Pisa—My Holy Beauty

This month,each writer details an impressive place,or scenic area, encountered while living abroad.身处异乡,喜欢去的一个地方……It was a sunny morning when I headed for Pisa.I knew I would definitely visit Torre pendente di Pisa(the Leaning Tower of Pisa).To me,it is the soul of the city,in which lies its glory and vigor.Compared with the surroundings,where low buildings stand     

Individual Differences in Infants’ Joint Attention Behaviors With Mother and a New Social Partner

Relations between infant–mother attachment security at 15 months and infants’ (N = 206) joint attention behaviors (a) with an experimenter at 8 and 15 months, and (b) with their mothers at 15 months were investigated. No concurrent or longitudinal relations were observed between attachment security and infants’ tendency to respond to an experimenter’s bids for joint attention. Higher levels of initiating joint attention with an experimenter at 15 months were associated with insecure‐avoidant attachment. Insecure‐avoidant attachment was also associated with lower scores for initiating high‐level joint attention behaviors (pointing, showing, and giving) with the mother at age 15 months. The fact that security‐related differences in initiating joint attention with an experimenter were observed only once the attachment relationship was consolidated suggests that (a) attachment security may influence infants’ active engagement with new social partners, and (b) insecure‐avoidant infants may compensate for reduced social contact with the caregiver by initiating more interaction with other social partners.     

Is Combat Pay Effective? Evidence from Operation Desert Storm*

Objective. To determine whether combat pay for U.S. Army officers has been adequate to maintain troop strength during wartime in the all‐volunteer military. Methods. Data from a panel survey of 3,800 officers collected one year prior to Operation Desert Storm and again during the Iraqi engagement are used. The primary economic indicator of work disutility—the marginal rate of substitution (MRS) or tradeoff of time for money—is estimated; and the MRS‐hourly pay relationship in both time periods is determined. Results. Combat pay was found to be generally adequate to offset increases in wartime disutility. Additional payment was required for male officers in only two branch groups, and these involved relatively small numbers of personnel compared to the larger Combat Arms branches. Conclusions. We find no evidence that a market‐oriented volunteer army could not maintain adequate troop strength during wartime, at least in environments similar to that of the early 1990s when these data were collected.     

Legitimation, Geographical Scale, and Organizational Density: Regional Patterns of Foundings of American Automobile Producers, 1885–1981

Do organizational processes of legitimation and competition operate within different boundaries corresponding to different geographical levels of analysis? Following Hannan et al. (1995), this analysis explores the possibility that legitimation operates on a broader geographical scale (less constrained by political and physical barriers) than does competition. We test the argument by examining founding rates of American automobile producers from 1885 to 1981, within the framework of density-dependent modeling. Our findings suggest that within the United States, legitimation operated on a national scale while competition proceeded primarily on a regional level. Comparison with automobile producer populations in Europe yields differences in application and interpretation of the theory.     

The Role of Metacognition in Pathological Gambling: A Mediation Model

Pathological gambling involves multitudinous costs related to financial, legal, and public health care aspects, as well as to specific psychological disorders. Despite the overall evidence suggesting that comorbid disorders represent a risk factor for pathological gambling, there is scant evidence on the appropriate treatments for gamblers with such disorders. In this context, metacognitive therapy is an interesting approach because it considers psychological disorders as a result of the activation of perseverative cognitive processes and attentional strategies in response to inner events. Several studies report that metacognition is associated with different psychological problems. This study investigated the relationship among comorbid disorders, metacognition, and pathological gambling. 69 pathological gamblers at the first hospital admission and 58 controls drawn from general population (matched for age, gender, education) completed a battery of self report instruments: Symptom Checklist-90-R, Metacognition Questionnaire 30, South Oaks Gambling Scale. Compared to controls, pathological gamblers showed higher level of comorbid symptomatology and metacognition. Correlation analyses showed that: comorbid symptomatology and metacognition were positively and significantly correlated with pathological gambling; metacognition was positively and significantly associated with comorbid symptomatology. Mediation analysis indicated that dysfunctional metacognitive strategies could have an indirect effect on pathological gambling mediated by concurrent psychological disorders. These findings provide some implications for gambling treatment programs: pathological gamblers should be screened for psychiatric disorders, and metacognitive therapy could be considered a correct treatment of pathological gamblers. Metacognitive therapy might lead to the reduction of the pathological gambling by the diminishing of the concurrent psychological disorders.     

Usability analysis of 2D graphics software for designing technical clothing

With the advent of technology, the computer became a working tool increasingly present in companies. Its purpose is to increase production and reduce the inherent errors in manual production. The aim of this study was to analyze the usability of 2D graphics software in creating clothing designs by a professional during his work. The movements of the mouse, keyboard and graphical tools were monitored in real time by software Camtasia 7? installed on the user's computer. To register the use of mouse and keyboard we used auxiliary software called MouseMeter?, which quantifies the number of times they pressed the right, middle and left mouse's buttons, the keyboard and also the distance traveled in meters by the cursor on the screen. Data was collected in periods of 15 minutes, 1 hour and 8 hours, consecutively. The results showed that the job is considered repetitive and high demands physical efforts, which can lead to the appearance of repetitive strain injuries. Thus, the goal of minimizing operator efforts and thereby enhance the usability of the examined tool, becomes imperative to replace the mouse by a device called tablet, which also offers an electronic pen and a drawing platform for design development.     

The ‘importance of staying put’: third country nationals’ limited intra-EU mobility rights

The cautious approach of European Legislators towards the integration of non-EU third country nationals (TCNs), mirrored in the provisions of Long-Term Residence Directive 2003/109/EC, has brought about the creation of ‘spatial temporal waiting zones’. Migrants are confined in both place and time before being able to access the (as of yet, very limited) mobility rights conferred upon them by the Directive. Restricted mobility rights for TCNs can seriously impinge on the economic growth of the EU. This paper reveals three ‘faults’ of the current system. First, we show how TCNs already evade ‘temporal borders’ by moving across geographical ones to take up employment before being entitled to do so under the provisions of the Directive. Next, we show how formal integration in one member state (MS), paradoxically, opens the door to another MS and, third, how a second MS fights off these near-EU citizens. Finally, we observe the importance of taking the phenomenon of spatial and temporal waiting zones into account, not only when structuring intra-EU mobility policies for TCNs but also when addressing the issue of the (labour market) integration of recent arrivals: soon they too will become European long-term residents.     

Innovation and tradition: Reproductive and marital behaviour in Italy in the 1970s and 1980s

Fertility, nuptiality, reproductive behaviour and living arrangements of never-married women and legally separated women are examined in order to underline differences and similarities to other Western countries. Prospects for the future are also discussed to see whether Italy is in line with the frameworks recently proposed to interpret demographic changes. The results show that delay in the timing of events cannot provide a satisfactory explanation of Italian peculiarities.On examine ici la fécondité, la nuptialité, le comportement procréateur et l'organisation des modes de vie des femmes jamais mariées et de celles séparées légalement en vue de souligner les differénces et les similitudes avec d'autres pays occidentaux. Des perspectives d'avenir sont également discutées pour voir si l'Italie se conforme aux cadres récemment proposés pour interpréter les changements démographiques. Les résultats montrent que les délais d'apparition des changements ne peuvent fournir une explication satisfaisante des particularités.