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The introduction of conscience clauses after the 1973 US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade allowed physicians and nurses to opt out of medical procedures, particularly abortions, to which they were morally opposed. In recent years pharmacists have requested the same consideration with regard to dispensing some medicines. This paper examines the pharmacists' role and their professional and moral obligations to patients in the light of recent refusals by pharmacists to dispense oral contraceptives. A review of John Rawls's concepts of the “original position” and the “veil of ignorance”, along with consideration of the concept of compartmentalisation, are used to assess pharmacists' requests and the moral and legal rights of patients to have their prescriptive needs met.

In the United States, the number of HIV/AIDS cases among women of color is increasing, with African American women now comprising 60% of all female AIDS cases. Scholars have attributed this imbalance to social factors. The aim of this study was to explore the impact that relationship power has on heterosexual women's ability to practice safer sex. Five focus groups were conducted with 24 African American women, aged 18-57 years, residing in public housing in rural North Carolina over a six-month period in 2000. Findings suggest that women maintain their independence, despite inequities in relationship power and remain strong to make a better life for their families. Recommendations are made to promote and build upon this social identity that women have in order to help them practice healthier behaviors.

The influence of health and socioeconomic status on perceptions of aging and adaptation strategies of older African/Caribbean-American women was examined. Responses of 38 women (average age = 77.3 years) to: “What do you like and dislike about growing old?” and To what would you attribute your long life? were analyzed. Respondents were classified as: financially independent/healthy, financially dependent/healthy, financially independent/not healthy and financially dependent/not healthy. Narratives revealed declining health and restricted financial resources limited perceptions of opportunities for well-being. Despite differences in health and financial status, groups had some common strategies: avoiding risk behaviors, holding moral beliefs, optimism, altruism and spirituality. It was concluded that health and socioeconomic status had some influence on perceptions of aging and adaptation strategies.

The authors investigate whether the choice of college textbook affects students' comprehension of the material. Forty-eight students from educational psychology courses were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) unfamiliar passages drawn from the textbook used in the course, or (2) comparable passages selected from a competitor textbook. Students read three passages and completed comprehension tests and an opinion survey. No significant differences were found. Implications for textbook selection practices are presented in the discussion section. © 2008, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Pigeons responded in a successive-encounters procedure that consisted of a search period, a choice period, and a handling period. The search period was either a fixed-interval or a mixed-interval schedule presented on the center key of a three-key chamber. Upon completion of the search period, the center key was turned off and the two side keys were lit. A pigeon could either accept a delay followed by food (by pecking the right key) or reject this option and return to the search period (by pecking the left key). During the choice period, a red right key represented the long alternative (a long handling delay followed by food), and a green right key represented the short alternative (a short handling delay followed by food). The experiment consisted of a series of comparisons for which optimal diet theory predicted no changes in preference for the long alternative (because the overall rates of reinforcement were unchanged), whereas the hyperbolic-decay model predicted changes in preference (because the delays to the next possible reinforcer were varied). In all comparisons, the results supported the predictions of the hyperbolic-decay model, which states that the value of a reinforcer is inversely related to the delay between a choice response and reinforcer delivery.

This article examines the debate over the compatibility of trade and the environment. First, it discusses the range of arguments in the debate from trade being inherently beneficial to inherently harmful to the environment. Second, the entry examines the place of the environment within the GATT/WTO and various controversies surrounding the GATT/WTO and environmental protection. Finally, the article examines the role of multilateral environmental agreements in protecting the environment and their possible consequences for the international trading system.

This article identifies and explores the presence of republican thought in the intellectual and policy writings of Alexander Hamilton, particularly as it applied to his theoretical understanding of the American executive branch. The article moves chronothematically, highlighting, through the Revolutionary, Constitutional, and Governmental periods of American political development, Hamilton's unique sense of republicanism with respect to international and domestic politics, as well as American political economy. The article not only attempts to demonstrate Hamilton's intellectual adherence to the republican tradition, but also his commitment to rhetorically applying the ideology to the realization of practical executive policy goals.

This paper reports on the results of an experiment to test the use of a Peer Instruction (PI) pedagogical model in a small class, high school environment. The study reports findings based on a population of 213 high school students attending algebra based physics courses, both Honors and A level, taught by 5 different instructors. The results show a correlation between use of Peer Instruction and improved student conceptual understanding, as demonstrated by gains on a pre-/post- assessment instrument (FCI). However, there also appears to be a number of other factors that strongly influence the resulting gains. In addition to instructor differences, the data seem to indicate that students who are more "physics-inclined" and can answer questions correctly prior to instruction and prior to any Peer Instruction discussion subsequently achieve higher gains as measured by the FCI. While this is to be expected, the use of normalized gains is intended to mitigate this result, but it appears to be prevalent nonetheless. This raises questions as to what degree the FCI gains can be attributed to the use of Peer Instruction, to teacher differences, to student ability level or to simply increased familiarity with the question types presented on the FCI.

