bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
African-American Grandmothers as Health Educators in the Family
Authors: Watson Jeffrey A. , Randolph Suzanne M. , Lyons James L.
Published: May 2005

More than 18,000 adolescents die each year in the United States from bicycle, motorcycle, car, and truck accidents. This study sought to understand the role of African-American grandmothers as prevention-oriented health educators in the family. Full Model Fitted Regression Analyses were conducted on a sample of African-American grandmothers ( N = 105) with 10- to 19-year-old grandchildren. Findings suggest that grandmothers who adopt a proactive, teaching role with their grandchildren are more committed to doing so, confident about doing so, and in a context to do so. In particular, grandmothers who co-reside with their grandchildren are more likely to teach them about how to prevent transportation accidents than those who do not co-reside. These findings could contribute to innovations in existing grandparent education curricula.
Toward Evaluating Software According to Principles of Learning and Teaching
Authors: Shuell Thomas J. , Schueckler Linda M.
Published: May 2005

Sixteen software packages designed for classroom use were evaluated against nineteen criteria based on principles of effective teaching and learning. The programs were randomly selected from a software library containing over 1,100 items representing all grade levels and a variety of subject-matter areas, software types (tutorials, simulations, etc.), and publishers. Generally speaking, the programs were rated high with regard to 1) presenting material in appropriate steps or blocks, 2) consistency between program and stated objectives, 3) providing appropriate examples, and 4) opportunities for independent practice. The programs were rated low with regard to 1) informing students of instructional goal, 2) determining if students have necessary prior knowledge, 3) reviewing prerequisite knowledge, 4) reteaching information not known, 5) providing anticipatory set, and 6) providing for closure. Differences in ratings were obtained between subject-matter areas and program types, but these differences are difficult to interpret. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the development of effective instructional software and its use in the classroom.
Structured vs. Unstructured Play Training with Economically Disadvantaged Preschoolers
Authors: Shmukler Diana , Naveh Idva
Published: May 2005

One-hundred-sixteen white South African preschoolers from severely economically disadvantaged circumstances were divided into four groups: a structured play training intervention group, an unstructured play training intervention group, and attention control group, and a nonintervention control group with twenty-six, twenty-eight, fourteen, and twenty-five children respectively, available for posttraining assessment. Prior to intervention, assessments of play, divergent thinking skills, story-telling ability, verbal and nonverbal IQ and locus of control were made. Intervention according to the groups was carried out and the assessments were repeated a month after completion of training. Analyses of covariance revealed significant increases for both forms of play training over both control groups for all measures except nonverbal IQ and aggression. There was no differential advantage found between the type of intervention used. Neither was imaginative predisposition found to be a factor related to increases in imaginative play. It was concluded that both the question of structure and imaginative predisposition in relation to play training would be better examined in a less extremely disadvantaged group.
Prevalence and Recognition of Depressive Disorders in General Medical Inpatients
Authors: Hengeveld Michiel W. , Ancion Frans A. J. M. , Rooijmans Harry G. M.
Published: May 2005

The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was administered to 220 of 340 patients consecutively admitted to three general medical wards of a University Hospital, whose length of hospital stay was more than five days. At least mild symptoms of depression (BDI ≥ 13) were reported by 70/220 (32%) of the patients. Alternate BDI depressive patients underwent psychiatric consultation. The psychiatric consultant established a DSM-III depressive disorder in 10/33 (30%) of these patients. Only 3/10 (30%) of the DSM-III depressive patients had been referred to the consultant psychiatrist by their physician.
American and Soviet Medical Manpower: Growth and Evolution, 1910–1970
Authors: Field Mark G.
Published: May 2005

Between 1910 and 1970 the number of physicians in the United States increased 2.5 times, in Soviet Russia almost 25 times. The number of physicians per constant unit of population remained fairly stable in the United States, rising slightly in the last few years. In the U.S.S.R. that number increased 16 to 18 times, and now stands about 50 per cent higher than in the United States. About 10 per cent of American physicians are women; in the U.S.S.R. it is about 70 per cent. Neither society has resolved the problem of deploying physicians to the rural areas. American physicians are more specialized than their Soviet colleagues. The article concludes with general remarks about the two health systems, pointing out resemblances and divergences. The hypothesis of a possible “convergence” is entertained.
Descriptions and Instructions in Medieval Times: Lessons to be Learnt from Geoffrey Chaucer's Scientific Instruction Manual
Authors: Lipson Carol S.
Published: May 2005

