Prentice Hall Research Articles

Parental reflective functioning: analysis and promotion of the concept for paediatric nursing.

To identify the definitional elements of parental reflective functioning and develop a framework for nurses to apply this concept in their clinical work with families. In recent years, researchers have concluded that parental reflective functioning is a key mechanism in the development of child attachment security leading to lifelong mental and physical health benefits. Despite its clinical relevance, little has been published in the nursing literature on this concept. Concept analysis. The Walker and Avant (2011, Strategies for theory construction in nursing. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ) method of concept analysis and the Whittemore and Knafl (Journal of Advanced Nursing, 52, 2005, 546) method of integrative review were used. A search of the literature published from 1989-2013 was conducted using edited texts and online databases - Scopus, CINAHL, PubMed and PsychInfo. Among the 85 sources, 31 empirical studies, 17 book chapters, 32 review papers and five case studies were identified concerning parental reflective functioning. The concept of reflective functioning, defined as the capacity to envision the mental states of self and other, was first described in 1989 by Fonagy. Slade (Attachment and Human Development, 7, 2005, 269) expanded the concept specifically for parents (i.e. parental reflective functioning). Results of this concept analysis describe seven defining attributes and five antecedent conditions. Consequences of parental reflective functioning are related to a child's attachment early in life and behaviour later in life. A model case is provided to contextualise the concept. To date, there are three measures for parental reflective functioning. While parental reflective functioning has been predominately featured in psychology and parenting interventions, the potential consequences of secure attachment and longer-term children's behavioural outcomes suggest that the concept has global implications for paediatric nurses and primary healthcare clinicians. Parental reflective functioning offers exciting and promising opportunities for paediatric health and new approaches for those who provide paediatric health care.

Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices

Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices by Robert C. “Uncle Bob” Martin is one of the Agile movement's seminal works. This reading considers the viability of human performance technology coexisting with the Agile development methodologies. Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices (2002; ISBN: 978-0-135-97444-5; 529 pages; $56.00) is published by Prentice Hall (hard cover).

Google Searches for Suicide and Risk of Suicide

Routine surveillance of the incidence of disease comprises a core function of federal and regional public health programs (1). Surveillance systems for mental disorders, however, remain underdeveloped despite strong temporal variation in their incidence. Recently Google, the most commonly used search engine in the world, launched “Google Trends.” This website allows the public to gather statistics on queries to the Google.com search engine. To the extent that depression—a key risk factor for suicide—and suicidal ideation presage an increased risk of suicide completion, surveillance of Google Trends queries may assist with focused bursts of suicide prevention efforts. We tested whether suicide-related Google searches predict the monthly incidence of completed suicides. We examined England and Wales given their publicly available suicide database and their high societal cost of premature death due to suicide (i.e., $9.2 billion in 2009 alone) (2). We retrieved the incidence of suicide in England and Wales for January 2004 to December 2010, the longest series that overlaps with internet-based suicide queries. We defined suicide using conventional ICD-10 classification schemes. We used as independent variables the monthly internet-based queries on a series of search terms within England and Wales, drawn from previous literature, that relate to suicide ideation (3,4). We examined three distinct sets of terms: suicide methodology (“suicide”, “suicide” and “methods”), depressive symptoms (terms: “suicide” and “depression”, “depression”, “depression” and “help”), and suicide help (terms: “suicide” and “help”). To statistically control for temporal patterns in suicide (e.g., seasonality, trend), we applied rigorous time-series routines (see Appendix) (5). We further controlled for the unemployment rate and Google searches in the news, which often peak following suspected suicides of popular personalities (e.g., Amy Winehouse) but may not signal increased help-seeking or depression. In the three searches that included the term “depression,” we find a positive relation with search volume and suicide in that same month (see Appendix). The strongest positive relation occurs between the “depression and help” Google Trends query and suicide incidence in the same month (coef. at lag 0 months = .0045, standard error [SE] = .0014, p=.002). We estimate that Google searches statistically account for a seven percent increase in suicides during months in which search volume for “depression” increased. However, none of the internet searches predict the incidence of suicide in the following month. We, moreover, find no relation between “suicide” or “suicide and methods” searches and suicide incidence We caution the reader against inferring an individual’s internet search behavior, depressive symptoms and their risk of suicide from our population-level tests. Temporal fluctuations in Google searches, rather, gauge a population-level interest which cannot shed light on individual differences in suicide risk. In addition, our findings of a positive relation between internet search volume for “suicide and depression” and completed suicide in the same month cannot definitively establish that suicide-related searches precede suicide completion. Nevertheless, our findings in England and Wales indicate that current surveillance efforts for suicide may benefit from the real-time use of Google-based internet searches for depression.

