Complete Strangers Research Articles

Sugar Cane Makes the Medicine Go Down

Sugar Cane Makes the Medicine Go Down

Protection of Privacy Rights of Internet Users Against Cross-Border Government Interference

There is a difference between voluntarily giving somebody an amount of money and having the same amount of money taken away from one, maybe even without one noticing it at first. Even though the economic situation might be the same, it is the loss of control, of sovereignty over one's own affairs, which we find troublesome. Likewise, hardly anyone, when buying something from a complete stranger, would assent to the idea that one is to hand over one's wallet, let the seller take whatever he or she sees fit, and return the wallet, with the buyer only being able to find out much later, how much was taken.

A Note on Being Ability–different, Atypically–bodied . . . Criptastic?

A Note on Being Ability–different, Atypically–bodied . . . Criptastic? Emily Hutcheon In being prompted to write about my experiences with disability [alternatively written: (dis)ability, dis/ability, “disability,” disAbility], I am confronted with more questions than I have answers. Am I to reflect on that small window of time, one so small that I don’t actually remember it, when I did not know that I was different? My mom [End Page 196] has recounted vivid moments where I seem to come to this realization—for example, at the age of three, when I see my twin sister and friends scrambling on a playground and I process that I am unable to join them. Realization of my differentness (my different body, my different way of moving, my different abilities) continued into my youth and adulthood (Can’t skate—check. Can’t ride a two–wheeled bike—check. Usually walk behind others, destined to be the last in a group—check. Was the smart kid in class, aka smartass–in–training—check). Eventually, I realized that my differentness was not contained to my body or my abilities. Were my mind, my self, and my relationships different as well? I seemed to empathize when others didn’t or couldn’t. I saw that certain things were just wrong, and was confused when others didn’t share my concern. I seemed to see, feel, and experience things that others did not. For instance, I had two invasive operations before the age of eleven, a handful of minor procedures and countless physiotherapy sessions. Some memories of these times are horrific. Some I cherish, including the genuine care of the health care staff. Some are hilarious, like being doped–up before invasive surgery at the age of ten and calling my favorite surgeon “So cute!!” But always, there was physical pain, pain, pain. At times, I was completely dependent on others to help me to the bathroom, the shower, to move around, and to recover. I received such tender and exquisite care from my mom during these times. The dependency, which I had no choice but to experience, the dependency that is feared by almost everyone I know (“If I am ever a burden to my family, shoot me”) is something that my mom and I constantly joke about (“Em, I will take care of you now, only if you change my diapers when I’m old, kay?”). I have come to learn that this dependency, along with those other shades of vulnerability, are an inevitable consequence of being human, and to deny this is to relinquish our capacity to connect with others. I had, and continue to have, relationships with strangers, friends and family, which are, in my best estimation, atypical. I am the recipient of staring, laughing, pointing, sympathy, disgust, empathy, tender care, curiosity, hostility, resentment, and ambivalence. While in the gym, complete strangers approach me to say, with all the kindness, enthusiasm, and obliviousness in the world: “Glad to see you out and about. Good for you!” For some, I am to be protected; for others, I am to be tiptoed around; and for others, I am to be congratulated for “overcoming my circumstance” and for being oh–so–valuable to society because of my smarts and productivity. It is a rare few who accept what Cerebral Palsy and epilepsy offer to my life and to their own, with all of their accompanying complexities, possibilities, and contradictions. It is ironic that the excellent health care and services I have received, which have probably changed my life for the better, are only made possible because of the “disability” label, which I have come to heartily dislike. I have always felt ill–at–ease with this word and concept. In my mind, it just does not describe me or others around me. Perhaps more accurately, the definitions and associations that stubbornly accompany the term (e.g., the disabled person as asexual, passive and in need of protection, the disabled person as the conquering hero) would never accurately describe me. Undoubtedly, the term is negative in its connotations. And, of course, the concept of disability relies on certain notions of “normal.” By most accounts in...

