Advisory Practice Research Articles

Ball or aerosol? Sin, soap and the pharmaceutical industry

The purpose of this paper is to provoke careful and continuing reconsideration of the relationship between psychiatrists and the pharmaceutical industry through historical analysis of trends in the promotion of psychotropic drugs. Psychiatrists remain concerned about the relationship of the profession with the pharmaceutical industry. From examination of my own extended experience of that relationship (including as a former Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists General Councilor and chair of the Clinical Practice Advisory and Ethical Practice Committees), attention is drawn to the influence of the industry on the categorization and naming of drugs, attempts to propose target disorders and the obsolescence of established agents. Caution in accepting the role of 'opinion leader' is recommended but it remains important for psychiatrists to continue to ethically engage with the industry.

ЦЕННОСТНАЯ ДЕТЕРМИНАЦИЯ КОПИНГ-ПОВЕДЕНИЯ У СТУДЕНТОВ ВУЗА

The subject areas of the article are valuable formations of university students as personal resources of coping behavior in difficult situations of social interaction. Interrelationship of these mental formations of personality is the purpose of the study, carried out by the author. Empirical research tools were the methods of diagnostics system of value orientations personal by E. B. Fantalova and coping test by R. Lazarus. The study identifies indicators of value management of coping behavior of high school students and suggests that integrative functions of valuesemantic system of University students of elementary courses personality did not have sufficient regulatory capacity, focused on defining the problem and productivity strategies to overcome difficult situations of social interaction and to achieve the goal. Results of the research allow defining the actual tasks of educational, corrective and advisory practices.

ЦЕННОСТНО-МОТИВАЦИОННАЯ ДЕТЕРМИНАЦИЯ ПОВЕДЕНИЯ ЛИЧНОСТИ

The subject areas of the article scientific materials are the functional characteristics of the value and motivation of individual adolescents and youth with deviant behavior. Identification of these characteristics is the purpose of a study carried out by the author. The empirical research tools are the methods of «Diagnostics system of value orientations of personality» by E. B. Fantalova and «Polimotivational trends in diagnostics of ego-conception of personality» by S. M. Petrova. The study results suggest specificity of value-semantic and motivational formations deviant adolescents and young people have, as manifested in the integrative indicators of understanding of the values and motives of self-realization; in the structure of the humanitarian component of value-semantic system; on the level of awareness of personal sense of spiritual values. The study obtained data allow us to identify systemic linkages intraindividual factors in the genesis of the deviant behavior of the individual, which provides an opportunity to improve the educational, corrective and advisory practices.

СОЦИАЛЬНЫЕ ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЯ МОЛОДЕЖИ О МИРЕ В РАЗЛИЧНЫХ УСЛОВИЯХ СОЦИАЛИЗАЦИИ

In the article the specifics of the system-diachronic approach to the analysis of the different conditions of socialization of the personality are discussed. It contains the research of social representations of young people about the world in various conditions of socialization. The prospects of studying of social ideas about the world in dependence on the conditions of socialization of the personality are shown. The nuclear components of the influence of the ideas of young people about the world areallocated and described. The significant differences of the ideas independence on the favorable/unfavorable conditions of socialization of young people are revealed. Such differences, apparently, become possible in compliance with the following factors: 1) the contradiction between the attitudes, stereotypes and real life; 2) loss of life perspective. The obtained data allow assuming that the main component of the designing of negative social ideas about the world is the offense of young people on the conditions of surrounding social reality. The applied aspect of the studied problem can be realized in the advisory practice of the psychological services.

Scholarship-In-Practice the Romance Reader and the Public Library

Romance fiction, romance authors and readers have been routinely marginalised, in spite of their significant role in contemporary popular culture. Sales figures for the book trade indicate that romance fiction is the most popular of all genres with ebook technologies being led by romance and erotica publishers. Yet, many public libraries have not collected romance fiction or collect only token examples of this genre. Drawing from data in the Australian Romance Readers Association annual survey on reader usage, this paper will discuss how the romance reader accesses their reading choices, impediments to the romance reader accessing reading materials, and the role of the public library and how library practitioners, through Readers’ Advisory practices, can meet the romance reader’s needs.

