Health Sector Reform in Brazil: A Case Study of Inequity
Authors: Almeida Celia , Travassos Claudia , Porto Silvia , Labra Maria Eliana
Published: May 2005

Health sector reform in Brazil built the Unified Health System according to a dense body of administrative instruments for organizing decentralized service networks and institutionalizing a complex decision-making arena. This article focuses on the equity in health care services. Equity is defined as a principle governing distributive functions designed to reduce or offset socially unjust inequalities, and it is applied to evaluate the distribution of financial resources and the use of health services. Even though in the Constitution the term “equity” refers to equal opportunity of access for equal needs, the implemented policies have not guaranteed these rights. Underfunding, fiscal stress, and lack of priorities for the sector have contributed to a progressive deterioration of health care services, with continuing regressive tax collection and unequal distribution of financial resources among regions. The data suggest that despite regulatory measures to increase efficiency and reduce inequalities, delivery of health care services remains extremely unequal across the country. People in lower income groups experience more difficulties in getting access to health services. Utilization rates vary greatly by type of service among income groups, positions in the labor market, and levels of education.
Ground Floor and Rising: The Microcomputer in Education
Authors: Vensel George , Sedlak Robert A. , Schmidt Carl
Published: May 2005

Educational technologists have long looked toward computers as powerful and useful teaching aides. This article discusses some of the difficulties encountered thus far in attempting to realize this dream, and describes the potential of microcomputers, a technological breakthrough which may well overcome problems in cost and course-ware utility. A sample microcomputer system is described which enumerates necessary and optional components and their estimated cost.
The Delayed Stress Syndrome: A Pathological Delayed Grief Reaction?
Authors: Widdison Harold A. , Salisbury Howard G.
Published: May 2005

Many of the social and psychological problems displayed by Vietnam veterans have been classified as “Delayed Stress Syndrome.” Stress theory does not, however, adequately account for protracted reactions after the elements responsible for the stress have been removed. Grief theory provides a model that helps explain such reactions. Grief is a very stressful reaction to any significant loss, and failure to address and resolve grief can result in delayed reactions. The Vietnam experience was replete with significant traumatic losses, many of which were not resolved at the time. It was not until separated from the service that individuals, for a number of reasons, began to experience symptoms associated with suppressed grief. A major focus of delayed reaction research and therapy should be placed on the implications of delayed grief, as well as stress.
Reading Holocaust Literature: An Interview Study
Authors: Ibsch Elrud , Schreier Margrit
Published: May 2005

An exploratory interview study was conducted on the reception of experimental Holocaust literature by German students of Literature and of Psychology up to age 35. The study focused on which variables hinder and support the acceptance of such literature, our hypothesis being that a high degree of literary socialization is especially important for facilitating acceptance of experimental Holocaust literature. Two semi-structured interviews were carried out: the first concentrating on students' knowledge and attitudes toward the Holocaust and its literary representation, and the second focusing on the students' experience in reading and evaluating three texts. Data analysis involved the following steps: content analysis for both interviews, frequency analyses, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), and MANOVA with gender and subject of study as independent variables and individual scores on the MCA dimensions as dependent variables. Results for the most experimental of the three texts, Hilsenrath's The Nazi and the Barber, show that a high degree of literary socialization did not foster acceptance of experimental Holocaust literature. Instead, it led to an increased perception of taboo violations and to a rejection of Hilsenrath's novel.
Socio-Economic Adjustment to Widowhood
Authors: Pihlblad C. T. , Adams David L. , Rosencranz Howard A.
Published: May 2005

This paper reports on a sample of 1551 persons, aged 65 and over, residing in small towns of Missouri in 1966. Subjects include 702 married persons who were compared with 849 widowed, classified by duration of widowhood. Comparisons point to the following similarities and differences: 1) Most small town elderly subsist on incomes below the poverty level; 2) Widowers incomes are about half the married incomes and widows incomes are about three-fourths the widowers incomes; 3) There is a tendency for widows to adjust to lower incomes by seeking employment, whereas widowers tend to reduce expenditures; 4) Residence with and dependence upon children tends to be “last resort” socio-economic adjustment; 5) Almost never do friends become a source of dependence.
The Eye Sees, but the Mind Perceives
Authors: Hammet B. F.
Published: May 2005

