Showing papers by "University of Hartford published in 2001"

How do "Resource Bundles" Develop and Change in New Ventures? A Dynamic Model and Longitudinal Exploration

Abstract: According to recent studies applying Resource-Based Theory [RBT] to entrepreneurial firms (e.g. Chandler & Hanks, 1994; Brush & Greene, 1996), in the early stages of new venture development it is t...

Attribute Performance and Customer Satisfaction Over Time: Evidence from Two Field Studies

Abstract: Firms measure the importance of an attribute's performance in determining overall satisfaction to allocate resources to optimize profitability. However, most firms assume that an attribute's importance in determining overall satisfaction is temporally invariant. We report results from two studies showing that the importance of an attribute in determining overall satisfaction varies over time. Interestingly, we find that the relationship between overall satisfaction and behavioral intentions also changes over time. These results have important implications for managing customer satisfaction programs among firms.

Peer-based professional development viewed through the lens of transformative learning.

Abstract: The goal of professional development is improved practice through change-changes in ways of doing or thinking about one's work. Traditional approaches, including group instruction and individualized coaching, emphasize the unidirectional flow of information from expert to novice. This article foregrounds a nontraditional peer-based modality, the peer learning partnership, which promotes joint reflection and reciprocal learning between professionals. A qualitative case study of a peer-based community college faculty development initiative reveals participants' perceptions of the role peer partnering played in their learning. Findings are discussed relative to selected theories, specifically transformative learning. Recommendations are offered on using peer-based approaches for professional development and transformation.

A review of articular cartilage pathology and the use of glucosamine sulfate.

Abstract: Objective To refresh the athletic trainer's knowledge of articular cartilage biomechanics, physiology, and structure and explore the role of glucosamine sulfate in treating articular cartilage pathologic conditions, including supplementation methods and clinical outcomes. Data sources We searched MEDLINE from 1989 through 2000 and SPORT Discus from 1975 through 2000 using the following key words: glucosamine sulfate, articular cartilage, osteoarthritis, and proteoglycans. Data synthesis Articular cartilage functions as a wear-resistant, smooth, nearly frictionless, load-bearing surface. Glucosamine sulfate can be thought of as a building block that helps restore the proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix and thus balance articular cartilage catabolism and anabolism. Beneficial clinical effects of glucosamine sulfate in the osteoarthritic population have been documented. However, the use of glucosamine sulfate for athletic articular cartilage injuries is unproved. Conclusions/recommendations Clinical studies indicate that glucosamine sulfate has been shown to be a safe and relatively effective treatment for osteoarthritis. However, no evidence to date supports or refutes a carryover effect to the athletic population and the injuries that occur in sport.

Peritonitis and Pericarditis Associated with Gastric Perforation by a Retained Fishing Hook in a Blue Shark

Abstract: A blue shark Prionace glauca caught in 1998 by a recreational fisherman off Long Island, New York, had a peritoneal mass involving the gastric wall and extending to the transverse pericardium. The surfaces of this mass and the adjacent gastric serosa were finely granular and dull, as were the parietal and visceral pericardia. The pericardial fluid was turbid, granular, and reddish. Sectioning the fibrous mass revealed that it had numerous foci of liquefaction necrosis and that it contained a corroded fishing hook perforating the gastric wall. Bacterial cultures from the coelomic and pericardial fluids yielded Pseudomonas putrefaciens and Corynebacterium sp. Samples from the gastric mass, transverse pericardium, and heart were examined microscopically. Histopathological findings included transmural fibrosing and necrotizing gastritis, proliferative peritonitis, and pericarditis. Intralesional bacteria and algae were found within the gastric wall and adherent to the peritoneum, pericardium, and end...

Electronic and structural variation among copper(II) complexes with substituted phenanthrolines.

Abstract: A series of copper(II) complexes with substituted phenanthroline ligands has been synthesized and characterized electronically and structurally. The compounds that have been prepared include the mo...

Cognitive activity shifts the attractors of bimanual rhythmic coordination.