Machado de Assis: Multiracial Identity and the Brazilian Novelist by G. Reginald Daniel (review)

DANIEL, G. REGINALD. Machado de Assis: Multiracial Identity and the Brazilian Novelist. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University, 2012. pp. 338.In Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity, the sociologist Erving Goffman (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1963) discusses the relationship between individuals who possess a social stigma and the normals (8). Reginald Daniel's new book, Machado de Assis: Multiracial Identity and the Brazilian Novelist, discusses the stigmatized identity of the most celebrated Brazilian novelist as perceived in his literary work. Machado's biography is traced, his work commented on, and we are offered a picture of the Brazilian mulatto writer as a way to understand the inclusion, or lack thereof, of relations and black identification in his writings.Having written extensively about Brazil's relations and about Machado, Daniel is delving into known territory, being more than well qualified to take on the subject. In the introduction, the author comments on the importance of Machado's legacy to the Brazilian literary canon, and on this famous author's betrayal and his racial self-negation (1). From here on, the assumption seems to be that a mulatto writer should be expected to make his a topic of his literary writings, but we miss the advancement of this line of thought.In the first chapter, Daniel includes a panoramic consideration of Brazil's configuration. A recapitulation of the country's makeup and the role of miscegenation as an explanation for who Brazilians are as a people is also incorporated. Daniel discusses the Brazilian preference for the white-European phenotype, along with the stigmatization of African ancestry, which foregrounds the ensuing analysis of Machado's relationship with his own ambiguity.This chapter supplies an interesting account of Brazil, and particularly Rio de Janeiro, during the nineteenth century, the time when Machado wrote and that he used to contextualize most of his novels and short stories. Daniel stresses Brazil's looking to the outside, especially to Europe (France and England in particular) as a way for the elites to reckon with the embarrassing gulf between themselves and the masses (26). Machado is guilty of the same, having chiseled out his characters mostly from European models.In chapter two, Daniel reflects on the absence of literary voices of African ancestry in Brazil. He explains this situation through a description of the African Brazilian condition, which worked to neutralize those who could have worked as mouthpieces in the African Brazilian struggle (35). According to Daniel, this was a result of how European Brazilians thought about blackness. Considering that blackness in Brazil was so irreconcilable with social advancement, those who moved upwards could only be perceived as whitened (35). The chapter includes a brief account of other Brazilian mulatto writers and the degree to which they included the African Brazilian tradition in their work. For example, Caldas Barbosa used the African Brazilian vernacular in his modinhas and lundus, whereas Lima Barreto openly discussed the topic of racism from an African Brazilian point of (58).In chapter three, Daniel offers a biographical account of Machado's life, including his modest origins in Livramento (born to a Portuguese immigrant mother, a washerwoman and seamstress, and a mulatto house painter), until his death as an acclaimed writer in Laranjeiras. Machado's transition, the accomplishment of his hard-fought upward mobility, with scant formal education, as he was mostly selftaught, is a reason for praise and part of what is used to compose his portrait as a genius. However, as Daniel indicates, Machado was also condemned for his refusal to discuss themes in his works, or, as demonstrated by Jose do Patrocinio's accusation, for having hated his race (67).What is unclear is how we are meant to believe that Machado was a detractor, in view of what was said thus far in the book about Brazil's relations. …

An Overview of the Design School of Strategic Management (Strategy Formulation as a Process of Conception)

