Child welfare workers' use of theory in working with physical child abuse: Implications for professional supervision

This article examines child welfare workers' understanding of physical child abuse and the Implications for those supervising these workers. The article Is based on the results of a study that involved In-depth Interviews and focus groups with statutory child welfare workers. Analysis revealed that workers' understanding of physical child abuse embodied a wide range of ideas that were generally consistent with existing literature. The study highlights the value and utility of a reflective approach In stimulating and making explicit the theoretical underpinnings of child welfare workers practice. Specific Implications for professional supervision are addressed.

Community based ecotourism as a panacea for protected areas: the use of common property theory in its analysis and development

Tourism is the worlds largest employer, accounting for 10% of jobs worldwide (WTO, 1999). There are over 30,000 protected areas around the world, covering about 10% of the land surface(IUCN, 2002). Protected area management is moving towards a more integrated form of management, which recognises the social and economic needs of the worlds finest areas and seeks to provide long term income streams and support social cohesion through active but sustainable use of resources. Ecotourism - 'responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well- being of local people' (The Ecotourism Society, 1991) - is often cited as a panacea for incorporating the principles of sustainable development in protected area management. However, few examples exist worldwide to substantiate this claim. In reality, ecotourism struggles to provide social and economic empowerment locally and fails to secure proper protection of the local and global environment. Current analysis of ecotourism provides a useful checklist of interconnected principles for more successful initiatives, but no overall framework of analysis or theory. This paper argues that applying common property theory to the application of ecotourism can help to establish more rigorous, multi-layered analysis that identifies the institutional demands of community based ecotourism (CBE). The paper draws on existing literature on ecotourism and several new case studies from developed and developing countries around the world. It focuses on the governance of CBE initiatives, particularly the interaction between local stakeholders and government and the role that third party non-governmental organisations can play in brokering appropriate institutional arrangements. The paper concludes by offering future research directions."

Putting theory to work: the use of theory in construction research

Attention to epistemology, theory use and citation practices are all issues which distinguish academic disciplines from other ways of knowing. Examples from construction research are used to outline and reflect on these issues. In doing so, the discussion provides an introduction to some key issues in social research as well as a reflection on the current state of construction research as a field. More specifically, differences between positivist and interpretivist epistemologies, the role of theory in each and their use by construction researchers are discussed. Philosophical differences are illustrated by appeal to two published construction research articles by Reichstein et al. and Harty on innovation (Reichstein, Salter and Gann, 2005; Harty, 2008). An analysis of citations for each highlights different cumulativity strategies. The potential contribution of mixed research programmes, combining positivist and interpretivist research, is evaluated. The paper should be of interest to early researchers and to scholars concerned with the ongoing development of construction research as an academic field.

Are you a bromide? : or, The sulphitic theory expounded and exemplified according to the most recent researches into the psychology of boredom, including many well-known bromidioms now in use /

"This essay is reprinted, with revisions and additions, from 'The sulphitic theory,' published in 'the Smart set' for April, 1906."

Pressure of massless hot scalar theory in the boundary effective theory framework

We use the boundary effective theory approach to thermal field theory in order to calculate the pressure of a system of massless scalar fields with quartic interaction. The method naturally separates the infrared physics, and is essentially nonperturbative. To lowest order, the main ingredient is the solution of the free Euler-Lagrange equation with nontrivial (time) boundary conditions. We derive a resummed pressure, which is in good agreement with recent calculations found in the literature, following a very direct and compact procedure.

Ispol'zovanie metodov teorii vosstanovleniia v modeliakh optimal'nogo dobyvaniia pishchi [Restoration theory in models of optimal feeding behavior]

The method of stochastic dynamic programming is widely used in ecology of behavior, but has some imperfections because of use of temporal limits. The authors presented an alternative approach based on the methods of the theory of restoration. Suggested method uses cumulative energy reserves per time unit as a criterium, that leads to stationary cycles in the area of states. This approach allows to study the optimal feeding by analytic methods.

A test of Jessor's problem behavior theory in a Eurasian and a Western European developmental context.

PURPOSE: The current study tested the applicability of Jessor's problem behavior theory (PBT) in national probability samples from Georgia and Switzerland. Comparisons focused on (1) the applicability of the problem behavior syndrome (PBS) in both developmental contexts, and (2) on the applicability of employing a set of theory-driven risk and protective factors in the prediction of problem behaviors. METHODS: School-based questionnaire data were collected from n = 18,239 adolescents in Georgia (n = 9499) and Switzerland (n = 8740) following the same protocol. Participants rated five measures of problem behaviors (alcohol and drug use, problems because of alcohol and drug use, and deviance), three risk factors (future uncertainty, depression, and stress), and three protective factors (family, peer, and school attachment). Final study samples included n = 9043 Georgian youth (mean age = 15.57; 58.8% females) and n = 8348 Swiss youth (mean age = 17.95; 48.5% females). Data analyses were completed using structural equation modeling, path analyses, and post hoc z-tests for comparisons of regression coefficients. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the PBS replicated in both samples, and that theory-driven risk and protective factors accounted for 13% and 10% in Georgian and Swiss samples, respectively in the PBS, net the effects by demographic variables. Follow-up z-tests provided evidence of some differences in the magnitude, but not direction, in five of six individual paths by country. CONCLUSION: PBT and the PBS find empirical support in these Eurasian and Western European samples; thus, Jessor's theory holds value and promise in understanding the etiology of adolescent problem behaviors outside of the United States.

