Book Reviews

Reviews of the following books: Sir William Pepperrell of Colonial New England by Neil Rolde; New England and Foreign Relations 1789-1850 by Paul A. Varg; The Peace Reform in American History by Charles DeBenedetti

Explorations, Vol. 2, No. 3

Cover image: Ezra Pound Dedication: With affection and respect, this issue of EXPLORATIONS is dedicated to Carroll Terrell, Professor Emeritus of English. Articles include: Carroll Terrell and the Great American Poetry Wars, by Burton Hatlen Adventures in China, by H.Y. Forsythe, Jr. Harry Kern and the Making of the New Japan, by Howard B. Schonberger From the Dispatch Case: update on malnutrition in Maine, by Richard Cook Changing Approaches to Protein Structure Determination, by Robert Anderegg The Search of Effective Policy: Meeting the Challenge of an Aging Society, by Dennis A. Watkins and Julia M. Watkins Citizen Survey of the Maine State Police, by Robert A. Stron

The interaction of lean and building information modeling in construction

Lean construction and Building Information Modeling are quite different initiatives, but both are having profound impacts on the construction industry. A rigorous analysis of the myriad specific interactions between them indicates that a synergy exists which, if properly understood in theoretical terms, can be exploited to improve construction processes beyond the degree to which it might be improved by application of either of these paradigms independently. Using a matrix that juxtaposes BIM functionalities with prescriptive lean construction principles, fifty-six interactions have been identified, all but four of which represent constructive interaction. Although evidence for the majority of these has been found, the matrix is not considered complete, but rather a framework for research to explore the degree of validity of the interactions. Construction executives, managers, designers and developers of IT systems for construction can also benefit from the framework as an aid to recognizing the potential synergies when planning their lean and BIM adoption strategies

The Erotic and the Vulgar: Visual Culture and Organized Labor's Critique of U.S. Hegemony in Occupied Japan

This essay engages the colonial legacy of postwar Japan by arguing that the political cartoons produced as part of the postwar Japanese labor movement’s critique of U.S. cultural hegemony illustrate how gendered discourses underpinned, and sometimes undermined, the ideologies formally represented by visual artists and the organizations that funded them. A significant component of organized labor’s propaganda rested on a corpus of visual media that depicted women as icons of Japanese national culture. Japan’s most militant labor unions were propagating anti-imperialist discourses that invoked an engendered/endangered nation that accentuated the importance of union roles for men by subordinating, then eliminating, union roles for women

Aftermath of War Americans and the Remaking of Japan

Intro -- Halftitle Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication Page -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- 1. Joseph C. Grew: The Emperor of Japan and Planning the Occupation -- 2. Douglas MacArthur: The Peacemaker and the Presidency -- 3. T. A. Bisson: The Limits of Reform in Occupied Japan -- 4. James S. Killen: American Labor's Cold War in Occupied Japan -- 5. Harry F. Kern: The Japan Lobby in American Diplomacy -- 6. William H. Draper, Jr.: The Eightieth Congress and the Origins of Japan's "Reverse Course" -- 7. Joseph M. Dodge: The Integration of Japan into the World Economy -- 8. John Foster Dulles: American Bases, Rearmament, and the China Questions in the Making of the Japanese Peace Treaty -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Select Bibliography -- IndexDescription based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, YYYY. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries

The campaign to sell a harsh peace for Germany to the American public, 1944–1948

In the spring of 1944, a group of prominent US opinion makers launched a campaign aimed at convincing the American public of the need for a harsh peace for Germany. By exploring the dynamics of this campaign, which revolved around the activities of the Writers’ War Board and the Society for the Prevention of World War III, this article focuses on an episode that has generally been neglected in the historiography of US post-war plans for Germany. It also adds a new dimension to the literature on the domestic mood in the US during the crucial period between the end of World War II and the onset of the Cold War, by first demonstrating how these anti-German spokesmen worked successfully to generate a hardening of popular opinion during 1944 and 1945, before charting how they found it increasingly difficult to sustain their campaign during 1946 and 1947. This failure was not simply a product of the natural cooling of popular passions or even the emergence of the Cold War. It also stemmed from the lobby’s inability to sustain the networks it had created during World War II, not to mention its tendency to overreach and oversell at key moments

