Physical activity in the life of a woman with cerebral palsy: physiotherapy,social exclusion,competence, and intimacy

Although physical activity can have substantial mental and physical health benefits, people with cerebral palsy usually lead sedentary lives. To understand, at an individual level, this inactivity, we interviewed a 29-year-old minimally active woman with cerebral palsy (Alana) about the meanings and experiences of physical activity throughout her life. Using a case-study approach, we found that Alana had adverse childhood experiences with physical activity, including: having to perform difficult, and sometimes painful, physiotherapy; wearing callipers to assist her walking; demonstrating limited competence at physical activity; being excluded from physical education and other organised physical activity at school; and feeling socially isolated from her classmates. These experiences seemed to contribute to feelings of difference/inferiority and the subsequent avoidance of physical activity, which, in turn, might have contributed to premature functional decline. Physical activity levels in people with cerebral palsy might be increased through focusing on enhancing childhood experiences.     

Safety of a meningococcal group B vaccine used in response to two university outbreaks

Objective: To assess the safety of meningococcal group B (MenB)-4C vaccine. Participants: Undergraduates, dormitory residents, and persons with high-risk medical conditions received the MenB-4C vaccine two-dose series during mass vaccination clinics from 12/2013 through 11/2014. Methods: Adverse events (AEs) were identified by 15 minutes of observation postvaccination, spontaneous reports, surveys, and hospital surveillance. Causality was assessed for serious adverse events (SAEs). Results: 16,974 persons received 31,313 MenB-4C doses. The incidence of syncope during the 15-minutes post-dose 1 was 0.88/1000 persons. 2% of participants spontaneously reported an AE (most common were arm pain and fever). 3 SAEs were suspected of being caused by the vaccine, including one case of anaphylaxis. Conclusions: Most AEs reported were nonserious and consistent with previous clinical trial findings. Measures to prevent injury from syncope and to treat anaphylaxis should be available wherever vaccines are administered. Our safety evaluation supports the use of MenB-4C in response to outbreaks.     

Responsibility-Alleviation and Other-Regarding Preferences with Peer Workers in Labor Markets: An Experimental Investigation

A peer worker is introduced in a controlled labor market experiment characterized by unobservable effort and incomplete contracts. Workers make decisions independently and without knowledge of each other??s actions in a modified gift exchange experiment. Introducing a peer worker into an ongoing market has a negative and significant effect on effort. This decrease in effort is consistent with responsibility-alleviation on the part of employees and not with other-regarding equity concerns for the manager??s payoffs.     

Anti‐Americanism,Political Cartoons,and a Socio‐Geographic Imagination: An Invitation to Further Work*

This research note synopsizes previous studies to present future directions for the measurement of anti‐Americanism within the United States and comparatively. We explain new vectors in our research design and posit new hypotheses for future research. The note highlights the importance of cross‐national investigation of anti‐Americanism, and suggests some methodological considerations in that endeavor.     

Nonverbal Reactions to Conversational Interruption: A Test of Complementarity Theory and the Status/Gender Parallel

The present research examined nonverbal reactions to conversational interruption (a status-organizing cue). We predicted that the nonverbal reactions to interruption (versus a control condition) would show a different pattern of results than gender differences. Participants (N = 150) were paired with one of four confederates and randomly assigned to either an interruption or control condition. Nine nonverbal behavioral reactions were coded by independent raters. Participants responded to interruption with reciprocal interruptions and increased nodding, as compared to a control condition. Gender differences diverged from those associated with condition. Women smiled, agreed, nodded, and laughed more than men, showing evidence of a greater attempt to facilitate the flow of conversation. We discuss these findings with regard to the dimensions of affiliation and verticality.     

Profiles of adult survivors of severe sexual,physical and emotional institutional abuse in Ireland

Adult survivors of institutional abuse were interviewed with a comprehensive assessment protocol which included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Institutional Child Abuse Processes and Coping Inventory, the Structured Clinical Interviews for Disorders of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV axis I disorders and personality disorders, the Trauma Symptoms Inventory, a Life Problems Checklist, the Experiences in Close Relationships Inventory and the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Profiles were identified for subgroups that described severe sexual (N = 60), physical (N = 102), or emotional (N = 85) abuse as their worst forms of maltreatment. Survivors of severe sexual abuse had the most abnormal profile, which was characterised by higher rates of all forms of child maltreatment and higher rates of post‐traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and substance abuse, antisocial personality disorder, trauma symptoms and life problems. Survivors of severe emotional abuse were better adjusted than the other two groups. The profile of survivors of severe physical abuse occupied an intermediate position between the other two groups. A thorough assessment of abuse history and current functioning should be conducted when providing services to adult survivors of institutional abuse, since this may have important implications for the intensity of services required. Survivors of severe sexual abuse may require more intensive services. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In Search of Strategy

The canon of volunteer administration contends that adoption of specified practices separates effective from ineffective programs. Alternatively, structural contingency and strategic human resource management theories suggest that managers make adoption decisions based on how organizational circumstances dictate the applicability or efficacy of particular practices. We test propositions that universalistic adoption of “best practices,” contingent adoption of practices, and configurational adoption of bundles of practices are associated with program outcomes of recruitment ease, retention of volunteers, and the net benefits that volunteers bring to organizational operations. With all sets of tests garnering limited empirical support, we conclude that human resource practice in volunteer administration is loosely coupled with outcomes, but that some organizations do—and many more should—manage according to the singular context of their institutional and external environments.