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Current Approaches My experience, both as a national consultant and as a child welfare director in a large urban jurisdiction, suggests that formal intervention approaches in both abuse and neglect [...]

We investigated the interplay between the source of criticism and the attributional content of their message on behavioral responses to group-based criticism. Studies 1 and 2 revealed that outgroup critics were more effective when their criticism included internal attributions (to the ingroup's character) rather than external attributions (the ingroup's circumstances), whereas there was no effect of attributional content for ingroup critics (a significant Source x Content interaction). Study 3 explored the role of audiences in responses to outgroup criticism. The results indicated that the positive effects of internal versus external attributions were only evident when an outgroup audience was witness to participants' responses. Furthermore, these effects were mediated through concerns about the ingroup's image. Together, these patterns suggest that responses to criticism depend not just on the identity of the critic but also on what the critic says and who is watching. People may be surprisingly responsive to outgroup criticism-particularly when inaction might lead others to perceive them as 'bad people.'

The present studies investigated why video racing games increase players' risk-taking inclinations. Four studies reveal that playing video racing games increases risk taking in a subsequent simulated road traffic situation, as well as risk-promoting cognitions and emotions, blood pressure, sensation seeking, and attitudes toward reckless driving. Study 1 ruled out the role of experimental demand in creating such effects. Studies 2 and 3 showed that the effect of playing video racing games on risk taking was partially mediated by changes in self-perceptions as a reckless driver. These effects were evident only when the individual played racing games that reward traffic violations rather than racing games that do not reward traffic violations (Study 3) and when the individual was an active player of such games rather than a passive observer (Study 4). In sum, the results underline the potential negative impact of racing games on traffic safety. Keywords: video games; racing games; risk taking; reckless driving; self-perception

There is considerable interest in how essentialist beliefs support prejudice and discrimination against minorities. Less attention has been given to essentialism within minority groups. The authors argue that minorities might use essentialism to counter the denial of their identity by the majority (e.g., marginalization) but that essentialism might be less appealing when minority identity is recognized but devalued (e.g., discrimination). In Study 1, gay, lesbian, and bisexual participants contemplated treatment that either devalued or denied their identity. Minority identification was related to stronger endorsement of beliefs about the immutability of sexuality in the context of identity denial but not in the context of identity devaluation. Study 2 replicated this pattern and showed that endorsement of immutability beliefs was mediated through the perceived possibility for social change and was in turn related to feelings of self-efficacy. The results are discussed in relation to current perspectives on essentialism. Keywords: essentialism; sexuality; discrimination; marginalization; identity

The authors examine how beliefs about the stability of the social hierarchy moderate the link between sexism and essentialist beliefs about gender and how the expression of essentialist beliefs might reciprocally affect the social structure. Studies 1 (N = 240) and 2 (N = 143) presented gender-based inequality as stable, changing, or changed. In both studies, sexism was positively associated with essentialism only among men and only when inequality was presented as changing. Study 3 (N = 552) explored the possible consequences of expressing essentialist theories for social change. Exposure to essentialist theories increased both men's and women's acceptance of inequality. Exposure further increased men's support for discriminatory practices and boosted their self-esteem. These patterns demonstrate that although essentialism is linked to prejudice, this link is itself not essential. Rather, essentialism may be invoked strategically to protect higher status when this is threatened by change and may be successful in so doing. Keywords: essentialism, sexism, social stability, social change, discrimination

The plausible [([C.sub.5][N.sub.5][H.sub.5]).sub.2][H.sup.+] geometries are described for adenine and its isomer 8-aminopurine. The proton-bound dimers are tightly held together than protonated dimers and purine-purine mismatches are observed in nucleic acids, to which calculated [([C.sub.5][N.sub.5][H.sub.5]).sub.2][H.sup.+] dimer geometries appear nearly isosteric.

An analysis of the effects of low energy proton irradiation on the electrical performance of triple junction (3J) InGa[P.sub.2]/GaAs/Ge solar cells is presented. The Monte Carlo ion transport code SRIM is used to simulate the damage profile induced in a 3J solar cell under the conditions of typical ground testing and that of the omnidirectional space environment. The results are used to present a quantitative analysis of the defect, and hence damage, distribution induced in the cell active region by the different radiation conditions. The modeling results show that, in the space environment where the incident radiation is omnidirectional, the solar cell will experience a uniform damage distribution through the active region of the cell. The cases of directional spectrum irradiation and omnidirectional irradiation through very thin shielding are also considered. Through an application of the displacement damage dose analysis methodology, the implications of this result on mission performance predictions are investigated. Index Terms--Displacement damage, nonionizing energy loss, radiation effects, solar cells.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2005.05.010 Byline: Gary W. Black (a), Kenneth N. McKay (b), Thomas E. Morton (c) Keywords: Scheduling; Aversion Dynamics; Adaptive heuristics; Risk mitigation heuristics Abstract: Empirical studies have shown that human schedulers use special procedures to deal with troublesome jobs that are perceived to disrupt manufacturing or that will take substantially longer than the industrial engineering standards. These troublesome jobs present a risk to the manufacturing process and to the schedule robustness. One strategy is to delay them whenever possible and to allow other work to overtake. The Aversion Dynamics concept is used to include this type of logic in scheduling heuristics such that a trade-off analysis of penalties occurs in light of the expected performance results. This is accomplished by altering processing time estimates to achieve a form of 'safety time' for risky jobs. This paper conducts a large empirical study within the single-machine static arrival environment to demonstrate that the concept of special sequencing based on job risk is significant and that robust strategies can be developed. Author Affiliation: (a) School of Business, University of Southern Indiana, 8600 University Boulevard, Evansville, IN 47712, USA (b) Department of Management Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ont, N2L 3G1, Canada (c) Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA Article History: Received 22 September 2003; Accepted 13 May 2005

Conformal array apertures have great potential for providing high performance, low weight systems with little or no impact to the aerodynamic design of the air vehicle. A performance analysis of conformal conical arrays for a national airborne radar application is presented. The conical array geometry is chosen for its similarity to an aircraft or missile nosecone. Performance capabilities are analyzed for a number of antenna performance parameters including scan volume, sidelobe levels, grating lobes, beamwidth, directivity, element count, and cross-polarization

Research has shown limited support for the notion that perceived effectiveness of collective action is a predictor of intentions to engage in collective action. One reason may be that effectiveness has been in terms of whether the action will influence key decision makers. We argue that the effectiveness of collective action might be judged by other criteria, such as whether it influences third parties, builds an oppositional movement, and expresses values. Two hundred and thirty one attendees at a rally rated the effectiveness of the rally and their intentions to engage in future collective action. For those participants who were not members of an organization, intentions were linked to the perceived effectiveness of the rally in expressing values and influencing the public. For those who were members of an organization, intentions were linked only to the effectiveness of the rally in building an oppositional movement.

This study investigated an Australian antidrug campaign that targeted adolescents directly and indirectly via recruiting parents into drug prevention. Eighty-six parent--child dyads completed surveys measuring campaign evaluations, discussions about drugs, and beliefs about risks to self (own child) and to the average young Australian. Adolescents were optimistic about risks, and media impact was evident only in perceptions of risk to others. Parents were less optimistic, and perceptions of campaign quality predicted perceived risk to own child and discussion about drugs. However, this was moderated by negative affect associated with the campaign. There was some evidence that discussions influenced adolescents' perceptions of personal risk. This demonstrates the importance of individual responses and communication processes in determining the impact of persuasive media messages.