bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Structural Safety Analysis of Bow Doors
Authors: Karlsson U B , Ulfvarson A 
Published: August 2006

Bow doors are one of the most vulnerable parts on a RoRo vessel. At the same time, they are necessary for the profitability of today's RoRo vessels. The minimum design rules for bow-door systems, stated in the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS) UR S8, constitute the basis for the class rules. In this work, the Rules of IACS UR S8 have been assessed regarding the structural integrity for bow doors of the ‘clam door’ type. The work is based on previous damage, compared to the design rules, so as to find weaknesses in the rules. Damage was mapped and weak points in the rules as well as in the design and construction stages were identified. For the problem areas found, part analyses were performed. Fractures and cracks dominate as being the cause of damage to bow-door systems. In most of these cases, cracks in welds are involved. Fatigue appears to be a major cause for the development of fractures and cracks. Assuming the bow door as being a rigid body and distributing the forces equally on each support, as prescribed by IACS UR S8, appears to be an approach that leads to inadequate results. The deformation of the door causes the loads on the supports to differ significantly and the real pressure distribution subjects the lower supports to much higher loads then the upper ones. It is common with gaps between the supports in the doors and the corresponding ones in the hull. These gaps considerably affect the load distribution on the supports.
Characteristics of younger and older men with urethral chlamydial infection
Authors: Arnot D J , Manavi K , McMillan A 
Published: August 2006

This study examined some characteristics of male clinic attenders with urethral chlamydial infection. The prevalence of urethral chlamydial infection among heterosexual men (men who have sex with women [MSW]) was 446 (17%) of 2684 men. Men aged 16–34 years were more likely to have chlamydiae than older men with only casual partners (χ2 = 16.08; P = 0.001). Infected younger men with casual partners had more partners than uninfected men (median 2.0 [interquartile range [IQR] 1.0] versus 1.0 [IQR 1.0]) ( P<0.05). However, this was not true of older men (median number of partners 1.0 [IQR 1.0] versus 1.0 [IQR 1.0]) ( P>0.05). Consistent condom use by younger but not by older men was associated with a lower prevalence of chlamydial infection compared with those whose use of condoms was inconsistent (χ2 = 19.75; P<0.001). Our results suggest that chlamydia testing should be offered to any MSW, irrespective of his age, who has had a new partner.
Medical student attitudes towards HIV
Authors: Ivens D , Sabin C 
Published: August 2006

The aim of the study was to determine medical student attitudes towards HIV-related issues, to examine if the following student factors can affect attitudes: gender, perception of HIV infectivity, exposure to an HIV+ individual, career intent and attending a clinical attachment. A self-administered questionnaire was given to students at the beginning and end of a clinical attachment. Of the 240 questionnaires handed out at the beginning of the attachment, 183 (76%) were completed. Students generally expressed positive attitudes towards people with HIV. Female students and individuals who had considered working in a related specialty or had met an HIV+ person expressed more patient-centred attitudes in some of their responses. Following the course, 72 questionnaires were returned. Responses to several of the attitudinal statements had changed significantly. Medical students generally have enlightened attitudes towards HIV-related issues, which may be affected by student factors and attending a clinical attachment.
Confidentiality is essential if young people are to access sexual health services
Authors: Thomas N , Murray E , Rogstad K E 
Published: August 2006

A survey was undertaken to determine the importance of confidentiality of sexual health clinics to young people, and their preferences for service provision. A questionnaire was given to school attenders in year 9 (age 13–14 years) at four comprehensive schools. Class leaders assisted students with literacy or language difficulties. Two hundred and ninety five questionnaires were distributed and all were returned (male 143 (48.5%), female 152 (51.5%). In all 199 (67.5%) had never used sexual health services. The importance of confidentiality (asked in two differently worded questions) was rated as 8.84 and 8.59 (mean) on a scale of 1 (not important) to 10 (very important), 166 (56.3%) rated confidentiality as most important feature of service and 254 (86.1%) were more likely to use a service if it was confidential; 161 (54.6%) would not use service if it were not confidential. Two hundred and sixty-six (90.2%) would give honest answers in a confidential service; 186 (63.1%) would not attend if they thought that child protection services would be informed; 136 (46.1%) would not want general practitioner informed of attendance; 209 (70.8%) would like regular sexual health check ups; 150 (50.8%) would prefer a young people clinic, but only 105 (35.6%) prefer a 'one-stop shop'. This study shows that confidentiality is extremely important to young people considering using a sexual health service. It is the first UK study to show that if confidentiality is lost, young people may not attend, or may not be honest when they utilize a sexual health service. This is particularly relevant at the moment in light of the threat to confidentiality for young people attending sexual health services.
Circumcision in Australia: prevalence and effects on sexual health
Authors: Richters Juliet , Smith Anthony M A , de Visser Richard O , Grulich Andrew E , Rissel Christopher E 
Published: August 2006

