bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Excellent Communication Skills Are an Essential Part of Being an Accountant
Authors: Stinson L. Marilyn , Asquith Jo Ann
Published: May 2005

While we know that communication skills are needed to secure employment and to be successful in the business world, it is important to identify skills that accounting students will be most likely to need in their entry level accounting positions. The purpose of this study was to examine more closely the specific communication skills required of accounting professionals. Clear messages are vitally important so the client and the accountant understand each other and the content of discussions. Whatever method of communication used, accounting professionals represent their company every time they write a letter or make a personal contact with a client.
Readability Techniques for Authors and Editors
Authors: Laner Frances J.
Published: May 2005

Described are techniques which relate to the impact of communications on the reader. An awareness by authors and editors of the techniques available through readability research studies leads to significant savings in time and effort, as well as increased benefits in comprehension and learning of the reader. Examples of use in technical publications show how exchanges between author and reader can be more effective and productive. The techniques have wide application also to publications of all kinds, and provide a valuable resource to achieve optimum results in communication or information products. The discussion is based on the knowledge and experience gained by the writer through academic and practical applications in editing and preparing a wide variety of general and technical communications.
An Expanded Typology of Suicide, Assisted Suicide, and Euthanasia
Authors: Wooddell Victor , Kaplan Kalman J.
Published: May 2005

The present article proposes an expanded typology of suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia in doctor-patient relations. Three dimensions are distinguished: the active-passive nature of the act, the degree of doctor involvement, and the reaction of the doctor to the patient's wishes. Thirteen distinct categories emerge, each of which may be active or passive. Among these categories are: solitary suicide, disapproved suicide, observed suicide, assisted suicide, voluntary euthanasia, non-voluntary euthanasia, and involuntary euthanasia. Within the observed suicide, assisted suicide, and voluntary euthanasia categories, the patient's wish to die can either be discussed, accepted, or encouraged. This article provides clinical examples of many of these categories and discusses their legal status and implications.
Doctors in Spite of Themselves: The Limits of Radical Health Criticism
Authors: Stark Evan
Published: May 2005

This paper distinguishes a materialist from a medical approach to health (including as medical the clinical, epidemiological, sociological, environmental, and radical approaches). Three themes are developed. The first concerns a broad definition of medicine. Derived from the actual strategies that capital and labor adopt to health, this definition encompasses all attempts to manage the social factors responsible for ill-health as “conditions” while maintaining (or concealing) the contradictory basis for these conditions in capitalist social relations. The second theme concerns the roots of medicine. Radicals treat scientific medicine as a tool introduced by capitalists and a professional elite to maximize profits, increase productivity, and control women and other oppressed minorities. The materialist view, by contrast, emphasizes the role of worker initiatives in transforming the relations responsible for epidemic disease in the 19th century and the extent to which this transformation led directly to the utility of medical care after 1900. The fact that modern medicine can acknowledge its dependence neither on these initiatives nor on the progress of suffering created through the accumulation process is far more important than the market position of doctors in determining medicine's limits and the ideology of professional doctors. The third theme concerns the utility of a materialist epidemiology for reinterpreting many of the same issues examined by radicals, including medicalization, victim blaming, professional ideology, elitism, the exclusion of certain oppressed groups from “the sick role,” and medicine's failure to combat the diseases of stress. The basic contention is that a revolutionary health strategy is impossible as long as medical care remains the centerpiece of our analysis.
To Screen or Not to Screen: Symptoms Identifying Primary Care Medical Patients in Need of Screening for Depression
Authors: Carmin Cheryl N. , Klocek John W.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

It is estimated that 5 percent to 10 percent of primary care patients meet criteria for Major Depressive Disorder with an additional 10 percent to 30 percent experiencing significant subclinical depression. However, only 18 percent to 50 percent of depressed primary care patients are so diagnosed by their primary care physicians and even fewer receive professional mental health care. The current study proposes a quick and efficient means to assist physicians in determining for which patients the resource intensive process of thoroughly screening for depression should be engaged.

Method:

The present study examined responses of 358 consecutively reporting patients to a midwest university-based primary care clinic on the Beck Depression Inventory.

