bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Increasing Trends in Some Cancers in Older Americans: Fact or Artifact?
Authors: Davis Devra Lee , Lilienfeld Abraham M. , Gittelsohn Alan M. , Scheckenbach Mary Ellen
Published: May 2005

In analyzing U.S. cancer mortality from 1933 to 1978, Doll and Peto speculated that recently recorded increases in mortality among those over age 64 were likely to be artifacts, reflecting deaths previously misattributed to such causes as nonspecific cancer, pneumonia, and senility and other ill-defined causes. We test this hypothesis by examining some age-specific, cause-specific mortality in persons aged 35 to 84 for the period of the 8th International Classification of Diseases A, 1968–78, which corresponds to the last 11 years of the period studied by Doll and Peto. Our analysis reveals increasing trends in mortality from lung cancer, brain cancer, and multiple myeloma in older whites and nonwhites, along with increases in several potentially miscoded causes of death from 1968 to 1978. Thus, these increasing cancers in the elderly cannot be explained solely as artifacts. Further studies of trends in site-specific cancer mortality should include age groups through at least age 85. Continued monitoring of site-specific cancer mortality patterns, particularly among the elderly, remains crucial for developing preventive strategies to reduce cancers.
The Electronic Portfolio: A Means of Preparing Leaders for Application of Technology in Education
Authors: Testerman Jane K. , Hall Harry D.
Published: May 2005

The successful application of technology in education has become one of the critical educational leadership challenges for school administrators in the United States. North Carolina leaders have increased technology requirements for teacher education graduates, certified staff members, and students in public schools. This article outlines the recommended sequence of necessary skills and applications to produce an individualized, basic document page and understand the methodology for capturing, organizing, and archiving new materials in an electronic portfolio to document successful completion of the doctoral internship in Educational Leadership. Through the use of an electronic portfolio, educational leaders enrolled in a doctoral program can extend their understanding of technology and learn applications worthwhile for personal and professional improvement.
The Next Generation of Teachers: Past Skills, Future Models
Authors: Nuccio Eugene J.
Published: May 2005

The advances of computer hardware and software during the past decade place new demands on preservice and inservice preparation of teachers. Current programs do not meet teachers needs in most states. Teachers in the next decade will need to become more learner oriented, and less teacher centered, to make effective use of these technological advances. Specifically, preservice and inservice education should focus on helping teachers to organize interactive/cooperative learning environments that make use of multi-sensory instruction delivered via computer. The integration of computer hardware and software into regular classroom instruction is more dependent upon significant modification of teacher instructional behavior than their level of sophistication with computer technology.
Investigation of a Typology of Life and Death as an Indicator of Quality of Life
Authors: Keith Pat M.
Published: May 2005

A typology of life and death was investigated in relation to employment characteristics, comparisons, work orientation, and depressive symptoms among funeral directors. Even though conceptions of life and death are a part of the same life cycle, they often have been studied separately. Four types (positivists, temporal optimists, resigned futurists, and negativists) were differentiated by social-psychological attributes rather than by employment characteristics. Implications for practice are noted.
“Your Time or Mine?” An Anthropological View of the Tragic Temporal Contradictions of Biomedical Practice
Authors: Frankenberg Ronald
Published: May 2005

The symbolic construction and use of time in health care is examined both in relation to social control of patients and to the power/powers accorded to and claimed by physicians. After reviewing classical medical sociology approaches of Zerubavel and Roth, it is suggested that an anthropological approach using concepts of disease, illness, and sickness and especially the last make it possible to produce a more adequate analysis. The cultural performance of sickness is seen in a framework of power, space, and time, and comparisons drawn between preindustrial and industrial patterns of healing (including Hahn's detailed ethnographic account of the practice of an internist in the United States). It is argued that medicine as it is at present practiced in industrial society inevitably requires health workers and especially physicians to distance themselves in time from the experience of their patients by taking the present-tense account of perceived illness (the history), which they initially share, and translating it into timeless, almost disembodied, disease. The physicians' special position in relation to time makes symbolically possible their control not only over patients' access to space and use of time but also over patients' autonomy in controlling the body and its boundaries. Finally, it is proposed that, although the contradiction arises from the theory and practice of biomedicine itself, the ability of health workers to overcome it is related to the extent to which the exercise of power within medicine reinforces (or is reinforced by) the ideology of the society in which it operates.
Gender Specific Coping Patterns in Widowed Parents with Dependent Children
Authors: Boerner Kathrin , Silverman Phyllis R.
Published: May 2005

