bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Federalism and Freedom
Authors: Kreimer Seth F.
Published: July 2017

The argument for devolution of power to state and local governments in contemporary Supreme Court cases regularly relies on claims about the virtues of federalism as a means of maintaining individual liberty. This article explores the plausibility of the argument that supplanting federal with state authority is likely systematically to protect individual liberty. The article argues that if there is a viable argument for "federalism as freedom," it must go beyond the sense that two governments are more repressive than one or that the federal government is more inclined to curtail liberty than is a state or local authority. The plausible claims rely on the abilities of autonomous state governments to provide a competing source of norms and to allow escape from oppressive laws. The availability of sanctuaries in other states is a function of rights of interstate travel and territorial limitations on state jurisdiction, which themselves require federalized constraints on state and local autonomy.
Conditional Federal Spending and States' Rights
Authors: Baker Lynn A.
Published: July 2017

With its 1995 decision in United States v. Lopez, the Rehnquist Court made clear that the commerce clause does not grant Congress a plenary police power. Prevailing spending clause doctrine, however, permits Congress to use conditional offers of federal funds in order to circumvent seemingly any restrictions the Constitution might be found to impose on its authority to regulate the states directly. This article first explores three normative arguments in favor of the Court's abandoning the existing test, set forth in South Dakota v. Dole, in favor of one that would better safeguard state autonomy while simultaneously preserving for Congress a power to spend that is greater than its power directly to regulate the states. It then proposes a new test under which the courts would presume invalid that subset of conditional offers of federal funds to the states that, if accepted, would regulate them in ways that Congress could not directly mandate. The presumption would be rebutted, and the offer of funds permitted, by a determination that the offer of funds constitutes "reimbursement" spending rather than "regulatory" spending.
Childhood: Toward a Theory of Continuity and Change
Authors: James Allison , James Adrian L.
Published: July 2017

The socially constructed character of childhood is, by now, recognized as an important factor in shaping children's everyday experiences. It is no longer possible to see childhood simply as a common and universal biological phase in the life course. However, at the same time, it is being increasingly recognized that although acknowledgment of the social and cultural diversity of children's lives is important, there remain many things that children do share as occupants of the conceptual space of childhood. Although contemporary sociological theorizing about childhood has highlighted this tension, it has, as yet, offered few solutions. In this article, it is proposed that by examining the role of law and social policy over time from an interdisciplinary perspective, it is possible to account for both change and continuity in childhood as a structural space and, in turn, to see this as being the source of the diversities and commonalties that pattern children's everyday lives.
From Street to Stage with Children in Brazil and Ghana
Authors: Mccreery Kathleen
Published: July 2017

Children have lived and worked on city streets since time immemorial. But in recent years, free-market policies have led to a growing gap between rich and poor, unprecedented urbanization, and the fracturing of traditional social structures. One result has been the development of entire subcultures made up of children, including many whose family ties have been cruelly cut. Childhood is supposed to be a time of safety, laughter, and learning. But these children lead stunted lives characterized by fear, shame, and discrimination. That they succeed in organizing and fighting back, as they have in Brazil, that they doggedly strive to realize their dreams of betterment, as they do in Ghana, is a wonder. The author's play, When I Meet My Mother, offers a glimpse into the lives of a gang of Brazilian street children in one 24-hour period.
Who Deserves Help? Who Must Provide?
Authors: Gordon Linda
Published: July 2017

Human societies have always provided help for the needy, and this provision has frequently been calibrated according to notions of deservingness and obligation. These notions have been shaped by gendered double standards, including measures of sexual morality, personal demeanor, housekeeping, and self-sacrifice, that are applied to women but not to men. Most fundamental, the fact that women are the primary child raisers has given many of them, in modern societies, two jobs--working for wages and working without wages to raise children. The modern welfare system arose from campaigns to help mothers who try to perform these two jobs without male help. Focusing first on deserted women, then on widows, and more recently on never-married mothers, U.S. welfare policy in the twentieth century was self-defeating because it tried to provide for poor children while avoiding giving aid or encouragement to lone mothers.
Globalization, American Politics, and Welfare Policy
Authors: Piven Frances Fox
Published: July 2017

The welfare state is under attack in all of the rich countries where it flourished over the course of the twentieth century. Rollbacks are said to be imperative. The big argument for why this is so emphasizes globalization and technological change, which together have heightened international trade and investment competition. But rather than a widespread race to the bottom that these economic determinants would suggest, welfare state outcomes have been very different from country to country. These variations, and in particular the fact that the United States has been the rollback pioneer, argue that politics plays a large role in contemporary welfare state politics. American developments are best explained by paying attention to the political mobilization of business over the past two decades, on the one hand, and the uses of the politics of resentment and marginalization on the other hand.
Success Stories: Welfare Reform, Policy Discourse, and the Politics of Research
Authors: Schram Sanford F. , Soss Joe
Published: July 2017

