bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anxiety and Depression in an Internal Medicine Resident Continuity Clinic: Difficult Diagnoses
Authors: Didden David G. , Philbrick John T. , Schorling John B.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

To determine the prevalence of anxiety and depression in a residents' clinic and if these diagnoses are associated with patients being perceived as difficult, as well as how often these diagnoses are documented in the patients' charts.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a general internal medicine residents' clinic. A total of 135 patients were given the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders questionnaire (DSM-IIIR version) and their physicians filled out the Difficult Doctor-Patient Relationship Questionnaire after the visit. Charts were reviewed for documentation of a diagnosis of anxiety or depression.

Results:

Major depression was present in 26 percent, dysthymia 16 percent, major depression in partial remission 9 percent, generalized anxiety disorder 13 percent, and panic disorder 7 percent. Overall, 38 percent had at least one and 21 percent had more than one diagnosis. Of patients with one psychiatric diagnosis, 9 percent were classified as difficult versus 100 percent of patients with four diagnoses. Documentation of depression was noted for 43 percent of patients with major depression but only 9 percent with an anxiety disorder.

Conclusions:

Anxiety and depression were very common among the patients in this clinic, and increasing numbers of diagnoses were associated with patients being classified as difficult. Residents diagnosed depressive disorders as often as practicing physicians in other studies, but anxiety less well. The high prevalence of mental disorders has implications for resident education in that they need to be prepared to care for these patients, but residents also may benefit from exposure to sites with more typical prevalences of these illnesses.
A Metaphor for Technology Integration
Authors: Brown Edward K. , Kerr Brian D.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the use of an organizing metaphor, the walking tour, as a means of integrating learning activities with appropriate media support. The article pursues two themes; first, the effectiveness of the metaphor for knowledge acquisition activities, and second, the student-directed nature of the activities this approach fosters (the selective use of technology where it can be most effective). Of importance to both these themes is the notion that multimedia technology can enhance learning opportunities, but need not control the instructional agenda.

It is not multimedia resources that make a difference in teaching, it is how they are used … if you do not have the appropriate conditions for learning, then the students will not learn [1].
Convenience and the Occurrence of Births Induction of Labor in the United States and Canada
Authors: Rindfuss Ronald R. , Ladinsky Judith L. , Coppock Elizabeth , Marshall Victor W. , MacPherson A. S.
Published: May 2005

This paper, using data for the United States and Canada on number of births by day of the week, presents indirect evidence for the widespread incidence of the practice of elective induction. For both the United States and Canada, it is found that substantially fewer births occur on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays than on weekdays. Controlling for such factors as prenatal care, race, education, legitimacy, birth weight, and time trend strongly suggests that the induction of labor is responsible for the patterns found. The paper concludes by discussing the framework within which the practice of elective induction of labor should be evaluated and justified.
Constructing Usable Documentation: A Study of Communicative Practices and the Early Uses of Mainframe Computing in Industry
Authors: Zachry Mark
Published: May 2005

This study suggests that documentation is a complex technical communication genre, encompassing all the texts that mediate between complex human activities and computer processes. Drawing on a historical study, it demonstrates that the varied forms given to documentation have a long history, extending back at least to the early days of commercial mainframe computing. The data suggest that (1) early forms of documentation were borrowed from existing genres, and (2) official and unofficial documentation existed concurrently, despite efforts to consolidate these divergent texts. The study thus provides a glimpse into the early experimental nature of documentation as writers struggled to find a meaningful way to communicate information about their organization's developing computer technology.
Heuristics or Prescription: Synthesis Rather than Choice
Authors: Sides Charles H.
Published: May 2005

The debate as to whether heuristics or prescription provides the best approach to teaching technical writing is still largely unresolved. When heuristics are used as process, as problem-solving devices, and when prescription is used as a product-producing device, a useful synthesis of the two approaches occurs. This article presents such a synthesis of heuristics and prescription; it concludes with a short annotated bibliography on heuristics and prescription which can be used by the technical writing teacher and the technical writer.
Social Relations of Production and Consumption in the Human Service Occupations
Authors: Stevenson Gelvin
Published: May 2005

This paper presents a Marxist analysis of human service occupations. As the forces of monopoly capitalism increased the need for human services and destroyed the social institutions which previously satisfied those needs, employment in the human service industries grew rapidly, and may now exceed that in manufacturing. The nature of human services is discussed: production and consumption occur simultaneously; the social relations of consumption and production are closely related; and service workers play a direct social control role. These characteristics generate contradictions between service and control in service work, and between service workers' roles as both oppressed workers and oppressors. Discussions of the ideologies impacting on the relationships between workers and “clients,” the dynamics of these relationships, and the struggles to which they give rise conclude the paper.
Making Believe: A Descriptive Study of Fantasies in Middle Childhood
Authors: Harris Monica J. , Beggan James K.
Published: May 2005

