bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Music on the Perception of Paintings
Authors: Limbert Wendy M. , Polzella Donald J.
Published: May 2005

This study tested the influence of musical style on observers' perceptions of representational and abstract paintings. Participants were thirty-six male and thirty-six female undergraduates who viewed eight paintings under one of three listening conditions: matching, non-matching, or no music. Participants rated each painting on four semantic-differential scales. Mean ratings were compared using MANOVAs. An interaction of painting style and listening condition (Wilks' lambda = .780, p < .05) showed participants' aesthetic experience of viewing the paintings was intensified when the paintings were accompanied by matching music. A main effect for music style (Wilks' lambda = .718, p < .01) showed participants thought all paintings were less active and more beautiful when accompanied by the impressionist music. There were no significant effects for gender.
Examining the “Male, Antisocial” Stereotype of High Computer Users
Authors: Schott Gareth , Selwyn Neil
Published: May 2005

The popular stereotype of the frequent computer user persists to be one of a male, socially inadequate and isolated individual—a perception which has been found to cause many students to avoid coming into contact with information and communications technology (ICT), both inside and outside of school. This article reports on a study examining the gender and social competency of both frequent and infrequent computer-using students in Year 12 ( n = 117). The results suggest that students who are highly oriented toward ICT are just as likely to be female as they are male and are no less sociable, popular, or self-assured than their non-ICT using peers. These data are then contrasted with interview data from the “high” and “low” using students which suggest that negative stereotyping of the computer-using student persists —although primarily among students not engaging with ICT in school. The article postulates that the vast increases in ICT use in schools over the last ten years has created a more accessible “computer culture” to which increasing numbers of students are now subscribing; although teachers need to be aware of the persistence of the male, anti-social stereotype within elements of the student body.
Psychosocial Versus Biomedical Risk Factors in Kevorkian's First Forty-Seven Physician-Assisted Deaths
Authors: Kaplan Kalman J. , Lachenmeier Flint , Harrow Martin , O'Dell Jyll C. , Uziel Oren , Schneiderhan Mark , Cheyfitz Kirk
Published: May 2005

This article examines biomedical and psychosocial data on the first forty-seven cases of physician-assisted suicides (PAS) of Kevorkian as collected by means of both a physical autopsy and a preliminary psychological autopsy. The following patterns emerge: 1) The physical condition of these PAS patients was not typical of the conditions that lead to death in the United States. 2) Consistent with the above findings, our pilot data indicate that only 31.1 percent of these patients were terminal. While 73.9 percent were described as reporting pain, only 42.6 percent were revealed at autopsy to have a specific anatomical basis for their pain. However 36 percent were described as depressed, 66 percent as having some disability, and perhaps of key importance, 90 percent expressed a fear of dependency. Most important, our pilot data suggest the possibility of large gender differences, since 3) 68.1 percent of these forty-seven PAS's are women and only 31.9 percent are men. This represents the reverse of the gender pattern for completed suicides in the United States in 1995, resembling instead the approximate pattern for unsuccessful suicide attempts. 4) Approximately 75 percent of both men and women in the above sample were described as reporting pain. Men were almost twice as likely to have had an anatomical basis for the pain and three times as likely to be terminal. Our pilot data indicate PAS women are more likely to be described as depressed and twice as likely to have had a history of previous unsuccessful suicide attempts. 5) Kevorkian's patients were older than the typical unaided suicides in America. Reported pain decreases with age as does depression; however anatomical basis for pain increases slightly with age, and no age effect emerges for terminality. 6) Approximately two-thirds of these physician-assisted suicides were at middle SES levels. History of disability was the biggest risk factor for the low SES patients and fear of dependency for the high SES patients.
Psychiatric Day Hospital Treatment of Terminally Ill Patients
Authors: Slivkin Stanley E.
Published: May 2005

The psychiatric Day Hospital offers a forum for working out bereavement issues of terminally ill patients. Through individual and group psychotherapy, patients and their families are assisted in coping with the issues of death and dying. Coordination of medical, surgical, and psychiatric treatment of dying patients is enhanced by Day Hospital educational and treatment programs which afford continuity of care at the interface area between treatment specialties.
Implementation of ISD—Restructuring of the Radioman Curriculum
Authors: Vernam Claude C. , Kennedy Patrick
Published: May 2005

The Chief of Naval Education and Training has established a centrally managed, decentrally executed, Instructional Systems Development capability. The first of five planned Instructional Program Development Centers was established in San Diego, California on July 1, 1976. The first rating or occupational specialty to be restructured is the Navy Radioman. A model, whose five phases are Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Control, has been selected to carry out ISD within the Naval Education and Training Command.
Nitrous Oxide and Cognitive Set: Implications of an Altered State of Consciousness for Creative Problem Solving
Authors: Hansen K. Gene , Malloy Thomas E. , Gordon Oakley E. , Rose David , Fleming John
Published: May 2005

