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Unexplored Area (unexplored + area)
Selected AbstractsConflict resolution strategies in joint purchase decisions for major household consumer durables: a cross-cultural investigationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 3 2009Rina Makgosa Abstract Previous studies on joint purchase decisions have investigated the types of conflict resolution strategies used by spouses, the usage frequency of different conflict resolution strategies, and the effects of demographics and various other variables, on the uses of conflict resolution strategies. Despite efforts to address this largely unexplored area, the role that culture plays in the use of conflict resolution strategies has been significantly ignored. Using a cross-cultural perspective, this study addresses the gap in our understanding of the joint purchase decisions in the family by examining how husbands and wives of three ethnic groups in Britain , British Whites, Indians and African Blacks , use different conflict resolution strategies while jointly purchasing major household consumer products. The total sample comprised 583 husbands and wives of British White, Indian and African Black origin residing in London and Manchester in Britain. Our results showed that three conflict resolution strategies are used by both husbands and wives: bargaining, assertiveness and playing on an emotion. In addition, disengagement emerged as a strategy for husbands, whereas supplication emerged for wives. The study presented in this paper also provides substantial evidence of differences in the use of conflict resolution strategies by husbands and wives from the three ethnic groups, which greatly improves our knowledge on a cross-cultural perspective of joint purchase decisions. [source] The role of community staff in care home placement in SwedenJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 4 2002J. SANDBERG BSc ,,The role of community staff in placing a relative in a care home is a relatively unexplored area of practice. ,,Interviews with a variety of community staff in Sweden suggest that they play a significant role in helping family carers, particularly spouses, research the decision about the need for placement. ,,This role can include recognition that placement is required (seeing the need), initiating and sustaining discussions about placement (sowing the seed and nurturing the seed) and legitimating the decision. ,,However, once the decision has been made relatively little attention is given to the emotional consequences of the move and attention is focused largely on instrumental aspects. ,,Despite showing sensitivity in the decision-making phase, community staff could do more to help carers deal with the guilt they experience and to initiate contact with the care home. [source] People's Exit in North Korea: New Threat to Regime Stability?PACIFIC FOCUS, Issue 2 2010Kyung-Ae Park As suggested in a growing literature that securitizes the phenomenon of refugee migration and analyzes it as a national as well as a regional security issue, the growing number of North Korean border-crossers has far-reaching political implications for both North Korea and the international community. Studies have argued that refugees could contribute significantly to democratic change in their home countries by assisting and actively participating in the struggle of the domestic opposition, even sparking regime instability and eventual regime breakdown. Much of the North Korean refugee research has focused on the human rights issues faced by the refugees, but a largely unexplored area of the refugee research concerns the political consequences of the refugee flight for the current regime in Pyongyang. This article examines whether North Korean refugees are expected to play the role of political opposition in exile by raising the following four questions: (i) Are the refugees political dissidents? (ii) Are they a resourceful critical mass? (iii) Does exit always lead to regime instability? and (iv) Would China and South Korea encourage exile politics against the current North Korean regime? The article contends that the North Korean refugee community does not currently represent a critical mass that can trigger instability of the Pyongyang regime. Most of the North Korean refugees are not political dissidents, nor have they organized into any resourceful critical mass capable of generating a threat to their home country. In addition, people's exit does not necessarily destabilize the regime as it can sometimes yield a positive political effect by driving out dissidents' voices. Furthermore, several of the receiving countries, in particular, China and South Korea, would not encourage exile dissident movements against North Korea for fear of Pyongyang's collapse. The North Korean regime's stability does not seem to be threatened by the current refugee situation, although the potential of refugees becoming a critical threat should not be discounted should people's exit ever reach the point of developing into an uncontrollable mass exodus. [source] Parents' experiences of pain and discomfort in people with learning disabilitiesBRITISH JOURNAL OF LEARNING DISABILITIES, Issue 2 2008Zara Jane Clarke Accessible summary ,,Eight parents of adults with learning disabilities were interviewed about their,,experience of managing their son or daughter's pain. ,,Parents developed trial and error methods of identifying pain and managing this. ,,Parents reported having mixed experiences of the services their sons/daughters,,had received. ,,Parental