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Referent
Kinds of Referent Terms modified by Referent Selected AbstractsManipulating honorifics in the construction of social identities in Japanese television drama1JOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 4 2010Andrew Barke This study examines culturally-based ideologies concerning the use of Japanese honorifics in the construction of social identities through an analysis of dialogues in a Japanese television drama. The study assumes that the underlying or encoded meaning of Japanese honorific forms is social/psychological distance and considers ways in which speakers utilise differences in the encoded meanings of honorifics to construct a variety of social identities, including those that reflect membership within particular communities of practice. It also looks at how implicatures that arise through marked use of honorific forms are used to achieve specific interactional goals such as the expression of (im)politeness and the marking of change in the speaker's attitude toward the addressee/referent. [source] The referential communication skills of children with imaginary companionsDEVELOPMENTAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2008Anna C. Roby The present study investigated the referential communication skills of children with imaginary companions (ICs). Twenty-two children with ICs aged between 4 and 6 years were compared to 22 children without ICs (NICs). The children were matched for age, gender, birth order, number of siblings, and parental education. All children completed the Test of Referential Communication (Camaioni, Ercolani & Lloyd, 1995). The results showed that the children with ICs performed better than the children without ICs on the speaker component of the task. In particular, the IC children were better able to identify a specific referent to their interlocutor than were the NIC children. Furthermore, the IC children described less redundant features of the target picture than did the NIC children. The children did not differ in the listening comprehension component of the task. Overall, the results suggest that the IC children had a better understanding of their interlocutor's information requirements in conversation. The role of pretend play in the development of communicative competence is discussed in light of these results. [source] Exposure to cannabis in popular music and cannabis use among adolescentsADDICTION, Issue 3 2010Brian A. Primack ABSTRACT Background Cannabis use is referenced frequently in American popular music, yet it remains uncertain whether exposure to these references is associated with actual cannabis use. We aimed to determine if exposure to cannabis in popular music is associated independently with current cannabis use in a cohort of urban adolescents. Methods We surveyed all 9th grade students at three large US urban high schools. We estimated participants' exposure to lyrics referent to cannabis with overall music exposure and content analyses of their favorite artists' songs. Outcomes included current (past 30 days) and ever use of cannabis. We used multivariable regression to assess independent associations between exposures and outcomes while controlling for important covariates. Results Each of the 959 participants was exposed to an estimated 27 cannabis references per day [correction added on 19 January 2010, after first online publication: 40 has been changed to 27] (standard deviation = 73 [correction added on 19 January 2010, after first online publication: 104 has been changed to 73]). Twelve per cent (n = 108) were current cannabis users and 32% (n = 286) had ever used cannabis. Compared with those in the lowest tertile of total cannabis exposure in music, those in the highest tertile of exposure were almost twice as likely to have used cannabis in the past 30 days (odds ratio = 1.83; 95% confidence interval = 1.04, 3.22), even after adjusting for socio-demographic variables, personality characteristics and parenting style. As expected, however, there was no significant relationship between our cannabis exposure variable and a sham outcome variable of alcohol use. Conclusions This study supports an independent association between exposure to cannabis in popular music and early cannabis use among urban American adolescents. [source] Coxibs: evolution of prescription's behaviour in FranceFUNDAMENTAL & CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Julie Biga Abstract The aim of the present study was, first to characterize profiles of coxibs' prescribers [general practitioners (GPs) and rheumatologists] in 2002 in France and, secondly, to identify factors associated with modification of this profile 1 year later. All GPs and rheumatologists from Midi-Pyrenees, Aquitaine, Languedoc-Roussillon and Pays de Loire areas (South of France: 11 050 000 inhabitants) were included in the study. For each practitioner, we used data concerning all non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) including coxibs reimbursed during period 1 (P1; January,March 2002) and period 2 (P2; January,March 2003). The ratio between the number of coxibs' prescriptions and the total number of NSAIDs' prescriptions (including coxibs) was used to define the two profiles of prescribers, one with a low level of coxibs' prescriptions and another one with a high level of coxibs' prescriptions. Characteristics of practitioners and characteristics of their practices were compared according to this profile. In the second step, we investigated the characteristics (of practitioners and practices) associated with an increase in the level of coxibs' prescriptions in P2 for practitioners with a low level of coxibs' prescriptions in P1. Results are expressed as odds ratio with their 95% confidence intervals. A positive statistical link was found between a high level of coxibs' prescriptions, the speciality of rheumatologist or extra costs for consultation. In contrast, a negative association