The results from a telephone survey in 2001–02 of a probability sample of Australian households including 10,173 men aged 16–59 (response rate 69.4%) are used to assess the prevalence of circumcision across social groups in Australia and examine lifetime history of sexually transmissible infection (STI), sexual difficulties in the last year, sexual practices including masturbation, and sexual attitudes. More than half (59%) of the men were circumcised. Circumcision was less common among younger men (32% aged <20) and more common among the Australian born (69%). After correction for age, circumcision was unrelated to reporting STI, but appeared to protect against penile candidiasis. Circumcision was unrelated to most sexual difficulties, but circumcised men were less likely to report physical pain during intercourse or trouble keeping an erection; reasons for this are unknown. There were no significant differences in practices at last sexual encounter with a female partner or in masturbation alone. Circumcised men had somewhat more liberal sexual attitudes. Neonatal circumcision was routine in Australia until the 1970s. It appears not to be associated with significant protective or harmful sexual health outcomes. This study provides no evidence about the effects on sexual sensitivity.
Book reading styles in dual‐parent and single‐mother families
Authors: Blake Joanna , Macdonald Silvana , Bayrami Lisa , Agosta Vanessa , Milian Andrea 
Published: August 2006

Background. Whereas many studies have investigated quantitative aspects of book reading (frequency), few have examined qualitative aspects, especially in very young children and through direct observations of shared reading.Aim. The purpose of this study was to determine possible differences in book‐reading styles between mothers and fathers and between mothers from single‐ and dual‐parent families. It also related types of parental verbalizations during book reading to children's reported language measures.Sample. Dual‐parent (29) and single‐parent (24) families were observed in shared book reading with their toddlers (15‐month‐olds) or young preschoolers (27‐month‐olds).Method. Parent–child dyads were videotaped while book reading. The initiator of each book‐reading episode was coded. Parents' verbalizations were exhaustively coded into 10 categories. Mothers completed the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, and the children were given the Bayley scales.Results. All parents differentiated their verbalizations according to the age rather than the gender of the child, but single mothers imitated female children more than males. Few differences in verbalizations were found between mothers and fathers or between mothers from single‐ and dual‐parent families. Fathers allowed younger children to initiate book‐reading episodes more than mothers. For both age groups of children, combined across families, verbalizations that related the book to the child's experience were correlated with reported language measures. Questions and imitations were related to language measures for the older age group.Conclusions. The important types of parental verbalizations during shared book reading for children's language acquisition are relating, questions and imitations.
Peer victimization and depression in early–mid adolescence: A longitudinal study
Authors: Sweeting Helen , Young Robert , West Patrick , Der Geoff 
Published: August 2006

Background. Despite considerable evidence for psychological distress among children and young people who experience peer victimization, cross‐sectional studies cannot determine the direction of the relationship. Several recent studies have examined associations between victimization and distress. The majority find evidence for both directions but do not arbitrate between them; only one prior study has attempted to do this.Aims. To use longitudinal data to: (1) test competing hypotheses about the direction of the victimization–depression association; (2) investigate gender differences in the resulting models.Sample. Data were obtained from a Scottish school‐based cohort (N = 2,586).Methods. Self‐completion questionnaires included a depression scale and questions on victimization at each age.Results. Despite shifts in and out of victim status, there was evidence of stability in both victimization and depression. Bivariate analyses showed positive relationships between victimization and depression. Structural equation modelling (SEM) showed that at age 13, this relationship was reciprocal, with a stronger path from victimization to depression than vice versa. However, at age 15, it was almost entirely due to a path from depression to victimization among boys. Models including cross‐lagged paths fitted the data less well than those including simultaneous associations.Conclusions. Current policy focuses on victimization as a cause of distress; however, professionals should be aware that vulnerable children and young people are likely to be the targets of victimization.
The Approaches to Teaching Inventory: A critique of its development and applicability
Authors: Meyer Jan H. F. , Eley Malcolm G. 
Published: August 2006

