bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Modular Architecture for an Introductory Study of 8-Bit Microprocessors
Authors: Ferreira José Manuel Martins , De Almeida Moreira Vidal Raul Fernando
Published: May 2015

The different architectures of various microprocessor kits makes it difficult to give equal treatment to the most representative of such components. However, considering the similar internal architecture of the most common 8-bit microprocessors, it would make sense to have them presented on an equal-importance basis, if a corresponding set of identical (hardware and software) kits were available. The aim of this work is to describe such a minimal architecture.
Disc-World
Authors: Fraser D. A.
Published: May 2015

Disc-world is a suitable example for teaching high-level image processing. Scenes are stacks of thin opaque discs, or circular holes. The images from these scenes are line drawings, made up of circles and arcs of circles. Some images are valid; others have to be classified as invalid. Disc-world offers a rare opportunity to set students inductive problems.
Power Electronics Laboratory Development for Higher Diploma and Higher Certificate Courses
Authors: Yeung W. K.
Published: May 2015

Commercial educational power electronics equipment is often designed for wide applications. Students have to take time to understand the equipment operation and this hinders the students from finishing their work in time. This paper describes the development of some power electronics experiments and outlines their corresponding easily operated experimental kits.
The Integration of Business Studies in Engineering Honours Degree Courses
Authors: Fyfe G. B.
Published: May 2015

Teaching of business studies on engineering honours degree courses has traditionally been implemented on a ‘standalone’ basis and taught by members of staff from outwith the Engineering Department. This paper describes how business studies can be integrated with the teaching of the engineering elements of the course.
A Novel Transient Photoconductivity Apparatus for the Evaluation of Charge Transport in Amorphous Semiconductors
Authors: Vaezi-Nejad S. M. , Juhasz C.
Published: May 2015

For the first time we describe a simple and economic combined electroded time of flight (ETOF) and xerographic time of flight (XTOF) transient photoconductivity apparatus which enables investigation of charge transport in amorphous semiconductors.
The Transformer Ratio Arm Bridge as an Undergraduate Teaching Tool
Authors: Brozel M. R. , Cleverley I. R.
Published: May 2015

We have designed a simple transformer ratio arm bridge for use in the First Year Electrical Engineering teaching laboratory. Although the experiment is based on simple and inexpensive components, it is sensitive and can be used to investigate unknown impedances over a wide frequency range.
Political violence and mental health: Effects of neoliberalism and the role of international social work practice
Authors: Sousa Cindy , Marshall David J.
Published: May 2015

Healing from political violence is not solely an individual project, but a communal process involving reclaiming collective action, trust, and efficacy. This article uses a case study from two Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank to examine how two trends central to neoliberalism, individualism, and the medicalization of inherently social and political problems, discount larger forces that affect risk and resilience, thereby undermining mental health recovery from political violence. Implications for international social work include utilizing ecosocial frameworks for research and practice, engaging in advocacy, and establishing agendas for mental health practice that emphasize individual and collective self-determination.
Orientations of the Provençal Dolmens
Authors: Sauzade Gérard
Published: May 2015

Michael Hoskin writes: In our 1999 issue we published a lengthy article on “Orientations of 935 dolmens of southern France”, based on the work of the late Yves Chevalier. 1 The second section discussed dolmens in the area of the Lower Rhône. However, Chevalier had not been able to investigate the eastern half of this region (consisting mainly of the départements of Provence, together with Alpes-Maritimes, see Figure 1). Yet these départements, which extend eastwards along the Mediterranean coast towards the Italian frontier, contain a significant number of dolmens, whose orientations are of great interest. The article that follows is written by the acknowledged authority on these monuments,2 and has the great merit of covering virtually all those dolmens of the area for which reliable orientations can be established. Although most of the orientations were measured only to the nearest 5°, or even 10°, and information on altitudes is lacking, the pattern of orientation is unambiguous: Without a single exception, the Provençal dolmens faced between about 205° and 290°, which may be interpreted as directions in which the sun could be seen descending or setting. This is the reverse of the situation in Iberia, where nearly all the dolmens faced sunrise or the sun when it was climbing in the sky.
Early Greek Solstices and Equinoxes
Authors: Thurston Hugh
Published: May 2015

How did the early Greeks find the times of solstices and equinoxes?
Saturn and His Anses
Authors: Van Helden Albert
Published: May 2015

For Saturn alone stands apart from the pattern of the remaining celestial bodies, and shows so many discrepant phases, that hitherto it has been doubted whether it is a globe connected to two smaller globes or whether it is a spheroid provided with two conspicuous cavities or, if you like, spots, or whether it represents a kind of vessel with handles on both sides, or finally, whether it is some other shape.
On Writing the History of Modern Astronomy
Authors: Hoskin Michael , Gingerich Owen
Published: May 2015

