Values Attributed to Marriage by Persons with Physical Disabilities

Within the so‐called normal society one can observe again and again symptoms of reluctance to being closely associated with people with physical disabilities. The general opinion is that this group of people is characterised by specific psychological and physical functioning and they are thought to have distinct needs and expectations as regards family life. To verify and confirm the above, comparative research was undertaken to find out how young able‐bodied, blind and persons using wheelchairs evaluate marriage. The subject of the research was the importance ascribed to the hierarchy of values related to marriage and family, and the types of needs satisfied through these institutions of social life. The participants were asked to evaluate such phenomena as love, sexual life and parenthood as well as expressing their attitude and opinion on conjugal infidelity. The results obtained do not indicate any significant differences in attitudes and views presented between the groups under consideration. All valued marriage and family life very highly and had similar expectations, however, not all will be able to fulfil their needs and aspirations in these areas. It will be quite complicated, especially so for those who are disabled. All possible failures are caused by, first of all, negative attitudes of the society towards erotic activities of people with disabilities.     

Adolescent sexual initiation through the lens of letters to the editor published in Polish teenage magazines

Almost all teenage magazines invite readers to submit questions concerning relationships, published as letters to the editor, popularly called ‘advice columns’, often containing explicit questions about sexuality. This study aims to examine, firstly, how themes related to sexual initiation are presented in letters to the editor published in Polish magazines and, secondly, how these themes are reflective of Poland's socio-cultural climate. These aims are achieved through thematic data analysis and by presenting an in-depth history of teenage magazines in Poland. In order of prevalence, the presented themes include entering into a general dialogue focused on sexual activity, eliminating the long-term (e.g. unplanned pregnancy) and short-term (e.g. rejection by one's partner) consequences of sexual activity, establishing ideal circumstances for sexual initiation, and, as a transition stage, meeting needs relevant only to those who have already initiated sexual activity. Although by no means exclusive, these findings offer some insight into adolescent sexual initiation, reflective of Poland's socio-cultural climate, where adolescent sexuality remains a taboo topic and teenage magazines may be viewed by certain groups of adolescents as a resource for supplementing existing sexual education.     

Dual-task effect on postural control in high-level competitive dancers

We investigated balance in 33 competitive dancers (17 females, 16 males) and 22 controls (17 females, 5 males) (age 16-27 years) on a force plate in two conditions: single task (quiet stance) and dual task (with a concurrent mental task). Balance was evaluated using centre-of-pressure shift (sway) variability, mean speed, frequency, and sample entropy. The effect of the dual task in the medio-lateral plane was comparable in both groups, decreasing sway variability (P < 0.05) and increasing mean speed (P < 0.001), frequency, and sample entropy (P < 0.001), showing that the participants effectively increased the level of automaticity. In the antero-posterior plane, the dual task also increased sway frequency and sample entropy (P < 0.01) in dancers without affecting their standing performance. In contrast, postural control in non-dancers was vulnerable to reduced cognitive investment, which adversely interfered with baseline performance. There were very high correlations between sway sample entropy and frequency in each group, plane, and task (r = 0.92-0.98, P < 0.001), indicating that both parameters may measure the same characteristic of postural control and that higher sway frequency may play an important role in protecting stability in dual tasking. The postural control of dancers and non-dancers appears to be similar, although dancing seems to facilitate the increased level of automatic control in the antero-posterior plane.     

Teaching Multimedia Documents to LIS Students

Multimedia documents (MMDs) are connected to education in two different ways: future professionals have to be educated to perform the complex task of multimedia creation, and multimedia is also successfully used in various phases of the educational process. This paper focuses on education for multimedia from the point of view of four of its different aspects: technology, design, purpose and content. The present status of education for multimedia is illustrated by an analysis of the academic scene in Serbia and neighboring countries, as well as through some other illustrative examples. The results of this analysis show that the content aspect of multimedia is covered mainly in the Library and Information Science (LIS) curricula. We present the place of the obligatory course Multimedia Document in the LIS curriculum at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade. It is organized as a team project of a whole generation of students in the last year of their studies, where each generation has to tackle a different topic important from the perspective of preservation of cultural heritage and present it in a multimedia form. In this paper, we show how successful this approach has been, both from teachers' and students' point of view.     

Is an integrative laboratory algorithm more effective in detecting alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency in patients with premature chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than AAT concentration based screening approach?

