Development and psychometric tests of the Chinese-version low vision quality of life questionnaire

Background/Aims: To develop and assess the psychometric validity of a Chinese language Vision Health related quality-of-life (VRQoL) measurement instrument for the Chinese visually impaired. Methods: The Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (LVQOL) was translated and adapted into the Chinese-version Low Vision Quality of Life Questionnaire (CLVQOL). The CLVQOL was completed by 100 randomly selected people with low vision (primary group) and 100 people with normal vision (control group). Ninety-four participants from the primary group completed the CLVQOL a second time 2 weeks later (test-retest group). The internal consistency reliability, test-retest reliability, item-internal consistency, item-discrimination validity, construct validity and discriminatory power of the CLVQOL were calculated. Results: The review committee agreed that the CLVQOL replicated the meaning of the LVQOL and was sensitive to cultural differences. The Cronbach's α coefficient and the split-half coefficient for the four scales and total CLVQOL scales were 0.75-0.97. The test-retest reliability as estimated by the intraclass correlations coefficient was 0.69-0.95. Item-internal consistency was >0.4 and item-discrimination validity was generally <0.40. The Varimax rotation factor analysis of the CLVQOL identified four principal factors. the quality-of-life rating of four subscales and the total score of the CLVQOL of the primary group were lower than those of the Control group, both in hospital-based subjects and community-based subjects. Conclusion: The CLVQOL Chinese is a culturally specific vision-related quality-of-life measure instrument. It satisfies conventional psychometric criteria, discriminates visually healthy populations from low vision patients and may be valuable in screening the local community as well as for use in clinical practice or research. © Springer 2005.

An investigation of management accounting control systems in the palm oil industry:a sociomaterial approach to practice change

The primary aim of this research is to understand what constitutes management accounting and control (MACs) practice and how these control processes are implicated in the day to day work practices and operations of the organisation. It also examines the changes that happen in MACs practices over time as multiple actors within organisational settings interact with each other. I adopt a distinctive practice theory approach (i.e. sociomateriality) and the concept of imbrication in this research to show that MACs practices emerge from the entanglement between human/social agency and material/technological agency within an organisation. Changes in the pattern of MACs practices happens in imbrication processes which are produced as the two agencies entangle. The theoretical approach employed in this research offers an interesting and valuable lens which seeks to reveal the depth of these interactions and uncover the way in which the social and material imbricate. The theoretical framework helps to reveal how these constructions impact on and produce modifications of MACs practices. The exploration of the control practices at different hierarchical levels (i.e. from the operational to middle management and senior level management) using the concept of imbrication process also maps the dynamic flow of controls from operational to top management and vice versa in the organisation. The empirical data which is the focus of this research has been gathered from a case study of an organisation involved in a large vertically integrated palm oil industry company in Malaysia specifically the refinery sector. The palm oil industry is a significant industry in Malaysia as it contributed an average of 4.5% of Malaysian Gross Domestic Product, over the period 1990 -2010. The Malaysian palm oil industry also has a significant presence in global food oil supply where it contributed 26% of the total oils and fats global trade in 2010. The case organisation is a significant contributor to the Malaysian palm oil industry. The research access has provided an interesting opportunity to explore the interactions between different groups of people and material/technology in a relatively heavy process food industry setting. My research examines how these interactions shape and are shaped by control practices in a dynamic cycle of imbrications over both short and medium time periods.

The ‘situated functionality’ of accounting in private equity practices:a social ‘site’ analysis

This paper contributes to the recent ‘practice turn’ in management accounting literature in two ways: (1) by investigating the meshing and consequently the ‘situated functionality’ of accounting in various private equity (PE) practices, and (2) by experimenting with the application of Schatzki’s ‘site’ ontology. By identifying and describing the role and nature of accounting and associated calculative practices in different parts of the PE value chain, we note that the ‘situated functionality’ of accounting is ‘prefigured’ by its ‘dispersed’ nature. A particular contribution of experimenting with Schatzki’s ‘site’ ontology has been to identify theoretical concerns in relation to the meaning and role of the concept ‘general understandings’ and to clarify the definitional issues surrounding this concept. We also identify the close relationship between ‘general understandings’ and ‘teleoaffective structure’ and note their mutually constitutive nature.

