bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Critique of Social Capital
Authors: Navarro Vicente
Published: May 2005

This article critiques the concepts of communitarianism and social capital as used in the United States and in Europe. For the United States, the author focuses on Robert Putnam's understanding of both concepts, showing that the apolitical analysis of the Progressive Era, of the progressive developments in Northern Italy, and of the situation of labor unions in the United States is not only insufficient but wrong. The critique also includes the difference between U.S. communitarianism and its European versions, Christian democracy and New Labour, and the limitations of both approaches. The uses and misuses of these concepts in the political debate are discussed.
The Stubbs Earthwork: Serpent Effigy or Simple Embankment
Authors: White John Robert
Published: May 2005

The once monumental Stubbs earthwork in southwestern Ohio was destroyed by sand and gravel mining operations in the early 1970s. Before its demise, the Stubbs earthwork, or effigy, as it was more commonly called, was the subject of more than a century of often acrimonious debate concerning its original configuration. No one disagreed that the embankment was of prehistoric creation, but there was a sharp division between those arguing that it was a serpent effigy and those claiming it to be a simpler and non-representational earthwork. The various viewpoints are herein presented and examined and heretofore unpublished fieldnotes on the site's original excavation by young archaeologist, Harlan Smith, brought to light.
Old People Talk about Death
Authors: Saul Sidney R. , Saul Shura
Published: May 2005

This is a verbatim taping of a group psychotherapy session for eight elderly female residents aged 75 to 88 of a proprietary Nursing Home (Kingsbirdge Heights) in the Bronx, New York City. Death in this setting is a constant life companion. Depression related to the suppression of the feeling of anger and fear of death is a well-known phenomenon. The reader is allowed to interpret and develop his own ideas, as the paper is presented without comment on theory or technique.
Attitudes Toward Aging and Death Anxiety: Aging and Death Class
Authors: Davis-Berman Jennifer
Published: May 2005

Attitudes toward aging and fear of death were examined and compared before and after completion of a course on aging or a course on death and dying. Dramatic decreases in fear of death were observed in both classes at post-test. Despite the reduction in fear, the death class maintained negative attitudes toward aging. The aging class, however, managed to maintain positive attitudes toward older adults, while at the same time reducing death anxiety. Contradictions with the existing literature are discussed, and implications are presented for course development and implementation.
Putting the Student in the Driver's Seat: A Learner Centered, Self-Paced, Computer Managed, Introductory Psychology Course
Authors: Hornby Peter A. , Anderson Margaret D.
Published: May 2005

This article describes a new introductory psychology course that is offered at SUNY Plattsburgh using the POISE Curriculum Information System. This course uses a traditional textbook and covers the same material as most introductory psychology courses; however, it uses a self-paced, mastery approach to learning, and is managed and delivered over the Plattsburgh computer network. Lectures have been replaced with open laboratory hours where students may come for assistance or to complete computer based activities. These activities include computerized, “self-assessments,” which students take to evaluate their own learning. When prepared, students take supervised, on-line exams. Because the lab is linked to the campus network, students may take their self-assessments from various locations on or off campus, day or night. Students also complete other learning activities in addition to mastering the material in the textbook. These include computerized tutorials and computer demonstrations, videos, journal articles, and public lectures. Students choose from among these activities and may, within reason, proceed through the course at their own pace. Students also use the campus e-mail system to communicate with their teaching assistants and with the instructor. The course is being offered for the third semester in the fall of 1995.
Notes on a Contextual Approach to Medical Ward Consultation: The Importance of Social System Mythology
Authors: Karasu Toksoz B. , Hertzman Marc
Published: May 2005

The psychiatric consultant requires a broad understanding of the context of consultation to supplement his knowledge of psychodynamics. The authors propose viewing the medical ward in the model of a “quasi-open community,” in which a culture is transmitted from one generation of personnel to the next through a ward mythology-which embodies ideals, for example, for the roles of Nurse and Doctor. Requests for psychiatric consultation often result from the partial breakdown in this mythology; the consultant's immediate task is to reconstruct group ideals and facilitate community re-unification in order to promote the recovery of patients. Later on, when the staff has had a chance to distance itself from the threat to its solidarity, the consultant can help the ward community understand both the adaptive and non-adaptive aspects of its own mythology. Case examples illustrate how respecting the quasi-open character of the medical ward and giving credence to its mythology can promote the reconstitution of ward communities in disarray and aid individual patients as well.
Quality of Life following Treatment: A Preliminary Study of In- and Outpatients with Chronic Pain
Authors: Tait Raymond C. , Duckro Paul N. , Margolis Ronald B. , Wiener Richard
Published: May 2005

