bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Limits of Radical Institutionalism: A Marxian Critique of Thorstein Veblen’s Political Economy
Authors: Penner Devin
Published: December 2010

Some commentators pose Veblen’s political economy as a corrective to the “reductionist” character of Marxism. This article counters by highlighting the primary source of differences between Veblen and Marx: their methods. Veblen’s generalized conceptions of monopoly and technology, for example, misread the specificity of the systemic logic of capitalism. These dynamics are fully captured only in Marx’s movement from simple, abstract laws to complex, concrete reality, where “non-economic” factors are not reduced to the economic, but rather intervene at a later moment of the concretization process.

JEL classification: B14, B15, P16
Recycling of organic wastes through composting for land applications: a Nigerian experience
Authors: Adekunle Iheoma M , Adekunle Adebola A , Akintokun Aderonke K , Akintokun Pius O , Arowolo Toyin A
Published: December 2010

In-vessel composting, a contribution to sustainable solid waste management, was conducted on source-separated waste materials generated in Abeokuta city, south-west Nigeria. Feedstock (household, agricultural and municipal waste) and the resultant composts were chemically characterized using standard procedures. Identification and changes in the microbial population during composting, the effects of composting on waste volume reduction (WVR) and elemental composition of composts were evaluated. Product performance on plant growth and metal uptake were then assessed using African spinach (Amaranthus hybridus) in a screen house for 8 weeks. Metals were determined in acid digest using atomic absorption spectrometry. Compost yields and WVR ranged from 35.28 to 48.68% and 51.66 to 64.72%, respectively. Compost heavy metal (Cu, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cd and Pb) concentrations (mg kg -1), ranging from 0.67—0.82; 0.13—7.5; 0.001—0.22; 1.67—18.33; 6.50—17.67; and 0.83—6.00 for Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr and Zn, respectively, were within limits for class A+ composts. The effect of composting varied with element type and significantly (p < 0.05) reduced microbial population by 44.44 to 88.46%. Plant height, leaf number and biomass yield gave positive correlations (r = 0.950 to 0.977; 0.978 to 0.989 and 0.99, respectively; p < 0.05) with applied compost rate. Low-metal composts were produced but the presence of Cd and Pb in plant tissues calls for further research on the long-term effect of products on plant metal uptake in amended soils. The study is a contribution to the data bank of composting as a low technology waste management option in the developing countries.
Transformative Learning in Nonprofit Organizations
Authors: English Leona M. , Peters Nancy
Published: December 2010

This article reports on interpretive research, influenced by a feminist theoretical framework, with 8 women, in their 20s to 60s, who work or volunteer in feminist nonprofit organizations. Particular emphasis is placed on their experience of transformative learning in these organizations; the linkages with the theory of transformative learning; the factors that affect their learning, either positively or negatively; and the implications for practice and theory.
Relationships Between Career Counseling Attitudes and Self-Esteem and Self-Efficacy Among Emirati University Students
Authors: Al-Darmaki Fatima R.
Published: December 2010

This study examined the relationship between attitudes toward career counseling, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Nine hundred and fifty six undergraduate students from United Arab Emirates (UAE) University participated in this investigation. Attitudes Toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS; Rochlen, Mohr, & Hargrove, 1999) was adapted to Arabic language. ATCCS was factor analyzed to examine its construct validity in the UAE culture. The findings revealed two factors: value and stigma. Men showed higher stigma levels and lower value levels of career counseling than women. Women majoring in humanities and social sciences showed higher stigma levels for career counseling than those majoring in the hard sciences. The Value subscale of the ATCCS was positively related to self-esteem and self-efficacy for both men and women. Likewise, Stigma scores of men and women were related negatively to both self-esteem and self-efficacy. The findings are discussed and directions for future research are provided.
Cross-border cooperation under asymmetry: The case of an Interregional Trade Union Council
Authors: Hammer Nikolaus
Published: December 2010

In order to protect minimum wage and social standards in cross-border regions marked by considerable economic disparities, trade unions have built cooperation structures across adjoining (usually sub-national) regions. Since the 1970s more than 40 Interregional Trade Union Councils (IRTUCs) have been established. This article investigates emerging practices of cross-border trade union cooperation in the West Pannonia region between eastern Austria and western Hungary. It argues that IRTUCs can play an important role in fuelling cooperation to preserve wages and labour rights in cross-border regions, particularly in sectors with high precarious employment. While actual practices are contingent on regional union strategies as well as industrial relations and labour market institutions, cross-border cooperation occupies an important place within European industrial relations practices and can support new forms of capacity-building.
Union renewal through cross-border merger: Rationale, processes and challenges
Authors: Gekara Victor Oyaro
Published: December 2010