Communication in production animal medicine: modelling a complex interaction with the example of dairy herd health medicine

BackgroundThe importance of communication skills in veterinary medicine is increasingly recognised. Appropriate communication skills towards the client are of utmost importance in both companion animal practice and production animal field and consultancy work. The need for building a relationship with the client, alongside developing a structure for the consultation is widely recognised and applies to both types of veterinary practice.ResultsVeterinary advisory practice in production animal medicine is, however, characterised by a more complex communication on different levels. While the person-orientated communication is a permanent process between veterinarian and client with a rather personal perspective and defines the roles of interaction, the problem-orientated communication deals with emerging difficulties; the objective is to solve an acute health problem. The solution - orientated communication is a form of communication in which both veterinarian and client address longstanding situations or problems with the objective to improve herd health and subsequently productivity performance. All three forms of communication overlap.ConclusionsBased on this model, it appears useful for a veterinary practice to offer both a curative and an advisory service, but to keep these two separated when deemed appropriate. In veterinary education, the strategies and techniques necessary for solution orientated communication should be included in the teaching of communication skills.

Change in forest planner's advisory role

Urbanisation and related lifestyle changes, as well as the opportunities offered by new information and communication technology, are altering decision-making among family forest owners. Consequently, the approaches and tools of communicating with forest owners are under pressure towards becoming more customer-orientated. The present study looks at forestry advisory practices connected with forest management planning using the theory base and methods of activity theory and the active involvement of practical forestry professionals. Collaborative developmental meetings with a group of foresters were conducted in three organisations. A total of 22 sessions were held within separate developmental projects. Tacit knowledge and good communication practices were observed among the foresters involved in this. New flexible service models and improvements to current service chains were designed and experimented to support forest owners in their forest management activity. Analysis of experiences suggests adjusting forestry advisory practitioners’ roles. A more meaningful customer-compatible role of the forest planner fostering the planner's work-related well-being could include two sub-roles: a mediator is sensitive to the owner's needs and wishes and s/he informs the owner about the forest holding and its various long-term opportunities and an activator, in turn, supports the realisation of the suggested operations in the forest holding.

Putting the pieces together: endometriosis blogs, cognitive authority, and collaborative information behavior

A discourse analysis was conducted of peer-written blogs about the chronic illness endometriosis to understand how bloggers present information sources and make cases for and against the authority of those sources. Eleven blogs that were authored by endometriosis patients and focused exclusively or primarily on the authors' experiences with endometriosis were selected. After selecting segments in which the bloggers invoked forms of knowledge and sources of evidence, the text was discursively analyzed to reveal how bloggers establish and dispute the authority of the sources they invoke. When discussing and refuting authority, the bloggers invoked many sources of evidence, including experiential, peer-provided, biomedical, and intuitive ones. Additionally, they made and disputed claims of cognitive authority via two interpretive repertoires: a concern about the role and interests of the pharmaceutical industry and an understanding of endometriosis as extremely idiosyncratic. Affective authority of information sources was also identified, which presented as social context, situational similarity, or aesthetic or spiritual factors. Endometriosis patients may find informational value in blogs, especially for affective support and epistemic experience. Traditional notions of authority might need to be revised for the online environment. Guidelines for evaluating the authority of consumer health information, informed by established readers' advisory practices, are suggested.

Special populations: Do we need evidence from randomized controlled trials to support the need for respiratory syncytial virus prophylaxis?

