bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Let Your Fingers Do the Talking: Conducting Class with “Chat”
Authors: Brennan Linda L.
Published: May 2005

Communication skills development is an essential aspect of any educational experience. This is especially true for programs preparing students to pursue careers in business. Current educational practices tend to emphasize public speaking and report writing skills. In today's business climate, however, the ability to interact electronically and communicate effectively is becoming increasingly important. Students should therefore be provided with opportunities to develop and enhance electronic communication skills. But will the message in the medium detract from the other pedagogical purposes of the communication? This study applies a quasi-experimental design, with synchronous “chat” as the experimental condition, to examine this question in the context of case study analyses and class discussions.
Determinants of Preference: When do we like What we Know?
Authors: Leder Helmut
Published: May 2005

Repeated mere or unreinforced exposure positively affects the aesthetic response to various types of stimuli. Studies using artworks in laboratory experiments in which familiarity was experimentally manipulated revealed little or no effects of repeated exposure. The lack of mere exposure effects with artworks might be due to factors such as knowledge, stimulus complexity, or level of liking. In the present article, five studies are reported in which the relationship between familiarity and liking for 54 reproductions of van Gogh paintings was investigated under different conditions of evaluation and information about the paintings. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that positive correlations existed for liking and familiarity ratings even when it was possible that some of the stimuli seen were not original paintings. The correlations were significantly reduced when the beholder was told that all stimuli were fakes of van Gogh paintings (Study 3) and that they were fakes or non-van Goghs (Study 4). In Study 5, the correlation was reduced when inspection time was increased, thus, simple familiarity-liking relations are weakened by knowledge and are greater in spontaneous judgments.
Problems of the Evolution of the Technical Press
Authors: Witkiewicz T. , Pilak Z.
Published: May 2005

As the reader of this journal know, the effective communication of technological research and development is causing world-wide concern. Should scientists and engineers be selective in reporting technology? Can standards be set up for selectivity? What is the responsibility of the technical press?

These and other problems are discussed by the authors of this illuminating report originating from Wroclaw Technical University, Poland.
Toward an It-Driven Education System in Singapore—An Interpretation of Delphi Data
Authors: Chong Keng Choy , Leong Wing Fatt
Published: May 2005

Data from a set of four Delphi studies suggest a definite trend toward sustained computer technology usage in schools as Singapore moves into the twenty-first century. An attempt at interpreting the data by the authors has enabled them to suggest a tentative framework for an IT-driven education system of the future, which this article describes. Implications for teachers and principals working within such a system are highlighted at the end of the article.
Mode of Symbolic Representation and Cognitive Style
Authors: Isaksen Scott G. , Dorval K. Brian , Kaufmann Geir
Published: May 2005

The relationship between imagery and creativity was examined using a prediction from the theories of symbolic representation developed by Morris and Hampson [1, 2] and Kaufmann [3–6]. One-hundred and fifty-four college students completed the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory on preferred styles of problem solving and Paivio's Individual Differences Questionnaire on preferred mode of symbolic representation. At a general level, results were in the expected direction for both theories by showing a significant relationship between innovative problem-solving preference and general level of use of conscious modes of symbolic representation. However, results also supported the more specific prediction from Kaufmann's theory that subjects with an innovative preference would have a relatively stronger preference for imaginal over verbal modes of representation.
Psychological Evaluation of Waterside Space Using Audio-Visual Information
Authors: Morinaga M. , Aono S. , Kuwano S. , Kato T.
Published: May 2005

In order to investigate the effect of water sound on subjective impression, an experiment on the evaluation of the waterside space using audio-visual information was conducted. The interaction of audio-visual information and the relation between the physical characteristics of sound from water and the impression were examined. The experiment consisted of three conditions; only sound was presented in condition A, only visual image in condition V, and both sound and visual image in condition A+V. Impressions were estimated using the semantic differential. The results showed that the visual images have a great effect on the impression of waterside space and that as the sound pressure level of low frequency components becomes higher, the sound tends to be perceived as being more unpleasant.
Response Bias in Hospice Evaluation
Authors: Hayslip Bert , Hoffman Josephine , Weatherly Doris
Published: May 2005