A major challenge for trade unions is how to reposition themselves in order to counter the structural power of transnational capital. Unions seek this repositioning against the background of globalization and a new politico-economic order that is largely engineered by neoliberal nation-states and multinational capital. The agenda for renewal has, however, so far been confined largely within the national state, thus offering little effective challenge to internationally organized employers. This Research Note examines how two unions in the maritime sector, previously organizing in different countries, have sought to break from this tradition by merging to create a single cross-border union. It examines the rationale for, and the processes and challenges involved in, creating the cross-border merger and raises interesting questions for future research.
Referential unionisms and globalization: A comparative study of workplace union dynamics
Authors: Murray Gregor , Dufour Christian , Hege Adelheid , Lévesque Christian
Published: December 2010

How do unions contend with change in the face of strong external pressures associated with globalization? Comparative workplace ethnographies point to the persistent diversity of local actor responses. This article advances the concept of referential unionisms to understand the adaptive processes at play. Focusing on the interactions between collective identities, repertoires of action, power resources, and representative and strategic capacity, it examines how two workplace unions in the manufacturing sector in France and in Canada cope with management strategies to meet their multinational company performance objectives through the restructuring of social and productive relations in their sites.
Capital Asset Pricing Models and Performance Measures in the Downside Risk Framework
Authors: Mamoghli Chokri , Daboussi Sami
Published: December 2010

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, we present the capital asset pricing models and the performance measures in the downside risk framework as an alternative to traditional CAPM and to traditional performance measures, respectively. Second, we propose two new performance measures in the downside risk framework. The empirical investigation based on Morgan Stanley Capital Indices (MSCI) database of emerging markets shows that the capital asset pricing models in the downside risk framework, especially the D-CAPM, describe better the valuation of assets. The results obtained also support the Sortino ratio, the upside potential ratio and Omega measure over Sharpe ratio. Similarly, the results support our two performance measures over Treynor Index and the Jensen alpha.
Macroeconomic Effects on Emerging Market Sector Indices
Authors: Schätz Alexander
Published: December 2010

This article supplies empirical evidence of the dynamic interactions between international macroeconomic determinants and 10 emerging market sector indices. As so far empirical research has followed the scientific approach of examining each country separately, this article conducts a supranational sector analysis instead. Due to several economic and monetary crises, we find structural breaks in 9 of the 10 sectors. Taking into account the consequential sub-periods, the sensibility of each sector index to macroeconomic influences is detected by the VECM findings which allow conclusions to be drawn about the sector-specific distinctions in the emerging markets. Contrary to theoretical expectations, the majority of the examined sectors benefited from increasing commodity prices during the examination sample. This finding, therefore, affirms that the ongoing catching-up process and the consequential growth in affluence in the emerging countries is largely driven by growing commodity prices and exports.
US-Thailand Bilateral Safety-first Portfolio Optimisation around the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis
Authors: Haque Mahfuzul , Varela Oscar
Published: December 2010

We examine bilateral US- and Thailand-based equity portfolios around the 1997 baht crisis using an extreme value framework for safety-first (SF) portfolio optimisation, with comparisons to the Markowitz mean-variance minimum variance portfolio (MVP). The optimal SF portfolio is invested 100 per cent in the US regardless of the periods considered when returns are denominated in USD, but 80 per cent in the US in the post-crisis period when returns are denominated in THB. The MVP for USD denominations is 85 per cent invested in the US regardless of the period, in contrast to 100 per cent for SF, suggesting more investment in the US when USD returns and safety considerations are paramount. In contrast, there are minimal differences between the MVP and SF for THB denominations, particularly post crisis when there are no differences. The baht crisis seems to have shifted investments toward the US for those with an interest in safety first and USD returns, but had minimal effect on the portfolio composition for those with an interest in THB returns.
The Wealth Effects of Takeover Announcement for Firms in the Financial Services Sector in India
Authors: Chakraborty Madhumita
Published: December 2010

Using the parametric and non-parametric tests, this study aims to understand the wealth effects of shareholders of bidder, target and combined firms on the announcement of takeovers. The sample for the study consists of targets from financial sector which are listed in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and listed (in BSE) corporate bidders of the aforesaid targets. The period covered by the study begins with the new millennium from January 2001 and extends to December 2007. The findings suggest that the shareholders of target firms earn significantly positive abnormal returns on takeover announcements, but further analysis reveals that the positive returns was the contribution of only 19 firms, while, for the remaining 48 firms, there was no market reaction on takeover announcements. Apparently, there was some evidence that bidders experienced post-event positive wealth effects on takeover announcements. But this was not true for the majority as the significant findings were the outcome of the reaction of only two firms. On analysis of the combined returns, positive results were observed, but this was again largely because of two pairs of companies generating significantly positive results. Overall, these results seem to suggest that except for a few cases, which show positive returns, takeovers in the financial services sector in general do not evoke market reaction.
Teaching Organizational Culture Using a Projective Technique: Collage Construction
Authors: Colakoglu Saba , Littlefield Jon
Published: December 2010

