bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Emergence of Adaptive Searching Rules from the Dynamics of a Simple Nonlinear System
Authors: Nepomnyashchikh Valentin A. , Podgornyj Konstantin A.
Published: April 2004

Various organisms share certain basic rules for a searching behavior. We hypothesize that these rules may emerge from basic properties of nonlinear systems as a whole, rather then being evolved from a scratch gradually. In order to support this hypothesis, we have developed a virtual agent that consists of three simple nonlinear oscillators. These oscillators are driven by an internal noise, which results in phase transitions in their activity. External stimuli modify the activity via sensors and food consumption. The interaction among the activity of oscillators and external influences give rise to an emergence of searching rules that are similar to those shared by various organisms, thus favoring this hypothesis. The hypothesis can be verified further by investigating various types of nonlinear systems in different environments.
The Relationship between Family Dynamics and Career Interests among Chinese Americans and European Americans
Authors: Leong Frederick T. L. , Kao Erika Ming-Chu , Lee Szu-Hui
Published: April 2004

The purpose of this study was to explore the ethnic differences in family dynamics and career interests of European Americans and Chinese Americans and how these dynamics—cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict—influence one’s career interests. Significant ethnic differences in career interests were found. The Chinese Americans’ highest career interest was enterprising, whereas the highest for European Americans was social. Ethnic differences in family dynamics were also found, though opposite from hypothesized; Chinese Americans reported more family conflict, less cohesion, and less expressiveness than the European Americans. As acculturation level increased, the amount of reported cohesion increased, revealing significant effects of acculturation on family cohesion. Suggested salient role of family was evident. New implications for career assessment and career counseling of Asian Americans, particularly Chinese Americans, limitations of current study, and future research directions are discussed.
A Cross-National Comparison of Mexican and Mexican American Couples Using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory–Revised (Spanish)
Authors: Negy Charles , Snyder Douglas K. , Diáz-Loving Rolando
Published: April 2004

This study examined psychometric properties of the Spanish translation of the Marital Satisfaction Inventory–Revised (MSI-R) in a sample of 71 Spanish-speaking couples in Mexico. Results from this sample were compared to findings obtained from 65 Mexican American couples who completed the MSI-R in Spanish. Both the internal consistency and factor structure of the Spanish MSI-R with Mexican couples were found to be comparable to findings on the Spanish MSI-R for Mexican American couples. Moreover, multivariate analysis indicated no significant mean profile differences between these two groups as a function of nationality, gender, or nationality-by-gender interaction. These findings offer initial evidence toward establishing the appropriateness of the Spanish MSI-R for use with Spanish-dominant Mexican couples.
An MMPI-2 Scale to Detect Malingered Depression (Md Scale)
Authors: Steffan Jarrod S. , Clopton James R. , Morgan Robert D.
Published: April 2004

A specialized Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI–2) validity scale was constructed to detect individuals who are knowledgeable about either depression or MMPI-2 detection strategies and who subsequently attempt to malinger depressive symptoms on the MMPI-2. The Malingered Depression (Md) scale consists of 32 items that discriminated college students who feigned depression from those who were genuinely depressed. Further information about the incremental validity and the utility of the Md scale was obtained in a cross-validation study with additional college students who feigned depression and a sample of students with clinically significant depressive symptoms. The results indicate that the Md scale possesses promising value in detecting malingered symptoms of depression.
Criterion-Related Validity of the Three-Factor Model of Psychopathy
Authors: Hall Jason R. , Benning Stephen D. , Patrick Christopher J.
Published: April 2004

The Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) has been conceptualized as indexing two distinct but correlated factors. Previous research has established that these factors demonstrate distinct patterns of relations with external criteria. However, more recent findings suggest that the PCL-R psychopathy construct may encompass three distinguishable factors, reflecting affective, interpersonal, and behavioral symptoms. Here, we evaluated the validity of this newer three-factor model of the PCL-R factors with reference to external criteria from the domains of personality, antisocial behavior, and adaptive functioning in a sample of 310 incarcerated offenders. The interpersonal factor was related to social dominance, low stress reactivity, and higher adaptive functioning; the affective factor was correlated with low social closeness and violent offending; and the behavioral factor was associated with negative emotionality, disinhibition, reactive aggression, and poor adaptive functioning. These findings provide support for the convergent and discriminant validity of these psychopathy facets.
Misunderstanding Margin of Error
Authors: Larson Stephanie Greco
Published: April 2004