Results:

Among individuals reporting high levels of depressive symptomatology, five questions from the Beck Depression Inventory were endorsed by 90 percent or greater of the participants. Analyses by gender indicated that while the same five items were endorsed by males and females, three additional items were frequently endorsed by males.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that a means for efficiently identifying individuals who warrant screening for depression may be readily available to primary care physicians. Surprisingly, this screening was found to emphasize psychological rather than vegetative symptoms. Thus, attending to these symptoms and/or complaints during the course of an office visit may serve as an indicator that a thorough screening for depression, or possibly referral, is warranted.
The Meaning of Community Health: Perceptions of Medical Doctors and Students in Benin City, Nigeria
Authors: Chiwuzie Jasper
Published: May 2005

Early health policies of developing countries were mainly hospital-based. Doctors and other health professionals were scarce and unevenly distributed, and needed a base from which to operate. Morbidity and mortality statistics make it obvious that these early policies have not and cannot raise health status because the poor economic setting cannot sustain a health policy that is essentially hospital-based and, therefore, expensive. The Primary Health Care approach should provide most of the solution to our health management problems. But the real meaning and the role of Community Health, which provides the tools for the practice of Primary Health Care, appear not fully understood, even by medical practitioners. This supposition was confirmed by the results of a survey conducted in Benin City, Nigeria, between April 1 and June 30, 1995. The teaching of Community Health should, therefore, be restructured and intensified in view of the poor perception of the specialty by both medical students and doctors.
Assessing What High Risk Young Children Know about Drugs: Verbal versus Pictorial Methods
Authors: Blinn-Pike Lynn M. , Bell Talib , Devereaux Matt , Doyle Heather , Tittsworth Sharon , von Bargen Janelle
Published: May 2005

Very young children are generally not targeted for drug education efforts for two basic reasons. First, it is generally assumed that young children are not cognitively ready to learn about specific drugs through systematic drug prevention efforts. And second, it is difficult to measure pre- and posttest changes on the part of young children if drug education intervention is instituted. This study involved measuring what children three to eight years old learned from systematic drug education over the course of eight months. Two assessment methods were compared: pictorial and verbal interviews. The posttest results revealed that the children who received the intervention knew significantly more about several drugs than a matched comparison group. Both methods were useful in providing a comprehensive view of what the children knew about alcohol and other drugs.
The Significance of Transpersonal Experiences, Emotional Conflict, and Cognitive Abilities in Creativity
Authors: Ayers Lorry , Beaton Sarah , Hunt Harry
Published: May 2005

Nineteen visual artists and eighteen actors were compared to twenty-one imaginative controls, matched for high levels of imaginative absorption, all subjects female. Creatives had mystical experiences significantly more frequently than controls. In particular, the visual artists reported having had significantly more current, positive altered states of consciousness (lucid and archetypal-mythological dreaming, out of body experiences, and waking mystical experiences). These findings, taken with the fact that the creatives did not show a significantly greater tendency toward psychopathology as indexed by the multiple measures of trauma and emotional conflict, suggest that contrary to the stereotype, creatives may not be driven by conflict so much as by intense and constructive states of consciousness. Most previous studies of productive creatives have used lower absorption controls, making it more difficult to locate specific factors that make imaginative subjects into productive artists and actors.
The Passive Voice Verb: A Selected, Annotated Bibliography — Part I
Authors: Warren Thomas L.
Published: May 2005

Various style manuals, advice to authors, and textbooks on writing stress that writers should prefer the active voice of the verb and avoid the passive form. The following bibliography brings together references to the passive voice of the verb from linguists, grammarians, and researchers of the use of passive voice verbs; comments from technical writing textbooks; comments from books on language; comments from style manuals; and references from various other sources. The annotations summarize the principal points the article makes about passive voice verbs (abstracts provided by the authors of the articles are marked with an asterisk (*)). Part I covers materials from linguists while Part II, to be published in the next issue, lists references in technical writing textbooks, a selection of general books on language, style manuals and author's guides, and various other sources.
Identifying and Addressing Information Deficits for Minority Undergraduate Students in Science
Authors: Pavel Michael , Bruno James , Gonzalez Elma L. , Strand Steve
Published: May 2005

From participation and retention rate data, there is little doubt that many minority inner-city students are having difficulty in adjusting to the rigorous information demands of high quality post secondary instructional programs in science and mathematics. The worldwide phenomenon of curriculum-time compression, where advanced subject matter is taught in less and less time and moved to lower levels of schooling (elementary, middle, and secondary), is particularly acute in the physical and biological sciences. Minority students from some of our nation's inner-city high school science preparatory programs are, in general, placed in a particularly difficult competitive position of having to quickly acquire this compressed information in order to effectively compete at university level science and engineering programs. Recent research evidence strongly suggests that more proactive instructional intervention procedures are required by colleges and universities if there is to be a significant increase in minority participation and retention in the physical and biological sciences. The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to examine the extent of “information” disparity and deficits in prerequisite science information (biology) between target minority and other students in an undergraduate science program at a major university, and 2) to illustrate how technology based, formative evaluation procedures might be used to provide more effective instructional support for these students, thus increasing their participation and retention rates in the physical and biological sciences.
Labor Union Programs to Reduce or Prevent Occupational Stress in the United States
Authors: Landsbergis Paul A. , Cahill Janet
Published: May 2005

