Discourse on medicine: meditative and calculative approaches to ethics from an international perspective

Heidegger’s two modes of thinking, calculative and meditative, were used as the thematic basis for this qualitative study of physicians from seven countries (Canada, China, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, & Thailand). Focus groups were conducted in each country with 69 physicians who cared for the elderly. Results suggest that physicians perceived ethical issues primarily through the lens of calculative thinking (76%) with emphasis on economic concerns. Meditative responses represented 24% of the statements and were mostly generated by Canadian physicians whose patients typically were not faced with economic barriers to treatment due to Canada’s universal health care system.     

Ethical Perceptions of Field Sales Personnel: An Empirical Assessment

Much research attention has been directed over the past twenty-five years to ethical issues in marketing. One area of marketing that is gaining research interest is the selling arena. Despite the extant literature on selling ethics, few studies have focused on identifying situations that pose ethical problems for field sales personnel. This paper reports results of an investigation that examined salespeople's perceptions concerning what selling situations or practices are ethical questions, what situations are presently addressed by company policies, and what situations should be addressed by company policies. Findings reveal that salespersons seemingly are desirous of receiving more management guidance than they currently are receiving regarding their ethical concerns. Implications for managers and researchers are provided.     

Perceptions of Motivational Components: Salesmen and Saleswomen Revisited

Although empirical work has examined differences between salesmen and saleswomen on various aspects, no comprehensive study has examined gender-based distinctions in salespeople's work motivation. The paucity of research attention on this topic is surprising given the plethora of literature in organizational behavior. This paper reports the results of an investigation that explored male and female salespeople's perceptions of expectancies, instrumentalities, and valence for rewards. Findings reveal minimal contrast between the two groups. Implications for practitioners and researchers are provided.     

Changes in microstructure near the R-phase transformation in Ti50Ni48Fe2 studied by in-situ electron microscopy

Microstructural changes associated with the martensitic transformation from cubic (parent phase) to trigonal (R phase) which occurs with decreasing temperature in Ti₅₀Ni₄₈Fe₂ have been intensively studied by in-situ electron microscopy. Although the parent phase shows a characteristic microstructure with small domains, which are due to lattice modulation as a precursor to the transformation, their temperature dependence is contrasted with that of domains which appear below the transformation temperature in the R phase. The observations convince us that there is an essential difference between the natures of the domains observed in each state, and also reveal the formation of peculiar antiphase-like boundaries within a needle-like variant of the R phase. We also estimate the approximate size of the R phase just after nucleation and compare this with a theoretical consideration on the size of nuclei in martensites.     

Effect of fine motor skills training on arithmetical ability in children

Previous researches have shown that there was a strong relationship between fine motor skills and arithmetical abilities in children. However, the majority of previous studies examined only the correlations between fine motor skills and arithmetical abilities, but did not attempt to determine their causal relationship. Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the effect of motor skills training on arithmetical abilities among 80 first graders. One of the results showed that the intervention group, which received training in fine motor skills for 10 min, showed greater improvements in performance on an arithmetic task and a pegboard than did the active control group, which read their favourite book for 10 min. These findings have suggested that training in this study is an appropriate program for improving fine motor skills and further fine motor skills had a significant influence on arithmetical abilities in children, with a medium effect size. The present study has, for the first time, provided evidence that there will be a causal relationship between these factors.     

Liminality in Language Use: Some Thoughts on Interactional Analysis from a Dialogical Perspective

This essay traces my engagement with Michèle Grossen’s ideas of a dialogical perspective on interaction analysis (Grossen Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 1–22, 2009) and highlights a process account of self in interaction. Firstly I draw on Turner’s concept of liminality with respect to the transformative, temporal significance in interaction. Secondly I explored further the conversation analytic concepts such as formulation and reformulation as a viable analytical tool for a dialogical perspective. Lastly, I addressed the issue of interaction in institutional settings, in particular with interactional asymmetries of interaction, whilst relativising the I-position dialogical perspective. I explore insights from social anthropology as well as revisiting conversation analysis and discursive psychology, concluding that a promising direction would be sought through a cross-fertilisation between dialogism and other sibling perspectives concerning language use, communication, social action and discourse- and narrative-based analyses.     

Control of lateral weight-transfer initiation during sitting

Whereas many researchers have examined the transition from quiet posture to dynamic state, study of the initiation of lateral weight-transfer during sitting has only begun recently. This action is included in many tasks performed in our daily living, i.e., reaching, dressing, looking backwards, lying down, and shuffling the buttocks. The present study was designed to describe lateral weight-transfer movements of healthy adults, kinematically and kinetically, and to clarify the strategies and speed dependency of lateral weight-transfer initiation during sitting. Seven healthy Japanese male students without orthopaedic or neurological disorders participated. Their lateral weight-transfer movements were measured during sitting, using two force platforms and a 3-dimensional analysis system. Analysis showed that there appear to be two strategies for the initiation of the task: one is the lateral bending of trunk toward the weight-transfer side, and the other is a coordinated reciprocal leg action of both legs. A combination of these strategies is used in a trade-off fashion during natural motions. These results are clinically important for the assessment and therapy of patients with sitting problems.     

A case of extreme simplicity of the core matrix in three-mode principal components analysis

In three-mode Principal Components Analysis, theP ×Q ×R core matrixG can be transformed to simple structure before it is interpreted. It is well-known that, whenP=QR,G can be transformed to the identity matrix, which implies that all elements become equal to values specified a priori. In the present paper it is shown that, whenP=QR − 1,G can be transformed to have nearly all elements equal to values spectified a priori. A cllsed-form solution for this transformation is offered. Theoretical and practical implications of this simple structure transformation ofG are discussed. Constructive comments from anonymous reviewers are gratefully acknowledged.