bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Exploring Reflective Subjectivity through the Construction of the `Ethical Other' in Interview Transcripts
Authors: Burr Jennifer
Published: April 2009

I aim here to explore the area of `other people's voices' in interview text through a comparative discussion of the work of George Mead and the Russian philosopher and theorist Mikhail Bakhtin. Specifically, I aim to outline Mead and Bakhtin's theories of reflective subjectivity, or how we recognize our self by looking back upon our experience. To explore the relative concepts of reflective subjectivity, I analyse selective quotes from the transcripts of interviews conducted with people who have received donor insemination about their views and experiences of donor anonymity. I conclude that the choices demonstrated in the interview data are, to use Bakhtin's term, answerable. The anticipation of response in dialogic forms represented in other people's voices is a potentially creative process and more than seeking agreement with the generalized other of the community. Bakhtin's unique theorizing contributes to our understanding of the ethical dimensions of everyday life.
In a Different Place: Working-class Girls and Higher Education
Authors: Evans Sarah
Published: April 2009

This article examines the effects of material inequality and gender expectations in structuring working-class girls' aspirations about higher education (HE). Through reference to recent ethnographic work in an inner-London secondary school two key arguments are made about how the combined effects of gender and class limit the social mobility HE is expected to provide. First, it is argued that family ties generate gender-specific obligations for working-class women, which have strong social consequences in terms of the take-up of HE places and labour market participation. This is particularly important since the commitment of working-class girls to home and family has been neglected in many theories of gender and social mobility. Second, it is argued that despite the recent political energy devoted to espousing a democratic HE system, the sense of entitlement to HE entry is, for young working-class people, undermined by a diminishing sense of the right to access middle-class spaces and institutions.
Exploring Participant-centred Reflexivity in the Research Interview
Authors: Riach Kathleen
Published: April 2009

The increasing importance of reflexivity within social research highlights the importance of the construction of knowledge in relation to the research endeavour. However, researcher-orientated notions of reflexivity can often relegate a discussion of participant reflexivity. Drawing on two motifs that emerged during the analysis of interview data from one research project, I argue that developing Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, practical mastery and symbolic mastery allows us to understand how reflexivity-in-practice is situated and enacted by both parties involved in the research interaction, and how such `sticky moments' help us work towards a more participant-focussed mode of reflexivity. In situating the article within larger social research debates, I suggest that ascribing a more active role to interview participants as reflexive subjects can help to address some of the wider ethical debates over the role and positioning of participants in the research process.
What to Make of New York's New Economy? The Politics of the Creative Field
Authors: Indergaard Michael
Published: April 2009

Inner-city ensembles featuring novel mixes of culture, technology and commerce are generating synergies of production, consumption and place. Yet, this `new economy of the city' is also linked to contradictory economic impulses and negative effects. Proposing that economistic accounts have a limited ability to explain the rise of these ensembles, their effects and the possibilities for policy, the idea of a `creative field' is revised in order to analyse how politics have shaped a creative ensemble in Lower Manhattan. It is shown that the political influence of real estate has helped to displace firms and residents of modest means, and has stunted campaigns by creative sectors to access resources, build institutions and upgrade capacities. However, a survey of creative industry politics hints at alternative policies that, in the wake of the financial collapse, might promote progressive ties between creative segments and modest neighbourhoods.
Geographies of Displacement in the Creative City: The Case of Liberty Village, Toronto
Authors: Catungal John Paul , Leslie Deborah , Hii Yvonne
Published: April 2009

Creative industries are increasingly associated with employment, tourism and the attraction and retention of talent in economic development discourse. However, there is a need to foreground the interests involved in promoting the creative city and the political implications of such policies. This paper analyses new industry formation in Liberty Village—a cultural industry precinct in inner-city Toronto, Canada. The focus is on the place-making strategies at work in constructing Liberty Village. In particular, the paper explores a series of displacements associated with creative districts, focusing on three scales in particular—the level of the city, the neighbourhood and the precinct itself. An examination of these displacements foregrounds the contested nature of the creative city script.
The Social Viability of Culture-led Urban Transformation Processes: Evidence from the Bicocca District, Milan
Authors: Sacco Pierluigi , Tavano Blessi Giorgio
Published: April 2009

