bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geographic Variations in Physician Service Utilization
Authors: Miller Mark E. , Holahan John , Welch W. Pete
Published: March 2007

This article investigates the geographic variation in Medicare physician services by type of service. Using 1990 Medicare beneficiary samples, age-sex-race adjusted population based physician service rates are computed. Physician services are measured using relative value units (RVUs)from the Medicare feeschedule. There is substantial variation across the states in utilization levels (Florida 38 percent above the U.S. mean; Vermont and Montana 29 percent below the mean) and a much greater range at the metropolitan area level. With the exception of major surgery, urban area benefciaries generally receive higher amounts of most evaluation and management services (particularly consultations), imaging services, and diagnostic testing. If volume performance standards (or an entitlement cap) were established at a state or area level, policymakers would have to address issues of geographic variation.
Hospitalization of Nursing Home Residents: A Review of the Literature, 1980-1995
Authors: Castle Nicholas G. , Mor Vincent
Published: March 2007

In this article, the authors review the literature on the hospitalization of nursing home residents. First, they describe the incidence of hospitalization and the extent to which these rates differ due to data limitations, varying definitions of hospitalization, and changing health policies. Second, they describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of nursing home residents associated with hospitalization. Third, they review negative outcomes of hospitalization, including iatrogenic and nosocomial disease, mortality, and financial costs. Finally, they highlight several areas of concern this research raises and suggest areas for future studies.
Small Hospitals with Positive Cash Flow: Why are they Winners?
Authors: McCue Michael J.
Published: March 2007

This study evaluates the cash flow performance of hospitals that are at a greater risk of closure, specifically small hospitals. Sampling the majority of small acute-care hospitals in the United States, the study evaluates urban and rural small hospitals with positive cash flows for four consecutive fiscal periods and compares them with urban and rural hospitals with consecutive negative cash flows. In both urban and rural settings, positive cash flow small hospitals operate under a not-for-profit form of ownership and have lower operating costs, a faster collection of receivables. They also own newer, larger facilities, possess a Medicare higher case mix index, and offer more services in markets with lower per capita income.
Women's Use of Preventive Screening Services: A Comparison of HMO versus Fee-for-Service Enrollees
Authors: Weinick Robin M. , Beauregard Karen M.
Published: March 2007

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) may relax some of the institutional barriers to using preventive screening services by requiring only a nominal copayment for such services and by promoting their use via educational programs. However, the gatekeeper system employed by HMOs may discourage the use of these services if referrals are required to access them. Using the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey and the 1992 National Health Interview Survey, the authors investigate whether HMO enrollment is associated with the use of preventive screening services for nonelderly, privately insured women. Employing models that control for self-selection into HMOs, the authors find that women who were enrolled in HMOs in 1987 were more likely to have received Pap smears and breast exams within the last year and to have ever received a mammogram when compared with women with fee-for-service coverage. By 1992, however, HMOs had lost this comparative advantage.
Academic Health Centers and the Changing Health Care Market
Authors: Freburger Janet K. , Hurley Robert E.
Published: March 2007

Academic health centers (AHCs) have supported their mission of patient care, education, and research through a complex system of cross-subsidies, many of which originate from patient care activities. The proliferation of managed care and health care reform initiatives, however, are threatening this traditional method of financing. This article begins by describing the financing of AHCs and the web of cross-subsidization that occurs at these institutions. The article then reviews the literature on the threats that AHCs are facing in the current health care market, how these threats are affecting their missionrelated activities, and how they are responding to and managing these threats. The article concludes with a summary of our current understanding of AHCs and presents a research agenda of issues in need of further study.
Projective Techniques and the Detection of Child Sexual Abuse
Authors: Garb Howard N. , Wood James M. , Nezworski M. Teresa
Published: March 2007

Projective techniques (e.g., the Rorschach, Human Figure Drawings) are sometimes used to detect child sexual abuse. West recently conducted a meta-analysis on this topic, but she systematically excluded nonsignificant results. In this article, a reanalysis of her data is presented. The authors conclude that projective techniques should not be used to detect child sexual abuse. Many of the studies purportedly demonstrating validity are flawed, and none of the projective test scores have been well replicated.
Abusive Early Child Rearing and Early Childhood Aggression
Authors: Herrenkohl Roy C. , Russo M. Jean
Published: March 2007

Childhood aggression is significant for children, their families, and the society because aggressive children often become violent adolescents. This article examines the relationship between maltreatment and early childhood aggression. Data are from a longitudinal study of maltreated and nonmaltreated children assessed as preschoolers and again at school age. The dependent variable is the child's teacher's rating of aggression at school age. The independent variables are from preschool and school age observations of the mother-child interaction and the mother's report of physical discipline practices. Using structural equation modeling, harshness of interaction at preschool age but not school age and severity of physical discipline at school age but not preschool age, relate to aggression at school age. Results suggest a difference in the developmental stage at which different features of harsh child rearing exert their influence. Strategies for intervening to prevent the development of childhood aggression are suggested.
Unraveling “Unsubstantiated”
Authors: Drake Brett
Published: March 2007