To see without understanding is to see with a closed mind. To be visually literate, the mind must draw on a memory storage, perceive relationships, make comparisons. If an individual's experiences and education are shallow and limited, so are his perceptions shallow and limited.
Did the Gods of Africa Die? A Re-Examination of a Carroll House Crystal Assemblage
Authors: Galke Laura J.
Published: May 2005

The discovery of an African-American ritual cache within the eighteenth-century Carroll House provides an example of a West African-derived nkisi ( minkisi pl). While the exact meaning behind the inclusion of each artifact is not fully understood, the items within the cache are consistent with other documented African minkisi. In this paper, I consider how the images present on previously-excavated ceramic fragments from one of the Carroll House nkisi assemblages yields clues about why they were incorporated into the nkisi. Once the images upon these ceramics are examined as iconographic symbols, their inclusion as part of the nkisi is not only understandable but perhaps imperative toward the overall understanding of the assemblage.
Transplants and Psychological Survival in the Treatment of Kidney Disease
Authors: Cutter Fred
Published: May 2005

In brief, the problems of transplants focus on who gets it, who gives it, and who decides. The preconceptions that impair decision-making and contribute to the ethical controversies will be described here. Because of the writer's recent experience with renal disease (Cutter, 1970), and the longer history of kidney transplants, the content will be restricted to the kidney. However, the intent is to provide a perspective on all current medical efforts to achieve surcease or survival.
Virginia Woolf: Twentieth Century Psychology and Modern Fiction
Authors: Schneiderman Leo
Published: May 2005

The present study attempts to trace parallel developments between early twentieth century psychology and the evolution of modern fiction. I have chosen the work of Virginia Woolf to illustrate the emergence of an emphasis in modern fiction on depicting the contents of consciousness. This focus on sensibility and intersubjectivity goes well beyond the limitations imposed by the realistic novel, with its concern for larger contextual factors such as social structure and historical change. Woolf and other modernists such as Proust, Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, Kafka, Faulkner, and Beckett directed their attention to capturing the “stream of consciousness” at the same time that Titchener and the structuralists, Wertheimer and the Gestaltists, and Freud and his followers began to use introspective methods. These movements differed profoundly from Watson's behaviorism because of their embrace of radical subjectivity, but shared with behaviorism a tendency to view behavior in a cultural vacuum. It is my thesis that these tendencies, though not necessarily linked causally, reflect a broad current in modern art and contemporary psychology that has endeavored to view the individual in light of the “immediate data of consciousness” and in terms of “culture-free” universals. I try to provide an explanation for these phenomena by pointing to well-known social changes associated with the breakdown of tradition and the consequent weakening of the person's sense of being situated in a special place or rooted in a familiar tradition.
The Use of Medicines: Historical Trends and International Comparisons
Authors: Rabin David L. , Bush Patricia J.
Published: May 2005

An historical review of the development of current levels of medicine consumption is presented with a literature review of cross-national and limited surveys and national statistics on rates of medicine use. Medicine use has increased worldwide at rates exceeding increases in national incomes in many countries. Variations in estimates of medicine use are documented by cross-national data on expenditure and prescription rates adjusted to increase comparability. Differences in levels of use appear greater than can be accounted for by methodologic problems of comparison. That differences are great is supported by results of the World Health Organization International Collaborative Study of Medical Care Utilization (WHO/ICS-MCU) which indicate that age-sex standardized medicine use rates developed from a household survey in 12 areas of seven countries show several-fold differences in rates of prescribed and nonprescribed medicine use. Differences in these rates are not explained by area levels of morbidity or variations in physician visiting or prescribing patterns. Areas tend to be high or low in rates of use of both prescribed and nonprescribed drugs. Problems in the use of data for international comparison of medicine use are discussed.
Issues in Developing an Online Advisory System for Text Writers
Authors: Jansen Carel J. M. , Steehouder Michaël F.
Published: May 2005