Since its emergence in the 1960’s, the field of strategic management and strategy formulation has evolved into a complex area of study, even for the most knowledgeable and experienced strategist. Strategy Safari (FT Prentice Hall, 2002), subtitled “A Guided Tour through the Wilds of Strategic Management” by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel is an overview of the full field of academic and business studies of strategy formulation, based on previous lecture series delivered by Mintzberg. In that book, the authors identified ten (10) schools of strategy formulation. One of which is the design school. The “design school” of strategic management, which focuses on a non-complex model that perceives the process of strategic formation as a design process to reach a satisfactory balance between internal distinctive competence and external threat and opportunity. Strategy formation should be a conscious, informal and controlled process of thought. While the model has limitations, four conditions may encourage an organization to use the design school model, including when relevant knowledge has been established and a situation is stable; an organization can cope with a centrally articulated strategy; and one person can handle all data connected to developing strategy. There are several criticisms of the design school of thought on its reliability and validity. The authors have counteracted with these criticisms and explained that it is based on assumptions which are misleading, as the concept propagated by design school was over simplified and restricted in application.

“There’s just something about this club. It’s been my family.” An analysis of the experiences of youth in a South African sport-for-development programme

This article describes a study of a soccer and life skills programme for youth in South Africa: Buffalo City Soccer School (BCSS). The study aimed to provide insight into the programme’s mechanisms, and evaluate participants’ perceptions of the programme’s impact. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 male BCSS participants. Interview data were analysed for thematic content, and the theoretical perspectives of Witt and Crompton ((1997) The protective factors framework: A key to programming for benefits and evaluating for results. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration 15: 1–18), Gambone and Arbreton ((1997) Safe Havens: The Contributions of Youth Organizations to Healthy Adolescent Development. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures) and Pawson ((2006) Evidence-Based Policy: A Realist Perspective. London: SAGE) were used to interpret these themes. These perspectives highlighted key processes and mechanisms within the BCSS programme that have led to positive personal impacts: a sense of family and a sense of safety and belonging. Bandura’s ((1986) Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall) concepts of perceived self-efficacy and agency in adolescent development (Bandura A (2006) Adolescent development from an agentic perspective. In: Pajares F and Urdan T (eds) Self-Efficacy Beliefs of Adolescents. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, pp. 1–43) help make sense of these personal impacts. This study contributes to the identification of the mechanisms through which sport can provide a context for the development of youth.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

Study of the biodegradation levels of oils from the Orinoco Oil Belt (Junin area) using different biodegradation scales

This work presents a study of the molecular composition of the saturated and aromatic hydrocarbon fractions of crude oils from the Orinoco Oil Belt (Junín area) in the Eastern Venezuelan Basin, with the purpose of classifying these samples following two distinct biodegradation assessment schemes: the PM scale [Peters, K.E., Moldowan, J.M., 1993. The Biomarker Guide: Interpreting Molecular Fossils in Petroleum and Ancient Sediments. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 363] and the Manco scale [Larter, S., Huang, H., Adams, J., Bennett, B., Snowdon, L.R., 2012. A practical biodegradation scale for use in reservoir geochemical studies of biodegraded oils. Organic Geochemistry 45, 66–76]. Both scales agree on the presence of different levels of biodegradation for the analyzed oils, although they are based on different groups of compounds. The PM scale uses mainly compounds from the saturated hydrocarbon fractions (e.g., n-alkanes, acyclic isoprenoids, terpanes and steranes) as well as aromatic steroids. On the other hand, the Manco scale considers other compounds (e.g., alkyltoluenes, naphthalene, methylnaphthalene, phenanthrene, alkylphenanthrenes and methyldibenzothiophenes) not included in the PM biodegradation scale. Thus, the combined use of these two scales allows the determination of the level of biodegradation of both saturated and aromatic compound classes. Dibenzothiophene (DBT), which was not included for the Manco score determination, also shows variations in peak intensity when compared to C4-alkylnaphthalenes, presumably associated with the process of biological alteration. The differences in the biodegradation levels observed in the present study may be attributed to variations in parameters that control biodegradation rates laterally across the study area or the existence of varying communities of microorganisms, among other possible factors.