Although the topic of “organizational culture” is an integral part of syllabi across a wide range of core business classes such as Principles of Management, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resource Management, few experiential exercises exist that can enhance student understanding and learning of different layers of organizational culture. In this article, the authors describe their experimentation with the use of a qualitative and projective research technique—collage construction—to teach the topic of organizational culture to business students. Although this projective technique has traditionally been used in the consumer research and advertising domains to tap into consumers’ inner feelings, thoughts, and values, the authors provide evidence from business student evaluations that this technique can also be useful in understanding abstract organizational phenomena such as organizational culture in a classroom context.
Management Education for Practicing Managers: Combining Academic Rigor With Personal Change and Organizational Action
Authors: Berggren Christian , Söderlund Jonas
Published: December 2010

For several decades, management educators have discussed the difficulty of accommodating the competing values of academic rigor and organizational relevance. Only a few articles, however, consider approaches for integrating theory and practice in educational programs for working managers. Building on 15 years of experience in executive education, this article presents an approach grounded in experiential and action learning, which combines personal learning and organizational action without compromising academic standards. The following educational practices are discussed and evaluated: reflection reports, personal learning contracts, roundtable examinations, live cases, action-oriented thesis work, and organizational knowledge theaters. Taken together, the approach constitutes a powerful program design to address multiple learning loci and combinations of reflection and action, albeit one with considerable challenges and difficulties, as the authors discuss.
Nutritional Issues of Korean Americans
Authors: Shin Cha-Nam , Lach Helen
Published: December 2010

This cross-sectional, descriptive study examined factors influencing healthy eating of Korean Americans in a convenience sample of 517 Korean adults in a Midwestern city. Participants completed a self-administered survey written in either English or Korean as their preferences, which measured health, acculturation, healthy eating benefits, barriers, and self-efficacy as well as healthy eating practice. Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, and structural equation modeling were used for analysis. Participants reported retaining elements of the traditional Korean diet regardless of acculturation. The worst eating habits were seen in participants who were younger ( t = 4.57), currently not married ( t = 3.10), less educated ( F = 5.03), and acculturated to American society ( F = 5.93) at the p < .05. Clinicians should provide culturally sensitive interventions targeting Korean Americans with poor dietary habits by providing population-specific, tailored interventions about the benefits of healthy eating and modeling healthier recipes for traditional Korean dishes.
Aldosterone Antagonists in Heart Failure
Authors: Guglin Maya , Kristof-Kuteyeva Olga , Novotorova Irina , Pratap Pravin
Published: December 2010

Aldosterone antagonists represented by nonselective spironolactone and mineralocorticoid-selective eplerenone are approved for treatment of symptomatic heart failure with reduced systolic function. Their cardioprotective, antifibrotic, and antiarrhythmic effects have been proven in animal experiments, and their effects on morbidity and mortality have been demonstrated in randomized clinical trials. Yet, they remain the most underutilized of all classes of medications for heart failure, primarily because of fear of hyperkalemia. Thorough patient screening and selection is the key for minimizing risks and optimizing benefits from these drugs. Ongoing trials will demonstrate whether the indication for aldosterone antagonists can be expanded to less severe heart failure or patients with preserved systolic function.
Paradoxical Arterial Embolism Involving Both Upper Extremities in a Patient With Pulmonary Embolism and a Patent Foramen Ovale
Authors: Kouskov O. S. , Nichols D. J. , O’Hearn D. J.
Published: December 2010

Paradoxical embolization is an uncommon but devastating complication of pulmonary embolism (PE). Awareness of this complication with prompt recognition and treatment could serve to preclude significant disability and death. Described is a case of PE associated with paradoxical embolism to the arteries of both upper extremities. While patent foramen ovale (PFO) is common, paradoxical embolism is infrequent but can involve almost any artery of the body. Discussed are the risk factors, clinical presentations, and diagnostic and treatment options for paradoxical embolism. Awareness of the potential for paradoxical embolization in patients with PE is essential to its prompt recognition and treatment.
Patients With Venous Thromboembolism Appear to Have Higher Prevalence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Than the General Population
Authors: Bosanquet James P. , Bade Brett C. , Zia Maryam F. , Karo Ammar , Hassan Oudai , Hess Brian T. , Dabbagh Ousama
Published: December 2010