This paper investigates the relationships between cultural activities/investments and urban transformation processes, with reference to the transformation of the Bicocca district in the metropolitan core of Milan. Bicocca has experienced a radical change in its social, economic and environmental profile as a consequence of the transition from a heavily industrial development model to a characteristically post-industrial one. This case study offers an instructive example for the understanding of how intangible resources determine transitional modes and outcomes of urban transformation, and in particular of the leading role of cultural investment in the shaping of the local network of knowledge production and circulation, sociality and identity. The paper stresses the need to strike a careful balance between the physical and intangible components of cultural initiatives—i.e. between activities and investment in facilities (cultural `software' and `hardware' respectively). Whereas the latter provide relatively immediate benefits in terms of economic impact and of endowment of usable physical capital, it is equally necessary to pursue carefully selected programmes of initiatives that involve and challenge the local community at various levels, fostering a social attitude based on intrinsic motivation rather than on instrumental opportunism. Without proper, supporting `social software', massive investment in new cultural facilities may assume a dysfunctional `cosmetic' character that is likely to exacerbate the critical aspects of urban transformation rather than tempering them.
Public-sector Intervention in Embodying the New Economy in Inner Urban Areas: The Barcelona Experience
Authors: Casellas Antònia , Pallares-Barbera Montserrat
Published: April 2009

This article investigates the urban and economic revitalisation of a traditional industrial working-class neighbourhood into a knowledge-based economic district. It explores why and how this new district is the result of an assertive public policy led by Barcelona's city council and implemented by a quasi-public agency. The project represents the most important urban-growth strategy in the city at the turn of the century and also exemplifies the advantages and shortcomings of many of the policy elements that have contributed to the radical transformation of Barcelona in recent decades. The article further highlights methodological challenges regarding the conceptualisation and operationalisation of new economic activities and it discusses the spatial and uncertain economic consequences of this ambitious approach by the local government.
The Neighbourhood in the Creative Economy: Policy, Practice and Place in Singapore
Authors: Ho K.C.
Published: April 2009

This paper examines the wild and unruly side of the creative economy and how work-styles associated with this form of production are closely tied to particular types of urban environment. In the case of Singapore, the policy to grow creative industry as a key competitive strategy has focused on building infrastructure, manpower and alliances without space provision for a range of activities. State policies, especially in the education of creative workers and artists, are broad in their impacts and these tend to have unanticipated effects in growing a wider array of activities than imagined. As a result, new start-ups take root in ungentrified portions of Singapore's inner city where low rents and centrality provide the functional basis for growth, but equally important, the diversity and vitality create an atmosphere which fits the work-styles of new economy firms.
Hanoi's Ancient Quarter Traders: Resilient Livelihoods in a Rapidly Transforming City
Authors: Turner Sarah
Published: April 2009

Within the rapidly transforming city of Hanoi, Vietnam's capital, lies the Ancient Quarter, home to a broad array of small entrepreneurs and traders since the 13th century. Utilising a longitudinal study approach, supported by a livelihoods framework, this paper investigates the impacts of both historical political and economic policies and current market economic reforms on Ancient Quarter trader livelihoods. Drawing on oral histories with elderly residents and interviews with current traders, it analyses the influence of French colonial rule and the First Indochina War, before turning to ascertain the consequences of the socialist period and the Second Indochina War. By doing so, the paper reveals the diverse livelihood strategies that traders have put in place to survive through these turbulent times.
Creative Small Cities: Rethinking the Creative Economy in Place
Authors: Waitt Gordon , Gibson Chris
Published: April 2009

Whether advocating creativity as a means to place competition or critiquing the social dislocations that stem from creativity-led urban regeneration, research about the creative economy has tended to assume that large cities are the cores of creativity. That many workers in `creative' industries choose to live and work in small urban centres is often overlooked. In this context, this article aims to recover within debates the importance of size, geographical position and class legacies in theories of creativity, economic development and urban regeneration. Using empirical materials from a case study of one Australian city—Wollongong, in New South Wales—it is argued that what might at first appear a rather parochial example illustrates the importance of rethinking the creative economy in place. Crucially, it is shown that, regardless of the numerical population size of a city, creativity is embedded in various complex, competing and intersecting place narratives fashioned by discourses of size, proximity and inherited class legacies. Only when the creative economy is conceptualised qualitatively in place is it possible to reveal how urban regeneration can operate in uncertain and sometimes surprising ways, simultaneously to estrange and involve civic leaders and residents.
Situating the New Economy: Contingencies of Regeneration and Dislocation in Vancouver's Inner City
Authors: Barnes Trevor , Hutton Thomas
Published: April 2009

The purpose of this paper is to make an argument about the importance of geographical context and contingency in the emergence of the new economy within the inner city. Using a case study of Vancouver, it is suggested, first, that its new economy has emerged precisely out of the peculiar trajectory of the city and is bound up with a staples economy, branch plant corporate offices, transnationalism, and mega-project orientation. Secondly, to illustrate the importance of situation and site, the paper focuses on two of Vancouver's inner-city locales: Yaletown, on the margins of the Downtown South, a former industrial and warehousing district now regarded as the epicentre of Vancouver's new economy; and Victory Square, the former commercial heart of the early Vancouver, for many years experiencing disinvestment and decline, but now on the cusp of a major revitalisation which threatens to displace long-established social cohorts.
Effect of Dietary Purines on the Pharmacokinetics of Orally Administered Ribavirin
Authors: Li Linghui , Koo Seok Hwee , Limenta Lie Michael George , Han Li , Hashim Khadijah Binte , Quek Hung Hiang , Lee Edmund Jon Deoon
Published: April 2009