An engineering systems approach to strategic change: The case of the European Automotive Industry

Build to Order [BTO] refers to a demand driven production approach where the majority of products and components are scheduled and built in response to a confirmed order received for it from a final customer. A £23m EU project involving leading automotive experts developed strategies and processes to realise an automotive BTO system in Europe. Despite significant investment and research to establish the required approaches the strategic vision has yet to be achieved. A holistic Engineering Systems approach, developed for complex engineering enterprises, provides an overview for strategic transformation. The current and future BTO state of the industry are described using the eight lenses of Enterprise Architecting, namely strategy, policy, organization, process, knowledge, IT, products and services. An expert panel of practitioners and academics validate and critique the detail and content of the industry transformation described and the Engineering Systems approach to strategic implementation. Following consultation and amendment the experts agree with and support both the content of the automotive BTO strategic vision and the Engineer Systems lenses as an approach to guide strategic change

Surveillance for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - Four U.S. Cities, September 1989 Through August 1993

Problem/Condition: Although chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) has been recognized as a cause of morbidity in the United States, the etiology of CFS is unknown. In addition, information is incomplete concerning the clinical spectrum and prevalence of CFS in the United States. Reporting Period Covered: This report summarizes CFS surveillance data collected in four U.S. cities from September 1989 through August 1993. Description of System: A physician-based surveillance system for CFS was established in four U.S. metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Georgia; Wichita, Kansas; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and Reno, Nevada. The objectives of this surveillance system were to collect descriptive epidemiologic information from patients who had unexplained chronic fatigue, estimate the prevalence and incidence of CFS in defined populations, and describe the clinical course of CFS. Patients aged ≥18 years who had had unexplained, debilitating fatigue or chronic unwellness for at least 6 months were referred by their physicians to a designated health professional(s) in their area. Those patients who participated in the surveillance system a) were interviewed by the health professional(s); b) completed a self-administered questionnaire that included their demographic information, medical history, and responses to the Beck Depression Inventory, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, and the Sickness Impact Profile; c) submitted blood and urine samples for laboratory testing; and d) agreed to a review of their medical records. On the basis of this information, patients were assigned to one of four groups: those whose illnesses met the criteria of the 1988 CFS case definition (Group I); those whose fatigue or symptoms did not meet the criteria for CFS (Group II); those who had had an identifiable psychological disorder before onset of fatigue (Group III); and those who had evidence of other medical conditions that could have caused fatigue (Group IV). Patients assigned to Group III were further evaluated to determine the group to which they would have been assigned had psychological illness not been present. The epidemiologic characteristics of the illness and the frequency of symptoms among patients were evaluated, and the prevalence and incidence of CFS were estimated for each of the areas. Results: Of the 648 patients referred to the CFS surveillance system, 565 (87%) agreed to participate. Of these, 130 (23%) were assigned to Group I; 99 (18%), Group II; 235 (42%), Group III; and 101 (18%), Group IV. Of the 130 CFS patients, 125 (96%) were white and 111 (85%) were women. The mean age of CFS patients at the onset of illness was 30 years, and the mean duration of illness at the time of the interview was 6.7 years Most (96%) CFS patients had completed high school, and 38% had graduated from college. The median annual household income for CFS patients was $40,000. In the four cities, the age-, sex-, and race-adjusted prevalences of CFS for the 4-year surveillance period ranged from 4.0 to 8.7 per 100,000 population. The age-adjusted 4-year prevalences of CFS among white women ranged from 8.8 to 19.5 per 100,000 population. Interpretation: The results of this surveillance system were similar to those in previously published reports of CFS. Additional studies should be directed toward determining whether the data collected in this surveillance system were subject to selection bias (e.g., education and income levels might have influenced usage of the health-care system, and the populations of these four surveillance sites might not be representative of the U.S. population). Actions Taken: In February 1997, CDC began a large-scale, cross-sectional study at one surveillance site (Wichita) to describe more completely the magnitude and epidemiology of unexplained chronic fatigue and CFS.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex