bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Accelerating ATM Simulations Using Dynamic Component Substitution (DCS)
Authors: Rao Dhananjai M. , Wilsey Philip A.
Published: August 2006

The steady growth in the multifaceted use of broadband asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks for time-critical applications has significantly increased the demands on the quality of service (QoS) provided by the networks. Satisfying these demands requires the networks to be carefully engineered based on inferences drawn from detailed analysis of various scenarios. Analysis of networks is often performed through computer-based simulations. Simulation-based analysis of the networks, including nonquiescent or rare conditions, must be conducted using high-fidelity, high-resolution models that reflect the size and complexity of the network to ensure that crucial scalability issues do not dominate. However, such simulations are time-consuming because significant time is spent in driving the models to the desired scenarios. In an endeavor to address the issues associated with the aforementioned bottleneck, this article proposes a novel, multiresolution modeling-based methodology called dynamic component substitution (DCS). DCS is used to dynamically (i.e., during simulation) change the resolution of the model, which enables more optimal trade-offs between different parameters such as observability, fidelity, and simulation overheads, thereby reducing the total time for simulation.The article presents the issues involved in applying DCS in parallel simulations of ATM networks. An empirical evaluation of the proposed approach is also presented.The experiments indicate that DCS can significantly accelerate the simulation of ATM networks without affecting the overall accuracy of the simulation results.
Simulating the Diameter Error Due to the Dynamic Response of a Spinning Slender Shaft in Turning Operation
Authors: Jianliang Guo , Rongdi Han
Published: August 2006

Slender bar is widely applied in practice, but its turning operation is much more difficult than that of ordinary workpiece.The major problem lies in the fact that the high transversal deflection of workpiece results in high diameter error in turning slender shaft. In order to investigate the development of diameter error, the turning operation is simulated by using the Rayleigh beam theory. Through this theory, the dynamic response of a rotating workpiece under the cutting force is determined. Then, the diameter error of slender bar is determined based on the geometric correlation between the workpiece deflection and the diameter error. In this simulation, the cutting force is obtained using an empirical model, which is extensively used. Finally, a series of experimental tests are carried out to validate the simulation of diameter error. The experimental results demonstrate that the simulated values are considerably accurate. In addition, in order to eliminate the diameter error through error compensation method, the nominal depth of cut corresponding to a certain actual depth is determined by using the proposed model. The originality of this work is that the rotational motion of workpiece is taken into account in determining the diameter error of slender bar.
Stress Relaxation Behavior of Knitted Fabrics under Uniaxial and Strip Biaxial Excitation as Estimated by Corresponding Principle between Elastic and Visco-Elastic Bodies
Authors: Matsuo Masaru , Yamada Tomoko , Ito Noriko
Published: August 2006

The stress relaxation behavior of four kinds of knitted fabric under a constant strip biaxial strain applied instantly was estimated in the rectangular coordinate system rotated by arbitrary angle τ from the coordinate system along the structural principal axis direction. The stress relaxation curves for the four kinds of fabric indicated the existence of rapid and slow relaxation mechanisms. To analyze the application limit of the corresponding principle to an anisotropic body with the visco-elastic behavior, a four-element model with two springs and two dashpots was adopted as a convenient tool. The stress relaxation curves measured experimentally were confirmed to follow the visco-elastic behavior by the four-element model. The predicted curves calculated by the corresponding principle were compared with the experimental curves, when the experiments were performed for a rectangular coordinate system rotated by arbitrary angle τ from the coordinate system along the structural principal axis direction under strip biaxial extension. The comparison provided good agreement for the fabrics. Furthermore, as the different excitation mode, the stress relaxation behavior was measured for a uniaxial deformation mode with the dimension free in the direction perpendicular to an external applied strain. The predicted curves calculated by the corresponding principle were in fairly good agreement with the experimental curves. Thus it turned out that the corresponding principle can be approximately applied to anisotropic visco-elastic bodies such as fabrics.
A Dehydration Method for Immature or Wet Cotton Fibers for Light and Electron Microscopy
Authors: Rajasekaran Kanniah , Muir Alan J. , Ingber Bruce F. , French Alfred D.
Published: August 2006

A rapid dehydration procedure with acidified 2,2-dimethoxypropane (DMP) has been successfully applied to immature or wet cotton fibers. The ultrastructural integrity and fiber quality parameters such as cell wall area and perimeter of developing and mature cotton fibers were well-pre-served using this procedure as demonstrated by light, scanning and electron microscopy of whole fibers and cross-sections. Embedding in resin following DMP dehydration also prevented the collapse of the immature fibers due to drying of lumen.
Color Variation on Spun-dyed Polyester Filaments during Processing
Authors: Chen Mei-yu , Lai Kan , Sun Run-jun
Published: August 2006

