bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Computer-Based Multi-Media for Mathematics Learning
Authors: Hoffman Ruth Irene , West Anita S.
Published: May 2005

This article traces the various roles of the computer in mathematics learning. It begins with the computer's use for curricular enhancement through several modes of classroom usage. It ends with a description of the computer as a manager of a learning center, where it directs students through a sequence of learning experiences using appropriate media at each step.
Brazil: The Health Care Model of the Military Modernizers and Technocrats
Authors: Horn James J.
Published: May 2005

Post-1964 political changes in Brazil had dire implications for the health sector as successive governments pursued economic and social policies which aggravated inequities and benefitted narrow elites. The “military modernizers” embraced a concept of development inimical to basic human needs, an economic model favoring growth over distribution and development over social welfare, and budget priorities favoring vocal, urban middle sectors at the expense of marginal populations. The result was deteriorating health and social conditions among the majority of the population that did not share in the benefits of the “economic miracle.”
Interactive Audio for Computer Assisted Learning
Authors: Jaspers Fons , Ji-Ping Zhang
Published: May 2005

Starting from a short review of the developments of computer assisted learning and of instructional communication, the opportunities for applying audio within CAL courseware are explored. The key-concept of interactivity is brought into the discussion of interactive, eventually auditive, systems. Then a description is given of the hardware and software of an audio-CAL system, making use of an overview of the modern audio technology. The conclusion indicates the research that could result.
Population Growth—A Menace to What?
Authors: Hofsten Erland
Published: May 2005

Originally, many of the initiators of the World Population Conference, which took place in Bucharest in 1974, had hoped that the Conference would imply a final breakthrough for the view that family planning measures should be given top priority in all less-developed countries. In fact, however, the Plan of Action passed by the Conference contains very little relating to population and family planning. Instead, the document is dominated by wordy phrases about the necessity of attaining social and economic development in those countries. Will the insight that family planning programs work efficiently only if they are an integral part of programs for the social and economic development of a country lead to such programs being realized? There is every reason to doubt that the Plan of Action will have any such effect. The reasons for the underdevelopment of Third World countries cannot be removed through such United Nations resolutions.

In the People's Republic of China, family planning is widely accepted, especially in the towns, and now also among the rural population. Limiting the number of children is considered part of China's development effort. China is a less-developed country that is in the process of rapid social and economic development. The issue at stake in other Third World countries is how to achieve a similar development. As soon as this goal is achieved, family planning efforts are meaningful and have a chance of success. The experience of China demonstrates that even there it took time before the efforts succeeded. There are many Third World countries that could, without much difficulty, support a population considerably larger than the present one. But there are no doubt also a number of countries where the population is already so large that a continued population increase would be harmful. The need to achieve rapid development becomes increasingly urgent, not in the least to make it possible to attain a reduced population growth. The sad truth is that so little development takes place in those countries. Without social and economic development, the present rapid population increase will continue in those countries where there is already an overly dense population.
Assessment of Guided Affective Imagery: Methods for Extracting Quantitative and Categorical Variables from Imagery Sequences
Authors: Bott Jutta , Klinger Eric
Published: May 2005

There are many methods available for quantifying and categorizing the stream of images reported by participants and clients in guided imagery. Projective methods, methods for assessing individual differences in imagery, and methods developed for the analysis of dreams and literature can be adapted for the study of guided imagery; and, in addition, researchers have developed scales for characterizing the images encountered specifically in Guided Affective Imagery. These have been shown to possess high interrater reliability. A GAI Rating Instrument is described, along with the results of its application in a preliminary investigation. Interrater reliabilities of selected scales, which were designed to assess changes in imagery, including responses to experimental cues, range from good to workable. Dreamlike transformations of waking dreams are shown to be common and to be frequently spontaneous, whereas increases in imaginal detail occur most often in response to the guide's interventions.
Word Processing and Handwriting: Writing Samples Produced by At-Risk College Freshmen
Authors: Vacc Nancy Nesbitt
Published: May 2005

Differences between letters of at-risk college freshmen written by hand and those composed on a microcomputer using a word processor were examined. The subjects spent significantly more time and undertook substantially more editing when composing letters on a microcomputer. Also, editing through deletions and/or insertions was significantly related to quality of letter. However, the mean number of words written per unit of time spent completing a letter was substantially higher for subjects' handwritten letters, while judges' holistic evaluations of letter quality did not differ significantly between the two production modes.
Myths and Memes about Single-Payer Health Insurance in the United States: A Rebuttal to Conservative Claims
Authors: Geyman John P.
Published: May 2005