Sixty-four children between the ages of seven and twelve were asked a series of open-ended questions about their favorite fantasies or make-believe games. Their responses were coded by judges on a number of dimensions, such as positivity of the fantasy and type of role being enacted. The fantasy variables were then correlated with several demographic and personality individual difference measures, including age, sex, intelligence, self-monitoring, and self-consciousness. Our results thus provide valuable descriptive and correlational data on the nature of fantasy in middle childhood, a population that has been neglected in past research on fantasy.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Psychiatric Status of Patients before and after Disease Onset
Authors: Tarter Ralph E. , Switala Joann , Carra Joseph , Edwards Kathleen L. , Van Thiel David H.
Published: May 2005

Compared to normal controls, individuals with Crohn's Disease manifest an increased prevalence of anxiety, depression and panic disorder occurring at any time in their life. Only panic disorder had an excess prevalence in Crohn's disease relative to community dwelling normals prior to the time of disease onset. Individuals with ulcerative colitis did not demonstrate an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorder before or after disease onset. The results suggest that there is a higher prevalence of psychiatric disorder in patients with Crohn's Disease relative to the normal population and that a small but significant percentage of individuals with Crohn's Disease may have a psychiatric disturbance which predates their medical illness.
Assessing the Impact of a Graduate School Preparation Program on First-Generation, Low-Income College Students at a Public Liberal Arts University
Authors: Ishiyama John T. , Hopkins Valerie M.
Published: May 2005

This study assessed the performance of a federal program designed to serve first-generation, low-income (FGLI) college students—the Ronald E. McNair Program. Using data from a midwestern liberal arts university we found that FGLI program participants are far more likely to be retained to the university and successful in terms of timely graduation and placement into graduate school than FGLI non-participants, even when controlling for academic ability and ambition.
Predicting Student Teacher Commitment to the Use of Computers
Authors: Kay Robin H.
Published: May 2005

This study explored the effectiveness of computer attitudes, computer literacy, computer locus of control, and gender in predicting commitment to the use of computers. Three hundred and eighty-three education students, completed a survey about commitment to the use of computers (actual use, interest, and promotion), computer attitudes (affective and cognitive), computer literacy (experience, basic skills, application software, awareness, programming), and locus of control (specific to the use of computers). The results indicated that cognitive attitude, awareness, and application software ability were the best predictors of commitment to the use of computers. Less effective, but significant predictors, included affective attitude, locus of control and gender.
Health Costs and Benefits of Economic Policy
Authors: Brenner M. Harvey
Published: May 2005

The purpose of this study is to translate research findings on pathological effects of unemployment and other forms of economic distress into a form that would be useful for national economic policy decisions. Economic indices considered by themselves are questionable because such data permit no inferences as to quantitive social implications. In the present report, we have brought together several of the scientific findings on the impact of economic distress in a policy relevant framework which would ultimately permit quantitive estimates of that impact on social pathology. Some success has been achieved in formulating models to explain how the various sources of national economic distress may be associated with pathology.

Overall, it is evident that significant relationships exist between economic policy and measures of national well-being. This study indicates that actions which influence national economic activity-especially the unemployment rate-have a substantial bearing on physical health, mental health, and criminal aggression. To the extent, therefore, that economic policy has acted to influence economic activity, it has always been related to the nation's social health. It would appear that on a day-today basis, nearly all political and deliberate economic policy decisions which affect the national, regional, and local economic situations also are associated with many aspects of the nation's well-being. Indeed, significant amelioration of many of our basic social problems may depend, in part, on national economic policy considerations.
Gravels and Travels: A Comment on Andrefsky's “Cascade Phase Lithic Technology”
Authors: Reid Kenneth C.
Published: May 2005

The presence of chert in mid-Holocene lithic assemblages along the Snake River has been attributed to long distance mobility, with the material introduced in bifacial form to the canyons from upland quarries. Geological field studies, however, show that chert, argillite, and quartzite are common in terrace and alluvial gravels along the lower Snake River. These lithologies probably provided a major source of high quality raw material for populations wintering near the river throughout the Holocene.
Attitudes toward Embodied Old Age among Swedes
Authors: Öberg Peter , Tornstam Lars
Published: May 2005

