bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Rage against the Iron Cage
Authors: Dobbin Frank , Schrage Daniel , Kalev Alexandra
Published: September 2015

Organization scholars since Max Weber have argued that formal personnel systems can prevent discrimination. We draw on sociological and psychological literatures to develop a theory of the varied effects of bureaucratic reforms on managerial motivation. Drawing on self-perception and cognitive-dissonance theories, we contend that initiatives that engage managers in promoting diversity—special recruitment and training programs—will increase diversity. Drawing on job-autonomy and self-determination theories, we contend that initiatives that limit managerial discretion in hiring and promotion—job tests, performance evaluations, and grievance procedures—will elicit resistance and produce adverse effects. Drawing on transparency and accountability theories, we contend that bureaucratic reforms that increase transparency for job-seekers and hiring managers—job postings and job ladders—will have positive effects. Finally, drawing on accountability theory, we contend that monitoring by diversity managers and federal regulators will improve the effects of bureaucratic reforms. We examine the effects of personnel innovations on managerial diversity in 816 U.S. workplaces over 30 years. Our findings help explain the nation’s slow progress in reducing job segregation and inequality. Some popular bureaucratic reforms thought to quell discrimination instead activate it. Some of the most effective reforms remain rare.
“No Fracking Way!” Documentary Film, Discursive Opportunity, and Local Opposition against Hydraulic Fracturing in the United States, 2010 to 2013
Authors: Vasi Ion Bogdan , Walker Edward T. , Johnson John S. , Tan Hui Fen
Published: September 2015

Recent scholarship highlights the importance of public discourse for the mobilization and impact of social movements, but it neglects how cultural products may shift discourse and thereby influence mobilization and political outcomes. This study investigates how activism against hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) utilized cultural artifacts to influence public perceptions and effect change. A systematic analysis of Internet search data, social media postings, and newspaper articles allows us to identify how the documentary Gasland reshaped public discourse. We find that Gasland contributed not only to greater online searching about fracking, but also to increased social media chatter and heightened mass media coverage. Local screenings of Gasland contributed to anti-fracking mobilizations, which, in turn, affected the passage of local fracking moratoria in the Marcellus Shale states. These results have implications not only for understanding movement outcomes, but also for theory and research on media, the environment, and energy.
Tradition and Innovation in Scientists’ Research Strategies
Authors: Foster Jacob G. , Rzhetsky Andrey , Evans James A.
Published: September 2015

What factors affect a scientist’s choice of research problem? Qualitative research in the history and sociology of science suggests that this choice is patterned by an “essential tension” between productive tradition and risky innovation. We examine this tension through Bourdieu’s field theory of science, and we explore it empirically by analyzing millions of biomedical abstracts from MEDLINE. We represent the evolving state of chemical knowledge with networks extracted from these abstracts. We then develop a typology of research strategies on these networks. Scientists can introduce novel chemicals and chemical relationships (innovation) or delve deeper into known ones (tradition). They can consolidate knowledge clusters or bridge them. The aggregate distribution of published strategies remains remarkably stable. High-risk innovation strategies are rare and reflect a growing focus on established knowledge. An innovative publication is more likely to achieve high impact than a conservative one, but the additional reward does not compensate for the risk of failing to publish. By studying prizewinners in biomedicine and chemistry, we show that occasional gambles for extraordinary impact are a compelling explanation for observed levels of risky innovation. Our analysis of the essential tension identifies institutional forces that sustain tradition and suggests policy interventions to foster innovation.
Critical thinking skills in the International Baccalaureate’s “Theory of Knowledge” subject: Findings from an Australian study
Authors: Cole David R , Ullman Jacqueline , Gannon Susanne , Rooney Paul
Published: September 2015

There is considerable debate both in Australia and internationally about the best way for schools to deliver the thinking skills required for university study and professional work life – skills that are often referred to by the term “critical thinking”. This article reviews the literature on the effective teaching of critical thinking and looks at one example of a secondary school subject aimed at developing critical thinking skills in its graduates, namely the Theory of Knowledge (ToK) subject in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (DP). ToK, a core element of the DP, has no set curriculum. Instead, ToK requires students to think deeply about knowledge problems and to formulate coherent views on the nature of knowledge. This article reports on an Australian study into the teaching and learning of ToK and presents associated outcomes in cohorts of both secondary and tertiary students.
Jesus’ Resurrection as a Saturated Phenomenon?
Authors: Schweitzer Don
Published: September 2015