Recent years have seen the rapid growth of private think tanks within the neoconservative movement that conduct “policy research” biased to their own agenda. This article provides an evidence-based rebuttal to a 2002 report by one such think tank, the Dallas-based National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), which was intended to discredit 20 alleged myths about single-payer national health insurance as a policy option for the United States. Eleven “myths” are rebutted under eight categories: access, cost containment, quality, efficiency, single-payer as solution, control of drug prices, ability to compete abroad (the “business case”), and public support for a single-payer system. Six memes (self-replicating ideas that are promulgated without regard to their merits) are identified in the NCPA report. Myths and memes should have no place in the national debate now underway over the future of a failing health care system, and need to be recognized as such and countered by experience and unbiased evidence.
Stress Related Factors among Primary and Part-Time Caregiving Grandmothers of Kenyan Grandchildren
Authors: Oburu Paul Odhiambo , Palmérus Kerstin
Published: May 2005

The present study examined whether the total stress experienced by 241 caregiving grandmothers was linked to levels of care provided, child behavioral difficulty, and perceived availability of emotional and instrumental support. One hundred and twenty eight of these participants adopted their orphaned grandchildren on full-time basis. The rest ( n = 113) were grandmothers providing partial parenting roles in households that also included one of these children's biological parents. The results indicated that the full-time grandmothers experienced significantly higher levels of stress than did the part-time caregivers. The total stress experienced was related to these participants' perception of child behavioral difficulty and limited instrumental support.
Temporal Dating of Autobiographical Memories Associated to REM and NREM Dreams
Authors: Natale Vincenzo , Battaglia Daniela
Published: May 2005

Associations to dreams were collected upon experimental awakenings in Initial Sleep Onset (wave pattern of Stage 2), Late Sleep Onset (St. 2), Stage 2 (St. 2) and REM sleep. Associations referring to particular episodes of the dreamer's life were classified, according to their temporal dating, into Day residues, Recent residues and Remote residues. The hypothesis that foresaw greater utilization of Day residues in Initial Sleep Onset was confirmed. The results showed that Day residues are indeed more associated with Initial Sleep Onset reports compared to those in the other sleep conditions. Day residues are likely to be more easily available to Initial Sleep Onset dreaming because of the recent encoding which characterizes memory traces of this kind.
Explanation
Authors: Sawyer T. M.
Published: May 2005

In trying to explain special scientific and engineering concepts technical writers may find it useful to: (1) use operational definitions; (2) try the explanation out as a speech first; (3) explain the strategy of an investigation before discussing the tactics; (4) concentrate on the introduction of an article or report; (5) express mathematical ideas in English before using symbols; (6) explain the practical application of important equations; (7) use simple but accurate language; (8) use appositives; (9) do not strive for ambiguous variety; and (10) show the reader how the world looks to the expert.
Frequency and Intensity of Daydreaming: Age Changes and Age Differences from Late Adolescent to the Old-Old
Authors: Giambra Leonard M.
Published: May 2005

Daydreaming likelihood and intensity were examined through responses to the Imaginal Processes Inventory. Giambra [1–8] and McCraven and Singer [9] have demonstrated adult age differences and seven-year changes. These earlier studies were expanded by increasing the size and diversity of the cross-sectional ( n = 2791, 17–95 yrs. old) and 5.45–9.54 year longitudinal samples ( n = 886) and by adding 11.45–16.67 year ( n = 628) and 17.40–23.44 year ( n = 290) longitudinal samples. Clear age differences and age changes occurred in daydream likelihood and intensity. Biological speed and efficiency of information-processing, current concern, attentional strategy, memory deficit, and age-related differences in response honesty explanations were evaluated.
A Free Market Solution for Prescription Drug Crises
Authors: Baker Dean
Published: May 2005

The cost of prescription drugs is imposing an ever greater burden on families and varying levels of government. The vast majority of this cost is attributable to patent protection, since most drugs are actually relatively cheap to produce. The temporary monopolies provided by patent protection have been the main mechanism through which corporations have financed their drug research. This article examines the efficiency of publicly supported drug research relative to the current patent system. The author shows that even if publicly funded research were considerably less efficient on a dollar-per-dollar basis than patent-supported research, there would still be enormous gains from switching to a system of publicly supported research. The main reason for this conclusion is that patent monopolies lead to enormous economic distortions, including expensive sales promotion efforts, research into “copycat drugs,” incentives to conceal unfavorable research findings, and other inefficiencies that economic theory predicts would result from a government-created monopoly. The gains from publicly supported research, coupled with a free market in the production of drugs, could reach into several hundred billion dollars annually within a decade.
Attitudes toward Suicide: Italian and United States Physicians
Authors: Domino George , Perrone Luisa
Published: May 2005