Using a combination of standardized and Likert-type measures of health, disability, and psychological adjustment, this study compared the quality of life reported by thirty-seven inpatients and thirty-six outpatients approximately eight months after completing treatment. While both patient groups reported treatment-related changes, inpatients were significantly more dysfunctional than outpatients both before and after treatment. The pattern of perceived improvement among inpatients reflected particular changes in narcotic use and in “up” time. For outpatients, the pattern of change pointed to increased periods of activity. The data are interpreted to reflect the need for treatments that are tailored to meet the differing levels of dysfunction of patients who present with chronic pain syndromes. Methodological problems of this and other clinical studies that compare treatment effects on patients demonstrating different levels of dysfunction are discussed.
A Systems Model of Communication Processes
Authors: Bruckmann C. G.
Published: May 2005

In the teaching of communication studies to engineering and commerce students, the time available for teaching communication principles and models did not allow for a detailed study of the various models currently in use.

A systems model based on a consistent and limited terminology was developed. This model consists essentially of three subsystems; the human system, the message transfer system, and intermediate receiver-storage-transmitter systems.

With the use of this system approach, it is possible to construct models of any human communication system and to use these models to analyze and compare the strengths and weaknesses of the different systems.
Computerized Systems of Career Information and Guidance: A State-of-the-Art
Authors: Jacobson Marilyn D. , Grabowski Barbara T.
Published: May 2005

The need for timely, accurate, and locally relevant career information has been escalating. Within the last fifteen years, computer-based systems have been developed which put occupational descriptions, labor market information, plus education, training and financial aid information into formats usable by students and adults in school and non-school settings. The proliferation of systems marketed competitively, the increasing depth and breadth of information available, plus the sophistication of the guidance aspects of systems has produced a consumer's dream, but also a major dilemma. Selection of a system for a statewide or substate unit which corresponds to the particular needs of the targeted constituency requires thorough knowledge of the prospective users' characteristics, material, and human resources available, hardware capacities, software content and hardware/software compatibility. This paper provides a context for understanding the properties of computer-based systems, their theoretical approaches and the dimensions to the problems of selection.
The Ramah Navajo Child-to-Child Program
Authors: Lamarine Roland J.
Published: May 2005

The international CHILD-to-child program, conceptualized by Dr. David Morley of the University of London, is based on the concept that children in developing nations act as caregivers, teachers, and health workers in their families and communities. The critical component in the program is the ability and willingness of children to become actively involved as care givers. CHILD-to-child is an action-oriented approach that draws upon a vast reservoir of similar programs that have been successful in over forty developing countries of the Third World. Similarities between the Ramah Navajo Community in New Mexico and many Third World nations served as a stimulus in the initiation and development of this project. The Ramah Navajo CHILD-to-child Health Education Project involved the development of a school health education curriculum that supported Native American children in a community-based effort to improve the quality of health care and the standard of living for their families. With funding from the U.S. Department of Education as a national demonstration project, a needs assessment was conducted and a seven-unit curriculum was developed.
Physical Illness and Psychopathology
Authors: Lipowski Z. J.
Published: May 2005

The writer discusses the relationship between physical illness and psychiatric disorders. He points out the relativity of the “psychosomatic” and “somatopsychic” concepts and the dynamic interaction between biological, psychological and social factors in initiating, predisposing to and influencing the course and outcome of all organic diseases. Psychiatric disorders causally related to physical illness include organic brain syndromes, reactive psychoses, neuroses and personality disorders, and deviant illness behavior. Some of the pathogenic mechanisms are discussed and the clinical importance of this area of psychosomatic medicine is stressed.
A Systems Approach to the Design of Information Systems
Authors: Liston David M. , Mercker Mary L.
Published: May 2005

Systems design consists of a tremendously complex series of choices in which no decision point is completely independent of other decisions which have already been made or have yet to be made. A systems approach to the design of document-handling information systems would require a detailed examination of the choices to be made in the design process and the ramifications of possible choices in terms of the capabilities, performance, cost, and other characteristics of the system. The authors advocate a systematic procedure involving six steps: 1) identification of fixed parameters, 2) identification of variable parameters, 3) identification of available options for each variable parameter, 4) identification of factors affecting a choice among available options, 5) identification of factors affected by a choice among available options, and 6) logical analysis of the picture thus presented to determine the optimum sequence in which decisions should be made during the design process and the nature of the decision process itself.
The Child Consultation Rating Scale
Authors: Krener Penelope , Simmons Mary Kay
Published: May 2005