Ribavirin is found to be absorbed in the intestine through the human concentrative nucleoside transporter 2 (hCNT2). Cellular uptake of ribavirin was strongly inhibited by purine nucleoside in an in vitro study. This study aims to examine the effects of dietary purine on the pharmacokinetics of orally administered ribavirin in vivo. Twenty healthy participants were enrolled in a randomized, 2‐period crossover study. Participants were administered a single 600‐mg oral dose of ribavirin after either a high‐purine meal or a low‐purine meal. Serial blood samples were collected predose and over 144 hours after dosing. Ribavirin concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. In comparison with corresponding plasma values of ribavirin following a high‐purine meal, Cmax, AUC0–144 and AUC0–∞ of ribavirin following a low‐purine meal were 136% (90% confidence internal [CI]: 120%–155%), 134% (90% CI: 118%–153%), and 139% (90% CI: 120%–159%), respectively. This study indicates that dietary purines have an effect on ribavirin absorption. Dosage regimens of ribavirin might need to be adjusted according to the purine content of the meal.
Women Are Sort of More Tentative Than Men, Aren't They?
Authors: Palomares Nicholas A.
Published: April 2009

Based on self-categorization theory's explanation for gender-based language use, male and female participants sent e-mail on a masculine, feminine, or gender-neutral topic to an ostensible male or female recipient (i.e., intergroup or intragroup dyads). As predicted, the topic affected if and how men and women used tentative language differently: For masculine topics, traditional gender differences emerged (i.e., women were more tentative than men) in intergroup, but not intragroup, contexts; for feminine topics, differences were counterstereotypical (i.e., men were more tentative than women) in intergroup contexts only; and for a gender-neutral topic, no differences resulted in either intra- or intergroup contexts. Moreover, gender salience partially mediated these effects in intergroup interactions only: Topic affected tentative language through gender salience in the mixed-sex condition (i.e., a conditional indirect effect).
Differential Item Functioning Detection Using the Multiple Indicators, Multiple Causes Method with a Pure Short Anchor
Authors: Shih Ching-Lin , Wang Wen-Chung
Published: April 2009

The multiple indicators, multiple causes (MIMIC) method with a pure short anchor was proposed to detect differential item functioning (DIF). A simulation study showed that the MIMIC method with an anchor of 1, 2, 4, or 10 DIF-free items yielded a well-controlled Type I error rate even when such tests contained as many as 40% DIF items. In general, a longer anchor increased the power of DIF detection, and a 4-item anchor was long enough to yield a high power of DIF detection. An iterative MIMIC procedure was proposed to locate a set of DIF-free items to function as a pure anchor so that the MIMIC method could proceed properly. In another simulation study, it was found that this iterative procedure yielded a perfect (or nearly perfect) rate of accuracy in locating a set of up to 4 DIF-free items.
Asymptotic and Sampling-Based Standard Errors for Two Population Invariance Measures in the Linear Equating Case
Authors: Rijmen Frank , Manalo Jonathan R. , von Davier Alina A.
Published: April 2009

This article describes two methods for obtaining the standard errors of two commonly used population invariance measures of equating functions: the root mean square difference of the subpopulation equating functions from the overall equating function and the root expected mean square difference. The delta method relies on an analytical approximation and provides asymptotic standard errors, whereas the grouped jackknife method is a sampling-based method. The expressions for the delta method are presented for the linear equating function. Both methods were applied to a real data application. The results indicate little difference between the standard errors found by the two methods.
Parenting Efficacy and the Early School Adjustment of Poor and Near-Poor Black Children
Authors: Jackson Aurora P. , Choi Jeong-Kyun , Bentler Peter M.
Published: April 2009

This short-term longitudinal study investigates whether maternal educational attainment, maternal employment status, and family income affect African American children’s behavioral and cognitive functioning over time through their impacts on mothers’ psychological functioning and parenting efficacy in a sample of 100 poor and near-poor single Black mothers and their 3- and 4-year-old focal children. Results indicate that education, working status, and earnings display statistically significant, negative, indirect relations with behavior problems and, with the exception of earnings, statistically significant, positive, indirect relationships with teacher-rated adaptive language skills over time. Findings suggest further that parenting efficacy may mediate the link between poor and near-poor single Black mothers’ depressive symptoms and their preschoolers’ subsequent school adjustment. Implications of these findings for policy and program interventions are discussed.
The moralizing of obesity: A new name for an old sin?
Authors: Townend Louise
Published: April 2009