The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire was administered to 100 Italian and 100 United States physicians, comparable in age, gender, and medical field. Significant differences were obtained on seven of the eight SOQ scales, with Italian physicians showing greater agreement on the mental illness, right to die, religion, impulsivity, normality, aggression, and moral evil scales. Gender differences were obtained in both samples, with males scoring higher. These results are discussed in terms of cultural differences, especially the role of Catholicism.
Using the Computer to Improve Unit Teaching
Authors: Stewart William J.
Published: May 2005

Dr. Robert S. Harnack and associates have developed a revolutionary method designed to eliminate the disadvantages, but to retain and improve the advantages of unit teaching. The electronic computer is applied to provide teachers with pre-planning suggestions from a large Computer-Based Resource Unit coded to the students' individual characteristics and objectives.

The program employs electronic processing equipment to help teachers design large group, small group, and individual teaching-learning situations. First, the teacher makes decisions about each student's individual characteristics and objectives. Next, these choices are fed into the computer which, in turn, retrieves, from the Computer-Based Resource Unit, specific suggestions of instructional objectives, subject matter items, activities, materials, and evaluation devices. Finally, the machine, in connection with these components, generates and prints a resource guide. In this way, the Computer-Based Resource Unit facilitates teacher decision-making within the context of unit teaching.
Combining Live Video and Audio Broadcasting, Synchronous Chat, and Asynchronous Open Forum Discussions in Distance Education
Authors: Teng Tian-Lih , Taveras Marypat
Published: May 2005

This article outlines the evolution of a unique distance education program that began as a hybrid—combining face-to-face instruction with asynchronous online teaching—and evolved to become an innovative combination of synchronous education using live streaming video, audio, and chat over the Internet, blended with asynchronous online discussions and group activities, to reach students who live and work in Taiwan. We discuss the reasons why the program changed its format, how we went about finding technological solutions to the problems faced by the program administrators in an effort to keep students in the program, and, most importantly, how we used technology to meet the needs of all participants. This article lists the strengths and weaknesses of using streaming media in distance education, provides instructor and student feedback, and looks at instructional design and technological issues discovered through the process of blending synchronous and asynchronous modalities in the delivery of online graduate distance education courses.
The Aging Sick and the near Dead: A Study of Some Distinguishing Characteristics and Social Effects
Authors: Watson Wilbur H.
Published: May 2005

Being old and sick are not licenses that lead, in any straightforward way, to acquiring access to life sustaining medical services. The performance by which the elderly person presents his claim to services must be taken into account. Of particular importance is that the patient express an aspiration to get well, and be willing to seek help and cooperate with those who are technically competent. In the absence of these accords, the elderly patient may be discredited as a sick individual and be relegated, instead, to a near death status.
Behavioral Techniques in the Psychological Rehabilitation of Burn Patients
Authors: Wernick Robert L. , Brantley Phillip J. , Malcolm Robert
Published: May 2005

Patients with extensive burns often develop maladaptive behaviors that interfere with their care and recovery. Behavioral intervention can be an important aid in eliminating problem behaviors that impede rehabilitation. A retarded, adult burn patient with several target problem behaviors (tantrums, removing catheters, fecal soiling and induced vomiting) is presented with pre- and post-treatment data demonstrating the value of these procedures. The role of the consultant is discussed in relation to the acceptance of behavioral techniques, the training of nursing personnel to implement a behavioral program, and the provision of technical assistance and support to unit staff.
Indicators of Sustainable Production: A New Tool for Promoting Business Sustainability
Authors: Veleva Vesela , Ellenbecker Michael
Published: May 2005

This paper proposes a new tool for promoting business sustainability—indicators of sustainable production. It discusses the business case for sustainable development and introduces the concept of sustainable production as a way to equally address different aspects of production (environmental and occupational, social and economic). Indicators are suggested as a tool for operationalizing this concept and their objectives, scope, and desirable qualities are outlined. The paper concludes with some recommendations for developing indicators of sustainable production.