Welfare reform is now widely hailed as a success. In this article, the authors analyze this public verdict as a political construction. During the 1980s and 1990s, welfare discourse shifted to emphasize concerns over program dependency. This shift not only promoted policy retrenchment, it also defined the terms on which retrenchment would be judged. Specifically, it established caseload levels and studies of program "leavers" as a common frame of reference for judging welfare reform. This article presents evidence that a majority of media stories on welfare reform from 1998 to 2000 offered positive assessments. The authors then show that perceptions of reform as a policy success depend chiefly on the diversion of attention away from standards of evaluation and interpretations of evidence that might suggest failure. They conclude by discussing how the construction of policy success is likely to affect upcoming debates over the renewal of welfare reform.
Closing the Care Gap That Welfare Reform Left Behind
Authors: White Lucie E.
Published: July 2017

This article begins by drawing from an interview with Johnnie Tillmon, a grassroots leader of the National Welfare Rights Organization, to locate welfare reform in the context of cultural anxieties about an eroding racial order and shifting gender roles. It then considers the sorts of state policies and legal entitlements that could resource the care-work that has heretofore been subsidized by low-income women's labor and argues that such innovations are not beyond the reach of a pragmatic postmodernist democracy.
Meeting the Challenges of Evidence-Based Policy: The Campbell Collaboration
Authors: Petrosino Anthony , Boruch Robert F. , Soydan Haluk , Duggan Lorna , Sanchez-Meca Julio
Published: July 2017

Evidence-based policy has much to recommend it, but it also faces significant challenges. These challenges reside not only in the dilemmas faced by policy makers but also in the quality of the evaluation evidence. Some of these problems are most effectively addressed by rigorous syntheses of the literature known as systematic reviews. Other problems remain, including the range of quality in systematic reviews and their general failure to be updated in light of new evidence or disseminated beyond the research community. Based on the precedent established in health care by the international Cochrane Collaboration, the newly formed Campbell Collaboration will prepare, maintain, and make accessible systematic reviews of research on the effects of social and educational interventions. Through mechanisms such as rigorous quality control, electronic publication, and worldwide coverage of the literature, the Campbell Collaboration seeks to meet challenges posed by evidence-based policy.
Does Research Design Affect Study Outcomes in Criminal Justice?
Authors: Weisburd David , Lum Cynthia M. , Petrosino Anthony
Published: July 2017

Does the type of research design used in a crime and justice study influence its conclusions? Scholars agree in theory that randomized experimental studies have higher internal validity than do nonrandomized studies. But there is not consensus regarding the costs of using nonrandomized studies in coming to conclusions regarding criminal justice interventions. To examine these issues, the authors look at the relationship between research design and study outcomes in a broad review of research evidence on crime and justice commissioned by the National Institute of Justice. Their findings suggest that design does have a systematic effect on outcomes in criminal justice studies. The weaker a design, indicated by internal validity, the more likely a study is to report a result in favor of treatment and the less likely it is to report a harmful effect of treatment. Even when comparing randomized studies with strong quasi-experimental research designs, systematic and statistically significant differences are observed.
Meta-Analytic Methods for Criminology
Authors: Wilson David B.
Published: July 2017

Meta-analysis was designed to synthesize empirical relationships across studies, such as the effects of a specific crime prevention intervention on criminal offending behavior. Meta-analysis focuses on the size and direction of effects across studies, examining the consistency of effects and the relationship between study features and observed effects. The findings from meta-analysis not only reveal robust empirical relationships but also identify existing weaknesses in the knowledge base. Furthermore, meta-analytic results can easily be translated into summary statistics useful for informing public policy regarding effective crime prevention efforts.
The Transition to Adulthood in Aging Societies
Authors: Fussell Elizabeth
Published: July 2017

Population aging and the delay in family formation that are occurring in industrialized countries are intimately related. Young adults are spending more of their early twenties attending school and focusing on employment, and they are postponing marriage and childbearing until their late twenties and early thirties. In sum, they are having fewer children later in life, and in doing so, they contribute to the aging of the population. Some argue that population aging results in lower public and private investments in children and greater public expenditures on the elderly. In this article, the author reviews evidence for this argument and concludes that population aging does not necessarily result in lesser investment in children and youth. Instead, our new demographic condition demands a renegotiation of the public intergenerational contract between age groups.
Cross-National Differences in Employment and Economic Sufficiency
Authors: Smeeding Timothy M. , Phillips Katherin Ross
Published: July 2017

