bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Building Teen Power for Sexual Health
Authors: Talashek Marie L. , Norr Kathleen F. , Dancy Barbara L.
Published: July 2003

Alarming numbers of teens engage in behaviors that place them at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including AIDS. Intervention studies targeted toward reducing risky sexual behavior and improving school retention and literature about variables that affect risky sexual behavior and school performance were reviewed to develop the Social-Cognitive Model for Sexual Behavior During Adolescence. Interventions that target change in the family and school environments in addition to building the personal capacities of each teen have the potential to be effective. Many environmental factors cannot be altered, but the intervention can help reframe the situation and provide the knowledge, specific skills, role models, and rehearsal that promote change. The 13-week school-based intervention assists students identify how personal strengths and family, school, and neighborhood environmental factors can reinforce health behaviors and choices.
Injuries among Hispanics in the United States: Implications for Research
Authors: Mallonee Sue
Published: July 2003

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of U.S. injury mortality among Hispanics, of past research, and of recommended research needs in the field of injury prevention and control. U.S. mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics from 1990 to 1998 were accessed and summarized. It was found that injuries were the third leading cause of death among Hispanics and the leading cause for those 1 to 44 years of age. There were 119,314 injury deaths resulting in more than 5,000,000 years of potential life lost. Death rates from drugs and/or poisonings and falls increased 23% and 3%, respectively, whereas rates declined for all other causes. There are many gaps in published research focusing on injuries in Hispanic populations. Further research initiatives must be a priority because injuries clearly result in a disproportionate share of Hispanic mortality.
Lessons Learned from Urban Latinas with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Adams Carmen Rivera
Published: July 2003

This study focused on Latinas (female Hispanics) with Type 2 diabetes because this disease has a high prevalence and incidence among this population and cultural norms may affect women's experiences with diabetes. The study used a descriptive phenomenology design with a purposive sample of 13 Latina volunteers recruited from a local community health center in southern New England. Data were collected via interviews in English or Spanish. Six themes emerged from the analysis: stress as a cause and effect; too little, too late; profound sadness, diabetic anger, and loss of control; obsession with diet; life under a magnifying glass; and religion as a lifeline. Further research should pursue development of a culturally relevant approach to the health care management of Latinos.
Internet Sources of Information on Hispanic Health
Authors: Burns Nancy , Carney Kim
Published: July 2003

This article, an introductory survey of sources relevant to the Hispanic population in the United States, emphasizes Hispanic health defined broadly—for example, income, education, living standards, and health items including immunizations, major diseases, and life expectancy. The focus is Internet sources. To provide comparable data for research, national government sources are stressed. The Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services are highlighted. Both agencies are increasingly providing information on Hispanics. Census publications include the decennial census, current population reports, the American Community Survey, and monographs on the Hispanic population. Two important components of the Department of Health and Human Services for researchers on Hispanic health are the National Center for Health Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control. In addition, sources cited are other federal publications including the Federal Reserve Bank, state health departments, and private sources.
Integrated Structural/Control Design of Micro-Positioner for Boring Bar Tool Insert
Authors: O’Neal George P. , Min Byung-Kwon , Pasek Zbigniew J. , Koren Yoram
Published: July 2003

This paper presents a method to improve the performance of an electro-mechanical system by employing an integrated structural/control design methodology. In their previous work, the authors have introduced an intelligent boring bar, utilizing a micropositioner (composed of a piezoelectric actuator and photosensitive detectors) to actively control a cutting insert. The purpose of the micro-positioner was to improve precision of boring process by isolating the boring tool from tool vibrations and compensating tool position for geometric errors. The controller for the micro-positioner was designed only after the mechanical design was finalized. As a result, the controller performance was acceptable, but overall performance of the system was limited by its mechanical structure.

This paper introduces a new approach of concurrent design of the mechanical structure and the controller to enhance the performance of the micro-positioner. With the proposed method, both mechanical and control design variables are determined simultaneously in a single optimization problem. The objective and constraint equations quantify system performance, stability, actuator saturation, and life expectancy as explicit functions of the design variables. The proposed integrated methodology both simplifies the design process of the prototype boring tool and enhances its performance over the previous design, as shown by simulation results.
Modeling and Numerical Simulation on Thermomechanical Behavior of SMA Plates with Two-Way Shape Memory Effect
Authors: Takagi Toshiyuki , Luo Yun , Suzuki Shunji , Matsumoto Minoru , Tani Junji
Published: July 2003