The following, which was prepared for astronomers contributing to the fourth and last volume of the forthcoming General history of astronomy, presents an approach that is commonplace among professional historians of science but may be of interest to our other readers.
The Group of 7 and International Terrorism: The Snowball Effect That Never Materialized
Authors: Blumenau Bernhard
Published: May 2015

The article looks at the Group of 7 (G7) efforts to fight international terrorism in the 1970s and early 1980s. It examines the G7 statement against hijacking, the Bonn Declaration of 1978, and assesses how the G7 dealt with it after the adoption of the Declaration. The article illustrates that after a short phase of enthusiasm just after the Declaration’s adoption, the G7 members’ united front against terrorism quickly eroded. The G7 failed to secure support from other countries and realized the economic and political costs that the implementation of the Declaration could produce. Therefore, it was pushed to the backburner. The Declaration was largely of symbolic and only of very little practical importance. Yet, it still pointed to the new approach of the G7 – present until today – that moved away from a purely economic agenda towards a progressively more political one.
Many disorderly youths, few serious incidents
Authors: Van Steden Ronald , Broekhuizen Jolijn
Published: May 2015

This paper presents fieldwork on police–citizen interactions in a setting of (latent) friction with ethnically diverse populations. Often, the police are frustrated with disorderly youngsters hanging out on streets and squares. Contrary to what was anticipated, however, escalation occurred only sporadically. Patrol officers were most keen on traffic control and order maintenance and, in so doing, dealt most frequently with youngsters from minority groups. Community officers played a more socially engaged role, but were less willing and able to gain access to such groups. Taken together, both types of officers managed to preserve sensible contacts with ethnic minority populations due to their professionalism in regulating emotions and their realisation that overly harsh police action would make things worse.
Family Adult Awareness of Adolescents’ Premarital Romantic and Sexual Relationships in Ghana
Authors: Bingenheimer Jeffrey B. , Roche Kathleen M. , Blake Susan M.
Published: May 2015

This study examined the circumstances under which family adults in Ghana were aware of their adolescent children’s involvement in premarital relationships. It was hypothesized that factors related to the seriousness and social acceptability of the relationship would influence the likelihood of family adults’ awareness in gender-specific ways. Data were derived for 606 premarital relationships reported by 423 adolescents (62% female) aged 14 to 21 years in southeastern Ghana. Family adults were more likely to know about adolescents’ premarital relationships when those relationships were longer lasting, emotionally closer, and involved marital intentions; when they involved out-of-school, employed partners; and when youth perceived that family adults were less disapproving of adolescent sexual activity. Adolescent girls were more likely than boys to report relationships with older, out-of-school, employed partners from financially better-off families. The seriousness and social acceptability of adolescents’ premarital relationships influence the likelihood of family adult awareness of such relationships.
Measurement of Latent Variables With Different Rating Scales
Authors: Menold Natalja , Tausch Anja
Published: May 2015

Effects of rating scale forms on cross-sectional reliability and measurement equivalence were investigated. A randomized experimental design was implemented, varying category labels and number of categories. The participants were 800 students at two German universities. In contrast to previous research, reliability assessment method was used, which relies on the congeneric measurement model. The experimental manipulation had differential effects on the reliability scores and measurement equivalence. Attitude strength seems to be a relevant moderator variable, which influences measurement equivalence. Overall, the results show that measurement quality is influenced by rating scale forms. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for latent variables measurement.
Microhaematuria as a diagnostic marker of Schistosoma haematobium in an outpatient clinical setting: results from a cross-sectional study in rural Ghana
Authors: Ephraim Richard KD , Abongo Christian K , Sakyi Samuel A , Brenyah Ruth C , Diabor Emmanuel , Bogoch Isaac I
Published: May 2015

The utility of microhaematuria (as measured by urine reagent strips) as a surrogate marker for Schistosoma haematobium infection is not established in patients with urogenital symptoms presenting to clinical settings, although previous studies have demonstrated its utility in screening asymptomatic individuals in large community or school-based settings. In this cross-sectional study of 201 patients, multivariate analysis demonstrated microhaematuria as an independent predictor of S. haematobium infection (OR, 4.29; 95% CI, 1.6–11.9) in individuals presenting with urogenital symptoms to an outpatient medical department (OPD) at a rural Ghanaian medical center. Microhaematuria is predictive of S. haematobium infections in clinical settings in endemic regions.
En ny ro med langturnus
Authors: Ingstad Kari , Amble Nina
Published: May 2015