The obesity epidemic is a significant issue for health and social policy, with major ramifications for economic productivity across the globe. In Western industrialized countries, however, it impacts on the population along traditional lines of economic disadvantage, its incidence being inversely related to income and education. As a health issue and matter for policy intervention, obesity is frequently presented in public discourse within an existing moral framework which links illness with moral failure. This is reminiscent of the historical treatment of poverty. It will be argued in this paper that the convergence of moralized discourses around poverty and illness is represented most visibly and powerfully in the issue of obesity, resulting in policy which addresses these moral `shortcomings' at the expense of attention to the structures which create ill health and poverty. An alternative social-structural perspective will be proposed as a potentially more helpful frame for addressing the obesity issue.
Social policies and refugee resettlement: Iraqis in Australia
Authors: Johnston Vanessa , Vasey Katie , Markovic Milica
Published: April 2009

In this paper, we analyse national social policies that mediate the experiences of Iraqi refugees in Australia. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews conducted with this population in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria in Australia, and a small town in country Victoria, we delineate how social policies can lead to visible (formal) and invisible (informal) exclusion of refugees. We use two Australian policies; temporary protection and regional resettlement of refugees, to demonstrate how official Australian government policies may negatively affect the integration experience of these new arrivals. Additionally, such policies have unintended consequences for support networks between refugees on different visa categories, and for social relationships between refugees and the broader Australian community.
Divergence or convergence? Health inequalities and policy in a devolved Britain
Authors: Smith Katherine E. , Hunter David J. , Blackman Tim , Elliott Eva , Greene Alexandra , Harrington Barbara E. , Marks Linda , Mckee Lorna , Williams Gareth H.
Published: April 2009

Since the advent of political devolution in the UK, it has been widely reported that markedly different health policies have emerged. However, most of these analyses are based on a comparison of health care policies and, as such, only tell part of a complex and evolving story. This paper considers official responses to a shared public health policy aim, the reduction of health inequalities, through an examination of national policy statements produced in England, Scotland and Wales respectively since 1997. The analysis suggests that the relatively consistent manner in which the `policy problem' of health inequalities has been framed combined with the dominance of a medical model of health have constrained policy responses. Our findings differ from existing analyses, raising some important questions about the actuality of, and scope for, policy divergence since devolution.
Critiquing capabilities: The distractions of a beguiling concept
Authors: Dean Hartley
Published: April 2009

The article provides a critique of the concept of `capabilities', initially advanced by Amartya Sen. The concept has directly influenced the workings of both the international United Nations Development Programme and the UK's domestic Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is argued that it is essentially a liberal-individualist concept. Despite its attractions — which the article acknowledges — the `capability approach' obscures or neglects three key realities: the constitutive nature of human interdependency; the problematic nature of the public realm; and the exploitative nature of capitalism. The article argues for an emancipatory politics of needs interpretation that would be better served by a discourse of rights than a discourse of capabilities.
Applying Catholic Social Teachings to Ethical Issues in Marketing
Authors: Klein Thomas A. , Laczniak Gene R.
Published: April 2009

This article updates earlier work by the authors and proposes the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to be an encompassing and coherent normative theory, a source of principles that address contemporary issues in marketing, especially when a manager faces ethically charged questions. The authors propose that this application of a tradition in moral theology offers a novel approach for helping resolve contemporary ethical problems in marketing. Their approach to this task pursues two paths. First, the main tenets of Catholic social teaching are presented, along with some discussion of sources. Then, some of the ethical issues associated with contemporary marketing are introduced. These two paths are joined together by connecting Catholic social teaching principles to these questions. Finally, they argue for the value of this approach outside the framework of any denominational or sectarian context.
The Right to Democracy in International Law: A Classical Liberal Reassessment
Authors: Fabry Mikulas
Published: April 2009

The end of the cold war brought with it arguments in favour of international institutional and legal mechanisms that would protect democracy worldwide. These arguments have by no means been confined to the academic departments of international law or political science: in the aftermath of extensive democratisation in the 1980s and early 1990s, a growing number of global and regional organisations have, in fact, come to regard democracy as the only acceptable system of domestic rule within their domains and sought to implement measures to delegitimise non-democratic regimes as well as to defend democratic regimes against major internal threats. This article questions this trend. Drawing on the classical liberal approach to international relations, it argues that democracy, as a system of domestic government, must ultimately be the choice and responsibility of those who live within its bounds, and not of outside governments or institutions.
Lust/Caution in IR: Democratising World Politics with Culture as a Method
Authors: Boyu Chen  , Hwang Ching-Chane , Ling L.H.M.
Published: April 2009