This article examines a little known, but superb piece of ancient technical writing, in fact the first technical writing in English on a complex scientific instrument: A Treatise on the Astrolabe by the medieval poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. As late as 1932, Chaucer's treatise was still touted by a science historian as unsurpassed among English writings on the astrolabe; yet it has received little attention within the technical writing field. To gain deeper understanding of the strengths and enduring powers of this piece of technical writing, so we can apply these insights to modern efforts, this article examines Chaucer's treatise and also looks briefly at Chaucer's source, an eighth-century work by an Arabian astronomer, Messahala. This examination of historical descriptions and instructions shows that many of our current conventions and forms in handling these modes of writing were both natural and traditional in Chaucer's time, and some even in Messahala's.
Personification of Death, as Seen in Adjective Check List Descriptions, among Funeral Service and University Students
Authors: Bassett Jonathan F. , Williams John E.
Published: May 2005

One hundred twenty-nine undergraduate psychology students at a large urban university and 55 students at a college of funeral service completed the Death Anxiety Questionnaire (Conte, Weiner,&Plutchik, 1982), the Revised Death Anxiety Scale (Thorson&Powell, 1994), a nine question measure of belief in an afterlife (Daws, 1980), and used the 300-item Adjective Check List (ACL; Gough&Heilbrun, 1980) to describe what death might be like if personified as a human character in a play. Three Affective Meaning scores, five Transactional Analysis ego state scores, five Five Factor Model scores, and a Sex-Stereotype Index score were calculated based on ACL descriptions of the character of death. Lower death anxiety was associated with more positive ACL descriptions of death in both samples; however, belief in an afterlife was associated with differences in death personification only among university students. Men described death as higher on the Adult ego state than did women. In addition African Americans described death as a more positive character than did European Americans. Similarly, funeral service students described death as feminine, favorable, strong, but not active, more like a Nurturing Parent, and high on Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional Stability; whereas, university students described death as masculine, neutral on Favorability, more like a Critical Parent, and low on Agreeableness and Emotional Stability.
Preventing HIV Infection among Juvenile Delinquents: Educational Diagnosis Using the Health Belief Model
Authors: Lux Kathleen M. , Petosa Rick
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to use an enhanced version of the Health Belief Model as a conceptual framework to describe health beliefs and safer sex intentions for HIV prevention educational needs of juvenile delinquents between the ages of thirteen to eighteen years incarcerated in state supported training schools in Ohio. An accessible sample ( n = 452) of juvenile delinquents from four of nine institutions was the study population. Juvenile delinquents in this study were at high risk for HIV infection. They reported low rates of safer sex intentions. Rates of perceived barriers to condom use and perceived social barriers to safer sex were high and consistent with low rates of safer sex intention. Rates of self-efficacy for condom use were high but inconsistent with intentions. While a majority of subjects reported self-efficacy for discussion of sexual histories, a larger majority reported low efficacy for disclosing previous high-risk behavior. This suggests that discussion of sexual history with a partner may not be effective in reducing risk among this population. The primary source of information about HIV was the mass media. HIV prevention programs for juvenile delinquents should consider the current health beliefs of this high-risk, hard-to-reach population.
Linguistics, Technical Writing, and Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar
Authors: Harris R. Allen
Published: May 2005

Linguistics has been largely misunderstood in writing pedagogy. After Chomsky's revolution, it was widely touted as a panacea; now it is widely flogged as a pariah. Both attitudes are extreme. It has a number of applications in the writing classroom, and it is particularly ripe for technical writing students, who have more sophistication with formalism than their humanities counterparts. Moreover, although few scholars outside of linguistics are aware of it, Transformational Grammar is virtually obsolete; most grammatical models are organized around principled aversions to the transformation, and even Chomsky has little use for his most famous innovation these days. Among the more recent developments is Generalized Phrase Structure Grammar, a model with distinct formal and pedagogical advantages over Chomsky's early transformational work.
The Rediscovery of the National Health Program by the Democratic Party of the United States: A Chronicle of the Jesse Jackson 1988 Campaign
Authors: Navarro Vicente
Published: May 2005

This report chronicles the major developments in the Jesse Jackson 1988 Campaign and their consequences for the establishment of a national health program in the United States. It describes the characteristics of the Jackson 1988 Campaign, and the set of events that led to the rediscovery of the national health program by the Democratic Party of the United States.
Psychopharmacologic Management of Anxiety in the Cardiac Patient
Authors: Greenblatt David J. , Shader Richard I.
Published: May 2005

Of 253 patients who had suffered acute myocardial infarction ( MI), 88 percent received daytime sedation while hospitalized. Sixty percent of all prescriptions were for phenobarbital, 30 percent for chlordiazepoxide, and 6 percent for meprobamate. In addition, 79 percent of patients received night time hypnotic medication. Sixty-six percent of such prescriptions were for short-acting barbiturates, 21 percent for chloral hydrate, and 7 percent for diphenhydramine. Multiple drug use was common.