Economic independence is an important indicator of the transition to adulthood. This article portrays the level of economic in dependence among young adults, ages eighteen to thirty-two, in seven industrialized countries. The cross-national variations the authors uncover help one understand how work, family, and comparative income packages affect economic self-sufficiency. In all countries, young women are less able than are young men to become economically independent through market work alone. The ability to support a family is affected more by government transfers than the ability to support oneself. The authors also find that family support through additional income, the provision of housing, and caring labor as well as decisions to have roommates are clearly important to the economic well-being of young adults. In closing, the authors suggest several avenues for future research.
The Transition to Adulthood: A Time Use Perspective
Authors: Gauthier Anne H. , Furstenberg Frank F.
Published: July 2017

This article examines the changes in the patterns of time use of young adults ages eighteen to thirty-four as they make the transition to adulthood. More specifically, it examines the reallocation of time associated with the transition from school to work, the transition to partnership, and the transition to parenthood. The empirical analysis is based on time use surveys from nine industrialized countries. Results suggest that of the three transitions, it is the transition to parenthood that most significantly alters the pattern of time use of young people, more so for women than for men. The empirical analysis also reveals remarkable similarities across countries in the patterns of time use of young people as they make the transition to adulthood.
Globalization, Ethnic Diversity, and Nationalism: The Challenge for Democracies
Authors: Riggs Fred W.
Published: July 2017

Globalization involves escalating human mobility--more and more people are able to move from place to place, not just as migrants seeking new homes but as sojourners visiting different countries where they may stay for longer or shorter periods of time. The result for any state is a growing diversity of its resident population and increasing pressure to support and represent the interests of its citizens living abroad. The prevailing models for organizing a democracy were shaped generations ago and may well be inadequate for coping with the new problems generated by modernity and globalization. Perhaps we need to think about new ways to organize democracies to be more effective.
The Raw and the Organic: Politics of Therapeutic Cancer Diets in the United States
Authors: Hess David J.
Published: July 2017

There is a voluminous literature on the historical conflicts between advocates and critics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for cancer. Although the older literature documents the suppression of CAM therapies and advocates, since the 1990s, the politics of CAM have become more complex and subtle. For example, suppression has tended to shift to a politics of integration, that is, of selective uptake of CAM therapies when used as adjuvant modalities. In addition, there is an emergent politics of knowledge that involves (1) social networks with the CAM movement that represent various therapies, (2) value claims regarding the relationship between CAM therapies and religious and cultural viewpoints, and (3) political views regarding globalization and antiglobalization policies and movements. Focusing on three types of therapeutic diets that CAM cancer patients in the United States use, this article charts some of the emergent forms of the politics in CAM in the United States.
Comfort and Struggle: Emotion Work in Family Life
Authors: Devault Marjorie L.
Published: July 2017

Though family life is typically associated with emotion rather than work, the concept of emotion work reveals the effort behind family feeling. Existing literature on family emotion work emphasizes caregiving and interpersonal support—activities associated with the housewife ideal of the industrial age. This article examines not only such caregiving and support activities but also several other forms of emotion work that become visible when we consider families whose lives diverge from this privileged ideal.
Emotional Labor Among Paralegals
Authors: Pierce Jennifer L.
Published: July 2017

Despite the invisibility of emotional labor among paralegals, this dimension of work has significant consequences for the reproduction of the labor process in the large bureaucratic firm and for the psychological well-being of paralegals. These legal workers function to support and maintain the emotional stability of the lawyers for whom they work through deferential treatment and caretaking. By affirming the status of lawyers, paralegals also reproduce gender relations in the law firm. Most attorneys who receive caretaking and support are men, and the majority of the legal assistants who provide these emotional services are women. In this way, the emotional labor required of paralegals serves to reproduce the sex-segregated structure of law firms.
NAFTA: The Governance of Economic Openness
Authors: Morales Isidro
Published: July 2017

Although the rule-based regime of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has instituted the empowerment of private actors vis-à-vis government bureaucracies, and of transstate institutions at the regional level, it is contended in this article that NAFTA should be envisioned as a hybrid model of economic governance. Under the agreement, some issue areas still remain under the administration of state-centered authorities, and other ones, such as investment, trade remedy policies, and labor and environmental issues, under the surveillance and fragmented authority of nonstate actors. This transfer of authority to private or civil society actors is, in fact, a major trait of the NAFTA policy mechanism. It is also argued in this article that, contrary to what some authors have suggested, NAFTA's hybrid institutional machinery is provoking deep integration in the region, in spite of the absence of supranational institutions or the homogenization of national legislation.
Diffusion Models and Fashion: A Reassessment
Authors: Crane Diana
Published: July 2017