Phenomenological modeling on the thermomechanical behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) plates with two-way shape memory effect (TWSME) is presented in this paper. Two important characteristics of SMA materials as sensors or actuators; the thermal responses and the transformation accompanied deformation; are described by the proposed models. The latent heat effect during transformation is approximately expressed by an apparent specific heat as a function of transformation temperatures. The transformation-induced deformation of SMA plates is described by newly defined transformation expansion coefficients, based on the physical understanding of the mechanism of TWSME. The proposed model is verified by the comparison between numerical simulation and experiments on the thermomechanical behavior of SMA plates.
A Systematic Method for the Design of Piezostack Actuator Integrated Robots for High-Speed and Precision Operation
Authors: Rastegar Jahangir S. , Yuan Lifang
Published: July 2003

The operating speed and precision of robot manipulators are limited by the dynamic response limitations of their actuators. The kinematics and dynamics of robot manipulators with revolute joints are highly nonlinear. As a result, an even greater demand is placed on the dynamic response of the prime actuators since the actuating torques required for accurate tracking of a desired trajectory must contain a significant number of higher harmonics of the joint trajectory harmonics. In this paper, a systematic method is presented for optimal integration of active materials based actuators into the structure of robot manipulators for the purpose of minimizing the higher harmonic components of the required actuating torques. Through computer simulation, it is shown that with low harmonic joint trajectories and by minimizing the higher harmonic components of the actuating torques with properly sized and positioned smart actuators, robot manipulators can operate at higher speeds, with greater tracking precision and with minimal vibration and control problems.
Stability of a Class of Real-Time Switched Piezoelectric Shunts
Authors: Kurdila A. J. , Clark W. W. , Wang W. , McDaniel D. E.
Published: July 2003

Experimental and anecdotal evidences have shown that state-switched control strategies for piezoelectric actuators can be advantageous. However, most discussions of the stability of these systems has relied on heuristic, or physically motivated, arguments. In this paper, we show that recent open-circuit-short-circuit (OC-SC) state-switching control laws can be viewed as hybrid dynamical systems of Witsenhausen type. Within this framework, the closed-loop stability of OC/SC switching is rigorously established using the method of multiple Lyapunov functions.
System Identification and Controller Design of a Self-Sensing Piezoelectric Cantilever Structure
Authors: Okugawa Masayuki , Sasaki Minoru
Published: July 2003

This paper addresses system identification and vibration control of a cantilever fabricated from piezoelectric materials, PZT, and shows how system identification and state estimation can be used to achieve self-maintenance of a self-sensing system. Currently, self-sensing systems that have concurrent actuation and sensing can be made by using a bridge circuit. However, hardware tuning is still needed due to the unstable nature of an imbalanced bridge circuit. This problem becomes serious in the space environment where human beings may not be available to perform the maintenance. A method of achieving self-sensing without a bridge circuit is proposed in this paper. Dynamics of this proposed system can be described as the state space expression with a direct transmission component. This means that the problem of balancing the bridge circuit is equivalent to the system identification and state estimation problem. By performing a simple experiment, a model of the system was identified using the 4SID, SubSpace State Space Identification method. Observer theory can be used to estimate state vectors which include information about the mechanical dynamics. Thus, system stability depends on the estimated values of the state vectors. The system can be stabilized using a state feedback controller such as a LQ controller. The proposed method was verified with experimental results, demonstrating that smart structures can achieve self-maintenance.
Placement Stability and the Psychosocial Well-Being of Children in Foster Care
Authors: Barber James G. , Delfabbro Paul H.
Published: July 2003

This article assesses one of the key assumptions underlying the philosophy of permanency planning—that placement instability adversely affects the psychosocial development of children in foster care. Method: The placement movements and psychosocial well-being of foster care were assessed over an 8-month period. Results: Most of the children who remained in care throughout the period could be assigned to one of three groups: 1 (stable throughout), 2 (unstable throughout), 3 (initially unstable, then stable) Results for these 120 children were generally consistent with a linear trend toward improvement in Groups 1 and 2, whereas Group 3 children displayed improvement only while their placements were unstable. Conclusions: Although results for Group 3 permit more than one interpretation, results for Group 2 suggest that placement instability up to at least the 8-month point is not necessarily damaging to the child.
Early Development and Pilot Testing of a Problem-Solving Skills-Training Program for Children
Authors: Nash James K. , Fraser Mark W. , Galinsky Maeda J. , Kupper Lawrence L.
Published: July 2003