A consultation psychopathology rating scale is described for use in assessing psychopathology in pediatric patients and their families in a tertiary care general teaching hospital setting with high acuity and rapid patient turnover. The scale is composed of twelve consultation variables, thirty patient variables, and fourteen parent variables. It includes a global rating and a DSM-III-R diagnosis for both parent and child. Pilot findings using the scale are described for sixty pediatric patients and thirty controls. Interrater reliability using Kendall nonparametric correlations between raters was obtained for each variable and achieves significance ranges from p < .05 to p < .001. Applications to training pediatric and psychiatry residents in the systemic observation of child psychopathology are discussed.
Correlates of Sexually Transmitted Infections among Street-Based Female Adolescent Sex Workers in Puerto Rico: Implications for Community Health
Authors: Burgos Margarita , Reininger Belinda , Richter Donna L. , Coker Ann L. , Alegría Margarita , Vera Mildred , Saunders Ruth
Published: May 2005

The health needs of adolescent sex workers are many, yet this population is rarely included in health assessments resulting in scarce information available about their issues. This study examined the sociodemographic and health-risk behavior factors of street-based adolescent sex workers and the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in this population. Experienced outreach workers were responsible for recruiting participants and obtaining informed consent. Personal interviews with street-based female adolescent sex workers were conducted to collect sociodemographic, and health-risk behavior information. Counseling sessions regarding STI prevention were provided. Medical personnel were responsible for the collection of blood and cultures for STI tests. Results indicate that these youth are more likely to have STI if they are using drugs or are depressed. These findings suggest the need to effectively link preventive measures for substance abuse and depression to the treatment of STI. Other implications for reaching adolescent sex workers are discussed.
Death Anxiety, Locus of Control and Life Satisfaction in the Elderly: Toward a Definition of Ego-Integrity
Authors: Nehrke Milton F. , Bellucci Georgette , Gabriel Sally Jo
Published: May 2005

In order to test Erikson's statements regarding ego integrity vs. despair, twenty men and twenty women from each of three residential settings (general community, public housing and nursing homes) were given life satisfaction, locus of control and death anxiety scales. Erikson's hypothesis of internal control, high life satisfaction and low death anxiety was supported only by the public housing data. The remaining data supported a conflicting hypothesis based on the work of Monosoff and Sterns. Although it appears that age segregated group living does desensitize the elderly to death anxiety it was necessary to propose the functioning of other variables, i.e., health status and “independence,” in order to integrate these findings. It was also noted that there were no sex differences in death anxiety, that years of schooling was not related to death anxiety, and that age was negatively related to death anxiety for the total sample.
Attitudes about Impairment and Depression in Elders Suffering from Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: Turvey Carolyn L. , Klein Dawn M. , Pies Carla J. , Arndt Stephan
Published: May 2005

Objectives:

This study examines the relationship between functional impairment and depression in patients with heart failure using a new measure of Attitudes about Impairment.

Methods:

Sixty-nine patients with chronic heart failure completed diagnostic interviews and questionnaires about mood, comorbid illness, functional impairment, and social support. Study design was case-control with cases selected because they met criteria for DSM-IV major or minor depression ( n = 23). Controls reported no or very few depressive symptoms ( n = 46). A preliminary study of the psychometric properties of a new 15-item measure of Attitudes about Impairment was conducted.

Results:

The Attitudes about Impairment measure had a Cronbach's alpha = 0.81. A factor analysis revealed content domains of negative attitudes about dependency, lack of recreational activities, and concerns about being a burden both currently and in the future. This measure correlated highly with the Geriatric Depression Scale ( r = 0.61) and remained high even after controlling for medical burden and social support. Patients were diagnosed with either major, minor or no depression using a DSM-IV based structured interview. Depressed patients had significantly more negative attitudes about impairment and the association between depression and physical impairment was no longer significant after controlling for scores on the Attitudes about Impairment measure.

Discussion:

Negative attitudes about loss of autonomy, concerns about being a burden and having few recreational activities are strongly associated with depression in patients with heart failure. These attitudes account, in part, for the association between impairment and depression in these patients. The Attitudes about Impairment measure has adequate internal consistency and both convergent and discriminant validity with related measures of social support, functional disability and depression.
New Oslerians and Real Flexnerians: The Response to Threatened Professional Autonomy
Authors: Vinten-Johansen Peter , Riska Elianne
Published: May 2005

