bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Atypical development of language and social communication in toddlers with Williams syndrome
Authors: Laing Emma , Butterworth George , Ansari Daniel , Gsödl Marisa , Longhi Elena , Panagiotaki Georgia , Paterson Sarah , Karmiloff‐Smith Annette 
Published: March 2003

AbstractWilliams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder which results in an uneven cognitive profile. Despite superior language compared to other syndromes in the phenotypic outcome, toddlers with WS are as delayed in their language onset and early linguistic development as are toddlers with other syndromes. The cause of this delay in WS is as yet unknown. In a series of experiments, we examined whether atypical socio‐interactive precursors to language could contribute to the explanation of the late language onset and atypical developmental pathways observed in WS. Experiment 1 showed that despite superficially good social skills, toddlers with WS were only proficient at dyadic interaction. They were impaired in triadic interaction, essential for the referential uses of language, and showed none of the correlations between socio‐interactive markers and language seen in the typical controls. Experiment 2 focused on the comprehension and production of referential pointing. Again, the WS group was impaired, despite vocabulary levels higher than those of typically developing controls. Finally, Experiment 3 examined fine motor skills. The WS lack of pointing could not be explained in terms of motor impairments, since the WS toddlers were proficient at fine motor control, such as the pincer grip. Overall, our data indicate that the early stages of WS language follow an atypical pathway. The findings challenge the frequent claims in the literature that individuals with Williams syndrome have preserved linguistic and social skills.
Application of pharmacological fMRI to developmental psychiatric disorders
Authors: Vaidya Chandan J. 
Published: March 2003

AbstractFunctional magnetic resonance imaging of neural activity induced by pharmacological stimulation (phMRI) is a promising technique for revealing pathophysiology and etiology of developmental psychiatric disorders. Recent investigations of the dopaminergic system have made possible the use of phMRI as a non‐invasive assay for neurotransmitter function. This paper explores applications of phMRI for identification of neurophysiological trait‐dependent and clinical state‐dependent mechanisms that can define biologically valid diagnostic criteria for developmental psychiatric disorders. Further, applications of phMRI for investigations of neurochemical changes induced by long‐term drug exposure, alternative therapies and normal brain maturation are discussed. The paper ends by highlighting methodological challenges posed by experimental control of pharmacological stimulation that is essential for valid interpretation of phMRI results.
The Wreck of Amtrak's Sunset Limited: News Coverage of a Mass Transport Disaster
Authors: Garner Ana C. , Huff W.A. Kelly 
Published: March 2003

Using the 1993 crash of Amtrak's Sunset Limited in Mobile, Alabama, this study examines the safety education provided by seven newspapers. A total of 117 news stories were analysed for five primary themes: overall story category, passenger safety theme, train personnel safety theme, train safety theme and rescue safety. Sixty‐three per cent were found to contain at least one safety theme paragraph within the larger story. A total of 631 paragraphs were identified as safety theme paragraphs, 32 per cent of which were passenger safety themes, 8 per cent were train personnel safety, 31 per cent were train safety and 29 per cent were rescue safety themes. As in previous research, safety themes rarely appeared alone; more often than not, a story contained a mixture of all themes. Some safety themes appeared more frequently than others, but overall, the safety themes present a complete view of the safety issues surrounding the crash.Safety themes are embedded within a story framework which reflects the three stages of disaster news work. Images of normalcy tragically disrupted by the crash abound as do images of passengers escaping and aiding others. Disaster relief personnel and aviation officials are shown working to restore order and solve the mystery of the crash. Within this framework we can learn what to expect when a train crashes and what we might have to do in a similar situation.
Conflict, the Continuum and Chronic Emergencies: A Critical Analysis of the Scope for Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Planning in Sudan
Authors: Macrae Joanna , Bradbury Mark , Jaspars Susanne , Johnson Douglas , Duffield Mark 
Published: March 2003