In this study, the color variation of spun-dyed polyester filaments was systematically investigated using various processing technology parameters including linear density, velocity of cross-flow air, different processing ways and different textured technology parameters. The results showed that these parameters had varying degrees of influence on the color of spun-dyed polyester filament in processing. The degrees of color variation were expressed using the CIE1976 L*a*b* system. As a result, it provided an important theoretical guidance for working out actual production technology and controlling color quality of spun-dyed polyester filaments based on actual industrial equipment and technological conditions.
Effects of some Process Parameters on the Structure and Properties of Vortex Spun Yarn
Authors: Basal Guldemet , Oxenham William
Published: August 2006

The effects of a number of process parameters, including the nozzle angle, nozzle pressure, spindle diameter, yarn delivery speed, and distance between the front roller and the spindle, on the structure and properties of vortex spun yarns were investigated. A modified version of the tracer fiber technique ( J. Text. Inst.,43, T60-T66, 1952) combined with the Image Analysis Application Version 3.0 (B.A.R.N. Engineering) was utilized to explore yarn structure. The migration behavior of fibers was characterized using the migration parameters introduced by Hearle et al. ( Text. Res. J.,35, 329-334,788-795, 1965). The results showed that the short front roller to the spindle distance caused better evenness, low imperfections, and less hairiness. High nozzle angle, high nozzle pressure, low yarn delivery speed and small spindle diameter reduced hairiness as well. High nozzle angle, high nozzle pressure and low speed also led to higher fiber migration. Surprisingly nozzle angle, nozzle pressure or delivery speed did not have any significant effects on yarn tensile properties. This is believed to be caused by the relatively small differences between the levels of these parameters used in the trials. The present study provides a window into the vortex spinning technology, but further research needs to be conducted to establish a “process-structure-property model” for vortex yarns.
Optimum Drafting Conditions of Non-circular Polyester and Cotton Blend Yarns
Authors: Su Ching-Iuan , Fang Jun-Xian
Published: August 2006

In this study, experiments were conducted to examine the drafting behavior of non-circular fiber (cross-shaped profiled polyester) to obtain the optimum drafting conditions for spinning polyester/cotton (P/C) blended yarn. The drafting force in the break draft zone was measured and the effects of roller gage, draft ratio and P/C blend ratio on the drafting force were examined. The 20Tex spun yarn was spun with different P/C blend ratios and its quality was evaluated to shed light on the relationship between drafting force and yarn evenness. Experimental results showed that the optimum drafting conditions involved using a roller gage of 62 mm and spinning at a draft ratio of 1.20. In addition, blend yarn of P80/C20 ratio had the best yarn quality.
Inner Distribution and Deposition of Crosslinked Cotton Fabrics Using a Steeped Process
Authors: Chen Hung-En , Chen Jui-Chin , Yao Wei-Hua , Chen Cheng-Chi
Published: August 2006

The steeped procedure was used to investigate the physical properties and crosslinking structure. It was found that the values of the N content, dry crease recovery angle (DCRA), and wet crease recovery angle (WCRA) of the treated fabrics with any specific steeped procedure were higher than those of normally treated fabrics. For a given number of crosslinks per anhydroglucose unit (CL/AGU) the crosslinking length (CL length) values for the steep-pad-dry-cure process were higher than those for pad-dry-cure process. All the DCRA and WCRA values for the steep-pad-dry-cure process were higher than those for pad-dry-cure process at a given resin concentration, tensile strength retention (TSR), and CL/AGU. The surface distribution of crosslinking agent on the finished fabrics for pad-dry-cure process was higher than that for the steep-paddry-cure process. The expansion degree of the steep-pad-dry-cure treated fiber is slightly higher than that of the pad-dry-cure process. Those results obtained from pictures of SEM, crosslinking structure, and surface distribution of fibers/fabrics treated by the two processes clearly show that the crosslinking agents could diffuse and self-condensate in the treated fabrics to obtain an inner and longer crosslink under the steeped procedure so as to have good DCRA and WCRA.
A Case Study in Change and Conflict
Authors: Williams Joyce E. , Garza Lisa
Published: August 2006

This research is a case study of change and racial/ethnic conflict in the Dallas, Texas, Independent School District (DISD). Data are drawn from observations of monthly meetings of the school board. The focus is on communication as cultural projection among African American and Mexican American delegations at meetings and on the reactions evoked in board decision making. No evidence was found of Black-Brown coalition building; however, findings suggest that different styles of communication influence the treatment African American and Mexican American groups receive and ultimately may affect their access to the scarce resources of public education.
After the Makah Whale Hunt
Authors: Marker Michael
Published: August 2006