As federal governmental involvement in U.S. health care had become a fact in the mid-1960s, a significant number of contributors to The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) had recommended educational reforms to save an autonomous profession. In the late 1970s, demands for additional professional reforms began to appear in JAMA and The Journal of Medical Education (JME), particularly from contributors who perceived threats to professional autonomy from corporate medicine. The New Oslerian reform agenda is an application of the “humanizing” movement to the clinical phase of medical education. In its most restricted formulation (the inherent ethic argument), proponents simply urged clinicians to permit every student's inborn sense of moral duty to blossom on the wards. Others argued that Sir William Osier's legacy was more complex and involved systematic instruction, especially in ethics, at the bedside (the service ethic argument). Real Flexnerian reforms were based on an assumption that unintended distortions in Abraham Flexner's reform measures had eventuated in stultifying and counterproductive teaching of the biomedical model. Consequently, medical education should be altered to train future physicians in what Flexner had really intended—the capacity to think and problem-solve in a scientific manner. In time, many reformers emphasized the complementarity of Real Flexnerian and New Oslerian curricular proposals. The most comprehensive proposal to date, GPEP (General Professional Education of the Physician), makes a strong case that implementation of these old, turn-of-the-century reform proposals would make physicians in the 21st century well-rounded and competent. But GPEP's proposed changes in medical education are inadequate because the recommendations do little to prepare future physicians to contend with the corporate context in which most of them will be practicing.
Experience and Innovation: Reflections on Emerging Practice with New Media in Education
Authors: McClintock Robert
Published: May 2005

In 1986, the Trustees of Teachers College established the Institute for Learning Technologies (ILT) with the mission of using digital technologies as means to effect humane reform in education. During ILT's first years, we developed initial ideas about the potential for networked multimedia as transformative forces in educational practice. At the time, these ideas struck most funders as too visionary and impracticable. We struggled to find implementation opportunities, prototyping some possibilities on a small scale internally and on a larger scale at the Dalton School. By 1990 we were ready to test the power of networked multimedia as an agent of change in education in the arena of institutional practice. Over the past ten years, these explorations have been ILT's primary activity.
Detecting the Hypersusceptible Worker: Genetics and Politics in Industrial Medicine
Authors: Green Jeremy
Published: May 2005

This paper examines the development of the concept of the hypersusceptible worker, as advanced by H. E. Stokinger and his associates. It is argued that this concept enabled industrial toxicologists to organize knowledge about workers' reactions to toxicity so as to sustain a professional and methodological ideology which reflects the relationship between industrial toxicology and capitalist industry. Moreover, it is argued that it is this aspect of hypersusceptibility, rather than its practical utility to specific corporations, that is most important. Constraints on implementation of screening programs based on the ideas of genetic hypersusceptibility are also discussed.
English for Communicative Competence: Helping Scientists and Engineers from Overseas
Authors: Collet Richard
Published: May 2005

Traditional courses and course-books for teaching English as a foreign language are often too general and grammar-orientated for students of technology from overseas. The students are well motivated for learning how to communicate effectively within their technical contexts. To harness their enthusiasm, courses on communication skills need to emphasize functions as well as forms of language.
Project UMAP: Its Impact on Mathematics Education
Authors: Finney Ross L. , De May Felicia M.
Published: May 2005

The Undergraduate Mathematics Applications Project (UMAP) is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation to Education Development Center, Inc. The Project is responsible for the development of mathematics applications materials (modules and monographs) for undergraduate students. The materials are written, reviewed, and field-tested by individuals throughout the country, and are edited and produced by the UMAP staff, in conjunction with its Subject Matter Panels and Monograph Editorial Board. The Project, in cooperation with the Mathematical Association of America and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, produces The UMAP Journal—a journal devoted to undergraduate mathematics and its applications and published by Birkhäuser Boston, Inc. UMAP's ultimate goal is to organize the developers and users of UMAP materials into an independent, multidisciplinary Consortium to continue the activities of the Project after the initial funding period.
The Effects of Age, Object, and Cultural/Religious Background on Children's Concepts of Death
Authors: Gibbs Sandra E. Candy , Sharp Kay Colby , Petrun Craig J.
Published: May 2005

Concepts of death were examined in 114 children who comprised three age groups (5, 6–7, 8–9) and two cultural/religious backgrounds (northern Unitarian and southern Baptist). Children's understanding of death was examined for five animate objects (bear, baby, child's mother, experimentor, and the child her/himself) and four inanimate objects (airplane, rock, stuffed bear, and a car). The first step in analysis focused on children's understanding of three general death related concepts: irreversibility, universality, and inevitability. Significant cultural/religious background differences were found for all three concepts, while the effect of age was apparent only in the latter two concepts. The second step in analysis assessed the effect of age. object and background on children's understanding of the causation of death. Understanding of causation was shown to be significantly influenced by all three variables.
Food as a Human Right: The Case against Banana Plantations in the Philippines
Authors: David Randolf S.
Published: May 2005