This paper examines Jean-Luc Marion’s notion of a saturated phenomenon and assesses some of its strengths and weaknesses as a way of understanding Jesus’ resurrection. It argues that Marion’s notion is very helpful for understanding the uniqueness and decisiveness of Jesus’ resurrection, its resistance to objectification, its transformative power and its excess of meaning. However, Marion’s assertion that a person is completely passive in receiving a saturated phenomenon does not fit with the way Jesus’ resurrection is described in the New Testament. This paper offers a correction to Marion’s notion on this point, arguing that people do have the freedom to play an active role in their reception of Jesus’ resurrection and in their constitution by it, a freedom founded by Jesus’ resurrection itself.
The Justice Imperative in Scripture
Authors: Adams Samuel L.
Published: September 2015

The Hebrew Bible and New Testament reveal an abiding concern for the poor, including the creation of a just society. Economic stratification in the ancient world and the tendency for those in difficult circumstances to receive unfair treatment lead to a passionate defense of justice, which in many passages requires equitable treatment of all persons. This essay probes key biblical texts on such matters as interest, bribery, outreach to the poor, and the question of an afterlife to underscore a “justice imperative.” Despite arguments to the contrary, social justice and economic fairness are core themes in Scripture.
Poverty, Politics, and Faithful Witness in the Age of Humanitarianism
Authors: Bretherton Luke
Published: September 2015

Beginning with a critique of humanitarianism, this essay explores alternative, theological ways of framing responses to the poverty and suffering of strangers. A particular focus is the differing kinds of neighbor-love at work in humanitarianism and democracy and how a christological and eschatological frame of reference re-configures them so as to enable the formation of a people that seeks the flourishing of the whole.
How Economic Inequality is a Theological and Moral Issue
Authors: Hicks Douglas A.
Published: September 2015

Income and wealth inequalities in the United States have risen sharply over the past four decades and have reached levels that are unprecedented in the postwar period. Christian theology and ethics have much to offer public debates about inequality and can prompt public action to reduce those forms of inequality that limit human well-being and capability. This article reviews trends of economic inequality and develops a framework to address these disparities.
Recovery Residences and Providing Safe and Supportive Housing for Individuals Overcoming Addiction
Authors: Mericle Amy A. , Miles Jennifer , Way Fred
Published: September 2015

Recovery residences provide safe and supportive housing to help individuals initiate and sustain recovery from substance abuse. They are a potentially important yet understudied component of the substance abuse continuum of care. Unlike other substance abuse treatment and service delivery options, recovery residences are largely privately owned and funded by the residents themselves, and we know little about how these residences open and the factors that influence their ability to stay open. Using qualitative data from interviews with recovery home operators ( N = 21) in Philadelphia, this article explores what recovery home operators want to accomplish with their homes, how they try to do this, the obstacles they encounter in trying to run their homes, and why they keep at it. Themes highlight the potential of recovery residences as well as the challenges faced by those who operate them.
Eighth-Grade Violinists’ Instrument Tuning Ability
Authors: Hopkins Michael T.
Published: September 2015

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between eighth-grade violinists’ pitch perception and instrument tuning skill. The perceptual task was a researcher-developed computer-based Violin Tuning Perception Test. The instrument tuning task involved tuning two violins, one mistuned flat and the other mistuned sharp. Participants ( N = 46) were enrolled at three middle schools in the midwestern United States. A moderate relationship was found between participants’ perceptual accuracy and instrument tuning accuracy, with pitch perception scores significantly more accurate than instrument tuning scores. Participants tuned the flat instrument more accurately than the sharp instrument. An overall tendency toward flat tuning was evident on both the perception and instrument tuning tests, with responses to items representing the G string, the least accurate on both the perception and the instrument tuning tests. No relationships were found between participants’ rating of their tuning ability and their perceptual or instrument tuning accuracy; however, those who rated themselves as “excellent or good” required significantly less time to complete the instrument tuning test than those who rated themselves as “fair or poor.”
Embedding Language Support in Developmental Mathematics Lessons
Authors: Gomez Kimberley , Gomez Louis M. , Rodela Katherine C. , Horton Emily S. , Cunningham Jahneille , Ambrocio Rocio
Published: September 2015

Three community college faculty members used improvement science techniques to design, develop, and refine contextualized developmental mathematics lessons, where language and literacy pedagogy and related supports figured prominently in these instructional materials. This article reports on the role that their design experiences played in professional learning. The article uses a model of professional learning developed by Clarke and Hollingsworth (2002) as the lens to describe and analyze their experiences. Results indicated theoretically noteworthy variation among the faculty. The results highlight a strong connection between faculty willingness to experiment, during trial enactment of these lessons, in their classrooms and faculty growth in knowledge and belief structures about the importance of language and literacy to mathematics teaching and learning. Implications for design-based development, as an important ongoing professional development activity for mathematics instructors, are discussed.
Between Caesar’s state and God’s kingdom: Theological reflection on two citizenships in terms of the issue of ianfu
Authors: Kimura Koichi
Published: September 2015