Large-scale diffusion processes such as those affecting fashionable clothing are difficult to study systematically. This article assesses the relevance of top-down as compared to bottom-up models of diffusion for fashion. Changes in the relationships between fashion organizations and their publics have affected what is diffused, how it is diffused, and to whom. Originally, fashion design was centered in Paris; designers created clothes for local clients, but styles were diffused to many other countries. This highly centralized system has been replaced by a system in which fashion designers in several countries create designs for small publics in global markets, but their organizations make their profits from luxury products other than clothing. Trends are set by fashion forecasters, fashion editors, and department store buyers. Industrial manufacturers are consumer driven, and market trends originate in many types of social groups, including adolescent urban subcultures. Consequently, fashion emanates from many sources and diffuses in various ways to different publics.
Accelerating the Diffusion of Innovations Using Opinion Leaders
Authors: Valente Thomas W. , Davis Rebecca L.
Published: July 2017

Theory on the diffusion of innovations has been used to study the spread of new ideas and practices for over 50 years in a wide variety of settings. Most studies have been retrospective, and most have neglected to collect information on interpersonal communication networks. In addition, few have attempted to use the lessons from diffusion research to accelerate the diffusion of innovations. This article outlines a method to accelerate the diffusion of innovations using opinion leaders. The authors present their optimal matching procedure and report on computer simulations that show how much faster diffusion occurs when initiated by opinion leaders. Limitations and extensions of the model are discussed.
Variance Component Estimation in General Mixed Model of Analysis of Variance
Authors: Das Kalyan
Published: July 2017

For a general mixed model a set of quadratic sufficient statistics is formed assuming initially the fixed effect parameters to be known and the weighted least squares (WLS) technique is then applied on the basis of these statistics. The estimate is finally obtained by replacing the true variances in the weights by some suitable consistent estimates. The fixed effect parameters assumed to be known earlier are also replaced by some consistent estimates. The estimate is generally simpler to calculate than the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE). It is also best asymptotically normal (BAN) in the same sense as the MLE for design sequences whose size increases to infinity in an orderly way. In fact for such design sequences the estimate is asymptotically equivalent to the MLE.
A Sequential Inventory Model with a Finite Number of Periods
Authors: Pal Manisha
Published: July 2017

A sequential inventory model with a given finite number of periods has been considered. The quantity received again st an order during a period is assumed to be a normally distributed random variable with mean equal to the order quantity. The optimal ordering policy for a period has been determined by maximizing the total expected profit during that period and the following periods.
Optionally Randomized Response Techniques
Authors: Chaudhuri Arijit , Mukerjee Rahul
Published: July 2017

It is shown that for sensitive and confidential characters the usual loss of efficiency due to randomized rather than direct response may be partially recouped if the interviewees are left free to opt for either mode of response. Specific results are derived with multinomial sampling.
On Administrative Restructuring for Improved Management of Indian Official Data System
Authors: Seal K. C.
Published: July 2017

An attempt has been made in this paper to identify the major weaknesses in the management of our current official data system and suggest some remedial measures for improving the same.
A Note on Minimum Risk Point Estimation of the Shape Parameter of a Pareto Distribution
Authors: Mukhopadhyay N. , Ekwo M. E.
Published: July 2017

The minimum risk point estimation problem is considered for the shape parameter of a Pareto distribution where the Joss function is taken as squared error plus the linear cost of sampling. A suitable purely sequential procedure is proposed for this problem and the asrmptotic behavior of the “regret” function proposed by Robbins (1959) and many other characteristics are examined. An extensive numerical study is presented in order to look into moderate sample behaviors of the proposed sequential estimation procedure. The procedure is found to be very satisfactory.
Estimation of Gumbel Distribution Parameters by Joint Distribution of m Extremes
Authors: Singh N. P.
Published: July 2017

The maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of Gumbel distribution have been derived by using the joint distribution function of m extremes of several samples. The variance-covariance of the estimates have also been calculated for different values of m to have an idea of gain in precision of the estimates by using the joint information.
Estimation of Generalized Variance Under Entropy Losses : Admissibility Results
Authors: Pal Nabendu
Published: July 2017

We consider the problem of estimating the generalized variance in a multivariate normal setup. The best affine equivariant estimates of | ∑ | are found to be admissible in the class of all estimates depending on the determinant of the Wishart matrix only under entropy losses.
Inadmissibility of the Usual Estimate for the Shape Parameter of the Pareto Distribution
Authors: Chattopadhyay A. K. , Das K.
Published: July 2017

The problem of estimation of the shape arameter for the Pareto distribution is considered. Stein's (1964) idea leads to a new estimate which involves the whole set of sufficient statistics. Such an estimate performs better than the usual maximum likelihood estimate under suitable loss.
Stochastic Parameter Single Sampling Plans of Given Strength
Authors: Chakraborty T. K.
Published: July 2017

The problem of designing a single sampling plan is consi-dered when acceptable and rejectable quality levels are required to be assumed as random variables. The problem is formulated as a stochastic goal programing problem. Numerical examples for approximate and exact solution methods as well as a sensitivity analysis are included.
A Continuous Review Inventory System with Bulk Demand and Markov Dependent Replenishment Quantities
Authors: Krishnamoorthy A. , Lakshmy B.
Published: July 2017