In the United States, most efforts to reduce occupational stress continue to focus primarily on personal stress management. However, there has been a growing awareness that personal coping techniques have limited effectiveness and that sources of stress in the work environment need to be altered. Research on workplace sources of stress has been spurred and guided by Karasek's “job strain” or “job demands-control” model, and the University of Michigan model of the stress process. In addition, a model of occupational stress interventions developed by Karasek provides a useful framework for stress prevention activities. U.S. labor unions have undertaken a variety of activities at all stages of the stress process described by this stress intervention model to reduce or prevent the health hazards associated with occupational stress. These programs and strategies include employee assistance programs, educational programs, stress surveys, medical studies, stress committees, collective bargaining, organizing and public awareness, and lobbying and political action. These programs are described and analyzed in relation to models of occupational stress, as well as to the economic context faced by labor unions today, and continuing obstacles to work environment reform.
Reorientation in Primary Health Care Implementation: An Educational Intervention
Authors: Egwu Igbo N.
Published: May 2005

The study was designed as a three-phase approach to reorient Community Health Officers working in Odukpani (one of the first model PHC Centers in Nigeria) toward Primary Health Care: 1) knowledge, attitude, and practice determination; 2) a PHC-based training module; and 3) teacher-learner evaluation. The results strongly suggest that this type of deliberate intervention to remove an identified program constraint, is crucial to the anticipated role of PHC workers as agents of change. The implications of the results for PHC system development in Nigeria are highlighted.
Dissociation as a Function of Child Abuse and Fantasy Proneness in a Substance Abuse Population
Authors: Pekala Ronald J. , Kumar V. K. , Ainslie George , Elliott Nancy C. , Mullen Karen J. , Salinger Margaret M. , Masten Ellsworth
Published: May 2005

To our knowledge, no research has empirically assessed the relationships among dissociation, child abuse, and fantasy proneness in a single study. The present study assessed 1229 male substance abuse patients at a VA Medical Center on dissociation (measured by the Dissociative Experiences Scale, DES), child abuse (measured by the Child Abuse and Trauma scale, CAT), and fantasy proneness (assessed by the Inventory of Childhood Memories and Imaginings, ICMI). A regression analysis was used to predict dissociation with the five CAT subscales and fantasy proneness. The five CAT subscales accounted for 12 percent of the variance when predicting the DES from only the five CAT subscales. However, 22 percent of the variance was accounted for when using both the ICMI and the CAT subscales. Cross-validation regression analysis yielded very similar results. Regression analyses suggested that fantasy proneness is as important as sexual abuse in predicting dissociation. These results may shed light on the recent controversy concerning “repressed memories,” as well as understanding the development of dissociative disorders and differences between borderline personality disorder and the dissociative disorders.
On the Psychology of Experiencing Values: A Supplement to the Evolutionary Level Model of the Main States of Consciousness
Authors: Kokoszka Andrzej
Published: May 2005

A rationale for an integration of a hierarchy of values as proposed by Scheler, a hierarchy of needs as proposed by Maslow, and Fromm's views on the development of society is presented according to an evolutionary level model of the main states of consciousness [1]. The possibilities of psycho-physiological research are emphasized as well as a need for a distinction between hierarchies of needs and values. Psychological values are defined as: 1) justification for a given way of behaving, thinking, or feeling and 2) the internal experience of motive which is its observable aspect. Typical ways of experiencing values are described on each level. They are experienced as sensations on the biological levels, as feelings (felt values) on prelogical level, as recognized values on the logical level, and as “direct experience of values” on a supralogical level.
Bereavement and its Complications in Medical Patients: A Guide for Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrists
Authors: Lieberman Paul B. , Jacobs Selby C.
Published: May 2005

Bereaved individuals consult their physicians, including psychiatrists, at an increased frequency for the many symptoms of normal or pathological grief as well as related medical and psychiatric disorders. As many as 25 percent of patients seen by a consultation-liaison service may be suffering from recent unresolved grief. The consultation-liaison psychiatrist needs to be sensitive to the manifestations and course of bereavement in both its uncomplicated and pathological forms. This report provides an overview of these issues as a guide for the accurate assessment and treatment of this often unconsidered condition.
When is Life without Value? A Study of Life-Death Decisions on a Hemodialysis Unit
Authors: Swyter Jai
Published: May 2005

