bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Operations Research on Health Care in Chile: An Experiment
Authors: Dahl T.
Published: May 2005

The problem of applying operations research techniques in a real setting is the subject of this paper. A group of faculty members at the University of Chile consented to study operations research in theory and practice by attending lectures at the University, and at the same time collecting statistical information in the field. These activities resulted in the formulation of a flow model of the pediatric services system in the North Area of Santiago. Integration of the flow of patients, resources, and records led to the development of a simultaneous equation model reflecting an operating health services system. This in turn spurred a set of recommendations for translating these results into policy measures. Linear programming and Markovian flow analysis were also applied to the data primarily for heuristic purposes. The experiment proved that it is possible to train health care professionals quickly and effectively for complex analytical tasks, and that such training is applicable to real-world problems.
Headings, Previews, Logical Connectives: Effects on Reading Comprehension
Authors: Spyridakis Jan H. , Standal Timothy C.
Published: May 2005

This article examines the effects of headings, previews, and logical connectives on readers and their comprehension of technical expository prose. Results from two related experiments suggest that previews produce significant effects on literal and inferential comprehension while the other two signal types do not. Results are discussed in light of previous research and suggestions for future research are given.
Foreign Aid and its Role in Maintaining the Exploitation of the Agricultural Sector: Evidence from a Case Study in Africa
Authors: Schuftan Claudio
Published: May 2005

Today most foreign aid donors are genuinely committed to the idea that development in Third World countries should start with rural development. Therefore, a sizable proportion of their development funds are invested in rural projects. However, donors channel these funds through local governments (most often representing local bourgeois interests) that are not as committed to the principle of rural development. These governments are often also embarked in policies that are actually—directly or indirectly—expropriating the surpluses generated by agriculture and investing them in the other sectors of the economy. The peasants are therefore footing most of the bill of overall national development. This paper contends that, because of this state of affairs, foreign aid directed toward rural development is actually filling the investment gap left by an internal system of unequal returns to production in agriculture. In so doing, foreign aid is indirectly financing the development of the other sectors of the economy, even if this result is unintended. This perpetrates maldevelopment without redressing the basic exploitation process of peasants which lies at the core of underdevelopment. Evidence to support this hypothesis is presented using data from a primarily agricultural exporting country: the United Republic of Cameroon.
Artists' Use of Compositional Balance for Creating Visual Displays
Authors: Locher Paul , Cornelis Els , Wagemans Johan , Stappers Pieter Jan
Published: May 2005

This study sought empirical evidence that balance influences the way adults trained in the visual arts create visual displays. Thirty-two volunteers made four designs each using two different types of shapes (rectangles or quadrilaterals) within two types of pictorial fields (a circular or rectangular format). A videotape recording of the development of each design from start to completion was used to create a digitized record of its image at 20 percent intervals of the time taken for completion. It was found that, regardless of element type, format, or phase of construction, the center of a design was closely aligned with the geometric center of the pictorial field. Furthermore, the structural or physical weight of the compositional elements measured quantitatively was evenly distributed (balanced) about the principal axes of the designs throughout their construction. These findings demonstrate the power of the center of a circular and rectangular field to function as an “anchor” or balancing point about which a design's structural skeleton is organized by artists.
Learning Environment Design
Authors: Duchastel Philippe
Published: May 2005

Learning Environment Design (LED) is an instructional design process that is geared to the design of flexible and user-centered learning resources that constitute inviting environments for learning. LED is a possible successor to Instructional Systems Design (ISD), the process that has flourished in the instructional design field over the past three decades. LED is rooted in a conception of learning that emphasizes information, interest, structure, and regulation. LED explicitly distinguishes between the content and strategy facets of design in order to bring out the importance of both.
Dreams of Death
Authors: Barrett Deirdre
Published: May 2005

This study examines the frequency and characteristics of overt dreams of dying among healthy young adults. Dreams of dying are found to be a rare but distinctive content category; most surprisingly they are overwhelmingly pleasant dreams. Slightly more than half of these accounts involve a lengthy afterlife sequence, and may best be interpreted as symbolizing other psychological changes. The remainder of the dreams are more focused on the process of death, and seem to illustrate the struggle to achieve an acceptance of mortality. Death dreams of healthy young people are also found to have some distinctive differences from those previously described among the terminally ill.
Why are Today's Technical Descriptions Still “A Journey through the Unknown?”
Authors: Tveito Sigmund
Published: May 2005

In order to repair defective equipment in the shortest possible time, the repairman needs functional service manuals. These manuals are made by the technical communicator, who gets his “input” from the development engineer. Three different people, with different background and training.

