Acceptable Goals Research Articles

Do Flexible Goal Adjustment and Acceptance Help Preserve Quality of Life in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis?

Goal regulation strategies such as flexible goal adjustment and acceptance are believed to be protective factors in persons with chronic illness, but research on their relative contributions to quality of life in multiple sclerosis (MS) is lacking. We aimed to test the idea that acceptance and flexible goal adjustment (in contrast to tenacious goal pursuit) may help preserve the quality of life in persons with MS. A sample of 117 patients with MS was recruited. They completed questionnaires measuring quality of life (physical functioning, psychological distress), acceptance, flexible goal adjustment, and tenacious goal pursuit. Acceptance significantly accounted for variance in all three indexes of quality of life, beyond the effects of demographic and illness characteristics. The role of goal regulation style was less clear. Flexible goal adjustment significantly accounted for psychological well-being only. Surprisingly, tenacious goal pursuit predicted better psychological functioning and less psychological distress. No support was found for the hypothesis that acceptance and flexible goal adjustment would moderate the relation between illness severity and quality of life. The findings suggest the potential importance of acceptance in understanding MS patients' quality of life, although its hypothesized protective function could not be confirmed. Further conceptual work on acceptance and goal regulation style is needed, as well as prospective work investigating their causal status.

Predicting Honeybee Colony Failure: Using the BEEHAVE Model to Simulate Colony Responses to Pesticides.

To simulate effects of pesticides on different honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) life stages, we used the BEEHAVE model to explore how increased mortalities of larvae, in-hive workers, and foragers, as well as reduced egg-laying rate, could impact colony dynamics over multiple years. Stresses were applied for 30 days, both as multiples of the modeled control mortality and as set percentage daily mortalities to assess the sensitivity of the modeled colony both to small fluctuations in mortality and periods of low to very high daily mortality. These stresses simulate stylized exposure of the different life stages to nectar and pollen contaminated with pesticide for 30 days. Increasing adult bee mortality had a much greater impact on colony survival than mortality of bee larvae or reduction in egg laying rate. Importantly, the seasonal timing of the imposed mortality affected the magnitude of the impact at colony level. In line with the LD50, we propose a new index of “lethal imposed stress”: the LIS50 which indicates the level of stress on individuals that results in 50% colony mortality. This (or any LISx) is a comparative index for exploring the effects of different stressors at colony level in model simulations. While colony failure is not an acceptable protection goal, this index could be used to inform the setting of future regulatory protection goals.

The influence of acceptance goals on self-presentational efforts.

The current work examined whether self-presentational efforts are influenced differently when people hold a goal to establish, maintain or repair an interpersonal connection. Results supported the counterintuitive prediction that participants with a repair goal would convey a less favourably oriented persona (e.g. less friendly, less similar and less genuine) compared to those with an establish or maintain goal. The efforts of repair goal participants were also perceived as less effective. The analysis also showed that certain self-presentation dimensions (i.e. friendliness, genuineness and similarity) mediated the relationship between acceptance goals and perceived effectiveness. The findings extend and contribute to the self-presentation and belongingness literatures.

Reactance to (or Acceptance of) Stereotypes

Abstract. We propose that reactance to threats to individual freedom can be broadened to include threats to group identity and its associated values and norms. In two studies we primed women and men with (counter) stereotypical roles and measured implicit activation of reactance versus acceptance goals, task persistence, and support for system justification beliefs and collective action. Although we found no direct evidence of reactance activation, men activated acceptance when primed with gender stereotypes, whereas women did not. Further, traditional women legitimize the system after counter-stereotypical exposure, whereas progressive women (feminist identifiers) persist more in solving a task stereotypically favoring men under these conditions (Study 1). Finally, nonsexist women show higher support for collective action after stereotypical exposure when threat to their identity is blatant (Study 2). We argue that reactions to identity threats depend on the content of that identity so that the specific form reactance takes may depend on the group norms being threatened.