In this study of value conflicts in a medical setting both broad, general and “ideal” values as well as practical, everyday, and “real” values are identified and examined within the context of four clinical case studies. The over-arching ideal value is that “life is valuable and preferable to death.” Real values may or may not coincide. In three of the cases the ideal value is challenged and, after some turmoil, is supported. In the fourth case pain is the primary variable leading to abandonment of the ideal value and the insistence on an opposing real value namely that, in this case, death is preferable to life.
Lakeland Reports: A Communicative Tool in Watershed Management
Authors: Pelz Donald C. , Gannon John E.
Published: May 2005

To communicate ecological information for watershed management, an inter-disciplinary program in northern Michigan used a variety of mutually reinforcing techniques including a series of Lakeland Reports — short, self-contained brochures with a blend of hard information (factual data) and soft (general principles); local data, illustrations, action implications, and quizzes were used to stimulate involvement. A survey of recipients found that the series had captured reader interest; a large majority judged it useful to themselves and even more rated it useful to public officials. Many of the reports could be adapted for environmental communication in other inland lake regions by retaining soft information and substituting local illustration and hard data.
A Necessary and Natural Sequel: Technical Editing
Authors: Kellner Robert Scott , Guinn Dorothy Margaret
Published: May 2005

A technical writer who wants to become a supervisor or manager needs to know technical editing. A technical editor is an accomplished technical writer whose language skills are augmented by a thorough knowledge of formats, graphics, layout and design methods, and the mechanics of publications production. Any course in technical editing should cover these five distinct areas. Language studies in technical editing require a special emphasis in proofreading and technical abridgment. The study of formats goes beyond rote memorization. Technical editing students study the logic behind established formats and learn how to improve them and develop new ones. The production and editing of graphics require artistic—and even theatrical—judgments. And the planning, preparation, and printing of newsletters, journals, and books require a special combination of verbal, visual, and manual skills. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of technical editing and the variety of technologies in which advanced technical editing skills may be acquired, the technical editor never stops being a student.
Outpatient Requests, Initial Sessions and Attrition
Authors: Zisook Sidney , Hammond Roger , Jaffe Kenneth , Gammon Elizabeth
Published: May 2005

Treatment attrition in a psychiatric outpatient department was evaluated. Of eighty-two consecutive new patients, fifty-three (65%) showed up for a second appointment while twenty-nine (35%) failed to return. None of the demographic variables or specific categories of patient requests differentiated continuers from non-continuers; nor was attrition significantly influenced by feeling one's problems were understood, symptomatic improvement or receiving the kind of intervention originally desired. Treatment continuers were more likely to have been referred by other hospital clinics or psychiatric care facilities, and more often had previous outpatient contact, but these differences did not reach statistical significance. The only outcome measures significantly related to continuation were: perceiving one's feelings understood in the initial session, feeling satisfied with the interview, and planning to return for the next appointment. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Repressive/Defensive Coping and Identification Thresholds for Pleasant and Unpleasant Words
Authors: Kline John P. , Schwartz Gary E. , Fitzpatrick Denis F. , Hendricks Shelton E.
Published: May 2005

This study examined the relationship between repressive/defensive coping and identification thresholds for pleasant and unpleasant words. Word identification thresholds were determined by presenting masked words at increasing durations until correct report. Identification thresholds were greater for unpleasant than for pleasant words. When the difference between identification thresholds for unpleasant and pleasant words was standardized, high-defensive participants showed this effect to a greater degree than low-defensive participants. One possible interpretation of the findings is that avoidance of unpleasant stimuli takes place, and that repressive/defensive participants are more prone to it. Alternatively, the findings may reflect a general perceptual bias for pleasant stimuli that is greater for high defensive participants. Such a perceptual bias for pleasant stimuli may facilitate avoidance of unpleasant ones.
Strategies for Enhancing Commuter Student Success
Authors: Jacoby Barbara , Garland John
Published: May 2005

This article describes how to use what we know about commuter students to design and implement strategies that enhance their retention. It includes a discussion of the extraordinary diversity of the commuter student population and their common needs and concerns and offers several theoretical frameworks that have proven to be useful in understanding commuter students, institutional environments, and the nature of interactions between them. It concludes by presenting an organizing model together with specific strategies that promotes commuter student success.
Corporate Crime: Why We Cannot Trust Industry-Derived Safety Studies
Authors: Epstein Samuel S.
Published: May 2005

The control of pesticides, as of all synthetic chemicals, in most industrialized countries relies heavily or even entirely on safety data supplied by the manufacturers. Such a regulatory system can only be effective if the companies conducting and reporting the studies honestly disclose any adverse findings. The record shows, however, that all too often company executives and their scientists knowingly suppress or manipulate information that could affect the licensing and sale of their products. A case in point is the gross manipulation of health and related data on the pesticides heptachlor and chlordane by the U.S. chemical company, Velsicol.
COmputer-Mediated Communication: A Test of the Impact of Social Cues on the Choice of Medium for Resolving Misunderstandings
Authors: Olaniran Bolanle
Published: May 2005