Considerations in Drafting Medicaid-Compliant Personal Services Contracts

More than half of all patients entering U.S. nursing homes will rely Medicaid to pay for their care. Before enter- ing a nursing facility, many patients at some point will pay a relative to care for them at home. Some nursing home resi- dents are paying (or would like to pay) a relative to provide them with additional services or supplemental care. But when a Med- icaid applicant or recipient has made or is making payments to a relative, those payments can trigger a period of Medicaid ineligibil- ity. A carefully drafted care contract (or personal services contract [PSC] ) executed before initiation of services can prevent Medicaid ineligibility.This article introduces PSCs and discusses common consid- erations for drafting Medicaid-compliant agreements, comparing and contrasting the provisions from the Medicaid manuals of four states, and noting some related appellate decisions from various state courts. Last, a sample PSC (see Appendix) for use in Min- nesota is attached, with the caveat that each state applies its own statutes and interpretation manuals to these contracts, and there- fore drafters should consult applicable laws.INTRODUCTIONMedicaid is a federal program1 that uses a state and federal partner- ship to provide comprehensive medical insurance for persons with low incomes and very limited assets. The rules for eligibility and type of assistance available vary somewhat from state to state2; but a universal rule in Medicaid is that applicant is not permitted to make uncompensated for less than fair market value, and then obtain assistance.3 In other words, one may not give away assets to become eligible for Medicaid.THE CASE OF BARB AND HER FATHER TEDWhen Barbs 83-year-old father, Ted, fell and broke his hip, Barb knew her life was about to change dramatically. Barb was only child, and her mother had died a year earlier. Her parents were of modest means, living Social Security in a small rented apartment and clutching tightly to a small nest egg they had built. Their dream had been to pass some inheritance onto their grand- children through Barb.Ted hated the idea of life in a nursing home and shuddered at the thought of a complete stranger providing care in his home. So Barb and Ted developed a plan-in exchange for most of her folks' little nest egg, Barb would quit her job and devote herself to Ted's care.When Ted was discharged from rehab to go home, the social worker warned Barb that Ted might end up requiring nursing home care and that, given Ted's modest means, he would likely end up on Medicaid. The social worker told Barb that to keep Ted eligible for Medicaid, she should enter into a contract for his care. Without a contract, money paid from Ted to Barb would have all the appearance of an uncompensated transfer or gift.Barb wrote up a simple nontransferable PSC with Ted. It stated that in return for a $65,000 up-front lump sum payment, Barb would agree to provide to Ted home care for the rest of Ted's life. Then she signed it, using her power of attorney to execute Ted's signature as his attorney-in-fact.After 9 months of caring for Ted, it was apparent to Barb that she simply could not continue-her dad was declining rapidly, and he needed more care than she could devote. Furthermore, Barb had not realized how expensive her family's health insurance was and how her out-of-pocket costs would add up when taking care of Ted. Having quit her job, most of the money she received from Ted was gone. Barb needed to go back to work.On the advice of Ted's doctors and to the relief of her own fam- ily, Barb arranged for Ted to move to the local nursing home. She continued to visit him every day, taking him out occasionally, and managing his finances. But Ted's care costs far exceeded his income, and soon the balance of his modest savings was gone. Barb had no choice but to apply for Medicaid behalf ofTed. …

Privacy-Preserving Profile Matching for Proximity-Based Mobile Social Networking

Proximity-based mobile social networking (PMSN) refers to the social interaction among physically proximate mobile users. The first step toward effective PMSN is for mobile users to choose whom to interact with. Profile matching refers to two users comparing their personal profiles and is promising for user selection in PMSN. It, however, conflicts with users' growing privacy concerns about disclosing their personal profiles to complete strangers. This paper tackles this open challenge by designing novel fine-grained private matching protocols. Our protocols enable two users to perform profile matching without disclosing any information about their profiles beyond the comparison result. In contrast to existing coarse-grained private matching schemes for PMSN, our protocols allow finer differentiation between PMSN users and can support a wide range of matching metrics at different privacy levels. The performance of our protocols is thoroughly analyzed and evaluated via real smartphone experiments.