The paper deals with a continuous review bulk demand (positive-integer valued) ( s, S) inventory system where the interarrival times of demands are independent and identically distributed random variables. We assume that the successive quantities demallded lie between a and b (0< a⩽ b; s- b+l⩾0) with pk, k= a, a+l, ... , b-1, b as the probability that k items are demanded by an arriving unit. The maximum capacity of the system is S units and as soon as the inventory level falls to the set A= { s- b + 1, s- b + 2, ... , s -1, s}, order is placed for a quantity S- i if the ordering level is i, i ε A. Our model assumes that the quantity replenished forms a Markov chain defined over thestatespace E={ c, c + l, ... , S - s} with c⩾ b. Lead time is zero and no shortage is permitted. The distribution of the on band inventory at arbitrary time point and also the limiting distributions are obtained. A numerical illustration associated with the model is also provided.
Moment Products and Product Moments
Authors: Balasubramanian K. , Beg M. I.
Published: July 2017

Some identitices linking moment products with prodct moments of functions of order statistics from a independent and non identically distributed random variables are derived using permanents.
On Characterizations of Normal Distributions
Authors: Ahsanullah M. , Bansal N. , Hamedani G.G.
Published: July 2017

In this note we present a simpler proof of a known bivariate (multivariate) narmal characterization. We also give a characterization of the normal distribution based on chi-square distribution.
Characterizations of Bivariate Lomax and Finite Range Distributions
Authors: Hitha N. , Nair N. Unnikrjshnan
Published: July 2017

In this note we characterize the bivariate Lomax and bivariate finite range distributions using the forms of their marginal and conditional distributions of the same component and also by the forms of certain conditional distributions.
Characterization of a Mixture of Gamma Density
Authors: K.J. John
Published: July 2017

We consider a class of probability density functions on (0, ∞) denoted by C, having Laplace transforms with only negative zeros and poles. The class C contains many classes of great importance such as mixtures of m independent exponential random variables, sums of two independent random variables one in mixture and the other in sums of independent exoonential random variables, sums of m independent exponential random variables and mixture of m independent gamma random variables GM n, m Characterization theorems for these classes except that of GM n, m are given by Sumita, U and Masuda, Y (1987). Here we consider the class GM n, m.
Efficiency Balanced Block Designs Using Orthogonal Arrays with Variable Symbols
Authors: Jain R. C. , Das M. N.
Published: July 2017

A method of constructing efficiency balanced block designs is proposed using orthogonal arrays with variables symbols. These designs are not of reinforced type and are thus different from those already known.
Stochastic Orders in Terms of Laplace Transforms
Authors: Nanda Asok K.
Published: July 2017

Recently s-FR and s-ST orderings have been defined in the literature. They are more general in the sense that most of the earlier known partial orderings reduce as particular cases of these orderings. Moreover, these orderings have helped in defining new and useful ageing criterion. In this paper, using Laplace transform, we characterize, by means of necessary and sufficient conditions. the property that two life distributions are ordered in the s-FR and s-ST sense. The characterization of LR, FR, MR, VR, STand HAMR orderings follow as particular cases.
A Class of Estimators for a Finite Population Mean Based on Multivariate Information and General two Phase Sampling
Authors: Tripathi T. P. , Ahmed M. S.
Published: July 2017

A class of estimators for a finite population mean is presented for the situations where population means of some auxiliary variables are known while those of others are unknown. The results for general two phase sampling are indicated while the detailed discussion is made for the case when SRSWOR is used at both the phases. While several known estimators belong to the proposed clas~ some new estimators are identified as well. The optimum estimator in the proposed class is found to be better than the so-called chain ratio and regression estimators discu ssed by Chand (1975). Kiregyera (1984) and Mukerjee et al. (1987). The relative gains in efficiency of tho proposed optimum estimator over the others are obtained for a natural population data and found to be quite appreciable.
Almost Sure Limit Points for Subsequences of Partial Sums
Authors: Divanji Gooty
Published: July 2017

Let { Xn, n ≥ 1} be a sequence of i. i. d. random variables with a common distribution function F. When F belongs to the domain of partial attraction of a Semi Stable law with index α, 0 < α < 2, we obtain almost sure limit points for subsequences of partial sums, along with some boundary crossing problems.
Modelling and Forecasting Meteorological Subdivisions Rainfall Data Using Wavelet Thresholding Approach
Authors: Sunilkumar G. , Prajneshu
Published: July 2017