Messages in the consumer culture are often youth oriented, aiming at the prevention of the bodily decay associated with biological aging. In gerontological discourses, this has been hypothesized to generate negative attitudes toward embodied aging and old age. Studies about general attitudes toward old age show that younger respondents have more negative attitudes than do older respondents, and gerontological discourses also hypothesize a gendered ageism, with especially negative attitudes toward elderly women. The empirical study of embodied aging among 1,250 Swedes aged 20–85 years contradicts these hypotheses. The results show rather positive attitudes toward embodied old age, especially among young and middle-aged respondents. Neither do the results unequivocally confirm the hypothesis of gendered ageism, which predicts considerably more negative attitudes toward old women than toward old men. One interpretation of the results is that, counter to many hypotheses, the consumer culture, with its new opportunities and roles for old people, may positively affect these attitudes.
Recognition and Differential Diagnosis of Tardive Dyskinesia
Authors: Cummings Jeffrey L. , Wirshing William C.
Published: May 2005

Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is a consequence of chronic neuroleptic therapy. It is an irregular stereotyped movement disorder that is usually choreic in appearance, and is subject to temporary volitional control. Dystonia, akathisia, and tics are uncommon variants of the classic tardive syndrome. Characteristic clinical features including amelioration by action, augmentation by distraction, partial volitional suppressibility, and lack of subjective distress help differentiate TD from other movement disorders such as resting tremor, Huntington's disease, spontaneous dyskinesias, and abnormal movements accompanying psychiatric illnesses.
The Effects of Mediated Programming Instruction on Preschool Children's Self-Monitoring
Authors: Miller Gloria E. , Emihovich Catherine
Published: May 2005

The effects of mediated Logo programming lessons on preschool childrens' comprehension monitoring was investigated in this study. Fourteen children of similar language ability, sex, and SES level were randomly assigned to either a Logo programming or a CAI control group. Logo students were presented eleven programming lessons during a three-week period. The CAI control students were exposed to computer games designed to teach prereading and math skills during the same time period. All children were taught individually or in pairs. Childrens' ability to detect embedded errors during a referential communication task was significantly greater after Logo training than after the CAI control training. Marginally significant posttest facilitation was evidenced on several other monitoring indexes for the Logo students. The importance of teacher mediation in computer programming instruction is emphasized in the discussion.
A Behavioral Intervention for Death Anxiety in Nurses
Authors: White Pamela Diane , Gilner Frank H. , Handal Paul J. , Napoli John G.
Published: May 2005

A treatment outcome study was conducted to evaluate change in death anxiety as a result of systematic desensitization, relaxation training, and no intervention. Dependent measures included two paper-and-pencil tests of death anxiety, Feifel's CWIT, a behavioral measure of communication with simulated patients, and demographic variables. The measures were given pre, post, and five months following intervention. Both the desensitization and relaxation groups were more effective than no treatment and were more effective than didactic or short term interventions reviewed in the literature. Discussion is focused on the need for improvement of available dependent measures of death anxiety and development of adequate behavioral measurement scales before further outcome research becomes meaningful.
Development of Visual Languages with Interactive Video Disks
Authors: McWhinnie Harold J.
Published: May 2005

This article represents some exploratory work utilizing the computer and a video disk done at the National Gallery of Art. Developed were some instructional sequences and other software that could be used either in the teaching of courses in art and design, or additional research on the nature of the formal structure found in works of art. This was a project in the development of visual languages. Utilized was a new IBM software program that allows use of video disk technology to: present instructional sequences to students; store the responses of students to questions; evaluate the responses of students; and analyze these responses in terms of aesthetic preference, aesthetic judgement and other variables. Video disks and interactive computer software programs offer the possibilities of powerful new technologies for both instruction and research in art and design.
Can We Test Technical Writing Skill Objectively?
Authors: Kirkman John
Published: May 2005

The use of subjective testing as the only method for testing writing ability is questioned in this paper. Even a collaboration between engineers and specialists in English gives highly debatable results. The author of this paper, a well known British educator, has been experimenting with a type of objective testing. He invites readers to take one of his tests and to discuss the results with him.
Borrowing to Build: Private Money and Public Welfare
Authors: Sbragia Alberta
Published: May 2005

The process of local government borrowing to finance the capital needs of social services has an impact on both central-local relations and the type of service which can be offered to the citizen-consumer. Based on an examination of these relationships in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, it is postulated that different types of central-local relations are dependent on the nature of relations between central government and the investment community. Further, through use of material from a case study of public housing politics in Italy, it is shown how the investment criteria of the so-called “private” sector are transferred to the operations of the public sector through the mechanism of local borrowing. This transferal affects the manner in which social services are conceived and delivered.
Academic Departments and Student Attitudes toward Different Dimensions of Web-Based Education
Authors: Federico Pat-Anthony
Published: May 2005

