Evaluation of total purchasing pilots in England and Scotland and implications for primary care groups in England: personal interviews and analysis of routine data

Objectives: To evaluate the reported achievements of the 52 first wave total purchasing pilot schemes in 1996-7 and the factors associated with these; and to consider the implications of these findings for the development of the proposed primary care groups.

Preferences for chemotherapy in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer: descriptive study based on scripted interviews

Objective: To determine how patients with lung cancer value the trade off between the survival benefit of chemotherapy and its toxicities.

Certifica����o da sustentabilidade de edif��cios de escrit��rios corporativos no Brasil.

O crescimento industrial, comercial e de servi��os traz para as sociedades mais evolu��das uma s��rie de benef��cios, como o desenvolvimento econ��mico e o crescimento populacional, aliados a maiores oportunidades de emprego e renda. Entretanto, pela falta de uma consci��ncia mais apurada sobre os poss��veis impactos negativos de ritmo acelerado de crescimento, acaba-se verificando uma s��rie de problemas sociais e, sobretudo, ambientais. Em raz��o disso, nos ��ltimos anos, constata-se a preocupa����o de alguns setores da sociedade na busca do desenvolvimento fundamentado em pr��ticas mais sustent��veis. Isso n��o tem sido diferente no setor da constru����o civil. A preocupa����o com a sustentabilidade nos empreendimentos �� tema e foco de diversos eventos, tanto no meio acad��mico, como no profissional e governamental. Particularmente, o segmento de mercado de EDIF��CIOS DE ESCRIT��RIOS CORPORATIVOS tem sido alvo de press��o para o uso de pr��ticas mais sustent��veis em todo o seu ciclo de vida, desde sua concep����o, projeto, implanta����o e opera����o at�� a sua revitaliza����o. Para aferir a sustentabilidade dos EDIF��CIOS DE ESCRIT��RIOS CORPORATIVOS, muitas empresas do setor buscam certifica����es de origem estrangeira, que possuem certas limita����es em sua aplicabilidade no Brasil, as quais s��o discutidas neste trabalho. Neste contexto, esta tese visa �� constru����o da CERTIFICA����O DA SUSTENTABILIDADE DE EDIF��CIOS DE ESCRIT��RIOS CORPORATIVOS no Brasil, que �� oportuna e necess��ria para tratar das condi����es de contorno e de realidade nacional. Para isso, foram realizados: [i] levantamento do estado da arte deste tema; [ii] constru����o da MATRIZ DE ATRIBUTOS para a avalia����o da sustentabilidade dos EDIF��CIOS DE ESCRIT��RIOS CORPORATIVOS; [iii] entrevistas com formadores de opini��o deste segmento do mercado imobili��rio; [iv] visitas em EDIF��CIOS DE ESCRIT��RIOS CORPORATIVOS relevantes para as arbitragens iniciais; [v] a constru����o dos procedimentos, regras e rotina, com testes de valida����o e calibragem do SISTEMA PARA CLASSIFICA����O.

Are We Family? Lesbian Mothers and the Decision to Make Contact with Their Children's Donor Siblings

The current study examines the experiences of three lesbian families who have made contact with their children's donor siblings: a single mother by choice, a couple and a mother who had children in the context of a relationship that has since ended. It builds on prior research that has addressed this topic, but has primarily utilized survey methodology. Participants of the current study shared their experiences via focus group and individual interviews. A narrative research approach was used to analyze and present the findings.

The Perks of Playing Dress-Up: Psychological Impressions of Fashion and Feminism.

Research on the psychological impact of women's fashion has focused on fashion's negative influence over how women think and feel about themselves. Several studies have examined the relationship between fashion and women's self-appraisals (Martin & Gentry, 1997; Pinhas, Toner, Ali, Garfinkel, & Stuckless, 1999; Tiggemann, Polivy, & Hargreaves, 2009), although few investigations have explored the range of viewpoints that arise when women interact with their own personal style or with other forms of fashion media. This paper presents a narrative review of what has been written about fashion in clinical research. I briefly discuss why this is an important topic and why fashion has psychological meaning. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is considered in the exploration of fashion's impact on conjuring unproductive and productive schemas (Beck, 1976; Wright, Basco, & Thase, 2006). This discussion includes a presentation of interviews with female consultants, hypothetical examples, my own accounts, and feminist perspectives. While emphasizing the potential biases of women's interactions with fashion, I discuss matters of gender performance and reflections on clinical work. The purpose of this article is to present a pro-social defense of fashion. I do this by acquiring personal chronicles, applying those findings to the current body of research, and adding to the continued investigation of why women's fashion is still important in a postfeminist world.