Substantiation rates have long been the primary variable associated with research into child protective services (CPS) early intervention. Rates of substantiation have been used to criticize the efficiency of CPS screening procedures, to suggest that mandated reporting laws are cumbersome and require revision, and to posit that large numbers of CPS assessments result in high levels of unintended negative consequences for reported families. Substantiation is commonly used in empirical research as a proxy for the appropriateness of CPS referrals. These practices are problematic for several reasons. This article argues that many or most unsubstantiated reports involve either some form of maltreatment or preventive service needs appropriate to CPS intervention, and that using substantiation as a means of gauging the validity of a CPS referral is therefore intrinsically fallacious. A harm/evidence model is presented as an aid to conceptualizing the heterogeneity of unsubstantiated reports. The validity of the model is explored through a review of relevant empirical work. The article concludes with a series of suggestions for future research.
Treatment Outcome Research with Abused Children: Methodological Considerations in Three Studies
Authors: Briere John
Published: March 2007

This article reviews three new studies of treatment outcome for abused children and discusses their methodological implications. Among those issues considered are measurement quality, level of experimental design, potential sources of bias, clinical significance, real-world generalizability, and prediction of treatment outcome.
Preparing Children for Court: An Interdisciplinary View
Authors: Lipovsky Julie , Stern Paul
Published: March 2007

Increased awareness of child abuse and neglect has been associated with an increase in focus on children as witnesses in court proceedings. Research suggests that although the experience of participating in the legal system is not inherently traumatic, it is often stressful for the child witness. This article discusses stressful influences on child witnesses and practices designed to decrease the likelihood of emotional distress and increase the child's ability to provide credible testimony. In light of the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in the response to childhood victimization, this article addresses the roles of and links between mental health and legal professionals working with child witnesses. The concepts discussed in this article apply generally to civil, criminal, family law, and dependency cases and to cases tried before a jury and to a judge alone. It is the authors' belief that the concepts discussed here are generally equally applicable in any case in which a child is a witness.
An Argument on Behalf of Children
Authors: Ichikawa Dennis P.
Published: March 2007

This article briefly overviews the evolution of juvenile rights in America. It highlights important legal cases and guiding philosophies that have contributed to the current foundations of varied legal representation schemes for children in abuse and neglect cases. The article also reviews these different models for representation of children and makes an argument that all children who are the subjects of child abuse and neglect cases should be entitled to legal representation.
Repressed Memory and other Controversial Origins of Sexual Abuse Allegations: Beliefs among Psychologists and Clinical Social Workers
Authors: Dammeyer Matthew D. , Nightingale Narina Nunez , McCoy Monica L.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to assess beliefs about repressed memory and other controversial origins of sexual abuse allegations. This was examined by conducting a national survey of psychologists and clinical social workers. The results indicated that experimental psychologists and clinicians differ regarding belief in repressed memory, with clinicians expressing more confidence that such memories can and do exist. No differences were found between clinicians with different types of academic training. However, academic degree and level of research involvement were found to be related to views toward one or more of the following: (a) usefulness of anatomical dolls, (b) leading questions, or (c) the possibility of therapeutic techniques leading to false allegations of sexual abuse. Although the respondents' sex often accounted for a significant portion of the variance, removing this influence did not alter the overall pattern of the results. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.
Irresponsible Testimony by Medical Experts in Cases Involving the Physical Abuse and Neglect of Children
Authors: Chadwick David L. , Krous Henry F.
Published: March 2007

Irresponsible testimony by medical experts is a growing problem exemplified by three particularly egregious cases reported herein. The types of irresponsible testimony include the witness's absence of proper qualifications, use of unique theories of causation, use of unique or very unusual interpretations of medical findings, alleging nonexistent medical findings, flagrant misquoting of medical journals or widely used texts, making false statements, and deliberate omission of pertinent facts or knowledge. Criteria to qualify as an expert witness in child abuse and neglect are proposed. Finally, physicians, lawyers, and their respective professional licensing boards and societies are urged to develop a process by which such testimony is exposed, peer reviewed, and used in credentialing.
Modifying the Family Process in Two Cases of Physical Child Abuse and Secondary Functional Encopresis
Authors: Cerezo M. Angeles , Pons-Salvador Gemma
Published: March 2007

