On the measurement of achievement goals: critique, illustration, and application

The authors identified several specific problems with the measurement of achievement goals in the current literature and illustrated these problems, focusing primarily on A. J. Elliot and H. A. McGregor's (2001) Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ). They attended to these problems by creating the AGQ-Revised and conducting a study that examined the measure's structural validity and predictive utility with 229 (76 male, 150 female, 3 unspecified) undergraduates. The hypothesized factor and dimensional structures of the measure were confirmed and shown to be superior to a host of alternatives. The predictions were nearly uniformly supported with regard to both the antecedents (need for achievement and fear of failure) and consequences (intrinsic motivation and exam performance) of the 4 achievement goals. In discussing their work, the authors highlight the importance and value of additional precision in the area of achievement goal measurement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)

It is always on your mind: experiences and perceptions of falling of older people and their carers and the potential of a mobile falls detection device

Background. Falls and fear of falling present a major risk to older people as both can affect their quality of life and independence. Mobile assistive technologies (AT) fall detection devices may maximise the potential for older people to live independently for as long as possible within their own homes by facilitating early detection of falls. Aims. To explore the experiences and perceptions of older people and their carers as to the potential of a mobile falls detection AT device. Methods. Nine focus groups with 47 participants including both older people with a range of health conditions and their carers. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analysed. Results. Four key themes were identified relating to participants’ experiences and perceptions of falling and the potential impact of a mobile falls detector: cause of falling, falling as everyday vulnerability, the environmental context of falling, and regaining confidence and independence by having a mobile falls detector. Conclusion. The perceived benefits of a mobile falls detector may differ between older people and their carers. The experience of falling has to be taken into account when designing mobile assistive technology devices as these may influence perceptions of such devices and how older people utilise them.

Regurgitated bodies: presenting and representing trauma in 'The Act of Killing'

Focusing on The Act of Killing, this chapter examines how an “ethics of realism” operates on three key cinematic arenas: genre, authorship and spectatorship. As far as genre is concerned, the film’s realist commitment emerges from where it is least expected, namely from Hollywood genres, such as the musical, the film noir and the western, which are used as documentary, that is to say, as a fantasy realm where perpetrators can confess to their crimes without restraints or fear of punishment, but which nonetheless retains the evidentiary weight of the audiovisual medium. Authorship, in turn, translates as Oppenheimer’s unmistakable auteur signature through his role of self-confessed “infiltrator” who disguises as a sympathiser of the criminals in order to gain first-hand access to the full picture of their acts. One of them, the protagonist Anwar Congo, is clearly affected by post-traumatic stress disorder, and his repetitive reliving of his killings is made to flare up in front of the camera so as to bring back the dead to the present time in their material reality, through his own body, including a harrowing scene of the actor’s unpredictable and uncontrollable retching as he re-enacts the killing of his victims through strangulation. Finally, in the realm of spectatorship, the usual process of illusionistic identification on the part of the spectator is turned onto its head by means of disguising these criminals as amateur filmmakers, led to shoot, act within, and then watch their own film within the film so as to force them to experience beyond any illusion the suffering they had caused.

Voting rights of refugees

The book develops a novel legal argument about the voting rights of recognised 1951 Geneva Convention Refugees. The main normative contention is that such refugees should have the right to vote in the political community where they reside, assuming that the political community is a democracy and that its citizens have the right to vote. The basis of this contention is that the right to political participation in some political community is a basic right from the point of view of dignity and the protection of one’s interests. Due to their unique political predicament, 1951 Geneva Convention Refugees are a special category of non-citizen residents. They are unable to participate in elections of their state of origin, do not enjoy its diplomatic protection and consular assistance abroad, and – most fundamentally – are unable or unwilling, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution, to return to it; thus, they are in limbo for a potentially protracted period. Refugees, too, deserve to have a place in the world in the Arendtian sense, where their opinions are significant and their actions are effective. Their state of asylum is, for the time being, the only community in which there is any realistic prospect of political participation on their part.