Background. The Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI) is structured as two main scales, reflecting a teacher‐centred information‐transmission approach versus a student‐centred conceptual‐change approach, each subdivided into intention and strategy subscales. Its use in higher education investigations is increasing and, by default, it is assuming an operational definition of variation in ‘approaches to teaching’. However, the ATI's conceptual foundations and procedures of development have not been systematically scrutinized.Aims. The present paper presents a comprehensive historical review and critique of the ATI's development.Method. The procedures applied in the ATI's initial development are critically evaluated. Close attention is paid to the source of its foundation item pool, the criteria used in selecting from those foundation items, the adequacy of subject samples used in item trialling and the uses made of resultant trial response data in determining the final form of the inventory. The historical record is examined closely to determine the conceptual and psychometric credibility of the instrument.Conclusions. There are serious and irreversible concerns with the rigour and methodology adopted in the psychometric development of the ATI. The ATI manifestly does not reflect a functionally useful range of ‘approaches to teaching’, and its application to activities connected with the professionalization (and evaluation) of university teaching is rejected.
The role of learning to read in the development of problem behaviour: A cross‐lagged longitudinal study
Authors: Halonen Anne , Aunola Kaisa , Ahonen Timo , Nurmi Jari‐Erik 
Published: August 2006

Background. This study investigates the posited relationship between learning to read, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours, during the transition from preschool to primary school.Methods. A total of 196 (104 boys, 92 girls) children participating in the Jyväskylä Entrance into Primary School (JEPS) study were followed up six times during their transition from preschool to primary school. At each measurement, the children's reading performance was tested. Moreover, their internalizing and externalizing problem behaviour was examined by means of structured interviews.Results. The results showed that problems in reading acquisition predicted an increase in internalizing problem behaviour during the preschool year and first grade, whereas during the second grade they were associated with an increase in subsequent externalizing problem behaviour. Moreover, from preschool to the beginning of the primary school internalizing problem behaviour predicted subsequent externalizing problem behaviour. Later on during the first and the second primary school years, it was externalizing problem behaviour that predicted an increase in internalizing problem behaviour.Conclusions. The results of this study suggested that difficulties in learning to read, and internalizing and externalizing problem behaviours are developmentally linked in a cumulative manner.
Comparing groups in a before–after design: When t test and ANCOVA produce different results
Authors: Wright Daniel B. 
Published: August 2006

Background. Researchers often test people before and after some treatment and compare these scores with a control group. Sometimes it is not possible to allocate people into conditions randomly, which means the initial scores for the two groups may differ. There are two main approaches: t test on the gain scores and ANCOVA partialling out the initial scores. Lord (1967) showed that these can lead to different conclusions. This is an often‐discussed paradox in psychology and education.Aims.  The reasons why these approaches can lead to different conclusions, the assumptions that each approach makes and how the approaches relate to group allocation, are discussedMethods.  Three sets of simulations are reported that investigate the relationships among effect size, group allocation, measurement error and Lord's paradox.Conclusions.  Recommendations are given that stress careful examination of the research questions, sampling and allocation of participants and graphing the data. ANCOVA is appropriate when allocation is based on the initial scores, t test can be appropriate if allocation is associated non‐causally with the initial scores, but often neither approach provides adequate results.
An assessment of anxiety levels in dyslexic students in higher education
Authors: Carroll Julia M. , Iles Jane E. 
Published: August 2006

Background. It has long been hypothesized that children with learning disabilities, including dyslexia, may be highly vulnerable to emotional consequences such as anxiety. However, research has centred on school‐aged children.Aims. The present study aimed to clarify these findings with dyslexic students in higher education.Samples. Sixteen students with dyslexia were compared with 16 students with no history of learning difficulties.Methods. Students were asked to complete a written questionnaire concerning trait anxiety levels. They were then told that they would be given a timed reading test and their state anxiety levels were measured using the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1983). Finally, their reading was assessed using the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE; Torgesen, Wagner, & Rashotte, 1999).Results. Dyslexic students showed slower reading speeds than controls. They also had higher levels of state anxiety and elevated levels of academic and social, but not appearance, anxiety.Conclusions. Dyslexic students in higher education show anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without learning difficulties. This anxiety is not limited to academic tasks but extends to many social situations. It is proposed that assessment of emotional well‐being should form part of the assessment of need for dyslexic students entering higher education.
Brief psychoeducation for people with personality disorder: A pilot study
Authors: Banerjee Penelope , Duggan Conor , Huband Nick , Watson Neil 
Published: August 2006