To assess the effects of nitrous oxide on mechanized cognitive sets, sixty-four dental patients were randomly divided into four groups. Two control groups verified the procedure's ability to establish and demonstrate a mechanized cognitive set. The other two groups, the Oxygen Group and the Nitrous Oxide Group, demonstrated that nitrous oxide led to an increased probability of breaking cognitive set in favor of a more efficient solution, fewer errors, and quicker responses. It was concluded that the nitrous oxide state permitted the experience of aspects of the world that were excluded or ignored by subjects in a normal state. In this way nitrous oxide and other altered states of consciousness such as hypnosis, meditation, and guided fantasy may be effective in resolving creative blocks. It is suggested that nitrous oxide might be applied in some clinical settings as an adjunct to psychotherapy when a client is blocked by a cognitive set and unable to break the set by traditional methods.
Lithium Side Effects in the Medically Ill
Authors: Morton W. Alexander , Sonne Susan C. , Lydiard R. Bruce
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This review will include the general pharmacology of lithium and discuss its effects on various organ systems, with emphasis on the medically ill patient as well as the geriatric patient with multiple medical problems.

Methods:

A full literature review on the side effects of lithium was performed. Attention is focused on the medically ill and possible drug interactions.

Results:

This review points to the numerous problems which can result in toxicity in the medically ill or the geriatric patient.

Conclusion:

Serious side effects can be avoided with proper drug monitoring and knowledge of potential drug interactions.
Analysis of the Copper Bead from Calf Island, Massachusetts
Authors: Luedtke Barbara
Published: May 2005

Given the increasing interest in copper analysis and the relative scarcity of prehistoric copper artifacts in the Northeast, those of us with unpublished data have an obligation to make them available to other researchers. Therefore, this article presents new metric and chemical data on a copper bead from the Calf Island site, a Late Woodland fishing and hunting camp in Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. In addition, several new radiocarbon dates from the site are presented and discussed. It is suggested that beads may have been increasing in quantity and variety during the Late Woodland period in eastern Massachusetts.
Major Depression and the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule: Validation in Medically Ill Hospitalized Patients
Authors: Koenig Harold G. , Goli Veeraindar , Shelp Frank , Cohen Harvey J. , Meador Keith G. , Blazer Dan G.
Published: May 2005

The authors validate the usefulness of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) in prevalence studies of major depression (MD) in medically ill male veterans. The affective disorders portion of the DIS was administered by a trained interviewer to a representative sample of 408 medically-ill hospitalized patients (75% over age 70). Using a standardized handscoring method for the DIS, the patients were categorized as having 01 not having MD. Using a two-stage design, sixty-nine patients scoring above a cutoff score on a self-rated depression scale were referred for blind evaluation by a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist made a clinical diagnosis of MD using a standard checklist of DSM-III criteria. The DIS correctly diagnosed MD in 78 percent (14/18) of older and 69 percent (9/13) of younger patients, and correctly ruled out the disorder in 65 percent (15/23) of older and 67 percent (10/15) of younger patients; the kappa statistic of agreement was .40 in older and .36 in younger patients.
Training the Trainers: Substance Abuse Screening and Intervention
Authors: Brown Richard L. , Fleming Michael F.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Screening and brief intervention for substance abuse is effective yet underutilized by primary care physicians. This article reports on Project SAEFP (Substance Abuse Education for Family Physicians), which aimed to enhance the clinical and teaching skills and activities of U.S. family practice residency faculty.

Method:

Ten five-day workshops were designed and administered for 165 participants. Evaluation data included measures of participant satisfaction and pre-workshop and twelve-month post-workshop measures of the frequency of teaching, consulting, and clinical activities, and the attainment of self-identified teaching goals.

Results:

The participants were very satisfied with the workshops. They improved significantly in the key outcome measures.