The concept of the ‘relief‐to‐development continuum’ has been the subject of renewed interest in recent years. Concerned by the rise in relief budgets over the past decade and the absolute fall in development aid resources, support has been growing for the concept of developmental relief. In the context of complex political emergencies, it has been argued further that as effective development aid can reduce vulnerability to the impact of natural hazards, so it might also be used to contribute to a process of conflict prevention. In this way, the concept of the relief‐development continuum has become entwined with broader discussions about the contribution of official development assistance to conflict management.Drawing on a Review of Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), this paper cautions against uncritical application of the concept of the continuum in complex political emergencies, and of rehabilitation in particular, in the current Sudanese context. It argues that in order to move legitimately from relief aid programming to development aid programming, three fundamental conditions must be in place: first, a minimum level of security, respect for human rights and humanitarian access. Second, empirical evidence from the field needs to demonstrate that the emergency is over. Finally, moving from relief to development aid programming is contingent on donor governments accepting the legitimacy of national governmental structures and of the rebel movements. In other words, for donor governments, moving along the continuum is in significant part determined by foreign policy considerations, not only technical ones. Consideration needs to be given to the actual and perceived legitimation of the different movements that a move to rehabilitation might be seen to imply.The paper argues that none of these conditions had been satisfied in Sudan by mid‐1997. Instead of a process of normalisation paving the way to long‐term development, the current situation in Sudan is better described as a chronic political emergency. In such a context, uncritical pursuit of developmental strategies may negatively affect the welfare of conflict‐affected populations.
Targeting the Vulnerable: A Review of the Necessity and Feasibility of Targeting Vulnerable Households
Authors: Jaspers Susanne , Shoham Jeremy 
Published: March 2003

This article examines whether it is possible to target vulnerable households within a geographically defined area. It looks first at the justification for targeting and then reviews recent practical experience in actually trying to reach vulnerable groups. As complex emergencies increasingly last longer, strategies to target vulnerable households are common in the protracted phase of the emergency. While this is often necessary because of a decline in resources, it is not always justified by an improvement in nutritional status or food security of the beneficiary population.Common target groups are the poor and the malnourished, but in complex emergencies these are not always the most vulnerable. Moreover, recent practical experience has shown considerable difficulties in targeting the poor. Methods to target the poor rely on community‐based relief committees, whose priorities are not necessarily the same as those of external agencies. This paper gives examples of such targeted assistance programmes in Kenya, south Sudan and Tanzania. The paper concludes that situations where targeting vulnerable households is justified and feasible are extremely limited. It is suggested that if targeting has to be done because of scarce resources, this should be done on a geographical basis and on the basis of nutritional status. Case‐study material shows that it is essential to understand the political determinants of vulnerability and to design methods that will reach the most vulnerable.
Predictors for People’s Response to a Tornado Warning: Arkansas, 1 March 1997
Authors: Balluz Lina , Schieve Laura , Holmes Talmage , Kiezak Stephanie , Malilay Josephine 
Published: March 2003

On 1 March 1997, powerful tornadoes touched down in Arkansas (USA) on a Saturday afternoon. Twenty‐six fatalities and 400 non‐fatal injuries were reported. We performed a population‐based cross‐sectional study to determine factors associated with appropriate responses to tornado warnings.Of 146 survey participants, 140 (96 per cent) knew the difference between ‘tornado watch’ and ‘tornado warning’ and were aware of when the warning was announced. Of those 140 participants, 64 (45.7 per cent) responded to the warning by seeking shelter, and 58 (90.6 per cent) of those 64 acted within five minutes of hearing the warning. Four factors were positively associated with those seeking shelter: having graduated from high school (OR = 4.2, 95 per cent CI =1.1−15.5); having a basement in one's house (OR = 3.8, 95 per cent exact CI=1.1−17.1); hearing a siren (OR = 4.4, 95 per cent CI = 1.3−18.9); and having prepared a household plan of response when tornadoes occur (OR=2.6, 95 per cent CI = 1.1−>6.3).On the basis of these findings, we recommend: first, that people who live in tornado‐prone areas have a personal plan of action to help them respond immediately to warnings; second, public‐health education officials in areas with frequent tornadic activity should do more to educate the public about what they can do to protect themselves from a tornado; and third, that emergency‐management officials planning protection measures for vulnerable communities should consider that most people have limited time (our study documented five minutes) in which to respond to a tornado warning. Thus, shelters in tornado‐prone areas should be quickly accessible by residents.
Guatemala: Violence in Peacetime ‐ A Critical Analysis of the Armed Conflict and the Peace Process
Authors: Preti Alessandro 
Published: March 2003

The recent history of Guatemala is interpreted here using an interdisciplinary approach inspired by recent development and conflict studies. The author reflects on his experience in peace‐building activities and uses a combination of primary and secondary sources to present the Guatemalan war as a complex political emergency.The first part (a methodological introduction) proposes an analytical framework, taking into account both the root causes and the different functions of violence, in order to achieve a better understanding of contemporary conflicts. In the second and central part of the article, the integrated framework is applied to Guatemala, trying to understand causes and functions of war and negotiation and underlining the existence of structural obstacles to a lasting peace. The conclusions are dedicated to policy implications: if the signing of peace accords represents only a step towards negative peace, the condition for a lasting peace is a strategy for reconciliation and development based on social participation and social justice.
Nouvelles Relations du Travail dans les Entreprises de Service Public
Authors: Moreau Y. 
Published: March 2003