In the name of “development,” peasants throughout the Third World have been convinced to turn their small plots over to agribusiness for use in producing cash crops for the world market. This paper concerns one tragic example of this process—the banana export industry in the Philippines. Formerly self-provisioning small farmers have been drawn into a system controlled by three transnational corporations (United Brands, Del Monte, and Castle & Cooke) and plunged into a cycle of perpetual indebtedness and exploitation. In such situations, food has become an endangered need.
Case Studies of Violations of Workers' Freedom of Association: Service Sector Workers
Authors: McMahon Jean
Published: May 2005

Workers' rights violations in the United States are widespread and growing. The bulk of the National Labor Relations Board's work now involves unfair labor practices, most related to employers' violations of workers' rights. Numerous research studies document these violations. As part of its report “Unfair Advantage: Workers' Freedom of Association in the United States under International Human Rights Standards,” Human Rights Watch conducted a series of case studies in a dozen states, covering a variety of industries and employment sectors, analyzing the U.S. experience in the light of both national law and international human rights and labor rights norms. The article presented here includes a discussion of the general context of increased workers' rights violations under U.S. law and the first of the case studies: service sector workers.
A System for Generating Classroom Tests
Authors: Bradbard David A.
Published: May 2005

Instructors who use a microcomputer and a word processing program to prepare multiple choice and true-false items can accumulate many separate sequential exam files. But when exams are stored separately, it is difficult to use them for building new exams. This article describes a system of programs and file structures that reorganizes these exam files so that individual questions can be used to build new exams. The main component of the system consists of two programs. The first reorganizes existing exam files and builds an indexing scheme. The second permits a user to construct new exams from the reorganized questions. The system was written in BASIC for the TRS-80 Model III.
Family and Medical Leave Act: Unresolved Issues
Authors: Pyle Jean L. , Pelletier Marianne S.
Published: May 2005

The United States' Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 was an effort to provide national support for families attempting to balance the demands of the workplace and the need to care for a new child, one's own health, or an ill child, spouse, or parent. It is seriously limited, however, in terms of its accessibility for many workers. We briefly compare the FMLA to the substantially broader policies of Western European countries. We highlight its reported benefits to workers but document disparities in employees' use of the FMLA by gender, race, and income level. We evaluate whether employers' fears of higher costs were justified. We point out current challenges that may limit the FMLA further. We close by examining the range of alternative policies in effect at the state level and proposals that would address the current limitations of the FMLA and broaden its coverage.
Star Wars and Strategic Defense Initiatives: Work Activity and Health Symptoms of Unionized Bank Tellers during Work Reorganization
Authors: Seifert Ana Maria , Messing Karen , Dumais Lucie
Published: May 2005

Work activity and health symptoms of bank tellers whose work was undergoing reorganization were examined during a university–union study of the health effects of work in women's traditional jobs. Data were gathered through collective and individual interviews, analysis of work activity, and a questionnaire administered to 305 tellers. Employees worked in a standing posture over 80 percent of the time. More than two-thirds frequently suffered pain in back, legs, and feet. The average teller had been involved in 3.7 robberies as a direct victim and six as a witness. Work required feats of memory and concentration. In order to meet job demands, tellers engaged in supportive activities and teamwork. The introduction of individualized objectives threatened the employees' ability to collaborate and induced distress. More than twice as many tellers as other female workers in Québec experience psychological distress (Ilfeld scale), related to: robbery during the past two years (odds ratio = 1.7; confidence interval = 1.0–2.9); difficult relations with superiors (O.R. = 2.6; C.I. = 1.3–5.3); and full-time work (O.R. = 2.3; C.I. = 1.3–3.9). Diverse methods enriched the analysis, and union participation allowed the proposal of concrete correction measures.
Repressed Fear of Inexistence and its Hypnotic Recovery in Religious Students
Authors: Kunzendorf Robert G.
Published: May 2005

When college students were hypnotized and instructed to rate their “subconscious” fears of death, they expressed greater fear, of inexistence than when they were awake. At the same time, hypnotized students expressed no greater fear of death-related possibilities other than the possibility of inexistence. The hypnotically elicited fear of inexistence was marginally associated with a stronger belief in an afterlife and was significantly associated with greater hypnotic responsiveness. Such findings contradict the orthodox religious position: that death anxiety is truly eradicated, not merely repressed, by belief in an afterlife. Such findings also contradict the orthodox psychoanalytic position: that conscious death anxiety is secondarily derived from the libidinous deprivations of a subconscious mind that cannot fear its own death. Instead, the present findings suggest that the subconscious fear of inexistence is a primary-not a derived-phenomenon, from which religious and other death-denying behaviors may be derived.
Three Forms of Instruction
Authors: Kowitz Gerald T. , Smith Jay C.
Published: May 2005