This article looks at how the gender of the surviving parent affects the coping styles of bereaved family's with dependent children. Interview data from five father- and five mother-headed bereaved families from the MGH/Harvard Child Bereavement Study were subjected to an in-depth analysis. The findings suggest differences in parental coping patterns that seemed to be gender specific. Mothers in this sub-sample tended to adjust their own priorities to their children's needs, recognizing their children's needs for continuity in daily family life. For mothers there was more continuity between their past and their present roles. Family life was more disrupted by the death in father-headed households and fathers' efforts to establish new family routines did not always achieve their goal. Fathers, in this sub-sample, recognized the importance of continuity for their children by the second year after the death. However, they did not always make needed changes in their coping styles to meet these needs. Coping styles that fathers used seemed more parent-centered using an administrative approach to managing the household; mothers were more child-centered and had a more nurturing approach in dealing with their children.
Wernicke's Disease and Schizophrenia: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Casanova Manuel F.
Published: May 2005

Objectives:

A review of the neuropathology literature in schizophrenia suggests that some patients with this disease exhibit periventricular gliosis at postmortem examination. Several researchers have speculated that this finding is the remnant of either a prior viral infection or a gestational intraventricular hemorrhage. The present article uses a case report to hypothesize and discuss an alternate possibility to the putative gliosis, namely Wernicke's disease.

Method:

Based on the pathological findings of our patient and a review of the literature, the author summarizes several reasons why Wernicke's disease may occur, and still be unnoticed, in some schizophrenic patients.

Results:

Inefficient self-care and homelessness predisposes some patients with schizophrenia to poor dietary habits and malnutrition. Similarly, the high prevalence of concurrent alcoholism in patients with schizophrenia may propitiate thiamine deficiency. The resulting brain insult may be compounded by disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism which may be peculiar to the schizophrenic process itself, or acquired, as in coincidental diabetes.

Conclusions:

Since symptoms accrued to Wernicke's may often be subtle and obscured by other schizophreniform manifestations, clinicians should lower their threshold for suspecting this potentially fatal complication. The diagnostic possibility of Wernicke's should be especially entertained in schizophrenic patients who are alcoholics and/or diabetics.
The Subsequent Pregnancy after Stillbirth: Anticipatory Parenthood in the Face of Uncertainty
Authors: Phipps Sean
Published: May 2005

Interviews were conducted with fifteen couples who had experienced a previous neonatal death and a subsequent successful pregnancy. Discussions focused on the stresses that were unique to the subsequent pregnancy, and parental adaptation to them. Results show that parents experienced markedly increased anxiety that was difficult for them to manage. Parental coping involved vigilant exploration of possible negative outcomes, and a withdrawal from outward signs of investment in the pregnancy. This did not appear to impair adaptation to parenthood, however, although anxiety regarding the child's health continued for several months after delivery. Implications of these findings for clinicians are discussed.
Simulation of Near-Death and out-of-Body Experiences under Hypnosis
Authors: Van Quekelberghe Renaud , Göbel Peter , Hertweck Eleonore
Published: May 2005

In this article we report on an OBE and NDE-simulation study carried out with psychology students ( n = 21). In addition to deep relaxation and special forms of hypnotic induction, a number of supplementary techniques were introduced. Effects of the simulation were examined by means of a questionnaire developed especially for the simulation experiment. Modifications and improvements were tested on several subjects who scored high on our questionnaires, and qualitative analysis were performed. Our observations and data are in accordance with findings from NDE and OBE research.
The Regional Variation of Murder and Suicide in Poland
Authors: Lester David , Krysinska Karolina E.
Published: May 2005

A study of the 16 Polish counties in 1998 indicated that unemployment, divorce rates, and between-county migration were strong correlates of the county murder and suicide rates. In addition, murder rates were predicted by domestic integration (marriage and birth rates).
Iatrogenic Disease: An Epidemiologic Perspective
Authors: Sartwell P. E.
Published: May 2005

Among the most serious problems associated with the increasing number of drugs and procedures used in contemporary medical practice is the identification of therapy-associated diseases. This overview of iatrogenic conditions illustrates some adverse reactions produced by chemical, physical, and infectious agents, with emphasis on reactions that were difficult to detect. The advantages and limitations of several procedures for identifying and quantifying iatrogenic conditions are considered from an epidemiologic perspective.
Exploring Students' Perceptions of the Web as an Information Source
Authors: Lunsford Dale L.
Published: May 2005

