Changes in functional limitation and survival among older Taiwanese, 1993, 1996, and 1999

Using data from the Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan, we investigate changes in difficulties in walking and climbing stairs, tasks that represent basic lower-body movements less likely to be influenced by changes in environment and social roles than are activities and instrumental activities of daily living. Results are shown for unadjusted prevalence rates and rates adjusted for changes in population composition. The findings indicate that Taiwan does not appear to be experiencing the improvements in functioning witnessed recently in the United States. Prevalence of functional limitation increased between 1993 and 1996 and between 1996 and 1999. One possible reason is the change in old-age survival, which appears to have benefited those who have functional limitations, especially in a severe form. The Universal Health Insurance programme, established in 1995, may have increased access to care and thus the survival of those in poorest health.     

Casual sex among Australian schoolies

This study of the casual sexual partnering of 570 male and 776 female Australian high school students on a schoolies week vacation expands on earlier research on factors that influence the sexual activity of vacationing youth. Over 60% of the men and nearly 40% of the women who engaged in sexual intercourse during schoolies week did so with a casual partner. We used logistic regression to test an expanded version of Triandis Theory of Interpersonal Behavior (TIB) in explaining casual sexual partnering. Situational experiences (similar to what others have called situational disinhibition), prior sexual experiences and intentions (similar to what others have called spillover) influenced casual sexual partnering. Different causal pathways were demonstrated for men and women.     

A scope-of-practice survey leading to the development of standards of practice for health promotion in higher education

To review and analyze the scope of practice of health promotion services and draft standards of quality indicators for higher education communities, the American College Health Association (ACHA) initiated a Task Force on Health Promotion in Higher Education in May 1996. Members of the task force developed a National Survey on Health Promotion and Education in Institutions of Higher Education and mailed the survey to a stratified random sample of 600 ACHA member institutions, as well as to 97 key "best-practice health promotion leaders". The larger sample produced a 75.3% response rate, and 90.7% of the key informants returned usable surveys. The authors report selected findings from both groups that chronicle the state of health promotion practice in higher education at the close of the 20th century. The task force used the findings to establish a data-driven framework for the Year 2001 Standards of Practice for Health Promotion in Higher Education.     

Cultural perspectives of death,grief, and bereavement

The cultural makeup of the United States continues to change rapidly, and as minority groups continue to grow, these groups' beliefs and customs must be taken into account when examining death, grief, and bereavement. This article discusses the beliefs, customs, and rituals of Latino, African American, Navajo, Jewish, and Hindu groups to raise awareness of the differences health care professionals may encounter among their grieving clients. Discussion of this small sample of minority groups in the United States is not intended to cover all of the degrees of acculturation within each group. Cultural groups are not homogeneous, and individual variation must always be considered in situations of death, grief, and bereavement. However, because the customs, rituals, and beliefs of the groups to which they belong affect individuals' experiences of death, grief, and bereavement, health care professionals need to be open to learning about them to better understand and help.     

Juvenile male sexual offenders: the quality of motivation system of assessment and treatment issues

A group of juvenile male sexual offenders (n=100) completed the Quality of Motivation Questionnaire (QMQ) upon entry into a residential treatment facility. The concepts of Quality of Motivation (QM) Theory are presented to explain the QMQ scores. The scores include Disclosure Level, Sources of Motivation, Life Style Characteristics and Power. The results indicate abnormal motivation scores in the area of Disclosure Resistance, Depression, Primary and Learned Sources of Motivation, and all of the Maladaptive Skills Scores. Recommendations of treatment issues for therapists are prioritized according to QM Theory and presented in a treatment plan format called the Personal Development Plan (PDP). Implications for further research with the QMQ include outcome measurement of changes and comparison with non-offender groups.     

Policing, collective action and social movement theory: the case of the Northern Ireland civil rights campaign

In this paper we examine the relationship between social movements and the police through an analysis of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) which emerged in the late 1960s in Northern Ireland. Following della Porta (1995) and Melucci (1996) we argue that the way in which episodes of collective action are policed can affect profoundly both levels of mobilization and the orientation of social movements. We also submit that the symbolic and representational dimensions of policing can be a significant trigger in the stimulation of identification processes and collective action. The paper concludes by questioning some of the assumptions contained within social movement theory, and their applicability to divided societies such as Northern Ireland.     

Der Insolvenzprozess und die Eigenverwaltung in der Insolvenz auf Basis unterschiedlicher Theoriekonzepte

Zusammenfassung  Der Beitrag erkl?rt einerseits die Notwendigkeit eines durch Gesetz geregelten Verfahrens zur Insolvenzabwicklung mittels betriebswirtschaftlicher Grundlagentheorien. Andererseits werden dieselben Grundlagentheorien genutzt, um die unterschiedlichen sich ver?ndernden Machtstrukturen, die oft gegens?tzlichen Interessen von Stakeholdern, die Kosten des Insolvenzprozesses sowie deren Dynamik im Rahmen des vierphasigen Insolvenzprozesses (vor Insolvenzanmeldung, nach Antragstellung, nach Er?ffnung, nach Abschluss des Verfahrens) eines Not leidenden Unternehmens besser veranschaulichen zu k?nnen. Der besondere Schwerpunkt wird hierbei auf das Verfahren in Eigenverwaltung, das hei?t mit eigenem Management, gelegt.

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The bankruptcy process and the self-administration in the bankruptcy proceedings

Summary  This article explains on one hand the necessity of a legally fixed process for the bankruptcy proceedings with basic economic theories. On the other hand, the same theories are used to demonstrate the changing power structures, the often different interests of stakeholders, the costs of the bankruptcy proceedings as well as its dynamics during the four bankruptcy phases (before the filing, after the filing, after opening and after closing) of the bankruptcy process. The focus of this article lies hereby on bankruptcy proceedings in self-administration which means that the management stays on duty.

Dr. Martin K?rner ist promovierter Diplom- und Bankkaufmann und leitet die Abteilung Strategic Advisory bei einem führenden europ?ischen IT- und Telekommunikationsunternehmen. Seine Forschungsgebiete umfassen strategische Fragestellungen, Kapitalmarktthemen, das Outsorcing sowie das Krisen- und Insolvenzmanagement.     

Business planning: The gap between theory and practice

The author maintains that the gap between the theory and the practice of corporate planning is growing. He examines the planning systems currently used and concludes that corporate planning as advocated by the theorists is not being practised in any developed form by large corporations.