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Central Issues (central + issues)
Selected AbstractsCoordinating components in middleware systemsCONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION: PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, Issue 13 2003Matthias Radestock Abstract Configuration and coordination are central issues in the design and implementation of middleware systems and are one of the reasons why building such systems is more complex than constructing stand-alone sequential programs. Through configuration, the structure of the system is established,which elements it contains, where they are located and how they are interconnected. Coordination is concerned with the interaction of the various components,when an interaction takes place, which parties are involved, what protocols are followed. Its purpose is to coordinate the behaviour of the various components to meet the overall system specification. The open and adaptive nature of middleware systems makes the task of configuration and coordination particularly challenging. We propose a model that can operate in such an environment and enables the dynamic integration and coordination of components by observing and coercing their behaviour through the interception of the messages exchanged between them. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Why we're still arguing about the Pleistocene occupation of the AmericasEVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Nicole M. Waguespack Abstract Although empirical issues surround the when, how, and who questions of New World colonization, much of current debate hinges on theoretical problems because it has become clear that our understanding of New World colonization is not resolute.1 In fact, the central issues of debate have remained essentially unchanged for the last eighty years. The now classic and probably incorrect story of New World colonization begins in Late Pleistocene Siberia, with small a population of foragers migrating across Beringia (,13,500 calendar years before present (CYBP) (Box 1) through an ice-free corridor and traveling through the interior of North America. High mobility and rapid population growth spurred southward expansion into increasingly distant unoccupied regions, culminating in the settlement of the Southern Cone of South America. Armed with the skills and weapons needed to maintain a megafauna-based subsistence strategy, early colonists necessarily had the adaptive flexibility to colonize a diverse array of Pleistocene landscapes. For a time, this scenario seemed well substantiated. The earliest sites in South America were younger than their northern counterparts, fluted artifacts were found across the Americas within a brief temporal window, and projectile points capable of wounding elephant-sized prey were commonly found in association with proboscidean remains. The Bering Land Bridge connecting Asia to Alaska and an ice-free corridor providing passage between the Pleistocene ice masses of Canada seemed to provide a clear route of entry for Clovis colonists. However, recent archeological, paleoenvironmental, biological, and theoretical work largely questions the plausibility of these events. [source] ,We didn't know it would get that bad': South Asian experiences of dementia and the service responseHEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2003Alison Bowes BA PhD Abstract The aim of the present paper was to examine some views and experiences of dementia among older South Asian people, as well as their families and carers, and to explore central issues of service support. Data were collected in Scotland through interviews with 11 professionals working with South Asian people with dementia, and four case studies of South Asian people with a diagnosis of dementia, as well as their families and carers. The case studies demonstrated overwhelmingly negative experiences of dementia, with poor quality of life, desperate needs for support, lack of access to appropriate services, little knowledge of dementia, and isolation from community and family life. The interviews with professionals described a strong demand for services, a need to develop awareness and knowledge about dementia in South Asian communities, and a need to promote more culturally sensitive, individually responsive services. Similarities between South Asian people and the non-South Asian population include stress on carers, increasing isolation, problematic diagnostic practices, lack of knowledge and demand for service support. Differences include limited use of non-National Health Service (NHS) support, dealing with later stages of dementia at home, particularly negative views about residential care, culturally based attitudinal differences and use of the term ,dementia' in English as neutral rather than stigmatising. The present authors suggest that there is little knowledge and experience of dementia in South Asian communities, as well as restricted access to appropriate services, despite the efforts of voluntary sector and NHS special projects. There is demand for services, especially at home. Services need to develop individual responsiveness for effective working in a diverse society. [source] Fossilization: five central issuesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Issue 2 2004ZhaoHong Han Second language acquisition research over the past three decades has generated a wide spectrum of different interpretations of "fossilization", a construct introduced by Selinker (1972) for characterizing lack of grammatical development in second language