PANA V : Evaluation of a Literacy Project

PANA V Evaluation of a Literacy ProjectSUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONSThis evaluation set out to explore the impact of the literacy work carried out through PANA V. It focussed on clarifying effects such as empowerment and poverty reduction in relation to the civil society. Two specific objectives were to evaluate the methodological approach and the didactic materials and to evaluate the sustainability of the project.Although the focus of the evaluation has been PANA V, the project has been evaluated in its context, as one in a series of five projects located in Rwanda ten years after the war and genocide. The conclusion will consider future plans in this field.The evaluator has striven to create a holistic picture of the effects of the project, although the given time for the evaluation was short. Only three weeks were spent in the field study and only ten days in the actual field. Although there were some organisational and logistic problems, as is common when carrying out a study like this in a poor country, many literacy sites were visited and quite many participators were interviewed. The overall impression from the study is overwhelmingly positive. So many people commit themselves in this task of teaching Rwandans reading, writing and numeracy. Despite harsh conditions learners strive to learn and group leaders devote themselves to the task. Many leaders on different levels try their very best to manage their difficult and demanding task. The main objective was to explore the impact of the project on poverty reduction, particularly on empowerment and strategies for everyday life. Women were to be regarded particularly. From the results it is clear that the project has a strong, positive impact both on poverty reduction and empowerment of marginalised groups. Among those who have benefited from the alphabetisation are mainly women. Unfortunately, when it comes to leaders in PANA, who may also be said to have benefited from the project, only a small minority is women. This is something that is recommended that it be reconsidered inside the organisation. As a majority of the targeted learners are women, and as the economic and social situation of women in Rwanda is generally weak, this is a question that I recommend the Pentesostal church and ADEPR to look particularly into. With many women being single breadwinners of their households, it is important that also women get access to positions that may bring benefits of different kind.It is also clear that the project has positive effects for the civil society. In the present situation in Rwanda, during the process of reconciliation and rapid progress, basic education for the poor majority is a democratic issue. In a country with a plethora of internet-cafés in the capital and a small minority that use cars and mobile-telephones to communicate nation-wide, it is of outmost importance that the majority acquires basic education, of which literacy is a central part. To strengthen the civil society in Rwanda literacy is important. One central issue is then that Rwanda develops toward becoming a country where literacy is used for the benefit of the citizens and it is a democratic issue that all citizens get an opportunity to participate. Crucial for this is that strong efforts are put into primary schools nation-wide. Literacy projects for adults, like PANA, may only complement these efforts, but they constitute important and necessary complements. Other relevant ways to promote literacy are campaigns in Radio and TV and through cultural events such as festivals, music and theatre. News papers, magazines and books are natural parts of such campaigns as well as adult education. As stated under the results not much can be said about the didactics in this evaluation. On the whole the methodology and the materials fill their function well and receive a high reputation. As people learn to read and write under very simple conditions, obviously the approach is appropriate. A few suggestions may be given from the study:•Focus groups leaders’ attention on clearness, that they show very clearly what is to be read. Good structuring is probably of great importance for many learners.•Make clear what is tested in the tests and consider the possibility to use a holistic test that would be more congruent with the methodology. The possibility to use only one grade, pass, would enable a more practical test, such as reading a short, relevant text, writing something relevant and solving practical mathematic problems. Avoid tests that demand school knowledge.•Avoid using methaphors such as “fight against illiteracy” and connections between illiteracy/literacy and darkness/light. It is not true that illiteracy causes bad things and that literacy only brings good. •Be prepared that it may be more difficult in the future to achieve the goals as it may be the case that the early learners where the ones who achieved easily. The goal of “literacy in six month” in PANA will probably hold only for some learners but also those who do not manage in six months need literacy skills.A third objective was to secure sustainability. As for sustainability of the project in itself, and of the literacy process, the main conclusion is that there is a good potential. The commitment and devotedness among many involved in PANA proves good. One weakness is individual leaders in ADEPR who do not see this as an important task for the Pentecostal church in Rwanda. Other weaknesses are the unwillingness to mention explicitly the wish, for example among group leaders, to get some kind of incentive and the fear of loosing believers by cooperation with other organisations. A higher degree of transparency in this issue would probably solve some irritations and tensions.As for the sustainability of the literacy skills much may be done to improve. The acquired skills seem to be comparably relevant. The level achieved, and the level tested, may be defined as basic literacy skills, consisting of basic reading, writing and numeracy skills. However, these skills are very restricted and there is a high risk that the skills will decline, which means that there is a high risk that people will forget how to read and write because of lack of exercising. From these conclusions a few suggestions for future development will be given.

Manoeuvring between anxiety and control : Patients experience of learning to live with diabetes: a lifeworld phenomenological study

Research shows that people with diabetes want their lives to proceed as normally as possible, but some patients experience difficulty in reaching their desired goals with treatment. The learning process is a complex phenomenon interwoven into every facet of life. Patients and healthcare providers often have different perspectives in care which gives different expectations on what the patients need to learn and cope with. The aim of this study, therefore, is to describe the experience of learning to live with diabetes. Interviews were conducted with 12 patients afflicted with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The interviews were then analysed with reference to the reflective lifeworld research approach. The analysis shows that when the afflicted realize that their bodies undergo changes and that blood sugar levels are not always balanced as earlier in life, they can adjust to their new conditions early. The afflicted must take responsibility for balancing their blood sugar levels and incorporating the illness into their lives. Achieving such goals necessitates knowledge. The search for knowledge and sensitivity to changes are constant requirements for people with diabetes. Learning is driven by the tension caused by the need for and dependence on safe blood sugar control, the fear of losing such control, and the fear of future complications. The most important responsibilities for these patients are aspiring to understand their bodies as lived bodies, ensuring safety and security, and acquiring the knowledge essential to making conscious choices.