Introduction. The link between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains unclear. We sought to study a possible association between VTE and OSA. Methods. We retrospectively collected data on patients with VTE between 1999 and 2009. Data on demographics and comorbidities were recorded as well as body mass index was calculated. Primary outcome was prevalence of OSA defined as an apnea−hypopnea index (AHI) ≥5. The study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01051297). Results. We identified 840 patients with VTE. Obstructive sleep apnea was confirmed in 130 (15.5% [13%-17.9%]). Compared to the control group (no OSA), those who had OSA were more obese (83.8% vs 43.8%) and had statistically higher prevalence of diabetes, coronary artery disease, and congestive heart failure. Conclusions. The prevalence of OSA 15.5% (13%-17.9%) appears to be higher than that of the general population among patients with VTE. Our findings suggest a possible link between OSA and VTE.
Economic Impact of Enoxaparin After Acute Ischemic Stroke Based on PREVAIL
Authors: Pineo Graham , Lin Jay , Stern Lee , Subrahmanian Tarun , Annemans Lieven
Published: December 2010

The efficacy and safety of low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWHs) versus unfractionated heparin (UFH) has been demonstrated for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after acute ischemic stroke. Few data exist regarding the economic impact of LMWHs versus UFH in this population. A decision-analytic model was constructed using clinical information from the Prevention of VTE after Acute Ischemic stroke with LMWH Enoxaparin (PREVAIL) study, and drug costs and mean Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services event costs. When considering the total cost of events and drugs, enoxaparin was associated with cost-savings of $895 per patient compared with UFH ($2018 vs $2913). Findings were retained within the univariate and multivariate analyses. From a payer perspective, enoxaparin was cost-effective compared with UFH in patients with acute ischemic stroke. The difference was driven by the lower clinical event rates with enoxaparin. Use of enoxaparin may help to reduce the clinical and economic burden of VTE.
Controversies in Diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism
Authors: Stein Paul D. , Sostman H. Dirk , Dalen James E. , Bailey Dale L. , Bajc Marika , Goldhaber Samuel Z. , Goodman Lawrence R. , Gottschalk Alexander , Hull Russell D. , Matta Fadi , Pistolesi Massimo , Tapson Victor F. , Weg John G. , Wells Philip S. , Woodard Pamela K. ,   Consensus Group
Published: December 2010

The approach to the diagnosis of acute pulmonary embolism (PE) is under constant revision with advances in technology, noninvasive approaches, and increasing awareness of the risks of ionizing radiation. Optimal approaches in some categories of patients are controversial. Data are insufficient for evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, this survey of investigators in the field was undertaken. Even among experts there were marked differences of opinion regarding the approach to the diagnosis of acute PE. Although CT pulmonary angiography was usually the imaging test of choice, the respondents were keenly aware of the dangers of ionizing radiation. In view of advances in scintigraphic diagnosis since the Prospective Investigation of Pulmonary Embolism Diagnosis (PIOPED) trial, ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) lung scans or perfusion scans alone and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) V/Q lung scans are often recommended. The choice depends on the patient’s age, gender, and complexity of the findings on the plain chest radiograph.
Research Entanglements, Race, and Recognizability: A Psychosocial Reading of Interview Encounters in (Post-) Colonial, (Post-) Apartheid South Africa
Authors: Saville Young Lisa
Published: December 2010

Psychoanalysis has become increasingly concerned with issues of race and class and the ways in which they play themselves out in the therapy room. Alongside other psychosocial scholars concerned with the interleaving of the self and other, the psychological and the social, I argue that psychoanalysis is a valuable resource, particularly, as demonstrated in this article, for thinking through how we might theorize and “read” race and class in interview contexts when conducting qualitative research. Interview moments between myself, the researcher—a White, middle-class, educated, South African woman—and the researched—Black, working-class, lesser educated, South African men—are subjected to a psychosocial reading drawing specifically on Lacanian psychoanalysis which emphasizes a critical, tentative approach that aims to disrupt understanding.
School as Ceremony and Ritual: How Photography Illuminates Performances of Ideological Transfer
Authors: Chappell Drew , Chappell Sharon , Margolis Eric
Published: December 2010

Images of the places and activities called “school” as a formal institution are rich data for the inquiring gaze. This article focuses specifically on historical photos of school rituals and ceremonies through which young people perform particular narratives of schooling through repetitive embodied practice and in turn construct values and beliefs about themselves and wider society. In particular, we look at rituals of the habitual, coming of age ceremonies, patriotic rituals and ceremonies, and degradation rituals and ceremonies. In analysis of these photographs, we ask, what meanings are (re)performed in such rituals and ceremonies? Why are these performances important to consider in the context of young people’s identity negotiation and school reform? And, after such an analysis, how might any of the performances contain spaces for (student and teacher) agency, including resistance and transformation?
Betrayals of Gravity: The Flight of the Phoenix
Authors: Denton Diana
Published: December 2010