This article concentrates upon the relationship between the engineer and the communicator. How can they help each other in order to obtain a useful manual?
Computers and Aging: Marking Raced, Classed and Gendered Inequalities
Authors: Crow Angela
Published: May 2005

This article begins with an overview of cognitive psychology research on the effects of aging on literacy and suggests the additional complications facing older adults who consume and produce text within the frame of technology, particularly on-line usage. From an overview, the text moves to patterns corporations are using to target older adults, namely as consumers and as producers. The text then explores the use of philanthropy in the corporate literacy initiatives and suggests that there are complicated issues at hand in attempting to integrate the knowledge of aging and corporate strategies into our technical writing classrooms because we enter this discussion concerned about non-traditional students, older adults who are challenged to participate in contemporary literacy initiatives, and ourselves as aging participants as well. The article ends with suggestions of possible ways of addressing concerns regarding aging.
Puppet Theatre: Form and Ideology in Bamana Performances
Authors: Arnoldi Mary Jo
Published: May 2005

The Bamana living in the Segu region in central Mali carve a range of masks and puppets for specific performance contexts. These sculptures are related to and must be interpreted in light of the community's definition of the event for which they were created. This study examines a category of sculptures which are produced for youth puppet theatre. It compares these sculptures to a second category of masks which are produced for men's initiation associations and relates both categories to the definition of their respective performance events. It then analyzes the social identity of the actors in youth theatre and the ideology which organizes the import of the puppet theatre in these communities.
Optimizing Computer-Integrated Instruction
Authors: Stewart William J.
Published: May 2005

Computer use has typically been relatively limited in elementary and secondary school classrooms. Nevertheless, the computer can and should be fully infused into the total instructional process. In line with this, the computer, through being programmed to generate, relative to the separate subject, broad fields and personal-social essentials curricular approaches, suggestions of objectives, content items, activities, materials, and evaluation devices, for better relating instruction within separate subjects and/or across subject lines to student differences, can become an integral part of the overall teaching-learning enterprise.
Capgras Syndrome Associated with Metrizamide Myelography
Authors: Fishbain David A. , Rosomoff Hubert
Published: May 2005

A case of Capgras' Syndrome secondary to an Organic Mental Disorder associated with metrizamide myelography is presented. The relationship of Capgras' symptom to reduplicative paramnesia and prosopagnosia is discussed.
Burnout Prevention among Health Care Providers Working with the Terminally Ill: A Literature Review
Authors: Riordan Richard J. , Saltzer Sandra K.
Published: May 2005

A review of the literature on burnout and its prevention among caregivers to the dying is presented in this article. The literature shows that health care providers who work with the dying do experience many stressors unique to the specialty, but also many which are common to other health care workers. External and internal stressors common to this specialty field are summarized, and suggestions for reduction or elimination of these stressors are generated from the literature. A self-care wellness program is extracted from the various literature sources and provides what is thought to be an essential foundation to burnout prevention.
Interpreting the Evidence: Competing Paradigms and the Emergence of Lesbian and Gay Suicide as a “Social Fact”
Authors: Erwin Kathleen
Published: May 2005

Almost two decades after the American Psychiatric Association acknowledged that homosexuality should no longer be considered a pathological condition, studies continue to show significantly higher rates of suicide, depression, substance abuse, and other indicators of psychological distress among lesbians and gay men than among heterosexuals in the United States. If homosexuality is not, in fact, pathological, then what accounts for such self-destructive behavior? This article examines contending causal theories of homosexual suicide and psychological distress ranging from religious and medical-psychiatric theories that problematize individual behavior to societal explanations that locate the cause in social intolerance and internalized oppression. Illuminating the origins of myths that persist today, it demonstrates how historical, social, and political forces have been instrumental in shaping the scientific and medical response to gay and lesbian psychological distress. Emphasis is on the need to question the “objective validity” of scientific theories in order to develop more effective responses to gay and lesbian mental health problems. Finally, this article considers alternative views of sexuality that are emerging from such sources as feminists and gay Native Americans, and proposes new directions for mental health research that encompass issues of diversity within the gay and lesbian population.
Existential Computer Anxiety and Changes in Computer Technology: What Past Research on Computer Anxiety Has Missed
Authors: Worthington Valerie L. , Zhao Yong
Published: May 2005