As a relatively new means of health care in the United States, hospices are continually seeking feedback to disclose ways in which they may provide more effective palliative services for patients and their families. An important source of such information has been caregiver evaluations, since these surveys reflect the needs for services of respondents and satisfaction with care. Bass found significant differences between caregivers who responded in hospice evaluation efforts and those who did not; nonrespondents cared for patients who entered the hospice in a more incapacitated condition, had more nursing visits, and returned to a hospital or other facility to die. In an attempt to cross-validate Bass' findings, an analysis of response bias was carried out among thirty-four recipients of care in a home care based hospice in the southwest. Nonrespondents were found to have better bereavement prognoses and tended to care for patients who were younger, male, and who were in the program for a shorter length of time. Nonrespondents had also been in contact with the staff less than had respondents. While this study only in part supports Bass' findings, its data are consistent with the conclusion that there are significant differences between caregiver respondents and nonrespondents. Consequently, hospices may unknowingly underserve nonrespondents and their patients if they do not take measures to more aggressively investigate their needs.
Hypertension in a Caribbean Population
Authors: Modeste Naomi N. , Abbey David E. , Hopp Joyce W.
Published: May 2005

This cross-sectional study presents an assessment of factors associated with elevated blood pressure in Seventh-Day Adventists in the Caribbean. Four-hundred-thirty-three subjects were randomly selected from the English-speaking Caribbean population. Subjects ranged in age from twenty-one to sixty; 150 were males and 283 females. Eighty percent were Negroes of African descent, 12 percent mixed, 8 percent Indians of East Indian descent, and 3 percent of Spanish background. The study utilized the PRECEDE model developed by Green and associates to examine factors for hypertension. A positive correlation was found between body mass index (weight in Kg/height in M2) and hypertension in both sexes. Age was also significantly associated with hypertension. Normotensive females had a slightly higher intake of potassium than hypertensives, while hypertensive males tended to have higher levels of calcium. Other factors, such as parental history of blood pressure, vegetarian diet, sugar and fat intake, or Type A/B personality showed no relationship to hypertension. The vast majority of participants were Type B. This study provides baseline information for use in selecting those features which will be emphasized in a health education program, as well as baseline data for evaluation of health education in the Caribbean.
The Hospice Farewell: Ideological Perspectives of its Professional Practitioners
Authors: Rinaldi Anoel , Kearl Michael C.
Published: May 2005

This research examines a social service devoted to “good deaths” in our country: hospice. Using a modified Delphi technique, a national sample of hospice experts ( n = 48) was questioned in order to elicit group judgments about hospice ideology, the issue of control over one's own death trajectory, and hospice's relevance for older individuals. The respondents generally concurred that hospice, influenced by the work of Kübler-Ross, represents a radical departure in how we die, a reaction to the quality of death within a cultural climate of death denial, and, in some sense, a demodernization movement. While a high rate of consensus was obtained on many of the issues that evolved, little evidence of a coherent ideology could be detected linking notions of hospice origins, issues of patient control, and suitability of hospice care for older individuals.
Taste versus Fashion: The Inferred Objectivity of Aesthetic Judgments
Authors: Solomon Michael R. , Pruitt Dayton J. , Insko Chester A.
Published: May 2005

While some evaluations of aesthetic stimuli are assumed to be matters of personal “taste,” other judgments are assumed to be influenced by the prevalent opinions of peers and/or “experts” (e.g., art critics). The nature of this assumption may depend upon the perception that a “correct” answer exists in objective reality. Employing social psychological principles of attribution theory, this study investigates the degree to which subjects' explanations for a target person's reactions to tasks involving color evaluations were influenced by subjects' knowledge of others' choices in the same situation (consensus information). It was hypothesized that the assumed objectivity (or subjectivity) of a judgment is related to the utilization of such information. Participants were provided with brief accounts of fictitious subjects' behavior in three experiments involving reactions to colors. Each “study” involved the rendering of a judgment which was conceptualized as either objective (physical reality), quasi-objective (expert), or subjective (preference). Level of consensus or agreement regarding each judgment was also manipulated. In line with prediction, consensus information exerted an overall effect on attributions but had the most impact in the case of objective judgments. It is suggested that convergence of opinion may lead to the inference that an aesthetic judgment has an external, objective reference; the ramifications of normative evidence for the internal consumption of aesthetics are considered.
The Political Implications of Psychosocial Work Redesign: A Model of the Psychosocial Class Structure
Authors: Karasek Robert
Published: May 2005

The goal of this article is to further illuminate the poorly understood distribution of psychosocial well-being at the national population level (the distribution of conventional economic well-being is, of course, well understood). After reviewing psychosocial phenomena that cannot be predicted by the “conventional” class structure, the author introduces a new definition of production output value (New Value), more closely related to psychosocial well-being. A psychosocial class structure model is presented based on nine occupational subgroups in four status levels, representing both conventional and New Value-based status differences. An empirical analysis of 38 occupations in the U.S. work force (U.S. Quality of Employment Surveys 1969, 1972, 1977) uses psychosocial job dimensions of decision latitude, psychological demands, physical exertion, and social support. The author reviews job redesign strategies for three New Value “impoverished” groups with routinized, bureaucratized, and commercialized jobs, and the conditions for economic stability and political participation related to the psychosocial class structure model. Conflicts arising between conventional and New Value-based policies are discussed.
Refiguring “Race”: Epidemiology, Racialized Biology, and Biological Expressions of Race Relations
Authors: Krieger Nancy
Published: May 2005