For years, scholars have documented the frequency to which the margin of error is provided in news reports of polls. What has not been systematically analyzed is whether the stories that report margin of error use this information correctly to interpret and present poll results. This study examines poll reporting on the network evening news during the 2000 presidential general election. Of the seventy-eight stories that reported findings from specific polls, forty-five (55 percent) included information about the sampling error. For the stories in which the accuracy of horse-race declarations could be assessed by the data used in the story, 47 percent were “inaccurate” because they misused the term statistical dead heat, claimed that one candidate was ahead when the results were within the margin of error (and not qualified as such), or said that the results were “outside of the margin of error” when they were not. These mistakes were most prevalent on NBC. Some of these inaccurate reports revealed a fundamental misunderstanding about what plus or minus means. As a result, changes in likely voters’ preferences were exaggerated during the general election campaign.
Current Chinese Protests and the Prism of Tiananmen
Authors: Wasserstrom Jeffrey N.
Published: April 2004

Ever since 1989, the protests of that year have been used as a yardstick against which new outbursts of unrest in China are measured by the press. This makes sense, but it can also lead to some misunderstandings, especially because an incomplete or distorted sense of what took place in the movement associated with the word Tiananmen comes into play, thanks to the way that struggle has been misremembered (e.g., as one in which only students took part when many who protested and many who suffered were from other social groups). Too often, audiences are left with the mistaken idea that the only important continuities in the recent history of Chinese protest have to do with the repressive measures used by the regime. Using the March 2002 demonstrations by workers in Northeast China as a starting point, this article argues that there are many links between the Tiananmen and post-Tiananmen periods relating to everything from the kinds of Chinese people who have taken to the streets to the sorts of issues that bring them there.
Note. Xylose Production from Durum Wheat Bran: Enzymic versus Chemical Methods
Authors: Sanjust E. , Salis A. , Rescigno A. , Curreli N. , Rinaldi A.
Published: April 2004

Both acidic and enzymic hydrolytic processes of durum wheat bran to obtain high xylose syrups are discussed in terms of yields and operative conditions. Mild sulphuric hydrolysis gave the best results (400mg of aldopentoses per gram of pre-extracted wheat bran within 4–6 h) whereas hydrochloric and especially phosphoric acids led to low yields. Preliminary work with a highly active recombinant xylanase (endoxylanase) led to deep solubilisation of arabinoxylans, mainly leading to oligosaccharides and their acyl (essentially feruloyl) derivatives. Mild sulphuric hydrolysis still seems to be the treatment of choice for xylose recovery from durum wheat bran.
Use of Response Surface Methodology to Optimize Gluten-Free Bread Fortified with Soy Flour and Dry Milk
Authors: Sanchez H. D. , Osella C. A. , de la Torre M. A.
Published: April 2004

The percentages of soy flour (X1) and dry milk (X2) were varied for the production of gluten-free bread to optimize batter softness (Y1), specific volume (Y2), crumb grain score (Y3), bread score (Y4) and bread protein content (Y5). A central composite design was used and second-order models for Y1 were employed to generate response surfaces. When bread protein content was decreased from 10 to 3%, specific volume increased from 3.2 to 4.6 cm3/g and bread score increased too. Nevertheless, the highest crumb grain score was obtained at 7.3% of bread protein content. The results demonstrated that a gluten-free bread can be prepared by adding 7.5% soy flour and 7.8% dry milk to a previously developed formulation, increasing its protein content from 1 to 7.3% and modifying in a small degree, its sensory quality.
Influence of Fructose and Sucrose on Small and Large Deformation Rheological Behaviour of Heated Amioca Starch Dispersions
Authors: Genovese D. B. , Acquarone V. M. , Youn K. -S. , Rao M. A.
Published: April 2004

Effect of sucrose or fructose on the rheological behaviour of gelatinized 5% w/w amioca starch dispersions (GSDs), was studied by small and large deformation rheological techniques. Storage (G0) and loss (G00) moduli as a function of angular frequency (o), and shear stress (s) as a function of shear rate (_) data were obtained on GSDs with: 0, 30 and 60% w/w sugars. Magnitudes of Herschel–Bulkley yield stress (0-HB) were determined from – _ data. Using the vane method, the static yield stress (0s), the dynamic yield stress (0d) and the shear modulus (G) were determined. Effect of pasting temperature and ageing time were also studied by the vane method. Addition of sugars produced an increase in all rheological parameters except 0d, suggesting that sugars increased the strength of the internal bonds or cohesiveness of the GSDs; in general, fructose was slightly more effective than sucrose. Equivalent parameters: G0 and G, and 0-HB and 0s showed good agreement. Decreasing the heating temperature increased G. GSDs with fructose showed a clear increase in 0s and G with ageing time.
Mining Quality Documentation Data for Golden Outcomes
Authors: Monsen Karen A. , Kerr Madeleine J.
Published: April 2004