In this article we propose that the existing literature on computer anxiety has neglected to consider two issues: 1) that there is an existential element to computer anxiety, and 2) that computer technology has undergone historical changes that bring with them subsequent changes in the metaphors we use to understand computers. Failure to consider these two issues has resulted in a vast body of literature that is inconsistent and ultimately of little practical or theoretical value. We discuss some of the problems in the literature that defines, develops measurement instruments for, posits correlates of, and attempts to “cure” computer anxiety and explain how attention to the two issues described above could mitigate some of these problems. Finally, we suggest ways in which attention to these two issues could help in the development of a meaningful theory to support investigation into computer anxiety.
The Medical “Brain Drain” and Health Priorities in Latin America
Authors: Horn James J.
Published: May 2005

This analysis of the medical brain drain places the problem in the context of the health care infrastructure in the developing world. It emphasizes Latin American social realities as a corrective to the self-interest which characterizes much of the current debate in the United States. It is argued that the same factors constituting emigration “push” factors in Latin America simultaneously underscore the relative unimportance of medical manpower migration compared to other obstacles to health progress. That conclusion is supported by a comparison of the relative damage caused by the brain drain by itself and the damage caused by factors which the brain drain concomitantly symbolizes and flows from: elitist objectives, misdirected priorities, unrealistic policies, and inadequate planning on the part of most Latin American nations. In the absence of urgently needed change in traditional structures, merely closing the gates on foreign medical graduates will not serve to ameliorate health conditions in the region. Those who seek real health improvements for developing nations must address greater challenges than the brain drain.
Microscopic Epidermal Identification of Some Common Desertic Plants
Authors: Sobolik Kristin D.
Published: May 2005

Wildlife ecologists have extensively used the identification of epidermal fragments recovered from digestive tracts and feces to determine the diet of various animals. Archaeologists, however, generally have not used this technique to identify botanical remains recovered from archaeological contexts. This article points out the accessibility of literature needed to conduct microscopic epidermal identification, reviews the methods and techniques, provides distinctions of such identifications on reference samples of some common desertic plants (yucca, agave, prickly pear, sotol, onion, and grass), and compares these reference samples to epidermal fragments from archaeological paleofeces.
The Sociobiology Controversy
Authors: Holtzmans Eric
Published: May 2005

The debate about Wilson's Sociobiology continues the long-standing argument among natural scientists and social scientists over the role of “biology” in human affairs. In dealing with the animal world, Wilson's book is both thoughtful and exciting, and its treatment of humans does help open some interesting perspectives. But, despite its “objective” tone, the book's application of sociobiological approaches to human societies inevitably is heavily colored by the author's own political and social biases, and is open to criticism along these lines. Given the baleful history of misuse of biology in justifying or designing social policies and practices, authors who attempt to consider human sociobiology have special responsibilities that are not adequately discharged by the usual academic caveats. Furthermore, if, as Wilson seems to hope, sociobiology is to prove useful for the future development of society, we will have to confront the fact that science is not really a “neutral” activity; its orientations and applications are very strongly conditioned by the prevailing political and economic system. In the long run, the problems arising from this fact may be dealt with appropriately only by the substantial democratization of effective access to scientific information and the creation of altered, broader-based social mechanisms governing the application of science to society.
Changing Computer Skills of Incoming Undergraduate Business Majors
Authors: Khan M. B.
Published: May 2005

The research assesses the changing computer skills of incoming business students at the undergraduate level between the years 1990 and 1996. It was found that significant improvements have taken place in almost all areas of computing skills over a six-year time period. These skills pertain to word processing, database, and spreadsheets as well as computer hardware basics. There is one area where students' knowledge has reduced over time. This area is computer programming. More and more students are learning these skills at an early age and more of them have access to personal computers. A vast majority of students are familiar with current computing topics such as Internet and multi-media. The research revealed that Hispanics and Black students are somewhat disadvantaged as to their access to personal computers when compared with whites and Asian Americans. However, the study did not determine if computing skills are affected by the racial background of students. The present study has some significant impact on the content of the introductory information systems course that is taught in schools of business. As more and more students get access to personal computers at home, the pressure on schools of business to acquire state-of-the-art computer hardware and software may be decreased.
Multidimensional Scaling and Experimental Aesthetics: Escher's Prints as a Case Study
Authors: Carrasco Marisa , Katz Svetlana M. , Winter Julia
Published: May 2005