An online advisory system is described which offers guidelines and recommendations for text writers. The system tries to meet two essential requirements: easy switching from the text processing software to the online advice, and optimal access which enables the user to find relevant materials as easy as possible. The authors describe some studies with prototypes of the system. An analysis of information-seeking behavior yields some fundamental issues to be investigated in order to improve the usefulness of the system in the future.
Patient Generated Dysphoria in Psychiatric Residents
Authors: Herzog David B. , Wyshak Grace , Stern Theodore A. , Rathbun Jennifer M.
Published: May 2005

Caring for patients can induce intense emotions in psychiatrists. Although clinical experience suggests that such feeling can become a source of stress for the psychiatrists, particularly the first year resident, and interfere adversely with patient care, research in this area has been lacking. We studied a group of psychiatric residents in order to identify what patient conditions or characteristics induce the greatest dysphoria and adversely affect the quality of patient care. Serious medical illnesses induced the greatest dysphoria.
Street Theater as a Tool to Reduce Family Planning Misinformation
Authors: Valente Thomas W. , Poppe Patricia R. , Alva Maria Elena , De Briceño Rosario Vera , Cases Danielle
Published: May 2005

Mass media campaigns can be effective at communicating health information to a mass audience rather inexpensively. Critics of mass media health campaigns often contend, however, that interpersonal communication is more effective at changing behavior. Conversely, interpersonal communication activities to promote health can be effective at changing behavior, but critics have argued that they have certain limitations such as being expensive and personal (perhaps intrusive), and that they provide nonstandardized information. The present study is an evaluation of a street theater format in Perú that combined the advantages of mass and interpersonal communication to improve family planning knowledge and attitudes. The street theater was effective in decreasing misinformation concerning modern contraceptive methods.
Logging for Success: Advancing the Use of WWW Logs to Improve Computer Mediated Distance Learning
Authors: Peled Alon , Rashty David
Published: May 2005

Web-based learning environments are popular on campus nowadays. These software packages improve communication between instructor and students, enable students to take charge over their learning processes, and provide feedback data to the instructor. Universities and colleges are called to foot the bill for these computerized tools by training teachers and students on how to use them, adding new computer classrooms, and upgrading the network backbone. Few, if any, of these academic institutions systematically collect and analyze data in order to assess if their investments in this new approach are paying off. How can academic institutions collect and analyze data in order to determine the effectiveness of the new computer mediated distance learning approach? This is the key question addressed in this article.
The Relationship between Sexual Assault, Religiosity, and Mental Health among Male Veterans
Authors: Chang Bei-Hung , Skinner Katherine M , Zhou Chunmei , Kazis Lewis E.
Published: May 2005

Objectives:

We examine the association between sexual assault, religion and mental health among male veterans.

Methods:

We used longitudinal data collected from 2,427 male veterans who received VA outpatient care. Sexual assault was self-reported in the questionnaire. Two dimensions of religiosity were used: organizational (frequency of religious service attendance) and subjective religiosity (the extent that religious beliefs are a source of strength or comfort). Mental health was measured by the mental component summary from the Veterans SF-36 and depression was measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale. A regression model that uses the generalized estimating equation approach for longitudinal repeated data analysis was used.

Results:

Based on the baseline data, 96 (4%) patients reported ever experiencing sexual assault. These patients have significantly lower levels of mental health status and higher levels of depression ( p < .001). The regression results show that this decrement in mental health and increment in depression associated with sexual assault are in lesser degrees for patients who attended religious service more frequently compared to those who never did ( p < .05). Similarly, there is a smaller magnitude of increment in depression associated with sexual assault for those who have a higher level of subjective religiosity ( p < .05).