The use of a Riesz fractional differential-based approach for texture enhancement in image processing

Texture enhancement is an important component of image processing that finds extensive application in science and engineering. The quality of medical images, quantified using the imaging texture, plays a significant role in the routine diagnosis performed by medical practitioners. Most image texture enhancement is performed using classical integral order differential mask operators. Recently, first order fractional differential operators were used to enhance images. Experimentation with these methods led to the conclusion that fractional differential operators not only maintain the low frequency contour features in the smooth areas of the image, but they also nonlinearly enhance edges and textures corresponding to high frequency image components. However, whilst these methods perform well in particular cases, they are not routinely useful across all applications. To this end, we apply the second order Riesz fractional differential operator to improve upon existing approaches of texture enhancement. Compared with the classical integral order differential mask operators and other first order fractional differential operators, we find that our new algorithms provide higher signal to noise values and superior image quality. References R. C. Gonzalez, R. E. Woods, Digital Image Processing . Third Edition. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, USA, 2007. C. S. Panda, S. Patnaik, Filtering corrupted image and edge detection in restored grayscale image using derivative filters, International Journal of Image Processing , 3(3):105–119, 2009. http://www.cscjournals.org/csc/manuscript/Journals/IJIP/volume3/Issue3/IJIP-28.pdf Y. Zhang, Y. Pu, J. Zhou, Construction of Fractional differential Masks Based on Riemann–Liouville Definition, Journal of Computational Information Systems , 6(10):3191–3199, 2010. http://www.jofcis.com/publishedpapers/2010_6_10_3191_3199.pdf F. Liu, P. Zhuang, V. Anh, I. Turner, K. Burrage, Stability and convergence of the difference methods for the space–time fractional advection–diffusion equation, J. Appl. Math. Comput. , 191:12–21, 2007. doi:10.1016/j.amc.2006.08.162 Q. Yu, F. Liu, I. Turner and K. Burrage, Stability and convergence of an implicit numerical method for the space and time fractional Bloch–Torrey equation, Phil Trans R Soc A , 371(1990):20120150, 2013. doi:10.1098/rsta.2012.0150 E. Sejdic, I. Djurovic, L. Stankovic, Fractional Fourier transform as a signal processing tool: An overview of recent developments, Signal Processing , 91(6):1351–1369, 2011. doi:10.1016/j.sigpro.2010.10.008 B. Pesquet-Popescu and J. L. Vehel, Stochastic fractal models for image processing, IEEE Signal Processing Magazine , 19(5):48–62, 2002. doi:10.1109/MSP.2002.1028352 B. Mathieu, P. Melchior, A. Oustaloup, Ch. Ceyral, Fractional differentiation for edge detection, Signal Processing , 83(11):2421–2432, 2003. doi:10.1016/S0165-1684(03)00194-4 C. B. Gao, J. L. Zhou, J. R. Hu, F. N. Lang, Edge detection of colour image based on quaternion fractional differential, IET Image Processing , 5(3):261–272, 2011. http://digital-library.theiet.org/content/journals/10.1049/iet-ipr.2009.0409 C. B. Gao, J. L. Zhou, X. Q. Zheng, F. N. Lang, Image enhancement based on improved fractional differentiation, Journal of Computational Information Systems , 7(1):257–264, 2011. http://www.jofcis.com/publishedpapers/2011_7_1_257_264.pdf Y. Pu, J. Zhou and X. Yuan, Fractional differential mask: A fractional differential–based approach for multiscale texture enhancement, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing , 19(2):491–511, 2010. doi:10.1109/TIP.2009.2035980 M. D. Ortigueira, Riesz potential operators and inverses via fractional centred derivatives, International Journal of Mathematics and Mathematical Sciences , 2006:48391, 2006. doi:10.1155/IJMMS/2006/48391

Change in the relevance of cost information and costing systems: evidence from two Italian surveys