Social Acceptance of Climate Change Adaptation in Farms and Food Enterprises: A Case Study in Finland

This article identifies perceived climate change risks and adaptation aspects among farms and food processing enterprises using a case study in Fin- land. In addition, the article pinpoints key factors that contribute to the social ac- ceptance of climate change adaptation and mitigation policies in the food system. The purpose is to study the willingness of farms and food enterprises to accept and adapt to different climate policy implementation. The research data consists of 27 thematic interviews conducted in 2012 and 2013. The main research ques- tions were: 1. What risks does climate change pose to farms and food enterpris- es? 2. What adaptation features can be identified in farms and food enterprises? 3. What factors contribute to the social acceptance of climate change mitigation and adaptation in relation to policy practices? For data analysis content analysis was utilized. The results show that climate change is a somewhat indistinct issue from the viewpoint of the food enterprises. In addition, the adaptation to climate change in food enterprises can be characterized as a reactive strategy based on the localization and decentralization of food supply chains, as well as on the develop- ment of regional food systems. Farmers found it difficult to estimate the overall consequences of climate change for their farms. They also gave strong support to localized food systems. The study found that social acceptance of adaptation policies depends on the degree of limitation and estimated effects of the policies on the profitability of farming and food entrepreneurship. More broadly, a nexus between food security and energy security policies and climate change adaptation goals should be established. A local energy system would ensure the functioning of the local food system as well. We conclude that value-based strategic partner- ships in the food supply chain could enhance the regions' adaptive capacity and resilience, as well as its social acceptance of climate change adaptation goals.

Critical Review of Technical Questions Facing Low Impact Development and Green Infrastructure: A Perspective from the Great Plains.

Since its inception, Low Impact Development (LID) has become part of urban stormwater management across the United States, marking progress in the gradual transition from centralized to distributed runoff management infrastructure. The ultimate goal of LID is full, cost-effective implementation to maximize watershed-scale ecosystem services and enhance resilience. To reach that goal in the Great Plains, the multi-disciplinary author team presents this critical review based on thirteen technical questions within the context of regional climate and socioeconomics across increasing complexities in scale and function. Although some progress has been made, much remains to be done including continued basic and applied research, development of local LID design specifications, local demonstrations, and identifying funding mechanisms for these solutions. Within the Great Plains and beyond, by addressing these technical questions within a local context, the goal of widespread acceptance of LID can be achieved, resulting in more effective and resilient stormwater management.

Recommendations for the Design and Analysis of Treatment Trials for Alcohol Use Disorders.

Over the past 60 years, the view that "alcoholism" is a disease for which the only acceptable goal of treatment is abstinence has given way to the recognition that alcohol use disorders (AUDs) occur on a continuum of severity, for which a variety of treatment options are appropriate. However, because the available treatments for AUDs are not effective for everyone, more research is needed to develop novel and more efficacious treatments to address the range of AUD severity in diverse populations. Here we offer recommendations for the design and analysis of alcohol treatment trials, with a specific focus on the careful conduct of randomized clinical trials of medications and nonpharmacological interventions for AUDs. This paper provides a narrative review of the quality of published clinical trials and recommendations for the optimal design and analysis of treatment trials for AUDs. Despite considerable improvements in the design of alcohol clinical trials over the past 2 decades, many studies of AUD treatments have used faulty design features and statistical methods that are known to produce biased estimates of treatment efficacy. The published statistical and methodological literatures provide clear guidance on methods to improve clinical trial design and analysis. Consistent use of state-of-the-art design features and analytic approaches will enhance the internal and external validity of treatment trials for AUDs across the spectrum of severity. The ultimate result of this attention to methodological rigor is that better treatment options will be identified for patients with an AUD.