Japan’s war responsibility for rounding up and forcing hundreds of thousands of Asian and Dutch women to become “comfort women” has still not been clarified by the Japanese government even today. This paper is a historical and theological reflection on the Japanese military’s sexual slavery crimes, its civil-legal-moral responsibilities, and the indispensable need for it to atone in a just manner and to seek reconciliation for these criminal actions. With the exception of Korea and the Philippines, the church in Asia is not a social majority that can directly influence politics and society in the face of the state. Despite this circumstance, however, it is clearly wrong to conclude that the Asian Church cannot question its current relationship to the state. Justice for the “comfort women” may seem a “penultimate matter” in comparison to the “ultimate concerns” of the Kingdom of God, yet it is clear that the church must bear witness to the “ultimate” through the “penultimate.”
To vote or not to vote: Is that the question?
Authors: Taylor Rodney S.
Published: September 2015

Voting is seen as the sine qua non of moral citizenship for most Christians: not voting is unthinkable. But some believers, drawing from countercultural traditions within Christianity such as Christian pacifism, argue that abstaining from voting is necessary to provide a faithful witness to God’s kingdom. The result is a reductionist approach to voting that resolves in either a simple yes or no. Seeking to broaden this discussion, this article will analyze voting as a moral action. Attention will be given to how voting or not voting shapes the moral actor through analysis of the work of John Rawls, arguments for proportional representation and compulsory voting, and arguments for voting abstinence. Despite their differences, these arguments revolve around the question of moral imagination and community formation. Taylor will argue that voting or not voting are misunderstood morally if portrayed in terms of a relationship to political authorities. Voting and not voting are better understood as acts of neighbor love. Any ethic of voting must focus on how voting or not voting advances the good of the neighbor. Consequently, absolutist claims regarding voting or voting abstinence risk losing sight of the complex and changing needs of neighbors. A more flexible ethic of voting that allows us to vote or not vote depending on what our neighbors need should be the focus of ethical reflection on voting.
Church without prisoners: On the twentieth anniversary of A Peculiar People
Authors: English Adam C.
Published: September 2015

This article reassesses the seminal ideas of Rodney Clapp’s 1996 A Peculiar People on the occasion of its twentieth anniversary. Clapp observes that Christianity has lost, or seems to have lost, its cultural prestige and prominence and that Christians have responded to the emergence of a post-Christian society in two unhelpful ways: relinquishment and retrenchment. Some believers try to make the Gospel relevant to society by imitating social trends and commercializing the faith. This Clapp calls relinquishment. Retrenchment refers to the tempting impulse to “reclaim America,” its politics and culture, for the Christian cause. Clapp offers a third way, envisioning the church as a peculiar people formed by forgiveness and Eucharist—a church not imprisoned and without prisoners. The article reflects on the nature of Christian community in terms of the ancient problem of “the one and the many” and the dictum, “no salvation outside the church.” In opposition to atomistic individualism, a robust biblical notion of church starts and ends as one body with many members. In contrast to modern notions of autonomy, salvation is found in the community of faith as personal identity is found in family. In the final analysis, Clapp appeals to friendship as a key Christian practice that holds the community of faith together but also subverts the powers of a post-Christian society.
Good sinners and exemplary heretics: The sociopolitical implications of love and acceptance in the Gospel of Luke
Authors: Miller Amanda C.
Published: September 2015

This article pairs discussion of the polarization of contemporary American politics with an exploration of the Gospel of Luke’s call to radical hospitality across and in spite of earthly societal divisions. Amanda C. Miller argues that the Lukan Jesus demonstrates a way of living in the world that extends acceptance to all people regardless of ethnic, socioeconomic, political, or religious labels, and focuses instead on their actions toward God and other human beings. The narrative of the Third Gospel strongly alls for love, justice, and hospitality to be enacted, embodied, and demonstrated in how one treats other people.