Extended work shifts of 12 hours or more have become a common scheduling strategy for nurses in several countries, though this is not the case in Norway. There, many managers, nurses, and union representatives have expressed concerns about whether nurses can function effectively while working long shifts. This study thus aimed to examine how long shifts influence nursing outcomes such as stress, continuity, and responsibility in Norwegian nursing homes. Data were collected during in-depth interviews with 16 nurses employed at four different nursing homes who have worked 12–14-hour shifts. Results suggest that long shifts actually reduce stress and increase both work continuity and accountability, though these positive impacts of long shifts occur primarily when all departmental staff work long shifts. Furthermore, fewer shift changes mean more time spent with patients and better communication.
Lost in Sovereign Space: Forced Migrants in the Territorial Trap
Authors: Grundy-Warr Carl
Published: May 2015

In the context of the troubled Burma-Thailand borderland relationship, the “place” of the migrant is greatly influenced by the highly contingent nature of cross-border politics and inter-state relationships. I argue that we cannot divorce the analysis of large-scale human displacement without examining the historical context and political geography context. To understand forced displacement in Burma, it is necessary to link it with the Burmese military regime's quest for national unity. This article discusses how this project leads to forced migration and long-term displacement of the Karenni and Shan. Also discussed are the consequences of displacement on the “migrants” and the human security and sovereignty dilemmas it engenders.
From a Floating World: Emigration to Europe from Post-War Vietnam
Authors: Hardy Andrew
Published: May 2015

This article aims to explain the origins and formation of Europe's Vietnamese communities. It argues that emigration from post-war Vietnam (1975–1995) was a result of the dismantling of two models of Vietnamese society — the southern regime and the structures of socialism. However, the migration routes owe much to Vietnam's international relations in the Cold War. Isolation by western countries led to the formation of a Vietnamese community in Western Europe, consisting of refugees. At the same time, ties with the Soviet Union led to the formation of a community in Eastern Europe, consisting of guest workers. Two case studies present contrasting approaches to integration, and suggest possible alternate futures for Vietnamese communities in Europe.
Asian Immigrants in Spain: An Overview
Authors: Antolín Joaquín Beltrán
Published: May 2015

Asian communities in Spain are not very well known in spite of their long settlement and growing population in the country. Spain's transition as a destination for economic migrants has attracted various Asian groups. However, within the growing number of migration studies in Spain, Asians are rarely the focus of inquiry. This article presents an overview of the origin, evolution and current characteristics of the main Asian communities in Spain. The diverse origins of Asian immigrants on the one hand, and the development of migration policies and the economic structure of Spain on the other, are part of the general context within which to understand the settlement of Asian immigrants.
Indian Migrant Workers in Lebanon and Their Access to Health Care
Authors: Gaur Seema , Saxena Prem C.
Published: May 2015

This paper examines Indian migrant workers' access to health care in Lebanon. The findings are based on quantitative and qualitative data collected in 1998 from a sample of 402 semi-skilled and unskilled migrant workers from India. The study tries to shed light on the plight of migrant workers, especially that of unauthorized ones, whose situation is compounded by meager income and the absence of a health insurance policy. High medical costs in Lebanon restrict migrants' access to health care, leaving many migrants to suffer from various diseases. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for sending and receiving countries, the implementation of which would contribute to the welfare and betterment of the health conditions of migrant workers.
Fleeting Land, Fleeting People: Bangladeshi Women in a Charland Environment in Lower Bengal, India
Authors: Lahiri-Dutt Kuntala , Samanta Gopa
Published: May 2015

Riverine islands ( chars in Bengali or diaras in middle Gangetic plain) are common in deltaic lower Bengal and have often provided ideal places for the settlement of unauthorized migrants. Many of these chars are shifting, temporary and flood-prone, but some get stabilized with time although their legal status as “land” still remains contested. This article is about the life experiences of some Bangladeshi women who have migrated from Bangladesh to India without proper authorization papers. It is based on field surveys among very poor migrants in the Char Gaitanpur, an attached char of the Damodar River in southern West Bengal. Participatory research methods, group discussions and informal conversations were conducted with participants in the study. With little or no resources, the choura women undergo a long and hard struggle for survival in this land of high vulnerability. Overburdened with domestic chores as well as earning a living for their families, women form closely-knit social networks among them to facilitate their sustenance in this land of uncertainty.
The Changing Status of Chinese Women Migrants in New Zealand
Authors: Liu Liangni
Published: May 2015