This article represents a case-study in the applicability of multidimensional scaling (MDS) to experimental aesthetics. MDS allows experimenters to ask observers to compare stimuli without specifying which criteria they should use. MDS plots data—the similarity judgements—in a “psychological space” whose number of dimensions reflects the number of ways the stimuli are perceived to differ. An experiment attempted to tap into the criteria used by non-specialists when viewing prints by the Dutch artist M. C. Escher, and to study whether or not these criteria correspond to those Escher himself used to classify his work. Forty observers were shown every possible non-duplicate pair combination of twenty-six slides of Escher's prints, and were asked to rate the similarity of each pair, using any criteria they wished. Three dimensions were identified in this experiment (“dimensionality,” “shape” and “degree of realism”). A neighborhood analysis (based on octants) suggests that observers' perceptions seem to correspond to Escher's groupings.
A Three Dimensional Model for the Classification of Cognitive Processes
Authors: Lewin Isaac
Published: May 2005

A model is suggested here which describes the theoretical relationships between different cognitive processes. It is hoped that this model will contribute towards a tightening of the scientific conceptual network, mainly on the “soft” side of cognitive processes theorization. Concepts which are hitherto loosely used will gain clearer, distinctive definition; this applies to concepts like imagery, imagination, fantasy, daydreaming, dreaming, divergent thinking, creativity, etc. In this same model the relationships between these concepts and concepts such as learning, problem solving, information processing, thinking, semantic organization, etc., as well as the relationships among the latter concepts to each other, will also become explicit.
An Economic Basis for the Proletarianization of Physicians
Authors: Chernomas Robert
Published: May 2005

In their article, McKinlay and Arches (1) have provided us with a very interesting and perceptive analysis of how it has become possible to proletarianize physicians. The question raised herein is why it may be happening now. An ex ante (as opposed to alternative) hypothesis is that the real target of capital is the medical sector itself. That is, the relative loss of autonomy of physicians may be a necessary but not sufficient condition to resolve the real problem. The solution to the real problem depends not merely on reducing physicians' incomes and status in order to promote the profits of the medical sector, but to reduce the relatively inefficient and unnecessary medical sector's share of gross national product (GNP) as part of the solution to the larger economic crisis.
Community-Based Trial and Ethnographic Techniques for the Development of Hygiene Intervention in Rural Bangladesh
Authors: Ahmed Nasar U. , Zeitlin Marian F. , Beiser Alexa S. , Super Charles M. , Gershoff Stanley N. , Ahmed Manira A.
Published: May 2005

Community-based three-stage iterative trials were performed to develop interventions for improving hygiene practices to reduce childhood diarrhea in rural Bangladesh. Ethnographic techniques were used to identify practices associated with diarrhea, to understand cultural beliefs and reasoning related to causes of diarrhea, and to tap community resources. Hygiene behaviors and products designed through in-home problem diagnosis went through trials sequentially at three socio-economic levels consisting of ten educated project workers, twenty-five volunteer mothers and twenty-five very low- income mothers. These levels, chosen in order to meet the needs of all including the poorest, permitted new practices which proved feasible in the workers' trial to be then tried by the volunteers. The results were synthesized, with successful behavioral advice translated into simple verbal messages created to resemble locally popular proverbs, poems and folk songs. The messages and products were finalized after pretesting and revision among the very low-income group of mothers. Evaluation of the community-wide campaign showed very high rates of adoption (85%–95%) of the interventions. The involvement of target groups and their opinion leaders in the intervention development process contributed to the sense of ownership reflected in the high rate of adoption. Program organizers' comprehensive understanding of practices associated with diarrhea and its cultural context, and the community's empowerment to find local solutions are both critical to the success of such interventions.
Continuing Education for Media, Library, and Information Specialists
Authors: Penland Patrick R.
Published: May 2005

Considerable thought is being given today to the continuing education of media, library, and information specialists for an integrated and communicative profession. The traditional patterns of internship and inservice training are being supplemented by simulation of community contexts within which professionals can begin to apply the principles of lifelong and lifewide learning. One such simulation is briefly described as a model for inducing interpersonal and persuasive behavior in a “real life” environment.
Measurement of Chronic Pain in Pain-Depression Literature during the 1980s: A Review
Authors: Roy Ranjan
Published: May 2005

Measurement of pain is a new area of study. This review is based on a survey of pain-depression literature of the 80s. In general terms, measurement of pain is a neglected field. In most of the studies reviewed here pain is either not measured or measured somewhat crudely. Only in a minority of studies is there evidence of recognition that pain-measurement is a critical part of the overall clinical evaluation of chronic pain patients.
Toward an Informed Citizenry: Readability Formulas as Cultural Artifacts
Authors: Longo Bernadette
Published: May 2005