Background. The Patients' Charter for Mental Health Services (DOH, 1997) states that a patient is entitled to both know and understand his or her diagnosis. Despite this, personality disordered clients are not always well informed about their disorder. Some will not be told their diagnosis because of concern that to do so would damage the therapeutic alliance.Objective. To test the hypothesis that the therapeutic alliance is not compromised by engaging in a psychoeducation programme that informs about personality disorder.Design. Pilot study, pre‐post design.Methods. Eighteen forensic in‐patients and 16 community out‐patients separately participated in a 4‐session individual programme that focused on personality, personality disorder, and their own diagnosis. Understanding of these concepts was explored in a brief structured interview. Therapeutic alliance was assessed pre‐ and post‐intervention using the Agnew relationship measure.Results. For both samples, participation in the intervention resulted in a positive change in four of the five measured components of the therapeutic alliance. This change was rated more strongly by clients than therapists, and reached statistical significance for bond, partnership, and confidence subscales. Participants demonstrated improved knowledge of their disorder following the intervention, and all but one gave positive feedback.Conclusion. These findings support the hypothesis and suggest the therapeutic relationship is not impaired when a diagnosis of personality disorder is imparted using this psychoeducation programme.
Strength of Sands in Wedge Shear, Triaxial Shear, and Shear Box Tests
Authors: Mirata T , Erzin Y 
Published: August 2006

Abstract
Limited tests had indicated peak drained values of angle of internal friction Φ of gravelly sands measured in the cylindrical wedge shear test (cylwest) to be relatively closer to the Φ expected from plane strain tests than from triaxial tests. Such a difference was not obtained between the results of the prismatic wedge shear test (priswest) and the triaxial test on gravels and crushed rock. In this study, six sands with &lt;3.35 mm particles were tested. It was seen that the main reason for the difference between the Φ values from cylwests and priswests was the difference in the angle δ between the shear plane and the bedding planes. Cylwests, in which δ was nearly the same as in triaxial tests, gave results close to those expected from plane strain tests, and almost identical results to those obtained from shear box tests on specimens so prepared as to make δ the same.
Evaluation of Various Pedo-Transfer Functions for Developing Soil-Water Characteristic Curve of a Silty Soil
Authors: Thakur VKS , Sreedeep S , Singh DN 
Published: August 2006

AbstractThis paper describes development of the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) of a silty soil by measuring its matric suction _m, corresponding to different gravimetric water contents w. To achieve this, a field tensiometer and a dew point potentiameter (WP4) were employed. For this soil, the SWCC was determined indirectly using the estimation algorithms known as pedo-transfer functions (PTFs), which are based on volume-mass properties and the grain-size distribution characteristics, and are available in a commercial database SoilVision. In addition to this, experimental results were used for developing the SWCC of the soil, using various fitting functions cited in the literature and available in the database. An attempt has been made in this technical note to demonstrate the usefulness of these three methods for obtaining the SWCC of the silty soil. The study reveals that the PTFs developed previously to estimate SWCCs match very well with the experimental results.
Deicer Salt Scaling Resistance of Concrete Containing Manufactured Sands
Authors: Dilek U , Leming ML 
Published: August 2006

Abstract
Manufactured sands are produced by crushing rock deposits to produce a fine aggregate which is generally more angular and has a rougher surface texture than naturally weathered sand particles. Manufactured sands can also contain significant quantities of rock dust. As natural sand deposits become depleted near some areas of metropolitan growth, the use of manufactured sands as a replacement fine aggregate in concrete is receiving attention.
Designers, specifiers, contractors, and material suppliers need to understand the effects of manufactured sand particle shape characteristics and angularity as well as fines content on concrete water demand and concrete durability, including the effects of interrelationships between manufactured sand characteristics.
As part of a comprehensive research program, manufactured sand properties and their effects on fresh concrete properties, mechanical properties and concrete durability were investigated.
Concrete containing commercially available manufactured sands with a wide range of particle angularities and fines contents were included in the laboratory testing program on deicer salt scaling. Angularity of particles and quantity of fines were found to contribute to salt scaling.