In the not too distant future, a new global framework will govern the measurement and reporting of corporate social, environmental and economic performance—the three dimensions of business sustainability. Companies will routinely report on key aspects of their social and environmental performance, just as they currently report their financial performance. Standardized metrics will emerge and be adopted by both business and others outside firms [1, p. 1].
Interest in Information as a Function of Worry and Perceived Control in the Aftermath of Nuclear Disaster
Authors: Prince-Embury Sandra , Rooney James F.
Published: May 2005

A survey of residents in the vicinity of the Three Mile Island nuclear generating facility four years after the accident examined level of interest in cancer detection and treatment, radiation monitoring, and epidemiology of cancer as a function of degree of ongoing worry, perceived control and demographic variables. Interest in information was found to be related to worry for all three topics, indicating that residents who had higher degrees of worry were more interested in seeking information than avoiding it. Control expectancy was related to interest in information about epidemiological distribution of cancer. Implications for the dissemination of information in the aftermath of a disaster are discussed.
Monitored Probation: A Program That Works
Authors: Mann Judith R. , Hunt Madelyn D. , Alford Julie G.
Published: May 2005

Universities have recognized student attrition as a problem for some years, and measures to improve this critical issue are being sought. One such effort used at Lamar University is the Monitored Probation (MP) program. The MP program is a comprehensive early intervention academic retention program intended to assist with the academic success of students who have been placed on academic probation or suspension. This article describes this multi-component program and includes evaluative data on two groups of freshmen on academic probation, a group of probationary General Studies students on monitored probation and a group of non-General Studies probationary students as the control group. At the conclusion of the year in which the interventions occurred, statistically significant differences were found in grade point averages between the two groups and in satisfaction with their university experiences.
The Terminally Ill Patient's Right to be in Denial
Authors: Smith Douglas C.
Published: May 2005

Contrary to much literature on death and dying addressing the necessity for people's openness in facing death, an argument is presented in favor of being supportive of a terminally-ill person's choice to deny death's inevitability. After presenting an illustrative case study on the choice of denial, the author draws upon the supportive work of some of the foremost experts in the field of death and dying. Finally, the author addresses the implications for the dying person's counselor and the consequences for the dying person's social milieu.
Asking Sensitive Behavioral Questions in Telephone Interviews
Authors: Czaja Ronald
Published: May 2005

This article presents the results of a small pilot study to test the feasibility of telephone interviews for collecting highly sensitive data for a study of the etiology of trophoblastic disease. The study design allowed us to compare data from telephone and face-to-face interviews. The results suggest that very sensitive information can be obtained by telephone and that respondents interviewed by telephone may be more willing to report socially proscribed behavior than respondents interviewed face-to-face. A number of unanswered issues are suggested for future research.
Emotions and the Creative Process; Anxiety, Boredom, and Enjoyment as Predictors of Creative Writing
Authors: Larson Reed W.
Published: May 2005

Psychological research has shown that emotions and emotional arousal affect problem solving and other aspects of cognition. This article investigates the relationship between emotional states and the process of creation. High school students working on a major term paper reported their emotional states at four points in time. Analyses consider the relationship between these self-reported emotional states and qualities of the final paper as judged by the teacher and an independent rater. Boredom during work on the paper was found to be negatively correlated with the quality of the final product; enjoyment was positively correlated with the final outcome; and no relationship was found for anxiety. Regression analysis indicated that boredom but not enjoyment predicted the quality of students' work independently of other variables such as students' GPA's. These results indicate that emotional states are interrelated with creativity in this kind of task, but suggest that only boredom has a causal relationship with the quality of the final outcome.
Student Responses to Computers: A Longitudinal Study
Authors: Krendl Kathy A. , Broihier Mary
Published: May 2005

The results of this study support critiques of the methodological limitations of the dominant approach to the study of computer effects in learning environments. That is, reports of short-term experimental applications of the technology have led to misleading generalizations about the computer's instructional potential. Using Clark's concept of media attributions, this study examines the evolution of students' (fourth through tenth grade) perceptions about computers on three dependent variables—preference, perceived learning, and perceived difficulty—over the course of three years. The findings demonstrate clear evidence of novelty effects. Students' judgments regarding preferences for computers declined significantly as did their perceptions of learning from the technology during the three years. Perceived difficulty of using computers, which was expected to decline, remained stable. In addition, both gender and age proved to be significantly related to all three dependent variables. Other students were consistently more skeptical about the technology than were younger students, and boys were consistently more positive than girls. These relationships showed no evidence of change over the course of three years.
Artists and Scientists: An Analysis of Marital Status and Stability
Authors: Earle John R. , Harris Catherine T. , Pearson Willie , Smith Margaret S. , Perricone Philip J.
Published: May 2005

The authors hypothesize higher degrees of role ambivalence for female artists and scientists than for male artists, and especially male scientists. Likewise, they predict that female professionals in this sample are less likely to marry or to have stable marriages than male professionals. However, contrary to these predictions, male artists are more similar to female professionals than to male scientists, and female scientists were not characterized by the highest divorce rates. In fact, female scientists were less likely to be divorced or separated than male artists. In short, male artists represent the greatest departure from the patterns observed by other researchers. The analysis concludes with a comprehensive review of factors which may be useful in explaining the striking differences between male scientists and male artists with respect to marital status and stability.
Population Aging and its Impact on Elderly Welfare in Africa
Authors: Darkwa O. K. , Mazibuko F. N. M.
Published: May 2005