Sainte Marie-Jeanne

Sainte Marie-Jeanne* Tara Ison (bio) France, 1941. The French government, led by Marshal Pétain in Vichy, is collaborating with Hitler in exchange for the appearance of a token sovereignty. Danielle is a twelve-year-old Jewish girl, who grew up in a secular, academic household in Paris, and is now living as a “hidden child” with a Catholic family in a small village in the unoccupied zone. Her father was killed in the early days of the war, and her mother has gone underground; her “aunt” Berthe and “uncle” Claude (her grandmother’s former maid and butler), agreed to take her in and pass her off as their niece, “Marie-Jeanne,” in exchange for extra illicit ration tickets. This excerpt appears after Danielle/Marie-Jeanne has been living in the village for six months; the early months were quite traumatic, as she had to come to terms with her father’s death, what she feels is her mother’s abandonment of her, living with a family of complete strangers, and the need to “pass” as a Catholic girl—it has been made very clear to her how high the stakes are, that if she makes even the slightest mistake and is found out, the police will come and kill the entire family. By now, Danielle feels she has adjusted quite well to this new life and identity—but there are ongoing challenges, and ongoing threats … [End Page 98] October 1941 La Perinne, France Monsieur Monzie is delighted. He has been waiting months for a package to arrive from Vichy, supplies for the latest special school project. He gets so excitable about such things, clapping his hands, fussing with his wire spectacles, and working his eyebrows. He joins all the children in singing to Marshal Pétain every morning— You have worked ceaselesslyFor the common salvation!For giving us your life,Your genius and your faith!Marshal, we are here! —his hands clutching his heaving chest, his eyes moist. Because our dear Marshal loves you children, he quotes from the newsreels, he loves children who join him in the rebuilding of our proud nation! He loves children who work hard and sacrifice and obey! He practically jumps up and down when students write correct answers on the board: Yes, yes! he proclaims. Danielle and her friend Genevieve agree he is foppish and odd; they imitate him—Yes, yes? Yes, yes!—as a joke together, giggling, when they are alone. For the first project of the new school year each student had to learn and report everything about the saint for which they were named. The younger students were to draw pictures of their saint performing whatever they became a saint for, but the older students were to write a story about their saint’s miraculous act, and why the saint was so holy he or she deserved to be a saint. Danielle remembered, briefly, before the sick feeling came to her stomach and the pain in her head, her first night here, the last night she was still Danielle. How long ago it seemed! Her mother and that strange woman, Berthe, hunched over a candle in the smoky, cabbage-smelling house, whispering about false identity papers while that strange man Claude paced and cracked his knuckles, all of them ignoring her and busy coming up with the first lie, the biggest, most important lie. The lie of a name. Berthe wanted to call her “Marie,” the most Christian name there is, she’d said, and the purest of all women, and also “Jeanne,” such a good holy girl to listen to saints’ voices and die to save France. So Danielle, no, Marie-Jeanne, with a choice between the Virgin Mary or Jeanne [End Page 99] d’Arc, chose Jeanne. It would be too easy to make a mistake with Mary, to get a detail wrong about Jesus or some crazy thing like the Immaculate Conception. She had Berthe’s old copy of A Children’s Catechism, which was just endless lists of questions and answers she was supposed to memorize so she’d know everything about being a good Catholic and Christian girl, Who is God? and What...

Bayesian Inference in Trust Networks

Trust has emerged as a major impediment to the success of electronic markets and communities where interaction with the strangers is the norm. Social Networks and Online Communities enable interaction with complete strangers, and open up new commercial, political, and social possibilities. But those promises are rarely achieved because it is difficult to trust the online contacts. A common approach to remedy this problem is to compute trust values for the new contacts from the existing trust values in the network. There are two main methods: aggregation and transitivity. Yet, neither method provides satisfactory results because trust networks are sparse and transitivity may not hold. This article develops a Bayesian formulation of the problem, where trust is defined as a conditional probability, and a Bayesian Network analysis is employed to compute the unknown trust values in terms of the known trust values. The algorithms used to propagate conditional probabilities through the network are theoretically sound and based on a long-standing literature on probability propagation in Bayesian networks. Moreover, the context information that is typically ignored in trust literature is included here as a major factor in computing new trust values. These changes have led to significant improvements over existing approaches in the accuracy of computed trust, and with some modifications to the algorithm, in its reach. Real data acquired from Advogato network is used to do extensive testing, and the results confirm the practical value of a theoretically sound Bayesian approach.

