bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impotence and Peptic Ulcer
Authors: Assael M. , Bass D. , Fischel R. E. , Alkan W. J.
Published: May 2005

Two hundred and eighty male patients were examined for either peptic ulcer or impotence. Thirty-six of these suffered from impotence in association with duodenal or stomach ulcer. Surprisingly, all thirty-six patients, having been afflicted with both conditions, complained about only one of them, those with ulcers not having been disturbed by their impotence and vice versa.
Adolescent Drinking and Driving: Etiology and Interpretation
Authors: Augustyn Marycatherine , Simons-Morton Bruce G.
Published: May 2005

In the adolescent population, drinking and driving is an important cause of injury, disability and premature death. A literature review of the demographics and etiology of drinking and drinking/driving reveals: 1) which subgroups of the adolescent population are more likely to drink and drink/ drive; 2) where and why adolescents drink and drink/drive; 3) peer and family issues associated with adolescent drinking and drinking/driving; and 4) adolescent expectancies and perceived efficacies associated with drinking and drinking/driving. A discussion of the role of theory and the use of etiologic data in intervention research precedes an overview of several types of school-based alcohol-prevention programs and recommendations for more theory based interventions.
The Social Organization of Terminal Care in Two Pediatric Hospitals
Authors: Doka Kenneth J.
Published: May 2005

This was a study of how staff organized behavior around dying children in two pediatric hospitals in a midwestern city. Both hospitals were observed for a period of a month, and eleven cases were compared in terms of staff organization of care and efforts of staff to adjust at death. Staff were seen to negotiate various demands upon care on the basis of whether or not they defined the death of a particular patient to be certain or uncertain. These definitions then served as guides to negotiations. Patients whose death was seen as uncertain had a higher claim of staff time than those whose death was considered certain. The result was that staff had less interaction with, and required less efforts to adjust after, the death of a child whose death was considered certain, and more involvement and more effort to adjust with the death of a child which was not considered certain. These strategies were not seen as preconceived plans of actions that were applied to situations but rather strategies that emerged as staff members attempted to negotiate varying demands upon time.
Religion, Spirituality, and Chaplains in the Biomedical Literature: 1965–2000
Authors: Weaver Andrew J. , Flannelly Kevin J. , Oppenheimer Julia E.
Published: May 2005

In recent years, several prominent medical journals have published articles addressing the relationship between religion/spirituality and medicine, and recognizing the importance of religion in the lives of most Americans, especially in times of illness. We hypothesized that the publication of these articles reflected a trend in the biomedical literature in which greater attention is being given to the role of religion and spirituality in health-care. A correlational design was used, based on an electronic survey of all articles in MEDLINE for the years 1965 through 2000. The search terms used were: 1) religion or religious; 2) spiritual; and 3) chaplain. The number of articles per 100,000 that mentioned religion (religion or religious), spirituality, or chaplains each year was determined. Statistically significant upward trends across years were found for the rates of articles addressing religion ( r = .59, p < .001) and spirituality ( r = .89, p < .001) and a non-significant trend was found for chaplains ( r = .31). The rising rates of articles on religion and spirituality in biomedical journals suggest a growing recognition of the need to address spiritual and religious issues in health-care.
Rules, Context, and Technical Communication
Authors: Miller Carolyn R.
Published: May 2005

The concept of “rule,” derived from linguistics and anthropology, provides a way of understanding the relationship between context, purpose, and message production and interpretation. “Rules” are shared expectations which structure situations and guide individual action. This paper reviews some of the concepts that have come out of rules theory in communication research and suggests their particular relevance and utility to understanding the problems and situations in technical communication.
Health Effects of Job Insecurity among Employees in the Swiss General Population
Authors: Domenighetti Gianfranco , D'Avanzo Barbara , Bisig Brigitte
Published: May 2005

This study looks at the health consequences of the social distress caused by perceived levels of job insecurity. Through interviews with full- and part-time employees drawn from a random sample (N = 2,024) of the Swiss general population, the authors measured prevalence rates of ten self-reported indicators of health and health-related behavior according to three levels of perceived job insecurity (low, middle, high), and estimated odds ratios using logistic regression adjusted for relevant respondent characteristics. The results show that the psychosocial stress induced by job insecurity (fear of unemployment) has a negative effect on these health indicators. Fear of unemployment had a stronger unfavorable effect on health for highly educated employees than for the less educated. The authors make some recommendations for raising awareness about the health effects of job insecurity and taking these effects into account in policies and legislation affecting the labor market and work environment.
A View from Within: Midwife Practices in South Texas
Authors: Hurtado Aída
Published: May 2005