International Relations (IR) needs democratising. Currently, IR theorising remains under the hegemony of a singular worldview (`warre of all against all') with a singular logic (`conversion or discipline') for all actors and activities. This top-down, state-centric and exclusivist approach is fundamentally anti-democratic for a field of inquiry and practice crowded with multiple worlds. The Humanities, we propose, will help to mitigate these totalitarian tendencies by expressing and examining what hegemonic IR cannot but must: that is, a richness of being in global life. We present Ang Lee's Lust/ Caution (2007) as an example. If seen as an allegory for Taiwan—China relations, this film shifts attention from the national security state, a defining concern for hegemonic IR, to the transnational solidarities that bind peoples and societies despite inter-state conflicts, thereby offering a way out of the statist impasse that incarcerates the region. This approach extends beyond recent calls for a `linguistic' or `artistic' turn in IR. Culture, we argue, can serve as a method.
Africa and the Soviet Union
Authors: Stevens Chris
Published: April 2009

The African revolution is an important element of the national liberation movement, part of the world revolutionary process. It is unfolding throughout the vast continent, during hundreds of millions of people into the struggle against colonialism and neo-colonialism, for national and social emancipation. The old colonial empires are crashing under its blows and new independent, sovreign states are rising from their ruins.
International Relations: Poetry, Prescription or Science?
Authors: Ogley Roderick C.
Published: April 2009

This article was written by Roderick Ogley shortly after the appearance of Hedley Bull's seminal article in World Politics but had remained unpublished by the author up until now. To some it may seem unnecessary and wearisome to return to the material and content of the "Great Debate". Yet, the publication of the article (in a slightly revised form) in this Special Issue is timely and of value as it does touch upon a number of important points concerning approaches to the study of international relations. Indeed, the most interesting and remarkable aspect of the essay is that, though written somefourteen years ago, it still seems fresh and applicable to the study of international relations - which may be its strongest comment on the state of the discipline.
Replication of the Range of Native Anterior Cruciate Ligament Fiber Length Change Behavior Achieved by Different Grafts
Authors: Robinson James , Cody Stanford Fatima , Kendoff Daniel , Stüber Volker , Pearle Andrew D.
Published: April 2009

Background

The native anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) does not behave as a simple bundle of fibers with constant tension but as a continuum of ligament fibers with differential length change during knee flexion/extension. Computer-assisted navigation can be used to assess length change in different fibers within the native ACL and to evaluate how different reconstruction grafts replicate the range of native ligament fiber length change behavior.

Hypothesis

Anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction graft size and configuration (single- vs double-bundle) are deciding factors as to how much of the native ACL fiber length change behavior is replicated.

Study Design

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods

The fiber length change behavior of the entire native ACL was assessed by measuring the length change pattern of representative anteromedial (AM) and posterolateral (PL) bundle fibers (1 at the center and 4 at the periphery of each bundle). The tibial and femoral ACL attachment areas in 5 fresh-frozen cadaveric knees were digitized, and the length change of each representative fiber was recorded during knee flexion/extension using an image-free, optical navigation system. Subsequently, single-bundle ACL reconstructions of different diameters (6, 9, and 12 mm) positioned at the center of the overall native femoral and tibial attachment sites were modeled to assess how much of the range of ligament fiber length change of the native ligament was captured. This was compared with a double-bundle graft using 6-mm-diameter AM and PL grafts positioned at the centers of the femoral and tibial attachment sites of each separate bundle.

Results

The 6-, 9-, and 12-mm single-bundle grafts simulated 32%, 51%, and 66% of the ligament fiber length change behavior of the native ACL, respectively. The length change patterns in these grafts were similar to the central fibers of the native ACL: the PL fibers of the AM bundle and AM fibers of the PL bundle. However, even a 12-mm graft did not represent the most AM and PL native fibers. The 6-mm AM and PL bundle grafts (equivalent in cross-sectional area to a 9-mm single-bundle graft) simulated 71% of the native ACL and better captured the extremes of the range of native ligament fiber length change.

Conclusion

Increasing single-bundle graft size appears to capture more of the range of native ACL fiber length change. However, for a similar graft cross-sectional area, a 2-bundle graft simulates the length change behavior of the native ligament more precisely and thus may better emulate the synergistic actions of anisometric and isometric fibers of the native ligament in restraining knee laxity throughout the range of flexion.