This article examines the racist backlash against the Makah tribe for their treaty-protected right to hunt whales. It then explains some core epistemological aspects of indigenous peoples’ struggles that are outside discussions in multicultural education. This article also offers a contribution to our understanding of schools as political institutions in cross-cultural situations. Indigenous values foreground the moral principles that are presented in the interrelationships between human, natural, and spiritual worlds. Culturally responsive education from an indigenous perspective is sublimely ecological and place based. Such perspectives tend to detonate most multicultural assumptions about modernity, postmodernity, and progress while asserting pedagogies drawn from the “sentient landscape.”
Improving Dyadic Coping in Couples With a Stress-Oriented Approach
Authors: Bodenmann Guy , Pihet Sandrine , Shantinath Shachi D. , Cina Annette , Widmer Kathrin
Published: August 2006

This study sought to assess the effectiveness of a marital distress prevention program for couples by examining how marital quality, especially marital competencies such as dyadic coping, could be improved by means of a prevention program focusing on the enhancement of coping resources (Couples Coping Enhancement Training). The study consisted of 59 couples in the intervention group and 59 couples in the matched comparison group. The results reveal that it is possible to improve marital quality, especially marital competencies, by means of one short-term intervention lasting 18 hr. However, the effects decreased after 2 years, raising the importance of booster sessions in helping to maintain effects over a longer period of time.
An Alternative Method for Quantitative Synthesis of Single-Subject Researches
Authors: Ma Hsen-Hsing
Published: August 2006

The purpose of the present study is twofold: (a) to compare the validation of percentage of nonoverlapping data approach and percentage of data points exceeding the median of baseline phase (PEM) approach, and (b) to demonstrate application of the PEM approach in conducting a quantitative synthesis of single-subject research investigating the effectiveness of self-control. The results show that the PEM had higher Spearman correlation with original authors’judgment than PND did. The results of applying the PEM approach to synthesize the effect of self-control training on academic and social behavior showed that the treatment was highly or at least moderately effective.
Predicting Outcome in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy
Authors: Werba Branlyn E. , Eyberg Sheila M. , Boggs Stephen R. , Algina James
Published: August 2006

This study explored predictors of treatment response and attrition in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT). Participants were 99 families of 3- to 6-year-old children with disruptive behavior disorders. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify those pretreatment child, family, and accessibility factors that were predictive of success or attrition. For all study participants, waitlist group assignment and maternal age were the significant predictors of outcome. For treatment participants (study participants excluding those who dropped out after the initial evaluation but before treatment began), only maternal ratings of parenting stress and maternal inappropriate behavior during parent-child interactions were significant predictors of treatment outcome. These results suggest that for treatment studies of disruptive preschoolers, the benefits of using a waitlist control group may be outweighed by the disproportionate number of dropouts from this group. Once families begin PCIT, however, parent-related variables become salient in predicting treatment outcome.
Monitoring and Decreasing Public Smoking Among Youth
Authors: Jason Leonard A. , Pokorny Steven B. , Sanem Julia R. , Adams Monica L.
Published: August 2006

This study examined the impact of tobacco possession laws on public smoking among youth. There were two intervention sites: a fast food restaurant and a shopping mall. Two control sites were also monitored for public smoking among youth. Preliminary findings suggest that when police issued tickets to minors for violating tobacco possession laws, the number of youth smoking in public declined in both towns, with a more dramatic decrease occurring at the fast food site. In contrast, public smoking among youth in the control sites was not affected. The significance of reducing number of youth smoking in public through tobacco possession laws is discussed.
Spanish Version of the Savings Inventory–Revised
Authors: Tortella-Feliu Miquel , Fullana Miquel A. , Caseras Xavier , Andión Óscar , Torrubia Rafael , Mataix-Cols David
Published: August 2006

The factor structure, psychometric properties, and relationship with personality variables of a Spanish version of the Savings Inventory-Revised (SI-R) are investigated in a sample of 381 undergraduate students. A maximum likelihood factor analysis suggests a three-factor structure, which is similar but not identical to that of the original English version. The three factors mirror the three hypothesized domains of compulsive hoarding: acquisition, difficulty discarding, and clutter. The Spanish SI-R demonstrates acceptable high internal consistency and test-retest reliability, but its divergent validity is weaker than expected because of a significant overlap with depressive symptoms. Different SI-R factors are associated with different personality traits: Whereas the difficulty discarding dimension is predominantly associated with susceptibility to punishment, the acquisition dimension is predominantly associated with susceptibility to reward. The authors conclude that the Spanish SI-R is a promising instrument to measure hoarding symptoms.
The Rhetoric of the Social Security Debate
Authors: Orr Douglas V.
Published: August 2006