Miller begins with an overview of the extreme polarization of political views in the 21st-century United States, and a brief look at Jesus’ ethic of acceptance and the conflict such actions will inevitably provoke (e.g., in the call of Levi the tax collector in 5:27–32 and Jesus’ Nazareth proclamation and subsequent rejection in 4:16–30). She then examines in some detail two stories in Luke that show active, engaged relationship between people who, for various societal reasons, would not normally like each other, much less help one another. The parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25–37) demonstrates this boundary-crossing hospitality in the conversation between Jesus and the Torah scholar, and the interaction in the parable between the Samaritan and the wounded man. Likewise, the story of Zacchaeus (19:1–10) shows how a simple invitation to eat together offered by Jesus to a wealthy tax collector transforms Zacchaeus so dramatically that he, in turn, extends radical generosity to those whom he used to oppress and defraud. These two stories demonstrate the power of active acceptance and relationship between those who differ, over and against the dehumanizing labels humans use to divide themselves from one another.
Ha Nāḡîḏ: A Machiavellian Reading of King David in the Deuteronomistic History
Authors: Holtmeyer Taylor Robyn
Published: September 2015

Explorations of political theory, law, power and the people who wield it have existed throughout a majority of human history. From the Code of Hammurabi to Plato’s The Republic to Machiavelli’s The Prince to Hobbes’ Leviathan, people from various times and cultures have debated the importance of government and its role in the lives of citizens. The Deuteronomist, the anonymous redactor(s) of the Deuteronomistic History (Joshua-2 Kings, with Deuteronomy affixed as a prologue), has also contributed to this vast tradition of political debate. With the retelling of the Law, the Deuteronomist uses the Book of Deuteronomy as a measure to judge the actions and efficacy of later characters according to the standards set by Yahweh.

Deuteronomist 16:18–18:22 is a passage that specifically focuses on the paradigmatic governmental structure that Israel should adopt once they are situated in the Promised Land. The excerpt organizes the government into four branches – priests, judges, monarchs, and prophets – and it severely restricts the power of the chief leader, the king. Yet when Israel’s most famous king is evaluated against the rigorous criteria of the Deuteronomist, he falls short. With his aspiring nature and political desires, David instead calls to mind another political ideal – Machiavelli’s hypothetical prince. In short, Machiavelli argues, a prince must manipulate Fortune and Virtue in order to keep and maintain power, for the end justifies the means. It appears that throughout his life, David endeavors to control these two entities for political gain, and his yearning to rule over Israel and Judah justifies his actions along the way. This article will examine some of those actions, specifically those relating to his ambition, his manipulation of the people, and his exploitation of the cult, through a Machiavellian perspective. The article will then argue that David’s politics are more consistent with Machiavelli’s pragmatism than with the Deuteronomist’s Yahwism.
The challenges and opportunities in medical education for digital ‘natives’ and ‘immigrants’ in Scotland and abroad
Authors: de Wet Carl , Yelland Michael
Published: September 2015

Although the digital revolution only started towards the end of the twentieth century, it has already dramatically shifted our world away from traditional industries and ushered in a new age of information. Virtually every aspect of our modern lives has either been transformed or challenged, including medical education. This article describes three of the important factors that are causing seismic changes in medical education in Scotland and abroad. The first is the new generation of ‘digital natives’ that are arriving in medical schools. In response, faculty members have had to become ‘digital immigrants’ and adapt their pedagogies. Second, the rise of social media has allowed the creation of virtual learning environments and communities that augment but also compete with traditional brick-and-mortar institutions. Finally, an ever-increasing range of e-learning resources promise freely accessible and up-to-date evidence, but their sheer volume and lack of standardisation will require careful curation.
Conflict in Current Roman Catholic Systematic Theology: A Diagnosis and Response
Authors: Pambrun James R.
Published: September 2015

Recent conversations concerning conflict in theology have brought into play the role of such figures as Augustine, Aquinas, and Bonaventure. On the one hand, they can be seen to represent polarizing theological attitudes; on the other hand, they can be seen to represent forgotten models that may help repair fragmentary modes of current reason. This article (1) invites a reexamination of philosophical resources, principally through Paul Ricoeur and Bernard Lonergan, that address critical issues of method, and (2) proposes a strategy of communication among diverse modes of reasoning.
A (Non-Communio) Trinitarian Ecclesiology: Grounded in Grace, Lived in Faith, Hope, and Charity
Authors: Ormerod Neil
Published: September 2015

Communio ecclesiology has attracted a considerable theological following, but this article dwells on other avenues for relating the Trinity to the life of the church. A more traditional approach would relate the church to the processions and missions of the Son and Spirit. Moreover the recent development of Lonergan’s four-point hypothesis offers a more profound account of the church as an “icon” of the Trinity. Not only are such approaches more solidly grounded in trinitarian theology; they also provide interesting opportunities for relating the church to other religious traditions.
Piketty and the Pope: A Dialogue Begun
Authors: Weithman Paul
Published: September 2015