Congenital abnormalities and impaired mechanisms that govern the normal coordinated physiology of breathing, sucking, swallowing and airway clearance, place infants with underlying medical disorders at high risk for respiratory morbidity following respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) lower respiratory tract infection. The use of RSV prophylaxis in premature infants' ≤ 35 weeks gestational age, infants with chronic lung and hemodynamically significant heart disease is firmly established through randomized controlled clinical trials (RCT's). RSV prophylaxis in infants with serious medical illnesses must be justified based on emerging scientific literature and the overriding concept of achieving a balance between benefit and harm with treatment. This article will explore the current evidence for palivizumab prophylaxis in a variety of disorders and examine existing differences between pediatric advisory body recommendations and real world practice.

Green IT: More than a Passing Fad!

Green can easily be misinterpreted, so prematurely kindled expectations may soon be dashed. After all, IT is not at first glance – and this does not only hold true because of rising energy consumption. Nonetheless, IT does have potential. This applies not only to the saving of resources in IT infrastructure itself (green in IT), but also to the resources that are ultimately saved by the use of IT in the economy as a whole (green by IT). On the basis of our survey, experience gathered in advisory practice and macroeconomic analysis, we determined among other things that the often ambitious environmental and resource targets can only be achieved if companies address the subject of green IT on a cross-divisional basis and integrate staff members. By means of intelligent IT systems, companies of the most varied sectors can not only counter cost pressures but also offer new goods and services as well as more flexible job models in the competition for top talent.

Readers' advisory interactions with immigrant readers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address a somewhat under‐researched aspect of readers' advisory services in public libraries in North America, namely, readers' advisory for immigrant readers, with a particular emphasis on the readers' advisory interaction/interview.Design/methodology/approachThe argument draws on the review of relevant scholarly and professional literature and the author's experience in working with immigrant readers.FindingsIt is suggested that public libraries in North America are not actively involved in providing readers' advisory services to immigrant readers aside from developing and maintaining multilingual collections. This trend in readers' advisory practices is clearly reflected in professional and scholarly publications of the field. It is argued that personal interactions with immigrant readers, in the context of the readers' advisory interview, can be an efficient way to engage immigrant readers in the life of the host society, thus fostering their socio‐cultural integration beyond information needs and basic coping skills.Originality/valueThe paper offers practical insights and suggestions for the enhancement of readers' advisory interactions with immigrant readers in public libraries. It also places readers' advisory interactions with immigrant readers in the broader context of readers' advisory practices, public library services to immigrant users, and the theory of readers' advisory interviews.

Preface

Diet is the main source of trace elements, and exposure to dietary trace elements has a direct impact on the health of hundreds of millions worldwide. Insufficient intake of essential trace elements is a global issue. Deficiencies of iron, zinc, iodine, and selenium result in millions of people being affected by various diseases, with very serious consequences in those countries where malnutrition is widespread. On the other hand, the impact of toxic element species such as inorganic arsenic and methylmercury on entire populations has come to the fore again as a priority for both the scientific community and health authorities. The presence of trace elements in feeds, either as contaminants or as nutritional or zootechnical additives, and their transfer across the food chain to humans also raises questions within the scientific community and regulators.Different facets of trace elements, from essentiality to toxicity, were addressed throughout the 3rd International IUPAC Symposium on Trace Elements in Food (TEF-3). The meeting was organized by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and held on 1-3 April 2009 in Rome, Italy. The objective was to gather experts with different backgrounds to discuss all aspects of trace elements in food in relation to human health, with special emphasis on biological effects of elements. The main topics included essentiality, toxicity, bioaccessibility, bioavailability, speciation, sources and transfer in the food chain, effects of processing, food and feed fortification, supplementation, international legislation and standards, analytical developments, analytical quality assurance and reference materials. In accordance with practice in previous events of this series (Warsaw, 2000, and Brussels, 2004), TEF-3 provided a forum for the exchange of new ideas and experiences in trace element research, and a basis for influencing policy, advisory practice, and risk-management tools to protect public health.Over 200 participants, representing some 40 countries, joined the event. In addition to the 15 invited lectures, delegates from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America enriched this edition with 20 oral and about 130 poster contributions. TEF-3 actually resulted in a lively interdisciplinary symposium on current and emerging research and development efforts.Special emphasis was placed on the following topics:- analytical techniques for element speciation studies in food and food supplements- reliability and quality control of analytical data on trace elements in foodstuffs- detection, characterization, and potential health risks of inorganic nanoparticles- arsenic speciation and toxicology- gender differences in susceptibility to toxic trace elements in food- exposure assessment of toxic element species- assessment of risks and benefits of the organic forms of trace elements as feed additives- metabolism of metal(loid)s by intestinal microorganisms- absorption and metabolism of iron, zinc, and other essential elements- use of stable isotopes to study trace mineral metabolism- selenium and iodine speciation and biological effectsAdvancements in the above-mentioned areas were discussed, and special attention was paid to the means in order to prevent adverse health effects on those individuals and populations most vulnerable to trace-element inadequacies, excesses, or imbalances.The following collection of papers based upon authoritative lectures presented at TEF-3 addresses many of the topics discussed during the symposium. Overall, it provides an excellent overview of the state of the art in the area of trace elements in food and sheds light on future challenges and subjects of research.Francesco CubaddaConference Chair