In this article, a treatment working model is proposed and applied to two cases of multiproblem families with severe physical child abuse. Stimulus events that directly affect the likelihood of a physically abusive episode and setting factors that play an important indirect role because they increase the number of confrontations and decrease parental competence are considered. The child abuse cases involved major parenting deficits, maternal psychopathology, a major psychosomatic problem (childhood encopresis), and symptoms of childhood conduct disorder, which occurred in a setting of family distress, low income, and sibling distress. This study demonstrates how a two-phase comprehensive parent intervention, paralleling the stimulus versus setting factor distinction, can deal effectively with such multiproblem families. Treatment results and a 7-month follow-up assessment illustrate the utility and validity of the proposed scheme when applied in the real world where the relational character of the problems makes them multidimensional.
Maternal Factors Associated with Sexually Abused Children's Psychosocial Adjustment
Authors: Deblinger Esther , Steer Robert , Lippmann Julie
Published: March 2007

The potential influence of maternal adjustment and parenting style on children's psychological adjustment following sexual abuse was examined. A battery of standardized parent and child self-report instruments were administered to 100 sexually abused children and their nonoffending mothers. The results of a series of multiple regression analyses indicated that the maternal self-reported depression significantly contributed to the expression of both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and parent-reported internalizing behavior problems in sexually abused children. In addition, children's perceptions of their mothers' parenting style as rejecting rather than accepting contributed to the children's self-reported levels of depression. Children's perceptions of maternal use of guilt and anxiety-provoking parenting methods contributed to increased levels of PTSD symptoms and parent-reported externalizing behavior problems. These findings are discussed in terms of their research and treatment implications.
Child Abuse and Domestic Violence in Massachusetts: Can Practice be Integrated in a Public Child Welfare Setting?
Authors: Whitney Pamela , Davis Lonna
Published: March 2007

Massachusetts was the first public child welfare agency in the country to develop an internal domestic violence program to better identify and serve families where partner abuse and child abuse overlap. This article chronicles the development of the program, from the hiring of battered women's advocates to the implementation of statewide domestic violence protocols for investigators and social workers. Issues of case identification, risk assessment and safety planning are discussed in detail. Challenges faced by battered women's advocates in child welfare setting are presented as well as future directions for the program.
The Characteristics of Disclosure among Children Who May have been Sexually Abused
Authors: DeVoe Ellen R. , Faller Kathleen Coulborn
Published: March 2007

Seventy-six children (5 to 10 years old), who were referred because of concerns about sexual abuse, were interviewed as part of a larger study testing the efficacy of a computerassisted interview in sexual abuse evaluations. Data from initial interviews were coded according to the presence of disclosure and the details revealed about sexual abuse. The presence and amount of corroboration were coded through case review. Although 56 children were coded as having disclosed prior to evaluation, only 44 subjects disclosed during the initial interview. Only 1 child disclosed spontaneously. An additional 8 children (11%) disclosed possible sexual abuse in a second or later interview. Although girls disclosed at a higher rate than boys, children did not differ in the amount or types of information they provided about alleged sexual abuse. Findings are discussed in terms of the conceptualization of disclosure as a process. Implications for interviewing strategies are addressed.
The Impact of Life Events on Perceived Financial Stress, Clothing‐Specific Lifestyle, and Retail Patronage: The Recent IMF Economic Crisis in Korea
Authors: Shim Soyeon , Cho Pil Gyo
Published: March 2007

Using Andreasen's Model of Life Change Effects as a theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a model that depicts the direct and indirect influence of a life event, the Korean International Monetary Fund (IMF) crisis, on financial stress, clothing‐specific lifestyle, and retail patronage behavior. A total of 502 females from two major metropolitan cities in Korea responded to a survey questionnaire. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypotheses. Several statistical criteria supported theoretical, causal relationships among the measurement models in the study, providing strong support for Andreasen's model. More specifically, the IMF impact had affected retail patronage behavior directly as well as indirectly through clothing‐specific lifestyles and financial stress. Both clothing‐specific lifestyles and financial stress had an influence on retail patronage behavior. The IMF event had a stronger direct and total impact than financial stress on changes in retail patronage behavior. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Panty Design Alternatives for Women and Girls with Physical Disabilities
Authors: Dallas Merry Jo , Wilson Patricia A.
Published: March 2007

The principal objective of this study was to develop comfortable, functional, and aestheti cally satisfying panties for physically handicapped women and girls with adaptations for spe cial needs, such as those associated with self‐help and urinary incontinence. Detailed com ments about problems handicapped women and girls experienced with panties were solicited from 28 women and girls, aged 8–82, who require leg or body braces, crutches, and/or wheel chairs for mobility. Sixteen of these women elected to complete a second questionnaire which dealt with preferences in fiber content, fabric, elastic types, and styles of panties which might meet their needs. Of these women, 6 were chosen to wear the test designs and react to their ef fectiveness in solving individual problems.