In CAPITAL in the Twenty-First Century, French economist Thomas Piketty analyzes wealth accumulation and inequality under advanced capitalism. Moralists and students of papal thought will need to come to grips with its argument, particularly since Pope Francis’s Evangelii gaudium is said to have posed radical criticisms of economic inequality. This article puts Piketty into dialogue with Francis’s critique of economic inequality by arguing, first, that Piketty uncovers the kinds of inequality of which Catholic social teaching must take account, and second, that Francis’s work contains the resources needed to show the moral significance of Piketty’s findings. The argument for this second conclusion shows what is and is not radical in Evangelii gaudium’s treatment of economic inequality.
School Correlates of Academic Behaviors and Performance Among McKinney–Vento Identified Youth
Authors: Stone Susan , Uretsky Mathew
Published: September 2015

We utilized a pooled sample of elementary, middle, and high school–aged children identified as homeless via definitions set forth by McKinney–Vento legislation in a large urban district in California to estimate the extent to which school factors contributed to student attendance, suspensions, test-taking behaviors, and performance on state standardized achievement tests ( N = 2,618 students in 111 schools). Results of multi-level models indicated that school factors, including school truancy and average school reading and mathematics proficiency rates, contributed to individual student outcomes. Students identified as English language learners or receiving special education services performed relatively more poorly than peers across outcomes considered.
Talking Back at School: Using the Literacy Classroom as a Site for Resistance to the School-to-Prison Pipeline and Recognition of Students Labeled “At-Risk”
Authors: Martin Jennifer L. , Beese Jane A.
Published: September 2015

Teaching writing to students of high need in an urban school is simultaneously pedagogical, curricular, and political. Students labeled “at-risk” for school failure often have lowered expectations placed upon them from without that impact how they feel within. Compounding this problem of perception is the real issue of heightened surveillance on these students, including the disturbing trend of involving the police when students break the rules of the school; in addition, their own history of juvenile incarceration often exacerbates their school failure. This article addresses these issues in an urban context, as well as provides insight into literacy teaching that assists students in the acquisition of knowledge, literacy, and expression.
“You Can’t Just Give Your Best Mate a Massive Hug Every Day”
Authors: Farrugia Adrian
Published: September 2015

This article has two main aims. First, it contributes to youth alcohol and other drug (AOD) research interested in pushing beyond simplistic accounts of peer pressure. Second, it provides an account of the enactment of masculinity in young men’s drug consumption that allows for an engagement with practices rarely present in AOD research. I analyze interviews with 25 Australian young men (aged 16–19) about their MDMA/ecstasy consumption practices. I argue, common concepts such as “peer pressure” fail to grasp the complexity of sociality and drug consumption. Current understandings of the role of masculinity in young men’s drug consumption also struggle to engage with the practices that appear in this article. Co-constituted capacities of communication, intimacy, and friendship all emerge in many of the accounts of these young men’s MDMA consumption. I argue that in these events can be seen experimental practices in which young men play with the possibilities of life. In order to analyze the exchanges of sensation that shape these events, I work with Georg Simmel’s notion of “play” re-enacted through a Deleuzian ontology of affective assemblages. This conceptual approach enacts the experiences these young men speak of as events in which they are able to play in assemblages that shape their affective capacities. Three themes are identified in the interview data. First, I discuss a desire for communication in which young men emphasize the pleasures of being able to communicate in new ways. Next, I analyze the role the place and time of consumption plays in co-constituting these social practices. Finally, I look at the pleasures associated with the breaking down of perceived ontological bodily boundaries. My analysis suggests that young men are able to play with drugs, friends, masculinity, and space–time in ways that make new and positive sensations, experiences, and affects possible.
Applying the Delphi method to generate interventions to reduce unnecessary interruptions in clinical nursing
Authors: Laustsen Sussie , Brahe Lotte
Published: September 2015

The objective of this study was to describe a panel process of selecting interventions to reduce unnecessary interruptions in clinical nursing. Interruptions in nursing may jeopardise patient safety, disorganise planning, and lead to ineffective working procedures. The Delphi panel process may be useful to create consensus on interventions to reduce interruptions. Using the Delphi method, a structured group-based decision-making tool, a panel of 14 nurses agreed on interventions to reduce interruptions. The results showed that a consensus on reducing interruptions was reached in four focus areas: expectations, physical framework, work procedures, and medication room procedures. The panel process was chosen as a means to involve nursing staff to create consensus and ownership about interventions. Our conclusions are that the Delphi panel process was a feasible method of selecting multi-factorial interventions to reduce interruptions. The panel process contributed to dialogue, staff involvement, and competency development. Further prospective studies are needed to explore whether these multi-factorial interventions can reduce unnecessary interruptions and improve patient safety.
The Traits One Can Trust
Authors: Thielmann Isabel , Hilbig Benjamin E.
Published: September 2015