Social risk factors in Spanish youth and their impact on self-concept construction

This paper presents evidence from a psychosocial framework about the relationship among youth, work, and identity construction. The aims of this research were twofold. The first one was to analyze the working conditions of Spanish youth and their impact on individuals' biographies. The second one was to examine the effect of labor-related variables on construction / change of identity elements in Spanish youth. For this purpose, two research techniques were used: the Delphi method (103 experts sample from several entities and organizations closely related to our topic) and deep interviews (15 interviews with youths classified according to their relationship with the work market). Copyright 2007 by The Spanish Journal of Psychology.

Universidades corporativas e vantagens competitivas: um estudo multicaso em franquias brasileiras

O conhecimento tem se mostrado como uma importante fonte de vantagem competitiva para as organiza����es. Por isso, as empresas buscam, cada vez mais, mecanismos que alavanquem os processos de gera����o, gest��o e dissemina����o do conhecimento organizacional. Uma das ferramentas, que pode potencializar a transforma����o do conhecimento em vantagens competitivas, �� a universidade corporativa. Nesse contexto, as franquias surgem como um dos objetos de estudos que podem ajudar a explicar esta rela����o, pois desenvolver e compartilhar conhecimento s��o aspectos vitais para o franchising. Dessa forma, o principal objetivo deste trabalho �� identificar elementos que possam influenciar na gera����o de vantagens competitivas pela implanta����o e gest��o de universidades corporativas no franchising. Para atingir esses objetivos, foi desenvolvida uma revis��o te��rica focada nos conceitos de vantagens competitivas, universidades corporativas e franchising. O primeiro esfor��o mostrou que existe uma lacuna te��rica no tema, indicando a necessidade de se realizar um estudo de campo para aprofundar o conhecimento sobre o fen��meno estudado. O estudo de caso, em conjunto com entrevistas em profundidade, foram os m��todos escolhidos para realizar o objetivo proposto. Foram realizadas dez entrevistas em profundidade com especialistas em educa����o corporativa e no franchising, sendo levantadas informa����es secund��rias dos processos de educa����o do Giraffas e das Universidades Corporativas do Banco do Brasil, Ernest Young do Brasil, Cacau Show e McDonald\'s do Brasil. Para as duas ��ltimas empresas foram desenvolvidos estudos de caso, levantando-se informa����es comparativas dos seus principais concorrentes. Dessa forma, tamb��m foram analisadas informa����es da Chocolates Brasil, Kopenhagen, Bob\'s e Subway. As principais conclus��es do trabalho foram: as universidades corporativas podem impactar de forma expressiva no desenvolvimento de vantagens competitivas no franchising; apesar de as franquias promoverem diversas a����es educacionais, as universidades corporativas ajudam a organizar de forma estrat��gica essas a����es, gerando, nos casos estudados, mais impactos que as a����es isoladas; as a����es que mais geram resultados e barreiras �� imita����o s��o as relacionadas �� dissemina����o do conhecimento t��cito; a rela����o entre unidades pr��prias e franqueadas parece ser importante para se estabelecer estrat��gias educacionais da rede; a avalia����o dos impactos dos treinamentos nos resultados operacionais e financeiros �� uma grande dificuldade observada; a literatura preconiza uma rela����o entre unidades pr��prias e franqueadas nos est��gios de maior maturidade do neg��cio que n��o foi observada nos casos estudados; tamb��m n��o foram observadas uma preocupa����o acentuada com o envolvimento de outros stakeholders e com a busca efetiva de modelos de autofinanciamento.