Designs and adaptations were developed with features which improved the fit and comfort, simplified dressing and undressing especially during toileting, and provided for the manage ment of urinary incontinence. Although function and comfort were of concern to handi capped women and girls, a fashionable appearance, cost, and the ease with which an adapted panty can be acquired were equally important. Solutions to perceived problems with panties required an individualized approach.
Human Services Education: Social Responsibility And Helping Others
Authors: Petrich Beatrice , Gross Doreen
Published: March 2007

To determine if experimental Family and Community Services occupational classes were resulting in improved attitudes toward social responsibility and helping others, students were tested before and after a semester of course work plus on‐the‐job experience. Traditional Family Living classes served as control groups. Attitude scales titled Helping Others and Social Responsibility‐Social Action were used to measure attitudes. Analysis of variance and covariance were utilized to determine the significance of difference within and between groups. Independent variables were sex, educational aspiration, and extracurricular in volvement. There were no significant differences between the Family and Community Living classes and the Family Living classes on pre‐ or posttest scores or change in scores for Social Responsibility or Helping Others. There were significant differences in pre‐ and posttest scores for the two attitude scales for the independent variables of sex, extracurricular involvement, and educational aspiration. For both scales, females scored higher than males, college‐bound than noncollege‐bound, and involved than noninvolved students. It is rec ommended that curriculum and educational strategies be planned to provide experiences to improve attitudes toward social responsibility and helping others for males, noncollege‐ bound and noninvolved students, and preservice home economics teachers. Additional re search relating to other variables is also recommended.
Husband/Wife Differentials In Household Work Time: The Case of Dual‐Earner Families
Authors: Abdel‐Ghany Mohamed , Nickols Sharon Y.
Published: March 2007

In spite of the tremendous increase in the burden of market work faced by married American women in the last decade, the differential in household work time between husbands and wives still persists. The results of this study assert that the differences in socioeconomic characteristics between husbands and wives explain only part of that differential. We argue that persisting role expec tations that assign household work on the basis of sex might explain the major part of the variance, and that these role expectations are partly clarified by the conceptual framework of the work‐family role system.
Changes in Nutrition Knowledge Scores and Calcium Intake in Female Adolescents
Authors: Green Julie , McIntosh Michael , Wilson Anita
Published: March 2007

A three‐day nutrition education program on calcium nutriture for female adoles cents ages 14–16 was presented at a midwestern high school. The purpose of the program was to increase the adolescents' knowledge of calcium balance and its importance, thus prompting healthy food and lifestyle habits. The study was conducted using a pretest, posttest, and post‐posttest one month later. Each testing period consisted of a nutrition examination, lifestyle questionnaire, and 24‐hour diet recall. Data were analyzed by a two‐way ANOVA with repeated mea sures. Female adolescents were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 29) or a no‐treatment control group (n = 20). The findings were: (a) the experimental group's nutrition knowledge scores increased significantly following the program and remained significantly higher 30 days later; (b) calcium and vitamin D intakes increased between the pretest and posttest by 27% and 30%, respectively, in the control group and by 24% and 51%, respectively, in the experimental group; and (c) compared to the control group, the mean intakes for calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorus in the experimental group were closer to the RDA for those nutrients, and the calcium:phosphorus ratio was closer to the recommended ratio of 1:1 at the posttest period and at the post‐posttest period.
West African Apparel Textiles Depicted in Selected Magazines from 1960 to 1979: Application of Cultural Authentication
Authors: Mead Peggy C. , Pedersen Elaine L.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of the study was to determine the extent of West African influence on apparel textiles in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s and whether the concept of cultural authentication could be applied to the borrowing of West African textiles for use in the United States. A small number of West African and West‐African‐influenced apparel textiles were found. More illustrations of these textiles were found in Ebony in the 1960s than in other magazines, whereas Mademoiselle had slightly more illustrations in the 1970s. West African textiles were some‐times used in fashionable U.S. garments, an example of selection, one stage of cultural authentication. No evidence of characterization or incorporation was discovered. Illustrations were found of contemporary U.S. styles made from textiles inspired by West African textiles; this may be the fourth stage of cultural authentication, transformation where an original idea has been transformed into a new product.
The Effects of Conflict with Mothers‐in‐Law on the Psychological Well‐Being and Marital Adjustment of Korean Daughters‐in‐Law
Authors: Chung Hyejeong , Crawford Duane W. , Fischer Judith L.
Published: March 2007