Abstract: The attractors of bimanual rhythmic coordination are given as the solutions of a motion equation in relative phase. How are those attractors affected by cognitive activity? In 3 experiments, participants (N = 10 in Experiments 1 and 2; N = 5 in Experiment 3) were required to produce in-phase or antiphase coordination while they either did or did not perform an information-reduction task. The average absolute deviation from in-phase (0°) and antiphase (180°) satisfying a particular parameterization of the motion equation was amplified by cognitive activity. That amplification of absolute phase shift was the same for both in-phase and antiphase coordination. Furthermore, the amplification (in degrees) increased linearly with the magnitude of cognitive activity (in bits). Cognitive activity had limited influence on the variability of relative phase and did not affect its average signed deviation. Collectively, the results suggest that cognitive activity produces a shift in the attractors of bimanual...

Public Infrastructure Investment, Inter-State Spatial Spillovers and Manufacturing Costs

Abstract: The size and significance of public infrastructure investment impacts on costs and productivity of private enterprise, and thus on economic health and growth, has proven nebulous to empirically substantiate. Various studies using alternative theoretical and econometric methodologies, and for different time periods, sectors, and countries, have tentatively established that such a productive impact exists and is statistically significant. It also seems smaller and more variable over time, space, and sector than was implied by initial studies on the "public capital hypothesis". One piece of the puzzle that has received little attention, however, is the role of spatial spillovers in driving infrastructure investment benefits. Such spillovers are not only conceptually important, but could also shed light on discrepancies between studies for different data, and particularly aggregation levels. In this study we apply a cost-based model to state-level U.S. manufacturing data, for capital, production and non-production labor, and materials inputs, and for the 1982-96 time period, in an attempt to untangle the private cost-saving contributions of inter-and intra-state public infrastructure investment. We carry out two kinds of spatial adaptations-a spatial autocorrelation adjustment and a spatial spillover theoretical modification-to the estimating system consisting of a Generalized Leontief cost function and input demand equations, to address this issue. We find that intra-state public infrastructure benefits appear larger in magnitude when inter-state spillovers are directly recognized, as well as being invariably statistically significant. Inter-state spillovers are also directly beneficial to manufacturing firms, although their contribution appears smaller in size when temporal serial correlation is recognized in addition to spatial correlation.

The effect of reticence on college students’ use of electronic mail to communicate with faculty

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether reticent and non‐reticent college students differed in their use of e‐mail, motives for employing e‐mail, and preferred channel of communication with faculty. Results indicated that, although reticent and non‐reticent students did not differ in their frequency of using e‐mail to communicate with faculty, reticent students reported greater comfort and ease in using e‐mail as opposed to oral communication channels than non‐reticents. In addition, compared to non‐reticents, reticent students expressed a greater preference for using e‐mail over speaking to faculty at their offices.

Mystery of the Missing Women Engineers: A Solution

Abstract: Despite intensive recruiting efforts by engineering schools and professional societies, the number of women employed as engineers in the United States has never reached 10%. This failure is generally attributed to the fact that girls tend to shy away from math and science in high school. Recruiting efforts are therefore directed toward encouraging girls to study math and science, but these efforts are focused on the wrong problem. Some reasons for the scarcity of female engineers are: the general public's lack of understanding of what engineers do; a misguided emphasis on math and science, rather than problem solving, that makes girls think that engineering is not for them; and the poor image of the engineering profession. Efforts to recruit bright young people, male and female, into the engineering profession will be fruitful when they are focused on engineering, rather than its tools. This can be done by educating the public about what engineering really is and by making schoolchildren aware that being an engineer goes way beyond ''doing math and science.''

Theories of Personality: Contemporary Approaches to the Science of Personality

Abstract: SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL FOUNDATION TO THE STUDY OF PERSONALITY. What is Personality? Basic Constructs and Challenges of Contemporary Personality Theory. History of Personality from the Ancients to the Mid--Twentieth Century. SECTION TWO: MODERN PERSONALITY THEORY. Freud and His Followers: The Birth, Evolution, and Controversy of Twentieth--Century Psychoanalytic Psychology. SECTION THREE: PERSONALITY AS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCE. Component Models of Personality. SECTION FOUR: CONTEMPORARY MODELS OF PERSONALITY. Psychobiological Models of Personality. Contemporary Psychodynamic Models of Personality. Behavioral Models of Personality. Cognitive and Cognitive Behavioral Models of Personality. Interpersonal and Factorial Models of Personality. Relational Models of Personality. Integrative Models of Personality. SECTION FIVE: SPECIAL TOPICS. Applications, Research, and Future Directions. References. Author Index. Subject Index.