This article explores undergraduate students' perceptions of the accuracy, relevance, and currency of information presented on the World Wide Web (Web). In this study, we asked our subjects to rank various information sources in terms of perceived accuracy, relevance, and currency. The information sources studied include the Web, business magazines, scholarly journals, general-interest magazines, and books. Our findings indicate that undergraduate students do not perceive the Web to be any less accurate as an information source than other common information sources. In fact, we find that our subjects perceive the Web to be more accurate than several other information sources. Our subjects ranked business magazines as the source of the most relevant information. Our subjects considered newspapers and the Web as being equal in terms of currency. We discuss implications of these findings including the need to educate Web users on the differences in the Web vis-a-vis other information sources.
Race, Gender, and the Retirement Decisions of People Ages 60 to 80: Prospects for Age Integration in Employment
Authors: McNamara Tay K. , Williamson John B.
Published: May 2005

Demographic projections have prompted concerns about the potential economic burden of an aging population. This article, drawing on the 1998 Health and Retirement Study, explores ways in which race, gender, and age moderate the effects of various factors on labor force participation among people ages 60 to 80. Key findings center on health, education, and non-wage income. First, the effect of low non-wage income is weaker at older ages due to higher levels of functional disability. Second, the effect of low education is stronger for women, who perceive their chances of finding employment as low. Third, the effect of health is weaker for blacks, as they are less likely to find steady employment regardless of health. Policy implications: Employer flexibility in number of hours worked might make sense for workers close to retirement age, while job search and training programs might be preferable for workers past the typical retirement age.
Bereaved Parents and Support Group Participation
Authors: Schwab Reiko
Published: May 2005

The study explored reasons why some bereaved parents participate in a self-help/support group while others do not. Data about forty-three support group participants and forty-two nonparticipants and their deceased children were obtained through questionnaires and telephone interviews. Over 76 percent of nonparticipants were found to have lost their child after a period of anticipatory grief while 80 percent of participants lost their child suddenly or without adequate forewarning. Having adequate support in their immediate environment was the reason stated by most for not joining a group. The majority of group participants mentioned that they needed a place to share grief with other bereaved parents even though their family and friends were supportive. It appears that bereaved parents are more likely to join a support group when they experience a particularly traumatic loss and do not find others who have suffered a similar loss in their usual social network.
The Stream of Consciousness: XXVIII. Does Consciousness Exist? (First Part)
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

I address W. James's intentions in “Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?” (DCE), and raise critical questions about the direction his theory takes after The Principles of Psychology. My article starts with consideration of a few of James's later statements on what he was trying to do in DCE, and then I closely examine his article for what it tells us concerning his new conception of the consciousness stream. James holds it to be constituted of “pure experiences” that are neither mental nor physical but that may be taken to be either mental or physical. An essential feature of his new conception is one's direct acquaintance with one's experiences. James treats consciousness, in this basic sense, as a crucial part of how one knows anything one does know. For example, knowledge of the sun has a basis in direct acquaintance with certain experiences; one takes some of one's experiences to be a certain physical object, the sun itself, because of their occurrence in a context consisting of certain other experiences that, too, are objects of inner awareness.
The So-Called “Inappropriate” Psychiatric Consultation Request on a Medical or Surgical Ward
Authors: Kucharski Anastasia , Groves James E.
Published: May 2005

Seven cases of psychiatric consultations on medical and surgical wards are reviewed to show how intrapsychic conflicts in the staff may make the consultation request appear inappropriate. On deeper examination, such requests may signify staff dysfunction caused by arousal of conflictual feelings about the behavior or illness of the patient. Mutilated, mute patients appear to arouse fear of aggression in their caregivers, who in turn reject such patients, see them as alien and violent, and become illogical in their management. Patients who publicly display sexual behaviors appear to arouse shame over exhibitionism, voyeurism, and masturbation; their caregivers become too passive to effect common-sense measures appropriate to the situation. Very sick and dying patients and ungrateful, demanding patients can arouse anger and despair. Their caregivers may become depressed about failure, feeling helpless and out of control; using projection, they can see such patients as evil or suicidal, and may eventually turn against themselves. The psychiatric consultant, recognizing the conflicts that make the requests seem inappropriate, seeks to substitute higher-level cognitive operations and coping behaviors in the staff (distancing, rationalization, intellectualization, undoing, and altruism) for distortion, projection, over-identification, reaction formation, and turning against the self.
Treatment Outcome of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome in a Patient with Schizophrenia: Case Report
Authors: Boufidis Stavros , Kosmidis Mary H. , Bozikas Vasilis P. , Daskalopoulou-Vlahoyianni EFI , Pitsavas Stergios , Karavatos Athanasios
Published: May 2005