The article presents the labour relations evolutions in five sectors (postal services, telecommunications, electricity, railways, air transport) and in six countries (Great Britain, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain and France).True convergences appear in the management and administration of employment, in human resources management and in social law. However, sectoral diversities exist and national specificities remain strong: each country ’s situation is marked by different national traditions and influenced by the States’ choices. The State appears as a key actor of changes, too often forgotten.Trades union resistance, which varies considerably according to country, represents an important risk for enterprises if they lead to the postponement of necessary changes. But it may also be the chance to ask the right questions, among which are: the future of public utilities in Europe, the possibility of considering a social project for public services enterprises, the place of law in social regulation and the labour law evolution. The choice is doubtless between a pure adjustment of the market law and “a re‐institution of the labour law” by changing the central reference from the employee to a worker having the right to move from one work situation to another (A. Supiot).
Re‐evaluating Asia
Authors: Hoadley Steve 
Published: March 2003

Harland, Bryce Collision Course: America and East Asia in the Past and Future.da Cunha, Derek (ed.) The Evolving Pacific Power Structure.King, Peter and Kibata, Yoichi (eds) Peace Building in the Asia Pacific Region: Perspectives from Japan and Australia.Bell, Roger; McDonald, Tim and Tidwell, Alan (eds) Negotiating the Pacific Century: The ‘New’ Asia, the United States and Australia.Robison, Richard (ed.) Pathways to Asia: The Politics of Engagement.
Old‐age support and care in China in the early 1990s
Authors: Hao Yan 
Published: March 2003

Owing to increased life expectancies and falling fertility, China will have not only the largest aged population but also the most rapid ageing process in the foreseeable future. The need to provide adequate and affordable support and care for the elderly has recently caused both scholars and policymakers concern. By analysing a 1992 sample of the aged in 12 provinces, this paper examines the support and care received by the elderly, focusing on living arrangements, economic security (income sources and levels), physical care, access to health services and emotional support.In the early 1990s old‐age support in China was mainly provided by families, primarily through co‐residence. The coverage of government‐sponsored pension programmes was limited largely to city dwellers. Economically, physically and emotionally, most old people were well cared for, although the rural old and women were relatively disadvantaged. Rural elderly were more likely to still be engaged in productive activities, while old women were more likely than old men to be financially dependent on their children. Women played an important role as care‐givers at home. However, the current familial system is under increasing pressure as the country’s social and economic structure changes drastically. To meet the mounting challenge of the future, early and comprehensive strategies are needed to establish an old‐age support system that brings into full play the state, local communities and individuals.
Poetry and Pacific studies: notes from the field
Authors: Clarke William C. 
Published: March 2003

After many years at the University of the South Pacific (where this paper was written), William Clarke is currently a Visiting Fellow in Resource Management in the Asia‐Pacific Project at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra.Following a brief review of the place of oral poetry and song in Pacific Island societies, aspects of contemporary life are examined through the words of present‐day Pacific poets. Topics examined include tourism, land issues, cultural identity and authenticity, the place of women in Pacific societies, corruption, environmental issues, population growth and urbanisation. A central theme of the discussion is that the poetic voice can heighten our attention towards and understandings of people’s lives and feelings.
Free Market Experiments in the Laboratory of Democracy: The Long Decade of Policy Reform in New Zealand those risks
Authors: Schwartz Herman 
Published: March 2003

Books reviewd in this essay:Christine Cheyne, Mike O’Brien and Michael Belgrave, Social Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Critical IntroductionBrian Easton, The Commercialisation of New ZealandPaul Dalziel and Ralph Lattimore, The New Zealand Macroeconomy: A Briefing on the ReformsRC Mascarenhas, Government and the Economy in New ZealandRaymond Miller (ed.), New Zealand Politics in TransitionGeoffrey Palmer and Michael Palmer, Bridled Power: New Zealand Government Under MMP
Advance Directives, Dementia, and ‘The Someone Else Problem’
Authors: Degrazia David 
Published: March 2003

Advance directives permit competent adult patients to provide guidance regarding their care in the event that they lose the capacity to make medical decisions. One concern about the use of advance directives is the possibility that, in certain cases in which a patient undergoes massive psychological change, the individual who exists after such change is literally a (numerically) distinct individual from the person who completed the directive. If this is true, there is good reason to question the authority of the directive ‐ which is supposed to apply to the individual who completed it, not to someone else. This is ‘the someone else problem’.After briefly introducing advance directives as a basis for medical decision‐making, this paper elaborates ‘the someone else problem’ in the context of severe dementia. The paper then reconstructs the reasoning that leads to this putative problem and exposes the important underlying assumption that we are essentially persons. An alternative view of what we are, one that regards personhood as inessential, is then considered, before several arguments are advanced in favor of that alternative view. The paper next explores implications for advance directives: ‘The someone else problem’ is effectively dissolved, while it is noted that a related problem (one beyond the paper's scope) may persist. A few implications beyond advance directives are also identified.
Logo, motivation, and a project about garden gates in a primary classroom
Authors: Pritchard Alan 
Published: March 2003