As communication technology improves, computer-mediated communication (CMC) increases in use for interpersonal interaction. While there are newer forms of CMC that interface with audio, graphic, and video data, for the most part text-based CMC (i.e., e-mail, IRC, other text chat) remains the most common and frequently used. The increased use of text-based CMC medium is not without its problems, as is the case with any other communication media. Text only CMC lacks the capacity to transmit nonverbal cues. This study explores CMC medium in communication misunderstandings. The findings indicate that although participants acknowledge the lack of nonverbal cues as a source of misunderstandings during interactions, they still express the willingness to use text-based CMC in resolving misunderstandings. This article also provides discussions, implications, and recommendations.
Do Social Policies and Political Context Matter for Health in the United Kingdom?
Authors: Doran Tim , Whitehead Margaret
Published: May 2005

This U.K. case study combines lessons from historical assessments with new empirical analyses of trends over the last decade to inform an appraisal of the impact of social actions on health. The empirical analyses examine life expectancy in the 354 local government councils in England by first identifying those that have better or worse health than expected from their socioeconomic profile, and then selecting paired sets of “overachievers” and “underachievers” for more in-depth analysis. The findings taken as a whole provide evidence that social policies and political context do indeed matter for health. The historical material from the first industrial revolution, in particular, provides some of the most compelling evidence for this proposition. The empirical analyses over the last decade found a very powerful inverse association: the more deprived the local council, the lower the life expectancy of the population within that locality. However, even for the same level of deprivation and socioeconomic characteristics, some councils were doing much better than others in terms of health: for example, more than three years difference in life expectancy for carefully matched “urban fringe” councils. The article then examines the councils' political makeup and hence their likely policy perspective.
Grandparents in Law: Investigating the Institutionalization of Extended Family Roles
Authors: Hill Twyla J.
Published: May 2005

Previous research on grandparents has focused on the individual and familial level and has characterized grandparent roles as ambiguous and contingent. Emphasizing instead structural phenomena, this theoretical paper argues that grandmother and grandfather roles are being institutionalized through state and federal legislation. This phenomenon provides an opportunity to investigate the process of institutionalization as it happens. Grandparenthood is evaluated as a potential site for institutionalization and law as a source of institutionalization is discussed. Preliminary evidence of the legal institutionalization of grandparenthood is presented and implications and directions for further research are suggested.
What Man has told Children about Death
Authors: Schur Thomas J.
Published: May 2005

This article begins with the assumption that one can gather some picture of the history of man's attitude toward death by examining the literature he has written for children.

And so, it proceeds to survey death in children's literature from the early, anonymous works such as Mother Goose, to contemporary picture books like The Dead Bird. This literature is basically divided into four periods: Anonymous, Puritan, Intermediate and Contemporary. At least one representative example and further references follow the explanation of the values and principles of each period.

The conclusion points out that, aside from the merits of this survey as a literature study and an indication of man's attitudes towards death through history, it can serve the important role of challenging the reader to examine his own death attitudes.
The Thrill in Business Writing
Authors: Sachs Harley L.
Published: May 2005

Trade journal writers should remember that behind the story of sales promotions, new processes, short cuts, and industrial developments of all kinds there are people for whom the new development is exciting, challenging, and filled with crisis. Trade articles that include such human interest are more appealing to the readers without distorting the factual information the articles must convey.
Norman Mailer and Rank's Theory of the Creative Self
Authors: Schneiderman Leo
Published: May 2005