Clinical Relevance

The range of native ACL fiber length change behavior is better replicated by larger diameter grafts but may be best reproduced by double-bundle reconstruction.
Nursing Advocacy in Procedural Pain Care
Authors: Vaartio Heli , Leino-Kilpi Helena , Suominen Tarja , Puukka Pauli
Published: April 2009

In nursing, the concept of advocacy is often understood in terms of reactive or proactive action aimed at protecting patients' legal or moral rights. However, advocacy activities have not often been researched in the context of everyday clinical nursing practice, at least from patients' point of view. This study investigated the implementation of nursing advocacy in the context of procedural pain care from the perspectives of both patients and nurses. The cross-sectional study was conducted on a cluster sample of surgical otolaryngology patients ( n = 405) and nurses ( n = 118) from 12 hospital units in Finland. The data were obtained using an instrument specially designed for this purpose, and analysed statistically by descriptive and non-parametric methods. According to the results, patients and nurses have slightly different views about which dimensions of advocacy are implemented in procedural pain care. It seems that advocacy acts are chosen and implemented rather haphazardly, depending partly on how active patients are in expressing their wishes and interests and partly on nurses' empowerment.
Presumed Consent to Organ Donation in Three European Countries
Authors: Neades Barbara L
Published: April 2009

United Kingdom Transplant reported that, during 2007—2008, a total of 7655 people were awaiting a transplant; however, only 3235 organs were available via the current `opt in' approach. To address this shortfall, new UK legislation sought to increase the number of organs available for donation. The Chief Medical Officer for England and Wales supports the adoption of `presumed consent' legislation, that is, an `opt out' approach, as used in much of Europe. Little research, however, has explored the impact on bereaved relatives, nurses and medical staff of introducing presumed consent legislation. Adopting a phenomenological approach, this study used responses to an initial questionnaire combined with selected interviews with health care professionals to capture their direct experience of presumed consent legislation in three European countries: Portugal, Norway and Belgium.
Differentiating Between Rights-Based and Relational Ethical Approaches
Authors: Trobec Irena , Herbst Majda , Žvanut Boštjan
Published: April 2009

When forced treatment in mental health care is under consideration, two approaches guide clinicians in their actions: the dominant rights-based approach and the relational ethical approach. We hypothesized that nurses with bachelor's degrees differentiate better between the two approaches than nurses without a degree. To test this hypothesis a survey was performed in major Slovenian health institutions. We found that nurses emphasize the importance of ethics and personal values, but 55.4% of all the nurse participants confused the two approaches. The results confirmed our hypothesis and indicate the importance of nurses' formal education, especially when caring for patients with mental illness.
Rituals, Death and the Moral Practice of Medical Futility
Authors: Mohammed Shan , Peter Elizabeth
Published: April 2009

Medical futility is often defined as providing inappropriate treatments that will not improve disease prognosis, alleviate physiological symptoms, or prolong survival. This understanding of medical futility is problematic because it rests on the final outcomes of procedures that are narrow and medically defined. In this article, Walker's `expressivecollaborative' model of morality is used to examine how certain critical care interventions that are considered futile actually have broader social functions surrounding death and dying. By examining cardiopulmonary resuscitation and life-sustaining intensive care measures as moral practices, we show how so-called futile interventions offer ritualistic benefit to patients, families, and health care providers, helping to facilitate the process of dying. This work offers a new perspective on the ethical debate concerning medical futility and provides a means to explore how the social value of treatments may be as important in determining futility as medical scientific criteria.
Religion and Nurses' Attitudes To Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide
Authors: Gielen Joris , van den Branden Stef , Broeckaert Bert
Published: April 2009

In this review of empirical studies we aimed to assess the influence of religion and world view on nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. We searched PubMed for articles published before August 2008 using combinations of search terms. Most identified studies showed a clear relationship between religion or world view and nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia or physician assisted suicide. Differences in attitude were found to be influenced by religious or ideological affiliation, observance of religious practices, religious doctrines, and personal importance attributed to religion or world view. Nevertheless, a coherent comparative interpretation of the results of the identified studies was difficult. We concluded that no study has so far exhaustively investigated the relationship between religion or world view and nurses' attitudes towards euthanasia or physician assisted suicide and that further research is required.
Attitudes to Euthanasia in Icus and Other Hospital Departments
Authors: Tepehan Selma , Özkara Erdem , Yavuz M. Fatih
Published: April 2009

The aim of this study was to reveal doctors' and nurses' attitudes to euthanasia in intensive care units and surgical, internal medicine and paediatric units in Turkey. A total of 205 doctors and 206 nurses working in several hospitals in Istanbul participated. Data were collected by questionnaire and analysed using SPSS v. 12.0. Significantly higher percentages of doctors (35.3%) and nurses (26.6%) working in intensive care units encountered euthanasia requests than those working in other units. Doctors and nurses caring for terminally ill patients in intensive care units differed considerably in their attitudes to euthanasia and patient rights from other health care staff. Euthanasia should be investigated and put on the agenda for discussion in Turkey.
Self-Concept in Intensive Care Nurses and Control Group Women
Authors: Mlinar Suzana , Tušak Matej , Karpljuk Damir
Published: April 2009