Increased data reporting requirements, reimbursement changes, and automation capabilities provide new challenges for home health care and public health agencies today. These factors have become the impetus for computerization of practitioner documentation. Standardized documentation systems such as the Omaha System allow agencies to describe client needs, service delivery, and related client outcomes and to generate powerful data when used consistently and reliably in practice settings. This article offers practical suggestions for assuring data quality as well as simple, effective analysis and reporting strategies. Several figures depicting Omaha System documentation data from diverse programs are included as examples.
Making a Commitment to Clinical Data
Authors: Gorski Lisa A.
Published: April 2004

Over the span of 17 years, clinical data were used to develop, evaluate, and revise clinical programs and protocols. In this article, the use of quantitative clinical data in clinical practice is described. Practice areas addressed include infusion therapy, pain management, and pathways for the treatment of deep vein thrombosis and heart failure. Data have been used to monitor treatment complications and establish benchmarks, develop strategies and measure their impact in decreasing complications, measure patient outcomes and adherence to agency practice expectations, and assess staff educational needs.
Home Health Outcomes: A Systems Perspective
Authors: Dyeson Timothy B.
Published: April 2004

This article describes barriers to successful patient outcomes in home health care from a systems perspective and provides suggestions to remove these barriers. The barriers that are discussed include processes for collecting assessment data, referral procedures for patient access to medical social services, and changes in Medicare’s home health funding structure.
The Alternatives for Wellness Centers: Drown in Data or Develop a Reasonable Electronic Documentation System
Authors: Leonardo Maureen E. , Resick Lenore Kolljeski , Bingman Christine A. , Strotmeyer Stephen
Published: April 2004

Measuring and quantifying the outcomes of care are becoming essential activities for the ongoing operation of nurse-managed health centers. Centers need a data collection system to collect meaningful data that assist with the development of programs and services, measure clinical outcomes, and promote health policy. Accomplishing these objectives is especially difficult in a health and wellness setting designed for an aging population. When tracking the care process over time, it is possible to drown in the data, especially qualitative data. This article describes the experiences of advanced practice nurses as they explored alternatives and devised a system to collect and manage qualitative and quantitative data using the Omaha System in a health and wellness setting for older adults. To be successful, nurse managed health centers and all providers must systematically evaluate their data and information needs as well as available systems and then implement an action plan.
Exploring Contraceptive Pill Taking among Hispanic Women in the United States
Authors: Brown Joseph W. , Villarruel Antonia M. , Oakley Deborah , Eribes Carmen
Published: April 2004

Data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth have previously shown greater risk of inconsistent contraceptive pill use among Hispanicwomen. We used the same data to test a culturally based model of pill use among the subsample of Hispanicwomen. Hierarchical logit analyses revealed that primary use of Spanish, negative attitudes aboutwomen in theworkplace, two or more recent sex partners, and recent pill adoption were factors that increased the odds of inconsistent use. Living alone or with non-kin was associated with more consistent use, as were showing preference for a stay-at-home model of motherhood, frequent church attendance, and frequent sexual intercourse. Our findings suggest that the strong effects of behavioral variables (e.g., duration of pill use, number of sex partners) are mediated by cultural indicators (e.g., primary use of Spanish, attitudes about sex roles). The extent to which programs address important cultural dimensions of health behaviors could enhance effectiveness.
Behavior-Specific Social Support for Healthy Behaviors Among African American Church Members: Applying Optimal Matching Theory
Authors: Thrasher James F. , Campbell Marci Kramish , Oates Veronica
Published: April 2004

This study used data from 850 African Americans to test optimal matching theory (OMT). OMT predicts that 1) the most important dimensions of social support depend on the controllability of the behavior and 2) different network members often provide support across health behaviors. Data were gathered on social support source for physical activity, healthy diet, and colorectal cancer (CRC) screening; perceived levels of informational, instrumental, and emotional support specific to these behaviors; self-efficacy around the behaviors; and engagement in the behaviors. Within individuals, the primary support source varied considerably across the behaviors under consideration. Multivariate models regressing behaviors on dimension-specific support indicated partial support for OMT: Informational support was associated with a healthy diet and CRC screening; instrumental support was associated with a healthy diet and CRC screening; and emotional support was associated with CRC screening and, among women, physical activity. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of developing more effective interventions.
Program Provider and Observer Ratings of School-Based Preventive Intervention Implementation: Agreement and Relation to Youth Outcomes
Authors: Lillehoj Catherine J. (Goldberg) , Griffin Kenneth W. , Spoth Richard
Published: April 2004