Trustworthiness is a vital pillar of various social interactions hinging upon trust. However, the underlying determinants of trustworthiness—especially in terms of (basic) personality traits—are insufficiently understood. Specifically, three mechanisms underlying trustworthiness have been proposed: unconditional kindness, positive reciprocity, and negative reciprocity. The present research aims to disentangle these mechanisms using a trait-based approach, relying on the HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness to Experience) model of personality. In three studies, participants acted as the trustee in the trust game. All studies revealed consistent support for the unconditional kindness mechanism, showing an exclusive link between Honesty-Humility and trustworthiness, irrespective of the level of prior trust. In turn, positive and negative reciprocity could not account for the pattern of results. In addition, our results reconcile the inconsistent evidence on the relation between Big Five-Agreeableness and trustworthiness: Unconditional kindness only refers to one component of the broad Big Five-Agreeableness factor (which subsumes various cooperative tendencies).
Confirmatory Multidimensional IRT Unfolding Models for Graded-Response Items
Authors: Wang Wen-Chung , Wu Shiu-Lien
Published: September 2015

Most unfolding item response models for graded-response items are unidimensional. When there are multiple tests of graded-response items, unidimensional unfolding models become inefficient. To resolve this problem, the authors developed the confirmatory multidimensional generalized graded unfolding model, which is a multidimensional extension of the generalized graded unfolding model, and conducted a series of simulations to evaluate its parameter recovery. The simulation study on between-item multidimensionality demonstrated that the parameters of the new model can be recovered fairly well with the WinBUGS program. The Tattoo Attitude Questionnaire, with three subscales, was analyzed to demonstrate the advantages of the new model over the unidimensional model in obtaining a better model-data fit, a higher test reliability, and a stronger correlation between latent traits. Discussion on potential applications and suggestion for future studies are provided.
Exclusionary employment in Britain’s broken labour market
Authors: Bailey Nick
Published: September 2015

There is growing evidence of the problematic nature of the UK’s ‘flexible labour market’ with rising levels of in-work poverty and insecurity. Yet successive governments have stressed that paid work is the route to inclusion, focussing attention on the divide between employed and unemployed. Past efforts to measure social exclusion have tended to make the same distinction. The aim of this article is to apply Levitas et al.’s (2007) framework to assess levels of exclusionary employment, i.e. exclusion arising directly from an individual’s labour market situation. Using data from the Poverty and Social Exclusion UK survey, results show that one in three adults in paid work is in poverty, or in insecure or poor quality employment. One third of this group have not seen any progression in their labour market situation in the last five years. The policy focus needs to shift from ‘Broken Britain’ to Britain’s broken labour market.
Planning people–places: A small world network paradigm for masterplanning with people in mind
Authors: Ganis Mary , Minnery John , Mateo-Babiano Iderlina
Published: September 2015

The research is about planning urban places in a way that is relevant to the changing people–place phenomenon. In particular, the masterplanning of large-scale inner city redevelopment sites are discussed because such places have higher concentrations of people and are where change is most rapid and profound. Complexity theory of cities (CTC) potentially offers an adaptive and resilient masterplanning paradigm for urban change. However, some CTC simulation models of urban change have been criticized because they are devoid of the input of human cognition and perception. This research examines human cognition and perception of place and its role in masterplanning from a tripartite perspective of placemaking: conceived space; perceived space; and adaptive space. The case study area for the research is South Bank, a 42-hectare inner city redevelopment site in Brisbane, Australia.
A systematic review of the impact of stroke on social support and social networks: associated factors and patterns of change
Authors: Northcott Sarah , Moss Becky , Harrison Kirsty , Hilari Katerina
Published: September 2015

Objective:

Identify what factors are associated with functional social support and social network post stroke; explore stroke survivors’ perspectives on what changes occur and how they are perceived.

Data sources:

The following electronic databases were systematically searched up to May 2015: Academic Search Complete; CINAHL Plus; E-journals; Health Policy Reference Centre; MEDLINE; PsycARTICLES; PsycINFO; and SocINDEX.

Review methods:

PRISMA guidelines were followed in the conduct and reporting of this review. All included studies were critically appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Program tools. Meta-ethnographic techniques were used to integrate findings from the qualitative studies. Given the heterogeneous nature of the quantitative studies, data synthesis was narrative.

