bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Structural Equation Model Tests of Patterns of Family Interaction, Peer Alcohol Use, and Intrapersonal Predictors of Adolescent Alcohol Use and Misuse
Authors: Dielman T. E. , Butchart A. T. , Shope J. T.
Published: May 2005

A survey of 1,340 students in grades six through twelve was conducted to test, in the context of structural equation models, the predictive validity of a theoretical model of antecedents of adolescent alcohol use and misuse. Constructs including parents' alcohol use, older siblings alcohol use, parents' approval of students alcohol use, older sibling approval of students alcohol use, peer use and approval of alcohol use (PUA), parental nurturance, parental permissiveness, child's grade in school, susceptibility to peer pressure (SPP), and deviant self-image, were included. The final iterations of the models accounted for more than half of the variance in both alcohol use and alcohol misuse. In a standardized solution, the two largest direct effects on both adolescent alcohol use and misuse were from SPP and PUA. When a seven item measure of SPP, including three items specific to alcohol use was used, the SPP latent variable accounted for a somewhat greater percentage of the variance in adolescent alcohol use and misuse than did the latent variable of PUA. When the three alcohol-specific items were deleted from SPP, however, PUA accounted for more variance than SPP. Other predictors, including parental behaviors, proved to be significant when their indirect effects were evaluated. Models predicting alcohol use and alcohol misuse were similar. SPP, PUA, and other significant predictors should be included in future models predicting adolescent alcohol use and misuse, as well as in future interventions targeting these behaviors. Longitudinal studies should be used to test these findings. Evaluation of prevention should include examination of possible interactions of these predictors with each other and with subject subgroup classifications.
The Manager and Mr. Chips: A Comparative Study
Authors: Johnson Lawrence J.
Published: May 2005

This paper describes a study which evaluates the ability of Army managers to provide valid instruction in writing. It documents the potentials and problems in their attempts, and suggests how those problems can be addressed through inservice programs in order to capitalize on those potentials within any organization.
Understanding Criteria Development: A Rationale and Method for Instruction
Authors: Banset Elizabeth A. , Parsons Gerald M.
Published: May 2005

One of the most neglected topics in Technical Communication textbooks and professional articles is the concept of criteria development. Most approaches to teaching criteria development tend to be prescriptive, overly superficial, and, at times, confusing and misleading. One can develop criteria for evaluating the relative merits of potential solutions to problems only after a thorough problem analysis. Criteria themselves derive from two sources: assumptions drawn from the conditions of the problem itself and external constraints that create additional barriers to problem solutions. This article provides a rationale for emphasizing methods of teaching criteria development and describes a heuristic for identifying relevant criteria. Such an approach also addresses national concerns that we develop teaching methods that allow students to think logically, systematically, and analytically.
An Adolescent in Istanbul with Munchausen's Syndrome
Authors: Polat Aslihan , Kulaksizoğlu Isin B. , Vatansever Sezai
Published: May 2005

This article presents the treatment period for a 16-year-old girl with Munchausen's syndrome. She was initially referred to the hospital with emphysema of the face, which turned out to be due to self-injection of air. She had an eight-month hospitalization period for the diagnosis of her condition. After the diagnosis was established she was treated by our psychiatric team and followed for 21 months successfully without recurrence.
Semantic Noise
Authors: Brogan John A.
Published: May 2005

“Semantic Noise” is a concept that enables us to treat writing faults as elements in communication systems, that enables the quantifying of these faults, and that can replace imprecise terms such as “engineeringese,” “educanto,” and “gobbledygook.”
The Concept of “Stress” in the Biological and Social Sciences
Authors: Hinkle Lawrence E.
Published: May 2005

The concept of “stress” was applied to biological and social systems in the first half of this century because it appeared to provide an explanation for the apparently “non-specific” effects of biologic agents, and for the occurrence of illness as a part of the response of people to their social environment. Evidence subsequently accumulated has confirmed that a large proportion of the manifestations of disease are produced by reaction of the host and not directly by the “causal agents” of disease, and that the components of the host's reactions are not in themselves “specific” to any given “causal agent”; it has confirmed that reactions of people to other people, or to the social environment may influence any physiological process or any disease; but it has also indicated that the concept of “stress” does not provide an adequate explanation for these phenomena.