Using the conceptual framework of the Double ABCX model offamily stress and coping, this study examined the adaptation of Korean daughters‐in‐law (psychological well‐being and marital adjustment) to conflict with their mothers‐in‐law. Multiple regression results indicated thatfour variables—perceived severity of conflict, behavioral self‐blame, impersonal blame, and emotional support—were significantly associated with daughters'‐in‐law psychological well‐being. Although most of the independent variables were significantly correlated with marital adjustment, husbands' support was the only significant predictor of daughters'‐in‐law marital adjustment. An exploratory path analysis examined the indirect effects of other variables (e.g., frequency of conflict, self‐efficacy, informational support) on psychological well‐being.
The Theater of Ethnography: The Reconstruction of Ethnography Into Theater With Emancipatory Potential
Authors: Mienczakowski Jim
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the reflexive and educational use of theater constructed from verbatim ethnographic account work undertaken in health settings. In particular, the potential of the ethnodrama process to provide emancipatory opportunities and insights for both health informants and health professionals is described in relation to two ethnographic performance projects involving persons with schizophrenia and persons who are alcohol dependent.
Of Heaven and Hell: Narrating Hieronymus Bosch
Authors: Fontana Andrea
Published: March 2007

The author reads Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights as a hermeneutic text. In a dreamlike sequence, the author undertakes a trek through the three panels of the triptych, usually taken to represent Hell, Purgatory, and the Garden of Eden. In each panel, he discusses the enigmatic and highly controversial images of humans, animals, and fruits. The painting has been interpreted in a great variety of very discordant ways. According to the author, therefore the Garden of Delights is an excellent example of the ever-changing nature of textual readings, as well as of Habermas's notion of critical hermeneutics. In addition, because very little is known about Bosch himself, interpretations of the painting inform the readers about authorial influence and textual interpretations.
Women's Rights Network (WRN)
Authors: SLOTE KIM , CUTHBERT CARRIE
Published: March 2007

We are wasting our time instead of discussing the development of the country. We should have something better to discuss than [wife-beating]!” (Comment by a Parliamentarian, Papua New Guinea, 1987).

The [domestic violence] victim is often responsible in that he or she has made a bad choice of companions... [p]eople have to be more selective about their friends and lovers. (Milton H. Raphaelson, presiding justice of the Dudley District Court, Massachusetts, 1996).
Predictors of Depression in Battered Women
Authors: CAMPBELL JACQUELYN C. , KUB JOAN , BELKNAP RUTH ANN , TEMPLIN THOMAS N.
Published: March 2007

The sample for this study consisted of 164 women recruited from newspaper advertisements and bulletin board postings asking for volunteers with serious problems in intimate relationships with men. Women were screened for battering using the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS). Of 164 battered women, 28% were moderately to severely depressed and 11% were severely depressed on the Beck Depression Inventory. Significant predictors of depression (accounting for 44% of variance) by multivariate analysis were childhood physical abuse, self-care agency, physical abuse by partner, and daily hassles. In addition to these analyses, the influence of self in relationship on depression was examined. The findings from this study suggest that physical abuse is an important part of the etiology of depression in battered women and that the abuse in combination with daily hassles supports a stress explanation of depression, with a woman's ability to take care of herself a protective factor.
Coping Appraisals and Adjustment to Nonstranger Sexual Assault
Authors: ARATA CATALINA M. , BURKHART BARRY R.
Published: March 2007

A sample of 299 female victims of nonstranger sexual assault was used to examine the relationship between appraisals of blame, coping strategies, and current symptomatology. Subjects completed a revised version of the Sexual Experiences Survey, the Coping Strategies Scales, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and an attributional questionnaire designed by Meyer and Taylor (1986) to assess attributions of blame. Participants reporting clinically significant levels of current symptomatology were compared to those reporting nonsignificant levels of symptoms. Symptomatic victims were more likely to engage in characterological and behavioral self-blame. They also made greater use of active coping strategies involving emotional expressiveness, social support seeking, cognitive restructuring, and coping behaviors. Victims of rape were somewhat more likely to blame themselves than were victims of noncoital sexual assaults. Overall, the findings suggest the importance of examining cognitive appraisals and coping strategies in research and intervention with sexual assault victims.
How Much Do Government Services Really Cost?
Authors: Savas E.S.
Published: March 2007

Great efforts are being made to increase productivity and to reduce costs of government services. A necessary starting point is adequate knowledge of the true cost of service. The field of residential refuse collection is investigated and empirical evidence is presented that (1) cities do not know the cost of services provided by municipal agencies; (2) city budgets substantially understate the actual cost of service. Reasons why such under- reporting occurs are examined. Because city officials perceive program costs to be lower than they really are, they are often unable to evaluate alternatives and therefore they fail to take advantage of opportunities to increase efficiency.
Functional Integration At the Substate Level
Authors: Stein Robert M.
Published: March 2007