With the rate of emergence and complexity of new knowledge and technology, formal instruction has become endemic to organizational life. One result is a series of challenges to the traditional instructional model which is based upon public school practices. Three forms of instruction can be identified lying along the dimensions of density of content and style of personal interaction. The First Form is designed for persons on an entrance level. The goal is the attainment of a minimum of basic skills and appropriate attitudes and beliefs. The latter require a high level of environmental control. The Second Form requires the basic skills and beliefs and is designed to develop productive competencies. It is a locus of conflict. The Third Form aims at the advancement of knowledge and the development of new professional skills. Its heuristic form requires careful reconsideration of the rules governing the structure of content and those concerning the nature of personal relations within the instructional setting.
Tobacco Industry Targeting of Blue-Collar Workers
Authors: Leonard Catherine
Published: May 2005

Blue-collar workers, an important segment of the American workforce, smoke at a significantly higher rate than white-collar workers. While much has been written about tobacco industry targeting of other groups, little has been written about the industry's deliberate plan to addict blue-collar workers. For decades, the tobacco industry has targeted blue-collar workers. This article chronicles the industry's concerted drive and reveals some of its strategies to recruit, maintain, and expand its consumer base. It describes one labor organization's efforts to counter the industry's influence on blue-collar workers. This research justifies the continuation of aggressive anti-tobacco efforts by health workers and labor unions involved in tobacco education programs targeting blue-collar workers.
Care or Cash: Assessing Quality of Care Provided by Drug Retailers in Nepal
Authors: Paswa Biaksoubo , Barnett Liz
Published: May 2005

Staff in the pharmacies of urban Lalitpur, Nepal, were interviewed, observed in their work, and tested through the use of a researcher posing as a client to assess the quality of care they provide, and their potential as health informants to the general public. Note was made of advice given to clients describing cough symptoms and diarrhoea, symptoms underlying two major causes of morbidity and mortality in Nepal. Data were also collected on the uses made of pharmacies by the general public, in terms of the provision of health care. Results show that people do indeed frequently use pharmacies as a primary care service. However, staff have minimal training. The quality of the advice they provide is varied, but many ask for no additional information on symptoms, and give average or poor advice on the use of the drugs they recommend. Drug retailers are particularly weak on giving explanations to clients about possible side effects and contraindications and rarely refer clients to health professionals. Most “consultations” last less than two minutes. Drug retail staff perceive the provision of health information to be an important and necessary part of their work, and many express a desire for further training. One obvious constraint to developing their health care role, however, would be the undoubted conflict between the financial interests of the drug retailer and the importance for the vast majority of clients of receiving adequate treatment but at limited cost. An important question is whether much higher priority is to provide the drug retailer with more training on drug use and control.
Biological Rhythms and the Timing of Death
Authors: Sharp Sharon A.
Published: May 2005

Factors affecting the timing of death have long been of interest to both scholars and laypersons. Within the last several decades there has been a proliferation of research in the area of biological rhythms associated with death. In this paper biological rhythms are considered in both the rigorous chronobiological and the popularized biorhythmic senses. Current literature shows strong evidence that rhythms with biological bases are a determinant of deaths, though the mechanisms underlying such rhythms remain a mystery. Implications of the information and needs for research of a cross-disciplinary nature are discussed. The study of biological rhythms is seen as holding much promise for insights into the desire of humans to understand and control the timing of death.
Distance Education and Technology: What are the Choices for Higher Education?
Authors: Johnson Judith L.
Published: May 2005

The Education Network of Maine (ENM), the distance education arm of the University of Maine System, connects 10 Centers and more than 100 sites around the state of Maine with an interactive television system that broadcasts to homes, offices, and the 100 plus sites. In addition to delivering courses over an interactive television system, the ENM has begun to offer courses asynchronously using the World Wide Web, videotapes, and other delivery modes, increasing access to higher education for Maine citizens. Ongoing evaluations reveal that students were satisfied with the logistics of courses offered, with the professors, and with the technology. An area of weakness in one of the courses studied here was the lack of connection students in the various locations felt to each other.
Adapting Work Simulations for Schools
Authors: Ferrari Michel , Taylor Roger , VanLehn Kurt
Published: May 2005