Is it Possible to Re-Privatize the U.S. Financial System?

Since the 1930s, when the U.S. Congress interposed government regulation of banks for market discipline, the role of the state in the American financial system has steadily grown. While politicians and executives from the financial services industry characterize the relationship as a “partnership,” the degree of control exercised by state and federal government over banks and other financial intermediaries has grown enormously over the years - even as the influence exercised over Washington by the largest banks has increased to the same degree. The growth of government involvement in finance, coupled with the growing federal debt and the rising political sway of the large, “too big to fail” banks that act as dealers in U.S. government debt, raise troubling questions about the future of American democracy. This paper briefly reviews the growth in the role of the government in regulating and supporting the operations of banks and other financial intermediaries since the Great Depression and before. The paper concludes by asking whether this socialization of the risks taken by financial institutions and risk in general, and the growing political power of some of the largest financial services corporations in the world, can be reversed or even should be if consolidation and ever larger banks are the norm. About the Author: Christopher Whalen is cofounder of Institutional Risk Analytics (IRA), the Los Angeles based provider of risk management tools and consulting services for auditors, regulators and financial professionals. Whalen leads IRA’s risk advisory practice and consults for global companies on a variety of financial and regulatory issues. He volunteers as a regional director of Professional Risk Managers International Association and is a board adviser to I-OnAsia, a global business security and risk consultancy based in Hong Kong. Whalen currently edits The Institutional Risk Analyst, a weekly news report and commentary on significant developments in and around the global financial markets. He has testified before Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a variety of issues and contributes articles and commentaries to publications such as The International Economy, American Banker and The Big Picture.

Water Security and Farming Systems: Implications for Advisory Practice and Policy-Making

Water issues are a feature of public debate in Australia. The increasing privatisation of water and changes to water allocation systems are resulting in change, often referred to as water ‘wars’ (de Villiers, 1999). The Australian dairy industry uses 25% of the surface irrigation water in Australia. How does a rural industry like dairying negotiate a future? What is the role of broker professions like extension in supporting change in this context? We focus on three critical issues to address these questions: farm-level adaptation; new technologies; and balancing environmental and productive water-use. Two case studies of farm decision-making and advisory practice suggest that managing complexity in water issues requires learning processes at three levels: farmer–advisor; advisors–policy; advisors–other disciplines–policy. We conclude there is a need for a framework to guide an ethical response to water policy, bringing farm adaptation and advisory practice to implement change.

The nature and substance of cooperating teacher reflection

The learning opportunties for student-teachers in practicum settings has long been acknowledged and studied in considerable depth. However, the learning opportunities for cooperating teachers, while celebrated and extolled as an important reciprocal benefit, have not been verified to the same degree. Drawing on the concept of reflection, and specifically the ways in which teachers reframe aspects of their advisory practice, this study follows the conversations of five teachers and their student-teachers during a 13-week practicum. Among the things that we learn from these teachers is that the oft-heard argument that “a teacher is a teacher is a teacher” is wrong-headed, that the biography and the cultural milieu that shape one's advisory practices needs to be explicit, and that reflection is born of incidents but primarily thematic in nature.