This study compares four aspects — demography, arrival conditions, employment and adaptation — of Chinese women migrants in New Zealand over three periods, before 1987, from 1987 to 1996 and after 1996. The two principal findings were, firstly, that the gender ratio of Chinese female migrants rose from well below 50 percent before 1987 to more than 52 percent in 2001. This may be attributed to the “astronaut's wife” phenomenon and the arrival of older females and younger females who have gained residency as parents or spouses. Secondly, female migrants who entered New Zealand after 1987 tend to have a higher education than previous migrants. However, the employment situation of recent arrivals seems unfavorable when compared with those who arrived in New Zealand before 1987. As a result, many recent arrivals undergo re-training to gain recognized qualifications to enhance their employment opportunities.
Introduction: Women, Mobilities, Immobilities and Empowerment
Authors: Sim Amy
Published: May 2015

The articles in this volume are collated from field studies in East and Southeast Asia on several key aspects of women's experiences related to work and mobility. They highlight a range of issues based on women's labor as migrants, whose social or biological, paid or unpaid labor, are structural continuities that characterize the nature of women's role and status within households and families across cultural systems in East and Southeast Asia. The articles in this volume demonstrate how contemporary developments in work and mobility affect women migrants from developing countries.

The 21st century has been said to be one that will see the rise and dominance of Asia. To fuel this systemic economic takeoff implies an increase in human flows within and to this region to respond to demographic and economic differentials across the region. Against this backdrop, this volume discusses the role that women in migration play as foreign wives, domestic workers and seasonal rural to urban migrants. It maps some of the issues that they confront in destination countries, as well as in their own homes as absent wives, mothers and daughters in expanded networks of global householding.

On another level, this volume frames the overseas employment and settlement of women migrants in destination countries, in the contexts of contestations between States, organized labor exporters and emergent migrant women's movements, which for migrant women represent their individual and collective strategies for making a ‘bare life’1 (Agamben, 1998:177, 180) liveable. The studies here underscore the potential that migration offers to women in this region, while highlighting the complexities and contradictions in labor supply and its relationship to politics, culture and capital.
Foreign Brides, Multiple Citizenship and the Immigrant Movement in Taiwan
Authors: Hsia Hsiao-Chuan
Published: May 2015

As capitalist globalization intensifies, recent discussion of citizenship has sought to decouple citizenship from its traditionally close association with the nation-state. Scholars have proposed “multicultural citizenship” and “multiple citizenship” as alternative concepts. The former is premised on the idea that the nation-state contains a degree of plurality that allows migrants to retain their cultural identity provided they adhere to the state's political norms. The latter underscores the need to separate citizenship from limiting cultural identities and loyalties, and argues that multiple citizenship and multicultural citizenship are incompatible. This paper agrees with the ideal of multiple citizenship and shows how multiculturalism can be co-opted without changing the substantive and formal rights of citizenship for immigrants. However, the author argues that the ideal of multiple citizenship and the concept of multicultural citizenship are not inherently incompatible. Based on the experience of empowering women who migrate to Taiwan through marriage, this paper illustrates how the concept of “multicultural citizenship” can be used as a narrative strategy to challenge Taiwan's exclusionary model of citizenship, paving the way to move towards the ideal of a more inclusive multiple citizenship.
Global Householding and Care Networks: Filipino Women in Japan
Authors: Piquero-Ballescas Maria Rosario
Published: May 2015

Women's movement away from their own home has been described as migration and the reason for their migration often labeled as economic. Despite testimonies that point to emotion, particularly care and concern for the members of their households as the primary reason for their decision to move, women's move beyond their homes is still considered as basically economic, and still confined within the conventional rubric of migration studies, rather than viewed as expanded householding.

Analyzing past and recent data collated since the 1990s up to the present, this paper follows the trail of care and householding from the homes of origin of women from the Philippines to Japan to show the importance of care and emotion for understanding human movements, to further analyze the link between domestic and global care and householding, and to further explore the interrelationship of globalization, the international division of care, and householding.
Female Migration and Social Reproduction in the Mekong Region
Authors: Resurreccion Bernadette P.
Published: May 2015

Studies on female labor migration in the Mekong Region tend to focus on their lives in host societies, especially the exploitative working conditions in their new workplaces and unfair migration policies. In contrast, this article exa-mines female migrants as they maintain and reconfigure their obligations of care and social reproduction in their households of origin from a distance. Three micro-level cases of migrant women in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thai-land demonstrate that women deploy a range of resources to negotiate alternative care arrangements at home during their absence, without disrupting established gender norms and the requirements of social reproduction.
Circulation, Encounters and Transformation: Indonesian Female Migrants
Authors: Williams Catharina P. , Widodo Amrih
Published: May 2015