This pilot study examined the impact of a prototype problem-solving skills-training program, Making Choices, on proximal outcomes in 70 6th-grade students. Method: Students received three components of Making Choices and completed pretest and posttest measures of skills on each component. Paired-sample t tests were used to assess proximal effects. Baseline measures were used to identify four subgroups of children, and differences in skill acquisition across subgroups were assessed. Results: Students displayed significantly higher scores at posttest on measures of two of three proximal skills. Nonaggressive-accepted and aggressive-accepted students displayed stronger skills at posttest, and aggressive-rejected and nonaggressive-rejected students failed to show significant gains. Conclusions: Results provided preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of Making Choices and guided refinement of the prototype program.
Outcome Measurements of an Integrated Employee Assistance and Work-Life Program
Authors: Masi Dale A. , Jacobson Jodi M.
Published: July 2003

This research study describes an innovative method for evaluating outcome measurements of an Employee Assistance and Work-Life program. Method: This research is unique due to the fact that “true” service outcomes, as defined by the employees who utilized services, were collected within a brief time period (3 to 6 months) after services were provided. The data for the study were collected through the telephonic interviews with employees covered by a major provider of EAP and Work-Life services. Results: Findings indicate that after services, stress levels decreased, attendance improved, work performance improved, and relationships with supervisors and coworkers improved. Additionally, significant correlations were found between various reported personal and work-related problems. Conclusion: This research represents the first empirical study of its kind in the Employee Assistance and Work-Life fields and provides a better understanding of how effective services are in helping employees resolve both personal and work-related problems.
Client Satisfaction and Perceived Helping Components of an HIV/AIDS Preventive Intervention for Urban Couples
Authors: Schiff Miriam , Witte Susan S. , El-Bassel Nabila
Published: July 2003

The purpose of this study was to examine client satisfaction, perceived helping components, and perceived frequency of condom use among men and women who participated in an HIV/STD relationship-based preventive intervention. Method: 107 participants completed evaluation forms at the end of the last of five weekly intervention sessions. Levels of overall satisfaction, what participants liked and learned, what they felt helped them in the intervention, and their report on the frequency of male and female condom use pre- and postintervention were evaluated. Results: The intervention was highly regarded by participants. The helpful components of the intervention were the couples' ability to communicate better with their main partner and the special strategies the facilitators used. Gender differences in immediate HIV risk reduction behavior changes were found. Conclusions: It is important to evaluate client perceptions of the helping components in combination with structured assessment of targeted outcomes in treatment and preventive interventions.
The Ohio Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Coordinating Center of Excellence: Implementation Support for Evidence-Based Practice
Authors: Biegel David E. , Kola Lenore A. , Ronis Robert J. , Boyle Patrick E. , Delos Reyes Christina M. , Wieder Barbara , Kubek Paul
Published: July 2003

This invited article describes the establishment and function of the Ohio Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Coordinating Center of Excellence. This center serves as a resource for programs providing care for individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance abuse problems, through the provision of training and technical assistance and of research related to evidence-based treatment models. The center is a partnership between the School of Applied Social Sciences and the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and is funded by the Ohio Departments of Mental Health and Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services.
“This Is a Spiritual Experience”: Perspectives of Latter-Day Saint Families Living With a Child With Disabilities
Authors: Marshall Elaine Sorensen , Olsen Susanne Frost , Mandleco Barbara L. , Dyches Tina Taylor , Allred Keith W. , Sansom Nancy
Published: July 2003

The presence of a child with disabilities elicits a variety of stress demands on the family. Religion is recognized as a powerful personal, family, and cultural variable. However, little is known about the influence of religion in dealing with disability among families within particular religious groups. This descriptive study explored themes of spiritual belief and religious support among families of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS, or Mormon) with a child with developmental disabilities. Parents shared perspectives of meaning that emerged from experiences with religion and family beliefs perceived to be unique. The core theme, “This is a Spiritual Experience,” provides the foundation for a descriptive model that depicts aspects of finding meaning and perceived transcendence.
Continuing to Conduct Research in Nursing Homes Despite Controversial Findings: Reflections by a Research Scientist
Authors: Kayser-Jones Jeanie
Published: July 2003

To illustrate the potential controversial nature of the research findings, the author first presents data from an ongoing study on the care of terminally ill nursing home residents, then responds to the question: “How can you go into nursing homes, find out all that you do, publish your findings, and continue to gain access to nursing homes?” Strategies used over the past 20 years to gain this access and to develop and maintain harmonious relationships during and after the data collection process are presented. The author emphasizes the importance of conducting research in settings that may generate controversial findings. Furthermore, she states that these findings should be presented to advocates and policy makers who are in a position to bring about changes that will improve the quality of care.
Making the Case for a Qualitative Study of Medical Errors in Primary Care
Authors: Kuzel Anton J. , Woolf Steven H. , Engel John D. , Gilchrist Valerie J. , Frankel Richard M. , LaVeist Thomas A. , Vincent Charles
Published: July 2003