A case of a patient with comorbid schizophrenia and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) who was treated with nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) is presented. This treatment led to significant improvement of schizophrenic and depressive symptoms, with only a partial, albeit not trivial, effect on his cognitive functioning. These encouraging results of treatment of OSAS in schizophrenia with nCPAP suggest the need for further and more systematic investigation of sleep and its disorders in psychotic patients.
Sedentism, Storage, and the Intensification of Small Seeds: Prehistoric Developments in Owens Valley, California
Authors: Eerkens Jelmer W.
Published: May 2005

Many archaeological models describe the development of restricted residential mobility, or sedentism, in prehistoric settings. Sedentism is often part of a suite of cultural changes, often accompanied by seed intensification, storage, population increase, environmental degradation, establishment of social hierarchy, and agriculture. Most models describe these changes as a series of events, with one precipitating the next. As a result, sedentism is interpreted as either a direct byproduct or a causative trigger of other societal changes. Results of excavations at the village site of Sunga'va (CA-INY-3806) are used to examine the timing of sedentism in relation to the development of storage and seed intensification in the Owens Valley of California. The site, which has evidence for two separate occupations from a period that has heretofore not been the subject of intensive research, suggests that sedentism developed at the same time or just before storage and some 800 years before seed intensification. Data do not support social models, such as the activity of aggrandizers or the stabilization of longdistance exchange networks, in these developments.
The Importance of Good Communication Skills on “IS” Career Paths
Authors: Simkin Mark G.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the question “Are the same good writing and speaking skills required in general management positions also important in computer jobs?” The first part of the article examines the historical marriage between “communicating” and “computing,” while the second part examines what roles, if any, good communication skills play in advancing IS career paths. Finally, the third part describes an empirical survey to test the hypothesis that communication skills are important to computer professionals. The results of the survey strongly support the hypothesis.
Psychiatric Consultations in Medical Outpatients with Abdominal Pain: Patient and Physician Effects
Authors: Meeuwesen Ludwien , Huyse Frits J. , Meiland Franka J. M. , Koopmans Gerrit T. , Donker Ab J. M.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of a psychiatric consultation intervention in terms of changes in 1) the patients' psychological symptoms, and 2) satisfaction of general practitioners (GPs) concerning their cooperation with the internists.

Method:

In a randomized controlled design, the effect of a psychiatric consultation intervention in medical outpatients with abdominal pain ( n = 106) has been assessed. The goal of the intervention was 1) a holistic approach toward the patients' symptoms, and 2) the improvement of the cooperation between primary and secondary medical health services. The intervention was designed at the health care provider level; the psychiatrist did not see or examine the patient. The 106 patients were subdivided in an index group ( N = 49) and a control group ( N = 57). The major outcome measures were the psychological status of the patient and degree of satisfaction of the GPs about the cooperation with the medical specialists.

Results:

At six months follow-up, there was a significantly greater decline in depressive symptoms assessed by SCL-90 in the patient index group compared with the control group. The GPs of the index group were significantly more satisfied with the cooperation and communication with the internists compared with the control group.

Conclusions:

An experimental psychiatric consultation intervention did effect the patients' well-being to a certain degree, and especially the GPs were affected in terms of satisfaction. The relevance of improving the communication between health care providers in the management of somatizing patients is discussed.
The Future of the Welfare State: Crisis Myths and Crisis Realities
Authors: Castles Francis G.
Published: May 2005

Accounts of the future of the welfare state are often presented in crisis terms. Some commentators identify globalization as a force that has already led to a major retreat by the state and is likely to lead to further downsizing of the public sector. Others see the future burden of an aging population as creating huge public expenditure pressures that can be countered only by increased parsimony in most areas of spending. Although both crisis scenarios contain elements of truth, analysis of recent public expenditure trends shows that both are substantially exaggerated as general representations of likely developments over the next two or three decades. However, unnoticed by most commentators, a real, longer-term crisis is beginning to make itself felt. This crisis arises, in part, from the demographic impact of a cultural transformation in the labor market, in progress for several decades. Extreme scenarios of possible consequences over the next 50 to 100 years include population implosion, mass migration, increasingly dangerous eruptions of right-wing populism, and, possibly, territorial conflict between developed and underdeveloped nations. This is not a crisis of the welfare state but rather a crisis for which the welfare state may be an essential part of the answer. The only way Western societies can lessen the future impact of the ongoing cultural transformation of the labor market is through the redesign of welfare state institutions to confront these new challenges.
Hold on a Minute Here: What Happened to Critical Thinking in the Information Age?
Authors: Brouwer Peter
Published: May 2005