Conclusions:

Several workshops may have contributed to the apparent success of Project SAEFP. Attributes of the workshops which might have facilitated their success were their duration, funding, frequency of offering, collegial learning environment, opportunities for active learning, emotionally moving exposure to recovering individuals, focus on how to modify curriculum at participant residency programs, availability of family physician role models as faculty, and readily usable instructional materials. Planners of interventions for physician educators might profit from similar attention to these attributes.
The Abstract Way to Concrete Writing
Authors: Clark Andrew K.
Published: May 2005

Instruction in the writing of abstracts is of growing importance for technical writers, both as a valuable skill in its own right and for the beneficial side effects on other writing competencies. A proposed unit on abstract writing includes activities relevant to the abstract as a distinct writing form and assignments on writing an effective informative abstract.
Patterns of Drug Use among White Institutionalized Delinquents in Georgia: Evidence from a Latent Class Analysis
Authors: McCutcheon Allan L. , Thomas George
Published: May 2005

Previous research by Kandel [1] and others indicates that adolescent drug use follows a progression from legal drugs, through marijuana, to hard drugs. In this study of drug use patterns, institutionalized delinquents were found to follow a similar progression of drug use. Unlike previous studies which used “rule of thumb” methods of model assessment, this study uses probabilistic assessment of the models. Importantly, the present study supports a modified gate-way sequence, where cocaine use appears as an intermediate step between marijuana use and use of other hard drugs. It is suggested that widespread availability of cocaine in the late 1980's may have resulted in a new “step” in the drug use sequence.
The Regional Variation of Suicide in the United States in 1880 and 1980
Authors: Lester David
Published: May 2005

State suicide rates in both 1880 and 1980 were higher in the west, where the proportion of men was higher and where the proportion of African Americans was lower, supporting a compositional theory of regional suicide rates in America.
The Dominican Counterexample to Cuba: The American Path to Development
Authors: Pilisuk Marc
Published: May 2005

The Dominican Republic provides a striking example of the potential for economic development following active military and economic intervention by the United States. A moment of potential for reforms necessitated by the Trujillo era appeared briefly and was lost in the short period of the presidency of Juan Bosch. A detailed study of the circumstances behind the American marine action that restored order, and prevented the return of Bosch, tells us much about U.S. policy in Latin America. In contradistinction to media releases suggesting a potential communist threat, the study shows a level of corporate and intelligence community involvement in the country that precludes reforms essential to the well being of the Dominican people.
Seeking Compliance: Individualizing Form Letters by Computer
Authors: Bourne David Alan , Fowler Lois Josephs , Fowler David H.
Published: May 2005

Computers and technology now enable the writer of a form letter to insert significant personal information about the individual recipient, the purpose of which is to induce compliance with the sender's purposes. This article is based on a project in producing medical advice letters tailored to individuals. Our evaluations, like other preliminary studies, suggest that individualizing such letters does improve compliance over the conventional (impersonal) form letter. In considering the inner logic of the individualized letter, different methods of forming personalized letters are presented: adding text, subtracting text, and rearranging text. It is shown how the requisite information can be represented by a questionnaire, a diagram, and the printed letter itself. These three components are logically connected so that the user can make various choices and letters can be quickly formulated. Finally, advice is offered to technical writers embarking on the development of an individualized form letter, with some general reflections about the future of this innovation.
Are Psychiatric Consultants' Recommendations Followed?
Authors: Billowitz Aaron , Friedson William
Published: May 2005

The extent of adherence to psychiatric consultants' recommendations was calculated through a review of charts. All charts of patients seen in Psychiatric consultation from May 1976 to April 1977 were reviewed and a total of 273 charts contained scoreable consultant recommendations. Recommendations were scored as either actively followed, passively followed or not followed. Results are reported for the extent of adherence 1) between different types of recommendations (medications, disposition, etc.), 2) between medical, surgical and obstetrical-gynecological services and 3) between consultants, two psychiatrists and one psychologist. The results suggest that recommendations more likely to be followed are those easily performed by a consultee and leading to direct, tangible results. Adherence to consultants' recommendations is discussed in the context of resistance to psychiatric consultation.
Improving Rural Health: The Lessons of Mississippi and Tanzania
Authors: Shimkin Demitri B.
Published: May 2005

This article summarized major features and processes of a radical improvement in health, especially for black people, in Mississippi since 1965. It stresses the need for initial epidemiological, social-structural and social-psychological surveys in poorly known areas prior to intervention. Also essential is a progressive shift from external to local control, accompanied by modifications of organization and operating mode facilitating local accommodation, consistant with public health goals. An evaluation of chemoprophylaxis against malaria in Tanzania indicates that problems in developing sensitive, effective programs are widespread. In its entirety, this article seeks to improve approaches to community health in rural areas.
Evaluating a Treatment Program for Newly Widowed People
Authors: Sabatini Lou
Published: May 2005