This paper explores the ways in which notions of gender, space and propriety are drawn upon by female migrants in performing their gender identities in new spaces of their migration to Hong Kong. It scrutinizes the narratives of women's circulation and encounters in the process of migration. The paper draws on post-structuralist approaches to reveal the ways in which the female migrants position themselves in the changing spaces of migration. We uncover diversity among the women in the study in performing their gender identities. Yet the women reveal similar shifting subjectivities in negotiating their positions in changing local relations. Circulation and encounters that make up transnational migration are seen as multiple facets, intersecting and impacting on subject and space. Employing an ethnographic approach, the research explores the reworking of migrants' relations and practices through changing gender identities and subjectivities. The transformation of the migrants in this study is evident in their multiple and diverse expressions of shifting subjectivities.
Skilled Migration in Australia: Policy and Practice
Authors: Hugo Graeme
Published: May 2015

By virtue of its island geography and isolation, Australia is able to control the scale and composition of immigration more than most nations. Accordingly, it has one of the most highly managed migration programs and intakes. Skill selection has been the major focus of both permanent and temporary migration programs in Australia over the last two decades. Government has continually modified the Permanent Migration Program so that not only are a higher proportion of settlers coming to Australia under the Skilled Migration Program but the skill selection is tied increasingly to skill shortages in the labor market. Increasingly, permanent settlers are selected from student migrants and skilled temporary migrants because they have Australian qualifications and experience. The article analyzes the increasingly complex nexus between temporary and permanent skilled migration in Australia, and discusses the changing scale and composition of skilled migration to Australia. One particular feature of Australian immigration has been the continual shifts in the process of selection of skilled temporary and permanent immigrants on the basis of empirical evidence to achieve better economic outcomes.
The Transnational Negotiation of Selfhood, Motherhood and Wifehood: The Subjectivities of Japanese Women through Oyako-Ryūgaku in Hawaii
Authors: Igarashi Hiroki , Yasumoto Saori
Published: May 2015

The existing scholarship on middle and upper-class East Asian transnational families accompanying their children to English-speaking countries has mainly focused on long-term transnational migration pattern. However, we know less about the short-term pattern, and how it affects the subjectivities of migrants. By conducting a case study of Japanese women participating in oyako-ryūgaku (a short-term parent-child study abroad trip) with their children in Hawaii, we demonstrate how they constructed their transnational gendered subjectivities. We argue that not only motherhood and selfhood, but also wifehood is actively negotiated among the short-term transnational mothers through oyako-ryūgaku.
Life Satisfaction of Sri Lankan and Indian Skilled Migrants in Australia
Authors: Gunasekara Asanka , Rajendran Diana , Grant Sharon
Published: May 2015

Achieving higher life satisfaction is one of the main reasons for migration. Using cross-sectional survey data, this study explored the life satisfaction of 306 Indian and Sri Lankan skilled migrants employed in Australia. The results indicated that the life satisfaction of the participants was slightly above the Australian normative standard. Achievements in life, standard of living, feeling part of the community, and personal relationships were important domains in participants' lives. There was no relationship between life satisfaction and gender, ethnicity, age or level of education in this skilled migrant sample, but English language skills and years since migration were related to life satisfaction. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that Sri Lankan and Indian skilled migrants are satisfied with their lives in Australia and consider Australia a safe country in which to live.
Information sources and knowledge transfer to future migrants: A study of university students in India
Authors: Somerville Kara , Walsworth Scott
Published: May 2015

There is widespread recognition of the employment problems facing skilled immigrants in Canada. As a result, research reports high levels of frustration and anger over immigrants’ failed attempts to secure employment in Canada that is commensurate with their foreign-earned credentials and experience. Furthermore, research suggests that these employment problems are largely unanticipated by immigrants. As these employment difficulties have been observed for at least a decade, our study asks why immigrants are surprised by the difficulties they face in Canada. Our research questions focus on the sources of information being used by future migrants living in India. We wondered whether the information sources being used by future migrants are informing them of these employment struggles. To investigate, we surveyed 500 university students in India who plan to emigrate. Our findings confirm the pervasiveness of a reliance on informal migrant networks among future migrants in India, but also reveal how there is a discrepancy between the expected use of formal information sources, and the actual use of these sources. We conclude that the knowledge transfer of migration information is problematic, and we challenge the mainstream account of migrant social capital as a resource that minimizes the costs and risks of migration. Some policy suggestions are provided.
Impact assessment of seasonal labor migration in Australia and New Zealand: A win–win situation?
Authors: Brickenstein Christine
Published: May 2015