The barbiturates, while inexpensive sedative agents, are of questionable efficacy in reducing anxiety and probably produce only general CNS depression. A narrow margin of safety, liability to produce habituation, and antagonism of warfarin-type anticoagulants are other disadvantages. The benzodiazepine tranquilizers, whose antianxiety efficacy is more clearly established, do not produce general CNS depression, have a wide margin of safety, and do not interact with oral anticoagulants.

Antidepressant agents, phenothiazine tranquilizers, and propranolol were used infrequently or not at all. The risks associated with the use of these agents in patients with acute myocardial infarction are considerable and should be weighed carefully before they are administered.
European Economic Community: Blueprint for a Social Program
Authors: Coppé A.
Published: May 2005

The first phase of the European Economic Community was characterized by positive results, among them a decrease in unemployment, higher standards of living, and mobility of the labor force. However, during that period, and until the 1971 meeting at the Hague, there was no express and stated policy on employment, and no deliberate effort was made to coordinate social benefits at the level of the European Community. The famous “summit” meeting at the Hague opened perspectives of a gradual implementation of economic and monetary unification and considerably modified this situation by recognizing the necessity to simultaneously realize economic and monetary goals on the one hand and social harmonization on the other hand. It is argued that economic and monetary unification can only reach their full significance if they contribute to the realization of the goals of society. As in the past, this change does not imply the transfer to the Community level of responsibilities that are properly functions of the national or regional levels. However, the Common Market authorities will have to assume certain tasks of coordination when indicated for reasons of efficiency. Within this perspective, the paper defines priority actions of the Community: renovation of the Social Fund in accordance with Community policies and in close collaboration with the European social partners, labor and industry; the creation of a Permanent Employment Committee as a coordinating agency at Community level between the Council of Ministers, the Commission, and the social partners; the extension of the European Committees for Collective Bargaining; an active employment policy, intensified professional training and reclassification; particular efforts on behalf of migrant labor and the handicapped; an active program of industrial safety and health; and last, but not least, environmental protection.
Emotional Intelligence as a Self-Regulatory Process: A Social Cognitive View
Authors: Martinez-Pons Manuel
Published: May 2005

One hundred adults were surveyed to test a self-regulation (SR) model of emotional intelligence (EI). The social cognitive SR concepts of motivation, goal setting, strategy usage, and self-evaluation were integrated with the EI components of the tendencies to be in touch with, sort out and regulate one's moods and emotions into a self-regulation model of EI. Factor and path analyses disclosed the model's construct validity as well as its power in explaining affective state. The findings were discussed in the light of social cognitive theory, and recommendations were made for further study.
Shrimp Culture in Thailand: Environmental Impacts and Social Responses
Authors: Gronski Robert
Published: May 2005

Black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is a major aquaculture commodity among Southeast Asian producers and remains a popular food export worldwide. Food brokers in Japan and the United States purchase huge quantities of these farmed shrimp and return significant foreign exchange earnings to developing nations like Thailand, a major producer and exporter since the early 1990s. However, coastal areas cannot sustain intensive shrimp farm production and local growers often end up in debt. Can the needs of farm communities around the world be suitably met when they join into a corporate-managed and export-oriented food system? What are the sustainable benefits and eventual costs to susceptible localities? The shrimp industry in Thailand reveals the difficult terrain to cross and powerful obstacles to overcome if authentic sustainable development is to be realized.
Cognitive Style FD/I: An Important Learner Characteristic for Educational Technologists
Authors: Chinien Chris A. , Boutin France
Published: May 2005

The cognitive style field-dependent/field-independent (FD/FI) which represents the learners' typical mode of gaining, storing, processing and using information, accounts for considerable variations in achievement among learners. Accommodating this cognitive style construct in the instructional design process may narrow the differental learning gain between FD and FI learners. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on the cognitive style FD/FI and to suggest some implications for educational technologists in their efforts to address individual differences among learners during the instructional design process.
Formalizing Cognitive Grammar by Introducing Analogical-Operatorial (A-O) Mode of Language Use and its Implications for Audience Analysis
Authors: Zielinska Dorota
Published: May 2005