Given growing appreciation of how race/ethnicity is a social, not biological, construct, some epidemiologists are proposing that studies omit data on “race” and instead collect better socioeconomic data. This suggestion, however, ignores a growing body of evidence on how noneconomic as well as economic aspects of racial discrimination are embodied and harm health across the lifecourse. Developing a critical epidemiology of social inequalities in health will, at the very least, require incorporating thoughtful measures of race/ethnicity and social class in epidemiological studies and public health surveillance systems.
Parent Attitudes and Child Personality Traits in Hemophilia: A Six-Year Longitudinal Study
Authors: Mayes Susan Dickerson , Handford H. Allen , Kowalski Charmaine , Schaefer Judy Hopkins
Published: May 2005

Using standardized instruments, personality traits of twenty-two hemophilic boys and child-rearing attitudes and practices of their parents were evaluated at the beginning and end of a six-year period, during which psychosocial services were provided in a comprehensive care hemophilia program. The children changed significantly in a positive direction on two traits, enthusiasm and self-reliance. No significant negative personality trait changes were found. Scores remained within the normal range on the remaining traits, with the exception of a significant positive elevation on the intelligence dimension at both pre- and posttest. Mothers and fathers scored positively compared with parental attitude norms during both the initial and follow-up evaluations, without significant changes in overall mean scores. Strong relationships were revealed between individual changes in child personality and parent attitude scores. Despite the fact that between pre- and posttest boys with hemophilia and their parents became aware of the risk of contracting AIDS from blood product use, personality traits and parent child-rearing attitudes remained positive.
The Occupational and Environmental Status of Polish Industry: A Comparative Study of the Private and Public Sectors
Authors: Broszkiewicz Roman , Brown Halina Szejnwald , Hibner Zofia
Published: May 2005

During the last decade, Poland has made a successful transition toward democracy and market economy. Since the mid-1990s, we have studied the reforms in the environmental and occupational protection system in Poland, focusing on the privately owned firms. We found that considerable progress has taken place, especially in increasing the accountability of private employers and in improved enforcement. The fundamental legitimacy of regulators and the regulatory process, and the capacity for case-specific decision-making, are among the key explanatory factors. The case-specific implementation in Poland is consistent with models advocated by several authors in relation to other industrialized European economies. We attribute these developments in Poland to the continuity of institutions, and the generally good “fit” between the policies and institutions on one hand, and their social context on the other, including a wide sharing of certain values and norms. The outstanding question from our previous work has been the fate of state-owned firms, which may be facing different issues than the privatized ones, both in terms of economics, organizational culture, and relationships with the regulatory authorities. In this article, we report the results of a comparison between the private and state-owned firms, based on the questionnaire surveys of the two sectors. We find a striking similarity in performance of both sectors and in the authorities' attitudes toward both. These findings support our earlier proposition that Poland's success in instituting an effective occupational protection system is deeply embedded in the attitudes toward protecting workers' health and safety and toward balancing competing societal objectives. These attitudes have not changed during the transition to the market economy.
The Doctor and His Patient: Explaining Illness
Authors: Redlich F. C.
Published: May 2005

To explain illness adequately and sensitively is not an easy matter. To tell patients brusquely just the name of their illness, or to lecture to them pedantically may be as bad as to tell them nothing, and only slightly better than to lie to them. To inform patients, to clarify their ideas, to interpret their apprehensions, requires the ability to listen with empathy and to appraise the patient's capacity to understand and “take it.” It requires patience and proper timing—as opposed to a rigid technique—and sticking with one's patients for better and for worse. It demands maturity and control of one's own emotions as a physician. This may be much harder for the physician than the traditional authoritative approach of protecting the patient from the truth. The gifted physician will use the newer techniques intuitively. Most others will have to learn through practice and precept. I believe that these principles and attitudes can be taught today quite well by sensitivity training in groups and, less economically, in an individual preceptorship. The “soft” approach can be effectively combined with the hard approach of a computerized information-gathering technique. I am convinced that the new “hard” and “soft” techniques will enable us to practice better medicine and help us to approximate Nathaniel Hawthorne's ideal of a good physician.
Computer-Based Writing and Communication: Some Implications for Technical Communication Activities
Authors: Olsen Leslie A.
Published: May 2005

