Subtle Form (subtle + form)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A Doppler-based study on the prevalence of varicocele in German children and adolescents

ANDROLOGIA, Issue 1 2006
D. Pfeiffer
Summary The prevalence of varicocele was estimated among pupils of forms 4 and 8 in the city of Hamburg and the severity of the associated venous reflux was analysed. In the school year of 1998/99, a genital examination was performed on 2756 children (median age 10.2 years) and 2008 adolescents (14.6 years). The varicocele degree was determined according to the WHO. Venous reflux was proven by CW-Doppler sonography, distinguishing between Valsalva-induced reflux (VR) and continuous reflux (CR). As a result, varicoceles were detected in 18.0% of the children (1.2% bilaterally) and 42.7% of the adolescents (7.2%). High-graded forms (palpable/visible) occurred with increasing rate (from 7% to 22.9%) on the left side. Subtle forms (subclinical/during Valsalva) counted for >90% of all right-sided findings, whilst an age-related shift towards higher degrees was noted left-sided. VR occurred bilaterally, CR was almost only established left-sided. VR was mainly associated with subtle varicoceles, CR was predominantly found in the high-graded forms. These results suggest that even in children varicoceles are not a rare phenomenon. However, adolescence is the main period of manifestation. A major venous malfunction is already evident in maturing boys, which seems to be associated with the formation of high-graded varicoceles. [source]


Epitomising the Modern Spanish Nation through Popular Music: Coplas from La Caramba to Concha Piquer, 1750,1990

GENDER & HISTORY, Issue 3 2007
Mercedes Carbayo Abengózar
Music is an important language of the emotions and can often arouse strong passions in its performance and representation, both from the individual's perspective of personal identity and for the individual's sense of identity and of belonging to a given community. Likewise, music can serve to whip up and reinforce nationalism and national chauvinism against the ,other' as well as serving as a badge of identity. In this article I explore a musical form, a song that has been defined as ,Spanish' and as the ,national' song: la copla. Copla is rooted in the past and first appeared as both a poetic and a theatrical form, but always accompanied by music. It was, however, during the eighteenth century, when nationalism made its appearance as a ,concern' in the Spanish political-cultural arena, when coplas would be used as a mark of Spanish identity. Copla is a women's song. Although it has been interpreted by men, some of them internationally renowned like Miguel de Molina, the most famous performers have been and still are women. That is why perhaps a recurrent theme of coplas is unrequited love, whereby love and passion play an important role, either with regard to the individual or the community from which the individual hails. But there are also other themes such as the longing stimulated by alien rule, which is reflected by cultural opposition and resistance to discourses of power, not only in terms of open opposition, but in a more subtle form of resistance, particularly in gender terms. I claim that it is precisely this resistance to fixed discourses of gender that have made coplas excellent negotiators with the different musical, social and political contexts and in this way have made them an icon of the invented tradition that is fundamental in the creation of a nation. [source]


Effects of parental supportiveness on toddlers' emotion regulation over the first three years of life in a low-income African American sample,

INFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 5 2009
Erika London Bocknek
The purpose of this study was to examine how parental supportiveness and child gender are related to toddlers' emotion regulation over time among low-income African American mothers and their children (n = 803). Data for the current study were collected as part of the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project. Using latent growth curve modeling, results indicated that parental supportiveness predicted toddlers' emotion regulation skills, on average (intercepts), and rates of growth of parental supportiveness predicted the rates of growth in emotion regulation over time (slope), beyond the effects of initial parental risk status, child gender, Early Head Start treatment effects, and infant emotionality. However, parental supportiveness over time did not differentially predict toddler emotion regulation over time for boys as compared to girls. Results suggest that parental supportiveness may represent a subtle form of emotion socialization by providing a context in which toddlers may be better able to utilize their mothers as effective resources in managing emotions. Practitioners should emphasize with the parents the role of parent,child interactions as a context for development. The lack of gender differences suggests that differential parenting towards boys and girls, evident in research with older children, may not yet be present in toddlerhood. Recognizing similarities in parenting across racial groups early on as well as being sensitive to differences that may emerge later will position practitioners to provide support within a culturally sensitive framework. [source]


THE BLANK FACE OF LOVE: THE POSSIBILITY OF GOODNESS IN THE LITERARY AND PHILOSOPHICAL WORK OF IRIS MURDOCH1

MODERN THEOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
JENNIFER SPENCER GOODYER
This article explores the value of Iris Murdoch's metaphysical ethics for the theologian. Although, in many ways, Murdoch does appeal to the theologian, a subtle form of nihilism underlies her thought insofar as human goodness,in the form of loving attention,is only possible once the individual has overcome his/her ego by staring into the void and accepting the ultimate meaninglessness of reality. As this article demonstrates, Murdoch's replacement of transcendence with void rules out any form of real love or human goodness: only a dualistic exchange of gazes remains possible. Real, selfless love is only possible when the ego understands itself in the context of theological transcendence. [source]