This study evaluated the efficacy of a bereavement program for widowed people. The experimental and control groups each had twenty-five participants. The experimental participants were members who were partaking in a treatment group, while control participants were recruited from a waiting list for future groups. All participants were pre-and posttested on the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TRIG). Results showed no significant differences between experimental and control groups on posttest scores. However, recovery from grief was significantly influenced by factors such as circumstances of death and time. Furthermore, males fared much better than females but there were not enough (six) to test for significance.
Ethics and Equity in Canadian Health Care: Policy Alternatives
Authors: Wolfe Samuel
Published: May 2005

Four interrelated phenomena are at work in Canadian health care. First, in Canada as all over the world, there is growing momentum toward greater cost containment and imposition of tighter ceilings on health expenditures. Second is the demography of a falling birth rate and a greater number of elderly. Third, the failure of ratification by the provinces of the Canadian Meech Lake accord has created a constitutional structure that strongly favors provincial and not federal powers, and further guarantees widened regional and local disparities. Fourth, the economic union implicit in the United States-Canada free trade agreement of late 1988 will serve to weaken east-west ties within Canada in favor of north-south ties, and is likely to lead to taxation policy in Canada to favor the rich, with pressures toward privatization and restrictions on universal entitlement programs.
Psychic Death: Behavioral Types and Physiological Parallels
Authors: Garrity Thomas F.
Published: May 2005

Reports of the psychic death phenomenon are reviewed and grouped into three distinct categories on the basis of the quality of behavior antecedent to the death. Deaths following markedly excited behavior, such as fear, grief, and exultation, were placed in the first category. Apathetic, withdrawn and depressed behavior were the death-precursors included in the second category. The third category was characterized by calm acceptance behavior prior to the death. In addition to the presentation of a behavioral typology, parallels between the latter and several hypothesized physiological explanations of psychic death were presented.
Mortality in Patients with Primary Unipolar Depression, Secondary Unipolar Depression, and Bipolar Affective Disorder: A Comparison with General Population Mortality
Authors: Black Donald W. , Winokur George , Nasrallah Amelia
Published: May 2005

Mortality data are presented from a two to fourteen year follow-up of 705 primary unipolar depressives, 302 secondary unipolar depressives, and 586 patients with bipolar affective disorder (BAD) hospitalized at a tertiary care facility. Death ascertainment was made through a record-linkage process. Using sex- and age-standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), the mortality experience of the study population was compared with that of Iowa, the geographical area served by the admitting medical facility for this study group. Results show that risk for all-cause mortality was most pronounced during the first two years following hospital discharge, although secondary unipolar depressives continued to show a significant excess of deaths throughout the entire follow-up period. Deaths occurring from natural causes were significantly excessive only during the initial portion of the follow-up. Deaths from unnatural causes were significantly excessive throughout follow-up except for patients with bipolar affective disorder.
Socialization or Social Structure: Investigating Predictors of Attitudes toward Filial Responsibility among Chinese Urban Youth from One- and Multiple-Child Families
Authors: Zhan Heying Jenny
Published: May 2005

This study explores the influence of familial and social factors on the maturing cohort of China's one-child generation students' attitudes toward filial responsibilities. Based on survey data collected in 1997 and 1998 among 777 Chinese young adults, this research found that family economic conditions had a significant impact on young adults' attitudes; higher family income was positively related to respondents' willingness toward accepting filial responsibility; higher educational levels, though positively related to respondents' attitudes toward xiao, were negatively related to their commitment to parent care when they foresaw job and care conflicts. Family socialization was not found to enhance young adults' attitudes toward filial responsibility. Sharing the same household with grandparents and having dependent grandparents in the family were negatively associated with respondents' sense of obligation for parental care. Further, only children born after the one-child policy implementation scored lower than other children in their willingness to provide parental care when they foresaw job and care conflicts. The author argues that social structure, rather than socialization, plays an increasingly important role in shaping one-child generation students' attitudes toward filial responsibility in China, and will continue to do so in the future.
Exploratory Learning Environments: What are They and Do Students Explore?
Authors: Hsu Jing-Fong J. , Chapelle Carol A. , Thompson Ann D.
Published: May 2005

Computer-based learning environments have been defined as settings where students use software to facilitate active, exploratory learning. We distinguish between illocutionary and non-illocutionary learning environments: the computer interprets the intent of students in the former but not in the latter. We apply these terms to language learning environments, and report descriptive research on ESL students' use of a non-illocutionary learning environment. Results indicated students “explored” the learning environment in a routine way, but failed to explore creatively the program's morphosyntactic possibilities; routine exploration was positively related to attitudes for part of the group, but negatively related to attitudes for students who may have found the software environment too easy. Implications for illocutionary and non- illocutionary learning environments are discussed.
Gender, Group Composition, and Peer Interaction in Computer-Based Cooperative Learning
Authors: Lee Miwha
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the patterns of peer interaction among students working cooperatively in small groups on a computer-based problem-solving task and examined the effects of student gender and group composition on peer interaction in such a situation. Sixty-four students (32 females, 32 males) were randomly assigned to four-person groups: same-gender, majority-female, equal-ratio, and majority-male groups. The results of the analyses showed that students' interactions were primarily task-related, collaborative, and positive and that female and male students had significantly different experiences across groups of varied gender composition in regard to the specific categories of interaction as well as the total interaction. The implications of these results for computer-based small group work were discussed.
Political Events Influenced Volume and Languages of Scholarly Publications
Authors: Manten A. A.
Published: May 2005