Most research on writing has focussed on the work of single authors working by hand on prose texts. However, much professional work is collaborative, computer-based, not exclusively prose, and not well studied. Some preliminary research suggests that the use of computers will affect the cognitive activities of individual authors in several domains of immediate relevance to composition and technical communication practitioners: planning activities, editing activities, the writing of novice computer users or poor typists, and writing for electronic mail and other electronic communication. Research reported here suggests that the rapidly increasing capability of computer-based writing systems will force communication researchers to 1) broaden their basic conception of and methods of studying “author” to include authoring teams, 2) broaden the type of material studied from that which is purely or largely textual to that which much more frequently includes other types of information, and 3) track changes in “genre conventions” resulting from the increased capabilities of computer-based systems—in short, to assess the impacts of the medium on the message.
Measurement of Cognitive Structure in the Domain of Art History
Authors: Beyerlein Susan Tull , Beyerlein Michael Martin , Markley Robert P.
Published: May 2005

This research represents the first known application of protocol analysis to a liberal arts knowledge domain. The purpose of this study was to capture differences in cognitive structure between experts and novices in the area of art history. A sorting task consisting of twenty-five reproductions of paintings and prints covering the 14th through the 20th centuries was used to elicit verbal protocol data from a sample of four experts and four novices. The protocols were then transcribed and scored using concept mapping and content analysis procedures. Three knowledge breadth measures, concept map propositions, concept map examples, and implicit propositions, were strongly correlated with membership in the expert or novice group. In addition, the knowledge depth measure, concept map hierarchy levels, was also strongly correlated with the group membership variable suggesting that, as predicted, experts produced a significantly greater number of concept map propositions, examples, hierarchy levels, and implicit propositions than novices. Subsequently, three discriminant analyses related to the three hypotheses of the study correctly classified 100 percent, 87.5 percent, and 100 percent of the grouped cases, respectively. Univariate F tests were statistically significant in all three analyses suggesting that the knowledge structures of experts evidence greater breadth and depth than those of novices and are related to particular elements of experience.
New Directions in Teaching Technical Report Writing
Authors: Jordan Michael P.
Published: May 2005

The traditional instruction of technical report writing leans heavily on the conventions of English grammar and on principles advocated by grammarians, journalists, and literature scholars. The effect has been so strong—particularly in North America—that the word “technical” in technical writer, technical writing, and technical reports has literally become almost meaningless. This article discusses a few important differences between technical and nontechnical writing. It also explains some shortcomings of the traditional instruction and suggests methods of improvement.
Cost Containment and the Backdraft of Competition Policies
Authors: Light Donald W.
Published: May 2005

This article offers an explanation of why governments and other purchasers found competition policies attractive, and it summarizes a set of new case studies. Faced with economic slowdown and the need to retrench social services, governments felt their legitimacy threatened and sought a new approach that would legitimize controlling costs. Starting in the 1980s, a group of pro-capitalist “moral entrepreneurs” launched an international business movement focused on reducing waste in governmental and welfare services through competition and privatization. Political leaders in a number of the developed industrialized countries enthusiastically embraced “managed competition” as a way to control the costs of health care services and to make them more accountable. The dangers of implementation and the extensive market failures that are ever-present in medicine, however, led most governments to pull back. Most nations that implemented competition policies experienced a political backdraft of protest from patients and providers that swept them out of office.
A Study of Psychiatric Emergencies: Part II. Suicide
Authors: Browning Charles H. , Tyson Robert L. , Miller Sheldon I.
Published: May 2005

Suicide attempts or suicide ideation are often of critical importance in defining a psychiatric emergency. Follow-up studies of the psychiatric emergency population for the subsequent incidence of attempted or completed suicide are needed to identify high and low risk groups and to measure the effectiveness of the psychiatric emergency service. Suicide problems were presenting symptoms in 28.2 percent of psychiatric emergency evaluations seen in a three month period. The 10–29 decades for females and the 10–19 decade for males were represented significantly more often than older decades. Race and marital status were not related to suicide problems. There were seventeen known suicide attempts, but no known suicides in a six month follow-up period. This finding was contrasted with the results of a similar study done nine years previously at the same hospital and with a study done by the Cleveland Suicide Prevention Center, both of which found several suicides in the follow-up period. Possible reasons for the different results are discussed.
The Sachs Report: Investing in Health for Economic Development—Or Increasing the Size of the Crumbs from the Rich Man's Table? Part I
Authors: Katz Alison
Published: May 2005