Our cumulative knowledge about the determinants of substate integration is extremely limited. Few studies have examined support for integration across a variety of policy activities and mechanisms. Drawing on demand and supply side explanations for integration, this article tests a typology of substate functional integration. The correlates of functional integration are examined against previous research hypotheses in order to resolve ambiguities in our understanding of the adoption of functional integration.
The New Urban Sociology Meets the Old
Authors: Smith David A.
Published: March 2007

A basic paradigm shift in urban sociology has occurred: The new urban sociology has challenged and largely supplanted human ecology. The common perception that the two approaches are totally antithetical and incompatible has created a crisis in urban sociology. The author reevaluates some earlier ecological writings in light of the basic assumptions of the new urban sociology. Roderick McKenzie's often ignored writings show a striking affinity to tenets of the new urban sociology; Amos Hawley's abstract conceptual framework provides opportunity for theoretical bridge building. Urban ecologists' claims are challenged by their own intellectual ancestors, and areas of conceptual continuity and overlap should lead to more dialogue and less theoretical polarization.
Struggles in Urban Space
Authors: Staudt Kathleen
Published: March 2007

The author compares the hierarchical variety of businesses that struggle over downtown urban space with the official agencies that regulate that space in two sister cities on the U.S.-Mexico border. For each city, the conflict is analyzed, as is the diversity of businesses and their public presentations. The analysis reveals how political machinery and public discourse affect the outcomes of conflicts. After engagement in the political process, El Paso vendors face drastic increases in business costs, and Juirez vendors perpetuate a short-term standoff with the conservative opposition government.
Constructing the Image of Ethnic Harmony in Toronto, Canada
Authors: Croucher Sheila L.
Published: March 2007

The author applies a social constructionist approach to the issue of urban ethnic relations, arguing that analyzing the political processes that construct urban images, issues, and identities will illuminate arenas of power and conflict obscured by other approaches. Toronto, known for harmonious ethnic relations, is ideal for a case study of how urban images are constructed and maintained and how certain conditions, issues, and grievances are not defined as problems. The author draws on theoretical literature, elite interviews, and textual analysis of the periodical literature on Toronto to demonstrate the important role of elites in framing issues that define the "objective conditions" of urban ethnic relations.
Creatures of the State
Authors: Burns Nancy , Gamm Gerald
Published: March 2007

Local politics is not self-contained. The authors break with existing scholarship to argue that the study of local politics requires the systematic study of state legislative politics. The state-local relationship cannot be easily characterized in terms of either interference or deference. Rather, U.S. local government and state politics appear to have been thoroughly intertwined in the period they examine. For evidence, they present a new and systematic data set consisting of all bills affecting local places-6,415 bills-considered by the legislatures of Alabama, Massachusetts, and Michigan for certain years in the period 1871 to 1921.
Racial Conflict and Political Choice
Authors: Kaufmann Karen M.
Published: March 2007

This article proposes a theoretical framework for the study of local voting behavior. The central argument is that salient group interests often act as political cues in local elections. The extent to which group interests influence electoral outcomes and overshadow other more traditional political cues, such as partisanship, is fundamentally related to the political context and the degree of group conflict. Analyzing public opinion surveys from three mayoral elections-New York (1989), New York (1993), and Los Angeles (1993)—this study finds that heightened levels of group conflict correspond with racially motivated voting in all three cases.
Disorder and Decay
Authors: Ross Catherine E. , Mirowsky John
Published: March 2007

The authors develop and assess a scale of perceived neighborhood disorder. The scale of neighborhood disorder has high reliability, external validity, and shows interesting distinctions, and overlaps between physical and social disorder. It also shows that order and disorder are two ends of a single continuum.
Art and the Art of Nursing
Authors: Augusta Holly
Published: March 2007

As nursing education and clinical practice begin to embrace more than the natural, physical, and social sciences, art can function as a shortcut to insight and empathy. Paintings wordlessly illustrate the artist's response to illness, disability, death, and healing. They can serve as useful teaching tools and maps of subjective experience for psychiatric nurses. (JAM PSYCHIATR NURSES Assoc (1995].1, 39-41)
Stereotypes in the News
Authors: Zilber Jeremy , Niven David
Published: March 2007

According to previous studies, African-American political leaders are often cast by the media as being both narrowly focused on matters of race and less influential than their white counterparts in the legislative process. This article explores the degree to which the press offices of African-American members of Congress perceive this to be the case and the degree to which African-American representatives contribute to this pattern of coverage. Interviews with congressional press secretaries reveal that they do find the media to be less fair in their treatment of African-American members and that they do believe African-American members are subject to pervasive stereotyping. Contrary to the media's depiction, however, the press secretaries, as well as an analysis of congressional Web sites, reveal that African-American members portray themselves and seek to be portrayed as having diverse interests and significant influence in Washington. Thus it appears that the media, rather than the members, are primarily responsible for the stereotyped coverage of African-Americans in Congress.
The Ginsburg Nomination and the Press
Authors: Davis Richard
Published: March 2007