Indian economy is critically dependent on monsoon rainfall. Its precise modelling and forecasting is extremely important for efficient planning and other policy implications. A variety of statistical techniques have been employed in the past to achieve the task. Wavelet analysis is a very powerful newly developing methodology for data analysis. In this paper, this methodology with thresholding is thoroughly discussed and applied to model and forecast meteorological subdivision's rainfall time-series data. Comparison with traditional approaches, like Autoregressive integrated moving average time-series approach and Nonparametric regression approach using local linear regression smoother shows superiority of proposed methodology for data set under consideration.
Smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy: practice and views of midwives, GPs and obstetricians
Authors: Clasper Paul , White Martin
Published: July 2017

A questionnaire survey of general practitioners, midwives and obstetricians was carried out in 1992 in order to measure the delivery of, and attitudes towards, smoking cessation interventions in pregnancy. Most professionals were found to ask about the smoking status of pregnant women, record smoking status and explain the risks of smoking while pregnant. Fewer professionals gave pregnant smokers advice on how to stop or monitored and reviewed smoking status throughout pregnancy. Most experienced difficulty and a lack of enjoyment while giving smoking cessation counselling. Over half (53%) perceived themselves to be insufficiently trained, whilst few (28%) thought that they possessed the necessary skills. There is therefore a need to increase the coverage and frequency of smoking cessation counselling and to increase the level of training and skills among professionals.
Postgraduate training in health education/promotion: the demand from potential students for distance learning
Authors: Bagnall Gellisse
Published: July 2017

This paper reports the findings from a survey on the demand among health education/promotion specialists for postgraduate professional study at Diploma or Masters level by distance learning methods. The purpose of the survey was to clarify perceived benefits and disadvantages of this flexible approach to study, along with information about appropriate structure and content of distance learning materials, student support systems, access to resources and predicted employer support. The results suggest that potential students among health education/promotion specialists throughout Scotland strongly favour the introduction of distance learning, with the need to negotiate adequate support (from employers) for such study being clearly recognised.
Eat your greens: the Scottish consumer's perspective on fruit and vegetables
Authors: Marshall David , Anderson Annie , Lean Mike , Foster Anne
Published: July 2017

The diet of people in Scotland is agreed to be low in fruit and vegetables. In the light of recent World Health Organization recommendations to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, a study of Scottish meal-providers was carried out, to assess the consumers' perspective on the new guidelines. The survey was qualitative, consisting of eight discussion groups in five centres throughout Scotland. This paper discusses: the influence of shopping patterns with reference to constraints of time and money; consumer reaction to the idea of five portions of fruit and vegetables per day in the light of existing perceptions about portion size and meal composition; perceived barriers to change in diet, and ways to improve the Scottish diet.
Acetylation of Silk Fibroin by the Action of Ketene
Authors: Kise Mearl A. , Carr Edward L.
Published: July 2017

It is shown that the free amino and free hydroxyl groups of silk fibroin are blocked by treatment with ketene, 1 yielding a modified protein. The study of this ketcnized fibroin will be continued in this laboratory this coming year.
A Cotton Slasher Blanket
Authors: Dunlap G.H.
Published: July 2017

This preliminary report on a cotton blanket for cover ing the squeeze rolls on the slasher gives the result of several months experimentation in which four leading cotton weaving mills in the Southeast cooperated with the Southern Textile Association, the Arkwrights, and the Textile Foundation.
Chemically Modified Wool
Authors: Geiger Walton B. , Kobayashi F.F. , Harris Milton
Published: July 2017

Wools that moths cannot digest and that are several times as resistant to the action of alkalies and certain other damaging agencies can be obtained through a proc ess developed by Research Associates of the Textile Foundation at the National Bureau of Standards. Neither the softness nor the strength of the wools is impaired by the process which consists of transforming the chemical linkages of the wool that involve sulfur to more stable ones. The well known sensitivity of wool to attack by moths and to damage by alkalies constitutes its greatest defect. Hence, improved resistance to such de structive agencies should prove of value in such common uses as clothing, blankets, carpets, and in certain indus trial applications where it may be exposed to the action of harmful chemicals.
Rules or Values? Production of Knowledge and the Question of Institutionalization in European Drug Cooperation
Authors: Fler Svanaug
Published: July 2017

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has a significant role in the creation of a European knowledge base in the drugs field. This article analyzes the regulative, cognitive and normative mechanisms by which this network functions, and discusses in what sense these mechanisms contribute to an institutionalization process in the network. A study among civil servants and experts with EMCDDA experience from Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands shows that action within the network is based on rules and routines. The national administrative surroundings are still the primary source of identification and constitute the main institutional basis for compliance. In this sense the national level supplies EMCDDA with institutional resources whereby the network functions. A common knowledge-base is an important part of integration in the EU, but in this instance the institutionalization process is in an early stage.
“Doing Gender”—“Doing Drugs”: Conceptualizing the Gendering of Drugs Cultures
Authors: Measham Fiona
Published: July 2017