This article examines the rhetoric of the debate about Social Security. It suggests that political opportunism by Presidents Johnson and Clinton undermined the rhetorical position of supporters of Social Security. It details the approach taken by neoconservatives in their efforts to dismantle the system and suggests rhetorical responses that have been effective in countering those efforts. It also traces the ebb and flow of confidence in the system, as measured by public opinion polls.
Gambling with Retirement: Market Risk Implications for Social Security Privatization
Authors: Weller Christian E.
Published: August 2006

Under Social Security privatization, workers would be allowed to divert some of the money that currently goes to Social Security into private accounts. This would expose them to market risk, that is, the risk of a substantial drop in equity prices or of a prolonged bear market. This could result in generations of workers with less money than they thought they would have for retirement. A privatized system could require the government to intervene, for example, by expanding social programs. The primary alternative to a government bailout of the Social Security system, older workers working longer, would create enormous labor market pressures. Other alternatives, such as working longer or diversification, also encounter obstacles. Many middle-class families affected by market risk already save too little for retirement, and optimal diversification may prove too costly for many low- and moderate-income households.
Cooperatives and Market Failure: Workers’ Cooperatives and System Mismatch
Authors: Gunn Christopher
Published: August 2006

Cooperatives function in market economies, but they are not always served well by markets. Workers’ cooperatives avoid use of the labor market by definition, but they encounter forms of market failure and system mismatch in equity markets. Economic theory of the labor-managed firm and the historical development of the Mondragón system of financing cooperatives provide insight into these problems. This article argues for new strategies to assist capital formation in cooperatives.
The Effect of Neoliberalism on the Fall in the Rate of Profit in Business Cycles
Authors: Bakir Erdogan , Campbell Al
Published: August 2006

In 1979, Tom Weisskopf found that the crucial late-expansion period of the business cycle, in which the output continues to expand but the profit rate begins to fall, was best explained for his 1949-1975 U.S. data as a result of increasing real wage gains higher than real productivity gains. This led to a profit share decrease that was the primary cause of the cyclical decline in the profit rate. In this work, we extend Weisskopf’s analysis through 2001 and find an important change. Although the fall in the profit share continued to be the key to the fall in the profit rate, unfavorable shifts under neoliberalism in price ratios replaced his earlier (real) wage squeeze. This result is consistent with and supports the generally accepted economic stylized fact of decreased power of workers under neoliberalism.
U.S. Multinational Corporations and the Mobility of Productive Capital: A Skeptical View
Authors: Koechlin Tim
Published: August 2006

This article calls into question the view that investment has become essentially “global” in recent decades. The data presented here suggest that productive capital is in fact remarkably immobile. This raises questions about the extent to which capital mobility constrains progressive projects. The article concludes by suggesting ways that we might clarify our understanding of the accumulation process and its potential political consequences.
The Effects of Neoliberal “Reforms” on the Postcrisis Korean Economy
Authors: Crotty James , Lee Kang-Kook
Published: August 2006

In December 1997, the IMF offered Korea loans. In return, Korea had to undergo radical neoliberal restructuring. Since 1997, growth has slowed, poverty and inequality have risen, investment spending has stagnated, and foreign ownership of Korean firms and banks has skyrocketed. We argue that the eight-year experiment with radical neoliberal restructuring has been a failure for the majority of Korea’s people.
Imperialism in the Neoliberal Era: Argentina’s Reprieve and Crisis
Authors: Duménil Gérard , Lévy Dominique
Published: August 2006

The Argentinean crisis in the late 1990s and early 2000s was another manifestation of various “neoliberal crises” that struck Latin America, Asia, Turkey, and Russia. During the 1990s, Argentina underwent typical neoliberal reforms: further opening of trade, liberalization of capital movements, convertibility, pension funds, and so on in the general context of large public and external debt rendered unbearable by interest rates’ rise in 1979. As in other countries, these trends were the expression of this new social order’s strong bias to the advantage of central and peripheral ruling classes. The Argentinean crisis also owes much to the stand taken by its ruling classes in their attempt to insert themselves under favorable conditions within the new configuration of imperialism. The national economy was sold to international transnational corporations and financial interests, while national ruling classes finance accumulation in the United States. Postcrisis trends manifest the difficulty to define a new strategy.
Women’s Work: Using U.S. History to Explain Mexican Women’s Differential Work Strategies in Mexico and the United States
Authors: King Mary C.
Published: August 2006

Mexican women, particularly married women, living in the United States appear to allocate far more of their time to waged work than do women in Mexico. The fierce debate among social scientists over the sources of American women’s steadily rising labor force participation rates during the twentieth century provides hypotheses that all plausibly explain a part of this phenomenon, including a misapprehension of the phenomenon due to the failure of official sources to recognize nonwaged work, the importance of higher wages for pulling women into employment, the growth of work perceived as “women’s work,” the desire of women to provide for their families new goods that they cannot produce at home, the increasing competition of commodity production with home production, and the impact of different social norms.
Book Review: Inside Stories
Authors: Larudee Mehrene
Published: August 2006