Few prevention studies have examined the degree to which different measures of program implementation adherence predict youth outcomes. The current study was conducted with rural middle school youth participating in a longitudinal school-based preventive intervention program. Study participants’ average age at the pretest assessment was 12.3 years. The association between program implementation ratings supplied by provider self-reports and trained independent observer reports were evaluated. In addition, the relationship between measures of implementation and youth outcomes were examined. Results indicated that although program providers tended to report higher implementation than independent observers, most ratings were correlated significantly across raters. Observer-reported implementation ratings significantly predicted several youth substance-related outcomes, while provider-reported self-ratings did not.Program provider characteristics predicted several youth outcomes. Findings suggest that there might be a social desirability bias in provider self-reported ratings of implementation and that caution must be used when interpreting self-reported ratings of implementation.
Goal Setting is Differentially Related to Change in Fruit, Juice, and Vegetable Consumption Among Fourth-Grade Children
Authors: Cullen Karen Weber , Zakeri Issa , Pryor Erin W. , Baranowski Tom , Baranowski Janice , Watson Kathy
Published: April 2004

The impact of goal attainment in a dietary change program to increase fruit, 100% juice, and vegetable consumption was assessed among fourth-grade students. At each session, the students were given goals related to increasing fruit, juice, and vegetable consumption. Baseline consumption and postconsumption were assessed with up to 4 days of computerized dietary recalls. Analyses included regression models predicting postconsumption from the numbers of fruit-juice goals, vegetable goals, or total number of general goals attained, respectively. For students with low baseline fruit-juice preferences, attaining more fruit-juice goals resulted in increased post-fruit-juice consumption. Among those with low baseline vegetable consumption, attaining one vegetable goal was related to higher post-vegetable consumption. For boys and those with high baseline fruit, juice, and vegetable consumption, attaining three general goals was related to increased fruit, juice, and vegetable intake. The results show that goal attainment was somewhat effective in promoting dietary change among children.
Sparsity: Optimization Framework for Sparse Matrix Kernels
Authors: Im Eun-Jin , Yelick Katherine , Vuduc Richard
Published: April 2004

Sparse matrix–vector multiplication is an important computational kernel that performs poorly on most modern processors due to a low compute-to-memory ratio and irregular memory access patterns. Optimization is difficult because of the complexity of cache-based memory systems and because performance is highly dependent on the non-zero structure of the matrix. The SPARSITY system is designed to address these problems by allowing users to automatically build sparse matrix kernels that are tuned to their matrices and machines. SPARSITY combines traditional techniques such as loop transformations with data structure transformations and optimization heuristics that are specific to sparse matrices. It provides a novel framework for selecting optimization parameters, such as block size, using a combination of performance models and search.

In this paper we discuss the optimization of two operations: a sparse matrix times a dense vector and a sparse matrix times a set of dense vectors. Our experience indicates that register level optimizations are effective for matrices arising in certain scientific simulations, in particular finite-element problems. Cache level optimizations are important when the vector used in multiplication is larger than the cache size, especially for matrices in which the non-zero structure is random. For applications involving multiple vectors, reorganizing the computation to perform the entire set of multiplications as a single operation produces significant speedups. We describe the different optimizations and parameter selection techniques and evaluate them on several machines using over 40 matrices taken from a broad set of application domains. Our results demonstrate speedups of up to 4× for the single vector case and up to 10× for the multiple vector case.
The Varied Colors of Slave Heritage in West Africa
Authors: Teye Victor B. , Timothy Dallen J.
Published: April 2004

Although White Europeans have played notable roles in shaping the contemporary political and social economy of Africa, it is Africans in the diaspora who actively trace their heritage to Africa. As a result, African Americans in particular have become the primary market for Africa’s expanding heritage tourism sector. This article argues that several slave heritage sites in Africa embody the heritage of the African countries, various European countries, and Africans in the diaspora. The development of slave heritage tourism sites in Africa therefore involves the concept of contested heritage with emotional and painful undercurrents. The article examines the development of the slave heritage at Elmina Castle in Ghana by American and some international agencies and concludes that White American visitors to the site noted distinct sets of experiences that reflect deep emotional reactions to the past, present, and future. The study reflects some of the prospects and challenges facing the development of the proposed UNESCO Slave Route Project.
Migrants’ Accounts of Rio
Authors: Reynaud Ana Teresa Jardim
Published: April 2004

The article explores the richness of the association between space, culture, and memory. It starts by indicating the importance of migration in the formation of Brazil and moves on to explore the relation between memory and space by showing how memories can be inscribed in the visible spatiality of a city. It goes briefly back to Marcel Proust’s work in order to further suggest links between spatiality and remembrance. Finally Félix Guattari’s notion of affect is used to account for he impact that spatial experiences may have upon us. The two spaces—previous and present— eventually superimpose forming a complex arrangement that conveys the idea of displacement. Throughout the article, selected, in-depth interviews with Italian and French immigrants who live in Rio de Janeiro—and who relate memories brought about by the experience of space—provide a lively and consistent background to the arguments proposed.
Thoughts on Argentina
Authors: Grimblat Sebastian , Frajman Eduardo
Published: April 2004