In order to determine student attitudes toward various aspects of network-based instruction, 234 individuals voluntarily participated in research to ascertain their tendencies that will likely facilitate, or interfere with, interacting and learning from this innovative technology. Participants were requested to respond anonymously to 60 items of a survey designed to assess their attitudes toward distinct facets of network-based instruction. Student responses to survey items were analyzed using a number of multivariate and univariate statistical techniques. Students sampled from distinct academic departments disclosed significantly different attitudes toward different dimensions of Web-based education: Computer Science and Executive Management Education exhibited the most agreeable attitudes, and Oceanography, Physics, and Operations Research the least agreeable attitudes, concerning expectations of, learning from, beliefs about, and design of network-based instruction and hypermedia. Systems Management and Electrical and Computer Engineering manifested attitudes toward these distinct facets of on-line learning between these polar positions. The findings partially supported the general hypothesis theoretically based upon psychological distances and social representations and schemata.
A Survey of Recent Technical Writing Textbooks
Authors: McKenna Bernard , Thomas Glen
Published: May 2005

A large number of technical writing textbooks, many of them revised editions, is entering the college education marketplace. This review of five recent textbooks not only thoroughly analyses the content of the texts, but also raises two serious concerns. The survey finds that the textbooks provide inadequate guidance on paragraph structure. The survey also reveals that this textbook genre appears to rely upon a scanty, and sometimes dated, theory base. The authors ask whether this could lead to the production of manuals based upon “received wisdom,” rather than professional writing guides based upon sound communication theory.
Crimes and Misdemeanors: A Review of Recent Research on Suicides in Prison
Authors: Haycock Joel
Published: May 2005

By contrast with the attention that jail suicide has received in the last decade, suicide among longer-term prisoners has occasioned little public concern and less scholarly interest. This article reviews recent empirical studies of prison suicides, whose results call into question the conventional belief that longer-term prisoners rarely kill themselves. These studies suggest that completed suicide in prison is a serious public health problem, and that for certain sub-groups, the risks of completed suicide approach, and perhaps exceed those of jail detainees. Recent research bears out the connection between outward-turned aggression and suicide, and raises doubts about conventional conceptions of the anti-social personality. The implications for future suicide rates of the “graying” of the prison population, and of the AIDS epidemic within prisons are discussed, as are the needs for future research.
Community Attitudes Toward Physician Assisted Suicide
Authors: Domino George
Published: May 2005

Attitudes toward physician-assisted suicide (PAS) were assessed in a sample of 400 community adults, stratified as to gender and socioeconomic class, using a 12-item psychometric scale rather than the more typical survey question. The results indicate that the Domino scale, currently the only psychometric instrument of attitudes toward PAS, is factorially homogeneous and shows considerable internal stability. There were no gender differences, but significant socioeconomic class differences were obtained with better educated, upper class individuals more favorable in attitude than semi-skilled and unskilled poorly educated lower social class individuals. The majority of respondents support physician assisted suicide, but such support is inversely related to age.
Learning Systems for the Future
Authors: Harvey W. L.
Published: May 2005

New approaches proposed in the early sixties to be pervasive change agents for education and training have in general failed to materialize. Four major reasons have been proposed; oversell of capabilities, poor implementation, high costs, and poor communications. Against this past record, eight trends are projected.
The Work Environment Justice Fund: Five Years of Funding Work Environment Justice in Massachusetts
Authors: Siqueira C. Eduardo
Published: May 2005

This article provides an assessment of the impact of five years of funding on work environment justice in Massachusetts. It first outlines the economic, historical, and political context in the 1990s in Massachusetts. Next, it describes the distribution of the Work Environment Justice Fund grants in detail by amounts presented, types of organizations and grants funded, and geographic representation of grantees. A discussion of the lessons learned from the work funded by the WEJF introduces a summary of major accomplishments of the grantees. The report concludes with recommendations for continuation and expansion of funding for grassroots work environment justice in Massachusetts.

This is a “wake-up” call to all [Massachusetts] businesses to ensure they are exercising reasonable care in providing for their employees' health and safety.