Living organisms are highly ordered and complex biological organizations that maintain themselves precariously over a limited period of time by the interchange of energy and information with the environment. Their reactions to the environment are complex and highly ordered, are based upon information, and are communicative and “logical” in nature. Although the components are “not specific,” the reactions themselves may be highly specific to the stimulus that initiates them. These reactions are not random but are “directed” (apparently “purposeful”) and tend to preserve the integrity of the organism, and the integrity of its relation to its social group and to its environment. The concept of “stress,” which was derived partly from popular usage, and based upon 18th and 19th century mechanical models of “force,” “counterforce,” and “distortion,” does not provide a meaningful scientific description of organism-environment relationships. These are better described by other concepts. The “stress concept” was heuristically valuable in the past, but it is no longer necessary, and it is in some ways hampering at the present.
Prevention of Handgun Accidents through Owner Training
Authors: Miller Larry S. , Lainhart Ramona
Published: May 2005

Government control of handguns for the purpose of reducing the incidence of accidental and/or intentional death and injury has not proven effective. Much of the research concerning accidental death and injury from firearms approaches the problem epidemiologically and identifies the gun as the agent. This study examined “control” of the handgun user through required training which stressed safety and legal use of the handgun. This study examined data involving 294 handgun owners for a five-year time period to determine the effectiveness of handgun training on accident reduction. The results were significant and supported the need for owner training in handgun use to reduce the incidence of accidents.
Neuropsychological Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa
Authors: Fox Corinne Frantz
Published: May 2005

Fifteen anorectic individuals were compared with a group of other psychiatric disorders with respect to the incidence of deviation in cognitive performance on a neuropsychological screening battery. A significant incidence of deviations in cognitive performance was found for the anorectic patients. The results are discussed in terms of possible neuropsychological implications that warrant future investigation.
Using Exchange Tapes in the Preparation and Training Program for Student Teachers
Authors: Llewellyn Gerald C.
Published: May 2005

The extensive use of tape recordings has been employed to assist in training science teachers. Benefits observed included an increase in personal awareness of the classroom atmosphere for both teacher and listener, an increase in the quality of teaching, and an increase in the quality and efficiency of supervision.

The tape exchange system, between student teacher and college supervisor, was used to supplement regular classroom visits. Besides providing the student teacher with the operational skills and potential innovative classroom use of recorders and tapes, the exchange program allowed the teacher to share his best teaching efforts with his peers and the college supervisor. The college supervisor was able to benefit by using the “dead time” resulting from travel between schools to listen to the tapes and become familiar with the classroom environment and the progress for that particular student teacher.

Each tape included an introduction and the objectives for the lesson taught, a recording of the actual class taught, and the recorded comments of the college supervisor.
The Nonfiction Novel as Psychiatric Casebook: Truman Capote's In Cold Blood
Authors: Koski Cheryl A.
Published: May 2005

As proposed in the classic work by Hervey Cleckley, M.D.— The Mask of Sanity—a psychopath typically meets sixteen diagnostic criteria. Every one of them applies to Richard Hickock as he is revealed by Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, a nonfiction novel about the murder of Kansas farmer Herbert W. Clutter and his family forty years ago. It transcends the boundaries of traditional journalism by closely examining the entire constellation of antisocial personality traits that Hickock exhibits. Drawn in large part from jailhouse interviews, Capote's portrait of Hickock breathes life into the psychiatric literature, thus rendering intelligible the mental evaluation provided by the physician who examined the accused in preparation for his upcoming trial. In so doing, Capote's best-selling masterpiece serves as a case study of a psychopath, one that conforms to established medical authority while maintaining its popular appeal.
The Effects of Death Contemplation on Meaning and Purpose in Life
Authors: Kuiken Don , Madison Gregory
Published: May 2005

Affective involvement during reflection on personal mortality was expected to facilitate psychological change. Twenty participants engaged in an age progression fantasy during which they imagined themselves gradually aging and eventually dying. Then, one-half of the participants evaluated their fantasy experiences objectively and one-half attended to their feelings about their fantasies and attempted to find words or images that characterized their feelings. Compared to participants in the objective evaluation condition, participants in the affective involvement condition provided lower scores on the Purpose in Life Scale and on the rated meaningfulness of several specific activities. There were no differences in reported death anxiety. These results indicate that the immediate effect of affective involvement during death contemplation is a distressing disengagement from some previously meaningful pursuits. The role of this effect in long-term psychological change is discussed.
Agricultural Science and Food Policy for Consumers and Workers: Recipes for Public Health Successes or Disasters?
Authors: Watterson Andrew
Published: May 2005

In the world of high speed globalization, the search for global food and water security has failed despite being driven by aggressive agribusiness and aided all too often by so-called “Green Revolution” research scientists and technologists. In the process, agricultural workers, rural communities, and food production workers face significant occupational and environmental hazards. Countervailing forces to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and agribusiness food strategies are needed. Critical to these forces will be Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working toward non-toxic, non-destructive, community-based agriculture informed by integrated humanistic, scientifically cautious, worker-sensitive, and ecologically located principles.