This essay reviews three inside stories about international organizations and developing countries. Behind the Scenes at the WTO describes how developed countries use manipulation, blandishments, and threats to control the WTO. Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is an ex-consultant’s account of his role in pushing developing countries into debt and dependency. The Economist’s Tale is by a consultant in Sierra Leone who bucked World Bank policy to prevent a rice shortage and famine.
A Study of Male Veterans’ Beliefs Toward Domestic Violence in a Batterers Intervention Program
Authors: Craig Mary E. , Robyak James , Torosian Elaine J. , Hummer John
Published: August 2006

Domestic violence in intimate relationships is a ubiquitous social problem. This study addresses a gap in the research literature on batterers intervention programs with heterosexual male batterers by evaluating whether or not self-reported attitudes about partner abuse and sexist beliefs could be modified over time as a result of participation in a Batterers Intervention Program (BIP). Using the Inventory of Beliefs about Partner Abuse (IBAPA) to measure attitudes toward domestic violence and the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) to measure sexist beliefs, results of the study provide empirical support for the notion that participation in BIPs affects the self-reported beliefs about their rights to physically and emotionally abuse their partner. These self-reported scores were adjusted for response bias by the long version of the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (MCD). Response bias and how it is treated in self-report measures with batterers is also discussed.
Risk Factors for Peer Sexual Harassment in Schools
Authors: Fineran Susan , Bolen Rebecca M.
Published: August 2006

This study introduces potential risk factors for victimization and perpetration of sexual harassment among teens not previously studied. The first set of analyses compared histories of perpetration and victimization by gender, as well as the relationship between risk factors and perpetration or victimization. For girls ( r = .544) and boys ( r = .700), the relationships between perpetration and victimization histories were very strong. Most proposed risk factors were also significantly related to perpetration and victimization histories for both genders, including alcohol use frequency, delinquency, histories of family violence and victimization, cultural and personal power, and retaliation, with all increasing as perpetration or victimization history increased. For girls, two direct paths were moderately related to victimization—delinquency and family victimization. For boys, only one variable—perpetration history—was related to victimization history. Four variables were directly related to greater sexual harassment perpetration—greater personal power, delinquency, family violence, and family victimization.
Repetition or Reparation?
Authors: Drapeau Martin
Published: August 2006

This exploratory study examined the relationship patterns of child abusers in treatment by comparing interactions involving the therapist with those involving a parent. Twenty participants were included in the study. The participants’ relationship patterns were assessed using the core conflictual relationship theme (CCRT) method. Core schemas were found in interactions involving the therapist and a parent. The two CCRTs found in interactions with parents were often motivated by a desire for closeness or intimacy, to which the parent reacted with rejection or domination. The participants then felt disappointed, depressed, and unreceptive. In relationship episodes involving the therapist, a similar desire for closeness was answered with help and cooperation from the therapist, hence leading the participants to feel self-controlled and self-confident. Furthermore, the therapist’s criticism and opposition was often experienced as an indication of care and acceptance.
Marxism and the convergence of utopia and the everyday
Authors: Gardiner Michael E.
Published: August 2006

The relationship of Marxist thought to the phenomena of everyday life and utopia, both separately and in terms of their intersection, is a complex and often ambiguous one. In this article, I seek to trace some of the theoretical filiations of a critical Marxist approach to their convergence (as stemming mainly from a Central European tradition), in order to tease out some of the more significant ambivalences and semantic shifts involved in its theorization. This lineage originates in the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, then stretches to Georg Lukács and the so-called ‘Gnostic Marxism’ of Walter Benjamin (as mediated by the important figure of Georg Simmel), and culminating most recently in the work of Agnes Heller. Such a Marxist theory is inseparable from a political project that seeks to unveil and critique what it takes to be the debased, routinized and ideological qualities of daily existence under the auspices of modern capitalist society, but also attempts to locate certain emancipatory tendencies within this selfsame terrain, an orientation that can be summed up in the phrase ‘everyday utopianism’. Although there are occasional lapses into dualistic modes of thinking in the work of these writers, the key insight they present to us is the need to overcome the pervasive dichotomy between the everyday/immanent and the utopian/transcendental, of a sort that has bedevilled the work of many other theorists and intellectual traditions.
Matter and psyche: Lewis Mumford's appropriation of Marx and Jung in his appraisal of the condition of man in technological civilization
Authors: Green Adam
Published: August 2006