This article describes midwife practices and recommends a possible training program for midwives in South Texas. A 100-item questionnaire was administered to twenty-five practicing midwives in South Texas. All the interviews were tape-recorded. The midwives were all women and they ranged in age from thirty-eight to eighty years old. A qualitative analysis of these interviews indicates that a midwife training program is necessary to standardize and upgrade the practice of midwifery in this area. In addition, all midwives interviewed expressed an interest in participating in a training program. Finally, recommendations are made for designing a training program that would be efficient and culturally relevant to this midwife population.
Young Children Learning with Logo: An Analysis of Strategies and Interactions
Authors: Yelland Nicola
Published: May 2005

The present study used the screen version of Apple Logo to investigate the strategies and interactions of young children while they were engaged in Logo tasks. Eighteen children (mean age 7 years 6 months) completed Logo tasks individually and then in one of three gender pairs (girl/girl, boy/boy, and boy/girl). The results of the study indicted that there were differences in performance, based on gender, related to the consideration of three main variables; the number of moves made, time taken and the number of errors made. However, the nature of the differences changed over time and analyses of the strategies and interactions of the pairs indicated that in initial learning experiences the girls in the study were more careful and less likely to take risks to achieve the task goal than boys or boy/girl pairs working together. Additional examination of the interactions of the pairs suggested that the most successful, in terms of efficiency, were those pairs that applied higher order processes in the execution of the task consistently. The application of such processes was mediated by personality characteristics, such as caution, the desire to adhere to implicit task instructions, and fear of making mistakes.
Personological Studies on Dancers: Motivations, Conflicts, and Defense Mechanisms
Authors: Biasi Valeria , Bonaiuto Paolo , Giannini Anna Maria , Chiappero Elisabetta
Published: May 2005

Previous investigations carried out in different countries in the last four decades have demonstrated that intensity of achievement motivation is higher among dancers compared to nondancers. For this reason we hypothesized that the Type A behavior pattern, with some of its implications, should be relatively frequent among dance artists, in comparison with sedentary persons. Because the athletes' subculture also constitutes, in our society, a rewarding and promoting environment for personalities oriented toward achievement, competitiveness, control, etc., we also predicted a similar relative prevalence of Type As among athletes. Four hundred young adults (both genders) were examined in double-blind conditions with a booklet containing two different scales of the Type A behavior pattern (AATABS-3 and Framingham Scale) and other tests. Participants were classical ballet or modern dance professionals or amateurs, high-level or amateur athletes practicing different sport specialties for years, and comparable sedentary persons. Type As turned out almost two times more frequent among dancers and three times among athletes while Type Bs were proportionally more frequent among sedentary persons. Athletes did not differ from sedentary persons except on Type A frequency and scores. Dancers differed both from sedentary persons and from athletes, showing less hardiness, a higher tendency to control and deny negative emotions, and to avoid interpersonal conflicts, also at the cost of anger control, intrapunitivity and even self-sacrifice (“need for harmony”). These features look consonant with aesthetic sensitivity, severe continuous discipline and high social coordination that the art of dance and contemporary dance schools demand. Internal comparisons between subcategories (amateur versus professional dancers, or amateur versus high level athletes) showed remarkable homogeneity. This result contributes to proving the dominating influence of recruitment phases and methods, instead of specific training, in determining the typical dancer or athlete personality profile.
The Death Attitudes of Older Adults: A Path-Analytical Exploration
Authors: Bell Bill D. , Batterson Constance T.
Published: May 2005

The present study examines the effects of contemporaneous circumstances on the death attitudes of older adults. Three causal models “explaining” death attitudes were formulated by abstracting relevant variables from the social and psychological literature on age. These models were subsequently tested on data derived from interviews with 220 elderly male and female respondents residing in an urban area of central Arkansas in the spring of 1974. The data lend little support to any of the three models. In general, less than 13 per cent of the attitudinal variance was accounted for by the factors or events employed. The findings suggest that the present social and psychological environment of the aged plays a less significant role in their attitudes toward death than is presently reflected in social gerontology.
Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Survey Techniques
Authors: Glik Deborah C. , Parker Kathleen , Muligande Gabriel , Hategikamana Bona
Published: May 2005

An “educational diagnosis,” which targetted the health behaviors of mothers with regards to malaria and diarrhea in their young children, was carried out over a three-week period in November 1985 in Rwanda, East Africa. The study used the methodological technique of triangulation, in which both quantitative and qualititative data collection efforts are used to find answers to the same or similar sets of questions. Findings include estimates of health care utilization and medication usage and illustrate how multiple methods of data collection can maximize both the amount of usable data and the degree of confidence in the validity of data obtained, even with relatively small samples. In particular, the qualitative technique of focus group interviewing, which provided information on the sociocultural, economic, and historical contexts of the Rwandese health care system, provided an explanation of why there is relatively little self-care or home treatment for these diseases in Rwandese society.
Self-Perceived Emotional Intelligence and Creative Personality
Authors: Wolfradt Uwe , Felfe Jörg , Köster Torsten
Published: May 2005