Advances in restoration ecology: rising to the challenges of the coming decades

Simultaneous environmental changes challenge biodiversity persistence and human wellbeing. The science and practice of restoration ecology, in collaboration with other disciplines, can contribute to overcoming these challenges. This endeavor requires a solid conceptual foundation based in empirical research which confronts, tests and influences theoretical developments. We review conceptual developments in restoration ecology over the last 30 years. We frame our review in the context of changing restoration goals which reflect increased societal awareness of the scale of environmental degradation and the recognition that inter‐disciplinary approaches are needed to tackle environmental problems. Restoration ecology now encompasses facilitative interactions and network dynamics, trophic cascades, and above‐ and belowground linkages. It operates in a non‐equilibrium, alternative states framework, at the landscape scale, and in response to changing environmental, economic and social conditions. Progress has been marked by conceptual advances in the fields of trait‐environment relationships, community assembly, and understanding the links between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Conceptual and practical advances have been enhanced by applying evolving technologies, including treatments to increase seed germination and overcome recruitment bottlenecks, high throughput DNA sequencing to elucidate soil community structure and function, and advances in satellite technology and GPS tracking to monitor habitat use. The synthesis of these technologies with systematic reviews of context dependencies in restoration success, model based analyses and consideration of complex socio‐ecological systems will allow generalizations to inform evidence based interventions. Ongoing challenges include setting realistic, socially acceptable goals for restoration under changing environmental conditions, and prioritizing actions in an increasingly space‐competitive world. Ethical questions also surround the use of genetically modified material, translocations, taxon substitutions, and de‐extinction, in restoration ecology. Addressing these issues, as the Ecological Society of America looks to its next century, will require current and future generations of researchers and practitioners, including economists, engineers, philosophers, landscape architects, social scientists and restoration ecologists, to work together with communities and governments to rise to the environmental challenges of the coming decades.

Safety Controller Synthesis Using Human Generated Trajectories

This paper focuses on the task of safety controller synthesis, that is, designing a controller that will take a system from any point within a compact set of initial states to a point inside a set of acceptable goal states, while never entering any state that is deemed unsafe. To do this we use a human generated trajectory-based approach. We introduce the control autobisimulation function, which is the analog of the control Lyapunov function for approximate bisimulation. We consider a class of hybrid systems and use this function to determine a set of admissible feedback control laws that guarantee trajectory robustness for underlying dynamics that are linear affine, feedback linearizable, and differentially flat. This property ensures that any trajectory of the closed-loop system that is initialized within some neighborhood of a nominal trajectory will stay within some tube of the nominal trajectory when given the same input. This feedback control and input can be used as the controller for some subset of the initial states. We demonstrate how to combine multiple trajectories into a synthesized controller that satisfies the safety problem.

Captivity for Conservation? Zoos at a Crossroads

This paper illuminates a variety of issues that speak to the question of whether ‘captivity for conservation’ can be an ethically acceptable goal of the modern zoo. Reflecting on both theoretical disagreements (animal protectionists vs. wildlife conservationists) and practical challenges (the small percentage of endangered species actually exhibited in zoos, disappointing success of reintroduction programs), the paper explains why the ‘Noah’s Ark’ paradigm is being replaced by an alternative ‘integrated approach.’ It explores the changes in the zoo’s core tasks that the new paradigm implies. And it pays special attention to the changes that would have to be made in zoos’ collection policies: connection with in situ projects, emphasizing local species and the local biogeographical region, exchange of animals among zoos and between zoos and wildlife, and a shift towards smaller species. Finally the question will be addressed whether the new paradigm will achieve a morally acceptable balance between animal welfare costs and species conservation benefits.

Performance journey mapping: a service performance assessment framework

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to present the evaluation results of a novel performance measurement framework, which has been designed for the particular needs of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Prior research indicated that performance measurement is not much engaged in SMEs. The proposed framework aims to address this by creating bottom-up measurement systems based on service delivery processes. The paper presents the framework as well as its tools and gives insights into both the evaluation and its results.Design/methodology/approach– The framework and its tools have been evaluated in a first iteration of prototype implementation according to design science principles. Methodological triangulation was applied engaging participant observation, questionnaires, and formative evaluation. In the course of the evaluation the framework was assessed from a quality, user, and bird’s eye perspective.Findings– The evaluation results show that the application of the Technology Acceptance Model and goal setting theory did contribute to develop a performance measurement system (PMS) that is characterized by usefulness and ease of use. Deficiencies could be noted with regard to renowned quality criteria for PMS, especially concerning balance. First lessons learned are outlined.Originality/value– The main contribution is the theory-driven development of the performance measurement framework and its corresponding tools. The application of this approach resulted in accepted tools and improvements of the motivational power of performance goals. This is important to overcome the current gap between research results and practical application of such frameworks and tools.