Formalization of cognitive grammar depends in an important way on modeling the process of assessing similarity. This article points out that such formalization is difficult to achieve within the present formulation [1] of the grammar and introduces a modification that will allow modeling the process of similarity. Next, it is suggested that the mechanism of assessing similarity in the modified analogical-operatorial version of cognitive grammar be that of analogical modeling presented in Skousen [2]. Finally, it indicates some consequences of the proposition for the practice of communication. The modification, the analogical-operatorial mode of language use, allows linguistic units, in addition to their function of representing the semantic meaning of these units, to serve as operators differentiating among semantic or other conceptual structures. This introduces inhomogeneity to the content purported with linguistic units and leads to preserving linguistic compositionality understood in a new sense. It also allows one to treat the pragmatic meaning in the same way as the semantic one, and accounts for a compact use of linguistic units. Using linguistic units to differentiate allows one to convey information not contained in the encoded meaning of these structures. This can be utilized to communicate more efficiently but also poses the danger of purporting unwanted meaning.
Mothers Now Childless: Survival after the Death of an Only Child
Authors: Talbot Kay
Published: May 2005

Prior research has highlighted the search for meaning and its impact on personal growth following the death of a child [1–3]. This study, however, is the first to address the dual loss of a child and of the role of parent. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were used to understand the life-world of eighty mothers whose only child (aged 3 to 21) died from accident or illness five or more years previously. The data produced descriptions of the qualitative difference between remaining in a state of perpetual bereavement and surviving to live life “alive” again. The findings suggest that motherhood becomes an integral part of the self and in order to survive this dual loss, it is necessary not to relinquish this construct. Rather, it is important to find meaningful ways to continue “mothering” as part of a new, more integrated identity which acknowledges the child's death but also preserves the child's memory and honors the woman's past life as a mother.
Challengerthrough the Eyes of Feyerabend
Authors: Dombrowski Paul M.
Published: May 2005

Paul Feyerabend elucidated the role of prior adherence to scientific theory in shaping subsequent perceptions of data. Thus one's theory choice shapes data, rather than data shaping theory, as is traditionally held. Feyerabend's philosophy also downplays the role of raw data, emphasizing instead debate among competing theories. This iconoclastic philosophy yields important new insights into the Challenger disaster, insights consonant with yet distinct from those of social constructionism. We learn from it the salience of meaning rather than raw data; the powerful role of prior conceptualizations in shaping the data of experience; and the surprising need for debate and pluralism for the wholesome pursuit of science and technology.
Technology-Based Distance Learning: Present and Future Directions in Business and Education
Authors: Miller Charles D. , Clouse R. Wilburn
Published: May 2005

This article reports on the differences and similarities between education and business related to Technology-Based Distance Learning. The research uses a multi-case quantitative research design and ethnography analysis. Areas investigated include: organizational infrastructure, cost effectiveness, curriculum methods, policy formulation, faculty and management acceptance, program assessments, and future directions for technology. The article emphasizes “just in time learning” and development of world wide learning environments for the twenty-first century.
Writing Medical Records
Authors: Pagano Michael P. , Mair David
Published: May 2005

A study was undertaken both to evaluate how medical students are taught to write patient records and to examine the writing done by doctors. Typical medical records, written by medical doctors, were also evaluated. A single questionnaire was sent to eighty-four medical school professors, twenty law school faculty, and five practicing attorneys. The questionnaire asked how medical records were used and what the legal implications were in authoring a patient record. The medical professionals were also asked how their schools taught medical writing. The questionnaire pointed out that most medical schools teach less than ten hours of medical writing in their curricula and that patient records are not written with an understanding of the various audiences, purposes, and uses for medical documents. Two radiology reports are discussed in terms of their clarity and usefulness for medical and extra-medical readers. The study concludes that medical students should be taught a composing process so that they will understand the audience, purpose, and use for the patient records they write.
Learning Processes in Physician Education: Integrating Psyche and Soma
Authors: Webster Thomas G.
Published: May 2005

There was a wide range of difference in the way fifty-five third-year medical students wrote about a hypothetical medical patient with abdominal complaints and mild schizophrenic traits. The written exercise served as a projective test. Twenty-five wrote from a singularly psychological orientation; eighteen mentioned possible somatic disease in terms of dichotomy, psychic vs. somatic; twelve wrote in terms that allowed for the possible coexistence of psychic and somatic diseases. In each of these groups there were a few who demonstrated a relatively extreme attitude. The latter tend to represent a type of learning problem involving compartmentalized thinking. The three such students who dichotomized also demonstrated a tendency for strong ambivalence, vigorous likes and dislikes.

