Double talk: changing and conflicting constructions of indigenous mental health

Airway geometry measurements can provide information regarding pulmonary physiology and pathophysiology. There has been considerable interest in measuring intrathoracic airways in two-dimensional (2-D) slices from volumetric X-ray computed tomography (CT). Such measurements can be used to evaluate and track the progression of diseases affecting the airways. A popular airway measurement method uses the "half-max" criteria, in which the gray level at the airway wall is estimated to be halfway between the minimum and maximum gray levels along a ray crossing the edge. However, because the scanning process introduces blurring, the half-max approach may not be applicable across all airway sizes. We propose a new measurement method based on a model of the scanning process. In our approach, we examine the gray-level profile of a ray crossing the airway wall and use a maximum-likelihood method to estimate the airway inner and outer radius. Using CT scans of a physical phantom, we present results showing that the new approach is more accurate than the half-max method at estimating wall location for thin-walled airways.     

Third world medicine in first world cities: capital accumulation, uneven development and public health

This paper addresses issues of public health and access to care for the urban poor in the context of current U.S. urban, economic and industrial policy. The pathologies that threaten "inner city" neighborhoods are the result of decades of political neglect, economic exploitation and resource withdrawal, which themselves stem directly from public and corporate sector strategies to facilitate capital accumulation and consolidation. The resulting conditions of uneven development between wealthy and impoverished local sectors mirror similar relationships between First and Third World countries. These same patterns are reflected and reproduced in the health care "industry" itself, where growing corporate dominance has developed alongside a concomitant reduction in support for public sector and community-based care. These trends create and exacerbate conditions that place poor and minority populations at risk. Community development and political empowerment, as well as the overall corporate hegemony that increasingly characterizes the political economy of the U.S.A., are essential public health considerations that must be included in any meaningful health policy or health care reform proposals.     

Presidential address. Changing world of health care competition and the spinal neurosurgeon

A case of early autograft endocarditis occurring three weeks after a Ross operation is described. The origin of the infection appeared to be the proximal suture line of the autograft and the pathology included subvalvular destruction of the autograft, a pseudoaneurysm between the autograft and the left atrium, and a fistula to and a vegetation in the roof of the left atrium. The valve cusps were unaffected and there was only slight autograft insufficiency (grade I-II). The autograft was removed and successfully replaced with a homograft.     

Transformations in the world of work and of health care. Preliminary reflexions]

In this work, I make some preliminary reflections about the transformations in the world of work and health. For this purpose, I start this study discussing essential dimensions of the work like the central category to analyse the society based on the Marxist conception. Following, I investigate transformations in the world of work and the specificity of health to the related reflection about care and the organization of health workers.     

Thoughts on the constructions of maternal representations.

Discusses the deconstructive shift in the conception of mothers and mothering from a unitary category of women in a biological relationship with their offspring to a more fluid constellation of active maternal relations. The author suggests a new parenting subject that transcends gender, constructed through the work of intersubjective dyads. Two questions are addressed: (1) How might the representation of such maternal relationships and their internalization be envisioned? (2) How might a changing conception of internalized maternal representations affect psychoanalytic practice? With reference to J. Bowlby's (1980) concept of internal working models of attachment, and to more recent infant research, the concept of maternal functions (specifically, functions of security, regulation, and recognition) is introduced as central to the mothering relation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Urban adolescents' constructions of supports and barriers to educational and career attainment.

This study presents the educational and career goals and perceptions of supports and barriers related to these goals as described in semistructured interviews of 16 students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds attending 9th grade at an urban public high school in a large Northeastern city. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR) methodology (C. E. Hill et al., 2005), the authors identified categories and subcategories to students' perceptions of barriers and supports. The findings highlight students' understanding of how their proximal contexts serve potentially as both supports and barriers. Implications for educational and career interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Constructing productions and producing constructions: A case for nuance.

Extends the discussion of the production of psychological knowledge that was initiated in articles by K. J. Gergen (see record 1986-00014-001), S. Scarr (see record 1986-10725-001), and T. E. Schact (see record 1986-11891-001) by reflecting on factors that render the discussion of psychological knowledge difficult and by calling attention to an omission in the constructionist position outlined by Scarr and by Gergen. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Holy epistemology! Construing the constructions of the constructivists.

Comments on the articles on constructivism by N. M. Agnew and J. L. Brown (see PA, Vol 76:35329 and 35330) and expands on 3 issues raised. These relate to definitions and boundaries of modern constructivism and constructivist meta theory. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Application of fracture mechanics concepts to the failure of steel constructions

The failure behaviour of wide plates with different defect geometry was investigated experimentally and quantitatively described by FE-calculations based on material properties, which were determined with small-scale specimens. It is shown, that in the temperature range where brittle, elastic-plastic and fully plastic failure of the wide plates occurs, the fracture behaviour can be predicted sufficiently precisely based on fracture mechanics parameters in terms of the J-Integral. These predictions require an exact evaluation of the material properties, such as stress-strain-curve and critical fracture mechanics values and, on the other side, of the loading conditions calculated in terms of J_l.     

Computational fracture mechanics estimation of the strength of deep-water welded constructions

The principles of estimating the strength of deep-water engineering constructions using the brittle fracture prevention criterion are presented. They are based on the experimental results and theoretical developments accumulated in our works.