The 1987 nomination of Robert Bork as associate justice of the Supreme Court launched a large-scale effort for and against the nomination. This effort included grass-roots mobilization, competition for news coverage, use of paid media, and frequent reference to public opinion. A similar, though more limited, effort occurred in 1991 when Clarence Thomas was nominated. By contrast, the confirmation process of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 1993 was phlegmatic. The conventional wisdom appears to be that, given the placidity of the Ginsburg confirmation process, external forces had a limited role. The question this comparison poses is whether the roles of external forces—the press, interest groups, and public opinion—were aberrations relevant only to the Bork and Thomas nominations, or whether they have acquired a permanency in the nomination process.
Did the Prestige Press Miss the Nicaraguan Drug Story?
Authors: LeoGrande William M.
Published: March 2007

When the San Jose Mercury News implied that the CIA had helped the Nicaraguan contras smuggle cocaine into the United States to fund their covert war during the 1980s, the prestige press scrambled to debunk the three-part investigative series, “Dark Alliance.” However, if the Mercury News was too quick to blame the CIA, its critics have been too quick to pounce on the story's shortcomings. Coverage of the Nicaraguan drug story since 1984 by five major daily newspapers reveals a dearth of serious investigative reporting.
Women Behaving Badly?
Authors: Leonard Pauline
Published: March 2007

This article examines the impact of recent changes in the management and organization of British broadcasting on gender. It follows two key lines of inquiry. The first explores the structural relations between men and women and argues that changes in the terms and conditions of work in the major broadcasting corporations have fallen disproportionately heavily on women. The second explores the discursive and cultural processes that work within broadcasting organizations to construct a range of gendered occupational identities. Although these still remain constrained for women, the new organizational arrangements have opened up spaces wherein women may challenge the traditional ways in which they have been represented and may construct alternative, more challenging, identities.
On the Thermodynamic Stability of Elastic Heat-Conducting Solids Subject to a Deformation—Temperature Constraint
Authors: Dunwoody J. , Ogden R. W.
Published: March 2007

In this paper the thermoelastic stability of a three-dimensional body subject to a deformation—temperature constraint is examined with reference to Ericksen’s [7] theory for unconstrained materials. It is shown that sufficient conditions for infinitesimal stability are unattainable for finite bodies if the constraint is temperature dependent. This general result is illustrated by considering the infinitesimal dynamic stability of a slab, initially at rest at uniform temperature, in respect of one-dimensional thermomechanical perturbations satisfying ‘dead loading’ boundary conditions on its parallel faces. Results obtained by Manacorda [12] are extended to show that the slab is thermomechanically (linearly) unstable if the trace of the infinitesimal strain tensor is dependent on temperature. In the light of these results, it is shown that the instability can be removed on the basis of the conjecture that the constraint be independent of temperature, or equivalently that the entropy is uniquely determined. The conjecture is justified by considering a limiting form of a theory for almost constrained rubberlike elastic solids.
Elasticity of Multilayers: Properties of the Propagator Matrix and Some Applications
Authors: Alshits V. I. , Kirchner H. O. K. , Maugin G. A.
Published: March 2007

The elasticity of generalized plane strain is written in terms of a first-order matrix differential equation in six variables (the components of the displacement and the stress function vector). The approach holds for general elastic anisotropy and provides a unified analytical description of elastic fields in layered, stratified, or graded media. The theory is formulated in terms of a propagator matrix. An analysis of its general properties is presented. In particular, the decomposition of this matrix into two parts with different behavior at ±∞ in Fourier space is explicitly found. This allows one to obtain analytically the Green's functions for a series of boundary-value problems in anisotropic inhomogeneous media of infinite extent.
Transformations and Equation Reductions in Finite Elasticity I: Plane Strain Deformations
Authors: Hill James M. , Arrigo Daniel J.
Published: March 2007