Socio-cultural Degeneration and State Patronage of the Arts: Mapplethorpe, Cultural Crisis, and the NEA

The goal of this paper is to investigate how the Untied States federal government, specifically through the National Endowment for the Arts, or NEA, has acted in the position of an arts patron in the past few decades. Specifically, this paper will focus on the past decade and a half since the 'arts crisis' of the late 1980s and the social and political backlash against the art community in the 1990s, which was only against ‘offensive’ art that was seen as morally and culturally corruptive. I explore the political, social, and economic forms the backlash took, particularly rooted in a perceived fear of degenerative arts as a corruption of and a catalyst for the eventual collapse of American culture and values. Additionally, I analyse the role the federal government played in ‘ameliorating’ the situation. I investigate how state arts patronage has affected and continues to affect both the concepts behind and the manifestations of art, as well as who is encouraged, sanctioned, or neglected in the production of art. To accomplish this, I explore how and why the federal government employs the arts to define and redefine morality and culture, and how does it express/allow the expressions of these through art.

Speak now or forever hold your peace: an empirical investigation of whistleblowing in Brazilian organizations

À medida que ajudam as organizações a prevenir condutas irregulares e a manter um ambiente de trabalho mais éticos, as denúncias (whistleblowing) são frequentemente apontadas pela literatura como um benefício à sociedade como um todo. Entretanto, pouco se sabe a respeito de muitos aspectos associados à decisão de denunciar uma irregularidade. No Brasil, em especial, onde o assunto permanece sendo negligenciado por pesquisadores, elementos culturais específicos podem obstruir o caminho da denuncia, além de impor restrições à generalização dos resultados de pesquisas anteriores, quase sempre voltadas para a realidade anglo-saxônica. Com base nesses pressupostos, este estudo busca identificar os antecedentes do whistleblowing interno nas organizações brasileiras. De modo geral, os resultados da pesquisa empírica realizada com uma ampla amostra de profissionais oriundos de empresas púbicas e privadas dão suporte ao modelo proposto e reforçam a noção de que o ato de denunciar é o resultado complexo da interação entre fatores da organização, do indivíduo da situação observada. Em particular, os resultados sugerem que os indivíduos são mais propensos a realizar a denúncia quando a irregularidade observada é percebida como grave e quando a própria denuncia é vista como um curso de ação ético. Por outro lado, os indivíduos podem optar pelo silêncio se o alvo da denúncia for alguém com alto status na organização, se eles não sentirem apoio da organização ou se temerem retaliações. A influência negativa do medo de retaliação sobre a intenção de denunciar, contudo, pode ser atenuada se o indivíduo está convencido de que o correto a fazer é denunciar. Por fim, os resultados também sugerem que profissionais em posição gerencial são mais propensos a denunciar irregularidades do que os demais membros de uma organização. As implicações desses resultados, bem como as limitações e contribuições do estudo para a teoria e para a prática são discutidas em detalhe, juntamente com sugestões para pesquisas futuras.

Compliance to law and effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil

The goal of this paper is to debate the degree of effectiveness of the rule of law in Brazil, through a survey measuring perceptions, attitudes and habits of Brazilians in regard to compliance to law. The survey conducted in Brazil is based on the study conducted by Tom R. Tyler in the United States, entitled Why People Obey the Law? (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990). The main argument of Tyler´s study is that people obey the law when they believe it’s legitimate, and not because they fear punishment. We test the same argument in Brazil, relying on five indicators: (i) behavior, which depicts the frequency with which respondents declared to have engaged in conducts in disobedience to the law; (ii) instrumentality, measuring perception of losses associated with the violation of the law, specially fear of punishment; (iii) morality, measuring perception of how much is right or wrong to engage in certain conducts in violation of the law; (iv) social control, which measures perception of social disapproval of certain types of behavior in violation of the law, and (v) legitimacy, which measures the perception of respect to the law and to some authorities. Results indicate that fear of sanctions is not the strongest drive in compliance to law, but more than legitimacy, indicators of morality and social control are the strongest in explaining why people obey the law in Brazil.