From icon to naturalised icon:a linguistic analysis of media representations of the BP Deepwater Horizon crisis

This research explores how news media reports construct representations of a business crisis through language. In an innovative approach to dealing with the vast pool of potentially relevant texts, media texts concerning the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill are gathered from three different time points: immediately after the explosion in 2010, one year later in 2011 and again in 2012. The three sets of 'BP texts' are investigated using discourse analysis and semi-quantitative methods within a semiotic framework that gives an account of language at the semiotic levels of sign, code, mythical meaning and ideology. The research finds in the texts three discourses of representation concerning the crisis that show a movement from the ostensibly representational to the symbolic and conventional: a discourse of 'objective factuality', a discourse of 'positioning' and a discourse of 'redeployment'. This progression can be shown to have useful parallels with Peirce's sign classes of Icon, Index and Symbol, with their implied movement from a clear motivation by the Object (in this case the disaster events), to an arbitrary, socially-agreed connection. However, the naturalisation of signs, whereby ideologies are encoded in ways of speaking and writing that present them as 'taken for granted' is at its most complete when it is least discernible. The findings suggest that media coverage is likely to move on from symbolic representation to a new kind of iconicity, through a fourth discourse of 'naturalisation'. Here the representation turns back towards ostensible factuality or iconicity, to become the 'naturalised icon'. This work adds to the study of media representation a heuristic for understanding how the meaning-making of a news story progresses. It offers a detailed account of what the stages of this progression 'look like' linguistically, and suggests scope for future research into both language characteristics of phases and different news-reported phenomena.

Collocation, interpretation and explanation:the case of just any

This article discusses the question of compositionality by examining whether the indiscriminacy reading of the collocation of just with any can be shown to be a consequence of the schematic meaning-potential of each of these two items. A comparison of justwith other restrictive focus particles allows its schematic meaning to be defined as that of goodness of fit. Any is defined as representing an indefinite member of a set as extractable from the set in exactly the same way as each of the other members thereof. The collocation just any often gives rise to a scalar reading oriented towards the lowest value on the scale due to the fact that focus on the unconstrained extractability of a random indefinite item brings into consideration even marginal cases and the latter tend to be interpreted as situated on the lower end of the scale. The attention to low-end values also explains why just any is regularly found with the adjective old, the prepositional phrase at all and various devaluating expressions. It is concluded that the meanings of the component parts of this collocation do indeed account for the meaning of the whole, and that an appropriate methodology allows identification of linguistic meanings and their interrelations. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.

Renegotiating sexual intimacy in the context of altered embodiment:the experiences of women with breast cancer and their male partners following mastectomy and reconstruction

OBJECTIVE: Breast cancer diagnosis and treatments can have a profound impact upon women's well-being, body image, and sexual functioning, but less is known about the relational context of their coping and the impact upon their intimate partners. Our study focuses upon couples' experiences of breast cancer surgery, and its impact on body image and sexual intimacy. METHOD: Utilizing a dyadic design, we conducted 8 semistructured individual interviews, with 4 long-term heterosexual couples, after the women had undergone mastectomy with reconstruction. Interviews explored both partners' experiences of diagnosis, decision-making, and experiences of body image and sexual intimacy. Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was adopted; this is a qualitative research approach characterized by in-depth analysis of the personal meaning of experiences. RESULTS: Findings illustrate the positive acceptance that partners may express toward their wives' postsurgical bodies. They illuminate ways in which gendered coping styles and normative sexual scripts may shape couples' negotiations of intimacy around "altered embodiment." Reciprocal communication styles were important for couples' coping. The management of expectations regarding breast reconstruction may also be helpful. CONCLUSIONS: The insights from the dyadic, multiple perspective design suggest that psychologists must situate the meaning of supportive relationships and other protective factors in the context of complex life events and histories, in order to understand and support people's developing responses to distress. (PsycINFO Database Record

Manufacturing reshoring and its limits:the UK automotive case

This paper explores the meaning of reshoring and its drivers in the case of UK manufacturing and in particular its automotive sector. Drawing on interviews, policy reviews and a range of recent surveys, the paper finds that while reshoring is a discernable trend in UK manufacturing, it is less pronounced than many have claimed and that – in the UK case at least - there are severe limits as to how far this reshoring trend can go, particularly in relation to the availability of skills and finance in the supply chain. This is in turn raises questions over the stance of British policy and whether more could be done, with comparisons made to US experience.