The recent collapse of the Argentine economy, as argued by historian Ignacio Lewkowicz, precipitated the “overflow” of the state’s political institutions as well. Yet, the authors observe, Argentine social and political life continued to function despite the lack of meaningful controls from above. It appears that it was the force of norms and the fear of total anarchy that led Argentina’s “civil society” to carry the burden of law and order for a short time. Here, the authors suggest that an opportunity for radical change might have been lost.
All the World's a Stage
Authors: Hastrup Kirsten
Published: April 2004

In this article, Shakespeare’s theatre provides the point of departure for a discussion of social spaces in general. “The social” itself is a performed space, where notions of place, performance time, and coactors play a crucial role in the shaping of individual actions. Most important, it is argued that meaningful action is always partly based on a sense of the plot in which one participates, and thus in anticipation of what will happen next. This sense of plot is closely related to an illusion of a whole already in place but which becomes real only as individuals act on their perceptions of it. Individual agency is thus firmly based in the collectivity and in the imaginatively envisaged future.
Debates in Social Theory—Tensions in Sociocultural Theorizing
Authors: Campos Gilberto Pérez
Published: April 2004

Sawyer (2002) criticizes as untenable the two foundational assumptions that allegedly characterize ‘socioculturalism’ (process ontology and inseparability of individual and social levels of analysis). While sympathizing with his aim, this comment challenges his construal of both assumptions, as well as his claim of analytic dualism as an alternative to the ‘unresolved tensions’ in sociocultural theory. A call is made to further this debate.
Representing Infancy across the World: Does Osama Bin Laden Love His Children?
Authors: Tomlinson Mark , Swartz Leslie
Published: April 2004

Over 90% of infants born in the world live in lowincome countries, but most scholarly knowledge about infancy is produced in wealthy countries. We therefore need far more information on infancy throughout the world. There are logistical and cultural difficulties associated with gaining this information, but in this article we focus on the broader ideological context of knowledge production about infancy world-wide. Using a recently-published volume, A world of babies: Imagined Childcare Guides for Seven Societies(DeLoache & Gottlieb, 2000a) as an exemplar, we show that the representation of infancy as an ideology-free or even romanticized zone may do little to forward our understanding of infancy and culture. We suggest a more ideologically informed approach to the field.
Warrior Charisma and the Spiritualization of Violence
Authors: Turner Bryan
Published: April 2004

Norbert Elias (2001) produced one of the most influential theories on the history of violence in human societies in terms of ‘the civilizing process’. With the transformation of feudalism, the rise of bourgeois society and the development of the modern state, interpersonal violence was increasingly regulated by social norms that emphasized self-restraint and personal discipline. His theory was a moral pedagogics of the body in which the ‘passions’ are self-regulated through detailed social regimes. While his theory is influential, it has also been the subject of systematic criticism. I examine three obvious lacunae in Elias’ theory. First, his theory does not provide an adequate account of the role of religion in the civilizing process, particularly with respect to controlling human violence, and I examine Elias’ theory through a commentary on charisma and the sacred in human society, namely the role of sacred violence. Second, Elias had relatively little to say about the interaction between military technology and interpersonal norms. Modern technology has made it possible, both in peace and war, for the state and modern military institutions to gain control of forms of mass violence that were unimaginable in less civilized societies. We could accept Elias’ proposition about constraint in terms of interpersonal violence, but argue that modern technology has obviously enhanced the capacity of the means of violence in society. This ‘de-personalization’ of violence is consistent with aspects of Elias’ civilization theory. However, the theme of technology was completely understated. Third, apart from Elias’ interest in art and society as a consequence of his teaching appointment in Ghana (1962–4), his theory was primarily concerned to explain aspects of social change in European society. An exploration of the evolution of military violence and charisma among American Plains Indians, especially the Cheyenne, is intended as an elaboration of the debate around Elias’ ‘figurational sociology’.

Through an examination of the training of warriors in nomadic Plains culture, their mode of warfare is defined as a form of spiritual violence, because warfare was bound up with religious norms of conduct and their military interaction was highly ritualized. These spiritual technologies are an important illustration of military technologies of self-creation. My account concludes with an examination of the nature of modern conflict between professional armies within an international human rights framework. The democratization of warfare results in the routinization of military charisma and the charismatic hero survives primarily in popular culture as a celebrity.
The Anthropology of Adolescent Risk-Taking Behaviours
Authors: Le Breton David
Published: April 2004

