Mexican American women: impact of culture and education on work patterns.

The lives of women of Mexican descent are being profoundly affected by their changing workforce participation. They are expected to make up the majority of the female workforce in service occupations by 2010. Based on the literature and personal clinical interactions two factors -- cultural values and education attainment -- consistently appear to have a strong impact on the occupational choices of Mexican American women.

Cardiovascular risk factors associated with insulin resistance: effects of oral antidiabetic agents.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease than nondiabetic individuals. These patients are often insulin resistant and have an associated clustering of risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular disease. The risk factors include dyslipidemia, hypertension, altered hemostasis, and chronic inflammation.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of anticancer beta-lactams via the Staudinger reaction.

Stereocontrolled synthesis of novel beta-lactams using polyaromatic imines following the Staudinger reaction has been accomplished. The effects of domestic microwave irradiation on this type of reaction have been investigated. Formation of trans-beta-lactams has been explained through isomerization of the enolates formed during the reaction of acid chloride (equivalent) with imines in the presence of triethylamine.

The phenomenology of deep hypnosis: quiescent and physically active.

To study the phenomenology of hypnotic virtuosos, the author employed a 2 (hypnosis vs. control) x 3 (quiescent, pedaling a stationary bike, having a motor pedal the bike) within-subjects design with quantitative and qualitative measures. In a "neutral hypnosis" context with the only suggestion being to go as deeply into hypnosis as possible, participants reported alterations in body image, time sense, perception and meaning, sense of being in an altered state of awareness, affect, attention, and imagery.

The decision-making process of health care utilization in Mexico.

Using individual-level data from the 2000 Mexican Survey of Satisfaction with Health Services we estimate a two-part negative binomial hurdle model to evaluate the decision-making process of health care utilization in Mexico. We find that there are income-related differences in utilization associated with the first visit to a physician, as well as substantial utilization differences by region, employment, insurance and financial status. There are also income-related differences in the first visit to a specialist but not in the number of days hospitalized.

Dynamics of storage reserve deposition during Brassica rapa L. pollen and seed development in microgravity.

Pollen and seeds share a developmental sequence characterized by intense metabolic activity during reserve deposition before drying to a cryptobiotic form. Neither pollen nor seed development has been well studied in the absence of gravity, despite the importance of these structures in supporting future long-duration manned habitation away from Earth. Using immature seeds (3-15 d postpollination) of Brassica rapa L.

Measuring social aspects in the physician/patient relationship.

This study develops a scale assessing social aspects of physician/patient relationships across multiple samples. The 6-item Social Aspects of Professional Service Relationships (SAPSR) scale demonstrates face validity through correspondence with theoretical constructs--including functional quality, communal behaviors, and affective care--and elements identified in qualitative interviews. The scale performs well in three separate samples.

Transformation of a metal-organic framework from the NbO to PtS net.

Two metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), MOF-501 and MOF-502, respectively, formulated as Co(2)(BPTC)(H(2)O)(5).G(x) and Co(2)(BPTC)(H(2)O)(DMF)(2).G(x) (BPTC = 3,3',5,5'-biphenyltetracarboxylate; G = guest molecules), have been synthesized and structurally characterized, and their topologies were found to be based on the NbO (MOF-501) and PtS (MOF-502) nets.

Trace metal partitioning in Thalassia testudinum and sediments in the Lower Laguna Madre, Texas.

Seagrass communities dominate the Laguna Madre, which accounts for 25% of the coastal region of Texas. Seagrasses are essential to the health of the Laguna Madre (LM) and have experienced an overall decline in coverage in the Lower Laguna Madre (LLM) since 1967. Little is known on the existing environmental status of the LLM.

Contraction bias in memorial quantifying judgment: does it come from a stable compressed memory representation or a dynamic adaptation process?

A common response bias in psychophysical judgments is regression toward the mean (overestimation of small and underestimation of large values, or the response contraction bias). The same bias is observed in magnitude estimation from memorized quantities. Participants estimated alphabetic interval distances between 2 letters for different levels of interletter distances.

How similar is false recognition to veridical recognition objectively and subjectively?

Three recognition memory experiments were conducted using modified Deese-Roediger-McDermott (DRM) and DRM paradigms. In Experiment 1, the reaction time (RT) of the false alarms to critical nonpresented words (false memory) was compared with the RT of hits to the critical presented words and with the RT of hits to the studied list words (true memory). The RT of the false alarms to the critical nonpresented words was significantly longer than that of the hits to the critical words and than that of the studied list words.

Decision making in determining eligibility of culturally and linguistically diverse learners: Reasons given by assessment personnel.

Assessment personnel from the southern borderlands area of Texas participated in analyzing one of four different hypothetical cases. Respondents were expected to defer making eligibility decisions due to language proficiency, environment, culture, or lack of data. When data were lacking, the investigators proposed that respondents would recognize the need for additional information and defer making a decision.