The present article investigates Mailer's fiction and non-fiction in relation to Rank's views on creativity. Both Rank and Mailer are interpreted as examples of artists who invent themselves, the former as an intuitive therapist, the latter as the creator of a public and private persona. In Mailer's case, projections of the persona are traced to his fictional alter egos. Special attention is given to analyzing the significance of Mailer's creation of fictional protagonists who act out antisocial, anarchic impulses in a seemingly conflict-free way. This tendency, which characterizes Mailer's work as a whole, is interpreted in non-oedipal terms. Instead, I suggest a theoretical formulation, applicable to many contemporary writers besides Mailer, based on the assumption that patriarchal authority is in the process of disintegration. The reasons for this assumption lie outside the scope of this article but are to be found in rapid social changes reflecting the decline of tradition, including traditional family structure, religion and other patriarchal institutions.
The State, the Market, and General Practice: The Australian Case
Authors: White Kevin N.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the development of general practice in the latter half of the 20th century, documenting the issues of concern to both the profession and the state. General practice developed hand in hand with the welfare state in Australia. As the structural changes associated with restructuring of the welfare state have advanced, so have the fortunes of general practice declined, despite significant attempts in the 1970s and 1980s to “save” general practice by both the profession and the state. These structural changes have operated on two fronts, the economic and the cultural. On the economic, changes to the employment of general practitioners clearly indicate ongoing proletarianization, particularly in a changing environment of labor-capital relations. At the cultural level, development of the self-help and the women's movements and the elective affinity of these groups with the individualism of the new right are leading to deprofessionalization. The author advances this argument in a review of general practice over the last 40 years and in a case study of community health services. Theoretically he argues for a combination of the proletarianization and the deprofessionalization theses.
The Emotional Impact of End-Stage Renal Disease: Importance of Patients' Perceptions of Intrusiveness and Control
Authors: Devins Gerald M. , Binik Yitzchak M. , Hutchinson Tom A. , Hollomby David J. , Barré Paul E. , Guttmann Ronald D.
Published: May 2005

The emotional impact of the intrusiveness of illness and patients' reduced control over several aspects of life were examined in the context of end-stage renal disease. A sample of thirty-five hemodialysis, ten continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD), and twenty-five posttransplant patients participated in a standardized interview in which a series of eight self-report measures of positive and negative mood, life happiness, self-esteem, depression, and somatic symptoms of distress were obtained. Attending staff also completed a depression rating scale for each participant. Data reduction via principal-components analysis yielded two factors, corresponding to negative and positive mood, and these were submitted to covariance analyses in which age, general nonrenal health, and defensiveness were controlled statistically. Patients' perceptions of increased intrusiveness, and their perceptions of limited control over eleven life dimensions, each correlated significantly and uniquely with increased negative and decreased positive mood, suggesting that each of these two factors contributes importantly and independently to patients' distress. An “objective” continuum of intrusiveness, constructed by ranking the various treatment modalities represented in the sample, also related significantly to positive (but not to negative) mood levels.
The Impact of Death-Risk Experiences and Religiosity on the Fear of Personal Death: The Case of Israeli Soldiers in Lebanon
Authors: Florian Victor , Mikulincer Mario
Published: May 2005

The current study attempts to investigate the impact of death-risk experience (life-threatening experiences of Israeli soldiers who served in Lebanon after the 1982 Lebanon War) and religiosity on the diverse aspects of the fear of personal death. One-hundred-thirty-four Israeli Jewish male participants were divided into religious and nonreligious groups, and were subdivided into three groups according to the encounter with a death-risk experience in the last three months. One group served in Lebanon and was involved in threatening activities; a second group served in Lebanon, but was not exposed to life-threatening experiences; and a third did not serve in Lebanon in this period. All the participants completed the Fear of Personal Death Scale. Results indicated that religious participants reported lower levels of fear of death than nonreligious participants. In addition, the exposure to death-risk experience produced elevated levels of fear of death only among nonreligious persons. The role of religiosity and the complex nature of the link between personal experiences and fear of death are discussed.
Economic Instability, Unemployment Rates, Behavioral Risks, and Mortality Rates in Scotland, 1952–1983
Authors: Brenner M. Harvey
Published: May 2005

Short-term relations (under five years) between national unemployment and cause-specific mortality rates have been found in several industrialized countries in Europe and North America including the United States and, separately, Scotland and England/Wales. Long-term cumulative relations (at least a decade) have been found between national unemployment and age-adjusted mortality rates for eight countries including England/Wales. In this article it is demonstrated that, controlling for the significant effects of per capita cigarette, spirits, and fat consumption, and cold winter temperatures, there is in Scotland a significant long-term relation (at least a decade) between cumulative change in unemployment rates and mortality rates-for all causes, for total heart disease, and in particular for ischemic heart disease. Also, the exponential trend in real per capita income is related to mortality declines. Other writers have encountered difficulty in measuring this long-term relation between unemployment and cause-specific mortality in Scotland in the absence of controls for at least alcohol and tobacco consumption per capita.
It's a Long Way Home: International Student Adjustment to Living in the United States
Authors: Rajapaksa Sushama , Dundes Lauren
Published: May 2005

This study addresses the need for information helpful in retaining international college students studying in the United States. This research compares the adjustment of 182 international students to a comparison sample of American students to determine whether students coming to the United States from abroad have greater difficulty adjusting to college life. International students are more likely to feel lonely, homesick, and as if they had left part of themselves at home. In addition, this study confirms the importance of social network in the adjustment of international students (but not Americans) although the number of close friends does not predict whether an international student is satisfied with his or her social network. The implications for administrators working to retain international students are discussed.
A Museum Experience: Empathy and Cognitive Restoration
Authors: Höge Holger
Published: May 2005