This paper aims to contribute to the stream of the “costing system change” research agenda by studying the role played by contextual factors, adopting a demand-side approach (Ax and Bjornenak in Issues in management accounting. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 2007), and by highlighting the movements of change in the adoption and use of Activity-Based Costing (ABC) and Target Costing (TC) (Burns and Vaivio in Manag Account Res 12(4):389–402, 2001; Schoute in Br Account Rev 43:120–134, 2011). Thus, the possibility of costing change with ramifications beyond those typically studied in the literature concerning the functional view of cost accounting is discussed and demonstrated (Sturdy in Manag Learn 35(2):155–179, 2004; Tsoukas and Chia in Organ Sci 13(5):567–582, 2002). This paper compares the results of two surveys over a decade apart on two samples of large-size manufacturing companies (132 and 86 companies, respectively) that investigated changes in cost objects, costing purposes and the adoption and use of two advanced costing techniques, ABC and TC. The findings reveal an increase in the number of cost objects considered, a wider use of cost information for managerial purposes and a slight increase in the use of ABC and TC in the sample. The discussion shows an increase of awareness of potentiality of cost information to support decision-making, and a refinement of cost allocation processes. The presence of “forward” and “backward” movements of ABC and TC changes in adoption and use, addresses the possibility that costing change has different directions than those usually considered under a rational view of cost accounting.

ICT ethics bibliography 2012–2014: a select list of recent books

Forty-five recent books that examine ethical, social, legal and policy issues in information and communication technology (ICT) are identified and annotated below. Each work has a publisher’s date of 2011 or later. For information about books published between 1997 and 2011, see the ICT-ethics bibliographies included in nine previous issues of Ethics and Information Technology: Vol. 1, No. 1 (1999); Vol. 2, No. 1 (2000); Vol. 3, No. 1 (2001); Vol. 4, No. 2 (2002); Vol. 5, No. 3 (2003); Vol. 6, No. 2 (2004); Vol. 7, No. 4 (2005); Vol. 10, No. 2 (2008); and Vol. 12, No. 4 (2010). A comprehensive list of books and articles published before 1997 is included in my Bibliography of Computing, Ethics, and Social Responsibility (http:// cyberethics.cbi.msstate.edu/biblio/index.htm). Janet Abbate. Recoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2012; 247 pages. ISBN 978-0262018067. Includes five chapters: 1. Breaking Codes and Finding Trajectories: Women at the Dawn of the Digital Age; 2. Seeking the Perfect Programmer: Gender and Skill in Early Data Processing; 3. Software Crisis or Identity Crisis? Gender, Labor, and Programming Methods; 4. Female Entrepreneurs: Reimagining Software as a Business; 5. Gender in Academic Computing: Alternative Career Paths and Norms. Also includes an Introduction (titled ‘‘Rediscovering Women’s History in Computing’’) and an Appendix (titled ‘‘Oral History Interviews Conducted for This Project’’). Christina Akrivopoulou and Athanasios-Efstratios Psygkas, editors. Personal Data Privacy and Protection in a Surveillance Era: Technologies and Practices. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2013; 402 pages. ISBN: 978-1609600839. Includes eighteen readings that cover a wide range of topics and issues affecting privacy and surveillance in the context of various emerging technologies. Anita Allen. Unpopular Privacy: What Must We Hide? New York: Oxford University Press, 2011; 281 pages. ISBN 978-0195141375. Includes eight chapters organized into two main parts: Part I: Physical Privacies—Place and Body, and Part II: Information Privacies. Also includes an Introduction and an Afterword. [This book is reviewed in Ethics and Information Technology (Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013).] Michael Anderson and Susan Leigh Anderson, editors. Machine Ethics. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2011; 546 pages. ISBN: 978-0521112352. Includes thirty-one chapters organized into five main parts: Part I. The Nature of Machine Ethics; Part II. The Importance of Machine Ethics; Part III. Issues Concerning Machine Ethics; Part IV. Approaches to Machine Ethics; and Part V. Visions for Machine Ethics. Also includes a ‘‘General Introduction’’ contributed by the editors. Sara Baase. A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues for Computing and the Internet. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2013; 496 pages. ISBN: 0132492679. Organized into nine chapters: (1) Unwrapping the Gift; (2) Privacy; (3) Freedom of Speech; (4) Intellectual Property; (5) Crime; (6) Work; (7) Evaluating and Controlling Technology; (8) Errors, Failures, and Risk; and (9) Professional Ethics and Responsibilities. Also includes an Epilogue. Mark Bauerlein, editor. The Digital Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2011; 368 pages. ISBN 978-1101547526. Includes twentyseven articles organized into three main sections: Section H. T. Tavani (&) Department of Philosophy, Rivier University, Nashua, NH 03060, USA e-mail: htavani@rivier.edu