The aim of this article is to draw attention to the breadth and importance of Mumford's philosophical outlook by exploring his critical appropriation of the theories of Marx and Jung which he employed to create a penetrating, visionary collection of works that offer us a powerful and timely insight into the ills besetting our current technological civilization. Mumford partially accepted Marx's matter–psyche dynamic but expanded it to include architecture, technology and urban planning. He surpassed the one-way process of Marxist historical-economic teleology to form a conception of historical process based upon a dialectic interaction between mind and material conditions. He constructed a Jungian model of mind and explored its formative effect on material conditions. At the same time he criticized Jung's failure to engage with the external world, namely with those material conditions in urgent need of transformation. Like Jung he was concerned by the exclusion of religion from the modern scientific idolum, the dominant ideological presence, yet unlike Jung he extended his analysis further, considering not only the effect of religion on the individual but also its effect on the community. His theory of the dialectic interaction of material conditions and psyche is partly drawn from these two thinkers but transcends both by refusing to commit wholly to either. His incorporation, modification and rejection of elements of both Marx and Jung contributed more significantly than has so far been noted to his own critique of the present civilization and vision for the future. This vision involved a deeper awareness of the human personality, liberation from automatism and increased sensitivity to others and the natural world. This, according to the Mumfordian project, would be inexorably followed by a gradual withdrawal from the consumerism of the current technological civilization, the construction of a more personal and organic ideology and the subsequent regeneration of material conditions to nurture human nature. I therefore argue that it is essential to our understanding of Lewis Mumford that we witness his critical engagement with Marx and Jung and see the ways in which they inform and inspire this project.
Intervals and ratios: the invariantive transformations of Stanley Smith Stevens
Authors: Matheson George
Published: August 2006

Of S. S. Stevens's well-known classification of nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio ‘scales of measurement’, perhaps its least-known aspect is its most distinctive, namely the distinction between interval and ratio scales. This article investigates the circumstances of the typology's origins among the experimental psychologists at Harvard in the 1930s and the unique fusion of personal, technical and intellectual forces this setting represented. It shows how it came to be that an influential psychologist reconceptualized measurement from first principles in such a way as to both preserve the distinction between psychology and physics in this regard and yet implicitly classify his own work as the latter. The article concludes with the general suggestion that, if it is necessary to measure something, it might as well be something tangible enough to be measured usefully.
E-learning and Language and Style in Lancaster
Authors: Short Mick
Published: August 2006

This article reports on research conducted in the department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University from 2002 to 2005 on first-year undergraduate student performance in, and reaction to, a web-based introductory course in stylistic analysis. The main focus of this report is a comparison of student responses to the varying ways in which the web-based course was used from year to year. The description of student responses is based on an analysis of end-of-course questionnaires and a comparison of exit grades. In 2002–3, students accessed the first two-thirds of the course in web-based form and the last third through more traditional teaching. In 2003–4 the entire course was accessed in web-based form, and in 2004–5 web-based course workshops were used as part of a combined package which also involved weekly lectures and seminars. Some comparison is also made with student performance in, and responses to, the traditional lecture + seminar form of the course, as typified in the 2001–2 version of the course.
E-learning and Language and Style in Mainz and Münster
Authors: Plummer Patricia , Busse Beatrix
Published: August 2006

This article reports on how online Language and Style was implemented and taught simultaneously and cooperatively at two German universities in the summer semester of 2004, in the English departments of the universities of Mainz (Patricia Plummer) and Münster (Beatrix Busse). In order to compare different learning and teaching styles, one-third of the course was taught in a traditional seminar-style mode while two-thirds consisted of online workshops. The authors cooperated extensively during the project, assessing and evaluating students’ responses and performances both quantitatively and qualitatively. This article focuses on (1) the place of e-learning and stylistics in our departments and in English studies in Germany in general, (2) the challenges that had to be faced prior to the implementation of the course, (3) how we put the course into practice in our teaching environments, (4) our students’ responses to, and performance on, Language and Style and (5) our own experiences in running a web-based course. Finally, we draw some general conclusions about web-based learning and teaching and what we have gained from participating in Mick Short's investigation.
E-learning and Language and Style in Hong Kong
Authors: Crisp Peter
Published: August 2006

This article presents something of the experience of teaching and studying web-based Language and Style at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, concentrating mainly on the 2004–5 running of the course, which was taught in a blended traditional + web format. It concentrates on this experience and only briefly presents some degree of the socio-linguistic and cultural context to make the experience accessible for those not familiar with Hong Kong. Some quantitative data are given and are supplemented by qualitative discussion of student comments. A particularly important qualitative resource was the weekly journals kept by the students. The main conclusion to be drawn is that the students want to retain the major features of the traditional lecture and tutorial approach to teaching, but value having this supplemented with the interactive dimension of the web-based approach.
Implementing and evaluating a self-assessment mechanism for the web-based Language and Style course
Authors: Alderson J. Charles , McIntyre Dan
Published: August 2006

