bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Responsibility in Government
Authors: Turpin Colin
Published: October 2007

Much scepticism is expressed about the validity of ministerial responsibility in the modem constitution, and the Scott Report has done nothing to dispel this. The time seems ripe for a general review of the role of responsibility in the political system, placing ministerial responsibility in its context as one element in a supporting structure for responsible democratic government. In a broad view of governmental responsibility in a democracy like ours we may see it as owed not only to Parliament but to the public, to the law, and to individual citizens. A closer examination requires us to identify those upon whom responsibilities actually rest and those to whom they must answer. We have to take account not only of departmental ministers but of their ministerial subordinates, officials in departments and agencies, and non-departmental public bodies. In focusing on departmental ministers we should give due weight to their legal responsibility, recognising the expansion and renewed vitality of judicial review. The responsi bility of ministers to Parliament appears as a cluster of obligations, the mainte nance of which requires continual vigilance. A ministerial obligation to resign is peripheral to the everyday striving for accountability, but is not to be dismissed as having no reality.
Police Governance, the Association of Chief Police Officers and Constitutional Change
Authors: Savage Stephen P , Charman Sarah , Cope Stephen
Published: October 2007

After nearly two decades of Conservative rule in Parliament, constitutional change has become an increasingly significant issue on the political agenda, embracing considerable discussion about the constitution of the police (largely centred on issues of police accountability and local democratic control of the police). This article seeks to further this debate by examining the role of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland (ACPO) in shaping the constitution of the police. In particular, it assesses the role of ACPO in the widely perceived trend towards the centralisation of policing. This 'centralisation thesis' needs to be revised in the light of empirical research. ACPO may be regarded as both a centralising agency because of its push to standardise policing policy locally (rather than as a conduit for central government influence) and a decentralising agency representing local police forces in countering government attempts to centralise policing. Constitutional debates on policing need to recognise that the 'centralisation thesis' is somewhat simplistic, and those calling for a new constitutional settlement for the police need to understand the complex nature of police governance, as demonstrated in this study of ACPO's role in the process of policing centralisation.
Image-magic in A Midsummer Night's Dream: power and modernity from Weber to Shakespeare
Authors: Szakolczai Arpad
Published: October 2007

This article argues that the modern world is not only produced by, and is promoting, processes of rationalization and disenchantment, but is also the site of `enchanting' influences that are genuinely `charming' or `magical'. Such modes of influencing rely increasingly on the power of images, and on theatre-like performances of words or discourses. The impact takes place under conditions that, following Victor Turner's work, could be called `liminal', and which can be turned through `imagemagic' into a state of `permanent liminality'. A path-breaking analysis of such influences can be found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, written at a highly liminal moment in European history, the end of the Renaissance and the unfolding of the Reformation. It is argued that the central problem of the play is the source of the power that motivates, from the inside, human beings. Shakespeare attributes this power to images through which human beings can be incited to act, in particular to fall in love, and assigns a decisive role in the manipulation of such images to the Trickster figure of folk-tales and myths. Such image-magic makes its victims believe that they gained enlightenment, maturing to reason, exactly when succumbing to its influence; while its lasting impact is the confusion of the senses, or the power to distinguish and discriminate.
The impact of `exile' on thought: Plotinus, Derrida and Gnosticism
Authors: Rossbach Stefan
Published: October 2007

This article examines the impact of `exile' — as an individual or collective experience — on how human experience is theorized. The relationship between `exile' and thought is initially approached historically by looking at the period that Eric Dodds famously called the `age of anxiety' in late antiquity, i.e. the period between the emperors Aurelius and Constantine. A particular interest is in the dynamics of `empire' and the concomitant religious ferment as a context in which `exile', both experientially and symbolically, appears to assume an overbearing significance. Plotinus' narrative of emanation and epistrophe as well as a group of narratives often classified as `Gnosticism' are juxtaposed as two radical examples of a wider spiritual trend at the time according to which `exile' could be considered constitutive of human experience. By way of an historical analogy, the insights gained from this study of late antiquity are then used to guide an analysis of the current, `restless' epoch, in which experiences of displacement and exile on a mass scale undermine traditional notions of belonging, thus reviving the gnostic vision of cosmic reality as an alien, exilic environment. The article concludes with a discussion of Jacques Derrida's work as an example of contemporary gnosticism, in which a `metaphysics of exile' is presented in the disguise of an `exile from metaphysics'.
From employment exchange to Jobcentre Plus: the changing institutional context of unemployment
Authors: Cole Matthew
Published: October 2007