This article discusses the demographic transition and its impact on the welfare of the elderly in Africa. It provides a brief socio-demographic profile on elderly Africans. Also, it addresses challenges brought about by population aging and how it affects the provision of services to address the care giving needs of the elderly. Additionally, it examines the major features and limitations of current social insurance and retirement programs in Africa. Finally, it proposes measures to better meet the challenges brought about by population aging.
The Organization of Life before Death in Two Québec Cultural Configurations
Authors: Des Aulniers Luce
Published: May 2005

This article is based on data from a doctoral thesis about the “anthropology of life-threatening, death and time.” [1] The interpretation is made from twelve life reviews set at homes of people who suffered a serious, but not necessarily fatal illness. Two-cultural configurations are chosen along the axis of rural-urban polarity. It focuses on three types of solidarity, facing the awareness of death: 1) the ethnographic position, in data gathering and analysis. Specific propositions are given concerning the subject and intersubjectivity, cultural generalization of personal experiences, and scientific criteria; 2) what helps cope with illness. Pre-death practices are structured on the basic concept of resistance to illness and preparation for death practices rely on a coherence “test.” The genealogy of practices emerge in six situational and seven historical factors; 3) the conditions of a new type of rite before death and its functions, beside the institutionalization of illness and death.
Selecting Alternative Strategies for Community Health Education in Guineaworm Control
Authors: Brieger William R. , Ramakrishna Jayashree , Akpovi Samuel U. , Adeniyi Joshua D.
Published: May 2005

Community health education strategies in guineaworm control can be applied at several intervention levels. Community development mobilizes local resources to provide safe water supplies such as wells. Mass education in schools and communities can teach personal protection measures such as filtering water. Training of volunteer community health workers produces front line staff, who by being culturally in tune with the community can demonstrate and promote the use of appropriate prevention and treatment measures. Advocacy assists community members to express their needs to government and ministry decision makers. All of these strategies have been applied in a community health education/primary health care program in Idere, Ibarapa District, Oyo State. Community development for well construction was found to be a long-term strategy that first must overcome problems of village organization and resource location. Mass education, to be effective, must have a simple and acceptable technology to promote. Trained village health workers must overcome traditional beliefs that inhibit use of preventive and treatment measures. Advocacy requires basic political education of community leaders. A variety of health education strategies is needed to address short- and long-term priorities as well as to overcome the different barriers to guineaworm control.
Scientific Method and Prose Style in the Early Royal Society
Authors: Walters Frank D.
Published: May 2005

This article discusses two conflicts occurring during the first decade of the Royal Society (1660–1670). One conflict concerned the proper method of scientific experimentation, the other the proper writing style for communicating scientific knowledge. Following the method proposed by taxonomists, language would be a vehicle for representing the order of reality in its undisturbed state. Following the method proposed by conjecturalists, language would be a means for constructing a theory and arguing for its validity. Members of the Society were divided over these crucial questions, as evident in scientific documents of the period as well as in Thomas Sprat's History of the Royal Society. Parallels to this division are present in contemporary issues in technical writing, and this article closes by discussing some implications for teaching, practice, and theory.
Patterns of Complicated Grief among Bereaved Parents
Authors: Ginzburg Karni , Geron Yael , Solomon Zahava
Published: May 2005

This study assessed patterns of grief reactions and their adaptiveness, among bereaved parents, who had lost an adult child during military service. The prevalence of the various reactions and their associations with psychosocial adjustment and risk-related factors were examined. Eighty-five bereaved parents filled out a battery of questionnaires 2.5 years after their loss. Type of grief reaction (absence, delayed, prolonged, and resolved) was identified utilizing the Texas Revised Inventory of Grief (TIG). In addition, psychiatric symptomatology, psychosocial functioning, and sociodemographic background were examined. Results indicated that prolonged grief reactions and absence of grief were the most prevalent variants. Absent and delayed grief reactions were associated with lower levels of psychosocial adjustment compared with prolonged grief reaction. Level of education, religious attitudes, and the circumstances of the loss were associated with the type of grief reaction. The findings of this study demonstrate the complexity of defining certain reactions as complicated. The identification of absence of grief and delayed grief reactions as being complicated is supported, but the inclusion of prolonged grief reaction as a complicated maladaptive reaction should be reconsidered.
More Schools of Public Health: A Worldwide Need
Authors: Roemer Milton I.
Published: May 2005