Introduction:

Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), genetic risk factor for premature chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), often remains undetected. The aim of our study was to analyse the effectiveness of an integrative laboratory algorithm for AATD detection in patients diagnosed with COPD by the age of 45 years, in comparison with the screening approach based on AAT concentration measurement alone.

Subjects and methods:

50 unrelated patients (28 males/22 females, age 52 (24–75 years) diagnosed with COPD before the age of 45 years were enrolled. Immunonephelometric assay for alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) and PCR-reverse hybridization for Z and S allele were first-line, and isoelectric focusing and DNA sequencing (ABI Prism BigDye) were reflex tests.

Results:

AATD associated genotypes were detected in 7 patients (5 ZZ, 1 ZM_malton, 1 ZQ0_amersfoort), 10 were heterozygous carriers (8 MZ and 2 MS genotypes) and 33 were without AATD (MM genotype). Carriers and patients without AATD had comparable AAT concentrations (P = 0.125). In majority of participants (48) first line tests were sufficient to analyze AATD presence. In two remaining cases reflex tests identified rare alleles, M_malton and Q0_amersfoort, the later one being reported for the first time in Serbian population. Detection rate did not differ between algorithm and screening both for AATD (P = 0.500) and carriers (P = 0.063).

Conclusion:

There is a high prevalence of AATD affected subjects and carriers in a group of patients with premature COPD. The use of integrative laboratory algorithm does not improve the effectiveness of AATD detection in comparison with the screening based on AAT concentration alone.     

DIRECT OBSERVATIONS OF CHILDREN AT RISK FOR ACADEMIC FAILURE: BENEFITS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL VISITING PROGRAM

Ten elementary school students in need of a positive self-image and/or a sense of appropriate social conduct took part in a monthly intergenerational visiting program at an assisted living facility. In comparison to systematic observations obtained in their classrooms, the children were observed to be significantly less anxious, more interested, and participating more during the intergenerational program. Outcomes of a focus group with five seniors revealed that they had enjoyed the program and wanted it to continue. School administrators may want to consider intergenerational visiting programs for students whose behaviors place them at risk for academic failure.     

Evolutionary theorizing and modeling of sustainability transitions

This paper argues that evolutionary thinking and modeling can contribute to the emerging research on sustainability transitions and their management. Evolutionary theory provides a range of concepts and mechanisms that are useful in making existing theorizing about transitions more precise and complete. In particular, we will discuss how the multi-level, multi-phase, co-evolutionary, and social learning dynamics underlying transitions can be addressed in evolutionary models. In addition, evolutionary theorizing offers suggestions for extending current theoretical frameworks of transitions. Group selection provides a good example. We review the small set of formal evolutionary models of sustainability transitions, and show that existing formal evolutionary models of technological, social and institutional change can provide useful inputs to transition research and management.     

Discrete time sliding mode controllers with relative degree one and two switching variables

In this paper, a new reaching law based sliding mode control strategy for discrete time systems is introduced. Contrary to most existing approaches, the new strategy uses a sliding variable with relative degree two. It is demonstrated that the new reaching law drives the sliding variable to a narrower quasi-sliding mode band than its relative degree one equivalent, while simultaneously ensuring the desired dynamic properties of the system. Furthermore, it is shown that the smaller quasi-sliding mode band width is reflected in reduced magnitude of all state variables in the sliding mode.     

Multilevel information system— Towards more flexible information retrieval systems

The Multilevel Information System (MLIS), extension of typical Information Retrieval System towards more complete data processing, is discussed. MLIS integrates functions typical for data base management systems and retrieval-oriented systems. Several levels of data accessing are provided, each level developed for a different class of users. End-user level is based on simple query language, trained user level on a relational model, and application programmer level on a Data Manipulation Language nested in high level programming language. The last two levels are discussed in detail.     

Hurdle preflight in springboard diving: a case of diminishing returns

Attempts to increase dive height by introducing a period of flight in the final approach step preceding the hurdle of dives from forward and reverse groups were investigated. One study involved 11 collegiate-level divers experienced in both traditional and hurdle preflight techniques. In a second study, dives executed by 9 national-level women were compared. Dives with a hurdle preflight had shorter final approach steps and greater hurdle flight durations. Flight time differences in favor of hurdle preflight techniques diminished from final approach step through hurdle flight to dive flight. Although the collegiate-level divers had longer dive flight times when using a hurdle preflight, it was suggested that the costs of these techniques may outweigh their potential benefits.