Dictator Giving Outside of the Laboratory

One criticism of the dictator experiment is that the decision task is contrived with no equivalent counterpart in the field. This note discusses two types of giving that receive media attention but are not discussed in the economics literature. The Secret Santas walk around shopping centers and hand out $100 bills to complete strangers. Individuals in the pay it forward movement purchase meals or coffee for the next car at drive-through restaurants. Giving money or in-kind gifts to strangers is more common than the critiques of the dictator experiment design suggest.

National population based survey on the prevalence of first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator skills in Singapore

AimThis study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices among Singapore residents towards life-saving skills and providing emergency assistance in the community using a population representative sample. MethodsA population based, random sample of 7840 household addresses were selected from a validated national sampling frame. Respondents were interviewed using face-to-face interview method. One adult aged between 18 and 69 years within each household was randomly selected using the “next birthday” method. ResultsThe response rate achieved was 65.2% with 4192 respondents. The distribution of age, gender and ethnic group were similar to the Singapore resident population for 2009. A high proportion of participants believed that adults should be trained in first aid (89.1%) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) (82.6%) while a lower proportion (57.2%) believed this for automated external defibrillator (AED). Proportion who had ever been trained in first aid was 34.3%, CPR was 31.4% and AED was 10.7%. In an emergency, respondents were most willing to use life-saving skills on family members or relatives (87.6%), followed by friends and colleagues (80.7%) and complete strangers (61.3%). Common barriers to applying life-saving skills were lack of knowledge (36%), fear of doing harm (22.1%) and lack of confidence (15.3%). Respondents who were more likely to have current life-saving certification were younger employed Malay male (p<0.05). ConclusionThis study found that although a high proportion of respondents believed that adults should be trained in first aid, CPR and AED, the proportion who had ever been trained in these skills are much lower.

Children's Meetings Offline with People Met Online:

Building on EU Kids Online data, this article deals with the psycho-social context of children's meetings with “complete strangers” as opposed to meetings with “friends of friends”, that is, people who are already connected to their social network. The original contribution of this article lies in the distinction operated between the types of people met this way for several measures of internet use and the children's psychological characteristics. The study hypothesizes children who met any type of online contacts (“friends of friends”, “complete strangers” or “both”) to be heavier internet users than children who met no one. Moreover, children who met “complete strangers” or “both” were expected to report higher levels of risk-taking behaviour online and offline than children who met “friends of friends” or no one. The same relations were hypothesized for the psychological characteristics. Finally, harm was expected to occur more in the case of meetings with “complete strangers” or “both” than in the case of meetings with “friends of friends”.

Ubiquitous Virtual Currency

The whole finance of the world revolves around currency. It may be physical or digital. Currency functions as a unit of account providing a common measure of goods and services being exchanged. The enormous use of paper currency has resulted in deforestation, which is leading to ecological imbalance. For conserving the space, time, and environment there is a need for an alternative currency. In this paper, ubiquitous virtual money is proposed, which is accessible throughout the environment. Ubiquitous currency is a form of electronic money that is spent like pocket change. The transactions can be made secure by the use of biometric identifiers. Keywords—ubiquitous, virtual money, banking, smart money, trackable money. I. INTRODUCTION Money is any physical or virtual object that is exchanged for goods and services. It has a store of value. It functions as a unit of account providing a common measure of goods and services being exchanged. In earlier ages, the exchange of commodity was practiced as barter system. Barter system was generally practiced between complete strangers or potential enemies. It is still used as a method of exchange in times of monetary crisis. Later physical tokens such as gold and silver were used as money. Fiat money was introduced during Yuan and Ming dynasty in China. Money that derives its value from government regulations is Fiat money. Banknotes and coins are used as currency which comprises the physical aspects of nation's money supply. With the advent of commercial banks, demand deposits were introduced as claims against financial institutions. Demand deposit withdrawal can be done in person through banks, checks, drafts, ATMS's or through online banking. Over the years due to increase in population and difference between currency value of various countries, the number of banknotes and coins has immensely increased. Currently over 165,000,000 banknotes and coins are in usage all over the world. For production and printing of banknotes, enormous numbers of trees are being cut down. To maintain the ecological balance we need to find an alternative currency. The world is growing very fast, and everything is moving towards digital from small mobile phone to a complex system such as atomic clocks. For conserving the space, time, and environment, we are proposing a new form of currency named as ubiquitous virtual currency that is not physical and is stored in the cloud. In the present scenario, currency is limited in terms of its reach in monitoring and tracking(1). This limitation could be eliminated with the advent of ubiquitous currency. Ubiquitous currency is a form of electronic money that is spendable like pocket change. Our proposed ubiquitous currency will evolve from existing technology. The term ubiquitous computing was coined by Mark Weiser in 1991. Weiser defined ubiquitous computing as the method of enhancing computer use by making many computers available throughout the environment making them effectively invisible. So, we propose a mechanism which makes efficient usage of money by making accessible throughout the environment and hence making it invisible. If we can store, forward and manipulate information similar thing can be done with the money. Now combine this power of money with the fast growing internet. So there is no hindrance in using the concept of ubiquitous money practically. II. ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Our whole proposed system is user centric, and it follows iHCI. On the whole top of the system, there will be centralized financial authority which manages all the states. This group consists of representative from each state. The financial system of every state will be controlled and managed by government authority of that country. The government will identify financial institutions like banks which handles all the transaction of public of that country.