This article asserts an urgent need for more schools of public health to produce an adequate supply of personnel capable of dealing with the health problems of the world population. Although there is a need for 450 schools of public health worldwide (1 for every 10 million population), there are currently fewer than 100 independent schools, with 23 concentrated in the United States alone. The benefits of independence from medical schools are stressed. The academic environment of patient-oriented clinical medicine is posited not to be conducive to the growth of the community-oriented public health discipline. The need for expansion exists in both developing and industrialized countries, although shortages are greater in less developed areas. Effective schools of public health should welcome students from a variety of backgrounds and serve as centers for the research and evaluation of national health systems.
Emotional Aspects of Cataract Surgery
Authors: O'Malley Thomas P. , Newmark Thomas S. , Rothman Marc I. , Strassman Harvey D.
Published: May 2005

A retrospective study of fourteen elderly patients, all of whom had undergone cataract extractions with lens implantation was undertaken. Issues pertaining to pre-, post-, and intraoperative anxiety were investigated as were questions about changes in mood, energy level, activity, and severity of non-ophthalmologic medical conditions. Also, an investigation was made into the accuracy of the patient's perception of the technical aspects of the procedure and the extent to which they found technical information on the procedure either desirable or anxiety provoking. Little effect was found in terms of changes in mood, general perceptions of health, or activity. Issues somewhat peripheral to the actual surgical procedure were found to be the most anxiety provoking while confidence in the surgeon and reassurance from friends who have had the procedure were found to be the most anxiety relieving. The well-educated patients seemed to lack any technical knowledge of the procedure itself and in many cases found this information to be anxiety provoking.
When Isaak was Gone: An Auto-Ethnographic Meditation on Mourning a Toddler
Authors: Ironstone-Catterall Penelope
Published: May 2005

Taking its starting point from the death and complicated mourning of the author's own child, this article provides a meditation on the loss of a toddler. It was inspired by the lack of materials specific to the loss of a toddler, and on the complicated work of making meaning around the death of a child. The article is itself a work of mourning, drawing indirectly from theoretical work on trauma and mourning in order to begin to carve out a space for thinking about the specificities of the loss of a toddler. It asks questions about what it means to grieve for a child and what social and cultural demands serve to further complicate this process. As a meditation, it asks what helps and hinders the process of producing a narrative around the loss of a toddler as a means of consolation. It also suggests that the isolations of the work of mourning requires a narrative—a performative “telling”—to turn the thought that thought cannot tolerate, the death of a child, into something that may be communicated to both the self and others.
Nursing Education Module Authoring System — Nemas
Authors: Grobe Susan J.
Published: May 2005

This article describes the development of a computer based authoring system for nursing faculty's use in creating computer assisted instructional modules. Essential definitions of authoring and an authoring system are followed by a description of how and why the concept of such an authoring system for nursing was developed. A description of Nursing Education Module Authoring System (NEMAS) is provided, followed by an overview of the development process. The overview includes a description of the content selected, validation of the content model, instructional development and design decisions, evaluation approaches employed, and evaluation of the associated system documentation. Both authors' and their learners' documentation are described.
Medicine as Social Science: Rudolf Virchow on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia
Authors: Taylor Rex , Rieger Annelie
Published: May 2005

Rudolf Virchow's Report on the 1848 typhus epidemic is one of the neglected classics of “social medicine”—a term he did much to popularize. His analysis of the epidemic emphasized the economic, social, and cultural factors involved in its etiology, and clearly identified the contradictory social forces that prevented any simple solution. Instead of recommending medical changes (i.e., more doctors or hospitals), he outlined a revolutionary program of social reconstruction; including full employment, higher wages, the establishment of agricultural cooperatives, universal education, and the disestablishment of the Catholic Church. This article includes the first English translation of these long-term recommendations. It also locates Virchow's Report within the context of the Medical Reform Movement of 1848 and traces his influence on the subsequent development of social medicine. Parallels are drawn between Virchow's attempts to reform health care and current developments in the political economy of health.
Promoting Safer Foods in Latin America and the Caribbean
Authors: Rice Marilyn , Quevedo Fernando
Published: May 2005

This article describes the current trends in public health promotion and education in Latin America and the Caribbean. It gives examples of approaches that work and highlights some of the difficulties of concentrating strictly on the use of mass media communication. Various programs and projects for promoting the safe handling of foods are cited from specific countries and subregions in the Americas. Looking back on what has worked and what has failed, the authors recognize that some advancements have been achieved in improving the public's handling and protection of food, particularly in the tourism sector, and yet many challenges lie ahead for improving upon what has already been done.
Why Does Music Express Only Some Emotions? a Test of a Philosophical Theory
Authors: Collier Geoffrey L.
Published: May 2005