This study examines the relationship between self-perceived emotional intelligence (EI) measured by the Emotional Intelligence Scale (EIS) [1] and other personality measures including the five-factor-model. The EI construct has lately been re-defined as the ability to think intelligently about emotions and to use them to enhance intelligent thinking [2]. Two studies provide support that self-reported EI is mainly associated with personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, self-perceived creativity), life satisfaction and thinking styles with only a low relation to verbal intelligence. Furthermore, persons higher in the EI dimension “emotional efficacy” produced more creative performances than persons low in this domain. These findings suggest that self-reported EI cannot be considered as a rational form of intelligence so that it does qualify to fit into the framework of personality traits.
The Logic of a “Shortage of Health Manpower”
Authors: Confrey E. A.
Published: May 2005

In the United States, statements about shortages of physicians, dentists, nurses, and allied health manpower have generated controversies. This article indicates how the estimate of a shortage of 50,000 physicians was derived. Such figures have utility but are inadequate for program planning since they do not reflect other elements that impinge on health services. Some logical characteristics of the concept of health manpower are described, and a method of modeling the analytical problem is suggested.
Task Evaluation: Comparing Existing Curricula to Job Analysis Results
Authors: Cantor Jeffrey A.
Published: May 2005

The process of modifying existing curricula to reflect current job analysis results is often approached in a disorganized and unplanned manner. This is not the case in the nuclear power generating industry. The purpose of this article is to describe one such process for comparing existing curricula to new job and task analysis data. This model systematically allows for coding of all tasks, followed by a grouping of tasks by specific departmental requirements. A review by task is then conducted to determine if lesson plans exist which are applicable to the task, and to determine if further task analysis is indicated. The model allows for systematic review of curricula against specific needs of the job. It provides a basis for detailed analysis in any area needing work. Further, the model establishes a documented audit trail between lesson plans and specific tasks required on the job.
Loneliness of Adolescents and Their Choice and Enjoyment of Love-Celebrating versus Love-Lamenting Popular Music
Authors: Gibson Rhonda , Aust Charles F. , Zillmann Dolf
Published: May 2005

Black and White male and female high-school students reported their enjoyment of various love-lamenting and love-celebrating videos of popular romantic music. The student groups were subdivided into high versus low loneliness in terms of romantic deprivation. Loneliness proved inconsequential for the enjoyment of love-lamenting songs. Love-celebrating songs, however, were markedly less enjoyed by highly lonely males than by less lonely males; in contrast, these love-celebrating songs were more enjoyed by highly lonely females than by less lonely females. Reports of music choices in hypothetical situations of romantic success and failure yielded strikingly differed results. Most students indicated that they would make mood-congruent choices; that is, that they would match the music's mood to their own.
Helpful and Unhelpful Comments after Suicide, Homicide, Accident, or Natural Death
Authors: Range Lillian M. , Walston Andreas , Pollard Pamela M.
Published: May 2005

Comments made to recently bereaved persons may be experienced as helpful or unhelpful. To see helpfulness ratings varied depending on the cause of the death, 141 college students rated thirty potentially comforting remarks which might be made to a recently bereaved person. They were told that the death was either natural and anticipated, natural and unanticipated, a suicide, a homicide, or accidental. ANOVAs revealed that six of the thirty responses varied significantly in helpfulness ratings depending upon the type of death. Although expressions of personal willingness to help or listen were consistently rated as most helpful, other remarks that were seen as helpful when the cause of death was unknown paled when the cause was known. The least helpful comment to make to a recently bereaved person concerned the funeral home doing a good job. The results herein could be used to teach people what to say when trying to comfort someone, but such teaching may need to be experimental rather than didactic.
Introductory Statement: Overview of Regional Differences on Population Growth
Authors: Pease Clifford A.
Published: May 2005

Fully recognizing the dangers of overgeneralization, this paper is designed to highlight the similarities as well as the differences that prevail when one takes an overview of population activities in the different geographic areas of the world. The papers that follow are grouped by geographic regions but this overview will take certain liberties with this organization for purposes of better understanding. We will refer to only 6 areas: Latin America, Subsaharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, the Asian area including China and India, and briefly, the developed world, and the socialist world.
A Natural Rate of Suicide for the U.S., Revisited
Authors: Kunce Mitch , Anderson April L.
Published: May 2005