was observed with female gender or age below 44 years. No relationship was found with the status of referent. Concerning practices' characteristics of practitioners, there was a positive statistical link between a high ratio of coxibs' prescriptions and high co-prescriptions of gastroprotective agents and a negative association with a high number of acts, a high proportion of patients with chronic disabling diseases (CDD) or a high number of patients between 15 and 64 years. There was no statistical link with proportion of patients covered by Universal Medical Coverage (UMC) or aged more than 65 years. Among the factors involved in the increase in the ratio (between P1 and P2), no relationship was found with practitioners' characteristics. In contrast, some factors related to practices (level of gastroprotective co-prescriptions, number of acts, number of CDD patients) were related to a change in coxibs' prescriptions between P1 and P2. This study allowed to discuss some relationships between coxibs' prescription and practitioners' (age, gender, medical speciality or extra costs for consultation) or practices' (level of medical practice, patients' age, number of CDD patients or level of gastroprotective prescriptions) characteristics. In contrast, some other factors like the referent status or the number of patients with UMC are not related. Physicians, initially low prescribers of coxibs and increasing their coxibs' prescriptions during the period of our study, were those with a high level of gastroprotective prescriptions, a low number of acts or a small proportion of CDD patients. [source] Language Experience Shapes the Development of the Mutual Exclusivity BiasINFANCY, Issue 2 2010Carmel Houston-Price Halberda (2003) demonstrated that 17-month-old infants, but not 14- or 16-month-olds, use a strategy known as mutual exclusivity (ME) to identify the meanings of new words. When 17-month-olds were presented with a novel word in an intermodal preferential looking task, they preferentially fixated a novel object over an object for which they already had a name. We explored whether the development of this word-learning strategy is driven by children's experience of hearing only one name for each referent in their environment by comparing the behavior of infants from monolingual and bilingual homes. Monolingual infants aged 17,22 months showed clear evidence of using an ME strategy, in that they preferentially fixated the novel object when they were asked to "look at the dax." Bilingual infants of the same age and vocabulary size failed to show a similar pattern of behavior. We suggest that children who are raised with more than one language fail to develop an ME strategy in parallel with monolingual infants because development of the bias is a consequence of the monolingual child's everyday experiences with words. [source] Can Infants Use a Nonhuman Agent's Gaze Direction to Establish Word,Object Relations?INFANCY, Issue 4 2009Laura O'Connell Adopting a procedure developed with human speakers, we examined infants' ability to follow a nonhuman agent's gaze direction and subsequently to use its gaze to learn new words. When a programmable robot acted as the speaker (Experiment 1), infants followed its gaze toward the word referent whether or not it coincided with their own focus of attention, but failed to learn a new word. When the speaker was human, infants correctly mapped the words (Experiment 2). Furthermore, when the robot interacted contingently, this did not facilitate infants' word mapping (Experiment 3). These findings suggest that gaze following upon hearing a novel word is not sufficient to learn the referent of the word when the speaker is nonhuman. [source] (Re)presenting experience: a comparison of Australian Aboriginal children's sand play in two settingsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 1 2008Ute Eickelkamp Abstract This paper examines how Australian Aboriginal children present and re-present experience in their symbolic play. Based on anthropological field research in one location and therapeutic work in another, it reports from a psychodynamic perspective how the Indigenous children create meaning on the personal and social level in two distinctive play forms. These are a traditional sand story game played by Anangu Pitjantjatjara girls in a remote Western Desert community in Central Australia, and the European sand play therapy that was introduced as part of an intervention program in a Tiwi Islands community off the northern coast. In phenomenological terms, both techniques draw on the symbolizing activity of the lived body (Schilder, 1950, 1951; Merleau-Ponty, 1961; Scheler, 1973) or, in the language of organismic-developmental theory, physiognomizing processes (Werner and Kaplan, 1984). These processes are seen to rest on the primary human capacity for imagination (Castoriadis, 1987). However, the schematizing activity that creates a meaningful relationship between symbol and referent (Werner and Kaplan, 1984) is specific to each play form. Set up retrospectively as a comparison, the discussion leads to the observation that the self-directed play in the natural social setting is of a higher symbolic order (re-presentational) than the externally induced play in the artificial social setting that indicates spontaneous linkages between symbol and referent (presentational). It is suggested that this raises certain questions about the potentially therapeutic effect of children's symbolic play. