Applying the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model to Micro-Level Analyses of Marital Partner Affect During Couple Conversations: An Exploratory Investigation

For years observational techniques along with other methods have sought to explore the relationships of couple interactional exchanges to marital quality and longevity. However, many of the previous methodological procedures used might be inadequate at capturing the influential micro-dimensional nuances of interpartner couple affective stability and reciprocity. This study explored the dyadic patterns in 23 married couples' continuous affect ratings during two communication episodes. Multilevel modeling was used to assess the structure in the stability of one's own affect and the influence of partner affect over 3-, 6-, and 9-second time lags. Implications regarding the use of nested models to explore patterns of actor and partner effects are discussed.     

Exploring Definitions of Financial Abuse in Elderly Korean Immigrants: The Contribution of Traditional Cultural Values

The purpose of this study is to explore the cultural definitions of financial abuse from the perspective of 124 elderly Korean immigrants and to examine the role of traditional cultural values in their definitions by using a mixed methods approach. The qualitative analysis generated four themes relevant to definition of financial abuse. A binary logistic regression indicated that those with stronger cultural adherence to traditional values had higher odds of providing culture-based definitions of financial abuse. Education is needed for health professionals, social service providers, and adult protective workers to increase their understanding of culture-specific experiences of financial abuse among ethnic minority elders.     

The impact of timely information on organisational performance in a supply chain

Information produced by ERP systems is termed JIT-information, since it is provided at the right time in the right place with a minimum of waste. The JIT-information construct is defined and described and a measurement scale is developed. A JIT-information performance model is proposed and assessed using a structural equation modelling methodology. The results indicate that the model fits the data well: (1) supply chain management strategy positively impacts JIT-information, (2) JIT-information directly impacts both logistics and organisational performance, and (3) logistics performance directly impacts organisational performance.     

Order Promising and the Master Production Schedule*

Previous research on material requirements planning (MRP) systems has rarely considered the impact of the master production scheduling method used to promise customer orders and to allocate production capacity. Based on a simulation study of an MRP environment, we show that the correct selection of a master production schedule (MPS) method depends on the variance of end-item demand. In addition, we find evidence that the effectiveness of a particular MPS method can be enhanced by holding buffer inventory at the same level in the product structure as in the MPS.     

Elements of the American Health Security Act of 1993

Over the past several decades, there has been a plethora of proposals that were developed in response to the ongoing debate on how best to solve the problems of the American health care delivery system. In the past decade, calls for modification of our health system have become even more resonant, as measures to control rising costs were unsuccessful and access to basic services was diminished for many Americans. The most recent addition to the list of proposals for modifying the health care system is the American Health Security Act of 1993, introduced by President Clinton in September 1993. This article will examine the position of the Clinton Administration on health reform and the core elements of the reform package.     

Redesigning a Cellular Manufacturing System to Handle Long-Term Demand Changes: A Methodology and Investigation*

Cellular manufacturing systems have been proposed as an alternative to the job shop since they provide some of the operational benefits of a flow line production process, while retaining to some extent the flexibility of job shops. However, this must be balanced against the possibility of additional initial investments in equipment to form the cells and a certain loss in manufacturing flexibility, particularly in terms of the ability to deal with long-term demand changes. This paper presents a model-based heuristic cell system redesign methodology to deal with such demand changes. The methodology is validated and applied to system designs generated from several data sets published in the literature. Results show that different kinds of demand changes incur distinct kinds of costs. Further, characteristics of cell designs that can handle long-term demand changes at least cost are identified.