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Expanding Literature (expanding + literature)
Selected AbstractsLinking the concept of scale to studies of biological diversity: evolving approaches and toolsDIVERSITY AND DISTRIBUTIONS, Issue 3 2006Erik A. Beever ABSTRACT Although the concepts of scale and biological diversity independently have received rapidly increasing attention in the scientific literature since the 1980s, the rate at which the two concepts have been investigated jointly has grown much more slowly. We find that scale considerations have been incorporated explicitly into six broad areas of investigation related to biological diversity: (1) heterogeneity within and among ecosystems, (2) disturbance ecology, (3) conservation and restoration, (4) invasion biology, (5) importance of temporal scale for understanding processes, and (6) species responses to environmental heterogeneity. In addition to placing the papers of this Special Feature within the context of brief summaries of the expanding literature on these six topics, we provide an overview of tools useful for integrating scale considerations into studies of biological diversity. Such tools include hierarchical and structural-equation modelling, kriging, variable-width buffers, k -fold cross-validation, and cascading graph diagrams, among others. Finally, we address some of the major challenges and research frontiers that remain, and conclude with a look to the future. [source] THE PRICE OF METAPHORHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 1 2005JOSEPH FRACCHIA ABSTRACT In his critical response to our skeptical inquiry, "Does Culture Evolve?" (History and Theory, Theme Issue 38 [December 1999], 52,78), W. G. Runciman affirms that "Culture Does Evolve." However, we find nothing in his essay that convinces us to alter our initial position. And we must confess that in composing an answer to Runciman, our first temptation was simply to urge those interested to read our original article,both as a basis for evaluating Runciman's attempted refutation of it and as a framework for reading this essay, which addresses in greater detail issues we have already raised. Runciman views the "selectionist paradigm" as a "scientific""puzzle-solving device" now validated by an "expanding literature" that has successfully modeled social and cultural change as "evolutionary." All paradigms, however, including scientific ones, give rise to self-validating "normal science." The real issue, accordingly, is not whether explanations can be successfully manufactured on the basis of paradigmatic assumptions, but whether the paradigmatic assumptions are appropriate to the object of analysis. The selectionist paradigm requires the reduction of society and culture to inheritance systems that consist of randomly varying, individual units, some of which are selected, and some not; and with society and culture thus reduced to inheritance systems, history can be reduced to "evolution." But these reductions, which are required by the selectionist paradigm, exclude much that is essential to a satisfactory historical explanation,particularly the systemic properties of society and culture and the combination of systemic logic and contingency. Now as before, therefore, we conclude that while historical phenomena can always be modeled selectionistically, selectionist explanations do no work, nor do they contribute anything new except a misleading vocabulary that anesthetizes history. [source] Clinician perceptions of personal safety and confidence to manage inpatient aggression in a forensic psychiatric settingJOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRIC & MENTAL HEALTH NURSING, Issue 1 2006T. MARTIN rpn dn Inpatient mental health clinicians need to feel safe in the workplace. They also require confidence in their ability to work with aggressive patients, allowing the provision of therapeutic care while protecting themselves and other patients from psychological and physical harm. The authors initiated this study with the predetermined belief that a comprehensive and integrated organizational approach to inpatient aggression was required to support clinicians and that this approach increased confidence and staff perceptions of personal safety. To assess perceptions of personal safety and confidence, clinicians in a forensic psychiatric hospital were surveyed using an adapted version of the Confidence in Coping With Patient Aggression Instrument. In this study clinicians reported the hospital as safe. They reported confidence in their work with aggressive patients. The factors that most impacted on clinicians' confidence to manage aggression were colleagues' knowledge, experience and skill, management of aggression training, use of prevention and intervention strategies, teamwork and the staff profile. These results are considered with reference to an expanding literature on inpatient aggression. It is concluded that organizational resources, policies and frameworks support clinician perceptions of safety and confidence to manage inpatient aggression. However, how these are valued by clinicians and translated into practice at unit level needs ongoing attention. [source] A beginner's guide to radiation damageJOURNAL OF SYNCHROTRON RADIATION, Issue 2 2009James M. Holton Many advances in the understanding of radiation damage to protein crystals, particularly at cryogenic temperatures, have been made in recent years, but with this comes an expanding literature, and, to the new breed of protein crystallographer who is not really interested in X-ray physics or radiation chemistry but just wants to solve a biologically relevant structure, the technical nature and breadth of this literature can be daunting. The purpose of this paper is to serve as a rough guide to radiation damage issues, and to provide references to the more exacting and detailed work. No attempt has been made to report precise numbers (a factor of two is considered satisfactory), and, since there are aspects of radiation damage that are demonstrably unpredictable, the `worst case scenario' as well as the `average crystal' are discussed in terms of the practicalities of data collection. [source] National subjects: September 11 and Pearl HarborAMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 3 2004Geoffrey M. White ABSTRACT Despite a long tradition of writing on collective representations of the past, anthropology has contributed relatively little to the expanding literature on national memory. Yet ethnographic approaches have the facility to delineate practices that create historical narrative and give it emotive power while keeping in view longer-term political forces that underwrite dominant imaginaries. In this article I inquire into the discursive origins of emotional involvement in national history by juxtaposing two events of spectacular violence, September 11 and Pearl Harbor. Focusing on the representation of these events in public culture and at memorial sites, I argue that personal narratives play a central role in formations of national subjectivity, at times emotionalizing dominant memories and at other times opening possibilities for alternative visions. [source] INDIVIDUALIZATION AND PUBLIC SECTOR LEADERSHIPPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 1 2008JOHN LAWLER This is a conceptual paper whose aim is to relate the development of ,individualization' (Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 2002) to organizational leadership. It does this by examining individualization alongside the implicit assumption on which orthodox approaches to leadership are founded, namely that leadership is an individualized phenomenon. Despite the expanding literature on these topics, particularly that on leadership, these concepts have not been examined in relation to one another. This paper seeks to do this in two ways. Firstly, it highlights the increased attention given to leadership in the UK public sector, locating leadership as a continuation of public sector managerialism. Secondly, it discusses the development of the trend of individualization more broadly. The paper's main discussion focuses on leadership as an individual activity and of the consequences of that approach. In particular, it argues that individualized leadership presents a restrictive perspective which does not allow for exploration of a broader range of leadership approaches, particularly that of distributed leadership, which have especial relevance for public sector organizations. [source] Genetic knowledge and moral responsibility: ambiguity at the interface of genetic research and clinical practiceCLINICAL GENETICS, Issue 3 2006D. Pullman Despite a rapidly expanding literature on the issue of duty to warn at-risk relatives in the context of clinical genetic testing, little has been written on parallel issues with regard to the management of genetic research results. Some might view this lack as an indication that there is little to discuss in this regard. That is, standard practice is that data obtained through medical research should not be treated as though they are clinically relevant, and this standard should hold for genetic research as well. This paper challenges this conclusion and its underlying assumptions. We argue that the line between genetic research and clinical practice is often ambiguous. In some cases, research data gathered from a very small number of subjects could have immediate clinical implications. Hence, it is unethical for genetic researchers to absolve themselves of clinical responsibilities for research subjects and/or their families, on the grounds that the data were obtained for research purposes. Indeed, we argue that it could well be unethical to embark on some forms of genetic research unless advance arrangements have been made for genetic counseling and clinical follow-up. Furthermore, in some cases, it might be unethical to enroll subjects in studies if the subjects are unwilling to receive their individual results. [source] | |||||||||||||