Cutting the Gordian knot [?]:a response to Lukka and Vinnari (2014)

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to constructively discuss the meaning and nature of (theoretical) contribution in accounting research, as represented by Lukka and Vinnari (2014) (hereafter referred to as LV). The authors aim is to further encourage debate on what constitutes management accounting theory (or theories) and how to modestly clarify contributions to the extant literature. Design/methodology/approach – The approach the authors take can be seen as (a)n interdisciplinary literature sourced analysis and critique of the movement’s positioning and trajectory” (Parker and Guthrie, 2014, p. 1218). The paper also draws upon and synthesizes the present authors and other’s contributions to accounting research using actor network theory. Findings – While a distinction between domain and methods theories … may appear analytically viable, it may be virtually impossible to separate them in practice. In line with Armstrong (2008), the authors cast a measure of doubt on the quest to significantly extend theoretical contributions from accounting research. Research limitations/implications – Rather than making (apparently) grandiose claims about (theoretical) contributions from individual studies, the authors suggest making more modest claims from the research. The authors try to provide a more appropriate and realistic approach to the appreciation of research contributions. Originality/value – The authors contribute to the debate on how theoretical contributions can be made in the accounting literature by constructively debating some views that have recently been outlined by LV. The aim is to provide some perspective on the usefulness of the criteria suggested by these authors. The authors also suggest and highlight (alternative) ways in which contributions might be discerned and clarified.

Duppying yoots in a dog eat dog world, kmt:determining the senses of slang terms for the Courts

I describe and discuss a series of court cases which focus upon on decoding the meaning of slang terms. Examples include sexual slang used in a description by a child and an Internet Relay Chat containing a conspiracy to murder. I consider the task presented by these cases for the forensic linguist and the roles the linguist may assume in determining the meaning of slang terms for the Courts. These roles are identified as linguist as naïve interpreter, lexicographer, case researcher and cultural mediator. Each of these roles is suggestive of different strategies that might be used from consulting formal slang dictionaries and less formal Internet sources, to collecting case specific corpora and examining all the extraneous material in a particular case. Each strategy is evaluated both in terms of the strength of evidence provided and its applicability to the forensic context.

Lie-szimmetriák egy közgazdasági alkalmazása (An economic application of the Lie symmetries)

Ebben a tanulmányban ismertetjük a Nöther-tétel lényegi vonatkozásait, és kitérünk a Lie-szimmetriák értelmezésére abból a célból, hogy közgazdasági folyamatokra is alkalmazzuk a Lagrange-formalizmuson nyugvó elméletet. A Lie-szimmetriák dinamikai rendszerekre történő feltárása és viselkedésük jellemzése a legújabb kutatások eredményei e területen. Például Sen és Tabor (1990), Edward Lorenz (1963), a komplex kaotikus dinamika vizsgálatában jelent®s szerepet betöltő 3D modelljét, Baumann és Freyberger (1992) a két-dimenziós Lotka-Volterra dinamikai rendszert, és végül Almeida és Moreira (1992) a három-hullám interakciós problémáját vizsgálták a megfelelő Lie-szimmetriák segítségével. Mi most empirikus elemzésre egy közgazdasági dinamikai rendszert választottunk, nevezetesen Goodwin (1967) ciklusmodelljét. Ennek vizsgálatát tűztük ki célul a leírandó rendszer Lie-szimmetriáinak meghatározásán keresztül. / === / The dynamic behavior of a physical system can be frequently described very concisely by the least action principle. In the centre of its mathematical presentation is a specic function of coordinates and velocities, i.e., the Lagrangian. If the integral of the Lagrangian is stationary, then the system is moving along an extremal path through the phase space, and vice versa. It can be seen, that each Lie symmetry of a Lagrangian in general corresponds to a conserved quantity, and the conservation principle is explained by a variational symmetry related to a dynamic or geometrical symmetry. Briey, that is the meaning of Noether's theorem. This paper scrutinizes the substantial characteristics of Noether's theorem, interprets the Lie symmetries by PDE system and calculates the generators (symmetry vectors) on R. H. Goodwin's cyclical economic growth model. At first it will be shown that the Goodwin model also has a Lagrangian structure, therefore Noether's theorem can also be applied here. Then it is proved that the cyclical moving in his model derives from its Lie symmetries, i.e., its dynamic symmetry. All these proofs are based on the investigations of the less complicated Lotka Volterra model and those are extended to Goodwin model, since both models are one-to-one maps of each other. The main achievement of this paper is the following: Noether's theorem is also playing a crucial role in the mechanics of Goodwin model. It also means, that its cyclical moving is optimal. Generalizing this result, we can assert, that all dynamic systems' solutions described by first order nonlinear ODE system are optimal by the least action principle, if they have a Lagrangian.