The importance of employment exchanges in the governance of mass unemployment in the 1930s presented social researchers with a rich site for the investigation of the meaning of unemployment from a governmental perspective, or more precisely, of how that meaning is encoded into social spaces. Comparing writing from the 1930s and earlier with my own contemporary research in Jobcentres, Benefits Agencies and Jobcentre Plus offices facilitates an understanding of how that meaning, and its literally concrete means of deployment, has shifted. Observation conducted in these institutional spaces adds an empirical dimension to extant discursive analyses of the governance of unemployment. Broadly, there has been a move from an overt, gendered stigmatization of being without paid work as a moral failing deserving of penance in the 1930s employment exchange, to an attempt to discursively rearticulate unemployment with a mainstream nexus of work-consumerism in Jobcentre Plus. These changes are also indicative of broader societal shifts in the values ascribed to work and consumerism, and the ways in which a governmentally consecrated subjectivity can be achieved.
Introduction: The Industrial Relations of Learning and Training: A New Consensus or a New Politics?
Authors: Stuart Mark
Published: October 2007

■ The learning agenda has become an increasingly prominent concern of policy-makers at the level of the EU and national Member States, and is often presented as a positive-sum issue around which industrial relations renewal can take place. Yet the dynamics related to this in industrial relations terms are relatively under-explored. This introductory article reviews some of the underlying debates and sets out the main contributions of the articles in this special issue. These show that the new politics of learning and skill poses significant challenges for national systems of regulation, the mode of engagement between the social actors and the capacities and capabilities needed by the social actors to further `supply-side' industrial relations renewal.
Company-level Strategies for Raising Basic Skills: A Comparison of Corus Netherlands and UK
Authors: Leisink Peter , Greenwood Ian
Published: October 2007

■ This article reports findings from a study of the factors that shape workplace training practices and influence workers' participation. A comparison of basic skills training in steel production facilities in the Netherlands and the UK reveals that institutional frameworks matter but also that management attitudes and union activities influence training arrangements and set conditions for participation. Participation in training depends on these conditions as well as on personal characteristics of workers.
`Diffugere nives': on Englishing Horace
Authors: Nash Walter
Published: October 2007

There is in English a long tradition of Horatian poetics. The works of Horace, particularly the Odes, have been used by generation after literary generation, in quotation, in allusion, in imitations, in thematic borrowings, and very commonly in the kind of translation process here called 'Englishing'. 'Englishing' involves the attempt to represent in English the content of a source poem, with a possible equivalence of some salient stylisitic features, but at the same time to relocate the work in the environment of English (or Anglo-American) culture and poetic tradition, with the intention, perhaps, of creating something at once old and quite new, faithful to the past yet relevant to the present. This article discusses the problems of 'Englishing' Horace's 'Diffugere nives' (Odes, iv, 7). The language and phrasing of the Latin text are closely studied, in relationship to several English versions, made in the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but with fullest reference to a translation by A.E. Housman, dating from 1897 but not made familiar to a general reading public until the (posthumous) publication, in 1936, of the volume More Poems. The general tenor of the article is that 'Englishing' becomes a personal matter, raising questions of aesthetics and taste not readily accommodated within the framework of a theory of translation.
'One' and the pun: how newspapers keep the monarchy in its place
Authors: Goodman Sharon
Published: October 2007

British tabloid newpapers regularly represent 'the Queen's English' in their stories about the Royal Family. Mimicking pronunciation, and often using the pronoun one, these comic formulations are usually based on puns or clashes of register, and appear to challenge the Royals' status and authority. This article presents examples of tabloid 'royalese', and considers two functions of this playful language: attacking the Royals by mocking their speech, and contributing to the creation of a tabloid readership community.
Prisoner Taking and Prisoner Killing: A Comment on Ferguson's Political Economy Approach
Authors: Dollery Brian , Parsons Craig R.
Published: October 2007

Niall Ferguson argued that, in part, the Second World War proved much more difficult to end than the First World War because both the German and Japanese armed forces continued fighting long after any realistic prospect of victory had disappeared. He ascribes this difference to the comparatively greater difficulties faced by soldiers wishing to surrender in the Second World War. Only after the Allied military authorities had adopted policies encouraging surrender in the Second World War did large numbers of enemy troops voluntarily surrender, thereby bringing the conflict to a swift conclusion. Ferguson contends that the game theoretic approach developed in economics, as exemplified in the prisoner's dilemma game, can be extended to a `captor's dilemma' game that can shed light on the efficacy of various strategies on surrender policy available to military forces. This paper considers the game theoretic approach advanced by Ferguson and suggests that it requires further refinement before it can satisfactorily explain the problem of surrender.
The Rise of International Co-Operation in the European Automobile Industry: the Renault Case
Authors: Savary Julien
Published: October 2007

This article first analyses international strategies of European automobile manufacturers. Through a description of their corporate development since the early 1970s it shows that these groups, which still remain mainly European and non-globalized, have developed numerous specialized alliances, but have also used mergers and acquisitions as a way of enlarging their corporate size and their geographic scope. The major conclusion is to predict more international mergers between European groups in the future. As the international crisis in the sector continues, and as international competition increases within their formerly protected markets, these groups will have to join forces through close co-operation and merger. The second part of the article develops the case of Renault's international strategy. It analyses how this group improved the competitiveness of all its European operations, but failed in the USA and still remains today relatively under-internationalized. The agreement signed in 1990 with Volvo is then described as a highly complex strategic alliance which had to move towards a merger, finally decided at the end of 1993. This merger process failed mainly because nationalist barriers exist to international co-operation in the automobile industry. The recent take-over of Rover by BMW, however, shows that merger remains an appropriate strategic answer.
Negotiating Autonomy
Authors: Dar Sadhvi
Published: October 2007

This article is a contribution to the under-researched but growing literature relating organisational theory to non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Many developmental academics and practitioners have highlighted the imposition of Northern ideas and values on Southern NGOs as inherently colonial, patronising and leading to minimal grassroots autonomy (Crush 1995; Escobar 1995; Ferguson 2003[1990]; Hobart 1993). While acknowledging this, the present article analyses the diffusion of Northern managerialism on Southern ways of working with special reference to how Southern NGOs are pressured to exude a cohesive, uniform and positive organisational identity in order to work in partnership with their donors. In doing so, the analysis points to the concept of organisational identity itself being a construct of Northern ideas of management and, therefore, not applicable universally. It is suggested that fissures and resistances created by this double construction are played out in development project reports. It is in reports that an organisational narrative is created and an image is portrayed of the organisation: setting up a textual space where organisational identity is legitimated and used for negotiating autonomy in relation to donors.
Understanding the Human Resource Challenges in Not-for-profit Organisations from a Lifecycle Perspective
Authors: Srinivasan Vasanthi
Published: October 2007

In the last two decades not-for-profit organisations in emerging countries like India have witnessed a phenomenal growth. This growth has been managed through a variety of organisational forms and structures. The complexity arises because the basic structure of the NGOs is a project organisation. Most Indian NGOs are externally funded and this funding is often provided only for a project. The projects are expected to deliver a set of activities and are necessarily short term in nature. An NGO often executes multiple projects simultaneously. As a consequence of this, the project tends to gain prominence compared to the organisation. The vital question that many NGOs have to engage with is: are we an organisation or are we a set of projects? An organisation by its very definition exists in perpetuity, while the life of a project is often specified and limited. This article will explore the challenges that NGOs face in their lifecycle of growth—evolving from a single project-based entity into a vision-led professional entity. The lifecycle view of organisations proposed by Greiner (1998) postulates that they move through five stages of development, and each stage is accompanied by a period of crisis. The article will present each of the five stages and the crises, and the resulting implications for organisations in terms of their vision, structure, strategies and human resource practices. The focus of the article will be on understanding the appropriate human resource strategies and practices that NGOs will have to engage with in the various stages of growth.
Openness and Financial Development
Authors: Law Siong Hook
Published: October 2007

This article examines the effect of openness on financial development pertaining to the Rajan and Zingales (2003) hypothesis, namely that simultaneous openness of trade and capital flows has a positive influence on financial development.

They hypothesise that when a country's borders are open to both trade and capital flows, it will deliver benefits to the financial markets. The dynamic heterogeneous panel data results based on 68 countries for the period 1980–2001 indicate that simultaneously open product and capital markets do promote better financial development. Openness in terms of trade and capital are most potent in promoting financial development in middle–income countries, whereas its influence is relatively small in low–income and high–income countries.
Providing Quality Care in Childhood Cancer Survivorship: Learning From the Past, Looking to the Future
Authors: Harvey Jeanne , Hobbie Wendy L. , Shaw Susan , Bottomley Sarah
Published: October 2007

As we move into the 21st century, we are faced with an increasing number of childhood cancer survivors who are living into their middle adult years and beyond. Providing appropriate, comprehensive follow-up care is a challenge for health care providers and one that can be met by developing quality follow-up programs for all childhood cancer survivors. The focus of these programs should be to educate these survivors on strategies to maximize their health and well being. This article discusses the evolution of survivor clinics, strategies for developing a quality program, and the role of nursing in the care of childhood cancer survivors.
Navigating the Educational System: A Practical Guide for Nurse Practitioners
Authors: Wissler Kathryn H. , Proukou Cindy
Published: October 2007