Two experiments empirically tested a philosophical theory propounded by Kivy (1980, 1990) and Putnam (1987) about what distinguishes emotions that can or cannot be readily expressed by music (“musical relevance”). A unidimensional scaling was performed for 183 emotion terms. Four subsets of 17 words were extracted, the subsets being positively valenced, musically relevant, positive irrelevant, negative relevant, and positive irrelevant. The musical relevance of each word was judged directly by college professors, and indirectly by students, using a sentence frame methodology. The results favored the theory that musically relevant emotions are ones that are general, mood based, and do not require conscious knowledge of the causal source.
The Music or the Words? Or How Important is the Libretto for an Opera's Aesthetic Success?
Authors: Simonton Dean Keith
Published: May 2005

What are the comparative contributions of composer and librettist to the aesthetic impact of great operas? This question was empirically answered using a sample of 911 operas by fifty-nine composers. The aesthetic success of each opera was gauged by a composite measure that included performance and recording frequencies as well as archival indicators. The predictor variables were both idiographic (e.g., the specific identities of the librettists and the literary sources) and nomothetic (e.g., literary genre, language, librettist's age, and experience). After introducing appropriate control variables, the multiple-regression analyses demonstrated that composers play a much bigger role in determining operatic impact than do librettists or their libretti. The identity of the composers alone accounted for almost half of the variance in aesthetic success. As far as opera is concerned, the music is aesthetically more crucial than are the words.
Anxiety Disorders and Disability Secondary to Urinary Incontinence among Adults over Age 50
Authors: Bogner Hillary R. , Gallo Joseph J. , Swartz Karen L. , Ford Daniel E.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

No previous research has investigated whether there is an association between anxiety disorders and urinary incontinence. We hypothesized that anxiety disorders would be associated with increased urinary incontinence related disability.

Method:

Continuing participants who were aged 50 years and older in a longitudinal study of community-dwelling adults who were initially living in East Baltimore in 1981 ( n = 787). Participants were classified as incontinent if any uncontrolled urine loss within the 12 months prior to the interview was reported. Urinary incontinence related functional loss was further assessed based on a series of questions relating directly to participants' inability to engage in certain activities due to their urinary incontinence. Anxiety disorders were assessed with standardized interviews.

Results:

Persons meeting criteria for an anxiety disorder were no more likely to have urinary incontinence than were persons without anxiety disorders (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.36, 95 percent confidence interval (CI) [0.96, 1.93]). Among people with urinary incontinence ( n = 159), persons meeting criteria for anxiety disorders in 1981 and in 1994 were much more likely to report urinary incontinence related functional impairment in 1994 (adjusted OR = 6.51, 95 percent CI [1.42, 29.86]).

Conclusions:

Individuals with changes in day-to-day routines or activities secondary to urinary incontinence were more likely to meet criteria for an anxiety disorder than were other older adults. Further studies must tease out the temporal relationship and whether early detection of urinary incontinence and associated anxiety improves quality of life and functioning.
The Computer and Technical Communication
Authors: Benzon William L.
Published: May 2005

The first section sketches a broad historical framework in which to understand the emergence of the computer and the profession of technical communication and sets the stage by concluding that the computer is both a part of the technological milieu which needs technical communicators and a tool which communicators can use. Then comes a brief review of computer applications in terms of numerical, nonnumerical, and communication applications and dumb, clever, and intelligent program functions. Then the author argues that advances in computer science will narrow the gap between writing computer programs and documenting them to the point where technical communicators in the software field will be programmers. The final section suggests that computing technology will give technical communicators professional autonomy comparable to that currently enjoyed by doctors and lawyers.
An Instructional Design Strategy to Develop CAI in Rule Learning
Authors: Gallini Joan K.
Published: May 2005

The article identifies an instructional design strategy for achieving a type of high order learning, rule learning. The strategy includes the use of an advance organizer, a defining rule, and program examples/exercises. Application of the strategy is then made to the development of CAI in learning the rule for “average speed.” Significant to the intent of the article is the emphasis given to the use of sound instructional design principles to guide the development of instruction for the microcomputer (or for any other medium), especially when the intent is to create an environment for high order learning.
Data for Empowerment! The Application of Small Area Analysis in Community Health Education and Evaluation
Authors: Hindin Rita , Buchanan David R. , Bosompra Kwadwo , Robinson Frank
Published: May 2005