learning. These conceptual differences found in the literature, it has become increasingly clear, create confusion rather than offering clarification, thereby obstructing a coherent understanding of the theoretical notion as well as empirical research findings. This article addresses the conceptual differences by raising and discussing five central issues: (1) Is fossilization global or local? (2) Is L2 ultimate attainment isomorphic with fossilization? (3) Is fossilization a product or a process? (4) Is stabilization synonymous with fossilization? (5) Should empirical studies of fossilization span five years or more? [source] Diaspora Migration: Definitional Ambiguities and a Theoretical ParadigmINTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2000Judith T. Shuval Diaspora migration is one of many types of migration likely to increase considerably during the early twenty-first century. This article addresses the many ambiguities that surround diaspora migration with a view to developing a meaningful theoretical scheme in which to better understand the processes involved. The term diaspora has acquired a broad semantic domain. It now encompasses a motley array of groups such as political refugees, alien residents, guest workers, immigrants, expellees, ethnic and racial minorities, and overseas communities. It is used increasingly by displaced persons who feel, maintain, invent or revive a connection with a prior home. Concepts of diaspora include a history of dispersal, myths/memories of the homeland, alienation in the host country, desire for eventual return , which can be ambivalent, eschatological or utopian , ongoing support of the homeland and, a collective identity defined by the above relationship. This article considers four central issues: How does diaspora theory link into other theoretical issues? How is diaspora migration different from other types of migration? Who are the relevant actors and what are their roles? What are the social and political functions of diaspora? On the basis of this analysis a theoretical paradigm of diasporas is presented to enable scholars to move beyond descriptive research by identifying different types of diasporas and the dynamics that differentiate among them. Use of the proposed typology , especially in comparative research of different diasporas , makes it possible to focus on structural differences and similarities that could be critical to the social processes involved. [source] Inequality and Theorizing in International Relations: The Case for Subaltern RealismINTERNATIONAL STUDIES REVIEW, Issue 3 2002Mohammed Ayoob I argue that the dominant paradigms in IR fail to explain adequately two of the central issues in the international system: the origins of the majority of conflicts and the behavior of the majority of states. These paradigms fail because they formulate generalizations from data drawn from a restricted universe and because they lack historical depth. Both these flaws are related to inequality in the arena of the production of knowledge in IR, which in turn is a function of the inequality in material capabilities in the international system. A supplementary, if not alternative, perspective is needed to correct this situation and fill this gap. We can fashion such a perspective by drawing upon classical realist thought, the historical sociology of state formation, and the normative perspicacity of the English School. Combining their insights and applying them to the analysis of Third World conflict patterns and the external and domestic behavior of Third World states is likely to provide more satisfactory explanations for the origins of the majority of contemporary conflicts. Such an exercise will also shed light on the crucial variables that determine the behavior of the majority of states in the Third World. Moving postcolonial states into the mainstream of theorizing in IR will also help reduce the impact of inequality on the field and open new vistas for theoretically informed scholarly research. I also call for pluralism in international relations theorizing rather than a search for universally applicable law,like generalizations divorced from historical and social contexts. [source] A combinatorial auction improves school meals in Chile: a case of OR in developing countriesINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 6 2004Rafael Epstein Abstract The Chilean State delivers essential meal services at schools for low-income students. Junta Nacional de Auxilio Escolar y Becas, the institution in charge of covering 1,300,000 children, leases the meal service to private enterprises. We developed an integer linear programming model to assign the meal contracts, in a process known as combinatorial auctions. The resulting model, which is NP-hard, led to significant improvements in efficiency and also contributed to making the process more transparent. The results are apparent in substantial improvements in quality and coverage of the service, and important savings to the country, which are equivalent to feeding 300,000 children in addition. We developed techniques to solve the combinatorial models and also to analyze and compare multiple scenarios to find robust solutions. For the objective function of this problem, we analyzed several options to consider different kinds of social benefits. In this paper, we describe the problem, the methodology and the results. We also present empirical results based on 6 years of experience. Finally, we discuss the relevance and impact of using operations research in these central issues in developing