The employment of foreign seasonal workers is often advocated as a win–win situation for both employers and workers, as labor shortages can be filled and at the same time foreign workers are able to access labor opportunities. However, these schemes are also being criticized for being prone to exploiting migrants as cheap labor without granting them sufficient rights. This article analyzes the impact of seasonal worker schemes in Australia and New Zealand, researching under what conditions these schemes constitute a win–win situation. This article will first outline the main features of the seasonal worker schemes in New Zealand and Australia. Subsequent sections will cover social protection rights, the characteristics of relevant agricultural industries and the interests of employers. The article concludes with an analysis of critical aspects that can be considered as good practice.
When does solidarity end? Transnational labour cooperation during and after the crisis – the GM/Opel case revisited
Authors: Pernicka Susanne , Glassner Vera , Dittmar Nele , Mrozowicki Adam , Maciejewska Małgorzata
Published: May 2015

The General Motors (GM) case stands out for its transnational employee cooperation. During the crisis the ‘national turn’ of union politics seems to have eroded solidarity and mutual trust relations. In this article the authors suggest disentangling the behaviour of labour representatives and their attitudes, identities and feelings to develop a more sophisticated perspective on labour transnationalism. Concepts of sociological neo-institutionalism and empirical evidence from two automobile companies (GM/Opel and Volkswagen) in Germany, the UK and Poland are used to investigate the conditions under which transnational solidarity occurs and prevails. The authors conclude that solidarity in both companies has not come to an end and contributes to repertoires of contention in future labour conflicts.
The Anagogical Imagination of Flannery O'Connor
Authors: Candler Peter M.
Published: May 2015

This essay explores O'Connor‘s sense of the art of fiction as an art of anagogical vision, which sees all things as instances of participation in God. Such created things are, then, when read or “seen” properly, fragmentary disclosures of the divine glory. To O'Connor, the logic of anagogy implies that the visible realities of this world only take on a fullness of meaning—indeed, they only become truly visible—when seen in the paradoxical light of the unseen. The anagogical sense—the final of the four senses of scripture according to Christian tradition—refers to a text's figurative signification in relation to eternal glory or eschatological reality. This anagogical sensibility is often represented in O'Connor's work by the recurring image of the sun at the close of many of her stories. Therefore O'Connor‘s “anagogical imagination,” operative in so much of her work, is intended to lead one through the contemplation of future glory to the reimagination of temporal existence in light of the Incarnation, and to enable one to see such existence as imbued with the grace of divine creation and ordered towards its consummation. That is to say, when seen in the light of the yet-to-be-fully-disclosed divine glory, the world—including most especially humanity—becomes more truly visible for what it is.
Christian Numerology and Shakespeare's The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
Authors: Hunt Maurice
Published: May 2015

Number symbolism appears in the works of Renaissance authors such as Milton, Spenser, and George Herbert. Shakespeare in plays such as The Winter's Tale and The First Part of King Henry the Fourth is no exception to this tendency. In The Tragedy of King Richard the Second, Shakespeare uses a multiple of Christ's age at his death—thirty-three—to focus the question of whether King Richard, who was thirty-three at the time of his death, is a Christ figure. Richard and the Duke of York on several occasions have raised this possibility. But Shakespeare, in Richard's final soliloquy of sixty-six lines, shows that the former king's inability to reconcile certain biblical passages precludes his being a Christ figure. Of particular importance in this respect is the chiasmus framing verse thirty-three of the soliloquy.
Browning's Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day as Meditational Verse
Authors: Colby Robin
Published: May 2015

Robert Browning's Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day has eluded generic identification. One possible solution to this critical problem is to view the poem as falling within the tradition of meditational verse. Evidence for such a reading may be drawn from a look at the origin of the poem as well as the literary relationship between Browning and John Donne. This essay offers a reading of the poem that focuses on identifying and illustrating its characteristics as a meditation.
Joy Davidman, Poet: Letter to a Comrade
Authors: King Don W.
Published: May 2015

Although best known as the wife of C. S. Lewis, Joy Davidman was a gifted writer. In particular she was a very good poet; her Letter to a Comrade (1938) won both the Yale Younger Poet competition and the Russell Loines Memorial award for poetry given by the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In this essay I sketch the development of Davidman as a poet, explore a thematic discussion of the poems in Letter to a Comrade, and offer a brief critical assessment of the volume as a whole.
The Way George Eliot Read Paradise Lost: Raphael and the Temptation of Speculative Thought
Authors: Lindley Dwight A.
Published: May 2015

Through repeated quotations and allusions over the course of her novel Middlemarch, George Eliot suggests a relationship between that work and John Milton's epic poem, Paradise Lost. While this connection has received some critical attention during the past two decades, I contend that it runs deeper, and carries greater significance, than has yet been recognized. Through an analysis of the major epistemic course of each plot, I argue that Middlemarch is an attempt to carry Milton's account of faith and reason into the nineteenth century.
The Gospel of Amy: Biblical Teaching and Learning in Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit
Authors: Lenard Mary
Published: May 2015