—Scott Harshbarger, former Massachusetts Attorney General, 1994
The Stream of Consciousness: X. A Critique of James's Appendage Theory of Consciousness (First Part)
Authors: Natsoulas Thomas
Published: May 2005

In this two-part article, I present a critique of William James's theory of inner awareness, as this theory finds expression in The Principles of Psychology. By inner awareness, I mean the immediate awareness we have of some of our own mental-occurrence instances. In the case of any mental-occurrence instance, the actual or potential occurrence of an immediate awareness of it is a necessary condition for its qualifying as a state of consciousness. By an appendage theory, I mean one holding that inner awareness involves a distinct mental-occurrence instance that has the respective conscious mental-occurrence instance as its object. The contrasting intrinsic theory holds that every conscious mental-occurrence instance involves in its own structure immediate awareness of itself. James's appendage theory proposes that, normally, the total brain process produces any mental-occurrence instance, which is a basic durational component of the stream of consciousness, and then may produce a component that gives immediate awareness of the first.
Favorite Movie Monsters and Their Psychological Appeal
Authors: Fischoff Stuart , Dimopoulos Alexandra , Nguyen François , Gordon Rachel
Published: May 2005

A nationwide and demographically representative sample of 1,166 people responded to a survey exploring choices for a favorite movie monster and reasons underlying the choice. Results of the study indicated that, irrespective of demographics, the vampire is the king of monsters. With a few exceptions (e.g., Chucky, Dracula, and sexiness), males and females were generally attracted to the same monsters and for similar reasons. Regarding age differences, younger people were more likely to prefer recent and more violent and murderous slasher monsters, such as Freddy Krueger, and to like them for their killing prowess. Older people were more attracted to earlier vintage, non-slasher monsters like Karloff's Frankenstein. Slasher and non-slasher monsters who ranked in the Top 10 in terms of popularity differed in two important respects: slashers were preferred for their killing prowess while non-slashers were preferred for being objects of empathy, pity, or compassion. Overall, though, monsters were particularly liked for their intelligence, superhuman powers, and their ability to (safely) show us the dark side of human nature.
Evaluation of a Suicide Diary: A Content and Situational Analysis
Authors: Peck Dennis L.
Published: May 2005

Discourse or content analysis of a diary is employed to evaluate the ideation and attitude of a middle-aged female committer. Starting with a rational basis for establishing the suicidal act, assessment of the journal content suggests the writer may have responded to a variety of socio-psychological conditions and emotions during the planned course of action leading to her death.
Evading the Issue of Widening Inequalities of Health in Britain: A Reply to Rudolf Klein
Authors: Townsend Peter
Published: May 2005

The Black Report of 1980 prompted much discussion in Britain of the evidence about widening inequalities in health and the explanation of these inequalities. Most scientific observers supported the broad analysis, while qualifying and extending its themes and filling some of the most important gaps. However, there have been critics who have threatened to distract attention from the implications of the evidence for scientific knowledge of the causes of ill health and premature death, and therefore from policies to improve health. In a previous article in this Journal, I sought to refute one of the critics of the Black Report, Professor Rudolf Klein, by calling attention to new evidence supporting its thesis. In his response he fails to address that evidence: it continues to accumulate, and it has international reverberations. This rebuttal also lists some of the latest work.
Religious Symbolism in Limbu Death-By-Violence
Authors: Jones Rex L.
Published: May 2005

This article analyzes a special death ritual performed for people who die by violence or accident in eastern Nepal among a Tibeto-Burman speaking tribal group, the Limbu. Such unusual deaths are contrasted to “normal” deaths of old age or disease and given a different symbolic treatment in Limbu myth and ritual. The symbolism of “chaos vs. order” permeates the death ritual. The author feels that the ritual is one way that the Limbu bring meaning to unexpected and absurd situations of death. The Limbu shaman who conducts the ritual plays an important role in the area of the drama.
Crash of the Immunization Program: Consequences of a Totalitarian Approach
Authors: Banerji Debabar
Published: May 2005

India's Universal Immunization Program, which was to cover a population of more than 90 million pregnant mothers and 83 million infants living in more than 575,000 villages during 1986–90, has failed dismally. The coverage has been less than one-fifth of the requirement in more than half of the population. The situation in most third world countries, which have even weaker political clout and weaker health service infrastructures, is even more catastrophic. From a purely public health standpoint, the disaster was inevitable. No efforts were made even to define the problem of the six immunizable diseases; there was no question of understanding their natural history; the efficacy of the vaccines used was not well-known; the cold chain, which is meant to retain the potency of the vaccines at the time of inoculation, frequently broke down; there was confusion about the dosage; and even where the program is most successful, ecological conditions will erode much of the benefits from immunization. That such a technocentric program was imposed on the peoples of the third world by their governments was bad enough; even more frightening is that these countries were persuaded to follow the line developed in affluent countries by influential agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Rotary International. This is an awe-inspiring manifestation of the power of the affluent countries to impose their will on the weak and helpless peoples of the world. It is a bitter irony that UNICEF and WHO, which sponsored the famous global conference at Alma-Ata, should have lent their weight to a program that is the very antithesis of the Declaration. To embark on such a venture, the exponents had to ignore weighty scientific evidence that raised serious doubts about the program. They had to stoop to suppression of information, disinformation, and distortion of information. What is even worse, efforts will be made to erase this experience from memory, and similar efforts will again be made to launch such ill-conceived programs in the name of the welfare of the oppressed peoples of the world. Scholars who have concern for the oppressed must remain vigilant.
Problem Areas in Science News Writing
Authors: Ryan Michael , Tankard James W.
Published: May 2005