The author witnesses the creation and eventual dissolution of the fragile institutional structures that have held her in place. Surrounded by dissonant choirs of institutional tension, broken trust, conflicted agendas, she finds herself moving through fractured and polarized spaces in the academy. Amidst the rubble of her own institutional life, the poetic voice calls her to look through images of rupture to other fragile landscapes in the throes of disruption. She bridges these worlds to make sense of her own and the larger more-than-human landscape.
Hospice 101
Authors: Richardson Laurel
Published: December 2010

Hospice 101 interweaves three sites of narration: (a) my home and family life; (b) my training as a hospice volunteer; and (c) the death of my sister. The article both introduces hospice, palliative care, and the dying process and immerses the reader in these experiences through the intermingling of ethnographic and literary techniques. Writing Hospice 101 has been a method of inquiry for me, but, unexpectedly, the writing has also been a method of palliative self-care.
Characterization of the Olive Oil from Three Potentially Interesting Varieties from Aragon (Spain)
Authors: Benito M. , Oria R. , Sánchez-Gimeno A.C.
Published: December 2010

The commercial potential of olive oils from three autochthonous olive varieties Bodocal, Racimilla and Negral from Aragón (Spain) has been examined. Physicochemical characteristics, sensory analysis, nutritional composition, color and pigments were considered. The three varieties are generally used for producing table olives or olive oil in coupages but not for the production of monovarietal virgin olive oil. The values of the physicochemical and sensory analysis for the three olive oils corresponded to extra virgin category, however important differences among the three oils were observed in relation to pigment content, color measurements and fatty acid and phenol and tocopherol composition. Several characteristics such as oil yield, fatty acid and phenol and tocopherol content and sensory profiles suggested that some of these oils are of a promising composition. The olive yield of the Bodocal variety was the lowest (17%) and its corresponding oil had the smallest oleic acid (69%), phenols (272 mg gallic acid/kg) and tocopherol (96 mg/kg) contents and not equilibrated sensory parameters. The main characteristics of the Racimilla variety were a very high oil yield (28%) with very high contents in oleic acid (79 %) and phenols (831 mg gallic acid/kg). The oil of the Negral variety had very equilibrated sensory properties and its oleic acid content (76%) was similar to that of Racimilla. Its phenol content (456 mg gallic acid/kg) was between that of the other two varieties and its tocopherol content (190 mg/kg) was the highest. Therefore, the two last varieties could be of great interest for producing monovarietal olive oils.
Extraction of Antioxidants and Caffeine from Green Tea (Camelia sinensis) Leaves: Kinetics and Modeling
Authors: Ziaedini A. , Jafari A. , Zakeri A.
Published: December 2010

The effects of temperature (50, 60, 70, 80, 90 °C) and time (5, 10, 20, 40, 80 min) on catechins and caffeine solubility in water from Iranian green tea were investigated, The best combinations of temperature and time extraction with water were 20—40 min, 80 °C for epigallocatechin (EGC), epicatechin (EC) and caffeine (Caff), and 80 min, 90 °C for catechin (C), epicatechin gallate (ECG) and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). A mathematical model derived from Fick’s second law was then used to calculate the diffusivity of the components, and to monitor the effect of temperature on the diffusivities. The extraction of these components is governed by two diffusion processes: fast and slow. The results showed that the intra-particle diffusion was the rate-governing step of the extraction process. The slow stage diffusivities of these components at their optimum extraction temperatures were calculated as: 1.94e-9 (EGC), 8.1e-10 (EC), 3.9e-10 (Caff), 1.34e-8 (C), 4.2e-9 (ECG) and 4.63e-9 (EGCG).
Final Report of the Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel Amended Safety Assessment of Calendula officinalis—Derived Cosmetic Ingredients
Authors: Andersen F. Alan , Bergfeld Wilma F. , Belsito Donald V. , Hill Ronald A. , Klaassen Curtis D. , Liebler Daniel C. , Marks James G. , Shank Ronald C. , Slaga Thomas J. , Snyder Paul W.
Published: December 2010

Calendula officinalis extract, C officinalis flower, C officinalis flower extract, C officinalis flower oil, and C officinalis seed oil are cosmetic ingredients derived from C officinalis. These ingredients may contain minerals, carbohydrates, lipids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, sterols and steroids, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, tocopherols, quinones, amino acids, and resins. These ingredients were not significantly toxic in single-dose oral studies using animals. The absence of reproductive/developmental toxicity was inferred from repeat-dose studies of coriander oil, with a similar composition. Overall, these ingredients were not genotoxic. They also were not irritating, sensitizing, or photosensitizing in animal or clinical tests but may be mild ocular irritants. The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel concluded that these ingredients are safe for use in cosmetics in the practices of use and concentration given in this amended safety assessment.
The Myth of Global Fit Indices and Alternatives for Assessing Latent Variable Relations
Authors: Williams Larry J. , O'Boyle Ernest
Published: December 2010