Sharpen the sickle! The fields are white:

Tis the time of the harvest at last

—Quoted in Groves 1949 [1]
Collaborative, Computer-Based Learning: Cognitive and Affective Outcomes
Authors: Repman Judi
Published: May 2005

A growing body of research indicates that the effectiveness of collaborative, computer-based learning groups is related to the kinds of elaborated verbal interactions that take place during group processing. At the same time, most spontaneous student-student verbal interactions appear to be limited to low level informational exchanges. In this study, instructional methodology incorporating structure and training (designed to increase the level of elaborated interactions) was investigated with a sample of regular and at-risk seventh-grade social studies students engaged in a nine-week program of collaborative, computer-based learning. Training led to increased rates of giving explanations and higher self-esteem, while structure (with or without training) resulted in improved content area achievement.
Development, Reliability and Validation of the Diabetes Emotional Adjustment Scale in Spanish: Preliminary Findings
Authors: De Leóan Ovidio A.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The development of instruments to measure emotional maladjustment in diabetic Hispanic populations has received little attention. We present the development and validation of the Diabetes Emotional Adjustment Scale in Spanish.

Method:

An eighteen-item self-administered scale was construed to assess emotional adjustment in Spanish-speaking diabetic patients and the psychometric properties of the scale were assessed. The scale was applied to a sample of sixty patients and scale scores were correlated with scores on a battery of Spanish versions of established measures of psychological distress, to assess concurrent validity. Test-retest reliability was established four years later re-examining thirty-eight of the initial sixty-patients sample.

Results:

Split-half reliability and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. There were significant correlations between the scale results and measures of depression, trait-anxiety, family adjustment, and locus of control of behavior. A principal component analysis with varimax rotation yielded a six-factor solution explaining 50.4 percent of the total variance.

Conclusions:

The scale is useful as a screening instrument, but the confirmation of factor structure stability and the correlation of the scale results with objective measures of metabolic control, require further investigation.
The Americanization of British Welfare: A Case Study of Policy Transfer
Authors: Walker Robert
Published: May 2005

The Labour Government came to power in Britain in 1997 on a platform to reform welfare that owed a great deal to the social policy views of the Clinton administration. In the subsequent months major reforms were implemented and more announced. Yet by July 1998 the key politicians entrusted with reform either had been sacked or had resigned. This article compares and contrasts welfare policy in Britain and the United States and discusses Labour's welfare reforms, then considers whether the current impasse is due to the failure of U.S. policies to travel well.
The Trouble with Technical Writing is Freshman English
Authors: Britton W. Earl
Published: May 2005

Replacing freshman English with technical writing seems logical because the freshman course stresses essays by uninformed students directed to well informed teachers, who encourage the inductive pattern and pay more attention to the writer than to the communication. Moreover, essays are rarely encountered after college. Technical writing, despite its misleading name, is applicable to all fields because it emphasizes efficiency, precision, and communicative effectiveness. The information flows from the knowledgeable to the uninformed, is normally arranged deductively, and focuses upon the reader. Intellectually and rhetorically demanding, it belongs in all professional training.
The Effects of Computer Animated Elaboration Strategies and Practice on Factual and Application Learning in an Elementary Science Lesson
Authors: Rieber Lloyd P.
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of animation and practice on factual and application learning in computer-based instruction (CBI). Also studied was the extent to which animation and practice promoted near and far transfer of these learning outcomes. Subjects consisted of 192 elementary school students. The CBI content was an elementary physics lesson in Newtonian mechanics. Two levels of Practice (Relevant Practice, Irrelevant Practice) were crossed with three levels of Graphic Type (Graphic, Animated Graphic, No Graphic) and two levels of Text Type (Text, No Text). No significant differences were found for the between-subjects factors of Practice, Graphic Type, and Text Type. Among the within-subject factors (Learning Outcome, Transfer) a main effect was found for transfer: subjects performed significantly better on far transfer questions than near transfer questions. A significant interaction was detected between Learning Outcome and Transfer: far learning was facilitated for factual learning, whereas no difference in transfer was detected for application learning.
The Family Doctor and Patients' Secrets
Authors: Balint Michael
Published: May 2005

One of the most difficult decisions for the family physician is when and to what extent to inquire into his patients' private thoughts and emotions. Asking too many questions may be just as hazardous as asking too few. The delicate art of timing requires that the physician “listen with his third ear,” and know his patient, the family, and himself.