In the interest of publicizing examples of funded qualitative health research, the authors share a proposal to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Washington, D.C., in which they sought to elicit patient stories of preventable problems in their primary health care that were associated with psychological or physical harms. These stories would allow for the construction of a tentative typology of errors and harms as experienced by patients and the contrasting of this with errors and harms reported by primary care physicians in the United States and other countries. The authors make explicit the anticipated concerns of reviewers more accustomed to quantitative research proposals and the arguments and strategies employed to address them.
Writing the Proposal for a Qualitative Research Methodology Project
Authors: Sandelowski Margarete , Barroso Julie
Published: July 2003

Writing the proposal for a qualitative research methodology study is a double challenge because of the emergent nature of qualitative research design and because a methodology study entails describing a process to produce a process. How the authors addressed this challenge is shown in the annotated text of the grant proposal—“Analytic Techniques for Qualitative Metasynthesis”—funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research. Appealing qualitative research proposals adhere to principles that engage writers and readers in an informative and mutually respectful interaction.
Getting Funded: Writing a Successful Qualitative Small-Project Proposal
Authors: Penrod Janice
Published: July 2003

As a program of research is developed, the small-project grant is a perfect means for initiating discrete projects to build support for larger funding. The author describes the development of a successful small qualitative project proposal on the disabling effects of osteoporosis. She dissects the process of writing a small-project proposal to assist novice or junior researchers in securing funding for small projects that, she hopes, will build toward funding on a larger scale. Major portions of the proposal are included in this article to demonstrate the keys to success in getting small qualitative projects funded.
Funding for Qualitative Research
Authors: Carey Martha Ann , Swanson Janice
Published: July 2003

Obtaining funding for qualitative research remains a challenge for many researchers, more so than for most quantitative research. In this article, the authors describe useful approaches to planning qualitative research and writing an application. Included is information on exploring funding sources that are likely to be receptive, developing a research plan and a team, and suggestions on the language to be used in the application.
Health Care in America: Lost Opportunities Amid Plenty
Authors: Whalen James P.
Published: July 2003

Despite frequent breakthroughs in medicine, and in the face of an expenditure on health that is almost twice that of any other country in the world, there are significant problems with health care in the United States. Fundamental failings reflect the underuse, overuse, and misuse of resources, which result in inadequate care for important medical conditions. An apparent blind faith in the benefits of science and technology may help account for these startling inadequacies, as lavish funding of the biomedical research effort diverts attention from the fundamental matter of delivering care for common diseases. With a shift in research priorities, the United States could shape a health care system that is far more responsive to the needs of its people.
Environment, Mitochondria, and Parkinson's Disease
Authors: Sherer Todd B. , Betarbet Ranjita , Greenamyre J. Timothy
Published: July 2003

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common and disabling neurodegenerative disease marked by progressive motor dysfunction, which results from selective degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway. Epidemiological studies indicate that exposure to pesticides, rural living, farming, and drinking well water are associated with an increased risk of developing PD. Rare cases of PD are caused by mutations in nuclear genes, and there is increasing evidence for susceptibility genes that alter disease risk. Parkinson's disease is also associated with a systemic defect in mitochondrial complex I activity. Animal models indicate that exposure to inhibitors of mitochondrial complex I, including pesticides, is sufficient to reproduce the features of PD, but genetic factors clearly modulate susceptibility. Complex I defects may result in oxidative stress and increase the susceptibility of neurons to excitotoxic death. In this way, environmental exposures and mitochondrial dysfunction may interact and result in neurodegeneration.
The Cadherin Family of Cell Adhesion Molecules: Multiple Roles in Synaptic Plasticity
Authors: Huntley George W. , Gil Orlando , Bozdagi Ozlem
Published: July 2003