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Circulating enterolactone and prostate cancer risk: A Nordic nested case-control studyINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2002Pär Stattin Abstract Enterolactone, a phytoestrogen belonging to the class of lignans, is produced by the intestinal microflora from precursors in plant foods and has been implicated in protection against cancer. We study the effect of enterolactone on the risk of a subsequent diagnosis of prostate cancer. We conducted a longitudinal, nested case-control study by linkage of 3 biobanks to the cancer registries in Finland, Norway and Sweden, respectively. Enterolactone concentrations were measured by time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay in serum from 794 men who had a diagnosis of prostate cancer at a mean follow-up time of 14.2 years after blood collection and among 2,550 control men matched within each cohort for age (±2 years), date of blood collection (±2 months) and county. The median enterolactone concentrations did not differ between case and control subjects in the full study group (8.4 nmol/L [25th,75th percentile = 4.5,15.0] vs. 8.5 nmol/L [25th,75th percentile = 4.3,15.9]), nor in the national groups. Odds ratios of prostate cancer risk estimated by conditional logistic regression for increasing concentrations of enterolactone in quartiles in the full study group were 1.00 (referent), 1.21 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.96,1.52), 1.16 (95% CI = 0.91,1.47) and 1.08 (95% CI = 0.83,1.39). The OR estimate for the highest vs. the lowest quartile of enterolactone in separate analyses of the Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish cohort was 1.21 (95% CI = 0.91,1.60), 1.02 (95% CI = 0.59,1.76) and 0.87 (95% CI = 0.45,1.67), respectively. No support for the hypothesis that high circulating enterolactone is protective against prostate cancer was found. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Birth outcomes in women with eating disorders in the Norwegian Mother and Child cohort study (MoBa)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EATING DISORDERS, Issue 1 2009Cynthia M. Bulik PhD Abstract Objective We explored the impact of eating disorders on birth outcomes in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Method Of 35,929 pregnant women, 35 reported broad anorexia nervosa (AN), 304 bulimia nervosa (BN), 1,812 binge eating disorder (BED), and 36 EDNOS-purging type (EDNOS-P) in the six months before or during pregnancy. The referent comprised 33,742 women with no eating disorder. Results Pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) was lower in AN and higher in BED than the referent. AN, BN, and BED mothers reported greater gestational weight gain, and smoking was elevated in all eating disorder groups. BED mothers had higher birth weight babies, lower risk of small for gestational age, and higher risk of large for gestational age and cesarean section than the referent. Pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain attenuated the effects. Conclusion BED influences birth outcomes either directly or via higher maternal weight and gestational weight gain. The absence of differences in AN and EDNOS-P may reflect small numbers and lesser severity in population samples. Adequate gestational weight gain in AN may mitigate against adverse birth outcomes. Detecting eating disorders in pregnancy could identify modifiable factors (e.g., high gestational weight gain, binge eating, and smoking) that influence birth outcomes. © 2008 by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Eat Disord 2009 [source] An assessment of pharmaceutical inspection reports from nursing and residential homes for the elderly in Northern IrelandINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 3 2004Anna K. Schweizer Phd student Objectives To highlight issues currently being inspected in nursing, residential and dual-registered homes (care homes) for the elderly in Northern Ireland as part of a pharmaceutical inspection. Methods A cross-sectional survey and analysis of reports from pharmaceutical inspections in Northern Ireland care homes between January 1999 and December 2000 was undertaken, using reports provided by the four Registration and Inspection Units (R & I Units 1,4) within the region. Reports were reviewed and all recommendations made by inspectors were classified into 11 main categories. Binary logistic regression was used to examine possible relationships between the type of home (nursing, residential or dual-registered) or the R & I unit and the recommendations made by the inspectors, with corresponding odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Key findings Reports from 415 homes (one report per home) formed the final sample for analysis. Each R & I unit used different documentation to conduct a pharmaceutical inspection. Homes received the majority of recommendations from inspectors in the categories ,Records' (66.7% of all homes), ,Policies and protocols' (39.3%) and ,Medication' (31.8%). More recommendations in a number of categories emanated from R & I unit 4 compared with R & I unit 1 (referent). Dual-registered homes (those registered as a nursing and residential facility) were more likely to receive a recommendation in the categories ,Storage of medicine', ,Order and receipt of medication' and ,Equipment' than nursing or residential homes. Conclusion Inspections of care homes should be standardised in terms of documentation used and facilities should be given guidance on issues that are likely to result in recommendations from inspectors. In the longer-term, pharmaceutical inspections should move from a focus on structure/process measures to those that emphasise quality in prescribing. [source] Assessment of patient satisfaction with pharmaceutical services in a Nigerian teaching hospitalINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE, Issue 1 2004Azuka C. Oparah lecturer ABSTRACT Objective To assess patients' satisfaction with pharmaceutical services using an"ideal referent" model, and to further explore the validity of an existing patient satisfaction instrument. Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 500 outpatients recruited consecutively at the University of Benin teaching hospital, Nigeria. A self-completion questionnaire that employed a Likert-type scale was used. Data were used to calculate scores on a scale that ranged from 20 to 100, with an assumed midpoint of 60. Descriptive statistics on the sample characteristics and questionnaire items were computed including means, standard deviations and frequency distributions. Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalisation was employed in principal factor analysis. Student's t -test and one-way ANOVA were used for inferential statistics. Key findings The instrument reliability was determined to be 0.9641 and was comparable to the reference study. Nearly half of the patients (46%) rated the amount of time the pharmacist offered to spend with them as poor. About one-third rated promptness of prescription service as poor. Only 49% felt satisfied with the pharmaceutical services. Overall, pharmacy services received a satisfaction rating of 56.04±24.49, below the midpoint. Perceived satisfaction was significantly higher in "friendly explanation" than in "managing therapy" (t=3.916; P<0.0001). Conclusion The study provides evidence that patients experience low satisfaction with current pharmaceutical services at the study hospital. The sociodemographic characteristics of patients were not associated with their level of satisfaction. We further confirm the validity of the patient satisfaction questionnaire in a Nigerian practice setting. [source] Human Security and ConstructivismINTERNATIONAL STUDIES PERSPECTIVES, Issue 3 2001Edward Newman This article explores the concept of "human security" as an academic and fledgling policy movement that seeks to place the individual,or people collectively,as the referent of security. It does this against a background of evolving transnational norms relating to security and governance, and the development of scientific understanding that challenges orthodox conceptions of security. It suggests that human security is not a coherent or objective school of thought. Rather, there are different, and sometimes competing, conceptions of human security that may reflect different sociological/cultural and geostrategic orientations. The article argues that the emergence of the concept of human security,as a broad, multifaceted, and evolving conception of security,rreflects the impact of values and norms on international relations. It also embraces a range of alliances, actors, and agendas that have taken us beyond the traditional scope of international politics and diplomacy. As a demonstration of change in international relations, of evolving identities and interests, this is best explained with reference to "social constructivist" thought, in contradistinction with the structural realist mainstream of international relations. In a constructivist vein, the article suggests that empirical research is already building a case in support of human security thinking that is, slowly, being acknowledged by decision-makers, against the logic of realist determinism. [source] Effects of Internal and External Pay Comparisons on Work Attitudes,JOURNAL OF APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 10 2006Ted H. Shore The effects of internal and external pay comparisons on several work attitudes were assessed within an experimental design. Participants responded to hypothetical scenarios in which their pay was greater, less, or equal to an internal and external individual or group referent. As predicted, internal and external pay comparisons predicted pay satisfaction and perceived pay fairness. Also as expected, internal equity was the stronger predictor of work motivation and perceived organizational support, and external equity predicted turnover intention more strongly. Partial support was found for the hypothesis that work attitudes would be impacted more strongly when individuals made pay comparisons with a group referent than with an individual referent other. Implications for the design of compensation systems are discussed. [source] When does a referent public problem affect financial and political support for public action?JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL DECISION MAKING, Issue 2 2008Nicolao Bonini Abstract In three studies we examined the willingness to support action to remedy a public problem. In Study 1 and Study 2, people were asked whether they would financially contribute to solution of a public problem. In Study 3, people were asked whether they would sign a petition to support a public action. The aim was to test whether the willingness to support solution of a public problem is affected by the type of problem that is used as the referent. We hypothesized that the willingness to support a public action is lower when evaluated in the context of a high- as opposed to a low-importance referent problem (importance contrast effect). We also hypothesized that the importance contrast effect is tied to the perceived relatedness between the target and referent problems. The importance contrast effect should be found only when the two problems relate to different category domains. The findings bear out this prediction. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Lasofoxifene (CP-336,156) Protects Against the Age-Related Changes in Bone Mass, Bone Strength, and Total Serum Cholesterol in Intact Aged Male RatsJOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 4 2001Hua Zhu Ke Abstract The purpose of this study was to evaluate if long-term (6 months) treatment with lasofoxifene (LAS), a new selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM), can protect against age-related changes in bone mass and bone strength in intact aged male rats. Sprague-Dawley male rats at 15 months of age were treated (daily oral gavage) with either vehicle (n = 12) or LAS at 0.01 mg/kg per day (n = 12) or 0.1 mg/kg per day (n = 11) for 6 months. A group of 15 rats was necropsied at 15 months of age and served as basal controls. No significant change was found in body weight between basal and vehicle controls. However, an age-related increase in fat body mass (+42%) and decrease in lean body mass (,8.5%) was observed in