A new species of the Rhinella margaritifera group (Anura: Bufonidae) from Brazilian Pantanal

We describe adult morphology, advertisement call and some natural history traits of a new species of toad from the Pantanal, western Brazil. Rhinella paraguayensis sp. nov. belongs to the Rhinella margaritifera group, and is characterized by medium size, snout rounded in dorsal view, with a vertical apical ridge, supraorbital crests weakly developed, parietal crest not well developed, postorbital crest prominent, presence of a dorsolateral line of tubercles, tympanum evident, bony protrusions at angle of jaws, absence of vertebral apophyses and of projections on upper eyelids, and parotoid glands small. The new species is distinguished from other species of the group by geographic distribution and by the use of floating mats of vegetation as reproductive site.

WATER ABSORPTION of THE FUR and SWIMMING BEHAVIOR of SEMIAQUATIC and TERRESTRIAL ORYZOMINE RODENTS

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Population dynamics and net primary production of the aquatic macrophite Nymphaea rudgeana C. F. Mey in a lotic environment of the Itanhaém River basin (SP, Brazil)

Neste trabalho, foi estudada a dinâmica populacional e estimada a produção primária líquida da macrófita aquática Nymphaea rudgeana em um braço do rio Itanhaém (Estado de São Paulo, Brasil). Esta espécie apresenta uma ampla variação anual de biomassa, em função da estação do ano, no local estudado. A partir do mês de novembro (13,1 g PS/m²), pode ser observado um aumento gradual da biomassa, atingindo o máximo em fevereiro (163,1 g PS/m²). Posteriormente, a biomassa diminui, mantendo-se em níveis baixos até um novo período de crescimento. A diminuição de biomassa está associada ao desenvolvimento de macrófitas flutuantes (Pistia stratiotes e Salvinia molesta) e, subseqüentemente, às condições ambientais desfavoráveis (valores de salinidade elevados) ao seu desenvolvimento. A produção primária líquida de N. rudgeana foi obtida a partir dos dados de biomassa e seu valor é estimado entre 3,02 e 3,82 t/ha/ano.

Efficiency of aquatic macrophytes to treat Nile tilapia pond effluents

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Cataract Remains an Important Cause of Blindness in Campinas, Brazil

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of blindness in the elderly population of Campinas, Brazil, and to describe the coverage and quality of cataract surgery services in the area. Methods: A brief assessment of cataract surgery services (using the RACSS (Rapid Assessment of Cataract Surgical Services Method) was conducted using random cluster sampling, with a sample composed of 60 clusters of 40 people aged 50 years or older. Visual acuity (VA) was measured and the lens status observed by direct visual ophthalmoscopy. From the selected sample of 2,400 subjects, 92.67% were examined. Results: Blindness (VA 3/60 with available correction) was found in 1.98 % (2.03 % among male subjects, and 1.94 % among female subjects). The prevalence of blindness varied with age, from 0.2%, in the group from 50 to 54 years, to 7.2% in those above 80. Cataract was the main cause of blindness (40.2%) followed by suspected posterior segment disorders (18.2%), diabetic retinopathy (15.9%), and glaucoma (11.4%). The cataract surgical coverage was of 93% (VA 3/60) and 82.18% when the criterion was VA 6/60 in the best eye. The main reasons the subjects did not receive surgical treatment were: fear of undergoing surgery, 11.1%; lack of awareness about the condition, 16.7%; waiting for maturity, 16.7%; and contraindication to surgery, 44.4%. Conclusion: Cataract is the major cause of blindness in Campinas. Education on eye diseases, their prevention and treatment must become part of the city's public healthcare policies.

Chewing in temporomandibular disorder patients: an exploratory study of an association with some psychological variables

Aims: To compare kinematic parameters (ie, amplitude, velocity, cycle frequency) of chewing and pain characteristics in a group of female myofascial temporomandibular disorder (TMD) patients with an age-matched control female group, and to study correlations between psychological variables and kinematic variables of chewing. Methods: Twenty-nine female participants were recruited. All participants were categorized according to the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD) into control (n = 14, mean age 28.9 years, SD 5.0 years) or TMD (n = 15, mean age 31.3 years, SD 10.7) groups. Jaw movements were recorded during free gum chewing and chewing standardized for timing. Patients completed the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales (DASS-42), the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), the Fear of Pain Questionnaire-III (FPQ-III), and the Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ). Statistical analyses involved evaluation for group differences, and correlations between kinematic variables and psychological questionnaire scores (eg, depression, anxiety, stress) and pain intensity ratings. Results: Velocity and amplitude of standardized (but not free) chewing were significantly greater (P < .05) in the TMD group than the control group. There were significant (P < .05) positive correlations between pain intensity ratings and velocity and amplitude of standardized chewing but not free chewing. There were significant (P < .05) positive correlations between depression and jaw amplitude and stress and jaw velocity for standardized but not free chewing. Conclusion: This exploratory study has provided data suggesting that psychological factors, manifesting in depression and stress, play a role in influencing the association between pain and motor activity. J OROFAC PAIN 2011;25:56-67