Successful teaching techniques in a race relations class.

The authors present suggestions for enhancing a university course in race relations. These approaches were used in a series of classes offered at a state university in the southeastern United States during a historical period of notable racial tension. This course provided a supportive arena for personal questioning, student interaction, and positive change.

Mechanisms of behavioral switching.

No animal performs only one behavior, so nervous systems must have ways to switch between different behaviors. In this issue of Journal of Comparative Physiology A, several papers discuss how nervous systems achieve this ordered switching between behaviors, from short-term motor control problems, to medium-term decision making based on past experience, to long-term modulation and selection of overall behavioral strategies, such as dominance versus subordinance.

Effect-size reporting practices in AJSLP and other ASHA journals, 1999-2003.

A census of effect-size practices in the past 5 volumes of American Speech-Language-Hearing Association journals was accomplished. Inclusion of effect size in quantitative research reports increased from 5 reports with effect size in 1990 to 1994 to 120 reports in 1999 to 2003. Nonetheless, effect size was reported less than 30% of the time when inferential statistics were used, and only half of those reports included an interpretation of effect size.

Perceived stress reported by nurse practitioner students.

Purpose: To explore the phenomenon of stress as perceived by nurse practitioner (NP) students enrolled in a master of science in nursing program.

Data Sources: The study utilized a qualitative approach for data collection and analysis consistent with grounded theory methodology. We recruited 12 students, 4 men and 8 women, during their final year of a university-based NP program.

Authorizing tradition: vectors of contention in Highland Maya midwifery.

In Guatemala, midwives deliver the majority of children and play an important health care role in rural areas. Maya midwives, using time-proven methods, are the chief providers of care for mothers and infants in these areas. In recent decades, however, the medical establishment has become interested in Maya midwives, and is currently engaged in training and certifying many of them.

Relational spirituality and social caregiving.

Relational spirituality suggests that strengthening one's relatedness to other people and to sources of meaning beyond self-interest produces joy and vitality, which sustain the capacity to care. This perspective informs a qualitative study of 50 female services providers and social reformers. The interviews revealed that the women's caregiving was sustained not only by efficacy or success, but also by connections to their work, to their social networks, to their clients, and to a sacred source of love and strength.

Problems in synthesis (meta-analytic) studies: an example from the communication disorders literature.

This research note examined contemporary issues for meta-analysis with an example from the communication disorders literature. A significant proportion of experimental and quasi-experimental research results are not published in the mainstream literature, which suggests that publication bias is a potential problem for synthesis studies. Nonetheless, 50% of synthesis studies (meta-analyses) in communication disorders do not include statistical or visual procedures, e.

Multiple number and letter comparison: directionality and accessibility in numeric and alphabetic memories.

In 3 experiments, subjects made comparativejudgments on a set of 2 numbers or letters, 3 numbers or letters, or 5 numbers or letters. Numeric and alphabetic serial order memories were contrasted. Three aspects of serial order memory processes were identified: computational complexity, directionality, and accessibility.

To leave or to stay?: Battered women's concern for vulnerable pets.

Consistent with previous research, almost half of a sample of 41 pet-owning battered women reported that their partners had threatened or actually harmed their pets, and over a fourth reported that concern for their pets had affected their decisions about leaving or staying with the batterer. Differences between rural and urban women were not significant, although higher proportions of rural than urban women reported that their partners had threatened or harmed their pets and that concern for their pets had affected their decisions. For the sample as a whole, logistic regression analyses showed that women whose pets had been threatened or harmed were significantly more likely to report that concern for their pets had affected their decisions about leaving or staying.

Evidence-Based Practice in Schools: Evaluating Research and Reducing Barriers.

This article examines the clinician/researcher relationship, suggests directions for improving the relationship, and discusses avenues for transferring information from research to clinical practice. An eight-step model for transferring research studies to practice is adopted, and three of the eight steps are targeted for discussion and illustration. To illustrate the use and interpretation of effect size measures for practical significance, as well as the transfer of research results to practice (evidence-based practice [EBP]), a case study from the contemporary literature is presented.

Consumers devise drug cost-cutting measures: medical and legal issues to consider.

Health care costs in general, and prescription drug costs in particular, are rapidly rising. Between 1996 and 2007 the average annual per capita health care cost is projected to increase from dollar 3,781 to dollar 7,100. [AQ1] The single leading component of health care cost is the cost of prescription drugs (currently 10% of total health care spending, projected to become 18% in 2008).

Forearm endothelial response in smokeless tobacco users compared with cigarette smokers and nonusers of tobacco.

Study Objective: To compare brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in subjects who use smokeless tobacco, smoke cigarettes, or do not use any tobacco product.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: University-affiliated outpatient clinic.