After World War II, the United States government and citizenry were concerned with truth, propaganda, democracy, and national security as they entered the Cold War era. This was a time when technocrats, engineers, and scientists could lead our free-world government through the perils of our tense relationships with Russia, Red China, and Korea. In the early 1940s, Rudolf Flesch began developing what he termed a “scientific rhetoric” to help writers of functional documents more effectively communicate technical information to a general public. He came up with a readability formula to help writers evaluate whether their writing was effective and this readability formula has profoundly shaped notions of “clear writing” for the last 60 years. This article explores Flesch's development of this readability formula, placing his work in a historical context, as well as discussing how the readability formula fit into a larger project to make effective writing more of a science than an art.
Population Growth and United States Politics in the 1970s
Authors: Nash A. E. Keir
Published: May 2005

The recent drop in birth rates in the United States to a point below replacement may well take much of the wind out of the momentum which developed during the late 1960s for a comprehensive national population policy. Such at least would appear to be a “natural result” given the characteristic patterns of American politics, whereby broad and coherent policy making is rarely produced except in moments of obvious crisis. Such a result, moreover, would dovetail with the general drift of the Nixon Administration away from the domestic and foreign activism of the Johnson years. Despite its “naturalness,” however, that result would be unfortunate. The arguments for a comprehensive national population policy are best grounded in the circumstance that population effects are long-term. This article explores the reasons for instituting such a policy from the standpoint of a central concern of political science—the quality of governance. It is argued that population stabilization would, on balance, enhance the capacity of the United States governmental structure to cope with policy problems, both domestic and foreign.
Courses in Writing beyond the University: A Caveat
Authors: Johnson Lawrence J.
Published: May 2005

This paper outlines the common failures of those in-service education programs which attempt to promote good writing among professionals through courses modeled on college composition curricula. It analyzes the practices of both the university and the extramural society in an attempt to define those elements which historically have promoted good writing and which, insofar as they have been de-emphasized today, have impeded good writing practices among professionals. Finally the distinct responsibilities of both the university and society at large are used to develop another model which may better encourage sound writing habits at all managerial levels.
Analog Computer Simulation of Energy and the Environment
Authors: Kimmel Howard , Grow James M. , Tomkins Reginald P. T.
Published: May 2005

Energy education is becoming recognized as a “basic skill” or “survival skill.” Programs are needed to increase public awareness of the current energy situation. The Energy-Environment Simulator is a specially designed analog computer that simulates real-world conditions, focusing on the current energy problems and looking at possible energy futures. The Simulator is capable of varying a large number of parameters affecting either the supply of energy or the demand for energy, as well as determining the rate at which the energy from each source is supplied for the various demands. A digital clock, proceeding at the rate of a century a minute, allows the operator to make decisions about the allocation of energy resources in response to changing conditions on a continuous basis. Different types of presentations of the Simulator are possible, depending on the nature and size of the audience and time available for the program. The Simulator is found to be an excellent educational tool, serving as a visible demonstration that the combination of limited fossil fuels with continued growth in energy consumption can lead to serious future energy problems.
Stroke Hemiplegia and Specular Image: Lessons From Self-Portraits
Authors: Morin Catherine , Pradat-Diehl Pascale , Robain Gilberte , Bensalah Yamina , Perrigot Michel
Published: May 2005

Hemiplegic patients suffer from difficulties in self-awareness, either due to specific neurological disturbances of body image or to psychological problems with their I images. Both types of difficulty have to do with the specular image as defined by Lacan (1966a) (i.e., the psychic structure that links the body with the symbolic and imaginary components of identity, and neutralizes the real objects involved in mother-child exchange). This study is devoted to analyzing how recent right and left brain vascular lesions affect specular image. Multivariate Analysis of 308 self-portraits of right and left brain injured stroke patients and control participants was performed. This revealed three dominant types of self-portrait: 1) Erect, complete, and clothed self-portraits were predominantly drawn by normal participants. 2) Erect self-portraits, lacking clothes, hands, and/or mouth and eyes were found in all groups of participants, predominantly in patients with speech disorders. Lack of hands and face features are indications of the challenge brought to the symbolic and imaginary aspects of identity by any sudden handicap, whether or not caused by a brain lesion, while symmetry of lacks and verticality show that body image may retain its structuring value even in brain lesions. 3) This is not the case in neurological disorders of body image, since inclined portraits with unilateral omissions were predominantly drawn by patients with right brain lesions. These unilateral omissions proved not only to result from cognitive deficiencies, but also to reflect the fragmentation of specular image, and in one case, the concomitant undue appearance of the object.
Political Ideology and Health Care: Hospital Patterns in the Philippines and Cuba
Authors: Roemer Milton I.
Published: May 2005