Information technology has come to occupy a central place in higher education. Claims for increased faculty productivity and improved teaching and learning through information technology can be widely found. However, too often these claims contain faulty assumptions or are not backed with sound empirical evidence. While it is evident that there are reasons to be optimistic that increased use of educational technology may bring about gains in productivity and improvements in pedagogy, there are also grounds for concern. So with the emergence of this technology comes the need to reexamine our traditional conception of computer literacy as well as to extend our approaches to critical thinking instruction so that questions about technology are included. This article will consider a theoretical framework for understanding the impact of the computer, and as such recognize the computer as cultural artifact: a tool that both amplifies and reduces aspects of human experience. Using this framework, two cases will be examined: electronic mail and the Internet (World Wide Web). Finally, an expanded conception of computer literacy, one that builds upon this analysis, will be discussed.
The Effectiveness of Two Case Study Versions: Printed versus Computer-Assisted Instruction
Authors: Jobst Jack W. , McNinch Terance L.
Published: May 2005

Two groups of university students, approximately half with work experience, read one of two versions of the same case study narrative—a traditional, printed version or a computer version. Afterwards, both groups selected from a list of paragraphs to compose a memorandum needed to resolve the conflict in the case, and, two days later, completed a questionnaire to determine retention of the narrative. The researchers hypothesized that the subjects using the computer version would perform better and rate their version as more realistic because of this version's visuals and decision paths. The subjects using the computer version did perform somewhat better at selecting the correct final memo paragraph, but overall, the results did not show either method to be superior. The subject's previous off-campus work experience, however, did produce an impact on both the results and acceptability of the case method.
The Development of a Model for the Design of Motivational Adult Instruction in Higher Education
Authors: Bohlin Roy M. , Milheim William D. , Viechnicki Karen J.
Published: May 2005

This article provides educators and instructional designers with a prescriptive model for the instructional motivation of adults. Adult learning theory has been integrated with John Keller's instructional motivation model to develop two motivational needs-assessment instruments. Results of research eliciting adults' perceptions of their motivational needs were analyzed. These results show that specific instructional strategies are perceived to be important for the motivation of adult learners. A prescriptive model for the instructional motivation of adult learners is presented. This model provides an important step in the integration of adult learning theory into the design of motivational instruction for adult learners.
Psychological Dilemmas of Medical Progress
Authors: Abram Harry S.
Published: May 2005

The psychological dilemmas created by medical progress are ambiguous and complex. In the selection of patients for chronic hemodialysis there is little evidence that psychiatric screening prevents behavioral disturbances associated with the rigors of dialysis; and in view of the ethical objections to selecting one patient over another for life-saving procedures, psychiatric contraindications are limited and should not be confused with value judgments to rationalize rejection of some patients. With living unrelated and related donors for organ transplants the basic psychological issue relates to whether the donation is based on altruism or neuroticism. The increased use of artificial and transplanted organs also raises questions related to quest for immortality and the role of the psychiatrist in working with the patient caught in the bind of the “too long” life.
Symmetry and Antisymmetry in Maori Rafter Designs
Authors: Donnay J. D. H. , Donnay Gabrielle
Published: May 2005

The Maori settled in New Zealand in the eighth or ninth centuries A.D.; the Europeans, many centuries later. Maori meeting houses are very ornate: besides carved wood figures, painted black-red-white designs embellish rafters and structural posts. These designs stand out as highly sophisticated examples of the twenty-four known band groups of 2-dimensional 1-translational symmetry G21 and antisymmetry (G21)′ The two independent symmetry elements, periodically repeated by lattice p or antilattice p′, are any two of the following: mirror m and antimirror m′, both either transverse or longitudinal; glide plane a or antiglide plane a′, longitudinal only; and two-fold rotation axis 2 or anti-axis 2′. Pseudosymmetry is common and obviously intentional: desymmetrization is achieved by added motifs, inserted along the edges of the band, at cell boundaries or inside the main design, which possess their own symmetries, always lower than that of the original design. The resulting symmetry of the whole is the symmetry common to the superposed patterns. Desymmetrization is also obtained by topological deformations of the design or deviations from the color scheme imposed by antisymmetry. Such irregularities led to Herbert Williams' hypothesis that the artist worked in two stages: tracing the outline and working in the color [1]. This conjecture finds support in group theory: the geometrical symmetry group involving no change of color (stage 1) is turned into an antisymmetry group (stage 2), as red goes to black and black goes to red under antisymmetry operations. The international symmetry notation of crystallographers is shown to be well suited to describe the Maori designs.
Effects of Post-Hypnotic Suggestions, Academic Incentives and Compliance to Authority on Students' Efforts to Remember
Authors: Dasgupta Ananta M. , Fisher Tammy J. , Hines Kriston A. , Larson Kimberly K.
Published: May 2005