The Commission on Macroeconomics and Health report (Sachs report) of 2001 has been heralded as inspiring and groundbreaking and is being adopted as the blueprint for global health policymaking. This article argues that the report is deeply conservative and unoriginal. It encourages medico-technical solutions to public health problems; it ignores macroeconomic determinants and other root causes of both poor health and poverty; it reverses public health logic and history; it is based on a set of flawed assumptions; it reflects one particular economic perspective to the exclusion of all others; and it recommends greater amounts of charity while preserving the status quo of a deeply unjust and irrational international economic order. A set of assumptions deriving from a neoliberal approach to health underlies the report. The author proposes an alternative set of assumptions deriving from a social justice and human rights–based approach to health.
Clonazepam: A Novel Therapeutic Adjunct
Authors: Freinhar Jack P. , Alvarez William A.
Published: May 2005

Clonazepam, a unique benzodiazepine with anticonvulsant and serotonin enhancing capacity, can be used in conjunction with conventional psychopharmacologic agents to treat a variety of psychiatric conditions including schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, and psychotic mania. Three representative case studies are presented and specific guidelines for the use of clonazepam are discussed.
Breaking Communication and Linguistic Barriers: Designing a Course of Technical Writing in Hebrew
Authors: Braun Miriam , Rosenhouse Judith
Published: May 2005

Scientists and engineers have to present technical information effectively. But when they do it, they face language difficulties which are beyond formal grammar as taught at school. To overcome this problem, we designed a systematic course for technical writing aimed at breaking such language barriers by planned channeling of the scientific message. The course was designed to improve the communication skills of scientists and engineers. In keeping with this goal effective writing criteria were defined and formal presentation conventions were described. Because Hebrew is the common language in Israel, problems of Hebrew structures were presented. The massive infiltration of vocabulary and syntactic elements from foreign languages into scientists' Hebrew style were addressed. An evaluation apparatus was also applied and future prospects of the course were discussed.
The Use of Decision-Science Techniques in School Districts
Authors: Mathews Walter M.
Published: May 2005

A survey of the use of eight decision-science techniques was conducted in a stratified random sample of school districts in the United States. The purpose of the study was to determine the relative frequency of use of the techniques in fourteen application areas. Also sought was information on the potential uses of these techniques in the school districts. The amount of formal training that the respondents (usually superintendents of schools) have had in the eight techniques was tallied in addition to the areas where they desired training or additional training. The conclusion of this preliminary study is that there is a need to train more educational administrators in the decision sciences so that greater use of these techniques can be applied to the administration of the schools.
Psychosocial Factors Related to the Incidence of Cancer
Authors: Scurry Murphy T. , Levin Ellen M.
Published: May 2005

The recent data concerning the relationship between psychosocial factors and the incidence of cancer have been reviewed covering life events, personality factors, psychiatric diagnoses, and loss-separation-hopelessness. The multiple methodological and design problems in this area of investigation are the factors that stand out and make interpretation difficult. Nevertheless, an association between oncogenesis and a number of factors such as extraversion, neuroticism, and lack of closeness to family is suggested. Many studies raise additional questions without providing definitive answers. A long term prospective study which has been designed to look at cancer outcome and multiple psychosocial factors is needed to determine if such factors add to the risk of oncogenesis.
Implementing Computer Mediated Communication in the College Classroom
Authors: Clay-Warner Jody , Marsh Kristin
Published: May 2005

The use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the college classroom was examined using survey data from eighty-nine undergraduate sociology students. Through pre-test and follow-up data, it was determined that most students were open to using CMC and that openness was highly correlated with later positive experiences with CMC. Through a series of OLS regressions, it was then established that students' rating of their CMC experience is shaped by their particular use of the system, as well as by whether or not CMC participation is required. Neither gender nor minority status were significantly related to CMC ratings, although this may be due to the similar class backgrounds of the students involved in the study.
Sexual Fantasies, Attitudes and Behavior as a Function of Race, Gender and Religiosity
Authors: Robinson W. La Vome , Calhoun Karen S.
Published: May 2005

Race, gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and religiosity factors were examined as influence of sexual fantasies and their behavioral expression. Four groups of fifty undergraduate college students were administered Kilpatrick's Sexual Attitude and Behavior Survey (SABS): 1) black male; 2) black female; 3) white male; and 4) white female. A reliability estimate for the SABS was also obtained indicating adequacy for the scale. Results indicated significant differences between the racial groups for the Male Behavior, Female Fantasy, and Personal Fantasy attitudinal measures. Low church attenders were shown to be more sexually permissive than high church attenders. Also, some measures indicated significant sex differences, but no significant effect was found for SES in the ANOVA's. Interestingly, the only significant interactions (disordinal) revealed by the ANOVA's were race x religiosity. For all groups except the black female group, attitudes were found to be moderately correlated with behavior. Inconsistent with previous findings, white males were generally the most permissive group.
Transfer of Cognitive Skills from Programming: When and How?
Authors: Salomon Gavriel , Perkins D. N.
Published: May 2005