The Influence of Acceptance Goals on Relational Perceptions

ABSTRACTWe examined whether relational perceptions (social involvement, relational value, interaction experience) differ depending on interaction acceptance goals (establish, maintain, or repair). Results indicated that relational perceptions were more positive in the maintain condition compared to the establish condition, which in turn was more positive than the repair condition. The data also supported a moderated mediation model: the indirect effects of social involvement and relational value on the relationship between acceptance goals and participant’s interaction experience were contingent on self-esteem. These findings identify boundary conditions that influence the impact of acceptance goals on how much people experience an interaction positively. The findings provide an integrated framework outlining the potential relationship between acceptance goals, relational perceptions, interaction experience, and self-esteem.

The Feminine Mystique at Fifty

The Feminine Mystique at Fifty Susan Levine (bio) Looking back at The Feminine Mystique, one realizes both how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go to reach that equitable and just society Betty Friedan imagined in 1963. Her book articulated underlying discontents among American women—in particular, white middle-class women—although I will argue that her book also spoke to discontents and goals of a wider range of women as well. The book appeared at a moment when the country was poised on the verge of profound social transformation—in race relations as well as in changing gender roles. The social movement that emerged after 1963—what historians have labeled “second wave” feminism—drew on many of Friedan’s insights and created new consciousness among both men and women. At the same time, though, second-wave feminists were themselves limited by many of the assumptions and omissions the symposium speakers have so clearly outlined. “The feminine mystique” and the “problem that had no name,” have become familiar tropes in our view of gender relations and women’s lives during the 1950s—so familiar, I would argue, that we need to look again at exactly what the problem was that Friedan articulated and what solutions she suggested. My goal in this comment is to examine the critiques the participants have proposed and then to look at what Friedan actually wrote, how some of the ideas played out among 1960s feminists, and, finally, what all this might mean for the possibilities of feminism today. As Katherine Turk rightly points out, Friedan suggested that women needed a purpose in life in addition to their roles as wives and mothers. Such a purpose, Friedan argued, could be found in careers—work outside the home. Turk clearly lays out the limitations of this solution. For one thing, by the 1950s, despite the domestic rhetoric and popular images of the postwar period, large numbers of women were already working for wages outside the home. Further, for most working women, the job itself was not a source of [End Page 41] personal fulfillment (although it might well have been a source of autonomy and economic independence). Friedan, Turk argues, “draws a bright line” between ordinary wage work and fulfilling careers, thus leaving most working women and certainly most women of color out of the picture. Finally, Turk says, the idea of a career “flattens contemporary feminists’ textured response to the problem of wage labor.” She especially criticizes historians’ “narrow binary” between liberal feminists who prioritized moving women into male dominated jobs and generally “accepted the terms of those jobs as men had defined them,” and radical feminists whose critique of the work place was “bound up in their broader concerns with capitalism, the state, and hierarchy in all its forms.” I certainly agree that the division of 1960s feminism between “liberal” and “radical” leaves a lot of ground uncovered—and, as I will argue later, masks some fundamental contradictions within the feminist movement more generally. Elizabeth Fraterrigo looks at the domestic side of the Feminine Mystique—the “myth of the ‘happy housewife.’” This cultural representation, she argues, shaped the limits of possibilities for women and, in Friedan’s rendition, “trapped” women in marriage and motherhood. It also entwined them in the “sexual sell”—that is, in the carefully constructed market for housewares, feminine products, appliances, and cake mixes. In other words, the housewife became a critical player in the consumer market and thus a central factor in American capitalism. Friedan’s critique of the “happy housewife,” Fraterrigo says, recognized the power of cultural representations and set the stage for the second-wave (especially now’s) critique of images as a major factor in the oppression of women. Using Friedan’s insight about the power of images, one of feminism’s core goals—whether radical or liberal—was to transform representations of women, bringing more diverse, positive images to young girls and women. But, of course, as Fraterrigo notes, new images did not necessarily bring acceptance of broader feminist goals. That is, women could be as exploitative as men when it came to creating profitable, sexy pictures. Despite Friedan’s insights about...