Association Between Accounting Conservatism and Analysts' Forecast Inefficiency,

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL STUDIES, Issue 2 2010
Jinhan Pae
M41 Abstract We find that analysts' earnings forecasts do not fully impound the implications of accounting conservatism. Forecast optimism is negatively associated with the magnitude of beginning-of-year balance sheet reserves (BSR), which are associated with conservative accounting in prior years. However, this result vanishes once we allow for the negative association, documented in several prior studies, between BSR and Basu's asymmetric timeliness measure of conservatism [Journal of Accounting and Economics 24 (1997) 3]. After controlling for this association, we find that forecasters' under-reaction to bad versus good news is negatively associated with the magnitude of BSR. We obtain similar results after allowing for the positive association between asymmetric timeliness and Khan and Watts' C_Score [Journal of Accounting and Economics 48 (2009) 132]. Therefore, our results are consistent with a subtle form of inefficiency of forecasts with respect to accounting conservatism; that is, analysts do not fully appreciate that the earnings of companies with lower BSR or higher C_Scores are likely to be both: (i) lower relative to forecast; and (ii) more asymmetrically timely than the earnings of companies exhibiting higher BSR or lower C_Scores. [source]


Embodiment of discrimination and overseas nurses' career progression

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 12 2007
John Aggergaard Larsen PhD
Aim and objectives., To examine empirically and in-depth how discriminatory attitudes and practices are experienced by overseas nurses and how the discrimination may affect their well-being and career progression and, furthermore, to apply the theoretical perspective of embodiment in understanding these processes. Background., The UK healthcare sector has, in recent years, relied on overseas-trained professionals to fill up vacancies in nursing and other professions. Research shows that overseas nurses claim that their UK colleagues, managers and patients express discriminatory, racist and xenophobic attitudes. Design and method., The paper provides an existential phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews with two overseas nurses. The data are drawn from a study of overseas-trained healthcare workers' experiences working and living in the UK. The two cases have been purposively selected to provide an illumination and discussion of personal experiences with discrimination, how individuals may respond to these and how their professional career is affected. Findings., Discrimination towards migrant workers may, at times, be experienced as ,blatant racism' or, in more subtle forms, as ,aversive racism'. It is demonstrated how such discrimination may impact on the afflicted person's sense of self, suggesting a theoretical model of the embodiment of discrimination. Discrimination not only works at an interpersonal and institutional level, but is a form of ,symbolic violence' that may be internalized to affect the person's ,habitus'; it can be resisted through meaning-making activity that explains and hence objectifies and embodies the experience in a way that allows individuals to positively influence their situation through agency. Conclusion., This article details how social and institutionalized discrimination in the UK healthcare sector may be internalized by overseas workers and affects their professional careers. Relevance to clinical practice., The study allows a theoretical reflection on the damage inflicted by discrimination, and it may contribute to the eradication of discriminatory practices and the development of necessary support and monitoring mechanisms. [source]


Regulatory regimes and accountability

REGULATION & GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2007
Peter J. May
Abstract This research considers accountability issues for new forms of regulation that shift the emphasis from prescribing actions to regulating systems or regulating for results. Shortfalls at various levels of accountability are identified from experiences with these regimes in the regulation of building and fire safety, food safety and nuclear power plant safety. These experiences illustrate how accountability shortfalls can undermine regulatory performance and introduce a potential for subtle forms of regulatory capture. These concerns underscore the importance of finding the right fit between regulatory circumstances and the design of regulatory regimes. [source]


Developmental changes in responsiveness to parents and unfamiliar adults in a monogamous monkey (Callicebus moloch)

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2002
D.J. Mayeaux
Abstract Titi monkeys (Callicebus moloch) are monogamous New World primates that are characteristically found in family-type groups consisting of a mated adult pair and one or two young. The factors maintaining the small size of these groups are not known. Based on observations of free-ranging and captive families, parental aggression toward older offspring seems unlikely to play a significant role. Maturing individuals themselves, however, could undergo behavioral changes that weaken ties to their natal group. These might include waning of affiliative relations with parents, or subtle forms of aversion. Independent of such changes, increasing interest in unfamiliar conspecifics could be a factor. We examined these possibilities in the present study by assessing changes in social behavior and social preferences from initial ambulatory independence (6 months) through reproductive maturity (24 months) in a combined cross-sectional/longitudinal study of 21 captive titi monkeys living with their parents. Responses to both parents and to an unfamiliar adult heterosexual pair, a single unfamiliar adult male, and a single unfamiliar adult female were observed when subjects were given a choice between parents and strangers presented simultaneously or as the only social incentive. Social stimuli were at opposite ends of a 16.8-m-long test corridor. Subjects could move freely about the corridor for 5 min with each configuration of social stimuli. They stayed closer to parents than to strangers at all ages. Responsiveness to strangers increased with age and suggested growing ambivalence, particularly toward the male stranger. As they approached 24 months of age, male subjects showed a dramatic increase in the frequency and intensity of agonistic behaviors toward male strangers, behaviors that were rarely directed toward female strangers or parents. Waning of attraction to parents may be less important in dispersal from the natal group than changing reactions to strangers. Am. J. Primatol. 58:71,89, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]