Investigations of the impact of programming instruction on cognitive skills have yielded occasional positive and many negative findings. To interpret the mixed results, we describe two distinct mechanisms of transfer–“low road” transfer, resulting from extensive practice and automatization, and “high road” transfer, resulting from mindful generalization. High road transfer seems implicated where positive impacts of programming have been found; insufficient practice and little provocation of mindful abstraction are characteristic of investigations not demonstrating transfer. Our discussion affirms that programming instruction can improve cognitive skills under the right conditions, but cautions that implementing such conditions on a wide scale may be difficult and that programming instruction must compete with other means of improving cognitive skills.
The Effect of Bereavement upon Death-Related Attitudes and Fears
Authors: Tokunaga Howard T.
Published: May 2005

This article reviews and critiques existing theory and research on the issue of how attitudes and fears of death are influenced by recent bereavement. While the identification and validation of distinct stages of grief has demonstrated the powerful impact of death upon survivors, other research suggests that exposure to death does not alter one's attitudes or fears. However, an examination of this literature reveals a number of critical conceptual and methodological flaws. This article attempts to discuss and evaluate these problems, and to suggest possible means of resolution and avenues for future research.
Social Security for Medical Care: Is it Justified in Developing Countries?
Authors: Roemer M. I.
Published: May 2005

Social insurance spread from Europe to the developing countries, especially in Latin America, after World War I. In these countries, however, the percentage of persons insured is typically small, so that “inequities” are created relative to the larger non–insured populations. Nevertheless, the social insurance device is justified because of its effects in upgrading the overall health service resources and promoting the general economic development of the predominantly agricultural countries. Moreover, social security programs are in the long run not obstructive to but promotive of Ministries of Health and their services.
Bringing Urban Schools into the Information Age: Planning for Technology vs. Technology Planning
Authors: Fishman Barry J. , Pinkard Nichole
Published: May 2005

This paper describes the many pitfalls that school technology planning processes can engender, and presents an improved model for planning for the use of technology in K-12 schools. There is a need for such a model because current school technology planning efforts are often devoid of context, and lead to poorly conceived arrangements of technology that are not supportive of learning goals. The new model is called “Planning for Technology” as opposed to the more common “technology planning” in order to emphasize the secondary nature of technology in relation to other considerations, such as curriculum and pedagogy. The model we present is described in the context of a case study conducted in an urban K-8 school that was attempting to make more productive use of their existing technology, and to more effectively plan for future technology.
Computer Assisted Achievement Testing in Instruction
Authors: Brennan Robert L.
Published: May 2005

This paper reviews four areas in which the computer has influenced the theory and practice of achievement testing: a) test scoring and item analysis, b) item sampling, c) item generation, and d) the sequencing of items resulting in various types of adaptive testing. Also, reference is made to the impact of computer-assisted achievement testing upon the development, integration, and evaluation of instruction.
The Russian Language Personality and its Neologisms in Emotional Communicative Situations
Authors: Shakhovsky Victor I.
Published: May 2005

The article suggests to linguists and psychologists the new concept of “emotional language personality” (E.L.P.), which to the author's view extends and deepens the already excepted concepts of “personality” and “language personality.” “E.L.P.” has important implications for a methodological approach to the linguodidactic paradigm and the conception of a linguistics of emotions. The concept of a Language Personality (LP) contributes to the techniques of teaching Russian as foreign language. The coinage of emotionally-focused, sardonic, or parodistic puns or word extensions in Russian is examined.
Postpartum Hostility and Prolactin
Authors: Mastrogiacomo Ismaele , Fava Maurizio , Fava Giovanni A. , Kellner Robert , Grismondi Gianluigi , Cetera Carlo
Published: May 2005

In a previous study ten women with hyperprolactinemia and amenorrhea had significantly higher Symptom Questionnaire scores for depression, hostility and anxiety than patients with amenorrhea only and a matched nonpatient employees group. The hyperprolactinemic patients and employees were compared with ten women on their seventh day after childbirth who had been matched for sociodemographic variables and had similar prolactin levels. Hostility was significantly higher in postpartum patients than employees and did not differ significantly from that of women with hyperprolactinemic amenorrhea. Postpartum hyperprolactinemic women did not differ significantly from the employees for anxiety and depression, which was significantly lower than in the amenorrheic patients. In several mammals aggression occurs concurrently with lactation. The studies in humans suggest an association of high prolactin levels with hostility.
The Psychological and Social Experience of Suicide Survivors
Authors: Dunn Robert G. , Morrish-Vidners Donna
Published: May 2005