This article reports on the project to design and implement a web-based mechanism for formative self-assessment, to be used as part of Mick Short's online stylistics course, Language and Style (see the preface to this issue for details). Using the self-assessment mechanism, students can compare their own performance on extended academic tasks (the stylistic analysis of three literary texts – a poem, a piece of prose fiction and a drama extract) with benchmarked sample answers. In this article we describe the process of developing benchmarks for the self-assessment mechanism and explain how this mechanism works in practice. Finally, we discuss students’ reactions to the self-assessment instruments, as part of our own assessment of their validity and pedagogical value.
Why Lower Income Mothers Do Not Engage With the Formal Mental Health Care System: Perceived Barriers to Care
Authors: Anderson Carol M. , Robins Cynthia S. , Greeno Catherine G. , Cahalane Helen , Copeland Valire Carr , Andrews R. Marc
Published: August 2006

Lower income mothers who bring their children for mental health services also have high rates of depression and anxiety, yet few seek help. Maternal and child mental health are intimately intertwined; thus, the distress of both is likely to continue if the mother's needs are unaddressed. Because mothers overcome numerous instrumental challenges to help their children, the authors identify potential perceptual barriers to mothers' help seeking. An ethnographic analysis of in-depth qualitative interviews with 127 distressed mothers suggests several critical perceptual factors. For example, mothers attributed their distress to external causes (e.g., poverty, negative life stressors), which they believed individually focused mental health services could not affect. Interviewees also anticipated negative ramifications for seeking care, including being labeled unfit mothers, and thus potentially losing custody of their children. The authors discuss the implications of these and other key themes for engaging lower income mothers and their children.
Reflections on Reflecting as a Dialogic Accomplishment in Counseling
Authors: Strong Tom
Published: August 2006

In this exploratory study, the author examines reflection as a dialogic phenomenon constructed in the back-and-forth of counseling dialogue. He videotaped and microanalyzed 11 one-hour lifestyle consultations for the conversational practices used by counselors and clients in collaboratively reflecting on developments in their dialogues. He then invited counselors and clients back to comment on their participation in videotaped passages of their dialogue selected for microanalysis, thus permitting a juxtaposition of their retrospective comments with the analysis. The author considers the results from this study with respect to training counselors and for pointing new ways to widen the evidence base with respect to interventions in counseling, particularly social constructionist approaches.
Social Support Processes and the Adaptation of Individuals With Chronic Disabilities
Authors: King Gillian , Willoughby Colleen , Specht Jacqueline A. , Brown Elizabeth
Published: August 2006

In a qualitative study examining turning points in life, 15 adults with chronic disabilities (cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or attention deficit disorder) provided information about the nature and meaning of their social support experiences. The study revealed three types of psychological support linked to self-perceptions and enabling beliefs: (a) emotional support (valuing and acceptance leading to perceptions of “being believed in” and a sense of self-esteem), (b) instrumental support (guidance and provision of strategies leading to self-efficacy), and (c) cognitive support (affirmation, confirmation, and new perspectives leading to coherence in self-concept and worldview). The findings have important implications for service delivery with respect to understanding client needs for different kinds of support, especially at periods of transition, and for providing optimal experiences and creating supportive environments. In particular, the role of cognitive support deserves more attention in understanding the adaptation of individuals with chronic disabilities.
Managing a Medically and Socially Complex Life: Women Living With Lupus
Authors: Mendelson Cindy
Published: August 2006

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a systemic autoimmune illness that affects women more frequently than men and disproportionately affects women of color. Because so little is known about living with lupus, the author undertook a qualitative study to identify salient aspects of affected women's daily experiences. Seven women with lupus participated in three interviews, each separated by 1 month, and they also maintained a daily symptom journal. In addition, 23 women recruited from the Internet submitted narrative accounts of their experiences of living with lupus. Analysis of the findings suggests that living with lupus involves managing a medically and socially complex life. The complexity of life with lupus is dimensionalized by the overlapping themes, identified as a life of uncertainty, a shifting sense of identity, and managing the financial burden of illness.
Nonlinear Dynamics of a Sliding Beam on Two Supports and its Efficacy as a Non-Traditional Isolator
Authors: Somnay R. J. , Ibrahim R. A. , Banasik R. C.
Published: August 2006

