开给女人的“止痛片”

尽管产房里的气氛让我感到害怕,但我还是选择了自然分娩。在几乎人人都去剖腹产的今天,我的行为连医生都觉得是个崇高且勇敢的"英雄行为"。为了能顺利生下宝宝,我参加了一系列产前培训班,关于如何用力,如何有节奏地控制,以及如何适当地叫喊来减轻痛苦等等。当然,在我还没有真正经历那个时刻之前,我认为我已经能够应付一切。正式的宫缩阵痛开始于母亲节那天的下午三点,到了五点,我的叫喊声已像惊天霹雳了。疼痛每次都让我感觉是达到了顶点,下体还有一种沉重下坠的感觉。那时我觉得自己就像是在生一台电视机而不是在生宝宝。这时,我想起了医生的劝导,开始大口地喘气,并集中注意力,试图慢慢地适应宫缩的节奏。八点左右,助产护士开始帮助我挤压腹部。感谢上天,大约半小时后,我的宝宝降生了。所有的痛感一下子烟消云散,那一瞬间体验到了什么叫High。而在生下宝宝九个月后的今天,当时的疼痛只剩下一点点残留印象。仔细回想,当时的痛有多半是由自己恐惧而造成的,如果合理调试,肯定不会有那么疼!——一位"新妈妈"的自述     

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY CONSULTATION WITH RANCH AND FARM FAMILIES: AN EMPIRICAL FAMILY CASE STUDY

There is a paucity of marriage and family therapy literature addressing therapeutic consultation with farm and ranch families. This article describes a case study in which several Marital and Family Therapy approaches were used to consult with a ranch family. It also provides empirical data showing in which of five treatment phases changes occurred. Two generations, including four couples from an extended family, participated in family consultation over 42 months and completed assessments six times. Statistical results and clinical impressions confirm that the five-phase consultative process resulted in significant improvements in family satisfaction with adaptability and family strains levels and positive movement in seven other areas.     

Men's Aging Amidst Intersecting Relations of Inequality

Men age under the pressure of age relations and their intersections with such other inequalities as gender, race, class, nation, and sexuality. We review findings of research on masculinity, inequalities, and social gerontology, and argue that a theoretically informed combination of all three offers the best understanding. We theorize that many men are privileged by their claims on occupational niches and family care and that age relations disrupt those privileges. Age relations exacerbate inequalities among men and reverse many claims to high status. Old men find themselves doing more care work, with less recognition, and suffering effects of the activities that had maintained status in younger years. Economic dependency, loss of status, declining health, isolation, and increasing invisibility shape old manhood even as other relations shield many from the lowest status.     

Reports of Conferences,Institutes, and Seminars

A busy time for librarians was late May through early July 2008 with the Ohio Valley Group of Technical Services Librarians meeting May 14–16, the North American Serials Interest Group meeting June 5–8, and an American Library Association preconference Electronic Serials 101: What I Wished I’d Known Before I Got in Over My Head, June 27.     

Fingerprint-based background checks for personal care workers: Stakeholder views of policy criteria

Decision makers face difficult choices when tasked with identifying and implementing appropriate mechanisms for protecting the elderly and other vulnerable adults from abuse. A pilot project involving fingerprint-based criminal history background checks for personal care workers in Michigan has supplied an opportunity to examine one such mechanism. In conjunction with the pilot project, we have conducted a stakeholder analysis with the aim of informing decision makers about stakeholder perceptions of standard policy criteria like effectiveness, efficiency, and equity. We employed focus groups and a Web-based survey to collect data from stakeholders. While stakeholders generally see fingerprint-based background checks for personal care workers as potentially effective and as a net benefit, they also point to a variety of contingencies. They also recognize difficulties and constraints for government involvement. This preliminary analysis provides solid foundational information for decision makers and for more extensive benefit–cost analysis.     

Symmetry exploits for Bayesian cubature methods

Statistics and Computing - Bayesian cubature provides a flexible framework for numerical integration, in which a priori knowledge on the integrand can be encoded and exploited. This additional...     

BUSINESS STRATEGY,MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY,AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE RELATIONSHIPS: A PATH ANALYSIS APPROACH

It has been argued in the literature that business strategy and manufacturing flexibility independently affect the performance of an organization. However, no empirical examination of the interrelationship among these three constructs has been performed. In this paper, based on a field study of 269 firms in the manufacturing industry, the identified constructs have been used to test a theoretical model using path analysis techniques. Our results indicate that business strategy contributes both directly and indirectly to organizational performance. The findings provide evidence of direct effects of (i) business strategy on manufacturing flexibility and (ii) manufacturing flexibility on organizational performance.