Data from two widely different fields (the study of classical antiquity and the science of palynology) indicate that international political developments had a great influence on the issued numbers of scholarly publications and the distribution of these publications over various languages. When the national languages took over the position formerly occupied by Latin, the German language seemed to rank as the most prominent in international intercommunication. However, the two world wars in particular have undermined this position, and English has taken its place. Some data are presented which indicate this historical pathway.
Student Use of the Internet
Authors: Malaney Gary D.
Published: May 2005

This article explores Internet use among undergraduates, especially at one public research university where researchers have studied students' self-reported Internet use for several years. Analysis of data from a survey administered to 490 undergraduates in Fall 2000 and a survey of 593 undergraduates in Fall 2003 revealed that Internet use is ubiquitous among undergraduates; students spend most of their online time using Instant Messenger and e-mail, surfing the Web, doing coursework and downloading things. Although males and females spend about the same amount of time online, some of that time is spent differently. At least ten percent of the students exhibit some problematic behaviors related to spending too much time on the Internet.
Hispanic Ethnicity, Language, and Depression: Physician-Patient Communication and Patient Use of Alternative Treatments
Authors: Sleath Betsy L. , Williams John W.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

To examine the relationship between Hispanic ethnicity and language spoken with physician communication about depression and patient use of alternative treatments for depression.

Method:

This is a secondary data analysis from a trial of depression screening conducted in four primary care clinics. Patients with Hispanic or non-Hispanic White ethnic backgrounds and those meeting DSM-III-R criteria for current major depression, minor depression, dysthymia as well as those that screened positive on a depression screening instrument ( n = 141) are included in this analysis. We labeled those who screened positive for depression but did not meet DSM-IIIR criteria for a current depressive disorder as “distressed.” Clinicians' use of counseling and patient use of alternative treatments were based on patient self-report.

Results:

Forty-two percent ( n = 59) of the sample stated that their physician had either told them that they had depression, treated them for depression, or recommended that they seek help for depression. Over 40% of patients spent time talking with their physicians at their current visit about what was making them depressed and 34% received counseling about depression. Hispanic ethnicity and language were not significantly related to physician communication with patients about how to overcome depression. Thirty-six percent of patients reported talking with a minister or other religious person about feelings of depression or sadness. Seventeen percent of patients had used herbal remedies or non-prescription medications and 5% had seen a curandero for feelings of depression or sadness. Hispanic ethnicity and language were not significantly related to patient use of alternative treatments for depression.

Conclusions:

Hispanic ethnicity and language were not significantly related to physician-patient communication about depression or patient use of alternative treatments for depression. Physicians should make sure to ask patients about all of the types of things they are doing to help overcome their depression.
Vaginal Cancer: An Iatrogenic Disease?
Authors: Weiss Kay
Published: May 2005

Presently we are witnessing two unique occurrences in the field of public health: the first demonstration of transplacental carcinogenesis in humans and the first drug-induced cancer epidemic in women under age 30. This article examines the current status of the vaginal cancer epidemic and possible reasons for the failure of governmental health agencies to recall and test the generation of females who were exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero. Epidemiologic evidence indicates that the large majority of “DES daughters” may develop adenosis. The carcinogenicity of other estrogens in wide use is examined. It is pointed out that, although vaginal cancer in daughters exposed to DES in utero provided the clinical evidence to secure a Food and Drug Administration ban on DES as an additive to cattle feed, the FDA approved a new use of DES as a “morning-after pill” contraceptive even though the contraceptive contains 833,000 times the amount of DES banned for human consumption in beef. The lack of standards of informed consent in the testing of the morning-after pill on university women and the additional risk this presents to DES daughters are discussed. The sociopolitical and economic contributing factors to the vaginal cancer epidemic and the extent to which the scientific direction of medical care is influenced by economic factors are examined. Public health measures which might prevent the occurrence of such man-made epidemics in the future are recommended.
The other Drug Lords
Authors: Novak Viveca
Published: May 2005

