'SELLING BLOOD': CHARACTERISTICS AND MOTIVATIONS OF STUDENT PLASMA DONORS

This multimethod study examines selected characteristics and the motivational dynamics of remunerated blood plasma donation by U . S . university students . Ten percent of students surveyed reported selling plasma . In comparison to nondonors and nonremunerated student Red Cross donors , paid student plasma donors tended to be predominantly male and from higher income families and to have higher rates of employment while in school . They also exhibited greater rates of alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking . Drawing on focus - group and individual interviews , the authors describe the student plasma donation experience , with particular emphasis on motivational dynamics . Unlike nonremunerated Red Cross donors , plasma donors do not feel a strong identification with the altruistic aspects of the blood donor role . Rather , they are motivated to continue donating in order to secure an easy source of pocket money , which they tend to spend freely , especially on social drinking in student bars . Among students willing to sell plasma more than a few times , self - deferral from long - term donation tended to result from growing concerns about the physical effects of continuing donation , increases in disposable income from other sources , or both . The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings for social policy and for future research .     

Using national alcohol screening day to deliver personalized feedback: a pilot study

The current study tested the effectiveness of using National Alcohol Screening Day (NASD) to deliver personalized feedback via mail. At-risk NASD participants were assigned to either personalized or generic feedback conditions and attended a 4-week follow-up. Results failed to find any group differences on alcohol-related variables. However, participants in the personalized group reported a reduction in the maximum number of drinks consumed on one occasion. The personalized group also had a more accurate view of the amount of alcohol their peers consumed. NASD is a vehicle to efficiently deliver feedback to individuals about their alcohol use; however, more research is needed to determine the types of feedback that would be most effective.     

Exorcising myths and taboos in Romanian society

George Voicu, Mitul lui Nae Ionescu (The Myth of Nae Ionescu) (Bucharest: Ars Docendi, 2000). 202pp. ISBN 973–8118–26–3

George Voicu, Zeii cei rãi: Cukura conspiratiei in România postcomunistã (Evil Gods: The Cult of Conspiracy in Post‐communist Romania) (Bucharest: Polirom, 2000). 245pp. Index. ISBN 973–683–593–6

George Voicu, Teme antisémite în discursul public (Anti‐Semitic Themes in Public Discourse) (Bucharest: Ars Docendi, 2000), 233pp. ISBN 973–8118–29–8     

Utilizing a Continuing Education Workshop to Increase Knowledge of Documentation Among Hospital Psychosocial Staff

ABSTRACT

Hospital-based psychosocial staff including social workers, mental health counselors, and marriage and family therapists utilize documentation skills to assess, treat, and manage patients admitted to inpatient settings. Little research exists that examines the impact of continuing education on documentation skills. This study examined changes in hospital-based psychosocial staff perceptions of their documentation skills after attending a two-part continuing education documentation workshop. The quantitative, pretest–posttest design utilized a convenience sample that included 32 staff members at pretest and 30 staff members completing the posttest. Results from the 51-item pretest and posttest survey indicate that the continuing education workshop statistically increased participants’ knowledge of progress notes and termination summaries. Findings did not indicate any differences when comparing knowledge, at the start of the workshop, for employees with prior documentation training, longer work experience, or different license groups. The authors discuss implications for practice, continuing education, and future research.     

Single machine batch scheduling with release times

Motivated by a high-throughput logging system, we investigate the single machine scheduling problem with batching, where jobs have release times and processing times, and batches require a setup time. Our objective is to minimize the total flow time, in the online setting. For the online problem where all jobs have identical processing times, we propose a 2-competitive algorithm and we prove a corresponding lower bound. Moreover, we show that if jobs with arbitrary processing times can be processed in any order, any online algorithm has a linear competitive ratio in the worst case. A preliminary version of a part of this paper was presented at the 31st International Symposium on Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science (MFCS 2006). We gratefully acknowledge reviewers’ comments that helped to improve the presentation of this work. Supported by the Swiss SBF under contract no. C05.0047 within COST-295 (DYNAMO) of the European Union. Research carried out while B. Weber was affiliated with the Institute of Theoretical Computer Science, ETH Zurich.     

Test-retest reliability on nine tasks of the Physical Work Performance Evaluation

The Physical Work Performance Evaluation (PWPE) is one of many functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) currently available to assist with determining injured workers' physical potential to return to work. Previous research has explored interrater reliability, construct and predictive validity of the PWPE. This research examined test-retest reliability on a sample of 24 clients with stable physical injuries who were participating in vocational rehabilitation. Nine of the 21 main tasks of the PWPE were evaluated: lifting floor to waist, bilateral carrying, pushing, sitting, standing, kneeling, stair climbing, repetitive squatting and walking. Kappa scores ranged from 0.19 (error) to 0.77 and percent agreement from 66.7% to 87.5%. The results for kneeling, lifting floor to waist, bilateral carrying and pushing tasks suggest substantial test-retest reliability with moderate reliability also suggested for the standing and repetitive squatting tasks. Self-limiting behavior and alterations in pain scores, position adjustments and movement deviations are seen to be the main contributors to affect scoring between the first and second tests.     

A Cellular Dynamics Model of Experimental Bladder Cancer: Analysis of the Effect of Sodium Saccharin in the Rat

To make the methodology of risk assessment more consistent with the realities of biological processes, a computer-based model of the carcinogenic process may be used. A previously developed probabilistic model, which is based on a two-stage theory of carcinogenesis, represents urinary bladder carcinogenesis at the cellular level with emphasis on quantification of cell dynamics: cell mitotic rates, cell loss and birth rates, and irreversible cellular transitions from normal to initiated to transformed states are explicitly accounted for. Analyses demonstrate the sensitivity of tumor incidence to the timing and magnitude of changes to these cellular variables. It is demonstrated that response in rats following administration of nongenotoxic compounds, such as sodium saccharin, can be explained entirely on the basis of cytotoxicity and consequent hyperplasia alone.