Women's illicit drug use has been increasing rapidly in the 1990s in the UK and elsewhere in the developed world. Lifetime prevalence rates show that gender is no longer a significant predictor of, or protector from, illicit drug use. The concentration on lifetime prevalence in the academic debate, however, has been to the detriment of the wider cultural context of drug-related attitudes and behavior in drug-using groups and wider society. This paper considers the socio-cultural context of gender and drug use, and reasserts the central importance of gender to our understanding of drugs cultures. Drug use is not just mediated by gender, but, far more significantly, drug use and the associated leisure, music and style cultures within which drug use is located are themselves ways of accomplishing a gendered identity. Building on Messerschmidt's concept of crime as structured action, the author suggests that gender does not just influence “doing drugs”–drug use itself can be seen as a way of “doing gender.”
Adolescents' Perceptions of Friends during Substance Abuse Treatment: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Passetti Lora L. , Godley Susan H. , White Michelle K.
Published: July 2017

Changing peer groups is a common emphasis in many adolescent substance abuse treatment approaches. The aim of this article is to explore the following issues using qualitative data from interviews with 12 adolescents admitted to outpatient substance abuse treatment: 1) Did adolescents perceive that their friends supported substance abuse treatment?; 2) Did adolescents perceive that their friends supported abstinence?; and 3) Did adolescents change friends between intake and discharge? In terms of friends' support of substance abuse treatment, adolescents perceived a mixture of positive, neutral, and negative responses. While no adolescent described a situation in which friends explicitly discouraged abstinence, most did talk about how friends could or would assist them as they attempted to refrain from substance use, at least while they were in treatment. Few adolescents made any changes in peer groups between intake to and discharge from outpatient treatment. Clinical and research implications are discussed.
When at risk? Drinking contexts and heavy drinking in the Montreal adult population
Authors: Demers Andrée
Published: July 2017

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of contexts associated with heavier alcohol intake. Data come from a telephone survey carried out in April 1993 with a random sample of the metropolitan Montreal adult population (Quebec, Canada). Drinking contexts were investigated with regard to the situational setting (circumstances, time and location) and the relational setting (drinking partners’ relationship and sociodemographic similarity) characterizing the drinking occasion. Having five or more drinks per occasion, linked by many studies to alcohol-related problems, was deemed to be heavy drinking. The results of the logistic regressions performed reveal that for men under 25 years old, drinking with other men is the only contextual characteristic associated positively with heavy drinking, while for men age 25 and over, situational characteristics as well as relational characteristics are associated positively with heavy drinking. For women, heavy drinking is only weakly associated with contextual characteristics.
A Critical Perspective on Drug Selling in the United States: Can Transposition of the Dutch Model Succeed?
Authors: Koski Douglas D.
Published: July 2017

This is the first study of drug selling in the United States that attempts squarely and solely to place the problem of drug dealing within a “critical” criminological perspective. The drug issue is placed in historical and cross-national context; emphasized are a fundamental American ambivalence toward the issue of drugs and their control and the resultant cyclical quality of approaches to that control. “Left realism,” that branch of critical criminology deemed most theoretically and practically applicable to the drug issue, is explicated and compared with traditional perspectives within the sociology of crime. A “crime as work” thesis is developed; its essential tenets are explained, and remedial suggestions that flow logically from the thesis are highlighted. Emphasized is the unlikely prospect that the Dutch model, against which U.S. policy is compared, could profitably be transposed to resolution of the U.S. drug problem.
Diagnostic Laryngeal Electromyography: The Wake Forest Experience 1995–1999
Authors: Koufman James A. , Postma Gregory N. , Whang Chris S. , Rees Catherine J. , Amin Milan R. , Belafsky Peter C. , Johnson Paul E. , Connolly Kieran M. , Walker Francis O.
Published: July 2017

BACKGROUND:

Laryngeal electromyography (LEMG) is a valuable diagnostic/prognostic test for patients with suspected laryngeal neuromuscular disorders.

OBJECTIVE:

To report our experience with diagnostic LEMG at the Center for voice Disorders of Wake Forest University and to evaluate the impact of LEMG on clinical management.

METHODS:

Retrospective chart review of 415 patients who underwent diagnostic LEMG over a 5‐year period (1995–1999).

RESULTS:

Of 415 studies, 83% (346 of 415) were abnormal, indicating a neuropathic process. LEMG results altered the diagnostic evaluation (eg, the type of radiographic imaging) in 11% (46 of 415) of the patients. Unexpected LEMG findings (eg, contralateral neuropathy) were found in 26% (107 of 415) of the patients, and LEMG results differentiated vocal fold paralysis from fixation in 12% (49 of 415). Finally, LEMG results altered the clinical management (eg, changed the timing and/or type of surgical procedure) in 40% (166 of 415) of the patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

LEMG is a valuable diagnostic test that aids the clinician in the diagnosis and management of laryngeal neuromuscular disorders.
The Importance of Hyaluronic Acid in Vocal Fold Biomechanics
Authors: Chan Roger W. , Gray Steven D. , Titze Ingo R.
Published: July 2017

OBJECTIVE:

This study examined the influence of hyaluronic acid (HA) on the biomechanical properties of the human vocal fold cover (the superficial layer of the lamina propria).