An education specialist in follow-up clinics for childhood cancer survivors assists these individuals in meeting their complex educational needs. Most survivors present with unique educational profiles as a result of their cancer diagnosis or treatment. Children at risk for neurocognitive late effects are especially in need of ongoing educational consultation. Lack of funding for educators in the clinical setting results in the need for nurse practitioners to take on this role. However, nurse practitioners may feel inadequate in regard to their knowledge of the educational system. This article presents a model for targeting high-risk patients and monitoring their educational needs and gives practical advice in advocating needed services in the school system.
Cancer and Genetics: What We Need to Know Now
Authors: Ruccione Kathy
Published: October 2007

Profound changes brought about by discoveries in molecular biology may enable us in the future to treat cancer without causing late effects or to prevent cancer altogether. Even before that happens, the age of molecular medicine has arrived. Molecular biology is the study of biological processes at the level of the molecule. A major aspect of molecular biology is molecular genetics—the science that deals with DNA and RNA. Most of the progress in molecular biology has been made in the second half of the 20th century. Each discovery or technological innovation has built on previous discoveries and paved the way for the next, culminating in the current effort to map, sequence, and understand the functions of the entire human genome. In the past 20 years, many pieces of the cancer puzzle have been found, showing us how the normal cellular control mechanisms go awry to cause cancer and setting the stage for genetic testing and disease treatment. These new discoveries bring both promise and peril. To provide comprehensive care for survivors of childhood cancer and care in other settings as well, health care providers must now be familiar with the concepts and language of molecular biology, understand its applications to cancer care, and be fully informed about its implications for clinical practice, research, and education.
Methodological Triangulation in a Study of Social Support for Siblings of Children With Cancer
Authors: Murray John S.
Published: October 2007

Triangulation is an approach to research that is becoming increasingly popular among nurse researchers. Five types of triangulation are used in nursing research: data, methodological, theoretical, researcher, and analytical triangulation. Methodological triangulation is an attempt to improve validity by combining various techniques in one study. In this article, an example of quantitative and qualitative triangulation is discussed to illustrate the procedures used and the results achieved. The secondary data used as an example are from a previous study that was conducted by the researcher and investigated nursing interventions used by pediatric oncology nurses to provide social support to siblings of children with cancer. Results show that methodological triangulation was beneficial in this study for three reasons. First, the careful comparison of quantitative and qualitative data added support for the social support variables under investigation. Second, the comparison showed more in-depth dimensions about pediatric oncology nurses providing social support to siblings of children with cancer. Finally, the use of methodological triangulation provided insight into revisions for the quantitative instrument.
Practitioner Expertise in Evidence-Based Practice Decision Making
Authors: McCracken Stanley G. , Marsh Jeanne C.
Published: October 2007

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an orientation to practice that values evidence as a resource for clinical decision making while recognizing that evidence alone is never sufficient to make a clinical decision. Critics of EBP typically ignore, negate, or misrepresent the role of practitioner thinking processes and expertise in clinical settings. The authors believe that, far from being a mechanistic process that ignores practitioner expertise, reflection and critical thinking are essential to implementing EBP in real-world clinical practice. The purpose of this article is to provide guidance for how practitioners bring their expertise to bear when engaging in the process of EBP. The authors use a social work practice scenario to illustrate the application of practitioner expertise in each of the five steps of EBP.
Home Care for Older Couples: “It Feels Like a Security Blanket . . .”
Authors: Soodeen Ruth-Ann , Gregory David , Bond John B.
Published: October 2007

In this article, the authors explore the home care experience as described by older physically impaired individuals and their caregiving spouses. Separate face-to-face semistructured interviews were carried out with each spouse from nine couples. Analysis of the interview data revealed four themes. For care receivers the themes were Independence and Developing a Trusting Relationship With Home Care Workers. Relief and Continuity were voiced by the caregiving spouses. The authors show how these themes relate to the participants' sense of security, which emerged as a key underlying concept in the home care experience. This study adds to the home care and caregiving literature as it expands our understanding of the relationship between formal and informal caregiving, highlights issues and concerns older couples face as they receive home-based care, and includes both older spouse caregivers and their direct-care recipients.
Dilemma With the Local Perception of Causes of Illnesses in Central Africa: Muted Concept but Prevalent in Everyday Life
Authors: Sabuni Louis Paluku
Published: October 2007