What the teaching perspectives of cooperating teachers tell us about their advisory practices

This study drew upon the recently developed Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to compare and contrast the teaching perspectives of cooperating teachers against a range of demographic data specific to cooperating teachers. The outcomes indicate, among other things, that a high percentage of cooperating teachers base their pedagogical relationship with learners upon a Nurturing perspective, that a Social Reform perspective among cooperating teachers is almost non-existent, and that a Transmission perspective is more prominent at the secondary school level than at other school levels. Collectively, the insights from this study provide one of the most comprehensive surveys of a single cohort of cooperating teachers reported in the literature.

Rapid Assessment of Silage Fermentation Characteristics by Electrometric Titration

Inaccurate prediction of silage intake is often the greatest source of error in ration formulation but improvements have been hindered by an inadequate description of the silage fermentation in advisory practice. Until recently, only pH and ammonia N have been routinely measured as indicators of silage fermentation characteristics. A new method, based on research in Finland (Moisio and Heikonen, 1989) has been developed and is now in use by SAC. This involves automated titration of juice squeezed from the silage to pH 2 (with HC1) followed by stepwise titration (with NaOH) to pH 12. Concentrations of juice constituents are predicted from the buffering capacities measured over segments of the titration curve (pH 2 to pH 12). Calibrations have been obtained empirically by the addition of known increments of standards to a range of silage juices. Proportions of variance (R2) of measurements made by reference methods accounted for by predictions from titrations for a validation set of 93 silages were 0.90, 0.78, 0.92, 0.82 and 0.82 for lactic acid, acetic+butyric acids (VFA), soluble N, sugar and ammonia N respectively.

The Advisory Practice of the Inter-American Human Rights Court

The American Convention on Human Rights entered into force in 1978. To date, 18 OAS member states, out of 31, have ratified it. Included among the states parties to the Convention are all the Central American Republics as well as Panama, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The five Andean Pact nations have ratified, as have Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada. Argentina is the latest state to become a party; it did so on September 5, 1984, and thus became the first and, to date, only Southern Cone country to do so. The others—Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay—have not ratified; nor have Brazil, the United States, Suriname and a number of English-speaking Caribbean states.

A SYSTEM OF MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR THE SIMULATION OF MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN THE COASTAL AREA

A compound mathematical model (COMOR) for the simulation of morphological changes in the coastal area is being developed. The model is very flexible; it can be composed according to the specific demands of the problem which is considered. So far the model is being applied in the advisory practice to predict initial morphological changes. Recent experiences have shown that the model is quite useful, although at present the knowledge of the individual coastal processes and their interactions is still insufficient to utilize it optimally. However, it is foreseen that in the near future such mathematical models will become a powerful tool in coastal engineering.

Airborne infection and livestock disease control: a meteorological appreciation

The range of collaborative activities between meteorologist and veterinarian seen as necessary to ensure appropriate advice in epizootics is discussed briefly. Non-specific advice relevant to commercial and advisory practice is examined under two headings, the nature and scale of the disease challenge and the success of that challenge. The first of these areas of interest explores host—microparasite contact as measured by the time integral of ambient aerosol concentration and air sampling rate. This leads to comment on herd size and the siting of animal units, both locally and regionally. The success of the disease challenge is seen to require examination of the impact of environmental factors on immune function. The importance of the thermal environment in this respect is emphasized, but the view is noted that advances in understanding and technology for control of the thermal environment in animal housing may have done little to advance biological performance. An extension of house design ventilation criteria is suggested so that air hygiene and air contaminant load may be considered. The new ventilation requirements are measured against existing design requirement in examples.