Changes of Soil Chemical Properties During Rice Straw Decomposition in Different Types of Acid Sulphate Soils

Changes of Soil Chemical Properties During Rice Straw Decomposition in Different Types of Acid Sulphate Soils

PRIME: Probabilistic Initial 3D Model Generation for Single-Particle Cryo-Electron Microscopy

Low-dose electron microscopy of cryo-preserved individual biomolecules (single-particle cryo-EM) is a powerful tool for obtaining information about the structure and dynamics of large macromolecular assemblies. Acquiring images with low dose reduces radiation damage, preserves atomic structural details, but results in low signal-to-noise ratio of the individual images. The projection directions of the two-dimensional images are random and unknown. The grand challenge is to achieve the precise three-dimensional (3D) alignment of many (tens of thousands to millions) noisy projection images, which may then be combined to obtain a faithful 3D map. An accurate initial 3D model is critical for obtaining the precise 3D alignment required for high-resolution (<10Å) map reconstruction. We report a method (PRIME) that, in a single step and without prior structural knowledge, can generate an accurate initial 3D map directly from the noisy images.

Beyond Elementary: Examining Conceptual Demands of Division of Fractions in Current US Curricula

The Common Core State Standards of Mathematics (CCSSM), a set of US educational standards which has recently been adopted by 45 states, creates a more rigorous and coherent set of standards for American students, making elementary math anything but elementary. The adoption of these new standards formulates the research questions for this study: How well do current curricula match the CCSSM and how well do current curricula support teacher knowledge to implement the standards? In this study, three diverse curricula used in the United States, Prentice Hall, Singapore Math, and CK-12, are examined with three evaluation tools. These tools measure (a) the cognitive demands of the mathematical tasks in each curricula, (b) the mathematical coherency of an instructional unit, and (c) the resources in each curricula that support teachers’ understanding of mathematics. Division of fractions is the topic of analysis because of its frequent occurrence in algebra which is the foundation for higher-level math. I find that Singapore Math’s problems reach higher-level cognitive demands more often than Prentice Hall and CK-12. Prentice Hall and CK-12’s reliance on using the standard division algorithm inhibits conceptual thinking for both students and teachers. From a Curriculum Review Tool, which focuses on teacher knowledge, I find that Singapore Math is the closest to reach the division of fraction CCSSM when compared to Prentice Hall and CK-12. Resource tools for teachers can be developed that better support students’ learning by combining characteristics from each curriculum such as word problems, manipulatives/pictures, and samples of students’ work.

Anorexia Mirabilis: The Practice of Fasting by Saint Catherine of Siena in the Late Middle Ages