This article describes the use of Small Area Analysis (SAA) techniques in public health education planning and evaluation efforts. An array of health and social indicators for a mid-size metropolitan city (150,000+) were collected as part of the evaluation of a Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) community partnership grant for alcohol and other drug prevention. Data sources included the state public health department, school system, hospitals, census bureau, police department, and the city administration. Germane health and social indicators were then calculated for each of the city's socio-historical neighborhoods or zip code area. The process of gaining access to these diverse data and how they were used for planning and evaluation purposes are detailed and typical problems encountered in utilizing SAA techniques are enumerated. Finally, the potential for SAA as a community organizing tool for galvanizing community responses is discussed.
Leadership Styles between Technical and Non-Technical Superiors: Guess Who Will Give Subordinates More Freedom on the Job?
Authors: Fatt James Poon Teng
Published: May 2005

Is there a difference in the dominant leadership style between technical and non-technical superiors? Which leadership style of superiors will give their subordinates more freedom on the job? By using House's Path-Goal Model [1] in a study involving a survey of subordinates of 100 technical and 100 non-technical companies in Singapore, I found that technical superiors tend to adopt a supportive leadership style, while non-technical superiors adopt a more achievement-oriented one. This manifests in significant differences between the two kinds of superiors in the extent of the leader's position power (formal authority), the degree of autonomy subordinates want, and the extent subordinates control their goal achievements.
Education and Income Effects in the Use of Ambulatory Services in the United States
Authors: Berki S. E. , Kobashigawa B.
Published: May 2005

The roles of education and income as determinants for utilization of ambulatory services in the U.S. are investigated by the application of path analysis to a subsample of the 1970 National Health Interview Survey. The methodology permits the identification of both the direct and indirect effects of each independent variable on utilization within a model that views need as the major determinant of care. Previous findings that income has no direct effect on utilization, while education does, are reaffirmed. Contrary to previous analyses, however, it is shown that income does have a strong indirect effect on utilization via its impact on need arising from chronic conditions, measured as limitation of activity. Individuals in the highest income category have a mean annual visit rate of 4.13, while the rate for those in the lowest is 5.43. Most of the differential, 1.3, is attributable to the lower prevalence of chronic conditions in the highest income bracket. The total effect of education, on the other hand, is only 60 percent of its direct effect since higher educational attainment is associated with lower levels of chronicity. Disaggregation of direct and indirect effects through the need variables shows that income has a greater effect on utilization than does education.
Economic Growth, Inequality, and the Economic Position of the Poor in 1985–1995: An International Perspective
Authors: Kangas Olli
Published: May 2005

The “trickle-down” theory argues that wider income differences are good for economic growth, that growth is good for the poor, and therefore that widening income disparities benefit the poor. The theory thus fulfills Rawlsian principles of justice. The purpose of this article is to present a preliminary evaluation of the correctness of this theory. Income data for 21 countries were obtained from the Luxembourg Income Study, for the period 1985–95. The results of the analysis show no clear connections between inequality and economic prosperity. The wider the inequality, the worse is the absolute income of the poor. In this respect the theory is falsified. However, the trickle-down theory is partly correct in arguing for the beneficial effects of economic growth for the poor: the absolute income level of the poor is dependent on what is happening in the national economy, while the incidence and depth of poverty in advanced countries are not so much associated with economic factors as a result of national social policy programs.
Toward a Model of Monongahela Village Community Organization: Analyzing Pit Feature Data Recovered from the 1934 to 1940 Somerset County Relief Excavations
Authors: Means Bernard K.
Published: May 2005

An ongoing review of the Somerset County Relief Excavations shows that architectural and feature data are integral to modeling Monongahela village community organization. In this paper, I focus on how feature morphology can be used as a tool to analyze Monongahela village community organization. While conducting this study, I encountered and overcame limitations in the field techniques and data recording procedures employed during the relief excavations. I was also hampered by the present status of the collections and field records generated by the relief excavations, which are incomplete, scattered, or lost. Nonetheless, sufficient data are available from these excavations to model Monongahela village community organization independently from the published and unpublished reports by the original excavators. Lessons learned from this study can be applied to the management of current archaeological collections and field records.
Models for Pleistocene Extinction
Authors: Wesler Kit W.
Published: May 2005

Arguments for Paleoindian overkill of Late Pleistocene megafauna have traditionally emphasized North America with little more than token reference to other areas. Other scholars reject human causation of Pleistocene extinctions, preferring to see in climatic and environmental changes a sufficient explanation for the losses of these forms. This paper discusses the idea of overkill with reference to a computer simulation by Mosimann and Martin (1975), and offers reasons for preferring an alternative formulation. It is also suggested that the case of South America should be reviewed separately, and that an environmental explanation of Pleistocene extinction may be more suitable there.