carers play a crucial role in the pain management of adults with learning,,disabilities. ,,This research matters to people with learning disabilities because it,,informs professionals of the importance of listening to parental carers' views and,,experiences in the successful management of ill health and pain in situations,,where the sufferer has limited verbal communication. Good practice statement, The results of this study have already been presented to health professionals who work with people with learning disabilities, within the first author's organization, as well as at a conference about pain in people with learning disabilities. Further work is intended to publicize the findings to people with learning disabilities and their carers. Summary There are few measures of pain for people with limited ability to communicate. Eight parents of adults with a known learning disability and associated physical health complaint were interviewed to explore their experience of identifying and managing the pain felt by their children. The parents did not often perceive their son or daughter to be in pain or discomfort, which was an unexpected finding given the sampling strategy. They described, however, specific ways of recognizing pain and would use a trial and error process to determine the cause. Parents had strategies for dealing with pain and reported mixed experiences of service interactions. The emerging themes can be related back to the pain literature and psychological theory. They emphasize the importance of involving parents in pain assessment and represent the first stage of research into a previously unexplored area. [source] Sugarcane proteomics: Establishment of a protein extraction method for 2-DE in stalk tissues and initiation of sugarcane proteome reference mapELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 12 2010Ramesh Sundar Amalraj Abstract Sugarcane is an important commercial crop cultivated for its stalks and sugar is a prized commodity essential in human nutrition. Proteomics of sugarcane is in its infancy, especially when dealing with the stalk tissues, where there is no study to date. A systematic proteome analysis of stalk tissue yet remains to be investigated in sugarcane, wherein the stalk tissue is well known for its rigidity, fibrous nature, and the presence of oxidative enzymes, phenolic compounds and extreme levels of carbohydrates, thus making the protein extraction complicated. Here, we evaluated five different protein extraction methods in sugarcane stalk tissues. These methods are as follows: direct extraction using lysis buffer (LB), TCA/acetone precipitation followed by solubilization in LB, LB containing thiourea (LBT), and LBT containing tris, and phenol extraction. Both quantitative and qualitative protein analyses were performed for each method. 2-DE analysis of extracted total proteins revealed distinct differences in protein patterns among the methods, which might be due to their physicochemical limitations. Based on the 2-D gel protein profiles, TCA/acetone precipitation-LBT and phenol extraction methods showed good results. The phenol method showed a shift in pI values of proteins on 2-D gel, which was mostly overcome by the use of 2-D cleanup kit after protein extraction. Among all the methods tested, 2-D cleanup-phenol method was found to be the most suitable for producing high number of good-quality spots and reproducibility. In total, 30 and 12 protein spots commonly present in LB, LBT and phenol methods, and LBT method were selected and subjected to eLD -IT-TOF-MS/MS and nESI-LC-MS/MS analyses, respectively, and a reference map has been established for sugarcane stalk tissue proteome. A total of 36 nonredundant proteins were identified. This is a very first basic study on sugarcane stalk proteome analysis and will promote the unexplored areas of sugarcane proteome research. [source] Specific recommendations for PROs and HRQoL assessment in allergic rhinitis and/or asthma: a GA2LEN taskforce position paperALLERGY, Issue 8 2010F. Braido To cite this article: Braido F, Bousquet PJ, Brzoza Z, Canonica GW, Compalati E, Fiocchi A, Fokkens W, Gerth van Wijk R, La Grutta S, Lombardi C, Maurer M, Pinto AM, Ridolo E, Senna GE, Terreehorst I, Todo Bom A, Bousquet J, Zuberbier T, Baiardini I. Specific recommendations for PROs and HRQoL assessment in allergic rhinitis and/or asthma: a GA2LEN taskforce position paper. Allergy 2010; 65: 959,968. Abstract The GA2LEN taskforce on Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) published in 2009 a position paper concerning PROS and HRQoL assessment in clinical trials on allergy. Because of the specificity of this topic in asthma and rhinitis, specific recommendations are needed. The aim of this position paper is to define PROs and their meaning in asthma and rhinitis research, explore the available tools to provide criteria for a proper choice, identify patient-related factor which could influence PROs assessment, define specific recommendations for assessment, analysis and results spreading, underline the unexplored areas and unmet needs. PROs assessment is gaining increasing importance, and it must be performed with a rigorous methodological procedure and using validated tools. This approach enables to better understand patient-related factors influencing clinical trials and real-life management outcomes, identify patients subgroups that can benefit from specific treatment and management plan and tailor treatment to address PROs (not only physician-defined targets) to improve asthma and rhinitis management. [source] | ||||||||||