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article PerspectivesFull AccessAnorexia Mirabilis: The Practice of Fasting by Saint Catherine of Siena in the Late Middle AgesFernando Espi Forcen, M.D.Fernando Espi ForcenSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:1 Apr 2013https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2012.12111457AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail Giovanni di Paolo (c. 1399–1482), Saint Catherine of Siena Receiving the Stigmata (tempera and gold on wood, 27.9×20 cm). Used by permission of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.Anorexia mirabilis, holy anorexia, or inedia prodigiosa means miraculous lack of appetite. This syndrome was popular among religious people in the Middle Ages.Perhaps the most popular case of anorexia mirabilis took place in Tuscany in the 14th century. Catherine (Caterina) Benincasa was born in Siena in 1347. It is reported that at age 6 she saw Christ in pontifical vestments above her neighborhood Dominican church. One year later she made a vow of perpetual virginity. She was also familiar with the fasting behaviors of her sister, who would decrease her food intake in order to change her husband’s bad attitude. After her sister died, Catherine responded with a massive fast to her parents’ intention of arranging a marriage with her sister’s widow. She joined the Dominican order after claiming to have a vision of Saint Dominic, and she declared that Jesus came from heaven and gave her a ring as the wedding alliance; thus she would be eternally married to Christ. Later in life, Saint Catherine told her confessor that she could have conversations with Jesus (1). For almost her entire life, her diet consisted of water and vegetables, and by the age of 33 she starved herself to death. She reported stomach pains that did not allow her to eat anything but the holy host (2).Self-starvation was a common behavior among religious women in the Middle Ages, but this behavior was not usually approved by religious authorities as a holy one. Suffering was considered a way to imitate Jesus in remembrance of Christ’s torments during the Passion. Whereas holy men experienced suffering through physical punishment, women preferred this voluntary pain by fasting (3). In cases of extreme holiness, the follower of Christ would miraculously receive the stigmata as a reward for a devout and pious life (4). As depicted by Giovanni di Paolo (figure), this was the case for Saint Catherine of Siena: the experience of suffering through starvation turned her into a model of virtue to the extent that she received the wounds of Jesus during the Passion.Parallels between the medieval behavior and anorexia nervosa now are apparent. In both, a person fastens onto a valuable culturally dependent goal: beauty or slimness in present-day society values and austerity or deprivation in medieval society values (5).From the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago.Address correspondence to Dr. Espi Forcen ([email protected]com).The author thanks Carlos Espi Forcen, Ph.D., for help in developing this manuscript.References1 Jacobs AS: Christ Circumcised: A Study in Early Christian History and Difference. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012, pp 72–100Crossref, Google Scholar2 Gardner EG: Saint Catherine of Siena: A Study of the Religion, Literature and History of the Fourteenth Century in Italy. New York, Dutton, 1907, pp 1–27Google Scholar3 Bynum CW: Holy Fast and Holy Feast: the Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1988, pp 228, 246, 256Google Scholar4 Camille M: Gothic Art: Glorious Visions. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1996, pp 107–108Google Scholar5 Bell RM: Holy Anorexia. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1985, pp 3–9Crossref, Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByHoly anorexia: Views of femininity as a potential mediator in the association between religiosity and disordered eatingWomen's Studies International Forum, Vol. 79Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Vol. 42, No. 3The 14th century religious women Margery Kempe and Catherine of Siena can still teach us lessons about eating disorders today3 July 2017 | Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol. 5, No. 1“Holy anorexia”-relevant or relic? Religiosity and anorexia nervosa among Finnish women27 March 2017 | International Journal of Eating Disorders, Vol. 50, No. 4The Practice of Holy Fasting in the Late Middle AgesJournal of Nervous & Mental Disease, Vol. 203, No. 8 Volume 170Issue 4 April 2013Pages 370-371 Metrics The author thanks Carlos Espi Forcen, Ph.D., for help in developing this manuscript.PDF download History Accepted 1 December 2012 Published online 1 April 2013 Published in print 1 April 2013

Response to Irion et al. Letter

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Communications and UpdatesFull AccessResponse to Irion et al. LetterYvette Sheline, M.D.Yvette ShelineSearch for more papers by this author, M.D.Published Online:1 Apr 2013https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12121544rAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail To the Editor: In their letter, Irion et al. express concern about the volumetric differences reported, stating that they are below the resolution of MRI. However, we would like to bring to their attention basic statistical principles applied in these circumstances (1), in which examination of group differences depends on the statistical properties of the sample, not on resolution in individual scans. The significance of group differences is based on the sample size, the mean group difference, and the standard deviation of the sample. Thus, even small differences can be significantly different if the measurements are repeatable (with a small standard deviation) as is the case in FreeSurfer segmentation, and if there is a relatively large sample size (N=168 in our study) and a sufficiently large difference in the means. In fact, the total volume difference measured was not small: a mean of 0.3 mm3/person×168=50.4 mm3.From the Department of Psychiatry and Radiological Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.The author’s disclosures accompany the original article.Reference1 Zar JH: Two-sample hypotheses, inBiostatistical Analysis, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 1999Google Scholar FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 170Issue 4 April 2013Pages 446a-446a Metrics PDF download History Accepted 1 February 2013 Published online 1 April 2013 Published in print 1 April 2013