The evaluation of the Museumsdorf Cloppenburg (MDC) was threefold: 1) report on MDC history and an analysis of the museum policy; 2) environmental walk-through as a qualitative pilot study; and 3) a pre-post design visitor study on the museum experience—results on this part are presented here. Visitors were asked about their experiences by two questionnaires: 1) pre: socio-demographics and several aspects of visitor behavior and expectations were ascertained; and 2) the post-questionnaire asked about their experiences during the visit. Results showed that the way-finding problems identified by the environmental walk-through were not of importance to the visitors. However, although walking for roughly three hours through the MDC, visitors reported only moderate effects of fatigue, instead impressions of mental restoration were given to a high extent. Feelings of nostalgia, refreshed minds, and having received new insights dominated the experience of the museum visit. Hence, museums seem to have some psycho-hygienic power.
Who Helps the Helpers? The Effects of a Disaster on the Rescue Workers
Authors: Raphael B. , Singh B. , Bradbury L. , Lambert F.
Published: May 2005

There is virtually no literature detailing the effects of a disaster on the rescue workers. This paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey conducted one month after the Granville rail disaster on ninety-five of the personnel involved in the rescue work and a follow-up on thirteen of them one year later. Seventy-seven of the ninety-five found the experience stressful; in particular, the feelings of helplessness engendered by the disaster, the magnitude of the destruction, the sight and smell of mutilated bodies, the anguish of relatives, and the need to work under pressure were items highlighted by the respondents. While only about 20 percent experienced specific psychological sequelae as a result of the disaster (depression, anxiety, insomnia), approximately 70 percent of the helpers showed evidence of being temporarily strained (half of them being over this by the end of one week). Thirty-five percent felt more positive about their own lives as a result of their involvement. The utility of debriefing sessions to assist workers to come to terms with and assimilate their experiences is discussed.
Discovering Decision Knowledge from Web Log Portfolio for Managing Classroom Processes by Applying Decision Tree and Data Cube Technology
Authors: Chen Gwo-Dong , Liu Chen-Chung , Ou Kuo-Liang , Liu Baw-Jhiune
Published: May 2005

In conventional classrooms, teachers attempt to enhance instruction by monitoring students' learning processes and analyzing their performances by paper records and observation. Similarly, distance learning systems on the Web should be designed to record students' behaviors to assist teachers in assessing performance and making decisions related to curriculum. Recent developments in Web server systems can record the students' access to the learning systems in Web logs. Information processing analysis on the historical classroom processes can help teachers to develop knowledge for applying proper teaching strategies according to available information in Web logs. However, teachers cannot easily infer the pedagogical meaning of Web logs and discover the pedagogical rules of students' behavior patterns in the Web logs to refine teaching strategies. Therefore, to use Web logs for pedagogical purposes, this article adopts decision tree and data cube information processing methodologies to observe students' behaviors and discover the pedagogical rules on students' learning performance from Web logs. The architecture and guidelines of utilizing the data cube and decision tree methodologies for pedagogical purposes are also presented. Consequently, teachers can efficiently estimate and explain the effectiveness of pedagogical strategies, ultimately improving instruction with decision tree and data cube software.
Preparation for Death and Preparation for Care in Older Community-Dwelling Adults
Authors: Pinquart Martin , SÖrensen Silvia
Published: May 2005

Preparation for one's death (e.g., having signed a will, having made preparations for one's funeral) and preparation for future care needs (e.g., having selected a source of support) were investigated in 593 United States and 582 German independently living seniors. The older adults reported higher levels of preparation for death than preparation for care. The lower level of preparation for care is interpreted as reflecting the uncertainty whether care needs will emerge in the future. Seniors who reported some preparation for death were more likely to report preparation for future care needs as well. Older, more educated, and more religious individuals were more likely to prepare for death. In addition, U.S. seniors were more likely to report some death preparation than German seniors. Limitations in activities of daily living did not predict levels of preparation for death. Implications for future research and for psychosocial interventions are discussed.
Near-Death Experiences and Antisuicidal Attitudes
Authors: Greyson Bruce
Published: May 2005