Although computer-based simulations of workplaces are a promising way to prepare high school students for the world of work, it is unclear how many workplace simulations exist and how suitable they are for school-to-work programs. An extensive survey located 142 workplace simulations, many of which were not intended for the school-to-work market. Thirty-nine of the most promising simulations were obtained and analyzed to determine potential problems that might impede their use in school-to-work programs. These simulations were classified according to type (e.g., Skill simulations; Role-Playing simulations; and Strategy simulations) and then critiqued regarding common problems in using them (e.g., usability, learnability, content, and available teacher support). We indicate which problems are most common and what educators can do to overcome them. We close with a propositional analysis of two of the most promising workplace simulations that measures the job-specificity and implicitness of their content. We conclude that simulations can play an important role in school-to-work transition programs, even if not specifically designed for that purpose.
Using Hypermedia to Enhance Response-Based Literature Teaching and Learning
Authors: Swan Karen , Meskill Carla
Published: May 2005

This article reports on the Multimedia and Literature Teaching and Learning Project which explored the potential of multimedia and hypermedia for enhancing the response-based teaching and learning of literature. The project's initial phase involved the development of criteria for considering multimedia applications from a response-based perspective and the application of these to a critical review of commercial software. Findings revealed that while such software was technically quite good, the pedagogical approaches taken were not response-based. The project's second phase, therefore, involved the development of prototype hypermedia applications designed to support response-based teaching and learning at both the elementary ( Kidspace) and secondary/post-secondary ( the BEATS) levels. These prototypes were tested in real classrooms during the project's third phase. Results suggest that hypermedia can support unique and important responses, but only within compatible classroom cultures.
Computer-Based Diagnostic Simulation for Medical Training
Authors: Schultz James V. , Friedman Richard B. , Newsom Robert S.
Published: May 2005

Computer-based clinical simulations provide a means for health care students to practice independent choice and action without the necessary constraints of patient safety. A specific diagnostic model is described along with its use in the training and evaluation of health care personnel. The educational viability of the model is examined in terms of a) the apparent reality of the simulation, b) the stability of student performance, c) the relationship of student performance on simulation to performance on more conventional testing methodologies, and d) the applicability of simulation to allied health care personnel. The implications for students, faculty and curriculum of computer-based clinical simulations are discussed.
Consortium-Based Consultation/Liaison Research: Commentary and Perspective
Authors: Hammer Jeffrey S. , Strain James J. , Petraitis John
Published: May 2005

Although a consortium approach for clinical trials is a common research strategy which has made important contributions in other disciplines in medicine, to date it has not been employed for research efforts in the consultation/liaison setting. There are several reasons for this: the relative newness of the field, lack of administrative control over patient care, and the unavailability of a standard methodology that could be adapted to multiple sites. Four basic research strategies can be employed within the framework of a research consortium to advance scientific knowledge in consultation/liaison psychiatry: 1) prevalence studies of psychiatric morbidity in medical settings; 2) interrelationship among psychiatric and medical conditions; 3) the outcome of psychiatric interventions within medical milieu; and, 4) cost-benefit evaluation. A field-tested computerized database protocol and a software system useable on an office-based microcomputer were employed to obtain standardized data across multiple training sites. The advantages and disadvantages of consortium studies are described.
Grief Issues and Positive Aspects Associated with International Adoption
Authors: Trolley Barbara C.
Published: May 2005

International adoption, a fairly recent event in the history of the United States, has started to receive attention. Areas of losses and gains are described with respect to the biological parent, the adopted child, and the adoptive parent. These issues are described in terms of the individual and the relationship between these individuals. Deficits and benefits specific to the donor and recipient countries are addressed. Bereavement issues inherent in the process of international adoption are identified and those externally induced by societal response to difference are highlighted. The well-being of the child depends on appropriately grieving the losses associated with being internationally adopted while at the same time appreciating the positives.
Technical Writing: Weaving the Silk Purse
Authors: Bethke Frederick J.
Published: May 2005

The problems with flawed technical documents are frequently problems of a larger nature. When the subject to be described is itself amorphous or internally illogical, technical writing may only dutifully reproduce the inherent confusion. Writers should be alert to identifying these problems and assisting product/procedure designers in eliminating confusion at its source.
Double Exposure: The Combined Impact of the Home and Work Environments on Psychosomatic Strain in Swedish Women and Men
Authors: Hall Ellen M.
Published: May 2005

