The Politics of Breathing: Asthmatic Medicaid Patients Under Managed Care

This article examines how routine and ostensibly rational administrative and medical procedures required of asthmatic Medicaid patients to gain treatment under a managed care health delivery system, in fact, further disenfranchise them.     

Sources of difficulty in assessment: example of PISA science items

ABSTRACT

The understanding of what makes a question difficult is a crucial concern in assessment. To study the difficulty of test questions, we focus on the case of PISA, which assesses to what degree 15-year-old students have acquired knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society. Our research question is to identify PISA science item characteristics that could influence the item’s proficiency level. It is based on an a-priori item analysis and a statistical analysis. Results show that only the cognitive complexity and the format out of the different characteristics of PISA science items determined in our a-priori analysis have an explanatory power on an item’s proficiency levels. The proficiency level cannot be explained by the dependence/independence of the information provided in the unit and/or item introduction and the competence. We conclude that in PISA, it appears possible to anticipate a high proficiency level, that is, students’ low scores for items displaying a high cognitive complexity. In the case of a middle or low cognitive complexity level item, the cognitive complexity level is not sufficient to predict item difficulty. Other characteristics play a crucial role in item difficulty. We discuss anticipating the difficulties in assessment in a broader perspective.     

Visiting Shrines: A Turkish Religious Practice and Its Mental Health Implications

The purpose of the present study was to explore through qualitative methodology the practice of visiting shrines, a religious practice indigenous to Turkish Muslims, and its potential mental health benefits. Thirteen individuals were interviewed at two shrines in Istanbul, Turkey. The researchers focused on visitors’ presenting issues, beliefs regarding the practice, the mental health benefits of the visit, and the behaviors that the visitors engaged in during their visit. The data were analyzed using the Consensual Qualitative Research method. Five domains emerged from the data: (i) degree of religiosity and duties, (ii) knowledge and beliefs about shrines, (iii) purpose of visits, (iv) activities during the visit, and (v) experience and impact of the visit. The findings were discussed based on the mental health benefits of visiting shrines and the counseling and cultural implications.     

中国共产党对社会主义认识的历史轨迹

我党对社会主义的认识是在曲折中发展的 ,并且始终与社会主义的实践结合在一起 ,它在探索中不断深化 ,在实践中不断发展     

尿原体的研究进展

尿原体作为一类独特的微生物,从六十年代起在国外就有不少学者对其进行了系列研究进行了分类,但直到九十年代末才在国内医学界受到关注。大量研究表明尿原体与人及动物的呼吸道、泌尿生殖道以及新生儿的某些疾病密切相关。     

Domestic patents and developing countries: arguments for their study and data from Brazil (1980–1995)

This paper presents data from Brazilian Patent Office (Instituto Nacional de Propriedade Industrial, INPI) and compares them with data from the United States Patent Office (USPTO). Developing countries have technological activities that are important locally but not significant at international level (imitation, local learning, adaptation of foreign innovations). These activities might be patentable only at national level. Therefore, the study of domestic patents of developing countries provides a broader picture than USPTO patents. This paper compares 8309 INPI patents with 475 USPTO patents (between 1980 and 1995). Domestic patent data show peculiarities in the Brazilian case, possibly shared with other countries in similar technological level: (a) high share of individual patents; (b) foreign-owned firms with important activities; (c) low firm involvement in R&D activities. Some characteristics are shared with developed countries: (a) domestic firms as the major patentees; (b) according to firm size, there is a U-shaped distribution of patents; (c) evidences of multi-technology large firms; (d) a relatively small share of firms have more than one patent in the whole period. The contrast between USPTO and national patenting statistics shows different rankings according to ownership structure, leading firms, industrial sectors, and international patent classification. These differences highlight sources of international competitiveness and point to weaknesses in Brazilian innovative activities. This paper concludes evaluating the contributions (and weaknesses) of this database for the evaluation of the Brazilian National System of Innovation.     

高校科技期刊办刊模式专业化与产业化的战略思索

分析目前我国高等院校科技期刊的办刊模式，讨论在知识经济时代和中国加入WTO后科技期刊面临的机遇和挑战，介绍国内外优秀科技期刊的一些成功经验。认为专业化与产业化是改革传统办刊模式的关键，给出了实施专业化与产业化的总体设想。