Consistent Style Research Articles

Pain Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Case-Based Approach Eds. Hayek SM, Shah BJ, Desai MJ & Chelimsky TC New York, Oxford University Press; 2015; pp. 429; ISBN 978-0-19-993148-4

Pain Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Case-Based Approach Eds. SM Hayek, BJ Shah, MJ Desai & TC Chelimsky New York, Oxford University Press; 2015; pp. 429; ISBN 978-0-19-993148-4 Sherlock Holmes is my hero. All his adventures start with a case presentation by a petitioner, followed up by further questions by the great detective. He ruminates about the case, then goes to the scene of the crime, armed with various diagnostic equipment. All relevant information is disclosed by Dr. Watson to the reader. The whole process “starts on the supposition that when you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” This volume, Pain Medicine: an interdisciplinary case-based approach, follows this time honored format. The four editors have achieved for this volume what Dr. Watson achieved for Sherlock Holmes. The adventures in pain medicine are written with a consistent style devoid of errors. They lead the reader along a logical path through the diagnostic process to a satisfactory conclusion. I found the volume engaging, educational, and entertaining. The chapters all begin with a case presentation, followed by a series of pertinent questions. As each question is addressed, further clinical and …

A comparison of kicking accuracy for elite rugby players and a robotic kicker

This work reports the average place kicking accuracy as a function of field position for players in the last two Rugby World Cup competitions and compares this accuracy with that of a robotic kicker.Human kicker angular standard deviation varies from 2.1 to 7.0 degrees over kicking distances from 35.3 to 52.8m. The robot kicks an average distance of 44.2 ± 2.4m with an angular standard deviation of 2.2 degrees. The results show that human kickers become less accurate as they have to strike the ball harder in order to reach greater distances. At a distance of 44m, the robotic kicker is considerably more accurate than human kickers. Unlike human kickers, the robotic kicker has a consistent kick style and is therefore a useful tool for research into the mechanics, kinematics and dynamics of place-kicking a rugby ball.

Six Authors and the Saturday Review : A Quantitative Approach to Style

The distinctive corporate style of the Saturday Review was recognized by Victorians and is often mentioned in modern periodicals scholarship. In this quantitative study, we highlight characteristics that distinguish the journal’s writing from other periodicals in terms of stance rather than political orientation or subject matter. We also compare the writing style of six contributors to the Saturday Review and other periodicals. On one end of the spectrum was George Henry Lewes, who, according to our research, assumed a consistent style when writing for the Saturday Review and any other journal. On the other end of the spectrum was Lord Robert Cecil, whose work for the Saturday Review was strikingly different stylistically than his other writings.

Educational success among elementary school children from low socioeconomic status families: A systematic review of research assessing parenting factors

Prior research has focused primarily on the educational benefits of high socioeconomic status (SES). Little is known about educationally successful youth from low-SES backgrounds, and no published review has systematically evaluated the methodological characteristics of research in this area. The primary aim of this report was to systematically review methodological characteristics of research identifying parenting factors conducive to the educational success of low-SES youth. A secondary aim was to briefly summarize the substantive findings of research in this area. A bibliographic search of 11 electronic databases, a manual search of two journals, and reference harvesting yielded 30 English-language studies published between 1994 and 2014 employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method designs that met a-priori study eligibility criteria. Studies of parent–school involvement, parental expectations for current and long-term academic performance, and warm, responsive, and consistent parenting styles...

Information attribute motivators of personal health information management activities

ABSTRACTUnderstanding the motivating factors for personal health information management (PHIM) activities can inform the design of interventions to help people engage in healthful PHIM activities. This paper examines the attributes of health information that can motivate people's PHIM activities. We explored this topic through a qualitative study using semi‐structured one‐on‐one interviews with 47 American and Chinese patients living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. We found 10 information attribute motivators, including the availability, abundance, credibility, accuracy, consistency, timeliness, usefulness, process level, and presentation style of, as well as the emotions elicited by, health information objects. Those motivators tell rich and complex stories of how health information is appreciated and handled on a daily basis by patients living with different health conditions or from different social contexts. Many of the motivators have not been examined in detail in the literature, pointing to the importance and necessity of involving them when designing interventions to improve health care outcomes through motivating PHIM activities.

Physician smoking cessation counseling and adherence to a clinical practice guideline.