Conclusions:

Although the prevalence of self reported sexual assault is low among male veterans, those who reported sexual assault experiences had lower levels of mental health status and higher levels of depression. Further, religion attenuates this association which highlights the important role religion might have in coping with this stressful life event.
A Thinking and Doing Model of Competency-Based Education
Authors: Feasley Charles E.
Published: May 2005

A review of literature suggests that systems analysis is the foundation upon which current efforts in competency-based education (CBE) are built. The author merges into a model what various writers have put forth as refinements to systematic instructional design and development and his own practical experience on what will or will not work. The model consists of four phases: 1) competency identification, 2) overall design, 3) production, and 4) evaluation. Each phase is broken into a series of steps for thinking and doing. The model provides flexibility by being subject to many different orderings of efforts due to prior accomplishments and/or lack of resources.
Accessibility of Health Care for Elderly Mexicans Living in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Authors: Sizemore Mary Hoyte
Published: May 2005

The issue of access to health care for the elderly and the quality of that care is of growing importance not only in the United States but also in less developed nations such as Mexico. An area of special interest is the U.S.-Mexico border region, where an increasing number of people are relocating to seek jobs they believe will open up as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) loosens trade barriers. Workers flocking to the border often bring their families, including elderly relatives. This study examines a sample of lower-middle and mid-middle class Mexicans aged sixty to eighty-nine who reside in the border city of Ciudad Juárez, focusing on the principal ailments which affect these individuals and available treatment. A concluding section makes brief comparative remarks on access to health care for the elderly in Mexico and in the United States.
Examining the Effects of Questioning on Thinking Processes with a Computer-Based Exercise
Authors: Shiang Ching-Pyng , McDaniel Ernest
Published: May 2005

Computers are used widely for many purposes in educational settings. In this article the computer is used as a tool in an experimental setting. This study investigates the effects of self-generated questions and external questions on thinking processes. Thirty-three subjects received the program under three conditions of questioning: 1) external higher order questions, 2) external lower order questions, and 3) self-generated questions. The results revealed that question conditions were unrelated to the quality of explanations of a complex situation constructed by subjects. Note-taking was related to the quality of the explanations. The nonsignificant findings for question conditions were interpreted as indicating that questions and prompts to generate questions may elicit overt compliance without necessarily motivating the subjects to actually interrogate the material.
Quirk Topics Enliven Technical Writing Classes
Authors: Hays Robert
Published: May 2005

The use of quirk topics can help solve one of the technical writing instructor's hardest problems: selection of a challenging topic. A quirk topic derives from some paradox of science or technology which, upon reflection, calls for thought. The quirk topic challenges the technical writing student to focus on the reader, gather data, and interpret and report data convincingly. This article explains the use of quirk topics, suggests twenty such topics, and explains how to solve problems of their use.
A Common Goal: Union and Researcher Collaboration Celebrate the Work of June Fisher, M.D.
Authors: Wigmore Dorothy
Published: May 2005

In late 2003, researchers and occupational health activists from across the country came together to honor Dr. June Fisher on her 70th birthday and to celebrate her many achievements, particularly in using participatory action research (PAR) methods to improve the health and safety conditions of working people. Part of the observance was a symposium to recognize Fisher's contributions to the health and safety of health care workers and transit drivers in particular and the field of participatory research in general. The special section in this issue presents some presentations from the symposium.
Marketing Public Health Services
Authors: Marsden Gillian , Peterfreund Nancy
Published: May 2005

Marketing techniques that have proved their worth in the private sector can be applied successfully to public and non-profit agencies. This paper explores the applicability of marketing practices to public health departments. Many health departments are now facing pressures to re-examine and update roles in light of changes in morbidity and mortality and changes in consumer wants and needs. Marketing techniques can be helpful in evaluating services systematically in regard to consumer needs and preferences, planning and improving services to meet those needs and increasing agency visibility and credibility. One health department's experience in using marketing techniques is shared. Problems faced, solutions developed and recommendations for future activities are discussed.
A Rating System for Lucid Dream Content
Authors: Stewart Donald W. , Koulack David
Published: May 2005

Retrospective dream reports from 179 undergraduate students were scored by two independent raters in an attempt to assess the reliability of a newly-developed rating system for lucid dream content. The weighted Kappa statistic, which provides an index of chance-corrected interrater agreement for qualitative data, was used to assess the reliability of the ratings. The results indicated that the lucid dream rating system could be reliably used to identify different types of lucid dream content in dream reports, but some categories were less efficacious than others. Suggested revisions to the rating system are discussed.
Replacing Some Assumptions in the Teaching of Technical Writing
Authors: Radloff David M.
Published: May 2005