The proposition of a positive, nonzero “natural rate” of suicide (Yang&Lester, 1991) for a society is extended by examining time-series, cross-section (panel) data of state suicide rates and socioeconomic factors over the 1985–1995 time period. Statistical allowances are made to control for the majority of observed and unobserved state and time factors affecting suicide rates. Results lend support to the natural rate hypothesis with robust specification.
In-Laws Behavior as a Social Factor in Subsequent Temporary Upsurges of Grief (Stug) in Western Nigeria
Authors: Adamolekun Kemi
Published: May 2005

Many factors have been identified to produce upsurges that complicate the grief process, making it more painful and tortuous. The study reported here critically assesses two reactions of in-laws in Western Nigeria that are detrimental to effective grieving. These reactions deal first with the accusation that the widow was responsible for the death of her husband. The second reaction is dispossessing her and her children of common property. The responses of the five widows who were interviewed are presented in case study format. The overall conclusion from this brief study is that some widows are subjected to all types of harassment and harsh treatment by their late husbands' relatives. Suggestions for effective strategies for coping with these problems are discussed.
Methodological Issues in the Evaluation of Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Authors: Inoue Yukiko
Published: May 2005

Drill and practice, simulation, and tutorial are the main formats of computer-assisted instruction, yet tutorial format is particularly suitable to conceptual school subjects. When a knowledge module is added to the tutorial format, it is termed an intelligent tutoring system (ITS). Although ITS evaluation studies greatly influence interest in and support for the future ITS work, valid evaluation methodologies are lacking because ITS is fairly new. Consequently, this article examined the ITS evaluation studies, with the focus on the methodological issue. The critical component in ITS is the knowledge component that has not been evaluated adequately to verify the knowledge. Definitely summative evaluation is more difficult than formative evaluation since it involves the comparison of ITS with human tutors using traditional teaching methods across extensive subject domains.
The Stream of Consciousness: VII. Further Relevancies from Imagination, Cognition and Personality
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

Quite naturally, Imagination, Cognition and Personality is the literal context of the present series of articles, which aims to examine what is known and knowledgeably held about the nature and character of the referents of William James's concept of the stream of consciousness. The sixth and seventh installments focus on selected relevant interpretations and facts from Imagination, Cognition and Personality. These relevancies include 1) Lee Tilford Davis and Peder J. Johnson's result of no mental activity at all reported ten per cent of the time by the subjects in an experiment using a thought-sampling technique, 2) Richard A. Block, John L. Saggau, and Leo H. Nickol's finding of similarity between the stream of consciousness and college students' conception of physical time, and 3) L. Stafford Betty's analysis of certain basic durational components of the stream of consciousness (which he calls “non-symbolic”) that are frequently reported as characteristic of mystical experience.
Family Support, Age, and Emotional States of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients
Authors: Wu Kitty K. Y.
Published: May 2005

This study attempted to explore the neglected area of the emotional states of the dying and its relation to age and family support. Twenty-six terminally ill cancer patients in Nam Long Hospital were divided into groups according to age (young versus old) and family support received (without versus with immediate family support). Structured interviews were conducted and the content of the patients' verbal response was analyzed by the Content Analysis of Verbal Behavior. It was found that younger patients expressed more bargaining and complaints than older patients who revealed more depression and acceptance. Patients with immediate family support expressed less depression and more fears than those without. Age was also found to have an interaction with family support on the emotional state of anger. Significant correlations among some emotional states were found. The present study enables a better understanding of dying cancer patients. Implications for future research are also discussed.
Self-Regulatory Codes of Conduct: Are They Effective in Controlling Pharmaceutical Representatives' Presentations to General Medical Practitioners?
Authors: Roughead Elizabeth E. , Gilbert Andrew L. , Harvey Ken J.
Published: May 2005

Self-regulatory codes of conduct are used to control the promotional practices of the pharmaceutical industry, but the effectiveness of these codes in controlling pharmaceutical representatives' presentations has not been examined. This is a matter of concern because pharmaceutical representatives have more influence than any other promotional media on prescribing practices. The authors developed a method for monitoring the oral presentations of pharmaceutical representatives when promoting products to medical practitioners. Sixteen audio-recordings, detailing 64 medicines, were obtained; 38 of the 64 products were prescription-only medicines. Information on indications and on dosage and administration was commonly provided, but information on other areas of drug knowledge, particularly product risk, was minimal. Thirteen presentations contained at least one inaccuracy when compared with Australian Approved Product Information. Presentations did not always comply with current guidelines in the Code of Conduct. The Code provides only limited standards for pharmaceutical representatives' presentations, and no active monitoring system is in place to ensure adherence to the code. There is an urgent need for policy development on the role of pharmaceutical representatives, their standards of practice, and regulation of their activities to ensure they contribute to the appropriate use of medicines.
Diagnostic Issues in Primary Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Kirstein Larry
Published: May 2005