A total of 1067 speckle observations of 345 binary stars are presented. Of these, 161 are double stars first resolved by Hipparcos, 17 are resolved for the first time in the observations presented here, and 21 are stars previously discovered by our program and reported in earlier papers in the series. In 947 cases, a magnitude difference is reported along with the relative astrometry. When comparing to systems with very well-known orbits, we find that the root mean square (rms) deviation in separation residuals is 2.81 0.28 mas, and the rms deviation in position angle residuals is 0.88 0.07°. The magnitude difference measures show no significant deviation from Hipparcos photometry, and have average standard deviation of approximately 0.10 mag as judged from repeat observations. Five important systems discovered by Hipparcos are discussed. © 2008. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved..

The "dynamic" Hubbard Hamiltonian describes interacting fermions on a lattice whose on-site repulsion is modulated by a coupling to a fluctuating bosonic field. We investigate one such model, introduced by Hirsch, using the determinant quantum Monte Carlo method. Our key result is that the extended s -wave pairing vertex, repulsive in the usual static Hubbard model, becomes attractive as the coupling to the fluctuating Bose field increases. The sign problem prevents us from exploring a low enough temperature to see if a superconducting transition occurs. We also observe a stabilization of antiferromagnetic correlations and the Mott gap near half-filling, and a near linear behavior of the energy as a function of particle density which indicates a tendency toward phase separation. © 2008 The American Physical Society.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to deepen the understanding of tensions between old and new in the emerging global society driven by information and communication technology (ICT); and to argue that creation of a theory of this society would contribute in the easing of these tensions. Design/methodology/approach The methods used in this paper are mostly analytical, descriptive, and qualitative. An analysis of the creation and development of ICT from a mathematical discipline of computer science to a universal tool and a driving force of the emerging global society, a development which is paralleled by the commercialization of ICT, is followed by two case studies illustrating the tensions between old and new and the role ICT plays in them. One case is centered on the challenges of traditional models of education by new, ICT-friendly approaches, like the Multiple Intelligences Theory; the other addresses tensions between old and new that in many societies presently take the form of tensions between local/national and global. Findings A claim is formed that the existing tensions between old and new are closely linked to the tensions between the two most common forms of society, inclusive (egalitarian) and exclusive (elitist). Originality/value The paper will help understand some of the reactions to the process of globalization. It can serve as a tool for assessment and prediction regarding this process. Lastly, the paper contains a justification of merit in the creation of a “grass root” theory of an ICT-driven global society built on a universally accepted ethical foundation. © 2008, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

We study birational maps with empty base locus defined by almost complete intersection ideals. Birationality is shown to be expressed by the equality of two Chern numbers. We provide a relatively effective method for their calculation in terms of certain Hilbert coefficients. In dimension 2 the structure of the irreducible ideals-always complete intersections by a classical theorem of Serre-leads by a natural approach to the calculation of Sylvester determinants. We introduce a computer-assisted method (with a minimal intervention by the computer) which succeeds, in degree ≤5, in producing the full sets of equations of the ideals. In the process, it answers affirmatively some questions raised by Cox [Cox, D.A., 2006. Four conjectures: Two for the moving curve ideal and two for the Bezoutian. In: Proceedings of Commutative Algebra and its Interactions with Algebraic Geometry, CIRM, Luminy, France, May 2006 (available in CD media)]. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In April 2006, Alliance Library System and Online Programming for All Libraries partnered to start the Second Life Library 2.0 in the online world Second Life and in August 2006 purchased an island on the Teen grid of Teen Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world, a descendant of multiplayer online games. Educational institutions have recently been drawn into Second Life's robust economy and vibrant cultural life. The Second Life Library 2.0 works with librarians from around the world and with other educational partners such as TechSoup, WorldBridges, and the New Media Consortium. Second Life Library 2.0 provides traditional library services such as ready reference, book discussions, and search assistance, but, at heart, it explores what it means to be a virtual library in a virtual world.

This article presents a theoretical framework for the study of social and behavioral factors associated with elder self-neglect. The model presented reflects the authors' beliefs that a risk-vulnerability model offers a useful framework from which to study all forms of elder mistreatment, as well as elder self-neglect. This model has particular utility, because it can begin to define the elements of risk and vulnerability that may be addressed using preventative measures as opposed to solely addressing intervention, which is often the case when addressing elder mistreatment and self-neglect. The authors then address a method for using the Consortium for Research in Elder Self-neglect of Texas data as currently constructed and adding to that database to effectively study risks and vulnerabilities in the elder self-neglect population. These additional data would greatly expand the scope of the study. The discussant adds his perspective to the ideas proposed by the authors.