This is a description of a unit of work undertaken in a primary (Key Stage Two) classroom. It illustrates an approach to teaching which, in this case, appeared to increase the level of engagement of the children. This increased engagement in turn appears to have led to increased motivation and an improvement in the standard of work produced by the majority of the children in the class.The work involved the measurement of garden gates in the vicinity of the school and the children making use of photographs, measurements and sketches to help them to reproduce the gates as Logo designs. The complexity or simplicity of the end products (Logo designs) was left to the individual children to establish. Naturally help was given on the way and great progress was made by some children in their understanding of the basics of Logo.The teacher was in a position to monitor the progress of the work and in particular to notice increased motivation and enthusiasm for school work generally. It is not possible to show with any certainty that the style of curriculum organisation or the use of Logo were responsible for the increase in motivation but the feeling of the teacher, and of others involved, was that the work undertaken by the children during the school term in question contributed greatly to the children’s enjoyment of school which in turn, it is believed, contributed to the satisfactory progress of the children.This is not a report of an empirical study, but a case study report of one example of “good practice” with a commentary which, it is hoped, will encourage discussion and consideration of ways of organising the primary curriculum and of the use of Logo.
Initial teacher education: a study of the efficacy of computer mediated courseware delivery in a partnership context
Authors: Hacker Roger , Sova Brian 
Published: March 2003

The null hypotheses tested were (1) that the efficacy of computer‐mediated delivery of courseware was not significantly different from that of traditional university delivery methods, and (2) that the efficacy of learning in partnership with schools was not significantly different from university‐based learning.Forty three student teachers of science were assigned to four treatment groups, in a true experimental research design. The same courseware, designed to develop lesson planning skills, was delivered to the four groups. The first group (n = 11) were taught at university, receiving a traditional lecture, supplemented with a seminar. The second group (n = 12) were taught in a partnership context, receiving the traditional lecture at university, supplemented with a courseware package completed with the student's supervising teacher in school. For groups three (n = 10) and four (n = 10), the contexts were the same as for groups one and two respectively, but courseware delivery was via the Internet with e‐mail tutorial support provided by the university lecturer.Students' achievement was pre‐tested and post‐tested. Post‐test scores were subjected to a two‐way analysis of co‐variance, with the delivery strategy (traditional or computer‐mediated) and the context (university‐based or partnership) as factors and the pre‐test scores as co‐variate.Achievement gains were 12% higher when student teachers worked in a partnership context rather than entirely at university. Achievement gains were 15% higher for computer‐mediated delivery when compared with traditional delivery methods. When these two factors were combined achievement gains were 36% higher.
Technology, Narcissism, and the Moral Sense: Implications for Instruction
Authors: Ryan Francis , Bednar Maryanne , Sweeder John 
Published: March 2003

Numerous researchers (Kohn, 1994; Kottler, 1992; Katz, 1993a, 1995; Streibel, 1994; Tingle, 1992) have recently examined the rise of narcissism in American culture and especially its relationship to education. However, William Damon's (1995) analysis of narcissism, which he frames against the larger dynamic of related social and cultural realities, is particularly engaging, although somewhat ominous:“Our heightened concern with children's internal mental states has combined with the increased child‐centeredness of modern times to create crippling imbalances in children's views of themselves and the world. When we tell children that their first goal is self‐love, we are suggesting to them that they are the center of the universe. By contributing further to the already child‐centered orientation of modern culture, this emphasis can push a child toward a narcissistic insensitivity to the needs of others. We should not dispute the value of self‐love, but we should question its utility as a primary goal in raising and educating children.” (p. 77)Damon's assessment of child‐rearing practices offers compelling reasons to reconsider self‐love as the central focus of such practices. His comments are additionally significant because they suggest a causative connection between child‐centeredness and narcissism and between narcissism and social insensitivity. “In citing these connections, Damon is echoing Christopher Lasch's (1979) equally troubling warning made almost twenty years ago in The Culture of Narcissism—a warning linking the ‘culture of narcissism’ to numerous dysfunctions within social institutions, including a multiplicity of failings in schooling.” (Ryan, 1997, p. 233)