Risk-taking behaviours often reflect ambivalent ways of calling for the help of one’s close friends and family – those who count. It is an ultimate means of finding meaning and a system of values; and it is a sign of the adolescent’s active resistance and his attempts to find his place in the world again. It contrasts with the far more insidious risk of depression and the radical collapse of meaning. In spite of the suffering it engenders, risk-taking nevertheless has a positive side, fostering independence in adolescents and a search for reference points, it leads to a better self-image and is a means of developing one’s identity. It is nonetheless painful in terms of its possible repercussions: injuries, death or addiction. But let us not forget that the suffering is upstream, perpetuated by a complex relation between a society, a family structure and a life history. Paradoxically, for some young people who are suffering, the risk is rather that they will remain immured in their world-weariness, with a potentially radical outcome (i.e. suicide). The turbulence caused by risk-taking behaviours illustrates a determination to be rid of one’s suffering and to fight on so that life can, at last, be lived.
Discourses of Culture and Illness in South African Mental Health Care and Indigenous Healing, Part II: African Mentality
Authors: Yen Jeffery , Wilbraham Lindy
Published: April 2004

This discourse analytic study explores constructions of culture and illness in the talk of psychiatrists, psychologists and indigenous healers as they discuss possibilities for collaboration in South African mental health care. Disjunctive versions of what ‘culture’ is in relation to the illness of a person form an important site for the negotiation of power relations between mental health practitioners and indigenous healers. The results of this study are presented in two parts. Part I explores how a professionalist discourse structured western psychiatric and psychological practice as rational, pragmatic and effective. ‘Cultural differences’ were variously deployed to support and subvert western psychiatric power. Part II explores the various constructions of ‘African culture’ – as ‘collectivist’ and ‘pathogenic’ – and the ‘African mind’ – as ‘primitive’ and ‘irrational’ – and how these formulations work to disqualify egalitarian positioning for indigenous healers within formal mental health care settings in South Africa.
Trials and Triumphs, Stories and Solutions: Using Systemic Therapy Techniques to Facilitate Paediatric and Community Nurses’ Groups
Authors: Griffin Angela , Christie Deborah
Published: April 2004

Staff groups for nurses are seen as useful for stress reduction and team building, with a widely-held belief that they should be made available and used by staff. However, while usually requested by service managers, staff have varying views regarding their need and varying levels of comfort with participation. This article considers the challenges that are faced in setting up staff support groups for two different groups of nurses. The first group, for paediatric nurses working on an adolescent medical in-patient unit, is now a settled and established entity. The second group, for a community paediatric nursing team, continues to evolve in response to changing needs. Ways to adapt the group model to increase attendance rates and ensure the groups are helpful are presented. This article is intended as a resource for professionals who are already running groups or are considering establishing one.
Inconspicuous Consumption
Authors: Sullivan Oriel , Gershuny Jonathan
Published: April 2004

Addressing the relationship between consumption behaviour, leisure time and the market, we seek a solution to the problem of the maintenance of consumption expenditure in economies where leisure time is shortest for those who have the most to spend, a contradiction particularly characteristic of societies belonging to the politico-economic regime type identified as ‘liberal market’. In contrast to ideas of conspicuous consumption based on display, we present a concept of ‘inconspicuous consumption’ relating to an imagined future use of purchases already made. Expensive leisure goods that symbolize a wished-for self-identity or lifestyle are purchased by high-income earners with little leisure time. From the point of view of the production sector, the purpose is achieved and a sale is made. However, the purchased goods remain ‘in storage’at home as symbols of a potential but unrealized and, in the meantime, unrealizable future. We illustrate different modalities of the practices of inconspicuous consumption and distinguish it from other consumption practices.
The anatomy of a photojournalistic icon: marginalization of dissent in the selection and framing of ‘a death in Genoa’
Authors: Perlmutter David D. , Wagner Gretchen L.
Published: April 2004

This study examines the case of a recent news ‘icon’, a celebrated product of photojournalism, Dylan Martinez’s so-called ‘death in Genoa’. The picture shows a scene moments before the death by police gunfire of a protester during the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Genoa in July 2001. The image was chosen by news and political elites as a metonym for the antiglobalization movement. Fitting into the typical characteristics and assumptions of the news icon, it served less to show what happened than to direct public gaze and interpretations to framed ‘meanings’ that, in this instance, marginalized a strike against authority by establishing ‘protestor violence’ as the news lead. The study highlights news photography’s interpretive role of historical events and their context and complexity.
Reciprocity and the Social Contract
Authors: Binmore Ken
Published: April 2004

This article is extracted from a forthcoming book, ‘Natural Justice’. It is a nontechnical introduction to the part of game theory immediately relevant to social contract theory. The latter part of the article reviews how concepts such as trust, responsibility, and authority can be seen as emergent phenomena in models that take formal account only of equilibria in indefinitely repeated games.
Using Multi-Sensory Environments (MSEs) with People with Dementia
Authors: Hope Kevin W. , Waterman Heather A.
Published: April 2004