The author of this study aims to explore people's perceptions of the cause of illnesses in the Democratic Republic of Congo using qualitative methods, namely case studies and focus group discussions, to gather data from participants. He identifies seven main categories of causes of illnesses and describes the relations between them. The local concept of the causes of illnesses does not absolutely respect the biomedical framework. As the popular saying puts it, Congolais hakufi na microbe, meaning “Congolese people do not die by microbes.” The perception of witchcraft is strong as a cause of illness among the Bira of Mobala and the Nande of Mukulia. The author argues that health professionals should take this view into account instead of rejecting it.
Exhuming the Body: Revisiting the Role of the Visible Body in Ethnographic Research
Authors: Seymour Wendy
Published: October 2007

Looking back is often painful. Although in the first instance I might approach a research project with enthusiasm and confidence, in retrospect the sins of omission can become very obvious. In reviewing five research projects employing qualitative ethnographic methods, I explored the underacknowledged role of the visible body in these projects. Although the task of retrospection is blessed with the accumulated wisdom of others, I emphasize the importance of ongoing self-scrutiny and critical analysis of methodological dogmas for researchers and their practices.
Adventure Racing and Organizational Behavior
Authors: Kenworthy-U'Ren Amy , Erickson Anthony
Published: October 2007

In this article, the Eco Challenge race video is presented as a teaching tool for facilitating theory-based discussion and application in organizational behavior (OB) courses. Before discussing the intricacies of the video series itself, the authors present a pedagogically based rationale for using reality TV—based video segments in a classroom setting. They then describe the Eco Challenge race series, with an overview of how it is used to facilitate application of course concepts, encourage attention and interest in the course, and provide a frame of reference for other experiential activities and assessment in the course. Readers are encouraged to use this video as a semester-long teaching tool. To assist in this regard, readers are provided with a template for using the Eco Challenge video with a variety of OB topic areas, a list of the potential limitations of this teaching method, and sample discussion and assessment questions.
Issues in the Use of Ability and Interest Measures with Women
Authors: Betz Nancy E.
Published: October 2007

This article summarizes problems entailed in the use of ability measures and interest inventories with women clients. Several purposes of assessment are reviewed, followed by types of bias in tests and inventories and the responses of test publishers to these issues. Finally, guidelines for counselors in the use and interpretation of these measures with women clients are summarized.
Career Assessment for Gifted Girls and Women
Authors: Kerr Barbara
Published: October 2007

Although gifted girls have high career aspirations, they often do not attain their educational and career goals. Conflicting societal expectations of bright girls and women may lead to a loss of confidence in their own abilities and their aspirations. Career assessments in girlhood, adolescence, college years, and adulthood may be effective in nurturing the full development of their talents.
Development of a Measure of Interest Diversity
Authors: Gaeddert Dee , Hansen Jo-Ida C.
Published: October 2007

Diversity of interests has received little empirical attention although it is a concept that may be useful in understanding career development and adjustment. This study was designed to develop a composite measure of interest diversity, that incorporated (a) relatedness, (b) intensity, and (c) number of interests, using data from the General Occupational Themes of the Strong Interest Inventory, the Breadth of Interest Scale of the Jackson Personality Inventory, and three self-ratings of interest diversity. The Composite Diversity of Interests Measure identified gender differences in interest diversity as well as occupational group differences.
Cultural Dimensions: a Factor Analysis of Textor's A Cross-Cultural Summary
Authors: Stewart Robert A. C. , Jones Kenneth J.
Published: October 2007

Textor's A Cross-Cultural Summary is a computer-produced compilation of significant relationships between all the extant cross-cultural variables that were available at the time. Together with two coefficients of association (phi and chi-square) and levels of significance, the relationships are also expressed in verbal form. In order, however, to reduce these findings to more manageable form and to obtain basic underlying factor dimensions which account for the relationships between the variables, a principal components analysis and Varimax rotation were conducted. The first 488 variables from the Summary were used. Also included was a review of cross-cultural research to date and the problem of sampling as related to the area.

A random stratified sample of 98 cultures was drawn from Textor's list of cultures for which there were at least 6 samples of contributions (not including contributions of the Ethnographic Atlas). Specific hypotheses of "Bibliographic Selection Bias" relating to this sample were tested, using actual comparisons in the Summary. Twelve factors of phi were obtained, and a thirteenth factor was disregarded, as it accounted for less than 5 percent of the total variance. The factors were rotated to the Varimax criterion to approach Thurstone's simple structure. Factor scores were computed for each culture on each factor dimension.