The U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline recommends that physicians provide tobacco cessation interventions to their patients at every visit. While many studies have examined the extent to which physicians implement the guideline's "5 A's", few studies have examined the extent to which physicians implement the guideline's "5 R's" which are to be used in a Motivational Interviewing (MI) consistent style with smokers not ready to quit. This study examined the extent to which physicians in usual practice and without specific training administered the 5 R's including the use of an MI style. Thirty-eight physicians were audio recorded during their routine clinical practice conversations with smokers.Recordings were coded by independent raters on the implementation of each of the 5 A's, 5 R's and MI counseling style. Results revealed that for patients not ready to quit smoking, physicians most frequently discussed the patient's personal relevance for quitting and the risks of smoking. Roadblocks and rewards were discussed relatively infrequently. MI skill code analyses revealed that physicians, on average, had moderate scores for acceptance and autonomy support, a low to moderate score for collaboration and low scores for empathy and evocation. Results suggest that for the Clinical Guideline to be implemented appropriately physicians will need specialized training or will need to be able to refer patients to counselors with the necessary expertise. Counseling efforts could increase providers' willingness to implement guideline recommendations and therefore to enhance the person-centeredness of clinical care.

An evaluation of training for lay providers in the use of Motivational Interviewing to promote academic achievement among urban youth.

This study examined training outcomes for lay service providers who participated in a Motivational Interviewing (MI) training program designed to help increase intrinsic motivation and academic achievement among urban low-income and minority youth. Seventeen lay academic advisors received 16 hours of training in MI. Two, two-hour booster sessions plus five, two- hour weekly group supervision sessions were conducted with lay advisors over a period of seven months. One-hundred percent of lay advisors (n =17) participated in all training, booster sessions and assessments. Seventy-one percent of lay advisors (n=12) completed all group supervision sessions and submitted tapes for review. MI training was associated with increased knowledge of MI principles among lay service providers; increased proficiency in responding to simulated clients in an MI consistent style; increased use of MI adherent behaviors in sessions with real clients and maintenance of high motivation to use MI from pretest to posttest. Although lay advisors increased their knowledge of MI, further training is required for advisors to increase competence in delivering MI. Overall, Implications for using MI in the context of school-based settings is discussed.

Implementing the citizen focus agenda: a case study in police leadership

Purpose– Although the private sector has long understood that a customer-focused service is synonymous with success, the concept is less embedded in public agencies such as the Police. Cultural studies consistently argue that police practitioners perceive “citizen focused” or “quality of service” approaches as distant to “real policing”, making the concept difficult to implement. The purpose of this paper is to explore the complex infrastructure required for the implementation of this approach, specifically focusing on senior police leadership.Design/methodology/approach– Using semi-structured interviews across a diversity of police officers and staff it provides a case study of a city Police Force in England, who attempted to introduce a citizen focused approach between 2006-2010.Findings– Senior police leaders were reported to exhibit distinct and consistent leadership styles with a “transformational” style more positively associated with the implementation of this agenda.Practical implications– The study argues specific leadership styles are critical to the delivery of “quality” approaches.Originality/value– No other case studies currently exist that have explored the role of police leadership in the field of quality service/citizen focused approaches.

Codifying the Law of Criminal Evidence

This paper revisits the case for codification of the criminal law of England and Wales. It proposes that the Law Commission’s codification project should be revived and should begin with codifying the law of criminal evidence. The arguments in favour of codification are strong and the arguments against are weak. The paper suggests that codification of the law of criminal evidence would not be an unduly difficult exercise. Most of the law is contained in a collection of modern statutes, the provisions of which could be simply consolidated. The remaining law is a mix of older legislation and common law that would require restating in a consistent modern style. There are relatively few issues requiring important decisions of policy. The experience of Australia and New Zealand shows that the drafting of an evidence code is a feasible undertaking and need not result in an excessively lengthy Act.

Lost in Translation? The Diffusion of Tim Hortons’ Restaurants in the Great Lakes Borderlands

Tim Hortons’ first donut store was established in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1964; other stores were added over time as the chain gradually diffused across Canada to become the country’s largest quick-service restaurant chain with more than 2,400 restaurants. In achieving this dominant status it adopted one of the strategies of any successful restaurant chain; utilizing a uniform architectural style to emphasize to customers the consistency in its menu and operations. This article examines the processes underlying the development of the Tim Hortons brand and the diffusion of its restaurants into the US, specifically the appearance of their restaurants in the Great Lakes borderlands. The study found a consistent architectural style in Ontario but several different styles in Michigan and New York. It is suggested that this lack of consistency in brand identification in its US restaurants is a contributory factor to their lack of profitability and smaller sales.