This study investigates the relative distribution of home responsibilities and psychosocial work environment characteristics and their associations with psychosomatic strain in a random sample of the female and male working population of Sweden (N = 12,772). Occupational variables investigated were psychological and physical demands, job control, social support, and job hazards. Home characteristics included measures of household work, number and age of children, and child care resources. A sex-pooled logistic regression analysis was performed to detect sex differences in the effects of the variables upon strain. Gender was no longer associated with psychosomatic strain after adjusting for work and home characteristics and their interactions, and while there were some similarities between the sexes with respect to the main effects of the home and work characteristics, in 52 of 60 combined effect comparisons women had a greater combined odds ratio for strain than men.
Exploring Health, Safety and Environment in Central and Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the European Centre for Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment (ECOHSE)
Authors: Beck Matthias , Robson Mark , Watterson Andrew , Woolfson Charles
Published: May 2005

This article traces the development of the European Centre for Occupational Health, Safety and the Environment (ECOHSE) at the University of Glasgow. ECOHSE recently has been designated a Thematic Network by the European Union which is providing administrative support through 2004. The de facto de-regulation that accompanied emergent capitalism in Eastern Europe created opportunities for exploitation of the work force. Voluntary efforts of a loose network of occupational and environmental health academics led to a series of yearly conferences to discuss these problems and the lack of research about them. Then, in 1999, a more formal organization was established at Glasgow to pursue continuity and funding. The first occupational and environmental health conference under ECOHSE was held last year in Lithuania, and selected presentations of that meeting are offered in this journal. A second ECOHSE conference will be held this fall in Romania.
Death Education in the Nigerian Home: The Mother's Role
Authors: Okafor Tr. Reuben Uche
Published: May 2005

The death-awareness movement is new in Nigeria. Here the subject of death is still a taboo. Throughout history women have occupied the middle place between life and death. They understand and play their gender roles in several other aspects of life in the Nigerian home, but down play their roles as they concern death and dying. This article, therefore, offers a rationale for death education in the home and delineates the role of a mother with regard to death. The likely problems she may encounter in the course of discharging her death duties in the home are also identified.
Drug Addiction in Sickle Cell Disease: Case Report
Authors: Alao Adekola O. , Westmoreland Niesha , Jindal Shefali
Published: May 2005

There has been widespread speculation that patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) may become drug dependent if their painful crisis is treated with narcotics. However, there has been no scientific evidence to support this assertion. Paradoxically, individuals suffering from sickle cell disease who are not adequately treated may develop an addiction to narcotics due to self-medication to treat their pain. In this article, we describe a 38-year-old African American woman who became addicted to cocaine due to self-medication of her sickle cell pain with cocaine.
Computer Attitude Scale
Authors: Chirwa Andrew S.
Published: May 2005

A Computer Attitude Scale is reported herein. The instrument is a twenty-nine-item with a reliability of 0.80. It is specifically intended to assess attitudes of high school students toward computer technology. The specificity of this instrument for targeting only a special group of learners, makes it a powerful tool for structuring instruction and evaluating educational programs that incorporate technology into the teaching and learning material in the high school environment.
Be a Better Writer (Don't Use Dirty Words)
Authors: McDonald Daniel
Published: May 2005

Without learning the more complicated systems which define good writing, one can still improve his prose a good deal. All he has to do is to avoid using particular words and phrases. The “dirty words” include vague terms, foreign words, technical words, literary allusions, wordy forms, unnecessary phrases, offensive words, illiterate errors, cliches, and awkward phrases. A long list is given.
Moments of Affective Insight: Their Phenomenology and Relations to Selected Individual Differences
Authors: Kuiken Don , Carey Robert , Nielsen Tore
Published: May 2005

Affective insight was defined as a subjective event occurring during intensive self-reflection. To study affective insight, seventy-nine individuals were presented instructions designed to encourage intensive self-reflection. Subsequently, they completed an open-ended questionnaire and a seventy-two-item true-false questionnaire describing their experience during self-reflection. Q-type factor analysis of the seventy-two-item questionnaire revealed four different types of reactions during the instructions: underdistancing, overdistancing, intellectual self-control, and apprehensive insight. An eight-item Affective Insight Scale (AIS) was developed which was independent of social desirability, which differentiated these four groups of participants, and which correlated positively with a judge's ratings of affective insight as indicated in responses to the open-ended questionnaire. Using the AIS, there was support for the hypothesis that affective insight is associated with imagery involvement, as measured by the Creative Imagination Scale, the Absorption Scale, and Rorschach M responses. There was also some support for the hypothesis that affective insight is associated with a preference for novel imagery, as measured by the Barron-Welsch Art Scale. Other trait measures predicted reactions which were conceptually and empirically independent of affective insight (e.g., intellectual self-control), indicating the importance of simultaneously studying different reactions during intensive self-reflection.