A literature review and clinical case presentation approach are employed to highlight unresolved diagnostic issues in Primary Anorexia Nervosa. The material is examined and discussed along a multidimensional list of variables considered important for the diagnosis, including definitions of weight loss, associated biological symptoms, eating patterns and body image disturbances.
Rapid Population Growth and Environmental Stress
Authors: Commoner Barry
Published: May 2005

It is often suggested that rapid population growth, especially in developing countries, correspondingly intensifies environmental degradation, which must therefore be mitigated by reducing the rate of population growth. The validity of this assumption can be tested by means of an algebraic identity that relates the amount of a pollutant introduced into the environment to the product of three factors: population, “affluence” (the amount of goods produced per capita), and “technology” (the ratio of pollution generated to goods produced). For several forms of pollution that have a known origin in a specific production process (electricity production, use of motor vehicles, and consumption of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer), it is possible to compare the inferred rate of increase in pollution levels with the rate of population growth in developing countries. The results show that the rate of increase in pollution is largely determined by the technology factor, which governs the amount of pollution generated per unit of goods produced or consumed. This observation extends earlier evidence that both the increasing levels of pollution observed in developed countries and the results of efforts to reduce them support the view that the decisive factor determining environmental quality is the nature of the technology of production, rather than the size of the population.
EMMA: Art Therapy Illustrating Personal and Universal Images of Loss
Authors: Mango Christina
Published: May 2005

This case study examines a body of art work produced by Emma, a geriatric client admitted to a psychiatric ward for what appeared to be symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. On the ward, Emma attended art therapy groups, where she spontaneously created metaphors of loss. Her art work showed many similarities to art work produced by cancer patients. After a three-month stay on the psychiatric ward, Emma was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. She was transferred to a medical unit where she died three weeks later. Emma produced all her art work before she was diagnosed with cancer. This article presents evidence that Emma unconsciously knew she was dying, and independently worked on issues of her own death through her art work.
Developing an Empirically-Based Applied Algebra Tutor
Authors: Sims-Knight Judith E.
Published: May 2005

To design computer tutorials that effectively teach conceptual skills, we need accurate cognitive models of both students and their learning processes. This article describes a tutorial designed to teach students how to generate algebraic equations for story problems. The starting point was earlier research that suggested that what differentiates good applied math students from weaker students is a general ability to map across representational systems (algebraic, graphical, natural language, and imagistic). The tutor was set up to teach students this skill and feedback to students' equations was geared to representational errors. The adequacy of this conceptualization was tested by collecting data in the form of automatically generated transcript files of all students and computer responses. The tutorial has undergone four cycles of development, test, and revision, that have led to an enrichment and diversification of the working models of both students and tutoring techniques.
The Social Meanings of Violent Death
Authors: Michalowski Raymond J.
Published: May 2005

While death is an absolute, the social responses to it demonstrate considerable variation. This variation exists because it is not only the death itself, but the manner of dying which determines the social meaning of any death. This paper investigates the differential responses to various forms of violent death, and attempts to identify those factors which influence the social meanings of violent death. Focusing upon the dimensions of inevitability, controllability, intent, deviance and social utility, it is demonstrated that it is the existing ontology, rather than empirical measures of harm, which determines the social meaning of, and the subsequent social response to, various forms of violent death. The discussion concludes by suggesting hypotheses which can be employed to expand our understanding of the meanings of death.
Effects of Public Agency Orientations and Practices on Archaeology: A View from the Trenches
Authors: Portnoy Alice W. , Mayer-Oakes William J.
Published: May 2005

Many federal and state agencies are instituting contracts with professional archaeologists for cultural resource management work. They include “regulatory” agencies, “management-oriented” agencies and “project-oriented” agencies. Many archaeologists are unaware of how these different agency orientations affect the discipline of archaeology as a whole in many important ways, including types of service, contract and project; quality of work; results or research; use of data; and level of agency direction of research in planning and controlling. All archaeologists need to be aware of these effects. An understanding of “real world” contract archaeology practice will help all archaeologists reaffirm basic goals and values and share the responsibility of determining the best interests of the discipline and of the supporting public.
Sibling Support Systems in Childhood after a Parent Dies
Authors: Hurd Russell C.
Published: May 2005