A common myth among organizational researchers who use structural equations is that adequate fit values from the composite (overall) model speak directly to the adequacy of the proposed theory. However, this is a fallacious assumption, as significant misspecification among the theoretical paths between constructs can occur and be missed when there is an overreliance on global fit indices. To debunk this myth and provide a more valid alternative, the authors begin with an overview of latent variable model estimation procedures, emphasizing how they affect values obtained with fit measures for composite models. The authors next demonstrate problems with these measures, using an algebraic analysis of two popular composite fit indices (CFI, RMSEA) and results from simulation analysis with these indices. They then highlight two alternative indices that focus more on path model relations (NSCI-P, RMSEA-P) and that outperform the composite fit indices in the detection of model misspecification among the latent variables. The authors conclude with recommendations how these latter indices can be incorporated into model evaluation and theory testing.
Determinants of Environmental Management in the Red Sea Hotels
Authors: Dief Mohammed El , Font Xavier
Published: December 2010

What motivates firms to adopt environmental management practices is one of the most significant aspects in the contemporary academic debate in which the review of the existing literature yields, with an obvious contextual bias toward developed world, contested theories and inconclusive findings. Providing a unique model that brings together the individual and organizational levels of analysis on firms’ adoption of environmental management practices, this study aims to provide a new insight from the context of developing world. Data from 158 Red Sea hotels reveal two identifiable dimensions of environmental management—planning and organization, and operations—that can be explained as originating from different values. Whereas organizational altruism is a powerful predictor of both dimensions, managers’ personal values and organizational competitive orientation are only relevant to environmental operations. The evidence also indicates that contextual variables such as chain affiliation, hotel star rating, and size are important to explain hotels’ environmental management behaviors.
Right Science and Right Results: Lifestyle Change, PBS, and Human Dignity
Authors: Turnbull Ann , Turnbull Rud
Published: December 2010

This article provides an in-depth analysis of the comprehensive supports necessary for an adult with multiple disabilities and significant problem behavior to experience an inclusive adulthood. Written from the perspective of parents, the article highlights “lessons learned” about how to implement and finance comprehensive supports across domains of home living, work, friendships, community connections, wellness, as well as additional areas. Practice tips are provided in terms of potential replication.
How far can Foucault take us? An analysis of the changing discourses and limitations of the medical treatment of apoplexy and stroke
Authors: Daneski Katharine , Higgs Paul , Morgan Myfanwy
Published: December 2010

This article examines the conditions under which epistemological shifts in medicine have shaped the history of apoplexy and stroke. Our intention is to understand how stroke medicine as a distinct branch of bio-medicine has emerged in its current form. In doing so, we draw on aspects of the work of Michel Foucault as they relate to fabrication of biomedical discourses. The past 300 years of the transformation of the condition is examined using Michel Foucault’s analysis of medical history as instances of the changing spatialization of disease. While the adoption of this approach helped explain how medical practice was shaped by changing interpretations of the causes of apoplexy and stroke over the past few centuries, we also found that there were certain limitations to such an approach. Overall, however, we hope to show that an examination of the history of stroke medicine through a Foucauldian influenced lens can provide a useful understanding of its current circumstances as well as throw light on gaps in Foucauldian approaches themselves.
Trans-biopolitics: Complexity in interspecies relations
Authors: Blue Gwendolyn , Rock Melanie
Published: December 2010

This article introduces the concept of trans-biopolitics to account for complexity in the intermingling of animal and human bodies, with particular attention to diseases capable of crossing the species divide from animals to humans. While zoonotic diseases never disappeared, they had re-emerged as pressing concerns by the 21st century. The concept of trans-biopolitics takes into account the power relations inherent in human and nonhuman lives in contemporary global, industrial, and technological formations. More specifically, trans-biopolitics revolves around practices determining whose lives are possible or legitimate to prolong, whose bodies are sacrificed in order to preserve the vitality of other bodies, and whose bodies are sustained yet ultimately rendered insignificant. To illustrate, we examine connections between bovine spongiform encephalopathy and feline spongiform encephalopathy, to show how certain bodies (humans, livestock) are taken into consideration in terms of health and food regulations, whereas other bodies (pets) remain at the periphery. Acknowledging human—animal relations in contemporary technological and global contexts challenges us to rethink ways in which the politics of health continues to evolve.
Getting the aorta pants in place: A ‘community of guidance’ in the evolving practice of vascular implant surgery
Authors: Brattheim Berit , Faxvaag Arild , Tjora Aksel
Published: December 2010