A Preliminary Investigation into the Adaptive Learning Styles of Business Students

ABSTRACTAn exploration of the preferred learning styles for over 1,100 business students has yielded an intriguing result. While many previous studies have examined the learning styles in different majors at different universities, these studies have been focused on describing the typical student for that major. This study demonstrates that the preferred learning styles of students may depend more on the course than the major, indicating that students may have adaptive learning styles. Rather than having an innate, consistent preferred learning style, business students adapt their preferred learning style to the subject of the course. Further research is necessary to confirm these exploratory findings.

Personality, Anxiety, and Individual Variation in Psychophysiological Habituation and Sensitization to Painful Stimuli

Habituation and sensitization are two fundamental consequences in response to repeated painful stimulation. However, individual differences as to who systematically habituate versus sensitize are currently not well understood. Investigating changes in response modulation (habituation and sensitization) in laboratory subjects undergoing pain testing, we evaluated the hypotheses: 1) significant individual differences exist in patterns of habituation and sensitization, and 2) variations in response modulation are systematically associated with subjects’ characteristic personality styles. We explored personality and state predictors of individual differences in response modulation consisting of habituation and sensitization in pain-free, healthy subjects. We recruited 81 healthy subjects who underwent 36 trials of painful stimulations to their fingertips. Subjective pain reports and psychophysiological responses - evoked potential (EP) and skin conductance response (SCR) - served as measurement indicators for habituation and sensitization, and to evaluate how these different measures manifested in the group averages as well as in correlations across individuals. Results showed that although subjective pain report tended to indicate sensitization on average, both EP and SCR showed habituation. However, further analyses revealed that there was a positive convergence among the three channels across different subjects, suggesting that individuals tend to have consistent response styles in responding to repeated pain stimulations. Our analyses allowed us to make inferences about the relative proportions of individuals in the population who systematically habituate versus sensitize. Variations in the habituation-sensitization continuum are highly robust and systematic, and preexisting individual characteristics (personality and current psychological states such as state anxiety) in part accounted for these patterns.

Do maladaptive behaviors exist at one or both ends of personality traits?

In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) personality disorder trait model, maladaptive behavior is located at one end of continuous scales. Widiger and colleagues, however, have argued that maladaptive behavior exists at both ends of trait continua. We propose that the role of evaluative variance differentiates these two perspectives and that once evaluation is isolated, maladaptive behaviors emerge at both ends of nonevaluative trait dimensions. In Study 1, we argue that evaluative variance is worthwhile to measure separately from descriptive content because it clusters items by valence regardless of content (e.g., lazy and workaholic; apathetic and anxious; gullible and paranoid; timid and hostile, etc.), which is unlikely to describe a consistent behavioral style. We isolate evaluation statistically (Study 2) and at the time of measurement (Study 3) to show that factors unrelated to valence evidence maladaptive behavior at both ends. We argue that nonevaluative factors, which display maladaptive behavior at both ends of continua, may better approximate ways in which individuals actually behave.

Interview With Chris Yandle, Assistant Athletic Director of Communications, University of Miami Athletics

Chris Yandle is in his first year as the director of communications at the University of Miami, joining the Hurricanes program on July 14, 2012. Yandle serves as the Hurricanes’ primary football contact and also oversees day-to-day operations of the athletics communications office. Since arriving in Miami, he has implemented a communications style guide for clean, consistent style usage across all platforms and a streamlined social-media approach that has seen Hurricane sports Twitter followers surpass 30,000 and its Facebook page reach 200,000 likes. He also oversees social-media education of Hurricanes student-athletes, coaches, and staff.

Information literacy in Oman’s higher education: A descriptive-inferential approach

This study aims to identify the current status of information literacy among the students at Sultan Qaboos University in their final year through using the Big6 model for solving information problems. The study utilizes self-assessment survey approach, with the questionnaire as a tool for data collection. It surveyed undergraduate students of Sultan Qaboos University, enrolled in their final year for the academic year 2010/2011. Collected data from 550 valid questionnaires were processed using SPSS. The results indicated high rates of information literacy skills. Among the Big6 skills synthesis, including the ability of respondents in summarizing, combining and linking, using consistent style of organization, and using a variety of ways to display information was ranked first, while the skill of location and access scored the lowest. Significant statistical differences attributed to specialization, gender, English fluency, and computer skills were also indicated at minor levels. The amount of literature relating to information literacy in the Arab World is comparatively less than that in the developed countries. No empirical studies that investigate the competencies of information literacy among university students have previously been conducted in Oman.