For each of the following factors, the cultures with the highest positive and negative factor scores are given in order:

Factor One: Structural Complexity (Thai, Copper Eskimo);

Factor Two: Father-Centered Family (Rwala, Lamba);

Factor Three: Tropical Rain Forest Culture (Trobriand, Siriono);

Factor Four: Paternal Authority (Samoan, Navaho);

Factor Five: Matrilineal Kin Groups (Trobriand, Semang);

Factor Six: Status as Determined by Occupation (Thai, Lamba);

Factor Seven: Aggressive Achievement Behavior (Ashanti, Hano);

Factor Eight: North American Tribal Culture (Cheyenne, Ashanti);

Factor Nine: Child Affection and Indulgence (Papago, Thonga);

Factor Ten: Sexual Restraint Cultures (Thonga, Ifugao);

Factor Eleven: Postpartum Sex Taboo (Tiv, Tanala);

Factor Twelve: Adolescent Pecr Group Activity (Samoans, Jivaro).

Within the limits of the study, these suggest key dimensions to describe a given culture, and it may be that future refinements of this work will permit the development of reliable and valid methods of ethnographic enquiry for the tapping of these major cultural dimensions.
Long-Term Psychosocial and Health Economy Consequences of ADHD, Autism, and Reading-Writing Disorder
Authors: Nydén Agneta , Myrén Karl-Johan , Gillberg Christopher
Published: October 2007

Objective: The study aims to evaluate psychosocial, societal, and family cost consequences of a psychoeducational intervention program. Methods: Sixty boys with ADHD, Asperger syndrome/high-functioning autism (AS/HFA), and reading and writing disorder (RD/WD) were allocated to participate in a service evaluation project. Every other boy in each diagnostic group was randomly allocated to receive either (a) a special education program (clinical index group) or (b) follow-up without the special education program (clinical comparison group). Nine years after initial assessments the stability of the psychosocial and economic resource consequences over time was studied. Results: ADHD, AS/HFA, and RD/WD all had severe impact on family life quality. The societal costs were high, but no significant differences in resource use or in total costs were found between the clinical index and the comparison groups. Conclusions: The results underscore the very long-term need for support including individually tailored reevaluations and carefully monitored intervention programs adapted to family needs and severity of child disorder. ( J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 12(2) 141-148)
Functional Outcomes in the Treatment of Adults With ADHD
Authors: Adler Lenard A. , Spencer Thomas J. , Levine Louise R. , Ramsey Janet L. , Tamura Roy , Kelsey Douglas , Ball Susan G. , Allen Albert J. , Biederman Joseph
Published: October 2007

Objective: ADHD is associated with significant functional impairment in adults. The present study examined functional outcomes following 6-month double-blind treatment with either atomoxetine or placebo. Method: Patients were 410 adults (58.5% male) with DSM-IV—defined ADHD. They were randomly assigned to receive either atomoxetine 40 mg/day to 80 mg/day ( n = 271) or placebo ( n = 139). The primary functional outcome measure was the Endicott Work Productivity Scale (EWPS), and the secondary measure was the Adult ADHD Quality of Life (AAQoL). Patients were seen for four visits in 6 months. Results: At 6 months, both groups had nonsignificantly different improvements in EWPS total scores. Atomoxetine-treated patients showed significantly greater improvement than placebo-treated patients on the AAQoL after controlling for baseline severity of ADHD. Both treatment groups had low 6-month study completion rates. Conclusion: Following 6-month treatment with atomoxetine, adults with ADHD showed significantly greater improvement in functioning on disease-specific measures of quality of life than patients treated with placebo. ( J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 11(6) 720-727)
The Performance of a Parallel TSP Program and Byte Sequential Benchmarks Executing on a Shared Cluster
Authors: Wong Adam K. L. , Goscinski Andrzej M.
Published: October 2007

Although individual PCs of a cluster are used by their owners to run sequential applications (local jobs), the cluster as a whole or its subset can also be employed to run parallel applications (cluster jobs) even during working hours. This implies that these computers have to be shared by parallel and sequential applications, which could lead to the improvement of the execution performance and resource utilization. However, there is a lack of experimental study showing the behavior and performance of executing parallel and sequential applications concurrently on a non-dedicated cluster. The result of such research would be beneficial for the development of new global scheduling algorithms. We present the result of an experimental study into scheduling of a mixture of parallel and sequential applications on a non-dedicated cluster. The aim of this study is to learn how the concurrent execution of a communication intensive parallel application and sequential applications influences their execution performance and utilization of the cluster.
Thought Processes and Strategies of Students Engaged in Music Composition 1
Authors: Younker Betty Anne
Published: October 2007