Earnings management and auditor conservatism: effects of SEC enforcement actions

Abstract: Outlines previous research into the factors influencing managers’ choice of accounting procedures and auditors’ acceptance of them, including regulatory action by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Studies data from 1980‐1996 SEC enforcement actions against big five accounting firms or their staff to investigate the levels of discretionary accruals made by the relevant clients during the period of investigation. Explains how the discretionary accruals are estimated over various time frames and shows that clients have more income decreasing accruals as the investigation takes place. Considers possible reasons for this and concludes that it is due to the auditors becoming more conservative.

Body Esteem: An Exception to Self‐Enhancing Illusions?1

Abstract: Participants were 192 university students (96 males, 96 females) who completed the Body Esteem scale (Franzoi & Shields, 1984) under instructions to rate their feelings about their own bodies, rate their feelings about a specific or “average” student's body, and rate the importance they and others attached to these feelings. One of the findings is that when individuals perceived themselves as less positive on a particular desirable physical trait, they also rated the trait as less important to possess in the first place. The only exception to this was women's weight concern. It was also found that men generally rated themselves higher on body-esteem subscales than they rated other men, while women did not exhibit such self-serving evaluations of their bodies. One implication from these results is that the same self-enhancement strategies successfully employed by individuals in other areas of self-evaluations were not successful in enhancing one's body esteem, especially women's weight concern.

Cross-Cultural Rehabilitation: An International Perspective

Abstract: (2001). Cross-Cultural Rehabilitation: An International Perspective. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice: Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 53-54.

Doctoral women as passionate scholars: an exploratory inquiry of passionate dissertation scholarship.

Abstract: Advancement in knowledge development comes from novel perspectives and new visions, not from maintaining the status quo. Doctoral programs are mandated to develop nurse scholar-researchers who contribute to the discipline's body of knowledge. Although it stands to reason that doctoral students who are passionate about their dissertation research are more likely to make innovative contributions, there is little written about passionate scholarship in the nursing literature. This article describes an exploratory inquiry involving two focus groups of self-described passionate dissertation scholars. Underlining the passion, participants called passionate scholarship exciting and risky, personally meaningful and socially relevant life's work.

Oral contraceptive use is associated with increased cardiovascular reactivity in nonsmokers

Abstract: Women who smoke and take oral contraceptives (OCs) have significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but the exact mechanisms for the increased risk are not known. Cardiovascular reactivity to psychological stress may be one mechanism for the enhanced risk, but the small number of studies examining whether OC users who smoke have greater reactivity have produced mixed results. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of chronic cigarette smoking, acute nicotine administration, and OC use on cardiovascular and lipid reactivity. Sixty healthy women, half of whom had been using OCs for at least the previous 6 months, participated in the study. Approximately two thirds were smokers and were randomized to be tested after either a 12-hr nicotine deprivation or administration of nicotine gum. One third were nonsmokers. Heart rate, blood pressure, and lipid measures were taken at rest, during a videotaped speech task, and during recovery from the task. Results indicated that, among OC nonusers, there was no effect of smoking status or nicotine administration on cardiovascular reactivity. However, among OC users, nonsmokers had significantly greater heart rate and diastolic blood pressure reactivity to stress. These data show that acute nicotine administration, in the form of nicotine gum, has no effect on cardiovascular or lipid stress reactivity in women. However, OC use among nonsmoking women is associated with greater cardiovascular reactivity to stress.

Teaching introductory programming for engineers in an interactive classroom

Abstract: This paper reports the authors' experiences in teaching introductory programming for engineers in an interactive classroom.. The authors describe how the course has evolved from the traditional course, the structure of the classroom, the choice of software, and the elements involving interactive, active, and collaborative learning. They discuss their strategy for assessment. They describe the assessment results including a retrospective assessment of the previous course. They suggest how the course relates to the nontraditional student. They conclude with some suggestions for future modifications.

The Monsters We Create: Woman on the Edge of Time and Frankenstein

Abstract: Discussions of Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) have tended to focus on the striking characteristics of the utopian future she portrays—appropriately enough, for Piercy has commented, “What I was doing was taking all my favorite ideas out of the various movements for social change that were around and attempting to give them as concrete a form as possible so it would seem real” (Gifford 15). The novel has also evoked frequent extended comparisons with other feminist utopian fiction of the 1970s. Critics have gained historical perspective on the novel by looking to the tradition of utopian writing, in particular Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland (1915).