The experience of psychoanalysts can be of considerable help to physicians in helping them to recognize and use important cues in the patient's history and conversation that can be relevant to understanding and treating problems encountered in medical practice.
Poverty and Death in the United States
Authors: Hahn Robert A. , Eaker Elaine D. , Barker Nancy D. , Teutsch Steven M. , Sosniak Waldemar A. , Krieger Nancy
Published: May 2005

The authors conducted a survival analysis to determine the effect of poverty on mortality in a national sample of blacks and whites, 25 to 74 years of age (the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-1) and NHANES-I Epidemiologic Follow-up Study). They estimated the proportion of mortality associated with poverty during 1971–1984 and in 1991 by calculating population attributable risk and assessed confounding by major known risk factors (e.g., smoking, cholesterol levels, and physical inactivity). In 1973, 6.0 percent of U.S. mortality among black and white persons 25 to 74 years of age was attributable to poverty; in 1991, the proportion was 5.9 percent. In 1991, rates of mortality attributable to poverty were lowest for white women, 2.2 times as high for white men, 8.6 times as high for black men, and 3.6 times as high for black women. Adjustment for all these potential confounders combined had little effect on the hazard ratio among men, but reduced the effect of poverty on mortality among women by 42 percent. The proportion of mortality attributable to poverty among U.S. black and white adults has changed only minimally in recent decades. The effect of poverty on mortality must be largely explained by conditions other than commonly recognized risk factors.
Transplant Failure Does Not Compromise Quality of Life in End-Stage Renal Disease
Authors: Binik Yitzchak M. , Devins Gerald M.
Published: May 2005

Data from three separate quality of life studies of end-stage renal disease patients investigated the hypothesis that those patients who have previously experienced the failure of a transplanted kidney are characterized by lower levels of life quality than are patients who have not Multivariate data analyses uniformly failed to support this hypothesis. Likely explanations for the discrepancy between these and other contradictory findings as well as clinical and research implications are presented.
The Experience of Dying from Falls
Authors: Noyes Russell , Kletti Roy
Published: May 2005

The authors discuss the neglect of the experience of dying in scientific literature and present a translation of Albert von St. Gallen Heim's study, “Remarks on Fatal Fall,” first published in 1892.
The Concepts and Principles of Equity and Health
Authors: Whitehead Margaret
Published: May 2005

In 1984, the 32 member states of the World Health Organization European Region took a remarkable step forward in agreeing unanimously on 38 targets for a common health policy for the Region. Not only was equity the subject of the first of these targets, but it was also seen as a fundamental theme running right through the policy as a whole. However, equity can mean different things to different people. This article looks at the concepts and principles of equity as understood in the context of the World Health Organization's Health for All policy. After considering the possible causes of the differences in health observed in populations—some of them inevitable and some unnecessary and unfair—the author discusses equity in relation to health care, concentrating on issues of access to care, utilization, and quality. Lastly, seven principles for action are outlined, stemming from these concepts, to be borne in mind when designing or implementing policies, so that greater equity in health and health care can be promoted.
A Chicken in Every Pot: At What Price?
Authors: Nowell Jacqueline
Published: May 2005

The poultry industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. “Big chicken,” however, has created big problems. Consumers and the environment, as well as people who grow, catch, slaughter, and process chicken are all impacted by the practices and policies of the poultry industry. This paper sheds some light on serious problems caused by production practices that put profits above human dignity, food safety, and the environment and proposes some needed regulations and actions.

When Jurgis had first inspected the packing-plants with Szadwilas, he had marveled while he listened to the tale of all the things that were made out of the carcasses of animals, and of all the lesser industries that were maintained there; now he found that each one of these lesser industries was a desperate little inferno, in its way as horrible as the killing-floor, the source and fountain of them all. The worker in each of them had their own peculiar diseases … the worker bore the evidence of them about on his own person—generally he had only to hold out his hand.

—Upton Sinclair, The Jungle [1]

… it is human hands that must make the same knife or scissors cut to slit open carcasses from anus to breast or the same twist of the hand to yank out viscera at a grueling pace, set by a relentless conveyor belt and reinforced by circulating foremen, while workers are standing in pools of water and grease in temperatures that range from freezing to ninety-five degrees and being pelted by flying fat globules or dripping blood…. The painful damage to tendons and nerves can permanently cripple fingers, hands, wrists, arms, and shoulders. It has required thousands of poultry workers to undergo corrective surgery and made it difficult or impossible for them to perform such simple motions or tasks as raising their arms above their heads, holding things, sweeping, washing dishes, or removing clothes from a washing machine.