To gain an understanding of how hard it will be to control skyrocketing health care costs in the United States, consider one small part of the health care system: the pharmaceutical industry. Every time Congress threatens to crack down on drug costs or reduce government support for the industry, the pharmaceutical firms crank out PAC contributions and deploy their lobbyists. The upshot: drug companies get to charge what they want while holding onto millions of dollars' worth of government giveaways, including tax breaks and generous patent protection.
Literature and Communication
Authors: Bratchell Dennis F.
Published: May 2005

Frequent attention is drawn to the decline in the standards of written English. High school examinations are changing to meet a new situation. Attempts are being made to find a unified approach to all aspects of English study. Literary studies figure prominently in the education of teachers of English. New critical approaches bring linguistic and literary studies together. Form and content are seen as combined in structure. Basic critical approaches can be applied to a wide range of texts. This is significant for the teaching and learning of communication skills in English.
Training of Trainers for Community Primary Health Care Workers
Authors: Cernada George P.
Published: May 2005

Training community-based health care workers in “developing” countries is essential to improving the quality of life in both rural and urban areas. Two major obstacles to such training are the tremendous social distance gap between these community workers and their more highly-educated and upper-class trainers (often medical officers) and the didactic, formal educational system. Bridging this gap demands a participant-centered, field-oriented approach which actively involves the trainee in the design, implementation and evaluation of the training program. A description of a philosophic learning approach based on self-initiated change, educational objectives related to planning, organizing, conducting and evaluating training, and specific learning methodologies utilizing participatory learning, non-formal educational techniques, field experience, continuing feedback and learner participation are reviewed. Included are: role playing, story telling, case studies, self-learning and simulation exercises, visuals, and Portapak videotape.
Pathbreaking Congressional Budget Office Study Shows Dramatic Increases in Income Disparities in the 1980s and 1990s: An Analysis of the CBO Data
Authors: Shapiro Isaac , Greenstein Robert , Primus Wendell
Published: May 2005

Researchers at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities analyze the data presented in a Congressional Budget Office study that includes the best data any agency or institution has compiled on income and tax trends in recent decades. The CBO report shows that the average after-tax income of the richest 1 percent of Americans grew by $414,000 between 1979 and 1997 (after adjusting for inflation) while average after-tax income fell $100 for the poorest 20 percent of Americans and grew a modest $3,400 for those in the middle of the income spectrum. In percentage terms, after-tax income grew an average of 157 percent over this period for the top 1 percent, rose a modest 10 percent for the middle 20 percent, and was effectively unchanged for those in the bottom fifth. Income gaps between rich and poor and between the rich and the middle class widened in the 1980s and 1990s and reached their widest point on record in 1997. Even before enactment of the 2001 federal tax cuts, the percentage of income Americans pay in federal taxes has declined since 1979 for every income group. By one key measure, the percentage of income paid in federal taxes fell the most for those with the highest incomes.
An Aesthetic Aspect of professional Sport
Authors: Benjafield John
Published: May 2005

How often does a professional sports team have to win in order to demonstrate that it is a worthy representative of its home city? The answer may very well be: 61.8 percent home victories for a hockey team, and 61.8 percent total victories for a championship baseball team. Both these values are the Golden Section, the most famous proportion in Western aesthetics. The fact that the Golden Section appears to be a regulating proportion in sport implies that it is an archetype, and operates in a way that is complementary to the Gestalt law of symmetry.
Enhancing Acquisition of Basic Geometrical Concepts with the Use of the Geometric Supposer
Authors: Yerushalmy Michal
Published: May 2005

This study attempted to enhance 8th grade students' acquisition of basic geometrical concepts through an instructional intervention which focused on constructing meaningful definitions by incorporating the use of the GEOMETRIC SUPPOSER software. Results of a test administered subsequent to the learning indicated that students in the experimental group did not exhibit the widely held misconceptions demonstrated in a comparison group's performance, thus acquired a more complete and correct concept image, apparently induced by the intervention.
The Williams Cemetery: Biological Variation and Affinity with three Glacial Kame Groups
Authors: Sciulli Paul W. , Piotrowski Leonard , Stothers David
Published: May 2005