A tudásérték meghatározása minőségügyi szempontból, hálózatelemzési módszerekkel (The knowledge value in terms of quality with network analysis methods)

A minőségügy egyik kulcsfeladata, hogy azonosítsa az értékteremtés szempontjából kritikus tényezőket, meghatározza ezek értékét, valamint intézkedjen negatív hatásuk megelőzése és csökkentése érdekében. Az értékteremtés sok esetben folyamatokon keresztül történik, amelyek tevékenységekből, elvégzendő feladatokból állnak. Ezekhez megfelelő munkatársak kellenek, akiknek az egyik legfontosabb jellemzője az általuk birtokolt tudás. Mindezek alapján a feladat-tudás-erőforrás kapcsolatrendszer ismerete és kezelése minőségügyi feladat is. A komplex rendszerek elemzésével foglalkozó hálózatkutatás eszközt biztosíthat ehhez, ezért indokolt a minőségügyi területen történő alkalmazhatóságának vizsgálata. Az alkalmazási lehetőségek rendszerezése érdekében a szerzők kategorizálták a minőségügyi hálózatokat az élek (kapcsolatok) és a csúcsok (hálózati pontok) típusai alapján. Ezt követően definiálták a multimodális (több különböző csúcstípusból álló) tudáshálózatot, amely a feladatokból, az erőforrásokból, a tudáselemekből és a közöttük lévő kapcsolatokból épül fel. A hálózat segítségével kategóriákba sorolták a tudáselemeket, valamint a fokszámok alapján meghatározták értéküket. A multimodális hálózatból képzett tudáselem-hálózatban megadták az összefüggő csoportok jelentését, majd megfogalmaztak egy összefüggést a tudáselem-elvesztés kockázatának meghatározására. _______ The aims of quality management are to identify those factors that have significant influence on value production, qualify or quantify them, and make preventive and corrective actions in order to reduce their negative effects. The core elements of value production are processes and tasks, along with workforce having the necessary knowledge to work. For that reason the task-resource-knowledge structure is pertinent to quality management. Network science provides methods to analyze complex systems; therefore it seems reasonable to study the use of tools of network analysis in association with quality management issues. First of all the authors categorized quality networks according to the types of nodes (vertices) and links (edges or arcs). Focusing on knowledge management, they defined the multimodal knowledge network, consisting of tasks, resources, knowledge items and their interconnections. Based on their degree, network nodes can be categorized and their value can be quantified. Derived from the multimodal network knowledge-item network is to be created, where the meaning of cohesive subgroups is defined. Eventually they proposed a formula for determining the risk of knowledge loss.

The lived experience of healing touch with cancer patients

The recent use of complementary therapies by cancer patients has prompted the study of the use of Healing Touch, an energy based therapy, to learn the meaning of the experience. By using Ray's Caring Inquiry, a phenomenologic-hermeneutic process, the lived experience of receiving Healing Touch was elicited from three cancer patients. Through the interactions of the Healing Touch practitioners, the cancer patient participants, and the energy in and around them, specific themes were expressed: body-physical, emotion-feeling, mental-knowing, and spirit-essence. Further abstracting lead to the metathemes sensation and perception. Through a change in consciousness, a oneness/wholeness was experienced. The unity of meaning elicited was the Rhythm of Oneness Through Energy which is the connecting, opening, and cocreating through caring, the wholeness of each to become one through rhythms of energy. ^

The eye of the beholder: The impact of a district implementation plan of state mandates as perceived by the implementers

The purpose of this inquiry was to investigate the impact of a large, urban school district's experience in implementing a mandated school improvement plan and to examine how that plan was perceived, interpreted, and executed by those charged with the task. The research addressed the following questions: First, by whom was the district implementation plan designed, and what factors were considered in its construction? Second, what impact did the district implementation plan have on those charged with its implementation? Third, what impact did the district plan have on the teaching and learning practices of a particular school? Fourth, what aspects of the implemention plan were perceived as most and least helpful by school personnel in achieving stated goals? Last, what were the intended and unintended consequences of an externally mandated and directed plan for improving student achievement? The implementation process was measured against Fullan's model as expounded upon in The Meaning of Educational Change (1982) and The New Meaning of Educational Change (1990). The Banya implementation model (1993), because it added a dimension not adequately addressed by Fullan, was also considered.^ A case study was used as the methodological framework of this qualitative study. Sources of data used in this inquiry included document analysis, participant observations in situ, follow-up interviews, the "long" interview, and triangulation. The study was conducted over a twelve-month period. Findings were obtained from the content analysis of interview transcripts of multiple participants. Results were described and interpreted using the Fullan and Banya models as the descriptive framework. A cross-case comparison of the multiple perspectives of the same phenomena by various participants was constructed.^ The study concluded that the school district's implementation plan to improve student achievement was closely aligned to Fullan's model, although not intentionally. The research also showed that where there was common understanding at all levels of the organization as to the expectations for teachers, level of support to be provided, and availability of resources, successful implementation occured. The areas where successful implementation did not occur were those where the complexity of the changes were underestimated and processes for dealing with unintended consequences were not considered or adequately addressed. The unique perspectives of the various participants, from the superintendent to the classroom teacher, are described. Finally, recommendations for enhancement of implementation are offered and possible topics for further research studies are postulated. ^