The Role of Passage Topic Knowledge in Typical and Poor Comprehenders' Recall

This dissertation examines the role of topic knowledge (TK) in comprehension among typical readers and those with Specifically Poor Comprehension (SPC), i.e., those who demonstrate deficits in understanding what they read despite adequate decoding. Previous studies of poor comprehension have focused on weaknesses in specific skills, such as word decoding and inferencing ability, but this dissertation examined a different factor: whether deficits in availability and use of TK underlie poor comprehension. It is well known that TK tends to facilitate comprehension among typical readers, but its interaction with working memory and word decoding is unclear, particularly among participants with deficits in these skills. Across several passages, we found that SPCs do in fact have less TK to assist their interpretation of a text. However, we found no evidence that deficits in working memory or word decoding ability make it difficult for children to benefit from their TK when they have it. Instead, children across the skill spectrum are able to draw upon TK to assist their interpretation of a passage. Because TK is difficult to assess and studies vary in methodology, another goal of this dissertation was to compare two methods for measuring it. Both approaches score responses to a concept question to assess TK, but in the first, a human rater assigns a score whereas in the second, a computer algorithm, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA; Landauer & Dumais, 1997) assigns a score. We found similar results across both methods of assessing TK, suggesting that a continuous measure is not appreciably more sensitive to variations in knowledge than discrete human ratings. This study contributes to our understanding of how best to measure TK, the factors that moderate its relationship with recall, and its role in poor comprehension. The findings suggest that teaching practices that focus on expanding TK are likely to improve comprehension across readers with a variety of abilities.

Understanding Seniors' Perceptions and Stereotypes of Aging

Research suggests there is a connection between stereotypes, beliefs, and behavior in older individuals. To explore this link of stereotypes affecting beliefs and beliefs affecting behavior, we interviewed young (age 60 to 75) seniors in an effort to further examine these relationships. Semistructured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 seniors. Questions focused on the broad themes of aging stereotypes and attitudes towards active living. Responses from the participants indicated the variety of opinions and beliefs seniors hold about the aging process. Intriguing results emerged on the topic of role models. Participants often had someone in their lives who represented what it means to age successfully. Generally, this was an individual older than themselves, active, vigorous, and illustrative of the high quality of life that is possible into a very late age. In addition, these individuals provide a direct contrast to the most negative stereotypes of aging.

Perspectives of Teachers Regarding the Integration of Mathematics and Science at the Secondary School Level

The integration of mathematics and science in secondary schools in the 21st century continues to be an important topic of practice and research. The purpose of my research study, which builds on studies by Frykholm and Glasson (2005) and Berlin and White (2010), is to explore the potential constraints and benefits of integrating mathematics and science in Ontario secondary schools based on the perspectives of in-service and pre-service teachers with various math and/or science backgrounds. A qualitative and quantitative research design with an exploratory approach was used. The qualitative data was collected from a sample of 12 in-service teachers with various math and/or science backgrounds recruited from two school boards in Eastern Ontario. The quantitative and some qualitative data was collected from a sample of 81 pre-service teachers from the Queen���s University Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the in-service teachers while a survey and a focus group was conducted with the pre-service teachers. Once the data was collected, the qualitative data were abductively analyzed. For the quantitative data, descriptive and inferential statistics (one-way ANOVAs and Pearson Chi Square analyses) were calculated to examine perspectives of teachers regardless of teaching background and to compare groups of teachers based on teaching background. The findings of this study suggest that in-service and pre-service teachers have a positive attitude towards the integration of math and science and view it as valuable to student learning and success. The pre-service teachers viewed the integration as easy and did not express concerns to this integration. On the other hand, the in-service teachers highlighted concerns and challenges such as resources, scheduling, and time constraints. My results illustrate when teachers perceive it is valuable to integrate math and science and which aspects of the classroom benefit best from the integration. Furthermore, the results highlight barriers and possible solutions to better the integration of math and science. In addition to the benefits and constraints of integration, my results illustrate why some teachers may opt out of integrating math and science and the different strategies teachers have incorporated to integrate math and science in their classroom.