One of the students who made a strong dichotomy between psyche and soma is the subject of a more intensive study of his learning processes. Hypotheses are suggested to explain how the physician learns to regard the “whole man” in his practice of medicine. An integration of psyche and soma must pervade the medical curriculum to enhance professional development. The development of a well-integrated image of the whole man is an emotional as well as an intellectual learning task, especially if “the whole man” orientation is to take deep root in the physician and in his everyday practice of medicine.
Stress and Grief of a Perinatal Loss: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods
Authors: Thomas Volker , Striegel Phil
Published: May 2005

Based on family stress theory, this study examined the question of how parents grieve the loss of a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, we interviewed twenty-six couples two weeks after a perinatal loss. The couples filled out questionnaires measuring individual variables including bereavement, depression and stress, and couple variables including cohesion, adaptability, communication, satisfaction, and partner support. Then they participated in a three-hour semi-structured interview. Ethnographic content analysis revealed twelve themes closely related to the resources, the meaning of the stressful event, and the coping strategies of Hill's ABC-X stress model. The quantitative analysis of the individual and couple variables supported the qualitative findings in that most couples had excellent coping strategies derived from within the couple relationship.
Somatic Treatment of Catatonia
Authors: Hawkins John M. , Archer Katharine J. , Strakowski Stephen M. , Keck Paul E.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The authors reviewed the recent literature regarding the treatment of catatonia as a syndrome of multiple etiologies. Given the historical and clinical association of catatonia with schizophrenia, the authors' examined the assumption that the first-line treatment of catatonia is antipsychotic medication.

Methods:

Articles published between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1994 were located using the Paperchase® medical literature search system. Additionally, references from those identified articles were examined for possible inclusion in this review. To be included in this review, articles had to be written in English and report specific symptoms of catatonia to determine, retrospectively, if DSM-IV criteria for catatonia were met.

Results:

Seventy publications met inclusion criteria and reported on a total of 178 patients and included 270 separate treatment episodes. Most of the articles were case-reports, although a few case-series were identified. Multiple causes of catatonia were identified in these reports. The most commonly reported treatment for catatonia was with benzodiazepines which were effective in 70 percent of the cases, with lorazepam demonstrating the highest frequency of use and a 79 percent complete response rate. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was also efficacious (85%) and was more likely to provide a positive outcome in cases of malignant catatonia. Antipsychotics demonstrated poor efficacy.

Conclusions:

Catatonia is a nonspecific syndrome with multiple etiologies. Treatment of catatonia should be based on the underlying cause when it is identifiable. Lorazepam appears to offer a safe, effective first-line treatment of catatonia. ECT should be considered when rapid resolution is necessary (e.g., malignant catatonia) or when an initial lorazepam trial fails.
Attitudes toward Suicide in Patients with HIV/AIDS
Authors: Domino George , Shen Di
Published: May 2005

This study investigated the attitudes toward suicide of HIV positive patients, a population at substantial risk for suicide. Such attitudes have not been studied, and it is quite possible that the depression and stress associated with HIV may be mediated by such attitudes. The Suicide Opinion Questionnaire, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Hopelessness Scale, and a demographic questionnaire were administered to three male samples ( n = 36 each). The first sample consisted of HIV positive gay men, with the diagnosis of AIDS or AIDS related complex (ARC). The second sample consisted of HIV negative gay men who had no symptoms for AIDS or ARC. The third sample consisted of thirty-six heterosexual males in good physical health with no evidence of AIDS, ARC, or other major medical conditions. The three samples were matched on age, ethnicity, education, and reported annual income. The three samples differed significantly on both depression and hopelessness, with HIV positive scoring highest, HIV negative scoring intermediate, and heterosexual scoring lowest. Depression correlated significantly with scores on the SOQ mental illness and cry for help scales for both HIV groups, but not for the heterosexual group. Hopelessness scores correlated significantly with the SOQ mental illness scale for the HIV negative and heterosexual groups, but not for the HIV positive group. Significant differences in attitude toward suicide between HIV positive and the other two samples were obtained on four of the SOQ scales. No significant differences were obtained between HIV negative and heterosexual respondents. These results suggest that as the HIV/AIDS entity progresses, attitudes toward suicide are altered in order to cope with the stress and to maintain cognitive balance.
New Points of Production: Homework and Shoemaking in Asia
Authors: Markkanen Pia , Levenstein Charles
Published: May 2005

Globalization—and the manner in which it has been governed during the last decade—has harmed various public policy infrastructures of developing nations, but especially those in health, social, and environmental sectors. The poorest population suffers the most severe consequences, as production takes place in the “informal” economy and in homes. Work safety and health in the informal economy has not gained the attention it warrants and requires, considering that this “sector” constitutes the majority of the world's labor force. The purpose of this article is twofold: (i) to describe the working environment in home-based shoemaking—based on Indonesian and Philippines experience by Markkanen [1]; and (ii) to examine the research framework proposed by Levenstein and Tuminaro in The Political Economy of Occupational Disease [2] and further developed in Wooding and Levenstein, The Point of Production, 1999 [3]. The field investigation by Markkanen employed this approach to explore how hazardous working conditions and inadequate health protection are the product of complex, converging relationships among diverse “actors” or agents at international, national, community, and shoe industry levels.
Religion and Medicine IV: Religion, Physical Health, and Clinical Implications
Authors: Koenig Harold G.
Published: May 2005