countries. [source] Spatially structured genetic variation in a broadcast spawning bivalve: quantitative vs. molecular traitsJOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2003P. C. Luttikhuizen Abstract Understanding the origin, maintenance and significance of phenotypic variation is one of the central issues in evolutionary biology. An ongoing discussion focuses on the relative roles of isolation and selection as being at the heart of genetically based spatial variation. We address this issue in a representative of a taxon group in which isolation is unlikely: a marine broadcast spawning invertebrate. During the free-swimming larval phase, dispersal is potentially very large. For such taxa, small-scale population genetic structuring in neutral molecular markers tends to be limited, conform expectations. Small-scale differentiation of selective traits is expected to be hindered by the putatively high gene flow. We determined the geographical distribution of molecular markers and of variation in a shell shape measure, globosity, for the bivalve Macoma balthica (L.) in the western Dutch Wadden Sea and adjacent North Sea in three subsequent years, and found that shells of this clam are more globose in the Wadden Sea. By rearing clams in a common garden in the laboratory starting from the gamete phase, we show that the ecotypes are genetically different; heritability is estimated at 23%. The proportion of total genetic variation that is between sites is much larger for the morphological additive genetic variation (QST = 0.416) than for allozyme (FST = 0.000,0.022) and mitochondrial DNA cytochrome- c -oxidase-1 sequence variation (,ST = 0.017). Divergent selection must be involved and intraspecific spatial genetic differentiation in marine broadcast spawners is apparently not constrained by low levels of isolation. [source] Focus Introduction: Taking the Measure of Jonathan Edwards for Contemporary Religious EthicsJOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, Issue 2 2003Stephen A. Wilson and The Journal of Religious Ethics marks the tercentenary of Edwards's birth with the following collection of essays. In keeping with the overall mission of the journal, this tribute takes the form of historical and constructive reflection, in which diverse perspectives on Edwards's work and diverse forms of engagement with it supplement and correct one another. Our hope is that these essays will serve both to generate interest in Edwards's work among those who are unfamiliar with him, and to advance the discussion of central issues in theological and religious ethics. In this introductory essay, we will offer some reflections on Edwards's general significance for contemporary ethics, followed by a closer examination of his main texts and a brief summary of the essays collected here. [source] Optimal predictive sample size for case,control studiesJOURNAL OF THE ROYAL STATISTICAL SOCIETY: SERIES C (APPLIED STATISTICS), Issue 3 2004Fulvio De Santis Summary., The identification of factors that increase the chances of a certain disease is one of the classical and central issues in epidemiology. In this context, a typical measure of the association between a disease and risk factor is the odds ratio. We deal with design problems that arise for Bayesian inference on the odds ratio in the analysis of case,control studies. We consider sample size determination and allocation criteria for both interval estimation and hypothesis testing. These criteria are then employed to determine the sample size and proportions of units to be assigned to cases and controls for planning a study on the association between the incidence of a non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and exposition to pesticides by eliciting prior information from a previous study. [source] Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Beliefs About Inclusion of Students with Learning DisabilitiesLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2006Janet R. DeSimone The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate middle school general education mathematics teachers' beliefs and self-perceived knowledge regarding teaching students with learning disabilities (LD) in inclusive classrooms. Teacher beliefs regarding administrative support and higher education teacher preparation were also examined. The Survey on Teaching Mathematics to Students With Learning Disabilities in Middle School was completed by 228 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade general education mathematics inclusion teachers from 19 states. In addition, telephone interviews were conducted with a subset of 26 survey respondents. Frequency analyses were performed on the survey data, with ,2 tests comparing teachers on demographic variables. Follow-up interview responses were summarized to elaborate on the major research questions. The findings revealed three central issues: (1) teachers had a limited understanding of the mathematics learning needs of students with LD, (2) teacher collaboration was judged to be the most beneficial and available resource by general educators teaching students with LD in inclusive mathematics classrooms, and (3) teachers did not feel that teacher education programs at the preservice level and professional development at the inservice level were adequate in preparing them for teaching students with LD in inclusive mathematics classrooms. Implications and recommendations for teacher preparation and program implementation are provided. [source] Sentimental Visions of Empire in Eighteenth-Century StudiesLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 