Comparisons of cranial and postcranial metrics and discrete triats among the Late Archaic, Western Basin Williams site and three Glacial Kame sites, Stratton-Wallace, Clifford Williams, and Muzzey Lake, show that these groups are indistinguishable with respect to shape variation but cluster according to cultural affiliation with respect to size variation. Because size variation corresponds to the geographical distribution of these sites a north (larger)—south (smaller) clinal distribution of size variation is hypothesized for Late Archaic populations in Ohio. The overall pattern of variability suggests these four samples were drawn from large interacting, related populations. This hypothesis is similar to that suggested for the spread and maintenance of burial ceremonialism seen in Late Archaic groups in general.
Environmental Justice, Regulation, and the Local Community
Authors: Čapek Stella M.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the sociological significance of the concept of “environmental justice” for grassroots groups responding to toxic contamination in their local communities. Taking into account nationwide mobilization patterns in such communities, the author documents a precedent-setting episode in the city of Jacksonville, Arkansas, where citizen protests and support from national environmental groups led the Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw three Technical Assistance Grants inappropriately awarded to a group with links to a polluting industry, and subsequently to rewrite the rules for participation in such grants. As the first such challenge nationally, the Jacksonville scenario is an important “test case” and permits a theoretical and practical evaluation of the relationship between social groups, technology, and the governmental regulatory process. More particularly, it gives insight into the Technical Assistance Grants program, which was set up to enable citizens living close to contaminated sites to interpret and evaluate technical information relating to such sites, but which has been undercut by a weak EPA and cooptation efforts by industries. The article concludes with an exploration of the concept of community in relation to the new construction of environmental justice engaged in by grassroots groups fighting contamination locally and nationally.
A Comparison of Death Anxiety and Denial in Death-Risk and Death-Exposure Occupations
Authors: Lewis Jean G. , Espe-Pfeifer Patricia , Blair Garland
Published: May 2005

This study investigates the relationship between death anxiety and denial scale scores of persons employed in death-risk (DRG), death-exposure (DEG), or low-risk (CG) occupations. Participants were active duty military (DRG), health care providers (DEG), and college students (CG). Death anxiety instruments selected were Hoelter's Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS) and Templer's Death Anxiety Scale (DAS). Spielberger's Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale was the denial measure. The two death anxiety scales were positively correlated ( p = .001). There was no significant difference between groups on the MFODS nor the DAS. There was an inverse correlation between death anxiety and denial measures; the correlation was significant for the health care providers (DEG). Gender effect does not explain these differences. While age and occupational measures are confounded in this research design, additional analyses yielded similar findings ( r = –.337, p = .01). The results are interpreted according to perceptual control theory.
Psychiatry without Asylums: Origins and Prospects in Italy
Authors: Crepet Paolo , De Plato Giovanni
Published: May 2005

In 1978, Italy became the first country in the world to pass a law eliminating mental hospitals and replacing them with services in the community. This victory was in large part due to the foresight and commitment of psychiatrist Franco Basaglia and his colleagues, whose work showed how psychiatric assistance could be realized in practice without asylums and without force and violence. This article analyzes why the anti-institutional reform took place in Italy when it did, and reviews twenty years of reform activity involving an alliance between democratic mental health professionals, politicians, workers' organizations, and private citizens. Although the reform gives psychiatry the opportunity to transform itself into a science of liberation, conservative political and scientific forces are attempting to maintain the logic of the asylum and replace the mental hospital with other institutions which continue to practice segregation in a decentralized form. The outcome of this radical experiment in creating a nonrepressive psychiatry remains uncertain.
Brazil's Multiple Social Insurance Programs and Their Influence on Medical Care
Authors: Bastos M. V.
Published: May 2005

The historical evolution of social insurance and medical care in Brazil is outlined in this paper. A description is given of the gradual expansion of the direct provision of medical services by the social security institutions between 1933 and 1955, after which there was a leveling off period and then a decrease in services in relation to the growth of the number of persons covered. Social insurance now provides barely ten per cent of the medical services used by the beneficiaries; contracts with separate hospitals and doctors account for the rest. Although social insurance has not succeeded in modifying completely the patterns of medical care in Brazil, it has contributed, together with other government activities in the health sector, to a substantial modification of the patterns that existed before the introduction of social insurance. This change has been most noticeable in hospital care, since social insurance has become the single largest financing agency of Brazilian hospitals.
Guidelines for Teaching Non-Verbal Communications through Visual Media
Authors: Kundu Mahima Ranjan
Published: May 2005

There is a natural unique relationship between non-verbal communications and visual media such as television and film. Because of the unique characteristics of non-verbal communications they cannot be taught in the same way as verbal communications. Visual media will have to be used extensively—almost exclusively—as well as other methods requiring special teaching skills. Teachers of educational media will play a key role in preparing teachers of non-verbal communications.
The Attribution of Affect in Pain Clinic Patients: A Psychophysiological Study of the Conversion Process
Authors: Spence N. D. , Pilowsky I. , Minniti R.
Published: May 2005