A new approach to mechatronics system design using hardware in the loop simulation

Abstract: Presents an approach to a mechatronics system design course, which is primarily based on a combination of mechanical, electrical and software elements along with the design and construction of an intelligent mechatronics technology demonstrator. Topics covered in this course are principles of transducers and sensors and how to interface them with an external process in a computer environment. Methods of system modeling, real time interfacing and rapid prototyping are addressed. Computer interfacing work includes signal conversion, interface components, and real time application of computer systems to problems in manufacturing. The goals of the paper are to describe (1) the University of Hartford mechatronic curriculum, (2) the language-neutral teaching approach for mechatronics, and (3) a low cost technology demonstrator, developed and refined by the authors, which is suitable for studying the key elements of mechatronics including system dynamics, sensors, actuators, and computer interfacing.

A Capstone Design Experience in Architectural Engineering Technology

Abstract: At the University of Hartford, we have developed a "Capstone Design Experience" in an effort to improve our Architectural Engineering Technology curriculum. By increasing the awareness of the interrelationships between different areas of study, we are attempting to strike a new balance. We have integrated the following into a single year-long design project: research, programming, planning, history and theory, design, model making, drawing, CAD (computer aided design), structures, environmental systems, presentations and writing. Our capstone program provides opportunities for exploration, questioning, testing, and criticism. It requires the students to use experience and knowledge gained in other courses and forces them to play an active role in their own learning. It demands personal accountability for decisions, and commitment to ideas and proposals that are scrutinized publicly. We believe that we have developed a model that other disciplines on campus could well profit from observing.

Student projects that celebrate engineering: a path to diversity in the profession

Abstract: According to a 1998 Harris Poll, most Americans don't know what engineers do. When this situation is coupled with the recruiting efforts of engineering schools and professional societies that focus on math and science, the reason for the dearth of women engineers becomes clear. Engineering students can be a good source of fresh ideas on how to make the general public as enthusiastic about engineering as they are. Class projects can be focused in this direction, especially in freshman classes where the students are excited about engineering, but are really just learning what engineering is all about. These projects, which include writing a TV show scenario in which engineers are heroes, will not have an immediate or direct effect on the number of women in engineering. However, the long-range benefit will be that young people entering the profession will be more skilled in celebrating their profession. The eventual result will be to attract more women to the profession.

HIV: Opportunities for Faculty Engagement

Abstract: Boyer and others have called for academe to become more actively engaged in service and outreach activities to address pressing issues that demand the attention of our culture. The HIV epidemic has affected our culture in critical ways; it has had both a local and a global impact that demands the attention of academe. Faculty, staff, and students need to bring to bear human and intellectual assets to assist communities in dealing with the full impact of the epidemic in a meaningful and personal way.More than thirteen years ago a faculty group from diverse disciplines at the University of Hartford, including biology, health sciences, philosophy, art history, and communication, developed a course called “Epidemics and AIDS.” This course engages faculty and students in this epidemic in ways that have resulted in substantial service to the community, improved teaching and learning, and new and important scholarship.

Clinical Interpretation of “Occupational Therapy Goal Achievement for Persons With Postacute Cerebrovascular Accident in an On-Campus Student Clinic”

Abstract: Occupational therapy practitioners, educators, and researchers can gain important information from Lavelle and Tomlin's study for initiating programs that meet the needs of a population of persons who typically cannot access occupational therapy services. The study provides evidence of the effectiveness of occupational therapy for persons with postacute CVA for clinicians seeking alternative funding for community-based practice. The study also suggests that the free university clinic in which Lavelle and Tomlin's research took place was providing a valuable service to persons living near the university, creating important links between the university and the community in which it resides. Lastly, the study raises intriguing questions that provide research opportunities for occupational therapy practitioners, educators, and students that can enhance our understanding of the impact of occupational therapy services on persons long after a CVA.

Multiculturalism and the Academic Study of Religion in the Schools

Abstract: D. Keith Naylor is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Occidental College, Los Angeles. He is coeditor of this issue of Spotlight on Teaching. His teaching and research interests in the area of religion in America include African American religious history, and religion and environmental issues. He is a member of the AAR’s Religion in the Schools Task Force, and serves on the Advisory Council of the California 3Rs Project (Rights, Responsibilities, Respect).