controls. Compared with vehicle controls, LAS at both doses significantly decreased body weight and fat body mass but did not affect lean body mass. No significant difference was found in prostate wet weight among all groups. Total serum cholesterol was significantly decreased in all LAS-treated rats compared with both the basal and the vehicle controls. Both doses of LAS treatment completely prevented the age-related increase in serum osteocalcin. Peripheral quantitative computerized tomography (pQCT) analysis at the distal femoral metaphysis indicated that the age-related decrease in total density, trabecular density, and cortical thickness was completely prevented by treatment with LAS at 0.01 mg/kg per day or 0.1 mg/kg per day. Histomorphometric analysis of proximal tibial cancellous bone showed an age-related decrease in trabecular bone volume (TBV; ,46%), trabecular number (Tb.N), wall thickness (W.Th), mineral apposition rate, and bone formation rate-tissue area referent. Moreover, an age-related increase in trabecular separation (Tb.Sp) and eroded surface was observed. LAS at 0.01 mg/kg per day or 0.1 mg/kg per day completely prevented these age-related changes in bone mass, bone structure, and bone turnover. Similarly, the age-related decrease in TBV and trabecular thickness (Tb.Th) and the age-related increase in osteoclast number (Oc.N) and osteoclast surface (Oc.S) in the third lumbar vertebral cancellous bone were completely prevented by treatment with LAS at both doses. Further, LAS at both doses completely prevented the age-related decrease in ultimate strength (,47%) and stiffness (,37%) of the fifth lumbar vertebral body. These results show that treatment with LAS for 6 months in male rats completely prevents the age-related decreases in bone mass and bone strength by inhibiting the increased bone resorption and bone turnover associated with aging. Further, LAS reduced total serum cholesterol and did not affect the prostate weight in these rats. Our data support the potential use of a SERM for protecting against the age-related changes in bone and serum cholesterol in elderly men. [source] Feedlot veterinarians' moral and instrumental beliefs regarding antimicrobial use in feedlot cattleJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 1 2009W. M. Alex McIntosh Abstract This cross-sectional survey research study examined the role moral beliefs play in predicting behavioural beliefs and attitudes and the role that subjective norms play in predicting moral beliefs. Using a self-administered questionnaire, one hundred and three feedlot veterinarians completed measures of behavioural beliefs, referent others, perceived constraints and moral beliefs regarding recommendations to use antimicrobials in four situations (i.e. acutely sick cattle, chronically sick cattle, at-risk cattle and high-risk cattle). Regression analysis and F -tests indicate moral beliefs as contributing significant increases in R2 to models predicting behavioural beliefs regarding antimicrobial use in each situation. In addition, subjective norms contribute a significant increase in R2 in models predicting moral beliefs in each of the four situations. The results indicate the effects of moral beliefs on behavioural beliefs are somewhat contingent on the condition; that is the level of risk associated with treating cattle with antimicrobials, the level of risk of not doing so, and the effectiveness of the antimicrobial in situations such as acute illness or being at-risk of illness. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Calcium Absorption from Commonly Consumed Vegetables in Healthy Thai WomenJOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 9 2008S. Charoenkiatkul ABSTRACT:, The absorbability of calcium from ivy gourd, a green leafy vegetable (Coccinia grandix Voigt.) and winged bean young pods (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus [L] DC) were measured in 19 healthy adult women aged 20 to 45 y, in a 3-way, randomized-order, crossover design with an average calcium load of 100 mg and milk as the referent. The test meals were extrinsically labeled with 44Ca and given with rice as breakfast after an overnight fast. Absorption of calcium was determined on a blood sample drawn 5 h after ingestion of the test meal. Fractional calcium absorption (X± SD) was 0.391 ± 0.128 from winged beans, 0.476 ± 0.109 from ivy gourd, and 0.552 ± 0.119 from milk. The difference in fractional calcium absorption for these 2 vegetables was significant (P < 0.05) and the fractional calcium absorption from these 2 vegetables were both significantly lower than from milk. The difference was partly accounted for by the phytate, oxalate, and dietary fiber content of the vegetables. However, calcium bioavailability of these 2 vegetables, commonly consumed among Thais, was relatively good compared to milk (71% to 86% of milk) and could be generally recommended to the public as calcium sources other than milk and Brassica vegetables. [source] Case-based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry in the PhilippinesJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING, Issue 5 2001Elvira L. Arellano The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for using case-based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry into the teaching and learning of elementary science. The context for this study was the elementary science teacher preparation program at West Visayas State University on the the island of Panay in Iloilo City, the Philippines. In this context, triple linguistic conventions involving the interactions of the local Ilonggo dialect, the national language of Philipino (predominantly Tagalog) and English create unique challenges for science teachers. Participants in the study included six elementary student teachers, their respective critic teachers and a research team composed of four Filipino and two U.S. science teacher educators. Two teacher-generated case narratives serve as the centerpiece for deliberation, around which we highlight key tensions that reflect both the struggles and positive aspects of teacher learning that took place. Theoretical perspectives drawn from assumptions underlying the use of case-based pedagogy and scholarship surrounding the community metaphor as a referent for science education curriculum inquiry influenced our understanding of tensions at the intersection of re-presentation of science, authority of knowledge, and professional practice, at the intersection of not shared language, explicit moral codes, and indigenization, and at the intersection of identity and dilemmas in science teaching. Implications of this study are discussed with respect to the building of science teacher learning communities in both local and global contexts of reform. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 502,528, 2001 [source] Current usage of the epicene pronoun in written EnglishJOURNAL OF SOCIOLINGUISTICS, Issue 3 2002Maciej Baranowski This paper deals with current epicenepronominal usage in written English. The first part focuses on the prescription of the so,called generic he and includes a short review of research into epicene pronominal usage in the last three decades. The results of previous research serve as a background to the present study, which, based on two corpora of written English, aims at elucidating singular epicene pronominal choices in the writing of British and American writers. The study shows that the traditional form he is no longer predominant, while singular they is the pronoun most likely to be used. He or she is shown to be used rather rarely. It is argued that the choice of singular epicene pronoun is considerably influenced by the semanto,syntactic type of the antecedent and by the social roles stereotypically associated with the referent. Also, differences between British and American writers are discussed. It is shown that American writers are more conservative in their choice of singular epicene pronoun and an explanation of the difference is suggested. [source] Romantic c/China: The Literature of ChinoiserieLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2009Joanne Tong As the popularity of Chinese-style textiles, lacquers, and especially porcelain increased in Britain in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, chinoiserie objects inevitably found their way into literature. Porcelain, or ,china' begins to be troped as the reified sign of its geographical and cultural referent, ,China'. In Romantic writings about porcelain, writers render porcelain as a legible object with a story to be told, or even make the object itself speak, so that c/China teapots and dishes seemed less and less like mass-produced things and more and more like auratic works of art that had the power of mediating relations between British consumers and Chinese producers. In the chinoiserie poems of Joanna Baillie and Thomas Hood, we can witness the literary development of a unique version of commodity fetishism that invests great cultural and historical significance in the imagined lives of objects. [source] The lenses of nationhood: an optical model of identityNATIONS AND NATIONALISM, Issue 3 2008ERIC KAUFMANN ABSTRACT. This paper tries to make the case for a model of political identity based on an optical metaphor, which is especially applicable to nations. Human vision can be separated into sentient object, lenses and inbuilt mental ideas. This corresponds well to identity processes in which ,light' from a bounded territorial referent is refracted through various lenses (ideological, material, psychological) to focus in certain ways on particular symbolic resources like genealogy, history, culture or political institutions. Distinguishing between referent, lenses and resources helps us more precisely situate many hitherto disparate problems of national identity. These include the ,ethnic-civic' dilemma, the mystery of national identity before nationalism, and the relationship between local and national, and individual and collective, identities. The model also clarifies the place of universalist ideology, which currently fits poorly within the leading culturalist and materialist theories of nationalism. [source] Evaluating philanthropic foundations according to their social valuesNONPROFIT MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP, Issue 4 2008John R. Whitman Philanthropic foundations are seen as enterprises committed to building what they view as a better world. Their visions of a better world are described in terms of social values that represent preferred end states for society or means of achieving such states. This article describes a procedure in which a foundation's espoused social values, made explicit, may serve as a referent to evaluate the foundation's performance. The process by which social values are determined is offered as a means to promote critical and reflective discourse not only within the foundation but with the public, especially those affected by the foundation's work. [source] Solitude and the Restlessness of the Immemorial: Levinasian Traces in the Discourse of Patrick ModianoORBIS LITERARUM, Issue 4 2004Karen D. Levy Emmanuel Levinas contested Western ontology's insistence on the importance of individual autonomy and systematized knowledge, developing a new description of how identity and intersubjectivity are constructed. In the early De l'existence à l'existant and Le Temps et l'autre, he explains how the effort of existing is assumed, creating a sense of mastery but also of solitude, for the ego and the self are tied to one another, but it is not until Totalité et Infini that he elaborates on the ethical encounter with the face as discourse. In his last major work Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence, he focuses on the consequences of this epiphany for the subject, and relates this to the trace, a special kind of sign that focuses not so much on the relationship