This article discusses findings of an exploratory study of the psychological and social experience of suicide survivors. Detailed interviews were conducted with twenty-four people who had lost loved ones to suicide within the last five years. The study focuses on neglected dimensions of the adjustment problems of survivors by investigating the perceptions, thoughts, and feelings of survivors themselves over a broad range of questions. Major areas of concern are: 1) survivors' responses to the suicide, specifically patterns of explanation and blaming; 2) the impasse in interpersonal relations; 3) the dynamics of stigma, normlessness, and fear in survivors' contacts with others; and 4) negative and positive personal changes occurring in survivors as a result of their loss. Our findings suggest that survivors face complex problems of emotional, personal, and social adjustment requiring further attention by researchers and helping professionals.
Community Organizing among the Elderly Poor in the United States: A Case Study
Authors: Minkler Meredith
Published: May 2005

This case study demonstrates the role of community organizing as a vehicle for enhancing individual and community-level empowerment. Building on social support theory, Freire's “education for critical consciousness,” and the principles and strategies of community organization practice, the 12-year-old Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project reflects the World Health Organization definition of health promotion as a means of helping individuals and communities to take increasing control over the factors influencing their health. Through the Project, low-income elders have successfully identified and addressed shared problems in such areas as crime and safety, undernutrition, and tenants rights. They further have developed ongoing tenants' associations and other community-based organizations that have provided continuity over time and contributed to the development of a “competent community.” Problems in areas such as funding, evaluation, and volunteer burnout are discussed, as are the potentials for project replication in other settings.
A Social Capital Index for Community Partnerships
Authors: Chan Benjamin , Bazzoli Gloria , Shortell Stephen M. , Hasnain-Wynia Romana
Published: May 2005

This study proposes and develops one way to examine dynamics and performance of voluntary community health partnerships through the development of a social capital index. Selected questions from a pre-existing survey [1] were used to construct three first-order concepts: Trust, Involvement, and Reciprocity. A second-order concept, Social Capital, was then derived. Individual scores were aggregated to the partnership level, and a social capital index was constructed. For validity testing, relationships of the index and accomplishment measures were examined. The index was also related to field notes on three partnerships. The chi-square value of the model indicates the concept of social capital was well captured with survey data. The index is significantly correlated with perceived accomplishment measures. The social capital concept is a viable perspective for examining community health partnerships. Its introduction should enrich our understanding of inter-organizational dynamics and performance. More extensive modeling illustrating the dynamics and performance of partnerships can be developed based on this concept.
Biological Sex, Sex-Role Identity, and the Spectrum of Computing Orientations: A Re-Appraisal at the End of the 90s
Authors: Charlton John P.
Published: May 2005

Biological sex and psychological masculinity and femininity are related to computer comfort (the inverse of anxiety), engagement, and over-use. The study shows both greater masculinity and femininity to be related to greater computer comfort, greater masculinity to be related to greater engagement, and greater femininity to be associated with lesser over-use. While there are no sex differences in computer comfort and engagement, males appear more prone to over-use, but this is not mediated by sex differences in femininity. It is concluded that both femininity and masculinity are now propitious for the development of positive computer orientations, and that greater female negativity toward computers is waning. The expansion of computer applications into non-male dominated areas, such as inter-personal communication, is cited as a major explanation for these observations. The findings imply that some reduction of sex asymmetries in computing course enrollments should be expected, although it is speculated that this might only be marginal. Over-usage is identified as a major area of future concern.
Privatization of Medicare: Toward Disentitlement and Betrayal of a Social Contract
Authors: Geyman John P.
Published: May 2005

An intense political battle is being waged over the future of U.S. Medicare. The 40-year social contract established with the nation's elderly and disabled is seriously threatened. The basic issue is whether Medicare will remain a universal entitlement program or be privatized and dismantled as an obligation of government. Faced with the growing costs of the Medicare program, changing demographics of an aging population, and long-term federal deficits, conservative interests are promoting further privatization of the program under the guise of increasing beneficiaries' choice and the claimed efficiency of the private marketplace. Following a historical overview of past efforts to privatize Medicare, this article reviews the track record of private Medicare plans over the last 20 years with regard to choice, reliability, cost containment, benefits, quality of care, efficiency, public satisfaction, and fraud. In all of these areas, privatized Medicare has performed less well than original Medicare. Based on the evidence, one has to conclude that privatization of Medicare is detrimental to the elderly and disabled, the most vulnerable groups in our society, and that the only winners in that transformation are private market interests.
Naltrexone Induced Appetite Suppression and Weight Loss
Authors: Kosten Thomas R. , Kleber Herbert D.
Published: May 2005

