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Selected AbstractsPROACTIVE POLICING AND ROBBERY RATES ACROSS U.S. CITIES,CRIMINOLOGY, Issue 1 2010CHARIS E. KUBRIN In recent years, criminologists, as well as journalists, have devoted considerable attention to the potential deterrent effect of what is sometimes referred to as "proactive" policing. This policing style entails the vigorous enforcement of laws against relatively minor offenses to prevent more serious crime. The current study examines the effect of proactive policing on robbery rates for a sample of large U.S. cities using an innovative measure developed by Sampson and Cohen (1988). We replicate their cross-sectional analyses using data from 2000 to 2003, which is a period that proactive policing is likely to have become more common than that of the original study,the early 1980s. We also extend their analyses by estimating a more comprehensive regression model that incorporates additional theoretically relevant predictors. Finally, we advance previous research in this area by using panel data, The cross-sectional analyses replicate prior findings of a negative relationship between proactive policing and robbery rates. In addition, our dynamic models suggest that proactive policing is endogenous to changes in robbery rates. When this feedback between robbery and proactive policing is eliminated, we find more evidence to support our finding that proactive policing reduces robbery rates. [source] Follow-up of an exercise-based treatment for children with reading difficultiesDYSLEXIA, Issue 2 2007David Reynolds Abstract This study reports the results of a long-term follow-up of an exercise-based approach to dyslexia-related disorders (Reynolds, Nicolson, & Hambly, Dyslexia, 2003; 9(1): 48,71). In the initial study, children at risk of dyslexia were identified in 3 years of a junior school. One half then undertook a 6 month, home-based exercise programme. Evaluation after 6 months indicated that the exercise group improved significantly more than the controls on a range of cognitive and motor skills. Critics had suggested that the improvement might be attributable to artifactual issues including Hawthorne effects; an initial literacy imbalance between the groups; and inclusion of non-dyslexic participants. The present study evaluated the issue of whether the gains were maintained over the following 18 months, and whether they were in some sense artifactual as postulated by critics of the original study. Comparison of (age-adjusted) initial and follow-up performance indicated significant gains in motor skill, speech/language fluency, phonology, and working memory. Both dyslexic and non-dyslexic low achieving children benefited. There was also a highly significant reduction in the incidence of symptoms of inattention. Interestingly there were no significant changes in speeded tests of reading and spelling, but there was a significant improvement in (age-adjusted) reading (NFER). It is concluded that the gains were indeed long-lasting, and that the alternative hypotheses based on potential artifacts were untenable, and that the exercise treatment therefore achieved its applied purpose. Further research is needed to determine the underlying reasons for the benefits. Possible (and potentially synergistic) explanations include: improved cerebellar function (neural level); improved learning ability and/or attentional ability (cognitive level); improved self-esteem and self-efficacy (affective level); and improved parental/familial support (social level). Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Exposure to opioid maintenance treatment reduces long-term mortalityADDICTION, Issue 3 2008Amy Gibson ABSTRACT Aims To (i) examine the predictors of mortality in a randomized study of methadone versus buprenorphine maintenance treatment; (ii) compare the survival experience of the randomized subject groups; and (iii) describe the causes of death. Design Ten-year longitudinal follow-up of mortality among participants in a randomized trial of methadone versus buprenorphine maintenance treatment. Setting Recruitment through three clinics for a randomized trial of buprenorphine versus methadone maintenance. Participants A total of 405 heroin-dependent (DSM-IV) participants aged 18 years and above who consented to participate in original study. Measurements Baseline data from original randomized study; dates and causes of death through data linkage with Births, Deaths and Marriages registries; and longitudinal treatment exposure via State health departments. Predictors of mortality examined through survival analysis. Findings There was an overall mortality rate of 8.84 deaths per 1000 person-years of follow-up and causes of death were comparable with the literature. Increased exposure to episodes of opioid treatment longer than 7 days reduced the risk of mortality; there was no differential mortality among methadone versus buprenorphine participants. More dependent, heavier users of heroin at baseline had a lower risk of death, and also higher exposure to opioid treatment. Older participants randomized to buprenorphine treatment had significantly improved survival. Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander participants had a higher risk of death. Conclusions Increased exposure to opioid maintenance treatment reduces the risk of death in opioid-dependent people. There was no differential reduction between buprenorphine and methadone. Previous studies suggesting differential effects may have been affected by biases in patient selection. [source] Environmental and developmental controls on specific leaf area are little modified by leaf allometryFUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2008R. Milla Summary 1Recent work shows that large leaves tend to require higher biomass investments per unit leaf area than small leaves. As a consequence, specific leaf area (SLA), which is a focus trait for a bulk of physiological and ecological research programs, is dependent on leaf size variation. Here, we address whether size dependency alters the outcome of research dealing with SLA responses to environmental or developmental change. 2We compiled lamina mass (M) and surface area (A) data for 2158 leaves of 26 species, coming from studies investigating the reaction of SLA to variation in rainfall, growth,season length, light intensity, atmospheric CO2, fire frequency, type of branch and leaf and plant age. We fitted the function M = a Ab to the data of each experimental situation separately, and implemented a method to split SLA response as measured in the original study (SLADm) into response due to leaf size dependency (SLADa), and response due to treatment effects, after controlling for leaf size dependency (SLADt). 3The sign of the reaction did not differ between SLADm and SLADt. However, the magnitude of that response changed for most contrasts, though in variable ways. 4Conclusions of past experiments hold, for the most part, after re-analysis including size dependency. However, given the large heterogeneity found here, we advise that future work investigating SLA be prepared to account for leaf size dependency when the factors under focus are suspected to alter leaf size. [source] Application of pharmacokinetic modelling to the routine therapeutic drug monitoring of anticancer drugsFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 4 2002Annick Rousseau Abstract Over the last 10 years, proofs of the clinical interest of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of certain anticancer drugs have been established. Numerous studies have shown that TDM is an efficient tool for controlling the toxicity of therapeutic drugs, and a few trials have even demonstrated that it can improve their efficacy. This article critically reviews TDM tools based on pharmacokinetic modelling of anticancer drugs. The administered dose of anticancer drugs is sometimes adjusted individually using either a priori or a posteriori methods. The most frequent clinical application of a priori formulae concerns carboplatin and allows the computation of the first dose based on biometrical and biological data such as weight, age, gender, creatinine clearance and glomerular filtration rate. A posteriori methods use drug plasma concentrations to adjust the subsequent dose(s). Thus, nomograms allowing dose adjustment on the basis of blood concentration are routinely used for 5-fluorouracil given as long continuous infusions. Multilinear regression models have been developed, for example for etoposide, doxorubicin, carboplatin, cyclophosphamide and irinotecan, to predict a single exposure variable [such as area under concentration,time curve (AUC)] from a small number of plasma concentrations obtained at predetermined times after a standard dose. These models can only be applied by using the same dose and schedule as the original study. Bayesian estimation offers more flexibility in blood sampling times and, owing to its precision and to the amount of information provided, is the method of choice for ensuring that a given patient benefits from the desired systemic exposure. Unlike the other a posteriori methods, Bayesian estimation is based on population pharmacokinetic studies and can take into account the effects of different individual factors on the pharmacokinetics of the drug. Bayesian estimators have been used to determine maximum tolerated systemic exposure thresholds (e.g. for topotecan or teniposide) as well as for the routine monitoring of drugs characterized by a very high interindividual pharmacokinetic variability such as methotrexate or carboplatin. The development of these methods has contributed to improving cancer chemotherapy in terms of patient outcome and survival and should be pursued. [source] ,LE STYLE, C'EST LE DIABLE': TWENTIETH-CENTURY GERMAN POETRY IN DIALOGUE WITH PAUL VALÉRYGERMAN LIFE AND LETTERS, Issue 3 2007Robert Vilain ABSTRACT This article explores the dialectic of rejection and affinity shared by the responses to Paul Valéry of three non-German German-language poets. Despite significant affinities in cultural ambition and poetics (notably between ,L'Âme et la danse' and ,Das Gespräch über Gedichte'), there is little evidence of an influence exerted by Valéry on Hofmannsthal, who was strangely suspicious of him. In contrast, Rilke was hugely enthusiastic, and although his translations of Valéry did not give the often asserted impetus for the creative flowering of 1922, other somewhat uncharacteristic poems (such as ,Zueignung an M.' and ,Der Magier') positively reflect his encounter with Valéry's Mallarméan