This article argues for a revised view of Charles Dickens as a more mature and profound Christian thinker than his reputation has suggested. The author disputes critic Janet Larson's view that Little Dorrit increasingly reflects a “broken scripture,” a Bible that has lost meaning in an industrialized world. In contrast, this article argues that the figure of Amy Dorrit is one intended to engage the reader in addressing the moral and ethical concerns of this world, not to present the ominous shadow of a failed apocalypse. Dickens' work represents not a decline in theology, but the development of a new kind of theology.
Brighten the Corner Where You Are: An Interview with Wayne Booth
Authors: Denham Robert D.
Published: May 2015

This interview was recorded in Chicago on 29 December 1995 at the Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association, where Wayne Booth had received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Conference on Christianity and Literature at its luncheon. Several references in the interview are to the events at that luncheon, as well as to the address that Booth had delivered the previous evening, “Story as Spiritual Quest,” published in this issue of Christianity and Literature. There are also references to Booth's “Afterword” to Rhetoric and Pluralism: Legacies of Wayne Booth (1995); two articles Booth refers to are identified under “Works Cited.” The interview took place in a hotel room high above the Chicago River overlooking Navy Pier and Lake Michigan.
Board Structure and Audit Committee Monitoring
Authors: Karim Khondkar , Robin Ashok , Suh SangHyun
Published: May 2015

Our study addresses two research questions. First, are audit fees related to the presence of common members in audit and compensation committees (committee overlap)? Second, are audit fees related to whether board membership is protected by the use of a staggered voting system (board classification)? Using a treatment effects model to control for endogeneity, we find a negative relationship between audit fees and committee overlap, which is consistent with the argument that committee overlap is associated with weak corporate governance and that in an environment with weak governance, monitoring efforts by the audit committee are similarly weak. We find a positive relationship between audit fees and board classification, indicating that firms with classified boards seek greater monitoring, which is consistent with the prior literature which suggests that such firms seek the “quiet life” and wish to avoid reporting-related problems.
The hidden (r)evolution
Authors: Kreide Regina
Published: May 2015

The article is a review of Hauke Brunkhorst’s book on a Critical Theory of Legal Revolutions. The author addresses three points: (1) Hauke Brunkhorst’s notion of history, and of what remains unseen; (2) the dialectics of evolution and revolution, and whether the approach is sufficiently dialectic, according to its own promise; and (3) the (too) implicit notion of critique.
Student and instructor behaviors in online music lessons: An exploratory study
Authors: Dye Keith
Published: May 2015

The purpose of this study was to document behaviors of applied music teachers and students, as they occurred in online lessons with instructional delivery facilitated through desktop videoconferencing. The author examined the use of desktop videoconferencing in the delivery of applied music instruction to six middle school-aged band students instructed by three upper-division music education majors enrolled at a major American research university. The 25 separate lessons were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for emerging behavioral patterns of both students and teachers. Data were analyzed adapting a tool developed by Siebenaler (1997) for study of student and instructor behaviors in traditional music lessons. Notable results indicated instructors in this study chose to use questioning more and modeling less, while students demonstrated less and used verbal responses more than in prior studies when compared to traditional face-to-face lessons. Positive elements included a high degree of focus and minimal time off-task by both instructors and students. Concurring with prior research, instructors guided the course of lesson activity and their teaching was dominated by verbal activity. Concerns and opportunities for continued use of providing music lessons online are discussed.
Relationship satisfaction of the previously married
Authors: Ivanova Katya
Published: May 2015

This work examined if the association between relationship specific costs / rewards and relationship satisfaction differed between previously married and never married before individuals. The question addressed was whether going through partnership dissolution could be linked to differences in how people experienced the positive (i.e., support, companionship), as well as, the negative (i.e., conflict, inequity in give and take) aspects of their intimate relationships. Longitudinal Dutch data (the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, NKPS) were utilized to estimate person-level random-effects models. Indeed, at high costs, the previously married reported significantly lower relationship satisfaction than the never-married-before; furthermore, at low reward levels, those in first partnerships reported significantly higher relationship satisfaction than their repartnering counterparts.
A New Zealand pilot randomized controlled trial of a web-based interactive self-management programme (MSInvigor8) with and without email support for the treatment of multiple sclerosis fatigue
Authors: van Kessel Kirsten , Wouldes Trecia , Moss-Morris Rona
Published: May 2015

Objective:

To pilot and compare the efficacy of an internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy self-management programme with (MSInvigor8-Plus) and without (MSInvigor8-Only) the use of email support in reducing fatigue severity and impact (primary outcomes), and depressed and anxious mood (secondary outcomes).