Our self-concept is how we see ourselves in our minds. The goal of this research was to discover any significant differences in the dimensions of self-concept between clinical nurses employed in an intensive care unit in Slovenia and Slovenian women from the general population, who represented the control group. The research included 603 women aged 20—40 years (mean 29.94; standard deviation ±6.0) who had a high-school education. To determine the differences between the groups statistically we used one-way analysis of variance. The results revealed that clinical nurses had a more positive self-concept than members of the control group. Self-concept is very important in nursing because it is closely connected to the existing value system of individuals and their behaviour. Self-concept gives nurses a sense of how they use their abilities and how they perform in relation to patients.
How Conversations Change Over Time in Face-to-Face and Video-Mediated Communication
Authors: van der Kleij Rick , Maarten Schraagen Jan , Werkhoven Peter , De Dreu Carsten K. W.
Published: April 2009

An experiment was conducted to examine how communication patterns and task performance differ as a function of the group's communication environment and how these processes change over time. In a longitudinal design, three-person groups had to select and argue the correct answer out of a set of three alternatives for ten questions. Compared with face-to-face groups, video-teleconferencing groups took fewer turns, required more time for turns, and interrupted each other less. Listeners appeared to be more polite, waiting for a speaker to finish before making their conversational contribution. Although groups were able to maintain comparable performance scores across communication conditions, initial differences between conditions in communication patterns disappeared over time, indicating that the video-teleconferencing groups adapted to the newness and limitations of their communication environment. Moreover, because of increased experience with the task and the group, groups in both conditions needed less conversation to complete the task at later rounds. Implications are discussed for practice, training, and possibilities for future research.
Residential Treatment for Sexually Abusive Youth: An Assessment of Treatment Outcomes
Authors: Jones Christopher D. , Chancey Roy , Lowe Laura A. , Risler Edwin A.
Published: April 2009

Objective: This research study assesses the effectiveness of participation in a multimodal/holistic residential treatment program on changing deviant sexual interests and functional impairment among sexually abusive youth. Method: A one-group pretest posttest design was utilized to examine pretest (intake) and posttest (discharge) scores for 58 youth between the ages of 9 and 18. Outcome measures included Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS) and the Abel Assessment for Sexual Interest—Adolescent (AASI). Results: The results indicate significant improvement from pretest to posttest scores. Length of stay was not found to influence these impacts. Conclusions: The applications of these results to understanding the effectiveness of residential treatment for sexually abusive youth and the assessment of treatment outcomes for these youth are explored and discussed.
Using Discrete Trial Instruction to Teach Children With Angelman Syndrome
Authors: Summers Jane , Szatmari Peter
Published: April 2009

Discrete trial instruction (DTI) was used to teach functional skills to three children with Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder that overlaps with autism and is associated with severe cognitive, speech, and motor impairments. Children received individual DTI teaching sessions 2 to 3 times per week over a 12-month period and displayed differing rates and patterns of skill development. Parents expressed positive views toward the DTI methods and their clinical outcomes. The results of this case series provide preliminary data suggesting that these strategies are appropriate for building functional skills in some children with Angelman syndrome and possibly other groups of children with severe/profound intellectual disability with different etiologies.
A Multidirectional Communication Model: Implications for Social Marketing Practice
Authors: Thackeray Rosemary , Neiger Brad L.
Published: April 2009

The landscape of sending and receiving information has changed dramatically in the past 25 years. The communication process is changing from being unidirectional to multidirectional as consumers are becoming active participants by creating, seeking, and sharing information using a variety of channels and devices. The purpose of this article is to describe how this shift in the communication process— where gatekeepers control the creation and content of information and consumers are less active recipients to one that reflects a multidirectional and more dynamic process with participative consumers—will affect the social marketing process. This shift in communication does not represent an option for social marketers so much as a necessity. As professionals respond to this evolving communication model, the practice of social marketing can remain vibrant as a relevant consumer-oriented approach to behavior change.
The Environmental Assessment Instrument: Harnessing the Environment for Programmatic Success
Authors: Lavinghouze S. René , Price Ann W. , Parsons Beverly
Published: April 2009

This article describes the Environmental Assessment Instrument (EAI), a tool designed to help public health professionals analyze and then engage the environment in which programs operate. The prevailing environment is an important force that must be considered in an integrated systems approach when implementing programs and policies. The Division of Oral Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the EAI to facilitate the ability of a state oral health program to understand their environment and the impact it has on the achievement of performance objectives. EAI results are plotted on a four-quadrant grid that depicts four types of change—stagnant, disruptive, continuous, and sporadic. General strategies are suggested based on these categories of change. By assessing environmental influences, program and policy planners can determine salient leverage points within their environment, identify strategies to address barriers to success, and build on supportive features in the environment.
Pap Smear Screening Among Asian Pacific Islander Women in a Multisite Community-Based Cancer Screening Program
Authors: Fernandez Maria E. , Lin Jennifer , Leong-Wu Cindy , Aday LuAnn
Published: April 2009