Sie / Er

68 World Literature Today reviews Botho Strauss. Sie / Er. Munich. Hanser. 2012. isbn 9783446238657 If you aren’t yet familiar with Botho Strauss, one of Germany’s most critically acclaimed prose writers of the last forty years and arguably its most well-known current dramatist, then the recently released Sie/Er, a collection of thirty-five stories originally published between 1987 and 2009, will serve as an excellent introduction to his oeuvre, style, and especially mastery of language. Ranging in length from just a half-page to almost forty pages long, the stories, all set in contemporary German society , are distinguished by Strauss’s uncanny perception of human interaction , emotional responses and expectations, and spoken and unspoken language. Though the stories take place in everyday settings, from cafés and restaurants to residences and workplaces, they do not revolve around an action or event; rather, Strauss offers the reader a voyeuristic gaze into the private and personal lives of his literary creations with all of their fears, disappointments, love, misery, and happiness. Despite what the title might insinuate, this book is not an anthology of love stories; rather, it is a collection of stories about individuals and their explicit and implicit desire to be connected with others and to society. A profound sense of fragmentation, alienation, and longing permeates the entire collection, even though the individual stories are not necessarily sad, tragic, or even happy. Strauss is an acute observer of reality, and his stories reveal his attention to detail, from exact description of characters and their appearances to their thoughts and emotions. The wide range of characters , from girls to divorced couples, from children to mothers-in-law, and the characters’ insecurities, regrets, excitement, and naïveté invite the reader to reflect on his or her life; indeed, the reader may even glimpse as aspect of herself in each story. Above all, the stories are about communicationandtheneedtospeak and use language in a meaningful, social way. Many of the stories reveal a certain impediment to or crisis of communication: an elderly woman anxiously awaiting an afternoon of discussion with her daughter and son-in-law only to find out that they forgot the appointment, or a mother obsessively driven to find out why a complete stranger despises children. Strauss’s concern with the problem of communication and alienation may best be illustrated by a passage from “Frau mit Telefon.” A lonely, middle-age woman, who desperately wants company for the evening, has resigned herself to her isolation, yet . . . “Am frühen Nachmittag klingelte noch einmal das Telefon. Sie blickte befremdet von ihrer Näharbeit auf und betrachtete den scheinbar lebendigen Apparat. Sie zögerte einen Moment. Wie sprechen? Wie empfangen ? Wie hören?” (The telephone rang in early afternoon. Astonished, she glanced up from her sewing and stared at the apparently alive phone. She hesitated a moment. To speak . . . but how? To answer the phone . . . but how? To listen . . . but how?) Will she pick up the phone? Gregory H. Wolf North Central College Abdellah Taïa. An Arab Melancholia . Frank Stock, tr. Los Angeles. Semiotext(e) (MIT Press, distr.). 2012. isbn 9781584351115 Abdellah Taïa’s Une mélancolie arabe was published in 2008 in Paris, where he now lives. It is in many ways a continuation of his early autobiographical texts, lyrically chronicling his experiences as a gay man—which can be a predicament, to put it mildly, ...

"It never rains it pours!".

"It never rains it pours!".