Problem areas in science news coverage were identified as part of a survey of the accuracy of science news reporting in newspapers. Mail questionnaires and newspaper clippings were sent to the major sources cited in the articles. Common problem areas in science writing were identified by examining the comments scientists made on the questionnaires. Specifically, seven problem areas are discussed here: finding angles, writing leads, quoting accurately, using language correctly, interpreting technical conclusions properly, avoiding sensationalism, and using the words “cure” and “breakthrough.”
A Federal Perspective concerning the Use of Computers in Vocational Training
Authors: Otte Richard B.
Published: May 2005

This paper discusses some of the problems that are faced by educators and systems developers as they attempt to develop and implement, on a broad scale, effective technological systems for the instruction, administration and management of education. To date millions of dollars have been expanded in developing instructional administrative and management systems for education. Yet with a few prominent exceptions there has been little broad scale impact on public elementary and secondary education. Because of this fact interest in and support for new research on the application of computers to educational problems has nearly dried up at the Office of Education, the National Institute of Education and the National Science Foundation. Work is needed to find out why this lack of broad-scale impact and what needs to be done to improve the situation.
Education on Death and Dying: A Neglected Area in the Medical Curriculum
Authors: Liston Edward H.
Published: May 2005

Very little has been reported about instructing medical students on the psychosocial aspects of life-threatening illness, and there is evidence that this subject has been neglected in medical education. Structured courses are preferable to informal instruction but they are not universally employed, for reasons which are more related to resistance and avoidance than to availability of curriculum time or qualified faculty. Indications are, however, that such education is increasing. Yet to be determined are optimal teaching methods for this subject. Improved communication among educators in this area is needed.
Writing to Read: An Evaluation of a Canadian Installation of a Computer-Supported Initial Language Environment
Authors: Collis Betty , Ollila Lloyd , Ollila Kathleen
Published: May 2005

Writing to Read (WTR) is an approach to initial language arts instruction which involves a multisensory learning environment including computers. The first Canadian installation of WTR began in two British Columbia school districts in 1985. This article focuses primarily on one of those districts and describes an evaluation of the WTR experience from the time of its planning (1984) until the conclusion of its second year of full operation (1987). The evaluation shows the WTR experience to have a positive impact on some aspects of writing achievement. However, the evaluation also suggests the value of closer scrutiny of the WTR system from more than the criteria of achievement scores.
Fifty Years after the Death of Flammarion, the Science Popularizer
Authors: Novozhilov Yuri V. , Richardson Jacques G.
Published: May 2005

The fiftieth anniversary of the death of Camille Flammarion, the great French astronomer, is the occasion for the authors of this article to review the beginnings of modern science writing. Flammarion's Popular Astronomy may be considered the first step in the popularization of science. The relation of science communication to other disciplines is discussed as well as the contemporary approach. One of the tasks of the popularizer is to present a correct image of science to the public. The authors conclude with a statement of UNESCO's involvement in the popularization of science.
The Political Economy of Health Care for Elderly Blacks
Authors: Wallace Steven P.
Published: May 2005

The author analyzes the influences of race and class on the life chances of blacks by focusing on the health care of black elderly. Theories based on cultural, class, and racial forces are explained in the context of how each would be used to analyze the health care of older blacks. The lower health and socioeconomic statuses of older blacks compared with older whites are documented. The author argues that cultural factors are unable to explain those differences adequately, and that class factors such as the profit orientation of the medical care system, and race factors such as residential segregation and racial discrimination in the medical care system, both contribute to the disparities in medical care. Since proposals for a U.S. national health insurance or national health service fail to include race-conscious measures, the proposals will fail to eliminate existing racial disparities in the health and health care of the elderly.
Federal-Provincial Insurance for Hospital and Physician's Care in Canada
Authors: Hastings J. E. F.
Published: May 2005