The research question addressed was: To what extent did the interactions of childhood sibling subsystems after a parent died facilitate healthy grieving in families where the surviving parent was emotionally unavailable to the children? Utilizing Q methodology, the researcher studied two quartets of adult sisters who, when 3–10 years old, had experienced the deaths of their fathers and the emotional absence of their mothers. Results included a variety of sibling interactions that demonstrated the potential for siblings to contribute to each other's healthy grieving, although the stable presence of a supportive adult was important. Implications for helping professionals included encouragement to actively nurture sibling subsystems by teaching and coaching children how to facilitate each other's grief work in age appropriate ways, and to avoid focusing too closely on the pain of the emotionally unavailable surviving parent to the neglect of children's individual needs and care-giving capacities.
The Long Term Effects of Childhood Bereavement: Impact on Roles as Mothers
Authors: Zall Donald s.
Published: May 2005

This study explored the effects of early maternal bereavement on future maternal functioning by comparing life experiences of twenty-eight mothers whose mother died in childhood or adolescence with twenty-three women who lived with both parents through adolescence. The bereaved participants showed more severe symptoms of depression, including suicidality, in adolescence. Given this level of depression, expectations were that they would have difficulty as parents. The bereaved women worried more about their own death, were overprotective, and pushed harder to be perfect, but there were no significant differences between the groups on three measures of parental functioning. It is hypothesized that parenting presented an opportunity for resolution of earlier developmental deficits and provided an impetus for mourning to proceed.
Austria's New Attendance Allowance: A Consumer-Choice Model of Care for the Frail and Disabled
Authors: Keigher Sharon M.
Published: May 2005

Austria's new social welfare provision, an attendance allowance, adopted in 1993, is a prototype for a consumer-directed care model for persons who are frail or disabled. This article describes the background to and provisions of the new legislation, including the unique political interests from the left and the right that converged to facilitate its passage. The author discusses eligibility criteria, the consumer autonomy principles underlying the model, and the impacts and implications anticipated. Such a model has been mentioned as an option for states considering creative expansion of long-term care provisions in the United States.
The Neuropsychiatry of Wilson's Disease: A Review
Authors: Dening T. R.
Published: May 2005

Psychiatric symptoms are frequently encountered in Wilson's disease (WD). The recent resurgence of interest in neuropsychiatry has led to a more detailed consideration of the psychopathology associated with WD. As suggested by Wilson, disorders of affect, behavior and personality are the most common features. Contrary to Wilson's view, recent evidence suggests that such symptoms have an organic basis. Cognitive impairments tend to be mild and improve with treatment. There is a lack of recent evidence for an association between WD and organic delusional disorders.
“Am I Going to Die Now?” Prognostication of Survival Time by Members of the Care Team
Authors: Sahlberg-Blom Eva , Ternestedt Britt-Marie , Johansson Jan-Erik
Published: May 2005

To get a real chance to make autonomous decisions in the final phase of their life, people who are soon going to die have a right to be informed concerning available knowledge about their prognosis and condition. The aim of this study is to describe how different members of the care team make prognostications about patients' survival time, and what motivates their prognostications. Doctors and registered nurses made prognostications to a greater extent, and were also somewhat more successful, than practical nurses and social workers. Different professions seem to differ in some respects concerning the criteria included in their motivations and the knowledge upon which they base their motivations.
Factors Affecting the Perceived Confidence of Extension Home Economists to Be Community Health Promoters
Authors: Howze Elizabeth Harper , Pratt Charlotte
Published: May 2005

Change agent activity is critical to how rapidly innovations in health such as exercise, diet modification, and cancer screening get diffused in populations. Because many rural areas lack health educators, and needs in rural areas tend to be more acute because of poverty, lower levels of education, and lack of access to health care services, diffusion is often slower and more uneven. A mail survey of 110 extension home economists (EHEs) in Virginia (response rate = 89%) found considerable interest among this group in undertaking expanded professional roles as community health promoters. In a multiple regression analysis, EHE exercise and weight control practices were predictive of their confidence in initiating a variety of professional activities related to exercise ( p < .01) and weight control ( p < .05), but the same relationships were not observed with other health practices. Perceived importance in helping clients following the health practices above was the variable in the regression model most highly predictive of expressed confidence in undertaking a range of health promotion activities. Several extension home economists expressed reluctance to become involved with smoking cessation activities because tobacco is a major cash crop in their counties and their organization provides technical assistance to tobacco growers there.
A Group Awaiting Death: The Social Systems Perspective on a Naturally Occurring Group Situation
Authors: Starker Steven , Starker Joan E.
Published: May 2005

The decline and imminent death of an individual in a hospital's intensive care unit led to the creation of a transient group composed of family and friends. The dynamics of this tragic group are explored using the concepts provided by Social Systems theory. Ambiguity of the task structure and its inherent frustrations, fluidity of leadership and power, and failure of a utopian defense are all discussed as contributors to subsequent dissension and splitting. The social systems perspective provides a useful tool for understanding this naturally occurring group situation.
Response to 35% CO2 in Patients with Chest Pain and Angiographically Normal Coronary Arteries
Authors: Beitman Bernard D. , Logue Mary Beth , Thomas Ann Muir , Bartels Kim
Published: May 2005

Objectives:

Several interview studies have suggested that panic disorder (PD) exists in patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries (NCA). Interview studies require corroboration by other studies in order to validate them. The purpose of this study is to test whether response to the inhalation of 35% CO2 reliably discriminates between PD and non-panic disorder patients in this population.

