LOOKING AT NATIONAL SYSTEMS OF INNOVATION FROM THE SOUTH

This paper deals with national systems of innovation (NSIs) from a Latin American perspective. It begins by looking into the related conceptualization elaborated in the North with a "Southern head", stressing some characteristics of the NSIs concept that are helpful to understand Southern specificity: its ex-post nature, the normative weight it carries, its "relational" features, the fact that it describes a purposeful policy subject and not only an outcome of evolutionary patterns. Then the paper describes some contextual differences between Latin America and the developed nations in terms of the NSIs conceptualization. This is followed by an abbreviated account of empirical findings gathered from recent innovation industrial surveys in Latin America. It also briefly describes some of the findings of a methodological attempt to construct a picture of the NSI in a small Latin American country, Uruguay. Finally, some lessons stemming from more mature systems of innovation are outlined.     

The rhetoric and reality of housing choice: The role of urban consolidation

In Australia, growth at the fringe has been seen as an inevitable response to a lack of affordable housing in the inner and middle zones of the major metropolitan cities. Urban consolidation was seen as one way of improving housing affordability and increasing housing choices and, at the same time, constraining outward growth. It will do so only if households forego past preferences for ownership of a detached house. This paper examines the contribution urban consolidation has made to meeting affordability and choice objectives by providing some insights into whether households are trading off tenure choices for lifestyle choices based on location and dwelling type. It also provides information on the extent of spatial polarisation of income that has contributed to the observed outcomes.     

Toddlers' social interactions in the context of moral and conventional transgressions in the home.

This study examined toddlers' naturally occurring moral and conventional transgressions in the home. Toddlers (N?=?36), divided between boys and girls at 24 and 36 months of age, were videotaped in two 45-min sessions, one with mothers and one with mothers and familiar peers. Responses to moral and conventional transgressions were coded from the videotapes. Moral transgressions were more frequent in the peer session, whereas conventional transgressions were more frequent when children were alone with mothers. Mothers' responses to conventional transgressions focused on social order and social regulation, whereas maternal and child responses to moral transgressions focused the transgressor on the consequences of the acts for others' rights or welfare. Mothers' affective responses to moral and conventional transgressions did not differ but were more negative than toddlers' responses. Conventional transgressions increased with age, whereas girls' (but not boys') moral transgressions decreased with age. Sequential analyses suggested that this latter finding might be due to mothers' differential responses to girls' and boys' moral transgressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Emotional responding following experimental manipulation of facial electromyographic activity.

Thirty female subjects were instructed to imagine three positive affective scenes and three negative affective scenes. During the initial imagination of each scene, the subject was told simply to imagine the situation. The subject then imagined the situation again and was instructed to enhance the muscle tension in one of two muscle groups (the zygomatic muscles for positive scenes and the corrugator muscle for negative scenes). The subject then imagined the scene a third time and was instructed to suppress the muscle tension in the same muscle group. Feedback was available during practice trials and during the enhancement and suppression trials of the experiment. Continuous monitoring of both zygomatic and corrugator electromyogram (EMG) during the study indicated that subjects were successful in altering muscle tension in accord with the experimental instructions, and videotapes of subjects' faces indicated no overt changes in facial responding during imagination of the scenes. Subjects' ratings of emotional responding during each scene indicated that subjects experienced less enjoyment and more distress during positive affective trials in which they suppressed zygomatic EMG activity. The results are discussed in terms of the facial feedback hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child custody resolution: A study of social science involvement and impact.

To explore the use of mental health professional expertise in the legal system, legal professionals' sources of social science information, and the legal profession's perspectives on the appropriate roles of mental health professionals in the process, we solicited information from attorneys and judges on (a) the extent to which they actively seek the involvement of mental health professionals in child custody cases, (b) the factors that influence such involvement, and (c) the degree to which these attitudes and practices are influenced by social science data or theory. Among the most striking features of these results was the report by the overwhelming majority of legal professionals that they did not consider either social science data or mental health professionals' involvement or recommendations in child custody cases as critical to their practice of family law. Specifically, mental health participation was rarely solicited, and when it was, this decision rested primarily on the paradigmatic regularities of the legal system or practical needs of the case rather than on a view that such involvement was central to the client's or child's mental health. The implications of these findings for collaboration between the mental health and legal disciplines in the area of family policy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Study of major aromatic compounds in port wines from carotenoid degradation

The carotenoids degradation and the formation of volatiles were examined by simulating Port wine aging. A two year old red Port wine was saturated with oxygen, supplemented with lutein and β-carotene and kept at 60 °C during 87 h. A similar study was performed in a model wine solution. Results showed that the percentage decrease in lutein levels was, respectively, 79% and 95%, in the wine model solution and in the Port wine, and 55% and 10% for β-carotene, indicating that lutein was more sensitive to degradation than β-carotene. Two other unknown degradation carotenoid compounds were identified by HPLC/DAD (reverse phase λ_max: 422; 445; 475 and 422; 445; 472) in the lutein supplemented wine. Levels of β-ionone and β-cyclocitral increased (2.5 times) in both, wine and wine model solution, supplemented with β-carotene. Along with these compounds, the same behaviour was observed in β-damascenone in the supplemented lutein wine and wine model solution. New insights were provided into the understanding of aroma modifications occurring during Port wine aging. The relationship between carotenoid molecules (β-carotene and lutein) and some volatiles has also been provided.     

Effectiveness of behavioral therapy for chronic low back pain: A component analysis.

The effects of outpatient group behavioral therapy including aerobic exercise (BE), behavioral therapy only (B), and aerobic exercise only (E) on pain and physical and psychosocial disability were evaluated and compared in a group of mildy disabled chronic low-back-pain patients. Ninety-six Ss were randomly assigned to the 3 treatments and a waiting-list control (WL) condition and assessed on a variety of patient self-report, spouse-rated, and direct observational measures at pretreatment, posttreatment, and 6- and 12-month follow-ups. Patients in the BE condition, but not the B or E conditions, improved significantly more pretreatment to posttreatment than did WL patients on the patient self-report and observer-rated measures. At both follow-ups, all 3 treatment groups remained significantly improved from pretreatment, with no significant differences among treatments. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Graduate-level education and training in child sexual abuse.

The purpose of this article is to further graduate-level education and training in child sexual abuse. Two graduate-level courses that focus on child sexual abuse are considered as well. The following points are made: (a) Training in child sexual abuse should be incorporated into professional training programs; (b) research and theory courses on child sexual abuse are indicated; (c) the topic of child sexual abuse should be mainstreamed into existing practica; (d) the multidisciplinary nature of the field necessitates consideration of resources and references beyond those specific to psychology as well as professional engagement with individuals from many disciplines; and (e) training in child sexual abuse elicits strong emotional responses in trainees and others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of leadership and leadership style among group intervention specialists.

A questionnaire measuring 26 group leader characteristics investigated by Lieberman, Yalom and Miles (1973) was administered to 204 experienced group leaders distributed geographically throughout the United States. A confirmatory factor analysis of the data revealed no support for the factor structure previously reported by Lieberman et al. Principal-components analysis with varimax rotation was performed, and an eight-factor solution was adopted. The factors pertained to group leader behavior or style (i.e., Cognitive Direction, Affective Direction, Behavioral Direction, and Nonverbal Exercises), leader personal qualities (i.e., Nurturant Attractiveness and Charismatic Expertness), and leader objectives (i.e., Group Functioning and Personal Functioning). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)