This study assessed screening completion rates (SCR) and sociodemographic factors associated with Pap test screening among previously nonadherent, foreign-born Asian Pacific Islander (API) women across four sites participating in a community-based cancer screening program called ENCOREplus. At intake, 926 out of 1,140 women were nonadherent to recommended Pap test screening guidelines. Most participants were age 51 and older, had a high school education or higher, had been in the U.S. less than a decade, had annual household incomes less than $10,000, and were uninsured. Women with limited resources were more likely to get a Pap test after participating in ENCOREplus. Women from the Glendale site were almost 18 times more likely to get a Pap test than API women in other sites. Over half of the women in Glendale reported that help getting low cost Pap tests and having translators available were instrumental in completing screening.
Convergent Ethnicity and the Neo-platoon Show
Authors: Brook Vincent
Published: April 2009

Corresponding to and partially driven by economic and technological convergence in the postnetwork era, American television programming in the past decade has produced a form of ethno-racial convergence in an array of prominent dramatic series such as Boston Public, Lost, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, and Ugly Betty. Featuring multiracial and multigendered casts, prime-time soap narrative structures, and, most significant, interracial romance, these popular shows are clearly responding to global economic forces, sociocultural changes, and media monitoring pressures. They also have antecedents in the platoon films of World War II and the platoon sitcoms of the 1970s, extending their forebears' capitalist realist tendencies to the point of capitalist surrealism. Offering personal and industrial solutions to the postmodern dissolution of identity and the breakdown in network hegemony, the “neo-platoon” shows present a multicultural and transnational universe in which not only everything is interconnected but also interconnectedness provides the key to salvation.
Effect of annealing on adhesion of TiB2 films deposited by pulsed magnetron sputtering
Authors: Arslan E. , Totik Y. , Celik A. , Efeoglu İ.
Published: April 2009

TiB2 films were deposited on silicon wafers and AISI M2 steel substrates by pulsed dc close field unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The samples were annealed in an inert argon atmosphere at 673, 873 and 1073 K for 1 h. The structural changes due to annealing were evaluated using X-ray diffractometry and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of the films were characterised by microhardness and scratch tests. The microstructure, microhardness and adhesive strength of the films varied depending on the annealing temperature. While it was observed that the hardness and adhesion strength of TiB2 films annealed at 673 K improved, these properties decreased for the films that were annealed at higher temperatures.
Study on morphology and corrosion resistance of electroless Ni–P coatings
Authors: Rahimi A. R. , Modarres H. , Abdouss M.
Published: April 2009

The nickel–phosphorus (Ni–P) coating was obtained by electroless plating. The effect of heat treatment and the type of stabiliser on hardness value, corrosion resistance and microstructure of Ni–P coatings were studied by scanning electron microscope, X-ray difractometer and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy method. The Ni–P electroless coating contains ∼9·18 wt-%P and 10·68 wt-%P according to the type of stabilising agent, thiourea and lead acetate respectively. The results showed that coatings obtained using lead acetate as stabiliser have higher corrosion resistance than ones that obtained from bath contained thiourea as stabiliser. The coatings deposited from an electroless bath have the increased hardness after heat treatment due to the transformation of amorphous phase Ni–P to crystalline phase Ni3P. Corrosion resistance of Ni–P coatings increased after heat treatment at 400°C.
Optimisation of novel bath for plasma electrolytic nitrocarburising of 316L stainless steel and study of tribological properties of treated steel surfaces
Authors: Mahzoon F. , Bahrololoom M. E. , Javadpour S.
Published: April 2009

A wear resistant nitrocarburised layer was formed on 316L austenitic stainless steel substrate by dc plasma electrolytic nitrocarburising process (PEN/C). A urea based solution was modified such that the temperature of the bath remained around 400°C under the negative bias voltage of 180 V. To get the best tribological properties, the process was performed in three baths containing 5%NH4Cl and 3, 2 and 1% sodium carbonate. The structural phases, microhardness and wear behaviour of the produced layers were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis, a microhardness tester and a wear testing machine. A compound oxide layer, consisting of Fe2O3, Fe3O4 and Fe(Cr2O4)2, was formed on the surface. The results showed that a sample treated in a bath containing 5%NH4Cl and 3%Na2CO3 exhibited an improvement of tribological behaviour compared to samples which have been PEN/C treated at higher voltages.