Meredith Monk: Between the Cracks

MEREDITH MONK: BETWEEN THE CRACKS1 JANICE MOWERY BEYOND THE NOTES: AN INTRODUCTION EREDITH MONK DEFIES classification. Her body of work spans half a century and has a unique and consistent style, a language all her own.2 Monk’s creative process is meticulous, intriguing, and unconventional . Her music seems deceptively simple, but is very complex and rigorously worked out. She describes herself “as a composer of music and of images and then movement.”3 An inventor, Monk works “as a mosaicist, building [her] pieces out of modules of music, movement, character, light, image, text, and object.”4 Her music “exists between the bar lines and beyond the notes.”5 She works “between the cracks” on the microscopic scale “‘where the voice starts dancing, where the body starts singing, where theater becomes cinema,’”6 and she works “between the cracks” on the macroscopic scale, between and beyond forms as well as between different mediums. But, what does it mean to M 80 Perspectives of New Music work “between the cracks”? How does the voice dance? How does music exist “between the bar lines and beyond the notes”? These descriptive phrases are found in abundance in reviews, interviews, and articles about Meredith Monk, but they are of little help in understanding Monk and her music unless we can gain some kind of meaning from them. A journey through writings by and about Monk, as well as a brief expedition through Part I of her opera, Atlas, will provide an opportunity to explore what it means to be between the cracks, to hear how the voice dances, to discover the music beyond the notes, and to investigate Monk’s creative process with the intention of gaining a deeper understanding of and appreciation for her music. Monk does not consider herself a storyteller; her works are not narrative. What she communicates is not a story, but something beyond a story. Monk communicates something of substance with meaning, mood, images, landscape, and an underlying sense of vitality.7 Her opera, Atlas, inspired by the life of Alexandra DavidN éel, goes beyond the telling of a life story, taking us on a spiritual journey. As with Monk’s other works, there is an interconnectedness: aural, visual, visceral, physical, and spiritual. Consider the visual perception of the body and the aural perception of the voice. Body and voice, however, are not separate. We cannot ignore the body. Gestures and the movement of the body can be as much a part of the performance as is the voice.8 The interconnected body and voice reflect, or perhaps symbolize, the interconnection and interdependence between all other elements, resulting in that “something of substance,” the underlying sense of vitality. Monk’s performers move beyond simply performing toward becoming the work itself. In Atlas, Monk sets up this transformation using costume, movement, and sound in “Agricultural Community (Thresher),” for example. At first we see only the explorers passing through what appears to be a field dotted with piles of straw. The piles of straw come to life, as they are actually on the backs of the performers (first seen seated and hunched over). The ensemble is wearing capes of straw. The motions of their dance are as though they are harvesting, and their song is open, inviting, and swishes with a pastoral quality. They are both harvesting and being harvested, and they share their daily routine with the travelers, inviting them into their community . The aural, visual, visceral, physical, and spiritual elements all work together in this scene conveying both substance and underlying vitality, a sense of the great depth of the complex humanity of this intimate, vital community. Even in Monk’s solo performances she communicates universal human energy. She expresses her spirituality, life philosophy, and her unique sense of history in her solo pieces, as Meredith Monk: Between the Cracks 81 well as in her works for larger ensembles.9 Communicating something beyond mere emotion is her intent, her primary motivation. She communicates human energy, embracing and including those emotions we cannot name, those deep, forgotten memories at the core of each of us.10 Monk projects humanness not only in sound,11 but in all aspects of her...

Stability of parental care across siblings from undisturbed and challenged pregnancies: Intrinsic maternal dispositions of female rhesus monkeys.

