Progress in visitor attraction research: Towards more effective management

High-field-strength elements in carbonatitic rocks: Geochemistry, crystal chemistry and significance for constraining the sources of carbonatites

In this study Clive Gamble presents and questions two of the most famous descriptions of change in prehistory. The first is the 'human revolution', when evidence for art, music, religion and language first appears. The second is the economic and social revolution of the Neolithic period. Gamble identifies the historical agendas behind 'origins research' and presents a bold alternative to these established frameworks, relating the study of change to the material basis of human identity. He examines, through artefact proxies, how changing identities can be understood using embodied material metaphors and in two major case-studies charts the prehistory of innovations, asking, did agriculture really change the social world? This is an important and challenging book that will be essential reading for every student and scholar of prehistory.

https://www.paleoanthro.org/static/journal/content/PA20080209.pdf

Origins and Revolutions: Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory

The National League for Nursing endorses mentoring throughout nursing faculty's careers as the method to recruit nurses into academia and improve retention of nursing faculty within the academy. A nationwide sample of 959 full-time nursing faculty completed a descriptive survey comprising a researcher-created demographic questionnaire plus Dreher's mentoring scale, Gmelch's faculty stress index, Spreitzer's psychological empowerment scale, and the National Survey for Postsecondary Faculty's job satisfaction scale. Results showed that 40% of the sample had a current work mentor. Variables showed significant relationships to job satisfaction (p < 0.01): mentoring quality (0.229), job stress (-0.568), and psychological empowerment (0.482). Multiple regression results indicated job satisfaction was significantly influenced (p < 0.01) by the presence of a mentoring relationship, salary, tenure status, psychological empowerment, and job stress. The regression model explained 47% of the variance in job satisfaction for the sample.

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Job stress, mentoring, psychological empowerment, and job satisfaction among nursing faculty.

SUMMARY. Aim – To review the literature on the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy [ECT], with a particular focus on depression, its primary target group. Methods – PsycINFO, Medline, previous reviews and meta-analyses were searched in an attempt to identify all studies comparing ECT with simulated-ECT [SECT]. Results – These placebo controlled studies show minimal support for effectiveness with either depression or ‘schizophrenia’ during the course of treatment (i.e. only for some patients, on some measures, sometimes perceived only by psychiatrists but not by other raters), and no evidence, for either diagnostic group, of any benefits beyond the treatment period. There are no placebo-controlled studies evaluating the hypothesis that ECT prevents suicide, and no robust evidence from other kinds of studies to support the hypothesis. Conclusions – Given the strong evidence (summarised here) of persistent and, for some, permanent brain dysfunction, primarily evidenced in the form of retrograde and anterograde amnesia, and the evidence of a slight but significant increased risk of death, the cost-benefit analysis for ECT is so poor that its use cannot be scientifically justified. Declaration of Interest: Neither author has any financial conflicts of interest in relation to this paper.

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'The effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy: A literature review'

Various textbooks have been written on the epidemiology of plant diseases. Most of them present theory of epidemiology, thus giving a description of epidemiological principles. Some of these are of a general nature, whereas others concentrate on specialized subjects, but there are no books on experimental techniques in epidemiology. This omission has been recognized and rectified by Kranz and Rotem. As mentioned in their preface they intended, by editing and publishing the book, 'to help in the development of a methodology able to provide a choice of adequate methods widely acceptable amongst epidemiologists for varying applications and objectives'. For this purpose, they invited 27 distinguished plant pathologists, a number of them from Kranz's 'stable', to participate, and to provide information from their own rich experience. There are 20 chapters spread over four sections. Section I (General techniques), deals with techniques and approaches used in experiments in the field and under controlled conditions. Advantages and disadvantages of such experiments and the relations between them are explained. In Section II (.Measurements and their analysis) disease assessment, crop development and estimation of spore production, dispersal, survival and infectiousness are treated. The analysis of spatial patterns of soil-borne pathogens {s discussed in a separate chapter, for soil-borne diseases have to be approached differently. This section is concluded with two chapters on the monitoring and analysis of environmental factors. Section III (Special topics) is a collection of items, such as the analysis of the effects of control measures, fungicide resistance, virulence in pathogen populations, components in yield loss, development of forecasters, aphid-borne epidemiology, quantitative nematology, geophytopathology and long-distance dispersal. As the editors explain, these are 'not necessarily connected with each other, but all dealing with definite objectives in epidemiological experimentation'. The reasoning for the addition of these topics to the contents is clear. Most are worth treatment, and each has specialized techniques and approaches. The reasoning for collecting them all together under 'Special topics' is a little unsatisfactory. A rather simple rearrangement and naming of the subjects could separate them into a couple of better defined chapters, which would have made the contents more accessible to the eager user. Section IV (The synopsis of experimental restilts) gives the reader a look into the methods in comparative epidemiology, and into the development and use of simulation models for root and foliar diseases. The limitations, necessarily imposed upon the authors, to prevent the publication of an unwieldy and ever more expensive handbook lead to the question whether the editors 'bit more than they could chew'. Especially the chapters on modeling and simulation suffer under these limitations. Most authors have achieved a fine work, though readers, familiar with the authors' publications, can 'taste' a bit of subject.ivity in the choice and approach of techniques and methods by some of them. The book might be a useful addition to the library of all those involved in experimental work in epidemiology, but particularly those called 'novices in epidemiology' in the preface. The editors may have had undergraduates and young postgraduates in mind, but this work might be useful for other epidemiologists too. It is a pity that the high price will hinder young scientists from purchasing the book, particularly those in developing countries.

H.D. Frinking

Papers

Book review: Experimental techniques in plant disease epidemiology, J. Kranz & J. Rotem (eds.). Springer-Verlag Berlin, 1989, 299 pp.