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Ecocriticism and Eighteenth‐Century English Studies

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Ecocriticism and Eighteenth‐Century English Studies

Thirty Years in the Storm: Leadership at an African-Centered School

For most Americans, access to a quality education has always been perceived as the fundamental link to upward mobility and increased life chances within our society (Ballantine and Hammack in The sociology of education: a systematic analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2011; Brown et al. 2010; Holyfield 2002). This perception of the role of education has been particularly salient for African American people. From the beginning of their experiences in America, the African American community creatively established schools for their children (Anderson in The education of Blacks in the South, 1860–1935. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1988). Even during the enslavement of the majority of African people in this country, they would often risk their lives in the effort to learn to read and write (Douglass and Stepto in Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American slave. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2009). Subsequently this rich history, along with the continued presence of inequities and underachievement in the public schools became the undergirding impetus for the development of independent Black schools within the African American communities around the nation beginning in the early 1960’s. Through the years, many of these schools have waged a fervent battle to remain operating. In spite of difficulties with various factors such as, finances, facilities location and maintenance, as well as an unstable teaching force, the leaders who founded these institutions remain committed to the education of African American children. Currently, there is a paucity of research on the founders of these independent Black schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational philosophy and strategies which guided the decision-making process of the founder of an independent Black school.

An open Interdisciplinary Research: Professor Robert Hamilton (1743-1829)/His Works as between and beyond the Works from Adam Smith (1723-1790) and from Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

This study starting-entitled open interdisciplinary research is, here and now, a draft and a co-research proposal. It is addressed to interdisciplinary dedicated persons and personalities, but it maintains an open address to theologians, “pure” economists, mathematicians, neuro scientists, sociologists, historians and philosophers, artists and writers, engineers and managers (scientists and practitioners) who want, at their turn, to address research based studies and praxis case studies. These desired interdisciplinary studies are intended outlooks toward the contemporary (post-)crisis world – toward global problems representation, solvations, decision making and (re)adaptation of the structure and functions of what is or/and would be our world and our ancestors’ and followers’ world. Let be an axiomatic possibility toward a “better” world. This study has the following starting-list proposing an initial per se comparative study on the followings sets of works: Adam Smith’s two books: The Theory of Moral Sentiments. “printed for A. Millar, in the Strand; and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh” (1759). D.D. Raphael and A.L. Macfie. ed. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Liberty Fund. (1982). Knud Haakonssen. ed. The Theory of Moral Sentiments. Cambridge University Press. (2002). and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: W. Strahan, (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. University Of Chicago Press. (1977). Robert Hamilton’s two books: The Progress of Society. London: John Murray, 411 pages. (1830/posthumous). and Inquiry concerning the Rise and Progress, the Redemption and Present State of the National Debt of Great Britain. Edinburgh; Pickering & Chatto, London (1813). Reinhold Niebuhr's two books: Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics. Charles Scribner's Sons (1932). Reprint: Westminster John Knox Press. (2002). and The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation. Charles Scribner's Sons (1943), from his 1939 Gifford Lectures, Volume one: Human Nature, Volume two: Human Destiny. Reprint editions include: Prentice Hall vol. 1, Westminster John Knox Press 1996 set of 2 vols.

Music of Latin America and the Caribbean. Mark Brill. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. xiii + 402 pp. (Paper US$ 60.00)

Music of Latin America and the Caribbean. Mark Brill. Upper Saddle River NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. xiii + 402 pp. (Paper US$ 60.00)