Starting from a similar heritage of Spanish colonialism, followed by United States influence, the Philippines and Cuba developed sharply divergent ideologies after Cuba's socialist revolution in 1959. In the Philippines today there is a pattern of hospital services based strongly on capitalist “free market” ideology; government facilities, intended to serve the majority of the population, are meager while private ones are relatively abundant and compete for a small market of paying patients. In Cuba, virtually all hospital resources have been placed in the public sector and urban-rural disparities have been greatly reduced. All hospital services are freely available to every resident on an equal basis.
Franklin's Autobiography — Important Lessons in Tone, Syntax, and Persona
Authors: Tebeaux Elizabeth
Published: May 2005

Having students read selected portions of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography provides unique and effective material for supplementing instruction in style and control of tone. Franklin's writing exemplifies the major style characteristics taught in technical writing: active voice, conciseness, common words, concrete language, sentences structured by clauses rather than phrases. The work clearly shows that good “technical” style is not an isolated type of writing, but a powerful means of controlling tone and meaning. Students can be shown that by skillfully using syntax and diction and by carefully selecting content, Franklin shrewdly and effectively achieved his goal in writing the Autobiography — a precisely drawn image of himself for posterity.
Perceptions of Safer Sex Negotiation among HIV- and HIV+ Women at Heterosexual Risk: A Focus Group Analysis
Authors: Williams Sunyna S. , Semanchuk Larissa T.
Published: May 2005

Heterosexual women are at increasing risk for HIV, but many are unable to engage in effective safer sex negotiation. The current study examined perceptions of safer sex negotiation using a focus group methodology. Participants were twenty high-risk HIV- and HIV+ women. Participants found it difficult to negotiate safer sex with a relationship partner, because of an inability to see partners they love and trust as risky. Also, although participants perceived condom use to be a personal choice, they believed that few use condoms consistently. Moreover, HIV- women held negative attitudes toward condoms that probably decrease use, whereas HIV+ women had concerns regarding disclosure of status. Clearly, women need safer sex negotiation skills to support the personal choice to use condoms.
Training of the Barefoot Doctor in the People's Republic of China: From Prevention to Curative Service
Authors: Wang Virginia Li
Published: May 2005

Among the changes that have been brought about in health delivery in the People's Republic of China, the introduction of the barefoot doctor has been one of the most important and effective ways that the government has devised to radically alter the concept of health care. Through close identification with the community in terms of recruitment, training, and practice, the barefoot doctor is a concrete manifestation of the ideological principles of following the mass line and being self-reliant. This paper focuses on the building of rural health services, with special reference to the training of the barefoot doctor as the first-level contact person in primary care in the communes. It describes the training programs in a school of public health and the career mobility possible to the barefoot doctor in joining the ranks of medical practitioners.
School Reform, Constructed Learning, and Educational Technology
Authors: Clouse R. Wilburn , Nelson Henry Ed
Published: May 2005

School reform symbolizes an opportunity for significantly improving public education. Reform movements occur every few years. A cry goes out for public support to implement another new improvement plan and to secure more money for the children. A review of the school reform movement finds very little change in the learning environment although technology has changed the world at large during the past century. This research suggests that reform movements and technology must work together to bring about major changes in the learning environment if public schools are to remain a viable institution in the twenty-first century. Creative teaching using technology must reach the learning and interest levels of all students. “Just-in-time” teaching techniques must be connected with the interest and ability of the student.
Antecedents and Correlates of Alcohol, Cocaine, and Alcohol-Cocaine Abuse in Early Adulthood
Authors: Windle Michael , Miller-Tutzauer Carol
Published: May 2005

We used a fourfold substance abuse typology consisting of non-abusers, alcohol abusers, cocaine abusers, and joint alcohol and cocaine abusers with a nationally representative sample of young adults (aged 19–26 years) to investigate issues related to prevalence, antecedents, and correlates of substance abuse. The prevalence data indicate higher alcohol abuse among white males, but approximately equal proportions of cocaine abuse and joint alcohol and cocaine abuse across gender and ethnic/racial groups. A simplex-like ordering was found for the four abuse groups with regard to the degree of problem severity associated with most of the antecedents and correlates. Joint alcohol and cocaine abusers demonstrated the highest levels of previous thirty-day and lifetime drug use, high levels of delinquent activity, and the highest rates of unemployment and marital instability. Cocaine abusers demonstrated the second highest levels of problem severity, alcohol abusers the third highest levels, and non-abusers the lowest levels. An exception to the simplex-like pattern was found with respect to educational attainment and verbal intelligence. Joint alcohol and cocaine abusers reported the lowest high school dropout rate and scored the highest on a measure of verbal intelligence. We suggest that joint alcohol and cocaine abusers may be characterized as “non-strivers” or “underachievers,” quite possibly as a consequence of substance abuse.
Mental Health Problems in Primary Care: A Research Agenda
Authors: Klinkman Michael S. , Okkes Inge
Published: May 2005