The general Canadian background for health services and the evolution of social insurance programs for health services are described in this paper, with special emphasis on the universal federal–provincial Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Program and the Medical Care Insurance Program. Other important Canadian health services developments are also outlined. Social insurance programs for health services are discussed in terms of financing and costs, manpower and facilities, and planning and organization. The impact of these programs on governments, the health professions, and the public is also given. New approaches, concepts, issues, and problems in providing health services in Canada are described. It may be seen that Canadian health services have undergone rapid and extensive change and growth in the last two decades. The process is still under way and the ultimate patterns of both social insurance for health services and health services delivery are not yet settled.
Coming to a Town near You: Corporate Globalization and its Impact on Massachusetts Workers
Authors: Della Mattera Nancy , Gaudet Jennifer
Published: May 2005

This report examines five themes of globalization: trade agreements and job loss; corporate growth; outsourcing and privatization; downward wage pressures; and immigration. We begin with an overview that connects each of these themes to the Massachusetts experience and highlights the corporate strategies that are affecting this experience. These themes are then interwoven throughout the three case studies that follow: “forced supplier migration” at a GE supply plant in Wilmington; outsourced dining service workers at Harvard; and the transformation of the fish processing industry in New Bedford.
Holotape® Systems in Education
Authors: Bordogna Joseph , Hannan William J.
Published: May 2005

The pedagogic potential of RCA's HoloTape video playback system is assessed within the context of present innovative educational trends.
A Task-Based Approach to Coping with Dying
Authors: Corr Charles A.
Published: May 2005

This article proposes a task-based approach for understanding and explicating coping with dying. Four primary dimensions of coping with dying are outlined (the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual). These dimensions define four primary areas of task work in coping with dying. In addition, an argument is offered as to why this task-based approach should be adopted. That argument depends on remarks about the nature of coping and an analysis of four advantages that apply to a task-based approach (improved understanding, empowerment, participation, and guidance for helpers).
Health-Related Quality of Life in Primary Care Patients with Recognized and Unrecognized Mood and Anxiety Disorders
Authors: Cass Alvah R. , Volk Robert J. , Nease Donald E.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Primary care providers have been criticized for underrecognizing and undertreating mental health disorders. This criticism assumes patients with recognized disorders and those with unrecognized disorders suffer the same burden of illness. This study describes differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with recognized and unrecognized mood and anxiety disorders in a primary care setting.

Methods:

A probability sample of 500 adult ambulatory patients from a university-based, family practice clinic, completed the PRIME-MD mood and anxiety disorder modules and the SF-36 Health Survey. Computerized patient records were reviewed retrospectively to determine recognition of mood and anxiety disorders. The Mental Health (MCS) and Physical Health (PCS) Component Summary scales of the SF-36 served as the primary outcome measures.

Results:

Sub-threshold mood and anxiety disorders were less likely to be recognized by physicians than disorders meeting DSM-III-R criteria. Recognized mood disorders were associated with a significant decrement in MCS scores (poorer HRQOL) compared with unrecognized disorders. In contrast, recognized mood disorders demonstrated slightly higher PCS scores. Recognized and unrecognized mood disorders differed significantly in physical functioning, vitality, social functioning, role functioning related to emotional state, and mental health. Recognition of anxiety disorders was not related to HRQOL.

Conclusions:

Patients with mental health disorders that have been recognized by their health providers appear to suffer from poorer HRQOL than patients whose disorders have not been recognized. This relationship, though, is only apparent for mood disorders. Poorer physical functioning may mask less severe emotional symptoms in mood disorders; profound emotional symptoms make recognition easier.
Computer Literacy Assessment and Validation: Empirical Relationships at Both Student and School Levels
Authors: Gabriel Roy M.
Published: May 2005

While the notion of Computer Literacy is receiving much attention in today's schools, curricular approaches are in their infancy, and validated assessment methods are virtually nonexistent. This article reports on three years of test development and validation research in Computer Literacy conducted by the author. Empirical data collected in testing over 3,000 students in 115 schools are presented which evidence the psychometric properties of the instruments and address questions of interrelationships among student and classroom characteristics with achievement.
The Effects of Student Formative Evaluation of Instruction on Teacher Behavior
Authors: Sherman Thomas M.
Published: May 2005

Two university classes rated their instructors after each class without their instructor's knowledge. Students rated both the value and quality of instruction for each class and indicated why each rating was given. The effects of formative feedback and the specificity of feedback were investigated. Results indicated that formative student feedback was effective in improving ratings when this feedback contained specific enough information regarding instructor classroom behavior. The implications of using formative student evaluation of instruction are discussed along with suggestions for utilizing student instructor feedback information.
Deciphering the Physician—Older Patient Interaction
Authors: Irish Julie T.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

The purpose of this article is to provide a commentary on nonverbal communication in the physician-older patient interaction.