Results:

Seventy research reports met the eligibility criteria: 22 qualitative and 48 quantitative reporting on 4,816 stroke survivors. The qualitative studies described a contraction of the social network, with non-kin contact being vulnerable. Although family were more robust network members, significant strain was observed within the family unit. In the quantitative studies, poor functional social support was associated with depression (13/14 studies), reduced quality of life (6/6 studies) and worse physical recovery (2/2 studies). Reduced social network was associated with depression (7/8 studies), severity of disability (2/2 studies) and aphasia (2/2 studies). Although most indicators of social network reduced post stroke (for example, contact with friends, 5/5 studies), the perception of feeling supported remained relatively stable (4/4 studies).

Conclusion:

Following a stroke non-kin contact is vulnerable, strain is observed within the family unit, and poor social support is associated with depressive symptoms.
An international comparison of costs of end-of-life care for advanced lung cancer patients using health administrative data
Authors: Bremner Karen E , Krahn Murray D , Warren Joan L , Hoch Jeffrey S , Barrett Michael J , Liu Ning , Barbera Lisa , Yabroff K Robin
Published: September 2015

Background:

Patterns of end-of-life cancer care differ in Canada and the United States; yet little is known about differences in service-specific and overall costs.

Aim:

The aim of this study was to compare end-of-life costs in Ontario, Canada, and the United States, using administrative health data.

Design:

Advanced-stage nonsmall cell lung cancer patients who died from cancer at age ⩾65.5 years in 2001–2005 were selected from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare database ( N = 16,858) and the Ontario Cancer Registry ( N = 8643). We estimated total and service-specific costs (2009 US dollars) in each of the last 6 months of life from the public payer perspectives for short-term and long-term survivors (lived <180 and ⩾180 days post-diagnosis, respectively). Services were defined for comparisons between systems.

Results:

Mean monthly costs increased as death approached, were higher in short-term than long-term survivors, and were generally higher in the United States than in Ontario until the month before death, when they were similar (long-term survivors: US$10,464 and US$10,094 ( p = 0.53), short-term survivors US$14,455 and US$12,836 ( p = 0.11), in Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results–Medicare and Ontario, respectively). Costs for Medicare hospice and Ontario’s palliative care components were similar and increased closer to death. Inpatient hospitalization was the main cost driver with similar costs in both cohorts, despite lower utilization in the United States. The compositions of many services and costs differed.

Conclusion:

Costs for nonsmall cell lung cancer patients were slightly higher in the United States than Ontario until 1 month before death. Administrative data allow exploration and international comparisons of reimbursement policies, health-care delivery, and costs at the end of life.
Does the use of specialist palliative care services modify the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death? A systematic review
Authors: Chen Hong , Nicolson Donald J , Macleod Una , Allgar Victoria , Dalgliesh Christopher , Johnson Miriam
Published: September 2015

Background:

Cancer patients in lower socioeconomic groups are significantly less likely to die at home and experience more barriers to access to palliative care. It is unclear whether receiving palliative care may mediate the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death.

Aim:

This review examines whether and how use of specialist palliative care may modify the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death.

Design:

A systematic review was conducted. Eligible papers were selected and the quality appraised by two independent reviewers. Data were synthesised using a narrative approach.

Data sources:

MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Web of Knowledge were searched (1997–2013). Bibliographies were scanned and experts contacted. Papers were included if they reported the effect of both socioeconomic status and use of specialist palliative care on place of death for adult cancer patients.

Results:

Nine studies were included. All study subjects had received specialist palliative care. With regard to place of death, socioeconomic status was found to have (1) no effect in seven studies and (2) an effect in one study. Furthermore, one study found that the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death was only significant when patients received standard specialist palliative care. When patients received more intense care adapted to their needs, the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death was no longer seen.

Conclusion:

There is some evidence to suggest that use of specialist palliative care may modify the effect of socioeconomic status on place of death.
Limitations of the Oriented Difference of Gaussian Filter in Special Cases of Brightness Perception Illusions
Authors: Bakshi Ashish , Roy Sourya , Mallick Arijit , Ghosh Kuntal
Published: September 2015

The Oriented Difference of Gaussian (ODOG) filter of Blakeslee and McCourt has been successfully employed to explain several brightness perception illusions which include illusions of both brightness–contrast type, for example, Simultaneous Brightness Contrast and Grating Induction and the brightness-assimilation type, for example, the White effect and the shifted White effect. Here, we demonstrate some limitations of the ODOG filter in predicting perceived brightness by comparing the ODOG responses to various stimuli (generated by varying two parameters, namely, test patch length and spatial frequency) with experimental observations of the same.
Slow ethnography: A hut with a view
Authors: Grandia Liza
Published: September 2015