In the fourth and final article of this religion and medicine series, I summarize the results of a comprehensive and systematic review of research examining religion's relationship to physical health and mortality. This review focuses on pain and disability, cardiovascular disease, immune and neuroendocrine function, susceptibility to infection, cancer, and overall mortality. I also explore what these research findings mean for medical practice and suggest patient-centered applications that are sensitive to ethical concerns.
Balancing between Contradictions: The Meaning of Interaction with People Suffering from Dementia and “Behavioral Disturbances”
Authors: Graneheim Ulla H. , Isaksson Ulf , Ljung Inga-Maj Persson , Jansson Lilian
Published: May 2005

Interacting with people who suffer from dementia poses a challenge for care providers, and the presence of behavioral disturbances adds a further complication. Our article is based on the assumption that behavioral disturbances are meaningful expressions of experiences. Six narrative interviews were conducted with care providers with the aim of illuminating the meaning of interaction with people suffering from dementia and behavioral disturbances. The interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed into text, and interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic methodology. The findings indicate that interacting with people with dementia and behavioral disturbances, as narrated by care providers, means balancing between contradictions concerning meeting the person in my versus her/his world, feeling powerless versus capable, and feeling rejected versus accepted. Interaction involves being at various positions along these continua at different points in time. Furthermore, it means facing ethical dilemmas concerning doing good for the individual or the collective. This is interpreted as a dialectic process and is reflected on in light of Hegel's reasoning about the struggle between the master and the slave.
An Evaluation of a Biofeedback Smoking Education Program
Authors: Young Steven R. , Chen Ted T. L. , Cernada George P.
Published: May 2005

This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a biofeedback smoking education program in influencing students' smoking behavior and attitudes. It included a total of 486 secondary students in suburban Boston area, 293 in experimental group and 193 in control group. The biofeedback package included a cardiotach, digital thermometer, tremor tester, and an Ecolyzer. The educational program lasted six days in each school. The questionnaire included variables taken from Horn's Smoking Model and the Health Belief Model. The completion rate for both pre-test and post-test was 84.4 per cent for experimental group and 76.9 per cent for control group. The results showed that the experimental program was effective in bringing about a significant change in smoking behavior and belief variables of health consequences of smoking, personal relevance, perceived severity, capability for cessation, and perceived salience. Discussion was made regarding the efficacy of the underlying theory of the biofeedback method as an educational aid in health education and as an innovative smoking education initiative.
Factors in the Adoption and Use of an Electronic Communication System for MBA Students
Authors: Posner Barry Z. , Danielson Ronald L. , Schmidt-Posner Jackie
Published: May 2005

An electronic communication system, geared to the needs of working professionals enrolled in an MBA program, was instituted and studied over a two-year period. Despite a variety of support mechanisms, the system was largely underutilized. Factors affecting adoption and use are discussed, along with the critical importance of faculty involvement.
The Industrial Safety Professionals: A Comparative Analysis from World War I until the 1980S
Authors: Dwyer Tom
Published: May 2005

The birth of industrial society produced demand for the services of professionals specialized in matters related to industrial safety. Three professions—safety engineering, industrial medicine, and ergonomics—are examined. These professions are observed to either submit to single sets of demands, to integrate contradictory demands, or to experience scission. Until the late 1960s their growth appears to have been relatively peaceful and uncontroversial. From this period onward, controversy breaks out over questions related to industrial safety, and professions and government administrations grow. Increasingly, the traditional approach of safety professionals is called into question, and they adopt new orientations. These changes are mapped through the examination of data drawn principally from the United States, France, Great Britain, and to a lesser extent Brazil. The traditional standards approach competes with cost-benefit analysis and with systemic safety for influence; in addition, an emergent approach that analyzes accident causes in terms of social relations of work is detected. From Bhopal to Chernobyl, new technologies subject civilian populations to risks of catastrophic accidents, and the action of safety professionals comes under the spotlight. The analysis constructed permits new understandings of the past and the future of these professions.
Technical Assistance: Providing Grassroots Groups Access to Scientific and Technical Information
Authors: Berney Barbara
Published: May 2005