Near-death experiences (NDEs) have been reported to decrease fear of death and foster a “romanticized” view of death, yet also promote antisuicidal attitudes. This study was an empirical investigation of psychodynamic hypotheses suggested to explain that paradoxical effect, using a thirty-six-item questionnaire constructed for this purpose. One hundred-fifty near-death experiencers (NDErs) and forty-three individuals who had come close to death but not had NDEs (nonNDErs) rated as true or false twelve antisuicidal attitudes that have been hypothesized to result from NDEs. NDErs endorsed significantly more of the antisuicidal statements than nonNDErs, and among NDErs, number of statements endorsed was positively associated with depth of experience. Those antisuicidal attitudes that showed the greatest difference in endorsement rate between NDErs and nonNDErs related to transpersonal or transcendental beliefs. These data support prior naturalistic observations that NDEs foster antisuicidal attitudes by promoting a sense of purpose in life.
Christian Religious Leaders' Knowledge and State of Preparedness for AIDS Education in an Urban Area in Nigeria
Authors: Oladepo Oladimeji , Usendiah Joseph Esu , Ajuwon Ademola Johnson
Published: May 2005

An exploratory survey assessed Christian religious leaders' knowledge, state of preparedness, and current level of involvement in AIDS education in Ibadan, Nigeria, with a view to providing baseline information upon which AIDS education programs can be developed for churches. A total of 306 Christian leaders, who were selected from half (78) of the churches in Ibadan through multi-stage sampling, were interviewed. In addition, the church records kept by the Christian leaders were reviewed to document AIDS educational activities carried out by the churches. Results showed that almost all (97.7%) of the Christian leaders have heard about AIDS, with the mass media being the primary source of information (78.3%). Despite a high level of awareness, only 6 percent of the Christian leaders correctly identified HIV as the causative agent of AIDS. Knowledge regarding unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple partners as a way by which the virus is transmitted was high (88.3%). Only 37.8% of the leaders had ever carried out any AIDS educational activity in their respective churches, while the majority (62.2%) had not. The preaching of sermons (38.9%), presentation of seminar papers at workshops (21.2%), and counseling (15.8%) were the main educational programs carried out by the Christian leaders. Of those who have heard about AIDS but had not educated their congregation, a lack of basic knowledge on the disease was cited as the principal barrier (27%) to action. However, a majority (79.4%) are favorably disposed toward playing a pro-active role in AIDS educational programs in Nigeria. The implications of these findings for AIDS control efforts are discussed.
Policies and Procedures
Authors: Klein William D. , McKenna Bernard
Published: May 2005

Policy and procedure documents play an important role in developing and maintaining a consistent quality of interaction in organizations. Unfortunately, the pedagogical and research literatures are weak in this area. Here, we attempt to initiate further discussion by defining and describing policy and procedure documents, and identify a third kind, work instructions. A genre approach is used to outline characteristics based on information type, institutional purpose, and organizational functions. Rhetorical, audience, and functional linguistics analyses are used to describe more specific characteristics.
Paramenstrual Aggression in Mentally Retarded Adult Ameliorated by Buspirone
Authors: Colella Raymond F. , Ratey John J. , Glaser Alan I.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This case examined the efficacy of buspirone therapy as a reductive technique for severe treatment resistant paramenstrual aggression.

Method:

Aggressive outbursts of an institutionalized mentally retarded adult were analyzed and correlated with menstrual cycling. Behavior was closely monitored, and after ineffective trials of antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and beta blockers, a trial of buspirone was initiated.

Results:

Buspirone therapy resulted in a marked decrease in aggressive incidences, and substantial increases in desirable behaviors. As a result of the subjects improvement, doses of concurrent psychotropic medications were reduced or discontinued altogether.

Conclusions:

The authors conclude that buspirone is an effective pharmacotherapy for paramenstrual aggression in the developmentally disabled, and encourage similar experimentation when behavior seems to be otherwise unbeatable.
Electronic Instrumentation for Non-Electrical Engineering Researchers
Authors: Finkelstein Stanley M. , Jolls Kenneth R.
Published: May 2005

The Research Instrumentation course was designed to provide the fundamentals of electronic instrument operation and design to those graduate researchers with little or no electrical engineering background. Research students need this training to obtain an understanding of how their measurement systems function and how to interpret their experimental results, which are largely acted upon and perhaps modified by systems involving transducers, signal processors, and input-output devices. This course has evolved into an integrated lecture, laboratory, demonstration package which teaches the basic principles of electronic instrumentation.
Institutionalism and “Psychosomatic” Diseases
Authors: Liberakis Eustace A.
Published: May 2005

In a review of 324 long stay psychiatric patients, 37 per cent of them were found to suffer also from physical disorders. A little over half of them (18% of the total) suffered from “psychosomatic” disorder. While in the total populations 38.5 per cent of the patients were free from institutionalism, in the “psychosomatic” patients the percentage was only 25.8 per cent (p < 0.05). It is possible that “psychosomatic” diseases are a biological inferiority predisposing to institutionalism.