STUDY DESIGN:

Vocal fold tissues were freshly excised from 5 adult male cadavers and were treated with bovine testicular hyaluronldase to selectively remove HA from the lamina propria extracellular matrix (ECM). Linear viscoelastic shear Properties (elastic shear modulus and dynamic viscosity) of the tissue samples before and after enzymatic treatment were quantified as a function of frequency (0.01 to 15 Hz) by a parallel‐plate rotational rheometer at 37°C.

RESULTS:

On removing HA from the vocal fold ECM, the elastic shear modulus (G′) or stiffness of the vocal fold cover decreased by an average of around 35%, while the dynamic viscosity (η′) Increased by 70% at higher frequencies (>1 Hz).

CONCLUSION:

The results suggested that HA plays an important role in determining the blomechanical properties of the vocal fold cover. As a highly hydrated glycosaminoglycan in the vocal fold ECM, it likely contributes to the maintenance of an optimal tissue viscosity that may facilitate phonation, and an optimal tissue stiffness that may be important for vocal fundamental frequency control.

SIGNIFICANCE:

HA has been proposed as a potential bioimplant for the surgical repair of vocal fold ECM defects (eg, vocal fold scarring and sulcus vocalis). Our results suggested that such clinical use may be potentially optimal for voice production from a blomechanical perspective.
Long‐Term Results of the First 500 Cases of Acoustic Neuroma Surgery
Authors: Wiet Richard J. , Mamikoglu Bulent , Odom Linda , Hoistad Dick L.
Published: July 2017

OBJECTIVE:

This retrospective study focuses on 2 outcome results after surgical intervention for acoustic neuroma: (1) facial nerve status, and (2) hearing preservation.

STUDY DESIGN:

A total of 484 patients with an acoustic neuroma.

RESULTS

Postoperative facial nerve outcomes were significantly different (P < 0.001) according to the size of the tumors. Tumor size had even more influence on the immediate postoperative results. In addition, statistical significance (P < 0.05) was demonstrated in comparing facial nerve outcomes with the surgeon's surgical experience. We also noted that as the patient's age increases, the likelihood for facial dysfunction may increase for all postoperative intervals. The overall success rate of retaining useful hearing was 27% (26 of 95). Class A hearing was retained in 66% (W of 15) of cases operated on through middle fossa approach in the last 5 years.

CONCLUSION:

This study demonstrates that tumor size and surgeon's experience are the most significant factors influencing the facial nerve status and hearing outcome after removal of acoustic neuroma. (Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2001;124:645–51.)
Transnasal Mucosal Flap Rotation Technique for Repair of Posterior Choanal Atresia
Authors: Dedo Herbert H.
Published: July 2017

PURPOSE:

To describe improved surgical treatment for posterior choanal atresia (PCA) by creating mucosal flaps with the aid of operating microscope, CO2 laser, self‐retaining nasal retractor, and stenting with a flat polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) keel.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Retrospective study of 19 patients with PCA, their ages ranging from 6 days to 4 years 4 months at the time of first repair, representing a total of 32 PCA repairs. Four patients had unilateral PCA, and one did not return for follow‐up and could not be located. A transnasal microscopic approach uses a myringotomy knife or CO2 laser to create an anterior mucosal flap; the CO2 laser is also used to remove any bone plate and to create the posterior flap. The flaps then are rotated into position and are kept separated by a flat Teflon keel instead of a traditional round stent to avoid pressure necrosis. When a stable epithelialized opening (2 × 2 to 3 × 4 mm) is created, it is enlarged by subsequent staged transnasal CO2 laser submucosal scar excisions with preservation of the overlying mucosa. This creates rotation or sliding flaps to speed healing and prevents circumferential scar contraction.

RESULTS:

Eighteen patients were re‐examined after periods of 3 months to more than 5 years from when their first epithelialized orifice was created with nasal endoscopy to measure the final orifice size. All 18 patients had clinically adequate‐to‐good bilateral nasal airways at the latest follow‐up with an average orifice size of 3 × 5 mm and a range of 2 × 2 to 4 × 10 mm. This “same day surgery” technique with staged procedures provides similar or better patency rates than a single transpalatal approach but with less surgical morbidity. It has a much lower restenosis rate than the transnasal puncture or PCA excision with prolonged round tube stenting and multiple dilation technique.