Cadherins are cell adhesion molecules that are critically important for establishing brain structure and connectivity during early development. They are enriched at synapses and, by virtue of a number of properties including homophilic recognition and molecular diversity, have been implicated in the generation of synaptic specificity. Cadherins also participate in remodeling synaptic architecture and modifying the strength of the synaptic signal, thereby retaining an active role in synaptic structure, function, and plasticity, which extends beyond initial development. Cadherins have been implicated in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) of hippocampal synaptic strength, a cellular model for learning and memory. LTP is associated with the synthesis and recruitment of N-cadherin to newly forming synaptic junctions, induces molecular changes to N-cadherin indicative of augmented adhesive force, and can be prevented when cadherin adhesion is blocked. NMDA receptor activation, which is critically required for synaptic plasticity, may provide a signal that regulates the molecular configuration of synaptic N-cadherin, and therefore the strength of adhesion across the synaptic cleft. Additionally, there exists at the synapse a pool of surface cadherins that is untethered to the actin cytoskeleton and capable of a rapid and reversible dispersion along the plasmalemma under conditions of strong activity. These observations suggest that synaptic activity dynamically regulates both the strength and the localization of cadherin-cadherin bonds across the synaptic junctional interface, changes that may be crucial for regulating synaptic plasticity.
Inflammation, Apoptosis, and Alzheimer's Disease
Authors: Bamberger Maria E. , Landreth Gary E.
Published: July 2003

The pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) involves the deposition of amyloid in the brain and the extensive loss of neurons. The mechanisms subserving neuronal death in the disease remain unclear, although it has been postulated that this is due to apoptosis. There is compelling evidence that inflammatory processes play a role in disease progression and pathology. Amyloid plaque deposition is accompanied by the association of microglia with the senile plaque, and this interaction stimulates these cells to undergo phenotypic activation and the subsequent elaboration of proinflammatory and neurotoxic products. This review focuses on the mechanisms by which neurons are lost in AD and the role microglial proinflammatory products play in neuronal death.
Workers and Strangers
Authors: Maher Kristen Hill
Published: July 2003

The growing household service economy (e.g., domestic service, gardening) introduces social heterogeneity both within and near suburban regions that have previously been segregated by race and class. The author examines this dynamic through an ethnographic study of a community in Orange County, California, and argues that the shifts in social geography accompanying the household service economy in this neighborhood had exacerbated existing anxieties about security and contributed to the popular desire among residents to “fortress.” The findings of this study suggest that in a bifurcated economy in which household services proliferate, more suburban neighborhoods may retreat into highly regulated, gated communities.
Citizen Satisfaction and Administrative Performance Measures
Authors: Kelly Janet M.
Published: July 2003

The most recent reform in public service delivery is predicated on an assumption that the kinds of activities that managers can measure are the dimensions of service that citizens value. The link between administrative performance measures and citizen satisfaction with services has been tested within cities but not among cities, owing to data comparability difficulties. This test for a relationship between police and fire service performance and citizen satisfaction with police and fire services across 50 localities does not reveal the result predicted in the public management literature. Some implications and recommendations for future specifications of the relationship are offered in conclusion.
Trends We Cannot Afford to Miss
Authors: Pisarski Alan E.
Published: July 2003

We need to be much more aware of trends that surround us—trends in population distributions, demography, public tastes and preference, and economic behavior—as we seek to respond to public needs for infrastructure and services. It is easy to miss broad sweeping trends when in the middle of them. So it is that the broad trends affecting national transportation patterns and growth have not been recognized. Awareness of the social and economic trends that will shape the size and character of future transport demand should be heightened. This article examines some of the past trends missed and their effects. It looks at emerging trends that will be forces of change in the future that cannot afford to be missed. It also suggests a list of investment directions that derive from these trends.
Regional Investment as a Theme in Public Works Policy Making and Management
Authors: Kirlin John J.
Published: July 2003

Policy decisions regarding investment in public works such as water systems, highways, or public buildings are important decisions for local public officials. The management of these investments over time is equally important. However, information about public works investments across a region is often inadequate. Individual jurisdictions and authorities often have good information about the public works for which they are directly responsible but far less complete information about public works that are the responsibility of overlapping or nearby entities that are relevant to the effective functioning of a region. Systematic analyses of the consequences of particular investment or management decisions on the region and its subareas can improve understanding of those choices.
Correlates of Urban Forest Canopy Cover
Authors: Heynen Nikolas C. , Lindsey Greg
Published: July 2003

Scientists and managers often use urban forest canopy cover as an indicator of forest health. Furthermore, canopy cover is often the measure communities use to set tree planting goals. Little is known, however, about factors that contribute to variation in canopy cover. We describe canopy cover in 60 urban areas in Central Indiana. We then propose and test a model that treats canopy cover as a function of ecological and geographic factors, urban form, socioeconomic factors, and a policy index. Urban areas are more likely to have more canopy cover if they are in counties with more canopy cover, have higher proportions of their populations with college degrees, have older housing stock, have both more land and land with slopes greater than 15%, and have denser stream networks. Population density, median household income, and planning and zoning or status as a Tree City are not correlated with urban canopy cover.
Public Infrastructure, Private Built Investment, and Local Planning Capacity
Authors: Nunn Samuel
Published: July 2003