For a particular finite elastic material, the governing fourth order nonlinear partial differential equations for plane strain deformations are shown to admit a new first integral, which, together with the constraint of incompressibility, gives rise to a second order problem. By an appropriate transformation of variables, the second order problem can be reduced to a single Monge-Ampere equation. Remarkably, this latter equation admits a linearization to the standard Helmholtz equation, so that the possibility arises for the determination of numerous exact finite elastic deformations. Of particular importance is that one of the parameters arising in the linearization turns out to be the physical angle E involved in standard cylindrical polar coordinates, and therefore these exact solutions might be particularly relevant to problems concerned with sectors of cylinders. Known first integrals of the governing fourth order equations are summarized in cylindrical polar coordinates, and new solutions of the form 0 = g(0) are obtained. Finally, an alternative approach is suggested and the procedure is illustrated with two examples. Corresponding results for the two separate topics of the plane stress theory of highly elastic thin sheets and axially symmetric deformations are given in Part II of the paper.
Deformations of Nonlinear Elastic Solids in Unbounded Domains
Authors: Rajagopal K. R.
Published: March 2007

A boundary layer approximation for nonlinearly elastic solids is advocated, with the full nonlinear equations assumed to hold in a narrow region adjacent to a boundary, whereas in the rest of the domain the equations of linearized elasticity are supposed to hold.
On a Family of Axially Symmetric Kinematically Determined Plastic Flows
Authors: Hill James M. , Katoanga Tui L.
Published: March 2007

For axially symmetric flows of dilatant granular materials, the velocity equations uncouple from the stress equations in certain plastic regimes, and assuming either a plastic potential or dilatant double shearing, a set of three first-order partial differential equations is obtained. These equations turn out to be deceptive, because although they are simple in appearance, the determination of simple exact solutions is nontrivial. For one of the known families of solutions, the authors present a simple and straightforward asymptotic expansion for the stress angle and show that in a restricted range, this expansion provides an accurate solution of the nonlinear ordinary differential equation. In addition, for the same family of solutions, the authors examine a special case that permits one integration and enables the velocity components to be given explicitly in terms of the stress angle. This partial analytical solution may then be coupled either with the asymptotic expansion or with a full numerical solution of the governing first-order differential equation for the stress angle. In addition, the authors show that a special case of the nonlinear ordinary differential equation admits a simple first integral that has not been given previously. Finally, a detailed numerical comparison is made for various parameter values of the asymptotic expansion, the full numerical solution, and with known exact analytical solutions.
On Extensional Oscillations and Waves in Elastic Rods
Authors: Krishnaswamy Shankar , Batra R. C.
Published: March 2007

The authors study the dispersive nature of propagating extensional waves in an infinitely long elastic rod within the framework of the linear theory of a Cosserat rod with two directors. The authors also identify certain material constants in the theory in a manner that is different from those used by others and consequently show that the resulting theory better captures the high-frequency dynamical behavior of three-dimensional rod-like bodies.
Korn's Constant for a Parallelepiped with a Free Face or Pair of Faces
Authors: Ryzhak E. J.
Published: March 2007

Kom's inequality is studied for vector fields (the "displacements") on a rectangular parallelepiped under some special boundary conditions (abbreviated below to BCs). The BCs are posed on two pairs of faces or, additionally, on one more face. The remaining pair of faces/face is "free" (by this is meant that the displacements are arbitrary on it). The BCs (where they are posed) are of one of the following three types: (1) zero displacements ("clamping"), (2) tangential displacements ("sliding"), or (3) normal displacements ("bending"). The relative dimensions of the parallelepiped are arbitrary.

The exact values of Kom's constant k are found in some of the cases considered, and the rigorous upper bounds for it are found in the others. In particular, it is established that k = 4 when all the faces but one are clamped (i.e., for the displacements on a half-space with a compact supporter), the same result being valid for some other problems considered, where the BCs are posed on all the faces but one. Additionally, in the case when a pair of faces is free, the explicit simple formula for Kom's constant k versus "thickness" (by which is meant the mutual distance of free faces) is found; in particular, this yields that k approaches exponentially from above the value of four as the thickness increases.

The results can be applied to the problem of determination of the bounds of elastic stability for the bodies of appropriate shape under specified BCs (e.g., for the plates of arbitrary thickness, clamped over the contour).
Recruiting a Government Agency’s Assistance Concerning Improper Referrals
Authors: Letizia John M. , Iacurci Michael P.
Published: March 2007

This article is an instructional guide to obtaining assistance from a state or federal agency when faced with a larger organization or hospital directing patients to its affiliate or its own home care department. It also includes an example of four visiting nurse associations (VNAs) that filed a complaint with the Connecticut Attorney General’s Office regarding a Connecticut hospital directing patients to its own home care department. It describes the process the VNAs followed and the response by the attorney general and the hospital.
Contracting with managed care providers
Authors: Hogue Elizabeth E.
Published: March 2007

With an increasing number of managed care providers and a desire by home health care agencies to remain competitive, many agencies are entering into contracts with managed care. This article delves into the legalities and the pitfalls of the contract negotiation process and explains the neces sary elements to provide the home health agency with a legally acceptable, limited risk managed care contract.