conception of the poet. However, his versions of Charmes display less poetological proximité than the revisionary effects of a much less overtly self-conscious view of poetry, shown here with ,Les Grenades'. Celan's translation of La Jeune Parque was a systematic attempt to subvert the solipsism of the original study in self-consciousness and ostensibly incarnates his rejection of the aesthetics of an overly intellectual poetry. However, possible reasons why his initial reluctance to translate Valéry was eventually overcome are discernible in the near-contemporaneous speech, ,Der Meridian', which explores the utopian notion of ,freiwerdende Sprache', partly in response to Valéry. [source] Emotional vitality in infancy as a predictor of cognitive and language abilities in toddlerhoodINFANT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2005Amanda J. Moreno Abstract Previous work by our group has shown that infant emotional vitality (EV), the lively expression of shared emotion both positive and negative, predicts cognitive and language abilities in toddlerhood. Specifically, infants who demonstrated a pattern of high emotional expression combined with high bids to their caregivers, fared significantly better on the Bayley II and Preschool Language Scales (PLS-3) at 2 years of age than infants who showed both low expression and low bids to mother. That study was conducted on a large, low-income, ethnically diverse sample. The current study was undertaken with a smaller but demographically similar sample as an effort to demonstrate the value of EV as a construct and to provide additional information about its links with later developmental outcomes. Replication that included a variation in the age at which EV was assessed provides support for the generalizability of the construct. In addition, this study examined EV's effects further into childhood than did the original study in order to insure they are not limited to a brief window in toddlerhood. The results indicate that over and above maternal psychological resources, EV expressed during positive/joyful and frustrating circumstances in 8-month-olds accounted for significant portions of variance in expressive language at 30 months and cognitive-developmental assessments at 24 and 36 months. This study supports EV as an important relational-emotional behaviour that increases experiences that optimize developmental outcomes. Successful replication suggests that EV holds promise as a construct with clinical utility for early interventions attempting to improve developmental outcomes in children from poor families. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Promoting breast health: older women's perceptions of an innovative intervention to enhance screeningINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 2 2006Robin Y. Wood EdD Aims and objectives., This study is a continuation of prior funded research in which we tested the use of age and ethnically sensitive video breast health kits to increase knowledge about breast cancer and enhance the screening practices of breast self-examination and mammography among older Caucasian and African-American women. Background., Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer in women worldwide and accounts for 23% of all cancers. Mammography is currently the best procedure available for mass screening of breast cancer. However, underutilization of mammography is a problem among older women in the United States. Elders are at the greatest risk for developing and dying from breast cancer but they are the least likely group to be screened routinely with mammograms or to practice breast self-examination, particularly if they are African-American. Design., Participatory qualitative evaluation focus groups were used to assess the overall impact of the video kit intervention programme and to elucidate the quantitative findings of the original study. Methods., Four focus groups were conducted in two diverse settings with a purposive sample of 23 participants (N = 23). The overall sample was predominantly African-American (87%) with mean age of 71 ± 7.9 years and mean education completed of 12 ± 3.4 years. Results., Five major themes emerged from group discussions: usability and appeal of the intervention, fear and empowerment, personal relevance and intergenerational sharing, impact on screening behaviours, and story telling. Conclusions., Analyses suggest that customized media materials constructed especially for older African-American women empowered participants in this sample to action regarding their own breast health. Relevance to clinical practice., These findings may translate to global populations where risk is increasing but screening programmes are not widely available. Given that older women are historically difficult to access and impact, further design and evaluation of innovative and sensitive educational programmes such as the one described here are recommended. [source] Stability of choices in a risky decision-making task: a 3-year longitudinal study with children and adultsJOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 3 2007Irwin P. Levin Abstract In a 3-year follow-up to Levin and Hart's (2003) study, we observed the same children, now 9,11 years old, and their parents in the same risky decision-making task. At the aggregate level the same pattern of means was observed across time periods. At the individual level the key variables were significantly correlated across time periods for both children and adults. Taken together with the results from the original study and earlier studies, these results solidify the following conclusions: children utilize both probability and outcome information in risky decision-making; the tendency to make more risky choices to avoid a loss than to achieve a gain of equal magnitude, which is a major tenet of the leading theories of risky decision-making, occurs for children as well as adults; children make more risky choices than adults; temperamental predictors of risky choice are valid for children as well as for adults. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Accuracy of free energies of hydration using CM1 and CM3 atomic chargesJOURNAL OF COMPUTATIONAL CHEMISTRY, Issue 11 2004Blagovi, Marina Udier Abstract Absolute free energies of hydration (,Ghyd) have been computed for 25 diverse organic molecules using partial atomic charges derived from AM1 and PM3 wave functions via the CM1 and CM3 procedures of Cramer, Truhlar, and coworkers. Comparisons are made with results using charges fit to the electrostatic potential surface (EPS) from ab initio 6-31G* wave functions and from the OPLS-AA force field. OPLS Lennard,Jones parameters for the organic molecules were used together with the TIP4P water model in Monte Carlo simulations with free energy perturbation theory. Absolute free energies of hydration were computed for OPLS united-atom and all-atom methane by annihilating the solutes in water and in the gas phase, and absolute ,Ghyd values for all other molecules were computed via transformation to one of these references. Optimal charge scaling factors were determined by minimizing the unsigned average error between experimental and calculated hydration free energies. The PM3-based charge models do not lead to lower average errors than obtained with the EPS charges for the subset of 13 molecules in the original study. However, improvement is obtained by scaling the CM1A partial charges by 1.14 and the CM3A charges by 1.15, which leads to average errors of 1.0 and 1.1 kcal/mol for the full set of 25 molecules. The scaled CM1A charges also yield the best results for the hydration of amides including the E/Z free-energy difference for N -methylacetamide in water. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 25: 1322,1332, 2004 [source] Self-Serving Attributions in Corporate Annual Reports: A Replicated StudyJOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES, Issue 1 2002Eric W. K. Tsang This study is a replication of Bettman and Weitz (1983) in the Singapore context. Data from Letters to Shareholders in 208 annual reports published in 1985 and 1994 were used to analyse the patterns of causal explanations for corporate performance outcomes. The general self-serving pattern of attributions found in the original study was also identified in this study. However, the data of the original study do not unequivocally support either the motivational or informational explanation for the existence of self-serving attributions, whereas the latter explanation is strongly supported by the data of this study. This finding is consistent with the growing evidence provided by cross-cultural psychological research indicating East Asians' greater sensitivity to situational influences when making causal attributions. In short, the present study clearly illustrates the important role of replication in the knowledge accumulation and theory development of strategy research. [source] Oral Health of Young Children in Mississippi Delta Child Care Centers: A Second Look at Early Childhood Caries Risk AssessmentJOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH DENTISTRY, Issue 4 2008Linda H. Southward PhD Abstract Objectives: To identify the predictors of early childhood caries and urgent dental treatment need among primarily African-American children in child care centers in the Delta region of Mississippi. The purpose of this study was to replicate predictors of caries and urgent dental treatment needs that were identified in an earlier study conducted in Delta child care centers and to assess additional caries risk factors not collected in the original study. Methods: Children in 19 child care centers were examined by the dentists, and the parents provided data on oral health practices, oral health history, and on children's oral health-related quality of life (QOL). The dentists also assessed visible plaque and tested levels of mutans streptococci. Predictors of caries and treatment need among children 24 to 71 months of age were examined using logistic regression. Results: Two parent predictors of caries identified in the earlier study (parent flossing and soft/sugary drink consumption) were not predictive in the current study. Parent history of abscess continued to predict their child's urgent need for treatment. Young children's level of salivary mutans streptococci, maxillary incisor visible plaque, and parents' reports of child oral health-related QOL measures predicted the presence of both caries and urgent treatment need. Some expected predictors, such as frequency of child's toothbrushing, were not predictive of