—Mark Linder [2]
A Critique of the Ideological and Political Position of the Brandt Report and the Alma Ata Declaration
Authors: Navarro Vicente
Published: May 2005

This article analyzes the Willy Brandt Commission Report and the WHO Alma Ata Declaration within the socioeconomic and political context that determined them, and makes a critique of the ideological and political assumptions that both documents make. Through an assumedly apolitical and technological-administrative discourse, both documents reproduce the major positions upheld by the hegemonic development establishments of the Western world. Through a study of what is being said and not said, the article analyzes how these positions appear in the documents. It is indicated that 1) their understanding of the causes of underdevelopment and its major health and disease problems, and 2) their suggestions for change based on “moral calls for social justice” and “enlightened self-interest” are faulty and insufficient. Alternative explanations and solutions are presented.
Altered States of Consciousness: A Comparison of Profoundly and Superficially Altered States
Authors: Kokoszka Andrzej
Published: May 2005

Superficially Altered States of Consciousness (SACS) and Profoundly Altered States of Consciousness (PASC) are described as a result of analyses of results of a questionnaire survey of 295 subjects—adolescents and adults. The comparison of the experiences accompanying these states indicates that SASC are characterized by disturbances in experiencing the reality, one's self, and in cognitive processes. Meanwhile, PASC are accompanied by experiences related to an absolute, universal, eternal, and existential or religious matters. PASC are accompanied by extremely strong positive emotions and are experienced with significantly less feelings of cognitive disturbances than in SASC. PASC occur mainly in the context of religion, whereas SASC in everyday life, solitude, and poor well being.
Review of Exploring Health Policy Development in Europe
Authors: Navarro Vicente
Published: May 2005

The author reviews the WHO-EURO report Exploring Health Policy Development in Europe, critically analyzing its content and showing the technocratic nature of the report's discourse, which lacks any grasp or understanding of the political context in which health policies are developed and reproduced in the European region. In a supposedly apolitical way, the report attributes changes in health policy primarily to economic, technological, and demographic events, without referring to the enormously important political events in Europe that mediate these health policy changes. Also, the uncritical nature of the report—which simply reproduces the “conventional wisdom” in the policy circles of most international health agencies and reflects the fact that most of its contributors are employees of their national governments—gives it a public relations tone that limits its usefulness and relevance for most health and social policy analysts.
An Evaluation of a Program for Developing Teaching Skills: The Campus Teaching Program
Authors: Crooks Terence John
Published: May 2005

The Campus Teaching Program was formally established as a part of the Course Development Division of the Office of Instructional Resources, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in 1976. It was set up to provide training programs in teaching skills for graduate teaching assistants (TAs) — programs which might be requested by any University department, or in some cases by individual TAs. Initially staffed by a single half-time graduate assistant, it has steadily grown and will soon employ three full-time educational specialists. The role of the Program has also expanded somewhat, with a number of faculty members availing themselves of the Program's services each year.
Housing Factors and Perceived Health Status among Japanese Women Living in Aggregated Dwelling Units
Authors: Saito Kazuo , Iwata Noboru , Hosokawa Toshiyuki , Ohi Gen
Published: May 2005

An epidemiologic survey was conducted of the 818 households in a community consisting of aggregated dwelling units in Tokyo, Japan, in order to assess the relationship between housing environment and psychological or physical health status of the female residents. Psychological health status was assessed by the 28-item General Health Questionnaire in Japanese translation. Main housing factors such as internal density (person-to-room ratio) and floor level (vertical location) of the dwelling unit did not have significant effects on the psychological health status of the sample of Japanese women, but the internal density generally did not exceed 1.5 persons per room. However, physical health status might be associated with floor level: women living at the highest levels complained of more symptoms than did those at lower floor levels, when the type of dwelling unit (i.e., high-rise, low or medium height building) was not taken into account. Poor psychological health status was found among women who were dissatisfied with the plan of their house or with the room arrangement, were anxious about earthquake or other accidents, perceived the house as inadequate for the children, were annoyed by indoor noise, and complained of outdoor noise.
The Implications of Work Organization for Occupational Health Policy: The Case of Canada
Authors: Sass Robert
Published: May 2005

This article examines occupational health and safety developments in Canada during the decade of the 1970s when most government jurisdictions replaced former factory Acts with new health and safety legislation recognizing the right of workers to be involved in work environment matters. During the latter part of the 1970s, health and safety “activists” and trade unionists began to perceive the need for a wider conception of occupational health and safety. Canadian reformers were influenced by Scandinavian developments, especially the research of Dr. Bertil Gardell and his associates. Unfortunately, during the late 1970s Canada experienced a recession and a political shift to conservatism. Consequently, during the 1980s there have been no meaningful workplace health and safety reforms.