Purpose:

The NAPCRG Task Force on Mental Health Problems was commissioned to explore critical research and policy issues in mental health and to develop a primary care research agenda for review and action by NAPCRG. This “White Paper” presents the key findings and recommendations of the Task Force.

Methods:

A comprehensive review of the primary care mental health literature, using MEDLINE searches with manual follow up, and personal communications with many active researchers in the field were performed by the authors; Task Force members participated in the editing and refinement of the White Paper in a series of email and face-to-face meetings.

Summary and Conclusions:

Although primary care researchers have made major contributions to our growing understanding of mental health problems as they exist in the “real world” of primary care, rapid changes in the U.S. health care environment threaten to undo the integration of mental and physical health that is at the heart of primary care. It will be necessary for the primary care leaders in this field to step forward to guide policy-makers, purchasers, and the public as primary care is reengineered for the next generation. Efforts to operationalize episode of care and comorbidity recording with EMR systems, particularly in cooperation with managed care corporations and/or primary care research networks, may represent the most effective strategy for promoting the integration of mental health services into primary care. The most promising area for research in the immediate future may be descriptive studies that capture and explore the clinical epidemiology of common mental health problems as they occur in routine practice.
The Relationship between Attendance at Religious Services and Cardiovascular Inflammatory Markers
Authors: King Dana E. , Mainous Arch G. , Steyer Terrence E. , Pearson William
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Previous studies have shown an association between attendance at religious services and health, particularly cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Little research has focused on religious attendance and physiological markers of cardiovascular risk. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between religious attendance and inflammatory markers of cardiovascular risk.

Method:

Nationally representative sample of non-institutionalized United States adults aged 40 and over derived from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III 1988–1994 ( n = 10,059). The main outcome measures were the inflammatory system markers C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and white blood cell count.

Results:

40.8 percent of the population attended religious services 40 or more times in the previous year while 22.4 percent attended services less than 40 times and 36.8 percent attended no religious services at all. Non-attenders of religious services were more likely than attenders to have elevated white blood cell counts ( p = .001), highly elevated C-reactive protein ( p = .02), and elevated fibronogen ( p = .05). After adjusting for demographic variables, health status, and BMI, the association between religious attendance and cardiovascular markers remained. Once current smoking was added to the model the independent effect of religious attendance dropped below conventional confidence limits.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest that people who have attended religious services in the previous year are less likely to have elevated levels of certain inflammatory markers, however, current smoking has significant shared variance with religious attendance.
Educational Technology and Third World Development
Authors: Harvey William B.
Published: May 2005

The problem of illiteracy in the Third World can be solved through the transfer of technology from the developed nations. The refinement of computers, and particularly, microprocessors, will make it possible for Third World people, by using these machines, to receive instructions through pictures and sounds, so that they can perform certain tasks and functions even while they are becoming literate. With the computer drawing information from a worldwide knowledge bank, the people of the Third World could have immediate access to data dealing with food production, health care and other pressing problems. As a result, the huge manpower pool that exists in the underdeveloped countries can be put to effective and productive use.
The Researcher and the Real World: Problems in Interpersonal Communication
Authors: Losano Wayne A.
Published: May 2005

The research scientist has been viewed by creators of popular film and fiction as a superspecialist with little ability to relate to the real world. Although this popular image of the researcher is exaggerated, real problems do exist for the researcher in his efforts to ommunicate with nonresearchers. The individuality, pioneering spirit, intensity, and dedication of the researcher serve to isolate him from the rest of society. The abstract nature of scientific research and the lack of a clearly definable product of much scientific research further disrupt communication between the researcher and the nonresearcher.
Understandability of Narratives in Annual Reports
Authors: Nilsson Stellan
Published: May 2005