The evolving nature of surgical treatments creates gaps between evidence-based guidelines and actual clinical practice.This article addresses the emerging clinical practice of the EndoVascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR), a surgical treatment of patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA). Drawing on a qualitative study across three hospitals, we identified three interplaying expertise traits: the collective, the interpersonal and the technical, each being present to promote surgical work. The evolvement of EVAR is contextualized within technical artefacts and patient characteristics, along with a joint decision approach. The intertwinement between various expertise traits and contextual factors forms a ‘community of guidance’, nourishing further EVAR innovation without formalized institutions, evidence, training or guidelines. However, the lack of a shared context limits the transfer of evolving knowledge across hospital boundaries.
It’s not fair: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of discourses of justice and fairness in chronic pain
Authors: McParland Joanna L. , Eccleston Christopher , Osborn Mike , Hezseltine Louisa
Published: December 2010

Quantitative research suggests that perceiving injustice can impact negatively upon physical and psychological health in chronic pain. However, little is known about the experience and perceptions of injustice in this context. This study examines the phenomenology of justice and injustice in chronic pain. Fifteen chronic pain sufferers recruited from General Practices in upper, middle and lower socioeconomic areas participated in one of three focus group discussions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to interrogate justice-related conceptions. All discussions were observed, audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The dominant theme of the upper socioeconomic group was ‘seeking equality’. For the middle socioeconomic group the dominant theme was ‘battle for quality of life’ and for the lower socioeconomic group the dominant theme was ‘the unfair advantage of others’. It is concluded that this group of chronic pain sufferers prioritize justice-related issues in terms of what is dominant to their social concerns and personal needs.
Frailty, disability and old age: A re-appraisal
Authors: Gilleard Chris , Higgs Paul
Published: December 2010

Frailty has become a topic of increasing interest in health care. No longer treated as a catch-all term for agedness, decline and disablement it has acquired a more precise definition, applied to those individuals whose ‘aged’ state is seen to put them at risk of adverse outcomes. This transformation is we argue the outcome of a more general differentiation of terms that were previously used to categorize the weak and marginal within society. Old age re-labelled as ‘later life’ has become re-articulated as a successful life stage relatively free from impairment. Disability has been re-positioned and its links with impairment attenuated while chronic illness has acquired a new narrative of its own. This has left frailty behind, redolent still with all the old negative attributes of marginality, but now more than ever evacuated of any remaining elements of ‘status’ or ‘agency’. Frailty is defined less by the identities of those who are deemed frail than by what frailty seems to augur in its direction of travel — a journey towards unspecified adverse outcomes. This re-positioning, we suggest, helps lay the foundation of a social imaginary of ‘the fourth age’ as the new location of old age.
Sexualization: Have sexualization processes changed direction?
Authors: Wouters Cas
Published: December 2010

In its present use, the connotations of ‘sexualization’ as a concept are mainly negative. They were strengthened and reinforced in 2007 by the publication of a research report by the American Psychological Association. In this article, the findings of the APA Report and its use of a morally loaded negative concept of sexualization are contested. In contrast, this article presents sexualization as a long-term social process that was preceded by a long-term process of desexualization, in which taboos on sexuality gained strength. This perspective is broadened by integrating long-term changes in sexuality into long-term processes of formalization and informalization. Desexualization was part of the formalization of manners and the disciplining of people, which occurred from the Renaissance to the last quarter of the 19th century. The process of informalization occurred from then onwards, when the regime of manners and emotions allowed for more lenient and informal manners, and for an ‘emancipation of emotions’: emotions that had been denied and repressed, including all those related to sexuality, regained access to consciousness and wider acceptance in more informal social codes. Thus, informalization refers to a process that entails sexualization. From this perspective this article concludes that present attempts to counter the process of sexualization are largely counterproductive: they propel the emancipation of sexuality and its integration into everyday life.
Mapping the Arabic blogosphere: politics and dissent online
Authors: Etling Bruce , Kelly John , Faris Robert , Palfrey John
Published: December 2010

This study explores the structure and content of the Arabic blogosphere using link analysis, term frequency analysis, and human coding of individual blogs. We identified a base network of approximately 35,000 Arabic-language blogs, mapped the 6000 most-connected blogs, and hand coded over 3000. The study is a baseline assessment of the networked public sphere in the Arabic-speaking world, which mainly clusters nationally. We found the most politically active areas of the network to be clusters of bloggers in Egypt, Kuwait, Syria, and the Levant, as well as an ‘English Bridge’ group. Differences among these indicate variability in how online practices are embedded in local political contexts. Bloggers are focused mainly on domestic political issues; concern for Palestine is the one issue that unites the entire network. Bloggers link preferentially to the top Web 2.0 sites (e.g. YouTube and Wikipedia), followed by pan-Arab mainstream media sources, such as Al Jazeera.
Constrained authors: Bylines and authorship in news reporting
Authors: Reich Zvi
Published: December 2010