Further, the article suggests that there is strong resistance by management and government to extension of worker rights in occupational health and safety. All major political parties ground their work environment policies in utilitarian concepts that trade worker health and safety for economic considerations. The author, therefore, argues for the development of an “ethics of the work environment” based upon egalitarian principles, and the transformation of the primary work group into a community of workers who can shape the character of their work environment. Ideally, the relationship between the major “actors” in our industrial relations system ought to be based on obligation instead of the present language of worker protest based on rights. Nonetheless, there is a need to extend and deepen worker rights in the workplace. Finally, the author argues that the appropriate relationship in industry to reflect a democratic work environment is “partnership”–the coming together of the primary work groups as equals.
Simulated Maintenance Training
Authors: Karentz Varoujan
Published: May 2005

Maintenance training exercises a number of specific individual skills. The ability of the computer to assist in problem solving and stimulate the student by simulation permits practice, thus allowing proficiency to be achieved.

The application of the computer for purposes of practical equipment maintenance training requires development of different rules than those required for operational, theoretical or basic instruction. This paper describes how parameters are defined, transformed and weighted, and how the resultant training tasks configured a Training Computer Exerciser.

The criteria for hands-on practical exercises are determined and applied to the computer/equipment configuration by priority. Training equipment versus on the job training is traded off by examining related costs, criticality, availability, safety, MTBF and MTTR.
Community Participation for Schistosomiasis Control: A Participatory Research Project in Egypt
Authors: El Katsha Samiha , Watts Susan , Khairy Amal , El-Sebaie Olfat
Published: May 2005

Schistosomiasis remains one of the major public health problems in rural Egypt. Many rural people continue to be exposed to the disease as they enter irrigation canals during agricultural, domestic and recreational activities. Current control strategies focus on testing and treatment of cases in rural health units; apart from a TV media campaign, health education plays a small role. This article reports on an on-going participatory research project involving all the people and institutions in two villages who have an interest in schistosomiasis control at the village level. The project is studying human behavior and the transmission of schistosomiasis, with the ultimate aim of recommending appropriate control strategies. The research team worked with local staff at the clinic to improve testing and treatment for villagers, especially school children. It also trained local residents in social research techniques, so that they work with local villagers to understand why exposure to canal water persists and what can be done to minimize this contact.
Village Health Worker Attrition and Function Levels in the ILE-IFE Area of Nigeria
Authors: Ewoigbokhan Stalin E. , Brieger William R.
Published: May 2005

Volunteer village health workers (VHWs) form the backbone of primary health care (PHC) from both philosophical and logistical perspectives. They represent an underlying PHC ethic of community involvement as well as a practical means for delivering health care at the grassroots. Although VHW recruitment and training does not rival the cost of training formal medical and health workers, the investment in not insubstantial. Thus when VHW drop-out rates approach 50 percent in many countries, there is cause for alarm and for investigation into the possible causes of attrition. Nigeria embarked on a national PHC program in 1986, supported by national PHC policy in 1987. Nearly 1500 VHWs have been trained in model local government areas (LGAs) during the intervening years. Although there have been anecdotal reports of VHW attrition, little study into the reasons for drop-out from this large scale and expensive operation have been undertaken. This study looked at the former Oranmiyan LGA (now divided into three) where 115 VHWs had been trained. Only 79 percent of trainees took up PHC tasks, and another 7 percent left their villages shortly thereafter due to school admission or job opportunities. Two to three years after the initial training, 58 percent of the original trainees self-reported that they were still functioning as VHWs. A PHC function test, based on VHW job descriptions, was developed and administered within a questionnaire among the VHWs still living in their villages. Three factors were associated with function score: farming as an occupation, reported recent supervision and reported attendance at a continuing education activity. The results indicate two main points of intervention for preventing VHW attrition. During recruitment, effort should be made to explain the voluntary nature of the work and to encourage villagers to select people (like farmers) who will reside permanently in the village. After training, supervision and continuing education must be planned to maintain a high level of VHW functioning.
Writing for Publication
Authors: Estrin Herman A.
Published: May 2005

Addressing both students and technical writers, Dr. Estrin discourses on the subject of why write for professional journals.

The four benefits are an effect on professional advancement, an enhancement of prestige, financial payment, and “psychological” compensation. Some manuscripts are rejected because editors have similar articles, because the subject matter has been recently printed, and because the article may not hold the reader's interest. Five guidelines for selecting a subject are its timeliness, the availability of equipment, the contribution to the profession, one's interest in the subject, and the subject's objectivity. In selecting a journal, one must consider its editorial policy, its use of graphic aids, style sheet, and review policy, and the average length.
Service Learning in the Introductory Technical Writing Class: A Perfect Match?
Authors: Stone Elisa
Published: May 2005