This article shows problems in the communication process between preparers and users of financial reports. In Sweden as well as in other European countries, understandability of financial reports is a qualitative characteristic that is increasingly focused on. This is partly due to the growing significance of the stock market as a source for venture capital. Test techniques from linguistics and pedagogy have been used in accounting research to investigate the understandability of financial reports. The cloze technique is used in this study to investigate the understandability of messages in two Swedish annual reports related to small investors, and sophisticated preparers and users such as auditors and financial managers. The results show that important parts of the reports were not understood by small investors. The conclusion is that if small investors are continuingly to be considered as a target group for these financial reports, then there must be a large improvement of the text material. Otherwise the financial reports must be left to sophisticated users and interpreters.
Bridging Visual and Verbal Communication: Training Videos and Written Instructional Texts
Authors: Thralls Charlotte
Published: May 2005

Although research in composition and in instructional design suggests that film and video can be useful pedagogic tools in writing instruction, little research has been directed toward discovering how film and video can be used to teach the kinds of documents produced in professional-writing courses. Because of important similarities in written instructional materials and training videos—the expository and “how-to” tapes being produced for business and industry—training videos can help developing professional writers learn how to write effective instructions. These videos provide writers with a visual model of certain information-processing strategies, cultural themes, and learning objectives important to written instructions. Professional-writing instructors interested in using these training videos will find many sources for appropriate videos, both on and off the university campus.
Open the Black Box: Paradoxes and Lacunas in Swedish Health Care Reforms
Authors: Gustafsson Rolf Å.
Published: May 2005

The idea of using contracting-out as a means for improving public administration dates back to the 1850s, but was then found to be infeasible. The same idea has now become a major building-block in Sweden's health care reforms. Driven by a productivity-focused political discourse and the premises of neoclassical economics, these reforms ignore motivational structures among health care staff. The result may be a delegitimizing of the welfare state from within—either through the extinction of care rationality and its replacement by wage rationality, or, at worst, through the spread of a commercial spirit among health care staff and/or staff frustration at the unavoidable downward adjustments in remuneration rates. The author points to three strategic choices that arise when insights from a labor-process perspective are taken into consideration.
Testing the Usability of Interactive Visualizations for Complex Problem-Solving: Findings Related to Improving Interfaces and Help
Authors: Mirel Barbara
Published: May 2005

In visual querying, users analyze data for their decisions and problems by interacting with graphics that are dynamic and linked. This querying paradigm is new, a dramatic break from the more familiar retrieving of data via search statements and displaying of it in static charts and graphs. For this new visual querying paradigm, analysts conceptually and operationally need to master new approaches. To discover salient relationships, they need to manipulate displays. To drill down for detail or causes, they have to select data of interest directly from a graph. And to draw inferences, they have to consider meanings across several dynamically linked graphics. With the aim of studying users' success in these new approaches, particularly focusing on the approach of directly selecting data from graphs, I conducted a scenario-based usability test with 10 data analysts. They interacted with visualizations to complete a realistic complex analysis—evaluating employee performance. Test findings reveal a range of difficulties in visual selection that, at times, gave rise to inaccurate selections, invalid conclusions, and misguided decisions. To overcome these difficulties, support for visual selection needs to be built into interfaces and help. Results and recommended improvements are presented.
Psychoneuroimmunological Aspects of Disease Progression among Women with Human Papilloma Virus-Associated Cervical Dysplasia and Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Co-Infection
Authors: Goodkin Karl , Antoni Michael H. , Helder Lynne , Sevin Bernd
Published: May 2005

Objective:

Psychosocial associations have been observed with level of cervical dysplasia or “pre-cancer” and invasive cervical cancer [related to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection]. Psychoneuroimmunological relationships have been observed in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, which is being described in an increasing number of women. Our objective was to review these relationships regarding effects that might be expected in HIV-1 and HPV co-infected women.

Method:

This review was based on a Medline literature search supplemented by a manual search of selected journals unrepresented in that database.

Results:

Relationships of psychosocial factors and level of cervical dysplasia were similarly observed with reference to immunological and health status in asymptomatic and early symptomatic HIV-1 infected homosexual men, suggesting that a potentiating effect may occur in HIV-1 and HPV co-infected women. Consistency of relationships across studies appeared to be enhanced by the use of a biopsychosocial model integrating the effects of life stressors, social support and coping style as well as psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions:

Research is indicated on the relationships between psychosocial factors, immunological status and clinical health status in this group of women. Because of the high prevalence of psychosocial risk factors for chronic psychological distress in these women and the known immunological and health status decrements occurring with progression of these two infections, a clinical screening program based on the biopsychosocial model is recommended as a means of secondary prevention. If effective in generating treatment referrals, such a program would likely improve quality of life and could aid in the determination of relationships with immunological and health status as well.