Utilizing action research, the clinical application of a Multi-Sensory Environment (MSE) in the field of old age psychiatry was explored and developed over a four-year time span. This article reports on factors identified as mediating against its use as reported by clinical staff. Conceptual and theoretical considerations considered of utility beyond the study’s context are presented. Expectancy of outcomes, the predilection of individual members of staff to engage in this form of therapy and the influence of an organization’s orientation towards such therapy are highlighted as specific areas for attention.
The Future of Planning at the ‘ End of History ’
Authors: Goonewardena Kanishka
Published: April 2004

The hegemony of neoliberalism now poses a fundamental challenge to planners worldwide. Most influential in this regard has been Francis Fukuyama’s End of History ideology and its progenies – or mutations – such as the Third Way. A close reading of their proponents (especially Anthony Giddens) and critics (Perry Anderson, Pierre Bourdieu, Alex Callinicos, John Gray and others) with reference to the contrasting political-economic theories of Friedrich von Hayek and Karl Polanyi, however, reveals the fundamental contradictions of neoliberalism – especially between capitalism and democracy – and identifies for progressive planning the role of extending radical democracy to the realms of the state and the economy.
Knowing and Steering: Mediatization, Planning and Democracy in Victoria, Australia
Authors: March Alan , Low Nicholas
Published: April 2004

Habermas suggests that democracy means that a society is able to know itself and steer itself. This article builds on Habermas’ conception that mediatization is a central impediment to the realization of democracy, while recognizing the locally particular resolution of democratic dilemmas represented by any planning system. Using Victoria, Australia as an example, the article seeks to demonstrate that Habermas’ project offers a means of critiquing existing planning systems. Rather than communicative planning remaining an unattainable ideal, the possibility is explored of Habermasian critique offering practical directions for enhancing the democracy of existing planning systems.
Planning Human Resource Development and Continuing Professional Education Programs That Use Educational Technologies: Voices That Must be Heard
Authors: Umble Karl E. , Dooley Larry M.
Published: April 2004

The problem and the solution. Many human resource development and continuing professional education programs that use technology lack quality and are not fully implemented because development and delivery processes do not work well thereby alienating learners and/or faculty. Many others are implemented but not sustained, often because the program design is fundamentally unsustainable. One general way of describing the problem is to say that when planners design the program, processes, and business model, they often do not take into account the interests of all internal and external stakeholders. This article focuses on how planning models that foreground learning but neglect faculty, staff, and organizational interests undermine learning, because they undercut implementation and sustainability. Planning models that foreground and balance stakeholder interests support learning because they support implementation and sustainability.
Comparing CPE and HRD Programs: Definitions, Theoretical Foundations, Outcomes, and Measures of Quality
Authors: Sleezer Catherine M. , Conti Gary J. , Nolan Robert E.
Published: April 2004

The problem and the solution.The fields of continuing professional education and human resource development each provide instruction that enables individuals to improve their work performance. However, the fields have different definitions, stakeholder outcomes, and measures of quality, so selecting one type of program rather than the other can greatly influence the instructional experience. This article focuses on how professionals in both fields can improve their practice by better understanding the fields’ definitions, theoretical foundations, outcomes, and measures of quality.
Social Learning (Cognitive) Theory and Implications for Human Resource Development
Authors: Gibson Sharon K.
Published: April 2004

The problem and the solution. The complexity of the domains of human resource development (HRD) requires knowledge of learning theories that can inform the development of HRD theory building, research, and practice. Social learning (cognitive) theory (SLT/SCT) identifies learning as a dynamic interplay between the person, the environment, and behavior. This article explores the elements of SLT/SCT that are most relevant to HRD and identifies theory-building, research, and practice arenas in HRD that have incorporated one or more SLT/SCT propositions. Implications for future HRD theory, research, and practice are proposed. SLT/SCT is shown to have high potential use for HRD due to the comprehensive nature of this theory for explaining learning and behavior.
Transformational Learning Theory and Implications for Human Resource Development
Authors: Brooks Ann K.
Published: April 2004

The problem and the solution. Unprecedented problems, which appear to resist solution by traditional and modern methods, demand new approaches. The field of human resource development (HRD) has primarily concerned itself with learning and change that contribute to but do not challenge the status quo within organizations. During the 1970s, theorists in various fields began to develop a new genre of learning and change theory, which, rather than advocating adaptive change within existing systems, focused on changing basic elements of the systems themselves. Transformative learning theory in adult education provides a significant contribution to this endeavor.
Thinking about Competitive Balance
Authors: Sanderson Allen R. , Siegfried John J.
Published: April 2004