caries. Conclusions: Parental abscess and parent's report of the child's oral health-related QOL are risk indicators for poor oral health outcomes that could be used by nondental personnel to identify young children in need of early preventive intervention and dental referral. [source] Design engineers and technical professionals at work: Observing information usage in the workplaceJOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2009Suzie Allard This exploratory study examines how design engineers and technical professionals (hereafter referred to as engineers) in innovative high-tech firms in the United States and India use information in their daily work activities including research, development, and management. The researchers used naturalistic observation to conduct a series of daylong workplace observations with 103 engineers engaged in product design and testing in four U.S.- and two India-based firms. A key finding is that engineers spend about one fourth of their day engaged in some type of information event, which was somewhat lower than the percentage identified in previous research. The explanation may be rooted in the significant change in the information environment and corporate expectations in the last 15 years, which is the time of the original study. Searching technology has improved, making searching less time consuming, and engineers are choosing the Internet as a primary source even though information may not be as focused, as timely, or as authoritative. The study extends our understanding of the engineering workplace, and the information environment in the workplace, and provides information useful for improving methods for accessing and using information, which could ultimately lead to better job performance, facilitate innovation, and encourage economic growth. [source] Creating a Progress-Monitoring System in Reading for Middle-School Students: Tracking Progress Toward Meeting High-Stakes StandardsLEARNING DISABILITIES RESEARCH & PRACTICE, Issue 2 2010Christine Espin In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of curriculum-based measures (CBM) in reading for indexing the performance of secondary-school students. Participants were 236 eighth-grade students (134 females and 102 males) in the classrooms of 17 English teachers. Students completed 1-, 2-, and 3-minute reading aloud and 2-, 3-, and 4-minute maze selection tasks. The relation between performance on the CBMs and the state reading test were examined. Results revealed that both reading aloud and maze selection were reliable and valid predictors of performance on the state standards tests, with validity coefficients above .70. An exploratory follow-up study was conducted in which the growth curves produced by the reading-aloud and maze-selection measures were compared for a subset of 31 students from the original study. For these 31 students, maze selection reflected change over time whereas reading aloud did not. This pattern of results was found for both lower- and higher-performing students. Results suggest that it is important to consider both performance and progress when examining the technical adequacy of CBMs. Implications for the use of measures with secondary-level students for progress monitoring are discussed. [source] A systematic review of prevalence studies of dementia in Parkinson's diseaseMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 10 2005Dag Aarsland MD Abstract Substantial variation in the prevalence of dementia in Parkinson's disease (PDD) has been reported. The aim of this study was to review systematically and critically previous studies of the prevalence of PDD using PubMed to search the literature. Studies focusing on PD and PDD, as well as those examining on the epidemiology of dementia subtypes, were included. Predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria were used and the quality of the studies included was rated. Articles were included if: (1) the proportion of PDD among patients with either PD or dementia was reported in an original study; (2) patients had been subjected to prospective clinical examination; and (3) strategies to include all subjects with either PD or dementia within the community or hospital clinics within a geographical area were employed. Twelve studies of the prevalence of PD or PDD (1,767 patients included) and 24 prevalence studies of dementia subtypes (4,711 patients included) met the inclusion criteria. In the PD/PDD studies, the proportion (mean and 95% confidence interval) with PDD in PD was 24.5% (17.4,31.5). There were significant methodological variations between studies and in the four studies that matched the quality criteria most closely, the rate of PDD was 31.1% (20.1,42.1). The prevalence of PDD was estimated as 0.5% in subjects 65 years or older. The percentage of PDD among those with dementia was 3.6% (3.1,4.1), with an estimated prevalence of PDD of 0.2% in subjects aged 65 years or older. Despite methodological variation, this systematic review suggests that 24 to 31% of PD patients have dementia, and that 3 to 4% of the dementia in the population would be due to PDD. The estimated prevalence of PDD in the general population aged 65 years and over is 0.2 to 0.5%. © 2005 Movement Disorder Society [source] Revisiting the Model Minority Stereotype: Implications