Design:

Randomized controlled trial using an independent randomization system built into the website and intention-to-treat analysis.

Setting:

Participants were recruited through the local Multiple Sclerosis Society and hospital neurological services in New Zealand.

Subjects:

A total of 39 people (aged 31–63 years), experiencing multiple sclerosis fatigue, able to walk with and without walking aids, were randomized to MSInvigor8-Only ( n = 20) or to MSInvigor8-Plus ( n = 19).

Interventions:

MSInvigor8 is an eight-session programme based on cognitive behaviour therapy principles including psycho-education, self-monitoring, and changing unhelpful activity and thought patterns.

Main measures:

Outcome measures included fatigue severity (Chalder Fatigue Scale) and impact (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale), and anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Assessments were performed at baseline and at 10 weeks.

Results:

The MSInvigor8-Plus condition resulted in significantly greater reductions in fatigue severity ( F [1,36] = 9.09, p < 0.01) and impact ( F [1,36] = 6.03, p < 0.02) compared with the MSInvigor8-Only condition. Large between-group effect sizes for fatigue severity ( d = 0.99) and fatigue impact ( d = 0.81) were obtained. No significant differences were found between the groups on changes in anxiety and depression.

Conclusions:

MSInvigor8 delivered with email-based support is a potentially promising, acceptable, and cost-effective approach to treating fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis in New Zealand.
Toward an evidence-based patient-provider communication in rehabilitation: linking communication elements to better rehabilitation outcomes
Authors: Jesus Tiago Silva , Silva Isabel Lopes
Published: May 2015

Background:

There is a growing interest in linking aspects of patient-provider communication to rehabilitation outcomes. However, the field lacks a conceptual understanding on: (a) ‘how’ rehabilitation outcomes can be improved by communication; and (b) through ‘which’ elements in particular. This article elaborates on the conceptual developments toward informing further practice and research.

Methods:

Existing models of communication in healthcare were adapted to rehabilitation, and its outcomes through a comprehensive literature review.

Results:

After depicting mediating mechanisms and variables (e.g. therapeutic engagement, adjustment toward disability), this article presents the ‘4 Rehab Communication Elements’ deemed likely to underpin rehabilitation outcomes. The four elements are: (a) knowing the person and building a supportive relationship; (b) effective information exchange and education; (c) shared goal-setting and action planning; and (d) fostering a more positive, yet realistic, cognitive and self-reframing.

Discussion:

This article describes an unprecedented, outcomes-oriented approach toward the design of rehabilitation communication, which has resulted in the development of a new intervention model: the ‘4 Rehab Communication Elements’. Further trials are needed to evaluate the impact of this whole intervention model on rehabilitation outcomes.
Comparing treatment fidelity between study arms of a randomized controlled clinical trial for stroke family caregivers
Authors: McLennon Susan M , Hancock Rebecca D , Redelman Kathleen , Scarton Lisa J , Riley Elizabeth , Sweeney Bobbie , Habermann Barbara , Jessup Nenette M , Bakas Tamilyn
Published: May 2015

Objective:

To compare treatment fidelity among treatment arms in the Telephone Assessment and Skill-Building Kit study for stroke caregivers (TASK II) with respect to: 1) protocol adherence; 2) intervention dosage and 3) nurse intervener perspectives.

Design:

A randomized controlled clinical trial design.

Setting:

Urban, community, midwestern United States.

Subjects:

A total of 254 stroke caregivers (mean ±SD age, 54.4 ±11.8 years), 55 (22.0%) males and 199 (78.4%) females) randomized to the TASK II intervention ( n=123) or an Information, Support, and Referral comparison group ( n=131).

Interventions:

TASK II participants received the TASK II Resource Guide; Information, Support, and Referral participants received a standard caregiver brochure. At approximately 8 weeks after discharge, both groups received 8 weekly calls from a nurse, with a booster call 4 weeks later.

Measures:

Protocol adherence was evaluated with the TASK II Checklist for Monitoring Adherence. Intervention dosage was measured by the number of minutes caregivers spent reading materials and talking with the nurse. Nurse intervener perspectives were obtained through focus groups.

Results:

Protocol adherence was 80% for the TASK II and 92% for the Information, Support, and Referral. As expected, intervention dosage differed between TASK II and Information, Support, and Referral with respect to caregiver time spent reading materials (t=-6.49; P<.001) and talking with the nurse (t=-7.38; P<.001). Focus groups with nurses yielded further evidence for treatment fidelity and recommendations for future trials.

Conclusions:

These findings substantiate treatment fidelity in both study arms of the TASK II stroke caregiver intervention trial (NIH R01NR010388; ClinicalTrials.govNCT01275495).