Simon Rottenberg long ago noted that the nature of sports is such that competitors must be of approximately equal ability if any are to be financially successful. In recent years, sports commentators and fans, Major League Baseball itself, and even some economists have expressed growing concern about the widening disparities between team expenditures and the growing concentrations of postseason contenders and championships. In this article, the authors compare different concepts of competitive balance, review the theoretical and empirical scholarship on competitive balance and the relationship between payrolls and performance, describe the natural forces and institutional rules and regulations that contribute to observed distributions of playing performances, and evaluate the likely effect of several popular proposals—payroll and salary caps, luxury taxes, and increased revenue sharing—on competitive balance. Although the focus is on baseball, frequent comparisons are made to other sports leagues including collegiate athletics and individual sports.
Professional Team Sports Are Only a Game
Authors: Szymanski Stefan
Published: April 2004

This article explores the standard 2-team model of talent choice in a professional sports league and argues that the application of Nash concepts leads to a different equilibrium than that which is normally identified. In particular, it is shown that the invariance principle for gate-revenue sharing no longer holds. Because the standard model, which is here called the Walrasian fixed-supply conjecture model, is widely taught in sports management and economics programs, these finding have important implications for teachers as well as researchers.
Reflections on the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership
Authors: Disch Joanne
Published: April 2004

The writer, as the current director of the Katharine J. Densford International Center for Nursing Leadership, reflects on the work and history of the Center and the accomplishments of its founder, Katharine J. Densford. The Center today is a think-tank and action center that fosters nursing leadership through the opeationalization of four key values: leadership, collaboration, creativity, and diversity.
Setting Future Directions at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
Authors: Grady Patricia A.
Published: April 2004

As a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) is accountable to Congress and to the American public for how it spends its budget. The process of making decisions and setting future directions at NINR must remain open and transparent. All institutes within NIH follow rigorous criteria for selecting research projects to fund and initiatives to pursue. Consistent with the new NIH Roadmap, NINR conducted a series of planning meetings to draw up a set of future research themes. In addition, NINR participates in several other regular, ongoing forums to answer questions and receive input from health care experts and the public. The results of nursing research are having a growing effect on the health of the nation, and NINR must continue to work toward meeting the needs of nurses in providing evidence-based care.
Textile-Based Electronic Substrate Technology
Authors: Gimpel Sabine , Mohring Uwe , Muller Hardy , Neudeck Andreas , Scheibner Wolfgang
Published: April 2004

The present paper presents a proceeding to prepare partially conductive textile structures as basic substrates to integrate sensors and microelectronic devices into textiles. The proceeding is based on two steps. The first is to create a textile prestructure by conventional textile technologies, such as Jacquard weaving, embroidery etc. using silver-coated polyamide threads. The second is a galvanic and/or electrochemical treatment of the textile prestructure. It will be shown that galvanic and electrochemical treatment of such structures permit a change in the conductivity of two to three orders of magnitude, modification of the surface as it is needed to get sensor properties, and insulation or encapsulation of the conducting structure.
Coatings on Alkali-Resistant Glass Fibres for the Improvement of Concrete
Authors: Mader Edith , Plonka Rosemarie , Schiekel Michael , Hempel Rainer
Published: April 2004

In general, a sizing is shown to significantly affect both the population and size of flaws on the fibre surface by healing effects. Different alkali-resistant glass (ARG) fibres are coated with special polymer dispersions to provide superior alkali resistance and compared with HTA carbon fibres. Durability testing in highly concentrated NaOH-solutions at ambient and elevated temperatures revealed significant reduction of sizing content of the ‘‘as received’’ ARG fibres after short-term testing. Improved durability of the ARG fibres identified by increased sizing retention is achieved by additional coatings. Styrene–butadiene dispersions proved to be most resistant of those tested. The assessment of changes in the fibre surface chemical properties assisted by nanomechanical investigation is essential for understanding the fibre bulk mechanical fracture behaviour. Sizings and coatings on glass and carbon fibres, respectively, and especially on polymer films, were found to significantly influence both tensile strength of alkali-resistant filament yarns and adhesion strength of coated fibres with cementitious matrices investigated by single fibre pull-out. It would be very advantageous if one could predict higher composites strength of fibrereinforced cement by increasing the tensile strength of the reinforcement fibres. A series of coated yarns showed different mechanical behaviour as a separate phase compared with tensile test results, when a few multifilament bundles were only partly impregnated by the cementitious matrix. The chemistry of the glass fibre sizings and their conditions of interaction (dry or wet state) gives rise to a variation of adhesion strength and modified interphases. Finally, the chemistry of the interaction between both sizing and coating with the cementitious matrix, the concentration of the coating, and the mechanical properties of the coatings were found to significantly influence the strength and failure behaviour with a cementitious matrix. A roving pull-out test allows a rough estimation of the failure behaviour for differently sized and coated reinforcement yarns and their interaction with cementitious matrices.