Reply to Comment on 'Two-finger selection theory in the Saffman-Taylor problem

We clarify the meaning of the results of Phys. Rev. E 60, R5013 (1999). We discuss the use and implications of periodic boundary conditions, as opposed to rigid-wall ones. We briefly argue that the solutions of the paper above are physically relevant as part of a more general issue, namely the possible generalization to dynamics, of the microscopic solvability scenario of selection.

Statistical Inversion Theory in X-ray Tomography

In this thesis the X-ray tomography is discussed from the Bayesian statistical viewpoint. The unknown parameters are assumed random variables and as opposite to traditional methods the solution is obtained as a large sample of the distribution of all possible solutions. As an introduction to tomography an inversion formula for Radon transform is presented on a plane. The vastly used filtered backprojection algorithm is derived. The traditional regularization methods are presented sufficiently to ground the Bayesian approach. The measurements are foton counts at the detector pixels. Thus the assumption of a Poisson distributed measurement error is justified. Often the error is assumed Gaussian, altough the electronic noise caused by the measurement device can change the error structure. The assumption of Gaussian measurement error is discussed. In the thesis the use of different prior distributions in X-ray tomography is discussed. Especially in severely ill-posed problems the use of a suitable prior is the main part of the whole solution process. In the empirical part the presented prior distributions are tested using simulated measurements. The effect of different prior distributions produce are shown in the empirical part of the thesis. The use of prior is shown obligatory in case of severely ill-posed problem.

The price of space: the convergence of value in use and value in exchange

This paper discusses concepts of value from the point of view of the user of the space and the counter view of the provider of the same. Land and property are factors of production. The value of the land flows from the use to which it is put, and that in turn, is dependent upon the demand (and supply) for the product or service that is produced/provided from that space. If there is a high demand for the product (at a fixed level of supply), the price will increase and the economic rent for the land/property will increase accordingly. This is the underlying paradigm of Ricardian rent theory where the supply of land is fixed and a single good is produced. In such a case the rent of land is wholly an economic rent. Economic theory generally distinguishes between two kinds of price, price of production or “value in use” (as determined by the labour theory of value), and market price or “value in exchange” (as determined by supply and demand). It is based on a coherent and consistent theory of value and price. Effectively the distinction is between what space is ‘worth’ to an individual and that space’s price of exchange in the market place. In a perfect market where any individual has access to the same information as all others in the market, price and worth should coincide. However in a market where access to information is not uniform, and where different uses compete for the same space, it is more likely that the two figures will diverge. This paper argues that the traditional reliance of valuers to use methods of comparison to determine “price” has led to an artificial divergence of “value in use” and “value in exchange”, but now such comparison are becoming more difficult due to the diversity of lettings in the market place, there will be a requirement to return to fundamentals and pay heed to the thought process of the user in assessing the worth of the space to be let.

Game theory in sugarcane crop residue and available energy optimization

This work proposes a mathematical model to aid variety selection and planting quantity of sugarcane in order to reduce crop residues, maximize energy generated by this residue, and satisfy all the supply of the mill. We propose Linear Programming with two objective. The conflict between these objectives allows the use of the Nonzero-sum Game Theory. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. Ltd. All rights reserved.

QUANTUM FIELD THEORY IN GRAPHENE

This is a short nontechnical introduction to applications of the Quantum Field Theory methods to graphene. We derive the Dirac model from the tight binding model and describe calculations of the polarization operator (conductivity). Later on, we use this quantity to describe the Quantum Hall Effect, light absorption by graphene, the Faraday effect, and the Casimir interaction.

Fluid-Fluid Reactions: Study of the Surface Renewal Theory in Chemical Engineering Courses

The Surface Renewal Theory (SRT) is one of the most unfamiliar models in order to characterize fluid-fluid and fluid-fluid-solid reactions, which are of considerable industrial and academicals importance. In the present work, an approach to the resolution of the SRT model by numerical methods is presented, enabling the visualization of the influence of different variables which control the heterogeneous overall process. Its use in a classroom allowed the students to reach a great understanding of the process.