This study deals with the nonlinear dynamics associated with large deformations of a beam sliding on two knife-edge supports under external excitation. The beam will be referred to as Gospodnetic-Frisch-Fay beam, after the researchers who reported its static deformation in a closed form. The freedom of the beam to slide on its supports imparts a nonlinear characteristic to the force-deflection response. The restoring elastic force of the beam possesses characteristics similar to those of the roll restoring moment of ships. The Gospodnetic-Frisch-Fay exact solution is given in terms of elliptic functions, and a curve fit of the exact solution up to eleventh-order is constructed to establish the governing equation of motion under external excitation. The dynamic stability of the unperturbed beam is examined for the damped and undamped cases. The undamped case reveals periodic orbits and one homoclinic orbit depending on the initial conditions. The steady state response and transmissibility of the beam are predicted using multiple-scales method and numerical simulation. The transmissibility of the nonlinear beam outperforms linear isolators only at the linear resonance frequency. The response to a sinusoidal excitation at a frequency below the linear natural frequency is numerically estimated for different excitation amplitudes and different values of initial conditions covered by the area of the homoclinic orbit. The safe basins of attraction are plotted for different values of excitation amplitude. It is found that the safe region of operation is reduced as the excitation amplitude increases. Under random excitation, the response probability density function is obtained in a closed form and the response mean energy is found to depend nonlinearly on the excitation spectral density.
Nonlinear Oscillations of a Suspended Gyrostat
Authors: Kuang J. L. , Leung A. Y. T.
Published: August 2006

In this paper, the nonlinear dynamics of the disturbed Hamiltonian systems of a suspended gyrostat with five degrees of freedom are investigated in detail. The periodic motions of the torque-free symmetrical gyrostat are derived in terms of elliptic functions. The necessary conditions for the occurrence of chaotic oscillations of the disturbed, suspended gyrostat, either dissipative or conservative, are obtained via the Melnikov-Holmes-Marsden integrals. The MHM integrals built on the homoclinic orbits of the torquefree gyrostat and excitation-free spherical pendulum are utilized to establish the transversal homoclinic intersections between the stable and unstable manifolds of the associated Poincare map of the investigated system with perturbations. The results of the theoretical analyses are cross-checked with numerical simulation.
The Incidence of State Taxes on Oil and Gas
Authors: Haughton Jonathan , Tuerck David
Published: August 2006

The rising economic value of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) waters, for oil and gas as well as wind farms, has attracted the attention of abutting states. Thus Louisiana, faced with dwindling revenues from the oil and gas severance tax and high costs of reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina, is again considering the merits of an oil and gas processing tax that would tax OCS production. Such a tax was proposed in 1998, to be levied at a rate of $1.15 per barrel on oil and $0.06 per thousand cubic feet on natural gas. Using a multiequation partial equilibrium model, the authors show that revenue would rise by $1.5 billion in the short run but just $0.2 billion in the long run. The important general finding is that even with a clever tax, it is difficult for a state to appropriate resource rents arising outside its boundaries. Proponents and opponents of the processing tax continue to make exaggerated claims; hence the authors’ second finding is that tax modeling remains essential to help generate light rather than heat.
Interjurisdictional Taxation and Attribution Rules
Authors: Conrad Robert F.
Published: August 2006

An economic model of interjurisdictional taxation is developed and used to analyze the effects of different attribution rules on the location of production, sales, and input use. To illustrate the usefulness of the model, two methods of attribution are studied: separate accounting and formulary apportionment. It is shown that if the tax systems across jurisdictions are identical and neutral, then the attribution method is arbitrary. It is also shown that separate accounting rules can be developed using standard economic definitions even in cases where this method is claimed to fail.
Income Taxation, Tuition Subsidies, and Choice of Occupation
Authors: Bjertnæs Geir Haakon
Published: August 2006

Differentiated tax rates on labor and capital income are found to be optimal in this study, where agents choose occupation based on lifetime income net of tuition costs. Efficient revenue raising in a case where the government cannot observe educational effort implies that the government should trade off efficiency in production for efficiency in intertemporal consumption. The subsequent wage difference between high- and low-skilled occupations is increased compared to a production efficient outcome, which is in contrast to previous results in the literature.
Explaining the Determinants of Operating Budgets at U.S. National Parks
Authors: Turner Robert W. , Walker W. Reed
Published: August 2006

The authors use time-series, cross-section, and panel data sets to see whether U.S. National Park System operating budget appropriations are related to inflation, visitation, size, region of the country, and type of park unit. The growth rate of the aggregate National Park Service (NPS) budget seems to increase in response to higher congestion. But neither visitation growth nor growth in acreage seems to have much effect on budget growth for individual park units. Individual park units with higher visitation do seem to have larger budgets, ceteris paribus, than do parks with lower average visitation. Judging from the findings, future research should try to explain differences among the several types of park units in the NPS as well as explaining why visitation and park size have small effects for individual park units but seem to have larger effects for the aggregate NPS operating budget.