Fifty volunteer participants were exposed to three experimental conditions. One group was given post-hypnotic suggestions urging them to remember certain types of material to be presented later. The second group was offered academic incentives through extra-credit bonus points. The third group was given no suggestions or incentives but was simply told to remember the materials for experimental purposes. Three types of materials were used: an article, a videotape, and an audiotape. Results indicated that compliance to authority, either hypnotist or teacher, does not supersede the students' own spontaneous efforts to remember whenever the material has no special significance to the students' own needs. Nevertheless, audio materials were harder to remember than multi-modal materials such as reading or audiovisual materials. Confabulations were randomly present in all types of reconstructed memory regardless of experimental conditions and material types.
The Patient-Doctor Relationship and Metabolic Control in Patients with Type 1 (Insulin-Dependent) Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Viinamäki Heimo , Niskanen Leo , Korhonen Timo , Tähkä Veikko
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Our hypothesis was that patient-doctor relationship experienced positively by the patient is associated with adequate compliance behavior and thus to the long-term metabolic control of diabetes.

Method:

Cross-sectional study of 100 consecutive adult patients with Type 1 diabetes treated in a diabetes out-patient department. From a questionnaire, four scores (direct estimate of physician, satisfaction with the place of treatment, self-esteem score, security with the patient-doctor relationship) determining the patient-doctor relationship were formed. In score 3 (self-esteem score) the impact of the patient-doctor relationship to the patients' self-esteem was indirectly estimated. The anonymous data taken from diabetes register including information about treatment of diabetes, metabolic control and end-organ complications were returned together with the questionnaire. On the basis of GHbA1c diabetic patients were divided into two groups: with adequate metabolic control (GHbA1c ⩽ 8.0%) or with poor/moderate control (GHbA1c > 8.0%).

Results:

In univariate analyses the score 3 associated with metabolic control ( p < 0.001). In logistic regression analyses the nephropathy ( t = 2.80, p < 0.05) and score 3 ( t = 3.98, p < 0.001) were associated with metabolic control.

Conclusion:

Patient's positively-experienced patient-doctor relationship was associated with good metabolic control of diabetes.
Long-Term Glue Sniffing: Report of Six Cases
Authors: Shu Li-Ren , Tsai Shih-Jen
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Glue is cheap and readily available, and is frequently misused, especially by adolescents. Long-term effects of regular use, in terms of the psychiatric symptoms and cognitive function, have rarely been reported, however.

Method:

We retrospectively reviewed the psychiatric symptoms and the results of cognitive tests for six long-term glue sniffers admitted to a psychiatric ward.

Results:

Our results suggest that long-term abuse of these adhesive products is often associated with violent behavior and/or self-mutilation. Functional deterioration, characterized by impairment of intelligence, was noted for most of the patients, with some developing psychosis.

Conclusions:

Chronic glue sniffing may cause functional deterioration, and even psychosis. The associated violent behaviors in long-term glue sniffers also warrant caution.
Anxiogenic Effects of Generated Ambient Cations—A Preliminary Study
Authors: Giannini A. James , Jones Brian T. , Loiselle Robert H. , Price William A.
Published: May 2005

The existence of the putative “serotonin irritation syndrome” (SIS) was tested in a human population. Volunteers were exposed to a highly cationized environment for two hours. Symptoms of anxiety and excitement significantly increased. During the time of exposure serum serotonin levels also increased significantly. These results support the existence of SIS as a clinical entity.
Government and Population: The World Population Conference, 1974
Authors: Townley Ralph
Published: May 2005

The United Nations World Population Conference 1974 will be held in August of next year. It will be a political gathering at which delegates speak for their governments and not as individuals, members of the academic community, or representatives of private organizations. As such, it will be the first of its kind concerned with population The 1974 conference will consider population trends and future prospects. It will take up the questions of the relationships among population and social and economic development, human rights, resources and the environment, and the family. A draft World Population Plan of Action will be considered. It is anticipated that certain parallel activities will be carried out simultaneously with the conference. The conference should succeed in focusing attention on population matters in national and universal perspectives. It should also advance the definition of national population policies and, from the totality of those, an international policy may emerge and find expression in the World Population Plan of Action.
The Effects of Message Framing and Feelings of Susceptibility to Breast Cancer on Reported Frequency of Breast Self-Examination
Authors: Lalor Karen M. , Hailey B. Jo
Published: May 2005