Teachers at all levels of college instruction use service learning, a popular pedagogical tool since the mid-eighties, to teach students both social consciousness and pragmatic, real-world writing skills. This article explores the concept of service learning as rhetorical action in the field of technical communication in general, and the question of whether service learning is appropriate in beginning level technical writing courses. Using my experience through two years of service learning instruction in community college classes, I respond to the charge that students in lower-division courses may lack the maturity to successfully enact service learning assignments. I also analyze the appropriateness of the community college as a catalyst for community-based writing projects.
An Examination of the Equivalence between Non-Adaptive Computer-Based and Traditional Testing
Authors: Mason B. Jean , Patry Marc , Bernstein Daniel J.
Published: May 2005

With the increasing availability of computer-based testing programs, many instructors are beginning to adapt traditional paper-pencil tests to electronic formats. While there are advantages to computer-based testing over traditional testing, there is considerable debate concerning the equivalence of scores obtained from these testing modalities. Past research has cited limitations in computer-based testing (such as inability to review questions, change answers or skip questions, and the motivation of the examinees) that may impact test-takers' scores and reduce equivalence to identical paper-pencil tests. The purpose of the current study is to examine the equivalence between computer-based and traditional tests when the computer testing program provides opportunities comparable to paper testing conditions. Twenty-seven introductory psychology students completed ten identical unit tests via paper or computer. The results indicated that, when students are motivated and testing conditions are equivalent, there are no differences between the scores obtained via computer-based or paper-pencil tests.
Preoccupations with Death in “Normal” Children: The Relationship to Suicidal Behavior
Authors: Pfeffer Cynthia R.
Published: May 2005

This article discusses the role of death preoccupations in the diagnosis of childhood suicidal behavior. One hundred and one randomly selected school children, ages six to twelve years, and a parent were interviewed with a semistructured approach to determine characteristics of the child's behavior, emotions, development, ego functioning, concepts of death, and family history. Approximately 12 percent of the children expressed suicidal ideas or acts. The suicidal children had significantly more intense preoccupations with death than the nonsuicidal children. Three brief vignettes and the children's statements about death are presented to illustrate a nonsuicidal child without a recent death experience, a suicidal child, and a nonsuicidal child with a recent death experience.
Educational Applications Research and Videodisc Technology
Authors: Branson Robert K. , Foster Richard W.
Published: May 2005

Applications of random access videodiscs to a variety of potential education and training markets will be successful or not, depending on how these markets are approached. While the devices offer a possible quantum leap in capabilities, applications of these features will be difficult. Most education and training institutions are not required to accomplish planned outcomes, thus making favorable cost-effectiveness trade-off analyses virtually impossible. No apparent mechanism exists for user groups to communicate requirements to hardware suppliers, thus creating the opportunity for highly diverse approaches to fragment the potential market. Features requirements are presented in the context of potential applications and four classes of possible systems are described. The implications of these features for courseware design are discussed. Finally, an appeal is made for the formation of a user's group to collect the user requirements, verify them, and communicate these to hardware manufacturers.
Color Contrast and Color Preference
Authors: Katz B. F.
Published: May 2005

This article attempts to put the science of color preference on a firm theoretical footing. A model of color contrast, in which the perceived color of an area is influenced by the surrounding colors, is proposed. It is based on double opponent cells, neural units which respond preferentially to one of the four opponent colors, blue, yellow, red, and green. It is shown that by modeling the receptive fields (RFs) of these cells, one can account for a number of color contrast effects. These include the direction of the color contrast shift, the magnitude of the shift as a function of the extent of the surround, and the self-inhibitory nature of a colored area. It is then demonstrated, with an additional assumption relating mean activation of the double opponent units to liking, that the same model can be used to advantage in understanding color preference. It is first shown that the model predicts that preference should increase with increasing saturation. Next, it is shown that the inhibition of a fully saturated field on a less saturated field is greater than vice versa, in keeping with preference results in priming experiments. The model is then shown to predict that complementary colors are in maximum harmony, also in accord with observed results. Finally, the concept of virtual saturation is introduced in order to make predictions regarding hue preference.
Screening Emergency Room Patients with Atypical Chest Pain for Depression and Panic Disorder
Authors: Wulsin Lawson R. , Hillard J. Randolph , Geier Peter , Hissa Debi , Rouan Gregory W.
Published: May 2005

In response to recent reports relating atypical chest pain to normal coronary arteries and to various types of psychopathology, we developed a pilot study to investigate 1) the prevalence of depression and panic disorder among patients presenting to an emergency room with atypical chest pain, and 2) what the likelihood is of an emergency room physician recognizing the psychosocial factor. Of forty-nine subjects screened, 39 percent scored positively for depressive syndrome on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression rating scale, 43 percent met criteria for panic attack and 16 percent met criteria for panic disorder by DSM-III. Although thirty subjects (61%) screened positively for depression or panic attack, only one received a psychiatric diagnosis of any kind. This pilot study suggests: 1) that the relationship between chest pain and psychopathology in emergency room patients deserves further rigorous study; 2) that depression and panic attacks in association with atypical chest pain may be underdiagnosed by the emergency room physician; and 3) that self-report screening measures as an aid to diagnosis in this population need to be more closely investigated.
Approaches to Linguistic Prehistory
Authors: Sutton Mark Q.
Published: May 2005