SY21-1 * ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS FROM REDUCING ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION?

Alcohol contributes substantially to the global burden of disease and is the fifth leading disorder of DALYs in 2010 (GBD 2010 study) worldwide, and thus is one of the largest avoidable risk factors. Any reduction in dose of alcohol consumed, as well as in frequency of drinking occasions and the amount drunk on a single occasion will have an immediate impact in reducing alcohol-related injuries, the cardiovascular events and mortality related to heavy episodic drinking. Several examples demonstrate that total alcohol consumption has a significant impact on chronic consequences of excessive drinking. However, many treatment programs promote abstinence as the only/main acceptable treatment goal. Thus, many problem drinkers decline treatment programs aimed at abstinence. Offering both abstinence and no abstinence treatment goals to clients, permits a client-centered approach that contributes to alleviate client's resistance to change. The new DSM-5 introduces a diagnostic shift from the binary diagnostic criteria of alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse, to a single continuum of alcohol use disorders introducing a clear measure of severity such that treatment goals can be modified individually. In conclusion, reduction strategies offer an opportunity to address patient heterogeneity and lower the treatment threshold by bringing new patients into the treatment. Language: en

Acceptance of Controlled Drinking Among Treatment Specialists of Alcohol Dependence in Japan

This study evaluated the acceptance of controlled drinking (CD) goals among physicians specializing in the treatment of alcohol dependence (AD) in Japan. A mailed questionnaire survey was sent to physician members of the Japanese Society of Alcohol-Related Problems (n = 232) who were specialists in the treatment of AD in Japan. The evaluated items included the acceptance of CD goals, the definition of CD, the reasons for accepting or rejecting CD and the patient factors used to make treatment-goal decisions. CD as an interim goal on the way toward abstinence was accepted by about two-thirds of the specialists, while CD as a final goal was accepted by about one-third of specialists. Specialists supported harm-free drinking and a satisfactory quality of life, rather than alcohol consumption limits, as the definition of CD. Of note, a significantly higher percentage of specialists who rejected CD, compared with those who accepted CD, supported the disease model of AD as grounds for their decision. Specialists who accepted CD relied mostly on factors such as the severity of dependence, attitude toward CD and abstinence, and the level of psychological dependence and social stability, when making treatment-goal decisions. CD was accepted as an interim goal by two-thirds and as a final goal by one-third of Japanese physician specialists. Despite differences in drinking cultures and treatment circumstances, great similarities were found between this study and those conducted in Europe and North America with regard to the reasoning of treatment providers and the use of patient characteristics to make treatment-goal decisions.

Awareness and treatment of alcohol dependence in Japan: results from internet-based surveys in persons, family, physicians and society.

Aims: To understand current awareness of, and views on, treatment of alcohol dependence in Japan. Methods: (a) Nationwide internet-based survey of 520 individuals, consisting of 52 diagnosed alcohol-dependent (AD) persons, 154 potentially alcohol-dependent (ADP) persons, 104 family members and 106 friends/colleagues of AD persons, and 104 general individuals, derived from a consumer panel where the response rate was 64.3%. We enquired into awareness about the treatment of alcohol dependence and patient pathways through the healthcare network. (b) Nationwide internet-based survey of physicians (response rate 10.1% (2395/23,695) to ask 200 physicians about their management of alcohol use disorders). Results: We deduced that 10% of alcohol-dependent Japanese persons had ever been diagnosed with alcohol dependence, with only 3% ever treated. Regarding putative treatment goals, 20–25% of the AD and ADP persons would prefer to attempt to abstain, while 60–75% preferred ‘reduced drinking.’ A half of the responding physicians considered abstinence as the primary treatment goal in alcohol dependence, while 76% considered reduced drinking as an acceptable goal. Conclusion: AD and ADP persons in Japan have low ‘disease awareness’ defined as ‘understanding of signs, symptoms and consequences of alcohol use disorders,’ which is in line with the overseas situation. The Japanese drinking culture and stigma toward alcohol dependence may contribute to such low disease awareness and current challenging treatment environment. While abstinence remains the preferred treatment goal among physicians, reduced drinking seems to be an acceptable alternative treatment goal to many persons and physicians in Japan.