The teaching and practice of technical writing are sometimes hampered by assumptions and approaches that have little value. The traditional term paper has as few applications in the real world as the essay. An “idea grid” has much more value than the outline, and creativity is not linear, sequential, or measurable. Most technical writing texts are of minimal value because of their common denominator approach.
Alcohol and the Media: A Review and Critique of the ‘Effects’ Model
Authors: Dorn Nicholas , South Nigel
Published: May 2005

A review of the available empirical material bearing upon the question of alcohol advertising having ‘effects’ on the general level of consumption suggests that this question is insufficiently precise as a basis for research. Studies suggesting some relationship between advertising for particular brands or products and shifts in brand or product use are potentially more interesting, if considered from a point of view that recognises that such shifts may involve shifts in milieux, comparisons, styles and meanings associated with consumption. Future research should be attentive to such qualitative changes in drinking practices attendant upon advertising or preventive campaigns (as well as to quantitative changes). The authors suggest that such quantitative and qualitative changes in drinking practices of individuals and social groups need to be considered within the context of more general, ideological and economic, consequences of alcohol advertising. These consequences-including reinforcement of images about ‘social drinking,’ and shifting of consumers onto more profitable products-consolidate the profitability of the alcohol industry (a consideration more important to the industry than levels of consumption per se). A framework broader than that of ‘effects’ on individuals' levels of consumption is required if health educators are to learn anything from advertising.
Communication Models for Computer-Mediated Information Systems
Authors: Barton Ben F. , Barton Marthalee S.
Published: May 2005

The article argues the relevance and utility of communication theory and models in the research, design and development of computer-mediated information systems. Toward this end, the underlying communication model of early management information systems (MIS), termed the information-transfer (IT) model, is derived. In particular, MIS are examined from seven aspects: epistemological and ideological bases, context, agents, problems addressed, nature and role of communication. The widely acknowledged failures of early MIS are traced to shortcomings of the underlying IT model. A model reflecting recent developments in communication theory is also presented, and state-of-the-art information systems are described and critiqued with reference to both communication models. The critique suggests directions for information-system development based on sounder communication theory.
Latina Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren: Acculturation and Psychological Well-Being
Authors: Goodman Catherine Chase , Silverstein Merril
Published: May 2005

Grandparent involvement in raising grandchildren has become increasingly prevalent and represents the family's strength for managing crises and transitions. This study examined acculturation, socioeconomic resources, and family factors related to well-being among 357 Latina caregiving grandmothers. Positive affect was related to greater language acculturation and factors suggesting participation in mainstream society—income and health. In contrast, higher life satisfaction and lower negative affect were more evident among the less acculturated. These relationships disappeared with controls, explained by greater social resources among less acculturated grandmothers: more were married and had the parent at home; fewer assumed care because of the parent's substance-related problems. The parent's presence in the household was related to a higher level of grandmother's well-being until more sensitive family factors were considered. Furthermore, raising grandchildren with behavior problems was related to the grandmother's negative affect. Results suggest that professions should target economic needs of new immigrants, as well as assisting with troubled grandchildren and dysfunctional parents.
Changes in Learning Expectations and Confidence toward Computers: A Study of Five Successive Years of Undergraduates
Authors: Garland Kate , Noyes Jan
Published: May 2005

Undergraduate use, their confidence toward and expectations concerning learning from computers was surveyed over five consecutive years. Significant effects over time were found, with students from 2003 demonstrating more years of computer use and greater confidence, but no difference in hours of use. This suggests long term familiarity counts more than current usage in developing confidence. In order to relate computer confidence and expectations to actual learning performance, data from a second study is presented. This showed that higher computer learning expectations and confidence were associated with higher levels of learning as measured by correct scores. These findings suggest strong relationships exist between computer use, confidence and expectations, and that higher levels of which may lead to better learning performance.
Geriatric Psychiatry at the Interface of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Primary Care
Authors: Oxman Thomas E.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This article describes the evolution of a primary care geriatric psychiatry program which serves clinical, educational, and research functions.

Methods:

Program development proceeded through stages of liaison using research, focusing on primary care attendings, and developing the common interest of geriatrics.