The concept of fetal programming is based on the idea that the developmental trajectory of infants is adjusted in response to in utero conditions. In species with extended parental care, these prenatally derived tendencies are further substantiated by behavioral attributes of the mother during the postnatal period. We investigated the stability of maternal behavioral interactions with infant monkeys and carefully varied prenatal conditions across siblings reared by the same mother. We hypothesized that effects of prenatal disturbance and the infant's susceptibility would be differentially affected by maternal attributes. Using hierarchical linear modeling, we analyzed observational data on 121 rhesus macaques reared by a total of 35 multiparous mothers. A portion of the variance in 5 dyadic behaviors was statistically driven by the infant (or was unique to a particular mother-infant pair), but stable maternal propensities and a consistent style of care across siblings also substantially influenced behavioral interactions. Moreover, the magnitude and direction of the prenatal effects were contingent on a female's intrinsic dispositions. When mothers typically exhibited high levels of a corresponding behavior, responsiveness to infants was enhanced as a consequence of prenatal disturbance. The opposite was true for less expressive females. Challenges to the well-being of pregnancy thus served to accentuate maternal predispositions and served to magnify the range of variation in mother-infant behavior across the whole population.

English

The inability of CEOs and founders to be effective leaders has been one of the chief reasons identified for nearly 80% of new venture firms’ failures within the first five years of being established. Entrepreneurial leadership has thus begun to garner increased attention as a result of the recognition that entrepreneurs cannot successfully develop new ventures without displaying effective leadership behaviors. While current leadership theories applied to entrepreneurial settings prescribe changing from transformational to transactional as per the environmental demands, a more foundational theory of entrepreneurial leadership that can be consistently implemented through all the phases of new venture creation and management is currently lacking. In order to provide a more consistent leadership style, based on the theory of meditative foundation, our paper proposes a spiritual entrepreneurial leadership model that can support new venture success by increasing founders’ and CEOs’ ability to be effective leaders in varying scenarios.

A histopathologic scoring system as a tool for standardized reporting of chronic (ileo)colitis and independent risk assessment for inflammatory bowel disease

Pathologists regularly evaluate for the presence of chronic (ileo)colitis in lower gastrointestinal mucosal biopsies, for which a major differential diagnosis is inflammatory bowel disease. Although the histologic features of chronic (ileo)colitis are clearly defined, there is no standard, experimentally derived and validated terminology to document these findings in pathology reports and to convey the likelihood of inflammatory bowel disease in a compact, consistent style. This study had 2 retrospective and 1 prospective phases. In phase 1, we developed a histopathologic scoring system for chronic (ileo)colitis and measured the agreement in scoring between pathologists. In phase 2, we emulated the surgical pathology practice by scoring mucosal biopsies of 164 patients who had undergone lower gastrointestinal endoscopies for clinical suspicion of (ileo)colitis. The cases were matched to 6 different groups based on clinical diagnoses. In phase 3, we prospectively assessed accuracy and ease of application of the scoring system in our practice. The scoring system showed low interobserver variability (correlation coefficient, 0.94-0.96) and distinguished chronic (ileo)colitis from negative cases. In addition, it enabled us to provide probabilistic diagnostic statements based on total scores and their positive predictive values, conveying the likelihood of inflammatory bowel disease as low (<20%), intermediate (∼50%), and high (∼90%). In conclusion, this histopathologic scoring system might be a useful approach to report the findings of lower gastrointestinal mucosal biopsies and to provide measured opinion regarding chronic (ileo)colitis independent of available clinical information. In addition, a defined set of diagnostic statements with regard to likelihood of inflammatory bowel disease would reduce interpretive variability.

Developing an intervention to promote young people’s participation in asthma review consultations with practice nurses

The article is a report of a study to develop an evidence-based pre-consultation guide for young people to use prior to an asthma review with a practice nurse. The participation of young people aged 13-19 in consultations with health professionals can be limited by the lack of opportunity to learn the appropriate skills in triadic consultations. Evidence-based interventions to promote participation of adults in consultations have been developed but young people's needs have not been specifically addressed. Multiple methods design informed by guidelines for the development of complex interventions. A pre-consultation guide for young people was developed in 2007 by application of a model of health behaviour change, development of criteria by an expert panel and in consultation with young people using a nominal group technique. The concepts of the Health Action Process Approach model were applied to the development of criteria underpinning the pre-consultation guide. In the nominal groups young people agreed that they had different needs to other children and adults. The consensus was that the preconsultation guide should include disease-specific information, realistic photographs rather than Clip Art, consistent styles of fonts, bullet points and colours, short words and mature language. Statements and example questions written by young people were included in the evidence-based guide. Young people's views can contribute to the development of interventions designed to promote communication in consultations with nurses. There is potential for this approach to be used to develop interventions in primary and secondary care of a range of long-term conditions.