Transplantation Ethics: Are We Approaching the Crossroads?

Ethical issues of organ transplantation are of extreme importance to involved physicians and to society. The basic principle is that the donor cannot be considered as a commodity; financial incentives must not occur. Regarding deceased-donor organ transplantations, ethical issues are related to the consent for donation, determination of death, and principles of organ allocation. Living donors should be healthy, giving free consent after being fully informed about the risks of the procedure. Transplant professionals have a double responsibility because they must remember about the rights of the organ recipient as well as of the donor. Because of the organ shortage we commonly use organ recovery from donors after cardiac arrest and extend the living-donor pool, practices that may influence some important ethical principles. A proper detailed determination of donor death is of utmost importance. The dead donor rule must be preserved. However category III non–heart-beating donors (so-called controlled cardiac arrest) raise doubts as to the time of the decision to transfer the dying (not yet dead) patient to the operating room to withhold supportive treatment. In certain centers, not quite healthy living donors are being used; they are called extended-criteria or complex donors. Although organ trade is condemned, some workers agree to use as complete strangers donors, obviously believing in pure altruistic motivation of such donors without the additional incentives. Finally, is the trend to consider utility in organ allocation justified? It seems that quite soon we may need a new transplantation ethics code that is not totally directed by transplant professionals exclusively to the needs of potential recipients.

Trusting Neighbours or Strangers in a Racially Divided Society: Insights from Survey Data in South Africa

In this paper, we investigate reported measures of trust in South Africa, collected in the 2008 National Income Dynamics Study. In particular we compare responses to two questions asked of all adult respondents about the likelihood that a lost wallet or purse containing 200 Rand will be returned either someone who lives close by or a stranger. Although reported levels of trust are very low, we find that South Africans are significantly more likely to report trusting neighbours than strangers. We use ordered probit regressions to estimate the determinants of these two measures of trust. Consistent with studies from the U.S. and from South Africa, we find considerable racial variation in reported trust. In comparison to Whites, other population groups in South Africa are significantly less likely to report trusting people who live close by. However, these racial differences are dramatically reduced once differences in personal and neighbourhood income are controlled for. In contrast, racial differences in trust of strangers are smaller, and differences are even reversed among Black South Africans, who appear more trusting than other population groups of strangers. Because the majority of the population is Black, respondents may assume that a complete stranger is Black, and this finding would therefore be consistent with in-group favouritism, where individuals are relatively more likely to trust people who belong to their own population group.

Ask yourself, would you want to be fed by a complete stranger?

Ask yourself, would you want to be fed by a complete stranger?

Instrumentality Boosts Appreciation

We propose that in social interactions, appreciation of a helper depends on that helper’s instrumentality: The more motivated one is to accomplish a goal, and the more one perceives a helper as able to facilitate that goal, the more appreciation one will feel for that helper. Four experiments supported this instrumentality-boost hypothesis by showing that beneficiaries felt more appreciation of their helpers while they were receiving help toward an ongoing task than after that task was completed or after the helper was deemed no longer instrumental. This finding held for both the positive side of appreciation (gratitude) and the negative side (feelings of indebtedness) and also across a range of relationships (complete strangers, newly acquainted partners, and friends). This pattern of appreciation is counterintuitive for helpers, and so a mismatch arises between the time courses of beneficiaries’ experienced appreciation and helpers’ expectations of appreciation.

CouchSurfing and network hospitality: 'It's not just about the furniture'

This article introduces a collection of ethnographies that develop innovative theoretical and methodological approaches to CouchSurfing.com, a free online hospitality exchange network. The growing popularity of CouchSurfing poses significant questions about the way hospitality is performed in an era of digital communications, online social networking and alternative travel. The studies in this issue bring fresh insights to the sociological and cultural significance of hospitality in a networked world by offering detailed accounts of the new possibilities and new problems that emerge when complete strangers encounter one another online and accommodate one another offline. This article introduces the concept of 'network hospitality' to highlight some of the features that make CouchSurfing and similar social networking sites such a compelling topic of research for critical hospitality studies.

Mindfulness and Hypnosis: Close Relations or Complete Strangers?

Mindfulness and Hypnosis: Close Relations or Complete Strangers?

Dr and Mrs

Dr and Mrs