Authority and stratification in the Bahamas: The quest for legitimacy

This longitudinal study provides a detailed description of the transition in the Bahamas from British colony to independent country. It analyzes the ongoing process of legitimation and delegitimation of Bahamian political parties and of the transfer of authority from the white minority to the black majority. It is a story of social and political struggles that take place within the quarter century following World War II. These struggles are analyzed within a theoretical framework which focuses on the meaning of symbols used to support claims to authority, and/or which function to delegitimize alternative claims. Specifically, this study looks at the delegitimization of the institutions of colonialism and the concurrent profession of symbols to support both independence and a fully enfranchised democracy in the Bahamas. ^ The research methodology includes an extensive analysis of official British colonial documents, private governmental dispatches, and contemporaneous newspaper articles. The sources were primarily the Public Records Office of Great Britain; the Archives of the Bahamas; and the Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies. Secondary literature on civil rights, political science, religion, Black Nationalism, corruption, social theory, and popular culture was studied. Two hundred days of participant observation, spread over seven years of study, resulted in notes from which information was gleaned. During that time, seventeen open-ended interviews with a cross section of Bahamians (male and female, black and white) who lived through this period were recorded, information from which was also incorporated. ^ A detailed description of the socio-historical process, and an analysis of data, demonstrates how the black majority's desire for political representation, and future independence, pressured Great Britain to come into line with the desires of the majority of Bahamians. The symbolic universe that had historically divided white from black now urged dramatic social and political change. ^ The documents and testimonials studied demonstrate how symbols and symbolic events supported and/or undercut the claims to legitimacy proffered by different groups in the Bahamas in their respective attempts to solidify their social and political position within the society. ^

International education and the post-9/11 syndrome: A study of international educators in selected Miami-area colleges

This dissertation investigated the relationship between the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the internationalization agenda of U.S. colleges and universities. The construct, post-9/11 syndrome, is used metaphorically to delineate the apparent state of panic and disequilibrium that followed the incident. Three research questions were investigated, with two universities in the Miami-area of South Florida, one private and the other public, as qualitative case studies. The questions are: (a) How are international student advisors and administrators across two types of institutions dealing with the post-9/11 syndrome? (b) What, if any, are the differences in international education after 9/11? (c) What have been the institutional priorities in relation to international education before and after 9/11? Data-gathering methods included interviews with international student/study abroad advisors and administrators with at least 8 years of experience in the function(s) at their institutions, document and institutional data analysis. The interviews were based on the three-part scheme developed by Schuman (1982): context of experience, details of experience and reflection on the meaning of experiences. Taped interviews, researcher insights, and member checks of transcripts constituted an audit trail for this study. Key findings included a progressive decline in Fall to Fall enrollment of international students at UM by 13.05% in the 5 years after 9/11, and by 6.15% at FIU in the seven post-9/11 years. In both institutions, there was an upsurge in interest in study abroad during the same period but less than 5% of enrolled students ventured abroad annually. I summarized the themes associated with the post-9/11 environment of international education as perceived by my participants at both institutions as 3Ms, 3Ts, and 1D: Menace of Anxiety and Fear, Menace of Insularity and Insecurity, Menace of Over-Regulation and Bigotry, Trajectory of Opportunity, Trajectory of Contradictions, Trajectory of Illusion, Fatalism and Futility, and Dominance of Technology. Based on these findings, I recommended an integrated Internationalization At Home Plus Collaborative Outreach (IAHPCO) approach to internationalization that is based on a post-9/11 recalibration of national security and international education as complementary rather than diametrically opposed concepts.