Results:

Collaborative research with external funding has continued. A geriatric psychiatry primary care fellowship program was established. Clinical activity is based on consultation-liaison work in nursing homes, an outpatient dementia clinic, a general hospital medical service, and the outpatient clinic. Fellows are involved in training both psychiatry and primary care residents.

Conclusions:

Necessary components of a successful collaboration include: 1) primary care physicians with an interest in and aptitude for psychiatric issues; 2) delivery of service and training based on an assessment of the primary care site's needs; 3) a physical presence in the primary care site.
Official U. S. Elderly Suicide Data Bases: Levels, Availability, Omissions
Authors: McIntosh John L.
Published: May 2005

The status of available U. S. súicide data for older people is presented. Among the issues considered are the problems and characteristics of official suicide figures and their limitations and omissions, specifically with regard to elderly suicide. Older persons are shown to be at highest risk for suicide but also have declining rates. At present, however, data are unavailable or inadequate to more fully understand the phenomenon of elderly suicide or explain its long-term decline. It is proposed that more detailed mortality records are necessary in order to adequately explain suicide among elderly people.
The Adjustment of Parentally Bereaved Children: I. Factors Associated with Short-Term Adjustment
Authors: Kalter Neil , Lohnes Kelly L. , Chasin Judith , Cain Albert C. , Dunning Sally , Rowan James
Published: May 2005

Forty parentally bereaved youngsters (age 6–16; 22 girls, 18 boys) and their surviving parent were interviewed and administered standardized measures (BSI, CBCL, CDI, RCMAS, WISC) to assess their emotional adjustment approximately 18 months after their parent's death. The sample was predominantly middle class Caucasian, with children relatively free of prior confounding non-bereavement related major stresses. There were marked discrepancies between parent CBCL reports of their children's adjustment and the children's self-report, while teacher reports (TRF) were somewhat more closely correlated with parent reports. On average, these bereaved children appeared to be faring well, though with heightened internalizing problems: adolescent boys seemed to be having the most difficulty. Full sample means concealed important differences revealed in gender and age group analyses. Strikingly, the full sample of children scored below national norms for non-bereaved children on depression and anxiety measures. Parent adjustment was the best predictor of child adjustment.
Assessing Math and English General Education Courses with Results Applicable to Advising
Authors: Todd Charles S.
Published: May 2005

Useful assessment of general education courses is one impotant tool of a successful approach to advising. This article describes two methods for evaluating the effect general education math and English courses are having on students. One procedure involves examining the grade distribution for students enrolled in math and English general education courses who have successfully passed prior general education courses. The second method describes how a logistic regression procedure is used to determine what factors influence the successful completion of math and English general education courses. Both of these methods produce results of interest to advisors.
The Growth of Corporate Private Hospitals in Malaysia: Policy Contradictions in Health System Pluralism
Authors: Barraclough Simon
Published: May 2005

The rapid growth of corporate investment in the Malaysian private hospital sector has had a considerable impact on the health care system. Sustained economic growth, the development of new urban areas, an enlarged middle class, and the inclusion of hospital insurance in salary packages have all contributed to a financially lucrative investment environment for hospital entrepreneurs. Many of Malaysia's most technologically advanced hospitals employing leading specialists are owned and operated as corporate business ventures. Corporate hospital investment has been actively encouraged by the government, which regards an expanded private sector as a vital complement to the public hospital system. Yet this rapid growth of corporately owned private hospitals has posed serious contradictions for health care policy in terms of issues such as equity, cost and quality, the effect on the wider health system, and the very role of the state in health care provision. This article describes the growth of corporate investment in Malaysia's private hospital sector and explores some of the attendant policy contradictions.
IBSEN and the Suicide Enigma
Authors: Shulman Ernest
Published: May 2005