Public works managers and planners are key players in the game of built investment in metropolitan regions. Public investments governed by transportation, water, wastewater, parks, and other public administrators join the private investment streams managed by private sector business organizations to create the urban and regional built environment. Therefore, the capacity of local public works officials to engage in planning street, water, and other public infrastructure will likely affect the coordination of investments by public agencies and private firms. These analyses examine a 44-county region in Central Indiana to determine how closely public investments in infrastructure systems co-vary with private built investments among counties with measurably different capacities for local planning. Counties that use more planning tools, such as capital improvement plans, full-time planners, and subdivision regulations, show a closer coordination between public infrastructure and private built investments. The policy implications suggest that public works managers should pay close attention to the available planning tools to assure a productive articulation of public infrastructure and private investments.
LUCI Land Use in Central Indiana Model and the Relationships of Public Infrastructure to Urban Development
Authors: Ottensmann John R.
Published: July 2003

New urban development creates a need for additional public infrastructure, including improved transportation facilities and extended water and sewer utility services. At the same time, the provision of new public infrastructure can significantly affect the urban development patterns. Plans for public infrastructure must take into account both future urban development patterns and the effects of those plans on those future patterns. The Land Use in Central Indiana (LUCI) model simulates future urban development for a large region. The model generates alternative development scenarios incorporating different policy choices and assumptions about future development. These include choices about the provision of public infrastructure and the effects of such infrastructure on urban development. LUCI thus serves as a tool that can help people understand complex relationships between urban development and the provision of public infrastructure.
Local Lobbying for State Grants: Evidence from Georgia's Hope Scholarship
Authors: Bradbury John Charles , Campbell Noel D.
Published: July 2003

Georgia's HOPE Scholarship is a merit-based aid program intended to provide educational resources for qualified Georgia residents who attend college within the state. The sole determinant of HOPE eligibility is high school grade point average (GPA), which may differ by school district (county). The subjective nature of GPAs gives localities the ability to increase the consumption of education subsidies by lowering academic standards. Consistent with this analysis, the authors find systematic differences in grade assignments across counties, and proxies for local interest group pressure for grade manipulation are associated with greater HOPE eligibility.
The Effects of Endurance Exercise and Vitamin E on Oxidative Stress in the Elderly
Authors: Jessup James V. , Horne Claydell , Yarandi Hossein , Quindry John
Published: July 2003

To examine the effects of exercise and vitamin E supplementation on oxidative stress in older adults, 59 participants, age 76.3 ± 4.2 years, were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups: an exercise group taking placebos (EGP) or vitamin E (EGE) or a sedentary group taking placebos (SGP) or vitamin E (SGE). Measures included weight, VO2max, blood pressure (BP), and serum concentrations of vitamin E and lipid hydroperoxide (LOOH). At the end of the 16-week trial, the EGP and EGE had significant increases in VO2 max and significant decreases in resting BP, weight, and LOOH concentrations (P < 0.05). The SGE had significant decreases in LOOH and BP (P < 0.05). There were no significant changes in the SGP (P > 0.05). The results suggest that endurance exercise in combination with vitamin E reduces oxidative stress, improves aerobic fitness, and reduces BP and weight in older adults. Even sedentary participants who take vitamin E may reduce oxidative stress and lower BP.
EU Gender Policy
Authors: Lombardo Emanuela
Published: July 2003

This article explores EU gender policy through the lens of the `Wollstonecraft dilemma', a guiding conceptual device that helps to summarize women's difficult path towards equality in a patriarchal system. EU gender policy reflects the contradictions women must face in their struggle for equality, which are common to most public gender policies. All provisions devised to progress in gender equality have negative retroactive effects on women, due to the patriarchal context in which they are applied. Empirical evidence from the Spanish case offers further support to the argument, showing how EU gender policy is still trapped in the `Wollstonecraft dilemma'. A more holistic approach to EU gender policy, able to tackle all the areas of which patriarchy is composed, and an improved monitoring of EU gender policy implementation in the member states, could both generate a more effective gender policy in the EU and make further progress in solving the dilemma.
Ten Years After the Wall
Authors: Dodds Dinah
Published: July 2003