In a follow-up study, five ex-addicts on naltrexone for five to twelve months had reproducable appetite suppression and a sustained ten to twenty pound weight loss from a baseline of 5 percent to 30 percent above their ideal weight.
Confronting Death and the Concept of Life Review: The Talmudic Approach
Authors: Spero Moshe Halevi
Published: May 2005

This paper reviews the concept of “life review” postulated by Butler and the Eriksonian notion of “integrity versus despair” and compares these with the rabbinic conception of death, its effect on the years preceding death, and preparation for it. The rabbis encouraged this process and considered its ultimate goal to be the heroic and creative act of repentance. This would be analogous to the Eriksonian goal of “wisdom” as the alternative to despair during this life crisis.
National Health Insurance Policy in the United States: A Case of Non-Decision-Making
Authors: Cairl Richard E. , Imershein Allen W.
Published: May 2005

Despite the vast range of commentaries and research on the current health care crisis, little research attention has been focused specifically on the lack of federal response to this crisis. As a way of focusing analysis on the specifics of Congressional inaction, it is suggested that both the range of health care proposals and the current debates in Congress my be seen as part of an ongoing bargaining process over legitimate alternatives for modification of health care delivery. It is argued that the lack of any new health care legislation may be seen as the result of a series of non-decisions by conservative Congressional representatives of the dominant medical interest groups. These non-decisions have successfully excluded any challenges to those interests by reliance upon a predominant “mobilization of bias” to effectively define and/or divert these challenges as illegitimate attempts at change. The changes which eventually evolve from Congressional compromise may represent a modification of the prevailing bias concerning legitimate alternatives, but are unlikely to modify the relation of the controlling interests involved.
Stand-Alone Computer Systems — Our Educational Future
Authors: Bork Alfred
Published: May 2005

We can sketch a number of scenarios for the future of education. All these scenarios involve heavier use of the computer than at present. A number of important or auxiliary devices, such as the videodisc, will also play a role. The trends in modern technology suggest that stand-alone systems, perhaps incorporating the videodisc, will represent the major systems of the future. These systems will be widely available in homes, libraries, and educational institutions. Their use in education will expand greatly.

Alfred Bork is director of the Physics Computer Development Project at the University of California, Irvine. He holds a joint appointment in physics and in computer science. The Irvine group has a worldwide reputation for the development of effective computer-based learning material, and for the development of courses employing such material along with other media. Of particular concern is the development of authoring systems for producing such material. Bork has published extensively in this area; a list of papers is available on request. He received a Distinguished Service Award from The American Association of Physics Teachers in 1976 and was the Millikan Award Lecturer in 1978. Bork is the Physics Series editor for CONDUIT, and is on the Steering Committee of the Conference on Computers in the Undergraduate Curriculum.
Cost-Benefit & Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of the Rapid Onset of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors by Augmentation
Authors: Tome Maria B. , Isaac Michael T.
Published: May 2005

Objective:

This article describes a method for evaluating the value of the increased cost of pharmacologic augmentation of an antidepressant.

Method:

Data to illustrate the method and interpretation of results were derived from a randomized, placebo controlled double blind trial. Eighty outpatients meeting ICD-10 criteria for depressive disorder and scoring > 18 on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) were recruited from a primary care population. All patients received SSRI antidepressant and either “augmenting agent” or placebo. The trial period was six weeks, during which the patients were monitored for changes in depressive symptoms using the MADRS. The economic analysis is based only on direct costs of treatment. The analytic approach includes decision analysis, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit techniques, and a sensitivity analysis.

Results:

The economic analysis was performed on both the intention-to-treat population and the per-protocol population. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol results show that the direct cost of six weeks' treatment with the combination of “augmenting agent” and SSRI antidepressant, if the acceleration effect is taken into account, was more cost effective than the SSRI antidepressant and placebo.

Conclusion:

The direct costs of treatment are higher than those of previous pharmacoeconomic studies, but the rate of onset of antidepressant action must be taken into account. The application of the evaluative model appears valid and useful. The model is pragmatic and should be expanded for generalizability.
Simulation in Navy Training: The Cost Effectiveness of the Simulator Component
Authors: Shoen William R.
Published: May 2005

The use of simulators in Navy training has not been maximized. To a large extent this is because we have not always been able to answer questions concerning their cost effectiveness, nor have we properly integrated them into the training system. The recent introduction of Instructional Systems Development (ISD) methods has provided a tool for correcting the situation. An example of the use of the ISD tool can be found in the developmental proposal for the Class “A” Electronic Equipment Maintenance Training System. “Spin-offs” from the successful development of this system will eventually lead to breakthroughs in our traditional methods of conducting training.