for Student Affairs Practice and Higher EducationNEW DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENT SERVICES, Issue 97 2002Bob H. Suzuki The model minority stereotype of Asian Americans is retrospectively analyzed twenty-five years after the author's original study of this issue. The continuing effects of this stereotype in higher education are examined. [source] A New Family Of Coleoids From The Lower Jurassic Of Osteno, Northern ItalyPALAEONTOLOGY, Issue 6 2000Alessandro Garassino The discovery of well preserved and almost complete fossil coleoid cephalopods near Osteno in northern Italy has allowed the original study of a single specimen by Pinna (1972) to be enhanced. The unusual structure of the ten arms, showing a clear differentiation in the shape of the arm hooks (long and thin on six arms and short and stocky on the other four), is a distinctive character which is not present in any Jurassic family of coleoids known to date. We distinguish two new genera: Ostenoteuthis, with the species O. siroi sp. nov., and Uncinoteuthis, with the species U. cuvieri sp. nov. The new family Ostenoteuthidae (Order uncertain) is erected for them. The systematic position of this family within the fossil coleoids is discussed. [source] Mortality of workers employed in shoe manufacturing: An update,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 7 2006Everett J. Lehman MS Abstract Background In the late 1970s, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health identified two shoe manufacturing facilities where workers experienced relatively "pure" exposures to toluene. A mortality study was conducted through December 31, 1982. An original study did not detect elevated leukemia mortality but did detect increased lung cancer mortality. The present study is an update of the mortality of the original cohort. Methods The study cohort consisted of workers employed 1 month or more between 1940 and 1979 at two Ohio shoe manufacturing plants. Vital status was ascertained through December 31, 1999. Results Seven thousand eight hundred twenty eight workers, contributing 300,777 person years, were available for analysis. An excess of lung cancer deaths persisted with additional years of follow-up (SMR,=,1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI),=,1.19,1.54). Trend tests did not indicate a positive trend between lung cancer risk and duration of employment. Mortality from leukemia was not significantly elevated in the updated analysis. Conclusions Results indicate a possible association between lung cancer mortality and exposure to chronic, low-levels of organic solvents. Although the strength of this conclusion was weakened by the lack of increasing lung cancer risk in relation to duration of employment, other studies have supported this association. Am. J. Ind. Med. 49:535,546, 2006. Published 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] A new method for estimating age-at-death from the first rib,AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Elizabeth A. DiGangi Abstract A new method for estimating adult age-at-death from the first rib was developed as a modification of the Kunos et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 110 (1999) 303,323) method. Data were collected on three aspects of the first rib (costal face, rib head, and tubercle facet) for 470 known-age males of Balkan ancestry collected as evidence during investigations conducted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Ages-at-death range from 12 to 90 years (mean of 47.7 years). Several variables were extracted from the original study utilizing all three skeletal aspects of the first rib. This list was modified to 11 variables as preliminary tests on seriations of the samples were undertaken. A cumulative probit model with age measured on a log scale was used to calculate the mean and standard deviation of the ages-of-transition for each component. Multivariate analysis of the three components was also performed. The lowest correlation (r = 0.079, controlling for age) was between the geometric shape of the costal face and the surface texture of the tubercle facet. Assuming a correlation of zero, these two traits were used to calculate the highest posterior density regions for estimating individual ages-at-death. Age-at-death estimates generated from 50 and 95% posterior density regions indicate that this method captures age-related change reaching the ninth decade. The Bayesian statistical approach used here produced a valuable and promising new method for estimating age-at-death. Additional research is necessary to determine if these highest posterior density regions produce results highly correlated with age in other samples and its applicability to females. Am J Phys Anthropol 2009. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Thematic analysis of the experience of making a decision to place a family member with Alzheimer's disease in a special care unit,RESEARCH IN NURSING & HEALTH, Issue 6 2001Howard Karl Butcher Abstract The purpose of this study was to provide an in-depth description of the experience of making the decision to place a family member in a special care unit among a diverse sample of family caregivers. To achieve purposive maximum variation of the sample, the sample of 30 family caregivers was chosen from an original study of 256 family caregivers. The sample was randomly stratified according to ethnicity, gender, and relationship to the care receiver. Three independent researchers used Luborsky's method of thematic analysis to analyze the interviews. After mutual consensus, 1565 themes (descriptive statements) were identified and synthesized into 21 topics. The topics were then synthesized into four patterns describing the decision-making experience: moving toward the unavoidable decision, struggling with the decision, seeking reassurance, and remaining connected. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Res Nurs Health 24:470,480, 2001 [source] Ten-year survival outcome of the nicotine transdermal patch with cognitive behavioural therapyAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 3 2007Robyn L. Richmond Abstract Objective: To follow-up abstainers from the end of their initial treatment over seven points to 10 years. Methods: In the original study there were 305 smokers who were recruited in a double-blind randomised controlled trial. Those subjects who had remained continuously abstinent to seven years (n=20) were followed up to ascertain continuous smoking prevalence to 10 years. Main outcome measure was continuous abstinence. Results: At 10 years, the active nicotine patch group showed significantly higher continuous abstinence rates that were double those of the placebo group (7.9% vs. 2.6%, respectively). The high rate of relapse declined after six months. Conclusions: The nicotine patch leads to superior continuous abstinence over 10 years when compared with placebo. Public health implications: This is the longest follow-up study of continuous smoking abstinence after cognitive behaviour treatment combined with the nicotine patch. [source] Sensitivity analysis of different methods of coding taxonomic polymorphism: an example from higher-level bat phylogenyCLADISTICS, Issue 6 2002Nancy B. Simmons New information concerning strengths and weaknesses of different methods of coding taxonomic polymorphisms suggests that results of some previous studies may have been unintentionally biased by the methods employed. In this study, we demonstrate that a form of sensitivity analysis can be used to evaluate the effects of different methods of coding taxonomic polymorphisms on the outcome of phylogenetic analyses. Our earlier analysis of higher-level relationships of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) employed superspecific taxa as terminals and scored taxonomic polymorphisms using ambiguity coding. Application of other methods of dealing with polymorphisms (excluding variable characters, inferring ancestral states, majority coding) to the same data yields phylogenetic results that differ somewhat from those originally reported based on ambiguity coding. Monophyly of some clades was supported in all analyses (e.g., Microchiroptera, Rhinopomatoidea, and Nataloidea), while other groups found to be monophyletic in the original study (e.g., neotropical Nataloidea) appeared unresolved or nonmonophyletic when other methods were used to code taxonomic polymorphisms. Several groupings that were apparently refuted in the initial study (e.g., Noctilionoidea including Mystacinidae) were supported in some analyses, reducing some of the apparent incongruence between the trees in our earlier analysis (which were based principally on morphology) and other trees based on molecular data. Perceived support for various groupings (branch support, bootstrap values) were in some cases significantly affected by the methods employed. These results indicate that sensitivity analysis provides a useful tool for evaluating effects of different methods of dealing with taxonomic polymorphism in superspecific terminal taxa. Variation in results obtained with different methods suggests that it is always preferable to sample at the species level when higher-level taxa exhibit taxonomic polymorphism, thus avoiding methodological biases associated with different methods of dealing with taxonomic polymorphisms during data analysis. [source] On Thinking Clearly About Taxometrics, Schizotypy, and Genetic Influences: Correction to Widiger (2001)CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY: SCIENCE AND PRACTICE, Issue 3 2003Mark F. LenzenwegerArticle first published online: 11 MAY 200 In a recent commentary on taxometric methods (Meehl, 1973; Waller & Meehl, 1998), Widiger (2001) takes issue with the value of the taxometric approach and offers his views on the use of taxometric methods and the interpretation of taxometric findings. A principal concern of Widiger's is what he terms the "exaggerated implications" (p. 529) that he believes have been offered by investigators who have interpreted taxometric findings. He misrepresents the findings and conclusions of a well-known taxometric study of schizotypy (Lenzenweger & Korfine, 1992) in order to substantiate the claim of "exaggerated implications" and ascribes to the authors of the original study a conclusion not drawn by them. The possible nature of a critical logical error in Widiger's assessment of the Lenzenweger and Korfine study is explored with special reference to the theoretical context of the original schizotypy study. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||