One of two types of pamphlets on breast self-examination (BSE) attitudes and behavior was administered to subjects who were classified as high or low in feelings of susceptibility to breast cancer. Half of the subjects received pamphlets stressing the positive consequences of doing BSE and the other half received pamphlets stressing the negative consequences of not doing BSE. A previous study found negatively framed pamphlets to be superior in BSE promotion and these results were explained in terms of Tversky and Kahneman's framing postulate. The original framing postulate includes characteristics of the decision-maker as well as the type of frame presented, thus, we hypothesized an interaction between pamphlet type and level of susceptibility with the largest effect on the group with low perceived susceptibility who received negatively framed pamphlets. The hypothesized interaction did not occur, nor was there a significant effect for pamphlet type. However, there were significant differences between the BSE performance at follow-up of women who were high or low in perceived susceptibility prior to the intervention. These results are discussed in terms of implications for BSE training in the future, more specifically—the need to consider perceived level of susceptibility as an important subject characteristic that could have a large impact on the effectiveness of training programs.
Introductory Statement: Hopes, Expectations, and Realities—The Record of Bilateral Population Assistance
Authors: Bergman Elihu
Published: May 2005

The creation of the Population Council more than 20 years ago symbolizes the traversal of a watershed in the initiation of major American bilateral assistance in the population field. A number of forces, some of which had been increasing modestly during the previous generation, converged in the creation of the Council. The most significant incentive was a growing recognition, during the years following World War II, that rapid population growth in developing countries was likely to become a major deterrent to their progress and development, which were held to be critical conditions for the harmonious world order that Americans sought to achieve.
The Health Educator as a Team Leader in Primary Health Care
Authors: Brieger William R. , Ramakrishna Jayashree
Published: May 2005

Health teams naturally vary in size and composition according to their goals and objectives. Leadership of these teams should also be based on these goals. The goals of community-based primary health care, local involvement, cultural relevance, effective use of local resources, imply an important leadership role for health educators. The experience in the Ibarapa Local Government Area in Nigeria shows that health educators can be effective leaders in guiding a primary health care work group through various stages of program development. The use of a flexible, contractual model of team formation fits in well with the health educator's abilities to coordinate various program inputs and serve as mediator between professionals and the communities they serve. The ultimate mark of the health educator's leadership skills is the incorporation of community members into the health team.
The Effect of Computer-Administered Testing on Test Anxiety and Performance
Authors: Llabre Maria M. , Clements Nancy E. , Fitzhugh Katharine B. , Lancelotta Gary , Mazzagatti Roy D. , Quinones Nancy
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a computer-administered test on test anxiety and performance. The sample comprised twenty-six male and fourteen female college students enrolled in a developmental reading course at a private university. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a computerized or to a pencil-and-paper testing situation. Both groups were administered a revised version of the Test Anxiety Scale (TAS-R) and a sample of items from the California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity (CMM). Mean differences between groups on the TAS-R and the CMM were tested for significance using t-tests. The results indicated significant differences in anxiety level, t(38) = −1.87, p < .05, and test performance, t(38) = 2.68, p < .01. It was concluded that computer-administered testing can potentially increase test anxiety and depress test performance for examinees who are relatively unfamiliar with computers.
Production and Reproduction: The Issues Involved in Reconciling Work and Pregnancy
Authors: Malenfant Romaine , De Koninck Maria
Published: May 2005

Quebec legislation in occupational health contains a measure that gives pregnant workers the right to demand healthy and safe work conditions so that they can continue working while they are pregnant. About one-third of pregnant workers exercise this right every year. Nonetheless, even though the legislation's goal is to favor continued employment, more than 75 percent of the female workers who are eligible for protective reassignment are, in fact, not reassigned to other work stations or tasks, and instead must stop working. The results presented here stem from research intended to improve our understanding of the difficulties that arise in the workplace when the organization of work has to be reconciled with pregnancy. In telling us their experiences, the 51 pregnant workers we interviewed gave us their definition of “reconciliation.” They did this by identifying the elements and areas of their occupational and family responsibilities that hindered or favored this reconciliation. They thus brought to light the predominant role that social relationships play in these situations. The comments of the women we met shed light on work conditions and organizations whose characteristics, once identified, suggest some of the changes needed to make this reconciliation possible.
What the Numbers Really Mean: African-American Underrepresentation at the Doctoral Level
Authors: Thompson Gail L.
Published: May 2005

In this literature review, African-American representation at the doctoral level from the period spanning the 1970s through the mid-1990s was explored. The most important finding is that although the number of African-American doctorate recipients has increased in recent years, the overall percentage of doctorates that were awarded to African Americans in the mid-1990s was exactly the same as it was during the late 1970s. Another finding is that there is still economic disparity along racial and gender lines in the United States. Moreover, for a growing number of African Americans, the attainment of a professional degree appears to be more appealing and advantageous than the attainment of a doctorate.
Citizenship, Dependency, and the Welfare Mix: Problems of Inclusion and Exclusion
Authors: Taylor-Gooby Peter
Published: May 2005