Method:

Three groups were studied: six with NCA and PD, five with NCA and no PD, and ten in the control group. All subjects breathed room air, then 35% CO2 in a single-blind fashion. Each completed the Acute Panic Inventory (API) before and during the procedure.

Results:

The NCA-panic group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on the Acute Panic Inventory from baseline to post- inhalation.

Conclusion:

Despite several methodological limitations including a relatively small number people in each cells, 35% CO2 was shown to trigger more intense responses in panic patients, thus helping to validate the interview findings.
Extensible Markup Language: How Might it Alter the Software Documentation Process and the Role of the Technical Communicator?
Authors: Battalio John T.
Published: May 2005

This article describes the influence that Extensible Markup Language (XML) will have on the software documentation process and subsequently on the curricula of advanced undergraduate and master's programs in technical communication. XML, an evolving set of standards for storing and displaying information, uses nine components that make up the XML development process. Grouped into content, formatting, and language specifications, these components enhance organizations' ability to manage information more efficiently and accurately. As the XML development process is adopted, the software documentation process will evolve from a self-contained procedure into a more flexible, interactive process in which software documenters must work closely with a wide range of specialists. The changes that XML will have on the software documentation process will likewise have implications for programs in technical communication in the need to address new kinds of job descriptions, skill sets, and career paths of future technical communicators. The article recommends adaptations to existing courses, as well as new elective and required courses.
Primary Care, Specialty Care, and Life Chances
Authors: Shi Leiyu
Published: May 2005

The relationship between the availability of primary care and specialty care and certain life chance indicators such as mortality rates and life expectancy is analyzed using the multiple regression procedure. Dependent variables are life chance indicators; independent variables were selected based on Starfield's and Blum's health determinant models and include socioeconomic environment, lifestyles, demographics, and medical care. The author also examines the rankings of states in terms of these indicators, using Spearman's rho coefficient. Among the medical care variables, primary care is by far the most significant variable related to better health status, correlating with lower overall mortality, lower death rates due to diseases of the heart and cancer, longer life expectancy, lower neonatal death rate, and lower low birth weight. In contrast, the number of specialty physicians is positively and significantly related to total mortality, deaths due to heart diseases and cancer, shorter life expectancy, higher neonatal mortality, and higher low birth weight. From a policy perspective, a likely implication is to reorient the medical profession from its current expensive, clinically based, treatment-focused practice to a more cost-effective, prevention-oriented primary care system.
Is the Canadian Health Care System More Effective at Expenditure Control Than Previously Thought? A Reply to Peter Coyte
Authors: Chernomas Robert , Sepehri Ardeshir
Published: May 2005

In an article published by the Journal of Public Health Policy (Summer 1990), Peter C. Coyte argues that it is not empirically valid to say that the introduction of universal medical insurance in Canada successfully contained the growth in the share of society's resources devoted to the health care industry. During the period under consideration, both Canada and the United States witnessed several major policy changes in the provision and regulation of health services. Coyte's decision to apply a simple time trend to the data assumes away these changes, especially the introduction of universal medical insurance in Canada in 1971, whose influence on health expenditures is itself the primary subject of inquiry of his paper. We conclude that both the unadjusted and the adjusted data suggest that the Canadian universal health system has been a resounding success economically, once the appropriate periodization is applied to the data, reflecting the institutional and policy changes that took place. Finally, we propose suggestions for future research with respect to measuring resource usage in the Canadian and U.S. health care systems.
The Health Risks of Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities
Authors: Dodic-Fikfak Metoda , Clapp Richard , Kriebel David
Published: May 2005

The health risks facing workers involved in decommissioning nuclear facilities are a critical concern as the nuclear weapons complex and nuclear power plants begin to be dismantled. In addition to risks from exposure to radioactive materials, there are risks from other common industrial materials like crystalline silica dust and asbestos. We discuss these issues in the context of recent research on the risk of low-level ionizing radiation, the classification of crystalline silica as a carcinogen, and early experience with decommissioning nuclear facilities in the United States. Health and safety advocates will need to be vigilant to prevent worker exposure.
Effects of Bizarre Imagery on Children's Memory
Authors: Tomasulo Daniel J.
Published: May 2005