1 2009Lynn Festa This survey of recent critical work on the role played by the sentimental in eighteenth-century representations of empire is organized around four central issues. The first addresses the double-edged use of sentimental writing as a form of ideological mystification , the palliating representation of scenes of colonial violence and imperial exploitation as moments of benevolence or sentimental exchange , and as a form of critique , as a means of representing the causes and consequences of remote actions as an incitement to proper action. The second takes up the way sentimentality is entwined with questions of commerce as a means of thinking about relations across the vast distances of empire, focusing in particular on the way sentimental tropes enabled thinking about the emergence of the global. The third turns to the utility of sentimental language for forging bonds of sympathetic identification with broader communities of nation and of empire, with particular attention to the way the extension of sympathy to another imperils the sanctity of the feeling self, while the final section addresses the way sentimental tropes police the circulation of sympathetic feeling as the means of monitoring the very boundaries of the human in the context of eighteenth-century empire. Throughout I stress the need for more comparative work on the role played by the sentimental not only within different domains of imperial activity but also across periods, disciplines, and national discourses. The essay includes an extensive bibliography of recent studies of eighteenth-century sentimentality in relation to empire. [source] Addressing conflicts in research ethics: consent and risk of harmPHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL, Issue 2 2010Julius Sim Abstract This paper explores some ethical conflicts that may arise in physiotherapy-related research, focusing particularly on the issues of informed consent and avoidance of harm. These central issues in research ethics are defined and related to fundamental moral principles such as respect for autonomy, respect for persons and non-maleficence, and their implications are examined through a set of hypothetical case studies, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. It is argued that these ethical requirements may legitimately be traded off against each other, so that a prima facie need to gain informed consent or to avoid a risk of harm to participants may , within certain limits , be outweighed by other ethical requirements. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Challenges Confronting Contemporary Public Budgeting: Retrospectives/Prospectives from Allen SchickPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 2 2010Naomi Caiden For nearly half a century, Allen Schick's works have explored and analyzed central issues in the role of budgets in modern government. In 2009, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development published Evolutions in Budgetary Practice: Allen Schick and the OECD Senior Budget Officials, a selection of his work, together with new chapters. The book traces developments in budget practices and reforms since the 1980s, relating them to changes in the role of government, and discusses challenges to contemporary budgeting and how they might be met. This collection provides an invaluable insight into Schick's thinking about public budgeting: a perspective on the past, a practical resource for the present, and a guide to the future. [source] The Managed Care Backlash: Perceptions and Rhetoric in Health Care Policy and the Potential for Health Care ReformTHE MILBANK QUARTERLY, Issue 1 2001David Mechanic The focus on managed care and the managed care backlash divert attention from more important national health issues, such as insurance coverage and quality of care. The ongoing public debate often does not accurately convey the key issues or the relevant evidence. Important perceptions of reduced encounter time with physicians, limitations on physicians' ability to communicate options to patients, and blocked access to inpatient care, among others, are either incorrect or exaggerated. The public backlash reflects a lack of trust resulting from cost constraints, explicit rationing, and media coverage. Inevitable errors are now readily attributed to managed care practices and organizations. Some procedural consumer protections may help restore the eroding trust and refocus public discussion on more central issues. [source] The Presumption of Innocence and the Human Rights ActTHE MODERN LAW REVIEW, Issue 3 2004Victor Tadros There has recently been a proliferation of case law dealing with potential inroads into the presumption of innocence in the criminal law of England and Wales, in the light of article 6(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights. This article is concerned with the nature of the presumption of innocence. It considers two central issues. The first is how the courts should address the question of when the presumption of innocence is interfered with. The second is the extent to which interference with the presumption of innocence may be justified on the grounds of proportionality. It is argued that the courts have not developed the appropriate concepts and principles properly to address these questions. [source] Lessons from the origins of eyewitness testimony research in EuropeAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2008Siegfried Ludwig Sporer After 100 years of research I look back at the beginnings of the psychology of eyewitness