The proliferation of bylines characterized the news as an imperfect, all too human account of reality, opening the way towards journalistic stardom, altering power relations within the news industry and shifting news organizations from a position behind the news to one behind the people who gather and compose it. Focusing on The New York Times as the chief case study and The Times of London as a supplementary one, findings show that the bylining process extended throughout the 20th century at a far slower pace than indicated in previous research. Bylining was a four-stage process: 1) initial avoidance of bylining, thereby fostering an anonymous, authoritative voice; 2) bylines promoting organizational goals only; 3) bylines accorded to a select few staff writers, leading to inconsistency in attribution policy; and 4) papers lose control over selective crediting due to journalists’ pressure for public acclaim. Using a multidisciplinary approach combining legal theory with the sociology and history of journalism, the article concludes that news reporters are constrained authors whose limitations are set chiefly by organizational, legal and commercial forces. These limitations not only delayed and slowed down their attribution but also continue to characterize their authorship to this day.
A Regional Assessment of Information Technology Sophistication in Missouri Nursing Homes
Authors: Alexander Gregory L. , Madsen Richard , Wakefield Douglas
Published: December 2010

Objective: To provide a state profile of information technology (IT) sophistication in Missouri nursing homes. Method: Primary survey data were collected from December 2006 to August 2007. A descriptive, exploratory cross-sectional design was used to investigate dimensions of IT sophistication (technological, functional, and integration) related to resident care, clinical support, and administrative processes. Each dimension was used to describe the clinical domains and demographics (ownership, regional location, and bed size). Results: The final sample included 185 nursing homes. A wide range of IT sophistication is being used in administrative and resident care management processes, but very little in clinical support activities. Conclusion: Evidence suggests nursing homes in Missouri are expanding use of IT beyond traditional administrative and billing applications to patient care and clinical applications. This trend is important to provide support for capabilities which have been implemented to achieve national initiatives for meaningful use of IT in health care settings.
Comparing the differences and commonalities between service-learning in the USA and social practice in China
Authors: Ruifang Xu
Published: December 2010

Service-learning as a popular term refers to an educational model that combines academic study with social activism and civic service. However, some countries, such as China, use different terms. This article explores the differences and commonalities between service-learning in the USA and social practice in China in the following areas: definitions and objectives, history of development, public support, status in education, effects, forms, national contexts and similar problems. The comparison gives a different perspective to the understanding service-learning/social practice for both the USA and China. Despite the big differences in educational and political systems, service-learning and social practice appear to have lots of similarities. The comparison also tries to show how the educational or service model for youth can be affected by societal factors.
What is a critical multicultural researcher? A self-reflective study of the role of the researcher
Authors: Schoorman Dilys , Bogotch Ira
Published: December 2010

Critical multiculturalism and social justice have emerged in educational contexts as primarily pedagogical concerns, confined to the processes of teaching and learning. This article raises the question about the application of these principles to the research process. Through a critical self-reflection on researcher roles and practices, this article highlights four emergent characteristics of the multicultural/social justice researcher: the commitment to a common good; the re-definition of the researcher—researched relationship; the interrogation of the traditional roles, norms and power dynamics of academic research and researchers; and the merging of the tripartite distinctions of teaching, research and service in the role of the professor. These serve as a starting point for dialogue on the re-conceptualization of the role of the multicultural/social justice researcher.
Challenges in engaging communities in bottom-up literacies for democratic citizenship
Authors: Torres Myriam N.
Published: December 2010

The purpose of this article is to examine the authors’ experiences while trying to enter and engage local communities in bottom-up literacies through participatory action research (PAR) toward the community’s own collective self-development. In trying to enter five different communities, I have found several challenges and roadblocks such as mistrust of ‘university people’: legacy of the conventional outside-in and top-down research procedures for working in communities; power struggles with community ‘gatekeepers’, including ‘building keepers’; and bureaucratized project-driven community work. I consider that under the current neoliberal educational policies that are plaguing the world, for example, No Child Left Behind in the USA, self-development projects promoted through PAR can be viable ways to defy these policies and their fatalist thinking. School children’s parents and their communities are nowadays in a better position than teachers to fight for reclaiming local control of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.
Optimal configuration of the spiral linking technique for tendon repair. Biomechanical evaluation
Authors: Kulikov Y. I. , Vinogradova Y. , Miles A. W. , Giddins G.
Published: December 2010

A previous study described a new spiral linking technique for tendon repairs and demonstrated that it was strong enough to be used in clinical practice as an alternative to the Pulvertaft tendon weave repair. However the repairs were less stiff, needed slightly more tendon length for the same repair and were a little bulkier. In this study two variables have been changed with a view to improving the spiral technique. At first the number of spirals was reduced consecutively, keeping the same number of standard mattress sutures. Once the optimal number of spirals had been identified, repairs with different numbers of sutures were tested using an alternative cross-stitch technique. The spiral repair technique using two spirals linked with six sutures was at least as strong and stiff as a four-weave Pulvertaft technique and was also easier to do.