Forest Restoration Paradigms

An estimated 2 billion ha of forests are degraded globally and global change suggests even greater need for forest restoration. Four forest restoration paradigms are identified and discussed: revegetation, ecological restoration, functional restoration, and forest landscape restoration. Restoration is examined in terms of a degraded starting point and an ending point of an idealized natural forest. Global change, climate variability, biotechnology, and synthetic biology pose significant challenges to current restoration paradigms, underscoring the importance of clearly defined goals focused on functional ecosystems. Public debate is needed on acceptable goals; one role for science is to inform and help frame the debate and describe feasibility and probable consequences.

Development of a model relating internal organizational variables with customer orientation in the context of the emerging economy of India

Purpose– The purpose of the study is to establish the relationship of customer orientation (CO) with internal organizational variable like transformational leadership fostering acceptance of group goals (TLFAGG), organizational citizenship behavior conscientiousness (OCBC), empowerment competence (EC) and organizational commitment (OC).Design/methodology/approach– The study was conducted by a structured survey questionnaire on 398 managers related to marketing function in India, employed in both private and public sector firms. The data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and AMOS 18 for structured equation modeling.Findings– The results of the study indicated that the exogenous variables were TLFAGG and OCBC. The intervening variables were EC and OC. The endogenous variable was CO. TLFAGG showed significant positive relationship with EC and OC and CO. OCBC had significant positive relationship with EC and OC and CO. EC was found to have significant positive relationship with CO. OC has significant positive relationship with CO.Research limitations/implications– This is one of the first studies developing a model involving CO with two internal organizational exogenous variables TLFAGG and OCBC. The model also had two intervening organizational variables EC and OC.Practical implications– Human resource managers involved in bringing CO culture especially in emerging economies can take the inputs from this study to engineer elements of TLFAGG, OCBC, EC and OC amongst the employees.Originality/value– In the context of emerging economy markets, the model developed on CO relating it with TLFAGG, OCBC, EC and OC is one of the foremost studies.

Central Venous Catheter Insertion in Septic Patients Admitted From the Emergency Department

Central Venous Catheter Insertion in Septic Patients Admitted From the Emergency Department

Risk-Based Approaches for the Remediation of a UST Site: A Case Study

Risk-based corrective action (RBCA) is a scientifically-accepted approach to remediate polluted sites. Under the RBCA approach, the risks to human health associated with polluted sites are assessed and appropriate remedial measures are taken to reduce risks. RBCA evaluations involve the use of risk models to assess health risks to different receptors. In Taiwan, the Soil and Groundwater Remediation Act was enforced in 2000. The government of Taiwan also use risk assessment protocols to obtain acceptable remediation goals for polluted sites with low risks. In this study, the application of risk assessment to derive remediation goals and develop remedial strategies at a fuel-oil spill site were performed. After the risk evaluation, the soil and groundwater remediation goals for total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) were determined. The remediation levels meet with the requirements for minimum target risk levels (cancer risk = 1×10-6 and hazard quotient = 1). The developed risk-based cleanup goals are calculated based on actual land use and exposure pathways rather than on assumed maximum exposure. After the completion of RBCA process, the remediation cost can be significantly reduced. Based on the risk assessment results, source zone remediation, natural attenuation, and long term monitoring were recommended as the remediation strategies of the studied site to reduce risks to human health. Results from this study provide a streamlined process for future risk assessment work at petroleum-hydrocarbon polluted sites in Taiwan. RBCA is a sound and defensible basis for site closure, and it offers a more logical framework for making site closure decisions.