Two groups of preschool children (younger, 42.07 months; older, 55.29 months) were compared on their ability to recall Normal, Low Bizarre, and Highly Bizarre line-drawn interactive pictures of object pairs. The objects were first presented individually, then in an interaction condition (e.g., Normal condition, matches lighting a pipe; Low Bizarre condition, a pipe in a frying pan; High Bizarre condition, a fish smoking a pipe). The children were then told that one object (the stimulus member of the pair) would be presented and that they would later be asked to recall the object (the response member of the Pair) that went with it. The older children performed equally well on this paired-associate learning task in all three conditions. In contrast, the younger children had significantly fewer recalls for the response objects in the Low and High Bizarre conditions.
Psychiatry and Medical Progress: Therapeutic Considerations
Authors: Abram Harry S.
Published: May 2005

Advances in medical technology have spurred interest in psychosocial adaptation to newer procedures, such as cardiac operations, chronic hemodialysis and renal transplantation. In spite of this interest, investigators have paid little attention to psychotherapeutic measures involved in the care of patients undergoing these procedures. This presentation reviews the available work in this area and brings together common themes related to the preparation and psychological treatment of these patients. These themes center around the importance of a continuous relationship with the patient which begins in the preoperative and pretreatment phase, the value of exploring in a nonthreatening fashion conflicts and fears aroused by the procedure, the need to counteract the non-human and impersonal aspects associated with medical progress, and the role of psychiatrist as the mediator between the patient and those involved in his care.
The Politics of Birth Control, 1920–1940: The Impact of Professionals
Authors: Gordon Linda
Published: May 2005

Before the 1920s, a birth control movement arose in the United States out of socialist, feminist, and other radical groups concerned with women's rights and sexual freedom. After 1920 the birth control movement became gradually transformed into a respectable, nonradical reform cause, the recipient of large grants from big business, with women's rights secondary to an overriding concern with medical health and population control. This transformation was achieved through the professionalization of the birth control movement—that is, its takeover by professional experts, almost all male, in place of the radical amateur women, fighting for their own interests, who initiated it. The article examines two groups of professionals who were particularly influential in this transformation: doctors and academic eugenists. The former made birth control a medical issue, held back the development of popular sex education, and stifled a previously developing feminist approach to women's birth control needs. The latter contributed racism to the birth control movement, helping to transform it into a population control movement with racist and anti-feminist overtones. Both groups, while they made contributions to the technology of contraception, simultaneously held back the spread of birth control by transforming the campaign for it from a popular, participatory cause to a professional staff lobbying operation.
Very Brief Psychotherapy in the Psychiatric Consultation Setting
Authors: Liberzon Israel , Goldman Robert S. , Hendrickson Willard J.
Published: May 2005

Very brief psychotherapy has emerged as a unique treatment modality in recent years. The limited time frame dictates flexibility in the choice of therapeutic technique, but there exists a need for an assessment model to link specific technique with the clinical problem. An early psychotherapeutic formulation containing three parts is the central component of the assessment model: theoretical description of the problem, immediate goal, and intervention technique. Various theories of psychopathology and therapeutic techniques can be simultaneously applied to the clinical problem. Three cases illustrate the use of this model in a consultation/liaison setting.
General Burnside and His Orders for the Battle of Fredericksburg: Lessons in How Not to Communicate
Authors: Loges Max L.
Published: May 2005

Communicating plans to subordinates is not an easy task. It requires that the writer be adept in accurately using the language of his/her discipline and takes care in considering the unique characteristics of the document's audience and how they are likely to interpret the message. When writers fail in these areas, the consequences can be very serious as demonstrated by General Ambrose Burnside's orders for the Battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil War.
A German Grammar Tutorial in Microsoft Excel
Authors: Fertig David
Published: May 2005

This project exploits the combined strengths of Microsoft Excel and Visual Basic for Applications to create a model of German grammar that can serve as a flexible foundation for sophisticated computer-aided language learning (CALL) applications. A structural representation of a sentence is first built using spreadsheet tables of inflectional forms and endings, a lexicon of appropriate vocabulary, and procedures that implement the basic rules of German grammar. The sentence is then presented to the student leaving some problem to be solved (such as endings left blank). Extensive feedback is available to the student, including step-by-step interactive guidance that leads to the correct answer while reinforcing understanding of the relevant principles. Tutorials such as this one can offer the kind of guidance that many students need in order to learn and practice grammar on their own and can thus make an important contribution to a balanced approach to language learning.