The purpose of the study was to explore thought processes and strategies of three 8-, three 11-, and three 14-year-old students that occurred while composing with technology. In this descriptive study, the following data were analyzed: (1) students' thoughts, responses, and behaviours that occurred during three composing sessions; (2) students' verbal responses to questions, given after each composing session, about their composing activities; and (3) students' verbal responses to questions, given before and after all composing sessions, about composing in general. The findings from the above three analyses were examined to discern what developmental patterns, if any, emerged across ages. Analysis of data revealed differences within and across ages in terms of composing processes and manipulation of elements. The results show that there may be a continuum of strategies and processes that are utilized while composing. As well, engaging students in metacognitive activities can raise the depth and scope of their awareness, and encourage them to begin to think like a composer.
Curriculum Stasis: Gratton in South Australia
Authors: Southcott Jane
Published: October 2007

This article employs a theory from the field of evolution as an analogy for the processes of change or nonchange in the historical development of the school music curriculum. The theory of punctuated equilibrium argues that stasis or nonchange is the norm in the evolutionary growth of species. It is important to recognised that stasis exists, should be expected and may well be the prevailing norm. This idea is illustrated through a consideration of the development of the music curriculum in state-supported schools in South Australia during the first decades of this century with Francis Lymer Gratton, the Supervisor of Music, as the particular personification of stasis. Gratton was a product of the music education system that he came to oversee. He embraced its policies and practices and upheld them throughout his career, presiding over a period of curricular stasis in music education.
Post-modernity and Japan's Music Education: An External Perspective
Authors: Imada Tadahiko
Published: October 2007

The term modernization in the West has been typically used to describe all modern developments of industrialization and mechanization. Western modernization was originally advocated in the nineteenth century by a class of citizens called the bourgeoisie who attempted to become independent of the dominant political powers and the authoritarian state in Europe. In order to develop European social structure, several thinkers, including Descartes, Hegel and Marx, played important roles, by criticizing the human desire to propose a style of modern European ethics. The Japanese nineteenth century, however, differed fundamentally from the nineteenth century of the West. The concept of 'man' or 'meaning' in nineteenth century Europe was absent from Japan. In the last years of the nineteenth century, Japan originally imported certain Western practices using their basic adaptive capabilities with some urgency and speed for survival to offset American colonial ambitions. The introduction of Western music education in Japan was a policy that was cleverly engineered by the Meiji Restoration Government in order to westernize the Japanese nation. The music curriculum in Japan has been based on Western aesthetics and many teachers have blind faith in the 'power and glory' of Western music. However, both structuralist and post-structuralist theories show us that the European aesthetics does not have any autonomous power which can apply to all musical cultures around the world. Thus, the 'power and glory' of music should be re-examined, and any concepts which can possibly bring exteriority to open the closet are urgently needed. Since the official Japanese music curriculum called the 'Course of Study' (COS) is based on this Western notion of aesthetics, the COS itself should genealogically be re-examined. In order to clarify these issues, some ontological and epistemological analysis of modern music education, more particularly in Japan, will be provided.
The Contribution of Motivational Factors to Instrumental Performance in a Music Examination
Authors: McPherson Gary E. , McCormick John
Published: October 2007

This paper reports on a study with 349 instrumentalists between the ages of 9 and 18 who completed a self-report questionnaire immediately before undertaking an externally assessed music performance examination. The first purpose was to clarify the degree to which internal (e.g. effort, ability, nervousness) and external (e.g. task difficulty, luck) attributions were cited by students to explain their results on the performance examination. The second purpose was to investigate a range of self-regulatory and motivational influences which predict student results in the performance examination. Results show that an ability to perform proficiently relies not only on technical and expressive skill, but also on the employment of a range of motivational resources. It is suggested that how students think about themselves, the task and their performance is just as important as the time they devote to practising their instrument
Making connections: A case study of pre-service music education students' attitudinal change to indigenous music
Authors: Marsh Kathryn
Published: October 2007

Approaches to the teaching of culturally diverse music programs have become an increasing concern of international music educators in recent years. These concerns are reflected in the Australian state of New South Wales where teachers of all curriculum areas are responsible for educating all students about Aboriginal heritage and cultures. As a consequence of limited guidelines regarding the use of Aboriginal music in schools and perceived shortcomings of preservice training in providing models for the teaching of Aboriginal music programs, many teachers lack the confidence to engage in such programs. This article discusses the effect of a 1997 project conducted with pre-service education students at a university in Sydney. The project, involving fieldwork study of an Aboriginal performer in residence program at a Sydney school, is seen to have positively affected student attitudes to the teaching of Aboriginal music in educational settings. It is presented as an example of the way in which personal contact with culture-bearers can create new levels of cross-cultural understanding for music education students.
A Study of the Learning and Teaching Processes of Non-Naive Music Students Engaged in Composition
Authors: van Ernst Barbara
Published: October 2007