between sign and referent as on the irreversible passing of those who left them. The paired texts of Patrick Modiano's Voyage de noces and Dora Bruder most strikingly inscribe the simultaneous self-absorption and tedium of existing, but also depict how traces from the immemorial shatter the subject's autonomy. Modiano is haunted by the missing person ad's description of a runaway girl who disappeared in December 1941, was interned in Drancy the following summer and then deported to Auschwitz. He first wrote Voyage de noces to exorcise the spell the ad cast upon him, was eventually compelled to respond directly to the summons by composing Dora Bruder. Modiano tries to retrieve fragments of the adolescent Dora's past and rescue her from oblivion, but his efforts prove largely futile, for there is no memory to retrieve. His insistence on Dora's decision to remain in Drancy with her father makes it possible for him to forgive his own father's failings and acknowledge his admiration both for him and all those who defied Occupation hypocrisy. Lastly, Modiano's text calls upon us as readers to become the guardians of the pleas that French authorities ignored and thereby accept the summons of the immemorial ourselves. [source] Confounder summary scores when comparing the effects of multiple drug exposures,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 1 2010Suzanne M. Cadarette PhD Abstract Purpose Little information is available comparing methods to adjust for confounding when considering multiple drug exposures. We compared three analytic strategies to control for confounding based on measured variables: conventional multivariable, exposure propensity score (EPS), and disease risk score (DRS). Methods Each method was applied to a dataset (2000,2006) recently used to examine the comparative effectiveness of four drugs. The relative effectiveness of risedronate, nasal calcitonin, and raloxifene in preventing non-vertebral fracture, were each compared to alendronate. EPSs were derived both by using multinomial logistic regression (single model EPS) and by three separate logistic regression models (separate model EPS). DRSs were derived and event rates compared using Cox proportional hazard models. DRSs derived among the entire cohort (full cohort DRS) was compared to DRSs derived only among the referent alendronate (unexposed cohort DRS). Results Less than 8% deviation from the base estimate (conventional multivariable) was observed applying single model EPS, separate model EPS or full cohort DRS. Applying the unexposed cohort DRS when background risk for fracture differed between comparison drug exposure cohorts resulted in ,7 to,+,13% deviation from our base estimate. Conclusions With sufficient numbers of exposed and outcomes, either conventional multivariable, EPS or full cohort DRS may be used to adjust for confounding to compare the effects of multiple drug exposures. However, our data also suggest that unexposed cohort DRS may be problematic when background risks differ between referent and exposed groups. Further empirical and simulation studies will help to clarify the generalizability of our findings. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Somnolence effects of antipsychotic medications and the risk of unintentional injury,,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 4 2008Qayyim Said PhD Abstract Purpose This study examined the relationship between antipsychotic medications, categorized by published somnolence effects, and unintentional injury (UI). Methods The study population included patients of 18,64 years of age in a healthcare insurance database with claims from 2001 to 2004 and diagnoses of schizophrenia or affective disorder. A nested case-control design was used with cases defined by an E-code claim (a specified external cause of injury) for selected UIs. For cases, the index date referred to the first injury. For controls, the "control index date" was the date of claim if there was only a single medical claim; for patients with ,2 claims, one was selected at random as the "control index date." Both groups had a prescription for a first-generation antipsychotic (FGA) or second-generation antipsychotic (SGA) overlapping the index date. Potential somnolence effects were defined as: low (referent) , aripiprazole/ziprasidone; medium , risperidone; high , olanzapine/quetiapine: or any single FGA. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for UI, adjusted for gender, age, concomitant drug, and psychiatric diagnosis. Results Among 648 cases and 5214 controls, high-somnolence SGAs were associated with an OR of 1.41 95%CI (1.03,1.93) for risk of UI, while medium-somnolence SGAs, and FGAs had ORs of 1.17 95%CI (0.83,1.64) and 1.17 95%CI (0.79,1.74), respectively. When quetiapine and olanzapine were disaggregated, ORs were 1.61 95%CI (1.15,2.25) and 1.25 95%CI (0.89,1.74), respectively. Conclusions High-somnolence SGAs may lead to UI among patients. When prescribing antipsychotics, clinicians should consider potential somnolence. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Increased US prescription trends associated with the CDC Bacillus anthracis antimicrobial postexposure prophylaxis campaign,,PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY AND DRUG SAFETY, Issue 3 2003Douglas Shaffer MD Abstract Purpose We evaluated national outpatient antimicrobial prescription trends in relation to the first United States case of inhalational anthrax due to the intentional delivery of Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis) spores. Methods We queried IMS HEALTH's National Prescription Audit Plus7Ô database for two 6-month periods (July,December) in 2001 and 2000 to describe outpatient prescription trends of antimicrobials recommended during the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) postexposure prophylaxis campaign. Results Overall, antimicrobial utilization for the referent 6-month time frame was greater in 2000 compared to 2001. In contrast, ciprofloxacin utilization was greater in 2001 during October, the month following the index case, increasing by more than 40% over utilization in October 2000. Similarly, doxycycline utilization increased by 30% during October/November. This corresponded to relative increases in US utilization for ciprofloxacin of approximately 160,000 prescriptions for the month of October and for doxycycline of approximately 96,000 prescriptions during October and 120,000 prescriptions for November. Conclusions We conclude more widespread prescribing of ciprofloxacin and doxycycline occurred in response to the first US bioterrorist-associated anthrax attacks than was warranted based upon confirmed or suspected B. anthracis exposure alone. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Racial and ethnic disparities in low birth weight delivery associated with maternal occupational characteristicsAMERICAN JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE, Issue 2 2010John D. Meyer MD Abstract Objectives Work characteristics and maternal education have both been associated with low birth weight (LBW) delivery. We sought to examine the relative contribution of these two factors to LBW delivery and determine whether ethnic/racial differentials in educational attainment and work characteristics might play a role in well-described disparities in LBW. Methods Scores for work substantive complexity (SC) derived from the O*NET were imputed to maternal occupation for Connecticut singleton births in 2000. Risks for LBW were estimated separately for black, Hispanic, and white mothers using logistic regression controlling for maternal covariates. Results Using white mothers as a referent, working is associated with reduced LBW risk in black mothers compared to those not in work (OR 2.06 vs. 3.07). LBW in working black women was strongly associated with less that a high school education (OR 4.80, 95% CI 1.68,13.7), and with low work SC in blacks in those with a college education or greater (OR 4.48, 95% CI 1.24,16.2). Examination of work SC scores, controlling for age and educational level, showed lower values for blacks; increased work SC was seen in Hispanics after adjustment for lower educational attainment. A decrease in risk for LBW was seen in black mothers, compared with whites, as work SC increased. By contrast, college-educated black mothers had a greater risk for LBW than those with high school or some college education. Conclusions Maternal employment and work in a job with greater SC were associated with a reduced risk of LBW in black mothers. Improved LBW risk was also seen with employment in Hispanics. Low work SC in those with higher educational attainment was strongly associated with LBW in blacks, but not whites or Hispanics. Education/work mismatch may play a role in racial disparities in birth outcomes. Am. J. Ind. Med. 53:153,162 2010. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Alone in the World: The Existential Socrates in the Apology and CritoPOLITICAL STUDIES, Issue 3 2007Emanuele Saccarelli The story of Socrates' life, and in particular the circumstances of his death, has been a nearly obligatory referent for the development of Western political thought. Contemporary political theorists such as Hannah Arendt and, more recently, Gerald Mara and Dana Villa have presented Socrates as a model of political engagement for our times. Against the background of these accounts, I develop an existential interpretation of Socrates as he appears in the Apology and Crito, focusing on the singular, private, experiential and incommunicable character of Socrates' truth. In doing so, I discuss some important and contentious issues in Socratic studies, such as his disavowal of knowledge, his allegiance to the Athenian polis and the apparent tension between his defiance during the trial and his willingness to submit to the resulting death sentence. My interpretation reveals a Socrates that we should not strive to understand, let alone emulate politically, particularly if we wish to respect his own sensibilities. [source] The Semantics of Rigid DesignationRATIO, Issue 1 2003John Justice Frege's thesis that each singular term has a sense that determines its reference and serves as its cognitive value has come to be widely doubted. Saul Kripke argued that since names are rigid designators, their referents are not determined by senses. David Kaplan has argued that the rigid designation of indexical terms entails that they also lack referent,determining senses. Kripke's argument about names and Kaplan's argument about indexical terms differ, but each contains a false premise. The referents of both names and indexical terms are determined by reflexive senses. It is reflexive sense that makes these terms rigid designators. [source] "Amerika gibt es nicht": On the Semiotics of Literary America in the Twentieth Century,THE GERMAN QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2009Oliver Simons From Alexis de Tocqueville's arrival in Manhattan and his amazement at the artificial façades of houses on the East River, we can observe a specific semiotic model in depictions of America: America does not exist, which is to say, the referent often becomes questionable in these texts. All the more frequently descriptions of America hew to a metonymic mode of writing; they deal with signs which refer to other signs, with accounts reporting mostly what has been read elsewhere. With Franz Kafka and Wolfgang Koeppen this essay shows how America has become the setting of poetological self-determination; America is a textual construct in which the significatory nature of language is itself negotiated. Under these conditions, how can another America novel be written at the end of the 20th -century? In the concluding passages, this essay discusses how contemporary authors Thomas Meinecke and Michael Roes succeed in resurrecting America's narrative possibilities. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||