Training issues.

This interesting set of articles, taken as a group, suggests that we have come a long way toward the integration of family therapy into the training of psychologists. The question is no longer "Should psychologists be trained in family therapy?" but "How can such training best be accomplished, in what settings, with what approaches, and how related to other elements of the graduate or postdoctoral program?" The articles by Ribordy (see record 1989-13401-001) and by Lebow (see record 1989-13365-001) address the central issues in training from different vantages (the family institute versus the academic program) but converge on many points. I will comment mainly on these two articles, but first I want to take note of some of the ideas raised by Berger and Jurkovic (see record 1989-12730-001). They describe and persuasively illustrate a contextual approach to family work that emphasizes the varying settings in which therapy may occur. Thus they are concerned with a "supersystem" that incorporates these extra therapeutic systems as well as clinicians and family. It will be no great surprise to the readers of this Journal that many of these same points emerge from Ribordy's and Lebow's more general discussions of training issues. They explore the separate territories of the academic graduate program and the family institute as settings for training and ably outline the advantages and disadvantages of each. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A comparative study of the personal histories of schizophrenic and nonpsychiatric patients.

Intensive and extensive case histories were obtained on schizophrenic patients and compared with parallel data from a nonpsychiatric "normal" population. The samples, equated on 9 variables, e.g., age, education, etc., were compared re the quality of: interpersonal relationships, home factors, school, occupational and social adjustment, religious orientation, interests, aspirations, and initiative. The results failed to confirm the hypotheses of "schizophrenogenic mothers," or the significant traumatic aspect of the early life of schizophrenics. Of all the factors, scholastic, occupational, and social accomplishment fell into the predicted direction. In general, however, the 2 samples were not differentiated on the basis of biographic data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Squeezing in Second-harmonic Generation

Abstract

The production of squeezed states in second-harmonic generation is discussed theoretically from the viewpoint of the structure of the nonlinear medium, phase-matching conditions, and the polarization state of the fields. The nonlinear coupling constants are derived in explicit form for all 102 magnetic symmetry groups for crystalline as well as electrically polarized isotropic media. The phase-matching conditions are discussed in detail. Phase mismatch is shown to accumulate along the optical path, and is calculated in full detail for various media and geometries. We refer to this as the mismatch accumulation effect. General formulae for normally ordered variances of the second-harmonic and fundamental fields are derived by perturbative procedure, and are specified for some special cases of practical interest.     

On stability analysis of systems featuring a multiplicative combination of nonlinear and linear time‐invariant feedback

We show that sufficient conditions for the finite‐gain stability of certain systems featuring a multiplicative combination of memoryless nonlinear feedback and linear time‐invariant feedback, as encountered in some systems' biology prototype applications, can be obtained by building on the Rantzer multipliers. These results are obtained by observing that for all finite energy signals x, the time‐truncated inner product 〈x, H(x)N(x)〉_T is positive for all T>0 if N belongs to a subclass of positive memoryless monotone nonlinearities and if, in addition, H is a Rantzer multiplier. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Confronting bureaucracies and assessing value in the co-production of social design research

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the issue of assessing the value of social design research. It locates the emergence of social design practice and research against a background in which public and social organisations are increasingly bureaucratised as a result of New Public Management and shifts to New Public Governance. Within universities, too, organisational processes and structures require research to demonstrate impact within an audit culture. Through the study presented in this paper, we claim that the bureaucracies found in contemporary academia are ill-equipped to adequately assess generative, impactful, and multi-sited research in which value is co-produced with diverse participants. This presents challenges when attempting to understand the value of social design research. Building on social research and studies of innovation policy, sustainable human-computer interaction and evaluation, we define social design research as inventive, contingent, and political. To address the issue of its evaluation, we propose two-stage social design research. In the first stage, research issues, questions, methods, data, and ‘proto-publics’ are assembled, which reveal the conflicting framings and ways that value is assessed. These are re-assembled in a second stage during which the research is stabilised. The findings have implications for research managers, academics and their partners, and university administrators.     