Citizenship is a site of social conflict which (among other things) involves struggle about the role of government in welfare. This article explores some of the responses to recent pressures on the welfare state in relation to new administrative structures for mass welfare and to the arrangements for managing unemployed people. The experience of the United Kingdom is compared with that of countries with more pluralist traditions of administration. The general point being made is that some changes may both reinforce the possibilities for struggle over welfare by those within the ambit of the mass welfare services, and simultaneously permit the development of stronger barriers to exclude minorities. The first of these developments is not necessarily what the authors of policy change anticipate, while the second conflicts with common expectations of welfare citizenship. Welfare citizenship cuts two ways.
The Genesee Connection: The Origins of Iroquois Culture in West-Central New York
Authors: Niemczycki Mary Ann Palmer
Published: May 2005

The Genesee Valley has long been recognized as a center of Iroquois development, but the connection between Owasco sites in the Genesee and Iroquois sequences in the adjacent regions has never been adequately demonstrated. Attempts to identify transitional Owasco-Iroquois sites in this region have been hampered by the use of diagnostic criteria based on data from eastern New York. This article examines ceramic patterns in the Genesee and establishes a regional cultural sequence based on ceramic criteria which have local diagnostic significance. This sequence reveals the transition from Owasco to Iroquois culture begins in the Genesee with a sudden influx of Ontario Iroquois ceramic traits from the west ca. 1250 A.D. This Owasco-Ontario Iroquois connection in the Genesee negates certain assumptions regarding Iroquois origins and alters our current concept of in situ development.
Drug-Related HIV Risk Behaviors and Cocaine Preference among Injection Drug Users in Los Angeles
Authors: Longshore Douglas , Anglin M. Douglas , Hsieh Shih-Chao , Annon Kiku
Published: May 2005

Based on a 1988–91 sample of 422 drug-using arrestees in Los Angeles, this study compares the drug-related risk behavior of users whose preferred injection drug is cocaine and users with a preference for heroin or no preference between the two drugs. Cocaine preference is unrelated to the likelihood of needle sharing overall, needle sharing with strangers, needle sharing at shooting galleries, and failure to use bleach as a needle disinfectant. In analyses restricted to users who reported needle sharing, the frequency of sharing is no more closely related to heroin injection frequency than to cocaine injection frequency. These results suggest that local preventive education programs do not need to address distinctive patterns of drug-related risk behavior among injection cocaine users and injection heroin users in Los Angeles.
Cross-Sectional Psychometric Assessment of the Functional Status Questionnaire: Use with Geriatric versus Nongeriatric Ambulatory Medical Patients
Authors: Yarnold Paul R. , Stille F. Conrad , Martin Gary J.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The Beth Israel/UCLA Functional Status Questionnaire (FSQ) is a multidimensional self-report instrument used for assessing the physical, social, and psychological status of children and adults. This study assessed the appropriateness of the FSQ for use with geriatric (at least 65 years of age) ambulatory medical patients.

Method:

Concurrent cohort convenience samples of forty geriatric and eighty-five nongeriatric ambulatory patients were drawn from a general internal medicine clinic. Patients completed the FSQ while waiting to see their physician. Analyses were conducted in order to: 1) address the magnitude and pattern of missing responses that are generated when the FSQ is administered to small groups; 2) assess whether, as was intended, each of the different FSQ subscales is unidimensional; 3) evaluate the magnitude and pattern of variances and covariances of items constituting FSQ subscales; 4) compare profiles of FSQ scores between geriatric versus nongeriatric samples; and 5) investigate whether FSQ subscales correlate with different self-report outcome measures in a convergent or divergent manner.

Results:

For both samples, FSQ subscales were internally consistent and moderately variable. Cross-sectional comparisons revealed both convergent and divergent relationships between FSQ subscales and measures of social support and satisfaction with health.

Conclusions:

The FSQ appears to be appropriate for use with geriatric ambulatory medical patients. Findings highlighted the positive influence of intermediate activities of daily life—involving moderate levels of physical activity—on satisfaction with health, and the negative effect of depression on physical activity.
The Merging of Computers and Business Communication
Authors: Roderick Joan C. , Forcht Karen A.
Published: May 2005

Because of the availability of user-friendly software and the affordability of hardware, computers have become a common means of organizational communication. Users have had to change the way they process thoughts and ideas and to transfer them into hard-copy documentation. The integration of the computer into the business communication curriculum allows the instructor to provide a relevant and practical educational experience for college students. This article examines the importance of incorporating hands-on usage of a microcomputer in the business communication class and discusses computer applications and teaching strategies for text editing, punctuation review, and grammar assistance.