Over a period of 10 years following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the author conducted interviews with 18 women on four separate occasions to determine their response to unification. The fourth set of interviews, which took place during the spring of 1999, revealed that the women had adopted one of three different ways of adapting to unification. In the first and largest group were women who were more engaged, active and upbeat about their new lives. A second, smaller group consisted of women who were frustrated, discouraged and bitter and had turned inward. Women in the third group were involved in their new lives but exhausted by their efforts to maintain their involvement. The most significant factor in defining these women's different experiences appears to have been the ability to maintain a sense of community. These biographies show that women who successfully adapted to unification held onto the community they had enjoyed in the GDR or else created it anew, while those who were discouraged and bitter had lost connection with the wider community.
From Blame Gossip to Praise Gossip?
Authors: Ernst Stefanie
Published: July 2003

Women's underrepresentation in leadership positions in scientific and business life has been explained in organizational theory from several perspectives, all of which agree that women nowadays are highly qualified for leadership posts. Women are a relatively new phenomenon in this particuler sphere of work life. But long-term figurational approaches provide an explanation for the persistence of women's underrepresentation. Being an outsider in leadership positions implies ambiguity and an ambivalent fluctuation between stigmatization and counter-stigmatization. The present study uses Norbert Elias's Established and Outsiders model to understand the complex polyphony in the movement of ascending and descending groups in leading positions, which are traditionally constructed as a `Man's World'. Referring to 18th-century books on etiquette through to present-day career guides, the author traces behavioural codes in gender and business life.
Common Goods, Matrix Games and Institutional Response
Authors: Holzinger Katharina
Published: July 2003

The provision of common goods poses collective action problems, which may imply that the actors do not provide the good on a voluntary basis. The collective action problem associated with common goods has traditionally been identified as the prisoner's dilemma. However, the analysis of common goods needs to look more closely at the characteristics of the goods and of the social context of their provision. Different characteristics lead to different collective action problems and thus require different institutional responses. If the strategic constellations in common good provision are represented as matrix games, clear implications for institutional responses to certain collective action problems are revealed. This approach will be demonstrated for the case of regulatory competition for environmental standards. A number of factors which characterize the situation are varied — the heterogeneity of preferences for environmental regulation of the countries concerned; the heterogeneity of their market shares; the type of standards used; and the prevailing trade regime. Different combinations of these conditions lead to different collective action problems and, thus, to different outcomes of regulatory competition. In some cases a `race to the top' of environmental regulation can be expected; in other cases a `race to the bottom' will occur; finally, there are cases where no convergence of regulation will take place at all.
The Legitimation of International Governance: A Discourse Approach
Authors: Steffek Jens
Published: July 2003

This article presents a discourse approach to the study of legitimacy of governance beyond the democratic state. It starts from the empirical question of how international organizations legitimate their own activities and how they create perceptions of legitimacy in the absence of democratic participation and control. In answering this question the article draws on elements from Max Weber's theory of rational legal domination and on Jürgen Habermas's idea of legitimation through justificatory discourse. This article claims that the legitimacy of international governance hinges upon popular assent to the justifications of its goals, principles and procedures. It thereby also challenges much of the existing literature on legitimacy above the state that regards a democracy deficit a priori as a core problem of international governance.
The Confrontation between Iraq and the US: Implications for the Theory and Practice of Deterrence
Authors: Jervis Robert L.
Published: July 2003

The American confrontation with Iraq poses important questions for scholarship as well as policy, and many of these involve whether various forms of deterrence can be effective. Our theories in this area tend to be simultaneously descriptive and prescriptive, which complicates analysis of policies with which we disagree. The Bush administration's policy is driven in large measure by the belief that deterrence against a nuclear-armed Iraq would fail. This implies that Iraq could deter American attempts to protect its allies and interests in the region. The administration's policy thus affirms as well as denies the centrality of deterrence. Given the enormous preponderance of power that America enjoys and its manifest interests in the region, the administration position is odd. Saddam's previous behavior does not indicate that he is undeterrable. In fact, the US does seem to be relying on deterrence to decrease the likelihood that Iraq would use weapons of mass destruction if the US invades. The administration's endorsement of defense and preventive war may partly be explained by its ambitious broader foreign policy goals.
Naturalistic Study of Culture
Authors: Sneddon Andrew
Published: July 2003