The inclusion of composition as an important aspect of the music curriculum can be supported on the grounds that it is a unique way of knowing music, and that through participation in the process of composing, students are required to use their musical knowledge in a creative way. It is argued that current theory on the teaching and learning of composition is insufficient in that it does not clarify the conditions most appropriate for student initiative or control in learning, nor the possible importance of prior knowledge.
Asking Children to Think About Music
Authors: Webster Peter , Richardson Carol
Published: October 2007

The traditionally held operant definitions of creative and critical thinking betray a dichotomy particularly when applied to music education. However, boundaries between creative and critical thinking have blurred as the result of recent developments in music cognition research. Research directions and policy issues need to be approached from a much more global understanding of musical thinking as a function of both cognitive and affective components.
The MIDI Sequencer/Sound Module as a Critical Listening Device
Authors: Stech David A.
Published: October 2007

Traditional playback media do not permit students to tailor the playback of music examples to any significant degree. This lack of adaptability has made it very inconvenient for students to listen critically to brief music examples assigned for close aural study. A recently-introduced piece of MIDI hardware called a sequencer/sound module offers many possibilities for instructors to design software to support college-level courses requiring traditional music analysis and critical listening. This hardware was originally introduced to support performance instruction to allow students to capture their performances and hear them played back. However, the sophistication of these units makes them valuable for supporting more complex instructional applications. This article describes three applications where use of the sequencer/sound module was extended to support three non-performance learning activities: music dictation, harmonic error detection, and aural comparisons of historical tuning systems. Each application was used by music majors at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Technology Teaching the Teacher A Study of Keyboard Instructional Praxis in a Computer-Based Learning Environment
Authors: Weidenbach Vanda
Published: October 2007

This pilot study was conducted as a preliminary to a more extensive investigation. Despite evidence of group piano teaching dating back as far as 1816, few studies have demonstrated best practice under these conditions. Technological changes, including the recent incorporation of synthesizer and sequencer into music laboratories, have created opportunities for a radical shift to occur in group keyboard teaching whereby students may be encouraged to take greater control of their learning and to progress at their own pace within a group structure. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the technology might be utilised by both teacher and students and to further determine whether pre-existing attitudes might impinge on the use of the technology. The qualitative focus of the study facilitated participant observation to provide enriched data. Results indicated that students who were keyboard novices appeared to benefit most from the technology while those with prior instrumental experience made less use of the technology, apparently being predisposed to a more traditional approach.
The Advantages and Disadvantages of Using a Computer-interactive Format for Music Assessment
Authors: Bryce Jennifer , Wu Margaret
Published: October 2007

This article considers the advantages and disadvantages of using a computer-interactive format for assessment. It is written in the light of experiences involving the adaptation of an existing music test designed for use at the beginning of secondary school to a computer-interactive format requiring only the basic hardware that is likely to be available in Australian secondary schools.
Island Song and Musical Growth: Toward Culturally Based School Music in the Torres Strait Islands
Authors: York Frank A
Published: October 2007

Music is an important element in the expression of cultural identity among Torres Strait Islanders. Although the culture of the Torres Strait Islands is a dynamic one in which change is expected, concerns have arisen that traditional music is at risk, and, with it, many distinctive elements of Islander identity. Efforts to counteract this situation have been introduced through Cultural Studies programs in schools which supplement and reinforce community musical practice. While recognising broader music education needs of Islander children, the current school music curriculum does not always address the cultural needs of Islander children. In response to this, a collaborative project has been developed to devise A Culturally Appropriate Music Curriculum for Torres Strait Island Schools. In the following, differences between community musical practices and those expected in schools are examined, and considerations regarding the inclusion of Island song in a culturally appropriate curriculum are explored. A substantial part of the article is based on the contemporary opinions of Islander elders, musicians and teachers.
Theory, Data and Educational Relevance
Authors: Swanwick Keith
Published: October 2007

In this paper two connected sets of relationships are examined; between research and music education practice and between theory and data. It is argued that the strength and coherence of theorising determines the quality of professional development. Three research models are proposed exemplifying the interaction of theory and data and the false dichotomy of quantitative and qualitative methods. Good theorising is the essential element. On the question of relevance, there are specific instances of research bearing upon practice, including curriculum development. We now know quite a lot about the relationship of performing, composing, moving to music and about the value of varying ways of practising and the importance of becoming familiar with music through repeated listening. Beyond the specific impact of research there is also an effect in the general sense of research-based theories affecting the educational climate. Professionals are not impervious to the general and specific effect of research.