In a study to examine the relationship between the conversion process and physiological correlates of emotional arousal, three key elements of conversion were assessed separately in patients experiencing chronic pain for which no adequate somatic cause could be demonstrated. Thirty-seven patients referred to a pain clinic were categorized as members of either high, intermediate, or low conversion groups on the basis of their scores on the Disease Conviction, Affective Disturbance and Denial scales of the Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ). All patients scored in the high range on Disease Conviction. High conversion patients acknowledge little dysphoric affect and denied life problems apart from physical illness. Intermediate conversion patients also denied life problems other than somatic, but acknowledged high levels of dysphoria. Low conversion patients reported dysphoria and acknowledged life problems which they did not attribute to physical illness. The prediction that the high conversion group would show lower levels of resting skin conductance than the low conversion group was confirmed. Patients in the intermediate conversion group resembled those in the high conversion group in that their resting skin conductance was significantly lower than that observed in members of the low conversion group. These findings are consistent with those of previous studies of conversion disorders. They point to the importance in these conditions of the interaction between dysphoria and the cause to which it is attributed by the patient.
Perceptions of Technology: A Factor in Distance Education Course Achievement?
Authors: King Frederick B.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine an instrument designed to measure student perceptions concerning “distance education technology” and “self-regulated learning” across numerous synchronous distance education courses and determine whether either of these factors had an impact on student perceptions of distance learning and student achievement. Eight distance education courses, all in different disciplines, were taught from six different locations to a minimum of one satellite location. A total of 178 students from these classes filled out a 42-item post-course questionnaire. The factor labeled “distance education technology” was found to have predictive value in: a) determining whether students would choose to enroll in future distance education courses; b) whether they would recommend such courses to other students; and c) in predicting their final course grade. Student perceptions of their “self-regulated learning” skills proved of little value in predicting student achievement or willingness to enroll in future distance education courses. Additional quantitative statistical analyses were conducted to explore other areas that might prove helpful in formulating future distance education classes. Recommendations regarding the development of future distance education classes are provided.
Factors Related to Condom Use among Young People in Kenya
Authors: Stoskopf Carleen H. , Kim Yang K. , Richter Donna L.
Published: May 2005

Survey questionnaires were provided to a convenience sample of 197 students in four educational settings. When regressing the knowledge score on the independent variables, it was found that the knowledge score increased with years of education, the practice of Islam, getting HIV/AIDS information from a radio, worrying about contracting HIV/AIDS, and receiving AIDS education or family life education in school. The knowledge score was negatively related with age. When regressing condom use on the independent variables, including the knowledge score, the likelihood that a respondent would use a condom significantly increased when the respondent was willing to use a condom, when a sexual partner requested it, when the respondent knew where to purchase condoms, and when the respondent had received education in school on family planning and AIDS education. The likelihood of using condoms was negatively related with age and the statement “real men do not wear condoms.”
Improving Learner Performance with Computer Based Programs
Authors: Marcoulides George A.
Published: May 2005

This study compared the effectiveness of different types of instructional aids for improving learner performance in an introductory statistics course. Two types of instructional aids were examined: an expert system program (ES), and a computer-assisted instructional program (CAI). Subjects for this study were 133 students selected from a required undergraduate introductory statistics course at a large state university. Students with high and low prior levels of statistics achievement were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: 1) an ES as an adjunct to lectures, 2) a CAI as an adjunct to lectures, and 3) a control group with lectures alone. At the conclusion of the study students were tested on a Statistics Achievement Test. Students that had utilized the ES and the CAI teaching aids scored significantly higher than students from the lecture group alone. There were no significant differences between the ES and the CAI groups. The results of the study indicate that computer-based programs can help students learn and improve their performance. Technological advances in the field of computer-based learning programs provide promising opportunities for improving learner performance.
Long Term Bereavement Processes of Older Parents: The Three Phases of Grief
Authors: Malkinson Ruth , Bar-Tur Liora
Published: May 2005

This study is based upon personal interviews with 47 elderly bereaved parents. These interviews provided us with detailed and extensive information on the bereavement processes that parents experience over a long period of years. From an in-depth content analysis of the interviews and the way the parents described bereavement, it seems that it is a central motif in their lives affecting their relationships with each other, with the living children, with friends, at work and with others. Although enduring grief along the life cycle is an un-patterned process with emotional and cognitive ups and downs, involving a continuous search for a meaning to life, we observed a development in this process throughout the years. As we proposed in a previous study (Malkinson & Bar-Tur, 2000) there are three main identifiable phases in the bereavement process: the immediate, acute phase; grief through the years until aging; and bereavement in old age. We propose to refer to them as the three main phases in the development of parental grieving process and name them “young grief,” “mature grief,” and “aging grief.”