Scientific and technical information is an essential resource in toxics disputes. An examination of the practice of 24 technical assistance (TA) providers supports the conclusion that access to this resource is critical for grassroots environmental struggles and recognized as such by community activists and by TA providers. TA providers create and enhance access to scientific and technical information in a process which includes dialogue and the exchange and refinement of information gathered by both the community and by the TA provider. In this interactive process, informational and other needs are defined and redefined over time in relation to the strategic need to mobilize the community. Drawing on and incorporating community experience and expertise, TA providers help citizens to identify and document hazards and use scientific explanations of problems to make them public and actionable. They transfer skills in reading, interpreting, generating, and using information. Through this process, they facilitate learning by and building the capacity of citizen activists as organic experts and enhance their sense of agency and willingness to make demands on government and industry. Having learned to find and manipulate technical information, community activists are able to recast their experience in technical terms which are meaningful to official decision-makers.
Book Review: What's Philosophy Got to Do with it? A Review of Three Books That Use Philosophical Perspectives to Analyze Information Technologies
Authors: Scheckler Rebecca K.
Published: May 2005

This review article takes a critical look at three books, Watch IT: The Risks and Promises of InformationTechnologies for Education by Nicholas C. Burbules and Thomas A. Callister, Jr. (2000), Philosophical Tools for Technological Culture: Putting Pragmatism to Work by Larry A. Hickman (2001), and On the Internet by Hubert L. Dreyfus (2001), that discuss the philosophy of Instructional Technology (IT) with the intent of gauging their usefulness to IT researchers, educators, and practitioners. I first describe each book individually, I then make a case for paying attention to the philosophy of IT, and lastly I compare and contrast the three books. I conclude that those involved with IT will be motivated to reflect on and critically analyze their field as a result of reading these three books, a useful though demanding exercise.
Consequences of Adolescent Drug Use and Personality Factors on Adult Drug Use
Authors: Guy Sybille M. , Smith Gene M. , Bentler P. M.
Published: May 2005

This study examined the stability of adolescent drug use into young adulthood and explored the possible influence of personality on adolescent and adult drug use. Participants in this longitudinal study ( N = 640) completed questionnaires which assessed multiple indicators for latent constructs of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and hard drugs, and also for the personality constructs of Socialization. In addition, the effects of obedience and extraversion were examined. Results showed that a general drug use factor in adolescence significantly predicted young adult drug use. A particular effect of adolescent obedience on adult drug use was noted. Within adolescence, obedience, extraversion, and the construct of Socialization were significant predictors of drug use. Early onset of smoking predicted adolescent drug use. The implications of these findings for early drug use education and intervention are discussed. Additional analysis explored the possibility of treating obedience as another indicator of Socialization. This model could not provide as good a fit as the original model. The measure of obedience acted as a better predictor of drug use than an overall factor of Socialization. Gender differences are discussed.
Globalization and International Trade in the Twenty-First Century: Opportunities for and Threats to the Health Sector in the South
Authors: Baris Enis , McLeod Kari
Published: May 2005

Globalization and international trade are important forces at the turn of the century. This article explores how freer international trade will affect developing countries that are net importers of health care goods and services. Four commodities are used as special cases for discussion: pharmaceuticals, health care technologies, pesticides, and tobacco and its related products. The authors discuss the role of international specialized agencies, such as the World Trade Organization, World Health Organization, and World Bank, that are concerned with international trade and its health and health care consequences, and argue that closer collaboration is required among these agencies if the negative effects of trade liberalization on developing countries are to be mitigated. The authors pose a number of research questions that could help in developing proactive policies for the South on the trade of goods and services with harmful effects on health as well as those with potential health and economic benefits.
Promotion of Health through Consumer Protection: Nigeria
Authors: Demehin Prince Ade Olowo
Published: May 2005

This paper investigates the attitudes of Nigerian health consumers towards modern health care facilities. It examines both the traditional beliefs and customs which stand in the way of accepting modern health care, and the modern health care facilities themselves which discourage patients through their red tape, lack of interpersonal communication and mass production atmosphere. The paper attempts to explain the communication gap between patients and modern medical practitioners in Nigeria by examining the historical development of medical science in the country. It concludes that there is no continuity between the traditional and modern practitioners and that modern health care is totally derived from the Western world without consideration for the social and cultural background of the population. Special training in interpersonal relationship of all medical and paramedical personnel including the observation of psychological methods used by the traditional healers, as well as “a patient's bill of right” aimed at promoting health consumer awareness of the part he has to play in the proper delivery of health care are proposed.
The Role of Examples in the Teaching of Programming Languages
Authors: Segal Judith , Ahmad Khurshid
Published: May 2005