In Explaining Culture (1996), Dan Sperber argues for the naturalization of anthropology through conjunction with cognitive psychology. Culture is to be explained in terms of the production and spread of representations. I charge Sperber with two errors. First, his view of culture, given in terms of thoughts natives have about their social settings, is too inert. By contrast, to participate in a culture is to do things as much as it is to have thoughts. Second, Sperber focuses on the wrong sort of mental representations for his naturalization project. Instead of propositional knowledge, I argue we should be much more concerned with know-how, which is easily linked to the culturally specific skills deployed in participation in a culture. Through development of these charges, an alternative way of studying culture naturalistically is developed. This conception, unlike Sperber's, does not amount to the psychologization of anthropology.
Individualism and Collectivism: In Search of a Product or Process?
Authors: Tripathi R. C. , Leviatan Uriel
Published: July 2003

Realo (2003) argues that Estonian society in public discourse is construed differently compared to the way it is in academic discourse. We suggest that such discrepancies arise because of the processes of social categorization, and also because scholars have focused more on universal attributes of individualism/collectivism (I/C) than on cultural processes. Our comments also draw attention to several theoretical and methodological problems associated with I/C.
The Discrepancy between Consensual-Level Culture and Individual-Level Culture
Authors: Matsumoto David
Published: July 2003

Realo (2003) raises the interesting point that the opinions about a culture by culture `experts' may or may not correspond to the beliefs about that same culture held by people of that culture. In this commentary I argue that the discrepancy between consensual- and individual-level cultures is itself an important aspect of culture that has heretofore not received the recognition it deserves.
Constructing the Number of Parties
Authors: Dunleavy Patrick , Boucek Françoise
Published: July 2003

Forming an idea of the number of parties competing at elections or winning seats in legislatures is fundamental to disaggregated approaches to mapping party systems. We set out a method for systematically relating the behaviour of any `number of parties' index to the size of the largest party's vote and the numbers of parties in competition. This approach shows that the `effective number of parties' ( N2) can confuse real changes in party competition with mathematical quirks in the way that the index is calculated. We also demonstrate that N2 (and its main rival the Molinar index) behaves in hard to predict and anomalous ways under some configurations of party support. We conclude that the Molinar index should not be further used, and that the N2 score's behaviour can create problems in quantitative applications. Even in less formal historical or comparative analyses N2 always needs to be carefully interpreted. There is no `perfect' measure of the weighted number of parties, but averaging N2 scores with a simple measure of largest party predominance (1/ V1) produces a highly correlated measure ( Nb), but one with lower maximum scores, less quirky patterning and a readier interpretation. A more radical solution is to `spatialize' N2 (or Nb) scores, which allows analyses to take more account of variations in the party competition conditions lying behind any given index number.
After the Divorce
Authors: Aylott Nicholas
Published: July 2003

Well-known theories of party organization and behaviour suggest that the mass parties of Western Europe have evolved into new models, with more powerful and autonomous leaderships and weaker memberships and collateral organizations. However, these theories have not really been tested in in-depth case studies - particularly beyond the national level of the parties. This article examines the mass party par excellence, the Swedish Social Democratic Party and focuses on the party's traditionally close relationship with the blue-collar trade unions. There is evidence to support the theories of party change, but these organizational developments are patchy at the local level. Moreover, various data deployed in support of the theories may be understating the enduring influence of collateral organizations within parties.
The Agora and the Role of Research Evaluation
Authors: Frederiksen Lars Frode , Hansson Finn , Wenneberg Søren Barlebo
Published: July 2003

The evaluation of research is an activity undergoing change. The traditional peer review system with its focus on scientific content and methodology has long been the backbone of research evaluation, but over the last three decades other criteria and considerations have also been integrated into the evaluation of science. This article investigates how recent societal developments - epitomized by the concept of the agora - influence research evaluations and how we perceive them. Are they still grounded in a scientific rationale, or are they more to be understood as a result of a social rationale?
Desk Screening of Development Projects: Is it Effective?
Authors: Holvoet Nathalie , Renard Robrecht
Published: July 2003

Donor agencies rely to varying degrees on desk reviews by headquarter staff for the selection, monitoring and evaluation of projects initiated by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). If information provided in the various documents submitted by NGOs is inadequate or incomplete then the reliability of desk reviews as a management tool for allocation of project funding becomes questionable. A study of European Union funding of NGO projects compared findings from a desk evaluation of a structured sample of 30 projects with those from a field assessment of the same projects. The findings show that a field assessment on the basis of more complete information from a wider range of stakeholders leads to a markedly lower scoring on most of the standard criteria of project evaluation. An important policy implication is that ex ante screening, monitoring and evaluation on the basis of project documents are an ineffective management tool for donor agencies if not backed up by substantive follow-up in the field. This article places such management tools in the wider context of principal-agent relations.