Informed by the snail's pace of the Zapatista “caracol” process and the Slow Food movement, this contribution explores the liberatory potential of “slow ethnography” over two decades in the Maya lowlands of Guatemala and Belize, oriented from a “hut with a view”. Against the unbearable lightness of multi-sited imaginaries, I describe the intellectual and personal discoveries gained from following Laura Nader's framework for “studying up, down and sideways”. This article makes a case for how the slowness of research possessed by place might serve as a critical “as a point of reference” (in Zapatista terms) on an ever-quickening planet. The analysis also suggests how slower, more ethical and reciprocal processes of research might help heal anthropology's longstanding disciplinary entanglements and conflicts with native peoples.
The abandoned village? Introduction to the special issue
Authors: Sorge Antonio , Padwe Jonathan
Published: September 2015

In an increasingly urban world, the places where anthropologists work and the subjects they study have undergone significant tranformations. Anthropologists today find themselves working in cities and in sites of advanced technological production, studying urban elites and scientific experts, and pushing the bounds of ethnographic practice “beyond the human.” As a result, the village, once the site par excellence of the ethnographic encounter, has largely disappeared from view in anthropological writing. In this introduction, we examine the underlying shifts in modes of anthropological investigation that have produced this outcome, paying special attention to the emergence of multi-sited ethnography and the reaction against earlier framings of villages as bounded and coherent social wholes. Along with the other contributors to this Special Issue we raise the question of what has become of the village as a site of ethnographic analysis, and argue that we have much to gain from a re-engagement with village worlds.
Regionalism, mobility, and “the village” as a set of social relations: Himalayan reflections on a South Asian theme
Authors: Shneiderman Sara
Published: September 2015

This article considers how ethnographic representations of “the village” have created links between otherwise disparate “regional ethnography traditions” over time. “The village” has served as a multivalent sign that at once works to integrate specific locales into broader scholarly narratives, and to index moments of disjuncture in the production of regionality. I make this argument with specific reference to the relationship between “Himalayan” and “South Asian” studies, as mediated by the village as both geographical and social sign. I draw upon ethnographic material from three different Himalayan contexts to illustrate how people think of the village as a set of social relations, within which they orient themselves subjectively regardless of their physical location. Such orientations can be either positive or negative, demonstrating that the village serves not only as a site of nostalgia for those who have left it, but rather as an organizing principle that may possess a range of emotional and pragmatic valences. Ultimately, I argue that today’s villages remain key sites for the production of social meaning, requiring deep anthropological engagement if we wish to understand how contemporary mobile lives themselves mediate between the universal and the particular.
Habitat connectivity in biodiversity conservation
Authors: Correa Ayram Camilo A. , Mendoza Manuel E. , Etter Andrés , Salicrup Diego R. Pérez
Published: September 2015

The study of landscape connectivity in conservation has increased considerably since the early part of the 21st century. While the implications of landscape connectivity are self-evident for conservation, they are also important for physical geography since a proper understanding of landscape patterns and processes allows for better landscape management practices, which are at the core of geography. This paper presents a review of the literature based on 162 publications from 2000 to 2013, in which we evaluated the current state and recent advances in the integration of landscape connectivity in the identification and planning of conservation areas. The literature review and data analysis were based on a database organized into five categories: General information, study areas, research objectives, research methods in connectivity studies, and integration of connectivity with conservation. We found a substantial increase in the number of publications relating to connectivity and conservation from 2008 to 2013. Least cost analysis was the method most commonly applied. We found no implementation of landscape connectivity proposals generated by the studies (e.g. potential corridors) into real landscape elements to ensure the permanence and functionality of ecosystems. We identified four important niches for potential future research projects: a) connectivity and climate change, b) contribution of connectivity studies to restoration planning, c) connectivity and land cover/land use change modeling and planning, d) contribution of connectivity analysis in the provision of ecosystem services across landscapes.
Preparticipation Evaluation of the Young Athlete
Authors: Miller Daniel J. , Blum Alexander B. , Levine William N. , Ahmad Christopher S. , Popkin Charles A.
Published: September 2015

The preparticipation evaluation (PPE) is a widely used tool for detecting health conditions that may delay or disqualify athletic participation. The medical interview is the most valuable tool for identifying athletes who may be at increased risk for injury. Physical examination is tailored to identifying cardiac abnormalities or factors that may place an athlete at increased risk for injury. Although practiced in Europe, universal cardiac screening with electrocardiography is not currently recommended in the United States largely due to the high rate of false-positive results. Neuropsychological testing for management of concussion and laboratory testing for sickle cell trait may be indicated in select groups of athletes. Health care providers should view the PPE as a chance for anticipatory guidance and athlete-directed health counseling. Despite widespread acceptance of the PPE, the quality of such examinations varies significantly, which is an area for possible improvement and further research.