Machine-component group formation in group technology

A new Rank Order Cluster Algorithm is discussed which provides a simple, effective and efficient analytical technique for the formation of machine-component groupings. The method is specifically developed for computer application although it is possible for it to be used for manual computation, if required, particularly for smaller problems.     

A Marital Conflict Resolution Model: Redefining Conflict to Achieve Intimacy*

The approach to conflict resolution used in this model is to redefine conflict as alternative choices. Six assumptions about conflict are reviewed, suggesting it is the way conflicts are processed, not the conflict per se, which affects the relationship. The model is built on skills: Listening, speaking, deciphering basic needs, unlocking alternative choices, and introspection about the process. Some perspectives and principles provide a conceptual framework for use of the seven sequential procedures. Effectively processed conflicts result in greater personal and relationship understanding and potential for growth.     

Vertical mobility and community type as factors in the migration of college graduates

Internal migration statistics are generally inadequate. One of the chief sources of this is the lack of direct data relating to migration. There appears also to be a lack of interest on the part of researchers in pursuing the study of the relationship between vertical mobility and migration. This study is designed to determine the relative importance of intergenerational vertical mobility and type of community or place of origin in contributing to the migration of college graduates by using direct mobility and migration data.The study sample consists of 850 employed male graduates of eight private colleges in Iowa between 1954 and 1958. Data were obtained through the colleges and consist, among other things, of information about fathers' occupations, graduates' occupations, and the addresses of graduates both at matriculation and at the time of the study. Information about communities or places of origin is dichotomized on the basis of whether they are located in Standard Metropolitan Areas (SMA's) in 1950 or whether they are located in non-SMA's (NSMA's). Upward mobility is treated as a product of higher education and as an antecedent of migration.Hypotheses asserting the existence of associations between mobility and migration and between type of community or place of origin and migration are tested. Associations are established showing (1) that upwardly mobile graduates are more likely to migrate than others and (2) that graduates from NSMA's are more likely to migrate than graduates from SMA's.The relative influence of the two factors is determined by partialing the associations between each factor and migration while holding the other factor constant. Type of community or place of origin is found to be of greater importance for migration than is upward mobility. Graduates from NSMA's are more likely to migrate than those from SMA's, regardless of their relative mobility. Graduates from SMA's are likely to migrate only if they are also upwardly mobile.     

The expected personality characteristics of alcohol-dependent individuals

The Big Five personality factors were used as a framework for examining the expected personality characteristics of individuals who are alcohol-dependent. In an experimental study, participants used a measure of the Big Five personality factors to rate two individuals, each described with either signs of alcohol dependence or not. The ratings of the participants showed that they expected the alcohol-dependent versions of both individuals to be less agreeable and less conscientious. The participants expected the alcohol-dependent college student to be more extraverted and the alcohol-dependent lawyer-father to be more neurotic. The expected personality characteristics of the alcohol-dependent versions of the two described persons were very similar to the actual personality characteristics of alcohol-dependent individuals. The results were consistent with prior findings regarding narrow-band personality traits related to the Big Five. The results help explain prior findings about the social handicap of problem drinking with regard to making friends, dating, marriage, and working. The findings have potential use in alcohol-problem prevention and treatment.     

The lips of the dead and the "kiss of life": the contemporary deathbed and the aesthetic of CPR

Over the last four decades, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has become the medical, legal and media standard for behaviour in the face of sudden death. The key therapeutic techniques of CPR: mouth–to–mouth ventilation, external–cardiac–compressions and defibrillation – with their origins in the eighteenth century, strange peregrinations in the nineteenth, and consolidation in the twentieth – are central to what may be seen as a newly dominant form of deathbed ritual.     

The relationship of trauma exposure to sex offending behavior among male juvenile offenders

The most common type of adult and juvenile sex offender treatment utilizes a Relapse Prevention (RP) model. In RP clients learn about their offense cycle with an emphasis on recognizing high-risk situations and negative emotional states that can be precursors or triggers to offending behavior. This study identifies ways that traumatic experiences and trauma-associated feelings can be offense triggers for juvenile sex offenders. Researchers interviewed the treating clinicians of 40 male juvenile sex offenders who received at least six months of RP sex offender treatment. Results showed that 95% of the youths had experienced a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Criterion A traumatic event and that 65% met criteria for PTSD based on clinician judgments. Overall, clinicians identified prior trauma exposure as being related to the offense triggers in 85% of offenders. Specifically, the following trauma-related feelings were identified as offense triggers: intense fear in 37.5% of sex offenders, helplessness in 55%, and horror in 20%. Implications for sex offender treatment programs are discussed.     

Setting a trap for aging-related genes in Drosophila

In the October 2002 issue of Aging Cell, Seroude et al. used an enhancer trap technique to identify Drosophila genes whose expression changes with age. In this Perspective, the author discusses the implications of these results, including the possibility of using the enhancer trap lines to identify biomarkers of aging.