Tracing the movements of languages through space and time is a most difficult task. The current interpretation of archaeological data alone are insufficient to determine linguistic prehistory with reasonable confidence. Presented herein is a coordinated approach that incorporates information from a variety of subdisciplines in an attempt to trace the movement of cultures and languages through time. The development of concordant lines of evidence is, at this point in time, required to form a convincing argument.
Multiple Sclerosis Presenting as Catatonia
Authors: Mendez Mario F.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Catatonic disorder due to general medical condition must be excluded in psychiatric patients presenting with this movement disorder. This report emphasizes the association of catatonia with multiple sclerosis.

Method:

A patient with catatonia, psychotic depression, and the subsequent diagnosis of multiple sclerosis is described and the literature reviewed.

Results:

Mutism, immobility, cataplexy, waxy flexibility, and other aspects of catatonia occur in multiple sclerosis, usually as a consequence of a severe mood disorder and extensive cerebral demyelination. These symptoms may be the presenting manifestations of multiple sclerosis.

Conclusions:

A high index of suspicion for neurological disease is indicated in patients with new-onset catatonia. Neuroimaging and other studies may reveal underlying demyelination requiring specific therapy.
The Current Situation in Psychiatry and its Effects on the Delivery of Mental Health Services in the Next Decade
Authors: Horvath William J.
Published: May 2005

As long as mental illness is regarded as primarily a behavioral disorder, current and foreseeable manpower shortages in psychiatry make it necessary to increase the participation of nonmedical personnel in the treatment process. The controversy between those advocating behavioral treatment and those favoring the medical model cannot be resolved due to the fact that our current knowledge of the biologic roots of mental illness is inadequate. A breakthrough in research in this area could resolve the argument and solve the manpower problem by transferring psychiatric disorders into physiologic disease susceptible to medical treatment. Alternative models for the delivery of mental health services can be developed to allow for different possibilities in the outcome of research. Additional data is needed, especially on the costs and effectiveness of future therapies, before an evaluation of programs can be carried out.
Long Term Gains from Early Intervention through Technology: An Eleven Year Report
Authors: Steg D. R. , Vaidya S. , Hamdan P. F.
Published: May 2005

This paper presents the findings of a longitudinal study that examines the effects of an early childhood intervention strategy which uses a technological and computer-based approach. The SCILS (Self Controlled Interactive Learning Systems) program at the Early Childhood Center at Drexel University appears to have had a positive long term effect on the students' learning, specifically the reading and reading comprehension scores of subjects through the ninth grade level.
Observations on Potential Contributions of Health Planning
Authors: Anderson Nancy N. , Robins Leonard
Published: May 2005

The passage of the National Health Planning and Resources Development Act in the United States in 1974 is used to set the context for a new assessment of health planning as a change agent. In reviewing the record of health planning the most striking conclusion is that even its friends have been unable to establish that it has had any quantifiable impact. The authors suggest, however, that comprehensive health planning may have stimulated the belief that changes in medical care organization are crucial to improving the health care system.

The authors next consider the role of health planning inferred from three widely espoused “models” of the health care system: professional, central planning, and market. Although market advocates generally deemphasize health planning as contrasted to those supporting a centrally planned system, none of the models is sufficiently developed to indicate specific roles and functions for health planning.

Basing their argument on goals for health care reform generally espoused by students of medical care organization, the authors assert that health planning agencies will be most effective if they are organizationally linked to general-purpose governments, encourage the formation of Health Maintenance Organizations, consciously involve themselves in health system reorganization, and design their policies so they can be effectively evaluated.
How to Develop Quality Courseware: Results of a Survey
Authors: Karrer Urs
Published: May 2005

A research project was started in 1985 to explore large-scale production systems which have a strong impact on the development of quality courseware. The exploration and evaluation of these production systems contribute to the explanation of the overall unsatisfactory quality of courseware. This article focuses on results of a survey which was conducted in January 1987 addressing more than sixty profit and nonprofit institutions in England, the federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. The survey revealed interesting results in various fields. The five working hypotheses (production strategy, production approach, and quality factors for courseware development) were confirmed to a great extent. These results may be instructional for institutions which recently joined this area and/or are planning to do so.