Intelligent Workspaces: Crossing the Thresholds

Lucy Bullivant looks at the shape of the new office to come. With the onset of increasingly sophisticated communications devices, how is the organisation of space in our immediate working environments going to change? Will the lines between furniture and dynamic electronic devices simply blur? Will the structure of commercial office buildings themselves be required to become increasingly reflexive to meet environmental demands in the face of dwindling energy reserves? Or is the mobile nature of electronic communications actually in danger of rendering the permanent office as we know it extinct? Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lead in the tissues of terrestrial raptors in southern Ontario, Canada, 1995-2001

Terrestrial raptors which feed on upland hunted game species may increase their risk to lead exposure and lead poisoning by ingesting lead shot found in the tissues of prey. Lead exposure in 225 individuals of nineteen species of terrestrial raptors, collected as carcasses in southern Ontario from 1995-2001, was examined through the analysis of bone, liver and kidney tissues. In this study, one red-tailed hawk contained liver lead concentrations and exhibited signs consistent with lead poisoning. Liver and kidney concentrations of one turkey vulture were also significantly higher than that associated with subclinical effects. This same bird, plus another turkey vulture and a northern harrier, had elevated bone lead concentrations (>10 microg/g dw) associated with possible toxicity. Turkey vultures had the highest mean concentrations of lead in bone and kidney compared to other raptor species. While it appeared only a single bird suffered acute lead poisoning, lead levels exceeded threshold concentrations associated with subclinical or acute toxicity in 4 of 225, almost 2%, of terrestrial raptors assessed. Given the association between lead exposure in raptors and hunting of game species reported in other studies, the continued use of lead shot for upland hunting in Ontario likely remains as one of the primary sources of lead and a continued risk to these birds of prey.     

Colonial Irrigation: Myths of Emptiness

This paper examines the role of public art in urban redevelopment, focusing on the reconstruction of Coventry (UK) in the post-war years. Overseen by the city's Chief Architect, Donald Gibson, this redevelopment has often been described as resulting in a placeless and artless urban landscape indistinguishable from other redeveloped city centres in post-war Britain. To the contrary, here it is suggested that public art was an important feature of Coventry's new urban landscape, with the attempt to create a new civic identity manifest in a series of highly symbolic and distinctive public artworks. Analysing both the official symbolism of these artworks and their reception in the public sphere, it is concluded that, although just one aspect of the urban landscape, the production and consumption of public art encapsulated the tensions that existed between different visions of the city.     

Local food production: some implications for planning

Following a catalogue of problems in British farming, attempts are being made to re-localize agriculture for reasons of rural regeneration and sustainable development. It is a move that is both consumer driven and encouraged by government policies and grant schemes. This article examines what the implications for the land use planning system might be from this small revolution in farming and retailing. Research in Somerset using planning history records reveals that in some cases planning permission has proved an obstacle to the establishment and expansion of local food businesses. This is especially so for applications for farm shops and agricultural workers' dwellings. Survey data shows that a significant proportion of local food producers selling through box schemes, farmers' markets and farm gate sales are new entrants to farming. New entrants present particular difficulties for planners and planning committees, because they challenge the conventional conception of what farmers and farm businesses are like, and invoke concerns about abuse of the agricultural dwelling concessions provided by the system. A tension is identified between the interpretation of ‘sustainable development’ in planning circles and among local food proponents. The neglect of ‘food miles’ as a consideration in retail planning policy is highlighted as an example of this clash of perspectives.     

Night and day at the beach: Relating social life to location and infrastructure in a Brazilian city

Brazilian city beaches are public spaces favoring citizens well-being. Urban studies relate built form and infrastructure with urban vitality and coastal studies underline uses as important for beach management, yet few researches relate form and infrastructure with beach uses. Understanding daily life as essential for public spaces and that spatial form relates with uses, this paper assesses time-based relationships between built and natural physical attributes and social life on the beaches of João Pessoa, a coastal city in North-east Brazil. Physical attributes are investigated at city scale - beach type, street network centrality and topography - and seafront scale - land uses, public/private interfaces, public infrastructure, beach sections and water quality. Beach social life was surveyed online, enquiring peoples' beach choice, visiting time and place, activities and evaluation. Infrastructure and street network follow topography and help configure shore and promenade for different landscapes. More central beaches have diverse land uses, well-equipped promenades and lighting and were popular night and day, while less central beaches had less infrastructure and were visited only by day. Findings highlight how physical attributes facilitate uses and, together with peoples’ evaluation, can inform urban beach design and planning.