The famous Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen died of natural causes in old age. Ibsen's life and his creative work strongly suggest suicidal tendencies never manifested in his behavior. Various factors in his personality are examined and contrasted with aspects of Ernest Hemingway, who did commit suicide. Although both men tended to move around through most of their lives, and to reject close emotional ties, Ibsen can be seen to be less compulsively self-sufficient. Although Ibsen's plays indicate an acceptance of suicide as a reasonable solution to difficult problems, the author maintained his stability; partly through keeping to a high level of creative quality, and partly through continuous dependence on his only wife. Since a suicide outcome is generally unpredictable, the study of lives such as Ibsen's may reveal factors of resiliency in suicidally-inclined people, and thereby reduce the unpredictability.
The Sequential Order of Procedural Instructions: Some Formal Methods for Designers of Flow Charts
Authors: Jansen Carel J. M. , Steehouder Michaël F.
Published: May 2005

Document designers who present procedural instructions can choose several formats: prose, table, logical tree, or flow chart. In all cases, however, it is essential that the instructions are ordered in a way that allows users to reach the outcome in as little time as possible. In this article two formal methods are discussed that help determine which order is most efficient. The first method is based on the selection principle. The second method is based on the principle of the average least effort.
Avarice, Inefficiency, and Inequality: An International Health Care Tale
Authors: Maynard Alan
Published: May 2005

The paper is concerned with impact of a medical profession, physicians, on the delivery of health care. The basic economic motivation of self-interest and avarice has led this profession to produce health care outcomes which are inequitable and inefficient. In the first section of the paper the regional geographical distribution of physicians in four disparate health systems—England, Ireland, France, and West Germany-is analyzed and found to be highly unequal. The next section is concerned with the efficacy of therapies and the cost-effectiveness of health care delivery systems in a variety of countries. The final section discusses how health care can be more equitably and more efficiently delivered. It is argued that both markets and bureaucracies are likely to be inadequate unless carefully monitored. In particular, there is a great need to investigate the cost-effectiveness of therapies and then persuade physicians, via pecuniary and nonpecuniary incentives, to behave in a manner which leads to more equitable and efficient health care outcomes.
Empathy, Imagining and Motivation
Authors: Stotland Ezra , Smith Kyle D.
Published: May 2005

Empathy consists of experiencing an emotion as a consequence of observing its occurrence in another person. This conceptualization indicates a much broader range of empathized emotions than the usually researched ones of pain or distress. The process generating empathy entails attention to the other's emotion and imagining what the other is experiencing emotionally. Because people can learn from experiencing empathy and its consequences, they may be motivated to empathize in some situations, to avoid empathizing in others, or to escape from empathy-eliciting situations. A wide range of motivations—prosocial, asocial, or antisocial—may be involved. Throughout, the article presents new hypotheses and areas of research suggested by this approach. We propose that people regulate then-social relationships so as to optimize empathized emotional experiences, on the one hand, and regulate empathic experiences to serve social relationships, on the other.
To Attract or to Inform: What are Titles for?
Authors: Hartley James
Published: May 2005

This article critiques some titles in journal articles for being misleading and it argues that titles need to be informative. Examples are given of work on measuring the effectiveness of titles in two areas—sentence structure and reader comprehension—and the article concludes with brief comments on the effectiveness of book titles.
Understanding Retention Outcomes: Using Multiple Data Sources to Distinguish between Dropouts, Stopouts, and Transfer-Outs
Authors: Porter Stephen R.
Published: May 2005

Both assessment practitioners and administrators often view retention as a stay versus go outcome, but first-year outcomes are much more complex, as some students decide to stay, others to transfer, some simply take some time off, and others decide to discontinue their education altogether. This article discusses empirical problems in confining retention studies to stay-versus-go outcomes, and reviews data resources such as exit surveys, transcript requests, withdrawn student surveys, state transfer student databases, and the National Student Clearinghouse's Enrollment Search program that can all be used to gain a richer understanding of first-year outcomes.
Mental Imagery, Body Image, and Performance in Judo
Authors: Campos Alfredo , González María Angeles , Dopico Jorge , Iglesias Eliseo
Published: May 2005

Mental imaging is one of the most widely used cognitive strategies among sportspeople. In the present study we investigated the possible effects of imaging capacity and body image on judo movement skills among intermediate-level judokas aged 21–26 years. Statistical analysis of the results suggest that, of the various measures of imaging capacity and body image considered, only the Body Competence subscale of the Body Consciousness Questionnaire had a significant effect on judo performance.