A common assumption made by teachers of programming languages, especially those teaching adults, is that their primary (core) teaching material consists of text, by which we mean rules, instructions, explanations, and discussions. Worked examples are seen as secondary, serving merely to illustrate the core material. We present evidence to demonstrate that young adult students do not share this assumption. Given instruction in the form of demonstrably clear text and worked examples, they do not treat the text as the primary source of information, but rather seem to focus on the worked examples. Worked examples may be seen as being the primary source of learning material even when they are not fully understood, but bear some superficial similarity to the task in hand.
Recurrent Perinatal Loss: A Case Study
Authors: Kavanaugh Karen , Robertson Pamela A.
Published: May 2005

To date, investigators have not demonstrated a clear relationship between a parent's history of prior perinatal losses and intensity of grief response following a subsequent perinatal loss. Examining this relationship for low-income, African-American parents is important because they are a vulnerable population due to the high incidence of perinatal mortality in Blacks and their other life stressors that can impact on grief response and caring needs. The purpose of this case study was to examine the impact of recurrent perinatal loss on a low-income African-American parent. The research design for this study was case report, using interview data collected from a mother who had recently experienced her fourth perinatal loss, which occurred at twenty-five weeks of gestation. Transcripts from two open-ended interviews were analyzed. The theoretical framework used to guide analysis of this case study was Lazarus and Folkman's stress and coping theory. Results demonstrated that the prior perinatal losses did not appear as critical components of the way the mother responded to her most recent loss. Instead, perception of the care she received from healthcare providers and how that care related to her experiences with her one living child who was born at the same gestational age was an important determinant in how she responded to her loss. The results of this case study demonstrate the importance assessing a person's perception of their experience and those factors which contribute to the way they respond.
Ombudsmen, Expediters, and Hosts: Teaching Management through Telecommunications
Authors: Mills Miriam K.
Published: May 2005

This article considers the application of computer conferencing to the instruction of management. Certain organizational roles are necessary for a successful program beyond that of instructor. The computer conferencing process itself has the potential for transmitting fact and nuance and can provide an ideal mechanism for inquiry into the functional as well as an intuitive approach to management.
Workers' Health on the New “Long March”: Occupational Health in the People's Republic of China
Authors: Christiani David C.
Published: May 2005

China's drive to modernize its economy will produce new occupational health problems even as it resolves earlier ones. Well aware of this, Chinese occupational health experts are intensifying efforts to improve workers' health and establish a modern occupational health program. Occupational lung disease, occupational cancer, heavy metal poisoning, industrial chemical poisoning, and physical factor-induced diseases (noise and heat) have all been targeted for expanded research which will serve as a basis for standard setting. Hazard control efforts include engineering controls, particularly in new construction, limited use of personal protective equipment, and expansion of environmental and medical monitoring. Worker education and professional activities have been expanded. International exchanges have been initiated and will prove occupational health a promising area of scientific cooperation.
Evaluating the Instructional Efficacy of Computer-Mediated Interactive Multimedia: Comparing Three Elementary Statistics Tutorial Modules
Authors: González Gerardo M. , Birch Marc A.
Published: May 2005

This study evaluated three tutorial modules, equivalent in content but different in mode of presentation, for introducing elementary statistics concepts. In a single session, fifty-seven college students participated in one of four randomly assigned conditions: paper-and-pencil, basic computerized, computerized multimedia, or control group. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, a survey of attitudes toward math and computers, the Personal Need for Structure (PNS) scale, a basic math proficiency test, an evaluation of assigned module, and a post test statistical comprehension test. The results suggested that participant evaluations of the modules were comparably positive. Although participants in the modules performed significantly better on the statistical comprehension posttest than those in the control group, there were no significant differences between the modules. The basic computerized module took significantly less time to complete than the other modules.
The Diffusion of New Hospital Technologies in the United States
Authors: Russell Louise B.
Published: May 2005

Increases in the real resources used in hospital care have been an important cause behind rising hospital costs in the United States. Many of these resources have taken the form of new hospital technologies, and this paper begins by reviewing the trends in adoption of new hospital technologies over the years 1950–1974. The resource requirements, costs, and to the extent possible the patient benefits, of two of these technologies are then discussed in more detail: intensive care, a widespread facility with many variations, has been a major contributor to hospital costs; radiotherapy has been characterized by a succession of competing technologies.

Regulatory efforts such as certificate-of-need reviews would be more effective if they viewed hospitals as flexible collections of such technologies—with the costs and patient benefits of each to be weighed separately—rather than primarily in terms of numbers of beds. A national center to collect information on the separate technological functions of hospitals and make it available to interested groups would make a useful contribution to hospital regulation.