Method:

A literature review of physician-older patient communication yielded several published studies on this topic. Nonverbal behaviors were rarely examined in this body of literature even though the need to adopt a more “biopsycho-social” model of care was mentioned in several of the articles. The nonverbal communication literature was also reviewed to determine whether aging had been a variable of interest with regard to encoding (sending) and decoding communication (receiving) skills.

Results:

To date there have been very few studies that have investigated the role of nonverbal communication in the physician-older patient interaction. Selected encoding and decoding characteristics for both physicians and patients are discussed with the context of the aging process. In lieu of direct evidence linking nonverbal behavior and physician-older patient communication, possible implications are offered for the following characteristics: expression of emotion, pain expression, gestures, gaze, touch, hearing, and vocal affect. Three relevant outcomes (satisfaction with care, quality of life, and health status) are also discussed within the nonverbal behavior-aging framework.

Conclusion:

The connection between nonverbal behavior and how physicians and older patients interact with one another has not been rigorously examined. Identifying and improving nonverbal communication will likely enhance the verbal exchange in the medical encounter and may improve the older patient's quality of care.
Visual Memory, Verbal Schemas, and Film Comprehension
Authors: Cowen Paul S.
Published: May 2005

An ambiguous silent film was viewed either by itself or with an improbable but plausible verbal synopsis presented either before or after the film. In general, the verbal synopsis significantly influenced inferences made one hour later, but there was an interaction between visualization ability and the order in which the synopsis and film were presented. Visualization ability significantly decreased biased inferences when the film was seen first, but significantly increased this bias when the synopsis preceded the film. Greater synopsis influence was also associated with greater comprehensibility of the film. Visualization ability significantly affected recognition of “hits” while presenting the synopsis after the film increased the rate of false alarms. Results suggest that individual differences in visual ability and conflict between visual and verbal information should be considered when generalizing about encoding, retrieval, and story comprehension using visual media. Implications for media influences, film study and the use of film/video in other settings are also discussed.
Suicidal Models—Their Frequency and Role in Suicide Attempters, Non-Suicidal Psychiatric Patients and Normal Control Cases: A Comparative German-Hungarian Study
Authors: Fekete S. , Schmidtke A.
Published: May 2005

Increasing evidence suggests that imitative behavior may have a role in suicide. The social transmission of this problem-solving strategy might be explained by the influence of modeling. The authors investigated suicide attempters, psychiatric patients without suicidal history as well as control groups of normal persons without a psychiatric or suicidal history matched for sociodemographic variables in Germany and Hungary. Using a structured questionnaire the occurrence of real and fictive suicidal models was investigated. Statistical analyses were performed to compare the frequency of suicidal models, the characteristics of the suicidal act, and the role of imitation of the different groups in each country. The differences between the German and Hungarian groups were explained according to different cultural factors and different learning histories.
Prehistoric Trade Networks and the Ethnographic Record in Central California
Authors: Arkush Brooke S.
Published: May 2005

During ethnographic times, the Penutian-speaking Yokuts Indians of California's San Joaquin Valley functioned as middle men in the exchange of finished artifacts, raw materials, and foodstuffs between coastal and interior aboriginal groups. Within most Yokuts tribelets there apparently existed one or more professional traders who were critical components of trans-Sierran trade networks. It is argued that the ethnographically documented pattern of interregional trade in central California is a partially distorted postcontact product of a more complex and widespread precontact exchange system in which Yokuts traders played a major role. Archaeological data are reviewed to determine the general time depth of trans-Sierran trade, and ethnographic data are examined in an attempt to assess the validity of central California native trade relations and activities as portrayed by the ethnographic record.
The Theory of Social Services in Disaccumulationist Capitalism
Authors: Hirschhorn Larry
Published: May 2005

The theory of social services today must be based on a more general theory of the “disaccumulation” of capitalist society. Capitalist society disaccumulates as new productive forces emerge within the framework of the capitalist labor market. These forces are expressed abstractly in new sources of productivity based on information and organization and concretely in a new organization of work. This new organization of work breaks down the old capitalist division between labor and non-labor time and poses instead a more fluid interaction and integration of work and non-work. Capitalist society, however, disaccumulates through social crisis. The reorganization of work is simultaneously expressed as the decay of the labor market. This decay delegitimates social services and creates the present social service crisis. Social services can find their new sources of legitimacy only if social classes can move past the crisis of disaccumulation and find the appropriate new forms of social life based on the emerging non-capitalist organization of work.