testimony to assess the ,progress' researchers have made. Specifically, I review the origins of (experimental) psychological research at the first three decades of the 20th century in Central Europe which quickly expanded around the world. Both eyewitness errors (e.g. due to suggestive questioning) as well as intentional distortions of the truth (lies) were thoroughly studied at that time. An eyewitness statement was considered a joint product of cognitive factors and of interrogation. It is argued that many of the central issues that are at the focus of study today had already been addressed in this early period, perhaps even with a broader scope than much contemporary writing. At the end, I propose an integrative model of the psychology of testimony that may help to organise past and future research. Ten theses that address unresolved issues and suggestions for solutions after 100 years of research are outlined. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Public Concerns , Private Longings: Adolph Menzel's Studio Wall (1872)ART HISTORY, Issue 2 2002Françoise Forster-Hahn While this paper focuses on The Studio Wall (1872), one of the most intriguing paintings by Adolph Menzel, the critical analysis of this one image serves as a window onto central issues of modernity: the disjunction , even rupture , between the public and private spheres in an artist's life and work, the fragmentation of, and ambiguity concerning, traditional aesthetic paradigms, and the reciprocal relation of nationalism to the ever-shifting critical reception of art. Rather than insist on one fixed reading, I shall concentrate on the dynamic processes at work which have alternatively concealed or exposed specific layers of meaning. [source] Do maternity care provider groups have different attitudes towards birth?BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 12 2004Birgit Reime Objective To compare family physicians', obstetricians' and midwives' self-reported practices, attitudes and beliefs about central issues in childbirth. Design Mail-out questionnaire. Setting/Population All registered midwives in the province, and a sample of family physicians and obstetricians in a maternity care teaching hospital. Response rates: 91% (n= 50), 69% (n= 97) and 89% (n= 34), respectively. Methods A postal survey. Main outcome measures Twenty-three five-point Likert scale items (strongly agree to strongly disagree) addressing attitudes toward routine electronic fetal monitoring, induction of labour, epidural analgesia, episiotomy, doulas, vaginal birth after caesarean section (VBACs), birth centres, provision educational material, birth plans and caesarean section. Results Cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters based on similar response to the questions. The ,MW' cluster consisted of 100% of midwives and 26% of the family physicians. The ,OB' cluster was composed of 79% of the obstetricians and 16% of the family physicians. The ,FP' cluster was composed of 58% the family physicians and 21% the obstetricians. Members of the ,OB' cluster more strongly believed that women had the right to request a caesarean section without maternal/fetal indications (P < 0.001), that epidurals early in labour were not associated with development of fetal malpositions (P < 0.001) and that increasing caesarean rates were a sign of improvement in obstetrics (P < 0.001). The ,OB' cluster members were more likely to say they would induce women as soon as possible after 41 3/7 weeks of gestation (P < 0.001) and were least likely to encourage the use of birth plans (P < 0.001). The ,MW' cluster's views were the opposite of the ,OBs' while the ,FP' cluster's views fell between the ,MW' and ,OB' clusters. Conclusions In our environment, obstetricians were the most attached to technology and interventions including caesarean section and inductions, midwives the least, while family physicians fell in the middle. While generalisations can be problematic, obstetricians and midwives generally follow a defined and different approach to maternity care. Family physicians are heterogeneous, sometimes practising more like midwives and sometimes more like obstetricians. [source] Intimate partner violence and child abuse: a child-centred perspectiveCHILD ABUSE REVIEW, Issue 1 2010Chris Goddard Abstract A substantial body of literature assessing the impact of intimate partner violence on children and associations between intimate partner violence and child abuse now exists. Central to knowledge about these areas of practice and research is a robust, child-centred consideration of some of the more challenging conceptual issues they give rise to. In this paper, we aim to stimulate debate by presenting a critical, child-centred perspective on the intersection between intimate partner violence and child abuse. Initially, we provide the context for the review by presenting a brief overview of the literature. We then consider three central issues from a child-centred perspective. We discuss the language used to describe children forced to live with intimate partner violence, and the importance of hearing children's perspectives on their experiences of such conflict. Finally, we consider similarities and differences between the intimate partner violence and child abuse fields from a child-centred viewpoint. We conclude that increasing conceptual clarity around these issues will enhance research in the field, and ultimately improve interventions designed to protect children forced to live with intimate partner violence. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||