Evaluation of an upper extremity student-role functioning scale using item response theory

Millions of workers suffer from upper extremity (musculoskeletal) disorders. Many of these workers are predisposed to upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders because of early exposure to ergonomic risks as students. Computer usage for four or more hours remains the greatest risk for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for workers and students alike. Developing preventative methods to reduce student exposure, and thus protect future workers from upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders later in life, requires an appropriate measure for upper extremity musculoskeletal disorder prevalence and related limitations for student functioning. Item response theory analysis was used to evaluate and further develop a upper extremity functioning scale for the student role.     

Open Road or Blind Alley? Welfare Reform, Mothers, and Children with Disabilities

Welfare reform was examined for 39 Michigan families whose children have significant health or intellectual and behavioral disabilities. As a group, these families received little specialized assistance or services to address their unique needs. Family-cited barriers to self-sufficiency included poorly trained welfare caseworkers, limited public transportation, and inadequate child care. Having an older child was the only discriminating variable between working and non-working mothers. However, working mothers only had temporary positions with no benefits and low pay. All families, whether employed or not, lived below the poverty line.     

THE ACADEMIC FLOW MODEL: A MARKOV-CHAIN MODEL FOR FACULTY PLANNING*

A Markov-chain faculty planning model to be used with institution-specific data is presented to describe and better understand the complex phenomena of faculty movement through an institution and on its relationship to salary costs, composition of the faculty, and faculty turnover rate. The model updates the earlier work done at Stanford University and Oregon State University by the addition of states for fixed-term appointments and for part-time FTEs to reflect accurately the current hiring trends at many institutions. The model is implemented and tested at two different institutions. The findings suggest that the model is a viable means of gaining useful insights and quantitative data on the faculty profile, salary costs, expected departures, and part-time trends. And further, when used as a planning tool, and the model apparently is comprehensive and flexible enough to analyze the probable effects, both in the short and long run, of alternative personnel policies on the faculty composition.     

Führung — der unterschätzte Beruf

Leadership — an underestimated profession. From a greenhorn of leadership to a qualified manager The author presents an empirical inquiery, basing on interviews with 10 recently appointed managers. She demontrates, that managers hardly ever are prepared for her job in advance. This may lead to several problems, up to a demotivation of all persons envolved. The author proposes a procedure of personal development with three elements: seminars to impart knowledge, employment of internal mentors and of external coaches.     

Nanotechnology risk perceptions and communication: emerging technologies, emerging challenges

Nanotechnology involves the fabrication, manipulation, and control of materials at the atomic level and may also bring novel uncertainties and risks. Potential parallels with other controversial technologies mean there is a need to develop a comprehensive understanding of processes of public perception of nanotechnology uncertainties, risks, and benefits, alongside related communication issues. Study of perceptions, at so early a stage in the development trajectory of a technology, is probably unique in the risk perception and communication field. As such it also brings new methodological and conceptual challenges. These include: dealing with the inherent diversity of the nanotechnology field itself; the unfamiliar and intangible nature of the concept, with few analogies to anchor mental models or risk perceptions; and the ethical and value questions underlying many nanotechnology debates. Utilizing the lens of social amplification of risk, and drawing upon the various contributions to this special issue of Risk Analysis on Nanotechnology Risk Perceptions and Communication, nanotechnology may at present be an attenuated hazard. The generic idea of "upstream public engagement" for emerging technologies such as nanotechnology is also discussed, alongside its importance for future work with emerging technologies in the risk communication field.     

Bad Days Don't End When the School Bell Rings: The Lingering Effects of Negative School Events on Children's Mood, Self-esteem, and Perceptions of Parent–Child Interaction

Each day for five days, 79 fifth‐grade children reported on events that occurred at school and they and their parents described their interactions with each other each evening. Consistent with previous research, it was found that on days when children reported more academic or peer problems during the day at school, they later described more aversive interactions with their parents. As hypothesized, increases in anxiety and drops in children's state self‐esteem partially mediated this link. However, parents did not report any differences in their interactions with the target child on days when the child experienced problems at school. This study suggests that negative events experienced by children while at school lead to short‐term changes in mood and self‐esteem, which influence their perceptions of subsequent interactions at home with parents.     

Helga Riebe, Sigrid Düringer, Herta Leistner (Hg.): Perspektiven für Frauen in Organisationen. Neue Organisations-und Managementkonzepte kritisch hinterfragt

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

THE SYMBOLIC CONSTRUCTION OF RUSSIA AND THE UNITED STATES ON RUSSIAN NATIONAL TELEVISION

Analysis of 1995 Vremya (Russian national television) newscasts reveals few traces of the cold-war framework that dominated news media discourse throughout the world for almost four decades. The ability of Vremya to reconstruct its images of Russia and the United States reaffirms the contention of Edelman, Hall, and others that media news accounts evoke a spectacle that is an ideological product, not a set of facts. The spectacle of politics is a fetish, a creation that then dominates the thought and action of its creators.     

Clinical observations on interferences of early father absence in the achievement of femininity

In clinical work, we have observed that the loss of the father through divorce has a significant effect on the young girl's developing sense of feminity. This paper briefly reviews the research findings from sex-role development theory and psychoanalytic theory, and presents clinical discussions of latency aged girls whose parents divorced during their daughter's early and oedipal years. The most common defensive or coping patterns seen in these child patients during latency are identified, with clinical material presented to illustrate both the existence of these patterns and implications for treatment.